Post by Rhonda on May 22, 2014 21:40:52 GMT -5
Chapter 7 – Friends in High Places
“Come” was the response to the knock on the solid oak door, and when it swung open Elrond was propped against the edge of his desk reading yet another contract for Elven goods. Glorfindel, his usual ebullient self, burst in with a huge smile on his face expecting to see the same returned to him, but it was not to be. Elrond’s face was grim and emotionless. The great elf lord had decided that he could not approach this situation as a friend, for he was friends with both parties and did not wish to give the appearance of taking sides. He would keep things as diplomatic as possible and try not to insert his personal feelings into it.
“Ah, Glorfindel, please sit down there is something that I wish to discuss with you.”
“Is everything all right El, you seem a little upset?”
“As a matter of fact I am. I spent a portion of my morning trying to calm the person that I rely on more than any other to keep things in this valley running smoothly, my seneschal.”
“Erestor? What was wrong with Erestor?”
“I am not at liberty to divulge exactly what we discussed, but suffice it to say that he was not at all happy with the current state of your relationship.”
“Current state?” “What is that suppose to mean?”
“I take it that the two of you have been arguing quite a bit lately. So much so that Erestor has become rather distracted. Ordinarily I would not interfere in a situation like this but when it starts to affect the way Erestor works and the way he interacts with members of the family then it is time for me to intervene.”
“El, Erestor and I have been butting heads a bit lately, but I assure you it is nothing serious, you see Erestor thinks…” Elrond cut him off. “I do not need to know the details of it Glor, what I do need is a functioning household and a fully functioning seneschal. Whatever is going on between the two of you…fix it. I cannot have my right hand distracted and ineffectual.”
“El, I can understand how you might be upset if Erestor is not performing his duties as well as he normally does, and I can understand if you want that fixed, but why do I get the feeling that there is something more going on here…something that you are not saying?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Call me crazy, but you are not just upset, you are angry, very angry and nothing that Erestor did or could do would make you this tense. He told you didn’t he?”
“Told me what?”
“Come now El it is beneath you to feign ignorance. He told you that we have been arguing about Timagol.”
Elrond was pacing now, deciding how far to take this conversation. “Is it true? Is there something going on between the two of you?”
“El, you and I have been friends for more years than I can count, you know me. You certainly know me well enough to know that I would never do anything to bring hurt or shame to Erestor, he is the most important person in my life. Nevertheless, for some reason, I do not know why, I cannot make him believe me. I am not involved with Timagol; I have no interest in him in that way, he is just a young elf with an ill advised infatuation.”
“And you have given him no encouragement in this regard?”
“Absolutely not. When he arrived he did seem to glum on to me a bit, but I did not think it that unusual…ego being what it is,” he said sheepishly. “But I gave him no extra encouragement in that regard. He behaved as many others of his age have in the past; I thought it ‘hero worship’, nothing more. But Erestor is convinced that Tima has something other than friendship up his sleeves, and I am sorry that it upsets him, but I just do not see it.”
Elrond paused in his pacing to consider Glorfindel’s words then finally spoke. “You do of course understand that the fact that you do not see it does not mean that it does not exist?”
“Of course I do, I could be wrong but nothing that has transpired points to that. I have tried to reason with Erestor but he is convinced, and nothing I do has changed his mind.”
“You could break off your contact with Timagol.”
Glorfindel considered Elrond’s opinion, “Yes, I suppose I could do that, but what would that prove? Erestor would only further be convinced that he is right, and he is not. It would only make things worse, and how fair would that be to Tima? For if Erestor thinks he is right he will surely act upon it.”
“Well perhaps you could minimize Erestor’s reaction by discontinuing the use of such a personal name with Timagol. By calling him ‘Tima’ you subscribe a personal element to your relationship with this elf that you claim does not exist. It also encourages Timagol to believe that there is an interest in him that you say you do not hold. In any event it looks to me that it is going to be up to you to draw that line that lets Timagol know that you do not intend to pursue anything more than friendship with him. That is of course if that is the way you truly feel.”
“El, I cannot believe that you would even think something like that, let alone say it. You know my feelings for Erestor, no one comes before him with me, I would lay down my life for him, you know this.”
Elrond stood with a deflated look shaking his head, “I am sorry Del, of course you are right. No one could make you betray Erestor, I know this. I am sorry old friend, it is just that…he was so upset, and I am convinced that his trip to the practice ring this morning is a direct result of that upset. He thinks he needs to prove himself, not just to Timagol, but to you as well. To inform Timagol and to remind you, in a not very subtle way, that he too is a warrior, and not someone to be toyed with.”
