1 Chapter =1 Deception (1)

Year 2920 of the Third Age

They had taken many precautions to ensure absolute secrecy.

The meeting was being held on the highest terrace of Imladris, one that could only be accessed by a long, tortuous stairway.

Three guards were posted at the bottom, ensuring no one would climb the stairs, whether inadvertently or on purpose.

The melody of the waterfalls was covering the voices of the elves and prevented the prying into their private business.

Elrond, lord of Imladris, was meeting with Mithrandir and his closest counselors. Secrecy was necessary since their allies could very well declare war for what he was about to do.

The subject of the mysterious discussion was the centuries-old prophecy the wizard had found years before in the library of Minas Tirith.

Mithrandir had shared it with the rulers of Lothlorien and the lord of Imladris, and Lady Galadriel had looked in her mirror for many long years before the Valar sent her images that would help them initiate the fulfillment of the prophecy.

"The woman chosen by the Valar is from a different world. She will give birth to the reborn elves after she becomes the mate of an elven champion. Three ellyn have appeared in Galadriel's mirror. Prince Legolas of Greenwood, Haldir, Marchwarden of Lothlorien, and Glorfindel," Elrond finished, nodding to the Lord of the Golden Flower, a reborn elf who had died during the fall of Gondolin.

He had been tasked by the Valar to protect Elrond's family ans since then, Glorfindel was the captain of Imladris, a respected warrior spending most of his time at the borders of the realm, defending it against the bands of orcs that were attacking them regularly.

"Galadriel wishes to organize a council between our realms and Greenwood, to choose the champion who will marry the naneth of the reborn elflings. The meeting should take place within a year. I suggest that we skip the meeting altogether."

Glorfindel watched his lord with curiosity. "I thought you wanted these elflings to be reborn here." Truth be told, Glorfindel was not very enthusiastic at the thought, but he was open to the idea of having a companion after living in solitude for millennia.

"Exactly my point," Elrond replied with boldness.

"Lord Elrond and I think that Imladris must not miss the opportunity of having the elflings in Imladris," Erestor stated. "We believe we should get the woman in her world, by ourselves, and bring her here. Then, Glorfindel could bind with her before the council takes place."

Glorfindel had been expecting many things, but certainly not this. Mithrandir did not look surprised, so he assumed that Lord Elrond had had this conversation with the wizard before then.

In fact, it looked like he was the only one who was hearing about this plan for the first time during this meeting.

"I cannot imagine Lady Galadriel being happy with you if you were to proceed as you intend," he eventually said.

Elrond nodded. Glorfindel was right, his in-laws would be furious if he were to take advantage of the knowledge they had shared with him and beat them to the prize. "I am willing to face the consequences."

"What makes you think that Lady Galadriel is not already aware? That she is not watching this meeting in her mirror as we speak?"

"I am... blinding her," Mithrandir said with unease. "For now. Until we make a decision."

"Why would a wizard take such a stand? Why would you risk your good relationship with Lothlorien in order to help my lord?" Glorfindel asked.

"In Greenwood, King Thranduil would use the woman to his advantage. We would virtually never see the elflings, and we could forget about their presence uniting the elves and mortals of all realms," the wizard reasoned out loud.

"True, but it would not be the case with Lothlorien. You know this," he insisted, glaring at the wizard.

"Yes, you are right. But I feel that Imladris would truly be the best realm for them. Arathorn was raised here like his forefathers, and I cannot imagine anything better to unite Men and Elves than having these elflings be in contact with the Dunedain on a regular basis. It would be the first link, the starting point in the creation of an alliance stronger than under the reign of Ereinion Gil-galad."

Glorfindel stood. "My lords, I perfectly understand your motives," he stated with relative calm and extreme politeness. "But out of fairness for my fellow champions, Haldir and Prince Legolas, whom I respect tremendously, I do not wish to be part of this decision or its execution. Please keep me out of it. I should either travel with you for the council sometime this year... or work with you to alleviate the consequences of any other decision you may take."

He bowed to Lord Elrond and left the terrace. They listened to his steps as he went down the staircase.

"He reacted exactly as I had predicted," Erestor said with a sigh, once Glorfindel was out of earshot. "I wish it had been otherwise. He does not seem too enthused by the prospect of binding with the woman of the prophecy."

"He never met her," Elrond reminded him. "An ellon of such wisdom will never throw himself lightly into a marriage of convenience."

"Galadriel is certain that regardless of the path chosen for that woman, she and her mate will be in love. It will not be a marriage of convenience. The thought is abhorrent to anyone with elven blood since the disaster that was King Thranduil's binding!"

"For Glorfindel, it is a marriage of convenience," Lindir sighed. "I wish he had approved our plan. It means that we have to figure out how to bring the woman back here by ourselves. Without Glorfindel's help, it will be a difficult task."

