Talk about taking forever to write a chapter. I've been so busy I'm not
even gonna bore you with the details, I'm just gonna say sorry. Okay, all
great stories need their filler chapters and unfortunately I think this is
one of those, but it's also kind of important. Thank you soooooo much for
all the fabulous reviews. You people are great, it's good to know people
appreciate my work. Well, on with the story.
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The Stone of Malinya
Turning slightly farther, Legolas could clearly see the arrow's owner. He was a Man of average height with brown hair that reached his ears and appeared only a few years younger than Aragorn. His eyes were the color of storm clouds, gray but with a fierceness hidden underneath and he wore the uniform of a soldier, green with light blue stripes running down the arms.
The Elf barely gave him a second glance and immediately turned his attention to Aragorn once more. Showing no regard whatsoever for this stranger, Legolas shifted his body and stretched out his other arm as well, desperately trying to get a hold of his friend. The Man, Sorinth he had called himself, took a tiny step back when he did this, but made no move to help.
Legolas latched onto Aragorn's arm tightly when he was finally able to shift himself into the Elf's grasp. He now had a firm hold on his friend but if he was going to pull him up it would have to be solely through the strength of his legs, which would not have been an enormous problem regularly but there was nothing around that Legolas could use as an anchor to keep himself from falling as well. He did break himself from his thoughts for a moment and shot the Man beside him a deathly glare, suddenly growing annoyed by his presence.
"You have two choices, either back away before I am forced to shoot you with your own bow, or help me." Legolas held Sorinth's gaze, having obviously startled the Man with his words, but he saw in his eyes a discipline that came from training and a hard resolve to stick by one's values.
"I will help." With the smallest sigh the Man put down his bow and then knelt beside the Elf, taking hold of Aragorn's arm and thankfully relieving Legolas's left shoulder of the stress of his weight.
"Pull together on three," Legolas instructed and was glad that the Man simply nodded, "One, two, three." Working as one the two were able to pull Aragorn back to stable ground with only minor difficulty. The King gasped for air for a moment, exerted by the adrenaline rush accompanying the near- death experience, but momentarily stood and brushed himself off.
Their attacker, Sorinth, was picking up his bow but also looking them over intently. Legolas was doing the same, his eyes never straying from the Man as he moved about. Aragorn noticed that the Elf was clearly favoring his left shoulder and knew that the wound had been aggravated and reopened.
I shall have to tend to it later. Aragorn thought and then turned his attention to Sorinth. He was now watching Legolas as he picked up his own weapon, which he had thoughtlessly flung to the ground upon seeing Aragorn fall.
"What are you doing in Brelan?" Sorinth asked, still studying the two.
Legolas looked him over a final time and then turned to Aragorn, ignoring the question, "Are you well?"
Aragorn nodded, knowing he should not ask the same thing of his friend, "Only slightly winded, but next time let's take the stairs." Legolas chuckled and agreed.
"What are you doing in Brelan?" Sorinth demanded now, and restrung his bow.
Legolas turned to him, somewhat agitated and said, "Is this how you treat all the guests you invite to your land?"
"No, only the intruders." Sorinth replied curtly, then lowered his weapon as he took a step back and motioned behind him. A half dozen men slowly came from the woods, weapons in hand, and all dressed in the same green uniform.
"Friends of yours?" Legolas asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"My men. I am their leader, Sorinth, as I've said. And you have yet to answer my question."
"But we did answer," Aragorn said before Legolas could reply, "We are invited guests to this land. I am Lord Elessar of Gondor."
Sorinth had the grace to look embarrassed but quickly covered it up. He was smart enough to know to challenge a claim such as this. "I suppose you have proof of this. I have seen few Kings of great lands that travel without a large escort."
"I do. You and your men came across us just after we left the rest of my company. They camp directly through the woods in which we just travelled through." Legolas quickly whispered to Aragorn that he could hear his men approaching, "In fact they should be upon us any moment now."
