Chapter Fourteen: Healing
Rasaras tossed and turned in his bed. It was impossible to find a comfortable position. Had he not been sternly commanded by both Lord Elrond and his father to get plenty of sleep, then he would not have even bothered to try. It seemed as if no matter which way he turned, he either jammed his cast into his ribcage, or left one or two feet uncovered, or flattened his pillow until it was useless.
He let out a frustrated breath and closed his eyes. Perhaps coming home had been the wrong decision. As wonderful as it was to be with his family, in the familiar environment of his own house, the bed in the healing chambers was a lot softer.
The door opened with a quiet creak. He did not bother to open his eyes. "Who's there?"
"Rassa?" The small voice seemed even smaller in the darkened room.
"Alphien? What are you doing out of bed?" He opened his eyes and turned toward the doorway. "You were supposed to be asleep hours ago."
She tiptoed into the room, shutting the door behind herself, and approached his bed. Her curly silver hair was braided back, but a few loose strands drifted around her face. "I can't sleep."
He chuckled at the irony. "Neither can I. Is something wrong?"
She shook her head and twirled the end of her braid around her fingers. "I just can't."
"Are you excited about your party tomorrow?"
She grinned and climbed onto his bed. "Laegrod and Serondrych will be there, and Alumien and Míri and…"
Rasaras laughed. "You must be very popular."
She grinned again and nodded. "Ada says so."
"Then it is true." Rasaras gave a contented sigh.
Alphien gave an exaggerated sigh, and then flopped down on top of him. He gave a sharp hiss of pain as the weight of her knee landed on his broken arm. "Allie… please move… my arm…"
She shifted off the cast, eyes wide. "Did I hurt you?"
Rasaras pasted a smile onto his face, willing the sharp pain to subside. "Not too much. I'm fine. Please be careful, though."
She nodded solemnly and then curled up on his other side. "I missed you, Rassa. Don't go away again."
He carefully reached forward to pull bits of her hair out of his mouth before answering. "Well, sometimes I have to go. People need me."
She gave a disapproving frown. "What about Ada and Nana and me?"
He smiled and gave her a hug. "I won't ever be gone for too long, Allie. I'll always come home."
She raised one eyebrow, practically mirroring one of Eltathar's expressions. "Promise?"
The face of Malchathol's widow rose before his mind's eye, but he easily dismissed it. "I promise," he said.
Elrond sighed as he let the curtain fall back down. It was snowing again.
At least this snow was a light one, not a blizzard. After this snow, the sky would clear, and the people of Imladris could dig themselves out of the drifts. Winter would bring more snow eventually, but this storm was over.
He squared his shoulders and turned to leave his chamber. Now he had to face a storm of another kind. The advisors were meeting today to decide who should take Belegon's place as the Captain of the Guard, and Elrond was hardly looking forward to the council. The advisors were hard to deal with when the issue at hand was one that touched them directly, as this one did. Whoever was named Captain of the Guard would work closely with the advisors concerning matters of diplomacy and strategy. Yet today promised to be even more difficult council: since Erestor was still recovering, he would not attend. Without their leader, the advisors could not be expected to reach a decision without bloodshed.
One of his apprentices, the healer Mírhael, met him in the hallway. The fastidious Noldo bowed as he approached. "Milord, may I have a word with you?"
"Yes?" said Elrond, pausing in his stride.
"You asked for a report on Master Erestor's condition, and the healers sent me to give you the good news." He paused, presumably for dramatic effect. He is doing remarkably well. Ever since the funeral yesterday, he has shown rapid improvement. His color is returning, he sleeps soundly, and we plan to take out the stitches later today. By tomorrow, he should be well enough to use crutches for his ankle."
Elrond lifted an eyebrow. He had checked on Erestor briefly the night before, and though the advisor had been asleep, there had definitely been something different about him. What had caused such a change?
"Very good, Mírhael," he said. "I must meet with my advisors today, but I will be back at noon to remove the stitches. Do you think that by tomorrow he will be well enough to attend a council meeting?"
Mírhael pondered the question, then slowly nodded. "As long as the activity is not too strenuous, then he should be fine. It would probably be good for him to get back to work. We have not let him do any paperwork, as you commanded, but I think that the inactivity is beginning to chafe him. As long as he is careful not to over-exert himself, then attending the council would be fine."