“Well if what Estel said to me is accurate then he certainly did that this morning.”
“Estel? What did my son say?”
“When I arrived at the practice ring Estel informed me that Erestor gave him his first sword lesson today, and while he was at it he sparred with every warrior on the field – except Timagol, who Estel says would not fight him.”
Elrond could not help but smile, “Little show off”
“Estel?”
“No Erestor. No wonder he was all decked out when I saw him this morning with the twins.”
“The twins?”
“Yes, they accompanied him to the field.”
“Well that must have been a sight to see. Never let it be said that my Erestor does not know how to make an entrance.”
Elrond laughed in spite of himself, “Who do you think taught that to Estel?”
Finally the tension was broken and the two old elves were laughing together again. “Look El, I promise you I will do my best to defuse the situation, I am not going to cater to Erestor's misconceptions, but I will go out of my way to make sure that Timagol knows where my loyalty lies.”
“That is all I ask my brother, that is all I ask. Hopefully that will be enough to calm Erestor and get things back to normal around here. If not, I may be forced to turn Estel loose on all of you to teach you how to behave.”
“El please, anything but the tiny terror.”
“T’would serve you right if I did unleash him on all of you…but I will be merciful – this time,” he said laughing. “Come it is almost time for noon meal and you are looking just a bit ragged, get yourself cleaned up and meet me downstairs for lunch.”
“Yes, I had better hurry, I have already received my invitation from the true lord of this manor, and if I am late Estel will certainly take me to task.” With that the two elves exited the study and parted ways in the corridor. One on his way to supervise luncheon and the other to quench the embers of a long burning fire.
~~~
Estel stood on a footstool in Erestor’s bathing chamber; striped down to his underpants, vigorously washing the dust from his little face. His tutor stood beside him in relatively the same state of undress also washing the dust of the day from his person. They were seriously engrossed in removing the soil from behind Estel’s ears when Glorfindel entered the room.
“Erestor! Erestor are you here?”
Almost silently, the exotic seneschal appeared at the chamber door, leaning against the doorjamb drying his hands on a towel. “What do you want?” he asked dryly, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could. Glorfindel could tell by his tone that Erestor was not in a good mood, and as much as he wanted to discuss the situation with Timagol, he did not want to further exacerbate the animosity that was brewing with Erestor.
He unbuckled his scabbard, threw it on the bed, and slowly approached his mate asking, “Is there room in there for me?” Before Erestor could respond Estel jumped off the stool and was running past his tutor into Glorfindel’s arms. “Glorfy!” he called, “Come on Glorfy dere’s lots of hot water, we saved some for you, Westor said we should not use it all cause you need to get clean too.”
“So,” Glorfindel thought to himself, “you may be angry with me but you still thought of my needs first.” The golden haired warrior responded to Estel, but looked past the boy straight into Erestor’s eyes as he did so.
“Well now, that was very considerate of Erestor, but then my beloved always thinks of others before himself. Estel do you think you could find me some really good bubble soap? After riding all morning on patrol I need a little more than a wash up. I really need to take a good soapy bath; do you think you can find me some good bubbles?”
“You bet Glorfy, I know just which ones, Westor has all da best bubbles,” he nodded assuredly; “I get you some.”
As Glorfindel set the boy back on the floor, Erestor rolled his eyes at the warrior and breezed past him grabbing his robe from the edge of the bed. As he slipped the robe on he could hear Glorfindel moving to stand behind him. “I see that you are still angry with me about last night. I am sorry I upset you seron vell, it was not my intent to start a fight.”
“No of course not,” Erestor hissed, “it was only your intent to disregard everything I said, to make little of my concerns and to accuse me of overreacting, as if I have not seen this behavior before.”
“I did not intend to make light of your concerns my love, it is just in this case we are seeing things a little differently. Perhaps you are right and I am wrong…all I was trying to say is that I have not seen evidence of anything more than a young crush.” Erestor made to speak, but Glorfindel cut him off before he could say anything. “However, after considering your thoughts, I realize that my not seeing it does not preclude its existence. Perhaps after so many years of wide-eyed admiration from younglings I have become blinded to it, it all seems the same to me. But if you perceive that this young one has something more than friendship on his mind then…I will do my best to make sure he understands that nothing will come of his interest in me.”
