AN: Okay, so I know that it's been a while since I posted before the last chapter I just posted. I also know that it was kind of short, so I will try to make this chapter longer than the last one. Warning: the first half of the chapter will have family fluff.
Chapter 10: Sleeping
Nearly a month had gone by since the Peredhil family arrived back in Rivendell. Rainaiel's leg had healed completely, but the emotional wounds were not. Since she had returned, she was plagued by nightmares. Some nights, she would wake someone up by the screams of terror and other nights she would make her way over to either her father's or mother's room and sleep next to one of them or both. Elrond had tried everything he could think of to make them stop, but nothing worked.
Tonight seemed to be one of those nights where she woke someone up. The hall was mainly empty because Arwen had traveled back to Lorien, telling Rainaiel that she would know when her birthday came why. Aragorn and the twins were back with the rangers in the north nearly three weeks ago. Also now that winter was coming again, Elrond and Erestor were spending a lot of time in the healing houses. That only left Glorfindel, who had just returned to city after spending some time on the borders.
The golden haired warrior had fallen asleep and was quite content with ignoring everything. He had jokingly told Elrond not to wake him unless Sauron himself was crossing the ford. Elrond smirked and told his friend to rest.
Everything seemed to be perfect for most of the night until he heard an ear shattering scream rip through the night. He sat up; unsheathing the very large knife he kept under his pillow. The warrior stood up from bed, quickly throwing on the tunic he taken off before he went to sleep and rushed out.
He went out into the hall and listened, waiting to hear anything else. As he listened, he heard cries of terror coming from down up the hall. More specifically, Rainaiel's bedroom. Glorfindel threw his weapon back into his room, before running off to her room.
Glorfindel threw the door open, not caring that he did not knock and rushed in. He could see the thrashing figure of the young elleth in her bed. His heart broke, knowing exactly what was wrong.
Meanwhile, Rainaiel lay in her bed, trapped inside the hellish nightmare that she could not escape. No matter what she did, she could not get out. Rainaiel had not had any sleep in weeks and she was ready to go mad.
This time, she was standing on a mountain, watching as Lorien, Mirkwood and Rivendell burned as orc attacked the three elven cities. She could see them making their way to the houses of the rulers of the cities. Rainaiel could see the figure of an elleth, wearing a ornate and extremely revealing gown made of a black chiffon material. The elleth had long silver hair that curled from root to tip. On her back was a sword.
The figure looked pleased, as four elves were brought before her. Rainaiel felt sick when she seen who they were. They were Thanduil, Elrond, Celeborn and Galadriel. Her family and distant kin. She could see the horror and pain in their faces. Rainaiel knew that the elleth was going to kill them. But didn't the figure see her.
Rainaiel watched as the figure pulled out the sword, running her fingers along the blade. She saw the horror on her family's face when the elleth stabbed Thanduil through the chest. Then she moved to her great grandfather, as Elrond and Galadriel began to fight the orcs that were holding them. The figure said something to him, causing tears to fall from his blue eyes. Her great grandmother's screams fill the entire area as Celeborn fell to the ground, struggling to breathe.
Rainaiel sobbed, watching the scene before her. She could not do anything about it either. She watched as the figure killed Galadriel and Elrond before taking Nenya and Vilya from them. But nothing prepared her for who she would see when the figure turned around.
Rainaiel screamed in horror when she seen that the elleth before her was herself. She had been the one who murdered her great grandparents and grandfather and fourth cousin.
"NOOOO!" Rainaiel screamed, as she was released from the hellish dream.
Suddenly, she heard a deep voice calling her name franticly. Rainaiel's eyes shot open as she bolted up right in her bed, throwing her arms around the figure's neck.
Glorfindel quickly wrapped his arms around her, holding the shaking child close. Her body convulsed as she sobbed, terrified of letting go of her savior.
"Little one, what happened? What is wrong?" Glorfindel asked, running a calloused hand through her silver curls. Rainaiel shook her head, unable to respond. He sighed, knowing that whatever it was, she was too traumatized from it. Glorfindel held her tight, trying to think of something to do. He knew that the only way to calm her was to get Elrond to calm her down enough to talk again.
"Little one, can you walk?" He asked, as he went to stand. Rainaiel shook her head yes, still very upset. "Alright, quickly get dressed and come with me." Glorfindel replied, walking over to her wardrobe and taking out a simple white underdress and a short sleeved purple wrap gown. He handed the clothing to her and helped her stand.
