Chapter 28
Elrond found Glorfindel later. The lord was leaning over a balcony, inspecting the guards milling around. Glorfindel chose to ignore Elrond even when the dark haired lord leaned against the balcony beside him.
" Forgive me if I embarrassed you at breakfast," Elrond said softly.
Glorfindel looked down and then back up, towards the horizon.
" I owe you an apology. I should have let you be the one to announce the news."
Elrond shook his head.
" Twas not that that bothered me."
" Then what was it?" Glorfindel asked.
Elrond lifted his chin under Glorfindel's intense stare. He had forgotten how menacing Glorfindel could be when ruffled.
*No wonder he defeated a Balrog. He probably stared it to death.
" I just came to apologize, Glorfindel." Elrond pushed back, away from the balcony railing. " You can take it or leave it."
Glorfindel watched Elrond begin to walk away. He began to mentally count.
*Three…two…one…
Elrond spun back around.
" Okay, I admit, I was miffed that you spread the news. You of all people should have known that I would hate a welcoming committee."
Glorfindel shook his head with a jesting smile.
" Then you should have been quieter last night."
Elrond pounded a fist against the railing. Glorfindel moved his hands away when the rail vibrated harshly.
*He is far beyond irritated.
Elrond leaned his back against the railing, looking up at the intricate ceiling of overlying curves. Glorfindel moved away to lean against a pillar.
" I also apologized, Elrond. Will you take it or leave it?"
Elrond's hands tightened against the rail as he used it to push himself away from the edge violently. The balcony cracked under his harsh shove. Glorfindel leapt forward, hearing the crack.
*Is this how Tuor felt when I fell?
Glorfindel turned and sprinted down the stairs. He encountered Erestor and Celebrisse.
" Keep Celebrían in her room for as long as you can." He pulled Erestor with him. " Come on."
~*~
Elrond put a dazed hand to his head. He opened his eyes, or thought he did. He closed them again and the opened, but the darkness did not fade. He shook his head, sitting up and pinching his arm.
*I am indeed awake, but where is my vision?
Someone bent in front of him, clenching his upper arms.
" Elrond, are you ok?"
It was Glorfindel. Elrond motioned clumsily for Glorfindel to lean a head in.
" I can see nothing."
~*~
Glorfindel's head jerked back as if he had been burnt. He looked at Erestor with wide eyes and then at the gathering Elves.
" He is fine. Back to as you were. Twas a nasty fall, but he will be fine. He is an Elf you know." Glorfindel trilled in an unnatural voice.
The Elves went back to their business sending them inquiring looks. Erestor crouched down beside Glorfindel.
" Elrond?"
Glorfindel groaned, hearing the female voice.
" I thought your wife was going to watch her, Erestor," he muttered.
" Celebrían, I need your help, dear. I have some things you should look over and I also need that frame of yours so I can get measurements for a certain dress," Celebrisse's voice came.
The three males gave sighs of relief.
Erestor turned his attention back to Elrond.
" Elrond, I want your eyes to follow my finger."
Elrond pressed his lips together irritably, staring straight ahead into the unfailing darkness.
" I told Glorfindel that I could not see. I will tell it to you. I cannot see anything."
Erestor looked at Glorfindel with an affirming head nod.
" He speaks the truth. He would have jerked back if he had saw how close my finger was to his eye."
Elrond gave an impatient sigh.
" Can you please take me to my study so I-"
" You cannot read, Elrond. Even if we took you there, you could do nothing," Erestor reminded gently.
Elrond sighed. He shifted, trying to stretch his long legs.
" Can I at least be removed from this place? My legs hurt."
The two Elves helped him up.
~*~
Celebrían watched the three Elves worriedly, ignoring Celebrisse. Erestor had been performing some sort of test on Elrond. She shuddered.
*Elrond did not move when Erestor's finger was about to touch his eye. I wonder what kind of a test that is?
Celebrisse touched Celebrían's shoulder. Celebrían turned.
" Forgive me, Celebrisse. I must see to Elrond."
