"Good afternoon, Tegryn, Hergest. Ah, Lady Emerald. Rumour has it you would have a word with me?" he greeted them.
Emerald nodded, "Yes, sir. Quite a few, actually."
"Then we'd best get started," Elrond grinned. To Tegryn and Hergest, he said, "If you two would allow me to steal Lady Emerald." He then offered her his arm and commenced to leading her back into his home.
"Now, about these questions--"
"I don't even know where to begin," she interrupted. Elrond opened the door into the library and guided her to a seat. On the table was her bag, along with Beven's papers; her older brother had no doubt placed it all there.
Elrond sat down beside her and prompted, "Is there a beginning?"
"Not really...Well, when I saw my first sign, I guess," Emerald suggested.
"And when was this?"
"A long time ago when I was very small. Me, Tegryn, and Hergest found this puddle of stuff in my room. It just looked like water, except it turned gold when I touched it. It didn't react to them at all. So I put some of my blood in it."
"And you did this because..." Elrond grappled.
"Tegryn told me to. When my blood went in, it started doing weird things. I wrote it all down," she opened the book and pulled out the papers she'd copied from her diary. "First we saw a leaf, then a statue, a skeleton hand, and then an emerald ring."
Elrond was listening intently and asked, "Have you figured out what the meaning of all that was?"
"Well, the emerald ring looked like it was really there, so I reached in and pulled it out. The water turned green, then red, and then this ugly face looked like it jumped out at us. Beven says it was probably an orc."
"Do you still have the ring?" Emerald pulled the chain over her head and dropped it in his outstretched hand. He carefully looked it over.
"Nobody has ever believed me, but I can see things in it."
"What sorts of things?"
"A forest a lot of the time, though I don't know what forest. Sometimes it's a different forest, or a city, or various other places."
"I do not see anything," Elrond admitted.
"I'm the only one. And I don't know if what I'm seeing is past, present, future, or even real at all. A couple of months ago, I saw two battles. One was in the forest I see so much, and the other was some city of men. They were under attack by orcs, I think."
Elrond looked up at her sharply and inquired, "What day exactly?"
She looked in the book, "20 Lairë."
"Then the forest you see is that of Mirkwood and the city of men was in Gondor. Both were attacked by orcs on that day." So the ring showed her the present. "That is my guess." He asked her about the book.
"My mother gave it to me," she answered and related the story of its discovery. She shoved it towards him and he quickly skimmed through, raising an eyebrow at the newly added page on himself.
"How is this information added?"
Emerald shrugged, "They just appear. It's always showed only histories, and sometimes events will disappear, or pop up in the middle, except when I left to come here. It said that what day I left on before we were even sure about coming."
"That was how you knew to come here?"
"No. Me and Beven had already figured that out."
"Oh?"
"You see, I've been having these dreams," Emerald went on to explain. "And in one of them, I saw you and this man recited a poem." She showed him where the Imladris poem was written down. "Have you heard it?"
"No, but it's meaning is no stranger to me," Elrond admitted.
"It has to do with Sauron's Ring," Emerald said for him.
Elrond's head jerked up at the reference and he asked as calmly but as seriously as he could, "What do you know of such things?"
"More than I'd wish," Emerald laughed. "I know about its creation and Middle-Earth's fight with Sauron." All this was common knowledge; Elrond was not concerned. "I know that Isildur took the Ring and would not destroy it. Beven found that part in our library somewhere." Still not too alarming. "And I know that Sauron is threatening Middle-Earth again." At this, however, Elrond had to work to keep the shock off his face.
"How did you come by this?"
"Well I wasn't sure until now," Emerald admitted. Elrond shook his head, amused at her slyness. "So what are you going to do about it?"
Elrond avoided her question, instead bringing up, "About these dreams."
"Well, if they're really telling me the future, you had better get ready for a bunch of people." She shoved the dream papers towards him, which he silently read over.
"The people present at this council. Do you know them?"
Emerald shrugged, "You were there. A couple men, one of whom I met a long time ago. He visited my kingdom. Dwarves and Elves, I guess. I've never really been able to recognize who all was there."