Erestor looked back over his shoulder scrutinizing Glorfindel’s face, and assessing his commitment to his last statement. The sharp-tongued advisor’s eyes narrowed as he issued his caution. “If you are saying this just to placate me I promise you things will not go well between us. This child has already caused more trouble than he is worth and I will not abide having it continue.”
“What child Westor?” a little voice piped up from the doorway, “Who is making twouble?” “I not makin’ no twouble am I?” he asked apprehensively.
“No sweetling not you, we were talking about another child who is being a problem.”
“Are you gonna put him on da stool?”
“No tithen pen, he is too big for the naughty stool.”
“Ohh...so he is goin’ in da corner right?”
“Not this time little one, he will get a different punishment.”
“Ohh…he gotta go to his room and stay, right?”
“No sweetling, I cannot send him to his room.”
Estel looked at them confused, and then suddenly the light dawned. “Uh Ohh…iss he gonna get a spankin’?”
“No little love, no spanking.”
The child looked quizzically back and forth between the two elves. Confusion and a bit of disappointment etched on his small brow. Estel knew from dealing with his brothers that clarification was always necessary when dealing with adults. He understood all too well that when one misbehaves or becomes a problem that there are consequences for those actions, and so far he wasn’t hearing any consequences. He scrutinized the two elves carefully then asked,
“So, no naughty stool, no corner, no go to you room, and no spankin?”
“That is right sweetling.”
“Ohh, so he is walkin’.”
“Walking sweetling, what do you mean?”
“Das what Dan calls it. Dan says when you do something bad and you don’ get punished das a walk.”
“Well I can assure you tithen pen, there will be no ‘walks’ given here. Is that not right Glorfindel?”
The golden one was a little taken aback that Erestor would bring him into this conversation with Estel, but he answered nonetheless. “That is correct,” he said as he glared at Erestor, “there will be no free walks given.”
“Das good” the child said thoughtfully, “cause iss not fair if you do somethin’ bad and you don get punished. I always get punished,” he said emphatically. “Sometimes I get punished even when I don’ do somethin’ wrong.”
“Now Estel let us not exaggerate, when were you ever punished for something you did not do?”
“I not zageratin’ right Westor? Member when Roh was on patrol and Dan found his bow and da string was broke and he said I did it?” Member? I told him I didna do it but he didna beweve me an he didna speak to me for two whole days,” he said as he illustrated by holding up two little fingers, “…till Roh came home and ‘mitted it. Member?”
“He is right Glorfindel he did get blamed for that and he was innocent.”
“ See Glorfy, told ya.”
“I stand corrected Estel. Well that will not be happening in this case, right Erestor? We will not be blaming people for something they are not doing.”
Erestor could feel his anger rising, Glorfindel was taking this innocent opportunity with Estel to make his point about Timagol and the staid counselor did not like it one bit.
“Of course not, we only blame the guilty and we punish them severely.”
Glorfindel did not like the turn this conversation was taking. What had started out as his apology to Erestor was fast turning into Erestor laying down the law, and no – he did not like it at all. It was one thing to be angry, it was quite another to issue surreptitious challenges and ultimatums. Glorfindel of Gondolin was not someone to whom you could dictate.
“Well in that case I suppose I had better get myself cleaned up” he said huffily as he breezed past Erestor, “that way I can seek out the child and make sure he is staying out of trouble.”
Erestor turned with flame in his eyes, “Seek him out?” he queried, the shocked tone in his voice unmistakable.
“That’s right” Glorfindel responded angrily as he threw his tunic on the bathing pool floor. “That’s exactly what I intend to do…seek him out” he said as his leggings followed his tunic. “Perhaps then I can get some peace around here!” he said as he jumped into the pool.
Estel stood there confused, his arms filled with soap containers. Unless he was mistaken his beloved Glorfindel had just yelled at Erestor. He stood in the doorway looking back and forth between his two mentors and listened with tear-filled eyes as Erestor hurled yet another angry taunt in Glorfindel’s direction. “Peace? Peace! If peace is what you seek I am sure that there is plenty of it to be found – in the guest quarters!”
Glorfindel shot back with a barb of his own. “Undoubtedly…along with other things!” he said as he submerged himself in the pool.
“Well then, by all means get yourself presentable” Erestor yelled as he turned and grabbed a handful of containers from Estel and chucked them into the pool narrowly missing Glorfindel’s head. The thoroughly aggravated warrior grabbed one of the floating containers and threw it back in Erestor’s direction. The vessel missed, landing with a shattering ping at Estel’s feet sending the child running from the room and down the corridor in tears.
