Post by Rhonda on May 22, 2014 21:44:59 GMT -5
Chapter 8 – You have Gone Too Far
Haldir and Rúmil were teasingly splashing water on each other as they cleaned up after the morning workout with Erestor. Haldir stood bare-chested in front of the water basin washing the dust from his neck and chest. “Can you believe how fast he is?” Rúmil queried laughingly, “I have never seen the like of it Halli.”
The soft-hearted tough exteriored warden smiled as he continued his bathing, “I tried to tell you, Rú, he is the fastest swordsman I have ever met.”
“Is it true what you said to Timagol…that you think Erestor is a better archer?”
“Unfortunately yes. And that is something we will have to correct. It is one thing to be bested by a swordsman, but quite another for a warden of Lothlórien to be outdone by another archer. We do after all have a certain reputation to uphold. When archery is your stock and trade there should be none better than you.”
Rúmil nodded his agreement, “Still, Tima is a fine archer.”
“He should be better, he is not as quick as he could be and I am convinced it is because now that he is one of the Galadhrim he has gotten lazy. He does not think he needs to improve his skills. He believes that what got him into our ranks as a warden should be enough to keep him there.”
“And why do I think you have a plan to disabuse him of that idea?” Rúmil said smiling.
“Because you have seen me do it before. I am thinking of partnering him with Orophin, he could stand to learn something about patience and timing with his shots and Phin would be an excellent teacher.”
Rúmil was just about to respond when Haldir motioned to him to be quiet. “Shhh, do you hear that?” he asked, a look of concern covering his face.
Rúmil answered saying, “that sounds like…”
“That is Estel!” Haldir said as he grabbed his sword and rushed towards the door. Flinging it open and stepping out into the corridor he found the boy crying, running towards him, and were his eyes deceiving him or was that blood on the child’s leg. Dropping the sword he ran forward and scooped the wailing child up into his arms.
“Estel…Estel what is wrong little one?” The traumatized child was so upset he couldn’t speak, could only bury his face in Haldir’s bare shoulder, and squeeze his neck. As the warden tried to comfort the near naked boy he finally realized that Rúmil was at his side. “Halli, he has glass in his leg!” Rúmil shouted. Haldir turned the child in his arms and looked down to see three shards of glass sticking out of the boy’s leg. Without another word the frantic warden took off down the hall towards Elrond and the east wing healing ward with Rúmil right behind him. Reaching the infirmary door Haldir called out for Elrond, instead it was Elwaith who answered.
“Haldir what is wrong?” he asked as he looked back and forth between the crying child and his Marchwarden.
“Estel has been injured, he has glass in his leg, where is Lord Elrond?”
“I am not sure, he is not scheduled to be here until later today, but never mind that, give me the boy I will take care of this.” Elwaith gently pulled the child from Haldir’s arms and carried him to the examining table. Setting the crying child on the table he tried his best to sooth him. “Do not cry sweetling,” he said as he stroked the boy’s hair. “Tell Waith what happened.”
Between sobs the child managed to get the story out. “Glorfy an..an..Westor are havin’ a argue…argue…”
“Argument?” Haldir queried angrily.
“Yeth…an..an Westor threw da soaps at Glorfy and Glorfy threw dem back an…an it busted on da floor and I got scared an I ran an I got glass in my leggggggggg!” It hurts Halli, it hurts.”
Haldir was fuming. “Waith is he going to be all right?”
“He will be fine Haldir, the cuts are not too deep, as soon as I get the glass out everything will be fine.”
“What about scars?” Rúmil asked frantically.
“There will be at first, but the cuts should heal just fine, there will be marks for a while, but he will grow out of them, no one will ever remember that he was cut.”
“I will remember,” Haldir asserted, “and so will those two idiots once I get my hands on them.”
“Now Haldir…” Rúmil admonished.
“Do not ‘now Haldir’ me. Stay here with Estel, I will be back as soon as I have sorted this out.” With that the Marchwarden turned and headed for the door. Rúmil moved to block his path saying, “Halli calm down, do not make this situation worse.”
“Worse? Worse! How can it be worse, the child is bleeding. This time it is his leg, it could just as well have been his face or his eye. Get out of my way Rúmil…I am his tirn, it is my job to protect him and protect him I will. Those two addle-pated fools are going to answer to me!
“Halli I understand how upsetting this is but I beg you brother, do not do something you will regret. Remember we are guests here, Lord Celeborn would not like it if..”
“Would not like it if what? If I shirked my duties and allowed Lord Elrond’s son to be harmed by two feuding morons? What do you think he would say if Estel had been seriously injured on my watch?”
