Lord of the Rings: The Heir to Lorien

To Ride to Lorinand

Elrond was speaking to Gildor and Glorfinel in the privacy of his study. "Amroth is bitter over the death of his father, King Amras, and the fact that many of the elves of Lorinand did not return home from the Great War. Fifteen hundred years have passed yet his anger has not abated. His lover, Nimrodel, hates the Noldor and was instrumental in his decision to exile them from Lorinand. The fact that the Lord and Lady sent Celebriel here did not endear us to them. That is one danger that we face, if Celebriel returns to Lorien as our envoy to Amroth, will she stay there or return to Imladris?"

"What is worse for me," Elrond said, dismay in his voice and on his face, "Is that she will take the opportunity to tell me I should have listened to her—and she was right. We can only hope that she will want to return to her parents and sister and not remain with Amroth and Nimrodel. She is a Wood Elf at heart, that is where she was raised and allowed to run free. She chose where her loyalties lie and we cannot change that. She is an elf-like no other. The warrior princesses of the Noldor are long gone, but they have returned in her."

Elrond sighed and shuffled some papers on his great desk. "There are only two whom I would consider sending with her, and that is you. Gildor, you would be a good choice but she does not know you and therefore would not trust you. Glorfindel, you would be my choice, you know her well enough, you know her moods and her foibles. If you do not press her, you may be able to convince her to return by gentle persuasion."

"Have you forgotten, my lord, that her parents tried to persuade her to marry me? I do not know if she had forgiven or forgotten that."

"Tell her that she will be permitted to ride to Lorinand only if you accompany her. Tell her you must accept her offer to help because without Amroth's aid, Imladris is doomed, and she is the only one who can persuade Amroth to help because he refused to even receive your envoys."

Glorfindel felt sorry for Elrond. He had been unable to control Celebriel's actions. She had refused to join Celebrian, Arwen, and her maidens in the women's quarters. She wore his sons' castoff clothing and spent her days in the stables or the smithy or the armory. She often took her meals in the kitchen with the cooks so that she would not be expected to dress for meals in proper clothing. She would even avoid sitting down for dinner when she was expected, especially if an important guest was expected.

Now he had to ask for her help and she would surely let him know that he had wasted valuable time by refusing her aid. As wise as he was, and no stranger to admitting mistakes, it stung a little to have to humble himself to her.

She had retreated to the kitchens when she received the summons from Elrond. She did not wish to meet with Elrond, let alone talk to him, but she knew this was coming. She would have to ride to Lorinand, soon, there was no time now for delay. She wanted to persuade him to let her make the journey alone—she preferred it that way—but knew there was little chance. She had wanted Legolas as her companion, but he had left and now the only choice left would be Glorfindel. He would not be received well among Amroth's people, but she could smooth the way for him.

As she made her way to his study she wondered if she should have changed, but decided that since he was the one who wanted to speak to her, he could accept her as he saw her. He was the one who needed her, not the other way around. It would be up to her to persuade Amroth that his help was needed and she knew for her sake she would get it.

She knocked at the door and was admitted. She felt some trepidation, especially when she saw Gildor and Glorfindel. "Courage, Celebriel," she told herself.

Elrond directed her to a chair and a steward poured her a glass of wine, which she accepted gladly. Then he looked at her and said, "You know why you are here, do you not?"

She drew a breath, "Yes, Master Elrond, I do. We should have had this conversation weeks ago, I could be on my way back from Lorinand with a host of a thousand elves, which I believe Amroth will provide me. Legolas could have gone with me, he is distant kin to the Wood Elves as am I. You've wasted valuable time because you persist in doubting me. I am Amroth's heir, one day the kingdom of Lorinand will be mine. I am tired of being dismissed, I weary of it. I am no longer counted as a child among our people. I am young and inexperienced, but that will change with time."

"I cannot permit you to travel alone, Celebriel, therefore I have asked Glorfindel to accompany you. I would prefer to send an escort, but you must travel in secret, or as much as you are able. Time is not on our side, therefore it is necessary to reach Lorinand as quickly as possible.

"From what I have heard, the enemy is ignoring the road south. If there are any spies along the road they can be eliminated. The Witch King will be looking to the north, when I return with my wood elves, we can kill any enemy we run into on the way." Celebriel grinned at him, partly to annoy him, partly because she relished what was coming.

"I want you to listen to Glorfindel and take his advice. You are untested in battle, Celebriel, this may be the first time that you face an enemy. You are young, confident, arrogant, cocky, no different than any young soldier who faces his first battle. You have had good teachers here, now is the time to put what you have learned into practice. You will face a battle when you return, for Imladris will no doubt be under siege. Your task will be to break it, but you will be under Glorfindel's command when you do so. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

She chafed at what he was telling her but knew his words to be true. All her life she had waited to fight, to take part in a battle against the enemy, and now her chance was coming. She would not dare to endanger anyone in Imladris by her carelessness. One day she would command an army of her own, for now, it was her task to learn how to do it.