Half the Distance

Title: Half the Distance
Series: Innocence Stripped Away
Chapter: Sixteen : In Whispering Darkness
Author: Orchyd Constyne
Contact: soultornasunder@gmail.com
Website: http://www.hithanaur.net/
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nairn_orchyd/
Beta: Alex Cat

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Imladris, Spring, Third Age 2086

"He is absolutely insane, Elrond," Thranduil said, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. The Elf-lords stood in Elrond's office, glaring at one another over a desk. He has broken Glorfindel, then my slave, then my *nose*, and now, I am pretty certain he has broken himself. Have you ever considered a leash?"

Elrond scoffed as he walked a bank of windows. "I somehow doubt a leash would have ever restrained Erestor."

"If you knew he was a danger--"

"I knew no such thing!" Elrond turned to face Thranduil. "I never knew he was even capable of half the things he has done."

Thranduil's stiff posture began to ease some. "You are Lord of this realm, Elrond. You should have seen what was happening. Stopped it before it ever reached this point."

"Stopped it?" Elrond laughed curtly. "Thranduil, this is not Mirkwood. We do not parade our preferences through the halls. It is perhaps a more integral part of the life you live, more visible and accepted, but here -- as well as the other realms -- we do have a sense of propriety!"

"You hide it," Thranduil said simply. "I accept that. I accept not every kingdom is as mine, but Elrond, they are your *people*. You should have noticed something was not quite right."

Elrond sighed as he leaned against the lead glass panes. "They hid their problems well." Which disturbed Elrond greatly. His two dearest friends had managed to conceal all of this darkness from him.

"You also did not want to see it." Thranduil shook his head. "I knew from the short time Glorfindel and Erestor were in Mirkwood that something was wrong between them."

"Thranduil, you also happen to be one of the best readers of body language I have ever met," Elrond said with a wave of his hand. "Someone merely has to blink once too often and you notice it."

Silence fell between them for a drawn out moment.

"He has harmed Teledan, Elrond," Thranduil said quietly. "Not just physically. Teledan flinches if I try to touch him. Such an offence cannot be ignored."

"I know." Elrond looked over his shoulder, out the window again. The valley looked so peaceful. "What do you demand as redress for the crime against Teledan, Thranduil?"

"Before prices are named," a gentle but powerful voice said from the door behind Thranduil, "perhaps we should gage whether or not the individual was in his right mind."

Elrond stood up straight, his eyes meeting his law-mother's. "Lady Galadriel," he greeted.

Thranduil, however, didn't give the same reverence for her. "Galadriel."

"King Thranduil, Elrond," she said, looking between them. "Where is Erestor?"

"Who sent for you?" Thranduil asked, frowning.

Galadriel smiled at him serenely. "No one needed to send for me." Her eyes returned to Elrond. "Please, take me to Erestor."

Glorfindel greeted them outside the door to Erestor's rooms. "He woke about an hour ago," he explained. "I can hear him moving around, but otherwise, he has been quiet." There was a weariness in Glorfindel's voice that had nothing to do with fatigue.

"This will not be pleasant," Elrond muttered. He glanced at Thranduil, who was standing far too close to Glorfindel. "Please, for his sake, would the two of you not flaunt what has developed between you?"

"Of course," Glorfindel said, his cheeks flushing with shame as he stepped away from Thranduil.

Thranduil snorted. "Why hide what he already knows?"

"Because there is never a reason to inflict pain upon someone so carelessly, Thranduil," Galadriel chided. "Open the door, Elrond."

Elrond unlocked the door, swung it open, and waved everyone inside. Once everyone was in, he closed and locked the door again.

Erestor stood dressed in sleeping trousers and a rumpled shirt. His hair was wild, his eyes angry, and he was pacing on the far side of the sitting room. The moment the entered, his trek across the stones stopped and he *glared* at them.

"You keep me prisoner, Elrond," he said.

Elrond shook his head. "I protect you."

Erestor laughed, and the sound was harsh, broken, and tinged with madness. "You cannot protect me! You *never* could!"

"Erestor--" Glorfindel began, but was silenced instantly by a withering glance from his spouse.

"I do not want to hear any lie out of your mouth, traitor," Erestor hissed. "Go back to your King, whore."

Glorfindel's cheeks went scarlet, and his eyes glistened.

"Erestor," Galadriel said sharply. "Do not speak to your spouse like that."

Erestor sneered at her. "You can keep your opinions to yourself."

"We only want to help," Glorfindel said thickly.

Thranduil raised an elegant blond eyebrow at that. "We? I believe I wanted justice for Teledan."

"You are not helping, Thranduil," Elrond warned.

Galadriel watched Erestor, her eyes intent. Knowing.

"She knows your secrets," the voice whispered near Erestor's ear.

"No!" Erestor cried, covering his ears.

Glorfindel stepped forward, but Galadriel held out her hand. "Hush. Watch," she whispered.

"Glorfindel does not care about your well being. If he did, why would he have brought his lover with him? He only desires to bring you to your knees, Erestor," the voice taunted.

Erestor shook his head over and over. "No! Hush! Stop your lies! All you do is lie! All you ever *did* was lie!"

Thranduil's expression was wary as he asked, "Is he... talking... to himself?"

"No," Galadriel said. "Not precisely."

"They whisper about you. They lock you up. They will forget about you, and then all you will have is me," the voice continued. "Me, Erestor. Do you not miss me?"

Erestor's eyes shot open. They were wide. Terrified. He could see his reflection in the darkened window behind Glorfindel, and behind him, just to the side, was the owner of that voice. Smirking at him. Gloating.

Furious, Erestor spun around to strike him, but no one stood there. Laughter from his left, and Erestor swings his arm around.

The four onlookers stared in morbid curiosity as Erestor screamed and attacked something only he saw. Erestor missed the imaginary opponent again, his fist striking the stone wall.

Thranduil opened his mouth, a witty, cruel remark on the tip of his tongue, but a dangerous glare from Galadriel silenced it.

Finally, Glorfindel could watch the scene no longer. He crossed the room and threw his arms around Erestor, forcing both of them to their knees. Erestor sobbed, his bloody knuckles leaving crimson smears on Glorfindel's hair and tunic.

"Make him go away, Glorfindel," Erestor cried, his whole body trembling with the force of his tears. "For the love of Eru, make him go *away*!"

Glorfindel looked at Galadriel over Erestor's bowed head. "Make who go away, love? Who?"

Erestor shook his head, sobbing himself into exhaustion against Glorfindel's shoulder. When his body became limp in Glorfindel's arms, Glorfindel lifted the Noldo up, his face set.

"Something is wrong," Glorfindel said, following everyone out of the room.

Galadriel led the motley crew from Erestor's rooms to a room in the House of Healing. "It is more than wrong, Glorfindel," she said as she held open the door. "It is far more than just 'wrong'."

TBC...