Chapter 19

Imladris was so incredibly different from Lothlórien. The forest radiated a deep, wild power, much like its mistress. The valley in which Imladris was held was calm, soothing and serene. It felt old and wise, and though Holly had not yet met Lord Elrond, she suspected he would feel much the same. They had followed the sons of Elrond down the path for a short while and up to the gates. Unlike Caras Galadhon, which housed hundreds of elves of Lórien, Imladris was small with only a few permanent inhabitants. There were no guards posted at the gates, though Haldir hinted that he had seen their patrols up in the trees before they reached the valley. As they made their way in, Elladan and Elrohir told her of some of the highly-sought after wares of Imladris- their father's herbs and healing tonics, their elven-forged steel products and their leather goods.

Indeed, Holly was admiring the quality of the hand-embossed pattern on Elladan's boots when she tripped on a loose stone and fell flat on her face with un-elven grace. Holly threw her hands out in front of her and managed to avoid total collision with the roughly-hewn stone slabs. The skin of the soft palms of her hands stung painfully as it scraped against the stone. Haldir was at her side in a flash, kneeling to gently lift her off the ground. Holly groaned loudly and wiped her palms on her tunic. Haldir could not feign serious concern for very long and his face broke into a smile.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked him incredulously. Haldir screwed his mouth up slightly, trying to wipe the smirk off his face, but to no avail. Elladan was already snickering at her other side and Elrohir was chastising him.

"I don't think I've ever seen a sober elf trip." Haldir said with a laugh, getting to his feet and extending a hand down to her to ease her up. Holly scowled at him before examining her palms for any serious damage. Nothing too bad – just a little scrape, though they were bleeding ever so slightly. She considered wiping her palms on her breeches, but when she noticed the mud, grass and dirt stains, she thought again.

"Yet another residual human tendency, I suppose. Though, I don't remember being this clumsy in my past life...but maybe I'm remembering it wrong." she muttered under her breath. Haldir chuckled and the twins looked at her with an odd expression.

Perhaps she was wrong in doing so, but she had assumed that Lady Galadriel had informed Elrond of her past (it was, after all, one of the primary reasons for her visit), and by consequence, the sons of Elrond had been informed. Judging by their puzzled expressions, however, she guessed not. Holly released an awkward cough,

"Ehm, it's a long story. One I'd be happy to tell, but perhaps after a bath...some clean clothes, maybe a full night's sleep on a bed that doesn't smell like horse?"

Elladan (she thought, by his attire), looked amused but bowed his head obligingly, "Of course. I would not dream of pestering you with questions before all of your needs have been attended to." Holly smiled at him gratefully, "In fact, I shall lead you to your rooms immediately."

They made their way down the hallway. It was flanked on the one side by a stone banister that ran the length of the hall. On the other, there was several doors, most shut, and a pleasant smattering of décor such as potted plants, carved wooden benches and beautiful earthenware vases. The twins informed her that their mother, the Lady Celebrian, enjoyed pottery and had made most of the vases and pots in the public areas of Imladris herself. Some of her early, less skillful work, could also still be found in their family chambers, out of general view.

"Well, her dedication to her craft is to be commended. I look forward to meeting her." Holly offered, stopping to admire a pretty blue vase, glazed in white, with lovely, ornate handles on either side. Elrohir's eyes darkened perceptibly and his expression grew cold,

"Unfortunately that will not be possible. She is no longer with us." he said. Holly felt immediately saddened by this information. How horrible! She knew how the elves dealt with death and passing – an occurrence that was very rare among their kind. Elladan then reached his arm out and smacked his brother with a loud 'thwack!'. Elrohir scowled at him and rubbed his arm vigorously.

"What my very melodramatic brother means is that she has sailed to the Undying Lands. She is no longer here, but we look forward to seeing her there." he supplied. Holly was relieved. Elladan shot his brother another glare, "Idiot."

"Well, I'm glad to hear she is alright." Holly said, averting her gaze awkwardly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to see Haldir, who had come up beside her.

"'Alright' is perhaps not the right word – she was attacked by orcs on one of her many journeys to and from Lothlorien. Elrond did his best to save her, but her fea was deeply scarred. The decision was made that she would await her family in Valinor."