As if on cue the bellowing voice of Risorine suddenly called out, "Lord Elessar?" It was clear the captain and guards were in search of the two friends, and that made them wonder just how long they had been gone.
"Here Risorine!" Aragorn called out, watching as Sorinth ordered his men to lower their weapons, not wishing to start a conflict.
Risorine, Gimli, and several guards appeared from the forest and cast a curious and surprised glance towards the Brelan Men.
"My lord?" Risorine looked to Aragorn for confirmation that this situation was not hostile.
"It is all right Risorine. There was simply a misunderstanding." Aragorn assured his captain. Then Sorinth nodded almost imperceptibly towards Risorine, and oddly enough the Man returned the gesture just as swiftly.
Gimli strode over and stood next to Legolas, both standing tall and watching over the situation. The Dwarf couldn't help but elbow Legolas and ask, "Can't you go anywhere without getting into trouble?"
The Elf smiled and replied, "Which one of us had to be rescued from Wargs a few nights ago?"
"Rescued? Why you merely leant a hand, I assure you I had the situation completely under control." Gimli said, easily brushing off the 'rescue' comment. Both were quiet then as Sorinth and Aragorn spoke to one another.
"A Dwarf? If you are indeed who you say you will be greatly welcomed to this land. I assume you have the invitation token, if you truly are King Elessar." Sorinth said, sheathing his sword. He was now fairly certain that this Man was who he said, but he still needed to see the friendship token and hear the words of peace. Gimli puffed out his chest slightly upon hearing the Man's words, confirming that Dwarves were thought of very highly in these parts.
"Of course." Aragorn reached into a pouch attached to his belt, that he had been wearing throughout the trip to ensure its safety, and pulled out a small golden apple. The ornament had been given to his company that he sent to Brelan months before and he was to return it to prove he was who he said and speak their words of greetings. He held the apple out to Sorinth.
"Lesque nils de Shama*." Sorinth said formally, taking the apple.
"Resa mos terut*." Aragorn replied, then both bowed as officially as they spoke.
Sorinth smiled, knowing for sure that Aragorn was who he said as he recited the customary Brelan greeting in their own tongue, and returned the gift given to his servants.
"I am pleased that you have made it safely to our land. And I apologize for our actions, we were not expecting you for several more days." Sorinth explained as everyone began to relax.
"I would have made the same assumptions in your place. As for the time of our arrival, I must admit that baffles me as well. I had not thought we would be reaching the rendevous for three more days." Aragorn admitted, fully understanding the Man's actions.
Sorinth nodded and then spoke loudly, clearly addressing his men, "It is Lord Elessar! He has spoken our words and greeted us honorably. It is now our duty to escort him safely to our King in Miscalanth."
Aragorn accepted this and then indicated the way to their camp, "We must first return to our camp to fetch the rest of my men and our belongings."
"Of course." Sorinth said, motioning for Aragorn to lead the way.
Aragorn and Sorinth walked side by side back to camp, with Risorine not far behind, eyeing the newcomer warily. The Men of Gondor and Brelan began mingling at once and followed behind their leaders, and Gimli and Legolas strode at the end of the group.
Legolas slung his bow over his shoulder and winced involuntary as the action pulled at the injury. Gimli noticed this and frowned.
"Why do I have the feeling I missed something interesting?" The Dwarf asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Legolas chuckled softly and said, "Let us just say that the Men of Brelan made a memorable first impression and leave it at that."
"Did you run into any difficulties on your journey?" Sorinth asked Aragorn as they walked to the King's camp. It was a good distance away so they were making idle chatter as they walked through the splendid forest.
"The weather was fine and enjoyable. A pack of Wargs was our only excitement, and they were easily taken care of." Aragorn replied.
"Wargs are a bit of a problem around these parts but there are less and less as you get closer to Miscalanth. I take it your men sustained no injuries." Sorinth said, edging the tiniest hint of concern into his voice.
"They all came out unscathed, but we were much more wary after that." Aragorn said, making a point not to mention Gimli and Legolas's injuries.
