41: The Maiar Strike Back

"So what’s your next plan of action?" Tiutalion asked Glorfindel when the ellon returned from his picnic.

"Hmm?" Glorfindel muttered, as he concentrated on making a leaf, for he had decided to spend some more time on the ribbon embroidery project before dinner with Lady Nienna.

"What additional mischief do you plan to get into before you leave?" the Maia clarified.

Glorfindel looked up from his work with a frown on his face. "I hadn’t really thought about it, to tell you the truth. Isn’t what I did with the lintel mischief enough?"

Tiutalion shrugged. "Well, it’s a start, but I would think...."

"What did Lady Nienna think?" Glorfindel interrupted.

The Maia’s expression became unreadable to the elf. "I’m afraid you’ll have to wait and find out when you go to dinner."

The ellon scowled as he reached for another strip of dark green ribbon for the next leaf. "I still don’t understand this desire on everyone’s part for me to get into mischief. Next thing you’ll be telling me is that you all want me to stay longer."

When Tiutalion did not answer, Glorfindel looked up, suspicion written all over his face. "That’s what you want, isn’t it? For me to stay here longer than a week."

"I think Lady Nienna would like you to," the Maia said, choosing his words carefully. "A week is hardly enough time in which to relax and I don’t think you’ve had as much time to think about things as you would like, have you?" He gave Glorfindel a shrewd look and the ellon just shrugged.

"Perhaps not," he admitted somewhat reluctantly. "But to tell you the truth, I find thinking to be hard work. I’d rather be doing something instead."

"Well, I fear that if you leave now things will start to unravel again," Tiutalion said with a degree of trepidation, hoping he wasn’t pushing things too far, but wanting Glorfindel to see the benefits of remaining where he was for a time. "Once you are with Findaráto or even back in Tirion, things will become... hectic again and if you have not centered yourself before then...."

Glorfindel sighed. "I know what you mean. Ever since Finrod and I came back from... well, from wherever we were... I’ve been feeling... fractured, as if some vital part of me was left behind or something. At least I haven’t... what is it Lord Námo calls it?... oh, yes, ‘slipped my leash’." He grimaced at that, feeling somewhat insulted by the image the phrase evoked in him.

"And if you return too soon to a more hectic schedule, that just might happen again," Tiutalion stated baldly, deciding not to pull any punches about it. What Glorfindel experienced when his fëa left his hröa was too dangerous and if he didn’t learn to control it, it could spell doom for the youngster. Tiutalion loved the ellon too much to wish that on him.

"Perhaps," Glorfindel said, his tone noncommittal, and went back to his embroidery.

Tiutalion resisted a sigh and after a few minutes excused himself, saying he had other duties to attend to but he would return to escort Glorfindel to dinner at the proper time. Glorfindel didn’t even look up as the Maia faded from view.

****

"This is going to be harder than I thought," Tiutalion said to his fellow Maiar. Several of them were gathered together on the beach below the main house, though those who were attending to duties elsewhere were listening in on the conversation.

"He’s one stubborn ellon, that’s for sure," Nyéreser said with a chuckle. The Maia was taking a break from dealing with Lisselindë, who had been assigned to the most menial of tasks in Lady Nienna’s household. Nasarindil, his partner in overseeing Lisselindë’s rehabilitation, was presently with her. So far, the disgraced Maia seemed to be adjusting to her new status well enough, but there was a core of sorrow and even self-hatred that they had yet to breach. Nyéreser and Nasarindil both feared that Lisselindë’s resentment over what had happened would fester and they were striving to heal her as much as possible. For the moment, though, Nyéreser was concentrating on helping his fellow Maiar with Glorfindel who, truth to tell, intrigued the Maia very much.

"Has he mentioned any plans for further mischief?" Marilliën asked. "It seems that Aldundil and Vorondil were getting into some kind of mischief nearly every day. I rather miss that."

The others all nodded. Watching the two ellyn, father and son, come up with one insane idea after another had kept them all laughing and looking forward with great anticipation to the next misadventure. With them gone and only Glorfindel around, life had gotten just a little too dull for their tastes.

