Erestor in the Dock

Erestor brushed imaginary dust from his formal robes and squared his shoulders, willing himself to remain calm. He knew he was in trouble when Elrond had refused to speak to him after the Lord of Imladris returned from Lórien the night before with the twins... and the scouts.

Something had gone wrong if everyone knew about the scouts.

He sighed. Elrond had requested — no ordered — Erestor to remain in his rooms until summoned. He had been surprised when Glorfindel had appeared at his door looking especially somber. His friend did not tease him and there was no levity in his voice as he handed Erestor a slip of parchment. With a sinking feeling Erestor had realized that Glorfindel stood there, not as his friend, but as the Seneschal of Imladris on official business. Erestor had glanced at the parchment and had nodded resignedly. It was a formal summons to appear before Lord Elrond. The meeting was to be held on the council porch at the third hour after dawn. A rather odd place for a reprimand, Erestor had thought at the time, but Elrond was the Lord of Imladris and could do as he wished.

"I suggest you wear something appropriate," Glorfindel had said as he left.

Now, here it was, just before the third hour. Glorfindel had come to escort him — another bad sign. That and the fact that Glorfindel was dressed in his most formal clothes, his outer robe a deep blue velvet sprinkled with embroidered golden flowers. In five centuries Erestor had only known the golden-haired elf to wear these particular robes once before. It did not bode well for him.

"Ready?" Glorfindel asked quietly, and Erestor nodded, not daring to look at his friend. "After you, then," Glorfindel motioned with his hand and Erestor stepped out of the alcove where Glorfindel had allowed the elf to stop and collect himself before continuing to the council porch. One could not actually see the council porch from the alcove, so when Erestor walked up the steps leading to the porch he stopped in shock.

Elrond was there, but he was not alone.

To Erestor’s reeling senses it seemed as if all of Imladris was there, though he knew that was physically impossible. The porch was not that large. Still, it was crowded with elves.

This wasn’t to be a private reprimand between lord and aide, then; this was to be a full-blown court of enquiry, such as had not been seen in Imladris in over a millennium.

Elrond sat in his usual high-backed chair flanked by Lord Celeborn on his left and Lady Galadriel on his right. These two had elected to accompany their daughter’s family back to Imladris. Galadriel looked especially regal in white and gold and there was an aura of power from Celeborn that Erestor had never felt before. Here indeed was a Prince of the Teleri, one who had walked under the unstained dark of a starlit Ennorath in the presence of the Maia Queen of Doriath.

Opposite Elrond sat Celebrían in her finest court dress. She was flanked by Elladan and Elrohir, neither of whom were smiling. Erestor had to blink, unsure of what he was seeing, for the twins were dressed identically in tunics of Lórien grey trimmed with red and yellow flowers in an intertwining pattern. Not their usual attire, to say the least. He was inclined to smile but the situation was not all that funny. Thandir and Eluwen stood at attention behind Lady Celebrían. Other members of Elrond’s household sat in the remaining chairs and many more stood behind them, or even sat in nearby trees.

"My lord, I bring you Erestor as you requested," Glorfindel said formally with a bow. Elrond acknowledge the elf’s greeting with a nod.

"Come to the center, Erestor," the Lord of Imladris commanded and Erestor had no choice but to obey. Glorfindel moved to stand on Celeborn’s left.

Silence reigned. None moved, all eyes on Erestor.

"Read the charges, Glorfindel," Elrond said quietly.

Glorfindel stepped forward and pulled out a parchment scroll tied with a blue ribbon from an inner pocket of his robe. He removed the ribbon, unrolled the scroll, and began to read:

"Erestor of Imladris, Chief Administrator to our Lord Elrond, is formally charged with exceeding his authority in that he did assign two scouts of Imladris, Thandir and Eluwen, to follow Lord Elladan and Lord Elrohir, the two sons of Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian, on their journey to Lothlórien. Said assignment of scouts was done without the knowledge or permission of the Lord of Imladris."

Glorfindel rolled the scroll up and replaced the ribbon before handing it to Elrond with a bow. He then returned to his place beside Celeborn. Elrond’s eyes had never left Erestor during the recitation of the charges. Erestor, for his part, had stood there impassively, staring at nothing in particular. His crimes sounded so much worse when spoken out loud. He feared he was in trouble indeed.

"How do you plead, Erestor?" Celeborn asked and Erestor started. So, it was not just by Imladris he was being judged; Lórien was also demanding an accounting. Erestor suddenly realized that Celeborn and Galadriel sat there not simply as the senior members of Elrond’s family but as representatives of Amroth of Lórien as well. He suddenly felt sick and was unaware that the color had drain from his face.

