A Prank on Glorfindel

Chapter 2 – The task

Two little elflings lay in their beds, unfocused eyes staring up at the ceiling, where the reflection of Anor’s first rays in the bedroom mirror was creating dancing spots of golden light that merrily chased each other across the elaborate carvings.

One long, wide yawn preceded the rising of a large lump under one of the blankets, when Elrohir’s legs started their usual morning ritual of slowly kicking and moving the sleep out of his body. Eyes still unfocused, a pair of small hands found their way from under the blankets to the elfling’s fair cheeks, rubbing sleepily.

In the bed beside him, two grey eyes gradually focused on the dancing lights above. As Elladan slowly became aware of his surroundings, the sound of Elrohir’s feet shoving and kicking the sheets told him that his brother was drifting to wakefulness, too. He turned to see Elrohir tossing and turning, hands over his eyes, struggling to ward off the alluring relaxation of the realm of waking dreams.

A bright smile appeared on Elladan’s face. He sat up, tossed his pillow to his brother and jumped out of bed. “Come on, El!” He hurried to get dressed, but stopped when he realized that only his leggings were lying on his chair. Where was his tunic?

With a pang he remembered the events of the day before and the resulting red stain on the sleeve of his old tunic. He had not stopped to think when he had wiped the Uruin from his skin – and now the garment was ruined. He felt relieved that Naneth had given them old clothes to wear, for Ada had cut off the sleeve before he had been allowed to strip off his tunic. Naneth had then thrown both the sleeve and the tunic into the fire.

“That stain would never have come out,” Nana had told them. “Besides, you do not want to burn yourself on the Uruin again.”

Elladan shivered at the memory. The afternoon had already been growing into evening when the pain of the Uruin had finally subsided. He and El had both been exhausted, drained of their energy from the hours of unbearable hurt. Erestor had come with bread and bowls of broth, which Naneth and Ada had spoon-fed their shaking sons.

But like all elves and elflings, the sons of Elrond and Celebrían had not needed long to recover. When Glorfindel looked in on them a mere hour later, he found the twins giggling in delight about a story from their Naneth’s childhood. They had pulled the Balrog Slayer onto the bed between them – and when the Chief of Defenses finally left the healing room, it had been with two cheering elflings on his back as he galloped away from Elrond’s admonishing shushing.

A sudden blow to his head made Elladan spin around. Behind him stood Elrohir, with a second pillow in his hand, grinning broadly. Elladan Peredhel did not need another invitation, and soon the two brothers were in the midst of a ferocious pillow fight. Their clear voices and high-pitched giggles sounded into the hallway, mixed with dull thuds as the pillows slammed home. Rapid elvish feet ran around and over the beds, nimbly jumping back to the ground and spinning as the elflings attacked and avoided each other’s blows.

In the silence of the adjacent room a silver-haired elleth smiled into her husband’s chest. “Of all the possible ways to be woken too early, this is my favourite,” she confessed. Elrond’s clear laughter filled the room while he gently pulled her body against his own, breathing deeply of her dazzling scent and relishing the beguiling warmth of her smooth skin. “Yes, meleth-nín, hearing our sons so happy is like music to my heart,” he mused into the silver-blond hair, softly kissing the nape of her neck. He touched his nose to her ear. “Although I could think of other enticing reasons for waking up early...” Celebrían gasped as his hand travelled across her skin…

O-o-O-o-O

“This morning you will be helping me clean up the apothecary,” Elrond informed his sons over breakfast.

Elladan’s face fell, but Elrohir’s face lit up. “No lessons with Erestor today?” the youngest Peredhel asked hopefully.

The Seneschal gave an amused snort while the clear baritone of Glorfindel and Celebrían’s tinkling laughter resounded through the dining room.

Elrond briefly looked down at his plate to keep his composure. “Alas, Elrohir, you will not be excused from your lessons. You and your brother did not heed my clear instructions not to touch anything. You paid for it in a way that will hopefully not ever be repeated. But this does not mean that you will be excused from your responsibilities.”

