Chapter 7

MAJOR NOTE READ THIS BEFORE YOU CONTINUE: This takes place a really long time after the last part. I don't know exactly how long but it's a really long time. Celebr�an has come and gone, we have Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen on the scene now, and all three are past their majority. Glorfindel is still around and is Elrond's lover now that Celebr�an has left. Just thought it would be smart to update you all before you got really really confused.


It was raining. Not the typical, annoying kind of rain, but the kind that pounded down on the roof to drive one to madness. Elladan was bored. It was raining too hard to go outside and do anything, so he was trapped inside the Last Homely House. Many had called it beautiful and Elladan had never argued with that, but there was also notoriously little for an outdoorsy elf like himself to do. His younger twin, Elrohir, was much more fond of books, therefore finding no problem with spending days at a time inside. He was good enough at things done outside; he just had a much more scholarly mentality. Elladan was old enough to know that sometimes Elrond despaired over both of them; neither son was like Elrond, content at both scholarly and warrior duties.

"Bored, Elladan?" asked an amused voice from behind him. It was Glorfindel, his tutor and friend.

"Yes," admitted Elladan. "And how can you not be? There is nothing to do..."

"Ah Elladan, that's not correct and you know it." Glorfindel had long harbored fantasies about both of Elrond's sons, but was in control of himself enough to know not to try anything. They were both innocent enough to run back to Elrond and then Elrond would kick him out; and he had come to enjoy his life here. "There is simply nothing to do that you would enjoy doing. There is a difference."

"If you say so, Glorfindel," said Elladan. Obviously, Glorfindel was not on his side today. "So what do you propose I do?"

"You could go to the library. That is where Elrohir is..."

"Then no. I don't want to go there."

Glorfindel smiled at the unending love-hate relationship between the twins. "You could come and help me with the weapons in the armory..."

"That's sooo boring."

"You could go the stables..."

"The horses smell."

"You could help out in the kitchen..."

"It's too hot and crowded."

"You could help your father with his medicines..."

"But he'll start lecturing me..."

"I have given you your options, Elladan. You will pick one of them and get out of my hair." At times, Glorfindel could get annoyed with Elladan's excuses for doing any work. Elladan, he knew, would much prefer to go out hunting, or just riding or exploring, things that were just fun.

Elladan flinched at Glorfindel's harsh tone. "Fine, Glorfindel."

"What are you going to do, then?"

"Help my father." Elladan scuttled away. He was, at times, terrified of Glorfindel. He knew well Glorfindel's prowess with weapons and had no desire to upset Glorfindel unless it was strictly necessary.

He found his father in his workshop, mixing up something. "Father?" he said cautiously. He knew that his father often didn't like to be interrupted when working.

"Yes, Elladan?" asked Elrond without turning. Elrond wondered if Elladan had done something wrong and was being sent to him for punishment.

"Glorfindel sent me here to help you."

"Did you do something wrong?" Elrond asked with a slight smile. Glorfindel was like a second father to the twins and Arwen.

"No...well...I guess I was bothering him a little."

"Ah. Well, haven't you yet learned to leave him alone when he wants to be?"

"He was the one that bothered me, not the other way round!"

Elrond's smile broadened at that statement. Glorfindel could be, when he was in one of his moods, deliberately obnoxious. Elrond knew this well, as his bouts of annoyance usually affected also whether or not he spent his nights with Elrond. All of his children knew about his relationship with Glorfindel, and of that he was glad. It meant that they didn't have to sneak around, always pretending. "Well, I have a task for you when the rain lightens up."

"Really? What?" This, to Elladan, sounded like something that would have to be done outside. And absolutely anything outside was better than the best thing inside.

"I need you to go to the market for me and get me..." Elrond searched around him and came up with a piece of parchment. "Everything on this list."

Elladan groaned. He hated going shopping. But he couldn't see a way out of it. "Yes, father."


"Anything exciting happen while I was away?" asked Haldir, walking into the room and casually dropping down into the nearest chair.

"Nope. Nothing. It has been the most boring month in Lorien's history," came the amused voice from the next room.

Haldir sighed. "Come in here, where I can see you."

Celeborn emerged, a smile on his face. "Miss me?"

"Of course I did. But I'm too tired to get up, so you're going to have to come over here."

"Are you ordering me around, Haldir?"

"Yes. Now come over here...but it's entirely your choice. I'm sure someone else here would be happy for my company."

"You think you can play me like that?"

"Yes." And Haldir knew that he could. He smiled as Celeborn groaned theatrically and then walked over. As soon as he was within Haldir's grip, Haldir reached out and grabbed Celeborn around the wrist and pulled him down. "I'm glad to be back," he whispered into Celeborn's ear. "Really glad."

