Chapter 2

The healers were kind and careful with her and she found a liking in a young elleth named Irivel and she spent the days talking to her and Irivel was interested in knowing everything about Anna but she kept the information simple but still told her small stories about her home which she knew wouldn't reveal to much. She was growing tried of lie around in bed all day and the books Irivel brought her was building on a pile beside her. Elrond and Glorfindel visited her almost everyday asking her questions to help her find her way to her family, but she told them she did not know the way home. It was the truth but still she felt bad for lying to them and it was becoming harder to lie to them the more time that went by.

She was finally moved out of the healing chambers and was led in to a grand chamber with a grand bed and the wardrobe was filled with fine dresses and she was excited about the change. She made it her room now filling it with drawings she made and put them up on the walls as the days became weeks. She wondered if she would never get home again but a part of her never wanted to leave this wonderful place. She grew fond of the elves of Rivendell and she felt at home, Elrond was kind and fatherly to her while Glorfindel like the brother she never had. He was playing with her and would chase her around the gardens and lifted her up to the trees to catch butterflies. She cherished every moment she spent with them not knowing when she would wake up and realize everything was a dream. It scared her that it would all disappear from her now when she could finally be able to be the child she was never allowed to be before.

Elrond was surprised how her spirit changed Rivendell, her laughter was filling the halls and he would find much joy in watching her running around in the gardens and how she would try to climb the highest trees. She would decorate the fountains with flower peddles and her playful ways was bringing life back to Rivendell and Elrond found himself laughing more often. He watched her as she stole Glorfindels weapon and the sight of him chasing her around the gardens made Elrond almost choke on his own laughter. Rivendell have not had any elflings in decades so it was refreshing for the realm having someone young like Anna there and Elrond grew more fond of her than he would ever imagine a month ago when she first came to Rivendell.

…

This particular day Glorfindel brought Anna out in the woods riding and Anna was thrilled about get permission to leave the gardens and see the forest. Anna became restless rather fast and dismounted the horse and danced out on a meadow filled with beautiful flowers, Glorfindel watched her from the opening in the woods. He admired her innocence and it made him feel young again watching her carefully pick out flowers to a beautiful bouquet. She smelled the flowers as she sat down in the grass starting to make a circlet of the flowers. She could feel Glorfindels eyes on her and she beamed when she looked up to see him standing in front of her.

She stood up quickly and put the circlet on his head and giggled. "I now pronounce you flower Queen of the forest."

She taunted him knowing he had tried to occupy her for god knows what reasons and she would not let him get away easy with it. She had a lesson with Cámaenel and she knew Glorfindel had some reason to keep her away from Rivendell this day and she needed to find out why. Elrond would always tell her that she was not allowed to leave Rivendell and now out of the blue Glorfindel brought her here. She knew he would never do it if not Elrond would grant this and she needed to find out why. It was not that she did not enjoy the freedom but still she had a desire to know why he had sent her away this particular day.

Glorfindel frowned at her playfully and interrupted her thoughts "Insults fly out of your mouth with such ease young one, if only it would be so easy when it comes to compliments."

She giggled as she started to sway away from him "It was a compliment…. I'm bored I wanna play a game." She knew if she kept teasing him he would tackle her and tickle her. She needed him distracted enough to sneak back to Rivendell.

Glorfindel raised a brow "What do you have in mind?"

Anna smirked at his confused expression and she knew she had to play this smart "One of us will hide and the other will search for them, and when found the game is over." She found her idea to be pleasing and hoped he would pick up on her teasing.

Glorfindel shot her a stare. "How can that be a fun game?"

She huffed and thought of how she could tease him more to give in to her will. "Stop be such a stick in the mud Glorfindel."

Glorfindel looked at her confused and annoyed by her comment "I would never stick anything of me in mud so I do not understand why you would say such thing."

Anna sniggered at his hurt expression "Okay I will save you the pain by not answering that….. Well, it is a fun game so give it a chance. But it will not be fair if you will search for me because you know how to track. So I will search for you, so you need to find a good hiding spot and I will try and find you."

Glorfindel finally smirked "What will I win if you won't find me?"

Anna thought hard before answering knowing she had to make a good offer or he would not take part in this game "If you win I will promise to never steal your weapons again. But if I win you will have to teach me how to use it." She smirked at this knowing she had him.

"Deal, but you will never find me." He smirked back and ran laughing away from her.

She giggled at the success and waited a while until she knew he was to far gone to hear her, before she started to run back to the horses. The grass was soft under her feet and she ran silently over the field. Anna stopped when she reached the horses and gently caressed its muffle before she sat up in the saddle, she could feel a hard wind against her chin and she cursed knowing her sounds would travel with the wind. She rode fast back to Rivendell and when she finally arrived the horse was sweaty and tired so she apologized quietly for driving him so hard.

The great entrance was calling for her and she giggled slightly at her success in fooling Glorfindel, it was bringing her some satisfaction being able to deceive an elf. Her whole body was tingling knowing she was doing something she should not do and at the same time she was scared of the consequences. Her legs were starting to move her forward and she pushed her fears away and letting the sensation of accomplishment fill her. She ran down the halls trying to find Elrond, she wanted to tell him how she was able to fool Glorfindel, she knew it would make him laugh and she missed him for she had not seen him since last morning. When she heard Glorfindel call for her to stop, she started to laugh. She wanted to know why he kept her from here and even more now so she taunted him as she ran faster. Anna liked to play with Glorfindel and she knew he liked it too but he would never admit it out loud.

