This tale begins in a kitchen. Specifically the kitchens of Imladris. Young Gileryn was a newly arrived guest among the Noldor elves of the valley, and was still somewhat of a mind to do things himself instead of asking. This included feeding himself. While yes, there was already bread made, he did not know if that was made for someone or simply stock. So the young elf felt the best choice was to make his own bread.
The flour was high up on a shelf above the doorway. So Gileryn made the obvious choice. He got a stool to stand on. He was halfway through pulling the bag of flower from the shelf when he heard footsteps approaching and dashed away to hide in the cubbards. His mother used to anger at him playing in the kitchen or making things without her there. He thought it may be much the same in Imladris, and did not want trouble.
An elleth whose name Gileryn did not know entered the kitchen just as the bag of flour slid the rest of the way off the shelf. What a mess!! She had stopped to pick up the foot stool and was now covered in flour!
Gileryn could not help his laughter, such was the sight. The startled look on her face had been hilarious. He had not intended the flour to fall upon anyone. Regardless it was still funny. So Gileryn thought before the angered elf maid dragged him from the cubbard by the arm. "You prankster!!! You did this!!"
Gileryn protested, "Nay I did not!! Honest! I only hid because I thought someone would be mad at me for trying to make bread on my own! I was hungry!" Gileryn grew confused and a bit frightened she had been hurt as tears welled up in her eyes. The Elleth swatted him once on the backside with a wood spoon ,"You are a poor liar! If you were hungry you could have just asked! Get out little Goblin!! Out! Out! I shall clean this myself!"
So Gileryn dashed from the kitchens with a smarting backside, his gait slowing as he heard the cook sobbing. He lingered in the hall, somewhat worried. Ai, was she hurt? He truly had not meant for the flour to upend itself on her. It had simply happened that way and he thought it funny. Gileryn startled as a heavy hand was set upon his shoulder. Gileryn whirled around to face Elrond, and Glorfindel. The Lords had been on their way there for supper. Ai! He was in so much trouble now!
"I did not mean to hurt her! Truly! The bag fell by it-", "Hush a moment young one and dry your eyes." Elrond spoke in hushed tones. "I heard what my ears tell me, but even hearing can lead to presumptions. Walk with us to the balcony. You can tell me there what happened."
The three of them walked to the balcony, Gileryn's head hanging the whole way. Once there, he told them from start to finish what had happened. "I had been hungry, and there was none in the kitchens at the time. I did not know if the bread already made was for soldiers or for anyone to eat. I did not wish to take someone else's dinner so I tried to make my own. Mother used to get mad at me for being in the kitchen, or making things without her there. I thought it would be the same here. I had been halfway through pulling the flour from the shelf when I heard the cook coming, and hid in the cubbard. Then it fell on her and I laughed, and she became angry."
Elrond and Glorfindel both caught on to what the youth had not said. Glorfindel knelt in front of Gileryn, one forearm rested upon his knee. "Heed me Gileryn. This Valley is a place of safety. You need not worry of rationing or orcs for as long as you are here. If you want something, ask. While you may not have intended the flour to fall upon her, you left it in a position where it could easily fall. It may have been an accident you had not intended, but had you been more careful it would not have happened at all and she would not be upset. You owe the cook an apology."
Elrond stepped foreword and laid a hand upon Gileryn's head. "Gileryn, you are in the difficult position of being an orphan. You miss your parents very much, yes?" The young elf looked up at the Lord with wet green eyes and spoke, "Aye Lord Elrond. Every day. We both miss them very much. Some days it is all either of us can think about."
Elrond nodded, appeased with the awnser. "Then you understand well the pain of most here. My lands are a refuge for any who seek healing, emotional or physical. Many elves travel from very far and arrive heartbroken. Much as you and your brother did. The cook is one of these elves. Her lover was slain three years past in a border skirmish outside of Lothlorien. She is rather prone to extreme bouts of melancholy at slight provocations due to her grief.... Such as small falling bags of flour. Glorfindel is right. Accident it may have been, you should apologize. I will say this only once Gileryn. Be more careful in your pranks and mischief. I know you are not malicious and mean no harm in your play, but your actions affect others around you. Do you understand?"
" Yes. I understand. Thank you Lord Glorfindel and Lord Elrond. I don't think just an apology will do here. She needs a friend. I shall go find her one!" Gileryn bowed to the both of them then ran off in a sprint to do just that. Glorfindel chuckled and stood as the young elf all but ran out from beneath Elrond's hand. "We did not even have to punish him. He did it all on his own. Ai Lord Elrond! Why could not your children take so well to being scolded?" The blond elf joked as he watched Gileryn dash away.
Elrond sighed in resignation, "According to his tutors he takes quite poorly to being scolded by anyone save his twin. I think we may be somewhat intimidating to one so young. I'm fairly sure that helped. I am still unsure if his pranks are cries for attention, or if they mean he is comfortable here. Another time. We should go help the cook calm herself and clean the kitchens."
Three days later found Gileryn in the kitchens again, not only apologizing to the cook, but with a frog. A little song frog he had caught out by the lake and put into a cracked glass vase another elf had been trying to get rid of. The frog itself was missing half of one leg and could not hop very well. But it still sang beautifully at dusk and dawn. The cook had been so taken with the little gift, that she had not only forgiven Gileryn, but had given him a woven grass bracelet. "Gileryn, if you ever feel overwhelmed by your sadness, take the bracelet off and throw it to the ground and all of your sadness with it. when you feel you can carry the burden once more, you put it back on. Do not let yourself fall to grief, do not wear your sorrow like manacles and chains that bear you down. Stay strong and stand with your burden."
Gileryn thanked her, and took the woven bracelet back to another elf who seemed to need it more than he. With Lord Elrond and Lord Glorfindel's words in mind, he gave the melancholy elf Dillothwen the woven bracelet and shared the tale the cook told him in hopes it may help her.
