The Jewel of Mirkwood

Chapter 12

Glorfindel yawned as he sipped from his goblet of wine. Like most alehouses Glorfindel had visited the array of sordid wanderers that came and went as they pleased, bringing with them a wealth of news from some places even Erestor had never heard of before, never ceased to amaze him. At present the afore mentioned advisor was working his charms amongst a group of women from the farming village on the boarders of the forest. Erestor stood little chance of getting any useful information from them, as it was clearly obvious the exotic dark haired elf was just being continually propositioned. Not that it wasn’t worth a try and Glorfindel admired his friend’s persistence with the drunken women.

Strategically Glorfindel had chosen a small booth by the window so that he could watch the happenings on the street outside while still being apart of the conversations inside. Most of the chatter was idle gossip about lords and ladies and their assorted love affairs, nothing Glorfindel would consider substantial. A handful of rangers had caught Glorfindel’s eye, each of them huddled in their respective corners away from the candlelight and villager’s merry making. The seneschal had considered talking to one of them but had decided against the idea when a fight broke out between two of them, and ended with several severed fingers and nasty gash to the head. As much as Glorfindel could take on any of the men and elves in the establishment he didn’t have the patients at the moment. Something didn’t feel right and it was making him fidgety and anxious. No amount of wine would subdue the nagging voice in his head that screamed for him to return to the palace. He had felt it all evening; from the very moment he’d watched Filgree & Legolas ride away from the village into the forest. For a moment he had considered requesting that he accompany them but the prospect of spending all night with Tutor Filgree’s foul mood was not appealing despite the more agreeable company of the young prince. The feeling however had gotten worse since he’d been sitting alone to the point at which he was forced to fiddle with the edges of his tunic to try and take his mind off the situation.

Sighing heavily Glorfindel turned his gaze away from the window and glanced over to where Erestor was sitting at the bar. The dark haired elf was surrounded by pretty young maidens all of which buying for his attention. Naturally Lord Elrond’s finest advisor was ignoring all advances and to Glorfindel’s trained eye seemed to be taking in the more masculine sights around him.

Smiling to himself at the situation his friend had gotten himself into Glorfindel turned back to face the window. Something however caught his eye and he paused sharply to stare across the now crowded alehouse. There by the door was a young man, his face covered partially by a cloak hood, but his right hand very much present on the hilt of his sword. Glorfindel hadn’t noticed the stranger enter the establishment but it seemed the stranger had noticed him and was looking directly at Glorfindel. Shifting slightly in his seat to get a better view of the stranger, Glorfindel drained what was left of his glass of wine before cocking his head in question towards stranger. What ever it was that had drawn the stranger to Glorfindel, was worth finding out about if only for sport. The stranger slowly inclined his head back towards Glorfindel in acknowledgement before slowly weaving his way through the crowd in the pub to come to a stand still beside the table Glorfindel sat at.

“It is strange that Imaldris elves frequent a bar that is so unfavoured by the king.” The man’s voice was strong and husky but only a mere whisper above the raucous of the intoxicated crowd behind him. Glorfindel wearily glanced over the strangers appearance. It was clear that the man was no elf but only a mere human. His lengthy beared sufficiently reached to the collar of his tunic before the largely dirty coat barely concealed the travel soiled leggings and well worn boots. ‘A ranger’, Glorfindel thought as he gestured for the man to take a seat.

“It is strange maybe but not unheard of.” Glorfindel was careful with what he said his eyes never leaving the hand of the man that remained rested on the hilt of the sword, which rose from the belt of the stranger. In time such as these when enemies were not rare occurrence it was best to be careful with any such chatter. The stranger refused Glorfindel’s offer to sit and pulled the hood further down over his face as several other men came staggering past him, their conquests for the night in tow.

“Talk speaks of an elf from Rivendell that has recently arrived in Mirkwood. They say that his arrival has severely upset the king.” Glorfindel cocked his eyebrow in interest but remained suspiciously alert of the man standing before him.

“Talk is cheap wanderer, perhaps it is not the elf that has upset the king but merely that the king misunderstands the elf’s purpose.” The wandered huffed a gruff laugh at Glorfindel’s joke giving the elvan lord a whiff of meat, beer and pipe weed from the stranger’s foul breath.

