My Slashy Santa Fic: The Mischief Club, for erynlinia. part 2

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

Title: The Mischief Club part 2
Author: chaotic_binky
Beta:pippychick
Email: chaotic.binky@gmail.com
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Erestor/Lindir, Saelbeth/Melpomaen, Elrond/Glorfindel
Warnings: AU, Slash, oral, language, mild violence
Request: Something that shows 'another side' to the serious advisor and the skilled minstrel. Fun, cheeky, surprising...have a blast with it!
Written for: erynlinia, Happy Christmas Sweetie!

Summary: Glorfindel's behaviour is intolerable and so he becomes the victim of the elves in the mischief club who subject him to a series of pranks to teach him a lesson.

The bells for dinner rang throughout the house. Elves left their rooms and made their way to the Hall of Fire. Some, like Erestor and Glorfindel, were quiet and sedate, whilst others talked in an animated fashion. The occasional elfling ran through the passages, shouting, laughing and giggling whilst their parents or minders ran after them in an attempt to stop their errant behaviour. Glorfindel and Elrond were already seated and watched as the first elves arrived. There was much polite wrinkling of noses and most made their way to the back of the hall where the air seemed fresher. This continued for a few minutes until an elfling loudly complained that he did not want to go to dinner because the hall smelled horrid.

“I can’t smell anything,” Elrond muttered.

“Neither can I, but I suspect something is afoot.” Glorfindel looked at Elrond and drew his attention to Erestor who was throwing sweet smelling herbs on the fire.

Erestor and Lindir made their way to the main table to sit in their customary places with Elrond and Glorfindel. They had drenched themselves with oil of roses and so the powerful smell emanating from the two lords did not affect them as much as the others.

“Overdid it a bit with the perfumed oil, eh?” Glorfindel said to them.

“You really should not come to the table smelling so strongly. It puts everyone off their food,” complained Elrond.

“Take no notice of their selfishness, Sweet Baby,” Glorfindel crooned as Erestor and Lindir exchanged secret smiles.

The Hall filled up and the air grew colder as windows were opened slightly in a vain attempt to take away the smell without letting the food, which was being laid out, go cold. The cooks noticed the smell but were too polite to mention anything; if it was good enough for their Lord then it was good enough for them. It hardly mattered anyway, as they would be eating in the kitchen with all the other servants. The Head Cook walked over to Glorfindel and noticed that the smell was much stronger in his immediate vicinity. He thought to himself that Glorfindel was probably saying nothing because he was horribly embarrassed and so he presented the platter of grated vegetables to the warrior and lifted the dome with a triumphant smile.

“Aaagh!” The yell was priceless. A large toad had leapt up from the platter and landed on Glorfindel’s face before sliding down into his lap. “Get it off me!” he screamed.

“I can’t, Hunny Bunny. You know I’m scared of frogs.” Elrond was shaking in revulsion. His old phobia of being raped by vampire frogs had reared its ugly head in full force, undoing all of Gandalf’s counselling sessions in one unforeseen moment.

The cook flapped about trying to snatch the toad from Glorfindel’s lap and apologised immediately when he accidentally swatted him in the lap with his hand. Glorfindel grimaced and bent over with pain, then the toad jumped onto the table and croaked loudly.

Melpomaen looked on in malevolent satisfaction; that would teach the blond warrior not to mess with his cat. Saelbeth looked at his lover and they both tittered. They were observed by Glorfindel, whose anger was nearly at boiling point. He also saw the smug smiles that Erestor and Lindir exchanged. Then he caught the first whiffs of a terrible smell emanating from himself and Elrond. It reminded him of the body odour of men combined with the stench of orc breath.

“Sweet Baby, are you all right?” Elrond put his arm around the warrior.

The warrior’s face changed into a mask of raging ire. “No! I am not all right!” He slammed his fist down on the table, breaking it in two, and stood up, throwing his chair back as though it was a flimsy toy.

Lindir and Erestor looked shocked; they had no idea Glorfindel was so strong and now they were in awe of him. Melpomaen and Saelbeth’s mouths hung open in surprise and dread.

Elrond looked questioningly at his lover and took his hand. Glorfindel cast it from him as though it were made of poison and faced him.

