CHAPTER XII – Piercing headache & piercing arrows

Hey everyone!

Another chapter for you :) I really hope you like it!

Enjoy!


That next morning, Emery woke up with a mighty headache: the headache of a hangover. Normally, she would never let it go so far. Some people called it prudish or a 'goody-goody', but she called it wise. It didn't mind her if Ava or others drank, Emery herself was just afraid to lose control like that. The thought scared her: losing control or some sort of filter to hold back certain thoughts from saying aloud was not something she was not waiting for.

And now, all Emery could remember was drinking three pints, though she knew the actual number had to be… closer to ten? Maybe over ten? She kinda remembered she had talked with Legolas, but it was more a blur. She tried to sit upright, leaning on her lower arms, but fell back when she felt the back of her head throbbing. That definitely wasn't the hangover.

She placed a hand on her head, running her fingers through her own hair. Her hand froze when she felt a big hump on the right side of the back of her head. Apparently, she'd hit something. If not, the floor.

She stood up, hand still placed on the painful spot on her head, and her eyebrows drawn in a frown, wondering what time it could be. She walked over to the window and opened the shutters. The bright light blinded her eyes and she realized she had slept in.

"Shit", she muttered, knowing she was late. Today, the Company would plan the route to Lórien. She quickly slipped out of her annoying long night gown to grab another dress out of her closet, brushed her hair and rushed out of her room.

To be honest, she already was quite done with wearing the gowns. Sure, they were pretty and they made her feel like she was a princess, but she just preferred something she could move freely in. Right now she had to hold her skirt in one hand above her feet to prevent her from falling as she ran through the halls.

While running, she passed her handmaiden, Gloriël, and asked her where Aragorn and the others were. Then, she hurried to the Main Hall, where they should be according to her.

She came to a stop and was just about to open the double doors, when her pointy ears picked up more than they normally could have. She froze when she heard a familiar voice speak softly.

"…might have already passed when we arrive", the voice said, that she recognized as the Gondorian king. He was speaking somberly with a sense of pity in his tone, but also concern.

"Do you think we should prepare her, or inform her at least?", another calm voice said, which could be the blonde Elf, Legolas.

It was a cliché: Emery was about to barge in on a conversation- about her. And now, she was eavesdropping it.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Emery stood as still as she could, but she felt a wave of worry and nausea dwell up inside her. They were talking about Ava, and they thought she was dead. But Ava simply couldn't die. She just couldn't. If she would, she'd feel like a part of her would die too.

She heard a sigh. "I do not know. She probably already knows the danger lady Ava is in. But she is an Elleth," Aragorn paused. An Elleth? Oh, oh! That was a word for a female Elf. "You of all know Elves grieve differently. And she is her best friend…" His voice lowered, and he didn't finish his sentence as if he was afraid to speak certain words out loud.

"You fear she might fade."

It wasn't a question, but an assumption. Confused by the words Legolas had spoken, she quietly took a step back. Even though she didn't know what fading meant, she had this idea it was bad.

There was a brief silence.

"You seem to have grown quite fond of the lady", another voice spoke. It took her a while before she knew who it was. The voice had been king Éomer's, and she was quite surprised by his words. Curiously she waited for Aragorn to answer.

"Arwen used to invite the ladies for breakfast sometimes," he explained, "they are very nice, though their behavior is quite… odd. Especially lady Emery's. She behaves very differently from other Elves."

Emery's eyebrows raised and then fell back in a frown. She furiously tried to hold back a grunt. Odd? Did he know how much effort she'd put to blend in with the rest and fit in? It had been close to freaking impossible!

She heart the snort of what had to be Gimli.

"Aye," he agreed, "she looks like fair Elleth, but her dark, night black hair is something I have not seen in your kin, Legolas. Even the Elves in Rivendell don't have hair that dark. And next to that…" he paused as if he wanted to announce a sudden plot twist, "she was quite far off, last night."

Emery didn't know if Gimli had been positive or negative about her hair and shifted uncomfortably. If her hair would've let her, she would definitely have dyed it. But unfortunately, her hair was too dark and dominating to other colors, so it was impossible to do that.

