Untitled

This is an amazing story written by a close friend of mine. She, unfortunatly, is afraid to publish it. I'm hoping that your reviews will help her see what a great writer she is and convince her to publish it. Thanks in advance for the reviews!

 

Act 1: The Meeting

Chapter 1

Little Eleniel was boiling mad at her brothers Elladan and Elrohir. They never let her play with them anymore. Just because she was a girl didn’t mean she didn’t like to play “war” or getting dirty in the process. Her family had come to Lorien, to visit her grandparents Galadriel and Celeborn, a fortnight ago. And the 10 year old elleth was in desperate need of some playmates, because of her brothers certain no they had given her.

Some may wonder how it is possible for such a young elf to cover as much ground as Eleniel had, or how she managed to sneak past so many watchful elvin eyes. But it did happen, and now Eleniel, daughter of Elrond and Celebrían, was most certainly lost. In the middle of the Golden Woods, miles from were she had started, and ignorant to that fact, she was still mad at her brothers.

‘Just because they’re older than me doesn’t mean they can boss me around. They’re only a few hours older than me… I didn’t really want to play with them anyway.’

After sometime, no one is quite sure when, the little head started to cool and tiny feet tire. Causing Eleniel to realize something, it was starting to get dark, and she had no idea were she was! No mater, she would go back the way she came… if only she knew which way that was. After pondering what to do, a little bird’s song caught her attention.

“That way is as good as any,” Eleniel said out loud as she started off in the general direction of the song. Maybe she’ll even get to see the birdie.

But the nightingale didn’t let itself to be seen this day.

~*~

Lothlórien about the Same Time

Castiel was getting more frazzled by the minute; she had just gotten Elladan and Elrohir down from a very high and very thin tree branch. She could almost swear they were part squirrel with how fast they were. She sighed as they rushed off to pester the unlucky elf passing, which just happened to be the Lord Glorfindel. Finally a break, those two were going to drive her insane soon. At least Eleniel wasn’t adding to the chaos today. Thinking of Eleniel, were was she? It had been a while since Castiel had last seen her; maybe she went to look at the fountains again. Or more likely jump into the fountains and splash around again.

The elleth paled at the thought of a very muddy and wet elf child, running around in the Lady of Light’s home. Quickly getting up to stop the imagined problem before it happened, because isn’t that the best time to stop disasters. Before they dripped on the expensive carpets, left grimy hand prints on the walls and before the glassware got broken, Castiel ran.

~*~

Somewhere In the Golden Wood

The birdie had soon been forgotten, to be replaced by a big, orange and yellow butterfly, its shimmering wings taunting Eleniel to follow and try to and catch, as it flitted to and fro. Over rocks, moss, and fallen trees, the chase went. Little hands trying to grasp a figurative wisp of air, as the sun steadily marched closer to the west.

~*~

At one of the many Border Posts

Haldir shifted his quiver to a more comfortable position, as the rest of his fellow contingent left for the city. Their three year stay at the borders was over, and everyone was eager to get back to home and family.

It had been his first full-length assignment at the borders, and he was as eager as the others. But he needed some time to be alone and to reflect, before getting back to his brothers. It was guaranteed that they would both keep him up well into the night catching up, and informing him of the latest news. No-one noticed the lone elf slip from the back of the merry group, heading into the thick wood.

~*~

Back in the City

Two hours had gone by, and no one in the whole city had seen Eleniel. After Castiel had been unable to locate the missing child, many others had been asked to join in the search. Including Eleniel’s father, Lord Elrond, who had quickly put together search parties to look outside the city limits, when it became obvious that she had gotten out unseen and unheard.

~*~

Back to Eleniel

Sharp pricks of pain shot up Eleniel’s hands and knees as she got up from the rocky stream bed. She hadn’t been watching were she was going in the half-light, and had fallen because of it. Luckily it was mid-summer, or she would have fallen into the stream and swept away, instead of the now exposed river bed. Hungry and tired, Eleniel saw the sun sink even farther. Causing shadows to lengthen, casting an eerie light over the quiet forest, increasing her discomfort and apprehension.

She wished she was still with her brothers and Castiel, their nurse-maid. Or even better with her Ada and Naneth, in Grandmother’s sitting room listening to Grandfather’s fairy stories, surrounded by the warmth and comfort of family. She started at a loud splash, and turned in time to see a large rock settling at the bottom of the stream.

Tears running down the frightened face, the lost little soul, scuttled underneath a small ledge, curling up into a small ball. Hours seemed to go by as time dragged on, but in truth only 15 minutes had passed. She worked up the courage to speak, or at least try to.