Anna burst through a door and slammed it shut and slowly backed away from the door still looking at it waiting for Glorfindel to find her. She giggled as she swayed her hips, she felt the impact of a table behind her and she leaned against it and chuckled lightly. Maybe they were throwing a surprise party for her, she did tell them it was her birthday only days from now.

"What's the meaning of this interruption?"

When she heard Elronds angry voice behind her she stepped away from the table quickly and turned around and smiled but the smile dropped when she noticed he was not alone. Her eyes drifted to the elves seated by the table and she suddenly felt out of place. She knew they had to be royalty by the circles and crowns on their heads and she looked at them with curiosity and concern. She stared at them with wide eyes trying to figure out who they were, she cursed herself for not reading more of Tolkiens books, she had only read Lord of the rings. No one of them resembled anyone from the books but she had read some information on the internet on the elves of the old but now her mind was blank. She had no time to think of it before she saw Elronds irritated expression and she looked down on the floor knowing she had interrupted something important.

Elrond walked up to Anna and he placed his hand on her back and spoke to her in a stern low voice but his eyes was soft and filled with endearment but with a hint a annoyance. "Anna this is highly improper manners, would you please wait outside until we are done, I will find you when it is over." He could see her distressed expression so he offered her a small smile that only she could see, and she was relieved to see that he was not furious with her. Anna mouthed a sorry and nodded with a light blush forming on her cheeks.

He was growing fond of this young girl and he knew the lord was studying them with curiosity probably wondering why he was caring for a mortal child. Elrond knew they would question him about her and he did not look forward to this and he was trying to avoid it by sending her away with Glorfindel. The thought of Glorfindel made him grit his teeth, he had trusted him to keep her away from here even if he needed him for this council he had to spare him not trusting anyone els with her.

The doors burst open and in ran Glorfindel but he stopped in his steps when he saw Elrond standing beside Anna before the council. His chest was heaving and Anna had to cover her mouth to not laugh at his expression but a lingering fear struck her what would he do to her for running away from him?

Elrond shot him a glare but Glorfindel did not noticing it he was too occupied glaring at Anna and the amused expression was drained from her face and replaced with a tingling fear which caused shiver down her spine. She had crossed a line and now she had to pay the consequence so she lowered her eyes and tried to focus on the hem of her dress to control her shakings. Elronds squeezed her shoulder warmly and she tried to relax to his touch but she could not suppress her fear of the possible punishment she would have to face.

Elrond was still glaring at Glorfindel but his expression changed when his attention shifted to Anna when he felt her shift beside him. He felt her small arms around his abdomen and he could feel how she pushed her small frame against him, his eyes softened and smiled when she hid her face against the fabric of his clothes. She was so small she didn't even reached his chest and he reacted without thinking of the lords watching them as he laid his hand on her back soothing her. He had longed for a child for ages and now this child had found her way to him and even if it grieved him that somewhere someone missed their child. He felt selfish for not wanting her to leave, she touched his heart like no one had before and she brought him happiness he had not felt for a long time. Her gleeful ways were a refreshing in his calm and peaceful halls, he savored the feeling of her small arms clinging to him. A cough made him realize the audience and he was brought back to reality. He cleared his throat as he turned his attention back to Glorfindel who watched their little display of emotions with great interest.

Slowly Elrond got down on one of his knees in front of Anna and tipped her head up with his hand very carefully. "The sun is still shining, when the moon is kissing the sky I will find you and we shall talk." He said softly only for her ears.

He stood up as he let his hand caress her face before he took a step back from her shifting his attention to Glorfindel.

"Would you please escort Anna to her chamber and this time make her stay there until I'm ready here." Glorfindel nodded and an amused grin was forming on Elronds lips and he added "Oh and the flowers fits you."

Elrond needed to shift the attention to someone els and the sight of the circlet of flowers on Glorfindels head was amusing.

Glorfindels eyes went wide and Anna lifted her head when she heard Elronds voice and muffled a laugh when she watched Glorfindel trying to get rid of the flowers from his hair. Her fear was washed away like a wild stream when she watched Elronds amused grin and Glorfindels annoyed expression as he removed the flowers. Anna hugged Elrond and smiled up to him and mouthed a sorry again and when he smiled back to her she released him. She walked up to Glorfindel and put one of the flowers back behind his ears and whispered a apology to him and he lowered his head to her level and hissed at her "I will not have you disobey me again young lady." Anna frowned but knew she deserved that but she did not like the way he scold her.

Glorfindel had never been displeased with her in this way before and she knew she had to earn back his trust. Before he could retract his head Anna acted before she could think things through and placed a kiss on his cheek and lingered there with fear of what she had done. She retracted her face bolted out of the room. She turned her head to see if he followed her and was met by the whole room staring at her but the sight of Glorfindels grin and Elronds glare was all she needed as she laughed and kept running to her chamber.