Later that evening, Glorfindel made his way to Erestor's rooms, carrying a tray of food and wine. "You didn't come to the evening meal," he said with a frown, as he placed the tray on a small table by the window. "Are you still looking at that thing?"
"Yes," replied Erestor, holding up the unusual scroll that had contained a strange message. "I finally figured it out." He picked up a blue stone about half the size of his fist and held it behind the scroll. He softly spoke a few words and the stone emitted a pale blue light, shining through the scroll. Where before there were missing words dotted throughout the lines, the light caused them to appear. "At least now we can read it, though I still don't know what it actually means."
"Hmmmm," said Glorfindel thoughtfully. "We seem to have a mystery on our hands. Perhaps Elrond can figure it out. Who sent this anyway?"
"I don't know. There wasn't an identifiable seal on it nor a letter of explanation. I still don't know what is causing the vibration. I am not getting any bad feelings from it." Erestor closed the scroll, placed it in the case with the map and put it on a shelf. "Is that bottle from Mirkwood?" he said, looking at the tray.
"Mirkwood's finest," Glorfindel said with a grin. "Don't ask, I'm not telling."
"Did you sneak into Elrond's wine cellar again? You do remember what happened the last time you got caught."
"I didn't get caught." Glorfindel shot him a look of annoyance. "You told on me."
"I merely gave him a bottle to sample, from the latest shipment," he said with feigned innocence. "How was I supposed to know that he would put it away for later? " He took the glass offered to him and begin to eat. Noticing a familiar look on Glorfindel's face, Erestor asked, "What are you up to?"
"Me?" he said, "Why would I be up to something?"
"You are always up to something."
The next morning after breakfast, they took the letter and map to Elrond, who studied them for nearly an hour. Glorfindel sat in a chair, casually leafing through the pages of a book of love poetry while Erestor paced back and forth across the room. Elrond looked up finally and looked at his counsellor in amusement. "If you keep doing that, you are going to wear a path into my floor."
"Well? What does it mean?" Erestor said, barely able to contain his excitement. "It's something important, isn't it?"
"This," said Elrond, holding up one of the scrolls, "is a map." He held up the other, saying "This one contains information for using the map," then turned his attention back to some letters he had to finish.
After several minutes of silence, Erestor got up, leaned over the desk and stared at Elrond. "What is it for?" Glorfindel snorted, then hid his face behind the book, as he struggled to contain his laughter. Glaring at him, Erestor turned back to Elrond and repeated his question. "What is it for?"
"Oh, sorry, it's a treasure map. The lines of this poem give clues on how to find it, and the map shows the way. Most of these things aren't even real. And of the ones that are, most have already been found. This one seems to be rather old, so I doubt it is worthwhile." Elrond sat back and stroked his chin, "Still," he said thoughtfully, " I suppose it is possible..." Leaving the thought hanging, he studied Erestor's face. "You aren't thinking of actually going after this, are you?"
"No, no, of course not," said Erestor while standing up and straightening his robe. "I don't have time to chase after silly things such as this." He gathered up the two scrolls, then left the room. Glorfindel couldn't control himself anymore and fell out of the chair laughing so hard, he was soon out of breath.
Elrond rolled his eyes and sighed. "Are you really going to go through with this one?"
"All the way," said Glorfindel, as he headed for the door. "Care to come along? After all, you are in on it too."
"No," said Elrond, "I simply have too much work to do." After Glorfindel left, Elrond sat with an amused expression on his face. I think perhaps Glorfindel is going to find himself over his head in this one.
Erestor spent the next few days reading through books and scrolls. Glorfindel looked up from a patrol report he was reading and looked around at the resulting mess. "Erestor, how long is this going to continue? Whatever are you looking for?"
"I am doing some research, something your simple mind can't seem to grasp," he replied, one corner of his mouth twitching.
"At least my simple mind doesn't make such an enormous mess. Don't even think about asking me to clean this up." Glorfindel leaned down and moved the books that had accumulated in front of his feet. "It's too nice a day to be spending it in here. Let's go down to the lake with a basket of food and wine, and spend the afternoon relaxing. We could..."
"Perfect," exclaimed Erestor, jumping down from the small stool he was standing on. "We can discuss what I have discovered," he whispered in a secretive manner. He gathered the scrolls and a few books he has set aside. "Let's go."
Glorfindel fell into step behind him. Discover. Yes, you will certainly discover a few things, he thought as he followed him down the hall.