Chapter 1: Just One Of Those Days

As the last rays of sunshine turned the sides of the valley to shades of red and gold, reflecting like flames from the silver water of the falls cascading into the river below. Elrond, Lore Master of Rivendell and fierce warrior in Ages past, looked out over the valley below and sighed. He poured a second glass of wine and handed it to Glorfindel who had just arrived and they watched the sunset in the comfortable silence possible between friends of old. Although a day is but a drop of water in the ocean of immortality, this one had seemed endless and he was glad it was finally over.

At breakfast the cook had come into the dining hall, brandishing a ladle and complaining loudly about the loss of several berry tarts that had been left cooling on the window ledge.  

"Elladan! Elrohir! I take it you are the culprits in this matter?" Elrond did not really need to ask, his son's feeble attempts to stifle their mirth gave them away,

"We are sorry, but they smelled so delicious," Elrohir tried to explain "and we knew it was still hours before breakfast". They had both risen with the first light of the new day.

"We could not resist eating them, we were very hungry." Elladan added in support of his brother. Elrond eyed them both sternly,

"Let there be no repeat of such childish behaviour, and you are supposed to be well beyond such elfling pranks." His sons were well known for 'having a little fun' as they termed it, but lately they seemed to be getting into a lot more trouble than usual. I will have to find them a task to better occupy their time, Elrond thought. He studied them with open suspicion when they replied "Yes, Father" meekly, and in unison, and he silently thanked the Valar that the cook had been satisfied with the reprimand. Yet Elrond had a feeling there was more trouble to come.

After breakfast he had retired to his library to seek some solace in his beloved books. After selecting an ancient history scroll, the Lord of Rivendell sat at his desk preparing to study it when there was aloud knock on the door. "Enter," he called out and was immediately confronted by an irate mother of one of the young she-elfs his sons were known to favour. Her countenance suggested this was not merely a social call.

"Lord Elrond," she began, "I am here on behalf of my daughter and some of her friends. Apparently they were taking an early morning swim in a pool in a secluded part of the gardens, and not expecting to encounter anyone at that hour, they chose to swim naked." Elrond blanched, he could guess what was coming. "Someone had the indecency to remove the maids' clothing from the bushes!" she exclaimed. "This is totally unacceptable behaviour. I make no formal accusations but I suggest you speak to your sons!"

"I assure you, I will find the culprits and they will be dealt with accordingly. I apologise for any distress or embarrassment the young maidens may have been caused by such unseemly behaviour,” offered Elrond.

"Thank you. Just between you and I," she said with an understanding wink, having had some experience with her daughter's own elfish playfulness, "I think the maids have some form of revenge in mind." Elrond shook his head, it seemed all the young ones had taken leave of their senses today. Was it something in the water, perhaps? He thought to himself.

"I do not condone such behaviour," Elrond said to the two standing silently before him. He had sent for his sons as soon his visitor had left. "It is undignified, and unacceptable to place the maids in such a compromising position. Who returned their clothing?"

"We did." Elladan replied easily.

"What! Do you mean to say you were also watching these maids as they swam naked?" He asked making his displeasure evident with the tone of his voice.

"I do not think they saw us," admitted Elrohir, who saw no point in denying the truth. Their adar knew them both too well.

"If they did, they did not seem to object!" Elladan added defensively. Elrond was both furious and amused. Not that he was ever likely to admit to it, but he had behaved in a similar fashion as young Elf. He had ended up falling in love and marrying Celebrian, who had been the maid in question.

"That is no excuse, it would seem that all of you require a few lessons in moral behaviour. I will have Glorfindel conduct a class this very afternoon since you seem to have nothing better to keep yourselves occupied with today." They groaned their displeasure at the punishment. They had endured many a lecture on Lore from Glorfindel and whilst he was an excellent minstrel, he was a really boring tutor.

"I now understand why you two were hungry this morning," Elrond said with a somewhat bemused expression on his face. "BUT," his voice had turned to ice, leaving no doubt as to his seriousness, "this nonsense has gone far enough. Should you persist in behaving in this manner, I will be forced to take further action. Perhaps it was you two I should have sent to Lothlorien instead of your sister." The twins looked startled at that; maybe they had gone too far this time. All Arwen had done to get 'banished' was express an interest in Estel; she had been immediately sent away and out of his reach. Satisfied that he had settled them down sufficiently, at least for now, Elrond dismissed them with the request that they send Glorfindel to the library.