"Maybe we should take the initiative and lure Glorfindel into some hare-brained escapade," suggested Aiwendilmë.

"Remember, though," Pallando, who was Nienna’s Chief Maia, warned, "we are not to bully him or trick him into staying. He has to come to that decision on his own."

"Hmm... trick him...." Nyéreser mused, staring out into the ocean.

Pallando frowned. "No, Nyéreser. Did you not hear me? No tricks."

Tiutalion gave the Chief Maia a strange look. "Lady Nienna said we could neither bully nor bribe him into staying. She said nothing about tricking him."

"Yet, do you not see that it comes to the same thing?" Pallando said. "If he ever discovers that he was tricked into remaining, his sense of trust will be destroyed even more and that is not what we want, is it?"

Tiutalion and the other Maiar all sighed in agreement. *Do not forget,* they all ‘heard’ Nasarindil say from within the house, *that is what Lisselindë did and look where it’s gotten her.*

That thought sobered them all and they remained quiet for some time, trying to think of alternatives. It was actually Lisselindë, listening in on the discussion, who offered them a workable suggestion. Speaking only to Nasarindil, she hesitantly offered her own observation. "I... watched Glorfindel while he was in Lórien. Above all, he needs to feel needed. If... if he thinks that someone here needs him, perhaps...."

Nasarindil relayed Lisselindë’s words to Nyéreser. *Is she offering herself for the role?* he asked.

"Who do you suggest needs Glorfindel, Lisselindë?" Nasarindil enquired of the Maia.

For a moment Lisselindë did not answer, keeping her head down. Finally, not looking up, she said, "I... thought I understood them. I... thought I knew everything I needed to know about them, but... but I was wrong."

Nasarindil had no trouble realizing that ‘them’ referred to the Firstborn. "Go on," she said encouragingly when the other Maia stopped.

Lisselindë sighed and then looked at her... guardian, as Lady Nienna had put it. "I need help, Nasarindil. I need to understand. Glorfindel could... could help." This last was said in a tight whisper and Nasarindil put her arms around the Maia and hugged her gently.

"I think your idea has merit, my dear," she said.

"As do I."

The two Maiar looked up to see Lady Nienna standing before them. The Valië was smiling warmly at them both.

"I am glad that you are able to see your need, child," she said to Lisselindë, "and to see Glorfindel’s need as well. I think it just might work."

"But we don’t want it to be too obvious, do we?" Nasarindil asked. "I mean, I don’t think Glorfindel will go along with it if we just ask. I think he needs to be... shown that he is needed rather than told."

"Nasarindil is correct, lady," Tiutalion said as he appeared along with the other Maiar of the household who had been on the beach. "If Glorfindel is to come to this decision on his own, he has to... to see that he is needed."

Nienna nodded, then looked searchingly at the newest member of her household. Lisselindë tried not to squirm and kept her gaze on the floor. Nienna reached over and lifted her chin so she was forced to look the Valië in the eye. "Are you sure of this, child? Do you truly recognize this need within you?"

"Yes, lady," the Maia said softly.

"Then, I will leave it to you and your brethren to come up with a suitable plan of action. Let our impossible ellon see that he has nothing on impossible Maiar." She gave Lisselindë a wink and for the first time since the disaster that had destroyed her life, the Maia smiled.

****

Glorfindel stood nervously beside his seat at the dining table, waiting for his hostess to arrive, wondering if Lady Nienna would comment on his artwork or not. He sincerely hoped she would, even if she merely told him to paint over it. It would mean, to his mind, that she actually cared about him. Her incessant and somewhat inane questions were wearing him down and he wanted to have a different topic of conversation for dinner.

Lady Nienna entered and he gave her his obeisance. "Please be seated, Glorfindel," she said as she took her own seat. Behind her, as usual, came Tiutalion, who had been acting as server for their meals. Surprisingly, though, he was followed by Lisselindë.

The ellon raised an eyebrow at the sight of the disgraced Maia, who kept her eyes demurely down as she served the bread and honey butter while Tiutalion handled the cream of asparagus soup that was their first course.

"Hello, Lisselindë," Glorfindel said, "how are you faring?"