Celeborn shifted slightly on Haldir's lap to make himself more comfortable. "Trust me, the feeling's mutual." He kissed Haldir, but Haldir pushed him away.

"Honestly, Celeborn, is that all you can think about?"

Celeborn smiled. Haldir played these games with him on occasion, and as maddening as they could get sometimes, the end result was always worth the preceding pain and annoyance. "And if it is?"


Elladan loved the actual practice of going to market. He didn't even mind buying things, provided that they were things that he wanted. What he hated more than anything was being told to go to market by Elrond or Glorfindel, or the other small but still large enough to be annoying number of people that were allowed to order him around to buy specific somethings that he personally had no interest in. Although, it was still outside, and for that Elladan was grateful.

He went around the market, consulting Elrond's list from time to time as he bought the things his father wanted. Most of the people in the market knew him, as well as being a pretty regular visitor to said market, he was the son of Elrond. That got him special privileges other buyers might not, like lowered prices or better goods. No one really minded, it was just the way things were and the way things would always be.

But one seller did not seem to know that. Elladan went over to his stall and the elf running it pointedly ignored him and continued to haggle with his present customer, who looked increasingly nervous as he saw Elladan's dagger-like glares. Eventually, the potential customer left without buying anything.

The elf turned to look at Elladan with an annoyed face. "There was no need to scare off my customer. There is plenty for everyone."

"I am..."

"I know who you are, Elladan son of Elrond. That does not make you any better than any other here."

This elf was obviously out of his mind. "Of course I am."

The elf smiled. "How may I help you today, Master Elladan?"

"No, you can't just change the subject like that. You've insulted my honor...now I shall have to kill you."

The elf raised an eyebrow. "Kill me?"

"Well, I shall have to engage in a duel with you. I doubt you can even use a sword..."

"Don't make any hasty assumptions." The elf reached back out of view, and pulled out an old, but well cared for sword. "So, shall we duel now, or later? Or, shall we not duel at all, accept my...sincere apologies and get on with our business?"

"Don't think you will get off so easily, elf." Elladan pulled out his own sword. He had been trained by Glorfindel of Gondolin, and there was no way this elf would be able to best him. "Come with me. Where shall we duel?"

"Wherever you would prefer, Master Elladan."

The two made their way to an open stretch of grass. "Are you ready to die, elf?" asked Elladan.

"I didn't know that your father would have trained you to become a kinslayer," said the elf thoughtfully. "Would it not make sense to fight till first blood?"

Elladan could see the sense in that and knew that he had been rash and that he should have considered his words before they came out of his mouth, but he had a surprising tendency to not do so. "Very well, then, elf. We shall fight to first blood." Elladan raised his sword.

It took all of about three seconds for Elladan to realize he was woefully out of his league with the elf. It was all he could do just to keep the elf's sword from reaching his body. The elf had a better reach than he did and obviously centuries more practice with a sword. He struggled back across the grass, any thoughts of attacking gone from his mind. Then the elf stopped attacking and fell back to a more defensive stance. Elladan was puzzled, but did not waste a second on launching an offensive of his own. The elf batted it off easily, but made no attempt to regain the offensive.

Finally, the elf said, "Shall we stop this now?"

Elladan, tired and out of breath and furious with this elf, his own temper rising to the surface to block out rational thought, said, "Never."

The elf shook his head. "Then forgive me for this." He raised his sword once more and neatly hit Elladan in the side of the head with the flat of his blade. Elladan dropped like a stone. The crowd that had gathered rushed to Elladan's aid. Before a mob could form, the other elf had disappeared.


Legolas rode through the courtyard, seeing Elrond's familiar face waiting for him. But the older elf's face was marred with grief. Legolas dismounted, handed the reins to a waiting elf and strode over. "What is amiss, Lord Elrond?"

"My son, Elladan, was attacked today."

"My lord, that is terrible! How...how is he?"

"He should survive. The witnesses say that he challenged an elf to a duel...and the other elf beat him. Then the elf disappeared. I cannot help but think that this elf was sent...by someone to eliminate my heir."

"There is no need for paranoia," said Legolas, following Elrond inside. Relations between Imladris and Mirkwood were quite cordial now, and Legolas visited Imladris routinely. There had never been a repeat of the chaos that had surrounded Glorfindel's arrival. But things were different, too. Without Erestor as Elrond's right-hand man, Imladris still functioned, but nothing seemed so precise and efficient as it had before. It was as if something had broken, and had been repaired, but not repaired well.

"What else am I to think?"

"Elladan is easy to insult, and it takes very little for him to think his honor slighted. This could simply be..."

