Chapter Text
A couple of days had passed since Elrond and his company of elves, men and orc had arrived at Khazad-Dum. Though Durin had been suspicious of the orc Bugak in their midst, he nonetheless allowed him entry under the condition that the elves were responsible for all of his actions. Durin would have never imagined it before in his life but Bugak turned out to be quite a popular attraction to his two children who were simply fascinated by the orc. It wasn’t long before word spread around the city that Durin played host to a very real and breathing orc and not before long, many came by his quarters in hope to catch a glimpse of an enemy in their midst.
Vorohil and Beriedir felt most at east inside the dwarven city. Though the meals weren’t as festive as during their last visit, they managed to drink themselves into a stupor at least twice and on one such occasion, they tried to teach Bugak one of the card games they picked up in Númenor. Until the utmost amusement of Galadriel and the horror of the brothers, they lost spectacularly to the orc and the elves were forbidden from betting games with the dwarves before they lost more than their dignity alone.
Arondir and Adar had by now become quite inseparable, something Elrond had commented on to Galadriel after their first two nights in Khazad-Dum. Elrond found it ironic yet heart warming that the two former enemies of each other, who even had to be separated as they almost went toe to toe back when Rivendell was nothing more than a collection of tents, had now become a pair who trusted each other more than anything else in the world. It was rare to ever see either of them without the other.
The two humans in their midst were definitely the most carefree in appearance of them all. Of course they did not have the threat of an angry King looming over them, Elrond thought darkly. Elendil was in high spirits with his son safely by his side and both of them were getting on rather well with the dwarves. Elrond had noticed how humans and dwarves looked more similar to each other in behaviour than they themselves would like to realize. Despite the difference in appearance, their spirits were almost akin.
Camnir had not suffered from another bout of panic flooding his mind but it was clear that he was not fully at ease with the prospect of Gil-Galad’s arrival any time soon. The others within Elrond’s company tried their hardest to distract the Cartographer from his gloomy thoughts that kept invading him but to no avail. Disa took it on herself personally to make sure that the crestfallen elf kept up his spirits, treating him almost like her own son.
After five days of spending their time within Khazad-Dum, the company started to grow restless and Elrond debated on whether he should continue his journey towards Lindon until two dwarven scouts reported, late in the morning, that a company of elves was making their way towards their stone gateway. Camnir grew more restless than ever while Elrond and Galadriel both mentally prepared themselves to face their agitated High-King.
The morning turned to late afternoon when Gil-Galad had assembled himself in front of the stone gateway together with a band of his most trusted guards many of whom Vorohil and Beriedir knew very well. The elven King had demanded an audience with the ruler of Khazad-Dum so Durin made his way down towards the entrance with Elrond and Galadriel in tow while the others remained behind either inside Durin’s quarters or somewhere else within the large city. Durin exited the small stone gate and faced the elven ruler head on.
“High-King of the Noldor, what purpose brings you here to our humble dwarven city.” Durin began politely.
“Where is my herald?” Ereinion demanded from Durin who looked increasingly agitated by the rather rude manners of the Noldor ruler. Durin was tempted to remind the gold-cloaked elf that he was addressing a fellow King but his friend interrupted him before he could.
“I am here, my King.” Elrond replied having appeared from the gates with Galadriel beside him. The Half-Elf was surprised by the rather large entourage their High-King brought along with him to Khazad-Dum. He silently wondered whether Gil-Galad would have laid siege upon Khazad-Dum if Durin kept giving him evasive answers to his whereabouts.
“Peredhel!” Ereinion glowered. “Where have you been? I have received the strangest rumours when I traveled to Rivendell myself after my messengers reported that you had gone missing and no one within the refuge could give me a clear indication where you had gone to.”
Elrond walked up to his King and bowed politely. “I have merely been aiding a friend, my King. The rumours you must have heard about me, I assure you they are not correct. King Durin here had nothing to do with my quest so please do not blame him for my absence.”
“If that is true, then why are you hiding here rather than immediately returning to Rivendell?” The King demanded to know with suspicion in his eyes that told Elrond that he did not quite believe his story.
“I am not hiding here.” Elrond stated firmly, feeling his frustrations rise within like a raging storm.
“We have been invited here.” Galadriel cut across as she left the gate and joined Elrond’s side before his confrontation with the King could turn sour. The last thing they needed was another conflict with Gil-Galad as she doubted Ereinion would let Elrond off that easily this time when he had done so after his reckless jump from the waterfall.
Ereinion glanced irritably towards Galadriel for a moment but decided until their immense relief to not pursue the subject for now. “I would prefer it that my Herald and Lord of Rivendell is available to receive communications from his King.” Ereinion added as an after note. “A King shouldn’t have to chase his subjects down in order to get a message across.”
