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Tending Elrond's Heart	By : kathmco Category: -Multi-Age > Het - Male/Female Views: 3677 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
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- 11
Title: Tending Elrond's Heart

Author: Emmess

Rated: NC17

Genre: Fluffy romance

Tending Elrond's Heart

Chapter Ten

Afterglow and Aftermath

Merenant awoke to Elrond's soft kiss upon her brow, and his hand gently stroking her hair. Not wishing to awaken from a most wonderful dream she'd been having, she snuggled closer to him, throwing her arm around his chest. His deep, warm chuckle reverberated under her cheek, causing her to smile drowsily.

"Wake, Pen neth…morning has come, and it is time to face the day," he whispered, not really wanting her to leave, but knowing, for propriety's sake, that she must.

She moaned softly, feeling him slide out from beneath her, rising to see to his morning preparations. Her hand smoothed the sheets on which he had lain, her fingers bemoaning the withdrawal of his heat from the bed. Sighing, she rolled onto her back, a soft moan escaping her lips as her body protested the previous night's activities.

He was at her side in an instant, his brow etched with concern. "Do you hurt, Merenant? Would you like me to prepare something for you to ease the discomfort?" he asked, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Nay, my Lord…I am fine," she answered, suddenly shy, unable to look him in the eye. For all the passion she had loosed the night before, now, in the light of day, she was embarrassed at her brazenness.

Smiling, Elrond reassured her with a gentle kiss, then rose once again. He brought her his own robe, holding it open for her to slip into, giving her no choice but to rise from the bed. Biting her lower lip, she slipped her arms into the sleeves, sighing as he wrapped it around her body, his arms along with it, holding her close against him.

"Go back to your room, Sweet One, I will have breakfast sent to you, and a hot bath drawn. Soak for a while…it will help relieve the soreness you feel." He couldn't resist kissing the side of her neck before releasing her, turning to walk back into his bath.

She watched his naked retreating form, her eyes memorizing every line in his lithe, muscular body, before sighing, and, rather stiffly, walking from his chambers back to her own. Sitting on the edge of her own bed, her mind replayed the events of the previous night, over and over again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A soft knock brought her out of her reverie. Arwen popped her head into Merenant's room, smiling at the newly initiated Elleth. "Good morning, Mere! May I come in, or are you too tired for company this morning?"

Merenant blushed, realizing that she hadn't really thought about what would happen when she had to face the rest of Elrond's household afterward - what would they think? Biting her lower lip, she nodded shyly at Arwen, who proceeded to make herself comfortable on Merenant's bed.

"Well? Are you going to tell me or not?" Arwen asked, grinning from ear to ear. "Who did you finally choose? No, wait…let me guess…Elladan! You chose Elladan…I thought he was smiling just a bit too broadly this morning…"

"No, Arwen…not Elladan…"

"Elrohir, then? No? Not the potter's son - the one who stared at his feet all night? No? Who, then? Come now, Merenant…I cannot stand not knowing!" Arwen teased, poking her in the ribs.

"Arwen…you…may not be very accepting of my choice…I am afraid to tell you…" Merenant replied, her voice trembling. She loved Elrond's daughter who had been so kind and accepting of her…the last thing she wanted was for Arwen to be angry with her.

"For the love of Eru, why would I be upset with your choice? I am a grown adult, Merenant…" Arwen asked, looking confused. "It was your night and your choice…there was no one there of whom I would not approve…"

"The one I chose was not there," Merenant replied, looking down at her hands. "The one I chose left early…I had to go and find him."

"Left early? Who would leave the Celebration early?" Arwen repeated, looking askance at Merenant. "The only one who left early last night was…" Suddenly she stopped in mid-sentence, her eyes widening as she realized from the deepening blush on the ward's face whom Merenant's choice had been. "Sweet Elbereth…Ada? You chose my father?" she asked, her eyes becoming large and round as she stared at the young Elleth.

Unable to look Arwen in the eyes, Merenant swallowed hard and stared at her hands, nodding her head slowly. Suddenly, she was enveloped in a fierce hug, Arwen laughing and bouncing her on the bed. "Oh, Merenant! That is wonderful! How did you ever get him to…he's been so lonely since Nana sailed! Thank you, Merenant…thank you…he needed to feel loved again…even for one night! Perhaps now he will stop hiding from everyone and burying himself in his work all the time!"

Merenant looked up with shock and surprise etched on her face. "You aren’t angry? He is your father…my Lord and guardian…you really don't mind that I chose him?"

"Of course not! I think it's wonderful…although the twins are going to be a bit put off that you chose their ancient father over them! I fear that there will be much pouting and jesting at the dinner table tonight!" she laughed. Sobering for a moment, she asked, "Was it…wonderful, Merenant? Are you glad that you chose him?"

Merenant, still staring at her hands, blushed even more furiously, and nodded her head, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

"I'm so glad…so, are you up to getting dressed, or do you wish to laze around your room all day?"

"No, I wish to get dressed…I need to bathe first, though…your Ada said it would help."

"Of course…and it shall. Let me fetch the maids, and we'll get a bath started for you," Arwen smiled, planting a quick kiss on Merenant's cheek before leaving to see to her bath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elladan and Elrohir were seated at the breakfast table, squabbling over the last of the sweet bread, and trying to outdo each other with tales of their conquests, when Arwen appeared, snatching the last roll from the basket, right from under their noses.

"Arwen! I was going to eat that!" Elrohir protested, trying to snatch it back from his sister's hands. He jumped up and chased her around the table several times, but each time he drew near, she danced lightly away, holding the roll out like a carrot to a horse.

