Chapter 4

Zoe followed Faelwen through a confusing series of twisting, indoor passages, mile-high bridges, and beautiful garden paths. Rivendell had exceeded her expectations of elven beauty, and what had been shown on film in Jackson's trilogy was crap compared to the real thing. Zoe had never beheld such beauty in her life.

And then they came to Lord Elrond's library. Faelwen opened the door and motioned for Zoe to go inside without her. She hesitated until she saw the annoyed glint in the elleth's silver eyes and quickly brushed passed her. Once she was inside, Zoe heard the door shut and found herself standing in the center of the room alone. Looking around, she saw that she was surrounded by thousands of books, all arranged on shelves and in niches that had been carved into the walls so well that they blended with the scenery. The room had been creatively designed, but Zoe figured this sort of architecture was common place with the elves. Why should Lord Elrond's library be any exception?

"Do you find Imladris easy on the eye?"

Zoe jumped when she heard the voice, and turned to find the source. She found herself gazing on an elf lord of great stature and build, dressed in draping silk robes. A curtain of black hair fell around his shoulders and when his stern silver gaze met Zoe's, she wanted to sink into the floor.

"I—It—It's . . ." she couldn't make herself talk, she was so nervous all of a sudden. She licked her lips, wringing her fingers, and decided to try again. "Imladris is beautiful," she managed with a shaky voice.

The elf lord gave an easy smile. "Good, I am glad you find it to your liking. I am Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell."

Practically bouncing on her toes, Zoe bit her tongue to keep from shouting "I know!"

"I hope Faelwen was able to help you feel comfortable. I imagine you have never met an elf before, judging by the way you reacted to my sons."

"N—No sir, I have not," she replied, still shakily.

"Please, there is no need for that." He offered her a hand. "Come with me. I wish to know where you came from."

She swallowed and took his hand. Warmth radiated from it and spread up her arm, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. They went through the library and out into a private corridor that opened onto a veranda. There they were offered a spectacular view of the valley and the mountains that sheltered it.

"Faelwen told me she believes you are not from Middle Earth, Zoe. How is that possible?"

The forthrightness behind his question caught her off guard and she frantically tried to come up with some sort of explanation, even though she hadn't the slightest idea either. He must have seen the jitters in her brown eyes.

"Is it possible that you had no control over what happened?"

She shrugged. "One minute I was walking to my car in a quiet parking lot at night, and the next I was standing in the middle of the woods in the pouring rain. I don't know what happened."

"Curious," was his reply, although Zoe knew he had a lot more to say than that. "My sons tell me you were captured by orcs and if you had not called out to them, they never would have found you."

She winced at how pathetic he made the situation sound, but she knew he was right. "That about covers it," she said, trying to smile.

Elrond nodded. "Very well. You will remain in Rivendell until we can decipher how you came to Middle Earth from your world. And then we will send you home."

She bit her lip. Who knew how long she could be stuck here? Middle Earth was a dangerous place, as she had already discovered.

"Um . . . if you don't mind," Zoe hated how awkward she sounded, "could you tell me what year this is?"

"Of course. It is the year thirty eighteen of the Third Age, and today is the twenty-eighth of September."

Zoe sighed deeply. Her worst fear was confirmed. Now, she was determined to stay out of the way of everybody, especially when October twenty-fifth rolled around. Elrond's council meeting was the last place she needed to be, and she wasn't about to become more of a Mary Sue than she already was.


Blending in with the elves of Rivendell was easier than Zoe had thought. Faelwen provided her with simple elvish clothing and attempted to teach her how to walk with grace. After four days, when the elleth had tired of that, she decided to interrogate Zoe on what she was good at, so that Zoe could "make yourself useful," as Faelwen put it. Zoe gladly explained that anything that had anything to do with horses was her speciality, at which point the elleth turned up her nose. Zoe convinced her that she was no good in the kitchen or garden, which she really wasn't anyway since everyone knows they don't have microwaves in Middle Earth.

What followed was Faelwen's reluctantly presented tour of the stables of Rivendell. Zoe followed her eagerly as she walked down the very center of the barn aisle. (Zoe assumed it was to keep a safe distance from curious equines that poked their heads out of their stalls. Faelwen didn't seem to be into horses much.) She pointed out several horses of importance, some that Zoe recognized. There was Lady Arwen's sweet-natured dark gray, and the twin's horses she recognized immediately and greeted them with gentle strokes down their noses.

The last horse she recognized, as pointed out by Faelwen, was Asfaloth. He was a majestic, snow-white stallion, just as Tolkien had described him. Zoe knew that the only person the stallion would allow to ride him was his owner, Glorfindel, a Balrog slayer of old and now re-embodied and returned to Middle Earth as a friend and advisor to Lord Elrond. Zoe gazed at the steed from a safe distance, although she knew there would be no harm in touching him. He was just so ethereal to look at that she couldn't bring herself to approach him comfortably, or maybe it was because she had been in Rivendell for only four days and had barely become acclimated to living with the elves.

After the Faelwen's brief tour, she introduced Zoe to the head horseman. He agreed to "hire" Zoe to work with and care for the horses, and in return he would request that Lord Elrond himself provide her with accommodations. She was excited about the possibilities but nervous at the same time that she'd never see her own home again. She wondered if anyone was missing her already. The owners of the equestrian center usually called her once a week to see if she needed anything for the apartment or if she wanted to take a day off (they had plenty of workers). Zoe almost always declined their offers since she didn't know what she would do with herself if she had as much free time as they said they could give her. If they had called her apartment in the past few days, they would leave a message and call back the next day. At the rate her new life was coming into being in Middle Earth, they'd probably report her disappearance as a kidnapping. Zoe regretted that she couldn't at least tell them she was alright.

In the back of her mind, she had a feeling she'd be getting home sooner rather than later, but meanwhile she would work in the stables of Rivendell for food and board. It seemed like a swell deal.

The only thing she didn't know now was how she would be getting home.