"Fine," the Maia whispered as she put down the bowl of honey butter before him.

"That’s ‘Fine, Lord Glorfindel’," Nienna said somewhat sharply, though only Glorfindel was unaware that it was all an act.

Lisselindë flinched convincingly and Glorfindel felt suddenly sorry for her. He put a hand on her arm and smiled warmly. "Don’t pay Lady Nienna any mind, dear. ‘Glorfindel’ is good enough for me. No need for me to put on airs before those who have existed since before Arda."

"I know my place... my lord," Lisselindë snapped, stepping out of Glorfindel’s reach, her eyes dark with anger and inner pain.

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow. "You may be the lowest of the low as far as the Valar are concerned, Lisselindë, but you are still a Maia, and I never thought to see one of your kind sniveling like a five-year-old elfling denied his favorite sweet."

"You do not know of what you speak, child!" Lisselindë snarled and neither Nienna nor Tiutalion was sure how much of her act truly was an act.

"Oh, don’t I?" Glorfindel sneered back. "I’m a Reborn, despised by half the population of Aman and apparently the bane of the Valar’s existence. Everything I knew and loved has been destroyed and I’m left picking up the pieces, but you don’t see me hiding in a corner, do you?"

Lisselindë smiled and it was not a pleasant one. "No. You just go around painting inane words on door lintels. ‘Band Glorfindel’. How pathetic can you get? You have no idea what a prison truly is like."

Now Glorfindel was incensed. He leaped up, his expression darkening and turning dangerous. Nienna silently called on Manwë for the loan of several of his warrior Maiar who came unclad in an instant. "A lot you know," he fairly screamed. "I had the pleasure of spending a month in one of Turgon’s little cells after one of my pranks went very wrong. Believe me, I know all about prisons."

"Hah! A prank, was it? Why am I not surprised," Lisselindë rejoined with a disgusted look.

"Well, speaking of pranks," Glorfindel said, his voice dropping to a lower register that truly spelled doom for the Maia before him. "What were you thinking when you pulled that prank on Findaráto, using an innocent child for your nefarious deed no less, manipulating her and probably scarring her for life, twisting her fëa the way you did? Why, you’re no better than Melkor and you dared to do this to one of the best of us?"

The mention of Lindorillë set the Maia suddenly crying, crumpling to the floor in abject sorrow, and they could all tell it was no act. Tiutalion started to go to her but a silent command from Nienna stilled him and all the Maiar throughout the house paused to see what would happen next. Glorfindel stood there watching the Maia weeping inconsolably with an expression that was at first cold and unforgiving, but slowly began to transmute into one of compassion. He knelt beside her.

"I’m sorry," he said gently. "I did not mean to compare you to Melkor. That was unforgivable of me."

Lisselindë just continued weeping and Glorfindel sighed, looking up helplessly at Nienna. The Valië watched the tableau with a cool look. "Well, it seems you both have something in common," was her only comment and when Glorfindel gave her an enquiring look she continued, smiling thinly. "Pranks gone wrong."

Glorfindel grimaced at that, remembering all too well the prank that went so terribly wrong. Even Ecthelion had warned him against it. Well, he had paid dearly for that particular instance of stupidity on his part and it seemed the Maia before him was paying for her own brand of stupidity. He sighed. "You don’t know us very well, do you?"

Lisselindë looked up, a puzzled expression on her face. Glorfindel just nodded. "The Firstborn, I mean. For all that you’ve known of us since the beginning of our days, you really don’t know us. I don’t think even the Valar really know us."

"In that you would be correct, child," Nienna said with a slight smile, "and the Maiar, or rather, most Maiar, know even less. You are an endless source of wonderment to us, but sometimes our very ignorance causes unforeseen tragedy. You yourself are a victim of one such miscalculation." She nodded when Glorfindel raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "We never saw the Rebellion coming."

Glorfindel winced at that. Then Lisselindë, feeling the time was right, set the trap. She reached out a tentative hand and placed it on Glorfindel’s arm to get his attention. "Wo-would you teach me, lord?" she asked in all humility.

"Teach you?" the ellon echoed in confusion. "Teach you what?"

