The Tale of a Warrior Maid
Chapter 4
When Kesteral awoke the next morning she found the two elven brothers
packing up the camp, an apple and a piece of Lembas lay by her blanket. She
sat up and immediately gobbled down the food.
"You do sleep like a hobbit," laughed Haradwë, "and you eat like one to."
Kesteral choose not to respond suspecting that her hobbit lineage would become the butt of many jokes during the trip to Gondor. The brothers seemed to be much more joyful and cheerful then many of their kin. She rose out of her blankets and began to roll up most of her supplies into it. When the fire was put out and the clearing returned to how they had found it the trio set off down the deer path once more.
"We should make it to Gondor at night fall, if Kesteral's short legs don't slow us down," Therindell joked leading the way.
Kesteral felt that without the dress on she would definitely be able to prove the elf wrong, and there for lengthened her strides. "I'll keep up, don't you worry, who knows, perhaps you will need to chase after me before the day is done," after this retort the travelers walked in silence for several minutes.
"Kesteral" Haradwë began, "how does a half-elf of hobbit blood come to live with a wizard specifically one as. socially challenged as Radaghast?"
"It's a rather long story, but since we will be walking for a long time I'll tell you" Kesteral replied. "From what Radaghast can tell (and he's put a lot of research into this) my mother was a Nolder elf on her way to the Grey Havens. The path she was taking lead through the Shire and there she met my father, the son of a farmer. The locals told Radaghast that my father had always been a bit odd and that once he had found a wounded elven maid in the old forest. From the looks of it she was separated from the rest of her kin and attacked by wolves. My father cared for her wounds, and they fell in love. My mother then became pregnant and waited in my father's house to bare child before continuing her journey. But she died giving birth. My father had no idea how to raise a child, and his neighbors gave him much grief for his relationships with an elf. Never being a terrifically great father he left the babe in the woods near his home, hoping the taunts of the rest of the village would end. One of Radaghast's birds found me there and it brought me back to Orthanc. There Radaghast raised me till I was six, he then realized he had neither the skill nor the patients to raise me any farther so he sent me to Rivendell till I turned sixteen."
"That's not as long as you made it out to be" Therinell pointed out.
"Well I didn't say everything about my life, just what you needed to hear," Kesteral shot back stiffly.
"Did you ever try to find your father?" Haradwë asked politely.
"Two years ago. I went to the village where he lived, but found out he had been killed two days before well walking in the woods. The villagers thought I had murdered him, being angry at my abandonment," she replied.
"Did you?" Therindell asked.
"No! I searched for his killer, and found a group of orcs camped out in the forest. Even though he left me too die, I could not pass up the opportunity of avenging his death," Kesteral responded sharply.
"Oh, okay." Therindell sighed as he climbed to the top of a large hill over which the deer path leads. As Kesteral joined him at its peak she could see a vast plain at the foot of a great city. "That is Minas Tirith, pride of Gondor. The army's tent's lay outside its gate. Can you see them?"
Kesteral squinted against the light of the midday sun; she saw the camp spreading far it consisted of several thousand tents. "How long till we get there?" she asked.
"There is a small town at the bottom of this hill; near it lays the river Anduin. We can take a ship from there to the great city. The trip will then take only a few more hours," Therindell told her as he began to ascend the hill.
Half an hour later Kesteral found herself on a small transport on its route to Minas Tirith. She and the brothers had managed to hitch a ride, regarding that they helped to paddle it. Being Kesteral's first time on a boat she found herself to be more of a nuisance then a help. The trip lasted several exhausting hours of attempting to keep from becoming sick and gave the twins another thing to bother her about. When the ship finally docked at Minas Tirith's harbor she was the first passenger to be off, praising steady ground. It only took the travelers a few minutes to make their way to the camp.
"You do sleep like a hobbit," laughed Haradwë, "and you eat like one to."
Kesteral choose not to respond suspecting that her hobbit lineage would become the butt of many jokes during the trip to Gondor. The brothers seemed to be much more joyful and cheerful then many of their kin. She rose out of her blankets and began to roll up most of her supplies into it. When the fire was put out and the clearing returned to how they had found it the trio set off down the deer path once more.
"We should make it to Gondor at night fall, if Kesteral's short legs don't slow us down," Therindell joked leading the way.
Kesteral felt that without the dress on she would definitely be able to prove the elf wrong, and there for lengthened her strides. "I'll keep up, don't you worry, who knows, perhaps you will need to chase after me before the day is done," after this retort the travelers walked in silence for several minutes.
"Kesteral" Haradwë began, "how does a half-elf of hobbit blood come to live with a wizard specifically one as. socially challenged as Radaghast?"
"It's a rather long story, but since we will be walking for a long time I'll tell you" Kesteral replied. "From what Radaghast can tell (and he's put a lot of research into this) my mother was a Nolder elf on her way to the Grey Havens. The path she was taking lead through the Shire and there she met my father, the son of a farmer. The locals told Radaghast that my father had always been a bit odd and that once he had found a wounded elven maid in the old forest. From the looks of it she was separated from the rest of her kin and attacked by wolves. My father cared for her wounds, and they fell in love. My mother then became pregnant and waited in my father's house to bare child before continuing her journey. But she died giving birth. My father had no idea how to raise a child, and his neighbors gave him much grief for his relationships with an elf. Never being a terrifically great father he left the babe in the woods near his home, hoping the taunts of the rest of the village would end. One of Radaghast's birds found me there and it brought me back to Orthanc. There Radaghast raised me till I was six, he then realized he had neither the skill nor the patients to raise me any farther so he sent me to Rivendell till I turned sixteen."
"That's not as long as you made it out to be" Therinell pointed out.
"Well I didn't say everything about my life, just what you needed to hear," Kesteral shot back stiffly.
"Did you ever try to find your father?" Haradwë asked politely.
"Two years ago. I went to the village where he lived, but found out he had been killed two days before well walking in the woods. The villagers thought I had murdered him, being angry at my abandonment," she replied.
"Did you?" Therindell asked.
"No! I searched for his killer, and found a group of orcs camped out in the forest. Even though he left me too die, I could not pass up the opportunity of avenging his death," Kesteral responded sharply.
"Oh, okay." Therindell sighed as he climbed to the top of a large hill over which the deer path leads. As Kesteral joined him at its peak she could see a vast plain at the foot of a great city. "That is Minas Tirith, pride of Gondor. The army's tent's lay outside its gate. Can you see them?"
Kesteral squinted against the light of the midday sun; she saw the camp spreading far it consisted of several thousand tents. "How long till we get there?" she asked.
"There is a small town at the bottom of this hill; near it lays the river Anduin. We can take a ship from there to the great city. The trip will then take only a few more hours," Therindell told her as he began to ascend the hill.
Half an hour later Kesteral found herself on a small transport on its route to Minas Tirith. She and the brothers had managed to hitch a ride, regarding that they helped to paddle it. Being Kesteral's first time on a boat she found herself to be more of a nuisance then a help. The trip lasted several exhausting hours of attempting to keep from becoming sick and gave the twins another thing to bother her about. When the ship finally docked at Minas Tirith's harbor she was the first passenger to be off, praising steady ground. It only took the travelers a few minutes to make their way to the camp.