Hi, welcome back my loyal readers! School has been keeping me very busy, but I'm here now, bringing you another chapter of angsty and tragic goodness…lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings. I only own Belegwen and a few other created characters. The rest is all Tolkiens…until I get enough money to hire some ninjas to steal it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 26: Blood Lust

The sun started to shine into a warrior's tallan, creeping into the room ever-so-slowly. Soon it hit the bed and slid onto the face of the lone inhabitant. Frowning, the elf quickly rolled over, trying to maintain the sleep-state. However, the attempt was to no avail. The warm sun heated up her face, causing her to focus her eyes and come out of her sleep.

Blinking a few times, she sat up, clutching her cream-colored sheet over her chest. All of the memories of the previous night filtered back into her head as she stared at a few blowing leaf shadows that were on her terrace. Heledhril…the war…her fight with Haldir…

"He stayed…" she whispered to herself to confirm her memories. She looked back down at her wrinkled satin sheets, which showed that a lot of action had taken place during the previous night. "…but not the whole night." She finally finished after a long break, starting to frown at the thought.

Indeed, she had told him that he could leave once she was asleep, but secretly, she really had hoped he would stay. She had wanted to wake up and find him there, looking as bedraggled as she, wearing nothing but that intoxicating smile that he put on every once in a while, just for her.

She had really hoped he would still be there. Now, everything about the whole night seemed rather disappointing to think about. She had successfully convinced him to stay, but it had probably just been out of guilt. And his promise…well, it was probably just said in haste. "It meant nothing…" She murmured while slowly getting up to grab her fresh clothes. "It never does." Slowly, she proceeded to start getting dressed.

As she laced up her breeches, she noticed something out of place on her desk. After grabbing her undershirt and pulling it on, she walked over to investigate. There were books, but she had not placed them down there. On the top, there was a quickly written note:

Commander Belegwen,

I have worked out a schedule of training education. You are to teach advanced swordplay twice each afternoon, starting today. Use these books to help you guide your pupils training. I might stop by to see your progress. Be confident and teach them well.

Head Commander Haldir

Advanced swordplay…

TODAY?!?!?

Was he serious?!? Belegwen had never taken advance swordplay herself…how was she going to teach other elves how to do it? How could she be confident when she was going to teach a class she did not know much about to a group of elves in a few mere hours?!?!

Belegwen quickly put a hand over her mouth, closed her eyes, and fell back against the nearest wall, contemplating everything. First of all, she needed to stop panicking as it was not solving a thing. Secondly, she needed to use these next couple of hours to formulate a teaching plan. Once she had fully composed herself, she sat down at her desk and flipped the first book open.

Quickly, she started to read…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rumil climbed the stairs up to his room slowly, having mixed feelings about the news that the High Commander had given all of the wardens that morning. Right from the beginning Rumil had known that something was amiss. It was highly uncommon for all of the soldiers of the Galadhrim to congregate in one area for a meeting. A thick tension had filled the air, as all knew this was unnatural.

They were going to war.

Every elf in the crowd had reacted differently. Some had looked fearful, while others flew into a fit of whispers. Some had looks of shock and disbelief written all over their faces while others flat-out denied it, though it was obvious that they would not be able to keep that stance long. Rumil, however, had made a hasty exit. He found that in trying times, he simply needed to think by himself and make sense of things. It was simply his way of coping with what life dealt him.

When he finally got to the door leading to his room, he had every intention of swiftly entering and lying down on his balcony in the sun to think things through, but instead had his attention drawn to a folded letter that was stuck between his doorframe and the wall. When Rumil looked around, he noticed that all of the warden's doors had similar items protruding from them as well. Quickly, Rumil snatched his up and entered his tallan, happy that he had finally made his escape from society.

Ungracefully, he tore open the seal and unfolded the letter as he flopped down on his bed, skimming it quickly. "Oh, how wonderful…" He muttered, rolling his eyes and laying down on his bed with his arms splayed out dramatically.

Because of the up-and-coming war, all of the elves of Lorien were being assigned classes to improve their skills before the battle. Now he had to go to an Advanced Swordplay class this afternoon. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Yes, under normal circumstances, Rumil would have loved to take a class to improve his skills, as they were occasionally offered, but this one would only serve to remind him of the war that he so desperately did not want to be apart of!

