Chapter 2

A long and grueling week had passed, with her skill came a bountiful demand on her services of which Rina determined would last months before she'd be free of her work, but nevertheless this weeks orders were completed and she handed her customers work to the seamstresses who would ensure they were cleaned up and sent to their owners.

Right at this moment, she was headed to a room she had heard of from Erestor, one of Elrond's stern advisors. His unexpected gesture of kindness had led her towards The Hall of Fire. She moved through the small market place, her eyes roving quickly through the stalls and merchant goods being paraded as newly transported items from other lands.

As she made her way under the cover of her veil, she spotted golden hair from afar and ducked into a stall of dresses and fine cloth in a slight panic.

Why did she run? The question floated in her mind with no sensible answer as a rebuttal, she noted in a distracted daze a light brown cloth that would make a fine veil for embroidering, she wondered how much it cost or she could afford it at this time, she would have to return home to determine-

"-And why does the lady hide here today?" Startled, Rina turned to face the very elf she sought to avoid.

" Who says I'm hiding?" At this Glorfindel raises and eyebrow indicating his scrutiny. How had he moved so fast and even so, why bother her?

" I see no shopkeeper in sight, neither does it make sense to wait longer than you need to, so I can only imagine one other option, which is hiding" Rina was indeed grateful her face was covered as it concealed darkening of her cheeks in embarrassment.

"I was merely drawn to the fine cloth and wanted to have a look much longer" she said, touching the fabric she had been examining earlier. It was quick and witty lie, well a partial lie since she had indeed been looking at the material.

"Very well my lady" Glorfindel chuckled slightly, stepping out of the stall as he looked at her, patiently.

"Well then I bid you a good day my Lord" Rina stepped out ahead of him and walked briskly towards the direction she had originally intended. Fearing the possibility that the elf Lord would follow, she refrained from glancing back to have a look and determined it was best to keep moving ahead.

She reached the hall of fire sooner than she originally intended for which she was grateful. Flashing the pass given to her by Erestor, Rina was granted entry and she sighed deep in relief.

Turning around, she saw only the light of day creeping in after her as he no one came in after her.

She let loose her veil over her face and headed to the room where most of the historical texts and tales of The Noldor as well as Middle Earth lay. She perused the shelves in excitement and chose a book she felt she should start with, finding a corner darkest in the room, she sat down on the floor and drowned herself in the eloquent scripts of Quenya beautiful written on the ancient pages.

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He simply intended to visit the fruit stall as his cupboards were running low on supply and would've missed her were it not for the red veil she carried. He had seen no one besides her who dressed the way she did, which made it easy to spot her from leagues away.

On any given day, Glorfindel would not mind leaving things be what with his hours being preoccupied with various tasks but as he watched her dash away and to a direction only a few wandered to, his curiosity got better of him.

He followed her, careful not to be noticed and grew concern as she approached the guards standing watch over the hall of fire. He surmised she had a pass in her possession otherwise she would not be so bold to venture near the premises.

He waited to make sure she had settled in before going in and with a silent nod to the guards who watched him enter the hall quietly, he sought her out, moving around book shelves until he found her.

There in the deepest corner of the archive room he found her, nestled against a shelve on the bare floor as she hunched over a book cradled in her lap.

His eyes grew wide in realisation as he observed her silently, her face was bare with her veil unfastened from her face and despite his sharp senses, he felt the urge to have a closer look at her. Her cheeks were round, her nose even rounder and her lips...full and plump like an overly ripened berry.

The Lord of Golden Flowers frowned at the sight, did she hide herself from the world because she thought herself unsightly? If so he would very much like to protest against such beliefs even though he knew it was neither his place or right to do so.

However, what drew his attention was the most obvious of things and that he needed answers for.

She seemed to be finished with the book she had and rose to put it back, she looked up ahead and noted with particular interest, another book well above her head which had a title she could pick out despite height between them.

Glorfindel watched her stand on the tip of her toes as she stretched as far up as she could go to reach said book.

He waited for a while and decided he could no longer bear her suffering for the sake of one book. He heard her grunt in frustration as she stubbornly kept trying to grasp a book well beyond her reach and smiled briefly before reaching from behind her.

"You would hear the truth of such tales better if you simply asked around" He said knowing he had startled her yet again. His hand gripped her waist to steady her from knocking the shelf back.

"My Lord!" She gasped audibly, quickly shielding her face in alarm, where had he come from? How long had he been watching her??

