"Hey Eli, wait up!"
Eli turned around, and watched as Camille came running towards her – or running as best as a long Elven dress could allow. She stopped, and waited for her best friend to catch up to her.
She had stayed in the infirmary for quite a while, since her energy was slow in coming back. Of course, she was bored stiff having nothing to do, but it was alleviated somewhat since Camille came by to visit everyday, and she brought whoever of the Fellowship was free. Most of the time it was the Hobbits or Aragorn, but every now and then she would be able to drag Boromir with her or perhaps Legolas and Gimli.
Eli smirked when she remembered what was going on with the Elf and the Dwarf. The erstwhile enemies seemed to be having fun in each other's company nowadays, though how it happened was beyond Eli's comprehension. Of course, it isn't such a bad thing, she thought. Now we'll have to put up with less bickering.
That wasn't the only good news. According to Camille, Lady Galadriel, the Elven-Queen who had tended to her during her unconscious state, had somehow managed to heal her of her weak heart and lungs. At first Eli wouldn't believe it, but on her first day out she quickly realized that what Camille told her was one hundred percent true. She realized that her stamina had increased, and she could run for a long while without tiring as quickly. Also, she found out that she could have someone jump out and surprise her without feeling like her heart was going to rip its way out of her ribcage.
She ceased her musing when she noticed Camille standing in front of her. She quirked her eyebrow upwards at her best friend. "Something you wanted?"
Camille shifted her feet a little, and gave her a piece of paper. "Yeah, I wanted to give you this."
Huh? Eli took the parchment, and scanned it. It was, as far as she could tell, a nine-stanza poem, each stanza consisting of four lines, written in that elegant style that made Camille's poetry worth reading, even if it WAS rather long. "What's this for?"
"You remember that bet we made, don't you? You know, the one in Rivendell?"
Eli thought back a little, and nodded. "Yeah." She grinned. "Are you telling me I won?"
Camille ducked her head, and blushed.
Eli didn't need any further explanations. She was, however, curious as to how it happened. "Well, how did it go?"
As they walked, Camille began to explain everything, starting from Legolas' confession near the Bruinen, and finally to their kiss atop Cerin Amroth. After listening to everything, Eli grinned, and said, "Looks like you need to thank Lady Galadriel for putting the two of you together, eh?"
Her best friend shrugged. "Maybe." She bowed her head. "Yeah, I suppose I should return the favor…though I really don't know how…"
"You owe me nothing, child. I was merely giving you…how do you say…a nudge out the door."
They looked up, and noticed Galadriel standing in front of them, her golden hair shining and her blue eyes gleaming in the sunlight. The Lady of Lothlorien smiled then, though it was quite solemn – if smiles COULD be solemn, that is. "You will depart from Lothlorien soon, shall you not?"
Eli nodded. "Yes, Lady Galadriel. Aragorn said that our time of mourning is over now, and we must continue with the quest."
Galadriel nodded, and there seemed to be a hint of sadness in her face. "I see. So the time has come." She sighed, and looked at them. "Very well then. Before you go, you must come with me. I wish to speak with you before you depart from this land, for this might be the last time we see each other again."
Eli and Camille looked at each other for a moment, and then shrugged. They followed the Lady through the forest, passing by huge mallorn trees that seemed to be a forest in themselves, if their innumerable branches were any indication. At last, they reached a secluded grove of mallorns, and here too bloomed the flowers elanor and niphredil as they did in Cerin Amroth.
Galadriel turned to them then. "Welcome to the Garden of Galadriel, dear Summoners! Here we may rest and converse a while before you go on the quest."
Eli sat down on the grass, and plucked a bloom of niphredil, holding it between her fingers. She looked up to the sky, and smiled. This is such a wonderful place. I don't have to worry about anything here. It feels like all my problems can bypass me as long as I stay here…
Suddenly, Galadriel spoke. "Well then, how does it feel to have found love at last?"
Eli looked up, and furrowed her brows together in question. "What do you mean, Lady Galadriel?"
Galadriel smiled, and shook her head. "You may leave out the title of 'Lady', child. I would wish to believe that we are friends now. And as for you question, you know what I refer to."
