Chapter 11

The Tasking of Lord Elrond

Author's Note: This is basically one continuous scene. I thought about doing the Council in one chapter, but decided to break it up as it would take far too long to update this thing. As I wanted to get something in before the new year, this is it. Enjoy!

Brianna woke the next morning feeling slightly disoriented. The previous night's singing echoed in her mind and she took her time dressing that morning. She spent an hour sitting before her window with the shutters thrown open and the wind dancing on the surface of her skin and playing with her loose hair strand by strand. Despite this wonderful morning her mind settled on what she would say at the pending council Lord Elrond wanted to gather. She sighed and felt the goodness of that early morning evaporate as quickly as it came. There were many things slated to go over that day with the ring baring the forefront of the conversation. Brianna's situation was to be discussed after they figured out what to do with the ring.

It wasn't that she never wanted to speak of the subject. It was needed, but it necessitated her revealing personal moments in her life that she rather have kept locked away from their knowledge. She had to explain Ba'al, or most of Ba'al, and the vendetta his former servants that remained had against her. She had to figure it how to explain Erebus and The Morrighan and the strange creatures the people of Arda was killing their livestock, children, and themselves. Then there were the knight elves, the raiphahim, and all the other things that her enemies could have brought over. She didn't even know why they were in Arda, but in Arda they were.

She finally moved to ready herself for the upcoming day around eight in the morning. The Council was a thing Lord Elrond had personally invited her to shortly after arriving in Imladris - the elven name for Rivendell - and Brianna didn't want to do him a discourtesy by being late. A smile graced her lips as she remembered that particular meeting. She hadn't been particularly kind to him that day. Once sleep came and went Brianna had been able to handle the conversation with the elven lord better and he managed to procure her a place on the Council.

The dress she chose for herself was one of the new ones Arwen had commissioned to be made for her. It was a simple royal blue gown that hugged her breasts and butt a little more than others she typically wore. The elves of Arda were clearly unfamiliar with curves, but endeavored to make an effort to accommodate. In the end the result was better than she expected, thought she wished they at least tried to take her measurements in the correct places. One elven maid who had entered to run a tape around Brianna's body had seemed incredibly unsure about what to do with the bust. Instructions of a sort were given - it had been a long time since Brianna had to see anything - and the maid had left looking increasingly uncertain.

I mean, really! Do elves not have large breasts and wide hips here? She wondered. Do they never marry anyone but their own kind?

On earth, once, inter species marriage had been seen as unacceptable by the wisdom of the Triune. It had been an earth long passed at the face of a star that had long since been destroyed and was reformed into what astronomers study so fiercely in the age she knew. In the new age - the age of man - the rules had changed. Brianna never thought why - it was a reality she always knew - and she could never help but to think on the different troubling aspects of elves, humans, fae and other races entering in matrimony with each other. Professor Moruni was an example as to how it could be both a benefit and a curse.

Even in the old world there had been death, she thought. Why did it change? What lesson are the elves to learn?

Landing in Arda and being able to spend time among elves who lived in another world gave her some perspective she never would have considered. In the old world there had not been death at the beginning. Death had come later upon the defiance and defection of Heylel Ben Shachar and a third of each heavenly race. The peoples of the stars (elves), the walkers (the sons and daughters of the earths), the shining ones (fae) and the children of Fire (dragons) had not known death for thousands upon thousands of years. The elders always retired, in the wisdom they gained, into the home of the Triune. The remnant that returned to the physical world at the recreation had regained their mostly immortal status, but were charged to protect the mortals of the earth. It was the creed of all elves to take an active interest in the lives of mortals and the ban on inter species marriage had been lifted.

Not all elves agreed with the sentiment and went their own ways. Arda, it seemed was a world where loving and marrying a mortal was mostly frowned upon. It was very much clear as far as she could see just how conserved they were about remaining apart from the mortal races.

Brianna considered Arwen while she slipped the thin chemise over her head and played with the hem as it danced with the surface of the floor. Arwen was tall and fair in skin and dark in hair with a pair of pretty crystal blue eyes that reminded Brianna of sapphires. She had a well defined bust and hips, but the difference between them wasn't lost on her. The elder elf's figure was still much thinner and more toned than anything Brianna could hope to accomplish as an elf maid. She was far too human-Esque to be considered a conventional elven beauty - even on earth.

No, Arwen, Lord Elrond, Elrohir and Elladan were the definite exceptions to the rule. Brianna, from a much more relaxed earth, was another.

Next she pulled the dress over herself and expertly began lacing up the back of her dress. It was loose work and probably didn't do much to hide her feminine figure, but Brianna had grown up in an era where women dressed in corsets and had always hated the feel of them.