Questions flew from various corners of her mind and with each one she felt herself grow distraught.

Glorfindel feeling guilty handed her the old book and watched her eyes widened from fear, a reaction he regretted causing in her, dart from the book to his face. Her chest heaved as she consciously steadied her breath and took the book with hesitation.

"Pardon me my lady, I did not mean to frighten you" He watched her move away from him with a look of wariness and could deduce her patience for his presence was already running thin.

If she said nothing perhaps he would go away and sure enough her wishes were crushed under the insistence of this insufferable elf to keep her company.

"My Lord need not apologize, rather I give you my thanks for helping me" Rina lifted the book in reference to her words.

"You are welcome my lady though I must confess I desire to know how a woman of the south understands the language of the elves?" Glorfindel asks quietly.

"Oh, I learnt it... from my mother..." Rina debated answering truthfully.

"Your mother, she was elven?" Glorfindel prodded carefully still.

"No she was not but she knew enough to teach me" Rina responded simply, however to Glorfindel it sounded as though there was more, more that he would be privy to perhaps when she felt more comfortable with him.

"A valued skill no doubt?"

"Hardly, I've never had to use such a skill until now...if I may? Why does one such as yourself choose to remain here? With me...?" She asked this time in curiosity.

"I imagined you would need help with this" the elf tapped the book in her arms lightly and Rina frowned in confusion.

"I do not understand, why would I need your help? I understand the language well enough" Rina said indignantly.

"Of that I have no doubts my lady, rather what I mean is, I remain should you desire answers regarding the tales of this book, it's only fair given my actions inspire some of the writing there" contrary to his intentions, anyone who heard him would imagine him boastful and vain which was far from what he regarded himself as.

At this Rina's eyes widened in wonder, he was related to the book she held which meant he knew a great deal of the details of the events in that era.

"How does a knight of Gondolin come to be in the service of Imladris?" A surprising twist as he had not expected her to know anything regarding his past.

"How do you-"

"- Anyone who's taken any interest in the tales of The First Age must have heard of the knights who slayed balrogs and fell beasts alike" Glorfindel was stunned into silence wondering how far tales of his exploits had travelled.

"It is one of the many stories my mother spoke of..." Rina cleared her throat looking sideways.

"It seems your mother knew much of our history"

"She was wiser than her years suggested though I cannot imagine her version of events would compare to actually being there in Gondolin" at this Glorfindel smiled secretly, she had a knack for changing the subject when he prodded too closely on private matters.

He contemplated pressing on or simply taking her bait and decided it was best to let this go as well.

"That would be true, what would you like to know?"

"You would tell me? Truly?" Her honeyed eyes glowed in the dim lit room with childlike excitement, she leaned in closer from pure impulse of which he doubted she was aware.

"Truly? I would tell you of it's beginning and the moment of my own ending"

"You had an ending?" At this he smiled sadly, whether for himself or her he wasn't so sure.

"Yes my lady I did...it all began with Turgon receiving an instruction to build the city from the Lord of All Waters, Ulmo..." Glorfindel ushered her to a table nearby where they could sit comfortably.

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Night had found them, with her almost insisting they forgo supper to hear more, and she wanted to hear more. She never could inspire herself to imagine what the great tales the Lord of the Golden Flowers relayed to her of a city that once was.

Ensuring that she returned to her home safely, Glorfindel promised that he would make time the very next day if she wished, to complete her story. An agreement she had quickly accepted with no questions asked. It was intriguing to find one so meek and shy animated over a story that happened eons ago.

Rina closed the door after bidding him good evening and watched from the window in awe.

Never in all her life did foresee this scenario happening, of a small friendship forming between herself and an elf much less one so ancient and reverred that the odds of their acquaintanceship was almost none-existent, almost.

Her heart fluttered at the thought, of all the dangers of the world to warn her about, her mother had warned her greatly to mind any romantic liaisons with creatures such as elves, for it would only lead to more grief than joy she said.

Oh but surely, if her mama could see the elf himself she would know how helpless she was to the onslaught of his beauty and truly he was beautiful, eternally so.

Rina removed her veil and kept it aside in her bedroom, undoing her hair, she rubbed her herbal waters and oils and wrapping it in cloth to dry her hair much faster before preparing her dinner.

Today had surprised her in many pleasant ways, perhaps tomorrow would hold even greater treasures than they did. She needed only to wait to find out.