They arrived at the camp swiftly and when Aragorn and his men had packed their belongings, they then had formal introductions. Aragorn and Sorinth stood before one another, each with their men lined up behind them. Gimli was introduced last so as to keep the Men of Brelan guessing as to the reason for the Dwarf's presence, Aragorn also made sure to skim over Legolas just as quickly as his guards, not wishing to draw attention to the Elf. His earlier instructions were followed to the letter and all his men kept their hoods drawn up as they were told to. The Men of Gondor assumed this was an unspoken tradition of Brelan so thought nothing of it, while the Men of Brelan thought it must be a tradition in the land of Minas Tirith so made no mention of it either, just as Aragorn had hoped.
After everyone was formally introduced they were on their way once more, their group now increased from twelve to nineteen.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The day passed quickly enough with all the Men getting to know one another, forging friendships quickly with the Men they would be travelling with for the next two weeks. Legolas made it a point to stay away from the group as often as possible, a few of the Men of Brelan thought this was odd behaviour but Aragorn's guards assured them that, that was how he had been acting the entire journey, and it wasn't due to their company.
Gimli quickly became a favorite of the Men of Brelan, they enjoyed his stories greatly and had a wonderful time jesting with the delightful and witty Dwarf. Of course Gimli couldn't help but allow all this attention to affect his pride at least a little, maybe a lot.
Sorinth and Aragorn hit it off immediately, finding a nearly instant bond of friendship between them, despite their odd initial introduction. The Men traded tales of their respective lands and Sorinth taught Aragorn many of the traditions and customs of Brelan. For this the King of Gondor was forever thankful, for he hated entering a culture whose customs he didn't know, he felt it disrespectful.
Then there was Risorine. He spoke with the several of the new Men, but continually watched the two who were in charge of their mission. To most it would seem as though he were suspicious of these Men, Sorinth especially, but the truth was he was writhing with jealousy and annoyance. Once more a newcomer had entered the picture and immediatley stolen his Lord's attention. It was bad enough that he had not been around when Aragorn was ambushed, but now his attacker had quickly become his latest confidant. The captain was beginning to think he did not fit in with Aragorn at all and idly wondered if the King of Brelan needed a bodyguard. But at least his focus was finally drawn from Legolas.
Man and Elf sat in the King's tent once more that evening, much the same as they had three nights before with Aragorn rummaging through his bag for bandages and Legolas slowly removing his tunic. There had been no time throughout the day in which the Elf had been able to take care of his wounded shoulder and now he was feeling the effects. The entire day had been painful as every bump on the road had jarred his arm worse, but he gritted his teeth and suffered through it, refusing to let a few Warg bites blow his disguise.
Aragorn sighed as sat next to his friend and looked over the wound, it had definitely been reopened and had been bleeding all day, and, the King knew, probably had been very painful. It had been healing nicely but now nearly all the damage was redone as the stress on the shoulder had been too great.
"This is never going to heal if you don't rest it." Aragorn reprimanded Legolas, mostly out of habit since he could hardly blame the Elf for being the cause of the injury.
"Do not make it a point to fall off any more cliffs and you shall not have to worry." Legolas countered easily, then hissed a breath as Aragorn slowly began rotating the shoulder.
"I believe you've strained the muscle as well as reopening the wound." Aragorn said, sounding much like the healer he sometimes was.
"I would not be surprised, you are much heavier than you look."
"Thank you for the helping hand, you know it is greatly appreciated," Aragorn said as gratefully as he could, "There is a little else I can do. You must try not to strain yourself anymore though."
"I will be sure to get enough sleep and clean off my plate as well." Legolas said, mocking his friend for his concern over an injury that was annoying at the most.
"Yes, do that too." Aragorn replied chuckling. He then left the tent and walked out into the night and began gazing at the stars while Legolas took a moment to put on his shirt and straighten out his appearance.
