AN: Thanks to everyone who added the story to their favorite list and following it. Thanks to xxxMutantAndProudxxx for your review. This is another chapter for you. Please please review. Your opinions are my inspiration. Thank you!
Chapter 10: The Epic Council Meeting
Many strangers are coming to Rivendell. For one and only purpose. To discuss what to do with the ring and how to defeat the growing evil in middle earth. Boromir of Gondor entered the gates of Imladris on his horse. One look at him and anyone could tell that he is a valiant warrior. Not long after Boromir, the prince of woodland realm graced Rivendell with his presence. Legolas Greenleaf came along with other elves. They were his traveling companions. Legolas dismounted his horse and looked around the kingdom. Taking in the beauty and peace of Imladris.
"He's indeed the best eye candy" said Katherine to herself while watching the Mirkwood prince from the balcony above. A playful smirk gracing her lips. Katherine has been watching guests coming to Rivendell since the morning. It's not like she had anything else to do. Frodo is spending some time with Bilbo and the other hobbits are as usual stuffing their faces in the kitchen. Katherine spotted the dwarfs as well. Although she couldn't tell which one is Gimli exactly. They all looked alike to her. However she had a hunch that the auburn hair and beard colored one should be Gimli. Though there are two dwarfs with that same hair color. She will find out upon introduction.
It was easy to recognize the elf princeling Legolas though. Not because he was breathtakingly beautiful but the way he carried himself. Confident, inhumanly graceful and his piercing blue eyes see everything. And they saw Katherine. Legolas felt that someone is watching him since he entered the gates of the house of Lord Elrond. It was easy to find out who is watching him. After all Katherine was looking down at him quite openly and boldly. Legolas quickly studied her features with his sharp elf eyes. She is definitely human. Although she appeared to be wearing an elvish dress. Which was quite odd. There was something about the human girl that Legolas found unsettling. Her beauty was seductive rather than innocent, how it should have been. The girl seemed to be quite confident herself as she kept following Legolas' every move with her almond shaped brown colored eyes. When their eyes meet, Katherine didn't shy away. Instead she continued staring at Legolas. Not to mention the smirk playing on her lips earlier increased seeing that she caught the attention of the famous elf prince.
It confused Legolas and he frowned a little bit. The way the human girl was looking at him, he felt as if she knew him very well. But it wasn't possible. They never met before. Perhaps she heard about him. Legolas couldn't help but wonder who the girl is? Is she from Gondor or Rohan? Since she's human she couldn't be of Rivendell. However the fact that the girl was staring at him so boldly made Legolas doubt that she knew anything about him. Anyone who knew who he is wouldn't dare to gaze at him so freely. Legolas decided to find out about the girl later. Then he finally looked away from her. Seeing Legolas confused was most amusing to Katherine. She bet no one ever dared to check him out so boldly. Katherine couldn't help but smirk more to herself.
"What are you doing?" a voice asked. It belonged to Aragorn. He was standing right behind Katherine.
"Sight seeing" replied Katherine straight away. Without turning to look at him. Aragorn walked up right beside her and looked where Katherine was looking. He spotted his friend Legolas. Aragorn then looked back at Katherine's face.
"Don't even think about it" he said at once. It made Katherine avert her eyes from Legolas and look at Aragorn.
"What are you accusing me of now?" she asked sighing out heavily that showed her annoyance quite clearly.
"I know that look on your face Katherine. Legolas is not someone you should mess with" said Aragorn with warning tone of voice. Katherine rolled her eyes at him.
"You're misunderstanding and overreacting Aragorn. I wasn't thinking anything of that sort. I am already screwed up enough. The last thing I want is to get on the bad side of an elf prince."
"Then why were you looking at him?" Aragorn asked not believing what Katherine just said. The question made Katherine smirk.
"Because he's hot." was Katherine's short and straight answer. Aragorn shook his head at her. He didn't need to ask Katherine what she meant by hot to understand what she was saying.
"You are unbelievable Katherine." Aragorn muttered under his breath. It made Katherine chuckle a bit.
"By the way have you met his father. Who do you think is more handsome between the two?" Katherine asked about king Thranduil without any hesitation. Aragorn opened his mouth then closed it without saying anything. He really shouldn't engage in such conversation. Katherine may not feel any shame but Aragorn would feel severely embarrassed.
"Katherine please behave yourself. You will be in the council today. Do not disgrace yourself with such inappropriate behavior. You're not in your world anymore."
"The thing I am trying not to think about the most. You just had to bring it up. Not helpful Aragorn" said Katherine with serious tone of voice this time.
"I apologize for that. But you must understand Katherine. You can't offend anyone from royalty." Katherine titled her head a little as Aragorn said that.
"And what about you? How do you wish me to treat you? You're after all of noble birth."
