Chapter 5
Elrond had no idea why he had even agreed to this. He was in no mood to go to a festivity, but he figured there really had been no way around it. To refuse an invitation from Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel would have been extremely ill mannered of him. He could have made and excuse but he knew that they would know exactly what it was…an excuse. He sighed and let his mind linger on the sweet moments he had spent with Celebrian. To be where she had grown up was almost too painful. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind from everything else except for tonight. As he saw the Lord and Lady he attempted a smile and bowed. Lord Celeborn grasped his forearm in welcome while Lady Galadriel smiled at him.
Thranduil was stoked. Finally! To have a party in Lothlorien instead of Mirkwood, he was definitely looking forward to this night. He had received a letter from Celeborn saying that Elrond was suffering from his wife departing to Valinor. It was pretty much his job to make sure that Elrond didn't mope around all evening. He smiled to himself. Oh, this was going to be a piece of cake. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was to liven up a party.
Lord Celeborn nodded his thanks to Thranduil for coming. He was worried at first that Thranduil would refuse, but then again, Thranduil was never one to want to miss a party. Thranduil grinned and Lady Galadriel smiled to herself. Yes, they had made the right choice in making sure Thranduil came.
As the night wore on, Elrond's expression had changed little. Lady Galadriel was quite worried for him. She looked to Celeborn and could tell that he felt the same way. Thranduil noticed the exchange and got up from his seat. Turning to the musicians he said, "Play something more lively will you, it's a party after all." The musicians looked at him and changed the tempo into a more merry sounding tune. Celeborn looked at Galadriel and smiled. She returned the look. Thranduil was about to work his magic.
Watching as the tables were cleared away and barrels of wine were rolled out, Celeborn was pleased to see Elrond taking a slight interest in what was going on. Thranduil looked around the room and spotted a young elf maiden standing alone. He walked up to her and said, "Care for a dance my Lady?" Clearly shocked the young maiden accepted. As Thranduil danced around the room with her Galadriel started to giggle. Leave it to Thranduil to be so bold. Pretty soon all the elves in the room were dancing except for Elrond. Going over to Elrond, Thranduil whispered something to the young maid and she smiled and nodded.
Going over to Elrond the young maid bowed and said, "If I may be so bold my Lord as to ask for a dance." Elrond looked at Thranduil, but only got a broad grin in response. Sighing Elrond nodded. "I would be honored my Lady." Elrond started to dance around the room, oddly starting to feel happier. Thranduil smiled to himself. Yes! It was working.