1 A/N: this chapter is slightly longer. I tried to develop Nefhuine a bit
more. Let me know what you think and if I should keep posting this story. I
might keep posting it anyway, but whatever…
2
3 CHAPTER 4
Nefhuine knew that they were going to try and stop her going tonight. Although she was distraught about what she had willingly given away, why? How could I have been so careless and foolish? I should have been able to control it! Now I shall have to endure several years without internal Elven healing! Great, just great! She thought to herself until she remembered those eyes of his. It was all worth it! Oh well, I knew that it would take a sacrifice on my part… she would attend that ceremony tonight. Viviane would be waiting. At exactly midnight Nefhuine would part the mists between the worlds of Middle-earth and Avalon to become a true priestess. She wasn't too nervous about the task at hand, after last night anything would be a breeze. It was getting there that presented the problem. She decided to leave in mid-afternoon. That way, if anyone saw her she could simply say that she was going for a walk. She would merely hide outside the borders of Rivendell and wait until midnight to part the mists. Unfortunately, that plan was flogged by Lord Elrond and his saying that she must stay in bed all day unless he himself said otherwise. Darn him!
It's not that she wanted to rebel, it's just that how else was she to get attention from her parents. Deep down she did love them, but who wouldn't be terribly upset if one's parents left one with foster parents until one was nineteen and did not visit one at all after one was thirteen. They weren't there for Nefhuine for some of the most difficult years of her life and now they expected her to confide in them! Did they just expect a relationship to be there simply because they wanted it? Anyway, need less to say, she wasn't too happy with them.
Anyway, she thought, coming out of her wandering reflections on to plan B. Oh, wait! There is no plan B! All right, I'll just have to improvise and see how things unfold.
Meanwhile…
**Legolas,** Arwen coaxed, shaking him slightly. **Legolas, get up.**
Legolas started out of his stupor in which he had been submitting last night to memory.
**Huh? Oh! Gosh I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to uhh…phase out like that,** he responded sheepishly.
Arwen laughed. **Don't apologize,** she said kindly. **It's understandable that we put you to sleep! Especially after such an ordeal as last night and my waking you at dawn.**
Legolas smiled weakly then said, **Thank you, but I wasn't sleeping. I was-** awkward silence **-mmm, what one might call, er, daydreaming,** he finished smally.
Arwen looked at Aragorn and smiled knowingly.
Seeing this smile, Legolas dropped his eye contact and, mumbling something about time wasting, left the room to change out of his stained tunic into a fresh one. Lord Elrond had left earlier to see about finding a new room for Legolas, leaving Arwen and Aragorn alone in the room.
**I do believe we have a little romance on our hands,** Arwen laughed quietly.
**Has she said anything about him,** Aragorn inquired. (Arwen had snuck out of their little meeting to visit Nefhuine earlier)
**She will not speak to me about much of anything,** Arwen cried, exasperated.
**She is just angry and upset and well…who could blame her…** he said attempting to be soothing while trailing off. He held Arwen gently in his arms as she cried softly, occasionally rocking her of kissing her forehead.
**I'm sorry,** she sobbed into his chest. **It's just that, why? Why did we have to do that to her?**
**Because of all the attempts on her life. That's why she was sent to a foster-**
**I know,** she snapped, irritated. **I did not mean to ask out loud what my heart is saying to my mind. Do you think that she can stay here in Rivendell or else in Gondor now that she is old enough and can protect herself?**
**Yes, love. She can, but I don't know if she'll want to. She does not know this as her home.**
Arwen's face fell.
**But I intend to try to get her to stay. She is much needed and should see that,** he continued, trying to hide that Arwen's unhappy face mirrored his own heart.
Outside the window on the roof, Nefhuine stood watching them. Her presence went unnoticed. She did love them, but it was hard for her to forgive them. They had willingly given her to someone else and agreed to stay out of her life. She had had a miserable life with her foster parents, which was one of the reasons she had tried to find a way out and had stumbled into Avalon, but her parents still had not intervened. As far as she was concerned, she had no mother or father, therefore, she took care of herself and did what she wanted. With that in mind, she climbed down off the roof and slipped into a tree outside the grounds where she would not be seen. She was going to become a priestess, no matter what they said!
