Scarred Fate

CHAPTER 5: Untimely Guests

CHAPTER NOTES

SCRIPTS:

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

Melpomaen's face fell. And that was a most suitable term: his mouth simply dropped open, his head moved forward a little bit, and along with that movement, his eyes bulged from their socket.

Lindir grinned.

He had been helping Erestor's assistant a little bit and so far, they had been coping with the workload. Erestor's adamant conviction that no one should be irreplaceable now came in handy: he had always made sure that at least the senior advisors and his assistant could keep Imladris working on their own (except from very important contracts and affairs of state that needed Elrond's and Erestor's attention, of course). While the advisors were working hard and long to cover up for their lord and his chief advisor, they had managed well. Until now.

Unfortunately, the lady Galadriel had just crossed Imladris' borders and was on her way to the Last Homely House, which she would prospectively reach the following day.

That incident could of course be described as untimely, considering that none of the peredhil were currently residing in Imladris. Neither was the seneschal Glorfindel, nor the chief advisor Erestor.

Also a large part of Imladris' forces were not lingering anywhere near and they simply had no one for a proper guard to meet the Lady's convoy.

The guest chambers were naturally kept ready, they only needed to be aired, but Melpomaen found himself at a loss of what to tell the lady of the Golden Wood.

He simply could not tell her that her son-in-law and her grand-sons were being missed, her cousin out searching them, Vilya not here and Erestor … being unpredictable as always. What that would mean for Imladris' reputation!

But the upcoming arrival was much more of a shock as the Lady Galadriel had not been in the Hidden Valley for many decades. Actually the last time she had visited personally was when Celebrían had sailed and she had seen her daughter off. And before that she had been in Imladris for the birth of her grand-children and the wedding of the silver lady. That were the only times Galadriel had visited, always with her husband at her side.

Now she practically stood at Imladris' doors. Alone except for a small personal guard of ten well-trained soldiers and her grand-daughter Arwen who had obviously decided to shorten her stay in her mother's homeland. What drastic incident could have taken place for the lady of the Golden Wood to be driven out of her beloved Lóriën?

Understandably, Melpomaen's world shattered the moment he heard of Galadriel's arrival and therefore his face fell.

"She cannot … " he squealed.

Lindir shook his head, still grinning rather sardonically. "Melpomaen. You will manage. Erestor has not made you his assistant for nothing. Now grant yourself five minutes of self-pity, then do your job!"

"Five minutes? Well, thank you for your generosity, lord chief minstrel; that is about four minutes and 55 seconds more than lord Erestor would have conceded to me."

Lindir smiled sadly, looking out of the window. "I hope he is okay."

Melpomaen looked to his friend. He still did not feel absolutely comfortable in Erestor's presence, but he somehow cared for his superior. And he missed his guidance. He felt too young and too simple to cope with the chief advisor's duties.

"He could kill twenty Orcs with one of his glares, and Glorfindel will keep him safe. He'll be alright." But he could not ban the doubt from his voice.

CHAPTER END NOTES

peredhil ~ half elves