Chapter 6: First Yén Council

A few days before Yestarë, Elrond arrived in Lothlorien along with his advisors, his wife, Celebrian, and his new in-laws Celeborn and Galadriel. Cirdan and his family and advisors had traveled with them from Lindon. All the elven lords were expected at this council. It was the first to be held since the beginning of the Third Age. Thranduil had arrived a few weeks early to establish the treaties that had been such a point of contention between himself and Amroth and Amglaur—those treaties only affected Lothlorien and Greenwood.

The summit itself was being held at the end of the first yén after the Defeat of Sauron. It was an informational meeting, although everyone knew it would give some of the younger leaders time to reacquaint themselves with each other. Elrond had ruled Imladris for nearly two millennia now. But all the other rulers of the elves in Middle Earth were new to their positions. Cirdan had ruled the Falas during much of the First Age, but had only become ruler of Lindon with the death of Gil-galad in Mordor. Amroth became ruler of Lothlorien upon the death of his father, Amdir, in the same battle. And of course Thranduil ascended to his father’s throne in Greenwood under the same circumstances. Now that all these new kings had a full yén to come into their own, this meeting was an opportunity to establish closer ties. Or so they hoped.

The meeting began with each of the elven rulers delivering reports on the state of their realms. Thranduil listened to these reports silently. It did not please him to hear Cirdan, one of the Telari, or Elrond, Elwing’s son, speak of the Noldor in their realms with such love. Nor was he comfortable in the presence of Glorfindel or particularly Galadriel. Sitting across from her, Thranduil was certain he could feel her lust for power; her desire for a realm to rule. Even after an entire age, Thranduil found he could not forget the Noldor's deeds in Menegroth or Sirion.

The summaries finished, Thranduil shifted in his seat, anger rising as he listened to Elrond drone on about his plans for the elven kingdoms in the Third Age. Thranduil had no more intention of following Elrond in the new age than his father had followed Gil-galad in the Second. Whenever Thranduil had such thoughts, his mind automatically turned to the fact that his father had paid with his life for his unwillingness to cooperate and that memory tempered his reaction. Today, this thought made him recollect Amglaur and all that he had said about him and his father. He glanced at the Prince of Lothlorien and then he smirked. Amglaur looked every bit as disgusted as Thranduil was. He decided to take this as encouragement.

Elrond was currently speaking about the defense of the East-West Road.

“Excuse me, lord Elrond,” Thranduil interrupted. “I seem to recall that the road in question runs into my forest. And it is my people that maintain and defend the ford across the Anduin that you are currently discussing. It might be appropriate to at least consult the Woodland Realm before making plans for that ford.”

“Well said, Thranduil,” Amglaur chimed, a deep frown on his face.

Thranduil took a quick, surprised look at Amglaur and his astonishment grew as Amglaur nodded to him encouragingly before turning back to Elrond and speaking himself. “And as for the River Anduin itself, I believe Amroth and Thranduil would both agree that it is far more appropriate for Lothlorien and the Woodland Realm to regulate access to it.”

Elrond raised his eyebrows in sincere surprise. “I am not suggesting anything to the contrary, lord Amglaur. I am simply making general statements. The intent here is to identify assets that require fortification…”

“And we are merely recommending that we know Rhovanion better than you Elrond. You should allow us to speak to it.” This came from King Amroth.

“As you wish," Elrond responded. "I am familiar with these assets having spent the last two millennia working with them along with your fathers but…”

Thranduil openly bristled at that condescending remark. He cut Elrond off sharply. “And I have not been a babe at my father’s knee for the last three millennia, Elrond. My brother and I took an active role in the management of Eryn Galen since my father became its king over three millennia ago. I hardly need instruction on governing my own kingdom or identifying her assets.”

Elrond regarded Thranduil icily. “Thranduil, would it be possible for you to make the effort that your father did not to work with your Elven allies instead of against us.”

“I will be quite happy to work with my allies, Elrond,” Thranduil said with a meaningful glance at Galadriel and Glorfindel. “As I seem to recall, I did precisely that during a seven year siege in Mordor. But, like my father, I have no intention of being ruled. I will decide what is best for Eryn Galen as I respect your right to decide what is best for your valley, Cirdan’s right to make choices for the land west of the Ered Luin, and Amroth’s right to rule the Golden Wood.”

A frown creased Elrond's brow. “I do not have any desire to dictate to you the way you rule your kingdom, Thranduil," he said sharply, "but there are certain assets of common importance to all of us. I do not deny passage to nor extract tolls from the elves of Eryn Galen when they travel through the High Pass, yet I protect that Pass.”

“And I do not try to tell you how you should protect it," Thranduil countered. "Yet you are telling me how to defend and maintain the ford.”

“I am summarizing how the ford’s defense and maintenance have been handled in the past.”

“You are making that summary to the commander of the warriors that were responsible for that defense and maintenance, Elrond.”

“I am making that summary for the benefit of those here, such as Amroth and Cirdan, that may not be aware of how these matters were handled.”

“And my suggestion is that you let the people present who are most familiar with these matters make the summary. It is insulting to listen to you speak of my own kingdom as if I am not even aware of what stands at its borders.”

“It simply seems easier to allow one person to summarize past situations so that we can move forward and discuss the changes we will have to make to accommodate future needs.”

“And who made that decision, Elrond?”

Elrond threw up his hands and sat down. “How would you like to proceed, Thranduil?” he asked tiredly.

Thranduil looked back at him coolly. “I think that is the question—how should we proceed? We have discussed the general state of our realms. Now that we have done that, I think we should work together to establish an agenda of what we hope to achieve here and outline how we intend to realize those goals. Rather than just assuming that we all have the same goals in mind that you do. Perhaps you and Cirdan discussed these things as you traveled here, Elrond. Amroth and I were not part of those discussions if they even happened. We may have different ideas about this summit.”

Elrond sighed and looked at Thranduil. “You are right, Thranduil. We will do so. How would you suggest we do that?”

Thranduil eyed Elrond narrowly, suspicious of his suddenly his overly obliging manner. Meanwhile, Amglaur tried to contain his laughter at this rapid fire exchange between Gil-galad’s natural heir and Oropher’s heir. Yes, Thranduil had a lot of his father in him, but Amglaur could not deny that he saw a good deal more as well.

*****

Yestarë--Elven New Year Day
Eryn Galen--Greenwood (the original name of Mirkwood before the Shadow fell across the forest)
Yén--a period of 144 solar years. An elven measurement of time since they like to count in twelves.