Chapter Six
Saruman had seen anger in many forms. Elves, orcs, Wizards, other creatures for which the elven tongues had no name. He had not seen a rage so comic and childlike in a grown woman, however. Rinbereth, wife of Isildur, had the misfortune of having a naturally pouty mouth that made her beautiful face childish and served to take any credit her anger gave her.
"Who are these children my son is tutored with?" she demanded. "You did not specify he would be taught alongside common girls." Saruman cursed his bad timing, Rinbereth had stormed in just as the council had begun again for the day. Around the table sat the new Council of the West: Elrond, Erestor, Glorfindel, Nairn, Galdor on behalf of Círdan and two elves from Lindon. Saruman did his best to manage his brothers, Radagast was with Thranduil in Amon Lanc and the Blue Wizards sent on their way East. He would have wanted Olórin to secure the elven realms whilst he dealt with Isildur and what remained of Men.
"Rinbereth, there are few children here in Imladris. You agreed that your son needed companions. If you will excuse us, we-" Elrond, Saruman conceded, had the patience of rock.
"What right do they have to sit alongside a Prince?" Rinbereth demanded.
"Edweniel is the daughter of one of my Captains," Glorfindel added wearily. "Yarna is my niece. That is what gives them the right." Saruman had to admire the elf's strength, for the second time in his, not life but existence, he had lost his sister and all he showed for it after his initial outburst on the battlefield was a terse composition that lacked the energy to turn it into a threat of a storm. Erestor seemed as calm as always, Saruman had never paid him much mind. The council looked much the same as before the battle, ever so slightly less tense but not by much.
"Your son could find Yarna on his genealogy if he looked hard enough, does that satisfy you, my lady?" Elrond's placid smile made Rinbereth back down slightly.
"They are not the companions I would have chosen. I shall hold you responsible for their behaviour, Lord Glorfindel." With that she stormed from the room.
"The Havens and their protectorates, as you were saying, Galdor?" Rinbereth pushed from their minds Elrond turned them back to the conference table. Galadriel and Celeborn were not present, all details having been settled before the elven hosts parted on the road some months before. For that Saruman was grateful. Hearing the elves divide up what lands they had left to protect and mopping up the remains of Gil-Galad's kingdom was bad enough, he did not want Lady Galadriel in the corner of his eye the entire time.
In the end, Elrond agreed to take over the protection of Harlindon, Eregion and the entire Bruinen, despite Glorfindel's protests that their guard could not keep such a wide expanse of land safe. Galdor checked his notes from Círdan every few sentences and the two Lindon elves were persuaded to at least try and rebuild their realm. Saruman saw little hope for the Noldor of Lindon, their choices were Imladris, Mithlond or the sea. He did not doubt many would choose the latter.
The council broke for the evening meal with the promise that one more day would cover all that was pressing. After three weeks of talks, it was overdue in his opinion. Saruman was not the first to leave, the map that formed the table surface caught his attention. He had seen it before, this engraved wooden top that showed Middle Earth as they knew it. He traced a finger down the ridge that formed the Misty Mountains, resting on the tiny metal prong that represented a fortress.
"It is too much," murmured Erestor. The two elves had remained behind as well, Glorfindel cradling his head in his hands as Erestor moved papers around with a frown.
"It is the only compromise he will make." Glorfindel stood and stretched, nodding to Saruman as he passed. "Elrond will not take power, so he will try to use it without seeming to instead, and wear us thin in the process."
"I have not known many Noldor who would pass up the opportunity Elrond has," Saruman added. Elrond could claim his birth right as High King of the Noldor yet chose not to.
"Then you have not known many Noldor," answered Glorfindel with a slight hint of bitterness. He held out his arm for Erestor and Saruman was left alone. Any elf was below a Maia, yet with Glorfindel the line blurred somewhat, for Saruman recognise the presence the elf extruded as one of his own kin. Therefore he did not take it as too grave an offence when the Golden Lord dared speak back to him. Saruman wished to learn more of the golden elf and his mysterious mission, yet for all he was kin by marriage to Olórin, Glorfindel's secrets were not given up.
"Curunír!" In a House still in mourning only a child's voice could sound bright. Saruman bestowed a smile upon her as her little dark head scurried around. "Will you help me?"
"With what, child?" He had seen that mischievous grin too many times on Olórin's face to withhold a sigh.
"We are going to sew Valandil's breeches together, so that it looks as if he is wearing a skirt. Only, Edweniel's Naneth will not lend her a needle and we cannot sew."
"That is not the kindest thing to do, child." She crossed her eyes at him in cheek.
"It is not going to hurt him, and it will be simple to cut the threads later and he can have leggings again. It is just to stop him telling us to wear skirts." Saruman glanced through to the dining hall where the majority of the elves were already sitting down.
"We shall see." He swept into the dining room and took his place at Elrond's high table. Rinbereth rarely deigned to eat with the household and her son went even less frequently. Although they were guests, the Queen and her son left the elves in no doubt that they considered themselves above them.
"Will you stay a while longer, Curunír? Now that the councils are closing, must we part with you at once?" Nairn smiled and was polite but that was as far as it went, Saruman had no real reason to stay and neither was he particularly friendly with the elves of Imladris. He would soon outstay the precarious welcome they gave him.
"I have pressing business in the south," he answered over the soup. Without Olórin it fell to him to keep the western elves and the realms of Men in check. Ideally he would only have had to deal with Men. Elves took too long and thee attitudes never changed, lacking the option of returning a decade later to find a new ruler in place of an old uncooperative one. Nairn had the gift, seemingly unique among younger elves, to stay silent when it was clear her companion had naught else to say.
Yarna came to find him again after supper, slipping away from Erestor in the Hall of Fire. There would be the only thing he was loath to leave. Glorfindel and Erestor had the weight of Imladris on their shoulders, and half of Lindon as well. Erestor might have raised Isowen after the fall of Gondolin, but Saruman had his doubts where they were concerned.
"I am leaving, child," he told her quietly. Her tiny face fell.
"Will you come back?"
"Of course, child. Then we shall see about teaching you something more useful than sewing." To his surprise she hugged him and after a moment of shock he gave her head an awkward pat.
"It seems to me that we should send for the other two," Erestor murmured once she had toddled off. "Gandir and Alsea, they should be brought here if Mithrandir is incapable of caring for them."
"No," Saruman said at once. "They are fine where they are. He should not be left alone to his grief. They will bring him out of it." Mithrandir had had no problem with caring for his elder children, perhaps because they took less effort than a younger child. Saruman was behind the theory that a mirror image of Isowen was not what Olórin needed to see.
"I hope you are right. For their sakes."