Chapter 21
Holly noticed Haldir's tunic laying on the grass beside her. As he walked over she held it out to him. He took it with a smile and sat down beside her. Holly could see the other two ellith eyeing her with envy.
"Good afternoon." he said in Sindarin, pulling his shirt over his head. Holly could practically feel the disappointed sigh from the she-elves beside her. "Did you have a nice lesson?"
Holly gave him a dry look, "I learned about many plants and their uses. I suspect that tomorrow we shall learn more plant and more uses."
"That sounds...useful." Haldir answered with a wink. Elladan chuckled from her other side,
"That is father. It would not surprise me if it took him a year to go through all the plants in his repertoire."
Holly let her head hang down, covering her eyes with her hands, "No, I hope not! It may be...useful, as you say, but it's not very interesting."
Haldir put his arm around her shoulder and gave her upper arm a squeezed. She leaned into his embrace and rested her head on his shoulder. The two ellyth sitting nearby eyed her with interest. They were lovely, dark-haired Noldorin elves. One had sparkling grey eyes and a chiseled face with high cheekbones and a proud, straight nose. Her hair was the shadowy-brown of the Peredhel. The other was more warmly-toned, with deep, chocolatey brown hair and wide, grey-green eyes. It was the first elleth who spoke to them,
"Good day, my name is Finiel. This is my sister, Indis. You are from Lothlorien, are you not?" she asked with a polite smile. Holly nodded,
"Yes, I was asked to come here by the Lady Galadriel to learn from Lord Elrond. I am an apprentice healer." she said, gesturing to her blue robes and the green stains on her hands from testing and playing with poultices all morning. "Haldir, here, was sent with me as an escort."
"And to keep you out of trouble." he added with a laugh. Holly rolled her eyes at him,
"I think we both know who is the trouble maker here." she said, switching to common. Haldir feigned insult,
"My life was very normal before you came along. I went on patrols, I went on walks, I served the Lord and Lady of the Golden Wood. Now look at my life." he said, gesticulatIing wildly. Holly laughed.
"Improved a bit, has it?"
Haldir nodded emphatically. "Ai, so it has."
"What is this? Secrets spoken in common?" Elrohir asked, giving the two a curious look.
"Yes, what has improved?" Elladan asked teasingly. Haldir gave Holly a reproachful look, she shrugged, throwing the ball back in his court.
"Holly's Sindarin. Has she not become very accomplished?" he asked. Indis and Finiel nodded emphatically, bobbing their heads politely in agreement.
"Are you not a native speaker? I detected an accent, but truly you speak very well. Indeed, I simply mistook it for a Silvan accent. But you do not have the Silvan look of your companion." Indis added, peppering Holly with questions about her clearly mysterious origins. An elf that did not speak Sindarin? An elf from Lothlorien with dark hair? A strange accent?
"No, my family is from Edhellond. I am only recently arrived to Lothlorien." she answered hesitantly, unsure as to whether or not she wanted to explain the entire story. She had been trying to follow Lady Galadriel's advice about openness and honesty regarding her past, trusting that those who would become true friends would welcome her into their lives nonetheless, but she found it a difficult thing to explain to others. She hoped these ellith would be satisfied with this answer, but unfortunately, they were not.
"Edhellond! That is very strange, I thought it abandoned by the Eldar for nearly a millenia." said Finiel, surprise etched all over her face. Haldir gave Holly an encouraging look, gently reminding her of Lady Galadriel's words.
"I will explain in Common, if you don't mind. I do not think my Sindarin vocabulary is strong enough to manage this tale. It's a rather strange story, but the long and short of it is that my parents were from Imladris and were living in Edhellond when they decided to sail to the Undying Lands with my sister and I. We were very young at the time. We were attacked by corsairs from Umbar and my parents were killed." the ellyth gasped at this, reminding Holly again of how unused these elves were to loss, "The Valar saw fit to save my sister and I, transporting us to another realm to be raised by humans. My sister remained behind while I was returned to Middle-Earth."
Elladan and Elrohir jointly translated the tale to the two ellyth, whose expressions of shock and awe and confusion were comically un-elf-like to Holly. It would seem that even the elves were not immune to a strange tale.
"But why were you returned? And how?" Finiel asked, enraptured. Holly shrugged,
"Truthfully, I do not know. I was returned by the Valar, I believe. With the aid of Mithrandir I was able to understand my past. The Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn provided me with a home. I am happy to have returned to Middle-Earth. It is home now." she said, wishing she had more answers for Finiel and Indis. She looked over to Haldir, who was watching her intently. It was true, she was home now. Lothlorien was her home, her life was here, in Middle-Earth.
"That is a tale, indeed." said Indis. Holly could not quite read the expression on her face, but tried to remain unphased. "When you arrive here?"
Holly looked at Haldir for an answer but he furrowed his brow in thought, "I think it has been nearly ten months? It shall soon be a year, when autumn returns."
