A/N: Wow, sorry sorry sorry! Two months? Sheesh. I didn't even expect this. I promise, I thought I was going to update like two weeks later... maybe this is why I can never finish the novels I start. Because I'm not forcing myself to be dedicated. Alright, anyway, I'm sorry.
Thank you guys SO MUCH for sticking with this story and reading it whenever I update. You guys are awesome.
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Aviarianna O Lorien: Thank you! It was actually rather laziness on my part but I think it turned out pretty well. There will probably be similar chapters in the future.
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Chapter 9
Middle-earth, Day 17
I've been so busy these last few days that I haven't had time to write! A "small feast" turned out to be a gathering of what must've been half of the city and every noble family near the White City. I was overwhelmed and felt claustrophobic at many times during the evening. I swear, at one point, I was so certain I was going to faint that I snuck out onto one of the terraces that seem to be off of every main room, at least most of the ones that I have seen. I was talking great gulps of the fresh, cool night air (not literally. It felt as though my mind and soul could breathe again, though, without being cramped in that room.) I was found. Apparently Eowyn had sent an attendant to find me, but that person had failed. A young man, apparently one of the party that had accompanied Eowyn on her journey to Minas Tirith, offered to find me instead.
And so he did. And, to the best of my ability, I will transcribe those events here.
"Milady,"
I turned quickly at a voice over my shoulder, tilting my head back to see the face to who the voice belonged. He stood at least a foot taller than me, possibly a little more.
It was a young man, I wouldn't guess more than eighteen years of age, with fair hair and twinkling green eyes. He from likely from Rohan, and had been one of the many to relocate to Ithilien when Eowyn wed Faramir.
He sketched a bow and I dipped down as well, feeling my face flush anew. Grateful that he could not make out the color of my face in the darkening night, I turned away, looking back out across the city as I had been doing not a moment ago.
I always got this way around boys. It was little wonder that back home I had no guy friends, let alone a guy that liked me and would've asked me out. I wasn't comfortable in the least around male persons that were anywhere near my age. Luckily, up until this point, I hadn't encountered one.
"It was very warm in there." I murmured, trying to explain my absence from the festivities.
"Lady Eowyn draws quite the crowd," he agreed, turning to look out over the city with me. He stood several feet away but the right side of my body was stiff, closely attuned to his nearness. I scolded my body for its odd response to him. It was just another person. I had been surrounded by people and hadn't had this reaction.
"You must be the girl everyone is talking of," he spoke. His voice flowed into my ears and took up permanent residence in my memory. It was soft and deep, certain inflections crisp, others smooth.
"I suppose so." I fidgeted, feeling him looking at me. I twirled a short lock of hair around one finger nervously. Realizing the action, I tossed the hair away from me, almost in disgust. I was not a hair-twirling girl.
"You don't speak very much?" Though posed as a question, it seemed more like he was stating a fact.
"Oh, quite the opposite. I speak too much, a lot of the time, and make an absolute fool out of myself, and at other times I get nervous or uncomfortable and it's difficult to get two words out of me." I blurted in one long sentence, feeling my face reddening yet again. I forced myself to meet his gaze. He was bent down, leaning his forearms on the stone railing, so I didn't have to tilt my head up quite so far.
He was staring at me, amusement dancing in his eyes as though I had said something extremely clever. But I had not. I had just expressed, in a sentence to a total stranger, what I considered to be a major flaw in my people skills.
He took a step or two in my direction, looking down on me kindly, as one would look upon a favored batty aunt or a silly younger sister.
"We all have our flaws, have we not? People consider me far too quiet, I am told. It is, perhaps, because I would rather peruse a book than engage in foolish actions."
His quiet comment floored me. Certainly, if I had ever thought about it, I would've realized that men, even young men, who would be teenagers back home, were more mature in Middle-earth, simply because of their surroundings and their way of life. But I had never considered, even fleetingly, the fact that there might be someone like me among the youth of Middle-earth.
I felt a flush of warmth spread through me and I smiled, genuinely, for one of the first times that night. I had found a kindred spirit, in someone my own age, if I could trust my own judgment in his age.
"Before I came here," I said, "I felt exactly the same way."
I suddenly found myself wishing I was taller, prettier, that my hair was longer and could be fashioned into the becoming hairstyles that many women present were wearing. I wished that my waist were more slender and my mind more keen. I wished that he would like me. And I mentally slapped myself for it.
He smiled gently down at me, offered his arm. "I was supposed to fetch you, for Lady Eowyn has requested your presence at table. But I confess, I wished to speak with you as well. I have heard much of you since we arrived here."
