Part 11 by Fianna

Galadriel noted Haldir's approach long before she saw him, long before his feet had been placed on the winding stair to the flet. She waited patiently for her captain to arrive, hands hidden in the folds of her skirt. Haldir could not know of her unease, nor that the arrival of the two elves from the far lands of Lindon had filled her with both fear and excitement.

She had seen their coming for years, had known at some point this day would come. Haldir's father had been the first to speak of it, had insisted that he be sent to Lindon to acquire the very thing the two ellith had brought to her now. But in that journey, he had returned empty handed, the treasure to remain with those that had found it and kept it hidden for so long.

It had taken the death of Arísar to bring them to Lórien.

Galadriel paced silently, brow furrowed as she remembered. Arísar had been a wise ruler in a land fraught with as much unrest as Lothlórien. One of the few lands to survive the holocausts that had destroyed Beleriand in the second age, Lindon had remained alone and separate from the rest of Arda for many generations. Their people resolute and stubborn, as they had shown when asked
for the gift. For it was that, the small stone Sariel carried, a gift to the races of elves should they be brave enough to access it.

Galadriel rubbed her brow, aware Haldir had nearly arrived, full of questions that she must now answer.

Would she explain, should she? Would the loyal captain see the duality of such a gift, understand the magick that could both save them and destroy them both? Would they see the like of its kind again in their lifetime? She did not know, for there were still things in this world of similar power, things better left lost.

She could have consulted her mirror again, but even that magick was not clear on what she should do. Last questioned, it had given her two outcomes, two paths that she could choose. It had not aided her then and would not now.

Haldir arrived on the flet, hand to his heart as soon as he saw her, a brief nod of respect. "My Lady, an audience?"

Galadriel turned toward the March Warden without preamble. "It is a dangerous choice, Haldir."

xxx

Sariel placed the satchel on her lap and gently removed the stone within to cup it in her hand. It was not large, hardly bigger than her thumb, a multi-hued crystal of seeming glass, clear enough to see through, yet heavier than a stone three times its size. She caressed the stone and then closed her eyes. Images appeared in her mind, hazy, filtered as if by fog to where she could not quite see them, or understand what they meant. It had always been that way, even when her father Arísar had held it, unable to access the magick inside.

Even so, her father had been unwilling to give it up to someone else. She remembered the stories he had told, of elves coming from all reaches of Arda once they heard of the stone – even Lothlórien far to the south.

Sariel sat up, eyes wide.

It couldn't have been.

Haldir wasn't that old.

Sariel had to admit she really didn't know, but still, Haldir seemed far too young to have been the elf from Lórien all those years ago. Sariel had only been a baby, hardly three. But she remembered the emissary from Lórien. Held in her father's arms, Sariel had been struck by his beauty even as young as she was, so fair he had seemed filled with light. Sariel pressed her fingers to her brow, striving to remember that day. Had he been alone? She lifted her head, blinking at the remembrance. No, he had not been alone, but had brought a young ellon with him.

It could only have been Haldir.

xxx

Haldir, meanwhile, stood stiffly in front of Galadriel while she paced. "They have truly brought the stone all this way? And with such a meager guard as to be worthless?" He grimaced, eyes intent on the Lady of Light. "The stone could have been easily stolen, taken from us before we even had a chance. Have they lost their minds?"

Galadriel paused, eyes lifted to the arching canopy of green over her head. "Sometimes, Haldir, it is better to be but a simple party with nothing of value, than to cross the world announcing to all you carry a treasure worth fighting over."

Haldir bowed his head, reprimanded. "Indeed, of course you are right, my lady."

Galadriel sighed and crossed the flet to his side. She rested a light hand on his shoulder. "I do not mean to cross words, for the treasure she carries is something I think even she does not understand. Arísar could not access it, but even so he would not part with it. I believe Sariel has seen its value and it is why she had brought it to us." Galadriel moved away to stand on the edge of the balcony, leaf shaped, to look over the city below her. "But should we access the stone, I cannot say who else might become aware of it, Haldir. And just what it may do to us as well. It is dangerous not to know, my friend, and dangerous to assume we can control what it will do. The Valar tempt me, as they are wont to do. Do I put aside all reason to take what - I think - the stone can do?"

Haldir watched her pace again. "You must trust your instincts, my lady. My father felt certain the stone would aid us, protect us against those who wish to defeat all elves. I am not so sure." He paused. "The stone is in our hands; you have but to take it."

Galadriel turned to look at him, her blue eyes mysterious, shadowed beneath the long lashes. Her lips curved in a hint of a smile and she held out her hand toward him. "Would you take it from Sariel, Haldir? Without her consent?" Galadriel shook her fingers at him. "Nay, such force would affect its magic, March Warden. It is here we need to be clever, here we must use all our resources. You must be the emissary you are, Haldir, for you are the one who has connected with the holder of the stone. It must be you that she gives it to, freely and without question."

Haldir stared at Galadriel in despair. "I am the last person to whom Sariel would give that stone, even were the tree of Lórien on fire and the last days upon this earth at hand, she would not. Nor do I wish to be the one to hold it. It is the very last thing I wish."

Galadriel gave him one of enigmatic looks. "Perhaps in time you will feel differently, my friend."

~*~

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