"My matter is different. I am your friend Katherine. Those people aren't" said Aragorn motioning towards the crowd below. Katherine narrowed her eyes at the future king of Gondor and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I have noticed. You're being very nice to me lately. What got into you? And we're friends now. When did that happen?"
"Do you not wish to be my friend?" Aragorn asked instead of answering Katherine. It made her more suspicious.
"Now don't try to avoid answering my question" said Katherine bluntly. Her arms still folded over her chest. Aragorn smiled a little to himself. Nothing gets past the otherworldly girl.
"You seem to be doing the same Katherine" said Aragorn. The moment Aragorn heard Katherine's story, he decided to look after her and not give her any ill treatment. No matter how difficult she gets. He even gave her permission to call him Aragorn instead of Strider. Katherine narrowed her eyes more at Aragorn.
"Something happened. I don't know what but something must have happened to change your perspective about me" said Katherine with assured tone of voice. Aragorn didn't say anything. He didn't want to lie but he didn't want to say the truth either. Therefore Katherine met with silence.
"I am going to go and greet Legolas. Take some rest. The afternoon will be quite eventful" said Aragorn and he walked away from Katherine. She kept looking at Aragorn's retreating back. Katherine smelled mystery. But it was not the time to solve it. She looked back at the garden to gaze at Legolas again but found that he has disappeared from her sight. Katherine sighed out heavily.
"Great, time to get bored again."
Seated in a circle are all the representatives of the middle earth. Katherine was sitting beside Gandalf. She was quite hidden from others. This time Frodo wasn't invited in the meeting. There was no need of that. Lord Elrond stood up to greet the council members.
"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old. You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate. This one doom." Lord Elrond looked at Katherine.
"Bring forth the ring Katherine."
Katherine stood up, immediately gaining a lot of attention. She was the only lady in the council after all. A flash of surprise went over Legolas' face. He didn't expect the girl to be in the council. She must be someone of important then. He thought to himself. Katherine walked over to the stone plinth in the middle of the circle and she put the ring down on it.
"So it's true" said Boromir looking at the ring with great desire as he put his hand to his mouth. Others started murmuring things as well. Katherine walked back to her seat. A smirk playing on her lips as she knew exactly what would happen now. The council members are about to have a huge disagreement. Legolas and Gimli eyed the ring suspiciously as it seemingly spoke to them. Boromir however stood up. He is most attracted to the ring.
"In a dream" Boromir started speaking as he looked at the ring again. "I saw the Eastern sky grow dark." He started walking towards the ring. "In the west a pale light lingered a was crying, your doom is near at hand." He kept walking over to the ring. "Isildur's bane is found."
Lord Elrond and Gandalf looked at each other with concern. Boromir stretched out his hand to the ring. "Isildur's bane."
Lord Elrond jumped to his feet. About to stop Boromir. "Boromir!"
Right then the sky darkened and Gandalf began to speak the black speak. Boromir jumped back. "Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimtabul..."
The black speech frightened everyone. Everyone except for Katherine. Who found the little show quite amusing. Reading about something and witnessing them with own two eyes are very different things. After a while the sky cleared and the sun reappeared. Boromir sat down back on his seat, looking shocked. He was in a daze and had no idea what he was doing. Poor thing.
"Never before has anyone uttered words of that tongue in Imladris" said Lord Elrond. Not pleased with what just happened.
"I do not ask your pardon master Elrond for the black speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the west" said Gandalf as he looked at everyone. "The ring is altogether evil" saying that Gandalf turned to sit back down.
"Sometimes you can be one scary wizard you know." Katherine whispered to Gandalf which he ignored. Boromir disagreed with what Gandalf just said.
"Aye, it is a gift." Boromir stood up as he spoke. "A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this ring?" Boromir walked around addressing everyone. "Long has my father the steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people as your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him."
"You cannot wield it. None of us can" said Aragorn to Boromir. "The one ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."
Boromir scathingly looked at Aragorn. "And what would a ranger know of this matter?" Legolas stood up as Boromir insulted Aragorn.
"This is no mere ranger. This is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance." Katherine roamed her eyes over Legolas. 'Is it just me or elf boy looks hotter when he's angry?' Katherine thought to herself with a little smirk.
"Aragorn... this is Isildur's heir." Boromir looked at Aragorn with disbelieve in his eyes.
"And heir to the throne of Gondor" said Legolas.
"Havo dad, Legolas." Aragorn held up his hand and asked Legolas to sit down. Boromir turned to the elf prince.
"Gondor has no king." Boromir walked back to his staring at Aragorn disdainfully. "Gondor needs no king." Once their little dispute ended, Gandalf spoke up.
"Aragorn is right. We cannot use it." Right then Lord Elrond stood up and announced.