“Come” was the response to the knock on the solid oak door, and when it swung open Elrond was propped against the edge of his desk reading yet another contract for Elven goods. Glorfindel, his usual ebullient self, burst in with a huge smile on his face expecting to see the same returned to him, but it was not to be. Elrond’s face was grim and emotionless. The great elf lord had decided that he could not approach this situation as a friend, for he was friends with both parties and did not wish to give the appearance of taking sides. He would keep things as diplomatic as possible and try not to insert his personal feelings into it.
“Ah, Glorfindel, please sit down there is something that I wish to discuss with you.”
“Is everything all right El, you seem a little upset?”
“As a matter of fact I am. I spent a portion of my morning trying to calm the person that I rely on more than any other to keep things in this valley running smoothly, my seneschal.”
“Erestor? What was wrong with Erestor?”
“I am not at liberty to divulge exactly what we discussed, but suffice it to say that he was not at all happy with the current state of your relationship.”
“Current state?” “What is that suppose to mean?”
“I take it that the two of you have been arguing quite a bit lately. So much so that Erestor has become rather distracted. Ordinarily I would not interfere in a situation like this but when it starts to affect the way Erestor works and the way he interacts with members of the family then it is time for me to intervene.”
“El, Erestor and I have been butting heads a bit lately, but I assure you it is nothing serious, you see Erestor thinks…” Elrond cut him off. “I do not need to know the details of it Glor, what I do need is a functioning household and a fully functioning seneschal. Whatever is going on between the two of you…fix it. I cannot have my right hand distracted and ineffectual.”
“El, I can understand how you might be upset if Erestor is not performing his duties as well as he normally does, and I can understand if you want that fixed, but why do I get the feeling that there is something more going on here…something that you are not saying?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Call me crazy, but you are not just upset, you are angry, very angry and nothing that Erestor did or could do would make you this tense. He told you didn’t he?”
“Told me what?”
“Come now El it is beneath you to feign ignorance. He told you that we have been arguing about Timagol.”
Elrond was pacing now, deciding how far to take this conversation. “Is it true? Is there something going on between the two of you?”
“El, you and I have been friends for more years than I can count, you know me. You certainly know me well enough to know that I would never do anything to bring hurt or shame to Erestor, he is the most important person in my life. Nevertheless, for some reason, I do not know why, I cannot make him believe me. I am not involved with Timagol; I have no interest in him in that way, he is just a young elf with an ill advised infatuation.”
“And you have given him no encouragement in this regard?”
“Absolutely not. When he arrived he did seem to glum on to me a bit, but I did not think it that unusual…ego being what it is,” he said sheepishly. “But I gave him no extra encouragement in that regard. He behaved as many others of his age have in the past; I thought it ‘hero worship’, nothing more. But Erestor is convinced that Tima has something other than friendship up his sleeves, and I am sorry that it upsets him, but I just do not see it.”
Elrond paused in his pacing to consider Glorfindel’s words then finally spoke. “You do of course understand that the fact that you do not see it does not mean that it does not exist?”
“Of course I do, I could be wrong but nothing that has transpired points to that. I have tried to reason with Erestor but he is convinced, and nothing I do has changed his mind.”
“You could break off your contact with Timagol.”
Glorfindel considered Elrond’s opinion, “Yes, I suppose I could do that, but what would that prove? Erestor would only further be convinced that he is right, and he is not. It would only make things worse, and how fair would that be to Tima? For if Erestor thinks he is right he will surely act upon it.”
“Well perhaps you could minimize Erestor’s reaction by discontinuing the use of such a personal name with Timagol. By calling him ‘Tima’ you subscribe a personal element to your relationship with this elf that you claim does not exist. It also encourages Timagol to believe that there is an interest in him that you say you do not hold. In any event it looks to me that it is going to be up to you to draw that line that lets Timagol know that you do not intend to pursue anything more than friendship with him. That is of course if that is the way you truly feel.”
“El, I cannot believe that you would even think something like that, let alone say it. You know my feelings for Erestor, no one comes before him with me, I would lay down my life for him, you know this.”
Elrond stood with a deflated look shaking his head, “I am sorry Del, of course you are right. No one could make you betray Erestor, I know this. I am sorry old friend, it is just that…he was so upset, and I am convinced that his trip to the practice ring this morning is a direct result of that upset. He thinks he needs to prove himself, not just to Timagol, but to you as well. To inform Timagol and to remind you, in a not very subtle way, that he too is a warrior, and not someone to be toyed with.”
