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'Mankoi naa lle sinome? Manke naa lle autien? Khila a'oomo Cam'wethrin'
A voice, with all the sweetness of fresh strawberries in the Spring but barely louder than a whisper, stirred Marie from her sleep. Her eyes opened and her body sat up before she even noticed the fur coat that had been covering her fell and pooled at her feet.
The voice spoke once more.
Marie felt there to be no choice but to find it.
She stepped over the prone figures of the dwarves to arrive at a set of stairs leading from the small balcony still covered in dwarf socks down into the garden below. Small faerie lights guided her past flower beds of blue lilies and white forget-me-nots. Stone statues hidden under years of growth peeked out, the white luminescence contrasting with the dark emerald leaves.
In distant groves, elves walk by in their flowing gowns as they stared up into the night sky, taking no notice of the hobbit.
'Mankoi naa lle sinome? I' men peliannen iv ad na dail lin.'
Marie stepped with absolute care not to make a sound, for fear that the stone path beneath her feet would crack and she would fall into the abyss. She could not explain it, but it was like she was following a thread though the garden, it pulled her and she went willingly. The moonlight pierced the groves and casted long streaks of light along her path as she drew closer to the whispering.
The stone path curved and Marie found herself at the foot of large steps leading up to a stone pavilion that sat high atop one of the waterfalls.
The whispering stopped and all Marie could hear was the gentle roar of the water.
She swallowed hard and kept on going. The air around became heavy with a think aura, like a great power lay at the end of the path. The many possibilities rattled Marie's bones.
She finally arrived at the doorway to the pavilion, where lily shaped lamps hung on each pillar to light the round construction. It felt so big and vast to Marie, reminding her just how small she really was to this world.
A tall figure whom Marie thought to be another elf, stood on the other side of the pavilion, facing the crescent moon. Marie realized quickly that it was a woman standing there, clad in a long robe that stretched out far behind her. Against her better judgement, Marie drew closer until she stood about a foot from the silver trimmed gown, but must have snapped a twig or scuffed the floor without noticing for the woman's head turned slightly. Her hair which looked like golden threads of silk falling down her lean back swayed with the motion and the shimmering material of her gown shone with different shades of silver.
Marie then saw the elf ears, confirming her thoughts.
This elf woman however was by far more fair and mysterious than her brethren, with white flawless skin and yet such strong define features worth of royalty. She even wore a glittering circlet that sat firmly on her brow and held up a portion of her hair at the back.
But despite her perfect beauty, Marie had to step away in slight fear of her gaze. The elf's eyes were as blue as the night sky behind her and as sharp as a knife.
"Mae g'ovannen Peredhil" The gravity and power of the elf's voice struck at Marie's core. It was the same voice that had led her there. "You heard my calling."
"Uh ... yes ma'am." Marie choked up. "My name is Marie. Marie Baggins." She gave a tiny curtsey which felt odd in pants.
The elf gave no sign that she had heard her and just stared down at her. It was like Marie was back in Bag End meeting Thorin for the first time, but where as he was just dismissive of her, the elf displayed no emotion. It was the passive feel about it that made Marie uneasy.
"I am known as Galadriel."
Her name alone held an ethereal ring that was delightful to hear.
"You said that you called me." Marie said once she found strength in her voice again.
Galadriel nodded. "I know that you travel with Thorin Oakenshield, at the bequest of Mithrandir."
'Mithwho?' Marin blinked in confusion.
"He is known by many names. The Grey Pilgrim, Storm Crow, Istar, the Wandering Wizard."
"Gandalf?"
Again Galadriel slowly nodded as her head. "Yes."
"I wasn't aware that he had told anyone about this." Marie muttered to herself.
"He did not." Galadriel said, hearing the hobbit clearly, "The earth is keeper to all secrets in this world. Some are just good listeners."
Marie had no idea what she was talking about, and again she felt compelled to step further back as Galadriel simply gazed down at Marie. The hobbit could swear that her eyes changed colour ever so slightly, becoming lighter.
"Tell me Halfling. Why do you follow Thorin?"
Marie gave a poor light hearted scoff, "I'm not following him. Well, I mean I'm merely accompanying him, and but that I mean the company. All thirteen of them, not just Thorin." She said, just barely tripping on her words.
"Then why do you accompany him."
"Because, well ..." Marie couldn't find the real explanation herself, she looked down at the buttons on her waistcoat in an awkward fashion. "I guess my Took side got the better of me, and I felt ... I felt ..."
"You felt something you hadn't felt since you lost him."
Marie head shot up.
"You rarely look forward in life, only at what you had then and what you have now."
"I ... I don't understand ..."