"Guilty, my lord," he finally whispered and wished he could sit down, but he was forced to remain standing.

Elrond said nothing at first, then he stirred and for the first time since Erestor had come to the council porch his gaze fell elsewhere. "Let us hear the events in their fullest so all may understand the gravity of these proceedings. Several months ago, as all here now know, my sons asked my permission to travel overmountain to Lothlórien to visit with their daeredhryn. My lady wife and I gave them our permission and we and several other members of my household encouraged our sons to take the southern route through Tharbad and then the Redhorn Pass. I, in the meantime, made arrangements with King Valandil to have his people watch for Elladan and Elrohir along the intended route to ensure that nothing untoward happened to them."

Elrond paused at this point, as if gathering his thoughts, then after a moment continued. "We will hear from my sons. Erestor, you may sit over there for now." Elrond pointed to a stool near the porch entrance. It was flanked by two of Imladris’ warriors, both of them armed. Erestor, mindful of the formalities, bowed to his lord before taking his seat.

Elrond looked at his sons sitting across from him. "Elladan, Elrohir, come to the center and tell us why you chose to take the High Pass rather than go by way of Tharbad."

The twins glanced at each other, their expressions sober. They were well aware of the gravity of the circumstances and their usual easy manner was missing. They rose as one and stepped forward. Elladan, as eldest, spoke for them both, though Elrohir chimed in a few times with observations or comments of his own. Thus it was that all there heard the story of their adventures, or rather, misadventures. Elrond, Celeborn and Galadriel spent some time going over the twins’ account of their journey in some detail. By the time the questioning had ceased, the two of them looked wrung out. Elrond dismissed them with his thanks.

"You would think we were the ones on trial here instead of Erestor," Elrohir whispered to his brother as they bowed to Elrond and resumed their seats. Celebrían took their hands and gave them a squeeze. Elrond, knowing just how difficult it had been for her to hear once again their sons’ tale and realizing just how close they came to losing the twins, sent her his love and support across their bond. Celebrían smiled briefly at her husband.

"Let us now hear from Thandir and Eluwen," Elrond then said.

The two scouts stepped into the center and gave Elrond a bow. Thandir acted as spokesman and the questioning by Elrond, Celeborn and Galadriel was just as grueling for them as it had been for the twins.

"I take full responsibility for any decision made, my lord," Thandir said when the questioning was done. "It was I who decided to enlist the aid of the dwarves of Azaghâl-dûm and it was I who ordered Eluwen to seek help in Lórien. If there is any blame laid upon us, I ask that I be the one to suffer whatever penalty you deem appropriate."

"All blame will be apportioned accordingly, Thandir," Elrond replied gravely. "But I stand by my word to Eluwen. No blame is attached to either of you. You left Imladris believing that you had my leave to do so, and you acted with forbearance and great ingenuity under difficult circumstances. If anything, I have a mind to reward you both for your services, but we will discuss that later. You may resume your places."

The scouts bowed and returned to stand behind Celebrían. Elrond glanced briefly at Celeborn and Galadriel and silent communication ensued for a moment. All this time, Erestor had remained seated, listening impassively to the tales given by the twins and the scouts. He had blanched with the rest of the listeners at the description of the goblins and what occurred then and had sighed with relief with everyone else when Thandir described the rescue by the dwarves. He had been nearly in tears when the tale came to Elrohir’s accident and he had stared at Lord Celeborn in awe when that lord had described how his youngest daerion had been freed from the tree, for after the scouts had given their report, Elrond and Celeborn had taken turns describing what had happened after Elrond had left Imladris and how Amroth had offered them the resources of Lórien once Elrond and Celebrían had arrived in the Golden Wood.

Now all had been heard. All, that is, save Erestor. Elrond shifted his gaze to his Chief Administrator. "Have you anything to say, Erestor? Why did you order the scouts to follow my sons and not tell me?"

And there was the crux of the whole sorry mess. He had not gone to Elrond. He had acted on his own, spurred by his own intuition. He knew Elrond would have thought the scouts superfluous since Valandil’s people were already on the lookout for the twins. But something had told him to send the scouts. He had no explanation for his actions other than a gut feeling, but he suspected that gut feelings were not admissible in a court of enquiry.

Erestor stood slowly and walked back into the center. "I have no explanation that would satisfy my lord for my actions," he said finally, his voice low. "I can only say one thing."

"And what is that?" Elrond asked quietly.

Erestor stood a little straighter, knowing he was about to doom himself with his words, but having no choice, for they were true words and he would not hide behind a falsehood, or even half-truths. He stared into Elrond’s eyes.