Rúmil shook his head in dismay and tried to reason with his furious brother, “Halli all I am saying is calm down first, before you speak to them.”
Pushing his brother aside Haldir strode through the door with fury in his eyes, “I will calm down when Estel calms down and not one moment before that. When he no longer lays there shaking in fear, bleeding, with glass in his leg – then I will calm down and not one second sooner!”
~~~~
As Haldir climbed the stairs to the second floor he could hear the raised voices. Rounding the corner he was not surprised to find several of the household staff crowded around the door to Erestor’s room listening to the volatile argument within. Observing the Marchwarden’s approach the staff quickly backed up from the door and began to disperse. Reaching the door Haldir neither hesitated nor knocked, rather, he pushed the door open slamming it against the wall. What he found inside shocked him, the room was in complete disarray, and it was obvious that more than soap bottles had been thrown. Clothes were strewn around the room, a mirror had been broken and personal items of all kinds littered the floor. In the midst of all of this stood Erestor and Glorfindel practically nose to nose screaming at the top of their lungs at one another. So engrossed were they in their fight that they did not even know he was in the room. Yelling and pointing their fingers in each other’s faces they were oblivious to all around them – until Haldir’s voice was finally heard.
“ENOUGH!” he bellowed. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” The two combatants stopped and turned towards the voice at the door. Glorfindel was the first to speak, “Stay out of this Haldir, this does not concern you!”
“You think not?” Haldir said as he approached the Balrog slayer eyeing him angrily and shoving a chair out of his way as he moved, “You think this skirmish of yours is not my business?”
“That is exactly what I think,” Glorfindel yelled as he turned to face Haldir head on.
“Tell me then Glorfindel, in the midst of all this…this bullnuts…where is Estel?”
Erestor’s head immediately jerked around, frantically he looked around the room. “Estel?” he queried, “Melyanna??”
“There is no need for you to call for him, he is not here, Estel is in the infirmary.”
Glorfindel’s attitude immediately vanished and Erestor eyes widened. “Infirmary…what do you mean he is in the infirmary? What has happened to my boy?” Erestor questioned.
“You have happened to him! While the two of you were busy going at it, Glorfindel threw a bottle that broke – broke and left Estel with three shards of glass in his leg!”
Erestor slumped to the bed covering his face with his hands, “Oh dear Valar no” he said as he shook his head. Glorfindel finally found his voice again, long enough to ask, “Is he all right?”
Haldir was fuming, he stood there glaring at the two of them refusing to answer. “Haldir…” Glorfindel said panicked, “Is he all right?”
“No, he is not all right, he has witnessed two of the people he cares most about in this world fighting with each other like a pair of alley cats, so no he is not all right! As a result of that fight he has been injured…mind you, not either of you, but he has been injured, so no he is not all right! He has been frightened beyond belief; his world has been turned upside down, so no he is not all right!
“Count yourselves lucky, count yourselves very lucky, for if it were up to me I would take both of you outside and thrash you within an inch of your lives! Glorfindel made to speak and Haldir cut him off, “and if you say so much as one more word Glorfindel, I promise you, as surely as my parents have passed through the halls of Mandos, I will make that happen for you.”
With the Balrog slayer now silenced Haldir continued, “The two of you have behaved abominably, you have turned this household on its ear, you have the servants eavesdropping outside your room, you have injured and terrified the boy, all this because of your ‘Balrog sized ego’ and your ‘so beneath you’ petty jealousy. And through it all the only person to be hurt in the midst of this is Estel.”
“You stand here screaming at each other about trust and love while you hurt the one person in this world who loves you more than any other.” After taking a breath to calm himself he continued, “I do not have the words to convey how disgusted I am with both of you right now, I do not even want to imagine what could have happened today…you should be ashamed of yourselves – both of you,” he said as he pointedly looked at Erestor, “I expected better of you, and I know Estel deserved better.” With that, the Marchwarden turned to leave the room, and came face to face with Lord Elrond.
“Close the door on your way out Haldir if you please…my friends and I need to talk.”
~~~~~~
Estel was in the infirmary sitting on Rúmil’s lap doing something the warden had only seen him do once before, during his nightmares about the monster – sucking his thumb. As they sat, Rúmil quietly rocked the child in his arms, softly singing a lullaby that he remembered from his childhood. The glass had been removed from his leg, and his Adar had arrived just in time to clean and bandage the wounds. Estel was beside himself with fear and it took several minutes for his father to calm him down enough that he might leave Estel in Rúmil’s excellent care to deal with Glorfindel and Erestor. Only Rúmil’s presence allowed Elrond to leave at all, for the boy had called incessantly for his father since arriving in the room. He had allowed Elwaith, with much reassurance from Rúmil, to remove the shards from his leg, but only his Ada would be good enough to make his boo-boo better.
