Lapsus Memoriae [Rávamë's Bane: Book 1]

Part II : Chapter 7 ~ Black, Blue & Grey

Part II : Chapter 7

- Black, Blue & Grey -

~ ❖ ~

: Two Years Later : 

I was lying in a flower bed when the first harbinger of change came to Rivendell.

It was one of the few places in the gardens that Glorfindel or my other tutors never thought to look when given the arduous task of fetching me. Only Bilbo ever knew I was there, and he always kept tactfully silent with an amused little smile on his mouth. 

Nobody was looking for me today.

It was one of the few days I had free of lessons, and I’d been reading there behind the irises when the bell of the main tower started chiming across the grounds. It signalled the approach of someone in urgent need of assistance, and had roughly the same effect on me that an ambulance siren has on a paramedic.  

I shot up out of the shrubbery so fast a flurry of leaves came with me, startling one of the nearby gardeners tending the rose bushes. The book on medicinal herbs I’d been studying fell to the grass beside me as hurriedly I scrambled to my feet. Impatiently I scooped it up, hitching up the skirt of my dress and started running full belt towards the house.

I was better at running now, or at least less clumsy than I’d been two years ago at the start of my training. No longer did I barrel headfirst into innocent bystanders while racing to get from lesson to lesson on time. I ducked and wove past the staff, only coming close to knocking one person over before making it to the courtyard outside the sanatorium. I was just in time to see the back of Glorfindel making his way up the steps. 

There was a small form wrapped in a travelling cloak bundled up in his arms.

“Take him into the infirmary, quickly!” Elrond’s calm but commanding voice came from the open doorway as the tall blond elf lord entered past him, “And would someone please find my apprentice!”

“I’m here, master!” I panted, following Glorfindel up the steps and towards where my mentor was moving inside.

Though competent by now, I was still not fantastic at speaking Sindarin. So I’d fallen into the habit of calling my teacher ‘master’ in the common tongue instead, which seemed to both please and amuse him most days. I had yet to persuade him to call me ‘padawan’ — a work in progress.

He peered at me as we moved inside, “Are those dried leaves in your hair?” 

I felt myself flush, quickly brushing away the remains of the dead foliage and tugging my hair back into a messy knot, “I was reading in the gardens. What’s happened?”

“There’s no time for explanations yet, apprentice, he needs seeing to immediately. Go and prepare at bed while Glorfindel and I assess the damage.”

Though a little peeved at being left out as usual, I went and quickly did as instructed. It didn’t involve much more than hastily clearing some space in the surgery and throwing a fresh sheet over the nearest cot. Glorfindel pushed roughly past me a minute later and gently deposited the little body of a dark haired hobbit on the cot. 

“Glorfindel, I would take it as a kindness if you were to make sure the others arrive safely.” Elrond said quickly in that calm and controlled tone I’d learned only came up when a situation was serious. 

“Of course.” Glorfindel nodded soberly, and swept from the room in a regal golden blur without another word.  

I turned to leave as well, but my mentor’s voice stopped me in my tracks, “Apprentice, you will stay here.”