I really need to have a few dresses and tunics and pants commissioned for myself to my comfort if Lord Elrond will let me, she thought though she had no idea when such a moment would happen.

The hem of the dress itself trailed behind her purposefully and made it impossible for her to walk without tripping. Brianna wasn't a klutz, she was quite sure on her feet in most situations (other than swamps and deserts), but this dress certainly did not allow for much movement in any way that wasn't careful and graceful. There wasn't much she could really do about it, so she moved on to her hair which she cleaned and brushed and tied back into an over the shoulder braid. With that final bit finished Brianna turned and left the room determined to find some sort of food.

Arwen met her in the hall as Brianna neared one of the smaller dining rooms. The dark haired elf smiled and practically glided to meet Brianna. She clasped the shorter elf's hands and leaned forward. Brianna raised an eyebrow.

"Good morning, Miss Davis!" The Lady chirped in a cheerful airy soprano.

Stunned by this display of joy Brianna stuttered, "Good, er, morning Arwen. What can I do for you?"

"My father wishes to meet with you for a bit before the council begins. He has set breakfast in his study and awaits you there," Arwen said.

"Now? So close to the time of the council?" Brianna asked increasingly stunned by the turn of events.

She was hoping for a few hours of peace instead of a morning of work and seriousness. Brianna cast the hall a wistful look and then nodded to Arwen.

"I suppose there is no helping it. Lead the way my cheerful friend. Why are you so today, anyway?" She asked as Arwen began to lead her down the hall.

Arwen smiled and her eyes glowed and sparkled with an innocent joy Brianna wished she'd had. On normal days she was pleasantly cheerful and always made a point to express pleasure in the conversation of others. There was a reason why Aragorn had met and loved her once.

There'a always a reason, I suppose, she thought sadly.

Alyan was Brianna's first love and his fate was met at the hands of Ba'al long before she'd ever manifested her magic. Judah had been her second as a love that had grown from decades of friendship and devotion. As with Alyan Judah had met the same fate with the same creature who Brianna proceeded to burn. Oh she had burned Ba'al for Allyson, her best friend, burned him for Alyan, and burned him for Judah. Then she ruled for a time to route out the bastards who betrayed and murdered her family in Ba'al's name. Once that was done Brianna left her throne to her cousin Landion to rule as regent, and set out to hunt down every remaining bastard who served as an ally for him.

And all of this has left me here, in Arda, following the daughter of an extraordinarily old elf to have breakfast with him and discuss whatever it is he wishes to before I give my story to the council, she thought.

They stopped just outside an archway that led into a series of rooms open to the elements beyond. Arwen turned to her and smiled.

"He's on the veranda outside of his study which is the fourth room on the right. To answer your question, Brianna, I have come upon a happy suspicion that may lead me into a joyful occasion some day, though I fear my father mourns it a bit," her face fell only a bit, but Brianna understood her meaning well enough.

Does this have to do with the 'secret' looks she and Glorfindel give each other when they thought the other not looking? She wondered.

"I hope it all works to the happiness of all," Brianna replied and turned to enter Lord Elrond's rooms at the the daughter's answering smile.

The rooms of Lord Elrond were immaculate, spacious and breezy. Light cloth curtains fluttered across the open archways in a few rooms while other rooms remained open to the valley beyond. Red leaves littered the floor of the hallway she tread down and Brianna found herself shaking some of them off the hem of her skirt and the toes of her feet. Furniture was sparse. There were a few chairs, a small writing desk, thin tables that housed even thinner vases, and one room she couldn't quite peer into.

It was a nice and peaceful set up, Brianna conceded, but it wasn't a place she'd choose to live in considering the terrain. The rooms were set to look more like a beech front and didn't fit with the mountain air at all. Lord Elrond sat where Arwen had indicated - within the fourth room on the right - staring into the rising morning.

Lord Elrond stood with his hands linked behind his back. At her appearance he inclined his head and indicated the chair across from his.

"Good morning, Miss Davis, I am pleased to see you this fine day. If you will have a seat we can begin," he said.

Brianna did so silently and inspected the spread before her. Cheese, bread, and some light fruit spread modestly across the table. Lord Elrond began to eat and she decided to follow suit. They ate in silence for a while which didn't serve to put Brianna at ease. Clearly the elf lord wished to engage in some sort of conversation he deemed important and she truly wished he'd stop with the veiled pleasantries and get on with it.

"My sons have given me reports recently that trouble my mind greatly in these dark days, Lady," He said, finally breaking his silence.