When Haldir arrived at the infirmary he went immediately to Estel’s side. Rúmil held the babe on his lap while the child squirmed and his little body continued to shake from fear. Eyes closed, he sat sucking his thumb, an action that Rúmil recognized as a coping mechanism the boy employed when he needed to be comforted. The warden knelt at his brother’s side as he examined the bandaged leg. “How bad is it Rú?”
“Both Elwaith and Lord Elrond assured me that there will be no permanent damage Halli. Right now, as you can see, he is just frightened.” Haldir placed a gentle hand on the babe and softly stroked his arm.
“What happened with Erestor and Glorfindel?”
“They are no longer fighting, but now is not the time for details, I will tell you later.”
“Halli…tell me that you did not do anything that will get you into trouble.”
“Do not worry Rú I have done nothing for which there will be consequences.” Gently Haldir tried to draw the thumb from the child’s mouth, only to have Estel pull away and quickly replace it.
“This is not good Rúmil; this is not good at all. It looks as though we will be starting over from the beginning to try to make him feel safe.”
“I cannot believe that Erestor could let something like this happen.”
“Nor could I, but nevertheless it has. Come, let us take the boy back to our rooms and see if we can get him to nap. Lord Elrond will no doubt come for him as soon as he has dealt with those two fools.”
Haldir pulled a blanket from a nearby bed and Rúmil gently wrapped it around Estel. As the brothers made their way to their sammoth with the sleeping boy they continued their conversation about the battling lovers.
“Do you know what the fight was about?” Rúmil asked.
“From what I could hear they were fighting about issues of trust and fidelity.”
“Fidelity? Those two? They have been together for an age, what issue could they have about fidelity?”
“Well, for starters Timagol.”
“What do you mean Timagol? What has he got to do with any of this?”
“Apparently, Tima has taken a fancy to Glorfindel and has been something less than respectful of his relationship with Erestor. Erestor obviously has taken great offense at this and they have been arguing about it for some time now.”
“Is that what prompted Erestor to come down to the practice field this morning?”
“I am sorry to say yes. I am also sorry to say that I had a hand in it.”
“What are you talking about Halli…what have you done?”
“I did not DO anything, but I did encourage Erestor, in a roundabout way, to demonstrate to Tima that he was dealing with a warrior and not the mild mannered assistant that he thought. But that is not what started the fight. From what I could glean from their conversation, Glorfindel was trying to apologize to Erestor and, well you know Erestor, supposedly he got a little snarky and Glorfindel took umbrage and from there things just went downhill.
“And our Estel got caught in the crossfire.”
“I still cannot believe that they were throwing things at each other with the child right there in the room. When I arrived at their sammoth to confront them, they were so caught up in their argument that they did not even know I was in the room. The servants were milling around outside their door eavesdropping, and they were totally oblivious to any of it. All either of them cared about was making his own point, and by the time I interrupted them they were saying some pretty harsh things to one another.”
“How did you handle it Halli?”
“Well for a moment I thought I would have to take Glorfindel outside and bash him around a bit, so greatly did he tax my temper. Thankfully he finally shut his mouth and it was not necessary.”
“Well what was he saying?”
“That is not important now Rú, what is important is that as I was leaving, Lord Elrond was standing there in the doorway, and if I am any judge of disposition I would say that they are both in for the dressing down of a lifetime. I do not think I have ever seen Elrond so angry.”
“Good.” “It serves them right,” Rúmil responded, “they are too old for this kind of nonsense. When I think of what could have happened to Estel it sickens me.”
“When I see what did happen to Estel it sickens me. Thankfully his wounds should heal quickly; right now it is his spirit over which I worry. Even as you hold him he still shakes. Take him inside Rú and I will go upstairs to his room and get his rabbit, his blankey, and a nightshirt. I doubt that Lord Elrond will bring him to noon meal; he is too upset for that. Once we get him settled I will go and apologize to the Lady Nénilya for missing luncheon, she went to the trouble of making a special meal for me and with the antics of Glorfindel and Erestor it has probably been ruined. Perhaps she will permit me to bring a tray in to our room so that we can avoid the questions and speculation that will no doubt be circulating in the dining hall.”
“Good idea Halli, that way we can be nearby if Estel should need us.”