"Some extremely competent elf that just happened to irritate my son?" Elrond shook his head. "Forgive me, this is irrelevant. You did not travel all this way to listen to me talk about this."

"We are having difficulties in Mirkwood. We wanted to ask for a hundred of your warriors to help us with our problems."

"For how long?" Elrond thought about this; that was not an especially sizable force, but it was one that would be missed if something bad were to happen near Imladris.

"However long it takes."

"How long do I have to make up my mind?"

"A week at the longest. Things are getting really bad in my home and I am simply trying to do whatever I can to stop it from destroying all my people."

"Prince Legolas!" said a surprised voice.

Legolas turned and saw Glorfindel. He fought the grimace that threatened to appear on his face. He had always made an honest effort to avoid Glorfindel whenever he was in Imladris. "It's good to see you again, Lord Glorfindel," said Legolas, not meaning a word of it; that was diplomacy. He turned back to Elrond. "Please consider our need, Elrond. I don't think you want to see my people destroyed."

"Of course I don't, Legolas." Elrond beckoned for Glorfindel to come forward. "Glorfindel, can you take Legolas to his usual rooms?"

"Of course, Elrond. Right this way, Prince Legolas."

Gritting his teeth, Legolas followed Glorfindel. He knew the way to his rooms perfectly fine and didn't see the reason why Elrond had asked Glorfindel to take him there. Legolas made no effort to make small talk. He didn't like Glorfindel and saw no reason to be nice to him.

Glorfindel stopped outside the door. "Please tell me if there is anything you lack, Prince Legolas."

"Of course, Lord Glorfindel." Legolas opened the door and tried to close it quickly, but not quickly enough.

Glorfindel slipped in. "It has been a long time, Legolas. More than two years. Have you been avoiding me?"

Legolas had learned long ago that Glorfindel was a lot less prone to be violent if Legolas just gave him what he wanted. But he had made a concerted effort to conceal his visits to Imladris from Glorfindel, and had succeeded surprisingly well. He stepped close enough to Glorfindel that their bodies were touching. "No. Do you think I would?"

Glorfindel pushed him to the ground. "Yes, I do."

Legolas pulled Glorfindel down with him and kissed him. He knew what was required of him. And he knew that no matter what happened, no matter how rough Glorfindel got (and he did get quite rough on occasion), that Elrond would never find out.

Glorfindel liked fucking Legolas. Legolas was his without any protest, whenever Glorfindel wanted. It was like Erestor before Erestor finally grew bold enough to stand up to Glorfindel. But look where it got him. "You are mine, Legolas. You know that, right?"

Legolas wished that he had the courage to go to Elrond and inform him. He wished that he had the courage to fight back against Glorfindel. He wished that he had the courage to tell his father what was happening to him every time that he ventured to Imladris. He wished even that someone like Haldir was here, with whom he could talk to openly.

But none of that seemed very likely right now. Glorfindel was waiting for an answer from him. Instead, he kissed Glorfindel with as much fake passion as he could muster, wishing more than anything that this was just over. But it wasn't and he had to endure it until Glorfindel decided that he had had enough and left. "Of course I'm yours, Glorfindel. Why wouldn't I be?"

Glorfindel thought he detected some sarcasm in Legolas' voice. But that didn't really matter. What mattered was that at least he had scared Legolas into submission and silence; and that was what really mattered.


Elrohir had slipped out shortly after dark. His brother's injury worried him and his remedy for that, as much as his father disapproved, was to drink it away. He went to the town and into the pub; it was full and though people recognized him, no one really cared. He got himself some beer and went to a secluded corner. He preferred to drink alone, especially when he was upset; and he was upset right now.

A little while and quite a lot of alcohol later, a pleasant voice asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

Elrohir looked up and saw a handsome elf looking at him. Elrohir shrugged. "Sure," he said.

The stranger sat down opposite Elrohir and said critically, "You've drunk too much, Master Elrohir. What will your father say?"

"What do you care?" asked Elrohir. His mind wasn't working very well, but well enough to tell him to be on his guard.

"Your father wouldn't approve of this."

"None of your business." Elrohir signaled for the waitress to bring him another pint. It appeared surprisingly quickly.

The other elf pulled it away from Elrohir. "No, you're not drinking this. Come with me outside. The fresh air will clear your mind."

A part of Elrohir was telling him to say no, to just stay here with the comfort of his alcohol. But the stranger pretty much pulled him to his feet and led him out of the pub. "Where are we going?" asked Elrohir. The stranger was right; his mind was quite a bit clearer just from being outside.

