Beridhren stood by Anié's body and checked her pulse.

The congregation had finally been informed that due to a sudden incident, the wedding was postponed and people were free to make themselves at home while a solution had been organised. Thranduil had been privately informed of the attacks and after commanding his guards to deal with the crowd and stem any spreading rumours, he went immediately to see the pair. Their chambers were sealed off and no-one was allowed to leave or enter the Palace.

Beridhren was using traditional methods to revive Anié's mind – he held her hand, occasionally spoke her name and she was surrounded by strong-smelling waters. For the doctor, the last hour or so had been terrifying. When Anié took a deeper intake of breath and finally opened her eyes, an almighty wave of relief washed over him and he could have danced for joy. He called her name a couple of times to bring her into reality and asked her gently to 'stay with him' – her mental state was heavily unstable and she was very weak.

She blinked slowly and cautiously opened her eyes. Light didn't seem normal at first – it felt like years since she'd last seen it. She didn't feel like she had any physical strength and dared not move, as she expected pain to come flooding in as soon as the initial shock wore off. She could smell the scented water – it smelt of herbs and warmth and flowers.

"Athelas" she murmured at the volume of a whisper, as that was the dominant smell she recognised.

"Yes" replied Beridhren. He then asked cautiously: "Do you know where you are?"

After a moment, she very slowly opened her eyes and scanned the room. She vaguely recognised it (she was in the healing room, the same room where Legolas had woken after he had nearly drowned), though she did not reply – she had not yet fully returned to normality. Beridhren asked a simpler question:

"Do you know who you are?"

"Yes" she eventually replied. She answered slowly, eyes shut: "My name is Anié"

Beridhren, though still concerned about her well-being, was pleased with this.

"How do you feel, Anié?" he asked.

Anié thought. How did she feel? "I feel…"

There was a pause of thought. She began to remember.

"My arms" she muttered, "my legs…"

Beridhren didn't quite understand and waited quietly for an explanation. Her hand moved over to her stomach. Soon, her breathing sharp and fast, and her eyes were now open and wider, staring up to the ceiling at first then becoming more frantic. She almost shrieked, desperate for an escape as memories came flooding back of what she had endured. Panic took a firm grip of her mind, as she was sure that agonising pain must surely follow.

Beridhren quickly noticed the change and did his best to calm Anié down – panic could seriously damage her and he was already extremely cautious of the fact that her chance of survival could easily take a turn for the worst. She was already lucky to be alive.

"Anié" he eventually explained, "calm down, you must trust me. Look at me: do you feel any pain?"

Anié looked directly into his eyes as commanded, like a terrified child, and thought deeply about this question. She didn't feel much pain at the moment, but she thought she must still be in shock – after what had happened to her, she must be in pain…

"I don't know" she replied, her voice wavering slightly, bordering on severe panic.

"There will be no pain" Beridhren answered calmly and clearly.

"I promise you".

Anié's breathing slowed.

"You are not injured, you are not hurt. Have a look at yourself".

Anié looked at Beridhren, an expression of confusion adorning her beautiful face. She slowly and hesitantly looked down at her own body, but instead of finding it covered in bandages and horrific-looking stripes of blood, she found her body was unscathed – there were no lacerations on her arms and legs and no stab wounds through her waist. She slowly sat up, utterly bewildered. Beridhren placed a reassuring hand on her back for support.

"I don't understand…" she said to herself.

"I will explain" he promised reassuringly.

After a brief further examination of her body (which she believed would have been beyond repair), she looked back up at Beridhren – she trusted him entirely but she didn't understand how he could explain this at all.

"You must tell if you feel any discomfort of any kind" demanded Beridhren in his traditional doctor-style (though with a hint of deep concern still remaining).

"Any visions, any pain, panic, dizziness, anything uncomfortable or out of the ordinary, do not hesitate to let me know".