I had no idea what to say. I took his arm, let him lead me back inside. In silence we skirted the crowded tables, and he deposited me back in my seat, at the head table, in an honored chair next to Eowyn.
She seemed excited to see me, as though she enjoyed herself more when I was present. I smiled at her and took my seat, looking gratefully up to my escort, only to find him already gone. It was at that moment that I realized that I didn't know his name.
I watched Eowyn entertain those around her, not giving one care in the world that she was pregnant and likely not supposed to be out in large company. I did not know the proper conduct in such a situation in Middle-earth, but judging by some of the servant's whispered comments about the lady, I guessed that it was perhaps not entirely proper.
The rest of the evening flew by, course after course of fantastic dishes being set out. I tried everything and tasted next to nothing, thinking of a certain fair-haired boy and a conversation I wished had lasted longer.
So, that is the tale. I still don't know his name and I haven't seen him since. I feel very silly about the whole thing… it's just like it was at home. Girls getting crushes on guys, thinking about them nonstop, picking apart every word of whatever short conversation they shared to find some hidden meaning. I feel as though I am turning into a teenage girl cliché, and I'm in a different country altogether! The similarities between Middle-earth and home seem to grow by the day.
I stared at the sentence I had just written, in my messy scrawl, and pondered the truth of it. I wondered if, throughout the ages, certain things just stayed the same. I wondered if some things would always be, no matter the world or planet or society.
I heaved a dramatic sigh and shoved my journal back into my backpack.
As if on cue, Erendis bustled in, chatting about a spill in the kitchen that morning. Apparently the entire breakfast menu had been changed.
"Come, Lady Anna," Erendis said, still insisting to call me by my 'title'.
In ten minute's time I was dressed and on my way downstairs. Suddenly feeling the impulse to not join the others for breakfast, I veered off down an unknown hallway. Light spilled in through the windows as I shuffled leisurely along, taking my own sweet time, enjoying the solitude.
"Sometimes a little time to oneself is all one needs," I said to no one in particular, turning a corner. I glimpsed a garden and headed towards it, wishing I had a book on hand. There were few things I loved to do better than sit in a garden, or just out in the wilderness, leaning against a tree, reading. I always felt transported to another place and time. And I imagined romantic meetings in such places, being pleasantly surprised by someone happening upon me.
I'm a true romantic at heart, sue me.
I entertained no such hopes on this day, however, only seeking some quiet alone time. I entered it soon enough, finding it also contained a sort of a courtyard as well. It was a garden of some size, with the courtyard placed in the middle and a path winding through small trees, bushes, and plots of flowers.
I took to the path, slowing my steps and enjoying the walk excessively. There were some flowers that looked like flowers from home, others I didn't recognize. There was a pleasant, light smell in the air, and breathing it in, it seemed to clear my mind and heart of any worries that might be hidden there.
I don't know how long I walked in circles around the garden; time passed by, perhaps hours, perhaps mere minutes. I was lost, in my thoughts, in my own little world, set apart from everything, it seemed. It was though I had finally found some small part of Middle-earth to call my own.
At length I sat down on a stone bench, staring at the knots in an old tree. It was the largest in the garden, and it seemed ages old. It was as though I was sitting next to a worn old man, one who had seen untold things in his life. Sitting next to that tree, I imagined the things it had witnessed, the stories it would be able to tell if it were a person. Like a protective parent, it guarded the garden, tucked away from sight.
I placed my hand upon the trunk of the tree, the bark rough beneath my hand.
"If only you were a person, I'm sure I could talk the whole day with you," I addressed the tree, not feeling the least bit foolish.
"And you would tell me stories that no one has heard," I continued, tracing a pattern in the bark with the tip of my finger. "And I would keep them secret, as you have, all these years."
I traced the pattern, rather like the letter S, again and again with my finger.
I was broken from my disconnected reverie by a voice near the place I had entered.
"Some of those stories could be recorded elsewhere."
I jumped with surprise, looking over my shoulder. It was the man from the feast, his green eyes still twinkling as though he were constantly in on a joke that no one else was aware of. He took a few steps into the garden, looking around him.
I looked around, self-conscious, wishing to focus my gaze anywhere but on him. How long had he been here? How long had I been here? I looked up at the sky, the surest way of telling time without clocks or watches. The sun was nearing its peak. I felt as though it had been only minutes since I had detoured on my way to breakfast, when it had truly been hours. What spell had been cast over me when I entered the garden?
