A/N: I know it's been some matter of weeks... sorry! I had this started and got sidetracked with school and life in general and finished it up today. It's not anywhere near as long as the last chapter but I'm sure there will be some more long chapters in the future.

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Chapter 10

Middle-earth, Day 21

Besotted.

It's the only word that I can find that accurately describes it.

Erendis talks constantly of a stable hand that she met about a week ago. The two apparently spend a lot of their spare time together, talking, walking around. Yesterday, he brought her a bouquet of wildflowers he had picked from outside the city. She tied them with a ribbon and kept them in the pocket of her apron. Her face was glowing the rest of the day.

I found out yesterday that Eowyn plans on staying her until her child is born. In the morning, we were all gathered (Arwen, Eowyn, Morwing, myself, and a companion of Eowyn's that she brought with her from Ithilien.) The subject came up, because apparently discussing due dates is an ancient tradition. I had guessed correctly when I estimated she was about eight months pregnant. Since the child will be born here, Eowyn will be here for another few months at the very least.

I turned my attention from the paper to Erendis, who was holding a new dress up for my inspection. As the days passed I was getting more and more used to the clothing; the extensive undergarments, the fancy dresses. I supposed that the commoners had plainer garments, but even the everyday wear of the nobles was exquisite, at least to me.

I rose and let her slip the dress over my head, daydreaming as she laced it up in the back. Idly, I ran a hand over the fabric, my fingers seeking out the embroidered design on the bodice. I never ceased to be amazed at the gowns created here, in such little time. In the three weeks I had been here, several new dresses had been commissioned for me, and each fit me perfectly.

"You will be going to breakfast today, Lady Anna?" Erendis asked me. Ever since the morning I had skipped the meal, she had asked me the same question to make sure. I smiled slightly, nodding.

"Are you all right, Lady? You seem a little out of spirits this morning." Erendis asked me, concern evident in her voice.

I shrugged. In truth, I hadn't felt very much myself since that morning in the garden. I had become much quieter, much more the introvert than I had ever been before. I felt that everyone else sensed the difference but no one had remarked on it until now.

"I truly don't know. I feel out of sorts." I admitted. I ran a hand through my hair, only to be tsked by Erendis.

She grabbed a comb and set my hair at rights once more. It was still short as it had been when I arrived. I was looking forward to the day that it would be longer, so that I didn't stick out like a sore thumb. Well, at least not as much. It was strange for me to have the same length of hair as nearly every man I encountered, while the women had hair flowing down their backs.

I was just about to get up and head towards the breakfast room when I heard a knock at the door.

Erendis raised her eyebrows, a habit she had picked up from me, and went to answer it. I could see her immediately drop into a deep curtsey and soon after, heard the soft voice of Arwen.

Surprised, I went to the door to join her. She smiled softly at me. I had learned, since I had met her, that nearly everything to do with Arwen could be described as soft or gentle.

"Shall we walk together?" She invited. I smiled and nodded, bidding goodbye to Erendis, whose eyes had grown comically large in surprise.

We had walked down one hallway and turned a corner onto another, heading in the opposite direction of the breakfast room, when Arwen broke our companionable silence.

"I have noticed how quiet you have become lately, Anna," She began. "Does anything trouble you?"

I was touched by the sincerity in her voice.

"I… I don't know. All at once I feel more at home here and more out of place. I don't feel like myself at all, to be honest."

She nodded as though that was the very answer she had expected. We continued to walk, and I wondered if I should tell Arwen about the garden.

"That morning that I was not at breakfast, I had decided to walk around instead. I just felt like I needed to be alone." I said. "And I was wandering around, not even really sure where I was going, and I found myself in a garden, with a courtyard. It looked so inviting, that I went and walked around and…." I stopped abruptly. Arwen had led me to the very garden I had been speaking of.

Her face held a gentle smile, her eyes full of understanding.

She waved her hand for me to enter before her, and I did so reluctantly, memories of my last morning here flooding my mind.

She led me along the same path I had traveled and spoke to me gently.

"There is a mystery about this garden that even I have not been able to discover. It brings a peace, calm, does it not?"

I nodded slowly. That was exactly what I had felt that morning I was here.

"It made me feel as though my worries, even those unknown to me, were gone. But it also made me feel so unaware, and… lost." I finished.

Arwen nodded solemnly.

"It is peculiar, because it is only when one is alone, that it has that effect." She said.

How true that was. Once he had joined me, the feeling had ebbed.

"The last time I came here alone, for days afterwards, I felt much like I suppose you are feeling now. I felt lost and disconnected from those around me. I have not been back since." She said quietly. I could sense her mind traveling to another time and place, back to that time she had the same experience.

I was comforted that someone understood.

"It will pass, Anna." She laid her hand on my arm. "We do not know why this garden affects people in this fashion, but we do know that is passes."

I wondered who 'we' was and who else had come to this garden alone.

We walked in pensive silence for a few more moments before Arwen turned to me, smiling. "Let us talk of happier things."

"Eldarion said my name yesterday," I said with a smile. Eldarion was one of Arwen's favorite subjects, as any son should be to his mother.

We made our way out of the garden, speaking more of Eldarion and his antics. He was a lively child, though pensive at times. I figured that was an Elven trait. Often he would be playing, with his blocks or other toys, and stop all of a sudden, sitting there, staring at the ground, as though he were pondering life's problems.

We arrived at breakfast to find the group leaving. Surprisingly, I felt no hunger, though I felt more myself after talking to Arwen. Perhaps whatever spell the garden cast was wearing off at last.

"Anna!" Eowyn smiled, coming over to me.

"We were just discussing an idea, and wanted to know what you think of it," she began, looping her arm through mine. I shot a smile over my shoulder to Arwen, who nodded at me and went to speak with her husband.

"I have heard that you have never ridden a horse?" There was a level of playful shock in her tone.

I shook my head. "Yes, back home, horses were not… readily available, to be ridden." I affirmed.

"Well, I have just convinced Faramir that we should ride and have a picnic outside of the City," she said, smiling. I glanced at Faramir who smiled faintly. I knew he was concerned for his wife's health, but Eowyn was very convincing when she needed to be.

"And I absolutely will not take no for an answer." I realized I must have missed her saying, or, more likely, insisting, that I accompany them, but I had no reason to say no in any case.

"I'd love to. When are we going?"

"Oh, a few days hence, I'm sure. As soon as arrangements can be made."

With Eowyn arranging the outing, I was sure it would occur in the next few days.

I smiled and happily agreed, trying to banish any anxiety I felt about riding a horse for the first time. I love horses, and, truly, all animals, but it seemed a bit intimidating to be riding for the first time in the presence of a Shieldmaiden of Rohan, a woman who had surely been riding since before she could walk.

A/N: Well… I decided to end it here, though it does seem rather a strange point, even to me, but I think it will better tie into the next chapter by leaving it here. Or, at least, what I have planned for the next chapter, for I haven't even started writing it yet.