"Has it really been that long?" Holly asked in disbelief. She knew now that she had arrived in autumn, when the leaves on the mellyrn were golden. They had left Lorien in the spring and summer was now creeping up on them. "It seems like yesterday."
"I remember the day I found you." Haldir said.
"Do you really?" Holly asked happily, waiting for him to tell the story. Finiel, Indis, Elladan and Elrohir all leaned in to listen to the tale of how Ercassiel was found on the outskirts of the Golden Wood. Haldir nodded,
"Yes, I was on a very routine patrol when we came upon a very oddly dressed elleth in the middle of the wood. She fainted in front of me and when she woke, she accused me of holding her hostage and thought elves did not exist. She was difficult and irate and I wanted very little to do with her." he began. Holly swatted his arm. He ignored her and continued, "Lady Galadriel requested I show her Lothlorien."
"And you did, the very best parts." she said warmly, finding his hand resting on the ground and squeezing it lightly.
They stayed there a little while longer, chatting with Finiel and Indis and the twins, watching the ellyn training in the fields. Haldir would occasionally get up to correct someone or assist in the training (as it turned out, and Holly should have expected this, but the Marchwarden of Lothlorien was somewhat of a big deal among the elves, and many a warrior were eager to learn from him). Eventually Finiel and Indis bid them a good day and left. Holly was pleased to have made some new friends. Finiel, as it turned out, worked with Lord Erestor in the archives and served as his apprentice. Indis was quite young, only just two-hundred years old, but was gearing up to join Imladris' patrol. They had been on the training ground that day so that she may observe the warriors. This year, in the autumn, she would be eligible to begin training as a member of the guard. Elladan, who was captain of the guard himself as Lord Elrond's son, took note and promised to pay special attention to her amongst the new recruits.
As the four them, Holly and Haldir, and Elladan and Elrohir, were making their way back to the main hall of the Last Homely House, Elrohir made mention of the famed Hall of Fire.
"I believe Adar intends for there to be some sort of festivities this evening in the Hall of Fire. I believe you know of it, there will be wine and song and dancing, if you enjoy that sort of thing" he said, gesturing to a large room behind giant, wooden doors, adjacent to the main dining hall. "I shall be in attendance, I believe my brother and sister will be there, as well as some others you may be interested in meeting."
"I don't believe we have any other plans." Holly said tentatively, looking to Haldir for confirmation. He nodded and agreed,
"I would never miss an opportunity to visit the Hall of Fire. It has no equal in any of the elven realms." he said.
"Excellent, then we will see you after dinner. Until then!" Elrohir said jovially. He beamed at them and his brother matched his expression. Holly wasn't sure if she would ever grown accustomed to the way these elves looked when they smiled, or the magical, unearthly quality to their features.
They were alone now, her an Haldir. Standing in the hallway, between the entrance to the Hall of Fire and the dining hall. It was the middle of the afternoon and there were still several hours before they would be expected to join the others for the evening meal. "What should we do now?" she asked him.
"I was going to read for a while. I picked up a book from Lord Elrond's library this morning that I was looking forward to starting." Haldir said.
"Hmm, alright. I'm sure I can find something to occupy myself with. Lord Elrond said he would have several books brought to my room for me to study. I suppose I could do that." she said. Haldir looked at her expectantly, though she did not know why, "What is it?"
"If you're going to read...and I'm going to read...why do we not read together?" he asked as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Don't look at me like that! Maybe you fancied spending the afternoon on your own." she said with a shrug. He shook his head,
"No, I fancy spending it with you." he said, taking her hand and leading her down the hall and toward the guest chambers.
"Where are we going?" she asked, having a sneaking suspicion of where he was taking her.
"To my rooms." he said, without further explanation.
Holly allowed herself to swept down the hall without question.
An hour later, Holly and Haldir could be found (but were unlikely to be) reclined on his bed, each reading their respective books. Haldir had his back up against the headboard of his large bed – Holly was positioned between his legs, reclined against his chest. The considerable height difference between them meant that he was able to read his book just above her head, and she was able to read hers just above her lap. He had one arm draped over her chest, his fingers toying idly with her hair. She was holding up her book with one hand, the other rested on his thigh, tracing little circles there.
Every once in a while Holly became aware of where she was and who she was with, and her heart fluttered in her chest. Every time he touched the skin of her neck, or placed a lazy kiss on the top of her head, her heart skipped a beat. She thought back to all those nights on the road from Lothlorien to Imladris, to imagining what this would feel like. Now she was here, in his arms, and despite the concrete, corporeal touch, she still felt as though she was walking in a dream.
She found that she could not focus on what she was reading. It seemed like she had read the passage about native plants of Southern Gondor twenty times and never taken any information in. She sighed, and her sigh did no go unnoticed.
"Feeling forlorn, Ercassiel?" Haldir asked her. She could not see his face but she could feel the smirk in his words.
"What did I say about calling me that?" she asked with no small amount of annoyance. She felt the deep rumble of his laughter in his chest. The sound reverberated through her back and warmed her heart. "No, I just can't seem to focus on anything I'm reading."
