Chapter 5

                  The two lay on the ground watching the forest burn bright against the night sky.  Elrond rubbed his shoulders, having half-carried the poisoned king from the inferno.

                  " Mandos, you need to loose some weight."  Elrond muttered.

Ereinion ignored him.

                  " You lost your necklace."

Elrond put a hand to his chest, finding his Peredhil pendent missing.  He looked down, trying to hide his disappointment.

                  " And you lost your betrothal ring."

Ereinion groaned, his head falling back.

                  " Celebhiril will kill me."

                  Elrond crawled over, gently pulling Ereinion's shirts from the wound.  Ereinion gritted his teeth, closing his eyes against the deluge of tears as Elrond gently inspected the wound.

                  " It is already festering.  That is some stuff they used."  Elrond tapped his lips.  " If I do not remove it right away, you will probably lose that arm."

Ereinion's face tightened.

                  " Do as you must."

~*~

                  Celebrimbor sighed, staring at the fiery Glorfindel.

                  " These messengers keep coming to me.  I do not know who sends them or the specifics like that.  All I know is that they press for me to sign away my right as next of kin to Ereinion.  They say the people do not want a relation of Fëanor on the throne if Ereinion, Elrond, or Galadriel suddenly die."

Glorfindel pushed the grandson of Fëanor harshly against the wall.  A flash of fear lit Celebrimbor's eyes when he realized they were all alone in the room.

                  " I think you know more than you are letting on, Celebrimbor."

                  Celebrimbor sighed.

                  " I can point them out to you.  They were here earlier."  Celebrimbor looked up as if racking his brain.  " They actually asked me about you.  They…"  Celebrimbor shook his head.  " Twas an odd request.  They wanted to know if you had left yet or not.  I guess they needed to speak with you and were afraid they missed you on the road."

Glorfindel released Celebrimbor.

                  " And these are the same Elves that are trying to take your rights?"

Celebrimbor nodded.

                  " Pushy fellows, but their debating skills are to desired of."

Glorfindel chuckled.

                  " You will not join with them, will you?"

                  Celebrimbor rubbed his chin.

                  " Only if they tell me why and I like the reason."

Glorfindel crossed his arms sternly.

                  " I could have you under lock and key for being an accomplice of an attack upon the King.  I doubt you would be allowed a forge too."

Celebrimbor paled.

                  " I will find out the leader or at least their names for you."  He sighed.  "Since Ereinion has been nothing less than kind, I will also find out the details for you."

Glorfindel touched a fist to his chest.

                  " It was nice speaking with you, Celebrimbor.  We shall see each other again soon when I return from Lindon."  Glorfindel leaned in.  "I expect a letter in the next few weeks."

~*~

                  Celeborn glanced at the glass of wine by his wife's side of the bed with a confused expression.  He then eyed her warily.

*She never drinks wine before bed unless she is either mad or for some reason needs calming.

Galadriel glanced up at him over her papers.

                  " Do not look at me that way, Celeborn.  This is merely out of propriety.  Orodlin brought it over earlier and I had a glass to test its flavor."  She lifted up the bottle.  " I must say though, it has an exquisite taste.  Shall I pour you a glass?"

                  Celeborn shook his head, picking up the glass and walking away with it.  He sniffed it suspiciously and then threw it at the crackling fire.

                  " Celeborn!"  Galadriel exclaimed, throwing back her covers.

The fire had gone out.

                  Galadriel was staring wide-eyed when Celeborn relit the fireplace.  A green smoke was emitted from the blaze.  Galadriel put a hand to her throat, feeling woozy with her realizations.  Celeborn turned, staring at her.

                  " How much did you drink before I came in?"

                  " A few glasses before this one."  Galadriel swallowed with a weak tremor in her voice.  " It is poisoned."

                  Celeborn nodded.  He briskly pled out a new goblet, filling it with the wine.  He took a tentative sip, swishing it about in his mouth.  He then spit it out.

                  " You did not taste the poison?" 

She did not hear him.  The only daughter of Finarfin lay in a coma.  A second later Celeborn fell to the floor when a nasty blow hit his head.  The glass shattered beside him drawing rivulets of blood from his face.  A gloved hand removed the tainted wine bottle, replacing it with a fresh one.

~*~

                  Elrond shivered as he sat watch.  His body screamed for rest, but he dared not close his eyes or even dream walk.  His full attention was demanded for protecting the sleeping King.  Elrond glanced down at him with an unreadable expression.

*If only we were at Lindon.  Then I might have a chance of curing the poison.  Here at this place, there is little hope.

                  Ereinion moaned as he came to.  Elrond quickly put the canteen of water to the King's lips.  Ereinion took a tentative sip before turning his face away.  Elrond shrugged and capped the bottle.

                  " How do you feel?"

Ereinion opened his eyes slightly.

                  " Like I have ten thousand swords jabbing into my shoulder at once."

Elrond nodded.

                  " You are fine then.  That is how you should feel."

                  In the morning light, the extent of their injuries was revealed.  Ereinion's shoulder was black and purple and swollen extensively.  His jaw was bruised with a dark stain, but other than his shoulder, he was untouched.  Elrond bore scratches and bruises nearly everywhere; and dried blood caked to a shallow stomach wound that he had already seen to.  His left eye was swollen and black, no doubt form a cheap punch.  Ereinion smiled weakly.

                  " Well, we are a sight."

                  Elrond returned the smile.

                  " No respecting Elf would believe you are the King."  His face turned serious then.  " We need to head towards Lindon before you get any worse."

Ereinion closed his eyes, his mind reaching out.

*Cel-

                  Elrond shook him, ending the communication.

                  " Do not alert anyone."

Ereinion just stared at him as if the Elf had gone mad.

                  " What?  You just said we needed to get back."

Elrond rubbed his chin.

                  " I have had a lot of time to think about this."

Ereinion groaned.

                  " Here we go."

Elrond ignored his comment, continuing.

                  " Does it not strike you as odd that we are attacked while we are alone and by our own kind?"  He shook his head.  " We did not tell anyone where we were headed and yet we were followed.  I do not think this unhappy chance this time."

                  Ereinion closed his eyes remaining deathly still; so still that it even had Elrond worried for a moment.

                  " Who wants me dead?"  Ereinion whispered.

Elrond shook his head.

                  " Such a thing.  Such hatred is unheard of among the Elves."

Ereinion opened his eyes.

                  " Yet, this while evil rises again in the south."

Elrond looked away.

                  " Someone is entertaining thoughts of power."