"And you say the One Ring was present?"
Emerald nodded, "Yes. I put it on and usually it fell off, but the last time it fit and...well, you read." Elrond skimmed over the last couple lines again.
"These four lines: I said them to you?"
"Yes. There was more, but I don't remember it."
Elrond kept looking from the book to the ring to the dream papers, but urged, "Do you have more questions?"
"Just a little before we arrived here, this animal that seemed like a wolf started following us, but I was the only one who realized it wasn't really a wolf. It finally lunged at my throat. I think it may have thought I had Sauron's Ring. It tried to get the ring I wear around my neck."
"What did you do?"
"Pherannon killed it, and then it did all this gross changing and turned into a man –extremely gross. Then I noticed this strange marking on his cloak." She flipped through the book to where she'd stenciled the design in.
Elrond was not surprised by any of this and explained, "Sauron's spies. It's the eye of Sauron. He's used werewolves before."
"So Sauron thinks I have his ring?"
"Or at least are somehow conncected to it," Elrond agreed.
"Which meants that he doesn't have the ring. But it's coming here."
"Is it?"
"Yes," Emerald confirmed. "I'm sure of it. The One Ring is coming here, Sauron's looking for it, and we're going to have a big meeting about it."
"Let me ask you something, Lady Emerald. You said you knew the wolf wasn't an actual wolf. How?"
Emerald shrugged, "It wasn't one of my-- I mean that it didn't act like a normal wolf." She suddenly didn't feel like sharing her meeting with Vàromë with him, nor her dear oliphaunts, nor various other odd things that had occurred during her travels.
"It's a very difficult thing to tell a friend from a foe," Elrond observed. "A rare talent."
"It's not so much a talent as looking with more than your eyes. Even Elven eyes don't catch everything," she replied. Elrond studied her closely for a moment during which she looked directly back at him, not faltering even a tiny bit under his intense scrutiny.
"I think that there is more than you are telling me," he finally concluded. "But that's all right. I trust that you will tell me when the time comes. When that time is, I do not know, but perhaps you do. I fear you're growing wiser than I," he chuckled.
Emerald laughed and shook her head, "If I know anything of importance, you'll know it, too."
"That's all I ask," he assured her. Rising from his seat, he finished, "Now, if you have nothing else to ask of me, I have other things I must see to. Such as food for this party you're planning at my house." Emerald giggled and stood also, collecting everything back into her bag. Before he left, Elrond added, "And remember, Lady Emerald: if there's anything you need to say, even if it's of no importance, or if nobody will listen, my ears are always open."
"Thank you, Lord Elrond," she smiled. He nodded to her, then left the room.
"Emerald." Emerald looked up at her name and gave a sweet smile as the Lady Arwen came down the steps into the garden, her hands dangling gracefully by her sides. "I thought I might find you here."
Emerald nodded, "It's one of my most favorite places."
"And you discovered it all on your own. I fear I am not so talented as my brothers in showing someone like yourself the proper places of Rivendell," Arwen mused, sitting down on the bench beside which Emerald crouched and casting an amused grin at the younger girl.
"By proper you mean...?"
Arwen replied, "Places here that might interest you the most. I have lived mostly in Lothlorien myself, but I did promise to show you my hiding place here." Emerald nodded and stood.
It had been almost three weeks now since her arrival at Rivendell and she had made quick acquaintances with Arwen very much at Gildas' prodding who himself thought the calmer, more lady-like lady would probably do Emerald well. Gildas himself couldn't stand to be anywhere near Arwen who Emerald thought he might have a secret crush on, and likewise Tegryn could suffer her presence only for a second without turning pink in the face and fumbling over his words. Hergest seemed unaffected by Arwen except to casually agree she was very beautiful, and Beven as well didn't seem to suffer in her presence, though he didn't see her much anyways since most of his time was spent either in the library or in company with Lord Elrond, Glorfindel, or a few others he had become acquainted with.