But the words he spoke about last night made her a bit scared. What did she do? Had she done anything stupid? She cringed at the thought that she might've danced on a table or something. Because Ava had done that plenty times when she had been drunk.

Besides, Gimli, Merry and Pippin were also drunk last night, no doubt. It couldn't be that strange she was too, right?

"I agree, Gimli," Legolas said, "black hair is uncommon among Elves. However, she is a half-Elf. It could be her father had dark hair. And yesterday was odd indeed, since ale should not be so intoxicating to Elves as it did with her. Though I see not how you know, for you were very drunk and had started about swimming with Dwarf maidens. Again."

The Dwarf grunted, sounding mock-offended. Emery could almost hear the smirk on the Elf's face. She smacked her hand on her forehead. How could she be so stupid to get so drunk? What if she'd said something about her past, about Earth? One thing she'd learned from drunk people was that they never lie, even if the truth was a bit exaggerated.

"I do not know why, Gimli," Aragorn said, "but somehow that topic always comes up when you have drunk to much ale."

Emery realized the conversation had gone in a new direction when Gimli reacted with a Dwarf-witty remark. She quietly chuckled and stepped back. There was no point of eavesdropping anymore.

"There you are, Emery!"

Emery jumped, startled by the sudden loud voice behind her. She turned around to see Merry and Pippin walking towards. They came to a stop in front of her, watching her curiously as she glanced from one to another.

"We were looking for you. What are you doing here?", Pippin asked with his sweet innocent voice, but gave away her position to the rest of the men in the hall.

"Just… I was just…" eavesdropping "…about to walk in, actually", she muttered, "I've been looking for you guys too and thought you were probably in the Golden Hall." She shrugged, as if she was totally innocent, but saw the suspicious look on the Hobbit's faces. Of course, they weren't stupid. They looked young, but that didn't mean they were children.

Emery took a deep breath and turned around, facing the doors. She exhaled and pushed them open, walking casually to the others. They had fallen silent, already waiting for them to come in. Aragorn, Éomer, Legolas, Gimli and Faramir- who hadn't said anything during the conversation about her, were sitting around a table.

"We have been waiting for you", Aragorn said seriously, but he was trying to hold back a grin. He wondered how much of a headache the Lady had at the moment.

She stopped walking. "Me?", she asked, a finger pointed to her own chest and an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, you", he said slowly, and gestured her to sit down. "We sent Merry and Pippin to find you." She glanced at the two Halflings and smiled, then sat down in front of Aragorn, next to Faramir.

"So," she sighed, "what's up?"

Aragorn frowned. "What is… up?", he repeated strangely. Realizing people here didn't talk that way, Emery chuckled awkwardly and corrected herself. "Uhm," she said, "I meant, what's going on? Is something wrong?"

"No," he said and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Nothing is wrong, or 'up' as you say. We wanted to fill you in on our route for upcoming journey," his eyebrows furrowed and he looked stern, "since you were not present."

She looked down in embarrassment, biting her inner lip. "I'm sorry," she said, "I kinda forgot to wake up, I guess"

It sounded stupid, but it was true! She didn't have a morning alarm anymore to wake her up at 7 o'clock. And now she finally had a nice bed again instead of a thin bedroll, so she slept deeper than before. Oh, and maybe the alcohol didn't help much either…

She looked up to see a very rare and strange expression across the Gondorian king's face. He grinned. He actually grinned. Even though he seemed to try to hold it back, there was an unmistakable grin on his face. She looked around the table, catching Faramir who had a knowing smile. She saw that even Gimli had an amused smile and grunted.

Her own face however, was filled with worry and slight horror.

Oh my God, what the fuck did I do?!

Aragorn raised an eyebrow and Emery covered her mouth. "Did I say that out loud?", she asked as she cringed. He nodded slowly, now frowning. "Sorry for my use of language then."

It was quiet for a long ten seconds. They all stared at her, quite surprised by the way she swore. After last night they were curious for how she'd act, and apparently she'd broken through her comfort zone or something like that. What the effect of alcohol can do.

"You were rather… talkative," Legolas spoke, "more than normally."

Emery huffed, a bit relieved. "Oh," she said, "well, if that's the only thing than I can stop worrying, can't I?" At least, as long as she hadn't said too much, it was all okay.