“Perhaps.” Glorfindel watched with cool regard as the wanderer reached into his coat and removed a grotty parchment, tied crudely with red string, the type found in the kitchens for tying hams. “But if that were so, it would not explain why the king has watchers waiting outside this inn, and why the entire, supposedly unused, left wing of the palace is being guarded by three armed patrols night and day.” Glorfindel couldn’t suppress the surprise on his face as the wanderer quickly handed him the scroll, glancing over his shoulder to be sure no one was watching. Glorfindel was still coming to grips with the wanderers account of the unused left wing of the palace, when he had been there last night and had seen plainly Legolas’ sleeping chambers. “The answers you seek are well hidden my lord. I have been waiting for you for a long time and I will not see you fail.” Conspiratorially the stranger leaned forward so that Glorfindel could just make out the sparkle of nearly grey eyes in the shadow of the hood. “The parchment you hold is for you alone, you must not let them get hold of it, destroy it if you must. They are waiting outside, but you and your friend would do well to slip out the back way as soon as possible.” Consciously Glorfindel glanced out the window into the street but saw nothing but the normal trafficthe the villages, so turned back to the stranger. “Thranduil is already suspicious of you and has had a lot longer than you to prepare for your coming, you must be on your guard at all times, he will not hesitate to end your life if you give him the chance.” Confused Glorfindel went to question the stranger but the sound of shouting outside the inn drew his attention back out of the window. A fight had broken out on the pavement between two villagers nothing of consequence compared to what the stranger had to say. Glorfindel turned back to address the stranger but was confronted with someone much more familiar.

“Are you okay Glorfindel, you look a little pale?” Erestor watched as his friend jumped up from the table carelessly knocking the empty glasses to the floor as he desperately searched the crowd still gathered in the alehouse.

“Where did he go?!” When finding no signs of the stranger he had just been talking to among the crowd, Glorfindel turned back to Erestor and took hold of his friends shoulders intently staring into the stunned green eyes of his friend. “Tell me, the man that was here, where did he go?” Erestor looked strangely at his friend before glancing sceptically back at the table to see just how many pitchers of wine his friend had drunk. It wasn’t like Glorinfindel to get drunk and it certainly wasn’t like his friend to be so pedantic.

“I saw no man my friend, only drunken patrons vying for your attentions, which I may add are quite disturbed at this moment.” Concerned, Erestor placed a comforting hand on Glorfindel’s shoulder; sure his friend was not acting himself. Glorfindel sighed heavily and turned back to his friend only now realizing that he still clutched the scroll in his hand. It was the proof he needed to convince his friend that he had been speaking to someone but now was not the time to discuss it.

“We must leave at once and return to the palace.” Shocked Erestor watched as Glorfindel tucked a strange rolled parchment into his cloak.

“Alright my friend, if you wish to leave we shall.” Erestor’s only concern was to get Lord Glorfindel back to the palace and check for a fever. The lord was acting very strange indeed and sickness could not be ruled out. Moving to walk towards the front entrance to tnn, nn, Erestor was stopped by Glorfindel’s firm hand on his arm.

”No we must leave through the back, we are being watched.” Glorfindel sighed as his friend looked self-consciously about him before frowning and glancing blankly back at his friend. “Trust me my friend, I will explain when we return to the palace. I have a feeling in my mind that is dark and brooding, it does not sit well with me, we must leave at once.” Voicing his concerns about the slowly growing feeling Glorfindel finally saw believing in his friend’s eyes and smiled thankfully. Erestor was no stupid elf, his wits had told him his friends genuine concern and that he was right to obey Glorfindel’s request.

“Very well, let us leave at once. I will have the steward let our steeds free and we will call to them when we reach the edge of the village.” Glorfindel nodded in reply before taking hold of his friend’s wrist and dragging him quickly towards the back entrance, being sure to catch the steward on the way out. Whatever it was that Glorfindel was feeling Erestor was sure it concerned a certain, blonde elfling and Erestor wasn’t sure whether it was a good or decidedly bad thing to be worried about.

TBC................
(A/n) *blushes* you've all been so kind with your reviews how could I not give you a double dose of this story today. Thankies, Oh and my little finger is now in tied to my other fingers so it's making it bloody hard to type one handed so please excuse some of the dreadful typo mistakes I've made in these two chapters.