“I am very sorry my King.” Elrond apologized with another polite small bow. “It was never my intention to avoid you. As I have said, I was merely aiding a friend of mine and in the process I have discovered important information that you must know.”
“Why don’t ya all come inside, I have a more appropriate environment for such discussions.” Durin suggested not unkindly trying to defuse the situation between the three of them.
Ereinion frowned for a moment but decided to accept the dwarven King’s proposal. “Very well King Durin. But I haven’t got long Elrond, so keep it brief. The Númenoreans are assembling their forces upon the shores of Mithlond as we speak.”
Elrond was grateful for Durin’s suggestion as they all made they way back inside Khazad-Dum. Gil-Galad left his guard outside, trusting in the close friendship between his Herald and the dwarven King for his own personal safety. Ereinion had never been inside of the underground city before and like the other elves and men, he had a similar reaction upon seeing the magnitude of the place on the now, to Elrond, familiar long stone narrow ledge. Galadriel and Elrond accompanied their King onto the platform elevator as they descended down and made their way back to the throne room rather than Durin’s quarters. Galadriel had to put in some effort to keep her face straight at the thought of Gil-Galad’s former dining table being now inside of Durin’s home. She imagined that it was probably the chief reason why Durin led them to the throne room instead.
They settled themselves down at another long table when Vorohil and Beriedir joined their King in great confusion. The two brothers had been seated at a nearby table and nearly chocked on their drinks when they saw the familiar golden cloak from the corners of their eyes. They quickly stashed something underneath the table and approached Gil-Galad with a nervous look on both their faces. “High-King!” Vorohil called out while both of them bowed deeply.
“I imagined you would be here as well following the Peredhel around.” The King spoke with a sigh. He waved them away with his hand as the former Royal guards took their place around the table. Ereinion settled his eyes back on his Herald. “So what is it that you wanted me to know?”
“My King. We have received reliable information that the Deceiver has forged another ring deep within the Southlands.” Elrond began.
“What? How do you know this, who told you this?” Ereinion interrupted with an exasperated gasp.
“We are in close contact with the survivors and Númenoreans at Pelargir.” Galadriel replied before Elrond could caught himself up in his own little white lie exposing their unsanctioned trip deep within Mordor.
“And how do you know these reports are to be reliable.” Ereinion pressed on, feeling that both Galadriel and Elrond were hiding something big from him. He knew that they had gone for at least weeks in the time it took for his messengers to travel back and forth from Rivendell to Lindon followed by himself making the journey towards the new elven settlement. He seriously doubted that they had been hiding inside Khazad-Dum for all this time but knew that Durin had something to do with it or at least knew more about their true intentions, but the dwarven King had stubbornly refused to provide him with any clear answers.
“We currently have a Númenorean in our midst who traveled from Pelargir to here in order of giving this important information to us. He is the son of Elendil, the Sea Captain who has been of great help to us in Númenor. I trust Elendil with my life and so I trust in his son’s words. Sauron has a new weapon, one with which he can dominate the other rings, including ours.”
Gil-Galad pinched his nose and sighed deeply. “So, if I am going to entertain you two for a moment and assume this news is true, you are saying that the rings are compromised?”
“Yes my King.” Elrond answered. “Time has never been so urgent to us before as now. We need to gather our allies and travel deep within the Southlands to apprehend the Deceiver before he throws the entire world out of balance through the influence of his ring. He already has the nine with which he tries to corrupt humans to his cause. He attempted to corrupt Elendil’s son himself but fortunately failed in his effort.” Elrond sat back and folded his arms on the table.
Ereinion wasn’t too sure how to respond to this news but both elves seated in front of him seemed certain of their cause and even the dwarven ruler appeared to be on their side and he saw no reason why any of them would make up a story like this. “If you want to, you can talk to Elendil and his son Isildur, they are both here as well.” Elrond quickly added, seeing the doubt on his King’s face.
This particular news seemed to amuse Gil-Galad a little. He knew that Elrond had a talent for diplomacy and he had to concede that his Herald did wonders when it came to renewing their friendship with the dwarves and here he was in front of him, spending his time in the company of men, uruks and dwarves as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. Despite his anger at his missing Herald, he had to admit that he had come to rely heavily upon his diplomatic skills.
“Very well. I trust in your judgement for now Peredhel. We will gather our allies at Rivendell and make plans to move our armies south if you believe Sauron to be there.”
Elrond nodded gratefully and Galadriel smiled for her friend’s sake. “I will join you of course as well at Rivendell with my army.” Durin spoke up while winking at Elrond. The dwarven King found it rather amusing that the elves were willing to lie to their own King about their trip towards Pelargir.
“I am grateful for your continued support to defeat Sauron the Deceiver.” Ereinion replied politely to the dwarven King. He turned his attention once more onto Elrond. “The Númenoreans have started to slowly gather their forces at Mithlond. I will send a messenger at once to move them to Rivendell.”