My mind was clear, my heart at rest, but I could not remember the last few hours. What had I been doing, thinking? A strange look must have passed over my face because he backed away, bowing slightly. "Pardon me, Lady Anna, I see I have interrupted your private time." He began to leave and I bolted from my seat.
"No!" I cried, a little too fervently. "Uh, that is, no, you haven't. I just… needed a few moments to myself. And I found this lovely garden and could not resist."
Seeing the look on his face, I tried to smile and waved my hand in an invitation to join me, not sure what else to do.
We sat on the same stone bench I had been sitting on for… hours? He sat at one end, I at the other. I was keen to break the silence, comfortable though it was. I still felt strange, as though, if the two of us sat here for long enough, we would both be lost to that same strange sensation I had experienced. The feeling of disconnection provided by the garden, peaceful though it had been, left me feeling strange.
"Were you sent to find me again?" I asked, looking at him. He seemed taller in the day, with his long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. I tucked my feet beneath my skirt and folded my hands in my lap, trying to appear ladylike.
"Not this time, milady, I was only walking around. Though others have been sent to look for you, since word has gotten out that you were not at breakfast."
I felt the slightest bit guilty and hoped that the servants were not frantically searching for me. I should have told someone I would not be at breakfast, I realized.
"You are not sorry that you got away, I see."
Amazed that this person, who had met me only once before, could see through me so easily, I turned to him.
"The King and Queen have been most generous with their time and consideration," I started, doing my best to show the genuine respect I held for these people who had been so kind to me.
"I guess I just needed to get away." I finished lamely, laying my hands out in front of me.
"I can understand that." He responded. "So, what is your story, Lady Anna?"
I turned to him, skeptical. "Haven't you heard?" I knew that news had traveled far and wide of my visit to the White City, though what the details of those stories were was less certain.
"One moment I was home, and the next I am waking up in the Pelennor." I told him my entire story and he listened attentively, nodding in the appropriate places and asking questions here and there.
I was still kept in a constant state of amazement that everyone took my story as fact and no one seemed to question it. Back home, I know that people would've thought I was insane. Even now, faced with the reality of Middle-earth and its people, I wondered if I was dreaming. But it was all so inescapably real, I was sure I could not be dreaming. It just was not possible.
"In Ithilien, we only heard word of a strange visitor come to the White City, an honored guest of the King's." He told me. The notion made me laugh slightly.
"Honored guest, yes, though I did nothing to deserve it but tell my story. He could have just as easily turned me away. I was amazed that I got to speak with him personally at all."
"King Elessar is not the sort to do that." He said, looking at the sky, a brilliant blue over our heads with nary a cloud in sight. "And he and his family seem quite fond of you." He added.
I nodded. Yes, they did. And I was fond of them. They were kind, and generous, and I did not see how anyone could not love and respect them. Little Eldarion had become more attached to me as well, and I loved the child dearly.
"I am very fortunate."
How different my life seemed now. Completely turned upside down, and yet I fit in here, in such a strange way.
We sat in the garden a quiet hour, discussing various things. I had been right in my assumption the night of the feast; he and I were indeed kindred spirits in many ways. I felt at ease with him as I had with no other boy my age. We conversed with the effortlessness of two friends that had known each other for years.
He was midsentence, telling me about a story of him as a child, growing up in Rohan with his brothers, when my stomach growled the loudest it has ever in my life. He laughed, a light, lilting sound that touched my heart and made me join in, despite my embarrassment.
"I think it is time we find you some food. You never ate anything for breakfast, I surmise?" He rose, offering me his hand to help me up.
We talked a little as he led me back down through the hallways as though he had walked them his entire life, and he deposited me near the kitchen, much like my very first day in Gondor. He bowed, brushing his lips across the back of my hand, smiling a bit.
"Until next time, milady."
I curtseyed and when I looked up again, he was gone. He had the strangest way of disappearing suddenly.
Middle-earth, Day 17, again
I still don't know his name.
A/N: Well there it is! I started writing and COULD NOT stop for the life of me. So, it is a long chapter! Something like 3000 words.
I decided to introduce this character, not necessarily because this story is going to become a romance, but because some random thought overtook me and compelled me to add another interesting character that is mine, that I can develop… and Anna will have a friend! At the very least. So… yes. Who knows what will happen with this character, with this story… I don't even know. I'm just letting me take it where it will. So I know that this chapter leads it in a different direction than maybe it seemed to be going, but... I dunno. It's just kind of all developing as I write.
This chapter is a little more serious and has less of Anna's humor in it, but I wanted to show the more somber side, the more serious side of her experience, along with someone new, some new situation, etc. Anyway. The End! Of the chapter.
