40: Maia and Mischief

By noon on the third day, Glorfindel was convinced he was going to go insane before the week was up. He was down on the beach, having decided to explore the coves and grottos along the shore. The tide was out so he spent some time wandering along the sandbars, picking up interesting shells or stones, then throwing them away. He realized he was just killing time until dinner when he would at least have a couple of hours of conversation with Lady Nienna.

Not that he was actually looking forward to dinner and conversation, but it broke up the monotony of his days. Lady Nienna had a disconcerting way about her and her questions seemed pointless, even random. She never asked about how he spent his time. Instead, she would ask him about his feelings concerning certain people or places, either in Beleriand or Aman. There never seemed to be any rhyme or reason to her enquiries. He answered as truthfully as he could, but often enough he found he had no real answers to the questions and that disturbed him. He would go to his bed thinking about those questions to which he could give no satisfactory answer, at least to his mind. Sometimes he would find an answer after some reflection, sometimes not. He wondered if that was what Lady Nienna wanted, for him to think.

Yet, thinking was hard work after awhile and he tired of his own company and the constant whirl of his thoughts. He sighed as he stood on the sandbar looking out towards the waters still some distance away. The tide would not turn for some time yet, but Glorfindel had no intention of remaining there that long. He turned to face the shore and made his way back, his mood darkening, not towards despair, but towards anger — anger at himself, anger at his situation, anger at... well at everything!

He plopped down on the dry sand, his arms around his knees. He thought of simply packing his things and leaving, but he had promised to stay the week and he still had three more days of misery to endure. He would not renege on his promise no matter how much he wanted to. He wasn’t going to give Them the satisfaction.

"Get into some mischief," he muttered out loud, scowling at nothing in particular. "She wants me to get into mischief. Why? What’s the point and what kind of mischief? Steal some tarts? Offer to do the gardening and pull up everything but the weeds? Set fire to the cottage? What!?" He lay down, staring up into the azure sky, idly watching the clouds go scudding by. "What do they all want from me?" he demanded in a louder voice, his frustration and anger rising.

"We don’t want anything from you."

Glorfindel turned his head to the left to see Tiutalion sitting serenely on a large piece of driftwood. He scowled some more. "Why are you here?"

Tiutalion raised an eyebrow. "Forgive me. I thought perhaps you wished to talk." He rose and started back towards the stairs.

Glorfindel sat up. "Wait! Don’t go, please."

The Maia nodded and resumed his seat. Glorfindel shifted his body around to face him, his arms around his knees once more. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude." He ran a hand through his golden hair and closed his eyes, sighing. "This was a bad idea," he said.

"Oh?" Tiutalion said. "In what way?"

"In every way," Glorfindel replied heatedly, opening his eyes and glowering at the Maia. "I’m not sure what everyone was expecting but I certainly wasn’t expecting to be bored to the point of insanity."

"Oh, I don’t think you need worry about that," Tiutalion said with a smile. "Surely there were times in Gondolin when you were at leisure. I know that as the Lord of your House you had many responsibilities, but not all your days were tied up with duty, were they?"

Glorfindel shrugged. "I suppose." His tone was noncommittal.

"So what did you do when not attending to your King or to the duties of your House?" the Maia asked.

The ellon smiled slyly. "Usually getting into trouble with Ecthelion."

Tiutalion chuckled. "What did you do?"

"Oh well," Glorfindel muttered, looking down, suddenly embarrassed. "It’s not important anymore."

Tiutalion gave him a measuring look. "You miss him, don’t you?"

Glorfindel nodded. "More than I thought I would." He gave the Maia a pensive look. "Do you know when he’ll be released from Mandos?"

The Maia shook his head. "About that I have no knowledge. He will be released when Lord Námo deems him ready and not before."

Glorfindel scowled. "You couldn’t possibly... um... go and ask, could you?"

Tiutalion smiled. "No one, and I do mean no one, is permitted in Lord Námo’s demesne without his expressed permission. I would not be so foolish as to even try."

The ellon gave the Maia a considering look. Tiutalion smiled more broadly at the pensive expression on the elf’s face. "What you need, my friend, is a hobby."

