Chapter 7: Curiosities

On Yestarë, Amroth held a banquet, as was the custom of the Silvan Elves, and all present for the summit, as well as all of Amroth’s people, attended it. The elven lords were seated at the High Table. Thranduil sat with Amroth’s family and to his right. Amroth was smart enough to then seat Elrond and his party to his left and as far away from Thranduil as possible. Thranduil enjoyed this seating arrangement to the extent that he could. He and Amglaur could hardly be called friends, but at least they had found common ground uniting along with Amroth to try to steer this council towards something that represented all the realms rather than just the ones in the west.

The east and west division in the seating arrangement at the High Table, however, was noted by all and accepted as still necessary.

Thranduil enjoyed the feast, hoping that Amglaur would have the courtesy to not feed him again and this time in public. He particularly enjoyed watching Lindomiel. She had worn a deep blue, flowing gown, heavily embroidered with silver thread. In her hair were silver tracings that glittered in counterpoint to her golden locks. But none of her finery competed with her own natural beauty. In the excitement of the festival, her skin glowed and her eyes twinkled and Thranduil found it difficult to breath whenever her gaze met his.

“Who is this maiden that has you so ensorcelled, my lord?” Hallion asked, leaning over and whispering in his king’s ear. Hallion was much older than Thranduil. He had been Oropher’s steward, one of Thranduil’s tutors and he looked upon his king with something of a paternal eye more often than Thranduil prefered.

Thranduil looked sharply at his chief advisor. “The maiden in the blue dress?” he asked with a casual tone. “That is Lord Amglaur’s daughter. Lindomiel is her name.”

Hallion studied Thranduil. First of all, his careless attitude stood in stark contrast to the fact that his eyes had not left the young lady since she had risen from the table to wander amongst her friends at the lower tables. That alone told Hallion volumes. Second, Hallion was completely aware of his king’s movements, even if said king refused to acknowledge that. He knew perfectly well that Thranduil had dinner several nights ago with Amglaur, but not at the prince’s invitation. Hallion had wondered about it at the time and was perfectly capable of adding that sum now that he saw how Thranduil watched Amglaur’s daughter.

Hallion knew much better than to comment on Thranduil’s personal life before he was invited to do so. That taboo had nothing to do with the fact Thranduil was now a king. It had been true when Thranduil was five years old. He was a private person by nature, taking very few people into his confidence and guarding his heart very closely. Even his closest friends, and Hallion counted in that circle, were not allowed to see Thranduil’s feelings until he was ready. So Hallion leaned back and watched the maiden instead.

Stunning, Hallion thought, but he also knew that was fairly irrelevant in Thranduil’s mind. All ellyth were pretty enough. Hallion’s appraisal moved forward--Sindar and of a line untainted by Noldorin blood. The advisor knew that was critical to Thranduil. His king would very happily marry a Silvan maiden, but he would never marry anyone with Noldorin blood. Hallion watched the girl with her female friends, talking at one of the tables on the lawn. ‘Valar, she must be young!’ he thought. Hallion really could not imagine what Thranduil saw in that. Not that youth did not have its uses but…what could they possibly talk about? Hallion frowned. If any other elf in their circle of friends were involved, Hallion would have assumed the girl was about to become an enjoyable dalliance. But that was very unlikely with Thranduil and most especially with daughters of princes while on diplomatic missions. Thranduil was a poor diplomat but he was not a dotard.

On top of that, it was no secret to anyone that Thranduil had developed a very healthy dislike for Amglaur. That made Hallion laugh. From his interactions with the Prince of Lothlorien, Hallion thought that Amglaur was very much like Oropher. Hallion knew that Thranduil had loved his father fiercely, so he was very much at a loss as to why he conflicted so with Amglaur. Could Amglaur oppose something of a more personal nature that Thranduil wanted? But that would imply Thranduil was serious about this maiden.

Hallion found himself frowning as he watched his king watch this elleth, now dancing with her female friends on one side of the glade.

The dancing was in full swing when Thranduil was finally pulled into a conversation between Cirdan and Elrond and Celeborn about some fool thing that Oropher had done. Hallion laughed, knowing that conversation would not end any time soon. He decided to slip away from the High Table and enjoy a little dancing.

