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27 Love is Blindness

Torchlight glittered among the bedchamber doors like amber jewels beheld by golden sepals. A russet glow hovered the arched hall creating the allusion of warmth. Outside, icy rain had given way to a steady fount of snow turning the air within the sandstone walls of Homely House, frigid and cold.

Aerlinniel crept along the corridor, careful not to shuffle her feet for her father's ears could detect a quill drop in a hail storm. Pausing at her father's bedchamber, she noticed light flicker beneath the door which meant he was likely still awake. Usually, he read long into the night by the fire, nestled in his favorite armchair - often falling asleep there until morning; a habit he had acquired after her mother had sailed.

Around the corner was an adjacent hall where her mother's suite of rooms resided and just beyond her rooms, were the guest chambers where Legolas would likely be staying. The wing of rooms had fantastic long-range views of the Bruinen as it gushed its way passed Homely House. Her naneth loved listening to the river's lulling rush of waters as they swept through the Valley.

"Listen," she'd whisper to Aerlinniel in her youth, huddled beneath the layers of silks and furs upon her mother's flet-like bed, "one cannot remain unmoved by the river's lilting chorus. Its song will spring light into your darkness and right you. Listen...Let it in, nin lend hén." (my sweet child)

The vacant rooms were kept fresh and ready in case close company should need a place to stay. The rooms were originally designated for her grandparents who would visit biennially in the spring when she and her siblings were young. More routinely, Lord Glorfindel occupied one of the rooms when he and her father would stay up long into the night hashing out ideas and devising their plans. Elrond's house had grown accustomed to having the Golden Warrior as a guest, so frequently, that Lindir kept a place reserved for him at the family's breakfast table.

Braving passed her father's chambers, her heart froze at the sound of a door handle click shut followed by the distinct rustling of robes. Faint whispers crept from around the corner.

Careful to remain unnoticed, Aerlinniel slid behind a statue of Varda that stood in the shadows. The statue's sleek, marble arms were swept up amid a graceful flourish as she cast her stars into the night sky. Her billowy robes offered the perfect pitch of shadow for which to hide. The celestial Vala had long provided a secluded hiding place where Aerlinniel and her siblings could spy on unsuspecting family members, servants, and even guests; including the Elvenking on more than one occasion.

The irony of hiding in Varda's shadow, to perchance a glimpse of a Greenwood royal was not lost on Aerlinniel - though this time, her venture seemed more precarious than it had ever been before. Without the obvious protection of her youthful innocence, there was more to suffer than personal embarrassment if she were caught seeking out the prince. She pulled the cloak that she had inherited from Legolas, tightly around herself to conceal the white of her gown, and held her breath whilst she listened to the happening down the hall unfold.

Glorfindel appeared first from her mother's bedchamber, looking grave followed by her father whose grim expression, looked equally concerning. Sighing, her father leaned his head against the door and shut his eyes. His dark raven hair, which usually appeared impeccable, looked disheveled and his robes hung awkwardly around him.

Glorfindel shuffled round, raking his hands through his hair, bearing an incredulous look. "How much mirovur did you give him?"

Her father's eyes eased open and he straightened, wearing a bland expression. "Enough to glean information from him."

"You speak as if he is some miscreant, Elrond..." Glorfindel breathed giving her father a wary eye.

"Yes, well it needed to be done," her father breathed, peering at him with a fleeting glance and then busied himself with smoothing his hands down the front of his blue and silver brocaded robes.