“Ead-dar,” was the first mangled attempt, perhaps it would come out better a second time.

“A-adar…Ada, I-Im gost-ta.”*

*Translation: Daddy, Daddy, I’m afraid.

 

Chapter 2

 

Haldir walked along the banks of a fair sized stream that cut off from the River Nimrodel quite a ways back. About a mile down the current slowed and the stream deepened eventually turning into a fair sized pond. His father had often taken him and the family swimming on a warm summer’s day, not that long ago, at least for an elf. But now that both of their parents had left for the undying lands, the brothers rarely came here anymore…

 

The ellon stiffened at a slight sound,

 

‘What was that?’ he thought, ‘It sounded like crying, but why would anyone be this far from the city and at night.’

‘It was coming from under a small ledge. Oh, by the Valar! It was a young elf child. She looked to only 5 or 6 in human years, so she was only about 10 years of age… and she was incredibly dirty.    

 

Talking softly to lost child, Haldir tried not to scare her, for she had not yet seen him.

 

“Suilaind, little one.”*

 

She started at the greeting, and was quite terrified for an instant before realizing that the elf before her meant no harm. The first words out of her mouth were;

 

“Do you know where my ada is?” 

 

~*~

<Eleniel’s POV>

 

Eleniel crawled out from the ledge and looked into the ellon’s face as he told her that he would take her back to the city to find her father. Or tried to look at his face, even though he was kneeling down he was still much taller than her. He was almost as tall as Uncle Glorfindel, which is very tall, even for an elf.

 

She tiredly fidgeted as Haldir, he had told her his name, gently bandaged the cuts on her hands and knees. He even gave her some lembas bread when her tummy growled very loudly. After about 10 minutes of silence in the dark as the ellon carried her, Eleniel started to get bored… very bored, and had many questions about her rescuer. Haldir just kept walking, completely clueless about the bombardment about to hit him.

 

Eleniel took a deep breath…

 

~*~

<Haldir’s POV>

 

Haldir couldn’t believe how fast the child could talk; one would think that after being lost, for who knew how long, would be able to bounce back so quickly. His mind raced to keep up with Eleniel’s pace. ‘That was now 15, no, 16 questions and counting. It was getting quite late but that wasn’t stopping her, she hadn’t even paused long enough for him to answer.’ Haldir had never really felt at ease with children, even when his brothers were very young, they were too unpredictable for his liking and this situation wasn’t helping matters any.

 

‘Well there was always the place his father often took him and his brothers to calm down, when they were younger and couldn’t get it sleep. It wasn’t much farther, but he would have to have her to quite down long enough to get there, it sounded so much easier when he thought of it.    

 

“Eleniel”

She kept talking…

“Eleniel”

‘Well at least she paused this time, or maybe she was taking a breath.’

“ELENIEL, I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!”

 

Eleniel finally stopped her interrogation, looking nervous at his tone, this most likely wasn’t the first time she had gone on such a tangent.

Haldir took a deep breath and started over. “There is something I want you to see, but you have to be quiet if we are going to see it.”

Her eyes widened in understanding, as she whispered, “I’ll be quiet.”

 

~*~

<Galadriel’s POV>

 

The Lady of Light had been looking into her mirror for some time, having found her young granddaughter some time ago. She had been unable to find the lost girl until late evening but was still unable to locate Eleniel. However when the young border guard, Haldir, found her, Galadriel decided to just watch and let everything play out knowing everything would be fine.

 

She was especially glad to have done so when Eleniel had started her usual shower of questions, the ellon didn’t have a clue what to do, the look on his face was priceless. Even more amazing was how he was able to get her to stop and be quiet. Galadriel smiled as she when to sit with Celebrían, the boys had been put to bed for the night, and it would still be a little while till Haldir and Eleniel got back.

 

‘The Valar certainly have a sense of humor,’ Galadriel thought.

‘No matter how this turns out, this event’s effects on the future wouldn’t be able to be changed. It could take a few hundred years, but she could bide her time. She would need that time to get use to the idea anyway, after all Eleniel is only 10.’

 

~*~

* Suilaind: hello or greetings

 

Chapter 3

 

Punch, flip, squish, thump. Celebrían put the bread dough in a large bowl to rise and wiped the flour off her hands, to get the first loafs out of the ovens and pop the second set in. Even at a young age she had often been found in the kitchens when she had something on her mind, and this was one of those times. She sat down, with a very unladylike huff, right at the moment her mother entered the room.

