Chapter 7 : Solemn Vows

Vera laughed and the sound echoed through the air. She sighed and looked into the distance. Suddenly her eyes became wistful.

"I wish it was always like this" Vera said suddenly. Thranduil found himself agreeing with the sentiment.

Minas Tirith came back into view, it was mid morning by now. The closer they came, the more reticent he became. The joy in his eyes slowly disappeared to be replaced by an ancient regal mask .

"King Thranduil" Aragorn addressed him as he appeared through the door. Vera appeared behind him, holding his hand, as a child might a parent. Aragorn could not hid his surprise. Various Kings and Lords of the court begin to whisper about the girl. "Arisen from the dead" was the most common sentiment. That is how inaccurate information is usually spread.

"Vera" Elrond exclaimed, and he unceremoniously ran to her from his proper place. Vera dropped Thranduil's hand, and curtsied to Elrond.

"Are you alright?" He said trying to check her wound. She slapped his hand away in surprise.

"I'm sorry that I ran away. I was… confused" She tried to explain.

"It's okay, we should have been better prepared, that wasn't the first time you escaped for somewhere after all" Elrond laughed heartily.

"Call off the search" Aragorn whispered to a guard on his left. He nodded and quickly left.

"Please let me check your wound" Elrond pleaded. Vera felt fine but nodded compliantly. Elrond led her to the healing ward. She climb up to the chair and sat in it comfortably.

He pushed the fabric of her blue robe aside. Just underneath her left collarbone was a large gash. It was not so bad as the arrow wound but it looked like it needed immediate dressing. It spewed forth something foul.

"You walked all this way, like that" Elrond asked.

Vera looked at the gash, surprised that it was there.

"Oh, I guess it must have reopened" She exclaimed. How could she have not realized that? Suddenly a pain ripped through her from her side to her shoulder. She turned pale from the shock and fainted. It would have been comical, like a cartoon character taking a fall only after realizing he had walked off a cliff, had it not been so serious.

"Vera?" Elrond yelled "Help… somebody help.

Elrond demanded a list of medicines and herbs from the nurse that rushed in.

"Hurry" He commanded.

Aragorn, Thranduil, Éomer the King of Rohan, other various kings and lords sat around a large circular table. There was one seat empty, Elrond had not yet arrived.

A servant rushed in and walked right to Aragorn. She whispered something in his ear and quickly left. It was an odd place for a servant girl to be in a king's council.

"Vera has gotten very ill" Aragorn announced. Thranduil tensed.

"Elrond will be joining us shortly" Aragorn finished. As he ended that sentence coincidently Elrond appeared.

"Lord Aragorn" He said with a small bow. He took his seat.

"How is she?" Thranduil spoke out of turn in spite of himself.

"She is sleeping. Her wound had become infected, I cleaned it. She should be fine after a goodnights rest" Elrond gave him the complete debrief.

"Gentleman and Gentle Elves, shall we begin?" Aragorn asked but it sounded like a command.

They spoke of various roads that should be guarded, items up for trade, skilled workers in need in various kingdoms, the status of various wines being brewed, the remnant goblin resistance (things got quite heated there), and finally the most important topic for last. Vera the Green, Vera the Wise, Vera the Botanist, tree talker, prison escapist, wander, traveler, flower peddler. Most importantly she was thought of as, Vera the unknown, Vera the dangerous. News of her had travelled far and wide"

"We have never had such a thing happen. How can we trust her? She might not be of the Wise at all" Bard II, the King of Dale expressed.

"She could be very dangerous, I have heard of her powers, and most dangerous of all, she has yet to tell us her purpose" Éomer exclaimed agreeing with Bard II

The lines of this argument were drawn. The men did not trust her, the elves did and the dwarves did not care.

"I sense in her a great light, the light of the Valar, the light of creation" said Galadriel Lady of Lothlórien.