"Excuse me?" Glorfindel responded in disbelief, not sure he had heard correctly.

The Maia nodded. "I understand you are quite good at ribbon embroidery."

"And so?" Glorfindel asked with a sneer. "Do you expect me to spend my days making flowers?"

"Perhaps an hour a day on a small project," Tiutalion suggested. "There’s a linen table runner that could use some... sprucing up. You might consider it a thank-you gift to Lady Nienna."

At the mention of the Valië’s name, Glorfindel scowled. "She told me to get into mischief," he muttered, his eyes full of confusion. "Why would she say that? It makes no sense."

For a moment Tiutalion did not answer. When he did, it was with a question of his own. "If you were to get into mischief, what sort of mischief would you get into?"

Glorfindel blinked a couple of times, the Maia’s question throwing him. "Well... it’s been my experience that getting into mischief is no fun on one’s own. One usually likes to get into mischief with at least one other person." He gave Tiutalion a wry grin. "Someone to share both the glory and the punishment that follows."

The Maia laughed loudly at that, reminded of past times when he and his brother in the Thought of Ilúvatar used to do precisely that and still did, much to the despair of both Lady Nienna and Lord Námo. "What you need is a partner-in-crime."

Glorfindel gave him a shrewd look. "Are you volunteering?"

"If you’d like."

"Why? Did Lady Nienna order you to...."

The Maia shook his head. "Nay. Or at least not in so many words. She asked me to, let us say, encourage you to simply be yourself and not be what you think others want you to be."

"Do you think that’s what I’ve been doing, trying to be what everyone else wants me to be?"

"What you think everyone else wants you to be," Tiutalion replied with a shake of his head. "There’s a difference."

Glorfindel scowled. "I don’t see how."

"What others want you to be is ultimately immaterial," Tiutalion answered. "People generally either choose to be themselves or they try to be what they think others want them to be, whether that is actually true of others or not. Our perceptions color our choices in all things, and sometimes our perceptions are faulty. The safest road is to simply be yourself — the good and the bad — and let others worry about themselves. What they think of you is also immaterial so long as you remain true to yourself."

Glorfindel thought about it for several minutes, staring out to sea, idly noticing that the tide seemed to be turning, for the breakers appeared to be closer than before. He finally turned back to the Maia waiting patiently. "I am the Lord of the House of the Golden Flower of Gondolin, which no longer exists. I am a warrior, a balrog-slayer no less, and a Reborn. No one seems to care about what I used to be before my death and I’m not of much use to anyone now that I’ve been re-embodied... except possibly as target practice for the discontented." This last was said with a scowl.

Tiutalion gave him a sympathetic look. "You were quite young when you left Aman, so your self-image has centered around, not Laurefindil of Aman, but Glorfindel of Gondolin. Yet, as you pointed out, Gondolin is no more. However, to say that no one cares about you is not true. You have Ingwë and Arafinwë and Findaráto and a host of others, including the Valar and many of the Maiar, who wish you nothing but well and are your staunchest supporters. You have lost one life and those who gave you a sense of purpose and identity but you have a new life and there are those, including me I might add, who would gladly help you find your way to a new purpose and identity, if you will let them."

"So what do you suggest?" Glorfindel asked, somewhat at a loss as to how to respond to the Maia’s words.

"What does your heart tell you, child?" Tiutalion asked gently.

For a moment, Glorfindel did not answer, staring pensively at the tide turning. Soon the sea would reclaim the cove once again. He turned his face to the Maia and for some reason he could feel tears forming. He shook his head, trying to stem the flow, but not succeeding. "I don’t know," he whispered, sniffling a bit. "I don’t know what my heart tells me. I... I don’t know what to...what to do." His weeping became more intense the harder he tried not to weep at all.

Tiutalion rose and took the ellon into his embrace and held him through his tears. "You don’t have to do anything, child," the Maia said softly. "Doing is not important right now; being is. Concentrate on just being yourself, nothing more."

Glorfindel’s sobs quieted somewhat. Tiutalion gave him a warm, sympathetic smile. "Come. Let’s go back to the cottage and I’ll fix you some lunch."

The elf nodded and allowed the Maia to lead him away from the beach, too forlorn to offer any resistance.