They set up camp late for they wished to travel as far as possible in the light of day, so by the time the fire was built that night the stars could already be seen clearly in the night sky. A large fire was built and almost all gathered around it, some were posted to be on the lookout for Wargs, but with so large a group the chance of attack was low. Sorinth was talking with his own men and Aragorn was standing near the edge of the clearing, gazing into the night sky. Risorine saw this and thought it was a chance opportunity to speak with his Lord, but just as he stood to walk over Legolas appeared suddenly from nowhere and they began talking immediately. Risorine didn't think he could take this for much longer, but he sighed and sat down once more, knowing he could speak to Aragorn later. Risorine's actions did not go unnoticed by Sorinth though and the Man frowned deeply.
Derist, one of the Brelan Men, had been strolling around the edges of the camp when he heard the odd speech. He looked around and saw two men further along the path; normally he would have just let them be but something drew him nearer. His stealth talents had always been extraordinary and he crept a little closer to the two without being detected. As he approached he could clearly see one of the Men was Lord Elessar, now he definitely knew he should not be listening to this conversation, not that he understood any of it. But the words captivated him and he had to continue listening.
"Mithril an nauth.**" The other man said. Derist was soon able to identify him as Salogel, though he had to admit he had paid little attention to the 'Man'.
Aragorn smiled and replied, "Brelan avorn anglenna.**"
"A si im nauth lend an ha.**" Salogel said, brightening the King's smile even further. Derist had no way of knowing what was being said but had clearly heard the word 'Brelan', so listened to the rest of the conversation in case they switched back to Common Speech. They did not though and he was able to make out nothing more of their conversation, except what he thought had been the word "Malinya", but he was sure he was wrong. The Stone of Malinya was long since lost and he quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
Legolas and Aragorn stood looking up at the night sky and talking quietly, in Elvish. There was no real reason for doing so other than that they knew no one was around and it had been some time since either had spoken in the magical language.
"Why does the thought of Brelan distress you?" Legolas asked, kicking a rock absently.
"Brelan brings me no true distress, it is my thoughts of finding Malinya's stone that weigh me down. I worry that we will not be able to find it, or that it may not exist at all. My dreams have been filled with visions of finding the Stone, and the peace it would bring. My heart is set on these dreams and I fear it may break if they do not come to life." Aragorn admitted with a soft sigh.
Legolas did not reply for a few moments and then said, "Middle Earth has survived through much, and it will continue to thrive whether we find the Stone or not. As for your worry, in all my years of experience I can tell you this, it does you no good. Especially when you have no control over what is yet to come. I would advise you to push it from your mind, but I know you well son of Arathorn. You will continue to ponder and doubt until the day we reach Miscalanth, so until then know that I will always be here if you need to talk."
"Thank you my friend. You're right, I worry needlessly. I believe that meeting with our escort has unnerved me. We must have gone much faster than we believed to have arrived three days early." As he spoke, Aragorn turned and began to head back to the camp, and Legolas followed in stride.
"I like to think of it as taking three days more off our quest, and the length of time until we can return the Stone safely to the inhabitants of Middle Earth." Legolas said, speaking his last Elvish sentence for many days as they re-entered the camp.
Derist walked away from his hiding place, wishing he could have understood the strange conversation, but also somehow grateful that he had had a chance to hear it at all. When he saw Lord Elessar and Salogel enter the camp and then begin to settle in for the night, he finally followed and joined the group as well. He immediately sought out Sorinth, wishing for someone to speak to right away.
"Captain, may I speak with you a moment?" Derist asked when he finally found Sorinth readying a few things for the morning.
"Of course Derist, what is it?" Sorinth said, curious as to what could need his attention at so late an hour.
"Does Gondor have its own language?" Derist asked, unsure of how much he should admit to at this point.
"I'm not sure, I've never asked. But I would assume it does, as all great kingdoms should. Why?"
"A piece of conversation I heard only, between Lord Elessar and Salogel, I believe his name was. I couldn't understand what they were saying, it was unlike any speech I've ever heard. Musical almost. Gondor is privileged to have such a beautiful language." Derist seemed to become lost in thought as he remembered the sound of the Elvish tongue.
