A/N: Late! Tests got in the way. Anyway, here is the chapter. Thank you for all your ideas as to who their teacher is going to be. Seph was right, he will have his work cut out with her ;) no love will be lost... yet.
Disclaimer: We only own the Ocs
Chapter Twenty-Five – Seph the Matchmaker
Fin's PoV
Though the atmosphere between Seph and I could be stressed at times, I was glad to see that she was making an effort to make it feel like we were never apart, even if that did involve permanently scarring my boyfriend.
As we followed Elrond down the corridor I glanced up at Glorfindel, a light blush coating my cheeks when he returned my gaze. He was no longer wary of Seph, knowing that she had my welfare in mind, but made a massive effort to act like the perfect boyfriend whenever she was around. Some people might find my relationship with Glorfindel strange.
We first met when I had just entered my teen years, a little weird but we were soul mates and nothing could change that. No matter how many relationships an elf had in their lives, only their soul mate would truly capture their heart. Glorfindel had explained the concept on my sixteenth birthday, even though I hadn't realised what he was implying at the time.
When we arrived at the training ring I saw that Seph and Kels were already there with our twin brothers who looked rather amused. Kels was shuffling awkwardly and Seph was staring into the ring at something out of my field of vision, a pillar obscuring my view. She had a look on her face which read 'If you are as stupid as I think you are, I will make your life living, breathing hell'. Curious, I came up beside them as we walked down into the training area. The elf that stood there was well composed, calm and had an emotionless expression showing perhaps just a slight hint of snootiness; then again I might just be being judgmental. He had platinum blonde hair, pulled back into the classic three warrior braids and clear blue eyes, almost slightly silvery in the light. He looked strong, well built and almost leonine.
"Kelly, Persephone, this is Prince Legolas of the woodland realm." Our eyebrows collectively shot up and Seph gave a slight growl at the tiny smirk that graced his handsome face.
"My ladies, please pick up the bows," said Legolas, his voice smooth and silken. Kelly stepped forward and picked up the practice bow he had provided, Seph however walked over to the wooden chest which contained her weapons and withdrew her mahogany bow with twirling silver engravings travelling up the wood and her quiver which bore a similar design, the arrows fletched with blue feathers. Legolas just raised an eyebrow before turning back to the target and quickly nocking and firing his arrow in one motion, hitting dead centre.
"This is the standard we are aiming for, please take your place." Kelly walked forward and Legolas glided over, pointing out flaws in her posture and correcting her. Seph stood practicing her stance to the left and let out an angry huff as he came over and began to tell her what she needed to do.
"Straighten up, don't tense," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "you will never hit anything with that posture." Seph hissed quietly through her teeth and I stared in amusement as she strode up to the firing line and repeating Legolas' earlier feat, firing in one smooth motion and splitting the prince's arrow right down the middle. We all collectively turned to look at Legolas, future member of the fellowship. His jaw had gone slack in shock as he stared at the defiant and short young elleth before him.
They stared at each other, battling for dominance. Kelly was practicing with her bow in the background; she was surprisingly good at shooting so I'm guessing Seph had given her lessons. In the end, she stopped to watch the battle of wills. The thick silence was suddenly broken as Seph performed a sweeping bow to the stunned blonde prince and rose again.
"Thank you for your consideration prince longlegs." We all watched as she strode from the training ring with the twins close behind her. Legolas quickly composed himself, her outlandish and loud behavior obviously a shock. Acting as though nothing had happened he turned back to Kelly and coughed awkwardly.
"Shall we continue then?"
I laughed slightly before departing in the direction that Seph had left in. She was probably with the twins now, plotting revenge for his comment on her posture. As I swept down the corridor, past various other elves I found myself at a loss as to where she must be. After ten minutes I gave up and headed down, out of the house and through the forest, my pale green dress swishing behind me.