"Bah!" He spat, carelessly throwing down the letter and moving to the balcony. Rumil laid down on the marble floor and stared up into the shiny gold mallorn leaves, illuminated by the sun. A feeling of foreboding passed over his body and he shivered, despite the heat of the sun.

"What is going to become of us?" He whispered.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Silently, Belegwen exited her room, sword in hand. Her face was calm and collected, though she was anything but that on the inside. It was time. With a plan in her head and Nimrodel sheathed in her hand, she was as ready as she ever would be to teach her first class.

In her heart though, she was scared. More scared than she would be if she was entering a battle. She had never taught anything to anyone before, unless one counted the single sword lesson she had given to Heledhril a few days back. That had been one on one though, a situation Belegwen was much more comfortable with. This time, she would be teaching a sizeable group—she did not even know how many wardens were going to be there!

All of her dark thoughts were interrupted by a smiling warden who happened to be exiting his tallon at the same time as was exiting hers. "Commander." He said, regarding her softly with the slightest tilt of his head.

Belegwen smiled at his friendliness. Because she had cared for him on the fateful night that his brother had passed from the Lorien woods, Rumil and Belegwen had acquired a odd little friendship of sorts. Though they had not ever had a real conversation, there was a silent understanding between the two—a mutual care of some sort. Neither had taken steps to make it anything more though…until now.

She gave him a genuine smile back. "Perhaps if I talk to him, I will not be so nervous…" She thought as she slowly approached him. "Rumil…" She said, regarding him as she approached. "Where are you headed on this fine day?" She asked softly, as she was not entirely certain of how he would react to her after all of this silence.

However, she quickly saw that she had no reason to feel self-conscious around him as he seemed quite pleased to be offered her company. He gave a small, light-hearted chuckle that had the slightest hint of sarcasm to it. "Indeed, despite learning of our involvement in the war, it is a fine day!" He said, making a bit of a joke out of it.

Belegwen smiled sadly at this. "My apologies Rumil. I learned of it last night and was not at the gathering this morning. I did not even think when I said that-"

"No, no…" He said, interrupting her apology, "There is no need to apologize. I know that you did not mean it that way. So, I take it by your apparel that you are heading out to the practice field? Are you required to go to the begrudging sword class as well?"

"Indeed, I am." She replied, uncertain if she should reveal her role in the class or not.

"Oh good, I shall have at least one elf to chat with then as we all deal with one of Haldir's minions…" He continued on, blabbering a bit.

"Haldir's minions?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow much like Haldir, though it was unbeknownst to her.

"Oh yes," Rumil chuckled, "It is a term Orophin and I coined for any poor soul who has ever had to work in close-contact with my brother and put up with his-" Rumil then stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as he stared at her in shock at what he had just said.

Apparently, he had gotten so caught up in the conversation that he had forgotten her position under Haldir. He blushed a bit and, looking rather embarrassed, immediately rebuked himself. "I fear that I have now said something much more foolish than you, Commander. Do accept my apology; I fear that I have no tact whatsoever…"

Quite amused by all of this, Belegwen put a comforting hand on Rumil's shoulder. "As you said before Rumil, there is no need. Indeed, I fear you are right: I am one of Haldir's minions…and now, I do believe we are even, having both said something quite ridiculous to one another."

Seeing that she truly was not mad, Rumil bounced right back to his happy-go-lucky self. "Indeed, even we are. Speaking of Haldir and his minions, how is he treating you? I know he is a difficult elf and rather harsh when it comes to orders…"

Belegwen nearly snorted at this. Harsh? More like brutal. "Well…" She said, trying to find a way to phrase this properly without offending Rumil, "He is very domineering. It was quite trying at the beginning, but things have smoothed over a bit with the passage of time and I have become accustomed to his behavior. It is not that bad…"

Rumil gave her a questioning glance as they trod through the fenced off area of the practice field. "Not that bad…not that bad?!?" He said in a mocking tone, feigning alarm on his face. "Haldir has merely chopped my arm off during a strenuous sword practice, but do not worry! It is not that bad!!!" He said, maintaining his fearful face.