"She has the power of an Istar, I do not deny it. The trees speak of her with reverence. They call her the Emerald Sower, they think her the seed spreader of creation. The Great Tree of Gondor, thinks her his mother," Lord Celeborn said agreeing with his wife.

"She has great power, but for what I do not know" Aragorn said. The men nodded, the elves did not.

"You call her Wise, but she is not like Gandalf, she does not know how to control her power. Did she not run around muddled with wargs no less?" Éomer said his voice and temperament rising. Shouting and arguing broke out.

"But what of her purpose" asked another. The elves reluctantly conceded to that point. No one seemed to know.

Then a loud commanding voice broke the through the din. Thranduil finally spoke. He had not spoken through the whole meeting, not about the roads, nor about trade, nor about the Goblin resistance. His kingdom did little outside trading, it mattered not. But the girl, the girl mattered.

"I am amongst fools, for her very purpose is before your dull eyes" Thranduil began. All eyes turned to him, all silence given him. He had command of the room. He stood up, and his tall intimidating figure seemed to fill up the chamber.

"Have you ever heard wargs speak common tongue forgoing black speech? These animals are not the dark beasts of the past, they have become loyal and good because of her." He paused for a moment to let that sink in

"Half of my body blackened by dragon's fire, only but a sentence she uttered, and removed the four thousand year old curse." An alarming and undeniable piece of evidence.

"The Tree of Gondor, asleep as long as memory has awoken in her presence. Trees, fireflies, flowers, all the things we enjoy in peace, are her essence. She is not Gandalf, you are right about that. Gandalf was our chieftain in war, when we had a great enemy. The enemy is gone, we need not search for that in her. She was sent here as our chieftain in peace. Her purpose is the heal the scars of war. Look at the evidence, deny it and I am right. You all are blind," Thranduil said eloquently. It was the most he had ever said during a council meeting. He sat back down, the youthful glow in his eyes receding. Once again the ancient mask covered him.

Copious blinking and silence. Then finally a sigh.

"I think you are right" Aragorn said finally. The other men looked at each other, but their dubious expression turned into reluctant agreement.

"If she is a healer as you say, where should she go next? Rohan is in great need of healing and protection" Éomer argued. It was quite a rude thing to accuse a girl of wrong doing then in the next moment ask her for help. But fate makes rude fools of as all.

"Nay, she belongs in Dale, to keep the dragons of the north at bay" Bard II argued.

"I agree" Thorin III Stonehelm King under the mountain suddenly spoke up. Dale was a stones throne from Erebor. That would benefit them both. Thorin III Stonehelm shared the name with his grandfather Thorin Oakenshield. Though the first shared none of the latter's honor.

"You accuse her and in the same breath command her assistance. Lothlórien requires her all the more, the spiders and fell beast. She can turn them back into what they were before the evil touched them" Celeborn argued. She should come with us.

Had Vera been there, she would have been pulled limb from limb.

"She is no ones to command. Do you think being king of Rohan or Lothlórien will persuade her? She is not your subject, she will chose to go as she wishes" Thranduil said simply. The fire flickering in his eyes for a brief moment.

"You only say that because she will chose to go with you" Bard II argued fiercely.

He had seen the pair arrive together, hand in hand. He would not let this Woodland King take his fortune.

"Her power should go to where it is needed to most. We have lost many to the Goblin resistance, while your people benefit from our fallen" Éomer argued. Limb from Limb.

Aragorn ended the council after ten more minutes. It had began to become a heated argument similar to a bar brawl rather than an King's council. Aragorn ended it, to prevent blows from being thrown.

Thranduil quickly went to the healing ward. Vera was sitting up, looking forlorn. She looked blankly out the window.

"What troubles you, Green one" Thranduil spoke. Vera looked up realizing she was not alone. The sadness did not leave her eyes in spite of him.

"You know before this, I lived across the vale with the Ainur." She began. Thranduil nodded but did not follow. He already knew this.