“I have had nothing but bad things happen to me over the past couple of days. I have had a dart thrown at me and Lindir won’t give it back. Someone put chilli oil in the soothing cream and you put it on the dart hole, then when I told you it hurt, you put it up my ass. Lindir threatened me with a bow and said that I am a big ass fool, then he slams my face into a bowl of hot broth. Erestor covers for him and says I fainted which I definitely did not. Melpomaen’s cat attacked me when I tried to stroke it and you told the page not to tell him what had happened; I bet he thinks I did it on purpose now. Someone has obviously put something in our bath because we both stink, and to cap it all I am assaulted by a toad that seems to be part of my dinner and then I am hit in the balls. Of course I am not alright!”

“Sweet Baby…” Elrond attempted to calm his love down.

“And you have got no bloody idea what is going on. You are supposed to be the Lord of this realm but clown of the realm would be more like it,” Glorfindel accused Elrond, who felt his lips begin to quiver.

Glorfindel was in full flow; it was apparent that there was a connecting thread. He glared at the four friends and then at his lover in turn. He expected them to shrink under his angry stare but they did not; they were old, powerful in their own right, and had the assurance of the self-righteous.

“You are all in it together.” Glorfindel felt as though something had finally been clearly illuminated, “How dare you! What did I ever do to any of you?”

He stormed out of the hall to his own room. The fire needed lighting so he arranged dry tinder under the wood logs and lit small tapers with a candle, which he used to encourage the fire to take hold. Soon a decent fire was going and so the warrior removed his clothes and put them on to burn. He reasoned that they would not smell too good after being close to his body, the putrid smell of which was increasing in intensity. The bath was slowly filling and so Glorfindel took some miruvor on a cloth and wiped his body all over to see if the alcohol would neutralise the smell and after being satisfied that the smell was indeed lessening he stepped into the bath and smothered himself with orange and almond bath oils. He lay in the bath a long time and reflected on the events that had upset him so and looked for reasons.

Back in the hall, Elrond looked over at Lindir and Erestor, then at Melpomaen and Saelbeth and beckoned them over.

“I would like to think that Glorfindel is wrong in his accusations.” Elrond looked at all four elves who stared back unrepentant. The Lord of Imladris rose with elegant grace from the table. “I am going to have a bath now and then I am going to see what I can do to repair the situation. I suggest you each think about your roles in this.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glorfindel wrapped a towel around his body and dried off his hair with another one. He took a large fluffy dressing gown from the wardrobe and snuggled up in front of the fire on a pile of soft furs. He felt unloved and betrayed, especially as on the top of the pile of paperwork that he had thrown out of the window, before it had fully registered with him as to its importance, was an unsigned contract of betrothal between Celebrían and Elrond.

Why had Elrond never even told him that things had gone this far? Surely he didn’t hope to keep them both? Celebrían would not agree, he was certain of it, and neither would he. It was foolish of Elrond to think that he could keep both of them when in reality he stood an even greater chance of losing them both. He felt betrayed by Elrond mostly; the actions of the others were of no consequence when compared to his deceit.

The warrior went over to his bed and climbed in. It had been a while since he had laid in it. He wondered why it was considered all right for other elves to play jokes on him and felt very lonely and detached from them all.

Elrond went off to bathe whilst the four elves went to Erestor’s room to discuss the turn of events. They wondered how long it would be before Glorfindel guessed completely what their roles had been in the practical jokes they had played.

“I said that he is cunning and clever.” Erestor poured wine for the others and they all sat around the fire. “Still, it has been funny though, hasn’t it?”

The others grinned and they happily settled down in front of the fire with their glasses.

“It isn’t as though he can do anything about it, is it?” Saelbeth ventured.

“Melpomaen felt sleepy and rested his head on Saelbeth’s shoulder. “If anything he might stop to think about why he has been the victim of so much mischief,” he replied, yawning.

The conversation continued for most of the evening, touching upon various subjects such as the possibility of blue badgers, whether snow is formed in the clouds or air and Lindir’s last trip to the men’s settlements to find out what music styles were in vogue.

Glorfindel’s bedroom was next door to Erestor’s sitting room; they had heard him moving around before but all was silent now. They heard the knock at the warrior’s door and wondered who it could be.

“I know that knock,” Erestor said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glorfindel opened the door dressed in his nightshirt, the fire had died down and the air was beginning to chill. “What do you want,” he hissed at Elrond. “Haven’t you hurt me enough?”

“Let me in Glorfindel, I need to talk to you.” The warrior stood aside and they made their way over to the settee in front of the empty fireplace.

Elrond sat regarding Glorfindel; he loved him so much but not enough to consider him part of his future; that now belonged to Celebrían. The contract had been found, dried out and signed. The document was sent as soon as Elrond’s seal was on it and would now be between Imladris and Lothlórien. He had told no one, not even Erestor or Saelbeth. Glorfindel deserved to know first.

