"My word! Please, Glorfindel, tell me you haven't turned to sparring with the scribes now, have you?"
"Heavens, no, Duilin," laughed Glorfindel sarcastically. "Salgant's taken to trying to have my pupils thrown from their mounts- speaking of that corpulent comrade of ours, where is he this evening?"
There was a pause as Duilin rolled his tongue back and forth along the roof of his mouth as he smiled wryly. "I take it you plan not to dine at the head table with us this eve," said the archer in hopes of changing the subject.
"Why, only if Salgant choking on his dinner is on the menu," replied Glorfindel with mock sweetness.
Again, Duilin paused and looked down at their feet, nodding his head in contemplation. Looking up again, he addressed Erestor and said, "So, from what little I have gleaned from Glorfindel's conversation, you are his latest student."
"That I am," answered Erestor carefully, "though already I am off to a bad start."
"Fear not. Glorfindel is an excellent teacher." Duilin seemed to want to say more or add an aside to this, but not knowing Erestor well, he held his tongue. "Which arts of the warrior is he instructing you upon? Nothing too difficult for a beginner like yourself, I would imagine."
"The sword, the bow, and the horse," spoke Glorfindel before Erestor could answer, "though not in that order exactly." He gave Duilin a challenging look, which was answered with a proposition.
"When you have shown him how to ride and how to swing a sword, send him to me for his archery lessons, Glorfindel." Turning back to Erestor, Duilin said, "There is a fine precision to the art of the archer, one that is not matched by the clumsiness of swordsmanship or riding. Good eve to you both," he then said quickly, for Egalmoth arose from where he had been speaking to another lord in the courtyard and Duilin moved to follow him inside the palace.
Watching them go, Glorfindel gave a snort of dissatisfaction when the duo met up with Salgant near the entrance. He felt a hand upon his shoulder, and turned to see Ecthelion. A look of disappointment crossed his face- somehow he had hoped it would be Erestor who had touched him in the familiar fashion. His expression, at least, was easily covered by what had transpired. "I do not feel like dining in the hall tonight," announced the captain and Lord of the Fountain, who had seemingly appeared from nowhere.
"Barracks?" questioned Glorfindel, and Ecthelion nodded. Erestor, whose minor injuries from his second sword lesson had been bandaged up by the healer on duty and was dressed once more in clean clothing, made to bow and say his farewells, but Ecthelion slapped him on the back, making him take a step forward.
"You are going to join us, are you not?" Ecthelion was already steering Erestor along with them. "Have you taken meals there before?"
"Ah, yes, ahm, no, ah-" Erestor shook his head to clear it. "I suppose I could join you, but I do not wish to be a bother. I did not know of anywhere else to eat," he said as they rounded the palace and made for a large building from which boisterous music came and smoke billowed up from a huge chimney. "I suppose these are the barracks," he said dumbly as they came to the entryway, the doors of which were propped open with large rocks.
"Good evening, captains!" came the voice of one of the soldiers sitting at a log table eating his supper.
"Fine night, m'lords! Good health t'ya," said another who was at a different table. Many of the soldiers began to speak their regards and to wave or raise a mug to the captains that Erestor walked beside. They in turn would bow their heads or nod, smile or call back to something particular with a grin.
Inside, there were rows and rows of tables, with soldiers sitting on long wooden benches having conversations that roared with laughter. There was an area where elves were lined up, receiving plates of food from a line of young maidens who seemed just as rowdy as the ellyn they were serving. Instead of going to where the food was, Ecthelion and Glorfindel led Erestor away from this part of the barracks to a long counter where the officers sat on high stools with elegantly carved wooden backs and armrests to them, drinking from large glasses of wine, though eating the same fare the rest of the warriors did. "Instead of each of us having our own separate training, resting, and dining halls, Ecthelion and I built one massive one," explained Glorfindel.
"Where do they sleep?" asked Erestor. Glorfindel pointed towards the floor while Ecthelion waved his hand at the roof.
"You may have noticed that we had to walk up a few steps into the hall here. There is a level below this one, halfway below ground. Some call it a cellar, but you should see it for it would have anyone fooled. My soldiers sleep there, while Ecthelion's stay up on the second floor."
Glorfindel and Ecthelion each sat upon one of the chairs at the counter, and almost immediately there was a young elleth there to serve them. Before Glorfindel she set a goblet of blood red wine, and a similar one of a paler hue was placed in front of Ecthelion. As Erestor tentatively sat down to the left of Glorfindel, the barmaid stood in front of him and asked him, "Red wine? White wine?" She left it to linger there, for there were other liquors besides these lining the shelves behind her.
"Beer. Well, if you have that," he said, not seeing a barrel anywhere.
The maid looked a little baffled as she eyed up the slender ellon, but asked, "What kind?" as if it were a quiz.
"I would prefer a good stout, but if all you have is an ale, then-" The maid held up her hand before Erestor could continue. She stuck two finger in her mouth and whistled, looking across the hall to the serving line. Erestor shrank down, half-expecting the noise in the hall to cease, but it continued.
"Bring me two pints of the dark, will you, Tir?" At the end of the hall where the meals were being served, there were a number of kegs from which the honey and amber liquid was flowing. The ellyn she called to signaled that he had heard and filled two mugs from a barrel that stood by itself, then brought the foaming, muddy colored drinks up to the front and set them upon the counter.
Erestor nodded his thanks and picked up one of the mugs while the maid lifted the other. "Cheers," she said, knocking her mug against his before sipping from it. Erestor lifted his with a smile and drank deeply, finishing half the contents before setting it down.
"Ah, now that brings back memories," he said to himself.
Beside him, Glorfindel and Ecthelion had both turned to regard him, and with a deep chuckle, Ecthelion said, "My friend, you simply amaze me sometimes."
"My respect for him has doubled this day," said Glorfindel, raising his glass in Erestor's direction before taking a drink himself.