****

Lunch consisted of a rich vegetable broth and fresh-baked bread slathered with creamy butter and strawberry jam. This was followed by a peach cobbler and all of it washed down with a light yellow wine. Glorfindel felt immensely better for it. Afterwards, when the dishes were cleared, Tiutalion brought out the white bleached linen table runner he had mentioned earlier along with various spools of different colored ribbons of various widths, needles, scissors and embroidery thread, laying them out on the dining table. The runner was only about two feet in length and a foot wide.

"It’s not very large," the Maia pointed out, "so I think you could do something with it in the time you’ll be here. As you can see, I have all the materials you need."

Glorfindel sighed. "I’m only going to be here for another three days. That’s not much time." He gave the piece of linen a critical eye. It was indeed plain with only the tiniest bit of pulled thread embroidery beginning about two inches in from the edge, making a kind of border. "I suppose I could do some spider-web roses along this border interspersed with leaves connecting one rose to the other. Those are rather easy to do and go quickly."

"Spider-web roses?" Tiutalion asked, seemingly genuinely interested.

Glorfindel nodded, reaching for a spool of white thread and a needle. He expertly threaded the needle and then, choosing one corner of the runner, pushed the needle up through the fabric, explaining as he did so. "You make five spokes of various lengths, always coming back up the center hole." He quickly made the spokes and then tied off the thread, exchanging the thread for a length of red silk ribbon. "You come up the center hole again with the ribbon and then you weave over and under the spokes like this." He did so and in a moment a rose started to form as he wove the ribbon around the spokes until they were mostly hidden. "See?" He pushed the runner at Tiutalion who examined the rose, giving the ellon a bright smile.

"That’s lovely, Glorfindel."

The elf shrugged. "It’s nothing really. One of the simplest flowers to make."

"Well, simple or not, I know Lady Nienna will appreciate it," the Maia said. "And you said you would do some leaves as well?"

Glorfindel nodded. "Yes, but I’ll wait and do them last after I’ve gotten all the flowers done."

Tiutalion nodded and remained silent for a while as Glorfindel went to another corner and there created a yellow rose. "I’ll do the four corners first and then do a center rose along each side," the ellon said even as he started making a third rose, this time blue. "Once I do that, I can place the other roses evenly around."

"I’ll make some tea while you’re doing that," Tiutalion suggested and Glorfindel nodded, not looking up, suddenly engrossed in the project. The Maia simply smiled knowingly and went about making some peppermint tea and placing a plate of ginger biscuits on the table. "So, what kinds of mischief were you thinking of getting into while you were here?" he asked as he puttered around the stove.

Glorfindel sighed, stopping his embroidering long enough to look up at the Maia. "I considered setting fire to the cottage," he replied. It was the most outrageous thing he could think of and he was curious to see the Maia’s reaction.

Tiutalion raised an eyebrow at that. "The cottage is made of stone," he pointed out, "or didn’t you notice."

"But not the inside," Glorfindel reminded him with a smug grin.

Tiutalion laughed. "You realize of course that if you actually succeeded in burning this poor cottage down Lady Nienna will only make you rebuild it from the ground up." Glorfindel gave him a startled look and Tiutalion nodded. "Besides, it’s already been done," the Maia added.

"Huh?"

"Yes. It was Arafinwë who nearly burned the place down before. Oh, not on purpose. It was purely an accident, a kitchen fire. However," and here the Maia gave him a wicked grin, "once the fire started our Arafinwë was in no hurry to put it out."

Glorfindel could only stare at the Maia in shock, his embroidery forgotten. "Th-the Noldóran?" was all he could think to say, trying desperately to envision Findaráto’s atar as an arsonist.

Tiutalion nodded. "Well, he wasn’t exactly the Noldóran at the time. He was still apprenticed to Lord Manwë and had been sent here when he... um... well, that’s unimportant at the moment. Suffice to say that he spent several weeks repairing the damage. He’s almost as useless with a hammer and nails as you are." The Maia gave Glorfindel a wide grin and the ellon found himself blushing.

"See this woodwork here?" The Maia pointed towards the kitchen area. The walls were painted white with a turquoise trim along the top and a wainscot made from a pale yellow wood. "This is all his work. The damage was contained to this part of the cottage."

