Author: Athea (athea_holmes@yahoo.com)
Fandom: Lord of the Ring
Title: Building the Future, part15
Pairing: Elrond/Glorfindel
Summary: Elrond decides to play matchmaker.
Date: 28 September 2002
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Elrond
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The tap at the door interrupted my reading of one of the books that Lorrin had brought and I almost told them to go away. But when I looked up, I realized just how long I'd been in one position and regretfully laid it aside. "Enter."

It was my lover and I wondered at his formality until I saw who came behind him. "Ah, Thranduil, this is a surprise."

Damn and blast! A nasty surprise, too. If I got stuck with this idiot for the winter, I was going to be insane by spring. The next hour was spent in stilted conversation while Glorfindel played lackey, pouring wine for our visitor and his retinue of six. I looked at this elf that I'd known for so many centuries and wondered if I really knew him at all. He was tall, blond, good-looking but as cold as a January day. My poor Legolas, how sad for him to have grown up with this fool.

When he finally left to get ready for dinner, I'd bitten my tongue a dozen times. What if he asked after Legolas? What should I say? The vindictive part of me wanted to show him the sketches that Gloin had left for me, especially the one where Legolas rested on a blanket under a tree with Gimli's head in his lap and each one holding one of their twins.

That ought to finish him off, I thought with a smile of anticipation.

"My Lord?" The quiet voice from behind me reminded me that all his aides had not yet cleared the room.

I turned to see Perri, Thranduil's youngest aide standing near the door, shifting a little nervously from one foot to the other. "Yes, Perri, what is it?"

"The border guard said that you found Mithrandir safe, my lord." He asked anxiously.

"Safe if not necessarily sound." I told him and watched him blench.

"He was hurt? How badly? Were you able to heal him?" He didn't even breathe between questions, his deep blue eyes warm with anxiety.

"He'd been trapped by a . . ." I hesitated while trying to remember what we'd called the darkness. "A last remnant of the army of Sauron attacked him with fire but he was not lastingly hurt. He was fine when he left for the Vestella."

Perri flinched and looked over a broad shoulder before turning back to me. He looked a little more relaxed. "Thank you, Lord Elrond. I am glad."

I gazed at him curiously. "I had not thought that Mithrandir had friends in Mirkwood any longer?"

He blushed hard, red flooding his long neck and face. "I was able to be a part of Prince," he cast another look behind him before continuing, "Prince Legolas' lessons with him. I am . . . fond of him."

Fond? I wondered. "After dinner when the singing has started, I will be on this balcony if you should like the complete story."

His eyes lit up, glowing almost sapphire and he nodded. "If I am able, Lord Elrond, I would most appreciate the tale." Bowing, he slipped out of the door and disappeared with the speed of one of our gazelles.

I was left with the oddest impression that our wizard had an admirer. Glorfindel entered again, shutting the door behind him firmly. "What did Perri want, El'? He passed me absolutely beaming."

"He asked after Mithrandir most fondly." I told him while slipping into his embrace and resting my head on his broad shoulder. "I'm getting an urge to match-make, 'Del."

"Havens!" He chuckled and kissed the tip of my ear, sending a shiver through my body. "Then we must separate him from our visitors and send him to Friendly. If we're lucky and he leaves soon, he should be able to reach them within two weeks."

"Lucky?" I licked that hollow at the base of his throat and it was his turn to shiver.

"He'll get snowed in there and by the time spring arrives, if he's truly fond of our wizard, they should be nicely bonded." Glorfindel said triumphantly before taking my lips with a hard kiss. It looked like I was the one who was going to get lucky, I thought while beginning to sink into the soft haze he always engenders in me. But then his lips were gone and I opened my eyes to protest their retreat, only to find him smiling at me.

"Dinner, my lord, then the singing. Put your brain to work on an excuse to send Perri to the Vestella and I shall reward you later." My infuriating lover let me go while I could feel myself pouting. He cupped my chin and spoke sternly. "I promise to chastise you most severely if you should fail to find a solution to this dilemma."

I went hot in a heartbeat and my whole body began to tighten in anticipation. I loved it when 'Del got masterful. The next few hours were spent with our unwelcome guests and a delicious meal, which I barely noticed because I was so involved with my plotting. Thranduil is a man of limited tastes so the conversation revolved around hunting and gem collecting.