Both elflings meekly looked up at their father.

“Your lessons with Erestor have been moved to the afternoon. Your archery lessons have been cancelled.”

Elladan’s eyes grew large and he seemed to want to protest, but when Elrond raised his eyebrows, he quickly closed his mouth. Elrohir glanced from his father to his brother, weighing his chances.

“But Ada…”

“No buts, Elrohir,” the Lord of Imladris chided gently. “You and Elladan disobeyed me, and you ignored all necessary caution around a herb of which you did not yet fully know its properties and effects. I fully intend to have a word with you before the morning is over. You will both clean up after yourselves in my apothecary and you will meet with Erestor after lunch.”

Celebrían smiled as her elflings hung their heads, their cheeks turning slightly pink.

“Eat, ion nín,” she reminded them. “You will have a long morning.”

As the elflings continued to pick at their breakfast, the older elves exchanged amused glances across the table. Glorfindel grinned at Erestor, wordlessly reminding him of the impossible task to keep the twins’ attention when they would rather be outside on the archery fields.

O-o-O-o-O

Elrond opened a drawer in his cabinet and pulled out three pairs of soft leather gloves. His sons were dressed in long-sleeved winter tunics and identical sturdy riding pants. They both gazed around the apothecary in obvious wonder.

“But Ada, the room is already clean!” Elladan grinned.

“No, Elladan,” Elrond contradicted. “The apprentices may have mopped up the flood of water you left on the floor here yesterday, but the herb you have been playing with was Uruin. What do you know about Uruin, ion nín?”

Elladan exchanged a puzzled glance with his brother.

“It causes red stains on elvish fabric, burns on healthy skin and it can ease the pain of burns and itches,” the Elf Lord began. “What else?”

Elrohir shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “We don’t know Ada. Will you tell us?”

Elrond handed the twins a pair of gloves each. “Uruin,” he explained, “contains a substance that remains on the surface even after the liquid of the extract has dried. It is invisible to the eye, but when touched it still causes stains, and it burns severely on healthy skin.”

He picked up his own pair of gloves and put them on.

“So what happens, my sons, if the two of you spilled some Uruin on the table and someone were to work here today?”

“They would touch it and their hands would burn,” Elrohir whispered, mortified.

Elladan winced when he thought back of the pain on his arm. He would never wish such pain on anyone!

Elrond pointed at the table where they had played with the pipets. “Can you see any Uruin on the table?”

The twins curiously edged closer. The table looked as pristine as ever.

“Put on your gloves first,” Elrond cautioned. He moved his hand across the surface of the table and showed them a barely visible, powdery substance on the tip of his finger.

“Is that Uruin?” Elladan asked.

Elrond smiled. “It could be. It may be dust. It may be some left over powder from another herb or remedy. How will we know?”

Elrohir’s face screwed up in concentration, but then it brightened. “Because your glove doesn’t turn red!” he exclaimed triumphantly. His father shook his head.

“No, Elrohir. Uruin does not cause stains on leather, nor will it do so on skin, on wood, on metal or on glass. Uruin only stains on cloth.” Elrond looked at his sons expectantly. “So how then will we know if there is Uruin on this wooden table?”

Elladan glanced around and spotted some strips of white elvish linen lying on the cabinet. He took one and carefully dabbed the linen on his father’s gloved finger. It turned bright red.

“Oh…” the twins gasped in unison.

Elrond raised his eyebrows at them. “So how do we make sure that there is no spilled Uruin left in this room?”

Elrohir picked up a strip of linen like his brother and pointed at the table. “We wipe the cloth across the table and if it turns red, there is more. If it does not, then it is gone.”

“Very good,” the Elf Lord nodded approvingly. “But how will we know that there is no Uruin in the rest of my apothecary?”

Elladan cocked his head and frowned. “El and I only played at this table, Ada. We did not take it anywhere else.”

Elrond gazed at his son. “Can you be absolutely sure that you did not spill any on the floor?”