“I love you, Glorfindel, and I can assure you that I had no part in the attacks upon your person these past couple of days.” He took the warrior’s hands to reassure him but they were pulled back sharply.

Glorfindel glared at Elrond; he was shaking with anger.

Elrond continued. “I have signed a contract of betrothal to Celebrían of Lothlórien and it is now on its way as we speak.”

“Exactly what do you expect of me?” Glorfindel hissed between gritted teeth. “Do you expect me to say that everything is all right?”

“I should have told you before now but I hoped to keep both of you.” Elrond cast his eyes down and examined his fingers.

“Too right you should have told me, what were you going to do? Introduce me and then say; ‘Oh, by the way, it’s all over between us unless Celebrían minds a threesome?” The warrior’s face was red and he shouted his reply so loudly that the elves in the next room stopped talking and paid attention.

“Glorfindel,” Elrond said in a low voice. “I am at fault and I have been a coward by avoiding the truth because I still love you very much, but you cannot give me heirs. Also, the two realms will be linked and we can offer aid to one another.”

“You still love me?” the blond warrior gave a hollow laugh. “If you truly loved me you would have told me straight away. If you ever loved me you wouldn’t have even considered the actions you have taken, let alone tried to hide them from me.”

“I’m so sorry.” Elrond’s voice was breaking because he did truly regret hurting Glorfindel.

“Get out!” The blond warrior opened the door. “You heard me – get out of my rooms!”

Elrond scurried out of the door, but all things considered he judged that it had gone rather well and it could have been a lot worse.

Glorfindel went back to bed and lay looking up at the ceiling. His brow furrowed and he felt the sting of tears in his eyes as his vision became a watery blur. A hand reached for the corner of the sheet to wipe the tears away and he wondered why he was so disliked. Perhaps he should have refused the offer of returning to Middle Earth to serve the Lord of Imladris. Perhaps he should have remained in the Halls of Mandos instead; nothing had been complicated there and he hadn’t known pain. With that thought in his head he turned onto his side and brought his knees up in a foetal position to go to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four elves who were in the next room detached their ears from the wall adjoining Glorfindel’s bedroom. They had heard enough to know that Glorfindel must be feeling very hurt and their keen ears had picked up the sounds of his sniffs as he sobbed.

Erestor announced that the evening was over. “It would not be good for him to hear us having fun when he is so distraught,” he said.

Melpomaen and Saelbeth left, and Erestor remained in the room with Lindir.

“How can we help him?” he asked Lindir.

Lindir took Erestor in his arms. “You have such a good heart,” he told him. “I think Elrond has hurt him more than any of the things we have done. Let us make him feel valued again.”

“He was quite friendly until he started his affair with Elrond, and then he became unbearable; he made fun of me all the time.” Erestor grabbed one of the furs draped across the settee and wrapped it around his legs.

“You are cold, sweet one.” Lindir walked to the bedroom and took a cover off the bed and wrapped it around both of them. “It’s just a thought – but often making fun of someone is a form of endearment, as if to say that he is comfortable with you. Was any of it malicious, would you say?”

“No, I wouldn’t.” Erestor felt bad that they had been so awful to Glorfindel when he was obviously trying to cope with other events in his life. He knew that not knowing that Elrond would pull the rug from under Glorfindel’s feet was no excuse really. He decided that he would start being supportive to Glorfindel and would try to once again be his friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glorfindel was not able to sleep and so he just laid thinking. Every event played over and over in his mind, and he decided that the dart must have come from Lindir in spite of his denial; only he would have dared or was in a position to fire it so accurately. It was no wonder that he wouldn’t give the dart back. Somehow, he reasoned, this must tie in to Erestor. Perhaps Lindir’s lover and had been genuinely angry about Elrond’s treatment of the minstrel. He admitted to himself that he had not been very kind to Erestor lately but he had felt justified at the time because the dark-haired elf had refused his advances.

Of course he would, he was in love with Lindir who had overreacted in the practice room by threatening him with a bow. All those months ago, Erestor had refused him and let him down gently, then Elrond had become his lover soon after, so why had he continued to be disparaging of him, he wondered? Was this solely about Erestor and his treatment of him, and what did Saelbeth and Melpomaen have to do with it? More to the point – who put chilli oil in the cream? Glorfindel’s mind was spinning and he tossed and turned until he fell asleep.

