Title: Through the Ages
Author: Mawgy
Beta: Naresha (Thanks Darling!) (Also thanks to Keiless, for the first few chapters)
Dedicated to my Boney Arse *winks* *sheep*
Rated: PG (for bullying themes) (will eventually be NC-17)
Genre: Ansgt
Warnings: Bullying. Rape and humiliation in later chapters.
Pairing: (eventually) Erestor/Glorfindel
Summary: This story follows the somewhat sordid lives of Erestor and Glorfindel from their childhood in Gondolin to re-acquaintance in Imladris, where Glorfindel is a Lord and has power over everything and everyone, and Erestor, a lowly peasant.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no money from this story… I just like to play with other people’s toys. :D
A/N: As far as age goes, I believe Elves age at half the rate of humans, so while Erestor is 20 in this chapter, he looks like a 10 year old.
Chapter 2
“Please my Lord, I really must insist. If you do not buy this circlet today then I shall be forced to sell it elsewhere,” Earane spoke with a slight quiver in his voice. *No one* told a Lord what to do.
“Is that so?” Galshor said in an amused but superior tone as he inspected the modified circlet the next day. “Very well then, I shall give you 20 pieces of gold for it.”
“20 pieces, my Lord? Forgive me but we agreed on 50. The raw materials alone cost 30, not to mention two months of manual work,” Earane gently argued.
“Well, if you think you can find another to pay 50 pieces of gold for this, then be my guest. But I warn you, jeweller, if you walk out now, I shall never offer to buy it from you again. 20 pieces is the best you shall receive from me.”
“Thankyou for your time, My Lord,” Earane said, gathering the circlet securely in a cloth bag and leaving the chamber without looking back.
~*~*~*~*~
Erestor held his books under his chin; his inkwells were in a small pouch dangling from his wrist. He walked across the field to his classroom where the other students and teacher were gathered. As he approached, he saw pupils talking animatedly behind hands, their eyes fixed on him with occasional pointing. Galdor wore a rather smug expression.
It wasn’t the first time Erestor had arrived at school to this particular scene and it no longer bothered him. It was annoying, but did not hurt him as it once had. It was obvious more gossip was being spread about him, but as he was hardly Mr. Popularity, he cared not what the rumours entailed.
Master Tamarin called the class in as Erestor joined them, though stayed apart from the others. Everyone took their usual seats as they entered. Erestor walked up the stairs after everyone else and down the main aisle so he could access his desk. However Glorfindel stuck his foot out just as Erestor was level with his seat and sent dark-haired Elf flying.
Tamarin turned around from the blackboard when he heard a loud thump and items scattering across the floor. He was not surprised to see Erestor on the floor, nor his other pupils smirking, but courtesy required him to query Erestor’s well being, even though he knew the answer would be the same as all the other times.
“Erestor, are you well?”
“Yes sir, I… I tripped.”
“Really are clumsy, aren’t you?” Glorfindel snorted. The other students laughed.
“Glorfindel, since you are in a much more talkative mood today, perhaps you would like to start the lesson by repeating the two main rules that exist in this classroom?” Tamarin said before turning back to the board to continue writing up the day’s general lesson structure.
Glorfindel rose to his feet, sending Erestor a dark look as he did. Erestor swallowed hard, gathered up his possessions and continued the rest of the way to his seat as Glorfindel rose and recited the code all in Tamarin’s class were to live by.
“No student shall ever impede their education with their own laziness.
No student has the right to interrupt another’s learning,” he sat down again.
“Thankyou for that, Glorfindel. Today we shall be reviewing your knowledge of History. Who can tell me what year Gondolin was founded in? Yes, Erestor…”
~*~*~*~*~
The morning passed as it usually did; though most of the students were more disruptive than usual as it was the last day of the school year. The lunch bell rang at 12 and everyone piled out of the classroom to eat their sandwiches and play. All except Erestor, that is. He took his big book on Human Architecture and sat on the classroom steps to read, and bit into his rotten apple.
Once the others (whom had been sitting under a tree) had finished their lunch they resumed the game they had played yesterday after school, only this time the girls joined in. Erestor looked up after some time as half of the children squealed in delight. He watched as they hugged one another and acted as if they had just saved the world from evil. The other team, however, looked rather miffed and waited for them to settle down before starting the game again. Erestor’s eyes scanned each of his fellow classmates and for the first time started to wish he could join in with their fun. His gaze continued roving until it fell on Galdor, who was staring back at him.
Erestor swallowed unconsciously and quickly put his head back down to continue his reading, though he knew it was too late. Galdor smirked and began walking towards the classroom. Coming to a stop right in front of Erestor, he raised one leg to lean onto the step the dark-haired Elf was seated upon and lunged further towards Erestor, invading his personal space.
The other students, sensing mischief, walked over to witness Galdor’s new attack on the Elfling, though they all knew what it would be about.
Erestor slowly lowered his book and raised his head to look at Galdor, his lip quivering in anticipation and his eyes wide.
“Tell me, Erestor,” Galdor said calmly yet dangerously, “how does one spell ‘insolvent’?”