While she changed, he went back to his room and changed. Glorfindel had to do it quickly because he knew that something was not right with her and why did she scream like that.
When he returned to, Rainaiel was sitting on her bed, tears spilling from eyes as she shook in fear. Glorfindel walked over to her and took hand.
"Come little one, you need to calm down a little more before talking about your nightmare." Glorfindel said, taking her hand and leading her from the room. Rainaiel merely nodded, allowing him to lead her to wherever he was taking her.
He lead her to Elrond's study and walked in. He knew that he was in healing houses and could easily send a guard to get him.
Once he brought Rainaiel over to a sofa, he found one of his soldiers and told him to get Elrond quickly. The guard rushed away in search of his Lord.
When he arrived at the healing houses, he found the Lord of Rivendell washing his hands after having to stitch an elfling's arm up from a fall. Elrond looked up and seen the guard standing there.
"My Lord Elrond, Lord Glorfindel says that he needs you urgently…it's about Lady Rainaiel." The soldier said. Elrond's silver grey eyes went wide with fear before heading to leave. "Where are they?" Elrond asked, as he walked towards the guard. "Your study." He replied.
"Go Elrond, I will take care of the little one." Erestor said, looking at his friend. "Thank you mellon-nin." Elrond replied, rushing out of the room.
When Elrond arrived, he found Glorfindel consoling a very shaken Rainaiel. He looked to his friend, wanting to know what was wrong. Glorfindel shook his head, unable to answer.
He walked over, gently placing a hand on her back. Elrond felt her tense up as the tears began to flow again.
"Rainaiel, what happened. What did you dream about?" Elrond asked. She shook her head, not wanting to remember. "Please, I cannot help you if you don't tell me?" Elrond said, rubbing circles in her back.
The young peredhil shook as she tried to breathe straight. She kept her face hidden in Glorfindel's shoulder. Rainaiel wasn't ready to look at him.
"I killed you…all of you." She cried. Elrond and Glorfindel looked confused by what she meant. "What do you mean, Rainaiel?" Elrond asked. "You were never able to get me out of Dol Guldur and I was brought to Sauron…he trained me and everything that was said about him taking me as his bride had came true. He sent me and an army of orcs to destroy Mirkwood and Lorien and here; then capture you, Grandma Galadriel and Grandpa Celeborn and King Thanduil." Rainaiel said, as she began to shake again. Elrond looked at Glorfindel with sadness on his face.
"Then what, Little One…finish." Glorfindel said, running his fingers through her hair. "I stood on a mountain watching as Lorien and Rivendell and Mirkwood burned. I had ordered the orcs to capture all of you and bring you all to me alive." Rainaiel replied, "I killed Thanduil and Grandpa first. I knew that they didn't have the rings…I said something to Grandpa Celeborn that made him cry…please don't ask me to finish…please." Rainaiel whimpered as she convulsed in fear and heartbreak. "I will not…you have told me all I needed to hear…but don't worry…you are no longer there and you are safe. Sauron cannot get to you hear." Elrond said as Glorfindel released her and passed her to her grandfather's arms.
Elrond pulled her into his lap and cradled her close. She began to cry harder as he held her tightly to his chest. He knew that this was not going to be easy to fix. Glorfindel could see the pain in his friend's eyes. He knew that Elrond felt helpless as he held Rainaiel.
"I will always be here for you Rainaiel…I will protect you from him. You will never be alone." Elrond said, running his hand through her hair. "Promise?" She asked, looking up at him as hiccups began. "I swear you will never be alone." Elrond replied, holding her tightly.
Rainaiel's gaze went to Glorfindel, silently asking him the same thing she asked her grandfather. He nodded, reaching out to wipe the tears from her grey eyes. She weakly smiled back, relieved to know that.
Elrond knew that she was not going to go back to sleep that night, especially not alone. He had run out of ideas on how to get her to sleep through the night. Erestor and him had been spending countless hours trying to find something to help her, but found nothing.
He and Glorfindel knew that Rainaiel was still too upset to pay attention to anything they said, unless it was directly to her. She seemed to be in her own world, trying to calm down.
