Yay UNI is back in full swing (note the sarcasm) and I still don't have the internet (although I probably do if I've posted this I didn't have on the 7th when I wrote this and wont have until the 14th ) Anyway in this chapter we find out just what they had to say that lady Anwe didn't like, Anwe gets introduced to Haldir and co and we find out what the girls have done this time to get pegged as trouble makers.
Chapter proverb: There are three types of people you don't piss off, Custom Officials, Air Marshals, and Police Officers. Because they can say funny things like 'Cavity Search'
Disclaimer: ETphonehome's new pet frog: "Ribbit, Ribbit, Croak, Ribbit, croak Croak, Ribbit, Croak Croak Croak, Ribbit"
Looks pleased with itself in the soggy way frogs do and hops away.
ETphonehome: What? I thought that the lawyers would be able to understand someone as cold blooded as they are,,, maybe next time I'll use the snake, (grins insanely) now on with the story…
o0o
(Anwe's pov)
My feeling was most definitely proved right, and not liking was probably an understatement. I was informed in no uncertain terms that I was not to do anything strenuous including dress myself or change or get up without calling a nurse to help me, for at least two weeks.
Not only that I would not be able to get out of bed at all for at least one week, that meant the elvish equivalent of a bed pan (shudder). And even after that I would only be permitted to be moved to some stationary place like a couch or chair. Evidently the injury in my side combined with the poison had been much worse than it should have been because I still wasn't properly recovered from the last dratted bout of fever.
And to add irritation to injury I was to stay in the infirmary the whole time. That meant that I would be in the care of the cackling flock of hens that were the nurses, for the entire time. I was most definitely going to go mad, I didn't even have a book to read and the twins were going to be visiting.
I resigned myself to an uncomfortable two weeks being clucked over but I thought it only fair to warn them of my less than sunny disposition during any extended convalescence.
"I am going to get very frustrated with bed rest really quickly, I am not a very patient patient most of the time. Last time I was too tired to make a fuss, but to be stuck in bed again so soon is going to drive me crazy."
Glorfindel looked shocked and inquired,
"Surely Anwe you will welcome the rest after such a long journey?"
I gave a short laugh,
"I spent weeks in bed in Imladris and you and the twins cosseted me the entire trip. You can have too much of a good thing and I have had enough bed-rest to last me at least a mortal lifetime. I am going to be bored out of my mind. One can only sleep so much before one starts to lay awake all night because of it."
Glorfindel smiled gently in commiseration and assured me he would visit regularly to help save me from boredom. I told him he had better or I would be likely to smother the nurses with their own cushions. I think that surprised him a little and I think he finally realized just how irritated I was to be cooped up again without even being able to have a decent bath.
It was about then that I noticed that there was someone at the door, not really at the door more like peeking around the door to see who was inside. I caught his eye and waited for him to explain himself. When he didn't immediately say anything I raised an eyebrow at him. By this time Glorfindel and Celeborn had noticed that I was distracted and turned to follow the direction of my gaze to see what had caught my eye…
(Haldir's pov)
Both Glorfindel and Lord Celeborn turned around to see what had caught the lady's attention and were obviously surprised to find me as the cause of the interruption.
"Haldir, when did you get back from your patrol my friend?"
Glorfindel at least seemed glad to see me even though Lord Celeborn looked sternly disapproving of my interrupting, so I replied,
"I've been here all day, I heard you were here and I have been searching for you. Rumil and Orophin are with me and are keen to greet you as well, we have not seen you in many years my friend and wanted to greet you but could not find you anywhere."
Glorfindel grinned but to my surprise he turned to the elleth in the bed and asked her permission to invite us into her room. When she smiled and agreed easily I saw something of what must have caught Glorfindel's interest with this lady. Her smile was captivating, it lit up her small face and made her eyes sparkle, momentarily revealing a hidden beauty that could not otherwise be seen.
I took careful note of the rapt look on Glorfindel's face as he spoke to the lady for future reference and paid close attention to the introductions.
"This is Lady Anwe of Imladris, foster daughter to Lord Elrond. She has come to us under unusual circumstances. Originally we came seeking the wisdom of Lady Galadriel on a puzzle in Lady Anwe's past but we were attacked and the lady injured as you can see."
At this the lady spoke,
"Yes, I forgot to look behind me and paid the price, the healers tell me that I won't be allowed out of bed for a whole week and even then I will only be allowed to be lifted into a chair or couch! It's terribly inconvenient."
This was said with a grimace of distaste showing her obvious irritation with the situation.
Glorfindel grinned and continued, "This is Haldir and his brothers, Rumil and Orophin. They are all wardens in the Galadhrim Guard of Lorien."
