Chapter 10

Ceilin knocked on the old oak door, waiting for the Lady Evelyn's reply, growing concerned when she did not get one. 'Strange,' She thought to herself. There had not been a moment yet when her mistress was not up with the birds and on her balcony waiting for tea. She knocked again, a knot of worry growing in the pit of her stomach. Still no reply.

Worry mounting, she called out, "Miss Evelyn?" knowing if the woman was awake she would hear. Silence greeted her. She went to turn the door knob, surprised by its coldness, but turned it anyway and pushed. It was locked. Unsure of what to do, she went to find help, Ceilin knew something was not right with the situation.

Elladan was surprised when he opened his door to frantic beating and saw Evelyn's maid standing there looking nervous.

"Can I help you?" He asked, looking at the girl in front of her as she rang her hands on her gown.

"It's Lady Evelyn, my lord." She whispered, looking around, worried she was getting the elf lord for no reason. "It may be nothing, but I am not sure, it is not like her, and I was not sure what I should do, so I came to find you. I hope you do not mind, and …"

Elladan held up a hand as the girl rambled on, silencing her. "Take a breath and calm down. What is not like Evelyn?" The young woman now had his complete attention at the mention of Evelyn. Aragorn had spoken to him of Legolas' treatment and their encounter with him and Corwen. It had not escaped his notice that Since his father's arrival, he had avoided them all as much as possible.

"She will not answer her door and it is locked."

He knew as well as the maid, Evelyn was always up at the crack of dawn, and jumped to get the door, not wanting to be alone. She was not one to break her habits. Concern creased his brow, only increasing Ceilin's worry. If the elf Lord was worried by the news, something could truly be wrong.

"Stay here, I will be back in a moment." He ordered, turning and striding back into his to bang a door in his siting area. Ceilin heard muffled voices from within in a language she did not know, and jumped when two elves stood before her.

Elladan had gathered his brother for back, not sure what it was that the three of them would walk into, but he prayed it was nothing more than a false alarm. However, something told him it was not.

With a hard rasp of his hand he banged on the door to Evelyn's room and like Ceilin, was greeted with silence.

"Evelyn!" He called, loud enough to rouse some of the people from the surrounding rooms down the hall. He received no answer. He grabbed the door handle and gave the door a forceful shake

"Evelyn! Open this door!" He commanded without any avail, as he still shook the door on its hinges, when he noticed how cold the door was, and he mentally cursed. "I will kick this door down if you do not open it!" he threatened. He could hear nothing from inside and taking a step back he looked at Elrohir and got a nod of agreement. Making Ceilin back up, they kicked the door simultaneously, causing it to fly open, wood splintering where the lock had once been.

Ceilin gasped in horror, hands flying to cover her mouth at the sight that greeted her eyes. The twins gaped opened mouthed. Elladan was the first to compose himself.

"Elrohir, fetch Gandalf. ceilin, make sure this door stays shut and only my brother and the wizard are to enter, you understand?" He stated, turning to look at her. She managed to remove her eyes from the room and look into his eyes, giving him a slight nod.

Walking carefully into the room, he pushed the door shut behind him, leaving it to Ceilin to hold it shut, as it swung loosely on it hinges.

There was ice everywhere. Every inch of the room was covered in a thick layer, ice cycles hung from the arches and furniture. The fire in the hearth was frozen in a perfect replica of its shape while it was alive, the candles suffered the same fate. There were random piles of snow in he corners that almost reached the ceiling. IN the middle of the room, completed untouched by the destruction, sat Evelyn, her back to him. She had not made even the slightest movement.

Sliding across the floor he slowly made his way to kneel in front of her. She stared of into the horizon off the balcony, which she had thankfully spared, no eyes from outside would see what havoc she wrought during the night. Ice crystals left ribbons down her cheeks from dried tears. Her lashes sparkled with ice as the first morning sun rays filtered in. If it had been a painting, it would have been the most beautifully sorrowful one he had ever seen. However, his heart clenched knowing it was all too real, and it was the woman he came to view as a sister, sitting before him in utter misery. Her face was gaunt, as if her life force had vanished, and she was just her, an empty shell.

"Evelyn," he whispered softly as he grabbed one of her ice cold hands, "Evelyn, look at me."

He watched as emotions began swirling in her eyes, he let a sigh of relief escape. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, her eyes meet his. He saw the sorrow and despair they held, he saw all the hurt they held, she out no blocks up, she had none left, and in that moment he realized the truth, surprised he did not out it together before. No mortal could hold so much emotion so much pain. She was not mortal. During all their talks she had never flat out told him, but all the hints had been there. Evelyn was immortal, and her soul was battling a war he was not sure she would win.

Gandalf sat in the throne room with the few that had gathered for the mornings meetings. He looked around the room. The delegates from MIrkwood, Erebor, and Dale, as well as the Faramir and Imrahil had gathered. He was still missing the Rivendell twins and was growing rather impatient with the two when he watch Elrohir walk in alone. It did not take long for him to realize something was amiss. His body was tense and his lips in a thin taught line. Immediately Gandalf found himself standing from his chair to walk and meet the elf. He guessed the conversation was not for all ears and he was correct.

"The meetings will be postponed until further notice." He announced, turning toward the group, receiving curious glances and starting more that one conversation. "Aragorn?" He called to his friend, who immediate stood, understanding he was being called to follow. He felt to worry knot in his gut, knowing instantly that something was not right.

Looking to his brother, he gave him questioning glance, but received only a shake of his head. The group behind them had begun to disperse and were now in ear shot, and to many spoke Elvish for them to speak that way. However, his curiosity was quelled quickly as they approached Evelyn's room and he spotted the fidgeting maid outside her clearly broken door. He shot his eyes to Elrohir.