He's a connoisseur of wine though so I was able to fob him off onto Erestor, my steward who gave me a speaking glance but shouldered the burden with a smile. I slipped away under plea of business and Thranduil bade me go with a comment about learning how to delegate. I gritted my teeth and left with a false smile, surreptitiously beckoning Perri out also. He joined me silently and we adjourned to my balcony and the sweet wine that my lover enjoyed.

I told him of finding Mithrandir although I glossed over the use of crystals and gave the honors of 'seeing the dark spot' to Lorrin. His almost immediate removal to the Vestella with Lorrin had Perri looking rather downcast until I mentioned that the Varyan Elf was bonded to Gloin, the father of Gimli who was bonded to his own Prince Legolas.

Showing Perri the sketches of Legolas' family life left him gasping in wonder and begging for the story that hadn't reached beyond Rivendell. Glorfindel joined us then and subtly probed Perri's intentions towards the wizard. Once convinced of his much more than tepid emotions towards our old friend, we asked him what he would like to do next.

Shyly he shared a glance between us. "I would like to find a reason to travel there and become one of their settlers. I have served my king for almost five hundred years but it is time for me to leave. I can not approve of his treatment of his own son so I can no longer serve him whole-heartedly. But . . . my talents are few."

"You write a fair hand, you hunt well and you've got a talent for writing witty songs." My lover said judiciously. "The bigger their village grows, the more hunters will be needed. I know Lord Elrond would appreciate another scroll or two from the Varyan cache that Legolas and Frodo are so painstakingly copying for him."

I glared at him and made Perri laugh. Finishing my wine, I set my glass aside and leaned forward. "Perri, you have served your king well but like Nanala and Pfister, it's time to make a new choice. Tell him that you are moving on to become an archivist or simply leave him a note resigning your place in his guard. I will make sure that he is none the worse for your leaving."

He looked towards the waterfall that lulled me to sleep most nights, his profile almost the same pure lines of his Prince. Gandalf was going to have his hands full with this one, I mused. It was tempting to tag along and see how it worked out. I caught a glimpse of Glorfindel's chiding look and decided to capitalize on it with an innocent look of my own.

"Thank you, my lord. I will face him tomorrow morning and say goodbye to my old life before setting out upon my new. I appreciate your counsel." He smiled at us both with a serene look in his eyes.

"I will be your witness, Perri, after we break our fast in the morning." My lover told him.

"Thank you again. I will say goodnight, my lords." He stood and bowed to us both before quietly leaving us.

The air sang between Glorfindel and me while we waited until the waterfall was the only sound in the still air. Then he stood and stretched out his hand to me, raising me from my chair and leading me inside. "My lord seemed very taken with young Perri. Perhaps there is another reason for your championship of his cause?"

Ah, he had not forgotten my chastisement, I thought fondly. Feigning some confusion, I looked at him with wide eyes. "Perri is certainly a beautiful young elf. His eyes are a most pleasing shade of blue, don't you think?"

His eyes glowed like blue coals. "They are indeed, my lord. I think you are taken by the sweetness of his youth. Perhaps you need reminding where your true love can be found?"

I pretended to think only to find myself upended over his shoulder and carried like a sack of grain into our bedroom. I protested but not perhaps as much as I might have. None too soon, I found myself tied to the four posters and suspended over our bed after being stripped naked as the day I was born. Any struggle was negated by the silken ties that held me stretched between the oak posts of our bed.

"Yes, I can see that some reminder is needed, El'." My grinning lover said before bringing out the weapon of chastisement that I feared the most. "Yes, we'll see whose name you scream tonight."

And with that ominous statement, he lowered the feather to my inner thighs. No amount of pleading would sway him while he trailed it up my thigh to my groin then over my side up to my nipple. The tickle moved over my skin until I was panting with the need to move . . . itch . . . do something. His whispers tickled my mind the way the feather did my super sensitive flesh.

"Beautiful . . . pink . . . sweet Elrond . . . my beautiful lord . . . my delicate flower," his voice flowed over me like honey and then the touch changed from teasing to massaging. The feather disappeared and his long, elegant fingers took its place. "That's it, El', let go and show me how much you're enjoying my touch."

