Yawning, Haldir pulled the door to the classroom open and decided to leave it that way to let the room cool off. Though it was in the basement, it somehow managed to become uncomfortably warm, and he wondered now as he opened the two tiny windows near the ceiling how Master Erestor could stand sitting in the muggy room for hours on end in the dark formal robes he so often wore.
Once he had set out Master Erestor's quills and ink and retrieved parchment for his instructor, he readied his own supplies. Haldir would be alone for the next four hours, until he was either called for lunch or requested it be brought to him, but he had begun to do small things such as this for Master Erestor ever since the incident five weeks prior in the stables. Perhaps the dark elf would never really know of the little things he did – there was a page assigned to set things out for the councilor – but it made Haldir feel a little better.
Still, he wished some time that he was home in Lothlorien, home with his family. He never really realized how important they had been before coming to live in Imladris to be instructed by Lord Elrond and Master Erestor. It was really Master Erestor who did most of the instructing, decided Haldir. All Lord Elrond ever did was tell him when to shut his mouth, or sit up straighter, or wipe his feet, or some other silly thing he'd never been told in Lothlorien. Master Erestor, on the other hand, encouraged questions, slouched at his desk himself, and tracked mud and muck into the room on more occasions than Haldir could count. He looked forward to the afternoon and evening lessons now, even those that were spent in the stables as he cleaned stalls, for they were spent with Master Erestor, who he began to think was quite possibly wiser than his father, who even had the prefix attached to his name. It was the promise of these later lessons that compelled him to work swiftly and accurately on his morning assignments.
Barely ten minutes before lunch and having nearly completed the lesson he had been assigned, Haldir heard a rough cough at the doorway and turned to see Lord Elrond standing there. "My office. Now."
Fearing he had upset Master Erestor in some way, that perhaps his now beloved teacher had decided to tell Lord Elrond of his transgressions, Haldir felt a shiver up his back before he stood. Leaving his desk quickly, he accidently knocked his knee against the desktop, causing ink to spill over the papers he had just finished with. Staring down at the inky river that flowed across the page, Lord Elrond sighed with exasperation and walked forward quickly. "Don't just stare at it," he scolded, scooping up the ruined sheets. He crumpled them, keeping the ink contained within, before pitching them into the unlit fireplace at the side of the room. None of the ink made it to the floor, and Lord Elrond righted the jar with an impatient huff.
Unsure of what to say or whether to say anything at all, Haldir followed Lord Elrond out of the room and up the winding stairs to a room that overlooked the majority of the valley. From here, Lord Elrond could see much of the happenings on the grounds of his tidy realm. The chair he sat in was quite tall – both the chair and desk were built higher off of the ground, further exhibiting his great height. Haldir's chair was stiff and low, and more uncomfortable than the desk he sat at.
"My lord?" Haldir finally asked when nothing was said after many minutes of being stared at.
"Speak when spoken to," he was reminded sharply.
"But I don't know why I'm here!" protested the young elf. "Please, my lord, what have I done?" He knew he could guess, but in his heart he felt that Master Erestor would have brought up his errors to him, and not through Lord Elrond. Unless Lord Elrond had found out on his own. He cowered back a little as Lord Elrond stood up, magnifying his height.
"Do you not know? Last night, the doors to the stalls you are assigned to were not properly latched. This morning I awoke to five horses wandering the grounds – the sixth is unaccounted for," he added, sitting back down. "I do not know what kind of horses you have in Lothlorien, but ours have intelligence greater than most others. They are so bold as to push their gates open and run out to frolic if they please. The loss of one is quite enough to hurt our budget; can you imagine how six would have affected it?"
"I'm sorry, but I recall locking the stalls before I left last night," replied Haldir.
"The evidence is contrary to that statement," Lord Elrond said with a very disappointed look. "I do not appreciate those who lie."
"I'm not lying!" shouted Haldir, and again, Lord Elrond stood and glared down upon him.
"You will not raise your voice to me," he commanded.
"Then don't-" Haldir lowered his voice. "Then don't accuse me of something I did not do!"
Lord Elrond gripped the desk and leaned forward. "Perhaps I am mistaken as to who is lord of whom," he said, "for I thought it was I who told you what you are to do and not to do."
There was a commotion at the doorway, and Lord Elrond and Haldir both looked to find a calm, yet irriated head librarian. "Might I inquire as to what is going on?" asked Master Erestor. Lord Elrond filled in details as he saw fit as Haldir sat dumbly in his chair, saying nothing to the accusations made. Once Lord Elrond had finished, Master Erestor turned to Haldir and asked, "Is that what happened?"
Haldir heard Lord Elrond sit down hard in his own chair and could feel eyes upon him. He was certain the lord had one elbow propped up on the desk and was resting his chin upon his hand, but he stared right up at Master Erestor for fear he would lose his voice. "I am certain I locked the gates last night before I left, but if I didn't, then I am sorry."
"Being sorry does not bring the horse back," Lord Elrond interjected.