As I emerged from the tree line I found myself in the glade that we often used to play in. The large pool and small cliff still stood as proud as they had done all those years ago. I perched on a fallen log and stared over the shimmering water. Vibrantly coloured dragonflies danced across the surface causing small ripples to run across the smooth glassy face. I was snapped from my reverie by a gentle hand on my shoulder.
I sighed and sank down slightly, my fea instantly recognising who was behind me. Glorfindel stepped around me and looked into my eyes. His golden hair reflected some of the sun's rays causing a halo of light to appear around his head, the halo of an angel. He knelt gently down in front of me, taking no mind of the dirt that was getting onto his previously pristine breeches. His slightly calloused hands took mine and I looked at our intertwined fingers.
"Are you alright melenin?" A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth and a sigh escaped my parted lips.
"Just tired that's all." He raised a single eyebrow and I raised my head to meet his burning gaze.
"Don't lie to me! Tell me, what is troubling you?" I really wanted to, but I couldn't tell him. I couldn't tell him that I knew of the upcoming meeting when Frodo wakes and that I intended to leave with the fellowship. He would insist on coming or try and convince me to stay... he really does worry too much.
"I just wish that Seph would treat people like Legolas with respect instead of insulting them," I said, lying through my teeth. He just nodded and my breathed a sigh of relief, lying was Seph's forte, not mine.
"Smile for me," he whispered, cocking his head slightly and causing his smooth golden hair to cascade over one shoulder. I tried to pull my mouth into the smile he wanted, but it just fell straight back into the neutral position that it was in before. Noticing my failure, Glorfindel began to tsk and shook his head lightly.
"We need to do something about that." I opened my mouth to ask him what he was talking about but he had already lifted me up over one shoulder and ran up to the top of the cliff. I screamed in surprise and began to hit his back as hard as I was able to. I had a sudden sense of déjà-vu as he looked me in the eye one more time before dropping me over the edge. I landed with a splash and sank down under the water. I could faintly see the silhouette of his face above the surface and decided to be really mean.
Instead of swimming up for air, I swam down and hid among the rocks at the bottom. I could almost feel his panic as he thought that I might have hit my head and be drowning. I was acting like Seph, it was actually quite fun, and I could see why she did it all the time. There was a splash as he dove in to find me, at which point I swam to the surface and made my way slowly to the edge, grabbing onto the rocks with manicured fingernails.
I stared across the water, a smile finally breaking across my face as I watched Glorfindel surface and turn frantically to find me. As he caught sight of me, I wiggled my fingers and he hissed and began to power his way towards me. I attempted to get out but he was already upon me, wrapping one arm around my waist and pulling me back in and against his muscular chest.
"Don't ever do that again," he growled into my ear, arm tightening around my waist.
"Why ever not?" I asked with a giggle. He growled again and nuzzled his face into my wet hair.
"I don't like it when you are in danger, I don't know what I would do if I lost you." My heart contracted in guilt and I slowly turned to face him. His face was grim and in his eyes was that strange look he sometimes used on me, you could see the infinite knowledge he possessed and all of the things that had happened, all of the events he had witnessed. He had lost so much, including his own life, I felt so cruel to be considering leaving. Placing my soft hands on either side of his face I pulled him closer.
"No matter what happens, I love you, 'kay?" He laughed as I used my abbreviated language, something I rarely did but something he really enjoyed hearing me do for some reason. He pulled me to him and our lips met in a tender yet passionate kiss. I was always startled by the softness of his lips, he was always so careful with me, like I might break under his hands if he handled me roughly.
My arms wrapped around his neck, one hand tangling in his hair as he pushed me up against the rocks. I pulled back, gasping for breath but smiling nonetheless. He returned my smile, leaning forward and pecking me before clambering out, still as graceful as ever, even with his normally perfect hair wet and sticking up in various places. He offered me a hand and I quickly accepted, climbing out with a lot less grace than him.