“Well if what Estel said to me is accurate then he certainly did that this morning.”
“Estel? What did my son say?”
“When I arrived at the practice ring Estel informed me that Erestor gave him his first sword lesson today, and while he was at it he sparred with every warrior on the field – except Timagol, who Estel says would not fight him.”
Elrond could not help but smile, “Little show off”
“Estel?”
“No Erestor. No wonder he was all decked out when I saw him this morning with the twins.”
“The twins?”
“Yes, they accompanied him to the field.”
“Well that must have been a sight to see. Never let it be said that my Erestor does not know how to make an entrance.”
Elrond laughed in spite of himself, “Who do you think taught that to Estel?”
Finally the tension was broken and the two old elves were laughing together again. “Look El, I promise you I will do my best to defuse the situation, I am not going to cater to Erestor's misconceptions, but I will go out of my way to make sure that Timagol knows where my loyalty lies.”
“That is all I ask my brother, that is all I ask. Hopefully that will be enough to calm Erestor and get things back to normal around here. If not, I may be forced to turn Estel loose on all of you to teach you how to behave.”
“El please, anything but the tiny terror.”
“T’would serve you right if I did unleash him on all of you…but I will be merciful – this time,” he said laughing. “Come it is almost time for noon meal and you are looking just a bit ragged, get yourself cleaned up and meet me downstairs for lunch.”
“Yes, I had better hurry, I have already received my invitation from the true lord of this manor, and if I am late Estel will certainly take me to task.” With that the two elves exited the study and parted ways in the corridor. One on his way to supervise luncheon and the other to quench the embers of a long burning fire.
~~~
Estel stood on a footstool in Erestor’s bathing chamber; striped down to his underpants, vigorously washing the dust from his little face. His tutor stood beside him in relatively the same state of undress also washing the dust of the day from his person. They were seriously engrossed in removing the soil from behind Estel’s ears when Glorfindel entered the room.
“Erestor! Erestor are you here?”
Almost silently, the exotic seneschal appeared at the chamber door, leaning against the doorjamb drying his hands on a towel. “What do you want?” he asked dryly, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could. Glorfindel could tell by his tone that Erestor was not in a good mood, and as much as he wanted to discuss the situation with Timagol, he did not want to further exacerbate the animosity that was brewing with Erestor.
He unbuckled his scabbard, threw it on the bed, and slowly approached his mate asking, “Is there room in there for me?” Before Erestor could respond Estel jumped off the stool and was running past his tutor into Glorfindel’s arms. “Glorfy!” he called, “Come on Glorfy dere’s lots of hot water, we saved some for you, Westor said we should not use it all cause you need to get clean too.”
“So,” Glorfindel thought to himself, “you may be angry with me but you still thought of my needs first.” The golden haired warrior responded to Estel, but looked past the boy straight into Erestor’s eyes as he did so.
“Well now, that was very considerate of Erestor, but then my beloved always thinks of others before himself. Estel do you think you could find me some really good bubble soap? After riding all morning on patrol I need a little more than a wash up. I really need to take a good soapy bath; do you think you can find me some good bubbles?”
“You bet Glorfy, I know just which ones, Westor has all da best bubbles,” he nodded assuredly; “I get you some.”
As Glorfindel set the boy back on the floor, Erestor rolled his eyes at the warrior and breezed past him grabbing his robe from the edge of the bed. As he slipped the robe on he could hear Glorfindel moving to stand behind him. “I see that you are still angry with me about last night. I am sorry I upset you seron vell, it was not my intent to start a fight.”
“No of course not,” Erestor hissed, “it was only your intent to disregard everything I said, to make little of my concerns and to accuse me of overreacting, as if I have not seen this behavior before.”
“I did not intend to make light of your concerns my love, it is just in this case we are seeing things a little differently. Perhaps you are right and I am wrong…all I was trying to say is that I have not seen evidence of anything more than a young crush.” Erestor made to speak, but Glorfindel cut him off before he could say anything. “However, after considering your thoughts, I realize that my not seeing it does not preclude its existence. Perhaps after so many years of wide-eyed admiration from younglings I have become blinded to it, it all seems the same to me. But if you perceive that this young one has something more than friendship on his mind then…I will do my best to make sure he understands that nothing will come of his interest in me.”