Master Erestor gave a nod, though whom he was agreeing with was an uncertainty. "I cannot be certain whether the gates were locked when Haldir left," he said, addressing Lord Elrond, "but I can tell you that the Master of the Stables found no missing horses this morning after they were rounded up."
"There was an empty stall, and I know for a fact that a horse was assigned to each of those stalls."
"Correct, but I also know for a fact that the horse you believe missing was moved by the horse master last night to the barn because she was due to give birth within the next week."
Haldir wanted to give a smug look to Lord Elrond, but he held back, favoring the same look of calm indifference Master Erestor had upon his face. "I regret to inform you," continued the dark elf, "that you will have two horses returned to the stables within the next week." When Lord Elrond did not reply, Master Erestor asked, "May I speak freely to you, my lord?"
Lord Elrond frowned, his eyes falling on Haldir. Haldir began to stand up to leave, but Master Erestor stepped behind him and put his hands firmly on young elf's shoulders, keeping him in his chair. "You are always given leave to speak your mind, Erestor."
"What I am about to say is harsh, so you will forgive my words if it pleases you. I understand you're trying to thwart my attempts to open a school here, and I cannot blame you. You are concerned with the wellbeing of your realm, and it is of course your duty first and foremost to protect and provide for those under your rule. However, as I have mentioned before, a school would help to promote Imladris, and would benefit The Last Homely House et cetera, et cetera, as well."
"Yes, we've been over this, and I gave permission for you to trial this idea," Lord Elrond reminded him.
"With one pupil," Master Erestor countered. "A good pupil, but only one does not make a school."
Lord Elrond considered this and said, "Speak with me when the conference is over, for now my mind is concentrated upon other things."
"The conference is exactly why I have brought this up. Allow me to present a lecture on the benefits of the school. We will have many who would show interest in this idea, and not just from the noble families. I know the conference will be busy, but give me even the most unconventional time in which to present the idea and I promise you a crowd. Perhaps we may even have some interested in funding the project."
Lord Elrond drummed his fingers on the desk. "Very well, I will see what I can do to fit you in so that you may speak to those interested. In fact, I was about to finalize the schedule and will have a time for you by the afternoon. Dismissed."
Master Erestor bowed lifted his hands from Haldir so that the young elf could stand and do the same. Haldir followed his teacher from the room, but waited until they were well into the hall to speak. "Thank you," he said when he finally fell into step with Master Erestor. "It was a lucky thing you spoke with the stable master," added the young elf. "I thought for sure I was going to be thrown in the dungeon with the way he was talking. Well, if you had a dungeon, that is."
Master Erestor's serious look melted away and he smiled. "I am the stable master. Lord Glorfindel is, actually, but he left after a few short years of receiving the position. When he returns from Lothlorien, my assumption is that he will be in charge of the horses once more."
"Why are you overseeing the horses?"
"I used to be the stable master. That is part of the reason I am Master Erestor and not Lord Erestor." He frowned upon saying the words himself.
"Didn't you like the job?" questioned Haldir as they approached the classroom.
"Very much," admitted Erestor. "I still spend quite a lot of time in the stables. I just couldn't fulfill the requirements of the position anymore," he said sadly.
Haldir waited to see if Master Erestor would continue, but did not press the matter. He was beginning to learn that there were times when he had to hold back from just one more `Why?' after an explanation. Entering the classroom, he remembered the ruined assignment and sighed as he explained and pointed to the fireplace where it had uncrumpled slightly but still remained wadded up.
Regarding the fireplace for a moment, Master Erestor asked, "Do you like to ride horses?"
"Oh, I love to," he answered.
"Have you ever raced them?"
"Not really," Haldir said. "We don't have a lot of area in Lothlorien to do that, and all of the horses belong to King Amroth. He would be terribly upset if we injured any of them, so we only ride them on special occasions."
"What about the horse you brought with you?" questioned Master Erestor. "Surely, she does not belong to King Amroth."
Haldir nodded. "I may call her my horse, and take care of her, but she is still King Amroth's horse."
"Well, we won't race King Amroth's horse, then," Master Erestor assured him as he led Haldir out of the classroom and up the stairs.
"We're racing horses?" Haldir stopped abruptly, really and truly smiling happily for the first time since he had arrived.
"We are going to race horses," corrected Master Erstor. He shook his head as he walked outside into the sunshine with Haldir following behind him and smiled back. "I thought I had made that perfectly clear."
"You pardon, Master Erestor, I thought you asked only my opinion. But what will Lord Elrond think? Shouldn't I be in my lessons, or at least cleaning the stalls?"
"What worth are wisdom and work if the heart is heavy and the soul dark?" Master Erestor waited until Haldir nodded slowly in agreement and said, "Perhaps your Lord Amroth owns the horses of Lothlorien, but here, we have rights to property and to horse and hound if they agree – for that proverb works not only for us, but for beast and bird as well."
"So if the horse isn't happy, you shouldn't keep it?" guessed Haldir.
Waving to the carriage master as they walked across the grounds, Master Erestor said, "Close enough. My horses are all happy to be of service when I have need of them, and I will let you choose your pick of the four to ride," he offered as they entered the stable.