"When I sang The Song, and that forest burst forth. Did that seem like the most lovely piece of paradise your eyes have ever seen?" Vera tried to explain noting his confusion. Thranduil thought about and nodded. It was the most lovely forest he had ever seen, even lovelier than when Mirkwood had been Greenwood.

"That patch of dirt was nothing compared to the forest of the Valar" Vera said wistfully. "I am so tired. I keep getting struck down and injured. It is like an endless struggle, and the shadows are always threatening to consume me"

She began to cry. The wailing of a child, though her sadness was too profound, too painful for that of a child.

"You cannot imagine. Every breath threatens to extinguish itself, every second is eternal suffering…. But I can't give up either. It was all my fault that evil took a foothold in the first place. And the responsibility, the weight on my shoulders is crushing me" Vera cried out. She wept bitterly, face in her hands.

Thranduil felt the sorrow radiating off her. He took a strand of hair and brushed it behind her ear. He said nothing. Vera looked up at him, wide teary green eyes.

"How am I to continue? I look in myself for the strength. I know if I do not fight I will surely die. But even the threat of death is not strong enough anymore. The task is so arduous and my strength is failing," Vera continued looking desperately at him.

"You have saved me. You have wiped away the curse of death from my soul. Do not give in…. fight. There are many more you must save. Draw your strength from the ones that you have rescued. Draw your strength from me. I will help you. I will go with you every step. Where you must go, I will follow." Thranduil said, it was a most solemn vow to her.

"What of your kingdom, your people need you" Vera sighed. It was a beautiful gesture but not one that he could honor.

"My son has long been ready to lead my people. He will take my place and I shall take his" He said quickly. He did not hesitate.

"I cannot ask it of you" Vera said wiping her tears away. The grief concealing itself once more. Though I should say, grief concealed is no less potent.

"You need not to ask it, I am offering. Even if you decline, you cannot stop me from going as I please. I will go where you go" Thranduil said forcefully.

"I too have a son to take my place. I will do the same" Elrond said suddenly appearing at the door. He had heard everything.

Vera looked blank for a long moment but then a small smile appear on her face. She looked thoughtfully at her scepter. Her eyes looked over the various hairs she collected throughout her life time.

"I thought it would be my power that would save me. But in the end, it was kindness given and received, I will never underestimate it again" She finally said.

Pippen fell out of the tiny wardrobe in the corner. He had been taking a nap there. The conversation woke him up. He also heard everything.

"I'm going too. What a queer life I have lived. Two world saving journeys in one life time" Pippen laughed.

"Two world saving journeys with your best friend of course" Merry said suddenly barging in from the door. He had only heard what Pippen said. He didn't need to hear anymore. He was going, plus he was itching for adventure anyway.

The room was getting particularly full now.

Vera's smile grew into a laugh. A new fellowship was forming right before her eyes.

"My heart is glad you are all willing to go on this journey with me" Vera said cheerfully. The vigor that she arrived with returned to her cheeks.

"I will go where ever there is a place that needs healing, but I must go visit an advisor. Tom Bombadil" Vera explained. They all nodded. They would never renounce their pledges.

They began making predations for their journey. Packing ponies, and such.

"I go, I go for the others. I protect you" One of the newly revived wargs announced. Unfortunately his common speech was lacking. What he meant to say what quite a bit more eloquent. I will take this journey with you. I will redeem all of the wargs for the wrongdoings of the past. The song has not ended for us, we still have time to set things right. I know we have a great deal to answer for. But, I will protect you with my life, my strength, my spirit. Nothing will harm you without going through these teeth!

Vera smiled and gave the warg a good pat on the head. His tongue hung out, his tail wagged side to side. It was so strange to see the formidable beast in this way. He looked friendly and harmless, such a contrast to wargs of the war.

"Do you have a name?" Vera wondered suddenly. She had never thought about wargs with names before. They never need names before.

"Name me" the warg thought excitedly. What a thing it was to be someone, to have a name.

