I do not own The Lord of the Rings or its characters.
Page 11
To call the event a feast did not do it justice. It seemed that the whole city was gathered in the great flowering meadows about the city walls. Throughout the evening and long into the night, elves promenaded in high spirits around the fosse, first eating and drinking, then settling on cushions laid in the grass to talk, or sing, or gaze at the stars. After a few glasses of a delicious libation with Serwen and her other friends, Kalin was sure there was something extra in it that was contributing to the merriment.
After several hours, Kalin had not come across Haldir or even heard his voice in the wandering crowds. Hoping that her disappointment wasn't obvious, she put down her wine, excused herself and made her way somewhat unsteadily back through the city gates and up the nearly deserted paths to her talan. Leaning against the railing, she listened to the enchanted sounds of celebration carrying faintly over the city walls and up into the quiet trees. One by one Kalin began to pick out the flowers and small jewels that Serwen had scattered in her hair and toss them listlessly on the floor. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, she told herself over and over, throwing the flowers more dramatically as she increasingly felt sorrier and sorrier for herself. Haldir was now greater among the elves than any except Celeborn himself. And, he had great love and pride in his race, in Elvendom. He would never want to lower himself for a mortal woman, especially now. Why had she allowed herself to want him so? Twinkling lights and gray shadows swam across Kalin's eyes. She had definitely had too much to drink.
* * * * *
After eating, Haldir had spent a respectable amount of time mingling and perhaps a bit too much time toasting, all the while hoping that he would catch sight of Kalin. This was the only chance he would have to see her before he left, and the need to be near her had grown the more he had been kept away from her by the preparations for the trip. He soon grew restless and began looking for her in earnest. A brunette should not have been so difficult to find among the silver-blond crowd! At last he caught sight of her some ways away, walking away from the crowds alone toward the city gate, and he followed. Once he was sure of her direction, he turned aside. There was something he needed to retrieve before he spoke to her.
Returning, still slightly merry from wine, Haldir paused on his way up the path and looked up at Kalin's talan to see her framed by her curtains, reaching up in the full moonlight to throw small sparkling objects carelessly from her hair onto the ground below. He stood still, enthralled by her graceful, lovely movements that were accentuated by the folds of her filmy, golden gown.
"Kalin, it is Haldir. Will you come down and walk with me for a time?" he called up to her.
"Haldir!" Kalin exclaimed, leaning precariously over the railing. "Yes, I'm coming down, but shouldn't you be enjoying the party? It is in your honor, after all," she continued as she slowly descended the ladder.
"I have enjoyed the festivities enough," Haldir replied as he reached out to steady her on the last rung. "It has been too long since I enjoyed an evening walk with you."
"I believe it is closer to morning than to evening, and you will be leaving all too soon," she said as she took his arm. "Are you not going to rest?"
"Truthfully, I am too anxious to rest."
"Haldir, Celeborn could not have chosen better, as you well know. You will be magnificent."
Haldir's pride swelled. How could this woman's faith in him eclipse even Celeborn's words in his heart?
"You will be there, will you not, when we take our leave?"
"Yes, I will be there."
They had descended a set of garden steps to Galadriel's glade. Her mirror stood empty. Fragrant, flowering vines climbed the carved base and encircled the silvery bowl shining in the moonlight, framing it like a sacred treasure. The sparkling stream cascaded down the bank behind and beside it. Here they sat on a bench for a time, each in their own thoughts. Presently Haldir said, "There is something I wish to give you. Do you remember me telling you that we would help you learn how to defend yourself? This," he said, taking her hand and closing it around the object he had brought with him, "is a staff made from a great mallorn, the strongest but most supple of woods, from which the coveted bows of Lorien are crafted. You may strike hard with it; it will not break. It is made also for you to use as a cane. Orophin will instruct you in its uses while I am away. When I return, you will demonstrate your skill with it for me."
Kalin explored the staff with her hands. It was deeply carved in the shapes of intertwining branches, tapering gradually from top to a metal stud at the bottom, and had a leather strap attached near the top for her wrist. She stood and tested its balance, which was perfect. Its length was matched exactly to her height. Set into and around the top was what felt like a pierced, round metal end piece with rounded inlaid objects.
"Haldir, this is a thing of great beauty and craftsmanship," Kalin breathed in awe. "It feels as though it was made for me alone. Wherever did it come from?"
"I carved it for you. The silversmiths crafted the end piece to my instructions."
Kalin was speechless.
"Here," he said, guiding her fingers across the top, "are two leaves, one forming each half of the circle, curving toward each other but separate," he explained as he drew her finger down a shallow "S" shaped depression through the center of the convex surface. "The tendrils of the vines curl around the circle." He moved Kalin's fingers to a half-sphere near the end of each leaf. "This one is moonstone; this one is lapis."