Elladan thought back of the Uruin he had put on his arm. He realized that it was rather possible that some drops would have fallen to the ground. “Then we’ll wipe the floor around the table as well,” he offered.

Elrohir scowled. He’d rather be outside, playing in the trees.

But their Ada had not yet finished.

O-o-O-o-O

“Think hard, Elladan, Elrohir,” the Elf Lord encouraged. “Think about what the floor looked like when we left here yesterday.”

“It was wet,” Elladan murmured.

“Could the Uruin have been in the water?” Elrond asked.

Elrohir nodded slowly.

“And why is the floor no longer wet?” Elrond helped.

“Because the apprentices have mopped it up,” Elrohir replied dutifully, fumbling with his gloves.

“So where is the Uruin now?” Elrond asked patiently.

Both elflings looked up at him, stricken.

“Ada, do you mean to say that the Uruin may have been spread all over the floor?” Elladan exclaimed incredulously.

“Yes, Elladan,” the Lord of Imladris nodded. He crouched down in front of his sons and made them look into his eyes.

“When the apprentices noticed that some of their mops turned red, they immediately came to see me. Elladan, even the smallest amounts of Uruin can cause stains and burning. Although the few drops you spilled were diluted by much water, the powder can nonetheless remain behind after the liquid has dried.

“Therefore, after the floor had been mopped dry, there was still no telling if a small residue of unnoticed Uruin powder might have been left behind on the floor. What do you think this means?”

Elrohir blanched, guessing the answer.

“Someone will have to take a piece of cloth and check every square inch on the floor with greatest care,” Elrond said sternly, standing up. “An arduous task, which will take time and requires great caution so as not to get hurt by the Uruin again. Do you think I assigned this task to my apprentices, who had no hand in the spilling of the Red Fire?”

Elladan blushed while Elrohir hung his head. “No, Ada,” they mumbled docilely.

A highly uncomfortable feeling spread in the two elflings' stomachs. So this was what Ada had in mind for them this morning.

O-o-O-o-O

Elrond slipped out of his robes and hung them on a peg beside his cabinet. “Come, ion nín,” he directed, taking a piece of linen in his glove. The elflings followed him to the far corner of the apothecary.

“Remember,” Elrond cautioned. “The Uruin does not stain on leather, so if you touch the floor and there is Uruin on your glove, you will not see. Do not wipe your forehead or try to wipe your hair from your face. Do not scratch your nose or touch any part of your skin with your gloves, lest the burning starts anew. If you must do so, use your sleeves.”

“But Ada,” Elladan chipped in. “If we kneel down and there is Uruin on the floor, it will stain our clothes!”

“Yes, it will,” Elrond acknowledged wryly. “Your Naneth had her reasons for dressing you in these old clothes today. Let us hope that they will remain unblemished.” He pulled out two leather bands and started to braid his sons’ hair to keep it out of the way while they worked.

“Ada?” Elrohir asked hesitantly. “What if the Uruin does stain our clothes? Will it burn us again?”

Elrond tied off his son’s braid and shook his head. “The fabric of your riding pants is of such strong material: even if it gets stained, the Uruin cannot possibly reach your skin. Your winter tunics will protect your arms. As long as the fabric of your clothes is thick enough, you will be safe.”

He smiled encouragingly and placed a warm hand on his children’s cheeks. “Remember not to touch the stains, though. But I doubt that we will find much Uruin powder today. You did not spill much extract, and most of it has already been washed away by the red-stained mops. We may be in for a very boring morning.”

The stately Elf Lord knelt down beside his sons. “However, we still have to take all necessary precautions, so that no-one can possibly get hurt.”

He looked at the four reluctant grey eyes behind him.

“We will start here. Elladan, you and I will begin to wipe the floor. Elrohir, you will keep an eye on the ground we have covered, and make sure we do not miss anything. When we reach the door, we will switch.”

O-o-O-o-O

Two hours onwards a pair of elflings sat on their knees with very chagrined looks on their faces, wiping pristine white cloths across small parts of the floor.

