Her Hand

As it turned out, the next morning, Glofindel was first-handedly able to determine that she had been right. He most definitely did not want to "try his hand against her" until the oliphaunt-stepped-on-his-ribs feeling was completely gone. He made his way to the archery lane slowly and painfully. Mirthanna nearly burst out laughing when she saw him.

"Not a word from you," he told her, and picked up his own bow, trying to tense it. Mirthanna bit her lip until it was raw.

"I don't think we'll be having our normal contest today, friends," she told those who gathered eagerly to watch. They grudgingly moved on, disappointed but obeying. To Glorfindel she asked quietly, "You didn't see a healer yet, did you?"

Glorfindel shook his head. "It was–"

"Embarrassing?" Mirthanna asked. "Too bad. You're a grown elf, you will get over it. I don't think you've broken anything, but if anything, I know I'm not a healer. I'm going to take a few shots here, and then we will go to see Lothiril." Mirthanna had come to be as well acquainted with Rivendell's healer-in-chief as Glorfindel was over the course of her own training. "I'm sure the very least she'd be able to do is give you something for the pain."

He wanted to shake his head, but Mirthanna had that set tone of finality in her voice that he'd heard before. The way she was acting now, it was possible to forget Mirthanna's young, elven age. She had once told him that she was two thousand eight hundred and forty eight, roughly thirty six in the way of a human. He himself was not much older, though the memories of his previous lifetime would often make him feel it.

Mirthanna took her shots, a relatively easy training compared to those normally under Glorfindel's instruction. He was soon supposed to teach her techniques for hitting moving targets, but obviously not today. Glorfindel had no comments on her shooting, so after a short while Mirthanna and Glorfindel together made their way to see Lothiril.

Mirthanna reached the infirmary first. The healer had been putting away some supplies. She turned, laughing when she saw Mirthanna there.

"What've you done to him this time?" she asked, "The ointment and the bandage are by the door, I'm sure you can take care of it. Such dangerous toys they let you children play with!" she clucked, turning back to her inventory.

Mirthanna shook her head. "It's not that it's–" Glorfindel reached the door just then, having been moving quite slowly because of the pain in his ribs. Lothiril gasped.

"What happened?" she demanded, as she helped Glorfindel to sit.

"He snuck up on me in the gardens and–"

"You kicked him didn't you?" Lothiril finished. She hit Glorfindel in the head. "You never sneak up on a lady! Any other one of them probably would've done the same damage! Now lie down."

Glorfindel obeyed, grimacing slightly. Lothiril pulled back his tunic and shirt to reveal a large, ugly bruise on his right side. She looked vaguely surprised, her eyes wide. "Impressive," she said to Mirthanna, who smiled and bowed her head in thanks. Glorfindel cleared his throat.

"Yes, quite, but if you ladies don't mind–?"

"Does this hurt?" Lothiril questioned, touching the bruise in various places, as Glorfindel's wincing with every touch of the healer's light fingers told her the answer. "Quite an impressive kick, lady. I do believe you've cracked on of his ribs."

Glorfindel suddenly looked rather pale, and Mirthanna very red. "Sorry," she whispered.

Lothiril shook her head. "You should've come to see me yesterday. This is going to hurt. But then, it would've still hurt had you seen me yesterday," she informed her patient. "Here." She handed him a short piece of leather covered in cloth. Mirthanna was wondering what it was for when Glorfindel placed it between his teeth. "To bite," Lothiril explained, "Instead of his lip. When I said this would hurt, I meant it."

Mirthanna walked over and slid her hand into Glorfindel's, and by the end, she could tell that Lothiril had definitely meant it. Aside from utilizing her elven magic, for lack of a better word Mirthanna had yet to think of, she needed to physically help Glorfindel's rib heal in the correct position. This meant setting it in place, shifting it back if it shifted forward, and forward if back, all during the healing process, sped by magic. Just watching made Mirthanna feel sick, and she couldn't imagine how Glorfindel felt. He didn't make a sound, but he appeared pale, and when Lothiril was finished, he had nearly bitten through the cloth in his mouth.

There were crescents in Mirthanna's hand when she finally got it back. Lothiril moved about the room collecting jars and bandages, all of which were applied or wrapped around Glorfindel's healing rib cage. Mirthanna moved out of the way, applying some of the ointment in the jar near the door to her own fresh cuts.

Soon Glorfindel's upper body was wrapped in cloth. "You should probably tell Elrond that I won't be appearing at dinner, and that he shouldn't send a search party," Glorfindel joked hoarsely.

"A fine idea." Lothiril agreed. "Now, you, bed, now!"