"Teach me about the Firstborn," she answered. "Teach me where I went wrong with... with Lord Findaráto."

"I don’t know how...." Glorfindel started to say but Nienna interrupted.

"Begin by just being yourself, Glorfindel," she said. "Let Lisselindë observe you and question you whenever she is confused by something which makes sense only to one of you Eldar."

"I suppose...." he said somewhat reluctantly.

"If you agree to be Lisselindë’s tutor in this, though," the Valië added, "it would mean having to stay here a bit longer; Lisselindë cannot leave my demesne at this time."

For a moment Glorfindel said nothing and all there waited for his response. "How long...?" he finally asked with a sigh.

Nienna smiled and the invisible Maiar practically cheered. "Not long. Let us say for two more weeks. I don’t expect Lisselindë to learn everything about the Firstborn that she needs to know in that amount of time, but it will be a fair start. Afterwards, you may depart."

"Two weeks?" Glorfindel asked, looking dismayed.

"It’s not all that long when you stop and think about it, child," Nienna said sympathetically.

Glorfindel nodded. "Two more weeks then," he said, but he didn’t look very happy about it.

Nienna just nodded, silently dismissing the warrior Maiar with her thanks. They all bowed reverently to her and departed, eager to relay the news of Glorfindel’s agreement to remain at Lady Nienna’s longer. "Well, the soup’s gone cold," she said aloud, "but I suppose...."

"I’m not really hungry," Glorfindel interrupted. "I think I would just like to return to... to my prison." He cast a wry grin at Lisselindë and the Maia had the grace to blush and would not meet his gaze.

Nienna nodded. "Very well, dear. We’ll see you tomorrow then. I’ll send Lisselindë to you in the afternoon. She has other duties she must perform in the morning."

"I’m still not sure what I’m suppose to do with her, though," Glorfindel protested, though only half-heartedly, wondering if he’d been stupid to agree to this.

"Just be yourself, Glorfindel," the Valië advised. "All else will flow from that."

The ellon nodded and gave her his obeisance. As usual, Tiutalion escorted him out of the room. When they were sure that Glorfindel was safely on his way back to the cottage, Nienna turned to Lisselindë with a smile. "That was splendid, dear."

But instead of returning her mistress’s smile she started to weep again. Nienna took her in her embrace and held her. "It... it was s-so hard...." she stuttered.

"I know, child," Nienna whispered, "and I thank you for that. There is hope for you yet, my dear, and I think you and Glorfindel will be good for one another, though not for the same reasons. Now, dry those tears. You are dismissed for the rest of the night and tomorrow you may spend the morning as you please. You need not go to Glorfindel until after luncheon."

Lisselindë gave her mistress a puzzled look. "Do I not have duties to attend?"

"Your only duty tomorrow is to enjoy yourself. You may go where you please, as long as either Nasarindil or Nyéreser is with you. Just return an hour past noon."

"Thank you, lady," Lisselindë whispered.

"You’re quite welcome, my dear," Nienna replied. She then dismissed all the Maiar from her presence and sat, deep in thought. She was unsurprised to see Námo, Irmo and Manwë appear, each taking a seat.

"Do you think it will work?" Irmo asked, looking doubtful. He had more experience in dealing with the Reborn than the others, even Námo, who dealt primarily with the dead.

"He has promised us another two weeks," Nienna answered somewhat sharply. "That’s two weeks more than we originally hoped for. It matters not if he does help Lisselindë; it only matters that we have the opportunity to help him without interference from his friends."

"I sincerely hope that he is able to offer Lisselindë some guidance, though," Manwë said mildly. Nienna had the grace to blush and nodded in acquiescence. "She is no less our concern than Glorfindel."

"I never said that," Nienna protested.

"I know," Manwë said, "but let us not confuse motives here. Both those children are in need of our attention."

"Glorfindel will be good for Lisselindë," Námo stated with a straight face. "Just think of all the mischief the two of them can get themselves into, especially with Tiutalion there to goad them on."

Nienna just stared at her younger brother in disbelief and then rolled her eyes. "Atar help us!" she muttered while Irmo and Manwë laughed and Námo smirked.