"Intara! I have not laid eyes on you in many years!"
"Mithrandir, I wish I could say the same." Intara poured herself a goblet of strong wine and drank it quickly, happy to see the puzzled look on the old wizard's face. "I saw you traveling with a wagon going on two months ago…that weed you smoke is awful."
"Psh, you just don't have an appreciation for the finer things in life." The old man said with a twinkle in his eye. He would always smoke the weed the hobbits did and always would have problems convincing the rest of Middle Earth that there was nothing wrong with the foul smelling stuff.
Intara looked across the table at Strider. He was dressed in clothes slightly better than those he usually wore. She knew he kept this garb at Rivendell for special occasions, such as dinners and meetings. She kept no such items at Rivendell and as such wore the same clothes she had when she'd been brought in to the city unconscious. Aragorn focused his gray eyes on her and nodded, almost imperceptibly. It was all the recognition she would receive throughout the meal.
Intara left the hall and wandered into the gardens afterwards, moving silently amongst the shadows. Anywhere else in Middle Earth and she would have been suspected of being a wraith. Her build was so slim and she moved so lightly that she seemed almost as a passing breeze. Her dark clothes allowed her to all but disappear into the shadows, which was precisely how she liked it.
She stopped when she saw Aragorn and Arwen standing on a bridge hand clasped in the garden below her. Bits of elvish floated on the breeze to her ears and she groaned when she realized they were words of love.
"That girl is going to get herself into a world of trouble." She muttered before moving away, back into the darkness.
"Intara?" She looked up from her few belongings and saw Arwen standing in the doorway. It had been two weeks since the fight at the Ford and Intara had not really spoken to the girl except at meals and an occasional greeting in passing. It wasn't in spite or out of anger, but because she didn't wish to bring the matter up around others. And Arwen was always surrounded by others. Arwen entered the room and stood at the foot of Intara's bed. "Father said you wished to see me."
"Aye…It was your little trick at the river what cost me the use of my arm." Intara said trying to fold a shirt one handed as her other was still in a sling. She was under strict orders not to use it for a few more days. She grimaced as the shirt slipped apart and she had to start again.
"I am sorry, but Frodo was so injured, and the wraiths so close…" Arwen moved quickly around the bed and tried to make eye contact with the older woman. She looked at her friend and sighed. By some trick of nature Intara looked no older than Arwen, they could have been sisters. Arwen had known Intara a long time and did not want the woman to hold a grudge against her, it would have been the worst thing she could have imagined. Intara saw the fear in the elleth's eyes and held up her good hand to silence her.
"You did well. I am not angry--just…irritable."
"When are you ever not?" Arwen asked grinning as she sat on the edge of the bed. She never should have feared angering Intara. She was a cold hearted woman, but not one who was quick to hold grudges. She'd forgotten that.
"Here now…" Intara gave up folding the shirt and stuffed it forcefully into her bag. "That's a vile thing to say to a person who's injured." Arwen laughed and reached across and took the shirt from the bag, folded it and replaced it. There were others in the bag and she carefully took the liberty of removing them and folding them properly. Intara watched her do this in silence for some time before she broke it. "I saw you yester eve." Arwen's gaze snapped up to Intara's stern dark look. Intara had seen the young elf and Aragorn share a kiss while she'd been relaxing in the garden. She'd had the good sense not to break the moment between the two, but felt that something needed to be said now. "Be careful…Strider is a ranger before all else. I would hate to see any ill befall you because of him."
"Intara I…"
"Uuma." Intara said holding up her hand again to silence the elf. "Don't say a word, because I know what you will say already. Don't think me naïve, Arwen. I'm not telling you not to love him, just asking that you not give your heart to him completely. You are more like family to me than he is." With that, Intara picked up her saddle bag and left Arwen sitting on her bed.
"You feel as I do, though your loyalties surprise me." Intara stopped in a sunny spot on the walkway and let the sun bake into her skin.
"Someone has to look out for her."
"Someone has to look out for Aragorn as well." Elrond said stepping in to the same pool of sunlight. Intara bowed her head, her shoulders slumped unevenly because of the sling.
"Another Fool's errand?"
"Consider it more a quest."
"Never a dull moment…." Intara muttered before turning to face the dark haired elf. She shifted the saddlebags and stared him in the eye. "Lira ron aulta?"
"They departed early this morning."
"And they're bound for?"
"Mordor." Intara flinched. "Any way they can."