 

She smiled tiredly, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

 

“You needn’t worry, Eleniel is perfectly safe. A young warden found her awhile ago, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

“I know naneth, but I can’t help but worry until I can see her myself.”

Galadriel smiled and hugged her daughter, “Well I believe we’re going to have two reasons to keep busy till they get back.”

 

Both of them looked toward the door way, and heard the patter of feet on the floor, and saw two little heads peek around the doorway. Celebrían smiled and called them in. Immediately the two boys ran in, and jumped up onto the two open laps.

 

“We can’t get to sleep naneth!”

“Can we please stay up with you and Grandmother?”   

“I don’t know Elladan, it is very late. I don’t want two grumpy little boys, tomorrow.”

“Pleeaassee, we can help you with the bread and… stuff!”

“Well…” the boys looked at her with the most pitiful of looks, “I suppose you to can stay up, but on one condition, that you both have to take a nap by midday.”

 

The boys look at each other weighing the options, and said together, “We promise.”

Celebrían sighed and wondered what she had just gotten herself into.  

 

~*~

<Back to Haldir and Eleniel>

 

They trekked on in silence for about 5 minutes, when all of a sudden Haldir stopped and looked at Eleniel as if to make sure she would be silent, and then slowly parted the hanging branches of an ancient willow tree. Behind those branches was a sight that most never forgot if they had the chance of seeing it. Against the dark blue sky and the silhouette of the tree, were hundreds if not thousands of glowing fireflies. Looking like yellow-green jewels that had been scattered on a piece of dark colored velvet, the dim light making them radiant.   

 

Eleniel couldn’t speak for the wonder of it all, and even if she could, there were no words she think of that would give the sight justice. As the small fairy-like creatures flitted around, the long day finally caught up to the child. Her eyes became heavy, and the wondrous sight blurred as sleep softly invaded her mind. Her head was soon nestled into Haldir’s broad shoulder, while her hands gripped his tunic.  

He smiled down at the peaceful face, shifting her weight as he went on his way toward the city. It was perfect timing, he had heard some far off noises, most likely made by those looking for the interesting little elleth.

 

~*~

<A Search Party in the Goldenwoods>

 

Elrond had just gotten word that his daughter had been found by one of the border guards, and was running in the direction they were coming. When he saw her sleeping serenely and quietly, the worry that he hadn’t noticed building up disappeared. Thanking the ellon profusely, and making a mental note of his name and a better way of saying thank you, he took his little child into his arms not willing to let her go.

 

Before getting back into the city Eleniel woke to find herself in her father’s arms, and held on tightly. 

“Ada I missed you and Naneth so much”, she paused to yawn, “I got really scared but Haldir came and made it better, but I’m really glad I’m with you again.”

“I am to Eleniel, but I do think that tomorrow your mother and I will have some things to say to you.”

“That’s all right ada, I’m just glad to be back”, and father and daughter continued a while in silence, just taking time to be together. 

 

The sweet singing of a bird came to them in the following calm.

“What type of… bird is that ada, I heard… one earlier today, but I don’t know *yawn*… what it is.”

“That is a Dúlin, a nightingale, it does have a very pretty song doesn’t it…” he paused when he saw she had fallen back to sleep, and thanked Eru that his child was safe as he smoothed her hair and gently kissed the top of her head. He had much to be thankful for.  

 

~*~*~

Act 2, The Coming of Age

Part 1

 

In the early days of Arda the races of elves, dwarves, and men lived in relative peace, but the shadow desired to obtain all. Darkness filled the lands, and filled the hearts of the different races with strife and bitterness. Deep divides that not even the Last Alliance could repair. Through the traditions of feuds the skills of the dwarves, fire and passion of men, and wisdom and grace of elves, have ever been at odds.

 

Though one could argue that the grace or at least the dignity of elves did not touch all of the firstborn, Exhibit A: What self respecting elleth could be found up a tree? To be entirely truthful one could find many elleths of great grace up a tree, does not the Lady of Light herself live among the mellyrn* in the Golden Wood. But they don’t find themselves up a tree in their brother’s borrowed leggings underneath their dress. Or because of the fact that they are up a tree to escape said brothers, an angry elvin lord, and her past nanny.       

 

And this is were our story starts, not in the grand halls of elf or men, but in an ancient and gnarled tree were a young elleth is hidden from sight by the thick foliage.  

 

~*~

 

Eleniel was in big trouble the day had started out so well. Elrohir and Elladan had easily been pranked it had taken her all night sewing their leggings together but the frilly and outgrown dresses they had been left with were the cherry on top. Only she had to keep going, to do even better than that, and look where it had gotten her.

