A Second Choice 6

A Second Choice

Part 6

Posted: October 26, 2007

*****

Elrond woke the next morning to bright sunshine and the smell of fresh baked bread. Within minutes, Glorfindel was there pulling him out of the bed and pushing him toward the bath. When he was done, he put on the clothing left lying on the bed for him and preceded to the kitchen where everyone was waiting.

“Elrond, guess what we have for breakfast?” Glorfindel teased as he moved a covered dish closer to himself.

Sniffing gently, Elrond’s eyes widened and he dove across the table to grab the bowl from Glorfindel. Glorfindel pulled the dish away, and laughing grabbed a spoon as he headed out the door for the garden with Elrond in hot pursuit.

Olórin shook his head and looked at Melian. “Cinnamon cherries I presume?” he asked.

At her affirmative nod he informed them,” The cooks in Imladris learned to make two separate bowls and not bring them out until both were seated. Otherwise they would fight over them. It is quite a site to see two grown lords squabbling like children over food, it kept everyone entertained.”

There was laughter all around as Melian called the ‘boys’ back into the kitchen to eat. Straightening their clothes around them as they ate, she made an interesting observation.

“You know, girls seem to not have this problem. I never had to straighten Luthien up at the table or before going out,” she said. “This messiness must be a forte of males.”

“It is,” Elrond answered. “I never had this problem with Arwen. She just complained if she wasn’t perfect or one of her brothers messed her up. As much as I loved her, she was much whinier about her appearance.”

“You loved it,” Glorfindel teased. “She had you wrapped around her little finger.”

“I wasn’t the only one,” Elrond shot back.

“Alright children, settle down,” Olórin said. “Elrond, you will have a fairly easy day I think. Celebrían has been chosen to face you first.”

“Facing her is hardly needed Olórin,” Elrond told him. “You know that we settled most things between us before she sailed.”

“Now it is time for you to finish what is left. It will probable deal mostly with your children. Are you ready for this?” Olórin continued.

“As much as I dread this I know it has to be. I owe her that much,” Elrond replied quietly as he finished his breakfast.

“Glorfindel, you will have a rougher day, you will be facing Ecthelion,” Eönwé told him. “Someone will be near; you have only to call out if you need one of us.”

Glorfindel did not look happy but nodding his head in understanding.

“When you are through, we will go,” Melian said as she kissed her husband goodbye.

Elrond was taken toward a little pavilion a short distance away where Celebrían was waiting with an ellon he assumed was her new spouse. He could not see the face of the ellon because he was turned away but somehow he sensed that he knew him. He turned to look at Melian in question. Olórin appeared to be agitated and held him back from entering the clearing upon seeing the ellon.

“She was supposed to be alone, he should not be here yet,” The Maiar growled to himself as he restrained Elrond.

“I know the one she married then from what you say. I have no problem with seeing them both. I only wish for Celebrían’s happiness,” Elrond said while trying to move past to the pavilion.

“You are not ready to face this one yet,” Olórin said pulling him back and pushing him against a tree.

Elrond started to argue but all protest died when the ellon turned and he saw that it was Gil-Galad. Elrond promptly stilled before pulling away and walking back towards his grandparent’s house. Melian intercepted him and pulled him into a comforting hug while Olórin went to confront Gil-galad.

“You should not be here boy,” he told Gil-galad while blocking his path to Elrond. “You were told to come alone, Celebrían. There are reasons why your husband was not invited at this time.”

“My wife will not be alone with any man, Mithrandir, especially him,” Gil-galad said as he confronted him. “You have no right to expect that I would let her see him alone, she is my wife now, not his.”

“You and Elrond will have your own confrontation in several weeks. This was to be a time when Elrond and Celebrían could talk about their children and end things between them. You have no part in this and should not interfere,” Olórin snapped. “Use your head and remember what it was like when you were released from Mando’s Halls. You know this must be done on an individual basis. You will get your chance to work things our between the two of you soon enough. If you are worried about him having designs on her, then stop; he knows it is over between them and has no wish to interfere. Celebrían and Elrond will never be left alone. I and Melian act as counselors and chaperones. Now go.”

Gil-galad appeared to want to refuse but gave in when two more Maiar appeared and Celebrían began to plead with him. As she watched her husband go, Celebrían tried to repair the damage his presence had caused.

“Please forgive me; this was not supposed to happen. He said that he would only escort me here then leave but refused to go when we arrived. He is upset that I can have no more children. It would not be as bad if my children had chosen to be counted among the firstborn for he would have accepted them with time, but now he is angry that I bore children for Elrond but cannot for him. He blames Elrond for my injuries,” she explained as she tried to fix the situation.

