“Please; come in.” Erestor motioned Glorfindel into the room and shut the door behind him. “Have you had the pleasure of meeting Aranel?”
“I do not believe I have,” replied the blond warrior, bowing to the lady who stood up from the table she was sitting at. “M’lady.”
“M’lord. Oh dear,” she giggled, “we shall certainly need to rid ourselves of such formalities!” Aranel smiled, and gracefully held out her hand. “Glorfindel, I believe.”
“Aye.” Nervously, Glorfindel looked to Erestor, who was looking much more what he was used to holding a glass of wine in one hand and dressed in black pants and a vibrant tunic of red and blue. “I hope I did not come too late,” he apologized.
Erestor shook his head and rounded Glorfindel. “Dinner has yet to arrive. Come, let us sit by the windows and watch the snow fall.” He offered his arm to Aranel and the pair continued to the destination Erestor had chosen. Deciding to remove his boots at the door, Glorfindel heard the knock before Erestor, but moved away when he saw Erestor leap up from the couch and place his finger to his lips. Swiftly, the dark haired ellon motioned Glorfindel away and opened the door. “Ah, thank you, just in time! Good night!” Closing the door by kicking it with his foot, Erestor took everything to the table and set it down. “All part of the plan,” he said, steering Glorfindel to the sitting area.
With obvious unease, Glorfindel sat down on a chair that faced the couch. As soon as Erestor took his position beside Aranel, he was slapped across his shoulder. “You said you would tell him ahead of time!” she hissed.
“Ah, ah... save that for after the wedding,” he teased, taking hold of her hand and threading his fingers with hers lest he be hit again. “Glorfindel, I-“
“Wedding?” blurted out the blond warrior, in shock. He was fast paling, turning more of a greenish hue, and his expression was aghast.
“Oh, dear. Let me start at the beginning,” pleaded Erestor as Glorfindel began to stand up. “Fin, this is all part of the plan to save your skin, now, sit down!”
Glorfindel took a moment to compose himself with his back turned to them. Taking a few deep breaths, he turned on his heel and sat. “Well?” he asked tersely.
Rolling his eyes, Erestor began with, “I came up with the perfect solution on how to keep Egalmoth and everyone else off of your trail, and for you to regain the respect that Turgon had for you.”
“And somehow that includes you getting married,” interrupted Glorfindel.
“Hush! Yes, it does. Now, if you please,” huffed Erestor. “I speak, you listen. Questions later. This is Aranel,” he said, motioning to his right. The lithe, dark haired elleth waved at him.
“Yes, we have met,” snapped Glorfindel.
Clearing his throat and giving Aranel a pat on the hand he held, Erestor said, “I tend to think that Aranel is one of the most beautiful young ladies in all of Gondolin.”
“Oh, stop!” she giggled, and now Glorfindel rolled his eyes.
“I have never,” he continued, lifting her easily up onto his lap, “seen such a face, such eyes, such kissable lips. A smile so warm and radiant, and a body- well, you will simply need to believe me when I say that she curves in all the right places,” he said, tilting his head and leering at her posterior, to which he gave more than a friendly pat.
Sucking in his breath, Glorfindel asked, “And why does this matter?”
“It matters,” Erestor replied, “because her heart has already been won by another, and no matter how hard I try to woo this fair maiden,” he said, placing her back onto her own cushion of the couch, “my chance of success is zero.”
Looking between the two elves on the couch, Glorfindel finally narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why am I here?”
Waving him off with one hand, Erestor turned to Aranel and endearingly tucked a lock of dark hair that had strayed forward back behind her ear. “We will get to you in due time, Glorfindel. Aranel, I think you should tell Glorfindel about your lover.”
“Must she?” muttered Glorfindel, looking about to gag.
Happily sighing, Aranel gave Erestor a sidelong glance. He winked to her and then sat back, picking up the wine goblet he had set on a table off to the side. “Let me think. Where to begin? Well, she has the cutest little laugh, and an adorable smile. Her eyes are bluer than any sky and-“
“Wait, wait, wait, wait.” Glorfindel sat up, beginning to smirk. “She?” He snorted. “How can she be a she?”
“Because that is how she was born,” said Aranel, a little put-off.
“That is just... incredible,” answered Glorfindel.
“Isn’t it though?” Erestor had a grin on his face.
“Who are you to judge?” Aranel leaned forward with her folded arms resting on her knees. “You like other males.”
Immediately, Glorfindel became defensive. “Who told you?”
“No one had to,” Aranel said dryly. “You might as well sew lace onto your house banner.”
To this Erestor snickered quietly, and Glorfindel gave him a dirty look. “I offer my apologies. You are correct; who am I to judge such a thing? But are not the same rules that prevent me that personal freedom the same that would bind you not to do such a thing?”