"Why is that?" he asked, shutting his book and letting it fall down on the bed beside him. Holly shut her book too and craned her neck to look at him.
"Because I can't stop thinking about the position I am in at this moment." she said, the intimacy of their position emboldening her. Haldir made no move.
"Is that right?" he asked quietly. Holly sat up slightly and twisted herself so that she was sitting on her knees, still between his legs. He straightened up, his back leaving the headboard. He was closer to her now, and he brought his hands up to the sides of her face. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his, bringing one of her hands to his waist, the other rest on his chest. She was leaning into him now, and his hands had moved so they were gripping her hips. He deepened the kiss and she let out an involuntary sigh. He smiled against her lips and shifted the both of them so they were laying down, face to face, never breaking the kiss.
Holly pressed one of her legs between his, entwining their limbs together. His arms were wrapped around her torso, hands leaving a hot trail down her back. Her arms were around his neck, her hands buried in his hair, slowly undoing his braids. He released her mouth and bent his head to leave hot kisses on her neck and jaw. Holly threw her head back to grant him easier access, her heartbeat quickening with every touch of his lips. Her hands, as if of their own accord, moved to the belt that held his tunic down, fingers grappling with the buckle to undo it. With the fastenings undone, she slid one hand underneath his tunic to touch the soft skin of his belly. She heard his breath hitch in his throat, his grip on her waist tightening in one hand, the other hand flying to her thigh and bringing it further up his leg.
Her breathing was becoming more laboured now, and she could feel Haldir's ragged breath against her neck. There was a loud rap on the door. Haldir groaned loudly.
"This had better be important." he said, letting his head fall onto her shoulder. Without moving his head and speaking into to her neck, he yelled, "Who is it!"
"It is Elrohir! Have you seen Holly? Arwen is looking for her." he said loudly, sounding exasperated. "Can't I come in?"
"No!" Haldir called out. It was Holly's turn to groan.
"You're yelling in my ear, you know!" she whispered into his ear. On a whim, she kissed the tip the tip of his ear, eliciting a groan of pleasure from the elf in bed with her. She let out a giggle and he clasped his hand over her mouth,
"Hush." he whispered to her, then raised his head to call back to Elrohir, who was still waiting for a response. "Tell Arwen to check her room!"
"Alright...thank you." the disembodied voice behind the door said. Holly could hear the sound of his boots on the stone floor, slowing moving further away.
"I guess I should go back to my room then." she said, slightly annoyed at having been interrupted. Haldir gave her an apologetic look,
"I did not want to stop, believe me. But we should. It is not the right time, I do not want to rush."
"We have eternity." she reiterated, quoting his words from earlier. "But I hope it won't take that long."
He laughed, "Somehow, I doubt it."
Holly sat up on the bed, smoothing the skirts of her simple dress. "Alright, I'll go see what it is that Arwen wants. Will I see you for dinner?"
"Of course. I will come get you." he said, before giving her another lingering kiss. Holly resisted the urge to push him back onto the bed and stood up.
"I'll see you later, then." she said, her hand on the latch of the door.
"Later." he confirmed with a smile. Holly opened the door and stepped into the hall. She turned to look down the hall before stepping two feet over and into her own room, when she saw Arwen making her way down the hall, long strides making a bee-line toward her. Holly cringed inwardly, realizing that the Evenstar was no simpleton and knew exactly where she had been. Holly greeted the elleth happily nonetheless,
"Good afternoon, Lady Arwen." she said, putting her hand over her heart and bowing her head in greeting. Arwen returned the gesture but shook her head, her long, curtain of dark hair shimmering as it bounced and rippled over her shoulders with the movement.
"Please, call me Arwen. I hope I did not disturb you. I only came to see if you had anything to wear to the Hall of Fire tonight. I know you and the Marchwarden travelled lightly, so I suspect you have few gowns with you, if any at all." she said, gesturing the blue healer's gown Holly wore.
Holly sighed with relief, "Oh, I hadn't thought of that at all! Good thing you're here or I would have sought you out in a panic later."
Arwen smiled sympathetically, "I know what it is to travel and have limited wardrobe choices. If you want to come with me, we can see if there is something of mine that will suit you. I am only a little taller than you, my gowns should do well on you."
Holly nodded and followed Arwen down the hall, presumably toward her chambers, but not before taking a quick look backward, her eyes on the door to Haldir's chambers. She wondered what he was thinking about now. She let out a quiet giggle, then turned her attentions back to the elven princess.
A/N: Woo! An update! A short one this time, I'm trying to focus on NaNoWriMo this month, but I promised I would get back to regular updates. Another little fun one for now, before we get into a little of the heavy (don't worry, we will be learning about Holly's parentage soon enough, but first, a little wine and song and dancing!). Please let me know how you are liking things so far, I really appreciate detailed feedback! To everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited, THANK YOU! It really keeps me going. Special thanks to a certain someone who read my story from the beginning, reviewing every single chapter along the way. You know who you are! Your feedback and encouragement was much appreciated :) I also love your stories, by the way! xoxo