“For his sake Rúmil let us hope that he sleeps through to the supper hour he needs the peace and quiet of that right now.”
“May Elbereth make it so Halli, may she make it so.”
~~~~~
Elrond entered the room quietly, slowly picking his way across the floor moving the debris out of his way with his feet as he went. With near silent footsteps he circled the two elves standing in the center of the room, appraising them from head to toe. Finally he came to stand before them and the look of utter revulsion on his face was undeniable. Turning his back on them he walked to the open doors of the balcony and as he looked out over the landscape of Imladris he began to speak.
“Do you know how long this house has stood on these grounds? Over forty-six hundred years. Four thousand six hundred and seventy-nine years to be exact…and in all that time there has never been a dispute of this magnitude inside these walls.” Elrond’s voice was shaky and it was obvious that he was straining to maintain his composure. Turning to face them he continued…
”What in the name of Elbereth were you thinking? I tried to reason with both of you; I thought I had gotten through to you that you needed to put this petty disagreement behind you. Obviously that is not the case.”
It was then that Glorfindel tried to interrupt, “El I tried to apologize to him but..”
“Silence!” Elrond yelled as his temper came to the fore. “Say nothing! I have done my best to be a good friend to both of you and this is the way you return my kindness? You have up heaved my home, you disrupted my staff, you have embarrassed my family and soiled the reputation of The Last Homely House as a place of peace and refuge. In spite of all counsel to the contrary you have been selfish, petulant, jealous and ego driven. But most importantly, above all else…your actions have injured my son. As I speak my child lays in the infirmary, gashes in his leg from these,” the elf lord extended his hand and tossed the three blood tipped shards of glass onto the bed. When the seneschal saw the glass he broke down sobbing uncontrollably and flopped down on the bed. The golden one closed his eyes and turned away from the scene, face flushed with shame as tears welled up in his eyes.
“From the moment he was brought into this house Estel has trusted in two things, that you loved and would not hurt him, and that you loved each other. This day you have shown him that he cannot depend on either of those things holding truth. Haldir was right, Estel is the one person in this world who loves you unconditionally and you have betrayed his trust, and mine. I turned my son over to your tutelage, confident that you would care for him as I would. That was a mistake.”
“El no! Do not say that,” Erestor beseeched. “You know we love Estel..we would never deliberately do anything to hurt him..it was an accident, I swear to you it was an accident!”
“One that could have been avoided. But instead he now sits in the healing wing shaking from head to toe, traumatized beyond measure. He has reverted to sucking his thumb, his confidence gone, just as it was the night his father was slain, just as it was the night he was pursued by the monster and watched as Haldir was nearly killed. You did that, the two of you, you did that to my son and I shall not soon forget it.”
“Harken to me now for I shall not repeat myself and what I say is not up for debate. Glorfindel you will gather your things and remove yourself to one of the rooms in the guest wing. The two of you are forbidden to have any contact with one another until I think it safe. Any communication that would normally pass between the two of you involving the running of this household or the coordination of our warriors will go through me until further notice. Glorfindel you will no longer seat yourself at my table during meals, rather you will sit with the warriors until I deem that this situation has been resolved to my satisfaction. Erestor, as my seneschal I will not remove you from my table, however, you will sit as far away from Estel as possible so that he is not further upset by your presence. In addition, Estel will take his lessons from Canúmion and Cilinwë and neither of you are to approach him in any manner for any reason unless and until I say the time is right. Judging from Estel’s mindset, I believe it may be some time until he is back to normal, and you will stay away from him until then. Do you understand?”
“El please…” Glorfindel entreated.
“Do you understand!”
The tears streamed down Erestor’s face unabated and he doubled over onto the bed holding his stomach as if he would be ill.
“El it was my fault, I threw the jar that cut Estel, please El, do not punish Erestor for my actions,” the teary-eyed slayer begged. But Elrond was having none of it.
“It is a pity that you did not have this kind of consideration and caring for each other’s well being before this happened. Get dressed. Take what you need for the rest of the day and leave these rooms now. I will have the servants pack the rest of your belongings and bring them to you tonight.”
“But El…”
“Now, do it now or I will have you forcibly removed!”
Reluctantly Glorfindel dressed and grabbed his weapons. Head hung in shame he gave one more sorrowful look at his inconsolable mate and left the room. When he was gone Elrond turned his attention back to Erestor. “The two of you brought this upon yourselves, perhaps now that you are apart you will learn what it means to truly love someone.” With that, and thoughts of the loss of his beloved Celebrían, he turned and exited the room leaving Erestor to contemplate the absurdity of jealousy and the heartache it brings.
tbc…
Haldir and Rúmil were teasingly splashing water on each other as they cleaned up after the morning workout with Erestor. Haldir stood bare-chested in front of the water basin washing the dust from his neck and chest. “Can you believe how fast he is?” Rúmil queried laughingly, “I have never seen the like of it Halli.”