Brianna raised an eyebrow, but didn't venture a response. Lord Elrond didn't disappoint and he continued on in their discussion laying out everything his sons told him. Erebus, it seemed, had been plaguing the land's did quite some time. Monsters of days thought to be long passed - "of a time when one more powerful than the Dark Lord walked the earth" as Lord Elrond emphasized - hunted human, dwarf, and elf alike. Corpses were found on the roads drained of blood, or eaten with great jagged teeth, or completely grey from some other terror. Elves with milk white skin and red eyes tread the night with their curiously cruel counterparts who had skin as black as obsidian rock and eyes as yellow as burning fire.

"My people have been hunted by them with the same offer pressed to them as the next. All who survive report this enemy's wish for them to join them and give their souls over to sorcery. To our credit none have taken such an offer, but I fear with the impending darkness set to dawn these strange elves will seem more appealing," the elf lord said.

Brianna sat back in her chain, arms and legs crossed with food completely forgotten, digesting the reports consolidated in his narrative. Her lips pressed into a frown. The tip of her right index finger tapped against her pale skin. Lord Elrond paused in his narrative again to take a long draft of white wine.

This is worse than what I imagined it would be, she thought distressed.

"More darker times have I to tell. Seven days ago, just prior to your arrival, my daughter returned from the house of her grandmother in Lorien with word from a Lady Galadriel informing me of something far more sinister. There is a… disturbance in what she termed as 'the wall between the worlds' and that we of the three must inspect it and repair it if possible. I confess I know not what she means by this. The Lady has knowledge far greater than I as she is of the Eldar that came to Middle Earth from across the sea. However, I suspect what she said might have something to do with you which is why I asked for your company this morning," he explained.

Brianna sat as still as a statue. The wall between the worlds. She knew the theory behind it. Maf had written a book on the subject long after the end of the days when travel between worlds was possible. All before the paths were closed after the catastrophic flood that wiped out most of earth'a inhabitants save for a select few faithful to The Triune. Travel was still possible. Professor Moruni has done it after Maf's majority as had Loki, but only a few were able to cross at a time. Legions were unable to without tremendous help and that help typically came from nefarious means like…

Like the ritual of the Morrighan which brought her to Arda in the first place.

Abruptly she stood feeling as if she would be sick and walked out a ways onto the balcony. She could see where the waters of the valley met the green and the grey. Autumn leaves blew from various limbs on trees in their dying hues of red, orange and gold. A few swans played at the edge of the lake where a waterfall trickled from high cliffs above.

"You know something of this, I see," Lord Elrond stated.

"Unfortunately," she replied, "but I cant figure out what they're trying to do in regards to this. My enemies are invading your world. They want something from your dark Lord. Erebus made that perfectly clear."

"His aid perhaps?"

"Maybe."

Brianna turned to look at him once again and observed her counterpart's strained expression on his face. Her demeanor softened at the sight. It wasn't going to help them if she appeared too far out of her depth. As her professor said: "focus on what you do know, girl, and stop supposing or you won't accomplish anything."

"This Lady Galadriel, did she say anything else?" She asked.

"Only that someone should arrive to help heal the breech and that I was to send her to Lorien as soon as I see her. I'd known you arrived. Those of us who have lived this world long enough have felt it, but the Arwen had departed her grandmother's realm a month prior to your coming. She knew you would come, thus I must ask you for help in this matter of the wall. Will you go to Lorien?" He remained stoic despite his clear weariness, but Brianna detected a note of desperation in his voice.

Of course! Probably didn't want to suppose anything without me there, she thought irately.

It was the logical next step. She knew it was. If she had wanted to leave Arda somehow then journeying to this Lorien was the path she needed to choose. The sooner she left the better she would be. Those attachments she'd allowed herself to make would have to be severed and, once finished, Brianna could throw the rest of her enemies into a place where they couldn't get out.

I have my own meeting to attend, then, she thought.

There were rulers and authorities in Arda beyond the elves. Very few of any mortal existence could speak directly to them let alone order them about.

Brianna looked at Lord Elrond with a frown. He was eating once again seemingly calm, but each small bite told her what she needed to know. The elf Lord waited for her reply and was hoping she would help.

You are my responsibility just as the rest of Arda is, she thought hopelessly.

"This clearly needs to be where I need to go," she said finally.

Lord Elrond inclined his head and met her eyes. They, like many of the peoples in Arda, were blue. Brianna found that interesting, but decided against asking about it.

"This is good. We will bring this matter to a head at the council. We will see if any in attendance wish to accompany you. We have many matters to discuss in today, but I think yours will be the first," he said.

