The next morning I was woken up by Merry and Pippin who announced that they were going to meet up with Frodo and Sam in the smaller gardens and that I was to accompany them. The two of them were jumping up and down on my bed, earning a glare from the elf maiden who had brought my fresh clothing. However, I got up, laughing as I urged them out of my room to allow me to change. When I had attempted to make my bed and keep all of my clothing nice and neat, I found myself giving up for the second day in a row and went out into the hallway.
"Do you remember where the smaller gardens are?" Pippin asked, a mischievous smile on his face, which grew to a grin when I nodded, "How about a race?"
"A race?" Merry questioned, "After yesterday, you should know that Cinder is quite the slow poke. I'd be your only competition."
"I was holding back yesterday," I defended, "I let you two beat me."
"Prove it!" they both stammered in unison before I nodded. Merry, deciding to take initiative, stated, "Okay, ready….set….go!"
And I took off. While I never could have the same brute strength as men, my father had taught me to be quicker than quick to give me some advantage. I was sprinting , leaving the two hobbits behind me and I heard their cries out of protest as well, which caused me to chuckle lightly as I turned my head to look to try to determine how far behind they were.
Of course, good graces did never seem to be on my side as I collided with something, causing me to fall back, but whoever it was grabbed me by the arm, pulling me up so that I was face to face with the ranger. I felt my face growing hot in embarrassment before I stammered, "Sorry," as I offered the ranger a sheepish grin. I really needed to stop bumping into him like this…literally. He's going to think my vision is faulty.
"Just who I was looking for," Aragorn said, disregarding my embarrassment or any of the awkwardness I had been producing, "I was going to see if you wanted to look around Rivendell today. I know you're unfamiliar with the area."
My mind flashed to the day before when the hobbits had given me a pretty excellent tour, and how he would be basically showing me the same things, however it would be nice and less stressful for me to spend time with the seemingly calm Strider as opposed to the energetic halflings I had been spending most of my time with, which in all honesty was exhausting, "That sounds…" I had barely enough time to say those two words before I heard the scampering of feet as Merry and Pippin whipped around the corner, running straight into me, knocking me once again into Aragorn, who caught me while staggering to keep balance.
"You cheated," Pippin piped up, staring at me with accusing eyes while Merry had his eyes narrowed, "How did you get that fast?"
"We were racing, weren't we?" I questioned as I regained my feet, before the hobbits each glared at me.
"We raced yesterday and beat you," Pippin muttered, and I shrugged, "But come on, we have to go meet with Frodo and Sam!"
"Actually," I paused as the two hobbits stopped walking away to turn and look at me rather confused. I was immediately envious of how expressive hobbits were with their faces. It wasn't something I had been very accustomed to judging by the fact that most people tried to mask their emotions, and being a loner in the world, I also adopted the emotionless and expressionless mask as well, "I'll catch up with you guys later on, okay?"
Merry scrunched his nose as Pippin nodded, "Tell Frodo I say hello, alright?" The two hobbits nodded before dashing off without me.
"You've been spending a lot of time with the hobbits," Aragorn noted out loud and I nodded.
"They seemed to want the company," I responded fluidly, "And sometimes when you're always alone it is nice to have company, but I'm sure you knew that already."
Aragorn simply nodded in response, leaving the two of us standing in the corridor in an awkward silence. My gaze shifted down to my feet in order to diffuse my own anxieties from the silence. I felt his blue eyed gaze on me, which made me shift my feet a little nervously as I stayed transfixed on my black boots.
"Shall we be off?" he questioned, finally breaking the silence and I nodded slowly as he offered me his arm as we began our trek.
"Do you come here often?" I wondered aloud, allowing myself to look up at him as we walked, my arm linked with his.
"I was raised here," he answered simply.
"So this is where you learned elvish?" he nodded before asking a question of his own.
"Do you know elvish?"
"Yes," I answered softly.
"Really?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?" I inquired, "It is almost necessary nowadays. Though, I haven't really dealt with elves from Rivendell until now."
"You just didn't seem to be utilizing it here at all," he explained, "Which elves have you had dealings with?"
"Mirkwood and Lorien," I mumbled, "I hadn't been here for years, but I wasn't going to just tell Gandalf no."
"Mirkwood? Then I suppose you know—" he was cut off upon our entrance to the main gardens due to the recognition of someone who he knew, and thankfully I knew the newcomer as well, "Legolas!" Aragorn greeted the blonde elf as they shared a swift embrace.
"Aragorn! It is nice to see you!" the elf replied heartily before his gaze shifted to me, "And Lady Wanderer, it is always wonderful to see you."
"As it is to see you," I said with a laugh as he forced me into a short embrace, "Though I do recall telling you several times that you don't need to be formal with me, Prince of Mirkwood."
He let out a nervous chuckle as he nodded, "Yeah, you may have mentioned it," I raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief and he added, "A few times when I last seen you, but that was a while ago. I assume you are both here for the same reasons I am?"
"Naturally," I murmured, "Your travels were safe?"
"Nothing we couldn't handle," Legolas answered shortly, "Both of your travels were alright as well?"
Of course he had to include the other ranger into the conversation as well. Politeness or not, I was just happy to run into someone familiar…even if Aragorn too recognized the elf.
"Ran into a few wraiths on the way here," Aragorn answered shortly and Legolas nodded and his eyes shifted to me, but Aragorn added, "Cinder was also with me."
"Now that's surprising," Legolas stated lightly and I scowled, narrowing my green eyes at him into a glare, "I'm sorry my lady, but you usually aren't one to…what is it 'play nice' with others?"