"I would do it again," he said simply and waited, for what, he did not know. He was not sure what punishment would be meted out. Perhaps he would be asked to leave Imladris. That thought nearly caused him to faint. Where would he go? Not to Lórien. Would Thranduil take him? Or Círdan? Would he be banished from all the elvish kingdoms and be forced to take a ship to the West? That last thought left him breathless and he had to struggle to remain calm. He noticed Elrond giving him a shrewd look and realized that the Lord of Imladris would leave off the role of judge for that of healer in an instant if he thought Erestor was in serious trouble.

For some reason that thought comforted him and he took a deep centering breath and felt his equilibrium settling. Elrond nodded, as if he was well aware of the internal struggle Erestor had suffered, then spoke in a loud voice so that all might hear.

"Then, Erestor of Imladris, I have no choice but to pronounce your doom. No longer can you remain my Chief Administrator here in Imladris."

All there saw the blood drain from Erestor’s face as he assumed the worst was about to happen and he would be facing exile. Glorfindel left his post to stand by his friend and hold him up.

"Courage, mellon nîn. It will be well, I promise you," he whispered in Erestor’s ear and the elf nodded but still looked stricken.

"So it must be," Elrond continued, smiling for the first time, "for you will be far too busy being my Chief Councillor now that Lord Glorfindel has resigned that post."

It took several agonizing moments for Elrond’s words to sink in and even then he hardly credited them, except that all around the elves were smiling. Erestor turned to stare at Glorfindel, his expression puzzled.

"You resigned?"

Glorfindel nodded, his face wreathed in a grin. "You’ve proven far wiser than I, mellon nîn. It never occurred to me to question the twin’s sudden capitulation to our carefully laid plans for their journey. Only you, whether by foresight or just plain common sense, saw the potential for disaster where those two are concerned."

"Hey!" Elladan protested. "We aren’t that bad," Elrohir chimed in a second later and everyone, even Erestor, laughed, though his laugh sounded somewhat shaky to him.

"But I... I went against your authority," Erestor said to Elrond, still sounding confused.

Elrond nodded and smiled. "And I thank the Valar that you did, Erestor. I do not require nor wish for those around me to be puppets. While I regret that you felt you couldn’t come to me I understand why. That you were willing to defy my authority for love of my sons..."

Here he stood and came over to his new Chief Councillor and took him by the shoulders. "Le hannon, mellon nîn. I will never forget your love for me and my family." Then he gave the startled elf a fierce hug before releasing him and turning to the assembled crowd said, "I give you Lord Erestor, Chief Councillor of Imladris."

The elves cheered and began offering Erestor their congratulations beginning with Celebrían and then her parents. Glorfindel stayed close to his side, for the elf still looked shaken. The twins came up and began pounding Erestor’s back. "Had you fooled, didn’t we?" Elladan asked, grinning widely, while Elrohir sniggered.

Erestor gave the twins his most withering look and sniffed. "Not in the least."

Everyone laughed at that.

"By the way, Erestor," Elrond said when the laughter had died somewhat. "There’s just one more thing."

"What is that, my lord?" Erestor asked somewhat nervously.

Elrond glanced around at the assembly to be sure he had everyone’s attention then turned back to Erestor, a twinkle in his grey eyes. "Thandir and Eluwen have requested hazard pay for having to put up with my sons’... enthusiasms." Here the twins had the grace to blush as the other elves smiled indulgently. "I told them I would take it out of your wages."

Erestor raised an eyebrow at that. "But I receive no wages, Elrond, you know that."

"Damn!" came the unexpected response and everyone turned to see Thandir standing there looking embarrassed. "Maybe I should just shoot myself with my own arrow instead."

"If you do," Erestor rejoined in his most forbidding tone, "I will follow you to Mandos and demand you give the arrow back. I may be Lord Elrond’s new Chief Councillor but I haven’t formally resigned my post as his Chief Administrator and until I do, every arrow is to be accounted for."

That set everyone laughing again, louder than before. Glorfindel threw an arm around his friend and gave him a hug. "I’m so glad you’re on our side, mellon vell nîn," he whispered.

Erestor grinned at his long-time friend and hugged him back. "Me, too."

****

Ennorath: Middle-earth.

Daeredhryn: Grandparents. Edhryn is the plural of odhron "male parent" but the plural form in this context would denote both parents.

Daerion: Grandson.

Mellon nîn: My friend.

Le hannon, mellon nîn: Thank you, my friend.

Mellon vell nîn: My dear friend.