Brianna raised a brow, "What of the ring?"

"The ring is safe for now in Imladris. The matter of the wall between the worlds is a far serious matter that requires immediate attention. It must be resolved soon," he insisted.

Well she certainly wouldn't dare argue that. The sooner she could leave the better.

"Good! I will take my leave then, Lord Elrond," she said and walked passed his table toward the hall.

"Miss Davis, might I caution you this?" He asked.

Brianna froze and turned to him with one brow raised. Lord Elrond's expression didn't budge from its typical one.

"In what?" She asked.

"Do not suspect this task will be quick or easy. An impression was placed upon me the moment you arrived that you will not leave Arda for quite some time. It is possible you will not be able to return to your home," he said gravelly.

Brianna sighed and said, "With all due respect, Lord Elrond, I actually can leave Arda on my own."

Sort of… she thought.

She'd read Maf's book on the subject a long time ago and forgot more than she remembered. Theoretically she could return if she was careful, but there would certainly be a greater chance of her making a drastic error that could land her in the middle of a star, planetary core, or even a black hole.

"But," she added out loud, "my enemies helped create the mess you're in now. I must purge them from here no matter how long it takes."

Lord Elrond looked at her, expression unreadable, and Brianna wondered what he saw. What impression did he have? What did he really see? But Brianna didn't want to ask and Lord Elrond didn't seem to be forthcoming about it.

"The Council is at ten? I will head in that direction now," she said and left him.

Despite her self assuredness Brianna's heart pounded in her chest. Once she left his rooms she allowed a shudder to rise up the length of her spine. Lord Elrond reminded her of the Elders from her world. They liked to be enigmatic and act as if they knew more than others. In many cases such was typically the case. It was clear to her that Lord Elrond has tried to insinuate something more than he had. She had an inkling of what he might have been trying to get at. The moment of weakness displayed by her in regards to Aragorn the night before was still fresh in her memory.

She came across Frodo, Bilbo and Gandalf moments later and smiled at them. Bilbo laughed and hurried to her.

"Ah! Here is our Elenumenien! Ready for the little council Lord Elrond has cooked up?" He asked.

Brianna raised an eyebrow and asked, "Elenumenien?"

Bilbo waved his hand with a chuckle, "I'm searching for a good name to call you. Elenumenien is a good one, but I fear it doesn't quite hit the spot."

Stunned she looked to Gandalf who merely shook his head. Beside him Frodo grinned and winked at her. Brianna returned her gaze to Bilbo and took his head.

"We'll think of something, but for now I think there are more pressing matters to attend to," she said.

Gandalf grumbled something Brianna chose not to register and their little group continued onward to the patio she and the hobbits visited a few days earlier. Lord Elrond was already there, though how that was Brianna couldn't divine. Others were also in attendance. Glorfindel sat close to Elrond looking troubled. Two dwarves, Gloin and his son Gimli, also sat equally as grave. She learned that several of the elves in attendance were part of Lord Elrond's councilors of whom one named Erestor was chief. A certain elf from a region below the Shire named Galdor sat with Erestor. He was darker skinned than the others as if the sun kissed it every day to settle it into a light tan. His build was strong, solid and reminded Brianna of a craftsman than a warrior. An elf clad in green sat a ways from them whom Elrond named as Legolas. He hailed from the east in a region known as Mirkwood as an emissary of Thranduil the elven king.

Brianna had to exert an extensive amount of self control to keep herself from scoffing at the notion. Elven king indeed! To the right, in a secluded corner, sat Aragorn. Their eyes met and she felt the smile spread across her lips before she could stop it. In return the corners of his lips twitched toward his eyes, but maintained their grave expression in the end.

Also seated a little apart from the rest was a tall fair haired human who looked as if to have only just arrived off the road. He was still clothed in a heavy fur-lined cloak with a bow, quiver of arrows, riding boots, sword and horn hanging from his belts. This man's eyes settled on her and seemed to start as if confused about something. After looking around a moment Brianna realized what the issue was. She was the only female among them.

"This is Boromir, a man come to us from the south in Gondor to seek council. I have hidden him to come and listen so that his questions may be answered," Lord Elrond said.

He guided Frodo and Bilbo to a seat beside him and directed Brianna to sit near the south lander. Boromir stood at her approach and bowed respectfully.

"Lady, it is a pleasure," he said.

He's courteous I'll give him that, she observed and smiled.

"The pleasure is mine, I'm sure," she replied.