As for Emerald, she divided her time in all different places: spending time with Lady Arwen or Alagedh or Tegryn and Hergest mostly, but also making acquaintance with other Elves in the Rivendell who in her found a rapt audience for anything and everything they felt the burden of sharing. Though Elrond was most often occupied by some errand or other, Emerald had managed to get him to herself once again, though only to answer a couple questions for him that really told him nothing. The time she was alone was spent exploring the House and the surrounding grounds or venturing so far as the ford, though any further earned her sharp berating from Gildas and Beven. Fortunately, should she desire to go out again, Novothian and Airelone both (not to mention Alagedh) were more than eager to accompany her. Nedron, Mainen, and Pherannon had left after two weeks to make the trip home, and Gildas had opted not to join them though that had been his original intent. Whether this had anything to do with Arwen or was just his desire to stay near his younger sister as he learned more about just how involved she was with whatever might be to come was unclear. Emerald appreciated his decision, though, just like she appreciated the continued presence of Tegryn, Hergest, Beven, Alagedh, Airelone, and Novothian.
The dreams had stopped. Nothing new had been added to the book, not even the biographies of people as she met them. She didn't see any more signs or hear from any strange people. And while this would have been a relief to most young Elves, it made Emerald anxious. It felt to her like the calm before the storm. And ironically, the less the world seemed to be pressing all these omens on her, the more she thought about them until, almost ready to go crazy with curiosity and frustration and anxiety, she had banned herself from the library.
Now she walked alongside Arwen, arm in arm, smiling as Arwen chattered away about some tale Gildas had been persuaded to regale. A sudden question came to Emerald's mind, one that she hadn't worried on for years, and, stopping to think and thus gaining Arwen's silent attention, she ventured, "Arwen, are we meant only to marry?"
"I beg pardon?"
"You and I. Ladies. Are we meant just to marry and have children and carry on lines?"
"That is an important role," Arwen replied, though her usually tranquil face took on a momentary displeasure.
Emerald noted this and encouraged, "But?"
"It's a dreadful foretelling, though, isn't it? To think that we are valuable only as the bearers of those who will be great, only as the comforting wives of those that are great."
Arwen turned a corner and tugged Emerald along who, thinking on this a moment, asked, "Then you refuse that destiny?"
"No, not I," Arwen laughed, shaking her head, though Emerald felt there was a much deeper meaning behind the roses that crept to her cheeks.
"Because you love someone? You don't have to tell me who," Emerald quickly assured her as Arwen started. "But that's why, isn't it? You love someone and so marrying doesn't seem so terrible. Being a wife doesn't seem so horrible."
Arwen gave her a suspicious look as though she were seeing things in Emerald she had never thought to see, then nodded, "Yes. But it isn't that simple. Love complicates things. Marriage is simple, but love makes them complex."
"Maybe it's the world that makes it complicated, not love," Emerald shrugged innocently, and Arwen couldn't help but assume the younger girl knew more than she should, though Emerald was honest in her innocence. "But whatever the case, I envy you that you've found contentment in your fate."
"Are you assuming that your fate is identical to mine, or are you questioning it? I pray that your fate is not mine, and I doubt very much that it is."
Emerald couldn't understand why Arwen would wish to keep her from loving someone enough to be happy with the inevitable, and asked, "Why?"
"Why do I pray for you? As I told you, love is complicated. Why do I doubt your fate is not the same as mine? You and I are very different, Emerald."
"We are both princesses," Emerald argued. "That's all anybody cares about."
Arwen shook her head, "I am not like you, Emerald. I'm not restless. I'm not ambitious. I'm not curious or anxious to do something great. Don't turn your face, I know you are. You're a dreamer of many great dreams while I am a dreamer of but one. I'm not a thinker as you are, but neither am I a do-er as you are. Thus far, I have always been content to do as I am told and accept what I am told, whereas you make your own path daily."
"I'm a trouble-maker, stubborn, headstrong, uncontrollable, and spoiled," Emerald laughed.
Arwen stopped and kissed her forehead, "And that is why my fate will not be yours. You were born to be great, Emerald, not the mother or wife of someone great. You and I are both princesses, but the similarity stops there. We are as of different races, yours one never before seen in Arda, I don't believe. You are a race apart, and I fear this will bring you great sorrow... but I pray not." Emerald looked at Arwen with more admiration than she had ever given anyone before, and she couldn't help but feel as though Arwen were selling herself short. She, too, was a race apart.