"You know of what I speak Halfling. You know in your heart that you can not move forward without being reminded how lonely you are." The sweetness in the elf's voice turned grave and full of truth.
"Look." Marie plucked up a little courage, "I don't how you ... know these things, but let me just say that I am not lonely." A presence pressed on her subconscious, silencing her.
'The more you look behind, the harder it will be to move on' Galadriel's voiced echoed in her mind, 'Listen to your own voice and trust in it, there you will find forgiveness.'
'Forgiveness?'
'For yourself.'
Marie felt like she had been stripped bare by this elf, unable to hide or face the truth of her words. She was saved by the familiar pontificating of Gandalf in the distance. "I do not believe that Thorin Oakenshield feels he is answerable to no one, nor for that matter am I."
'So ends this tryst Mariellena Baggins. Now ... you must wake up.'
"Wake up."
Marie woke to someone shaking her shoulder, her eyes fluttered like a hummingbird's wings yet unable to stay open.
"What?" Her lips and throat were dry and in need of water.
'That was all a dream?'
Her eyes gradually adjusted to the dark and hovering above her was a face. Before she could make out whose, it was gone. She took a long breath in to fill her heavy body with the early morning air, but was hit with the smell of burnt wood and iron. She twisted her head but found herself with a facefull of fur, it tickled her nose and she wanted to sneeze but held it in. "A coat?"
"Alright. Let's pack up and be gone from here already." Marie recognized Dwalin's voice and the mumblings of the other as they packed up their supplies and weapons.
She sat up right and held the coat out in front of her.
'This is Thorin's.'
"Here we are Marie." Kili said as he dumped her travel pack on her lap. She had forgotten it had been left in her own unused room.
"Oh, thank you." She gave the young dwarf a polite if not slightly dazed nod of gratitude. Kili in return gave her one of his goofy smiles. His smile however faded to a serious line once he noticed what she was covered by.
"What are you doing with Thorin's coat?" He asked.
"To be honest, I have no clue. It was just here when I woke."
"Huh." Kili's brows knitted together as his mind tried to process the bits of information, "Well, come on then." He gave Marie's shoulder a 'little' tap before walking off.
But she did not immediately move. She instead continued to look at the large coat, running her fingers through the soft texture of the fur and the tough leather inside. She again breathed in the smell, the odd blend of wood and iron had an interesting appeal to the senses.
'I wonder if Thorin smells like this.' Marie realized quickly how inappropriate that thought was and promptly placed the coat away from herself. He tips of her ears burned while she unfolded her own badly creased jacket.
xxxxx
With 'silent' steps, the company of fourteen left the elven halls without any encounters with the elves.
Marie felt quite sad to be leaving such a beautiful place so soon, and wished to at least say goodbye to Elrond and thank him once more. Also she was still in utter confusion from that dream. It had felt so real and yet had left her in the hazy aftershock of a dream.
Galadriel's words lingered in her mind and filled her with a desire to seek her out once more and demand answers, if she was at all real.
But, she merely followed along behind Kili with Fili close behind her. The poor dwarf kept crashing into her every time she slowed to glance back at Homely House.
"You alight Marie?" Fili said the third time this happened.
"I'm fine." Marie finally remembered something crucial. "Where is Gandalf?"
"Wouldn't have a clue. He comes and goes as he pleases, as is the wizard way."
The magenta and violet sky turned to gold as the sunrise crept into the valley, but the path they needed to make it to the Misty Mountains was still bathed in dark shadows. It was steep and hard, especially for tired hobbit feet. They all hefted the bodied up the mountain side with many grunts and quiet curses.
"Careful, we're about to step over into the Wild." Marie heard Thorin from up ahead. "Balin, you know these paths. Take the lead."
She looked back once more at Rivendell, allowing Fili and the other dwarves to pass by. Perhaps Galadriel was real. Perhaps she should stay and ... and what? It was only a dream.
"Miss Baggins. I suggest you keep up."
Marie sighed pulled her gaze away from the valley only to find it now resting on the dwarf king, looking ever the force to be reckoned with. And she was walking right towards him.
"Do you know why Gandalf is staying behind?" She asked him when she was close enough.
"He has his own business to attend to, and it is nothing that concerns the company or nosy hobbits." Thorin answer was as blunt as always but emphasized the 'nosy hobbit' part. Marie wished she had something witty to say in response, instead she held her tongue. Better to do that than sour their already precarious relationship and further.
In a way, her silence was her gratitude for his small if not mysterious act of kindness to her.
"He will join us ... later." He tacked on quietly so only Marie could hear.
He may have still turned his back on her the minute he had said it, but Marie knew now that beneath that large fur coat there was some warmth.
Even if she was wrong, she would still follow him.