"Mellon" Vera said cheerfully. The Elves smiled at that. Mellon meant friend in Sindarin.

"Mellon. Hmm Mellon?… YES… good" Mellon barked. The Elves smiled even wider. It was quite hilarious to hear a warg speak in Elvish. Vera gave him another pat on the head, and scratch behind the ear.

Mellon looked to his brothers, the other two wargs.

"Name the others" Mellon told his brothers. Again the meaning was lost to those hearing due to his unskilled speech. Free the others. No longer will we do the bidding of Goblins and Orcs. We will never do this again. Instead we will have names and be counted among the good and noble.

"Yes, Alpha" The two wargs replied. Mellon was not just their Alpha, as it happened, he was simply the Alpha.

"What of the Dwarves, we will not have our people uncounted in the songs." Thorin III said finally as the troupe prepared to leave. Gimli huffed, he would not go if Legolas was stuck in Mirkwood. It wouldn't be fair.

"I will go in the name of all Durin's Folk" Balin (the second) son of Dwalin said. He was among the people that came for the birthday celebration. He was regarded as a true king by his people above Thorin III. Though he did not share the name with Thorin II Oakenshield, he did more importantly share his honor and worthiness.

Embolden by the Dwarves. The men also decided to send an envoy. Who would they pick, many wanted the honor of the song. They thought the journey less perilous than that of the fellowship. Naturally many more wanted to be selected. Two were selected, one with the desire to prove his namesake, the other a thirst for adventure.

"I will go" Bard II finally said "My my son will take my place on the throne. This is finally the time to prove my kinghood"

"Then I will go as well. If Kinghood is something one must prove" Éomer said.

"Don't be ridiculous my friend, you have no son to take your place as of yet" Bard II said not willing to share his glory.

"My brother Amrothros will take my place. He will be a good ruler in my place" Éomer defended.

Thus a new fellowship was formed. Vera, Thranduil, Elrond, Pippen, Merry, Mellon, Balin, Bard and Éomer had picked up the gauntlet. This was much like the former fellowship of nine. Though there was one difference, instead of would be kings and princes, all of them were true kings. And so was their name, I suppose a bit as an attempt as humor. Fellowship of the Kings.

Of course you might disagree on Pippen and Merry on being kings. But if you were to ask farmers in the shire they would say this. Kings? Ha, of course, they're the Kings of mischief.

Vera sat by Sir Sycamore, it was the now the night before their departure. She whispered sweet nothings to the tree, and lulled it with songs of faraway places. Sir Sycamore felt his old grumpy exterior shed away, he felt young again.

"I have miss you for a thousand eons, Emerald One" Sir Sycamore sighed "Must you go on this journey, I will miss you desperately"

"Your brother in the west misses me as well," Vera laughed "You need not worry, I will be here again, it will feel like but a moment in your life time"

"When you are gone, every moment is a life age of the earth… Mother" Sir Sycamore cooed.

"Shall I sing you to sleep? That you will forget time" Vera said with a hint of concern.

"Nay, I will remain vigilant, and protect this land in lieu of you. My purpose is to serve you, and your purpose is to protect and restore this world" Sir Sycamore said honorably.

"Then a song of encouragement" Vera laughed.

"Yes… please" He simply replied

Remain vigilant for tiredness and spies, my son

Sleep not again my dear, let not the enemy run

Let your Vigor endure, become young once more

Bring upon the land peace, and wane the tide of war

The tree laughed, and it appeared as though wind blew through its flowers. Vera looked up, she realized the Sycamore had suddenly flowered.

It had beautiful pink blossoms contrasting is white limbs. One again it was whole and joyful.

"I will wait for you! Return to me" It laughed again. Vera made a solemn oath that she would return.

The following morning at the first light, the nine set out north. It was a beautiful glorious morning. The sun shone brightly as if blessing their journey. A song that was long forgotten seemed to play in the air.