"Gandalf!" King Elrond sat astride his horse, looking at Gandalf with a smile.
"Lord Elrond, my old friend, where have you been?"
"We hunted down a group of half-orcs from the south. We also saw some half-orc corpses along the way. Did you kill them?" King Elrond dismounted as he spoke and gave Gandalf a warm embrace. "It's strange that half-orcs have come so close to our borders. Clearly, something or someone lured them here."
He had spoken Elvish in the first half of his sentence, then switched to the Common Tongue for the latter half. Clearly, the second part was meant for everyone to hear.
Gandalf was quite honest and immediately said, "Ah, that might be because of us!"
Only then did the dwarves relax slightly, though their gazes toward the surrounding elves still held hostility. Clearly, they still resented the fact that when Erebor had been destroyed by the dragon, King Thranduil of the Woodland Elves had chosen to stand by and do nothing.
King Elrond greeted Thorin warmly and welcomed him, only to have his friendliness met with Thorin's cold shoulder.
Even so, he continued to display his magnanimity—
The dwarves were escorted inside by the elves.
Grey Wizard Gandalf was clearly one of King Elrond's honored guests. He was invited inside for a private conversation, giving An Yang only a look before leaving and ignoring Thorin. An Yang and Baggins, meanwhile, were invited to the dining hall with the dwarves to enjoy a fairly lavish dinner by elven standards.
But the dwarves did not seem particularly appreciative.
Ori, the youngest of the three dwarf brothers, was holding a piece of fresh green vegetable and looking troubled. Beside him, his elder brother Dori kept urging him on. "Try it. Come on, just take one bite!"
Ori hurriedly