Celebrían picked up her skirts and ran after the three Elves. Celebrisse threw her hands in the air in exasperation.
" My head will be on Elrond's mantelpiece."
~*~
" Elrond?"
Celebrían expected Elrond's eyes to find her, but they remained fixed straight ahead.
" Elrond?" she said again, standing right in front of him.
His eyes moved, as if trying to find her.
" In front of you," Glorfindel said softly.
Elrond's eyes focused on her, but their unseeing position unnerved her.
" What is going on?" she asked.
" May we please leave this public area?" Elrond replied softly.
The four moved into Elrond's nearby study.
Celebrían watched her fiancée put a hand out, catching his desk. He shrugged off Glorfindel's and Erestor's helping hands, finding his chair by touch. Celebrían knelt before Elrond, taking his hands.
" What happened?" she asked worriedly, looking up at him.
" Elrond fell from the balcony," Glorfindel answered, looking down.
Elrond squeezed her hand as if he knew her horrified expression.
" Tis nothing serious, Bree."
" You cannot see, Elrond. That is terribly serious," Erestor countered.
Elrond's face darkened.
" I had wanted that to remain between us."
Celebrían ran a hand down his face.
" Why did you not want me to know?"
Elrond's tongue snaked out between his lips, moistening them.
" Tis not just you. If any find out that I am incapable of ruling Imladris, it can be wrenched from me." Elrond turned his head so that he looked in her general direction. " If I am proven incompetent, then Imladris will go to your parents, for your mother is the last of the house of Finarfin. I am the last of Fingolfin and it will automatically go to the next closest blood relative."
Celebrían shook her head.
" No one will know from my mouth. Need I send messages to my mother?"
Elrond sighed before nodding.
" I cannot see or I would be able to heal myself." He leaned back in his chair. " I suspect though it is simply temporary for severe head trauma will constitute these symptoms."
Celebrían's eyes were full of tears.
" Do not speak of yourself as if you are another case. I will send for my mother at once."
Elrond caught her hand.
" Bree, give me five days. If it has not cleared up by then, then I shall send for your mother."
Celebrían's lips trembled.
" What if it does not go away?"
Elrond shrugged.
" Life will go on."
~*~
Elrond sat alone on the balcony. He had asked Glorfindel to leave him alone, but he could hear the seneschal pacing in the inner room. Elrond turned his head at the soft rustle of leaves. His hearing had become unnaturally keen. He had heard every bit of a conversation not too far away.
" How is he?" he caught Erestor's whisper.
" Fine, but it is far too odd to not see a book in his hand."
" Celebrían has been pacing. She wishes to send for her mother immediately, but dares not to forego his wishes."
" How is she taking it?"
Erestor gave a sigh.
" She has been sobbing. Celebrisse says that for some reason Celebrían is blaming herself for the accident, even though the girl was nowhere near the site."
Glorfindel sighed. He shifted his position.
" I caught a glimpse of what Tuor must have felt when I fell. I was utterly and completely helpless. I could do nothing to stop his fall." There was a long pause. " If it is permanent, I will never forgive myself. I angered him and he had already loosened the railing. I knew this, yet I did not tell him."
" Do not beat yourself up about it. Nothing can be done now. We simply must wait. His sight will come back to him."
Elrond shifted himself. He heard the door open and soft footsteps enter.
" Am I allowed to see him?" Celebrían asked softly.
Her voice held tears in it. She had been crying and quite hard by the tremor in her voice.
" He has not forbid you into his presence before," Glorfindel replied. " When you are finished talking with him, alert me. I do not want him trying to guide himself around Imladris."
Celebrían's footsteps neared as the other two Elves' diminished. She bent beside him. Elrond turned his head in her general direction, wishing with all his heart he could see her.
" Do not cry, Bree."
Celebrían wiped her eyes.
" So you can-"
He shook his head.
" It is still as black as night."
Celebrían looked up at the stars.
" The night tonight is not so black."
" Describe it to me."
Celebrían tilted her head.