Eli was confused. I know what she's talking about? After a moment of thought, she understood what Galadriel meant, and blushed. Oh yeah, that…
But Galadriel wasn't talking to her at the moment, thankfully. She was busy with Camille. Eli grinned. Makes sense, after all, it was she who finally got Camille and Legolas together.
But their chat was not for long, and soon, Camille was already walking away. Galadriel then turned to Eli, and said, "I wish to speak with you alone, Eli, for this matter worries me somewhat, but not overmuch. However, it concerns my two grandchildren, Elladan and Elrohir." She was silent for a moment, then said, "You have not chosen between them."
Eli felt her heart crash from her chest to her stomach. She sighed, and lowered her head, unable to look Galadriel in the eye. "I haven't. Although Elladan was the first to 'stake his claim', as we say in our world, I have the funny feeling that Elrohir was waiting in the wings for his time to come. Elladan just got ahead of him."
"Then whom do you prefer?"
Eli winced. Byakko asked me that same question during my trial… "I cannot really say. Elladan has some qualities that I like and can't be found in his brother, and there are some things I like in Elrohir that I can't find in Elladan. I like them both, to be honest…"
"But you must choose one," Galadriel said quietly. "You cannot continue like this, with your heart torn between the two of them." She smiled then. "But do not trouble yourself too much as of yet. There is still time to make a decision. When you choose, it is unavoidable that you will hurt one of them, but they will learn to live after it. Follow your heart, dear Elisarien, for that shall be your name amongst the Elves as long as you shall live."
Eli looked up at Galadriel, and noticed that she wore a kind, maternal smile on her face, much the same expression she had seen on Elrond's face before she left Rivendell. She smiled back at the Elven-Queen before her. "Thank you, Galadriel."
* * *
Frodo watched as Camille sprinted over to the little boats that were moored on the bank, her eyes gleaming brightly. "Ooh, canoes!" She whirled around to Eli, her Elven-cloak flying. "Hey Eli, when was the last time we took a canoe out?"
Eli approached her then, and Frodo realized that the same gleam of excitement in Camille's eyes was mirrored in her own. "I think it was last, last summer, when we shot the rapids down the Colorado River!"
"You have boats, where you are from?" Merry asked curiously.
Camille nodded. "Of course! Our country's basically lots of little islands scattered in the sea, so we need boats to get around. There are other ways to get around nowadays, but boats are still fun to use." She sighed, closing her eyes as if in memory. "I remember that trip we had last, last summer to Colorado. Eli and I desperately wanted to shoot the rapids, but our parents wouldn't give in. It took a lot of prodding, both literally and figuratively speaking, before we had our way. And boy, was it FUN! Eli nearly conked herself out when she was swept downstream to the rocks!"
Eli snorted, and threw back, "Yeah right, look who's talking. YOUR canoe overturned, and it took you all of two minutes to right yourself again!"
Frodo chuckled when he heard this talk about going down rapids in boats. They make it sound like such a wonderful experience. He glanced at Sam, and noticed that his friend seemed to be shaking. "How can they talk about boats like that, Mister Frodo?" he asked in a whisper. "If they can still seem so jolly and gay at the prospect of having to ride boats, then they must be really very brave."
Frodo smiled, and patted Sam on the shoulder. "You are right to say they are brave, but I think that their eagerness to get on boats is little proof of that."
They quickly moved to prepare the boats, loading them up with all the things they would need for the journey. The Elves had given them lembas, or waybread, and these they carefully stowed away in their packs. When they were through they began to go into the boats. The Company was arranged in this way: Aragorn, Frodo and Sam were in one boat; Boromir, Merry and Pippin were in another; Legolas and Gimli were in a third; and Camille and Eli shared the fourth. The goods and packs were divided between the last two boats. The boats were moved and steered with short-handled paddles that had broad leaf-shaped blades. When all was ready Aragorn led them on a trial up the Silverlode. The current was swift and they went forward slowly, but the boat that Camille and Eli maneuvered was perhaps the most smooth-moving of all four. The two girls proved to be excellent boatmen, dipping their paddles in and out of the water in synch with each other, as if they were following a certain beat.