Elrond smiled inwardly. Erestor never over-exerted himself. The most taxing activity that he would perform at the council was to walk into the room and sit down, or perhaps stand to give a speech of some sort. "Good. I would delay the council until tomorrow, but unfortunately I have ignored the issue for too long as it is."
Mírhael bowed. "Then with your leave, milord, I will return to my duties in the healing chambers."
"Go ahead," said Elrond, nodding and continuing toward the council hall. He never asked any of the people of Imladris to call him "milord" or bow before him, but Mírhael did. The healer seemed to be fussy about that sort of thing, even more so than Erestor.
He could hear the advisors before he even reached the door. The debates had begun before the council did, and already it had dissolved into bickering. Normally, Erestor would have silenced them by now, if only by scaring them into submission, but without him, they would not quiet.
Elrond sighed again as he opened the door to the council hall. The sooner Erestor recovered, the better.
Glorfindel found himself whistling as he walked out to the stables. The snow was light, and now that it was not impeding his progress, he enjoyed it. His scarf was bright red, but already it looked almost pink with snowflakes.
The stable master, Rochadan, gave him a slight bow as he entered. "Good morning, Lord Glorfindel."
Glorfindel breathed deeply of the warm scent of horses and hay. "Good morning, Rochadan. How are the horses?"
"Doing well, milord. The snow does not bother them, since the stable is warm, and we have plenty of oats and hay." The tall stable master paused to rub one horse's nose affectionately. "They are happy this morning, I believe."
"Well, that's always a good thing." Glorfindel indulged one gray stallion that had stretched out its nose for a rub. "I came to see Súlfëa. Would you mind directing me to her stall?"
"Of course, milord." Rochadan gave the horse's nose one final pat and walked away, chuckling at its whinny of protest. "She has fully recovered from the journey, I think, and now she is eager for another one. It is a hard thing to keep her in her stall when she wants to run, but the drifts are too deep right now."
"I understand," said Glorfindel emphatically. He understood all too well. Everything in Imladris was running smoothly, and there was nothing for him to do. He had come to the stables as much out of boredom as a desire to see Súlfëa.
The white mare recognized him immediately. She gave a little whinny and stretched out her neck, as if begging for him either to give her a carrot or to run her in the forest again.
Glorfindel laughed. "You miss the wolves, then?"
The sarcastic look of disbelief that she gave him was almost human. She snorted.
Glorfindel reached into his pocket and pulled out a carrot that he had taken from the kitchen when Meretheryn's back was turned. "A gift, milady. My thanks for your brave service."
She munched it, satisfied.
Rochadan chuckled. "You are not the first to congratulate her for her bravery, Lord Glorfindel, but I do not think that you will be the last, either. My son Serondrych has brought her apples every day since she returned, and she has milked the attention for all it is worth." He reached over to scratch a spot behind Súlfëa's right ear. "She deserves every bit of it."
Glorfindel smiled. Elrond certainly knew how to choose people for positions; Rochadan loved horses like parents did children. From what he had heard, the stable hands had grieved for the horses lost as much as the warriors had grieved for the Elves. "She has a lot of spirit."
"And plenty of charm to go with it." Rochadan backed away as Súlfëa tried to chew his hair. "Her foals will be the finest, I assure you."
"I have no doubt." Glorfindel gave the horse one last pat and then turned to leave. "Thank you, Rochadan."
The stable master nodded. "Good day, Lord Glorfindel."
Erestor looked up as the door to his room opened and Elrond came in. He smiled. "Good afternoon, Lord Elrond."
Elrond huffed. "I wish it was."
Erestor frowned. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not really," said Elrond as he washed his hands in the basin in the corner. "I am simply frustrated with those infernal advisors."
"Have they not reached a decision yet?"
Elrond dried his hands on a nearby towel. "They are no closer to reaching a decision than they were when they began. In fact, I think they have only made it worse. I am tempted to simply let the warriors choose their own captain."
"That might work well for the warriors," said Erestor hesitantly, "but the Captain would have to interact with the advisors frequently. If they were not pleased with your choice, then they would flatly refuse to work with him." He smiled. "Do you remember how long it was before I could work with them, after you named me chief advisor?"
Elrond shuddered. "Yes." He picked up a nearby roll of bandages. "This should not take very long. All I have to do is cut the stitches and then rebandage the wound."