"We have only one choice. The ring must be destroyed." Finally, Katherine thought to herself. It's not that she was getting bored there. But Katherine wanted this meeting to go to the best part soon. When everyone's gonna start arguing with everyone. And since Frodo is not here to put a stop to it, Katherine is very excited to find out how all this gonna play out now.
"Then what are we waiting for" said Gimli as he stood up with his axe. Lord Elrond and Gandalf looked worried as Gimli brought his axe down on the ring. Gimli is immediately thrown away on the floor. His axe blade shattered whilst the ring remained undamaged. For the first time, Katherine realized it's power. And she had been carrying it so easily. Katherine didn't know how to feel about that. Arrogant or concerned.
"The ring cannot be destroyed Gimli son of Gloin. By any craft that we here possess. The ring was made in the fire of mount doom. Only there it can be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the firey chasm from whence it came from." Lord Elrond looked at everyone before saying what he said next.
"We already have a ring bearer but we need all the help we can get from all of you."
"Who's the ring bearer?" asked Boromir with serious curiosity. But others wanted to know too.
"Katherine." Lord Elrond announced. Katherine's head snapped up and her eyes widened immediately.
"What?" she yelled out loud. Making everyone look at her. Gandalf couldn't help but smirk to himself seeing Katherine's reaction to this news. It was kind of expected given her selfish nature. Katherine on the other hand, couldn't believe her own ears. This wasn't supposed to happen.
"She's just a human girl" said Boromir. He's a little bit shocked. But of course not as much as Katherine.
"A human girl who is immune from the ring's power" said Lord Elrond. It immediately started a whispering discussion among the council members.
"Lord Elrond, how can you be so sure that the girl doesn't feel the ring's power?" questioned Boromir with serious tone of voice. He was having a hard time believing it.
"I have seen it with my own eyes" said Lord Elrond assuring Boromir. Now he wasn't gonna question the elf lord. The son of Gondor looked at Katherine. She was still utterly speechless.
"Why does she look so shocked?" It was Legolas who asked that. Gandalf chuckled at that.
"Nothing to worry about prince of Mirkwood. Ms Katherine here is just a little surprised to be the ring bearer. That's all." Gandalf's humorous tone of voice didn't do any good. Katherine snapped out of her shocked state and glared at Gandalf.
"You've got to be kidding me Gandalf. I can't be the ring bearer" said Katherine at once and with incredulous tone of voice. Suddenly silence fell over everyone as they all looked at Katherine once again.
"Now now Katherine, before you refuse to help us, lets not forget that you've already made Saruman your enemy. And by now Sauron must have learned about your existence as well. Only by destroying the ring could you be completely safe from them" said Gandalf. Is he trying to manipulate her? Yes he is.
"Don't speak as if destroying the ring is only gonna benefit me. When it is actually your problem. Your world is at stake. I don't even belong here damn it" said Katherine feeling quite frustrated for getting tangled in the middle world drama even more now. When Katherine said, she doesn't belong in this world, it caught many council members' attention. Legolas looked at Katherine and started observing her more carefully. He surely never heard a lady swear so boldly before. Moreover in front of royalties.
"Whether you belong here or not Katherine, the fact is that you're here. And you must help us destroy the ring" said Gandalf with strong tone of voice.
"I smell an ultimatum" said Katherine keeping her voice calm yet challenging.
"If you do not help us, we shall no longer provide you any protection. And without our help, you will be captured and killed by Saruman in no time" said Gandalf with stern and serious tone of voice. They are so making her regret not siding with Saruman. But Katherine has already lost the chance to side with him. She has already betrayed Saruman. He'll never trust her again and most likely kill her at first sight. At least Gandalf is giving her a second chance. But Katherine wasn't going to feel grateful for that because she didn't ask for this second chance. Neither she's going to take it.
"The quest isn't going to be anything like a walk in the garden. Actually I'll be safer running away from Saruman than be with you lot." Katherine stood up saying that. The ring bearer is going to attract all sorts of troubles and danger. Katherine doesn't need that. "I'll leave Rivendell when it gets dark."
Katherine meant to leave the council but Aragorn stood up and blocked her path. Stopping her from leaving. "Katherine, please listen to me" said Aragorn with soft tone of voice. Katherine didn't say anything but didn't attempt to walk away. She gave Aragorn a chance to speak. Even though Katherine was determined not to change her mind no matter what he says.
"Katherine if you refuse to help us, we will not have any other choice but to let Frodo be the ring bearer. Does he deserve to carry such burden?" Aragorn asked looking straight at Katherine. It made her glare at the ranger.
"Don't try to use my sympathies for Frodo against me Aragorn. Besides, it is his destiny to be the ring bearer. Not mine" said Katherine with strong tone of voice. With that she walked away from the council meeting. Aragorn sighed out heavily and looked at Gandalf. They are far away from giving up on Katherine just yet. But since the easy way didn't really work, they must take the hard way. Katherine must join their quest. Willingly or unwillingly.