Belegwen broke out in a fit of laughter over this. What a joyful and comical elf he was—not at all like Haldir, who was always so stern and serious! Rumil had an odd sense of humor, but Belegwen found that she was quite delighted with it. "Oh Rumil, you are too silly!" She declared, playfully swatting his arm.

"Oh, most certainly, dearest Commander! I am afraid that Orophin and Haldir took all of the good family genes like intelligence and tact and have left me with all of the foolhardiness and humor!" He said, laughing again with his loud and clear tenor voice.

"Oh Rumil," She said, shaking her head a bit, her voice now taking a more serious tone, "I know that is not true. Now, you must go and warm up before the lesson." She said, pointing to where several other warriors were stretching and having small skirmishes. "I will see you there."

"Yes Commander," He said, tilting his head to her again in respect, then proceeded to run off towards the gathered group of wardens, not noticing that she was smiling at him as he departed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Under the golden trees near the edge of the practice field, one figure had seen the whole scene pan out and was now standing as still as a statue, in utter shock as anger boiled within him. Haldir was infuriated and appalled at what he had just saw: Belegwen, walking with his brother, chattering and laughing in the open as if it was quite normal. She seemed so at ease with him…it was unfair! It was unfair that it was Rumil and not him!

A small wave of sadness filled him and he turned away. Rumil had been flirting with her—he knew how his brother was, always charming any ellith that happened to walk in his proximity. He had a flare for it too, one that Haldir most certainly did not.

What if he tried to charm Belegwen and take her for his own? What if she decided Rumil was a much better pick than himself?

"No, no, no…" Haldir thought, chastising himself for thinking of such folly. Rumil would not break the rules of the guard; Haldir knew that his brother had always been a stickler, carefully abiding by all of the laws of Lorien without one thought of rebellion. He would not break the rules for one simple ellith...

Would he?

Originally, Haldir had never planned on breaking the rules either, but he had. What would stop Rumil from doing so if he, the head commander, was defiant enough to disregard the rules?

Haldir shook his head at this in frustration. He did not even know why the silly rule existed in the first place—Belegwen was the only female guard member and there had been no need of such a rule until she came along. Yet, the rule had been there before she had joined the guard, before her parents and brother had met their bitter end…

The rule was getting in his way. He could not even smile at her in public for fear that somebody might assume something. As he had seen last night, she was starting to doubt his …well, whatever he had for her…and now Rumil was closing in.

"I am behaving like a jealous fool…" Haldir said under his breath, rather irritated at himself for letting an ellith affect him like this. He quickly headed out to the archery range in an attempt to straighten out his thoughts before he started in on his Intermediate Knife Skills class. If he had looked behind him, perhaps he would have seen the abominable scene that was starting to unfold in Belegwen's class…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Belegwen did a double take, shocked at what the elf in front of her had dared to say to her in front of the class. "Excuse me?"

The elf stood his ground on the green field though, looking angrily at her, not willing to stand down from his claim. "You heard me, Commander…" Erthalion said, leaning forward while saying her title with a sarcastic tone to his voice, "I asked you why you are teaching this class. Silly little ellith, you have never even taken this class before because you were in my Intermediate Swordsmanship class all of those years ago and the advanced one has not been offered-"

Heledhril grabbed the seething green-eyed elf by the shoulder and whipped him around to face him. "Erthalion, that is enough! How dare you dishonor our Commander by such speech!"

Erthalion pushed him back forcefully though and turned back to Belegwen. "I dishonor her? It is she who dishonors us with her mediocre skills! I would like a demonstration of these so called sword skills, for I am certain that I could best her most easily!"

Belegwen's eyebrows both shot up at this as she put on her best "Haldir look"—a face of pure haughtiness that only the High Commander could pull off. However, she was determined to show how offended she was without demonstrating her fear. Inside, she did not know what to do. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that Erthalion would be crazy enough to show his contempt towards her in a public place, in front of other wardens who respected her. Here he was though, with fifteen other wardens in shock at his words that were insulting their leader.

She could not let him get away with this—not in front of all of these elves. She would no longer be looked up to if she did not take care of this problem efficiently. No, Belegwen had not come this far to loose it all. She knew what she had to do.

"You dare to challenge me, warden?" She said, trying her best to sound as stuffy as she could so that her fear would not be detected. "Very well then, we shall dual. I warn you though: you will not win." She said darkly, narrowing her eyes at the perpetrator.