Erestor winced and looked away. It was one thing to be aware that there were stitches in his shoulder, and quite another to actually see them.
Elrond snipped away at the stitches. "Do you have a method for dealing with them? Even if you cannot get them all to agree, at least you can stop them from bickering like Elflings."
"I cannot say that I truly have a method, but they seem to listen to me. If all else fails, then threaten to fire them and create a council of Imladris's minstrels." He smiled. "I did that once, and it worked perfectly."
"Hmm," said Elrond as he cut the last stitch and pulled away the bloodied thread. He took out a clean bandage, and Erestor decided that it was safe to look again. "Maybe I should try that." Elrond finished tying on the bandage, then sat back and smiled. "Erestor, your shoulder has healed better than I thought that it would. Since it is almost completely mended, I will allow you to go ahead and start with the crutches today, as long as you promise to be careful."
"May I start catching up with the paperwork that I missed while I was away?"
Elrond shook his head. "Not yet. Spend the rest of today resting, either here or somewhere else, and then tomorrow you can start working again. You will probably tire very easily, so I suggest that you rest every once in a while."
Erestor sighed. "Very well, milord."
Glorfindel was beginning to get nervous.
There was no sign of Erestor anywhere. No one knew when they had seen him last. He had looked in the room, just to check on him, and he had not been there. Everything had been swept clean.
Finally he asked one of the maids. "Last I saw, he was in the library," she answered. "That was about two hours ago, I think."
It was the most recent time that he had heard, so he decided to go check. Even if Erestor was not still in the library, there might be someone there who could tell him where to look.
The library was dark, since its windows faced eastward, and it appeared to be empty. Glorfindel gave it a cursory glance, and was about to leave disappointed, when suddenly he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
It was Erestor. He was curled up on one of the window seats like a cat, fast asleep. His knees were bent and drawn up to his waist, one hand under his head and the other almost touching the floor. His eyes were closed, and there were bits of sable hair falling in his face. His crutches were propped up against the wall, next to a pile of thick books.
Glorfindel smiled with relief. He had half expected to see Erestor in trouble, but it was not so. The advisor was only getting a much-needed rest.
He walked up to the sleeping Elf and looked him over once, just to be sure that everything was all right, and decided against moving him to his room. Erestor looked so peaceful that Glorfindel did not have the heart to disturb him.
Glorfindel stepped out into the hallway and found one of the maids' linen closets. He opened it up and pulled out a dark blue blanket, as soft and thick as he could find. He tiptoed back into the library. Even if Elrond had cured Erestor's sensitivity to the cold, it was better to make sure now than to regret it later. He unfolded the blanket and threw it over the sleeping Elf.
He stepped back and admired his handiwork. Erestor would be much more comfortable now. He was still pale, and his eyes were closed with weariness, but the healthy pink was beginning to return to his face.
Glorfindel smiled. Erestor did look like a little cat, curled up on the window seat. "Sleep well, Master Feline," Glorfindel whispered.
He walked over to the library hearth and stirred the coals in the fireplace, then added a few logs. It would only be sensible to have someone nearby. Erestor was recovering, but he was not completely well. Besides, the library looked almost inviting when there was such a cheery fire in the hearth.
He pulled one of the armchairs up beside the fireplace and sat down, making sure the angle was such that he could keep an eye on both Erestor and the fire.
There had been times, especially in the last two weeks, that he had wished that Manwë had left him alone and allowed him to stay in Valinor with his family. Valinor was so blissful and wonderful, especially when it was compared to Middle-earth blizzards and endless enmity.
But it was times like this, a quiet winter night with a warm fire and the knowledge that all was well in his world, that made it all worthwhile.
Author's Notes:
kingmaker: The funeral scene was hard to write, since I felt a little mushy myself and I didn't want to overdo Erestor's reaction. Plus, I wondered if I would be "cheating" the readers by not going into the funeral. I would have, but the fact is that I have absolutely no idea what an Elvish funeral is like, and I didn't want to get too AU. I'm glad that you liked it! And thank you for the compliment… Glorfindel and Erestor have come a long way, but finally they are friends. Thanks for your review!