The choking smell of fire and smoke. Eyes watering and blinded by the grit of the flying ash. The stinging burns of the whip slashed across his back and the searing agony of the flames. A dark shape, black and made of fire; hopelessness, futility, agony, guilt, screams, then the long fiery fall into oblivion. As always, Glorfindel never hit the ground and woke in terror with tears streaming down his face, feeling as isolated and as alone as he always felt. Two sets of arms were holding him as he shook and they soothed him and their presence enabled him to calm down.

Lindir and Erestor held Glorfindel in his distress and they reassured him that he was safe with them. He looked surprised and shocked and for a moment considered fighting them off, but they were holding and soothing him as if he was a frightened elfling and he felt safe.

“Why?” he asked.

“You needed us.” Lindir continued to hold Glorfindel in his arms and Erestor took a wet cloth from the bathroom to wipe the warrior’s face.

“Do you get nightmares when you sleep with Elrond?” Erestor asked, drying Glorfindel’s skin.

“No,” he replied. “I only get nightmares when I sleep alone.” Glorfindel felt the heat of embarrassment flushing his face and so looked down to avoid the gaze of the two elves.

The bed was damp with Glorfindel’s sweat and Erestor motioned this to Lindir. The warrior had started to shake as his skin had rapidly cooled off and so his dressing gown was draped around him and Lindir led him into the next room to the settee. A cold draught was coming down the chimney and so Lindir covered him with furs.

“We will change your sheets for you and then we can all go back to bed.” Lindir went back into the bedroom where Erestor was stripping the large bed.

The mattress is wet too,” Erestor said in concern. “That must have been one awful nightmare. He cannot sleep on a damp mattress, Lindir. What should we do?”

“There is a cold draught coming down the chimney and he is freezing.” Lindir felt the mattress with his fingers. “He will have to sleep somewhere.”

“Shall we take him next door and get the fire going and he can sleep on the settee?” Erestor asked.

Lindir nodded and they went to where Glorfindel lay on his settee and went to wake him. Eyes wide open in terror, the warrior was having the dream again, and suddenly he started to scream as though he was in the most intolerable agony. Both elves sat beside him and Lindir took the warrior once again in his arms whilst Erestor stroked his hair and talked to him. Glorfindel gradually came back to awareness and was horrified that they had seen his nightmare again.

“I can not take this anymore,” he said, close to tears. “I wish I had never come back.”

“We want you to come with us.” Erestor spoke softly, giving a small encouraging smile to the tired and distraught blond.

Lindir stood him up and they took him into Erestor’s rooms; he seemed very pliant and they wondered how long it would last. “He will have to sleep with us, Erestor; we cannot let him go through that again.” Lindir guided Glorfindel to the bed and then they both got in, one on either side. The rest of the night was quiet, and for Glorfindel it was dreamless.

Anor was well over the morning sky before any of the elves stirred. It was past breakfast time, and in a couple of days they would be celebrating Yule. Glorfindel roused first and looked at the two elves who had shown him such kindness the night before. He felt bad that he had not treated them very well, and thought that his obnoxious behaviour had probably turned elves that were essentially nice and loving into ones who wanted and sought revenge.

In truth, the dart incident had been the only planned revenge at the start, but Glorfindel’s reaction and the fun the four elves were having meant that a lot more had happened.

The blond warrior considered that they were equal now and that he should not retaliate further so that things could die down. He rather suspected that Lindir and Erestor would agree with him on that point now that they had taken him into their bed. He wondered how long they had been lovers and he found himself hoping that it lasted forever and they would never taste the unhappiness and grief that he was currently feeling.

Lindir snuggled into Glorfindel’s side and murmured, “Erestor, wake up.”

“Lindir, he is on the other side of me.” The warrior gently shook his shoulder and smiled at him.

“What…oh, yes…did you sleep well?” Lindir rubbed his eyes and reached over to Erestor and stroked his nose causing him to sneeze. “Wake up, Erestor.”

“Go away; it’s too cold to wake up.” Erestor batted Lindir’s insistent hand away from his face, opening his eyes to glare at him, and then he saw Glorfindel. “Excuse me,” he said, jumping over the warrior and landing on Lindir, “I have to tickle him to death.”

The two elves wrestled, giggled and screamed with laughter as they tickled one another and Glorfindel felt even more sad because he did not have anyone he could indulge in that sort of play with.

“Help me, Glorfindel!” Erestor screeched as Lindir wedged himself over the smaller elf and continued his tickling.