"It is our world, isn't it Haldir? She said quietly, caressing the stones. "The vines are the earth. The elves are the moonstone, high in the sky, lustrous and walking with the stars forever; men are the lapis, coming from the earth and returning to it in a blink of your eye, only gazing at the stars."
"Yet there is this," Haldir said, guiding her finger to the center of the piece, where she felt a small, half-round object touching each separate half of the circle.
"What is it?"
"It is gold. It is the bridge that joins our worlds, Kalin, that which brings us together. So we will be with King Elessar on the Field of Celebrant, and so we were in the destruction of Sauron. It is faith...and love."
"When you go to meet Elessar," Kalin said slowly, "you go to renew and strengthen your friendship with him, and thus with men, do you not? And soon, when he dies, you will have to do the same with his successor, and his. Will you not weary of it, Haldir?"
"It is bittersweet for us. But I do not believe the elves will remain here long enough for that to happen, Kalin. Lorien is fading, and our time here grows short. This is also a great sorrow."
"How I grieve for men who will live in a world without elves, Haldir; a world where even the memory of elves will fade until it is only a tale of fantasy, told to children in a lullaby.
So, you will depart from us, Haldir, and go into the West, into the stars?"
" I do not know if that will be my fate, Kalin. None of us are sure of our destiny in such a time of change as this is. I have sworn to Lord Celeborn that I will stay to care for Lorien until its end, but I do not know when that will be."
"I will treasure your gift always, Haldir, for its beauty and its meaning, but mostly because it comes from your hand. But I cannot fight with it. I will not risk damaging it."
"You will not damage it, any more than I damage my bow by drawing it. It is not as delicate as perhaps it feels.
We should return now. We leave at dawn, which is nearly come," he said, rising and drawing Kalin up beside him.
"Take care on your journey, Haldir," she said, thinking of Malach's fate . "Even though a great of evil has been defeated, there may still be danger on your path."
"Do not be concerned. We are many, and will pass silently. Only the most foolish or the greatest in number would dare to confront us, if they perceive our presence at all."
"Confident words from the proudest of elves. Haldir, it is when one is overconfident that one is most vulnerable."
"Such counsel you believe you must give to the March Warden and Captain of Lorien?" he asked, somewhat piqued that she would question him now when she had just earlier expressed the greatest faith in his abilities.
"No, but perhaps to the emissary of Lorien, should he become over full of himself," Kalin countered, beginning to enjoy provoking him.
"Insolent mortal!" Haldir shot back, his pulse quickening in irritation born of his own pride and a persistent bit of inebriation.
"Indeed! Is this the diplomatic tone in which the elven ambassador will respond when the king of men instructs him where he may place his tents in the field?"
"I will decide where my camp will be raised, not the King!"
"Ah-ha! The vainglorious elf reveals himself!"
"How dare you speak to me so!" he steamed, grasping Kalin by the shoulders. "Be silent, woman!"
"I will not! Now unhand me, oh master of tact," Kalin retorted, knowing through the lingering effects of the wine that she was pushing too far. But she was carried by her own stubbornness and by the rush of emotions welling up in her that she had held back for so long.
Incensed, Haldir silenced her the only way he could think of - he kissed her hard on the lips. Her resistance was one of momentary shock only. Then, responding, she wrapped her arms around him, closing the gap between them. Softening the kiss, his pulse racing, Haldir pressed Kalin's yielding body to his heart, stroking her back through the gossamer fabric of her dress, caressing the nape of her neck, unable in the passion coursing through him to heed the warnings his mind was shouting at him. Haldir's heart swelled until he thought it would break. Nothing had ever felt so perfect, so right as this embrace; no moment in his long life more profound, or more terrifying. No one had ever made him feel so out of control.
Feeling Kalin's body begin to tremble against his, he painfully pulled away from her, caressing her face. Kalin took one of his hands in hers and turned her head to press a breathless, open kiss into his palm. "I love you," she whispered.
Haldir stood awestruck, knowing that deep in his soul he had desired exactly this, yet still dreading the consequences.
"Kalin...." he said, still holding her face, his voice shaking, "You do not know what you ask of me."
"I....I ask nothing of you, Haldir," Kalin replied, confused and hurt, shrinking back from his touch. "I thought.I only wanted you to know.what I feel."
In the distance a horn called Haldir and his company to the coming of the dawn. "I do not want to leave you now, but I must," he said, regretting the distress he was causing her as he reached out to wipe a lone tear from her cheek. "We will talk of this when I return," he promised.
"Give me one promise only Haldir, and then go, I can find my way back. Promise me that you will return in safety."
"I promise, Kalin. We will return safely, and you and I will speak of many things that must be spoken of between us."
