*looks over reviews, decides to answer questions (maybe)*
Emmica, Madeleine and Fiona: When you read this chapter, you will find out what Elrond's going to do. ;)
Case: Who knows? Out shagging, no doubt. ;)
Arabella: Ah, what are you feeding that hunch monster? Methinks he took a wrong turn there ;) Culurien has fainted before, or don't you remember the end of ch.15? ;)
~kalurien
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Imladris Revisited
By: DLR 2002
Disclaimer: Not mine,etc.
Elrond/OFC
Rated: PG13 for language, violence and sexual situations
Chapter 30
Brandir sat up. Did he pass out? He was not sure. He raised his hand and felt the blood dripping from his nose.
"That Bitch," he said evenly. "I will teach that little slut a lesson, she will soon regret ever refusing me."
A noise behind him caused him to turn around. There stood at least ten grim faced elves between him and the door. Their eyes were deadly cold as they stared at him.
Hirion, his captain, was there as well, with some other men. Brandir's eyes darted back and forth nervously.
Elrond strode a few steps to the wall and took down a sword. He swiftly raised the point to Brandir's throat. "Move and you die." Brandir was silent. Elrond leaned in closer to him, his face inches away from the other's. "Is there any reason I should not slice off your miserable head right now?"
The sweat broke out on Brandir's brow.
Hirion made a noise. "I would offer a plea for his life. He is a kinsman of mine. I am sure he did not realize the magnitude of his transgression."
Elrond paid no attention. "Alas, cutting your throat may be far too quick a death," he said icily. "Perhaps we could find some other things to slice off before you die."
The sword point stayed at Brandir's throat, but Elrond's eyes moved meaningfully lower.
"I see no reason for death," said Hirion. "Your lady is unharmed. Surrender him to me and I will see to his punishment."
"Nay," said Elrond grimly. "He has come into my house, enjoyed my hospitality, and then threatened a member of my family. I will not slay him, but I reserve the choice of his punishment."
Hirion shrugged. "Agreed."
Elrond lowered the sword and turned towards Hirion. As quick as lighting, Brandir leapt for Elrond and yanked him back by the hair; a knife appeared in his hand, headed directly for the elf-lord's throat.
Elladan was quicker. He pulled a dagger from his boot top and threw it, neatly slicing the man's jugular vein.
Elrond had not even had time to turn completely around. There was a long pause as all stood frozen. He looked at Hirion, then at Elladan. "Thank you," he said to his son.
Elladan smiled. "You are welcome."
Elrond gazed at the dying man on the floor with revulsion. "Dispose of that, if you would be so kind," he said to Hirion as he left the room.
Merry and Pippin had been peering through the doorway, watching.
"That was very exciting," observed Pippin. Merry agreed. They hurried back to the dining hall.
"What has happened?" asked Arwen, "did you see?"
"Yes," said Pippin. "It was very exciting." Merry nodded.
Elrond came back to the dining hall, followed by Glorfindel, Erestor and the other lords of the house. They all seemed quite grim.
Culurien looked questioningly at Elrond.
"He will trouble you no more." His words did nothing to allay her growing apprehension.
Elladan faced the assembled company and cleared his throat. "The man Brandir attacked my Father from behind, like a coward and I slew him."
There was an intake of breath and everyone regarded him with shocked eyes.
"He would have killed my Father," Elladan added.
Elrond laid his hand on his son's shoulder. "He speaks the truth. Do not make harsh judgment."
The elves whispered anxiously. "We will be at war with the men of Rhudaur."
Elrond held up his hands for silence. "I do not think there is any cause for concern. Brandir brought this calamity on himself by his actions. Hirion knows this to be true."
"I told you it was exciting," said Pippin to Frodo and Sam. Merry nodded, agreeing.
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Culurien looked at Elrond as he undressed. He felt her gaze and turned to her.
"Mellhîr," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
"Linariel."
She stood still, the tears rolling freely down her cheeks. He did not approach her, but stood silent, waiting.
