AN- I am really pleased, what with all the favorite story and story alerts, as well as with all the traffic…anyone interested in Beta'ing, let me know

Disclaimer - Again, only Rhian, minor OC's and plot changes are mine. Everything else belongs to the amazing Tolkien

Chapter 11

"You are seriously joking me?" said Rhian, as she felt the weight of the sword.

"I'm serious, but I'm not joking."

"This could be a disaster. I just about shot an arrow without killing someone."

"You'll be fine, just stay on your toes, and move quickly." Joined Glorfindel.

"That's easy for you to say, you're not wearing a dress!"

He taught her to move quickly, and keep on her toes as he had said. She picked it up sort of

quickly, but she left herself open to attack by reaching too high. He pointed that out to her.

"Not my fault you're too tall." She panted, attempting to conserve her energy.

Elladan also had a go with her, as did Elrohir, although Glorfindel tried to convince him not to;
a good swordsman, yes, a good teacher, no. Elrohir was harder on her than the other two had
been, but she held her own better than they expected, but she still needed a lot of work; they had to be very careful not to hurt her. Glorfindel had to stop him though; he was just too fast for a human. It was soon lunch time, and the elves escorted her back to the house.

The four Hobbits were eating lunch, so they joined them. The eight chattered away happily, and Rhian almost forgot that the ring was there, until she saw it glint from Frodo's neck.

"If you'll excuse me, lads." She left the table, and went back to her room; she was uncomfortable in its presence.

Arwen wasn't there, probably with Aragorn, and Merry and Pippin confirmed her suspicions as they had told her they saw her with Aragorn earlier. They hadn't yet twigged Aragorn was Strider, so she didn't feel the need to tell them just yet. It was funny to see them confused.

She was relaxing on Arwen's large balcony when she realized today would be the day Boromir, Legolas and Gimli would arrive. Merry and Pippin had joined her, but Frodo and Sam had gone to talk with Bilbo.

"Look at them, Lady Rhian! Some Men; on their horses."

"Very good, Pippin. Glad you noticed that." Merry answered before Rhian could speak. Merry was a sarcastic one; Rhian loved him for it.

After a telling off or two from Gandalf, both the Hobbits had insisted on calling her Lady Rhian.

"Those are the men of Gondor. See the white tree? There is one in the capital, minas tirith, it's their symbol, I think." She pointed at the shield.

"Are you sure you're not from Middle Earth? Cos' you know more than me." Asked Pippin, only to receive a slap up the back of the head, from Merry.

"Not like it would be hard. And You know we're not allowed to talk about that! Gandalf said only we could know 'cos she said we could! Anyone could hear you, you idiot." Pippin looked ashamed for all of two seconds before he was back to his chatty self.

The Hobbits left, no doubt for more food and to go and annoy Elrohir and Elladan, who were receiving a taste of their own medicine from the mischievous hobbits. Rhian watched as Boromir, who actually looked liked a far better and younger version of Sean Bean, dismounted, and took in the wonder of Imladris.

Rhian had noticed her transition from Elven to common was becoming a lot easier; Elrond and Gandalf spoke to her in only Elven to help, and she spoke only common to the hobbits. Elrohir had begun mixing the two, in an attempt to mix her up; it hadn't worked yet, much to his annoyance.

Boromir and his companions left their horses to the stables, and she watched as Elrond welcomed them. She could see the untrusting looks Boromir and his friends gave him, and she sighed. He would definitely be one to watch, but she knew that already. Next to arrive were the dwarves. Gimli was easy to pick out; the familiar looking one. He was the youngest of the dwarves, and his hair was redder and more pronounced. He had four battle axes strapped to his horse, and fixed them all to his belt as he approached the elves; more distrust.

Last to arrive was Legolas and the Mirkwood elves. Unlike the Rivendell elves, they were all blonde. Legolas was undoubtedly the most gorgeous, but then, Rhian did always have a soft spot for him, and Orlando Bloom. He was the only one to greet the Lord Elrond with trust; but then, they were both elves.