We all bowed politely, and she smiled a strange secretive smile, as though she knew something we did not. Then she greeted us in return. I saw both of them raise an eyebrow at the way her face was transformed with her smile and the grin they shared as they glanced at our mutual friend, no doubt rehearsing lines for the teasing that was to come. Introductions out of the way, I ventured to mention the reason we wished to find him.
"We were looking for you my friend, in the hope that you would share a meal with us and share with us the happenings of these past years. It has been a long time since you have visited us and we want to know what has kept you from us."
Glorfindel promptly answered that he had been planning to dine with lady Anwe and Lord Celeborn tonight. He quickly asked her if she would mind having extra company for her meal. Her reply sent both Rumil and Orophin into gales of laughter,
"Of course I won't mind the extra company, after travelling for weeks with only the twins to keep me company some fresh faces will be most welcome."
She looked confused as my brothers tried to control their mirth and seemed to consider what she had just said. Suddenly realisation dawned, she flushed and glared at them both comically.
"Not those twins! The other twins I came with, the twin girls. Their conversations consisted of a grand total of three topics, hair, clothes and their own romantic aspirations. Since the first two were severely limited by the fact of us travelling I had to endure weeks of hearing all about their various suitors, while everyone else was lucky enough to be able to disappear hunting or scouting whenever the girls got insufferable."
She glared meaningfully at Glorfindel. My brothers only laughed harder and to my surprise Glorfindel looked slightly embarrassed and interjected,
"And I must live with the shame of making a dire tactical error in the handling of twin mortal girls. I gave them permission to sing to pass the time"
At this pronouncement they both shuddered and chuckled at a shared memory, I decided I had to hear the whole of that story.
Chairs were brought and a small table and a meal was served. The discussion ranged over a number of topics, but the most intriguing was Lady Anwe's origins. My brothers and I were taken into our Lords' confidence on the matter almost immediately. After hearing her story I looked on the tiny female with a great deal more respect. It would have taken a great deal of character to stand up to a creature like HuiSelde and to do so in defence of two such foolish people, of no blood relation, showed a depth of kindness not often seen.
The lady soon became fatigued so we finished quickly and said our goodnights. We arranged to meet with Glorfindel the following day, after he had taken some rest from his journey. The healers fussed around laying the lady down and cocooning her in blankets and pillows and then shooed us all out into the corridor admonishing us to let the lady rest.
That night as I prepared for bed, I reflected that although it had taken so long to find Glorfindel it had been a very informative day. I looked forward to meeting with him on the morrow to discuss his own impressions of the newest addition to the house of Elrond.
(Twins (Elladan & Elrohir) pov)
Since two people have already talked of our arrival in Lothlorien we will instead go straight to what those little green haired monsters did as soon as they knew lady Anwe was going to live.
They didn't waste any time at all but went straight into their mischief.
They wanted to climb the trees.
Of all things.
So what did they do but step of a walkway hundreds of feet in the air and climb out onto a branch.
Then in the irritatingly inevitable manner we have all come to associate with the twins, they got stuck.
On a single branch.
Between two walkways.
Over one hundred meters from any other branches.
On a branch barely strong enough to hold their own weight.
It took us hours to get them down.
And not before accumulating an audience.
Who blocked the walkway.
That got people who needed to use it very cranky.
That isn't even counting the person whose window the branch was in front of.
By the time we got them down it was time to send them back to their room to eat.
And hopefully sleep.
When we got back to Anwe's room she was already asleep so we headed to our own rooms for a much needed rest.
Glorfindel told us that he had organized to meet with Haldir and his brothers the next day.
And they had been kind enough to include us in the invitation.
The only problem being that we would have to baby-sit the girls again at the same time.
But we figured we would palm them of onto Rumil and Orophin once we got there. They wouldn't know what hit them. And they won't dare get revenge for fear of us making them baby-sit again.
So we finally got back to our rooms and got our evening meal. We noticed no one saved us anything hot, despite the effort we put into keeping those two terrors alive!
You would think they would appreciate how hard we worked to keep them out of their way.
And out of trouble.
The fact that we don't often succeed is immaterial.
Anyway the next day we were meeting Haldir and his brothers early at the training fields, so we went to our rest in eager anticipation of being able to torture our friends.
(Man the pov changes a lot this chapter :) lol)
(Anwe's pov again)
After Haldir and his brother's introduction and the following meal and discussion, the twins had still not returned. I was beginning to worry about what they could have gotten up to. I hoped they hadn't done anything too disruptive since they really could get into serious trouble here. Glorfindel had told me that the Lorien elves were not as tolerant of mortals as those in Imladris. It turned out I wouldn't find that out until the next day but I would most definitely wish I hadn't asked.
In the meantime the pillows were very soft, the blankets were warm and whatever the vile herbal concoction was that they had given me had blessedly numbed the pain in my side. It was also making me drowsy so I gave in to the inevitable and allowed myself to fall into a deep restful sleep.