Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

Scarred Fate	By : Massanie Category: +Third Age > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2051 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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- 24
CHAPTER 23: An Error Of Judgement

CHAPTER NOTES

SCRIPTS:

'Thoughts'; ~visions~; **mind speech**; -l-Letters-l-

Melpomaen gaped at his lady, completely aghast at her sublime impudence. Well, it definitely seemed Arwen had found a cure to the helplessness and frustration that had overcome her since poor Lindir had vanished the day before yesterday: Searching Erestor's private chambers.

Kneeling in front of his desk Elrond's only daughter grumbled very indecorously – in Melpomaen's opinion – and every now and then glared at him as if trying to kill the young assistant with her look. Maybe she was, considering that he stood uselessly in the middle of the room, having tried to convince her of the futility of her endeavour for the last hour, ever fumbling with the hems of his sleeves.

Arwen rolled her eyes again at Melpomaen's fidgeting. The young ellon was so pusillanimous!

Pushing one drawer of Erestor's desk close with a petulant thrust and an irritated sigh she went on to the next.

"Really, my lady ... these are lord Erestor's private possessions!"

"Do tell!"

Ink, paper, quills, empty envelops, sealing wax. 'What private possessions? He *has* no private possessions!' she thought quite indignantly. Arwen pushed that drawer close, too and stood. Now, if she was a highly paranoid chief advisor ... turning with pursed lips she approached the doors to Erestor's bed chamber.

"We cannot rummage through his personal belongings, my lady!"

Groaning the dark haired maiden all but gnarled at him. "Stop being that nervous! And anyway: if we don't find something leading us to his kidnappers, you will have nothing to worry about, because a dead Erestor could not possibly behead you! Now help me search!"

Sighing dejectedly, Melpomaen joined his lady in the chief advisor's bed chamber and watched as Arwen started to search below and around the bed, finally drawn to the nightstand with its one drawer.

'As if an elf such as lord Erestor would hide something important in such obvious places!' He thought indignantly.

But the lady was right: they could not trust the traitor sent to them by Elrond to know anything, neither could they expect Haldir to return in time with Lindir and Faelon. A sudden sting pierced his heart. Lindir; how he prayed his friend was alive and well.

Concentrating on the matter at hand, Melpomaen turned to the large fireplace and he frowned. It was late summer and the nights were still warm. No fires should have been lit at this time of the year; not even by Erestor who must be the elf most sensible to the cold in the whole city, the only ellon with a diagnosed elven sickness.

And yet, there was no small amount of ash covering the ground of the chimney. Taking up the poker that stood in a small rack nearby he began to part the ashes and soon encountered something solid.

Putting the poker aside he pulled out his handkerchief and picked the charred object up. "My lady ..." he whispered as his heart froze for the eternity of one second.

As if fearing it could turn to dust in his hands he wiped the dirt away from the blackened thing with the utmost care. It was a small leather bound book, the binding burned by the fire; but as it had laid with the back towards the consuming flames, the leather had protected the fine paper, which only had dried and was now fragile beneath his fingers.

Arwen rushed to Melpomaen's side, watching with excitement as the assistant opened the journal with a calm hand.

"Well?" she breathed, barely able to conceal her curiosity.

Careful to not force the dry papers open less they might crumble the young assistant leafed through the sites.

"It's his handwriting, of that I am sure. It's a notebook ... notes, numbers that do not mean anything to me ... sketches. A diary." He looked up, a serious expression in his solemn eyes.

"I am *not* going to read my superior's diary!"

And he closed the book, looking back into the chimney. Erestor had wanted it to burn, wanted it destroyed. As he had not planned on returning he had probably done that to everything too private for a stranger to find. But Erestor obviously had not taken the time to see if he had succeeded.

With a raised eyebrow Arwen snatched the book out of Melpomaen's hand. "Well, *I* am!"

But seeing his distraught expression, she forced herself to calm down again; the poor junior advisor had ever been shy and conscientious and she was putting him up to something that under normal conditions could cause him much trouble. With more compassion in her beautiful face she addressed him again. "I understand that you don't want to betray his trust but I wish to see him safe and I am not bound by friendship to refrain from invading into his privacy, for as much as I wished it to be different, he was ever distant towards me."

She smiled sadly and reached forward to squeeze Melpomaen's shoulder. "I vow that whatever it is I find in here will stay a secret if it won't help rescuing him."

With that she turned to go although she faced him once more. "Go, mellon. See to it that this valley does not dwindle into chaos whilst my father is absent. I'll see to the rest with my grandmother."

Smiling at the blond ellon she exited Erestor's chambers to find a secluded spot for her reading.

Galadriel had confined herself to the guest rooms, having her guards ensuring that she would not be disturbed. After all she had to see to the safety of Imladris.

With Nenya glistening like a star at her hand she stood at the large windows facing east towards the beautiful valley and let her mind wander over the trees, the people, animals, sentries, ever spreading her influence.

So far Elrond's portentous warnings of an upcoming danger had not proven true; but that did not mean that it would not. She needed to secure Imladris' borders, and quickly.

And moreover somewhere out there in the woods were Haldir and his brothers, searching for the minstrel as some of the border guards of Elrond's had informed her. She loved the three of them dearly as did her husband and although she knew of their skills and trusted them she could not stop herself from worrying and her restless mind kept searching for them, wondering if they needed her help.

It was late that evening when finally, with a relieved sigh, she encountered Haldir's bright light. Casting her gaze down into the courtyard, Galadriel smiled at the chaotic feelings her marchwarden found himself in. 'My dear Haldir, can it be that you are in love?' she thought as her smile widened but she was careful not to let him see or hear what she had just come to know.

**You found Lindir.**

Immediately she felt Haldir's emotional turmoil abating as he forced himself to calm down to keep her from noticing the fierce storm that raged in his newly enamoured heart.

**Yes my lady. A former senior advisor of Elrond's by the name of Faelon was behind it. He drunk water from the Enchanted River and is still asleep as we speak. The lord minstrel ...**

Galadriel inwardly grinned at the formal title.

**... is well and we shall arrive in the morrow.**

**Does Lindir have news of Erestor's whereabouts?** The Lady of the Golden Wood inquired more soberly.

**The letter is destroyed but he read it beforehand. The name of lord Erestor's uncle is Brandon. His eldest son Magron is the chief advisor's husband ...**

There was a short silence after those words and Galadriel could feel that something grave troubled her marchwarden.

**... my lady, lord Erestor erred concerning the time. His plans cannot be fulfilled in the way that he wanted them to and therefore it might well be that a human army of Hillmen from Angmar is marching towards Imladris.**

Galadriel felt her throat tighten. Valar, she had not expected to fight a war on her own now, defending a realm she was not acquainted with.

Grimly she focused on Haldir once more.

** Return quickly, I will get all sentries behind the Bruinen and send to the great eagles for aid and with the river's help we shall not fail!**

Haldir almost shivered at his lady's tone, one did wise not to cross her.

CHAPTER END NOTES

ellon ~ male elf

mellon ~ friend
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Scarred Fate