“’Tis true. That is how Erestor came up with the plan that he did,” said Aranel.
“Now do we get to the part where I am concerned?” Glorfindel was picking at some loose strings on the chair, and Erestor stood.
Walking out of the sitting area and to the table, Erestor lifted a cover from a bowl, and steam rose up. “I think we should eat while we discuss the plans, else the food will get cold. What say you to that?” Not waiting for a response, Erestor retrieved a third plate from another room, for it was obvious the intention was for everyone to believe that two were dining that evening and not three. However, the portions were large and none of them would go hungry. “Aranel?” Erestor pulled out one of the chairs and the lady came over and sat down.
“Practicing already?” she said to him with a smile. Erestor kissed the top of her head and took his own seat before motioning Glorfindel over.
Glorfindel walked around the table and then stood behind a chair with his palms resting upon the back of it. “Perhaps you will forgive me when I say I do not think I can eat unless I know exactly what sort of scheme you have come up with.”
Placing his napkin aside, Erestor folded his hands in front of himself, his elbows resting on the table. “What is the one thing that would ‘prove’ beyond any doubts that you are not interested in males?”
Looking upon Aranel, Glorfindel said, “I think I just figured out what your plan is.”
“Good! Then we can eat,” said Erestor, passing the basket of bread to Aranel.
Still, Glorfindel did not sit down. “So I am to marry you?” he asked Aranel in a gloomy tone.
“No, I am to marry her,” Erestor corrected. “You cannot marry her; you would show absolutely no appreciation for this gorgeous creature, and that would be most unfair to her. Now, sit down. The food is getting cold." Once Glorfindel grudgingly sat down, Erestor explained, “I am going to marry Arenel; you will marry her lover. We already spend a bit of time together now and then, and it will give the ladies a chance to see one another in private without the fear of being caught. Their parents are all very anxious to get them married, what with their hundredth birthdays fast approaching.”
“My father knows, of course,” Aranel said. “He is who has helped us to construct this plan.”
Slumping in his chair, Glorfindel shook his head while looking at Erestor. “You do know, if you keep telling others about me, there will be no one left to hide the secret from.”
“He knew about you without doubts after that meeting a decade ago,” scolded Erestor. “He knew, for as a father of a young lady whose preference was not as usual as most, he can see now such signs.”
“Huh.” Glorfindel took a closer look at Aranel, his eyes settling upon her bosom, and asked, “Is Rog your father?”
“Of course,” she replied. Looking to Erestor, she said, “You did not tell him that, either?”
“So that is what you meant about her breasts,” continued Glorfindel as Erestor gave him a good glare. “Sorry,” he said to the young lady, “he was complimenting their firmness and size when he first told me of you, but that sort of thing has never interested me.”
“I would not have expected it to,” Aranel told Glorfindel politely. “Erestor, darling, come here so I can slap you for that.”
“After the wedding,” he said quickly as she began to rise from her seat.
As she sat back down with a little huff, Glorfindel leaned closer and whispered, “Remind me later to tell you what he said regarding your backside.”
Tisking while she shook her head, Aranel portioned some potatoes for herself. “He is going to be black and blue on our wedding night.”
“Speaking of that, do we have a date set then for all of this?” asked Glorfindel. Both Aranel and Erestor gave him an odd look. “That would be a no?”
“That would be a no, of course we do not. Glorfindel, you have yet to even meet your ‘intended’,” Erestor reminded him. “All in good time. First, I shall properly court Aranel. Then, at some point, she will introduce you to her good friend, and you shall fall deeply in love, and woo her, and all will be well in the end.”
“So, I am marrying – whatever he name is so that Egalmoth and everyone else leaves me alone, and they are marrying us so that they can be together, but why are you involved with this plot?” questioned Glorfindel.
“I will not lie. I have motives of my own,” admitted Erestor. “First, to my advantage, Aranel has some love of the male elf, so I expect I shall earn myself enough kisses and heated fondling to keep me satisfied for a good long while. Second, I enjoy my rooms here very much,” he said, motioning about. “Of those in the army, only the highest officers and married ellin are allowed quarters in the main palace. The barracks are no place for my gentle artist’s soul,” he pouted, and Aranel laughed as politely as possible to this. “Third, and most important, you are my dearest friend, Glorfindel. More and more like a brother every day. I do whatever I am able to ease your path in life.”
Glorfindel bowed his head for a moment, and nodded. “Thank you,” he finally settled on, looking up to meet Erestor’s eyes with his own. “Thank you, Erestor.”
“No thanks necessary, but you are most welcome. Now,” said the elder elf, snatching a roll from the basket, “let us eat!”
