The evening grew late, and Acacia stayed very still, on her knees, peering through the small bushes that went up the bank on which she knelt, at the spectacle below her. Her Elven reflexes did not often expose her to mortal emotions such as pure exhaustion, but tonight she felt close to them.
And in truth she was almost asleep when it happened.
The crowd below had been silent for a couple of minutes, she had noticed, though she had not quite gathered why. Perhaps an injury...or a shortage of the pipe weed that their race so dearly loved, she thought ruefully.
But as she looked closer, her keen ears straining, she heard a voice. One of them was making a speech. Baggins?
And then it happened.
The little man on the makeshift stage had...vanished.
Vanished.
The power of the ring was surely one of the only ways that such a magical feat could be accomplished.
The ring.
Baggins.
Without a word, she got up, leapt onto her horse, and spirited away under the cover of darkness.
And in truth she was almost asleep when it happened.
The crowd below had been silent for a couple of minutes, she had noticed, though she had not quite gathered why. Perhaps an injury...or a shortage of the pipe weed that their race so dearly loved, she thought ruefully.
But as she looked closer, her keen ears straining, she heard a voice. One of them was making a speech. Baggins?
And then it happened.
The little man on the makeshift stage had...vanished.
Vanished.
The power of the ring was surely one of the only ways that such a magical feat could be accomplished.
The ring.
Baggins.
Without a word, she got up, leapt onto her horse, and spirited away under the cover of darkness.