With that she took her seat and the council began with reports from Lord Elrond'a advisors. They were what Brianna already knew thanks to her conversation with Aragorn the day before and her private meeting with Lord Elrond that early morning. The result of that first part was Brianna growing increasingly bored with old information. It wasn't until Gloin, the dwarf from what Bilbo has termed as "The Lonely Mountain" stepped forward and spoke of a curious meeting with a horseman from Mordor.

"This was about a year ago," Gloin said, "and with him was a strange elf with skin as pale as milk, hair like blood and eyes as black as the night above us."

Brianna woke from her bored stupor and leaned forward with no small interest. One year ago was when The Morrighan began her cycle of sacrificing around the world.

They'd made their first crossing a year ago, she surmised.

"The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship," Gloin continued. "Rings he would give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning hobbits, of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. "For Sauron knows," said he, "that one of these was known to you on a time."At this we were greatly troubled, and we gave no answer. And then his fell voice was lowered, and he would have sweetened it if he could. "As a small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this," he said: "that you should find this thief," such was his word, "and get from him, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf-sires possessed of old shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be yours for ever. Find only news of the thief, whether he still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and things will not seem so well. Do you refuse?" 'At that his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who stood by shuddered, but Dáin said: "I say neither yea nor nay. I must consider this message and what it means under its fair cloak." ' "Consider well, but not too long," said he. ' "The time of my thought is my own to spend," answered Dáin. ' "For the present," said he, and rode into the darkness. With the fell elf creature close behind him."

Brianna rested her shoulders on her knees and tapped her cheek with her forefinger. Erebus had been there. He was the knight elf notorious for having black eyes.

"Twice the messenger has returned to our gates for an answer and twice we have refused to answer. He has promised to return once again before the end of the year thus prompting my son and I to make this venture. We seek council in this matter and hope it will be a matter solved quickly," Gloin said.

Brianna could no longer contain herself and asked, "That elf, why was he with the rider?"

Gloin started and looked at her. Then he nodded once her question registered in his mind.

"He wished to offer a greater incentive than the return of our rings. He had with him crowns of gold and obsidian so dark I could see nothing reflected in the stone. Dain, wisely I suspect, refused them," he replied.

Brianna frowned and replied, "That was very wise. Thank you, Gloin, that's all I needed to know for now."

She sat back and listened as Lord Elrond spoke of the One Ring's history. It was a grave tale of treachery and power given and stolen by Sauron all painted in blanket detail. Then his expression became grave and the elf closed his eyes with a sigh.

"I remember well the splendour of their banners," he said. "It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so."

"You remember?" said Frodo, speaking his thought aloud in his astonishment. 'But I thought,' he stammered as Elrond turned towards him, "I thought that the fall of Gil-galad was a long age ago."

Oh lord! If Frodo ever meets the Professor he'd have a coronary, she thought bemused and glanced at the human Boromir who seemed equally in awe of Lord Elrond.

"So it was indeed," answered Elrond gravely. 'But my memory reaches back even to the Elder Days. Eärendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin before its fall; and my mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of Lúthien of Doriath. I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories. I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aeglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his father's sword, and took it for his own."

"That was the fate of the ring?" Boromir piped in, "Long have our people wondered at the outcome. The shadow of Mordor has not left us these long years and now the answer is revealed!"

Lord Elrond nodded, "Indeed, if only Isildur had not taken the ring, Sauron would have been destroyed and of diminished."

"By destroying the ring?" Brianna asked, guessing where the elder elf was going with this.

"Yes," Lord Elrond said, "in the fires of Orodruin, or Mount Doom as humans named it. But, Isildur did not and was later betrayed by the ring in battle. He died and the ring was lost for over two thousand years. In that time Sauron's power waxed and waned until it is now what it is and new allies have come to him, across the stars, to offer him whatever it is he wishes for the most in exchange for an unknown thing."

At that he looked at Brianna and she knew it was her turn to share with the group. She took that moment to close her eyes sand calm herself. What was prudent to tell?

Everything. I can't hold anything back. It would be unfair to them, she thought.

With a breath she opened her eyes and stood to meet their collective gazes.

"I suppose I should start with who I am as it is some motivation as to why my enemies are here," she began, "my true name is Aracasse ven Aldura, first of my name, High Queen of the elves. And my enemies are here most likely because they're trying to figure out a way to wipe out the royal line and take over the world."

Their collective expressions of shock would have been funny if the situation had been less serious. Legolas, the blond elf stood, and fell to his knees.

"Welcome to Arda, your grace, long have my people remembered the line of Aldura from the days when the elven queen walked among us. It lightens my heart to be the first of my people in the presence of one again," he said.

Brianna blinked and thought, What?