"Ha! We shall see…" He spat, stepping forward out of the ranks of his peers. "Name the rules of this dual, Commander."

"Simple—we shall abide by the regular dual rules. The only weapons that may be used in this battle are our bodies and swords, no concealed knives or anything else. Also, no public interference until the fight is completely over. Is this understood?" She said, now walking beside him so that they had a considerable amount of room between the other elves of the class and themselves.

"Understood." He said, giving Belegwen a little bow, as was the tradition at such a thing. She gave a small bow in return to support the tradition as well, though she had no respect for the elf who had challenged her. Belegwen did not know why this elf hated her so, but she was going to pay him back for bruising her wrists a couple of weeks ago. He should have never gotten away with that; it had only led him to think that he could take advantage of her even more!

Now, in the green clearing of the practice field, Belegwen unsheathed Nimrodel, the blade glittering dangerously as the sunlight hit the precious metal. She watched as Erthalion took out his own sword and gagged it as being a much heavier one than her own. No matter though, Belegwen knew that she would win. She was undefeated and did not plan on letting this moron break her streak.

At the same moment, both of them quickly went into a fighting stance, swords lifted and at the ready, as well as heels slightly lifted for quick maneuvering. The dualing pair quickly made eye contact, green orbs delving into calm blue ones as the match began.

Already, Belegwen could see his weakness. While she was loose and nimble, ready for his attack, he was quite tight—tense with anger. His bitterness towards her would be his greatest flaw in this fight; in fact, Belegwen was certain that it would be his downfall. She wondered if he could even think coherently with all of the rage that was smoldering within him. Soon, she would find out.

"Your move." She stated softly, her eyes glittering and body poised perfectly to attack.

Belegwen did not have to wait long, for immediately after she had uttered those words, he drew up his sword and charged at her. He swung at her and she matched him, their swords gloriously clashing in midair. He held her there and she suddenly realized what his plan was: he was going to try and out her with brute strength.

As her small arms shook under the grievous pressure, she mentally chuckled. He could not win this way in a sword fight. In hand to hand combat, yes, most certainly he could, but not in a sword fight. He would tire quickly if he kept up what he was doing.

However, he seemed to be getting the better of her now with his first blow. He continued to push her and she felt her knees tremble under the pressure. Suddenly, she was on her knees and she knew it was time to get away. Biting her lip with exertion, she pulled Nimrodel off of his sword as fast as she could and rolled through the grass off to his left side, quickly sliding to her feet to parry his next blow. His swing was slow too, she noticed. Many of the ellons enjoyed showing off by using heavier swords, but they simply did not suit everyone. Though Haldir could wield his with an easy grace, Belegwen had seen few others who could do the same.

Erthalion was not one of them.

There was a good chance that part of his problem was his pent up rage. He was not wielding the large sword well at all. He was slow and unbalanced. Being very agile and limber, Belegwen found that she could easily duck or jump out of the way to avoid his blows. This, naturally, seemed to anger him even more.

"Quit avoiding me! Come fight like a real warrior!!!" He bellowed petulantly.

With an eyebrow cocked in amusement, Belegwen answered his request and came at him with a flawless offensive. He met several of her blows, but before long she had landed a decent scrape across his chest and had given his sword elbow a nasty smack with the flat edge of Nimrodel, which caused him to draw back in pain, grasping his elbow as he backed away.

"Give in now," she said quite seriously, "I do not wish to hurt you."

"Never!" He hissed, flexing his elbow a few times to test its strength, then came at her all over again, now swing his sword and his fist angrily. Not expecting his fist, which happened to be much faster than his sword, Belegwen felt herself fall over after his blow connected with her cheek bone. However, quick as lightning she rolled slightly backwards, then flipped herself up, leaving Nimrodel on the ground just as Erthalion jerked his sword towards her again. Flattening her hands, she reached up and clapped them together, catching the sword in midair.

He was gripping the sword much too tightly. How very lucky. Performing a feat of strength all her own, Belegwen simultaneously pulled her left hand up as she jerked her right hand down and sent the hooligan and his sword twirling through the air to the right, both taking a hard landing on the grassy field.