2
3 CHAPTER 4
Nefhuine knew that they were going to try and stop her going tonight. Although she was distraught about what she had willingly given away, why? How could I have been so careless and foolish? I should have been able to control it! Now I shall have to endure several years without internal Elven healing! Great, just great! She thought to herself until she remembered those eyes of his. It was all worth it! Oh well, I knew that it would take a sacrifice on my part… she would attend that ceremony tonight. Viviane would be waiting. At exactly midnight Nefhuine would part the mists between the worlds of Middle-earth and Avalon to become a true priestess. She wasn't too nervous about the task at hand, after last night anything would be a breeze. It was getting there that presented the problem. She decided to leave in mid-afternoon. That way, if anyone saw her she could simply say that she was going for a walk. She would merely hide outside the borders of Rivendell and wait until midnight to part the mists. Unfortunately, that plan was flogged by Lord Elrond and his saying that she must stay in bed all day unless he himself said otherwise. Darn him!
It's not that she wanted to rebel, it's just that how else was she to get attention from her parents. Deep down she did love them, but who wouldn't be terribly upset if one's parents left one with foster parents until one was nineteen and did not visit one at all after one was thirteen. They weren't there for Nefhuine for some of the most difficult years of her life and now they expected her to confide in them! Did they just expect a relationship to be there simply because they wanted it? Anyway, need less to say, she wasn't too happy with them.
Anyway, she thought, coming out of her wandering reflections on to plan B. Oh, wait! There is no plan B! All right, I'll just have to improvise and see how things unfold.
Meanwhile…
**Legolas,** Arwen coaxed, shaking him slightly. **Legolas, get up.**
Legolas started out of his stupor in which he had been submitting last night to memory.
**Huh? Oh! Gosh I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to uhh…phase out like that,** he responded sheepishly.
Arwen laughed. **Don't apologize,** she said kindly. **It's understandable that we put you to sleep! Especially after such an ordeal as last night and my waking you at dawn.**
Legolas smiled weakly then said, **Thank you, but I wasn't sleeping. I was-** awkward silence **-mmm, what one might call, er, daydreaming,** he finished smally.
Arwen looked at Aragorn and smiled knowingly.
Seeing this smile, Legolas dropped his eye contact and, mumbling something about time wasting, left the room to change out of his stained tunic into a fresh one. Lord Elrond had left earlier to see about finding a new room for Legolas, leaving Arwen and Aragorn alone in the room.
**I do believe we have a little romance on our hands,** Arwen laughed quietly.
**Has she said anything about him,** Aragorn inquired. (Arwen had snuck out of their little meeting to visit Nefhuine earlier)
**She will not speak to me about much of anything,** Arwen cried, exasperated.
**She is just angry and upset and well…who could blame her…** he said attempting to be soothing while trailing off. He held Arwen gently in his arms as she cried softly, occasionally rocking her of kissing her forehead.
**I'm sorry,** she sobbed into his chest. **It's just that, why? Why did we have to do that to her?**
**Because of all the attempts on her life. That's why she was sent to a foster-**
**I know,** she snapped, irritated. **I did not mean to ask out loud what my heart is saying to my mind. Do you think that she can stay here in Rivendell or else in Gondor now that she is old enough and can protect herself?**
**Yes, love. She can, but I don't know if she'll want to. She does not know this as her home.**
Arwen's face fell.
**But I intend to try to get her to stay. She is much needed and should see that,** he continued, trying to hide that Arwen's unhappy face mirrored his own heart.
Outside the window on the roof, Nefhuine stood watching them. Her presence went unnoticed. She did love them, but it was hard for her to forgive them. They had willingly given her to someone else and agreed to stay out of her life. She had had a miserable life with her foster parents, which was one of the reasons she had tried to find a way out and had stumbled into Avalon, but her parents still had not intervened. As far as she was concerned, she had no mother or father, therefore, she took care of herself and did what she wanted. With that in mind, she climbed down off the roof and slipped into a tree outside the grounds where she would not be seen. She was going to become a priestess, no matter what they said!