“You should include that both Elendil and Isildur will be waiting for their Queen at Rivendell.” Galadriel mentioned as an afterthought. “I think Miriel would appreciate it knowing that her most trusted advisor is doing well and has been of great help to our cause.”
“Of course.” Ereinion replied off-hand.
“There is one more thing I wanted to discuss before you leave.” Elrond continued.
“What is it Peredhel?” The elven King replied.
“I do not think it is safe for us to use our rings as long as Sauron is in the possession of the one.” Elrond’s eyes glanced downwards towards the red rock adorned on one of the King’s fingers. “We are afraid that Sauron might use his abilities to influence us through his ring even though the elven rings are free of his corruption.” Elrond added in a hurry seeing how Ereinion did not like to hear this particular bit of information.
“Do not push things too far Elrond, that decision lies far above your station.” The King replied annoyed. “I will decide whether we continue to rely on the power of the rings, that responsibility does not fall onto your shoulders.”
“Of course my King.” Elrond replied politely but slightly annoyed. “I was merely trying to protect ourselves, I never attempted to interfere with your authority.”
Ereinion rose from his seat and as he did, both Elrond and Galadriel got up as well. “Very well. I will settle within Rivendell until our forces have gathered there. I expect to see you both soon there.” He put an emphasis on the word soon in case his Herald had once more concocted another plan within his mind to disappear.
He turned his attention towards Durin and bowed ever so slightly. “I thank you for your hospitality King Durin and look forward in working together to bring down the Deceiver.”
Durin bowed back and smiled. “Of course. We all have plenty enough reasons to defeat Sauron and I won’t stop until I avenge the death of my father and destroy the wicked rings the Deceiver has forged for us.”
Ereinion’s eyes traveled to his former guards and spotted a rather familiar looking cloak pin laying on a table they had abandoned in a hurry when he entered the room. “Who else has followed you here Elrond?” The King asked sharply.
Elrond’s eyes followed his and widened at the sight of the pin that must have been left behind by Bugak as he was entertaining the brothers by joining in a play of cards and beaten them at it. The orc had still been wearing Camnir’s cloak despite being safely away from any direct sunlight. The Half-Elf didn’t wish to agitate his King further by admitting that they brought an orc along with them so he answered with a half-lie.
“Camnir is here with me as well. That is his cloakpin, he must have forgotten to take it with him while we dined here last evening.” Elrond answered promptly.
“Very well. I will see you back in Rivendell soon, take care Peredhel.” The King replied before receiving a full honour’s escort back towards the stone gateway. Elrond remained behind with both Galadriel and Durin with a frown on his face. Gil-Galad’s refusal to take off the ring was concerning but it still didn’t feel good lying to his face. At least not all had been a lie, Camnir was truly here within Khazad-Dum and that was his actual cloak pin. Isildur did really travel from Pelargir, the only thing they omitted was their own presence down south.
“Well, that proved to be less disastrous than I had imagined.” Durin called out cheerfully from behind them. “Fortunately for your gold-feathered peacock, I already had my army mobilized and ready to move out in case I needed to chase you down lad.”
Vorohil and Beriedir moved back towards their table with the cloak pin on it and retrieved a rather bemused looking orc from underneath the table. Elrond rolled his eyes at them for nearly causing a diplomatic disaster but Vorohil just shrugged and smiled at his Commander before the three of them settled down once more to continue their game of cards.
“I wonder what the future has in store for us back in Rivendell.” Elrond mumbled softly but loud enough for Durin to pick up.
“At least ye have me by your side for once.” the dwarven King mused. “I’m rather curious how you have decorated your new little settlement. And if your King is still upset at you guys, I am happy to grant you all asylum here within Khazad-Dum.”
Elrond laughed loudly but appreciated his friend’s offer for shelter nonetheless. “Let’s see if we can put an end to Sauron’s schemes first.”
“Don’t forget to keep an eye on your King.” Durin growled. “He refuses to stop using that ring of his and I do not trust that trinket for one bit. I have seen what it did to my father and how ruinous the consequences can be if the ring takes over his mind. I have seen him stare at that rock of his longer than he dared to take a look at you two.”
The day processed without any further noticeable incidents. Durin spent the remainder of his time gathering his forces outside of the gates while Elrond and Galadriel filled in the others about their meeting with the King. Camnir nodded gratefully at the trust placed upon him by his friend but failed to suppress his laughter at Vorohil and Beriedir quickly stashing the orc out of the King’s sight but nearly getting caught because of his rather adventurous cloak pin.
It was the first time Elrond had seen his friend laugh out loud since they had set out for Eregion and hope filled his heart that Camnir would be on the right path to heal his mind. He just prayed that their upcoming confrontation with Sauron would be less complicated than all the things they had been through in the past few months.