The soft-hearted tough exteriored warden smiled as he continued his bathing, “I tried to tell you, Rú, he is the fastest swordsman I have ever met.”
“Is it true what you said to Timagol…that you think Erestor is a better archer?”
“Unfortunately yes. And that is something we will have to correct. It is one thing to be bested by a swordsman, but quite another for a warden of Lothlórien to be outdone by another archer. We do after all have a certain reputation to uphold. When archery is your stock and trade there should be none better than you.”
Rúmil nodded his agreement, “Still, Tima is a fine archer.”
“He should be better, he is not as quick as he could be and I am convinced it is because now that he is one of the Galadhrim he has gotten lazy. He does not think he needs to improve his skills. He believes that what got him into our ranks as a warden should be enough to keep him there.”
“And why do I think you have a plan to disabuse him of that idea?” Rúmil said smiling.
“Because you have seen me do it before. I am thinking of partnering him with Orophin, he could stand to learn something about patience and timing with his shots and Phin would be an excellent teacher.”
Rúmil was just about to respond when Haldir motioned to him to be quiet. “Shhh, do you hear that?” he asked, a look of concern covering his face.
Rúmil answered saying, “that sounds like…”
“That is Estel!” Haldir said as he grabbed his sword and rushed towards the door. Flinging it open and stepping out into the corridor he found the boy crying, running towards him, and were his eyes deceiving him or was that blood on the child’s leg. Dropping the sword he ran forward and scooped the wailing child up into his arms.
“Estel…Estel what is wrong little one?” The traumatized child was so upset he couldn’t speak, could only bury his face in Haldir’s bare shoulder, and squeeze his neck. As the warden tried to comfort the near naked boy he finally realized that Rúmil was at his side. “Halli, he has glass in his leg!” Rúmil shouted. Haldir turned the child in his arms and looked down to see three shards of glass sticking out of the boy’s leg. Without another word the frantic warden took off down the hall towards Elrond and the east wing healing ward with Rúmil right behind him. Reaching the infirmary door Haldir called out for Elrond, instead it was Elwaith who answered.
“Haldir what is wrong?” he asked as he looked back and forth between the crying child and his Marchwarden.
“Estel has been injured, he has glass in his leg, where is Lord Elrond?”
“I am not sure, he is not scheduled to be here until later today, but never mind that, give me the boy I will take care of this.” Elwaith gently pulled the child from Haldir’s arms and carried him to the examining table. Setting the crying child on the table he tried his best to sooth him. “Do not cry sweetling,” he said as he stroked the boy’s hair. “Tell Waith what happened.”
Between sobs the child managed to get the story out. “Glorfy an..an..Westor are havin’ a argue…argue…”
“Argument?” Haldir queried angrily.
“Yeth…an..an Westor threw da soaps at Glorfy and Glorfy threw dem back an…an it busted on da floor and I got scared an I ran an I got glass in my leggggggggg!” It hurts Halli, it hurts.”
Haldir was fuming. “Waith is he going to be all right?”
“He will be fine Haldir, the cuts are not too deep, as soon as I get the glass out everything will be fine.”
“What about scars?” Rúmil asked frantically.
“There will be at first, but the cuts should heal just fine, there will be marks for a while, but he will grow out of them, no one will ever remember that he was cut.”
“I will remember,” Haldir asserted, “and so will those two idiots once I get my hands on them.”
“Now Haldir…” Rúmil admonished.
“Do not ‘now Haldir’ me. Stay here with Estel, I will be back as soon as I have sorted this out.” With that the Marchwarden turned and headed for the door. Rúmil moved to block his path saying, “Halli calm down, do not make this situation worse.”
“Worse? Worse! How can it be worse, the child is bleeding. This time it is his leg, it could just as well have been his face or his eye. Get out of my way Rúmil…I am his tirn, it is my job to protect him and protect him I will. Those two addle-pated fools are going to answer to me!
“Halli I understand how upsetting this is but I beg you brother, do not do something you will regret. Remember we are guests here, Lord Celeborn would not like it if..”
“Would not like it if what? If I shirked my duties and allowed Lord Elrond’s son to be harmed by two feuding morons? What do you think he would say if Estel had been seriously injured on my watch?”