Glorfindel walked out of the door smiling, and the two elves looked at one another in surprise and then continued the tickling game. The warrior went next door to his rooms and pulled out a big red feather and then went back into Erestor’s rooms. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran the feather down Lindir’s side who arched away from it in delight at the sensation it caused, and then gave the feather to Erestor who used it mercilessly. In the end the elves rose from the bed. There were no formal duties because of the proximity of Yule and so they were not late for anything.

A breakfast of sorts was collected from the kitchen and the three elves sat down to eat, joined shortly after by Saelbeth and Melpomaen who were very surprised to see Glorfindel in Erestor’s rooms.

“I hate to be a wet blanket but we have to discuss all the things that have happened.” The elves looked at him, each wondering what would happen and what he would say.

“Look, I know I was targeted by all four of you and I think I know why. I think that perhaps my behaviour had become intolerable. I laughed at Erestor and impersonated and ridiculed him. I was also condescending towards him. So, I think probably deserved what happened. Lindir, I was rude to you as well, and of course you would take action if I offended Erestor. I see that now, but I had no idea that you were together. You both hid it very well.” Glorfindel looked at them both, and at this natural break he took a sip of his tea.

“I can understand that it is no one’s business and you wish to avoid gossip. I have heard gossip in the past about myself and some of it is wildly untrue and a lot of it is just plain nasty.” The warrior then looked at Melpomaen and Saelbeth. “Mel, I did not hurt your cat on purpose, it was an accident and I certainly never told Elrond not to tell you how it happened. Saelbeth, I was rude to you also, mainly because at the time I was frustrated and angry but that is no excuse. I need to know one thing. What was Elrond’s role in all of this?”

“Elrond was never part of it.” Erestor looked at Glorfindel. “The reason the jokes were played upon you was primarily because of your treatment of me and your condescending attitude towards everyone else. We hoped to make you think, because appealing directly to you had no effect. We had no idea that Elrond would hurt you so. If we had, we would not have done anything to you except offer you a shoulder to cry on and our friendship.”

“You are all finer elves than I believed you were. I apologise for everything that I have done to offend or upset, and I thank you both for your kindness last night.” He looked at Erestor and Lindir and smiled.

They sat for a while longer, drinking tea and talking, and one thing was certain; Glorfindel would never find out who put the chilli oil in the cream, but he was content to have a circle of elves that he was able to get along with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The decorations were being put up in the hall according to Erestor’s specifications and plans, which were opened out on a large trestle table. The tree was large and covered with bells and balls of glass that each contained a firefly.

Just like in Gondolin, Glorfindel thought. He looked at the happy elves decorating the tree and wished he could be happy too. Erestor was being impossible as always, and making the elves who were helping heartily sick that they had volunteered. Lindir was gazing fondly at his love and even grinned when Erestor remarked that a particular decoration should not be hung from the tree because it looked like a cat’s backside. Glorfindel walked over to Lindir who smiled and squeezed his hand; a small gesture but one that meant so much to the warrior. He felt lonely, but he had new friends to save him from isolation and he was truly thankful. “This will be my first Yule.” Glorfindel confided quietly to Lindir who was standing next to him.

Large swathes of greenery held together with gold and red threads were positioned on the walls and above the fireplaces. The air smelled fragrant and clean. Glorfindel could not join in the happiness of the occasion, but found himself giving polite smiles to the others in the large room nevertheless. Perhaps it would be better next year, he thought.

Elrond walked into the hall, saw Glorfindel and walked back out again. He did not feel ready to socialise with him after the previous night.

“Where are you going?” Erestor said sharply.

“Back to my office, and I don’t have to explain everything to you,” Elrond hissed.

“Well of course you do, I’m the Chief Counsellor. Now, Glorfindel had nightmares last night and slept in our rooms, apparently he only has them when he sleeps alone, which made your actions especially cruel, don’t you agree? This is his first Yule since he was brought back to Middle Earth, and you have turned what could have been a joyous celebration into one of misery for him because you are thoughtless and uncaring. So what are you going to do about it?” Erestor looked angry and Elrond began blustering that it was not his fault, and that he had to consider the feelings of others, not just Glorfindel. He babbled away until Erestor slapped him across the face to stop him.

The room went quiet; everybody heard the slap. “You will pay for this!” Elrond said loudly.

“I think not, Elrond, another letter could go to the Lord and Lady of Lothlórien detailing your affair with a certain blond warrior all the time you were wooing their daughter Celebrían, with a hope to becoming betrothed to her.” Erestor looked smug. “The letter is already written and with a runner on the border who is waiting for confirmation of what to do with it. Should he carry on to Lothlórien or should he return?” he crossed his fingers at the lie and hoped it would work.