Anié nodded. She did as she was told, lay down (from her sudden confusion, her head was beginning to metaphorically swirl) and looked up at her friend, Beridhren the doctor, as he told his story:

"I have been doing some research lately into the strange dreams and visions Legolas had been having recently and what could possibly be behind them. Being a healer and being fortunate enough in the past to have spent time in Rivendell in the company of Lord Elrond, the greatest and wisest healer of all, I am vaguely familiar with certain types of magic, but this is a much darker that I have never ventured into before – and certainly never will practice.

"After I had visited you in your chambers, I came back here to check up on a couple of patients. I had a little while to spare before the wedding was due to start and I was deep in thought, as I had been thinking deeply about this case since yesterday, and especially so since I heard tales from the South of men going mad – some say it is inevitable after the horrors they witness in the dark region, but I suspect something fouler, though of course I know nothing for certain".

"I still don't understand" the baffled Anié said, her face saying it all.

"I told myself at the time that it couldn't be real and that it must be a vision or a dream, but I remember it all – I felt his hand, I felt the pain – it was agony!"

Beridhren placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and spoke softly in order to stop her delving into such horrible memories:

"It would appear that you suffered from a similar vision to Legolas that day by the river, but these visions are not to be taken likely: they can be lethal, as it is impossible to distinguish between what is real and what is not. Those of a weaker strength-of-mind than yourself, Miss Celebrindal, would have died long before I found you".

"You found me?" Anié inquired.

"Yes" replied Beridhren. "It was I who, when making my way to the Great Hall in time for the ceremony, heard strange noises coming from your room, words of alarm and distress. Upon entering your room, I saw that something was clearly amiss – to me, it looked like you were having some kind of fit, but I arrived at the conclusion (perhaps too rashly, but fortunately I was right) that you were having one of these dreadful visions and as I saw you were staring at the mirror, I decided to break it in order to distract your mind from the imaginary horror and perhaps bring your mind back to reality. It seemed to work, as at that moment, you collapsed to the floor and I immediately brought you here".

Anié pondered for a moment over Beridhren's story – it filled in some of the blanks in her thoughts and seemed to make sense.

"You said you suspect something foul is at work here" she asked.

"What are your suspicions? Do you still think it is dark magic, as you did yesterday?"

Beridhren shook his head, as if dismissing he ever said it:

"As I said, I know nothing for certain and it would be both rash and foolish to start making assumptions and jumping to conclusions. It is imperative, of course, that we discover and find out whoever is delivering these terrible and ferocious attacks, and we will, but that is not worth thinking about now. All I am concerned with for the present is making sure that you are well – we cannot forget how close you came to death in that room. Even though your wounds were not real, your mind certainly thought they were and your heart was on the verge of collapse. How do you feel?"

Even though this was the second time Beridhren had asked this, Anié could answer with a clearer, more awake mind.

"Now that I know I am not injured … I think I feel fine" she replied.

However, she was still deep in thought, looking for concrete answers:

"But wait – if my wounds weren't real, what happened about Legolas' burnt hands?"

"Burnt hands?" inquired the doctor, "I knew nothing of this".

Not to anybody's surprise, Legolas had not told the doctor about this.

Anié filled him in: "A little while ago, Legolas had a vision about fire and when he woke up, his palms were red raw and looked as though they themselves had been burnt in a blaze".

The doctor puzzled over this for a while:

"Hmm…I can only assume that the flames themselves were not real, but his mind believed they were and so his body reacted as though he had been in the blaze. But I do not know – I have little knowledge of such magic, and this is far out of my depth".

Anié nodded, but then her face sudden fell very sad and very pensive.

"Legolas…" she murmured to herself.

She lifted her head to face the doctor, suddenly concerned: "Is he alright? I would like to see him".

Beridhren smiled: "He is already here".

He tilted his head slightly sideways and Anié's eyes moved in the same direction. He had been lying in the bed next to hers and under Beridhren's orders - after believing that the attack was real, Anié's mind was under great strain and Beridhren was not sure at first if Anié would survive it - he hadn't said a word. As she looked to her right, Legolas' eyes stared straight back.