The oil he trailed behind the firm strokes tingled and my head thrashed from side to side as the sensations multiplied. I was burning everywhere and my shaft was hard as mithril when he finally sheathed himself in my body. Unable to touch him at all, I pleaded and begged for more movement, more thrust, more everything.

"My greedy love, you are in no position to demand anything at all." He laughed down at me, his face glowing with love while his hips thrust ever so slowly into the wide-v of my legs and his shaft nudged my sweet spot over and over.

I was burning alive and I never wanted this fire to go out. "Glorfindel! Please!"

"My love . . ." a thrust "my dearest love . . ." another thrust "my heart . . ." a tweak of my nipples while I opened my mouth to scream "my own."

"'Del!" My voice was hoarse and when his lips sealed over mine, I fell into release with a shudder that wracked my body until I descended into darkness.

When I awoke, I was boneless under the silk sheets and cradled in my lover's arms. His slow heartbeat was a lullaby that sent me right back to sleep. The morning would come soon enough.

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Perri
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It was the hardest thing I had ever had to do. King Thranduil cast me out of his household, barely listening to my halting explanation. Then Lord Elrond told him of his son's family and happiness. Within the hour, he'd left Rivendell with harsh words for Lord Elrond and a blow to me because I was in his way. Glorfindel bathed my cheek and the lord healed it with a touch.

"There's truly no fool like an old fool," the dark lord said sardonically. "Now, we have your things made up and provisions readied. It's not like we don't want you to stay but the weather can not hold this well forever. We will provide you an escort to the Last Bridge to make sure that our present for my old friend doesn't go astray."

I blushed at the innuendo in his voice and his quirked eyebrow but it was Glorfindel's laugh that brought a smile to my lips. That's when anticipation began to rise within me. I had loved Legolas like a brother but my feelings for the wizard were entirely different. My prince's exile had been harsh and if I'd known that Nanala and Pfister were leaving to find him, I would have gone with them.

Now I was riding towards my prince and his family and there was nothing but joy in my heart. I would serve him well and if I could also see Mithrandir each day, then my heart would be glad indeed. The days sped by until I took my leave of Lord Elrond and Glorfindel at the Last Bridge. They bid me a fond farewell and gave me much good if rather ribald advice.

Within three days, I met up with Lord Elrond's sons and they escorted me the rest of the way into the towering forest of Vestella and the beautiful valley where they lived. I was in a trance of wonder at the sparkling rivers we crossed, the ancient trees that shaded our path, the different styles of homes nestled into each glade and hillock. Everyone we met greeted us with smiles and welcoming greetings.

Truly, this place lived up to its name of Friendly. I saw my prince carrying a child in his arms near the meeting hall the twins were leading me to. His cry when he saw me was joyful and I jumped from Lara's back to the ground to greet him. We hugged each other and the baby caught between us laughed out loud and pulled my hair.

"Glimmer, let go of Perri's hair. It is not for pulling." Legolas cheerfully admonished him and the dark eyed child leaned over to kiss my cheek in apology.

"Who is this then, Legolas?" A gruff voice from behind me asked and I turned to find a dwarf carrying a fair haired little girl.

"Beloved Gimli, this is my old friend and companion, Perri. Perri, this is my bonded, Prince Gimli and our daughter, Pharin." Legolas introduced us and I bowed to them while trying not to stare too much.

It was true, all the stories and the pictures that I had seen were made flesh before me. Pharin was beautiful and so like Legolas that her sweet spirit sang to me. The dwarf was powerful although I'd never seen one with that short a beard before. Glimmer looked like him and yet his spirit was no less sweet than his sister's. I longed to know more of this unlikely pair.

"Gandalf, come and greet an old friend." My prince seemed not to notice my sudden freezing and I turned slowly to see the wizard who held my heart.

His hair was still long and silver but his beard was gone. His eyes shown blue but his body was bent a little over his staff as if he was still tormented by pain. I knew not why it was this being who made my heart soar, why it was only he who made me tremble with desire but it was so. And now I had a chance to make him see me.

To truly see me the way that I saw him. I smiled at him. "Greetings, Gandalf."

"Young Perri, how very nice to see you again." His smile was still bright and it pierced me with joy. "Let us go in to dinner and hear all about what brings you here."

I bowed to him and let him lead me into the meeting hall. I could hardly wait to begin.

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The end of part 15