Chapter 1

Remembrances

"Anuina……Anuina," Aragorn called. She heard the veiled grief in his voice, grief from the loss of the wizard.

Jerking her attention back from thoughts of her father, Anuina glanced up. She winced as the sun glared full-force on her face, but her vision was quickly returning.

"We must move on. Are you well enough to travel?"

"Yes," she responded.

"Good, then get them up. Orcs will flood these hills as soon as night comes. Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them to their feet."

Anuina waited for the party to assemble. Grief… She knew not what grief felt like, could not understand feeling so deeply about someone that their loss could so affect her. She tilted her head to the side. There had never been grief in her soul. There was nothing there but a driving need to take the ring to her father and an emptiness that had always existed. It was as if a piece of her life was missing. Something tugged at her memory. Images were haunting the edges of her mind, but as she sought to grasp them more firmly, they disappeared.

Shaking her head to clear away such thoughts, she focused on what was to be done. She had to gain the trust of the Fellowship, become part of them, and when the time was right, she would take back her father's ring. Her hand flexed around the handle of her sword. Darkness would spread through Middle-Earth again.

"Anuina," Boromir said, interrupting her thoughts. "We must leave."

She nodded and fell into step behind Legolas. The pain in her shoulder subsided to a dull ache.

As they traveled down out of the stones surrounding the passage to Moria, she blinked. The light did not hurt as much, and she chanced a glance at her surroundings. Anuina sucked in her breath at the sight she beheld. Trees filled her vision. The green of the foliage was staggering in its vibrancy. Life seemed to pulse through everything. A small stream flowed through a field and into the forest of Lothlorien. Even from the distance, she could see how clear and pure the water appeared. Never in her life had she seen such beauty. It took her breath away, and she paused for a moment to take it all in. All her life she had traveled with orcs under the safety of the night. And when not surrounded by he night, she lived in the darkness of Mordor.

Drawing in a breath, she tasted the purity of the air, uncorrupted by the smoke and ash of Mordor. A sense of wonderment filled her. A sudden thought entered her mind. Why would my father want to destroy such beauty? Anuina was appalled by such a thought, but it refused to leave her mind.

"It is so beautiful," she whispered.

"Is something wrong?" Legolas queried.

"No… I have not seen the outside world since entering Moria. I had forgotten how majestic it really was."

"Why were you in Moria?"

Anuina searched for a plausible excuse before replying, "I was waiting for the Fellowship." It wasn't a complete lie.

"But how did you know we would pass through Moria?"

"I can't explain how I knew. I just had a feeling."

The elf arched a brow but didn't question her further. For that she was grateful.

That sense of wonderment returned to Anuina when they moved into the field before Lothlorien. Grass sprouted up from the ground in a thick covering, and for a moment, Anuina wanted to brush her fingers through it, to feel its texture, to know its scent so she could carry those memories back to her desolate existence in Mordor. Wildflowers grew there in a dazzling array of colors. Their soft petals begged to be touched and explored, but there was no time to linger over such fanciful desires.

Instead, her attention returned to the path they traveled. All too soon, they were swallowed by the towering trees of Lothlorien, giving her new sights and smells to revel in. That same thought crept back into her mind. Such beauty… And my father would see it consumed in flames.

The dwarf began chattering about the lady of Lothlorien being a witch, but she ignored him, focusing on the scent of the forest, the scent of life. Her concentration was lost when Gimli's baritone voice droned endlessly.

"One things certain. If the lady is a witch, she will have no trouble finding us. A half-deaf orc could locate us from a league away," she muttered.

"What?" Boromir asked.

"Nothing." She hadn't realized he had been so near. Anuina knew she would have to be more careful in the future lest she be found out by the Fellowship. And that must never happen. Her second thought was to point out the need for silence, but the dwarf had ruined any chance of the Fellowship going unnoticed.

"How is your wound?"

His concern took her aback for a moment, and she stumbled for a response. "The pain is tolerable. I will cleanse it after you speak with the lady of the wood."

"No one has thanked you for your help in Moria. There was little time for it."

"It is glad I am that I was there to lead you to safety, though I was not strong enough to save Gandalf."

"You tried. For that we are all grateful." He glanced over at her. "You carry a weapon, wait for strangers in Moria despite the danger of orcs, risk yourself to save a man you do not know, and have the strength to continue on despite your wound."

"You find that strange."

"Yes, women should be protected, cherished, not made to fight and feel the ravages of war."

"A woman should be able to defend herself and see to her own freedom rather than trusting a man to do it for her," she responded, caressing her sword.

Their conversation fell silent as a sense of danger filled her. Her first instinct was to draw her weapon. She refused to give in to that instinct, for no one else had taken their weapons in hand.

In mere moments, they were surrounded by elves, arrows trained at them from all directions. The elves of Lorthlorien had found them. Memories flooded her mind again, memories of times long past. She lost focus of reality before forcing her concentration back to the danger at hand. There was no time for memories.

"We have come seeking protection," Aragorn said, fluent in the elfish tongue.

"Aragorn," the dwarf bellowed. "We should not be here. These woods are perilous."

"No one leaves without the lady's permission."

Anuina fought against the tide of images flooding her mind. She knew of this place, knew of these people, but did not know how. It was frustrating to have things so shadowed. Certainty filled her in her next breath. If she went forward, these elves would know her for who she was. She didn't know how they would find such things out, knew only that she could not enter Lorthlorien.