Holly grimaced at the thought of an orc attack so ferocious that it had scarred her fea. She recalled, briefly, her own close encounter with an orc and shivered at the memory of its stinking hands on her skin and its thick, slick blood on her face. Haldir's grip on her shoulder tightened momentarily,

"We were come upon by orcs on our way here. Holly was attacked but mercifully unharmed." he said, keeping the tale short and without embellishment or description, addressing the twins. They looked at her sympathetically,

"Then you understand her decision to sail. Only the presence of the Vala could dispell the dark shadow that hung over her." Elrohir answered. Holly only nodded and followed as he gestured for them to continue down the hall. "We are nearly there then we shall leave you to rest. You may join us for dinner in the dining hall this evening, or you may request your meal in your rooms, if you prefer. A maid has been assigned to your chambers, you may see her with any requests you may have."

"If you do decide to come to dinner, however, we often retire to the Hall of Fire for tales and song. If you're lucky, father will share his Dorwinion wine with his honoured guests." Elladan added with a wink. Holly shook her head vigorously,

"Oh, no, no, no thank you. I have had my experiences with Dorwinion wine and I think I will pass on that offer."

Elladan gestured to her room and opened the door. Holly stood in the doorway, overseeing the room when Haldir chuckled behind her, "Now, now, Ercassiel. It hasn't all been bad."

Holly turned to face him and rolled her eyes, "Don't call me that."

She then two two steps backward, into her room, and shut the heavy wooden door with a 'thud'.

Water. Warm, soapy, clean water. This is what Heaven felt like (or the Halls of Mandos, she thought). Holly dunked her head under the water and scrubbed her scalp raw, trying to wash out every twig and leaf and speck of dirt and orc blood she could imagine clinging to her tired skin. When she had entered her room she had found a steaming bath and a very comfortable looking bed with the corner turned down. Nothing had ever seemed more inviting in her entire, bizarre life. She had immediately stripped down and hopped into the bath. That had been approximately one hour ago and she showed no signs of exiting any time soon.

But, eventually, the water grew cold. Holly wrapped a soft linen towel around herself and stepped out of the bath. She went to her pack and began pulling out her various pieces of clothing. She left her dirty clothes on a chair by the door – she would have to remember to ask about laundry and if there was some way to have the clothes cleaned during her stay. Her selection of clean clothes was limited – she still had one pair of soft leather breeches and two clean tunics, but she also had the simple, green dress she had been given upon her arrival to Lothlorien. Perfect. It smelled slightly of the road, but she donned it anyway, thankful to have something that reminded her of home.

She shook out the dress to straighten some of the wrinkles in the fabric. She heard a small clatter as something fell out of one of the deep pockets and onto the polished flagstone floor. Holly heard it roll under the bed and out of sight. With an exasperated sigh, she thought about leaving it there and fetching it in the morning, but couldn't help but wonder if it was something interesting or important. She got down on her knees and reached under the bed. Her hand clasped a small glass vial, thankfully unbroken. It was her bottle of scented oil! She pulled out the stopper and poured a small amount of the precious liquid into her palm. She re-corked the bottle and set it down on her bedside table before rubbing her palms together and then spreading the rich elixir on her arms and legs and chest.

Two minutes later, she was laying face-down on top of the covers of her bed, very nearly asleep. She almost didn't want to fall asleep, wishing she could enjoy the feeling of complete, clean, comfort for the first time in weeks. Her thoughts drifted to Haldir and what he was doing at this very moment. She imagined that he was far less disheveled than she, probably re-fletching his arrows or sharpening his knives. He had probably unpacked and bathed in ten minutes and was now making his way over here right now...probably to force to her to get dressed and go to dinner.

Holly heard a knock on the door and groaned.

"You have got to be kidding me." she mumbled as she pried herself from her bed and padded over to the doorway. She yanked the heavy door open and was, surprise, surprise, greeted by Haldir's smug expression,

"You know I have absolutely no sense of humor." he said with an enormous smile, before pushing past her and entering her room.

"Who said you could come in here?" she asked jokingly. Haldir ignored her comment and began opening drawers and cupboards. "Are you looking for something?"

"The handmaid said you had not yet dressed for dinner so I wondered if you simply hadn't found the clothes that had been left for you." he said simply, opening the doors to an armoire at the end of the room that seemed to contain several gowns and sets of slippers.

"No, Haldir, please! I just want to go to bed!" she pleaded with a whine. Haldir rolled his eyes at her.