"What are you sorry for?" he asked, although she had not even voiced it yet.
"I feel responsible. A man is dead that would not have been, if not for me."
"I know your anguish," Elrond said gently, "for I slew many in battle, strangers they were, enemies. But each with a life, a wife and children. This man should not have been my enemy." He paused, looking at her. "But his actions made him my enemy; it was not your doing." She remained unconvinced and he took her in his arms. "His blood is not on your hands. Nor is it even on Elladan's, strictly speaking, for he acted in my defense. One may live to regret one's own actions and find cleansing through forgiveness and atonement. Alternately, one may be compelled to pay for his transgressions in the Halls of Mandos."
Elrond paused and closed his eyes as sudden, unlooked for images assaulted him. Ereinion, he thought briefly, then quickly pulled himself back out of that familiar hole, that black pit of despair.
Culurien looked at the struggle on his face and guessed where his thoughts lay. "Might we not encourage transgression, by simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
"We cannot take blame for another's behavior. This is a lesson I have struggled with many times these long years, trust me. Tis is a responsibility that should not rest on anyone's shoulders, especially yours," he finished, his lips caressing the afore mentioned body part.
Culurien held him tightly as she continued to cry into his chest.
Elrond sighed. "I regret my own actions somewhat. If I had not threatened him, perhaps he would not have felt as desperate. If I had not been so foolish as to turn my back, perhaps he would not have had an opportunity to attack." He stroked her hair, gently comforting her.
"One can go around and around in this fashion indefinitely." He raised her head with his hand and looked into her eyes. "You did nothing to provoke these events, do not take everything so much to heart."
She looked at him a long moment, her eyes still shiny with tears. Her lips parted and they kissed slowly and deeply, their tongues exploring gently. They both shivered as waves of desire passed through them, engulfing them utterly.
They pressed their bodies tightly together, each relishing the warmth and scent of the other as they sought to assuage mental distress with physical closeness.
They kissed for a long while, neither one seeking to go beyond the soft, caressing, comforting movements of this first stage of intimacy, although Elrond's degree of arousal was becoming quite noticeable.
"The bed," he whispered, his breath hot on her mouth as he traced her lips with his tongue.
"A good idea," she agreed as her legs forgot how to bear her weight. He picked her up lightly as she continued to hold him firmly around the neck, their lips still locked together.
Their lovemaking was long and leisurely, both content to prolong every level to its fullest, with very little of the urgency that usually characterized their joining.
Intense, it still was, but the feeling was that of a delicious, sweetly agonizing ache, building slowly into sudden, deep-felt release, rather than a frenzied explosion.
They remained connected together, in each other's arms for a long while, blissful at the union of their spirits and flesh together.
Culurien lay on her side, her head propped up with one elbow, watching Elrond as he fell asleep. She touched him absentmindedly with one finger, tracing lines on his throat and chest, caressing him softly.
"Are you asleep, Mellhîr?"
"Mmmm," he responded, his eyes closed.
"You said that you threatened him," she continued. "In what way?"
Elrond opened an eye and regarded her. "With a sword," he said simply.
"You threatened to kill him?" she asked, unbelieving.
"Well, not precisely."
She looked at him with narrowed eyes. "You are hedging."
He looked slightly uncomfortable. "This is the part that may have caused him to become desperate."
"Yes?"
He sighed. "I may have given him the impression that his punishment would be to endure the loss of certain . . . ahem . . . masculine sections of his anatomy."
Culurien's eyes widened. "Cut off his . . . with a sword?"
"Mmm hmm," admitted Elrond.
"Do you not think that was a little extreme?"
He shrugged. "I would not have done it."
"Well, you and I know that, obviously he did not."
Elrond sighed again. "A few moments ago, you and I were contented and happy, all of the day's stress magically washed away by a simple physical act. As a direct result of this conversation, however, I feel a high level of tension returning."
He pulled her down, tightly against his body. Their eyes met and he tried very hard to look serious.
"We will just have to start again from the beginning," he stated firmly.
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