Erestor frowned at the question, wondering just how thick a Lord’s son could be. But not being one to invoke more punishment than was necessary, he began reciting the spelling. “I-n—”
“WRONG!” Galdor cut him off. The other children laughed.
Erestor frowned again. Unless a new alphabet system had been invented that he knew nothing of, he was positive he was correct.
“Try again,” Galdor said in a sing-song voice with a wave of his hand.
Erestor swallowed and tried again. “I—”
“WRONG!” Galdor cried out again.
“Not very good at spelling today, is he?” Glorfindel called out callously. The other children laughed.
Erestor began to worry more so than usual. All the other times he had been bullied, he had known what the others wanted. To beat him, give him a few more bruises, humiliate him, or discredit his value as the smartest student in the class. But this mind game, this was something new, and he did not know how to play. He could feel tears pricking at his eyes, frustrated with himself because he could not work out what Galdor wanted. That, and it was the first time anyone had ever said he was wrong at spelling.
“Would you like to know how to spell it?” Galdor asked in an acid sweet tone.
Erestor nodded his head slowly as he bit his bottom lip, not sure of what was to come.
“Insolvent. E-r-e-s-t-o-r. Insolvent. Poor. Broke. Bankrupt,” Galdor smirked down on Erestor as a silent tear ran down the younger Elf’s cheek. “Would you like to know who will be out of business by the day’s end?”
Erestor shook his head, not wanting to hear any more vicious words from the young Lord.
“I think I shall tell you anyway. Well, maybe spell it for you. You are good with words, are you not? See if you can recognise this word.”
The dark Elfling could feel anger stir within him, knowing what Galdor was about to say, but tried to curb it as he clenched his jaw, his hands curling into fists.
“E-a-r-a-n-e,” Galdor smiled wickedly down on Erestor, the others also grinning behind him.
Out of all the thrashings, the rude remarks, the cruel actions and the snide behaviour shown to him this year, this was the most heartless. Erestor’s anger began to quickly build within him until it expanded into pure, unadulterated malice.
Galdor was chuckling softly at Erestor’s rather long, hard intakes of breath. The young bully was obviously pleased with his work and looked back at his peers to accept their praise. They cheered at his work then stopped suddenly as Erestor stood up, his face covered with angry tears and his mouth contorted into a malevolent snarl.
“WE ARE NOT!” he screamed and pushed Galdor hard in the chest.
Galdor fell back into the throng of stunned students and landed with a dull thud against Glorfindel and Ecthelion. All three then fell to the ground.
Erestor realised the implications of his actions the moment he touched Galdor, and looked down with wide eyes at the three Elves on the ground. They, in turn, looked at him with equally wide and shocked eyes… shock, which quickly turned to anger. They scrambled up and practically growled at Erestor.
“You *WILL* regret doing that!” Galdor called and pounced upon Erestor.
~*~*~*~*~
Master Tamarin was busy marking the small tests the students had taken just before lunch when he noticed the voices of the children playing on the field had silenced. Perplexed, Tamarin stood and looked out the window. At first he thought they had all run off, gone home since there was only half a day left of school for the year. It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened.
Opening a window, he was able to hear vague voices carried by the wind coming from near the classroom door. Frowning, Tamarin wondered why his pupils would be lining up to enter when lunch had had barely even started.
Coming back inside, he walked to the main entrance and had a quick peek outside to see what was happening. All the students were gathered around the base of the steps, focusing on Erestor. Tamarin sighed as he realised the children were obviously teasing his youngest and best student again. At times like this Tamarin was proud Erestor had not given up his studies yet, based upon what he had to put up with on a daily basis. But he did wish things could be easier for the little one.
Tamarin was about to return to his desk when he noticed a few students’ eyes were darting between the shaking child in front of them and a livid Galdor, Glorfindel and Ecthelion, their eyes clearly showing that Erestor would understand the meaning of pain in just a few moments. Deciding to salvage the situation before Erestor was seriously hurt, Tamarin opened the door.
He was just in time. Galdor had launched himself at Erestor but came up short when the teacher stepped out.
“Well, since you all seem so eager to come back inside, we may as well continue with your lessons,” Tamarin said rather smugly. Erestor did not wait for a second invitation. He picked up his book, which had fallen from his lap when he stood, and darted inside before anyone else could move.
Galdor’s jaw clenched in barely controlled anger and he stomped inside the classroom.
That afternoon, the students were exceptionally quiet. The girls twitted amongst themselves quietly over what would befall Erestor once the school bell rang. Meanwhile Galdor, Glorfindel and Ecthelion ground their teeth as they glared at the back of the dark-haired Elf’s head. The other boys watched their ringleaders’ faces become more aggressive and hate-filled as the afternoon wore on and grinned gleefully in anticipation of the after-school entertainment.
Erestor could feel the other students’ eyes boring into him from behind and as the afternoon progressed he sank lower and lower in his chair, until only his head could be seen above the desk. His heart palpitated with fear as the shadow of the teacher’s desk crept further along the floor.