"Is that all?" Sorinth asked, breaking his man from his thoughts.
"Yes sir, I was just curious. I better turn in for the night." Sorinth nodded his approval and Derist quickly sped away.
Sorinth found his eyes drifting through the camp, searching until he found his target. There, sitting by the fire talking quietly with Gimli, was Salogel. Sorinth suddenly realized that though he had been introduced there had been no true explanation as to the presence of Salogel. He had been alone with the Lord and that conveyed a position of importance, and he was clearly not one of Aragorn's guards, so what was this Man doing on this journey? Sorinth didn't know at this time, but he planned to find out.
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* Welcome to the land of Brelan.
* It's an honor to be here.
** Mithril for your thoughts.
** Brelan quickly approaches.
** And here I thought we were travelling to it.
Go easy on me if I screwed up the Elvish, never used it in a fic before. Hope you liked, they'll be action in the next chapter I believe, but I'm not sure, I haven't written it yet. Stop by again for more later.
Diana ^_^
PS - Review???????????
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The Stone of Malinya
Turning slightly farther, Legolas could clearly see the arrow's owner. He was a Man of average height with brown hair that reached his ears and appeared only a few years younger than Aragorn. His eyes were the color of storm clouds, gray but with a fierceness hidden underneath and he wore the uniform of a soldier, green with light blue stripes running down the arms.
The Elf barely gave him a second glance and immediately turned his attention to Aragorn once more. Showing no regard whatsoever for this stranger, Legolas shifted his body and stretched out his other arm as well, desperately trying to get a hold of his friend. The Man, Sorinth he had called himself, took a tiny step back when he did this, but made no move to help.
Legolas latched onto Aragorn's arm tightly when he was finally able to shift himself into the Elf's grasp. He now had a firm hold on his friend but if he was going to pull him up it would have to be solely through the strength of his legs, which would not have been an enormous problem regularly but there was nothing around that Legolas could use as an anchor to keep himself from falling as well. He did break himself from his thoughts for a moment and shot the Man beside him a deathly glare, suddenly growing annoyed by his presence.
"You have two choices, either back away before I am forced to shoot you with your own bow, or help me." Legolas held Sorinth's gaze, having obviously startled the Man with his words, but he saw in his eyes a discipline that came from training and a hard resolve to stick by one's values.
"I will help." With the smallest sigh the Man put down his bow and then knelt beside the Elf, taking hold of Aragorn's arm and thankfully relieving Legolas's left shoulder of the stress of his weight.
"Pull together on three," Legolas instructed and was glad that the Man simply nodded, "One, two, three." Working as one the two were able to pull Aragorn back to stable ground with only minor difficulty. The King gasped for air for a moment, exerted by the adrenaline rush accompanying the near- death experience, but momentarily stood and brushed himself off.
Their attacker, Sorinth, was picking up his bow but also looking them over intently. Legolas was doing the same, his eyes never straying from the Man as he moved about. Aragorn noticed that the Elf was clearly favoring his left shoulder and knew that the wound had been aggravated and reopened.
I shall have to tend to it later. Aragorn thought and then turned his attention to Sorinth. He was now watching Legolas as he picked up his own weapon, which he had thoughtlessly flung to the ground upon seeing Aragorn fall.
"What are you doing in Brelan?" Sorinth asked, still studying the two.
Legolas looked him over a final time and then turned to Aragorn, ignoring the question, "Are you well?"
Aragorn nodded, knowing he should not ask the same thing of his friend, "Only slightly winded, but next time let's take the stairs." Legolas chuckled and agreed.
"What are you doing in Brelan?" Sorinth demanded now, and restrung his bow.
Legolas turned to him, somewhat agitated and said, "Is this how you treat all the guests you invite to your land?"
"No, only the intruders." Sorinth replied curtly, then lowered his weapon as he took a step back and motioned behind him. A half dozen men slowly came from the woods, weapons in hand, and all dressed in the same green uniform.
"Friends of yours?" Legolas asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"My men. I am their leader, Sorinth, as I've said. And you have yet to answer my question."