"You must greet our host. Lord Elrond will be expecting you at dinner." he said, flipping through the dresses, "You always looked good in this colour, I seem to remember you having a similar gown in Lorien."

He proffered the lavender-coloured gown toward her and she took it with a dejected sigh. Even the thought of their kiss at Elenalcar could not shake her deep-seeded sadness at not being allowed to go to bed straight away. "Turn around."

Haldir obliged and turned toward the small bookshelf in the corner of the room and began scanning the titles. Holly shirked her green dress and laid it out on the bed, hoping dinner would be done early and she could put it back on shortly. She stepped into the lavender dress. The material was soft and thin, almost gauzy, and not unlike the preferred styles in Lorien. All in all, she liked the dress and hoped the others in the armoire would be equally successful. "I'm done."

Haldir turned around and smiled at her, taking two long strides in her direction. He stood in front of her and fingered her damp hair. "Not quite,"

He pushed her back from her shoulders and reached behind him to take the linen towel off the hook by the now-cold bath. He wrapped it around the ends of her hair and began squeezing out the excess water. She could see now that his hair was slightly damp, too, and his clothes were different. He was no longer wearing the practical travelling clothes he had arrived in, but a tunic of deep, dark blue and a pair of grey breeches and tall boots. "Were these left for you, too?"

He nodded, "Yes. Not my usual colours, I must say, but these Noldorin elves do favour their dark colours. You will do Lorien proud tonight, this looks like a design from the Golden Wood."

He tossed the linen towel to the floor and ran his fingers through her hair. It was drier now and Holly stepped away from him to find the comb she had seen on the dresser. She lowered her gaze to hide the creeping flush that was making its way up to her cheeks. The thought of doing Lady Galadriel and Lothlorien proud, even just by wearing a dress in the style of her people made her happy in a way she could not quite explain. Still, she saw similarities between herself and the elves of Imladris. Most notably, apart from Haldir, she had yet to see any blonde elves, even amongst those she had only seen from afar. They were all dark-haired, like her.

Holly pushed aside thoughts and worries about her heritage and the knowledge she may uncover during her stay and occupied herself with braiding her hair out of her face in a way that would look somewhat presentable. Struggling to weave one of the smaller braids into a larger one at the back of her head, she felt Haldir come up behind her and then felt his hands on hers, stopping their clumsy movements. "I'll do that."

"You don't have to..." she said quietly, trying not to think about his warm breath on her neck as he spoke.

"I know." he said, before beginning his task.

"It's not too late, is it?" Holly begged. "I'm so tired."

Haldir had a firm grip on her hand, which was lodged in the crook of his arm. They were making their way down the hall and toward the dining hall. Haldir had a good memory for Imladris' complicated and winding halls, it seemed, as he needed no guidance whatsoever in finding their destination. "Do not whine, we must make an appearance. Besides, I am not even tired."

"Yes, but you're an elf." Holly quipped. Haldir tilted his head down toward her and rolled his eyes,

"You cannot choose when you are an elf and when you are not." Haldir answered. They were rounding the corner and Holly could see the grand, wide archway that opened up to the dining hall. She could hear the dull chatter of hushed voices. The hall was vast – it had no walls on three sides, only a low wall that allowed for open views of the valley below. The great wooden table was set at the back of the room. At the centre of the table sat a tall, dark-haired elf. His face was lined ever so slightly, lending a look of wisdom to his ageless face. Beside him to his right were the jovial twins with which Holly was familiar, and to his left was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her skin was luminescent and her long, dark hair cascaded in soft waves over her shoulders. There was small, silver circlet on her brow, indicating her status. This was Arwen Undomiel, the Evenstar of the elven people.

Haldir led them to the table where they were seated across from Lord Elrond as the guests of honour. Holly took her seat and whispered her thanks to Haldir as he held out her chair. She turned to face the imposing Lord of Rivendell who was looking at her expectantly,

"Welcome, Ercassiel, Haldir, to Imladris." he said genially, his hands spread in front of him in welcome. Holly bowed her head and placed her hand to heart in the elvish style. Haldir did the same.

"Our thanks, my lord." Haldir spoke. Elrond nodded and poured them each a glass of wine.

"I trust that everything has been to your satisfaction? I promise, we shall not keep you long, you are undoubtedly wearied from your journey." He shot a wink in Holly's direction. Holly smiled appreciatively but remained silent, taking a small sip of her wine. The food laid in front of them was similar to what was typically served in Lothlorien. A spread of fruits, light meats and leafy greens and nuts was available and Holly helped herself to a small plateful.