They turned a sharp bend in the river, and there, sailing proudly down the stream towards them, they saw a swan of great size. The water rippled on either side of the white breast beneath its curving neck. Its beak shone like burnished gold, and its eyes glittered like jet set in yellow stones; its huge white wings were half lifted. A music came down the river as it drew nearer; and suddenly they perceived that it was a ship, wrought and carved with Elven-skill in the likeness of a bird. Two Elves clad in white steered it with black paddles. In the midst of the vessel sat Celeborn, and behind him stood Galadriel, tall and white; a circlet of golden flowers was in her hair, and in her hand she held a harp, and she sang.
Aragorn stayed his boat as the Swan-ship drew alongside. The Lady ended her song and greeted them. "We have come to bid our last farewell," she said, "and to speed you with blessings from our land."
"Though you have been our guests," said Celeborn, "you have not yet eaten with us, and we bid you, therefore, to a parting feast, here between the flowing waters that will bear you far from Lorien."
And so they had their feast on the green grass of the hythe, but Frodo ate and drank little, heeding only the beauty of the Lady and her voice. He remembered how she had looked when he had peered into the Mirror of Galadriel. Her beauty was no longer terrifying, but she seemed to him present and yet remote, as the Elves appeared to Men in later days: a living vision of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of Time.
After they had eaten and drunk, Galadriel rose from the grass, and signaled to her handmaidens. They disappeared, and came back moments later bearing certain objects with them. She turned to them, and said, "We have partaken of the feast of parting, and the shadows fall between us. But before you go, I have brought in my ship gifts which the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim now offer you in memory of Lothlorien." Then she called to each in turn.
"Here is the gift of Celeborn and Galadriel to the leader of your Company," she said to Aragorn, and she gave him a sheath that had been made to fit his sword. It was overlaid with a tracery of flowers and leaves wrought with silver and gold, and on it were set in Elven-runes formed of many gems the name Anduril and the lineage of the sword. With this she gave him a green stone, and gave him the name Elessar, Elfstone of the house of Elendil. She then turned to Boromir, and gave him a belt of gold; to Merry and Pippin she gave small silver belts, each with a clasp wrought like a golden flower. To Legolas she gave a bow such as the Galadhrim used, longer and stouter than the bows of Mirkwood, and strung with a string of Elf-hair. With it went a quiver of arrows.
"For you little gardener and lover of trees," she said to Sam, "I have only a small gift." She put into his hand a little box of plain gray wood, unadorned save for a single silver rune upon the lid. "Here is set 'G' for 'Galadriel', although it may also stand for 'garden' in your tongue. In this box there is earth from my orchard, and such blessings as Galadriel has still to bestow upon it. It will not keep you on your road, nor defend you against any peril; but if you keep it and see your home again at last, then perhaps it may reward you. Though you should find all barren and laid waste, there will be few gardens in Middle-Earth that will bloom like your garden, if you sprinkle this earth there. Then you may remember Galadriel, and catch a glimpse of far-off Lorien, that you have seen only in our winter. For our spring and our summer have gone by, and they will never be seen on earth again, save in memory."
Sam went red to the ears and muttered something inaudible, as he clutched the box and bowed as well as he could.
"And what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Elves," said Galadriel, turning to Gimli.
"None, Lady," answered Gimli. "It is enough for me to have seen the Lady of the Galadhrim, and to have heard her gentle words."
"Hear all ye Elves!" she cried to those about her. "Let none say again that Dwarves are grasping and ungracious! Yet surely, son of Gloin, you desire something that I could give? Name it, I bid you! You shall not be the only guest here without a gift."
"There is nothing, Lady Galadriel," said Gimli, bowing low and stammering. "Nothing, unless it might be – unless it is permitted to ask, nay, to name a single strand of your hair, which surpasses the gold of the earth as surely as the stars surpass the gems of the mine. I do not ask for such a gift. But you commanded me to name my desire."
