Elrond was the last to leave the Hall of Fire. He smiled,
remembering the look of astonishment and happiness on the faces of
the four friends. His heart was glad that Legolas and Estel had been
graced with such friendship and brotherhood.
Later, as the Lord of Imladris stood on his balcony, he sent a
silent prayer to Illuvatar and Elbereth, asking their blessings on
the two friends. He felt a peaceful warmth steal over him, as if
arms were wrapped lovingly around him. As he stood there, he could
hear low voices coming from Estel's room.
He decided to look in on Estel, and thank him for honoring Rivendell
in his dress. As he opened the door, he was surprised to see
Glorfindel. The advisor and Estel both had guilty looks. "Now what
are they plotting?" was his first thought. The second thought came
on the heels of the first, "I wonder if I could be of assistance?"
He raised an eyebrow, and said nothing, however.
Estel spoke first. "Would you be interested in helping us? We have
decided that Legolas really needs some new, er, arrangements in his
room. I believe it needs some….shall we say..stonework?"
Elrond could not help but smile. It would have sent chills down the
spine of the Mirkwood prince, had he seen the feral grins of the
three.
"Yes, mellon nin. I do hope you decide to join us," said Glorfindel.
"Why, I would not miss this for anything. Shall we start?" With
that, Elrond started out the door, only to run into Celeborn. He smiled
at his father-in-law. "Care to join us, Celeborn? We are on an
expedition of sorts. We could use another pair of hands."
"Certainly. I would be happy to assist." Celeborn then went with
the others to a hidden path.
"Ah, ha! Just what I want! Pebbles!" said Estel, as they started
to gather the stones.
"Should I ask why, or rather who?" Celeborn brought a basket he had
found on their way. "Wait, perhaps I would be better off not
knowing," he said with a laugh. "Please, do me one favor, I beg.
Let me know when it will be the twins' turn."
Estel and Glorfindel smiled at each other. "These are for Legolas.
The twins' will be next. Do you REALLY want to know the details?"
said Estel with a smirk.
"No," replied Celeborn. "I have the feeling I will hear when it
happens." With that, he looked at Glorfindel, who just smiled.
After they had collected all the pebbles, Estel sneaked into
Legolas' room. He knew the prince would sleep heavily, as he had
imbibed a bit much. The pebbles were first put around the elf.
Estel then went into the bathing room, and lined the tub very
artistically, then strewed the pebbles on the floor. He then
entered the bedroom and proceeded to fill the boots, the pockets of
the clothing, even putting them in the quiver. He went back for
more, then went to the clothes chest, and filled that.
By now, it was getting late, so he retrieved more pebbles, and
completely covered the floor. He looked around, and was unable to
find any more places to put them. He quietly left, closing the door
silently.
He then went to his room, and waited for his friend to awake.