Chapter Text
Golden light sifted gently through the stately trees of Rivendell, reflecting gracefully onto the valley of Imladris and causing it to glow. The only people awake were the warriors who trained in the field, leaving the rest of the Valley to awaken. It was the end of Spring, and logically, all soldiers were eager to pass their exams that would take place that afternoon. Then, after that, and when all the new advancing warriors were chosen, summer would start a new training season. The Elves who didn't move up would have the summer off, and would start back up in the fall. However, it was probably for the best, as this training season would be a much harder one, only because almost all of the Elves would be advancing that year, as careful study showed, so Glorfindel thought it would be fair to increase the work. A lot, and as a result, new trainers and helpers were also to be summoned. Over all, today would be a busy day.
In the House of Elrond, Lord Glorfindel walked slowly down the hall from his room, busily thumbing through a sheaf of papers. It was very early in the morning, a little after sunrise, and he had just finished the very last training session of the year. This afternoon, he and his second in command, Captain Faron would be overseeing the final assessments. Then, a week later, the fun would begin, but for now, he just wanted to relax with breakfast.
The Elven Lord continued across the dining pavilion, attention fixed on the reports he held. As he looked at the pages, he realized with some shock, that the smaller elflings had taken their assessments only yesterday. How had he forgotten that? Why had he not been present? An annoyed glare flitted across his face as he approached the table. He had missed a whole assessment! What was he even doing at the time. The Gondolin elf's mind wandered back to yesterday afternoon, searching his memory. Suddenly he scowled. He had been stuck in a meeting, and he hadn't even realized it. Glorfindel wanted to slap himself.
As it was, he guessed that Faron had overseen it in his stead. He trusted the warrior greatly, and knew that he'd bring him an accurate report, but he still wanted to slap himself. He'd never done that before, never had a training session slipped his mind, not even way back in the time of Gondolin.
"Ah, Glorfindel, you're here." A voice pulled him out of his turbulent thoughts and he noticeably flinched, blinking rapidly. Elrond was at the edge of the table, an eyebrow raised in his direction. Seated beside him, Celebrían looked up with a smile, obviously having seen his distracted reaction.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked him as he sat down across from Lord Elrond. Glorfindel smiled dismissively and set the reports on the floor beside him, easing himself down into the wooden chair. Beside him, the twins practically jumped out of their seats with cheers.
"Ada, Glorfy's here-"
"Can we eat now-?"
"I'm starving!" The two rapidly finished each other's sentences, looking from their father, to Glorfindel. Elrond smiled warmly at them and nodded. The two had an uncanny tendency to know what the other was going to say, and usually ended up either interrupting each other, or finishing the others thoughts.
"Yes, you may." The half elf replied, nodding to the servants. Immediately, as if coming out of the shadows, a group of cooks swarmed the table with plates. Elladan, the older of the two, immediately dived for the bread, grabbing a piece before Elrond could even blink. Celebrían glared at her son and cleared her throat meaningfully, causing the older twin to freeze, looking guiltily up to her.
"Sorry," he muttered, putting the roll back and seating himself firmly in his chair. "Please pass the bread." Celebrían raised both her eyebrows and tilted her head in approval, lifting the platter of warm, crusty rolls and passing it to her son.
"So Elladan and Elrohir tell me they took their assessments yesterday," Elrond said conversationally, dishing himself some fruit and eggs. Elrohir perked up at that and grinned, jumping up and down in his chair.
"Far'n says 'm gettin' 'etter at arche'y!" The younger brother exclaimed through a mouthful of honey soaked bread. Celebrían rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, putting down her fork in exasperation.
"Sweetie, we do not talk with our mouths full at the table." She chided gently, pinning her son with a stare. It wasn't an angry stare, but it wasn't a happy stare either. It was the stare of a mother, a disapproving one at that. Elrohir turned red with shame and shrunk back into his chair, muttering an apology. Elrond hid a grin.
"Yes they did," the Glorfindel continued, peeling a boiled egg. As he pulled off the shell, it tore off some of the white with it, causing the whole thing to fall apart. Glorfindel glared, letting it fall uselessly on his plate.
"And how did they do?" Celebrían asked eagerly, having heard no word on them. Elrond would have told her, but as he knew nothing of the matter, he couldn't. It stood to the fact that both he and Glorfindel were cursed to be at that meeting yesterday. At her words, the golden haired Ellon looked up from the slaughtered egg, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't actually know..." He looked over at his reports and thought for a second, "Faron should be bringing me a full report on all the students by this afternoon, before the rest of the warriors have their exams." He already knew that they did well, as he had been watching their progress for a while. But he didn't have any specifics. Elrond nodded reasonably and stabbed a grape with his fork, holding the utensil carelessly in one hand. Celebrían smiled brightly, laughing musically.
"I'm sure they did very well." Their mother said easily, having full confidence in her two sons. She wasn't a warrior by any means, but she did know the makings of one when she saw them. She had been alive long enough to know. However, as was natural for all mothers, she still had a small nagging fear. It probably meant nothing, and she hoped it didn't, but the Elleth was still anxious. The Lady wasn't necessarily concerned for how they did in their exams, but rather for something else. If they did indeed pass them, which she was sure of, they had a hard summer in front of them. Glorfindel may have taken it easy on them this season, but once they graduated to the next level, all mercy would be gone. Not to mention, the two would be going into an almost totally unfamiliar environment.
There would be new trainers, new skills, and not to mention all the new kids -some bullies, as she knew very well. Celebrían had seen the summer training before, and the one thing she always noticed, was how competitive it was. Almost dangerously so. Elladan and Elrohir were fine with competitive things, they did it all the time. But she couldn't help the nagging fear, that this year would be different somehow. She didn't know why she felt that way, as again, she couldn't have had more confidence in her boys. But the fact was, that she did. And she didn't know how right she was.