Rúmil shook his head in dismay and tried to reason with his furious brother, “Halli all I am saying is calm down first, before you speak to them.”
Pushing his brother aside Haldir strode through the door with fury in his eyes, “I will calm down when Estel calms down and not one moment before that. When he no longer lays there shaking in fear, bleeding, with glass in his leg – then I will calm down and not one second sooner!”
~~~~
As Haldir climbed the stairs to the second floor he could hear the raised voices. Rounding the corner he was not surprised to find several of the household staff crowded around the door to Erestor’s room listening to the volatile argument within. Observing the Marchwarden’s approach the staff quickly backed up from the door and began to disperse. Reaching the door Haldir neither hesitated nor knocked, rather, he pushed the door open slamming it against the wall. What he found inside shocked him, the room was in complete disarray, and it was obvious that more than soap bottles had been thrown. Clothes were strewn around the room, a mirror had been broken and personal items of all kinds littered the floor. In the midst of all of this stood Erestor and Glorfindel practically nose to nose screaming at the top of their lungs at one another. So engrossed were they in their fight that they did not even know he was in the room. Yelling and pointing their fingers in each other’s faces they were oblivious to all around them – until Haldir’s voice was finally heard.
“ENOUGH!” he bellowed. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” The two combatants stopped and turned towards the voice at the door. Glorfindel was the first to speak, “Stay out of this Haldir, this does not concern you!”
“You think not?” Haldir said as he approached the Balrog slayer eyeing him angrily and shoving a chair out of his way as he moved, “You think this skirmish of yours is not my business?”
“That is exactly what I think,” Glorfindel yelled as he turned to face Haldir head on.
“Tell me then Glorfindel, in the midst of all this…this bullnuts…where is Estel?”
Erestor’s head immediately jerked around, frantically he looked around the room. “Estel?” he queried, “Melyanna??”
“There is no need for you to call for him, he is not here, Estel is in the infirmary.”
Glorfindel’s attitude immediately vanished and Erestor eyes widened. “Infirmary…what do you mean he is in the infirmary? What has happened to my boy?” Erestor questioned.
“You have happened to him! While the two of you were busy going at it, Glorfindel threw a bottle that broke – broke and left Estel with three shards of glass in his leg!”
Erestor slumped to the bed covering his face with his hands, “Oh dear Valar no” he said as he shook his head. Glorfindel finally found his voice again, long enough to ask, “Is he all right?”
Haldir was fuming, he stood there glaring at the two of them refusing to answer. “Haldir…” Glorfindel said panicked, “Is he all right?”
“No, he is not all right, he has witnessed two of the people he cares most about in this world fighting with each other like a pair of alley cats, so no he is not all right! As a result of that fight he has been injured…mind you, not either of you, but he has been injured, so no he is not all right! He has been frightened beyond belief; his world has been turned upside down, so no he is not all right!
“Count yourselves lucky, count yourselves very lucky, for if it were up to me I would take both of you outside and thrash you within an inch of your lives! Glorfindel made to speak and Haldir cut him off, “and if you say so much as one more word Glorfindel, I promise you, as surely as my parents have passed through the halls of Mandos, I will make that happen for you.”
With the Balrog slayer now silenced Haldir continued, “The two of you have behaved abominably, you have turned this household on its ear, you have the servants eavesdropping outside your room, you have injured and terrified the boy, all this because of your ‘Balrog sized ego’ and your ‘so beneath you’ petty jealousy. And through it all the only person to be hurt in the midst of this is Estel.”
“You stand here screaming at each other about trust and love while you hurt the one person in this world who loves you more than any other.” After taking a breath to calm himself he continued, “I do not have the words to convey how disgusted I am with both of you right now, I do not even want to imagine what could have happened today…you should be ashamed of yourselves – both of you,” he said as he pointedly looked at Erestor, “I expected better of you, and I know Estel deserved better.” With that, the Marchwarden turned to leave the room, and came face to face with Lord Elrond.
“Close the door on your way out Haldir if you please…my friends and I need to talk.”
~~~~~~
Estel was in the infirmary sitting on Rúmil’s lap doing something the warden had only seen him do once before, during his nightmares about the monster – sucking his thumb. As they sat, Rúmil quietly rocked the child in his arms, softly singing a lullaby that he remembered from his childhood. The glass had been removed from his leg, and his Adar had arrived just in time to clean and bandage the wounds. Estel was beside himself with fear and it took several minutes for his father to calm him down enough that he might leave Estel in Rúmil’s excellent care to deal with Glorfindel and Erestor. Only Rúmil’s presence allowed Elrond to leave at all, for the boy had called incessantly for his father since arriving in the room. He had allowed Elwaith, with much reassurance from Rúmil, to remove the shards from his leg, but only his Ada would be good enough to make his boo-boo better.