Glorfindel gave the kitchen another look, trying to imagine Arafinwë with a hammer or a brush in his hand and finding it difficult. He gave the Maia a considering look. "Well, maybe I won’t burn the cottage down then."

"Good idea. I know Lady Nienna would appreciate it. She’s rather fond of the place herself."

"You’re serious about getting into mischief, aren’t you?" Glorfindel asked, suddenly becoming suspicious about the Maia’s motives.

"Only if you want to, child," Tiutalion answered. "No one is forcing you to do anything here, are they?" Glorfindel shook his head and the Maia nodded. "Well, there you go. If you want to get into some sort of mischief, I’ll help, but if you don’t want to, that’s all right as well."

"Why though?" Glorfindel couldn’t help asking. "What’s the point?"

"Perhaps there is no point," Tiutalion said.

Glorfindel sighed, not sure what the Maia was talking about. He nibbled on a biscuit and drank some of the tea before returning his attention to the table runner. He’d already decided he wanted to at least get the corner roses and the center roses done that day.

****

The next day dawned fair and Glorfindel spent a little time after breakfast working on the table runner. He figured he could actually finish it by the next day and was rather pleased in spite of himself at the way it was coming along.

After he had done as much as he wished to do on the runner he put everything away and went outside, wondering if he should wander through the woods or take a walk along the headlands or go down to the beach. In the end he did none of those things. Instead, he wandered over to the main house. Once he moved to the cottage he had not been inside the main house except in the evenings for dinner. He was curious to see what the place was like during the day.

He never made it inside the cloister.

Approaching the house he noticed what looked like paint tubs stacked along the north wall. Curiosity drew him, for he could not imagine what they were doing there. The house was made of stone after all, and much of the interior was fine woodwork without any need of paint. He walked over and saw that there were several different colors of paint, including, oddly enough, turquoise. He was reminded of the turquoise trim in the cottage.

Then a glimmer of an idea came to him and he felt a frisson of delight mingled with — yes, he had to admit it — fear as he glanced around to see if anyone was there. He noticed that there were brushes placed neatly in a wicker basket next to the tubs. Holding his breath and expecting at any moment to have one of the Maiar show up and stop him, he reached down and grabbed one of the brushes and then took hold of the tub of turquoise paint. Glancing around one more time, even going so far as to peek around the corner to see if anyone was hanging about the front entrance, he quickly made his way back to the cottage, nearly running, hoping against hope that he would not be caught.

He did not look back so he did not see Tiutalion standing at the doorway watching him with a smile on his face. The Maia sauntered around to where the paint supplies were and casually took one of the brushes before making his way towards the cottage.

****

Glorfindel stood staring at the cottage with the tub of paint in one hand and the brush in the other, suddenly feeling hesitant. He wondered just what madness had taken him. Paint the cottage turquoise? He didn’t have enough paint to do even the stonework around the front door, much less the entire edifice. And painting the fine oak door with its lovely carvings of plants and animals intertwined did not seem mischievous enough.

"Maybe I should just paint ‘Glorfindel was here’ across the stonework," he muttered out loud.

"That would certainly be original."

Glorfindel gasped as he turned to see Tiutalion coming towards him, the Maia smiling. He belatedly remembered the paint and brush in his hands and in a futile gesture hid them behind his back. Tiutalion gave him a smirk.

"Um... Tiutalion... what are you doing here?" Glorfindel asked in as nonchalant a voice as possible and mentally cringed at the fatuousness of his question.

For an answer the Maia held up the brush in his hand. "I thought I would come and help with whatever you have in mind for that tub of paint you’re hiding behind your back."

"I was thinking of painting the cottage turquoise, but I don’t have enough paint for it," Glorfindel admitted with a sigh as he brought the tub and brush out from behind his back.

Tiutalion gave a convincing shudder. "Paint the entire cottage turquoise? As lovely a color as turquoise is, my friend, an entire house of that color would give even me nightmares."

Glorfindel grinned. "Well, do you have any ideas? I don’t think Lady Nienna would actually mind if the door and the shutters were painted though it would be a shame to deface such lovely wood. Painting them, however, just doesn’t seem to be mischievous enough."

