Time passed all too quickly in Lothlorien. As the fellowship grew accustomed to the days of relaxation and rest, Aria grew more and more concerned about the nearness of their departure. They would not leave for another week, at least. Frodo had not yet seen Galadriel's mirror, she was sure, and so she knew they still had time.
In her talan, Aria was thinking of mending one of her tunics. It had been slashed by an orc arrow in Moria, and sported a large gash on its side. She dug into her pack, searching for her mending kit. Her hands closed around the mending kit, and her fingertips brushed a small, squished scroll of parchment. She dropped the mending kit on her bed, and reached back into her bag, pulling out the scroll and the attached trinket. She thought of Ethiriel, her dear handmaiden from Rivendell, and wished her friend was with her now. She was about to unravel the scroll, but stopped herself. It was not for her to read, but her friend. She turned the scroll and saw small, neat tengwar script etched in black ink on the side. She could not read the beautiful writing, and could not remember whom the letter was for.
Deciding that her mending could wait, she pulled on her boots and left her talan, letter in hand. She was met outside by a gust of wind that blew straight through her thin linen shirt. She buttoned it up a bit higher, right above her breast. She thought to unroll her sleeves, but decided against it. She would not be out long. Wishing she had worn warmer leggings, she set off to find Aragorn. He would surely be able to read the name on the letter.
Aragorn's talan was not far from her own, in the cluster of rooms that were designated for the fellowship and other important guests of Caras Galadhon. She climbed the seemingly endless amount of stairs before reaching the door. She knocked quietly, and received no response. She knocked louder this time, still hearing nothing. With a shrug, she left the talan, heading north, toward the training grounds, where Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Boromir could often be found. It was a good twenty minute walk from their talans, and now Aria wished that she had brought her cloak. Rubbing her arms to gain warmth, she shivered as another gust of wind flew by.
"Are you cold, lady Aria?" she heard from behind her. Turning around quickly, she saw the familiar face of Haldir. She smiled at him, and much to her surprise, he smiled back. He did not seem as taciturn and stoic as he had upon their last meeting, outside the forest.
"Yes, I'm afraid I didn't anticipate that it would be this cold out today, and I left without my cloak."
He quickly unclipped his grey cloak from about his shoulders and lay it carefully on her, "Please, wear mine. You may return it later. Elves rarely feel the elements, my cloak was purely for decoration."
She murmured a short thanks and pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders, "Say, I was looking for Aragorn so that he could tell me who this letter was for, but, you're an elf, you could easily tell me!"
She handed him the scroll. He turned it, and read the name on the side, "Ah, it is for Lairion, one of my wardens."
"Oh! That's right, I remember now." she said, taking the letter back, "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find him, would you?"
He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I am not entirely sure, but the training grounds would seem a good place to look. The wardens often go there on their spare time to spar and improve their skills. I was on my way there, myself."
"Excellent, then you can take me there." she smiled, continuing forward. They made happy conversation for most of their walk, pausing only to let Aria tie her boot strings. Haldir was apparently quite popular throughout the forest, with many pretty elleths smiling and waving at him as they walked. It was easy to see why; with his long, silky hair, strong features, and unbelievably toned body, Haldir looked strong, noble, and kind. At almost ten inches taller than her, and not as accustomed to keeping in step with her as Boromir, she struggled to keep up with his long strides.
At their pace, after what seemed to be only five minutes of walking, Aria could hear the clanging of swords and the thud of arrows embedding themselves into targets. The sounds of the training grounds. She picked up her pace as she heard the merry laughs of Pippin, Merry, Frodo and Sam. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard another familiar laugh, this one deep and jovial.
"Faster! Watch your feet, Merry!"
"It's not my fault! You have me turning about in circles!"
She heard a shout of surprise, followed by a clang and a thud. A deep groan was followed by peals of laughter,
"That's for trying to take advantage of my height, Boromir!"
As Aria and Haldir turned the corner, she could see past the trees that were previously blocking her view of the grounds, giving Haldir a knowing smile, she picked up her pace and made her way closer to the field.
On the floor, amidst the tangled limbs of four little hobbits, Boromir lay, being punched and kicked mercilessly by little hobbit hands and feet. Aria felt a smile grow on her face. She went over to the side of the grounds, and sat on the small hill there, with the other spectators. She stretched out her legs and crossed them at her ankles, reclining back on her elbows. She tucked the scroll into her pocket, and awaited the end of Boromir's beating. Haldir sat beside her and looked on at his wardens as they practised.
"Do you see the elf over there? With the spear?"
Aria looked over to where he was pointing to. She saw seven elves with spears, "Uhm...which?"
"He has long blond hair...you see? Over by the tree?"
All of the Lórien elves had blond hair. She looked over to the tree; two elves with spears stood by it, talking happily. Aria sighed, "All of you are blond. There are two elves by that tree, the one on the left and the one on the right."
"The one on the right. That is Lairion, should you wish to deliver your message."
"Oh! Thanks, I'll do that soon." she smiled at him, and pulled the cloak around her. Boromir came over to her then, sitting beside her heavily. He exhaled, wiping the sweat off of his brow with his un-gloved hand,
"Good afternoon, Aria." he smiled down at her. She smiled back,
"Good afternoon to you, too. I see you were getting pummelled by the hobbits, there."
He laughed, "Yes, they are far superior warriors." He took off both of his gloves now, and lay them beside him. He fingered her cloak lightly, "Where did you get this?"
She looked over to the cloak, "Oh, Haldir lent it to me. I left my talan without my own, and it was much colder out than I thought. Haldir found me on my way here."
Boromir looked from the cloak, to Haldir, to Aria, and back to the cloak, "I see. My thanks, Marchwarden, for keeping my lady warm."
