~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That first afternoon their
mood was dour and no one spoke a word. Erestor was busy riding. Of course he
knew how to ride a horse, but he had not too much practice.
"We'll make camp
here." It was the first sentence for hours when Glorfindel stopped his
horse in the setting sun.
"Where?" Erestor
looked around. Now that the horse stood still he had the time to take-in his
surroundings.
"Here." the
captain slid off his steed and started to unsaddle.
"But...." this
was incredible!
"What is it?" the
blond sighed.
"There's NOTHING
here!" Erestor exclaimed exasperated.
"Bookworm...."
Glorfindel muttered under his breath. Then, louder he added: "we have
shelter, wood for a fire and a creek
with water. What else should we need?"
"A bath!" Erestor
found it no miracle that the Captain of the Guard did not long to get clean. He
himself would not give in to such poor excuses.
Glorfindel snorted, shook
his head and continued to prepare their camp.
Erestor looked around and
was utterly disappointed there was nothing to hide behind. He wanted his
privacy when cleansing himself. //No bath today then. Damn it.//
Glorfindel showered himself
with the help of a water-skin. Erestor pretended to ignore him although he
envied the Guard Captain his frank attitude. He himself was far too shy to
expose himself like that.
Their frugal meal - lembas
and water from the creek - was taken in silence and soon after they went to
sleep.
+++
The whole next day passed
in silence
"Have you ever been to
'Lorien before?" Glorfindel asked at their night-camp between two bites of
lembas.
"Aye."
"Oft?"
"Nay."
Glorfindel rolled his eyes
and tried another attempt:
"Have you ever lead
negotiations with King Thranduil before?"
"Aye." Erestor
sipped on his tea with eyes that seemed to focus on an invisible point far, far
away.
"Erestor, do you
listen at all?"
"Why, of course! What
kind of question is that?" the Counselor's head snapped around angrily,
his dark eyes momentarily blazing with unusual intensity. But only for a second.
"Well, do you realize
that I am trying to establish some kind of conversation between the two of
us?"
"Oh..." Erestor
had truly not thought of that "well, we don't have anything in common.
What should we talk about?"
"Sure we have!"
Glorfindel opposed.
"Indeed?"
Erestor’s eyebrows rose with wonder and his voice dripped with condescension.
"We're both elves,
both male, we live at Rivendell and serve Lord Elrond,
we're....." his voice trailed off. Glorfindel found himself unable to list
more of their common ground.
"Indeed, that is a
lot!" Erestor snorted, finding his opinion verified.
"I deem this travel
would be nicer if we would at least TRY to behave like civilized elves?"
"In contrary to YOU, I
don't have to try - I AM civilized."
A low growl escaped
Glorfindel's lips at this insult.
//see, he's more like an
animal, this brute.// satisfied with his findings Erestor
returned to staring into void.
The blond seriously
pondered the question whether slaying Erestor would be judged as a
mercy-killing or even a favor for all elvendom. For more than 24 hours he had
now tried to be nice. Well, at least he'd tried to be indifferent with
this obviously inept bookworm.
"So, tell me, have you
negotiated with Thranduil often?" //This is my last attempt. The very
last!//
"Why, yes. King
Thranduil and Lord Elrond are not on speaking terms since the tragic incident
that led to Oropher's death."
“Why would Thranduil blame
Elrond?” Glorfindel had been in the Halls of Waiting by that time and HE only
knew what scrolls recounted. Lord Elrond rarely told stories of that battle.
“Gil-galad and Elrond
were…. very close.” Erestor said hesitantly. “Oropher’s call for help came in
too late but Thranduil would not believe that.”
It sounded as if Erestor
had been there. Although most legends were known to all elves, Glorfindel knew
the difference between somebody telling a tale and someone recounting things he
had witnessed in some way.
“Have you been there?”
Erestor’s gaze flickered
strangely. “Nay…”
Glorfindel did not like to
discuss the Halls of Waiting and he knew how to respect other elves’ wish for
avoidance of certain subjects.
“How ‘about ‘Lorien?” the
blond Noldo asked to change the subject.
“I was with Galadriel’s
group when we crossed the HelcaraxË –“
“You are THAT old?”
Glorfindel burst out.
Erestor simply gave
Glorfindel an indignant stare. Did he not look like a genuine Noldo? Was he not
lore-master in Elrond’s household? Did he not remember every detail since the
Kinslaying? That dreadful incident… Erestor’s face darkened for a moment and
Glorfindel mistook it completely.
“No offense.” The blond
raised his hands defensively.
“What?” Erestor was at a
loss, not knowing what Glorfindel referred to.
“I did not want to make it
sound as if you were….well….an infirm geriatric.” //although you walk like
one// Glorfindel explained.
“Oh.” Erestor stared again,
for a change he started into the flames.
“Did you see the Trees?”
Glorfindel asked with awe.
“Aye…” and for a moment the
blond
Gguard’s Captain could see the reflection of that famous light shine from
Erestor’s eyes like it only would do with those who had seen the Two Trees
alive and alight. Then the dark eyes went vacant as Erestor slipped into
reverie.
Glorfindel sighed with
frustration. Now that he had finally found something to talk about Erestor had
simply gone to sleep! It was obvious that the bookworm was too haughty to
converse with a simple warrior. //well, he’s not worth the effort anyway. Just
a waste of breath.// Glorfindel wondered how somebody so tacit and arrogant
could win anything at a negotiation. More than ever did the Balrog-slayer look
forward to reaching Lothlorien.
TBC...