"Then paint something that doesn’t need paint and in the natural course of things would never need paint," the Maia said.

Glorfindel stared about him, wondering what could possibly not need paint. Then he noticed the stone lintel above the door. It was a single slab of smooth granite that extended beyond the width of the door. It was also a lighter shade of grey than the rest of the cottage. The smoothness of the stone drew him and he thought it was a shame it was so plain to look at.

"Does this cottage have a name?" he asked Tiutalion suddenly, not even looking at the Maia.

The Maia gave him a measuring look and shrugged. "It’s just known as ‘The Cottage’, since there’s only the one."

Glorfindel nodded, still looking at the lintel and making swift calculations of the amount of space available to him. "Well, I think it should have a name painted on the lintel for all to see, but I’m going to need a smaller brush and a ladder."

Tiutalion was tempted to ask just what name the elf was proposing but stopped himself in time. He had noticed the gleam of pure unalloyed wickedness in the ellon’s eyes and decided to let the Child have his fun. Whether Lady Nienna found it amusing would be interesting to see. "I’ll go get one," was all he said and faded from view.

Several minutes later, the Maia returned with a number of different sized brushes and a step-ladder. Glorfindel looked over the brushes and picked out a couple of different ones. "Would you mind seeing if there is any yellow paint as well?" he asked casually even as he was setting up the ladder. Tiutalion raised an eyebrow, now properly intrigued.

"Yellow paint," he said. "Anything else while I’m at it?"

Glorfindel cast him a bright smile. "Just keep everyone away from here until I’m done."

Tiutalion nodded and gave the ellon his own smile. "That’s easy enough to do. I’ll be back momentarily with the yellow paint." Again, he faded from view even as Glorfindel began to dip one of his brushes into the turquoise paint.

****

Nienna viewed Glorfindel’s handiwork some hours later. The ellon had been sent away with a picnic lunch to the woods by Tiutalion after he had completed his paint job, with the Maia telling Glorfindel that he had earned it.

"You won’t go and paint over it?" Glorfindel asked, somewhat suspicious of the Maia’s motives.

"On my honor, I will not, nor will I allow anyone else to do so," Tiutalion answered and Glorfindel had to be content with that.

Now, with the ellon safely away, he called to Lady Nienna and the rest of the household to come see what Glorfindel had done with a couple tubs of paint. Nienna was reading the sign over the lintel, her expression unreadable to her Maiar, though several of them were hard put not to laugh out loud.

"And he came up with this all by himself?" she finally asked Tiutalion.

The Maia nodded. "All I did was supply him with paint and brushes and the ladder. He did the rest."

"‘Band Glorfindel: Boe le garo dâf amminnad’," Nienna read the fine Beleriandic script aloud.

"At least it’s colorful," Aiwendilmë offered with a snicker.

"In more ways than one, I think," Nienna responded wryly. "Well, it’s a start. Keep at him, Tiutalion. We only have two more days."

"Can we not convince him to stay longer?" Tiutalion asked.

"I gave him my word he would be free to leave at the end of the week," Nienna said with a shake of her head.

"Perhaps he will decide on his own to stay longer," Nyéreser suggested.

"Only if he has an incentive to do so," Nienna reminded them.

"Maybe we can give him one," Marilliën said, her expression wickedly gleeful and several Maiar nodded enthusiastically.

Nienna gave her People a measuring look and then nodded. "You may try, but he is not to be bullied or bribed into staying longer. You have two days, my children. Use the time wisely and well." With that the Valië left them and the Maiar huddled around Tiutalion and Marilliën, offering suggestions as to how to convince this most stubborn of ellyn to stay longer.

Oblivious to it all, the ellon in question sat deep in the woods, happily sharing his picnic with a family of raccoons.

****

Band Glorfindel: Boe le garo dâf amminnad: (Sindarin) ‘Glorfindel’s Prison: You need permission to enter’; literally, ‘It is necessary for you to have permission in order to enter.’ The construction amminnad is what is called the ‘infinitive-as-gerund-in-dative’ with the meaning of "for the purpose of/in order to...", thus ‘for the purpose of entering/in order to enter’.