 

She had known which way her brothers would have to go to miss as many people seeing them in her old dresses as possible. The little used garden path behind their room was the obvious choice, and Eleniel had set up the perfect topper; a bucket of a mix of water and flour set to dump on the brothers as they passed by when they set off the tripwire. It had all been planned out to perfection the only problem was when that thin, invisible, little wire.  

 

~*~

 

Castiel had been surprised when Glorfin- Lord Glorfindel had asked her if she would take a walk in the gardens. She had planned to say she was to busy at the moment, but when she opened her mouth the words than came out weren’t quite what she had planned. She slammed down the papers she had been carrying on to her desk, and winced at the sound. Luckily Erestor wasn’t paying attention and didn’t see her childish outburst, either because of how much he concentrated on his work or knew her well enough to leave her alone during one of her moods. ‘Lord Glorfindel had probably heard that, damn elvish hearing!’

 

She just had to say ‘I would enjoy that, but I must get these papers to my desk first.’ He being a gentleman and oblivious to her obvious discomfort, had replied that he could wait. He had even taken part of the load and walked with her to the library… in the awkward silence. She always got tongue tied around him; Castiel had been surprised at the longish answer that she had given him without stumbling on her own words.

 

That was part of the reason why she didn’t like being around him, because she always made a fool of herself. She had somehow gotten him to stay in the hall, saying something or other about only taking a minute. She tried to shake herself from her bad mood, it wasn’t like they had to talk the whole time and it was a very nice spring day to go for a walk. Castiel opened the door and smiled at the golden haired lord.

 

~*~

 

Eleniel saw the string pull taunt and snap, and heard two voices yell in surprise as buckets of the goopy mess spattered onto them and the walkway. But something was wrong, very wrong. The voices she heard were like her brother’s; one was that of an elleth and a very deep one that was extremely mad…oh, Eleniel muttered a human word that her mother would have washed her mouth out if she was ever caught saying it.

 

It was not Elrohir and Elladan, but the balrog slayer and her once nursemaid. She would have laughed at the sight of them, but she knew she was in deep trouble. Eleniel jumped to the next tree and ran, not hearing Castiel’s mirth.

 

~*~

 

Castiel on the other hand though it was quite funny, for she knew as well as everyone else in Rivendell of Lord Glorfindel’s ability to escape the triplet’s traps and tricks and usually turn the prank back on them. And here he was covered in water and flour that was quickly drying; it was one of the oldest and simplest tricks in the books. It started as a snicker, she tried to snuff it out but there was no stopping. She quickly became unable to stand because of the violence of her mirth, Glorfindel was at first miffed but saw Castiel with her hair liberally spread with the white mess which was pretty much the condition both of them were in.

 

 After the spell was over, they quickly decided to change, wash and meet back together to get back at the prankster. Unfortunately for Eleniel they quickly figured out who that was after seeing both of the sons of Elrond sneaking on the ground under some low lying bushes. Normally than wouldn’t be extremely strange, but the ruffled pink dress Elrohir was wearing and the much to small and purple one Elladan was in… it was just to much for the pair.   

 

~*~

* The plural Elvish word for the golden-leaved trees of Lórien, though they are better known as 'mallorns', especially because of the Hobbits.

 

Act 2, Part 2

 

Elrond rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. Wondering what misdeed he had committed to have deserved such unruly, trouble causing, children as his triplets. In all of Arda there couldn’t be any other elves that could cause so much trouble in such little time.

 

In front of him stood a redressed Elladan and Elrohir, though their clothes had been taken from their huge repair pile, everything had holes or stains or both, as in the case of Elladan’s tunic. Eleniel was leaving a puddle on the stone floor. She had the remnants of water plants and mud in her hair and stuck to her clothes, which were the remains of not a revenge joke by her brothers. But because of a misstep that she had taken on her mad dash to freedom that didn’t work out quite as she had hoped, though her brothers would have thought it rather funny and fitting if their father wasn’t glaring at them.

 

In Elrond’s long years he had perfected many things, including his glare. As the minutes dragged by, the silence was terrible the three felons would have asked for anything else yelling, scolding, a lecture… anything! Because they knew better than anyone else that the silence meant that their father was exceedingly angry. This could only mean that their father was devising some horrible punishment for them.

 

~*~

 

Eleniel couldn’t think of a more torturous punishment, she would rather face a legion of orcs or battle one hundred Mirkwood spiders alone! She would have taken any punishment but this…this was torture!