“You will be locked in the cells for this,” Elrond raged. Even if I don’t have Celebrían, Glorfindel will always come back to me.”

Glorfindel walked over to the two elves. “Elrond, I will fulfil my promise to the Valar that I will protect you and this realm but I will never share your bed again, ever. Also, you would have to order the guards to lock Erestor away and they are not willing to do this. They are my guards and they work for me, do I make myself clear?”

“You are rebelling against my command, Glorfindel,” Elrond said in a shocked voice.

“And who is going to arrest me?” Glorfindel took Elrond’s chin and smiled, “Let us all hope that when Celebrían comes to live here she manages to do something that you could never do; have you any idea what I mean, Elrond?”

Elrond looked perplexed and did not answer so Glorfindel continued. “Let us hope that Celebrían, as your wife and consort, is able to rule elves through their hearts and with love, because there lays the way of true, freely given loyalty.”

Elrond looked down at the ground and so Glorfindel led him outside. “Another thing, Elrond, it will be a long time before I forgive you for hurting me. I truly thought you loved me. I cannot believe your actions – and just before my very first Yule here too.”

Elrond knew it was useless to say sorry, but he said it anyway and watched the warrior snort with derision and walk off. He would keep trying to make amends; that was all he could do.

That night Glorfindel spent his time in the company of the four elves who were stepping around the edges of friendship onto more solid ground with him. They drank, played cards, discussed the possibility of the existence of gingerbread houses, laughed about Saelbeth’s misadventures when an elfling and reminisced about the days when they had been much younger. It was cosy and at the end of the evening when everyone went to leave Erestor’s rooms Glorfindel was called back.

“You can sleep with us tonight,” Lindir said. “We wouldn’t feel comfortable if you had any more nightmares.”

Glorfindel spent the night on the settee. He felt awkward sleeping with the two lovers but the settee seemed a good compromise. He still had the nightmares but they were not severe enough to cause the two elves in the other room to awaken. However, in the very early hours of the morning he awoke with a feeling of dread having dreamed that a large black shape had attacked him in Elrond’s chambers. He looked about and realised he was in Erestor’s sitting room and saw the black shadow of the invisible being looming over him.

Arms were around him; where had they come from? Voices were calling his name and he knew them. The arms guided him upward and he was walking along in the warm grass along a sunny country lane. He had to tell them that the large shape was looking for something small. What was it that was small, he wondered? He told the voices of having to flee from the shapes that only wanted something so small it could easily be missed but the waves of comforting darkness washed over him and he lay down into the softness and felt warm again.

“What do you think he means?” Erestor asked Lindir. He was concerned, as his previous nightmares had not been of this nature.

Lindir had no idea either and so they settled down and went to sleep; there were no more interruptions.

The next day was Yule Eve. All five elves went down to the market to buy presents and Glorfindel was happy because he had been asked to spend the next day with his new friends. They arrived back flushed and happy. They all met again at dinner and their friendship increased further as they talked and socialised. The warrior found that he was also able to talk more freely to his own warriors who had never fully trusted him before his public argument with Elrond.

Later that night they all went to Erestor’s room for a midnight drink to welcome in Yule and Erestor gave Glorfindel his present. He was told to shut his eyes and jumped with surprised when a small, furry warm body was placed in his hands. He opened his eyes and saw a reddish brown, shorthaired, very excited puppy that leapt up and licked the warrior’s nose. Glorfindel was delighted.

“We thought that if you had something with you in bed you might have a more peaceful night,” Lindir said tactfully.

“Do you want to sleep in my bed, little puppy?” Glorfindel held the dog up to his face and it wagged its tail and tried to lick his nose again.

“Apparently it is housetrained,” Erestor giggled.

Glorfindel let the others all have a hold of the lively puppy before taking it into his rooms where he put it on the bed. “I’m going to call you Ecthelion,” he said. The puppy yawned and lay down beside the warrior. He was tired and had only just been reborn, still it was very exciting meeting Glorfindel again and hadn’t the Valar promised it would only be for a few years? That would pass within a blinking of an eye.

Lindir and Erestor were very pleased at the way everything had gone and settled down to love one another as they always did. Somewhere in another part of the house Saelbeth and Melpomaen were snuggling together, deep in reverie. All was quiet and as it should be on this snowy Yule Eve night.

* * * the end * * *