“You have missed a spot, Elladan,” Elrond said gently.

“Ada!” Elrohir tried hard to keep his exasperation from his voice. “If we keep working this meticulously, we will never finish the job! We are not even halfway through the room!”

“Alas, ion nín. The Uruin has been spilled and it must be cleaned away with great care. You are reaping what you have sown,” Elrond commented calmly.

“But we have only found one tiny little bit of Uruin,” Elladan protested. He pointed at his cloth. “Look, Ada! The stain is barely larger than a pinhead!”

“If touched by an unwitting hand or bare foot, it will burn all the same,” Elrond admonished his sons. “Would you risk that an other suffer what you suffered yesterday, only because you refuse to take time to properly clean the floor?”

Two dark-haired elflings bent back over their work, carefully wiping the floor, meanwhile blushing so deeply that even their necks turned a light shade of pink.

“Goheno nin, Ada,” Elladan whispered softly.

“Forgive me, Ada,” Elrohir echoed.

O-o-O-o-O

The bells of the Last Homely House rang for lunch when another three laborious hours had passed. Elrohir looked up from where he was dabbing the floor with his father, but Elladan kept his eyes firmly locked on the ground. “Just three more inches, El,” he reminded his twin. “Ada, have you checked that spot over there?”

Elrond chuckled inwardly, wiping his cloth another time across the small patch of floor, and turned the linen around to check for stains. Nothing… Elrohir carefully labored on beside him while Elladan kept a very close watch on the proceedings, both elflings not satisfied until the final corner of the floor had been thoroughly checked.

At last the three of them were relieved to be disposing of several red-stained cloths in the large central fire of the healing room. The area around the working table had ultimately contained far more Uruin than the twins had expected.

“Are we done now, Ada?” Elladan asked hopefully.

“We are,” Elrond smiled warmly. He placed his hands on his sons’ small shoulders. “Elrohir, Elladan, I am very pleased with the way you have born the consequences of your actions. You have taken responsibility to clean up after yourselves and you have not complained during these last few hours. I am proud of you.”

The subdued little elflings suddenly beamed up at him, glad to have made their father happy. Elrond winked at them and glanced at the door. “You may go to your mother to refresh yourselves for lunch.”

He did not need to say it twice!

Two wild young colts stormed from the apothecary, immensely relieved to be released from their long obligatory stay in the ‘stables’. Elrond closed his eyes and chuckled at the exuberance of his elflings. He took up a last strip of white cloth and carefully began to dab his gloves.

O-o-O-o-O

In the hallway Elladan pushed Elrohir into an alcove. “This is it!” he whispered excitedly.

“This is what?” questioned Elrohir, puzzled by his twin’s sudden outburst.

“The Prank! Glorfindel!” Elladan pressed on with glistening eyes. “Daerada is coming next week. He has left us a task, remember?”

Elrohir’s eyes sparkled in the shadow of their hiding place as he remembered the hilarious scene at their grandparents’ departure after the Spring celebrations. “When I return, I expect my grandsons to avenge me for this serious dent in my pride. I will be counting on you,” he mimicked Celeborn’s words. “I forgot! But El, you don’t want to use…?”

“Uruin,” Elladan nodded.

“No!” Elrohir protested. “I don’t want Glorfindel to get hurt!”

“He won’t get hurt at all, I have a plan!” Elladan beamed. “A very good plan. Daerada will be proud.”

He pulled his brother from the alcove and together the two elflings raced off to find their mother.

TBC

meleth nín – my love

ion nín – ‘my son’, or ‘my sons’

goheno nin – forgive me

daerada - granddad

AN: For those who asked: Uruin is pronounced: ‘Oo-roo-een’, the first syllable is stressed.

Elladan and Elrohir have an honourable task to fulfill. But what is Elladan’s plan? How will the Uruin be involved without the Golden Warrior or the elflings getting hurt? Did Celeborn oversee the possible consequences when he appointed this task to his grandsons?

Stay tuned to find out!

Esteliel