 

“Ai!”, Eleniel yelped as the tiny needle pricked her finger. Sucking on her injured finger, she looked up to see her mother giving her an appraising look. Smiling she continued to stitch the tunic on her lap. Eleniel glared at the still large pile of things that still needed to be mended, she had been at this for two hours already and wasn’t even half way done.

 

‘Elladan and Elrohir got off easy,’ she thought, ‘Even though they have to clean the stables at least their around horses and not jabbing themselves to death with a needle!’

Of all the things she could have done to recompense for her actions, it just had to be sewing. Not that she was inept in anyway of this feminine art, 49 years of experience will do that to a person, but she hated just sitting there. Counting the hours stitch by stitch by stitch, she would have fallen asleep long ago from boredom if she didn’t keep pricking herself with this infernal needle!

 

Her mother bounced baby Arwen on her lap, having been mending along with Eleniel until Arwen had woken up. The dark-haired cherub clapped her chubby little hands in delight as she blew spit bubbles in the way babies do, completely unawares to her sibling’s predicament. 

 

Eleniel looked at Celebrían with pleading eyes, as her mother mopped up Arwen’s wet face. With a sigh, the Lady of Rivendell nodded and was rewarded with a kiss and had Arwen stolen from her grasp. As she watched Eleniel take Arwen into the hallway to the gardens she shouted out behind them, “Eleniel don’t get Arwen dirty and be back in time to change for when your Grandmother arrives.” She was answered by a quick, “Yes Naneth,” and was left to ponder which question had been answered.

 

~*~

 

Eleniel was putting the finishing touches on the crown when Elladan and Elrohir came upon their sisters after having cleaned up from their punishment. The two made a lovely picture in the grass of one of the many glades in Rivendell, though not to close to any water for Arwen had started to crawl and had a fixation with the shiny, wet substance. This obsession was discovered by Elladan when he turned his back of a minute and turned to find a drench but happy elvin child splashing in the shallow water of a fountain

 

 Having finished the mini crown of flowers, Eleniel looked to her brothers and said in great courtly fashion as she placed the crown on the soft hair; “Ahah! The young lords are in time for the crowning of their raven haired queen. Timely is their arrival, but have thou come prepared to honor thy royal monarch? For while gifts of material things cannot buy her love, the Lady Arwen still enjoys gifts from friends and will return in kind.”

 

“Indeed,” replied Elrohir, “We have brought great tribute to her ladyship. Through terrors unknown till this day, and even took on the disguises of things most foul and tread through mire and stink to arrive here on this most glorious of occasions. For not only have we brought gifts fitting for a queen,” here Elrohir takes Arwen into his arms handing her a polished river stone while Elladan continued the speech for him. “We have also found out the spy in our midst, who betrayed her allies,” and at that Elladan tackled Eleniel before she had a chance to flee. “What be your last request traitor?!” “Only that my demise be swift and that the Lord Elrohir prevented her Ladyship from eating the gifted jewel.”

 

At this statement the not so observant Elrohir saw the predicament that Eleniel spoke of and wrestled the stone out of Arwen’s mouth only to have it replaced by the flower crown that was apparently tastier than it looked. Elrohir sighed in defeat and left the defenseless flowers to be eaten, for they were not a poisonous type.

 

They all then sat in various positions in the lush grass, in relative silence as they all watched their baby sister continue to chew the flower crown only to abandon it in search for another plaything.

 

“So Eleniel are your both ready for Grandmother’s and Grandfather’s arrival?” The elleth shot up looking at Elrohir. “Isn’t there still a few hours till then?” “No they should be arriving within the hour.” Eleniel muttered something under her breath, grabbed Arwen up and as she brushed off the child’s dress she ran toward the main house, hoping that there wasn’t any grass stains on Arwen’s blue dress, and that there was enough time to change out of her work clothes. 

 

~*~

Act 2, Part 3

 

Eleniel sped down the hallway, with Arwen squealing in delight at their fast pace. As she burst into her room she saw their naneth waiting for them. She was sitting in the window seat framed by the sunlight filtering in through, lending a golden glow to her silver locks. Standing up she raised her eyebrow with an I-told-you-so look on her face.

 

“Gohero nin naneth*, I lost track of time,” Eleniel handed back Arwen with a sheepish look on her face. “That is why I came to help by taking this little distraction, and I picked out a few dresses for you.” Eleniel opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted before she could get a word out. “No, you may not wear just leggings or legging underneath your dress either, and remember you only have about 30 minutes!”