"With me," said the stranger in a much less pleasant voice. He pulled Elrohir into an alley and pulled out some rope he had evidently stashed there. With what looked like practiced ease, he bound Elrohir's ankles and wrists, and then hit him on the side of the head. Now that Elrohir was limp and unresisting, the elf picked him up and left.


"I need to talk to you about something very important, Haldir," said Celeborn that night after dinner.

Haldir could tell that Celeborn was now in one of his serious moods and so didn't reply with a joking comment. He sat up and focused his attention on Celeborn. "What about?"

"The two of us."

Haldir smiled ruefully. He had come to enjoy the time and attention he got from Celeborn. It was horrible, but he was starting to believe that he cared more about Celeborn than about Erestor. Even though Erestor was long dead, Haldir still felt that he should remain loyal to the memory of Erestor. "What about us?"

"I...I want to be able to give you more than what you already have from me. I want to be able to bond with you, Haldir. You have to know that. You have to know that I love you that much."

Haldir felt his heart stop momentarily. He knew that Celeborn cared about him, but he had no idea that Celeborn's feelings ran that deep. "Celeborn, you are already bonded. And don't even try to deny to me that you love Galadriel. I know you do and you won't be able to convince me otherwise."

"No, I won't deny it. But you see, she has told me that she plans to sail to Valinor. I am too tied to Middle Earth, I have no plans to ever leave these shores...Haldir, do you plan, too, to go to the Undying Lands?"

Haldir honestly hadn't ever thought about it. But now that Celeborn was forcing him to, he seriously considered it. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because if you aren't, if you remain on these shores with me, I want to bond with you. When Galadriel is in Valinor, our bond becomes null. I would be free to bond with you. But I'm not going to force you to stay here with me. I love you too much for that. If you leave these shores someday, I will not hate you for it."

"Celeborn, you've given me a lot to think about. I hadn't even really decided before, but now I will give it serious consideration." He smiled; he wanted to end this serious mood. "Until then, though, how about you come here and let me see if I can get these dismal thoughts about the future out of your mind."

"Dismal?" Celeborn did approach Haldir, though.

"Certainly. It's so dismal to think endlessly about the future. It's better to live in the present. What will come will come."

"How hopelessly warrior-like of you."

"You never said you wanted my brains. And my body is far better for my being a warrior, Celeborn."

"I have never complained about your body."

"Then stop complaining about my wits."


Elrond was pacing his study. It was early in the morning, and Glorfindel and Legolas were both silent in the corner, watching him. Glorfindel had known Elrond long enough to know that these fits of silent fury passed quicker if uninterrupted, and so made no attempt to break the awkward silence.

Legolas did not know Elrond so well and made the mistake of talking. "What's wrong, Lord Elrond?"

Elrond spun on him in a fury. "What's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong is that someone out there is trying to destroy my family, that's what's wrong! First my eldest son is nearly killed and now my younger is missing!"

"Elrohir's missing?" asked Glorfindel in an urgent tone.

"Yes," said Elrond, seemingly a bit calmer.

"Since when?"

"I don't know. But he should have been home last night..."

"They are not Elflings any longer, Elrond. If they choose to spend their nights elsewhere...well, that is their own business."

"You think it a coincidence that he's gone tonight, of all nights?"

"If you believe in your own little conspiracy theory, yes," said Legolas. "But we both know...we all know that chance is reality, and it is much more likely that Elrohir went out seeking company tonight after he found out about his brother's injury. It wouldn't surprise me if he went home with some other elf. He wanted company; he wanted to try to forget. Is that not as plausible as your conspiracy?"

Elrond had to admit that it was, "I suppose." A pause. "But I'm still going to kill him when he gets back."

"I'll help," said Glorfindel with a small smile.

That brought a smile to Elrond's face. "Okay. So maybe you're right, maybe this is just a collection of coincidences. But what if it isn't? What if this is some coordinated, orchestrated attempt to destroy my family?"

"Who would want to do that?" asked Glorfindel. "Have you made any particular enemies that you are aware of?"

"I don't think so," said Elrond. He searched his memory, trying to think of every small slight he had caused in the past, trying to decide if any of those people would be angry enough with him to do something like this. "I can't think of any."

"Well, if your son has truly been taken," said Legolas, "it will only be a matter of time before the kidnappers demand ransom."

"Unless they just killed him," said Elrond in a remarkably calm tone.

"Then someone would have already found the body," said Glorfindel. "If this is really as planned as you think it may be, then they will not make dumb mistakes. If he were dead, we'd have found him. If they were trying to make a statement like that, they would want it made very, very loud, loud enough that we couldn't miss it."

Elrond nodded his agreement. He could see the sense in that. "Then we'd best hope that my foolish son is just spending the night with someone. I hate to think what this might become if it is something more than that."