"But we did answer," Aragorn said before Legolas could reply, "We are invited guests to this land. I am Lord Elessar of Gondor."
Sorinth had the grace to look embarrassed but quickly covered it up. He was smart enough to know to challenge a claim such as this. "I suppose you have proof of this. I have seen few Kings of great lands that travel without a large escort."
"I do. You and your men came across us just after we left the rest of my company. They camp directly through the woods in which we just travelled through." Legolas quickly whispered to Aragorn that he could hear his men approaching, "In fact they should be upon us any moment now."
As if on cue the bellowing voice of Risorine suddenly called out, "Lord Elessar?" It was clear the captain and guards were in search of the two friends, and that made them wonder just how long they had been gone.
"Here Risorine!" Aragorn called out, watching as Sorinth ordered his men to lower their weapons, not wishing to start a conflict.
Risorine, Gimli, and several guards appeared from the forest and cast a curious and surprised glance towards the Brelan Men.
"My lord?" Risorine looked to Aragorn for confirmation that this situation was not hostile.
"It is all right Risorine. There was simply a misunderstanding." Aragorn assured his captain. Then Sorinth nodded almost imperceptibly towards Risorine, and oddly enough the Man returned the gesture just as swiftly.
Gimli strode over and stood next to Legolas, both standing tall and watching over the situation. The Dwarf couldn't help but elbow Legolas and ask, "Can't you go anywhere without getting into trouble?"
The Elf smiled and replied, "Which one of us had to be rescued from Wargs a few nights ago?"
"Rescued? Why you merely leant a hand, I assure you I had the situation completely under control." Gimli said, easily brushing off the 'rescue' comment. Both were quiet then as Sorinth and Aragorn spoke to one another.
"A Dwarf? If you are indeed who you say you will be greatly welcomed to this land. I assume you have the invitation token, if you truly are King Elessar." Sorinth said, sheathing his sword. He was now fairly certain that this Man was who he said, but he still needed to see the friendship token and hear the words of peace. Gimli puffed out his chest slightly upon hearing the Man's words, confirming that Dwarves were thought of very highly in these parts.
"Of course." Aragorn reached into a pouch attached to his belt, that he had been wearing throughout the trip to ensure its safety, and pulled out a small golden apple. The ornament had been given to his company that he sent to Brelan months before and he was to return it to prove he was who he said and speak their words of greetings. He held the apple out to Sorinth.
"Lesque nils de Shama*." Sorinth said formally, taking the apple.
"Resa mos terut*." Aragorn replied, then both bowed as officially as they spoke.
Sorinth smiled, knowing for sure that Aragorn was who he said as he recited the customary Brelan greeting in their own tongue, and returned the gift given to his servants.
"I am pleased that you have made it safely to our land. And I apologize for our actions, we were not expecting you for several more days." Sorinth explained as everyone began to relax.
"I would have made the same assumptions in your place. As for the time of our arrival, I must admit that baffles me as well. I had not thought we would be reaching the rendevous for three more days." Aragorn admitted, fully understanding the Man's actions.
Sorinth nodded and then spoke loudly, clearly addressing his men, "It is Lord Elessar! He has spoken our words and greeted us honorably. It is now our duty to escort him safely to our King in Miscalanth."
Aragorn accepted this and then indicated the way to their camp, "We must first return to our camp to fetch the rest of my men and our belongings."
"Of course." Sorinth said, motioning for Aragorn to lead the way.
Aragorn and Sorinth walked side by side back to camp, with Risorine not far behind, eyeing the newcomer warily. The Men of Gondor and Brelan began mingling at once and followed behind their leaders, and Gimli and Legolas strode at the end of the group.
Legolas slung his bow over his shoulder and winced involuntary as the action pulled at the injury. Gimli noticed this and frowned.
"Why do I have the feeling I missed something interesting?" The Dwarf asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Legolas chuckled softly and said, "Let us just say that the Men of Brelan made a memorable first impression and leave it at that."