 

‘I wish she couldn’t do that,’ Eleniel thought as she looked through her options. There were three; one of light blue with a darker blue for the embroidery thread in floral designs, a green one shot with blue and silver that shimmered in the different lights and flowed like water, and an elegant white one with fine silver threads sewn into the sleeves and neckline. She grabbed the blue one, caring little what color it was. Quickly changing into it, she brushed out her hair finding many leaves and such in the process. Washing her face and hands, Eleniel looked into the mirror and saw a rather grown up elleth looking back, she stuck out her tongue childishly at the reflection and ran out the door.  

 

~*~

 

Eleniel squirmed as she waited with her siblings; she refrained from scratching at her head so not to muss the complicated braids that her friend, Anameleth, had insisted on for meeting the party from Lothlorien. How she had found her was a mystery, though it was most likely because of the intervention of her mother. She looked over at Elrohir who was slumped in his seat, while Elladan kept Arwen entertained with one of her wooden toy animals that he had brought along just for that purpose.

 

None of the offspring of Elrond and Celebrían were the sort to enjoy or even be patient in the act of waiting. Though they had all long since passed the days when they would drive their parents insane with “When will they be here naneth?”, the never underused “You said 5 more minutes, 10 minutes ago!”, or the ever popular “Are you sure they are coming today Ada?”. Thankfully Arwen was still working on her words or the triplets would have been subject to the same thing, but it was only a matter of time. The baby of the family had seven words to her vocabulary. The usual “Nan-f” (she didn’t quite have her th’s down yet), Ada, dink (she didn’t have her r’s down either), blanet (or her k’s), and the shorted names of her siblings; Nenil, Dandan, and Elo.

 

Needless to say every time Arwen learned a new word her family would be in an ecstatic frenzy for days, only to be amazed when she learned another just as quickly. She had also started to shakily walk around, and had earned many scraped hands, bumped heads and bruised knees for her efforts.

 

It was when even Arwen had started to get anxious from seeing her siblings moods, when the first of the traveling party from Lothlorien started to enter the courtyard through one of the main archway. First to come were the guards in front of the party, soon followed by the main group who had accompanied the Lady and Lord of Lothorien. They were dressed in pastel colors of greens, grays, purples and blues, and their banners fluttered in the breeze as road Galadriel into sight. Her hair was loose, and the gentle, golden waves cascaded over her shoulders and back. Both her and Celeborn dismounted, and ascended the stairway towards their grandchildren who ran down towards them, as one of the guards led their horses away.

 

Their reunion consisted of embraces, and kisses. The grandparents marveled over how much little Arwen had grown, as she gifted them with wet baby kisses as they cooed over the little beauty. As the talked to the triplets, Celeborn took Arwen from Elladan as Elrond and Celebrían also descended, though decidedly slower than their offspring had.     

They all soon made their way up the stairs into one of the many sitting rooms that were open on three sides to the outside gardens, and the ceiling consisted of a large trellis supported by four columns were many climbing flowers had been invited to grow.

 

They sat down and partook in an evening snack of tea and little fruit tarts, as they all caught up on the times they had been apart.

 

~*~

 

Haldir stood brushing down his horse, his pack lay abandoned by the front of the stall. Maidhion, a moon colored stallion, was a beautiful example of an elvin horse and he knew it. He was quite the ladies man, and was abnormally gentle with all elleths for a large stallion. He was also could become very jealous when Haldir was not paying attention to him. This was the case today, for even though Haldir was bushing him, Maidhion could tell he wasn’t thinking of him. He nickered, and made a move to at nip the ellon’s tunic. Haldir sidestepped the teeth and reprimanded the horse with a gentle bop on the nose.  

 

“Ai! Daro i!”** the ellon exclaimed, “Maidhion I thought you had outgrown that.”

Sighing he looked into the liquid brown eyes of his steed, and couldn’t help but smile.

“You are just an oversized jealous baby, aren’t you Maidhion,” it was more a statement than a question. The large animal rolled his eyes and put back his ears in fake anger, only to make soft knickers as Haldir scratched the horse’s favorite spot just behind the ears. Leading Maidhion out of the stable towards one of the large meadows set aside just for the horses. The large war horse flounced daintily on the lush grass, and in general looked like a prancing idiot, but that image was ruined when Haldir’s noble, yet sometimes temperamental, steed took one look around and promptly started to roll in the emerald green grass.