Page 11
To call the event a feast did not do it justice. It seemed that the whole city was gathered in the great flowering meadows about the city walls. Throughout the evening and long into the night, elves promenaded in high spirits around the fosse, first eating and drinking, then settling on cushions laid in the grass to talk, or sing, or gaze at the stars. After a few glasses of a delicious libation with Serwen and her other friends, Kalin was sure there was something extra in it that was contributing to the merriment.
After several hours, Kalin had not come across Haldir or even heard his voice in the wandering crowds. Hoping that her disappointment wasn't obvious, she put down her wine, excused herself and made her way somewhat unsteadily back through the city gates and up the nearly deserted paths to her talan. Leaning against the railing, she listened to the enchanted sounds of celebration carrying faintly over the city walls and up into the quiet trees. One by one Kalin began to pick out the flowers and small jewels that Serwen had scattered in her hair and toss them listlessly on the floor. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, she told herself over and over, throwing the flowers more dramatically as she increasingly felt sorrier and sorrier for herself. Haldir was now greater among the elves than any except Celeborn himself. And, he had great love and pride in his race, in Elvendom. He would never want to lower himself for a mortal woman, especially now. Why had she allowed herself to want him so? Twinkling lights and gray shadows swam across Kalin's eyes. She had definitely had too much to drink.
* * * * *
After eating, Haldir had spent a respectable amount of time mingling and perhaps a bit too much time toasting, all the while hoping that he would catch sight of Kalin. This was the only chance he would have to see her before he left, and the need to be near her had grown the more he had been kept away from her by the preparations for the trip. He soon grew restless and began looking for her in earnest. A brunette should not have been so difficult to find among the silver-blond crowd! At last he caught sight of her some ways away, walking away from the crowds alone toward the city gate, and he followed. Once he was sure of her direction, he turned aside. There was something he needed to retrieve before he spoke to her.
Returning, still slightly merry from wine, Haldir paused on his way up the path and looked up at Kalin's talan to see her framed by her curtains, reaching up in the full moonlight to throw small sparkling objects carelessly from her hair onto the ground below. He stood still, enthralled by her graceful, lovely movements that were accentuated by the folds of her filmy, golden gown.
"Kalin, it is Haldir. Will you come down and walk with me for a time?" he called up to her.
"Haldir!" Kalin exclaimed, leaning precariously over the railing. "Yes, I'm coming down, but shouldn't you be enjoying the party? It is in your honor, after all," she continued as she slowly descended the ladder.
"I have enjoyed the festivities enough," Haldir replied as he reached out to steady her on the last rung. "It has been too long since I enjoyed an evening walk with you."
"I believe it is closer to morning than to evening, and you will be leaving all too soon," she said as she took his arm. "Are you not going to rest?"
"Truthfully, I am too anxious to rest."
"Haldir, Celeborn could not have chosen better, as you well know. You will be magnificent."
Haldir's pride swelled. How could this woman's faith in him eclipse even Celeborn's words in his heart?
"You will be there, will you not, when we take our leave?"
"Yes, I will be there."
They had descended a set of garden steps to Galadriel's glade. Her mirror stood empty. Fragrant, flowering vines climbed the carved base and encircled the silvery bowl shining in the moonlight, framing it like a sacred treasure. The sparkling stream cascaded down the bank behind and beside it. Here they sat on a bench for a time, each in their own thoughts. Presently Haldir said, "There is something I wish to give you. Do you remember me telling you that we would help you learn how to defend yourself? This," he said, taking her hand and closing it around the object he had brought with him, "is a staff made from a great mallorn, the strongest but most supple of woods, from which the coveted bows of Lorien are crafted. You may strike hard with it; it will not break. It is made also for you to use as a cane. Orophin will instruct you in its uses while I am away. When I return, you will demonstrate your skill with it for me."
Kalin explored the staff with her hands. It was deeply carved in the shapes of intertwining branches, tapering gradually from top to a metal stud at the bottom, and had a leather strap attached near the top for her wrist. She stood and tested its balance, which was perfect. Its length was matched exactly to her height. Set into and around the top was what felt like a pierced, round metal end piece with rounded inlaid objects.
"Haldir, this is a thing of great beauty and craftsmanship," Kalin breathed in awe. "It feels as though it was made for me alone. Wherever did it come from?"
"I carved it for you. The silversmiths crafted the end piece to my instructions."
Kalin was speechless.
"Here," he said, guiding her fingers across the top, "are two leaves, one forming each half of the circle, curving toward each other but separate," he explained as he drew her finger down a shallow "S" shaped depression through the center of the convex surface. "The tendrils of the vines curl around the circle." He moved Kalin's fingers to a half-sphere near the end of each leaf. "This one is moonstone; this one is lapis."