“My lady, will you do me the honor of a dance?” Hallion asked formally, looking at Lindomiel with a respectful smile. Hallion was of the Sindarin nobility that traveled with Oropher from Lindon to join with the Silvan elves, but his rank did not approach that of Thranduil, descended from Elmo, or even Amglaur who had been one of Elu Thingol’s favored nobles.

Lindomiel did not seem to care who he was. She smiled, stood and offered him her hand. He bowed over it dutifully and led her to the line of dancers on the main lawn. They danced through two dances—she asked for the second since it was one of her favorites—and then he led her back towards her friends.

It was not uncommon or unacceptable for a lord to ask a lady he did not know to dance if neither were engaged with a partner. And it was considered polite to accept such an offer unless one had absolutely no intention of dancing that dance. But acceptance of a dance did not signify the beginnings of a friendship. Proper introductions were required for that sort of familiarity and it would not be Hallion’s place to impose an introduction upon a lady of Lindomiel’s rank. Therefore, he was surprised when she requested one.

“You are with Thranduil’s delegation? From Eryn Galen?” she asked as they walked.

Hallion quickly stifled his reaction to her familiarity—to both the king and himself. “Yes, my lady. I am Hallion, the king’s chief advisor.”

She smiled a radiant smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you Lord Hallion. I am Lindomiel Amglauriel.”

“So the king mentioned to me, my lady,” he replied.

She raised her eyebrows. “Did he? I am surprised he found a moment to do anything but discuss politics with my Adar,” she retorted playfully.

Hallion raised his eyebrows as well. “He is the king, my lady, and your adar is a prince,” he replied.

Now she looked at him with mirthful eyes. “Indeed. And tell me, Lord Hallion, did Thranduil send you, as his advisor, to form an opinion of me or did you decide to come do it yourself?”

Hallion blinked at her, stumbling to a halt in their progression back to her friends. “I beg your pardon, my lady?”

She laughed lightly. “Come, lord Hallion, as straightforward as Thranduil is, you must be accustomed to directness by now.”

He looked at the elleth before him a moment before answering. “I confess, my lady, I doubt the king has noticed my absence as he is engaged in a defense of his sire’s actions during the War of the Last Alliance. As such, I took the opportunity to learn something about someone who has apparently caught his eye.”

Hallion was shocked when she laughed out loud. “Oh there is so much humor in that statement, I do not know where to begin. First of all, I hope he is not trying to defend Oropher to my Adar. If he is, I hope he is armed. Second, how could you possibly hope to ‘learn’ anything with a dance? You can see from your seat that I can dance. Third,” and now she looked at him slyly, “have I caught Thranduil’s eye? That would be hard to determine given that he has not spoken to me all evening.”

Hallion found himself simply staring at Lindomiel, hard pressed to keep his mouth from falling open. ‘This one is a spitfire,’ Hallion thought. ‘At least she would match Thranduil’s temper, it seems.’

When he made no reply, Lindomiel took his arm firmly. “Come, sit with my friends and I for a few moments. That way you can accomplish your goal.” She led him to the table where he had found her and pulled him to sit with them. Her friends looked at her with grins on their faces.

“Lord Hallion, this is Amoneth, Gwedhieth and Mithrellas, all friends of mine. Ladies, this is Aran Thranduil’s chief advisor.”

Hallion stood for the introductions and bowed politely over the ladies’ hands, relieved that this elleth at least referred to his king properly in the presence her friends.

Seating himself again, Hallion courteously answered questions from the ladies about Greenwood and then Doriath. He was correct that these ladies were young. The two Sindar amongst them, Lindomiel and Amoneth, had clearly not been to even Lindon, much less Beleriand. But they seemed interested in his stories, pressing him for more and for details. Even the Silvan ellyth seemed well educated in their lore. Clearly these were ladies of the court. Hallion was quite surprised to find himself enjoying their company. They were intelligent and quite interesting company for such young folk.

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Yestarë--Elven New Year
Elleth/ellyth--Female Elf(s)
Adar/ada--Father/dad