 

But even as he watched his steed frolic in the pasture, Haldir’s thoughts came back to the scene from before. He could hardly believe the transformation of Eleniel from a child to a lovely young lady. Not 5 years ago she had been still a child in his eyes, and the next visit that the family had made he had been at the borders guarding the city and he had not seen what a beauty she had become. Dearest little Eleniel had bloomed, she was not the little child that he had comforted and carried, nor was she the tomboy he had last seen. He could tell by the mischievous look in her eyes that she, nor her brothers, had lost their impish streaks. That and the unladylike manner she had galloped down the stairs to meet her grandparents, had been an immense clue to, at least, that part of her character.

 

Sighing, Haldir proceeded to gather his things and head for the room he was sharing with 3 other guards of Lothlorien. Mulling over why the oldest daughter of Elrond was determined to haunt his thoughts. Thought he was hardly the only one contemplating this beautiful day.

 

~*~

 

Little known to him in another part of Rivendell Eleniel was scheming of ways to slip away from her mother and grandmother who were both planning her downfall.   

 

 “I am going to die.” Eleniel moaned to herself, as her mother and grandmother excitedly discussed the details of the upcoming coming of age ball to be thrown for her brothers and herself. Mainly the details of dress as the rest of the planning had been completed weeks before. Eleniel fidgeted and got a distinct feeling that she had done this before in similar situations, which was extremely likely. Unfortunately for Eleniel her innocent fidgeting had attracted the attention of her two scheming family members. May Yavanna have mercy on her.   

           

~*~

*Translation: Forgive me mother…

**Ah! Stop that!

Act 2, Part 4

Eleniel had been captive to the multitude of elleth friends, maids along with her grandmother and naneth. Pricked and prodded, by unnumbered needles and well meaning hands, she had been the center of attention for about three hours and counting. The fiends in dresses had been at work on Eleniel the entire time and showed no signs of tiring. The ability to be resistant to tiredness an unfortunate side effect of them being of the elvin race and it had become Eleniel’s Achilles heel. While she was use to living comfortably with her family in Rivendell, she was not use to and detested being awed and cooed over. She had never been a very girly elleth, even as a young child she would fuss and cry when dressed for special occasions and whenever she possibly could she would often ruin those same dresses in the dirt, leaves, and the mud that was so abundant in the gardens.

“Ai!” Her grandmother exclaimed as her only granddaughter complained about the sharpness of the needles. “Eleniel if would stop fidgeting like a spooked wild horse you wouldn’t be getting poked.” Eleniel humphed only to flinch again when a needle jabbed her again, she glared at her grandmother, “You did that on purpose!” The Lady of Lothlórien winked, “I don’t often do things that are not on purpose, and they more oft then not also have a purpose as well.”  

~*~

The ladies stood back and admired their hard work. Every bead, stitch, and thread was in place on the blue-green gown that they had forced Eleniel into. It shimmered in the light turning blue, green, and silver in turns, and draped in a most becoming way. Her hair was crowned by elanor; yellow star like flowers that her grandparents had brought all the way from Lothlórien. To Eleniel’s amazement everything they had done wasn’t fussy, or uncomfortable. Everything was in her taste, simple and comfortable, but her friends and family had also made it elegant. The surprise had been evident on her face when she saw herself in the full-length mirror. She beamed at her mother and grandmother, and both would later agree that moment was one of the moments that Eleniel had been completely radiant with the light of her forbearers. And she was often called Lúthien’s Shadow by her friends and family, because of her similar looks to the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar, but this was usually after the dirt was scrubbed off and the foliage untangled from her hair.

~*~

The celebration had been going on for three hours when the dancing started. Dresses of all colors twirled between the brightly clad tunics, and the room had quickly become warm because of all the moving bodies. Eleniel had just sat down after being spun around wildly by both of her brothers the past four dances, and was sipping not quite daintily from her glass when she stopped mid-swallow and nearly choked. Not twenty yards away was the young lord from Mirkwood who had taken to stalking her this evening. His name was Amfinion or Arphenion or something like that, and he had become the only mar of her otherwise so far perfect night.

He was a fine looking ellon no one could deny that, but since no elves lacked in that department he was hardly ahead of that part of the game, but he did have his share of faults though it was mainly his mind-set toward stalking. During the early part of the dancing he had been introduced to her by some mutual friends, and had seem to make it his duty t keep her company to himself and be a general nuisance. Normally Eleniel wouldn’t have been so extremely adverse to the attentions of a good looking ellon, but he was completely stuck up and conceded! All he seemed able to talk about was the weather, hunting hounds, and himself. They were most likely the only subjects that he about in depth. 

