Chapter 2 - Rivendell
Dinner had just begun and the unexpected party of a wizard, a Hobbit and 13 dwarves had made themselves well at home with the hospitality of Elrond and the elves of Rivendell. The Hobbit was late to dinner, but everyone else had begun eating merrily, even though there wasn't any meat at the table of Lord Elrond, the wine was good and the company was in good spirits.
After they fled from warg scouts and thought themselves abandoned, Gandalf the Grey came through in the end, even though that led them to the company of elves.
Gandalf sat hesitant at the table with Lord Elrond and the King Under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield. Though they had been in Rivendell for only a few hours, Thorin, had his fill of the eloquence of elves and Gandalf once again had his fill of the stubbornness of dwarves. The first hour was exhausting, keeping the peace among dwarves was like attempting to tame a warg. Though things calmed down as they got food in their belly's, there was still suspicion.
Gandalf and Lord Elrond exchanged pleasantries as expected, even Thorin included himself from time to time, but what really kept Gandalf's mind occupied was the absence of the Hobbit. He hadn't seen Bilbo Baggins since they unloaded their packs in one of the halls. Much to Gandalf's horror, they insisted on staying outdoors on one of the balconies, instead of a finely crafted room. What he feared next was that they would begin disassembling the furniture for firewood.
As the evening went on he heard the haste of bare feet approaching the dining hall. Bilbo Baggins jogged up to the high table, he paused a moment to catch his breath and then composed himself, latching his thumbs to his suspenders. "There's a woman, she's passed out in the Library. Thought you ought to know." He said matter-of-fact.
Gandalf, Elrond and Thorin all exchanged a look and rose from the table swiftly. All of the elf attendants paused and looked for any sign of trouble, not knowing what was going on, while all of the dwarves rose, expecting a tussle.
The hustle to the great Library of Elrond was a noisy event, but once they laid eyes on the unconscious woman lying on the floor there was a respectful hush that fell over all parties involved.
"Leave space, all of you" Lord Elrond directed. He walked gracefully over to her and placed a gentle hand on her forehead. Gandalf was also there kneeling by her side. The library was quite packed now and there was a chorus of murmurs from the observing dwarves and attending elves.
"What do we have here?" Elrond breathed. He and Gandalf exchanged a concerned look, one that few of the dwarves noticed.
"This is quite unusual" said Gandalf looking at Elrond through his bushy eyebrows.
"Unusual indeed." Elrond paused and looked up toward the golden door the woman collapsed in front of.
"You don't think?" Gandalf asked wearily.
"I do not know that to think Mithrandir, until the woman can speak for herself."
"So she is not one of yours then?" Thorin grunted. His comment caused a weary outburst from the other dwarves. Gandalf shot Thorin a look of disapproval, he replied with a huff and shouted "Quiet! All of you!" The dwarves responded in kind.
With a wave of his hand Elrond motioned for another elf to come over, the elf summoned walked over and gently lifted the woman from the floor.
Eryn awoke with a headache, she fainted and hit her head quite hard on the stone floor but the place she awoke in was not the stone library. Instead, she was in a plush bed, incredibly warm and felt a bit drunk if she were to be honest. She felt tingly and good, like when her grandmother would massage her scalp, the bliss she felt was otherworldly.
She sat up slowly, and looked around, disappointment set in that she did not wake up in her own bed, or room, but somewhere else entirely.
"Ah, you're awake." A singsong voice chimed. "We were beginning to think that you wouldn't wake until morning"
"Where am I?" Eryn asked. "The small man-child said I was in Rivendell? That can't be right."
"Man child?" The woman looked puzzled. "Oh! You mean the Hobbit!" She chuckled. "Yes, this is Rivendell. There is no other place like it." She smiled, obviously proud. "Now, let's get you ready so we can present you to Lord Elrond." She made her way to a stack of clothes sitting on the adjacent bed.