“You delude yourself Celebrían if you think he would ever accept my children as his own. He would have ended up hating me more than he already does, and resenting you in the end. Maybe, in time, you can adopt a child from Mando’s hall. One whose parents are not in Aman to raise him,” Elrond said from behind her. “I thought you were running away to marry a Lórien sweetheart, what happen? Or were you afraid to tell me the truth?”

“There was a reason I was betrothed to Gil-Galad besides political. It was my mother’s idea to not tell you the truth about us,” she said in her own defense as she turned to face him.

“Your mother knew of my feelings for you, that I really loved you. It was probably her misguided way of trying to protect us both and hoping something more could come of our marriage. Do not blame her for what you should have told me yourself. We would still have been married because it was needed politically to prevent war, but things would have been easier between us if I had known the truth,” Elrond said as he took a seat at the table there.

“You are right, but I was confused, in pain, and afraid,” she said as she sat across from him. “You have had to deal with these emotions all your life and knew what to do. I led a very sheltered childhood and had not encountered any of this. You forget that I was shielded from the fall of Eregion because mother and I had left for Lindon some time before. Only after the city fell did I realize that father had sent us away not for an educational family visit, but to safety.”

“You are not totally to blame. Gil and I went out of our way to hide our dislike of each other from most people. We respected each other and acknowledged each other as family but we never learned to like each other. There was too much history between and around us to allow that. Now it is probably too late,” Elrond conceded. “Anyway, I did not come here to talk of him but of our children.”

After staring at him for a while to see if he was sincere, she hesitantly starting by asking questions of Arwen. Soon Celebrían and Elrond both settled down. After several hours of discourse, they were able to work out the remaining differences between themselves. While they may not have been the best of friends, there was no more animosity between them and there would be not problems if they met in social gatherings. Seeking refreshment after an exhausting session, Melian invited Celebrían back to her cabin for something light explaining that Ereinion would be told she would be home for dinner. They all headed in that direction greatly relieved to be through the ordeal.

Glorfindel was hesitant about going to his session and was stalling as long as he could. Finally, Eönwé had had enough and pushed him in the direction he needed to go. He was led to a secluded section of the forest to a clearing surrounded by trees. There were several benches set several feet apart from each other.

“This is where you hold confrontations that will not be congenial?” Glorfindel asked Eönwé as he looked around.

“It is better it have these meetings were they will not interrupt the peace of others in the gardens,” Eönwé explained. Pointing to the left side of the clearing he continued. “There are two other Maiar, unseen, stationed nearby in case there is trouble. I will be in sight standing over there beside the trees.”

Still uneasy, Glorfindel sat on one of the benches to wait. Soon he heard others approaching and turned to see Ecthelion being led into the clearing by one of Irmo’s servants who was dismissed by Eönwé. He approached Glorfindel with a smile on his face and proceeded to try and hug him. Eönwé interfered as Glorfindel rose and backed away.

“You are brought here to talk and work things out between you, that is all. There will be no touching,” he told Ecthelion as he pulled him over to one of the benches and made him sit. He then returned to the side of the clearing to wait.

“Why have you not contacted me, I have been eagerly awaiting for word from you. Are you so taxed from your return to Arda that you could not send word,” Ecthelion began. He said this with a smile but one look into his eyes showed Glorfindel that he was in truth quite angry.

“You did not even say goodbye when you left the halls,” Ecthelion accused when he saw that Glorfindel was stalling. “You would think that you at least could have left a message for your mate. Namo is not known to be so cruel as to deny you that right.”

“I am not your mate, Ecthelion. Never will I wed you. Why do you not just accept the truth and leave me be?” Glorfindel exploded. He stood to pace behind his bench as he continued. “You could never accept my no, but it is time you do. I do not love you; I never have and never will. I love another.”

“It’s Him, isn’t it? You saw him in Valië’s tapestries and begged to go to Him. I saw you following his life. I will not let you go Glorfindel, you belong to me not Him. That is the way it will always be,” Ecthelion said in a jealous rage before he turned and ran out of the clearing.

Glorfindel stood there a minute before what Ecthelion said made sense to him. He believed that Glorfindel loved Elrond. This would place Elrond in danger until he could make Ecthelion see the truth.

“We must return to the house,” Glorfindel turned to Eonwe in a panic. “He will go after Elrond. He is jealous and will not listen to reason right now. We must stop him before he does something all will regret.”

Glorfindel barely saw Eönwë’s nod before he turned to follow Ecthelion into the woods.