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 "With all due respect," Glorfindel said when Elrond had finished explaining what he had in mind, "what you ask will be a difficult task and one that I would prefer not to undertake."

"I am certain you see the need, and if you can defeat a Balrog, I am sure you will be able rise to this ‘challenge’ and instil some sense of dignity and moral values into the young ones." Glorfindel actually thought that battling a Balrog might actually be preferable to a room full of young Elves who were in a merrymaking mood.

"I will do it," he agreed reluctantly. "I only hope I manage to remain unscathed. Youthful exuberance can only be contained for a short time, you know."

The time had been even shorter than even Glorfindel could have predicted. The twins and their friends had attended as requested but the lesson held no interest for any of them, Glorfindel included. S it was that when Elrohir decided a change of subject might relieve the tedium and asked Glorfindel to sing for them, he willingly agreed even though he was not fooled for an instant by the transparent attempt to avoid the lesson.  

 Glorfindel went to collect his harp, an elegant instrument, crafted in the way of the Elves and decorated with his name written in elvish runes amongst the elaborate carvings. It was a treasured gift from the great Elf Lord, Gil-galad, and many centuries ago. As he picked it up, he noticed something amiss; the normally smooth wood of the frame was coated with something very sticky. HONEY! Glorfindel was horrified and did not even take the time to clean his hands as he headed for Elrond's library. Elrond looked up as the door slammed open and his friend stormed in, a thunderous rage darkening his face, lightning flickering in his eyes.

"This is outrageous! How dare they deface my harp in such a manner?" he demanded handing the still sticky instrument to Elrond who was also shocked. The twins were known for their practical jokes, but he did not believe that either of them would cause damage such as this.

"Come, we will sort this out right now!" Elrond said angrily as they headed to the lesson room. There was a hushed silence as the outraged Glorfindel and equally furious Lord Elrond marched into the room and, ignoring the others, confronted his sons.  

" I have tolerated your pranks up to now, but I find I am tired of apologising for you. What ever possessed you to damage Glorfindel's harp? Such an act of vandalism cannot go unpunished." The twins looked confused, they had done no such thing.

"You must believe me when I tell you we know nothing of this, Adar," Elrohir said honestly.

"We would never cause damage to another's personal property, particularly one which is of such great value," insisted Elladan. Elrond could see that for once, his sons were innocent; he believed they told the truth. Apparently so did Glorfindel.

"Then who did?" asked the golden elf lord, glaring at the others in the room.

"I am afraid it is I who am responsible," said a quiet, and very frightened voice. The young she-elf was looking very ashamed of herself and was fighting hard to keep the tears away. Everyone except Glorfindel looked at her in amazement, he had nothing but contempt on his face.

"Explain yourself," Elrond demanded, his anger still evident in his voice.

"We wanted to seek revenge on your sons for spying on us and taking our clothes. We only thought to make trouble for them, for we knew that they would be blamed for damaging the harp" she admitted wringing her hands with distress, "I am so sorry, Glorfindel." There was no apology to the twins who just stared angrily at the maid.

"The prank does not seem so amusing now, does it?" Glorfindel asked, still seething with anger.

"No, it does not" Elrond answered for her. "There will be no more such incidents, do I make myself clear?" He asked glaring at each of the culprits in turn. All nodded in silent agreement. "Very well, there is still the matter of punishment. Since you young maids are responsible for the damaged harp, you are ordered to assist in the kitchens until further notice. As for you two," he said looking sternly at his sons, " I am sending you both with Estel when he leaves tomorrow to patrol the northern borders. He expects to be gone for several months, and perhaps you will manage to keep out of trouble during that time." The twins bowed respectfully and made a hasty retreat before their adar realised that they did not view patrolling with Estel and his Rangers as punishment.  

Elrond turned to Glorfindel who was examining his harp closely. "Will you be able to repair it?"

"Yes, it will take some time to remove the honey, but I do not believe there is any lasting damage."

"I am pleased to hear that. I think we could both do with a glass of wine," Elrond suggested as he made to leave the room. "Perhaps later," Glorfindel responded as he selected a fine linen cleaning cloth from a cupboard, "I am anxious to begin my repairs as soon as possible."

" As you wish. You know, my old friend," he said with a mischievous glimmer in his eye "Gil-galad always said that the music from your harp was the sweetest he had ever heard, now it will be even more so." Glorfindel could not help but smile.