Celeborn's Nine - Riders of the Night

Author's note: Once more entire chapter eaten by computer, but it was probably dumb anyway.
I do not know if the centaurs will be back. Melanippus is a lovely thing that's for certain.
Will Haldir and Prometheus duke it out? Probably not...Prometheus has more class than that, but he is a god.....

This may end up being a long silly chapter...it just doesn't seem to want to be serious. Just an excuse to have a scene of a naked Haldir eating an orange in public, I guess.
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A bed. Tiger was happy with the bed. It was soft and even clean. And beautiful master was lying on it beside her eating an orange. He liked oranges. Nuzzling his naked breast, she ran her tongue over his warm skin and settled her mouth over a pale nipple. He hissed as she teased him, her hand traveling down to that part of him that was all male. He kept eating his orange but he was not impervious to her attention. Her hand was having a definate effect on him.

"Tiger, I can't eat my orange," he said, his voice thickening with passion. Tiger bit down on the nipple just enough to let him know she didn't care about the orange. They were in a real bed and she wanted to play. And few people or elves could say no to a playful tiger.
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Finding something to eat that didn't smell 'different' seemed to be Elladan's foremost objective in the bazar. This didn't mean they didn't notice the naked dancing girls, or jugglers or fire swallowers, or those tragic figures being offered as temporary bed partners. But Celeborn had told them to avoid too much interaction with the locals to avoid getting into trouble.

Elladan and Elrohir assured their grandfather that they were not going to do anything to attract attention to them. Not that a group of extremely handsome 'men' with long hair, bows and swords in 'northern' clothing did not attract attention. Eyes automatically found them in the crowd and followed them. And the twins, wearing only vests over their suede leggings, drew quite a few stares, both female and male. Some even wondered if the immortal horse twins of the wild horsemen had not dropped in for a visit before returning to their realm on the steppes.

Argimenes had speculated that idea for a moment when he first saw them and the Galadhrim pausing to look at some silks and silver plating at one of the stalls. Beddar always used his comely daughter to get people to stop. It was disgusting.

But while he was certain he was not looking at the steppe twins, the strangers were not your orddinary travelers. For one they were all extremely handsome, not a common sight anywhere, and their clothes, while simple, were clean. Their only show of wealth lay in their weapons, ornate and very unusual. Could they be? He studied one of the twins more closely now, trying to see through the long dark hair that framed his handsome face. A turn of the head and he saw it, a pointed ear.

They're elves he told himself. Real elves. And elves are never without money...gold and silver coin. And his three daughters, while not as attractive as Beddar's one daughter, were comely wenches in their own rights. "Dora, come here," he called to his youngest. "See those men? When they come this way, stop them."
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Haldir threw Tiger over on her back and grinned wickedly. "Oh,Tiger should not bite," he told her and returned the favor, her body writhing beneath him. She grabbed one of his hands and tried to force it down between their bodies. Haldir stopped her and raised his head. "Does Tiger have an itch that needs scratching?" he asked curiously and let his hand continue downwards. He loved watching her squirm.
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Argimenes' youngest daughter watched the 'men' move to another stall and smiled when one of them just briefly glanced her way. Warriors of the north, her father said, and they were beautiful.

When they finally stopped by her stall to view the silver and gold rings and chains her father had for sale, she found she could not speak. Her father had to have been wrong. These were not 'men', they were ashvans. And her heart stopped beating when one looked up and smiled at her.

"The maid is struck mute," Orophin observed as Elrohir tried to inquire about one of the rings in her tray.

"Which is miraculous in itself," Elladan teased, "since it usually requires a more physical presence to achieve such an effect."

But the maiden's stunned silence was suddenly replaced by a short bearded man who had to have been her father. And he spoke the Gondorian dialect perfectly. "Greetigns my lords," he began cheerfully and waved his other daughters over to join them. "How may I help you?"

"We are not lords," Rumil said politely, "although I can understand how such a mistake can be made."

"Indeed," one of the Galadhrim agreed. "Common error."

"I could be a lord," Elrohir spoke up.

"True," Orophin agreed, "although I think it would be prudent to wait awhile before announcing this."

"Why?" Elrohir asked, thinking that maybe he was being insulted.

"You do not yet seem the lordly type," Rumil offered politely. "Too many maidens still."

"True," Elladan agreed and they all looked back at Argimenes, who was now throughly confused.

"I meant no insult," the man apologized, although he wasn't certain it was required. "As that may be, how can I help you?"

"This ring," Elrohir said and pointed to a small silver one that reminded him a little of a Chine dragon.

"Ah, excellent choice," Argimenes said and took the ring out of the case. "Fashioned after Princess Medea's favorite dragon, Argon."

"Princess Medea?" Orophin asked.

"Of Colchis," Argimenes explained. "If you notice the eyes, they are red crystals made from the blood of Prometheus."

"Look like garnets to me," Rumil said. "I wish Gimli were here; he'd know what they were."

"Garnets is good," Argimenes said and opened his hands to show he didn't care what they called them. Of course that would mean lowering the price.

"Think Tiger would like it?" Elrohir asked. "It looks so much like Celestial, I thought she would enjoy it."