"You've eaten quite enough, I should think!" Arwen laughed, darting away from the table and out of reach. "This is for Merenant…she must be starved this morning!" She rolled her eyes at Elrohir's black expression as he watched his sister pocket the sweet roll.

"Who was the lucky Elf Merenant chose last night?" Elladan asked, looking up at his sister. "We both waited until it was almost too late, but no matter what we did, she obviously had someone else in mind." He sighed, thinking of how beautiful the young ward had looked, and, even though his own partner had been quite lovely, how much he had wished she had been Merenant instead.

"If I tell you, you must promise not to jest with her about her choice…she is very sensitive about it, and the one she chose might very well decide to feed you both to wild wargs if you so much as cock an eyebrow in her direction…" Arwen teased, trying to look sternly at her handsome brothers, but failing, a smile gracing her lips instead. She delighted in the confused expression that coated her brothers' features as they turned to stare at one another.

Elrohir looked at his twin, a befuddled expression on his face. "Who do we know that has that type of power over us? Certainly not any of the Elves from the city - I can't imagine Borumór, the baker, feeding us to the wargs, can you? …None of the Imladris Guard, either…we outrank them all."

"Glorfindel! She chose Glorfindel! That old Balrog Slayer…I wonder how Erestor feels about that…" Elladan laughed, slapping the table, certain that his deductive reasoning had solved the mystery.

"No, not Glorfindel…" Arwen teased, loving the fact that she knew something her brothers did not.

Elladan frowned, drumming his fingers on the table, trying to think. He brightened, then made a face. "Not Erestor! Erestor? I didn't think that Erestor ever…you know…with a female…"

Laughing out loud, Arwen said, "No, not Erestor, either! Guess again…"

Suddenly Elorhir froze, the blood draining from his face. "No…no she wouldn't…she couldn't…not…"

Elladan caught on a fraction of a second later, his face paling to match his twin's. "Ada? No, not Ada! Ada? Really? Bah…she must have been jesting with you, Arwen…she couldn't have picked Ada! He never participates…"

"No Elleth would jest about her choice for the Solstice Celebration, Elladan. She picked Ada."

"And she…with him…with Ada…eww!" Elrohir shuddered, covering his mouth with his hand.

"I may not eat again until I sail to Valinor…" Elladan agreed, also covering his mouth with his hand.

Arwen roared with laughter at their expressions. She shook a finger in their faces, warning them, "Do not let Merenant hear your say such things…or Ada, for that matter…besides, Ada is a very handsome and distinguished Elf…why wouldn't Merenant wish to choose him?"

"Because he's Ada…that's why!" Elrohir argued, looking at his sister as if she'd lost her mind. "Because he's ancient…and because…because…"

"…because he's Ada!" Elladan finished, spreading his hands out wide, as if that one word described it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elrond was in his study, quickly finishing off the columns of numbers he had been unable to concentrate on the night before, when a knock at the door announced the arrival of Erestor and Glorfindel for their daily briefing. He frowned before bidding them enter, rolling his eyes and knowing for certain that he was in for a ribbing from the Slayer, and a gushing tribute from the Advisor.

"Morning, Elrond," Glorfindel said, not even trying to hide the grin that had spread across his face. "A very good morning, from what I've been told. A VERY good morning…"

Sighing, Elrond sat back in his chair eyeing the tall, blonde Elf, with a half smirk on his face. "Well, get it over with…I presume you have more than that one dubiously witty remark in store for me…you might as well have your say and be done with it."

"Elrond, really…why, I would never seek to poke fun at your expense! Just because you finally decided to rejoin the living, and that all it took was your ward running pell-mell throughout the house chasing after you to do it…"

"That will be quite enough, Glorfindel…" Elrond warned, the look in his eye telling the Balrog Slayer that he was approaching a line best not be crossed.

Of course, a look of warning from Elrond had never stopped the Slayer before…but a swift jab in the ribs from his bonded did. He settled for grinning at Elrond, and laughing silently at his old friend's discomfiture.

"Well, I, for one, think it is wonderful, Elrond!" Erestor gushed, beaming a true smile of happiness at the Elf Lord. "The two of you make a very handsome pair, I must say…"

"Pair? There is no 'pair,' Erestor…it was just the Solstice - that is all…there is no 'pair," Elrond countered, holding up his hand to stop the other Elf.

"What do you mean? Do you mean to tell me that you have no intention of pursuing her? Come now, Elrond…you haven't looked this happy in a thousand years! Surely you aren't willing to settle for just one night when you could have a lifetime of such happiness?" Erestor looked disbelieving his Lordship, placing his hands on his slim hips and frowning sternly.

"It was one night, and one night only, Erestor. She is still my ward…I am her guardian…she is thousands of years younger than me…I was already married once…it would be most inappropriate…the reasons not to debate this further are endless," Elrond said, returning his attention to his ledger - or at least trying to…in truth, his own words were cutting into his heart. But there was no use in pretending - Merenant needed to find someone closer to her own age…someone who didn't carry several thousand years worth of baggage with him.

Shaking his head sadly at the Peredhil Lord, Erestor, grabbing Glorfindel's elbow, said, "Then I pity you, Elrond…you are throwing away the best thing that has happened to you since Celebrian sailed…and, might I add, you may just as well let one of the Elflings shoot Merenant again - because the pain your rejection will cause her will be a thousand times worse than an arrow through her heart."

Elrond looked up sharply, ready to retort, but the two Elves had already slipped from the room.

TBC
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Tending Elrond's Heart