The knock on her door came too early in the morning to be good news. Jolting out of bed, Gilraen immediately began to dress. "Come in!" she called, even as she raced to open the door herself.

On the other side stood an Elf looking mildly affronted with one hand drawn away as if from a hot stove. She tossed her head back. "I was coming."

"Oh Telmoth, welcome home, ah, pray forgive my curtness, at this hour I feared something was amiss. But I suppose you are not so terrible!" Gilraen was able to laugh, though Telmoth did not. "Have you just ridden in?"

"Yes." The Elf put a hand on Gilraen's arm, then stepped aside, gesturing that she was not alone. "And you are right that something is amiss."

The worst of her foreboding returned, Gilraen darted into the hallway. Elrond stood there, as she knew he would -- Telmoth held her tongue for no one else. She came close enough to read from his eyes in the dimness. "Tell me plainly, I beg you. Has something befallen my son?"

He raised his hands. "No."

With that word the tension broke, and she slumped forward, dizzy for relief. "I feared..." the worst, she could not finish. When arms came around her, it seemed easier to breathe amid the warmth. Telmoth moved then to stand within view. "Tell me your tidings."

The Elf glanced up before replying, "Alas, the Dúnedain commander, Valcirion, has passed away. He is survived by his wife and children, and will be succeeded by Gilbarad. Your kinsmen mourn, but send to you their good wishes."

Gilraen allowed herself a deep breath before stepping back to meet Elrond's eyes. "Was it... how did he fall?"

"He did not, but rather had taken to sickbed, so Telmoth was told."

After a moment, she replied, "That is a strange end for a man of high lineage, despite his age. I know he had been stricken ill at times these last years, but, to die..."

Telmoth spoke in her stead. "Come now, Gilraen, you have begun to shiver; let us get you something warmer to wear than that shift. If you must be treated for exposure, I will never be allowed to forget this night." To Elrond, she said, "We release you to your obligations, Master."

Gilraen was led back inside her room, robed, and seated before she realized it. Telmoth continued then, "Elrond did not wish to wake you, but I insisted on your behalf. Was I right in adjudging that this is as you would have it?"

Unbidden memories came, of the night when she learned of Arathorn's death. The sound of hoofbeats had awoken her, but she did not mark the hour; just knew that two horses approached when there should only be one. She came with dread to see beyond the bedroom window Arathorn's riderless horse, and grim-faced Gilbarad dismounting. A moment later, they stood one on each side of the threshold.

'You are a widow.'

'Your wife is not. Go to her.' They made no eye contact before she closed the door. Returning to the bedroom, she had watched Aragorn sleep, striving in the poor light to memorize every inch of his face, maybe to make the memory of Arathorn's less vivid thereby.

The bed she sat on presently was empty --Estel had long since slept in his own room-- and it occurred to her, not for the first time, that without him she would be alone.

Telmoth spoke again, "You were close to this man, Valcirion? His widow spoke fondly of you."

"I knew them better in my youth, ere I married and left my family's home. I befriended their last child, a daughter close to my age, and their oldest son had children that I would look after."

"I am sorry for your loss, and that of his family."

"Gilbarad has a son now, seven years old already. If he is to take Valcirion's place--" Gilraen blinked, sitting straighter. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I never asked of your family, Telmoth. You have stayed in Lothlórien for all these years; were you visiting relatives?"

"My relatives left these shores long ago, one way or another." The Elf lit the lamp sitting at the bedside, and made to leave. "It is good to be home," she said by the door; but referring to Rivendell or the West, Gilraen did not know.

-clang!-

"I have not seen him," replied Glorfindel, all sincerity.

Which did not exactly answer Gilraen's question; but she rephrased in any case. "Can you tell me where he is?"

The Elf was again focused upon his task, plunging the horseshoe he shaped into a basin of water, and spoke haltingly over the hissing steam, "I fear not." Then he ducked away to where Asfaloth waited nearby, checking the shoe's fit.

Gilraen considered her next words carefully, saying when he returned, "Can you tell me how I might find him?"

He paused, opened and closed his mouth, then smiled. "Elrond was unspecific in this, so I shall say, 'I do not know'."

And we shall be here all day, Gilraen did not reply, trying to rub away the ache from her head.

Glorfindel must have noticed, for with a nod to the forge he said, "This heat is insufferable, I know."

He was absorbed in his work again, and she said truthfully, "'Tis not the heat." This was no more fun, she reflected, than any other time she had sought for Elrond to no avail, and asked the household of his whereabouts in vain. And when he is found at last, I will be so abashed for my annoyance with him that I will say nothing of it. She sighed. And when next I am in need and can find him nowhere, I will go through this again, with someone else who dances with words.

"Well!" Holding up the prepared horseshoe, Glorfindel assessed it once more, and seemed satisfied at last. He said, "I am finished here all the same."

She followed him out to where Asfaloth waited, through waiting herself. Over the noise of the shoe being nailed in place, she said, "I have spoken with the stablemaster, and he said a horse will be made ready for me within the hour. And I have left Telmoth with word of my plans, though she should find no duties of mine unresolved. At this time of year, Ronduir holds the first outpost, and when I... w-what?"

He had straightened and turned to face her, no mirth discernible in the keenness of his gaze. "You would forego speaking first with Elrond, before carrying through with your plans?" Taken aback by his changed mood, Gilraen did not answer at once. The Elf's voice softened when he said, "Please, reconsider. I believe he would have words with you, and should like to see you off."