"Let us speak about that later," Aragorn said and looked around the table, "Tomorrow, by the break of dawn, we shall head for Lothlórien. We must pack light and ride fast, for Gandalf and," he turned to Emery, "your friend are waiting for us."

Her stomach dropped thinking about Ava. What is she was death, like Aragorn feared? What if they were too late?

"How long is the journey?", she found herself asking.

"Five to six days on horseback", Aragorn answered. Emery sighed and leaned back in her chair. Six days, jeezz. She was so not looking forward to that. She'd never get used to the travel distances and lengths. Next to that, horse riding was damn tiring. Bullshit to whoever said horse riding wasn't a sport and just sitting on a horse. Try sitting on that beast all day!

The next half hour he explained the route. She didn't know all the names of the areas and fields and forests: she heard something about the Snowbourn, Entwash, Fangorn Forest, and more. She looked at the map in front of her and only now realized the great distances between the places. Why didn't they go straight to Lórien from Minas Tirith? It would've been so much shorter, and smarter for all she knew.

When the meeting was over, the Company fell apart. Aragorn stayed in the Hall, and the rest went outside. Emery was just about to do the latter, when a thought popped up in her mind. She turned to the Rohirrim king, who was talking with one of the guards. She waited for them to finish before she walked over to him.

"King Éomer?", she called hesitantly.

He turned around to face her. "Yes, lady Emery?"

She swallowed, facing the handsome king. It was annoying that she couldn't just ask a question without stumbling over the words. It's just a human, Em, just like you, jeez. She mentally shook her head. Why was she such an awkward person?

She played with her hair band around her wrist, which she luckily hadn't lost yet.

"I was wondering where I could find the tailors," she said, forcing herself to stop being so nervous about a simple question. "Because, before our arrival here in Edoras we were attacked by a group of… Orcs…" She still found it crazy to say that word out loud "…which you probably already know because king Aragorn probably already filled you in about that," she realized she was rambling, sighed and got to the point, "my dress nearly killed me. I mean, I tripped over my dress. So, yeah…"

Good job, Em.

"I would like some pants, or leggings instead of dresses", she finally said, realizing she could just have asked 'where are the tailors' and he probably would've given her directions. She was wasting his time and already felt guilty.

She waited for his reaction, which was amusing smile that played across his face. Éomer found her quite amusing, and he knew the others thought the same. She was different from other women; much more likely to speak up, even though sometimes it got the better of her. The funniest thing was that she totally didn't realized how amusing she was, too nervous to notice.

He nodded. "I indeed believe a gown is not so practical for your journey, my Lady. But you need not find them yourself. I shall order the ladies to make you some suitable clothes. They shall be brought to your room before dawn", he said reassuringly. She had a comparable figure of his sister, so it wouldn't be a problem.

Emery smiled and thanked him very much. She turned around and was about to leave when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. It was firm, yet gentle, and she was more than surprised by his action. She turned around and felt her cheeks burn when she faced him. He had a look of pity in his eyes, but also sympathy. She was confused, curious about what he had to say. There was very little distance between each other, and it made Emery a bit uncomfortable to stand that close to a king; but perhaps in a good way?

Oh shut up, Em, you can't have a crush on a fucking king. It's outright pathetic.

"I heard about your companion being injured by these Orcs," he said, showing compassion, "it is certainly sad to hear."

Emery sighed. She was quite done with all the pity around her, but she just nodded and her face grew grim. "She was more than a companion, my Lord," she said, "she was my best friend."

Éomer frowned, and the corner of her eye she saw Aragorn walking towards them. She had forgotten he was here. "You speak as if she is already lost," he stated, and then she realized she'd been talking in past tense. "But you underestimate your own kin, lady Emery. They are very great healers. She will be fine."

She nodded, but the words that he'd spoken earlier, when she was eavesdropping, lingered in her mind. Still, she half-smiled. "I appreciate your words, king Aragorn."

He smiled in return and walked to his packs. Éomer said goodbye and left the hall. She sat down on a bench and hugged herself as a shield against the tormenting thoughts of Ava. A single tear rolled down her eye, and an uncontrolled sniff escaped.