"Did you run into any difficulties on your journey?" Sorinth asked Aragorn as they walked to the King's camp. It was a good distance away so they were making idle chatter as they walked through the splendid forest.
"The weather was fine and enjoyable. A pack of Wargs was our only excitement, and they were easily taken care of." Aragorn replied.
"Wargs are a bit of a problem around these parts but there are less and less as you get closer to Miscalanth. I take it your men sustained no injuries." Sorinth said, edging the tiniest hint of concern into his voice.
"They all came out unscathed, but we were much more wary after that." Aragorn said, making a point not to mention Gimli and Legolas's injuries.
They arrived at the camp swiftly and when Aragorn and his men had packed their belongings, they then had formal introductions. Aragorn and Sorinth stood before one another, each with their men lined up behind them. Gimli was introduced last so as to keep the Men of Brelan guessing as to the reason for the Dwarf's presence, Aragorn also made sure to skim over Legolas just as quickly as his guards, not wishing to draw attention to the Elf. His earlier instructions were followed to the letter and all his men kept their hoods drawn up as they were told to. The Men of Gondor assumed this was an unspoken tradition of Brelan so thought nothing of it, while the Men of Brelan thought it must be a tradition in the land of Minas Tirith so made no mention of it either, just as Aragorn had hoped.
After everyone was formally introduced they were on their way once more, their group now increased from twelve to nineteen.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The day passed quickly enough with all the Men getting to know one another, forging friendships quickly with the Men they would be travelling with for the next two weeks. Legolas made it a point to stay away from the group as often as possible, a few of the Men of Brelan thought this was odd behaviour but Aragorn's guards assured them that, that was how he had been acting the entire journey, and it wasn't due to their company.
Gimli quickly became a favorite of the Men of Brelan, they enjoyed his stories greatly and had a wonderful time jesting with the delightful and witty Dwarf. Of course Gimli couldn't help but allow all this attention to affect his pride at least a little, maybe a lot.
Sorinth and Aragorn hit it off immediately, finding a nearly instant bond of friendship between them, despite their odd initial introduction. The Men traded tales of their respective lands and Sorinth taught Aragorn many of the traditions and customs of Brelan. For this the King of Gondor was forever thankful, for he hated entering a culture whose customs he didn't know, he felt it disrespectful.
Then there was Risorine. He spoke with the several of the new Men, but continually watched the two who were in charge of their mission. To most it would seem as though he were suspicious of these Men, Sorinth especially, but the truth was he was writhing with jealousy and annoyance. Once more a newcomer had entered the picture and immediatley stolen his Lord's attention. It was bad enough that he had not been around when Aragorn was ambushed, but now his attacker had quickly become his latest confidant. The captain was beginning to think he did not fit in with Aragorn at all and idly wondered if the King of Brelan needed a bodyguard. But at least his focus was finally drawn from Legolas.
Man and Elf sat in the King's tent once more that evening, much the same as they had three nights before with Aragorn rummaging through his bag for bandages and Legolas slowly removing his tunic. There had been no time throughout the day in which the Elf had been able to take care of his wounded shoulder and now he was feeling the effects. The entire day had been painful as every bump on the road had jarred his arm worse, but he gritted his teeth and suffered through it, refusing to let a few Warg bites blow his disguise.
Aragorn sighed as sat next to his friend and looked over the wound, it had definitely been reopened and had been bleeding all day, and, the King knew, probably had been very painful. It had been healing nicely but now nearly all the damage was redone as the stress on the shoulder had been too great.
"This is never going to heal if you don't rest it." Aragorn reprimanded Legolas, mostly out of habit since he could hardly blame the Elf for being the cause of the injury.
"Do not make it a point to fall off any more cliffs and you shall not have to worry." Legolas countered easily, then hissed a breath as Aragorn slowly began rotating the shoulder.
"I believe you've strained the muscle as well as reopening the wound." Aragorn said, sounding much like the healer he sometimes was.
"I would not be surprised, you are much heavier than you look."
