Calm Before the Storm by StarSpray

Chapter 1

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Ost-in-Edhil was busy as a beehive when Elrond arrived. Smoke billowed from forges, and bells were ringing, and many voices in different parts of the city were singing many different songs. He rode past a party of Dwarves arguing with a trader attempting to sell his wares—ponies, in this case—and gaggles of children racing each other through the streets. Some called out greetings to him, which he responded to with smiles and waves, but did not stop until he reached the workshops of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain. He thought that Celebrimbor might have once had a house of his own elsewhere in the city, but if that were so Elrond had never seen it.

He found Celebrimbor on that afternoon in the glass blowing workshop, a huge room with many Elves and Men and Dwarves at work learning or teaching or working on intricate projects. Celebrimbor himself was watching a lesson in progress, while idly sketching in a notebook. When he saw Elrond in the doorway he smiled, and gestured for him to remain where he was as he moved to weave his way through the busy room. "Elrond!" he said once they were outside. "I was not expecting you so soon. How was your journey?"

"Uneventful," Elrond replied. "How are things here?" They fell into step beside one another through the wide corridors between the workshops, and Celebrimbor talked at length and with great enthusiasm of the different projects they were undertaking, and the discoveries made. Elrond listened with some disquiet, for it seemed that more often than not Annatar had his hand in whatever it was that Celebrimbor spoke of.

Annatar himself met them as they stepped outside into one of the many courtyards. He was as Elrond remembered him from his brief visit to Lindon, with rich robes and pale skin and thick dark hair into which was woven a great number of jeweled ornaments. He did not look as though he had spent a single minute in a forge or workshop. He bowed to Elrond and greeted him cordially, and if there was something mocking in his voice, it could easily be Elrond's imagination. And of course once Annatar had entered the conversation, he did not leave it. At least it seemed as though he had truly brought knowledge and new thoughts to the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, and that knowledge was being spread freely throughout the city and to anyone who passed through.

And anyone who objected could leave. Elrond did not like to talk of Galadriel before Annatar, and so he did not manage during his stay in Ost-in-Edhil to get Celebrimbor's side of the rift that had driven her across the mountains to Amdir's realm. When Galadriel's name was spoken, Elrond had to bite his tongue to keep from responding sharply to the subtle but disparaging remarks Annatar managed to slip in, almost unnoticed. Never anything outright objectionable, never anything he could hope to bring up with Celebrimbor later—he doubted Celebrimbor even heard.

All else in the city was well. Celebrimbor split his time between administration and his workshops, and if he was less skilled in the former than the latter it was made up for by the fact that he was very good at delegation. Elrond had hoped to meet with Celeborn while in Eregion, but he was away on a hunting trip, and from what Elrond could gather he would take his time in returning. Eregion was thriving, its fields fertile and its forests overflowing with game; trade with Khazad-dûm continued to the pleasure of both sides, and Elrond slipped briefly through the West Gate to pass Gil-galad's greetings to King Durin.

At last, his visit ended, and Celebrimbor went with him to the borders of Eregion; Annatar chose to stay behind, to Elrond's relief. "Tell Gil-galad I am about to start a great work," Celebrimbor said as they passed beneath a grove of tall holly trees laden, their dark leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. "My Silmarils, perhaps you could say—but what I am making is not to be locked up in a vault to be guarded jealously as dragon-treasure," he added, his jaw set in a way that Elrond suspected looked very much like Fëanor himself. "I am making them to give away—to Galadriel, if she'll ever speak to me again, and to Gil-galad, at the least."

"What are you making?" Elrond asked.

Celebrimbor's smile flashed like sunlight on clear water. "I won't ruin the surprise any further. Tell Gil-galad to expect a special gift sometime soon! Farewell, Elrond. I hope we'll meet again soon."

"Farewell, Celebrimbor," said Elrond. "I wish you good fortune in all your endeavors."