He had meant to listen to her. He really had. There was perhaps some truth in her warning about Gwyneth, truth that he himself had already come to suspect. He meant to stay away from the elleth, even if it were just to keep Sallahra away from Haldir. But abstinence was not in Glorfindels vocabulary, and one that was forbidden to him only became all the more appealing.

&(&(&

He shuddered, as the last of the throes of pleasure that had previously wracked his body left him, leaving him spent, and almost satisfied. Almost. He fell to the side of the elleth, reluctant to begin a conversation with what for him was, just another elleth. He heard her stretch languorously beside him with a little sigh of satisfaction, before she turned to face him, a hand upon his chest. "I have missed you this past week, My Lord," Gwyneth said huskily to her lover. "It has been a long time since you last filled my bed."

Glorfindel remained silent, contemplating the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts. He tried to ignore the feeling of guilt that slowly crept over him. He had tried to stay away from the wily elleth, but she had lured him back to her bed. She would not know, he reassured himself. Sallahra would not find out. But deeply within himself, the little feeling of doubt, and rancid guilt continued to whisper to him. He left Gwyneth's bed then, ashamed, despite her protests. But what was done, could not be undone

&&&

She knew the very day he returned to Gwyneth. There was no mistaking the smug grin of Gwyneth, who was so sure she was so close to claiming her prize, nor the guilt of Glorfindel, however he tried to hide it. That very night, she accepted Haldir's invitation to walk in the gardens. And she made sure Glorfindel knew it. She half wished he would follow her to the gardens, or try and stop her going, but he did not. He knew he had been the one to break the bargain between them. He had been the one to drive her into the Marchwarden's arms. And he sat up waiting for her that night, deeply troubled.

&&(&(

"My Lady Sallahra. Might I say that you look exceptionally lovely tonight?" Haldir purred, pausing over her hand, before placing a kiss upon the back of it. She forced a smile to her face. It was clear what Haldir had in mind. And whilst her body wasn't entirely objecting, her heart fought against even being here with him. "My Lord," she began.

"Haldir," he interrupted, effectively cutting her off, and began leading them into the most secluded part of the garden.

"Haldir," she said, trying to slow down the rapid pace the long legged Marchwarden was setting. Her short frame stood no chance.

"Alone at last," he murmured before pulling her against him, and placing a rapid kiss upon her lips, which were still trying to form anything that resembled refusal. She did not have much luck. It is difficult to talk when one finds two tongues in their mouth instead of one. She finally managed to pull away from Haldir.

"Haldir!" she managed to gasp out, as she fought to regain her breathe. He ignored her still, leaving kisses across her neck, her collar bone, in to her bodice. She jerked away at last, and Haldir looked up in surprise.

"My Lady, forgive me, did you want for something?" he asked, a little confused.

She did not look at him. "I'm sorry, Haldir. I cannot be here with you…like this. It was never my intention to mislead you, but I fear my heart is already given to another." To her surprise, Haldir only nodded, before he released his hold upon her. "I thought as much, Mine also, is in another's keeping. And yet, here the two of us are, alone."

She looked at him, startled. He continued.

"There is a lady of Lorien that I would give all the time I have spent and all I have left upon this world to have. I have been lost on her for time beyond my counting. But she will not have me. She is alone in the world, her father and brothers killed in wars long passed, and she will not have anything to do with one who could be taken from her so swiftly again. I thought the reason silly."

"But surely you didn't tell her that," Sallahra blurted out, unable to help herself. "You would have kept such sentiments to yourself of course, as she was obviously in pain and…." She noticed then that he was avoiding her gaze. "You didn't did you?"

"No." he said, "My want for her was so great that I brushed aside her sentiments as though they meant nothing in the wake of my own. And whilst she has forgiven me, she refuses to be with one who does not understand her pain. So I must continue to wait for her." He paused, before facing Sallahra. "So I fill my bed with others company to while away the time until she will look at me once more." he raised his eyebrows suggestively. "And what of you, Sallahra? How do you while the time away whilst waiting for the Lord Seneschal?"

She couldn't meet his eyes. "Is it that obvious?" she asked quietly.

"Only to me," he said, taking her hand in his. "I recognize in you the same longing that I myself am consumed with." She looked up at him and smiled shakily. "I will leave you now, Sallahra," he said rising, "But know that I think that your company would be most amicable to while the time away. I will not let you be, if not for my own petty desire for you, than only to make the blonde brained seneschal jealous." And with that, he placed a kiss upon the back of her hand, slipping his tongue out to taste her flesh impertinently.

"You are always welcome in my arms, should you want someone to love you, for however short a while." He said, before striding from the clearing.

And as she watched him go, for a moment she forgot her own heartache, and felt tears in her eyes for the bitterness of the Marchwarden. His very nature was what kept him from his Lady, nothing else. But he could not see that. And a small glimmer of hope. Perhaps all was not lost. It was a little more reassuring knowing that, despite it all, Haldir's arms would be open to her. Not that she would ever go to him, she told herself. Glorfindel was the only one she could bear to have. But the thought was comforting all the same, in the loneliness that was her life and love of Glorfindel.

A/N; Please let me know what your thinking. I've written the frame work and most of the other chapters, but I feel like I'm beating my head against a brick wall. Feedback, reviews, comments, all very much appreciated.