Erestor looked back over his shoulder scrutinizing Glorfindel’s face, and assessing his commitment to his last statement. The sharp-tongued advisor’s eyes narrowed as he issued his caution. “If you are saying this just to placate me I promise you things will not go well between us. This child has already caused more trouble than he is worth and I will not abide having it continue.”
“What child Westor?” a little voice piped up from the doorway, “Who is making twouble?” “I not makin’ no twouble am I?” he asked apprehensively.
“No sweetling not you, we were talking about another child who is being a problem.”
“Are you gonna put him on da stool?”
“No tithen pen, he is too big for the naughty stool.”
“Ohh...so he is goin’ in da corner right?”
“Not this time little one, he will get a different punishment.”
“Ohh…he gotta go to his room and stay, right?”
“No sweetling, I cannot send him to his room.”
Estel looked at them confused, and then suddenly the light dawned. “Uh Ohh…iss he gonna get a spankin’?”
“No little love, no spanking.”
The child looked quizzically back and forth between the two elves. Confusion and a bit of disappointment etched on his small brow. Estel knew from dealing with his brothers that clarification was always necessary when dealing with adults. He understood all too well that when one misbehaves or becomes a problem that there are consequences for those actions, and so far he wasn’t hearing any consequences. He scrutinized the two elves carefully then asked,
“So, no naughty stool, no corner, no go to you room, and no spankin?”
“That is right sweetling.”
“Ohh, so he is walkin’.”
“Walking sweetling, what do you mean?”
“Das what Dan calls it. Dan says when you do something bad and you don’ get punished das a walk.”
“Well I can assure you tithen pen, there will be no ‘walks’ given here. Is that not right Glorfindel?”
The golden one was a little taken aback that Erestor would bring him into this conversation with Estel, but he answered nonetheless. “That is correct,” he said as he glared at Erestor, “there will be no free walks given.”
“Das good” the child said thoughtfully, “cause iss not fair if you do somethin’ bad and you don get punished. I always get punished,” he said emphatically. “Sometimes I get punished even when I don’ do somethin’ wrong.”
“Now Estel let us not exaggerate, when were you ever punished for something you did not do?”
“I not zageratin’ right Westor? Member when Roh was on patrol and Dan found his bow and da string was broke and he said I did it?” Member? I told him I didna do it but he didna beweve me an he didna speak to me for two whole days,” he said as he illustrated by holding up two little fingers, “…till Roh came home and ‘mitted it. Member?”
“He is right Glorfindel he did get blamed for that and he was innocent.”
“ See Glorfy, told ya.”
“I stand corrected Estel. Well that will not be happening in this case, right Erestor? We will not be blaming people for something they are not doing.”
Erestor could feel his anger rising, Glorfindel was taking this innocent opportunity with Estel to make his point about Timagol and the staid counselor did not like it one bit.
“Of course not, we only blame the guilty and we punish them severely.”
Glorfindel did not like the turn this conversation was taking. What had started out as his apology to Erestor was fast turning into Erestor laying down the law, and no – he did not like it at all. It was one thing to be angry, it was quite another to issue surreptitious challenges and ultimatums. Glorfindel of Gondolin was not someone to whom you could dictate.
“Well in that case I suppose I had better get myself cleaned up” he said huffily as he breezed past Erestor, “that way I can seek out the child and make sure he is staying out of trouble.”
Erestor turned with flame in his eyes, “Seek him out?” he queried, the shocked tone in his voice unmistakable.
“That’s right” Glorfindel responded angrily as he threw his tunic on the bathing pool floor. “That’s exactly what I intend to do…seek him out” he said as his leggings followed his tunic. “Perhaps then I can get some peace around here!” he said as he jumped into the pool.
Estel stood there confused, his arms filled with soap containers. Unless he was mistaken his beloved Glorfindel had just yelled at Erestor. He stood in the doorway looking back and forth between his two mentors and listened with tear-filled eyes as Erestor hurled yet another angry taunt in Glorfindel’s direction. “Peace? Peace! If peace is what you seek I am sure that there is plenty of it to be found – in the guest quarters!”
Glorfindel shot back with a barb of his own. “Undoubtedly…along with other things!” he said as he submerged himself in the pool.
“Well then, by all means get yourself presentable” Erestor yelled as he turned and grabbed a handful of containers from Estel and chucked them into the pool narrowly missing Glorfindel’s head. The thoroughly aggravated warrior grabbed one of the floating containers and threw it back in Erestor’s direction. The vessel missed, landing with a shattering ping at Estel’s feet sending the child running from the room and down the corridor in tears.