When Haldir arrived at the infirmary he went immediately to Estel’s side. Rúmil held the babe on his lap while the child squirmed and his little body continued to shake from fear. Eyes closed, he sat sucking his thumb, an action that Rúmil recognized as a coping mechanism the boy employed when he needed to be comforted. The warden knelt at his brother’s side as he examined the bandaged leg. “How bad is it Rú?”
“Both Elwaith and Lord Elrond assured me that there will be no permanent damage Halli. Right now, as you can see, he is just frightened.” Haldir placed a gentle hand on the babe and softly stroked his arm.
“What happened with Erestor and Glorfindel?”
“They are no longer fighting, but now is not the time for details, I will tell you later.”
“Halli…tell me that you did not do anything that will get you into trouble.”
“Do not worry Rú I have done nothing for which there will be consequences.” Gently Haldir tried to draw the thumb from the child’s mouth, only to have Estel pull away and quickly replace it.
“This is not good Rúmil; this is not good at all. It looks as though we will be starting over from the beginning to try to make him feel safe.”
“I cannot believe that Erestor could let something like this happen.”
“Nor could I, but nevertheless it has. Come, let us take the boy back to our rooms and see if we can get him to nap. Lord Elrond will no doubt come for him as soon as he has dealt with those two fools.”
Haldir pulled a blanket from a nearby bed and Rúmil gently wrapped it around Estel. As the brothers made their way to their sammoth with the sleeping boy they continued their conversation about the battling lovers.
“Do you know what the fight was about?” Rúmil asked.
“From what I could hear they were fighting about issues of trust and fidelity.”
“Fidelity? Those two? They have been together for an age, what issue could they have about fidelity?”
“Well, for starters Timagol.”
“What do you mean Timagol? What has he got to do with any of this?”
“Apparently, Tima has taken a fancy to Glorfindel and has been something less than respectful of his relationship with Erestor. Erestor obviously has taken great offense at this and they have been arguing about it for some time now.”
“Is that what prompted Erestor to come down to the practice field this morning?”
“I am sorry to say yes. I am also sorry to say that I had a hand in it.”
“What are you talking about Halli…what have you done?”
“I did not DO anything, but I did encourage Erestor, in a roundabout way, to demonstrate to Tima that he was dealing with a warrior and not the mild mannered assistant that he thought. But that is not what started the fight. From what I could glean from their conversation, Glorfindel was trying to apologize to Erestor and, well you know Erestor, supposedly he got a little snarky and Glorfindel took umbrage and from there things just went downhill.
“And our Estel got caught in the crossfire.”
“I still cannot believe that they were throwing things at each other with the child right there in the room. When I arrived at their sammoth to confront them, they were so caught up in their argument that they did not even know I was in the room. The servants were milling around outside their door eavesdropping, and they were totally oblivious to any of it. All either of them cared about was making his own point, and by the time I interrupted them they were saying some pretty harsh things to one another.”
“How did you handle it Halli?”
“Well for a moment I thought I would have to take Glorfindel outside and bash him around a bit, so greatly did he tax my temper. Thankfully he finally shut his mouth and it was not necessary.”
“Well what was he saying?”
“That is not important now Rú, what is important is that as I was leaving, Lord Elrond was standing there in the doorway, and if I am any judge of disposition I would say that they are both in for the dressing down of a lifetime. I do not think I have ever seen Elrond so angry.”
“Good.” “It serves them right,” Rúmil responded, “they are too old for this kind of nonsense. When I think of what could have happened to Estel it sickens me.”
“When I see what did happen to Estel it sickens me. Thankfully his wounds should heal quickly; right now it is his spirit over which I worry. Even as you hold him he still shakes. Take him inside Rú and I will go upstairs to his room and get his rabbit, his blankey, and a nightshirt. I doubt that Lord Elrond will bring him to noon meal; he is too upset for that. Once we get him settled I will go and apologize to the Lady Nénilya for missing luncheon, she went to the trouble of making a special meal for me and with the antics of Glorfindel and Erestor it has probably been ruined. Perhaps she will permit me to bring a tray in to our room so that we can avoid the questions and speculation that will no doubt be circulating in the dining hall.”
“Good idea Halli, that way we can be nearby if Estel should need us.”
“For his sake Rúmil let us hope that he sleeps through to the supper hour he needs the peace and quiet of that right now.”