"But you really don't think I'm destined to just marry for politic's sake and melt into nothing more than–"
"No, may the Valar protect you, I don't. So don't worry any more on it. Now look here, this is my hiding place. See, if you can slip into this little nook unnoticed, then you have a clear view..."
Long after Arwen had retreated in doors at her father's summons shortly before supper, Emerald remained sitting outside on the low wall surrounding one of the House's many porches, her legs dangling over the edge as she looked down the sudden drop. If she were to just lose her balance and fall... whatever "great things" she was destined for would be wasted, that was for sure. It was a long way down, and she doubted even Lord Elrond would be able to help her after that. She couldn't help thinking about Arwen's predictions, undecided whether she liked them or not. The idea of doing great things was exciting, but Arwen had said it almost as if the words left a bitter taste in her mouth, as if that sort of thing couldn't be less appealing. Emerald tried to chalk it up to their vast differences, but she couldn't help but worry that the great things Arwen foresaw for her probably included great sacrifice, perhaps the ultimate sacrifice. Was she really that strong? Was that really what she wanted?
"There you are." Emerald looked up and over her shoulder as Alagedh stepped onto the porch, a smile on his face and a beautiful white flower clasped in his hand. "Lady Arwen told me I might find you here. Look! Remember you used to tell me about a type of lily that grows only in a few locations? I've found one, haven't I?" He held it out to her like a child seeking approval, and Emerald took it from him with a forced smile.
"Yes, you have," she nodded. "They're called broken heart lilies. Because if you look at them from the bottom, the center of the petals looks like a heart," she explained, holding it out so they could see this. "But if you look from the top, the heart's been broken." She moved it down where the flower's white center indeed made the heart look broken. "It's beautiful."
"I thought you might like it," he nodded, then watched her closely as she looked down at the flower and back out at the dense trees ahead of her. "Are you... are you okay, Emerald?"
"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine," she nodded distantly. "Just thinking."
"About what?" he asked, and the way in which he asked it was different than Emerald could ever remember him speaking to her. She couldn't quite put her thumb on what was different, but perhaps the change in him was only brought on by her current depression.
She shrugged, "I don't know. Just... I just feels like things are about to take a dive off the deep end, you know? This is just the calm before the storm, I think, and I'm not sure I'm ready. I'm not sure I'll ever be ready..."
"Ready for what?" he asked, gracefully stepping onto the ledge and sitting beside her. He knew very little about what she was involved with.
She shrugged again, "I don't know. I just think things are about to get very... very hard, and I'm not sure I'm... I don't know." She looked over at him, laughing at herself. "I'm not making sense. Arwen thinks I'm meant to do great things, but I just don't think I'm good enough to do great things..."
"You've always been more than good enough," Alagedh spit out, then cleared his throat as he realized he has replied quicker and more honestly than he meant. "You don't need to worry, Princess. I've known you long enough to know that nothing is impossible for you."
"I hope you're right," Emerald sighed, giving him a sweet smile.
He nodded, "I'm always right," which made her laugh, her thoughtful depression broken.
"Then I suppose I'll just have to trust you."
"Always trust me," he agreed, though it sounded more like maybe a command or a reminder. "Like now when I tell you supper is prepared. I've been sent to get you. And, if you've got no objections, it has been suggested that you dedicate a little time to learning to use a sword. If you've no objections, I can work with you a bit tomorrow..."
"Are you not leaving in the morning with Novothian and Airelone?"
"I think it's better if I stay here," he answered vaguely.
"Then I would very much appreciate your help, just as I would very much appreciate some food right now. Let's go or Gildas is going to scold me for being late –again." She stood up on the ledge with ease and jumped down, landing lightly on her feet, once again seeming the carefree, innocent Emerald. Her thoughts hadn't disappeared, but they had successfully retreated for the time being, and when Alagedh rose to walk with her, she started chatting off more information about the bleeding heart lily.