"Well, I'll need provisions…"
"The healers are not going to let you leave until you have the ability to use your arm again." He saw her jaw tighten. She was not used to being told what to do. "I won't permit you to leave. You can catch up with them by the end of the week." Intara stared stonily at the Elf lord. "Consider it your service to the city."
"Amin naa tualle." She bowed to the stately elf, hand clasped over her heart. She would do as he asked, but she did not have to like it.
Intara left at week's end and followed behind the group. Sometimes she would over take the camps they had made, sometimes she would not arrive at one at all. Eventually she came to the place where they had made camp before their ascent up Caradhras. She held her horse's reins and looked up at the peaks that towered above her. The summit was wreathed in thick clouds that popped with un-seasonal lightning flashes.
"Well, I doubt they'll be getting over that road." Intara said as she patted her horse's neck. "We'll catch them on the way down, what do you think of that?" The horse nodded its head. "Is that a good idea? I thought so…"
While she waited for them to come back down she gathered wood and brought down several rabbits for the evening meal. She knew they'd all be hungry, especially if the hobbits' eating habits had not changed since Rivendell. She had a small fire going and the rabbits roasting over the hot coals when she heard a pot bang loudly in the distance. She smiled…that was Sam.
She moved into the darkness and stood near the path where she knew the fellowship would be coming into view at any moment.
"You're late." Intara crossed her arms over her chest and watched as Legolas drew his bow and the another man turned, blade drawn. "I've caught a brace or two of Rabbits, they're roasting nicely at the camp if you're hungry."
"What are you doing here, Intara?" Aragorn asked, ignoring her invitation into the camp.
"Elrond sent me." She said as she turned back to the camp. "Another Fool's Errand. If you're not interested in following me, I'll have myself a nice supper by myself."
"We're coming." Pippin rushed after her followed by Merry and then Sam. She heard the others come through the bushes at a much more cautious pace.
"If this is your idea of a Fool's errand, then why are you here?" Gimli asked gruffly as he sat heavily beside the small fire. Intara crouched opposite of him and added more wood. She'd built the fire against the rocks so that it was shielded from prying eyes, and so that the rocks would retain some of the heat after they had put it out.
"I am here because I am bound to Rivendell, and so sayeth the lord of the city, there shall I go." Gimli turned away when her dark eyes rested on him too long. They were unnaturally old to reside in a face so young.
"Intara," Aragorn said calling her attention back to him. "Why did Elrond send you?"
"Why does he ever send me?" Intara snapped at him. "To cover your back." She looked to where the Hobbits stood tired and shivering in the twilight. "Come now…get close to the fire, the meat will be cooked shortly."
She finished cooking and dolled out portions to each of the members. Gandalf's face was hard to read and Intara knew the old man was troubled deeply.
"What is it Mithrandir?" She asked, using his elven name.
"Nothing."
"You're a troubled old man. The old know that look when they see it on another."
"I take offense to you even TRYING to compare your age to mine." Gandalf's eyes flashed to hers momentarily and she knew she'd succeeded in breaking his foul mood. She smiled slightly at her triumph causing Gandalf to scowl, acquiescing to her victory. "It is the road we take."
"You're taking the darker way, I trust."
"Through Moria, yes." Gimli piped up. "My uncle Balin will welcome us heartily." Intara watched as the dwarf devoured his portion of rabbit, bits of meat clinging to his beard and mustache. "It will be an honor to show the true extent of dwarfish craftsmanship." He let out a crude belch.
"Right." Intara turned back to Gandalf who laughed softly at her mild rebuke of the dwarf. "Get some rest, old man….I will take the first watch, you've all had a trying day."
The next morning the band of ten moved into the deep chasms and towards the entrance of the Moria Mines. Intara moved ahead through the murky swamps to scout and to stay away from the rest.
Just before their noon rest, Intara found herself walking near the other man in the fellowship.
"Your name is Intara, is it not?" He asked.
"It is." Intara kept her eyes ahead on the path. She did not trust this man; this captain of Gondor. "What of it?"
"I am Boromir; son of the Steward of Gondor."
"That's nice." She said in an offhanded manner, as if she weren't truly listening to him.
"How is it that you, a woman, found us?"
"That matters little." Intara moved ahead of him. "Accept that a blind man could follow the tracks of nine men in the dark. It does not take skill." She did not look back to see his eyes darken at the offense she'd just dealt him.
She spent the afternoon wading through brackish water and kept her distance from the Captain. She did not like him, or the way he looked at Frodo at night when he thought no one was looking.
Uuma--- Don't
Lira ron aulta--- When did they leave?
Amin naa tualle—I am your servant.