Mirthanna delivered Glorfindel's message, and while Elrond was unable to keep his face completely straight, he didn't laugh outright.

Mirthanna had never realized how boring Rivendell could be without her training master. She returned to the infirmary several times during the day to visit him. He was sleeping all but the third time, though by the fourth and fifth she was beginning to believe he was pretending in order to avoid her.

Glorfindel didn't show up at the banquet that night, as he knew he wouldn't. Mirthanna visited him the next morning, as her training appeared to be cancelled. He assured her that he was fine, merely stiff, and, he added with a wink, "Not anxious to leave my darling Lothiril." Mirthanna laughed at his teasing, retorting that he probably didn't want the entirety of Rivendell to know that he had been beaten up by herself.

They talked and played the little elvish games that they had long since outgrown. Lothiril came back in a little while before Mirthanna left to check on Glorfindel's bruise. She changed his bandages and stayed for a while.

"Tight as my corset?" Mirthanna suggested.

"Having never tried wearing your corset," Glorfindel replied, wincing, "I couldn't give you an honest reply, though I would just as soon say tighter."

Mirthanna wrinkled her nose. "I can't imagine that."

Glorfindel told Lothiril that he wished to attend the night's banquet, and she reluctantly agreed. She pulled Mirthanna aside as Glorfindel was getting ready to leave his room.

"Please watch out for him," Lothiril said sternly, "He always wants to leave here before he's quite ready. Says it strengthens his endurance or something along those lines." She sighed. "The stress I am put through! Oh well, I suppose he's been in worse shape that this. I guess it's just his pride that really pains him." She nudged Mirthanna who laughed hesitantly as Glorfindel appeared in the doorway.

"You ladies wouldn't be talking about me?" he asked innocently.

"Only in the nastiest of ways," Mirthanna replied with her most sickly sweet smile.

Glorfindel could not help but laugh. "Come, entertain me on the long journey back to my rooms."

He sat at his usual place at the high table, treated with the utmost mocking respect, playing on the normal, loose conversation. He laughed aloud with his peers, making his own snide comments and jokes at the expense of others.

They started to talk, first about the weather, and then about Orathan's plans of leaving. He told them all he wished to leave before the first snowfall. He told them he wished to leave the next day.

"I don't want to miss the Midwinter in Dol Amroth," he remarked, and Mirthanna sighed, "Besides," he continued, grinning at his son, "There is a wedding to be planned."

That was when they heard a choking sound. Mirthana coughed and her fork clattered to the floor. Glorfindel, seated next to her, patted her gently on the back.

"Alright?" he asked, offering his glass of wine to her. She sipped it slowly and nodded.

"Fine," she said eventually, and hoarsely, "I'll be alright."

Her father looked at her, concerned, and a nod from Mirthanna assured everyone she was fine. "As I was saying–"

"Would you care to walk with me?" Mirthanna asked Glorfindel quietly.

Slightly surprised, Glorfindel accepted, "But I don't think dancing–"

"Neither do I," Mirthanna answered before he could finish. "Just walking."

So they walked.

"I can't believe my father wishes to leave before Midwinter," Mirthanna sighed, "I do miss Dol Amroth, but Midwinter comes yearly, and I would love to see it here in Rivendell. It must be so pretty."

"Yes," Glorfindel agreed, "Midwinter here is beautiful, but it seems warm yet for snow."

"But tomorrow?" Mirthanna looked upset. "How will I know if you're obeying Lothiril?"

Glorfindel laughed. "I'll admit, tomorrow is a bit of a shock."

"I wish I had known earlier," Mirthanna bit her lip, "I would have had more time for this."

"For what?" Mirthanna flicked her eyes upward and Glorfindel's followed. The had walked all the way around the dance hall to the very center. They stood under the mistletoe that had been put up that very morning. Glorfindel just stood there, wondering if this could possibly be what she had been referring to, though the back of his mind was telling him he had been lucky it had been put up today.

"Mistletoe, hope for snow," she whispered, loving the rhyme the way it sounded on her lips. She kissed Glorfindel slowly, then stepped back and smiled, nodding her farewell, sliding her hand from his, though Glorfindel would long think and wonder when exactly he had taken hers. "Until I come back," she said, "And I will." She turned and left.

Glorfindel just stood there for a moment. Later he would describe it to his friend Elrond as "The strangest feeling in this middle earth, and I know strange things."

Elrond would smile and say nothing, keep his friend's confidence, and remember that Glorfindel had been holding Mirthanna's hand the entire time they walked around the banquet hall. People were more blind than they would like to believe.