"It was a necessary action I assure you." He replied as the approached the door.

Aragorn's breath caught in his throat as he peered through the crack, Evelyn had unleashed an ice age in her room, and she was now curled in Elladan's arms shaking, though he suspected more from tears than the cold that seeped from the room.

They made to go into the room, before a quite voice interrupted them, "I was told only to let Lord Elrohir and the wizard to pass." Ceilin said looking to her feet. She did not feel comfortable telling her future king orders, but neither did she want to break her word to the elf lord.

Aragorn smiled slightly at the girl. "I shall relieve you of your duty to guard the door, why do not you fetch us some tea and refreshments…" he stated and then added, "Lots of tea."

With a curtsy and nod of her Ceilin ran off to do just that.

"I will stay out here with you Aragorn, I believe our brother and Mithrandir are better suited to help her now that we."

"Aye."

"Do you know what brought on this spell? Could she have had a night terror?" The elf lord asked.

"It is possible, though I believe it was something else entirely."

Elrohir studied the man beside him, They had not told him of the exchange between Evelyn and Legolas, but he speculated the man knew enough to put two and two together. Something had occurred between them, and it was nothing good. HE was fairly certain their friend was suffering a broken heart.

Aragorn quietly filled him in on the encounter they had with Legolas and the Lady Corwen yesterday, and how after Evelyn had excused herself, Legolas quickly followed behind her, though he did not know what passed between them. Without anything else to say, the two lapsed into silence waiting for the others to call for them.

Walking into the room Gandalf strode purposefully to the pair on the floor. Bending down he looked at the woman before him. Her whole body shook with spasm, more from exhaustion and shock than anything else. Her tear streaked face was dry, she had no more tears left to cry.

"Evelyn," he called softly in his old voice, "Evelyn look at me. You are hurting, I know, but you must come back to us now. There is still work to be done."

Evelyn heard them all, she had since Ceilin first banged on her door this morning. She was not as far gone as they all believed, as she wished she were. Her soul felt empty, she felt empty, as if all the happiness had be taken out of her, she felt like being in a black whole, being completely consumed in her misery and pain. For the first time since waking up, she doubted her decision to return, doubted her purpose her on Middle Earth.

Had she told Legolas she was immortal, would it have changed things? Would he still want her? Could they have had a further together? She closed her eyes and pushed the thoughts from her mind. It did not matter. She did not tell her, and he chose to walk away from her without letting her explain once again. He flaunted the brunette elleth around Gondor, taking her where he promised her to go. He made his choice and she would have to live with it, she had not other choice. She just had to get through the Coronation and then be on her way, she would not have to see him again.

She forced her eyes to look at Gandalf and Elladan, both of whom were looking at her with growing concern. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed her grief, tucking it neatly away in its own little box. The men watched her eyes grow dull, the emotions that had been wreaking havoc across them vanished, they held no emotion at all. This worried them even more than her outburst.

"Aye," she whispered, "There is work to do." She pushed her stiff muscles up from the floor, paying little heed to the others in the room, she surveyed the damage she caused. And with a sigh she flicked her wrist and in a swirl of wind the ice and snow vanished back to where ever it was she called it from.

-One week later-

Her week had passed in a blur. Her nights had been spent by the fire, she was too scared to sleep when darkness fell, for no longer did she have the comforting arms and voice of Legolas to soothe her when the dreams plagued her. Two days had cycled before she could no longer keep her eyes opened and fell asleep early on the third morning. Tossing and turning, she got little rest, but it was enough to revive her somewhat, and keep the growing dark circles at bay under her pale sunken eyes. Luckily, the dreams only come in fragments, by midday she forced herself to get up. And so her new routine took shape.

It was late afternoon and she found herself sitting in one of the gardens near her room, it was small and quaint, but it served its purpose. She wanted solitude and it offered that. Most gathered in the larger gardens, closer to the King's halls. Sitting on a bench, she leaned back agains the old tree behind her, letting the sun warm her face, when a soft voice broke the silence.

"May I join you miss Evelyn?"

Startled, she looked for the source of the voice as her eyes landed on Frodo. They were polite to one another, but neither felt very comfortable around the other since their encounter on the Anduin.

"Or course," She answered, scooting over to give the hobbit room to sit.

For a while they sat in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other. Finally it was Frodo who spoke first.

"We both come from very different worlds from here."

"Aye we do."

"I miss the Shire, I miss the quite life I had there. There are days I wish the ring had never come to me, I want more than anything to go back there. Do you understand?"

"I do, my friend. I miss my old life, where I came from. I question every day, why me? Why was it me the Valar chose to wield such power. We are not all that different you and I. Now more than ever I wish to go back.

But we have changed you and I Frodo. We are not the same people we were when we set out. We have suffered, all of us, and I am not sure if going back is the answer, even if I could. Home has a much different meaning now." She closed her eyes, picturing the halls of Nienna, and the lush gardens and fields of Yavanna, and the other lands of Valinor she had seen. When she thought of home, these are the images herm ind brought forth. Those were the images that now brought her a short lived peace.

Frodo looked at the woman beside him, knowing in his heart she spoke truth, no matter how much he did not wish to believe it.

"I do not know what to do." He replied.

Looking to the hobbit, she saw the sadness etched on his face, "Worry not, you have time yet. Your pain will ease, and you will know your course when the time comes, of this I am sure." Evelyn was not sure how she knew this, but it felt true in her heart. And she could only hope that the same would apply to her. When the time was right, she hoped, she would know when to go home.