" May I take a more comfortable seat?"
Elrond sat up, allowing her to sit in his lap. She brushed back his hair, laying her head on his chest.
" The sky is a velvety black, it looks soft. I wish I could touch it. The Misty Mountains are a jagged violet purple stain against it. Tiny patches of millions of white dots glow in the firmament. There," Elrond felt her move, as if she was pointing, " There is the Gil-Estel. It does not shine tonight. It almost looks like any other star." Her head moved against his chest, looking up at him. " Almost as if he knows your predicament."
Elrond slowly moved a hand into her hair.
" Why do you blame yourself?"
Celebrían buried her face into his chest.
" Because I would rather it to have been me. The Elves need you and your eyes. They need you to lead them."
Elrond twisted a tiny wave of her hair around his finger. He closed his eyes in pain.
" If the blindness is permanent, then I remove all bindings of our engagement."
Celebrían sat up abruptly and Elrond tried to envision her lovely face.
" How can you say that, Peredhil? My fancy will not change because you are blind. I cannot say it does not matter, but I can learn to deal with it. I love you, Elrond, with my life."
Elrond reached out to her blindly. She took his hand, placing it against her cheek. He smiled.
" How I came to deserve such a loving and caring woman, I will never know."
Celebrían leaned forward, initiating the kiss. She moved back, her forehead resting against his.
" I can see for the both of us."
Elrond slowly opened his eyes.
" Can you escort me to my room?"
Celebrían laughed a little, jumping up.
" Aye, my gallant love, let us be on our way."
~*~
Glorfindel knocked on Elrond's door the next morning before opening it. He stepped inside quietly before shaking his head. It seemed that Celebrían had decided to tuck Elrond in and never left. She lay curled against his chest. Elrond's head turned, staring straight at him. He lifted a finger to his lips and for a moment Glorfindel's spirits lifted.
*Maybe it was all a bad nightmare. Maybe he never-
" Who is it?"
Glorfindel's shoulder's drooped. Elrond was still blind.
" Glorfindel. I came to help you this morning."
Elrond nodded, slowly rising. He breathed in when Celebrían stirred, but she did not wake.
" If you can point me in the direction of the bath, I believe I can handle that myself."
Glorfindel picked up a towel and led Elrond out.
~*~
Celebrían awoke, finding an unfamiliar gold head going through Elrond's clothes.
" What-" she began.
Glorfindel turned around.
" I am sorry if I woke you, Celebrían. Tis almost time for breakfast." He helplessly looked back at the closet. " I have no idea what matches and does not. I am colorblind. My servants choose my dress for me."
Celebrían rose, swiftly helping the captain.
" When he is finished, bring him to my room. It will look more natural if I escort him in."
Glorfindel nodded, watching her go.
*She will take every care to be sure that no shame befalls Elrond.
Glorfindel shook his head.
*It goes to prove you never know how you are blessed until the hard times come.
His ears perked at Elrond's call and he quickly turned towards the baths.
~*~
" You picked out the clothes, Glorfindel? I know you are color blind," Elrond asked suspiciously.
Glorfindel sighed.
" Celebrían picked them out. Are you happy?"
Elrond nodded, slipping into the outer tunic.
" Much more than if you had chosen the items."
Glorfindel rolled his eyes.
" I will be glad when you have your sight back. Maybe you too will be color blind and share in my pain."
Elrond just shook his head, edges of a smile teasing his lips.
" I am much too wise to be color blind."
~*~
Erestor met Elrond and Celebrían at the door. Celebrían caught his stricken face, but Elrond could not see it.
" Círdan is here. What a day for him to come. He says that Celeborn and Galadriel will arrive later this morning, if we are lucky. Word came to them of the engagement and they are not too far behind Círdan."
Elrond nodded.
" Where is Círdan sitting?"
Erestor peered in.
" Two seats away from where Celebrían will be sitting. Celebrían will be on your right."
Elrond nodded. He took a breath.
" Well, who is ready to fool the Elves of Imladris?"