She quickly brought her hand to her face to wipe the tear away when Aragorn stood up and walked over to her. He sat down in front of her and looked at the girl. He pitied her, but realized she probably didn't want pity.

He hesitated. Should he ask her if she wanted to talk or should he leave her alone? Aragorn could easily read people, but Emery was harder to read and he didn't know why. He watched her bow her head, he was probably making her nervous.

"If you ever feel a need to talk," he said, and for a brief moment he sounded uncertain, which caused Emery to look up at him. "I shall listen to your words."

Emery's eyes widened in surprise and her mouth fell open. She didn't expect this from a king; he had so much on his head already. Duties, and other kingly things… How could she waste his time by talking about her troubles?

"I also thank you for that, king Aragorn, but it feels wrong to disturb you from your kingly duties."

He smiled. "I am not in Gondor anymore, which means I am no king here," he reassured her, "and with that, I have no kingly duties to attend. Also, you may call me Aragorn, as all our companions do so."

She nodded a bit uncertain.

"You might as well accept my offer, though I shall not force you", he said kindly.

So, they talked. It was a bit weird at first, since, well, she didn't really know him that well. However, she felt like she needed to open up to release herself from the heavy burdens.

She told him about her worries of Ava and the travel. She told him about the fact that she was quite scared of the Orcs, but that she didn't want the others know because she was afraid to look weak. And she definitely didn't want to look weak in a Company with such strong men. She also told him that was nervous to see her long lost mother again, since she didn't really know her.

Aragorn listened, not asking any questions while she told him about her feelings. He understood her well; she looked like a young Elleth, perhaps not even 400 years old. And she'd lived in quite some isolation according to Gandalf. No wonder she was different from the other Elves.

"I do not even know why I share this with you, king- I mean, Aragorn," Emery finally said and sighed. "This is something I would share with a mother or Ava, not a king."

He shook his head and smiled. "You seem to carry a burden of worries with you, my Lady," he said as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. "Now, I am no counselor, but I suppose it is good that you let it out. I also thank you for trusting me with your thoughts."

Emery smiled thankfully, but Aragorn could see the sadness behind it. "If I can call you Aragorn, than you won't have to call me by 'my Lady'", she said. He nodded and gave her one more reassuring smile, stood up and grabbed his stuff and walked away.

Before he opened the door he turned around. "Rest today Emery, we will leave early tomorrow." And with that, he was gone.

She was alone in the Golden Hall, and she finally took her time to look around. There was a big fire pit-ish in the middle of the room, and many banners hung next to the pillars. She stood up to get a better look. Each banner was different, but they were all decorated with pretty designs. They also all had a horse, and she figured it must be some sort of emblem for Rohan.

The way of living here in Middle Earth was so similar to the medieval times on Earth. If she wouldn't have known about the place she'd landed in, she would really think she had traveled back in time to the Dark Ages. It seemed that all the myths and fairy tales were realized in one world. And she was in it.

It was around noon when she left the Hall and went to her room to grab her bow and quiver. She hadn't practiced for a while and heard guards talking about a training ground. After asking a passant where it was she walked along, following the man's instructions. He had stared at her strangely, as if it was weird that she was going to practice with her bow. She ignored it, just as the glares of other men who were already training on the grounds.

She walked over to the area for archery and looked at the target. The first one stood about 30 meters away from her, the second 40 meters, and then on until 90. Let's just start with the first target, Em. No need to prove yourself when you're really… not that good.

She grabbed an arrow out of her leather quiver and nocked it. She closed one eye as she pulled the string taut and brought her hand holding the string to her face. She let the arrow fly, lowered her bow and saw the arrow had hit the target, but on the outer ring. A few men who had been secretly watching chuckled softly, but Emery was oblivious to the spectators.

"Dammit", she murmured and pulled another arrow. She just had to take her time and focus. She thought about her training with Florién, trying to dig up his instructions.

"Good, now, make sure your body is perpendicular to your target."

She shifted her body, right-angled to the imaginary shooting line.

"Watch your feet, my Lady."

Emery looked down to place her feet shoulder-width. When Florién had shown her how he did it, she noticed his stance was different than what he'd learned her. Confused, she'd asked him why. He told her that when you become more advanced, you can develop an 'open-stance'.

