#67 Failed Attempt
Lord Elrond sat nervously at the dining table in their private rooms. Today his beloved Celebrían was cooking him dinner for the very first time. He tried to persuade his wife they had servants for this and she needn't worry about it, but after she pleaded with him for several hours to please allow her to do this one thing for him, he could not say no.
So, now here he was many hours later hoping and praying he would survive this terrifying ordeal. It was no secret the Lady of Imladris could not cook to save her life. Both her parents were fine cooks, but somewhere along the way, their daughter failed to inherit that talent. Finally, Celebrían entered the room carrying many dishes of what appeared to be food, but he could not be sure through the smell of what he was certain was burned dishes.
Elrond cautiously took off one of the lids, and nearly choked on the smoke which filled the room. As he finished coughing, he smiled sweetly at his wife as she began to fill his plate. "This looks delightful dear, what may I ask is this?" Elrond asked as enthusiastically as he could.
Celebrían smiled back and began to fill her plate up after she was done serving her husband. "It is quail and potatoes," she answered back, sitting down to eat.
"Indeed," he said as he slowly began to put some in his mouth. Celebrían watched him as he slowly started to chew the charred meat. As soon as the food was in his mouth, Elrond had to restrain himself from gagging. He somehow managed to swallow it while fighting his gag reflexes which were trying to push the food back up. When he was sure he would not throw it back up, he smiled. "This is delicious, love."
"Is it?" Celebrían asked not able to hide the smile, her eyes shining brightly.
Elrond nodded and knew she was waiting for him to eat more. Slowly, he began to cut off another piece of meat and shakily put it in his mouth, but after the third bite, he could no longer eat anymore.
"Is everything okay?" she asked sensing something was wrong.
Elrond knew he had to say something, but he couldn't stand to break her heart. He was aware that she worked very hard on this and to tell Celebrían her cooking was horrible would crush her. "Yes, everything is okay, but I would like for both of us to eat together and so far, I am the only one enjoying this," he replied hoping she would buy into the lie.
Celebrían smiled. "You are right; we should both enjoy this together." Celebrían then took a small bite and almost instantly spit it out. "This is terrible! How could you say you liked it? You lied to me!" she cried, her eyes glistening.
Elrond rushed to her side and tried to console her. "No, my dear. It is just I knew how hard you worked on this and I did not want to hurt you. Please don't cry."
Celebrían wiped her eyes and looked up at her husband. "I guess not everyone can cook, can they?" she laughed wiping her eyes.
Elrond smiled back. "No, however, you do make an excellent lemon meringue pie."
"Well, it just so happens I made one for dessert, and it is in the kitchen."
Elrond grinned, his eyes growing bigger. "Well then, what do you say we go down to the kitchens and get us a slice to eat?"
Celebrían giggled and took her husband by the hand, and the two of them went down to the kitchens.