“May Elbereth make it so Halli, may she make it so.”
~~~~~
Elrond entered the room quietly, slowly picking his way across the floor moving the debris out of his way with his feet as he went. With near silent footsteps he circled the two elves standing in the center of the room, appraising them from head to toe. Finally he came to stand before them and the look of utter revulsion on his face was undeniable. Turning his back on them he walked to the open doors of the balcony and as he looked out over the landscape of Imladris he began to speak.
“Do you know how long this house has stood on these grounds? Over forty-six hundred years. Four thousand six hundred and seventy-nine years to be exact…and in all that time there has never been a dispute of this magnitude inside these walls.” Elrond’s voice was shaky and it was obvious that he was straining to maintain his composure. Turning to face them he continued…
”What in the name of Elbereth were you thinking? I tried to reason with both of you; I thought I had gotten through to you that you needed to put this petty disagreement behind you. Obviously that is not the case.”
It was then that Glorfindel tried to interrupt, “El I tried to apologize to him but..”
“Silence!” Elrond yelled as his temper came to the fore. “Say nothing! I have done my best to be a good friend to both of you and this is the way you return my kindness? You have up heaved my home, you disrupted my staff, you have embarrassed my family and soiled the reputation of The Last Homely House as a place of peace and refuge. In spite of all counsel to the contrary you have been selfish, petulant, jealous and ego driven. But most importantly, above all else…your actions have injured my son. As I speak my child lays in the infirmary, gashes in his leg from these,” the elf lord extended his hand and tossed the three blood tipped shards of glass onto the bed. When the seneschal saw the glass he broke down sobbing uncontrollably and flopped down on the bed. The golden one closed his eyes and turned away from the scene, face flushed with shame as tears welled up in his eyes.
“From the moment he was brought into this house Estel has trusted in two things, that you loved and would not hurt him, and that you loved each other. This day you have shown him that he cannot depend on either of those things holding truth. Haldir was right, Estel is the one person in this world who loves you unconditionally and you have betrayed his trust, and mine. I turned my son over to your tutelage, confident that you would care for him as I would. That was a mistake.”
“El no! Do not say that,” Erestor beseeched. “You know we love Estel..we would never deliberately do anything to hurt him..it was an accident, I swear to you it was an accident!”
“One that could have been avoided. But instead he now sits in the healing wing shaking from head to toe, traumatized beyond measure. He has reverted to sucking his thumb, his confidence gone, just as it was the night his father was slain, just as it was the night he was pursued by the monster and watched as Haldir was nearly killed. You did that, the two of you, you did that to my son and I shall not soon forget it.”
“Harken to me now for I shall not repeat myself and what I say is not up for debate. Glorfindel you will gather your things and remove yourself to one of the rooms in the guest wing. The two of you are forbidden to have any contact with one another until I think it safe. Any communication that would normally pass between the two of you involving the running of this household or the coordination of our warriors will go through me until further notice. Glorfindel you will no longer seat yourself at my table during meals, rather you will sit with the warriors until I deem that this situation has been resolved to my satisfaction. Erestor, as my seneschal I will not remove you from my table, however, you will sit as far away from Estel as possible so that he is not further upset by your presence. In addition, Estel will take his lessons from Canúmion and Cilinwë and neither of you are to approach him in any manner for any reason unless and until I say the time is right. Judging from Estel’s mindset, I believe it may be some time until he is back to normal, and you will stay away from him until then. Do you understand?”
“El please…” Glorfindel entreated.
“Do you understand!”
The tears streamed down Erestor’s face unabated and he doubled over onto the bed holding his stomach as if he would be ill.
“El it was my fault, I threw the jar that cut Estel, please El, do not punish Erestor for my actions,” the teary-eyed slayer begged. But Elrond was having none of it.
“It is a pity that you did not have this kind of consideration and caring for each other’s well being before this happened. Get dressed. Take what you need for the rest of the day and leave these rooms now. I will have the servants pack the rest of your belongings and bring them to you tonight.”
“But El…”
“Now, do it now or I will have you forcibly removed!”
Reluctantly Glorfindel dressed and grabbed his weapons. Head hung in shame he gave one more sorrowful look at his inconsolable mate and left the room. When he was gone Elrond turned his attention back to Erestor. “The two of you brought this upon yourselves, perhaps now that you are apart you will learn what it means to truly love someone.” With that, and thoughts of the loss of his beloved Celebrían, he turned and exited the room leaving Erestor to contemplate the absurdity of jealousy and the heartache it brings.
tbc…