LOTRFaith: Yes, things are finally looking up for all of them. Erestor has had a time of it, but now his situation is looking brighter… I'm tempted to get punny and clichéd and say that the future is golden. Okay, sorry. :) Yes, Erestor is relatively young, but (in my universe, which may or may not correspond with Tolkien's… hope it does, but you never know for sure) he's learned to deal with most of it. He'll learn to move on, and now he has Glorfindel to help him. I'm glad that your author alerts are working! Thanks for reviewing!
Avalon Estel: No, crying isn't silly at all. Forgive me if I sound cruel when I say that I'm glad that you were emotional enough to cry over my story! It's a great compliment to an author. :) Everything is finally looking up for Glorfindel and Erestor. I sincerely hope that you don't stop reading this…! And now they are friends. I'm glad you liked the descriptions. I love describing things, but sometimes I have to tone it down, because I don't think that people really want to read five paragraphs about a daisy. :) I'm glad that I could fling Nuzgûl at you, even if it was unintentional! Thank you for your review!
ellfine: Erestor is on the mend now, and he has Glorfindel there to help him. I'm glad that you liked the healing. Thank you for reviewing!
Coolio02: raises an eyebrow Is there something important about March 18, that you should be glad I updated that day? I'm glad that you liked Glorfindel and Erestor's conversation. Everything is definitely looking up for them. Thank you for your review!
SilverWolf7: Perhaps is a very nice word indeed. But I've forgiven you for guessing correctly, so you don't need to be sorry at all. :) Don't apologize to Glorfindel either; he can get over it. Erestor is finally beginning to understand his problem, and it's a good thing for him that Glorfindel is there to help him work through it. I must confess, I like hurt/comfort too, as long as it's well done and not overly mushy. I'm glad that you liked Nienna's cameo! I actually had that idea before most of my other ones. I hope you get to write out the story it inspired soon! And I'm so glad that you updated "Lost"! Thank you for reviewing!
EmySumei: Yes, Glorfindel is a very understanding and caring Elf. Erestor is healing now, and with Glorfindel's help, I think he'll recover. :) Both of them were tired of hating one another, and so it was time for them to start anew. Thank you for your review!
kenzimone: Yes, Erestor and Glorfindel are finally friends. Elrond will more than likely be very relieved, though I wouldn't count on things being quiet. They are, after all, Erestor and Glorfindel. ;) Thank you for reviewing!
BanbieBunny: I'm so glad that you liked the climax! I had built up to it so long, I didn't want anyone to be disappointed. And yes, of course! (hands her a tissue) You can cry whenever you want. Thank you for your review!
kel: Yes, they're finally friends. I don't think Imladris could have put up with any more arguing, and besides, they really did need one another's friendship. Thank you for reviewing!
Tarion Anarore: Wow, thank you! How humbling. I'm glad that there are so many people that like the Sons of Fëanor as much as I do. I'm very flattered that you say you couldn't find a flaw! Thank you very, very much for your review!
seeing-spots: Yes, it is a strange paradox, isn't it? Friends for life who still feel the urge to kill one another on occasion. But I'm glad that you like it! The charm of Erestor and Glorfindel. ;) I hoe you like this one, since you've looked forward to it for… um… never mind how long. I hope to see more of Grinding Ice soon! And… a new story? Must go read that! Thank you for reviewing!
Yavieriel Tarandir: I'm glad that you liked Endless Sun! Yes, the sundering of the Elves and Men is definitely a sad fate, though I hope that Ilúvatar will have mercy on them at the world's end, and the two kindred will not be sundered forever. Thank you for your kind review!
Ramarama: This, the end? No, not at all! There will be fifteen chapters and an epilogue, total. I'm definitely with you as far as effort/outcome… so much for so little, it seems! But then, if the readers are happy, then it's worth every bit. I knew you weren't being critical! I was agreeing with you. I hope this update is soon enough… though I suspect that it's as possible for an update to be quick enough as it is for a chapter to be long enough! ;) Thank you for reviewing!
Sirielle: Don't worry; I understand. Unfortunately, I'm the same way far too often. Yes, Erestor and Glorfindel are finally friends, after all the hardship and waiting. Actually, as to the Númenóreans… they don't show up in the rest of this story, but they're tapping on my shoulder for inclusion in another story to come. 4am? Wow, you have strength of will… at 4am, I'm dead to the world! Thank you for your review!
Coming Soon: Chapter Fifteen: Beginning
