Hello! Welcome to my fanfic entitled To Be Forever Faithful! This will be my first Lord of the Rings fic, but I will try my hardest to deliver the story. I came up with the idea just today and found that I could wait no longer! I must start! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or anything associated with it. I only write these fanfics for fun and I do not intend to make any money off of them.

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To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 1: A Long Night

Night. The Lothlorein forest was filled with dark shadows. However, there was one elf who did not pay these shadows any heed. There were very few things that scared Haldir, and creatures of the night were not included amongst them.

In fact, there were only two things that really scared Haldir. Love and death. And tonight of all nights, he had seen death take the spirit of one of his wardens right off this very Earth.

Orcs. They had surrounded Curudae and had ambushed him. Why Curudae had wandered away from Haldir's group was still a mystery. However, they had heard his screams, but come to late. He had been slain. The picture was all too vivid in Haldir's mind. There had been blood, so much blood... It had seeped out of his head, dark and thick. He could still smell the stench of Eldarin blood mixed with that of an Orc.

His men had still found the will to slaughter the remaining Orcs. However, now that it was time for his own break, Haldir couldn't get the picture of Curudae out of his head.

In fact, Haldir could think of nothing else as he stormed up the stairway to his small room. He pushed his door open and entered, but just stood in the doorway, looking in. There was a bed made for a single occupant, wrapped in soft, cream-colored sheets. To his left was a small rack, which held a massive amount of armor and a few pairs of normal clothes that were seldom ever worn. That was the extent of his room, excluding the large mirror and a few souvenirs he had acquired during a few travels.

"Curudae shall never walk this way again..." Haldir thought, then finally found the strength to walk in front of the mirror and look at himself.

He saw that he looked very weary, which was exactly how he felt. He reached up and wiped some Orc blood from his cheek. Putrid little beasts.

Then, blocking all thoughts of death and Curudae out of his head as best as he could, he started to strip off his armor. It felt great to get the sticky pieces off his back and feel the cool, night air caress it.

He quickly collected his thoughts when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he replied, rather annoyed that one of his men had come to him during his time off.

Haldir was very surprised to see that it was Belegwen who had opened the door. Thankfully, he had not removed his pants yet. He still had not expected the only female warden of Lothlorien to enter while he was half naked. She appeared to have the same reaction for an instant, then snapped back to attention, ignoring his nudity and becoming the serious warden that she was trained to be.

"Commander, I have an urgent message from Lord Celeborn. He wishes to see you immediately, sir," she said, sounding just as fatigued as he felt inwardly.

Quickly recovering from his own embarrassment, Haldir replied, "Very well then. Tell him that I will be there momentarily."

"Yes, sir," she said and then marched out of the room to go relay the message to Celeborn. He sighed as she exited. Never during all of his life had he ever met a female guard member until she had come along. He was honestly surprised she had made it so far. When her parents had been slain mysteriously, Belegwen had begged to be trained for the guard. It took years of begging, but finally when Belegwen was of age, Lady Galadriel had decided that it was a worthy cause. Everything had gone quite well and Belegwen had quickly risen through the ranks during her millennia of service.

Haldir sighed. The elven wardens had not taken to her presence all that well. Even now, there was still an awkwardness surrounding her presence in the guard. However, Belegwen had never made a mistake, so there was no reason to request her removal.

She was there to stay, no matter what others thought of it.

In a slow, exhausted manner, Haldir somehow managed to get his armor back on and made his way though the city and up the grand staircase to the Lord and Lady's dwelling. Celeborn was there awaiting his arrival, facing away from him.

"You wished to see me Lord Celeborn," Haldir said calmly as he bowed down, making the old Eldarin lord aware of his presence. There was a measure of unease lingering around the elderly lord, which unsettled Haldir as he waited silently for his words.

"How did this happen?" Celeborn finally asked, his tone so low it could almost be called a whisper.

Haldir found himself to be speechless at this point. He should have known that Celeborn would want to know all of the intricate details surrounding the incident.

"My lord, let me explain-"

Celeborn slowly turned around, and stared into Haldir's eyes. "A great tragedy has befallen tonight. Tell me, Haldir, why was this warden not at his post?"

Haldir felt a pang of guilt pass through himself as he stared into the eyes of an elf he respected greatly. "I know not, sir."

Celeborn, looking greatly saddened, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. His eyes seemed to dig into Haldir's very soul. Wearily, he said, "Haldir, it is your job to defend us all; to keep your wardens and your city safe. More care must be taken. This cannot happen again."

"Yes, sir."

"And now we shall need a new second in command since Curudae has...fallen."

"I shall see to it immediately, sir," Haldir replied, immediately starting to think over the possibilities.

"You think much too hard, my Marchwarden. Do you not know the answer to your mental inquiry? She whom you have spoken to on this night, would do a fine job," came a voice from behind them. They both turned to see Galadriel floating down the stairs; the room filled with a quiet glow of calmness and serenity that often accompanied her presence.

"You speak of Belegwen, my lady?"

"She has been part of the guard for millennia now, much like you, my Marchwarden. While she will not find immediate approval among our ranks, her presence and leadership would greatly benefit many."

Slowly she walked up to Haldir and looked him straight in the eyes. "Do consider her, Haldir. You are now dismissed," she said, a mysterious smile touching the corners of her face.

Clearly, she knew more than she was letting on.

Slowly, Haldir turned and walked away, uncertain about the lady's suggestion. While Belegwen had the skills to do the job correctly, Haldir was uncertain as to whether or not her could work harmoniously with her. He was even more uncertain of what the other wardens' reactions would be to such an appointment.

But still, the lady had suggested her. That suggestion could not be taken lightly, as Galadriel never spoke without reason.

"I am to blame for this situation...and for Curudae's death," he thought as he entered his room and stripped off his armor one more time. Putting on a robe, he strolled down to bathe before he slept.

ooOoo

Chapter edited on 01/21/10 by P.G.

Important note to both old and new readers:

Thanks for coming to read TBFF! Just a quick note—if you're reading through this entire fic again or for the first time, you have my sincerest apologies, as many of my chapter dividers have disappeared. This site is no longer allowing strings of letters that long and so, all of the different character's perspectives are running together now in all of the chapters, except for the ones in the middle of the fic that I did not get around to editing in 2007. I'm in the process of fixing it, but it's going to be a while, so please bear with me. The fic is still quite readable, just know that if the perspective seems a bit off, it is probably coming from a different character. Thanks for reading--I hope you enjoy this fic.

-P.G.