He was staring at me and I immediately realised that I had been wearing a dress which now clung to all of my curves, sticking to my skin. Hitting him with the back of my hand, I grabbed his cloak and quickly tugged it around my shoulders. It too was wet but it was better than just my dress. I hit him one last time as I passed, heading back into the forest towards the homely house. There was a crunch of leaves as he loudly caught up with me, throwing one long arm around my shoulder.
As we entered the house and walked quickly through the corridors, I froze when I saw Seph leave the library with the twins. A Cheshire cat grin spread across her face and she winked.
"Have fun did you?" I flushed red but Glorfindel just smiled back.
"We did thank you." Seph laughed and nodded. My blush faded and a smile found its way onto my lips too, Glorfindel finally had Seph's respect. That made things so much easier; she always had respect for people with a sense of humour.
"Well I'm fine with that but if you don't go and get cleaned up I'll go and tell Ada that you've been a naughty girl." Her eyes glowing with mirth, I slapped her arm in both annoyance and amusement as I strode past towards my room. As I neared the corner I turned back and stared Seph in the eyes.
"Well if you don't go and get an alibi then I will tell Ada that you were planning on assaulting the prince legless." I turned and walked off, followed by the loud ringing sound of her high laughter, sounding like the tinkling of bells and the high voice of a sky lark.
As I reached my room, I quickly went inside before Glorfindel finally followed me. I reached under the bed and pulled out a small wooden casket. In it was a heart carved of wood with our names engraved into it. I had been working on it in the hope that I would be able to give to Glorfindel before I left. As I stroked the wood, I shivered, only just realising that I was still crouched in a wet dress and Glorfindel's damp cloak.
I quickly threw off my dress, throwing on a dry blue dress and running a comb through my hair, removing the tangles and allowing it to fall in a straight waterfall down past my shoulders, just past my shoulder blades. I quickly looked at the sundial on my balcony, noting that I actually only had about ten minutes until dinner.
Ten minutes until Glorfindel came to get me. Giving a stressed sigh, I ran a single hand through my slightly damp hair and lifted his cloak up, nuzzling my face into it and inhaling the familiar scent of pine and leather. I immediately calmed but stayed standing there for several minutes until a knock came to my door.
The door creaked open and I looked up at Glorfindel, giving him a shaky smile.
"You ready for dinner?"
"I wish." As we were about to head off a surprisingly under-dressed prince of the woodland realm strode past us, face twisted slightly. There was a sloshing sound as the water moved around in his boots when he walked. His thin cotton shirt was soaked; plastered to his skin like my dress had been earlier. His breeches were also wet, giving the impression that he may have very badly wet himself. As soon as he turned the corner, a highly amused Seph left her room that was on the opposite side of the corridor to mine. Her iPod was in her hand, the screen showing that it was in camera mode, much to my amusement.
"What did you do?" Glorfindel questioned. She laughed and shook her head.
"I got the idea from seeing Fin earlier. Just took his other clothes while he was training before placing a piece of twine across his path so he tripped and fell into the pond in the centre of the garden." I snorted gently and Glorfindel covered his face with one hand.
"Was that really necessary?" he questioned, spreading his fingers so he could look through them.
"No, but some negative reinforcement is always useful." She winked and turned to walk away, her pale grey dress swishing around her legs, Elrond had insisted that she wear them to meals. She quickly glanced once more over her shoulder and grinned.
"By the way, if Kels and Aragorn look awkward, they may have... bumped into each other earlier."
With a flicking salute she turned and made her way down the corridor, going in the opposite direction that Legolas had taken.
"Well..." I said, turning to look at Glorfindel, "it appears that Seph is still just as much of a trickster as always, but I never thought she would be a matchmaker."
A/N: Thank you for reading! Seph has gone back to being her usual trickster self ;D
Anyway, the next chapter will be Diana, but who do you want to hear the POV of after that. I am asking you because I can reveal that that chapter will be...
*drumroll*
THE COUNCIL!
Please send in a review with your opinions, and who you would like it to be. If there is a real range we might do a switching POV :)
Also, I would like to get to at least 90 reviews this time, cheers!