Ecthelion ran blindly through the trees before stopping and leaning against a tree near a main path to think. As he was trying to decide what to do, he heard voices coming toward him down the pathway. Peaking around the tree to see who it was he became enraged when he saw Elrond walking beside a silver haired ellith. As a red haze overcame him, he pulled a knife hidden in his boot and charged.

Elrond looked up at a roar of rage to see a dark haired ellon charging him and Celebrían with a raised knife. Without thinking, he turned and pushed Celebrían from the path onto the ground. Then the ellon was on him. As he raised his hands to defend himself, he felt the knife enter his chest. Shocked, he stopped as the knife was pulled out and entered his chest a second time. Time slowed as he felt himself falling to the ground as Celebrían screamed in hysterics in the background.

Several things happened at once as Elrond fell. Eönwë appear from nowhere and proceeded to pick up the ellon and throw him, with much force, to the ground before beginning to pound on him. Gil-Galad appeared from behind them to pull Celebrían into his arms and try to calm her. Manwë, Oromë, Tulkas, and Estes appeared as Glorfindel ran out of the woods on the right side, from where the ellon had come, to gather Elrond in to his arms and try and stop the bleeding.

With a signal from his wrist, Manwë had Oromë and Tulkas grab and pull Eönwé off of Ecthelion. Estes had calmed Celebrían by putting her into a deep sleep. Several Maiar were called to hold Ecthelion. Turning to Elrond and Glorfindel, he evaluated what he should do. Namo appeared at his side and silently conferred with him.

“Help him, he is bleeding to death,” Glorfindel pleaded as he wiped blood from Elrond’s mouth. He tried to prop Elrond higher as blood flooded into his lungs.

At a nod from Manwë, Námo and Estë approached them.

“This lesson should have waited until you were further along in your training but we will guide you through it now,” Námo told Glorfindel as Estë knelt beside them.

“You have watched and assisted Elrond heal wounded in Imladris many times, the principle is much the same,” Estë began. “Use the song to gather your strength and I will guide and show you how you must heal. Pay attention to what you feel happening.”

Glorfindel calmed himself and did as he was told. Placing her hand over his, Estë guided him through healing the more serious wound. She removed her hand and signaled that he was to try healing the other wound himself. Trying to gather more strength, he became agitated as he began to doubt his abilities. He shook his head as he could not bring the power to bear so that it would heal his brother. Suddenly he felt a calming influence overcome him as a gentle hand touched his shoulder from behind. Looking up, he saw Sellem and smiled. As she gave him a reassuring smile, he gathered himself to try again. Concentrating, he was able to slowly heal the smaller wound but found himself loosing consciousness afterward.

Námo waited until his daughter and Estë had lowered both Elrond and Glorfindel to the ground before pulling her away.

“You know you are not to be here, would you let your impatience ruin all?” he hissed at her in anger.

“I felt his fear and pain. I only meant to help,” she responded in confusion.

Manwë intervened at this point to prevent everything from getting out of hand.

“There are reasons we keep you separated that have nothing to do with fatherly protectiveness,” he said as he shot a glare at Námo. “There is danger here for you and for these young ones. Return to your father’s Halls and do not leave them again until you are told it is safe to do so. What happened here today should show you that not all is as safe here as they believe.”

Elrond had awakened enough to watch what was going on as Sellem nodded her understanding to Manwë then faded away. He watched as Estë placed her hands onto his chest and sent a healing burst into him. His breathing became easier as a result which he silently thanked her for. He turned his head enough to see that Glorfindel was lying beside him but a quick assessment through their bond ensured him of his brother’s well being. Estë explained that he was just exhausted from the healing. Elrond looked at his brother in wonder as he contemplated that Glorfindel had actually helped heal him and saved his life. While knowing basic life saving techniques, Glorfindel generally only helped him by acting as an assistant and lending him his energy.

Looking around until he spotted the ellon that had attacked him, he saw him being pulled to his feet by two Maiar. As Manwë came before him, the ellon quaked in fear.

“You disappoint us Ecthelion, I fear that you needed more time in the Hall’s before being reborn. As it is Ilúvator’s choice as to who is released when, you shall not be returned there despite my wishes,” he said as he scowled at the ellon’s defiant look. “I am glad for Irmo’s foresight in needing an area for those not ready to be in other’s company. There you will be taken and there you shall stay until you see the errors of your ways and plead forgiveness.”

Nodding to the two Maiar, they faded away with the Lord of the Fountain between them. Turning next to Eönwé, Manwë sighed deeply. Oromë and Tulkas released Eonwe and he fell to his knees before his Lord.