Master Tamarin carefully surveyed his class and did his best to keep their minds off the impending punishment of his youngest pupil, but to little avail. None cared enough to even pretend they were paying attention, not even Erestor, his star student. Sighing at the pointlessness of it all, Tamarin let the children have free-study time for the remainder of the day.
Erestor picked up his book and buried his head between the pages. Everyone else carried on as before, but this time there was no annoying teacher to distract them from their musings every few minutes.
Time dwindled and with only ten minutes to spare, Master Tamarin handed each of the students their yearly reports and let them leave. All the students poured out the classroom but stayed on the oval, supposedly continuing their game from lunchtime. Yet not-so-discreet glances directed at the building every now and then clearly showed it was just a ruse.
Walking up the main aisle from seeing his students out, Tamarin circled the front desk and squatted down until he was level with Erestor.
“Erestor, would you like to tell me what happened during the break?” Tamarin asked in a gentle and concerned tone.
Erestor shook his head without looking up and stooped lower into his book.
“If you do not tell me I cannot help you.”
“No one can help me,” Erestor mumbled softly.
“And why is that?” Tamarin probed.
“I PUSHED A LORD!” Erestor shouted as he looked up and slammed his hands on the desk. “He can do anything to me now! Hurting me is the best I shall get! If he were to go to his father then I must give whatever he demands as retribution. Worse yet, my Ada may have to pay what little we have for the damage I have caused!” Erestor cried despairingly as tears started to fall down his cheeks and he collapsed back into his seat.
“How do you know he won’t hurt you and then go on to seek further vengeance?”
Erestor looked up from his lap fearfully, clearly showing he had not thought of that eventuality, but he said nothing.
“What was he doing before you pushed him?” Tamarin asked, wanting to keep the child talking.
“He was taunting me,” Erestor whispered, lowering his eyes in shame.
“Did he harm you physically?” Tamarin asked, looking for some reason as to why Erestor would finally fight back, having silently submitted to the other children’s abuse for so long.
Erestor shook his head, biting his lip.
“Was he threatening you?”
Another shake of denial.
“Did he promise pain was yet to come?”
Shake.
“Erestor,” Tamarin sighed, “you are not helping me here. What did he say to make you react so strongly?”
Erestor shook his head vehemently, too ashamed to voice the possible truth Galdor had uttered and the simultaneously lame remark that had sent him into a bout of anger.
“Erestor, please. If you do not tell me I can do nothing to aid you, neither in defence nor in support.”
Erestor breathed in loudly, wiped the tears from his face and looked up at his teacher in his usual detached manner.
“Have you acquired the list of reading material I requested yesterday, sir?”
“Erestor,” Tamarin said in firm tone. “Please tell me. I shall think no less of you.”
Erestor remained impassive.
“I will find out eventually, though by then I doubt I can be of any help to you,” Tamarin tried again.
“The list, if you please sir,” Erestor spoke resolutely. The teacher sighed in frustration and walked three paces to his desk to pick up the list of books for Erestor to read and placed it on the young one’s table. Erestor quickly scanned the titles and nodded to himself, believing them to be sufficient enough to further his education. Erestor, ready to leave, stacked his books, placing the list inside one of them.
“If you can spare two minutes I shall walk you home,” Tamarin offered as casually as possible as he turned back to wipe the blackboard clean. The door closing behind the small retreating figure was decline enough for him. Despite his desire to stop what was about to happen, he knew that interfering would result in a stronger punishment for Erestor, and would also bring some form of reproach upon himself. Sitting down he began to clean out his desk for the summer, doing his best to block out the commotion that was about to occur.
~*~*~*~*~
The moment Erestor stepped from the safe confines of the classroom all heads on the field turned to him, the ball rolling along the ground forgotten. Shaking, Erestor held on tight to his books and started walking home, avoiding eye contact with all near him.
Galdor, Glorfindel and Ecthelion narrowed their eyes as they watched the slight figure with a bowed head and slumped shoulders walk along the field’s edge towards home.
Clenching his jaw, Galdor began striding towards the younger Elfling, his bully buddies following closely behind. The rest of the class gathered and walked behind, but with some distance between them.
Galdor’s quick pace and longer legs had him soon catching up to and overtaking Erestor until he stood in the other’s path. Glorfindel and Ecthelion came to stand just behind their target, one on either side, creating an engulfing triangle around him.
Gulping audibly, Erestor stopped in his tracks and raised his scared, dark eyes to Galdor’s hate-filled orbs.
“I am sorry for pushing you, my Lord,” Erestor said softly in a trembling voice.
“No, you’re not. But, you will be soon.” Galdor grinned maliciously, obviously enjoying the sight of Erestor trembling before him.
In the meantime, the rest of the class gathered in a circle around the four Elves, all struggling for the best view.
Faster than the eye could see, Galdor’s fist flew into the side of Erestor’s jaw. Erestor dropped his books and stumbled back into the waiting arms of Glorfindel and Ecthelion.
The scuffle had begun.
TBC
Parmasambe
Library of Imladris
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.