"I don't know what to do any more…the sleeping draughts are no longer effective for her and she barely sleeps anymore." Elrond said, gently rocking her. "I know…didn't she do this when she had night terrors too?" Glorfindel asked, suddenly remembering when Rainaiel was a toddler. Elrond nodded at him while he kissed the top of Rainaiel's head. "How did you and her mother help her sleep then?" Glorfindel asked. "If you remember correctly, Arwen was in Lorien at the time and Estel had just left go to Rohan." Elrond said as his granddaughter's hiccups began to subside.
Her shaky breathing began to level out and the shaking lessened. But she did not want to be released from her grandfather's protective embrace, fearing the need to sleep.
"I do remember that, but you somehow were able to get her to sleep." Glorfindel replied, hoping his friend would remember.
Rainaiel looked up Elrond, then Glorfindel, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She would sleep here in her grandfather's study, next to him in front of the fireplace. Not only did it help her nightmares to stop when she was a child, but Elrond also slept better, knowing that Rainaiel was sleeping.
"…I would sleep in your arms here in your study…you would fall asleep before you could put me in my bed." Rainaiel replied, her voice hoarse from crying. Elrond and Glorfindel looked down at her, sad smiles on their faces. "I do remember that…the only problem with that is you were just realizing that you were dreaming…this is from you being near that monster." Elrond replied. Rainaiel shivered as a yawn escaped her lips.
"You should try to sleep little one…you need it." Glorfindel said, staring at her. "No…I can't…I don't want to." She cried, suddenly terrified with the thought of sleep. "You need to…if you don't it will kill you." Elrond told her, as she laid her head on his shoulder. "Will you stay?" Rainaiel asked, looking up at Elrond.
The elf lord and Glorfindel exchanged looks before he answered her. Elrond knew that the next day was going to be crazy for him, but he needed to stay with her.
"Stay with her…Erestor and I will handle things tomorrow. She needs to sleep and you do too." Glorfindel replied, as Elrond looked at her then him. "Are you sure?" Elrond asked. "Elrond, we've handled much worse things than council meetings." Glorfindel said, causing Elrond to chuckle. "Alright, thank you…for everything tonight." He replied. Glorfindel nodded, before looking back at Rainaiel.
"Good night, little one." He said as she sat up enough for him to hug her. "Good night, Glofy." She smiled, causing him to chuckle. "It's been a long time since I've heard that version of my name." He smiled, hugging her tighter, "I know that the mischievous 16 year old elleth is hiding in there somewhere…will she ever come back?" Rainaiel smiled as her grey eyes stung from the tears she cried that night. "Soon." Rainaiel replied, as he pulled back to look at her. "Good, because she needs to make everyone laugh again." He told her, standing to his feet.
About 20 minutes later, Elrond and Rainaiel both decided that it was time to settle down for the night. Elrond built up the fire in his study while Rainaiel sat on the couch, staring out into space. When he turned to her, she looked to be deep in thought or possibly having a vision.
The latter of the two were correct. He knew by the way her eyes glazed over and she didn't blink
Rainaiel was indeed seeing something, something that would help her calm down extensively.
She stood off the side, fidgeting with a stray curl that escaped the intricate up do she had her hair in as Aragorn walked over. He wore a full suit of armor and had a sword strapped around his waist. He looked like a king. Rainaiel on the other hand, wore a stunning silver and white gown with a royal purple sash around her waist. Holding the up-do in place was a beautiful silver circlet that had silver leaves and amethyst gem stones on it. There was no doubt the either was made in Lothlorien and especially for her. He stilled her hand causing her hand to drop. She stared at their reflections as her father reached for a butterfly shaped clip and placed the unruly curl in the back before clipping it into place. Aragorn done the came to the other side, having many years of practice with helping his daughter with her hair. The ranger turned king smiled down at her as he kissed her cheek.
Rainaiel gasped, sitting up straight and looking at Elrond with a glitter of hope in her eyes. He looked confused for a moment and shook his head, telling her he didn't want to know. Rainaiel grinned big at him before a very large and un-princess like yawn escaped her lips.
"I think it's time to sleep, ai tarien." Elrond said, as he laid out thick quilt onto the floor over the ornate rug before the fire place. "But, I'm not sleepy." She said, still fighting sleep, just as she done as a child. "Yes you are…as am I." Elrond replied, settling down onto the make shift bed in front of the fire. Rainaiel knew that there was no way of winning the battle against her grandfather as she laid down and placed her head on his chest as he placed the blanket over the two of them. Elrond smiled, watching as her blue grey eyes drifted shut. He kissed her hair fondly, beginning to hum the lullaby that he sung to her as well as her parents and uncles when they were all small. The young peredhil relaxed further into his side, no longer fearing the need for sleep.