"But how you develop this, is up to you, lady Emery."

She couldn't call herself advanced, she only had ten lessons in archery. She was far from advanced. However, she did feel like she was progressing.

Emery inhaled through her nose, and exhaled slowly through her mouth, focusing on her target. She released the arrow, feeling the string flow back. She lowered the bow, and saw the arrow had hit the target close to the inner circle. She smiled and decided to draw one more arrow.

Again, she kept the instructions in her mind and let the string go. The arrow had hit the rose, and proudly she walked towards the next target. The men didn't chuckle or laugh anymore, but it honestly didn't matter for Emery, since she didn't notice them at all.

She shot the next target well; two close to the rose and one in it. She went on to the next one, 50 meters away from her. Again, it went pretty well. When she arrived at the one with a distance of 60 meters, she noticed she had to squeeze her eyes to focus more.

Suddenly, everything seemed to be sharper than before. Emery widened her eyes, but then squeezed them shut. She'd had this before, right before the Orc attack, when the light of the fire was too bright to look at. The light of the sun was all the sudden to bright, even if she looked away. She held her eyes closed for a few more moments until she felt her eyes were less pained. Slowly, she opened her eyes and noticed she wasn't blinded by the light anymore.

She looked around and her mouth parted a bit. It was like she could see everything; that one leaf in the distant tree, that one dew drop on that blade of grass and the brown spots on that bird flying high in the sky. It was a literal eye opener, and she knew it had to do something with her being an Elf. But why now? She had it before at the camp fire, and her keen sight never left, so why did it happen again? She needed Gandalf. He could probably answer her questions.

A sigh escaped her mouth and she notched an arrow. Somehow, she felt like she could easily do this one, no matter the distance. She pulled the string taut, and looked at the target. Her keener eyes pierced through the rose as they were the arrow itself, and the next moment, the arrow pierced through the inner circle of the target just like her eyes did.

No less than a second later, her arrow that hit the rose of the target was pierced by another. It was almost like the wind that the other arrow had caused by flying past her, came later than it was supposed to. She gasped and jumped, almost dropping her bow.

She turned around and saw a certain blonde Elf standing a few meters behind her, smirking. He held a bow, designed with floral prints in the wood. She knew immediately he had shot the arrow. She looked from Legolas to the target. What… How?! When she turned to him again, his smirk widened even more.

"Impressive", Emery mumbled and looked at her own bow, tracing her fingers along the wooden structure.

"You are quite good yourself as well, my Lady", he said and he walked over to her. Emery huffed, and looked at her first target. "Only if I have enough time to focus," she said a bit disappointed, "I wouldn't last longer than ten seconds on the battlefield."

He frowned. "You killed two Orcs out there. Not bad for a girl who has never fought in such sudden attacks and ambushes before", he said and now smiled. Emery didn't look at him.

"And then the third almost killed me", she whispered, so soft that probably only someone with very keen hearing could hear it. Like Legolas.

He thought for a second. "Do you only use the bow?", he asked and Emery nodded. "Perhaps you should learn to wield a sword."

She looked at him. A sword? She knew quite certain of herself that she was very bad at that. Closer to horrible. But he had a point. She couldn't do anything when they came close. Now that she thought of it, she could use an arrow as a knife or something, but that wasn't as good as a sword or blade.

"Lady Emery?"

Emery jumped, interrupted from her thoughts. "What? Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. But we're leaving tomorrow. Can't learn how to use a sharp thing in only one day", she blurted.

"That is true. Let us not count on another ambush then," he said and walked away. "Next time you shoot an arrow, do not forget your right elbow."

She sighed and muttered a 'thanks'. She looked at the 60m target and noticed he forgot his arrow. She frowned, thinking it wasn't really something for him to forget it. "Hey, you forgot-" she turned around and saw he was already gone. She shrugged and walked to the next target.

It was around afternoon tea time when she had gathered all the arrows. Because of her lack of concertation she hadn't hit one rose after Legolas' interruption. She walked onward to the 60m target where he had intruded. Well, she could forget about her own arrow. She grabbed the arrow that had pierced hers and looked at it. The feathers at the end of it where soft, and so were its colors. She hesitated for a moment, and then put it in her quiver. She pulled the two halves of her own arrow out of the target and shook her head.