"Oh, that would be nice," Rumil agreed. "She has been moody lately."

"How much?" Elrohir asked.

"What coinage do you use?" Argimenes asked.

"Gondorian."

"Ten Gondorian gold pieces."

"Five silver," Elrohir countered.

"Ten."

"Seven."

"Deal."
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"Can you come for me again, Tiger?" Haldir asked seductively as his tongue replaced his hand.

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"Now, for an extra ten pieces of silver, I will allow you the pleasure of one of my daughters," Argimenes offered generously.

"Pardon?" Elrohir asked, unsure that he had heard the man correctly.

"My daughters. Ten pieces of silver each."

Rumil looked at Orophin and then back at Argimenes. "We do not buy women."

"Or pay for sex," Elladan added. "It is is distasteful to us."

Argimenes looked angry. "I cut you a deal on the ring and you insult my daughters?"

"We did not insult your daughters," Elrohir protested.

"Then you insult me?" Argimenes asked, his voice rising in volume.

"We have insulted no one," Rumil interjected. "We just do not want your daughters."

"They are not good enough for you?" Argimenes growled. "I know you are elves. Perhaps I should call the guards and tell them you used magic to cheat me out of my goods."

"We did no such thing," Orophin protested.

"I say you did!"

"I think we need to go," one of the Galadhrim suggested.

"Indeed."

"Guards!" Argimenes yelled at the top of his lungs. "Guards!"

All right, now it was time to leave. Quickly. Elrohir led the way, although he wasn't sure where he was going. Their rooms were back the other way, but five big humans with very big ugly swords were blocking that direction, and Lord Celeborn had been explicit about not causing any trouble. But they also didn't exactly blend into their surroundings, and people they didn't even know were squealing on them as they passed.

To add insult to injury, a donkey cart full of cow dung crossed infront of them, and elven grace for at least one of them disappeared entirely as he fell over the cart and emptied its contents on the ground amidst the loud brays of one upset ass. Orophin grabbed the unfortunate's hand and yanked him to his feet. There was no time to stop as a mob of humans led by the guards and Argimenes descended upon them.
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Tiger dug her nails into Master's flanks as he moved almost savagely within her. A little violence kept things interesting. When he raised himself on his arms, she pinched his nipples and watched the flame ignite in his eyes. Master was always so beautiful just before he came.
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Elrohir knew they had to find Lord Celeborn and Glorfindel before the mob caught them. Circling back around the bazar, he stopped in horror as the mob cut through some shops and took after them again.

"How are they doing that?" Rumil asked suspiciously.

"I don't know, but..." Elladan slapped him on the stomach and took off again.
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Celeborn and Glorfindel were heading back to their rooms and were just passing infront of the inn when they spotted the twins, the Galadhrim, and a mob of humans descending upon them. Instinctively the two elf lords drew their swords and waited for explanations or an attack, although explanations would have been preferred.

"Get behind us," Glorfindel ordered as the mob skidded to a halt infront of them.
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Tiger heard the noise outside and turned her head towards the door. The voices were very loud. She glanced back at Master, who was also listening to the voices. "Do we have anymore oranges left?" he asked wearily and sat up. Tiger had scratched up his back and ass pretty good, but at the time it had felt pretty good.

"I don't eat them," she said as he stood up and reached for his bow and slung his quiver across his back.

"Peel me one and bring it outside."

Tiger frowned but did as she was told.
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Glorfindel heard the door on the upper level open and suspected from the way the mob was now looking up that Haldir was up there looking down at them. The way they kept looking up made him turn around and see for himself. Haldir was standing at the rail with his bow semiready to fire, while Tiger fed him pieces of orange. And both of them were naked. Tiger was particularly beautiful, but Haldir should have been ashamed of himself not letting her put something on first.

Celeborn, keeping his eye on the mob and his sword at ready, asked if anyone spoke Westorn. Argimenes said he did, but Elrohir said he was the cause of the trouble. Hellene? They all spoke Hellene.

"Ask Haldir if we can borrow Tiger?' Celeborn asked Glorfindel.

Glorfindel looked up at Haldir and said, "You stay there, but can we borrow Tiger?"
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"Do you want to go help them?" Haldir asked, finding her bare breasts infinitely more interesting than the mob. He loved the way her nipples looked like they were just begging for his attention.

"Tiger should," she said and slipped another piece of orange into his mouth, some of the juice running down his chin as he bit into it.

"Agreed, but you might slip your tunic back on first," he suggested and wiped the juice off his chin with the same finger he had tortured Tiger with. A heated blush rose to her face when he licked the juice off that finger. "And hurry back." Tiger wasn't so certain she wanted to help them now. Master was still in a mood to play.

"Haldir!" Glorfindel yelled.

"Go on," Haldir said and then yelled back down at Glorfindel. "She's coming! Let her get her tunic on."

Once all was said and done, Lord Celeborn had paid off everyone who felt they were owed money, including the father with the insulted daughters. Celeborn was not amused, although Glorfindel found it all enlightning....that and Tiger's rapid disappearance. Her last words to him had been, "Must go. Master wants to play."

Thank Eru for playful Masters, Glorfindel thought.