The Elves stirred and murmured with astonishment, and Celeborn gazed at the Dwarf in wonder, but the Lady smiled. "It is said that the skill of the Dwarves is in their hands rather than in their tongues," she said, "yet it is not true of Gimli. For none have ever made to me a request so bold and yet so courteous. And how shall I refuse, since I commanded him to speak? But tell me, what would you do with such a gift?"
"Treasure it, Lady," he answered, "in memory of your words to me at our first meeting. And if I ever return to the smithies of my home, it shall be set in imperishable crystal to be an heirloom of my house, and a pledge of goodwill between the Mountain and the Wood until the end of days."
Then the Lady unbraided one of her long tresses, and cut off three golden hairs, and laid them in Gimli's hand. "These words shall go with the gift," she said. "I do not foretell, for all foretelling is now in vain: on one hand lies darkness, and on the other only hope. But if hope should not fail, then I say to you, Gimli son of Gloin, that your hands shall flow with gold, but over you gold shall have no dominion."
"To you, Young One," said Galadriel, turning now to Camille, "I give this." She stood up, and around Camille's throat clasped a silver chain. At the end of the chain dangled a pendant in the shape of a mallorn leaf, green as they are in spring, yet veined with the same shade of gold that they became in autumn and winter. It was the Pendant of Lothlorien, symbol of the Lord and Lady of the Wood and all Wood Elves.
The Lady smiled down at the young girl, and said, "This may seem useless to one of such power as yourself, but should the light of hope that burns in you and your friend chase away the shadow of despair that hangs over all of us, then may this pendant remind you of Galadriel and her counsel on matters of the heart. For though you once dreamt alone, you no longer have to do so. Cerin Amroth shall forever bear witness to the bond you formed beneath its canopy, as shall the moon and Earendil star."
She turned then to Eli. "And you, Young One; take this gift." She took a small wooden box, and opened it. Within was a pendant on a silver chain, but the pendant was different. It was an almost ethereal swirl of silver made to look like a wisp of mist as it rises around the Falls of the Bruinen in Rivendell, and in the middle of the swirl was a diamond, white like starlight.
Galadriel smiled as she put the necklace around Eli's neck, and as she did so, she spoke thus, "About your throat I now lay the Pendant of Imladris, as it shall be called until the end of days. For this is a gift that comes from Rivendell, with special indications from Elrond himself that it was to be given to you. Although the mists of indecisiveness now cloud your mind, there will come a time when love will open up the way to you, and you shall find eternal bliss the likes of which you have never known."
"And you, Ringbearer," she said, turning to Frodo. "I come to you last who are not last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared this." She held up a small crystal phial: it glittered as she moved it, and rays of white light sprang from her hand. "In this phial," she said, "is caught the light of Earendil star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out. Remember Galadriel and her Mirror!"
Frodo took the phial, and for a moment, as it shone beautifully between them, her saw her again standing like a queen, great and beautiful, but no longer terrible. He bowed, but found no words to say.
Now, as the yellow noon rose high above them, the Fellowship went to their boats. All at last had been made ready. Crying farewell, the Elves of Lothlorien with their gray poles thrust them out into the flowing stream, and the rippling waters bore them slowly away. The travelers sat without moving or speaking as they swept past the Lady Galadriel, who stood on the green bank, watching them through sad and solemn blue eyes. They turned to watch her pass, for it seemed to them that Lothlorien drifted away from them like a great ship while they sat still.
Soon the white form of the Lady was small and distant, and before he finally lost sight of her, Frodo thought he saw her lift her arms in farewell, and far but piercing-clear on the following wind came the sound of her voice singing. And the sound lingered for a long, long while, until they were swept round a bend, and Lothlorien disappeared from their sight.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whoo-wee! Done at last! I had a HARD time thinking up what the girls were going to get. Since their weapons were already improved, I couldn't give them that, and I most certainly couldn't give them any form of armor, as they're going to get those later on in the story…oops. I just gave a part of my plot away! Damn! Oh well, too late for regrets now. Next chapter, we'll watch as our Fellowship float down the Anduin towards Amon Hen. And before I go any further, I'd like to apologize to anyone out there who has read the books. I really DO NOT understand this part of the book, since I tend to mix up the names of places. Just thought I should warn you.