“Forgive me,” he pleaded. “I know not what overcame me.”

Namo came and stood before him looking deep into his eyes and soul. After several minutes, he turned and conferred with Manwë. Accepting Námo’s chastisement for his error, he turned back to Eönwé.

“I apologize child,” he began. “My selfishness kept you at my side instead of allowing you to go to the Halls for healing after the War of Wrath like the others. Because of this, a darkness that should have been healed has grown inside of you. It has changed your behavior to that of an ellon chased by Melkor. I release you now to go and obtain a healing that is long overdue. We will talk of this afterwards.”

Elrond watched as Oromë stepped up to his great uncle and they faded away together. Next he turned his attention to Celebrían as Estë knelt beside her to check on her condition.

“She will have to return to my gardens for a time of healing,” he heard her say to her husband. “Her memories will be triggered by the violence of what happened here today. She will also have to come to terms with her belief of safety being no longer possible.”

“It is his fault,” Gil-Galad began. “He should never have been allowed around her. He is the cause of all of her pain.”

Namo turned on Gil-Galad at this point.

“I see that maybe you also are not ready to be around others if this is how you still think,” he hissed at the ellon holding Celebrían. “You conveniently forget exactly how much of everything was by your design. It was you who named Elrond your heir out of jealously believing he would then be no threat to you. Then you agreed to the betrothal with Celebrían, despite Galadriel’s stipulation that if anything happened to you she would marry your heir. You were sent dreams of your demise and they did not lead you to break your betrothal. Your only action was to give Elrond Vilya, mistakenly believing that Sauron would go after him first giving you time to defeat him. It is time you learned not to fight the song.”

“I also agree that maybe you need more time to reflect. Tulkas take him to Irmo’s special garden and ensure they know he is to stay there for a time,” Manwë ordered.

Gil-Galad looked shocked but did not protest as he was led away by Tulkas. Manwë then turned and looked at Elrond. Coming to kneel beside him, he address him.

“You are the one I worry about least in all of this. Your past has taught you to handle pain like no other in ways even I cannot understand. The others will heal given enough time, worry not. It is time for you to sleep and finish healing,” he told Elrond as he placed his hand upon his forehead and gently pushed him into sleep.

Signaling for two other Maiar to carry Elrond and Glorfindel back to Melain’s house, Manwë called his brothers and sisters to counsel.

The Vala reclined upon their thrones as they all considered what had occurred that day. It was Namo who addressed the problems first.

*Eönwë will recover with time; he is already communing with the father. That the darkness manifested in this form is what is most disturbing. We will have to watch for this manifestation with others,* he said.

*How many others are there who have not spent time healing after a sojourn in Middle-earth?* Manwë asked.

*There are four others; two who went forth with our forces in the War of Wrath and two others who have spent time there since for various reasons ,* he responded.

*There is also Melian to consider,* Irmo told them. *She has spent all of her time in my gardens but none in the Halls.*

*Have there been any signs of darkness?* Varda asked.

*No, but there were none in Eönwë either before he broke,* Irmo said.

*She is needed to guide the youngsters at this time,* Manwë began. *Nienna, you are not around her and would notice any difference in behavior. Go there and evaluate her; talk to Elwë. If there is the slightest darkness about her we must make other plans for the young ones. They are at too important of a stage to chance the slightest tainting their training.*

*To be on the safe side, I will have several Maiar around both of them at all times. They should not be able to sense them yet,* Námo told them.

*You forget who you are dealing with, Námo,* came Aulë’s quiet reply. *Neither of them have ever been normal ellon. Ilúvator marked them out from birth. I have no doubt that they will know if you place someone around them. The question is whether or not we should do this.*

*Both of their lives have been shaped by adversity and they have both grown and rose above this,* Yavanna continued. *It is almost as if they were shaped to grow this way. I say let them be to work through this without being guarded.*

*What you say is wise,* Manwë said. *We seek to protect them but never have they been protected like this before. We seek to shield them so they will choose the path we want them to.*

*But we have already seen the consequences of this action before,* Namo said finishing Manwë’s thought. *I say we should refrain from interfering this time. A repeat of the disaster we brought when we sought to bring the Firstborn to Valinor is unthinkable. To have the power of these two turned against us is not a thought I relish.*

The other Valar considered deeply what Námo had just revealed. While they all knew that Elrond and Glorfindel were special in Ilúvator’s eyes, they had not considered why it was so. It was ultimately decided to leave them with Melian and Elwë despite what Nienna found.

*****

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