"I already know how to locate her. She lives in a world that I visited a few times in the past on Valar business. It is not unknown to me. I even speak her language a little, which can only help us," Mithrandir informed them. "But I will need someone with me."

"Your sons?" Erestor asked the lord of Imladris.

"No. They are at the borders until the end of the month. Furthermore, they would not be able to keep Arwen out of the secret, and Galadriel would somehow know about it by channeling the thoughts of one of my children. No, I will have to go with Mithrandir."

"When are we leaving?" the wizard inquired.

"Glorfindel is leaving for the borders tomorrow and will be back in two weeks. If we leave the day after tomorrow, the woman will have plenty of time to settle here. She can welcome him upon his return, and we will see from there."

"Are you sure that she will fall into his arms so easily?" Lindir asked. After all, Glorfindel was very popular with the Imladris ladies, but did not have a known lover.

Some said it was because he had grown tired of meaningless relationships, not that the captain had confided in anyone on this subject.

"If Glorfindel cannot bring her to his bed, there is no hope for the other ellyn," Erestor stated.

The reborn captain of the guard was mysterious, incredibly handsome with his golden locks in a realm full of dark-haired Noldor.

His lethalness in combat was also very attractive to the single ladies of Imladris.

"What of her children?" Mithrandir challenged.

The woman in question, in her early thirties, had two children and was currently without a mate.

In her world, marriages were broken very easily, with husbands and wives parting ways without ever seeing each other again if children had not been born.

The wizard knew that separating a mother from her children was not a decision to be taken lightly, especially if they had no father.

In fact, he was convinced that Galadriel had planned all along to bring her children with her to ease her adaptation.

The wizard was not so certain that Elrond would be as welcoming. After all, these children were not part of the prophecy.

"They will have to remain there," Elrond sighed. "The Valar know how I hate doing this. But we received information that only she would be granted immortality. The Valar never indicated that her children would also receive such a gift. They would be unhappy in Imladris, surrounded by elves and their now immortal mother while they grow old and never find a companion. It would be best if they remained in their world with the rest of their family."

Mithrandir nodded. Elrond's reasoning also made sense. Only the future would tell if it had been the right decision.

"Then let us plan. We must be ready in two days."

-------------

Two weeks later, Glorfindel came back from the northern border with a few warriors. As he led his stallion towards the stables, he noticed the sons of Elrond, who were following him on foot.

His former pupils had become deadly warriors under his guidance, and he was very fond of them, even if he rarely showed it.

Glorfindel was an ellon with absolute control over his emotions, and only the people who knew him intimately had learned how to read him and received more than the strictest of politeness.

Elladan and Elrohir were two of them.

They reached him as he was guiding his warhorse in his usual stall.

"Lord Glorfindel, we are glad to see you came back so early," Elladan said.

"There was no orc activity reported by our scouts. It was very quiet at the borders."

"We are glad to hear that," Elrohir replied. "I wish I could say the same about our fair city."

"What happened?"

"Our adar and Mithrandir... they went to a different world to bring back the woman of the prophecy."

Glorfindel closed his eyes, very annoyed. So they had disregarded his advice and had brought back the stranger that they all expected him to bind himself to.

"Did you know they were planning to do that?" Elrohir asked.

"I had hoped I had convinced them otherwise," he sighed. He turned around to face them. "So? How is she?" The twins had come back from the borders a few days earlier.

Surely, they would have seen her by now.

"You see... this is the problem my adar did not anticipate. She spent most of her time since her arrival... in the dungeons," Elrohir said, almost gleefully.

"In the dungeons? Why?"

"You should start from the beginning," Elladan chided his twin brother. "They literally went to her world and dragged her back through a portal. The minute she arrived here, she fell unconscious and started a transformation to become half-elven. It lasted three days. She became immortal, with some elven features she did not have before."

"As per Arwen, she now has slightly pointy ears, and her eternal light shines through her skin..." Elrohir continued.

"Interesting," Glorfindel mused. "I certainly did not expect the Valar to physically change her."

"And then... she woke," Elrohir grinned. "Arwen said the woman was not described as a fiery storm lightly in the prophecy. She was... outraged, violent. Screaming in her own language, that Mithrandir happens to understand a little, demanding to be brought back to her home immediately. She half-destroyed the healing rooms before guards were able to control her!"

"She spent a week in the dungeons, barely eating and drinking. Arwen was able to communicate with her a little, and convinced her that we are not evil. She started eating since then. But she is going through fits of anger and despair..." Elladan added darkly.

"This is a mess. They should have let Lady Galadriel take care of this. Where is the woman right now?"

"She is in a room being guarded at every hour of the day. She tried to escape a few times already, Adar had to place guards under her balcony too."

"I have to see your adar. This is folly. We cannot keep this poor soul trapped here forever. She will fade!"

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