Aragorn chuckled as I glared at the both of them, "I don't know what you mean. I like to think I'm quite pleasant company."
"That you can be," Aragorn agreed, "Only sometimes though," he joked lightly, "Anyway, I was giving the lovely lady a tour of Rivendell, so we should probably continue that before we are summoned for dinner."
Legolas nodded in understanding before he bid the two of us farewell. Aragorn and I continued walking, our arms no longer linked together which gave me a bit more freedom of movement to take in the sights that I had already been introduced to, but I was humoring Aragorn, deciding I would let him know at some later point that I had seen basically everything I would need to see beforehand, but I was appreciative of the tour anyway.
Our wandering ended upon dinner time as we began the short trek to the dining hall, "So it was nice to know what the actual names of things are instead of the quirky titles the hobbits gave them…" I murmured to ease the silence.
"You already had a tour?" Aragorn questioned and I nodded, "Then it seems today was quite counter-productive. My apologies."
"Why are you apologizing? I wasn't just minding my manners," I muttered, "I actually like knowing the actual names to things rather than something the hobbits came up with to pass time."
"I see," he said shortly. We remained silent for a few moments until we were outside the dining hall where we went our separate ways and I plopped myself down where the hobbits always sat and found Frodo to be the only one at the table.
"Hello Frodo, you're feeling well?" I questioned before tearing off a piece of bread to munch on.
"Yes, I'm feeling much better, thank you," he stated with a small smile, "Are you involved with the…" his voice trailed off, as if he were unsure of what to label whatever he was speaking about. I deduced he meant the council that was going to be in the morning.
"The council?" he nodded, "I am."
"I am too," he mumbled softly, "I'm not sure what to make of it."
"Your involvement will soon come to an end, Frodo," I murmured, "You'll be able to return home soon."
It didn't take long for the other hobbits to join us and their cheerful chatterings drowned out any slight conversation that I may had interjected into. I found myself gazing at the wall blankly, occasionally peering around the hall to identify familiar faces in the crowds. A gathering of races was going to be interesting to say the least, and I was unsure about how important my particular role was to be. I eyed the elves, dwarves, and men alike in the halls and found myself vaguely outnumbered as far as gender went. Not an uncommon occurrence, but it made me feel more unwelcome by the second.
"Cinder!" Pippin piped up, breaking me from my thoughts, "What are you doing staring off into space?"
"I was just thinking," I said softly, trying to offer the hobbits a reassuring smile as they stared at me concerned. I didn't seem too convincing however, and they knitted their eyebrows together before dismissing it and allowing me to go back to my thinking. I have no idea how much time had passed the next time I was broke from my gaze of just simply thinking and pondering, but I found that the hobbits were still chattering away beside me, shooting me looks of concern every so often, but much of the rest of the hall was abandoned.
I stood up, which instantly drew the attention of the hobbits who each stared at me rather startled, "Where are you going?" Sam inquired.
"To rest," I answered sharply, "I'll see you all tomorrow. Goodnight hobbits."
I took to wandering towards the gardens and finding a nice secluded bench to sit mindlessly. In fact, I even found myself slightly dozing off in the peace and serenity of the gardens of Rivendell finding the area overall very calming. However before I could drift off into a deeper sleep, I decided I'd wander inside and to my room.
On my walk, I identified one of the men I'd seen the day before walking out of one of the many areas, and he shot me an odd stare before I continued on my journey back to my room, but before I could wander too far past him, he called out to me, "A lady shouldn't be wandering around alone and at night."
I rolled my eyes, turning to him, unimpressed, "And what do you suggest I do then?"
"Be escorted back to your quarters by me, and then tuck yourself into bed for rest as the rest of the ladies have done here," he chortled and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I don't need an escort."
"We can't have you wandering around alone," he argued.
"Who are you, anyway?" I questioned, growing more irritated by the second.
"Boromir," he introduced, "And if I may ask the identity of the lovely lady?"
"Cinder," I muttered, and watched his facial expression change to confusion, "Still think I need an escort?"
"Of course," he stated simply, and I shook my head, turning and walking off without saying anything more. I heard the clunking of boots behind me as he hurried to attempt to catch up with me, but as I continued walking I detected another set of footsteps behind me.
I stopped, turning around to come face to face with the man from earlier, "Will you stop following me?" I demanded and he shook his head, "I know where my room is and there isn't anything going to jump up and attack me in the middle of Rivendell where there are elves practically everywhere. I don't need your assistance, okay?"
"Is there a problem here?" another voice asked, revealing Aragorn who looked just as emotionally distressed and upset as the other evening I had seen him, if not worse. I shook my head as his stoney blue eyes caught my gaze, but before he could diffuse the situation more, Boromir spoke up.
"The lady protests to being escorted," he explained and Aragorn hummed in response before responding.
"I'll escort her," he murmured, and Boromir stared between the two of us before trudging off muttering about something or other.
"Thank you, I guess," I sighed, "I really don't understand some people, but…uh, I guess I'll see you later. I'm tired."
"I'll follow you," he murmured, "I was going back to my room anyway."
I nodded after his justification before the two of us began walking, "Do you feel like talking why you seem so distressed?"
"I'm not distressed."
"Or upset," I corrected, "Either way, I know when something is wrong. Anyone who wasn't blind could see it."
He nodded at my observation, not answering right away, "It's complicated," he said finally.
"I understand complicated things," I murmured, and I could have sworn I caught a ghost of a smile before we continued to walk in silence.