"I did not know your measurements, so I brought you cloths I thought looked best." She smiled as she pulled a piece of the most beautiful clothing Eryn had ever seen.
"I'm sorry if I ask a lot of dumb questions, I'm just trying to understand, what is happening?" Eryn placed the palm of her hand to her forehead, defeated.
The elf woman turned and smiled tenderly. "My apologies miss, let's start over. My name is Merodyn." She bowed. "I am a maid to the house of Elrond, I will be your tending maid while you are here in Rivendell. What is your name?"
"Eryn." She replied strangely relieved but still confused. "I'm Eryn Fey" she extended a hand to shake, the elf woman just stared at her hand outstretched.
"I am not familiar with this custom." She narrowed her eyes.
"You take the hand, in your hand, and you shake it." Eryn tried to explain, it sounded really stupid when she put it into words and that's exactly what Merodyn did, just not exactly the way Eryn expected. But there are no rules to making friends and Eryn did indeed make her first friend.
Merodyn dressed Eryn with ease, though she was a bit uncomfortable with how comfortable Merodyn was with Eryn being naked. It was amazing that Merodyn could figure out Eryns measurements in only a couple of attempts, everything she pulled was practically just right except for the occasional length or waist measurement. The fabric felt otherworldly, it was soft and flowy, though Eryn being overly critical of herself, thought it didn't suit her. Eryn didn't have a long lean figure like the Merodyn, she was a five-foot-three young woman with meat on her bones, "bodacious" was the word her grandmother used to describe her. She was approaching her 26th birthday and was almost past the "good metabolism" days.
"Merodyn?" Eryn began as the final sash was wrapped around her waist. "Why do I feel drunk?"
Merodyn laughed and fastened a beautiful silver pin to hold the sash in place. "Magic can do that to a person. Some people feel a tingly, drunk sensation when they've experienced it, depending on race and they type of magic." She stood and smiled. "You're all done."
Rivendell was breathtaking, a place that Eryn would almost tear up over as a child because it wasn't a real place, now it's right in front of her eyes. She would love to tell her younger self a few things, she still had a hard time believing that it was a real place, even seeing it for herself.
Merodyn walked Eryn to a large doorway and motioned for her to enter, there was no door, only a gaping entry way with incredible stone architecture. Once she entered she knew exactly where she was, the library again. Eeyn became apprehensive, where was it? Was the door still there? Could she go back home? Was she going to be sent back home or was she stuck here? Millions of questions and variables swam through her mind.
"Greetings, Eryn Fey." A tall, illustrious man said as she approached a gold door in the wall. He stood by an open window, the moonlight made his already perfect skin look like porcelain. "Do you know where you are?" He asked still gazing out the window.
"Rivendell." Eryn felt stupid saying it, it was rediculous, but that's what she had been told, and there was something deep in her gut that told her so as well.
"Indeed." He said, finally turning, the train on his robe spinning a little too dramatically for Eryns taste. Then she realized who she was speaking with. She couldn't be in Rivendell and not have met-
"I am Elrond." As if he heard her very thoughts. "Now, what brings you here, Eryn Fey of man?" he looked pointed at her, as if expecting an answer.
"I have no idea." She breathed. "I found a door, it called to me, and…" Eryn paused.
"You stepped through it." Elrond finished. "As you do all doors. It's very poetic is it not?" He smiled gently at her.
They were interrupted by footsteps, loud ones, or many? It was unclear to Eryn until a tall man in a grey robe with a tall pointed hat and staff came gallivanting into the library followed by a large group of men, she noticed the man-child, or Hobbit, was close behind them all.
When she saw them all march into the great library, she knew exactly where and when she was. If she was in Rivendell and she was standing before Elrond, then there was a group of thirteen dwarves, a wizard and a hobbit, then that could only mean one thing. This was the march to Eribor, it was the Hobbit. What timing.
Eryn swore.
A/N
Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter, I ended up writing this on an airplane, fun times.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed! 3