Elros
Elros raced down the corridor while simultaneously trying to keep his breathing calm. It didn't work. He met Ontamion heading the other way. Ontamion broke into a smile.
"Oh, hullo. Sorry; my mother made me finish some chores." He frowned. "Are you in a hurry?"
"Where's Elrond?"
He looked bewildered. "Probably with the kitchen maids, where he said he'd be." His head turned to follow Elros as he set off down the hall again. "What's wrong, Elros?"
But Elros didn't answer.
The kitchen doors swung open. Sitting in the center of his circle of admirers, Elrond beamed when he looked up and saw his brother.
"I made a braid of dough! And I got it nearly right, see here … " Elrond's face fell when Elros marched forward and grabbed his hand. The braid dropped back onto the counter and broke into two. "What did I do wrong?"
"We need to go."
"But Samniel is going to teach me to roll out the biscuits, and then Marta is going to let me put the blackcurrant eyes on the breadsnake, and then – "
"That doesn't matter!"
Elrond pulled his hand away. He looked crestfallen. "It matters to me," he muttered.
Elros knelt in front of his little brother as the racing in his chest continued. He could feel the eyes of all the kitchen maids staring at him. He glanced behind him at the open door. "I'm sorry," he tried. "It does matter. We're just in a hurry, that's all. Here, if you come with me, you can have the last of my liquorice drops."
Elrond let Elros take his hand again as they left the kitchen. Behind him, Elros could hear the kitchen maids whispering. The oldest nodded solemnly and walked away, exiting through another door. Elros' eyes followed the movement of that other door as it swung shut.
No time for that.
Flour staining his shirt from Elrond's hands, he and his brother ran off down the hallway.