His thanks lacked sincerity, and Aria struggled to suppress a giggle. Boromir seemed to look at Haldir warily. Patting Boromir's hand, she got up to deliver her letter to Lairion,
"I'm going to give that elf there, Lairion, a message from Ethiriel." she said to him, taking off Haldir's cloak. She handed the cloak back to the elf with a nod of thanks, and set off toward the tree she saw the elf standing beside. As she got closer, she began to feel intimidated by the large group of strong elves. She stood outside their circle, unsure of what to do or say. All of a sudden, two elves turned around and looked down at her,
"You are the lady Aria? Can we be of assistance?"
Aria cleared her throat quickly, trying to sound confident, "Uh, yes, I'm looking for Lairion."
The two elves moved aside, revealing another who was polishing the tip of his spear with a strip of linen. He looked over to her, with a questioning expression,
"Yes?"
"Hello. I have a message for you from Rivendell." she said nervously. He looked puzzled for a moment, and then realisation dawned on him. He dropped the linen cloth in his hands and rushed over to her. She took the small scroll of parchment out of her pocket and handed it to him. He unravelled it quickly, scanning its contents as fervently as if he hadn't spoken to her in years. When he was finished, he looked back to her,
"Thank you, my lady. You have brought me a great gift today." he said sincerely, taking her hand and kissing the top of it. She smiled at him,
"I am glad. I don't know where my travels will take me after we leave Lórien, but if you would like, I would gladly carry a message back to her, should I stop in Rivendell."
His eyes grew wide, "Yes, that would be wonderful. Maybe I take my response to you on the morrow?"
"Of course. You may bring it to my talan. If I am not there, leave it by my door. Haldir knows the way, if you aren't sure."
"My thanks, my lady. Many thanks to you." he smiled at her again, and she walked back to where Boromir was—no longer, sitting. She looked around and spotted him underneath a bent mallorn tree, covered by shadow. She followed his line of sight, and traced it toward Frodo. Boromir's eyes narrowed at the small, oblivious hobbit. Aria stood frozen in her steps. She had known that Boromir would be tempted by the ring, but she had hoped that she had sufficiently distracted him. She stared openly at him, hoping he would realise she was looking, and that it would shake him out of his trance. His eyes met hers briefly, and he glared at her.
Her heart stopped. Never had she seen a look of such disdain on his face. Not toward her, at least. Shocked by his expression, she turned her face away from him. When she looked back, he was gone from her sight, and she could see him walking away from the training ground, and into the direction of their talans. Aria quickly left the training grounds after him, wiping frightened tears from her eyes.
When she got to the edge of the grounds, she could not see his retreating form anymore. She tried to follow after him, but she lost him. She decided, instead, to head to her talan, and do the mending that she was going to start earlier. Some mundane task would help her right now. All the while that she walked, she could think of nothing other than him. So confused by his reaction to her, she was frightened of what this would mean. She knew he would try and take the ring from Frodo, but she had hoped to prevent it...to somehow stop it from happened, and to stop the fate that she knew would befall him if she did not.
Could she bear it? To lose him? She was not sure. She wasn't naïve enough to think that simply because she loved once that she would never love again, but she didn't want to love another. This man who had found her in the forest that day, who had brought her out from the shell of a life that she was living in her world, she did not want to love another. She knew how she was thinking—a young girl, barely into adulthood, hopelessly in love with a man twice her age, and twice as fictional as she was.
It was absurd, it was ridiculous, it was something out of a stupid story. But—it was her life now. He was her life now. Without him, she didn't know what she would do in here. Middle-earth seemed emptier than her own world when she thought of it being without Boromir in it. She understood now, why she had resolved to stop his fate from being inevitable.
At long last, cheeks tear-stained and eyes puffy with sadness, she reached her talan. It was growing dark out now, and the sun was setting behind the mallorn trees. It gave the entire city a beautiful glow, no doubt what gave rise to it being called the Golden Wood. Slowly pushing the door open, she walked over to the oil lamp by her bedside. Just as she reached the lamp, something did not feel right in her talan. Preparing herself mentally, she quickly turned on the lamp and spun around, facing the darker corner of the room, where there was a small seating area.
Boromir sat there, staring blankly at the wall in front of him.
"Where have you been?" he spoke harshly. She stopped dead in her tracks,
"I was taking a walk." she began.
"With your elven admirers, no doubt." he spat, scathingly. Aria looked confused. She walked over to him and knelt in front of him,
"What do you mean, Boromir?"
He met her eyes finally. There was no love there, and none of the happiness that they once held. She rested one hand on his knee, and placed the other on his cheek. He turned his face away from her touch,
"Do not think I am a fool. I saw you, first with your precious Haldir—I saw your stolen smiles and looks. Then, you go after Lairion. What would Ethiriel think of you?"
Aria's eyes widened, "That's what you think? I was giving Lairion a letter from Ethiriel! He was overjoyed to hear from her! I assure you, he has no interest in me."
"And? What of Haldir?"
"That was nothing. He lent me his cloak, I even gave it back."
He looked away from her, staring into the lamplight. She tried to pull his face back to her, but he resisted. Shoving her hands off of him, he got up so abruptly that it pushed Aria backward, onto the hard floor.
"You say nothing but lies. This has all been a lie. You try to lure me into your bed, into your heart, all to pull my feet from under me and have me under your control! Do not think I do not know!"
Aria moved away on the floor as he spat his hateful words at her. With that he turned on his heel and left her talan, leaving the door swinging open after him,
"Boromir! Come back!" she yelled after him, scrambling to get up.
A/N: Okay...I know it's been a long time. I'm really sorry. I can't even attribute it to school, I just really didn't feel like writing. But I do now! I'll have another update soon, don't worry :) I know this one was short, but I was trying to ease my way back into this :P