They made small talk with the twins for a few moments, with Lord Elrond interjecting here and there to add comments or ask questions. They discussed, briefly, her training with Nestarion. Lord Elrond seemed happy with her progress so far and was confident that she would return to Lorien with improved skills and expanded knowledge. During a slight lull in the conversation, Holly focused on her food, enjoying the simple flavours and the taste of something that was not lembas or dried fruit. As if reading her mind, Arwen spoke for the first time,

"I imagine that this makes a pleasant change from lembas." she offered with a shy smile. Holly swallowed her mouthful and nodded vigorously,

"You have no idea. I've been craving something fresh for weeks."

Arwen laughed a silvery laugh and smiled, "A nice cup of wine certainly helps, doesn't it?"

Holly and Haldir clinked their cups together in agreement, prompting a toast from Lord Elrond. The attendants were clearing away the plates, indicating the end of the meal,

"Friends, let us bid welcome to our kin from Lothlorien," he announced, raising his glass in their direction. The other elves around the table raised theirs as well, speaking the word 'Welcome!' before downing the contents of their goblets. Haldir stood and spoke his thanks, as well,

"You have our thanks, Lord Elrond. The hospitality of the Last Homely House is unparalleled."

Elrond bowed his head and then turned his gaze toward Holly, "Perhaps tomorrow we may begin your training? The Lady Galadriel did not indicate the duration of your stay in her letters, but I imagine she will want one of her best healers and her Marchwarden returned to her as soon as possible."

"I would like that, thank you, Lord Elrond. I am eager to learn from you – the Lady has spoken to me many times of your great knowledge. It is a privilege to be under your tutelage."

Holly struggled not to exhale in relief. She had been worried that she would say the wrong thing in front of the great Elf Lord, or that the first time he spoke to her she would put her foot in her mouth. She'd gone over this line about a million times in her head, and though it came out rather rehearsed, it came out clearly. But it seemed as though she had said the right thing, for she felt a gentle squeeze from Haldir on her knee, and a pleasant, polite look from Lord Elrond.

"Excellent, it is set then. I shall leave you to retire to your chambers, we shall begin after the morning meal tomorrow."

With a bow to his guests, Lord Elrond left the dining hall, the twins and Arwen following him after speaking their own polite goodbyes. Slowly, the other elves in the room began to filtre out. After a moment, so as not to be the last ones in the room, but not the first to leave, either, Haldir got to his feet and extended his arm to Holly. She took it and they left the dining hall together, making their way back to the guest chambers.

"You can breathe, now." Haldir whispered jokingly into her ear. Holly swatted at his arm,

"You know, back home, I was an entirely ordinary person who had never met anyone of consequence in her life. Here, I have met the ruling lords and ladies of not one, but two separate realms, I am cavorting with the Marchwarden of one, and I think it is very likely that I shall meet more individuals of importance before my time on Arda is complete." she responded, a little in awe of the entire situation herself.

"Cavorting, are we?" Haldir asked, his trademark eyebrow raised in amusement. Holly resisted the urge to blush and avert her gaze,

"Oh, Haldir, I am far too exhausted to have this conversation now." she said, wanting to avoid the subject altogether for the moment. Not quite ready for him to tell her that he was simply having a bit of fun with his friend and travel companion – or even more frightening a prospect, that he was quite serious about her. As if sensing her discomfort, Haldir patted her arm.

"Do not fret. Besides, if you think meeting Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel was stress-inducing, wait until you sail to the Undying Lands and meet the Valar."

Holly nearly lost her footing for the second time that day.

A/N: OK! So, first off, I am VERY sorry for the wait. My vacation was wonderful, but I have to say that is was pretty hard to get back into writing when I got back. There was a lot to catch up on with work and my weekends were packed (it was Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend here, so I had no time to write at all!) I intend to get back to my usual weekly chapter situation starting now, so that shouldn't be a problem in the future.

To everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited my story, thank you very much! I hope this chapter was satisfactory. I feel like our characters needed a little break so I decided to write a fun little set-up/filler chapter before we get back into the main story line. As you can see, we have a few interesting discussions coming up – what exactly is going on between Holly and Haldir? Will Holly discover more about her parents? How will her healer training go? All your questions will be answered in time, my friends!