If I could train on using the bow and arrow for more than a thousand years, I could do that too.

Emery smiled when she saw Gloriël was readying a bath. She jumped when she heard Emery closing the door. "I did not hear you coming, my Lady, forgive me", she said, and Emery shook her head. "No, do not be," she said and she looked at the bath, "thank you, Gloriël."

She nodded and smiled. "How was your day, lady Emery?", she asked politely. Emery sighed and undressed herself to get in the bath tub. "It was quite okay, I think," she said as she sank down in the water, which was warm for a change. "I have been practicing with my bow and arrow this afternoon and I have this feeling I am getting better. It has been a while since I have trained. Legolas though, thinks I should learn how to wield a sword. But it is too late for that, since we are leaving tomorrow morning."

Emery noticed she hadn't used contractions the whole time. God, she was starting to talk just like everyone else here.

"I never have seen a lady warrior before, beside lady Éowyn", Gloriël said. Emery frowned. "That's the king's sister, right? And Faramir's spouse?" Gloriël nodded.

They had chatted a bit more, and Emery was sad she would have to leave tomorrow. Gloriël was such a nice girl, and really helpful. Until now, she didn't really have someone to just talk to since Ava went to Lórien and Gloriël offered her quite some distraction.

"I have a gown for you, my Lady," Gloriël stood up from her chair and walked to the closet. "for the last diner." She took a dress out of the closet and held it in front of her. Emery gasped.

"It's absolutely lovely, thank you so much!", Emery squealed, got out of the tub and threw a towel around her body. The skirt of the gown was white and the body had a soft green color. It was charming, but simple, but the green color matched her eyes in a surprising way.

"You look beautiful, Emery", Aragorn said when she walked inside. She smiled at him and sat down beside the Hobbits. Merry and Pippin agreed, and the rest of the Company and Éomer seemed to like the outfit of her as well. She blushed and felt her cheeks burn, and started eating her food.

Dinner was nice. They talked about unimportant things, and Emery looked around the table. Who would've thought? A Dwarf, an Elf, Hobbits and Men, talking about their favorite food. In her mind, she was laughing out loud. It was totally absurd.

After dinner, she went to the portico to reflect one last time. She was so close now! So close to meeting her real mother, to hearing about who she really was. And Ava. She would finally see Ava again.

Her pointy ears caught light footsteps and she turned around.

"Hello, Legolas", she said and let out a breath. "No arrow to shoot past my head?"

He smiled and walked to stand next to her. She turned to the mountains, she could see better now in the dark. If only she could capture this view with a camera right now.

"No," he said with a grin, "I have no arrow to surpass you."

Emery huffed. "Oh, you're one of those guys."

"How?"

"Arrogant", she said but smiled at him.

He smirked, but then turned serious again. He cleared his throat.

"There is something I wanted to ask you", he announced and Emery raised a brow. "You want to know my age?", she said sarcastically.

Now he lifted his eyebrows. "So you do remember about our conversation?", he asked a bit surprised.

"Not much, but yeah, I remember", Emery shrugged.

"Also the…" he paused "…nickname?"

She frowned. "Nickname?", she asked confused and then widened her eyes. "Did I give you a nickname?"

He nodded, and Emery couldn't read his face. He was wearing an emotionless mask, and it scared Emery quite a bit.

"You called me Blondie", he said seriously, though she could hear a sour tone in his voice. Emery let out a bark of laughter and put a hand over her mouth. "Shit, I did?", she said, her hand still over her mouth. He frowned and nodded again. She'd called a prince blondie. She straightened her back and forced herself to be serious.

"Sorry, prince," she said, "I shall not do it again if it bothered you."

He shook his head and smiled as well. "It bothered me not, lady Emery, though I must say no one has ever given me a nickname like that before." Emery chuckled and looked towards the mountains again.

Just like when they had watched the dawn yesterday, they were enjoying the silence between them, and Emery found she suddenly was surprisingly at ease near the prince of Mirkwood.


Please don't forget to review this story, I'd like to know what you think about the story so far. Hang tight for the next chapter!

-xoxo-