Arátonya (Elrond/Glorfindel)

Prologue

The man sat in one of the padded chairs in the library of Imladris, a leather bound book in his hands. The letters were carved into the side of the book, deep beautiful lines that the man ran his finger's over. 'In carmë o in aráto' He smiled, brushing his fingers over the cover once more before opening the book in his hands.

There were depictions of great warriors clad in iron and gold, mithril and silver, rubies and emeralds, sapphires and diamonds. They were defenders, they were champions of their people. No one was as renowned as the warrior, as the epic swordsman that gave his life to protect those that may have been lesser.

Page after page he went. There were sketches of swords and the many heraldries of the warriors in the book. to name a few, there was Ecthelion of the Fountain, Ñolofinwë Finwion, Beleg Cúthalion, Findaráto Ingoldo and, of course, Laurëfindë Laurëlótë.

Laurëfindë Laurëlótë, the man smiled ruefully. The savior of Gondolin, killed by a Balrog when he was so close to escape. The people's champion. It was said that there was not a soul in the city that did not like the golden haired Lord, or perhaps there was only few of them.

Glorfindel, Laurëfindë, would have need of that same great courage, determination, and love of his people once again.

Leaving the book open to the Balrog Slayer's page, the man got to his feet and clasped his hands behind his back. In the morning light he began to wander through the tall shelves of books that filled the library from one end to another. 

As he wandered, he came across another book. On the spine of the book there was a heraldic device of blue, gold, white, and black. The device of Elu Thingol. Light blue points and stars, rings and circles of white all encased in black with a final white border on the outside.

He slipped the book from it's place on the wooden shelf with curiosity. '

I nothrim uin Thingol  ' was carved into the cover. The man's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze slipping over the book before he looked back up and began back to where he had been sitting only moments before.

Falling back into the chair he gave 'I nothrim uin Thingol' another sweeping glance over before opening the book to the first page. There were many names written, the names of his household. Lúthien Tinúvie, Dior Eluchil, even both Eluréd and Elurín and their sister, Elwing.

As he read, he found a chapter entitled, 'I hîrs uin Doriath'. The man promptly found the page that the chapter began. Only now did he realize how yellow the pages had become, how worn they were from all their years of being tossed from owner to owner. 

Page to page he went, reading the names of the minor Lords of King Thingol's household. Slipping through the names, he went dully from one to another, only stopping to gaze at one name, one he had heard once before. Lalven Salabenion, and advisor to King Thingol.

The picture showed him with silver hair and a serious expression, though that was the case with most of the elves featured in the book. There was something about it, a subtle anger that hid in his eyes. There was something in the picture that made the man uneasy.

He looked away from the image of the man and began to read about him. Written in scrawling print was, 'Promised to Lúthien Tinúviel'. 

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In carmë o in aráto : The Art of the Champion

I nothrim uin Thingol : The House of Thingol

I hîrs uin Doriath : The Lords of Doriath

Ah yes, this will all be touched on again in the story. Later on though, not in the beginning. 

I know it isn't much, but I'm going to have to get up at 4:30 tomorrow to pick my sister up from the airport. <3 So I'm going to sleep and since it is a two and a half hour trip, I'll be working on the next chapter. PLUS I have the next prompt for both of the prompt stories that have to be finished and then I'll post those. I know I will not be writing all that much this week, but bear with me please. =3 I'll be releasing what I can, when I can. Until then, I hope you enjoy this rather short, but important, prologue.

Megan <3