"That is as I would prefer it." Here she was careful to keep her tone devoid of blame, "But knowing not of his whereabouts or when he is expected to return, I feel compelled not to tarry on account of my ignorance." She paused, if Glorfindel would surrender any pertinent information. After his silence, she shrugged. "And since I cannot ask his counsel, I know not that he would say other than 'farewell'."

Glorfindel's smile reappeared. "Yet I have seldom known Elrond to say quite so little!"

"Maybe he would wonder at my hesitation; I would be loath to seem negligent of my duties thereby."

"More likely that he would wonder at your absence, I think."

About to respond, Gilraen noticed how Glorfindel seemed ready to do likewise, and could not but suspect that he knowingly stalled her. She sighed. "Alas that I never thought to discuss with Elrond such situations as this, so as to better guess his opinion on any given matter."

"Well, Elrond is not so unpredictable; for instance, what if you were to ask him, 'Should I depart, Master, without your blessings?'"

Gilraen smiled in turn. "I think he would give me that look of his, the one that makes me feel as a small child, and I would realize the foolishness of such a question."

"Then wait but a while; I think you shall see 'that look' soon enough!" With that, Glorfindel went back to his work, and began to sing a merry song. Its echo followed Gilraen back to the house, where she returned to make one last preparation.

In front of a mirror, she sat to braid her hair as suitable for a long ride on horseback. "Should I depart, lord, without your blessings?" She leaned forward, studying herself. "Should I remain, and assume it is free at the asking?"

Coming some time later into the stable, Gilraen was surprised to see Elrond dismounting ahead. She had not supposed he left on horseback, yet knowing that he had made her earlier efforts seem only more a waste of time. An ostler was at hand to lead his steed away, but Elrond stood in place, looking at the horse waiting saddled with Gilraen's gear.

Approaching the mare, she secured another bundle, imagining his gaze shift to her back. Her tone kept even, she said, "Obligation requires your delegate elsewhere. I ride to the Angle."

"So be it."

"Yet I go with your blessings or not at all."

"Then you may go in peace."

That he would pose no argument, nor indeed any conditions, was a relief -- then a curiosity. Half-elven, I know you too well. She turned, but found in his expression no cause to suspect. Furthermore, she noticed then that he was somewhat soiled, disheveled. Behind him, the horse he had ridden in on was enjoying a long drink. "No leisurely ride have you returned from."

He raised his eyes with a slight smile, perhaps amused that she thought otherwise. She tried to amend the statement, having no reason to deduce that he had taken a leisurely ride, save that in her irritation it seemed most likely; but that forgotten irritation being unmentionable, she simply stuttered until changing the subject.

"Estel is two days gone already," she said, "and I mean to be back ere he returns."

"Ten days will see you to the Angle and back, certainly. I shall look for you both before then."

Together they walked outside, Elrond speaking the condolences he wished to have relayed, and Gilraen listening intently. As such, she did not notice Glorfindel waiting outside the doors until after she had mounted. He appeared prepared for an excursion of his own, the plain clothes he wore earlier replaced with garb suitable for riding, and Asfaloth laden with traveling bags.

As she sat considering the unlikelihood of this coincidence, Asfaloth pranced closer of his own volition, then circled. Glorfindel sighed at the display. "Yes, yes, we see you!" The horse shook his mane and pawed the ground, appearing more impressed than his master. Glorfindel said to Gilraen, "This one is such a braggart, so proud of his new shoes that he must show them to everyone within view. And your mare has been eyeing the boundaries for days, hopeful of a good journey. Fit companions, us four!"

She turned from the Elf to Elrond, who looked predictably unmoved. Or unmovable.

No sooner had Gilraen opened her mouth when Elrond said, "Had you thought to travel alone?"

His words from earlier returned to her: 'I shall look for you both.' At the time, she had assumed he spoke of herself and Estel. "Yes?"

Elrond nodded in such an indulgent but knowing manner that she felt three feet high, and as many years old. "You know the road is days long, Gilraen, perilous without an escort. And Glorfindel knows well its dangers -- the better to escort you."

"Yet the road is watched closely at this season, by your people and mine." Seeing that fail to affect, she added, "Telmoth rides alone."

"Telmoth is a warrior," said Elrond, sterner.

"Ah. Well, that I am not." She glanced to Glorfindel, noting the weapons stowed amongst his gear, in seeming contrast to the fineness of his bearing. His looks were deceptive, as any who had watched him in the sparring ring would know; still, she fancied the Angle ill-suited to lodge an Elf-lord in comfort comparable to the House of Elrond. Equally, she imagined herself a nuisance to need supervision. "I know it is not ideal, my traveling alone, but it is not unwarranted, either. I had hoped not to cause an inconvenience, and to leave as soon as may be."

"But it is my pleasure, and we may depart forthwith." Glorfindel bowed his head.

Elrond said, "And it is my word."

Gilraen looked from Elf to Half-elf, through barely narrowing eyes. She perceived no element of surprise between them, nothing to indicate that anything she had said or done struck either unexpectedly. Elrond just returned, there was no time for him to consult with anyone else. He must have known of my plans, and assigned Glorfindel to accompany me, before leaving this morning, before I spoke to anyone of my intentions. Before even I had decided?

Elrond still waited for her accord, so she nodded. "If you insist." Though he smiled then, and followed to bless them at the beginning of their road, for long after, Gilraen could only shake her head with pursed lips. Elves!