Rhian was startled out of her wits when Elrohir gave her a gentle push. She nearly fell off the balcony wall, and had he not been holding her waist, she definitely would have. She emitted a loud squeak. Elrond looked up at the two, after hearing Rhian's curses, and raised an eyebrow. As did all the other elves; they had been interrupted.

"Sorry Ada, Lady Rhian nearly fell."

"Sorry, Lord Elrond, but only until your son hits the ground."

Elrond turned back to the elves with a smile on his face, while Rhian gently slapped Elrohir on the arm.

"You are a menace, Lord Elrohir."

"That's why you love me, little sister."

"Keep telling yourself that." He laughed as he followed her out the door, only to run into Arwen.

"El, where you aware father was holding a feast tonight, before the council tomorrow?"

"Yes?" she rolled her eyes at him.

"We have to get ready; Ada told the twins to tell us, but they conveniently forgot to."

"Uh, oh. I don't know how to dance." Both elves looked at her.

"No, let me rephrase, I don't know how to dance like you do; my style of dancing is very different." Certainly, hip hop was different than ball room.

"It's easy. You'll get the hang of it, but Dan and I will help you."

"Oh, that is reassuring." She groaned; glaring at Elrohir, as Arwen led her back into the bedroom.

"Eleniel has the bath drawn; go get in, quickly."

"Yes, mother." Groaned Rhian; she was not looking forward to making a fool of herself. Arwen just laughed, and pushed her in the direction of the bath; she had been exercising, after all. She was going to miss showers. Eleniel helped her change, and she quickly sank into the bath. She quickly washed, then got into another robe.

"I'm going to bathe; I'll be but a moment." Arwen left quickly, and Rhian sat at the dressing table. She didn't think she could do this; she was such an oddity here; and her dancing would leave much to be desired, she feared. Also, she wasn't half as beautiful as the elves, or as graceful...this would and could only end in disaster.
All too soon, Arwen was back and looking for outfits for the two of them. She picked a midnight blue dress out for Rhian, with golden embroidery. It was low cut, tight at the waist, and flowed out at the hips; even she would admit she looked stunning, almost elf-like, but not quite. The dress emphasized her bust, narrow waist, and hips; she wasn't fat, but an hourglass shape, and the sleeves tapered at the elbows, giving her plenty of freedom; she wasn't used to these sorts of clothes, and Arwen was trying her hardest to accommodate for that.
Arwen had picked herself a deep red dress with shining silver embroidery, emphasizing her ebony locks and pale skin. She looked heart-breaking beautiful. She wore silver slipper-shoes, and her Evenstar pendant. Rhian almost cried; it was that beautiful.
Pulling on her golden shoes, the two stood together in front of the mirror. Tall and small, dark and light, tan and pale, they were like the night and day.

"I had not noticed this before, what is it?" Arwen touched the long-chained white gold locket Rhian wore.

"It was in my bag. It has a few photos of my family and friends in it." Gently undoing the clasp, three passport sized photos fell out; her and the cast; messing about in the mall, her and Teena, and her dog. But stuck inside the frame of the locket, were two photos; one of a pretty black haired woman, with tan skin and green eyes, and the other, twins who were the spitting image of their mother, with Rhian between them. She pointed out the people in the photos, but Arwen said it was her mother before Rhian could. Arwen squeezed her shoulder, and then Elrohir and Elladan appeared, through the balcony doors,

"Ready to go?" Elrohir was, as usual, bouncing on the balls of his feet. And Elladan gave him an evil smirk.

"You need to ask her first." Elrohir stopped bouncing, and even looked nervous.

"Little sister, will you go to the banquet with me?" Rhian was very tempted to say no, but her more compassionate side won out.

"Of course, brother." She smiled, and tucking her locket away, she took his arm. Elladan and Arwen led the way, as oldest son and daughter, followed by the other two.

"You know what this means, little sister?"

"What, El?"

"You'll have to dance with me." He grinned at her horrified look.

"And if you're dancing with him, you have to dance with me." Dan added, from up ahead.

"Leave her alone. Don't worry, if you don't want to, you don't have to." The twins glared at their other sister, but remained silent.

Rhian took in a deep breath, shaking slightly, as the doors ahead of them opened.