She had eventually been able to escape because of a promise to dance with her grandfather. But he had only been able to save her for a few minutes, and the rest of the evening had been spent scurrying around trying to stay out of sight or obviously already engaged with others. But this cat and mouse game had gone on for an hour already and Eleniel had finally had enough with the whole thing. So she did the only logical thing left to do, she hid. After a bit Eleniel somehow wound her way through the maze of bodies and out on to the terrace overlooking the gardens when the Mirkwood lord wasn’t looking. She laughed quietly to herself as she saw him scramble, in the most un-frantic way that he could muster, to look for her. Eleniel had about five minutes of quiet laughter to herself before the evening started to go downhill again. Apparently someone had seen her disappear into the curtains to the terrace and had unthinkingly pointed the flop in that direction.

The elleth cursed her bad luck and jumped to the nearest exit. The nearby tree. It was a tall stately tree of old growth it was in clothed in its full spring regalia with tiny white flowers dripping from every branch. But for once Eleniel wasn’t entirely thinking of her escape. She found it incredibly annoying that she was so concerned over her dress of all things!

“Stupid dress, flimsy slippers, dim-witted elf who can’t take a clue, what next a flying cat!” Eleniel mutter as she clambered up into her hiding place, after she had hiked up her dress over her knees. She watched from her perch as Arminion or was it Arefenon? He stalked around the terrace looking around for all of 30 seconds before stalking right back into the vibrant party. Sighing with relief Eleniel slipped from the tree into the garden knowing that it would be foolhardy to go back into the celebration at this time, she would only be undoing all the work she had done to stay away from that ellon.

She straightened her skirt and walked determinedly off toward one of her favorite spots in the large gardens of Rivendell.            

~*~

Haldir had left the celebration shortly after the feasting had ended, he had never been one for dancing and right now only wanted some time to himself, to try and sort his thoughts. She had been stunning when her brothers had escorted her to the head table. Dark hair flowed down her back, and little elanor flowers had been placed in the silken curtain that framed her face in a most becoming way. Her dress shimmered with blues, greens, and silver in the light of the thousands of candles that filled the room with a warm glow. Eleniel had looked radiant, her face shining with the inner glow that elves possessed.

He had been wandering around the mainly empty gardens for an unknown amount of time when he sat on a well worn bench that over looked a rather large lily pond. The water rippled in the slight breeze making the reflection of the overhead moon flicker and morph into odd shapes. Haldir’s head snapped to attention when he hear the skittering of a rock along the flagstone pathway as an elleth walked toward the pond.       

~*~

Eleniel had always loved who the lily pond, but especially at night when the lights danced on the water’s surface, and she had retreated to her private spot. But she didn’t expect anyone else to already be there. She had subconsciously jumped in surprise at the unexpected sight of an fair haired ellon sitting by the lily pond, she truly hadn’t thought there could have been anyone here this night of celebration. But she had barely registered his presence when her slippered foot slipped on one of the many damp flagstones and she felt herself give into gravity and start to fall toward the pond. She closed her eyes and braised for the impact of the water for the second time in a week, only to feel a pair of strong arms catch her and stop her descent.

They both stared at each other for about two beats before Haldir righted her well away from the water. By this time she had realized who her savior was and had quickly given a hug to her old friend and more often than not savior.

“Haldir! I didn’t know you had come with my grandparents. If I had known I would have searched you out ages ago.”

He smiled in response “Well it was a good thing I was here otherwise you would have gotten that dress sopping wet.”

Eleniel scrunched her nose at that comment, “Yes, and naneth would have skinned me alive if I had, le Hannon* Haldir you have saved me again.”

“Yes I suppose I have, you always have had a knack for trouble and mischief.” He replied with a gentle smile.

They both sat on the bench and watched the water in and talked with ease for some time, just enjoying each other’s company. Eleniel and Haldir had soon lost track of time and would have kept talking if her brothers hadn’t realized that she was missing. Their calls echoed in the early morning hours. And Eleniel gave her old friend another hug before quietly disappearing into the early morning mists with a wave and a smile. Haldir now knew what his confusion was about, he had figured that out, but what to do about it…he had no idea. Thankfully or unfortunately, it depends on your point of view; Eleniel and Haldir were only able to talk a few other times before the traveling party from Lothlórien left for home again. Banners flying, and with many fond farewells, the Lady and Lord of Lothlórien kissed their daughter and all four grandchildren goodbye and left in triumphant array. These events were to be remembered for many years to come and were the very beginning of new chapters in two lives and those around them.

 

~*~*~

*Thank You

Author's Note

This is an amazing story written by a close friend of mine. She, unfortunatly, is afraid to publish it. I'm hoping that your reviews will help her see what a great writer she is and convince her to publish it. Thanks in advance for the reviews!