"Welcome, Legolas, son of Thranduil." He greeted in elvish, once we got to their guard post. Speaking to me for the first time since our capture.
"Our Fellowship stands in your debt." I responded, respectfully.
He glanced over the others in the company. "Ah, Aragorn, of the Dunedain," He settled on the Ranger, "you are known to us." He gave a respectful, acknowledging wave of his hand and tilt of his head.
Aragorn returned the gesture, nearly as gracefully, something from his years of practice.
"So much for the legendary courtesy of the Elves!" Gimli cut in. "Speak words we can all understand."
The Guardsman turned to the dwarf, his face locking in an emotionless, battle-hard expression. "We have not had dealings with the Dwarves since the Dark Days."
"And you know what this Dwarf says to that?" The dwarf began before slipping into his own native tongue, saying words I faintly understood.
Aragorn turned on him, setting a hand on his chest. "That was not so courteous." He snapped, angrily.
The leader had watched Aragorn correct the dwarf, and now moved around the man to the Hobbits. His eyes settled on Frodo. "You bring great evil with you." He turned and moved to the head of the company. "You can go no further."
The other hobbits turned to look at Frodo.
Rebekah moved around me, making it her turn to grab onto this elf. "Haldir." She said quietly.
"Rebekah. You of all here, know our laws." He answered her in a language that was not elvish.
"And coming to you was not within my considerations. But it was not left to me, what we would do."
"So you chose to let your companions come before us, knowing the alternative?" He let as a question, before taking her opportunity to answer. "What a foolish notion that it could work as such."
She flashed her eyes from their green to ruby red before him.
One of the guards on the side pulled a knife, setting it at the back of her neck.
In return, I pulled my own dagger, holding it out between Bek and the guard.
Bek and Haldir didn't flinch or tense. She simply looked at him, plainly and calmly.
He looked from his companion to me, then at Bek before waving off his own guard.
As the threat stepped down, so did I.
"Perhaps this is a conversation better had away from your men?" She offered.
He nodded. Turning and moving up a level to a section with less guards.
Bek gestured for Aragorn and I to follow, before going up herself.
"Rebekah," He began, carefully. "None of your standing holds sway here. We have no reason to change our ways and policies to accommodate your quest."
"I am not asking to be accommodated, I am simply asking that you hold the views held by Lord Elrond and not turn us away because of a trinket that belongs to a man long since fallen."
"Of all the elves here, who may believe what you have said, you forget how long we have truly been companions." Haldir said, dropping from her native tongue into his own.
I saw her eyes fade back to green, taking his necessity to finalize the statement in his own language, as a rejection of her concerns.
As she stepped down, Aragorn took up the argument with the Guardsman.
Rebekah turned from him, going to the edge of the room and facing down towards the Fellowship.
"Gandalf's death was not in vain," Boromir spoke up, looking at the Ring-Bearer, "nor would he have you give up hope. You carry a heavy burden, Frodo. Don't carry the weight of the dead."
The hobbit mulled thoughtfully over the words.
Haldir and Aragorn's conversation broke off. The guard coming to look at the Fellowship. "You will follow me."
Aragorn went back to the group while Haldir gathered the one or two things necessary for the journey. "Rebekah," He called.
She turned, going over to where he stood next to a table. "Allow me to repair your shoulder."
"Why?" She asked, skeptically, removing her cloak.
"You perceive that I am you enemy." He picked up a dagger. "This is not the case, nor will it ever be."
She unbuttoned her top, letting it slack away from her shoulders, revealing the bloody hole, still housing the Orc arrow.
I watched as he hooked a hand in her hair, pulling it over the unwounded shoulder, allowing him to see as he slid the dagger in underneath the arrow.
Tilting the dagger up, he caught the roughness of the arrow, pressing his hand onto her skin so as to not get the remainder of the shaft stuck in her flesh. Once there was enough of the end pointing out, he withdrew the dagger. Grabbing the end of the shaft in his fingers, he pulled the arrowhead from her skin, dropping it onto the table.
"Why does this elf care so much for you?" He asked curiously in her tongue, assuming I would not understand.
"It would be nothing, had you not left for this city instead of remaining with my own guard." She said, glancing from me to watch him.
He picked up a damp towel. "You should get the burned flesh off, before anyone in your company sees." He handed it to her. "I left your company to serve my Lady. The one I am sworn to die for. Keeping you safe is not how I chose to dedicate my life."
"It's a shame really," She said as she cleaned the burnt skin off of her face to reveal clear, unharmed, new skin. "You would have been greatly appreciated for your efforts."
He stepped closer to her, whispering. "I've had your type of 'appreciation', Rebekah. You would have gotten bored long before I did," He set his fingers underneath her chin, tilting her face up as he whispered against her lips. "Forgive me, but that is a fate I care not to live with, Highness."
Raising her face, she gaze directly into his blue eyes with her ruby red ones. Speaking so closely that their lips nearly brushed. "Bored, Haldir? So long as it was appreciation, I would never have grown bored of you."
"So long as it was out of appreciation, and never out of love, you're affection would have waned." He stepped back, abruptly ending their altercation. "Besides, with me teaching you, you'd have run out of reasons to be appreciative of my protection." He chuckled, exiting the room.
She tossed the now dirty rag on the table, pulling her hood back up.
I watched her as she exited the room, but she did not dare set her eyes upon me.
