Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the LOTR characters in here, nor most of the places. I do own some of the characters. Some of the events and references are made-up as well. R&R please!
Arwen Undomiel looked up from braiding her long raven black hair to see her maid, Liniel, bowing to some unknown figure. Why is that? Wondered Arwen absently. She completed the complicated braid in a few more seconds, pulled on her semi-sheer robe, and called Liniel to her.
"Who were you bowing to Liniel? You know if the person is of importance that I must see them!" Arwen glared, considering who it might be.
"M'lady, 'twas a visitor for me. Lord Elrond sent his top messenger to tell me…" Liniel burst into tears in quite an un-Elfish manner. Arwen, uncaring toward any send of décor in her own home, decided that compassion might serve a better purpose than the harsh rebuke she wanted say.
"You must leave for Mirkwood? Has your father called you back into service?" Arwen always feared that Liniel's father, an authoritive Elf in Mirkwood, would need Liniel to be a lady-in-waiting for his second wife (second wives were uncommon on Middle Earth, and Elrond didn't approve of the breach of custom). Liniel feared Daea with good cause. Daea was one of the darker Elves, a twisted breed from the depths of Mirkwood. No one knew whether or not the creatures ever served Sauron. Daea also made Liniel act as a person of low-rank among the higher Elves, and Liniel was no such thing. The only reason why she served Arwen was because of Arwen's upcoming wedding to the first Numenorean King in centuries.
"M'lady, I am to go with my father, Golaelin, to visit Samwise Gamgee of the Shire. It is my duty to raise his son as an elf-friend, and warrior. You must return to King Aragorn, without me to attend your wedding!" Liniel burst again into tears. Arwen sighed, knowing that the elf, in her first century, was somewhat immature, and should be treated with care. She did feel though, that Liniel acted a bit stupidly. Raising any child of any fabled Hero of the Ring was considered a great honor. That Sam Gamgee was willing to give up one of his dozen children to be trained by Elves seemed the stranger to Arwen. That his wife would give up a child, seemed even more ludicrous. Arwen suppressed a desire to reel from shock.
"Stop crying Liniel. You are disgracing yourself. Consider it an honor far beyond attending me at my wedding and coronation, to raise Samwise the Brave's child. He and Frodo Baggins destroyed the Ring. You have one of the greatest honors ever imagined!" Liniel looked slightly calmed, so Arwen continued, "I must consult my father on something for the wedding, would you mind mending this stitch?" Arwen held up her silvery veil, a rip magically appearing seconds before. Liniel nodded, and stepped out onto the balcony to view Imladris while she worked.
"Father! I must speak with you!" Arwen marched into her father's healing room, his favorite place. He was alone, except for an ancient oak tree winding through the floor and roof.
Elrond looked up expectantly, wishing to hear that his daughter changed her mind, and was leaving for the Grey Havens. He saw her eyes and crushed the hope, deciding that it would be best to honor her decision and pray to Mandos to secure a place in his hall for her when the world ended.
"Yes daughter Arwen?" he asked, wearily feeling, not for the first time, his thousand or so years.
"Liniel told me that Samwise Gamgee is letting his son be fostered to the Elves? I wonder at such a thing. The Shirelings are known for their love of their children, and distrust of outsiders." She stated, politely curtsying as a subject of Imladris might. For some reason this amused Elrond, and his lips twitched humorously.
Elrond raised his eyebrows, "I have no idea Lady Arwen. It seems to be something Frodo and Bilbo suggested to him, some time ago."
Arwen nodded respectfully, and gracefully swept out to prepare a journey to the Shire, wedding or not. Elrond sat at his desk, wondering why he did not foresee this part of his daughter's future, and summoned a page to summon Aragorn. Arwen is foolhardy sometimes, she will need a Ranger to guard her, he thought, regretting his curt dismissal of Aragorn's love. Aragorn, the King of Gondor, and Elf-friend extraordinaire, was also a Hero of the Ring, and could find out from Sam exactly what it was that Frodo and Bilbo suggested.