"Sleep tight, ai tarien." Elrond whispered, kissing her hair. She mumbled something incoherently as she snuggled up against him.
The elven lord smiled at her one last time before letting his own need to rest claim him as well. He yawned as his vision became unfocused and his breathing slowed.
A few hours later, three horses rode in to the city of Rivendell. Two of the figures atop the stallions were elves, identical to one another. The other was that of a man with black hair. They all looked to be tired, and happy to be home.
The sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains as morning broke. They were greeted by familiar faces as they walked in.
"Good morning my lords." Lindir said, walking over. "Good morning Lindir. The house is quiet this time of morning." Elladan said, noticing that chatter could not be heard like normal. "Indeed, where is Ada?" Elrohir asked, noticing that his voice could not be heard in the council chamber not too far from them. "Lord Elrond is sleeping…Lord Glorfindel and Lord Erestor informed me that no one is to go into his study for the morning…if he is even up by then." Lindir replied.
The twins and Aragorn exchanged confused looks before excusing themselves to go change and eat. Lindir smiled and nodded, he too had things to do that morning.
"Why would Ada be sleeping in his study?" Aragorn asked, as they turned down the hall to their father's study. "I don't know…he has been known to do so before." Elrohir replied. The ranger nodded, smirking. "Like he did when Rainaiel was little." He smirked. The twins laughed, agreeing.
When they reached the study, they found Erestor and Glorfindel just leaving, small smiles on their faces. The pair looked up, shocked to see them there.
"When did you three get home?" Glorfindel asked, his gaze lingering on the ranger. "A few moments ago…is all well?" Elladan asked. The two lords looked at each other before answering them. "That depends on who you are asking." Glorfindel replied, sighing sadly. "What is wrong…how is Raina?" Aragorn asked, looking at him. Glorfindel glanced at Erestor, not wanting to tell him. The chief advisor nodded, telling him he would.
"Rainaiel has been having night terrors for the last month as you all know." Erestor said, earning nods from the three before him. "Have they gotten worse since we left?" Aragorn asked, suddenly worried. "Worse is an understatement." Glorfindel said, anger seeping through his normally calm voice, "Sauron is lucky he isn't a physical being." "Has he been attacking her!" Elladan asked, suddenly alarmed. "No…last night was by far the worst…she dreamt she had killed you father and grandparents as well as Thanduil." Erestor replied.
The twins and Aragorn gasped in shock. That would definitely destroy her if that had happened. The ranger had to see her, to make sure she was alright for himself. Glorfindel seen the look of worry and fear in the ranger's grey eyes.
"Fear not Estel, she is alright now…we think we found something that may have worked." Glorfindel said, causing Aragorn to relax some. "What is it?" Aragorn asked.
Glorfindel and Erestor exchanged a smiled before the golden warrior motioned for the ranger to follow. Aragorn did so, hesitant about what he would find.
"I think it would be best if you seen for yourself." Glorfindel smiled, opening the door to the study softly.
Aragorn looked in, confused for a moment. He walked in, unable to see anyone. Glorfindel motioned for him to go in, telling him it was alright.
As he walked further into the study, he heard the soft sounds of someone snoring faintly. He could only think of one person who did that when sleeping soundly, other than himself. Aragorn walked closer to when they sounds were coming from and stopped just sort of the sofa. He looked down at the fire place and smiled.
Before him was Rainaiel and Lord Elrond both soundly sleeping in front of the fireplace. Elrond laid on his back, one arm behind him beneath the pillow his head was resting on. Aragorn noticed that his other arm was wrapped around someone. He leaned forward and smiled. It was Rainaiel, sprawled out on his chest on her stomach. She held a peaceful look on her face. Elrond was holding her protectively to him, just like he did when Aragorn was a small child. The ranger smiled, glad to know his daughter was alright.
He turned to leave, taking one last glance at the pair before leaving the room. Aragorn could relax, knowing that Rainaiel was no longer upset over the terrible nightmare she had.
AN: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter too so long to post. I have been super busy as of late and helping my mom. Any who thanks to those who have read and liked my stories. Please remember to review and tell me what you think.