The sword had been separated from its owner. Now was the time to end this shenanigan. Belegwen quickly strode up to Erthalion and pressed her blade against his neck. "Do you surrender warden?"

He looked irate and refused to answer. She sighed and rolled her eyes, outraged by his behavior. "This is over." She stated, then turned from him to return to her class.

She did not expect what happened next, but it happened nonetheless.

Not a moment after she turned from him, a strong hand reached up and around her and grasped her neck much more tightly than anyone had ever done to her before. She felt herself lift off of her feet and quickly brought her empty hand up to try and remove it, finding that her sword hand was being restrained by Erthalion's free hand.

She could not get it off. His grip was tight and despite all of her wiggling struggles, she could not seem to get away. Over her choking, she could hear a few of the wardens in her class yelling, but she could not make sense of it. Vaguely, she heard Erthalion say something about breaking her neck, but she could not make heads or tails of what the others were saying.

Air! She needed air! It was all she could think of as she continued to try and kick and battle her way out of his terribly painful grasp. Then, success! She felt Erthalion's grip on her sword arm loosen and she swung it blindly at his head at her first chance. She felt the tip dig into some skin, but the cursed herself as she felt his grip tighten. The sword was quickly pried from her hands.

Now, she brought her other hand up in desperation and tried to pull herself out of his grasp, but the likelihood of her success was growing smaller and smaller. She could no longer hear any sound and her vision was starting to blur and her lungs…oh, her lungs burnt in a way that she had never imagined possible from the lack of air. There was also a certain cold numbness that was sifting through her body so slowly…so invitingly…oh how good it would be to give into it and ride on the sea, the currents…

"NO!!!" She screamed at herself mentally, half of her still fighting, still determined not to let it end this way. Nevertheless, coherent thought at this point was no longer possible. Belegwen was reeling in the pain and dizziness and slowly, her struggles started to cease.

"DO NOT GIVE IN!!! TRIP HIM!!!" A loud male voice called to her mentally. No longer able to question this thought, she simply went about making it happen as her last attempt on freeing herself. With what little strength she had left, she brought her legs back behind Erthalion's body and pushed the forward with as much power as her weakened state would allow.

It was enough. She felt him teeter and then fall, taking her with him to the ground. Oh, precious air! There it was! He had temporarily let go, but she quickly found that this was short-lived, as she could feel him reaching, trying to pull her back to him to finish the job.

As she looked away from him, she could see a sword lying pretty close her. Belegwen extended her arm as far as she could, grasping a bit at the hilt, but was unable to grab the whole sword. He yanked her back again, but not before she had one last reach which resulted in her grasping the hilt!

Violently, she felt his hand resume its place on her neck with a new vigor, but she would take no more of this. Though she could tell by the horrible weight that she did not grip Nimrodel, it no longer mattered. Belegwen had gotten a few breaths of air along with a sword and that was all she needed to finish Erthalion off! With an abrupt turn of her body, she swung the flat side of the sword with all of the strength she had at Erthalion's head and hit him with a dead-on accuracy that could be matched by few.

Instantly, he let go and fell over, out cold from her strike. After slapping his limp hands away from her neck, Belegwen hastily tried to get to her feet in an attempt to preserve what little dignity she had left in front of her class. However, this was not the right thing to do as her feet had not regained feeling. Strong arms caught her limp body though and pulled her to her feet and into the elf's arms. She clutched at his tunic for dear life, afraid of falling back to the ground in a dizzy spell.

Air! There was finally air! She breathed in the sweet nectar as best as she could, as much as she could!

Thank the Valar! It was finally over!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I almost left that as a cliffie, but decided it might be a tad bit too cruel. Anyways, what did you think? Good, bad, ugly? Feel free to tell me anything! Alright, and now dear friends, I will do some shameless advertising!

1. I have a newly finished Haldir fic out called My Brother's Keeper! Do check it out if you have not already. It's a two-part Haldir fic about the importance of family. Though it isn't a romance, I'm sure most Haldir fans would enjoy it!

2. A few weeks ago, I started a C2 group called Haldirmance! Do go and check it out! A few of my reviewers have asked for my Haldir het-romance fic recommendations and they are all contained right there, with more to come as I read more fics! Enjoy!

Have a lovely day all!

-P.G.