"It is our world, isn't it Haldir? She said quietly, caressing the stones. "The vines are the earth. The elves are the moonstone, high in the sky, lustrous and walking with the stars forever; men are the lapis, coming from the earth and returning to it in a blink of your eye, only gazing at the stars."
"Yet there is this," Haldir said, guiding her finger to the center of the piece, where she felt a small, half-round object touching each separate half of the circle.
"What is it?"
"It is gold. It is the bridge that joins our worlds, Kalin, that which brings us together. So we will be with King Elessar on the Field of Celebrant, and so we were in the destruction of Sauron. It is faith...and love."
"When you go to meet Elessar," Kalin said slowly, "you go to renew and strengthen your friendship with him, and thus with men, do you not? And soon, when he dies, you will have to do the same with his successor, and his. Will you not weary of it, Haldir?"
"It is bittersweet for us. But I do not believe the elves will remain here long enough for that to happen, Kalin. Lorien is fading, and our time here grows short. This is also a great sorrow."
"How I grieve for men who will live in a world without elves, Haldir; a world where even the memory of elves will fade until it is only a tale of fantasy, told to children in a lullaby.
So, you will depart from us, Haldir, and go into the West, into the stars?"
" I do not know if that will be my fate, Kalin. None of us are sure of our destiny in such a time of change as this is. I have sworn to Lord Celeborn that I will stay to care for Lorien until its end, but I do not know when that will be."
"I will treasure your gift always, Haldir, for its beauty and its meaning, but mostly because it comes from your hand. But I cannot fight with it. I will not risk damaging it."
"You will not damage it, any more than I damage my bow by drawing it. It is not as delicate as perhaps it feels.
We should return now. We leave at dawn, which is nearly come," he said, rising and drawing Kalin up beside him.
"Take care on your journey, Haldir," she said, thinking of Malach's fate . "Even though a great of evil has been defeated, there may still be danger on your path."
"Do not be concerned. We are many, and will pass silently. Only the most foolish or the greatest in number would dare to confront us, if they perceive our presence at all."
"Confident words from the proudest of elves. Haldir, it is when one is overconfident that one is most vulnerable."
"Such counsel you believe you must give to the March Warden and Captain of Lorien?" he asked, somewhat piqued that she would question him now when she had just earlier expressed the greatest faith in his abilities.
"No, but perhaps to the emissary of Lorien, should he become over full of himself," Kalin countered, beginning to enjoy provoking him.
"Insolent mortal!" Haldir shot back, his pulse quickening in irritation born of his own pride and a persistent bit of inebriation.
"Indeed! Is this the diplomatic tone in which the elven ambassador will respond when the king of men instructs him where he may place his tents in the field?"
"I will decide where my camp will be raised, not the King!"
"Ah-ha! The vainglorious elf reveals himself!"
"How dare you speak to me so!" he steamed, grasping Kalin by the shoulders. "Be silent, woman!"
"I will not! Now unhand me, oh master of tact," Kalin retorted, knowing through the lingering effects of the wine that she was pushing too far. But she was carried by her own stubbornness and by the rush of emotions welling up in her that she had held back for so long.
Incensed, Haldir silenced her the only way he could think of - he kissed her hard on the lips. Her resistance was one of momentary shock only. Then, responding, she wrapped her arms around him, closing the gap between them. Softening the kiss, his pulse racing, Haldir pressed Kalin's yielding body to his heart, stroking her back through the gossamer fabric of her dress, caressing the nape of her neck, unable in the passion coursing through him to heed the warnings his mind was shouting at him. Haldir's heart swelled until he thought it would break. Nothing had ever felt so perfect, so right as this embrace; no moment in his long life more profound, or more terrifying. No one had ever made him feel so out of control.
Feeling Kalin's body begin to tremble against his, he painfully pulled away from her, caressing her face. Kalin took one of his hands in hers and turned her head to press a breathless, open kiss into his palm. "I love you," she whispered.
Haldir stood awestruck, knowing that deep in his soul he had desired exactly this, yet still dreading the consequences.
"Kalin...." he said, still holding her face, his voice shaking, "You do not know what you ask of me."
"I....I ask nothing of you, Haldir," Kalin replied, confused and hurt, shrinking back from his touch. "I thought.I only wanted you to know.what I feel."
In the distance a horn called Haldir and his company to the coming of the dawn. "I do not want to leave you now, but I must," he said, regretting the distress he was causing her as he reached out to wipe a lone tear from her cheek. "We will talk of this when I return," he promised.
"Give me one promise only Haldir, and then go, I can find my way back. Promise me that you will return in safety."
"I promise, Kalin. We will return safely, and you and I will speak of many things that must be spoken of between us."