"Thank you for the helping hand, you know it is greatly appreciated," Aragorn said as gratefully as he could, "There is a little else I can do. You must try not to strain yourself anymore though."
"I will be sure to get enough sleep and clean off my plate as well." Legolas said, mocking his friend for his concern over an injury that was annoying at the most.
"Yes, do that too." Aragorn replied chuckling. He then left the tent and walked out into the night and began gazing at the stars while Legolas took a moment to put on his shirt and straighten out his appearance.
They set up camp late for they wished to travel as far as possible in the light of day, so by the time the fire was built that night the stars could already be seen clearly in the night sky. A large fire was built and almost all gathered around it, some were posted to be on the lookout for Wargs, but with so large a group the chance of attack was low. Sorinth was talking with his own men and Aragorn was standing near the edge of the clearing, gazing into the night sky. Risorine saw this and thought it was a chance opportunity to speak with his Lord, but just as he stood to walk over Legolas appeared suddenly from nowhere and they began talking immediately. Risorine didn't think he could take this for much longer, but he sighed and sat down once more, knowing he could speak to Aragorn later. Risorine's actions did not go unnoticed by Sorinth though and the Man frowned deeply.
Derist, one of the Brelan Men, had been strolling around the edges of the camp when he heard the odd speech. He looked around and saw two men further along the path; normally he would have just let them be but something drew him nearer. His stealth talents had always been extraordinary and he crept a little closer to the two without being detected. As he approached he could clearly see one of the Men was Lord Elessar, now he definitely knew he should not be listening to this conversation, not that he understood any of it. But the words captivated him and he had to continue listening.
"Mithril an nauth.**" The other man said. Derist was soon able to identify him as Salogel, though he had to admit he had paid little attention to the 'Man'.
Aragorn smiled and replied, "Brelan avorn anglenna.**"
"A si im nauth lend an ha.**" Salogel said, brightening the King's smile even further. Derist had no way of knowing what was being said but had clearly heard the word 'Brelan', so listened to the rest of the conversation in case they switched back to Common Speech. They did not though and he was able to make out nothing more of their conversation, except what he thought had been the word "Malinya", but he was sure he was wrong. The Stone of Malinya was long since lost and he quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
Legolas and Aragorn stood looking up at the night sky and talking quietly, in Elvish. There was no real reason for doing so other than that they knew no one was around and it had been some time since either had spoken in the magical language.
"Why does the thought of Brelan distress you?" Legolas asked, kicking a rock absently.
"Brelan brings me no true distress, it is my thoughts of finding Malinya's stone that weigh me down. I worry that we will not be able to find it, or that it may not exist at all. My dreams have been filled with visions of finding the Stone, and the peace it would bring. My heart is set on these dreams and I fear it may break if they do not come to life." Aragorn admitted with a soft sigh.
Legolas did not reply for a few moments and then said, "Middle Earth has survived through much, and it will continue to thrive whether we find the Stone or not. As for your worry, in all my years of experience I can tell you this, it does you no good. Especially when you have no control over what is yet to come. I would advise you to push it from your mind, but I know you well son of Arathorn. You will continue to ponder and doubt until the day we reach Miscalanth, so until then know that I will always be here if you need to talk."
"Thank you my friend. You're right, I worry needlessly. I believe that meeting with our escort has unnerved me. We must have gone much faster than we believed to have arrived three days early." As he spoke, Aragorn turned and began to head back to the camp, and Legolas followed in stride.
"I like to think of it as taking three days more off our quest, and the length of time until we can return the Stone safely to the inhabitants of Middle Earth." Legolas said, speaking his last Elvish sentence for many days as they re-entered the camp.
Derist walked away from his hiding place, wishing he could have understood the strange conversation, but also somehow grateful that he had had a chance to hear it at all. When he saw Lord Elessar and Salogel enter the camp and then begin to settle in for the night, he finally followed and joined the group as well. He immediately sought out Sorinth, wishing for someone to speak to right away.
"Captain, may I speak with you a moment?" Derist asked when he finally found Sorinth readying a few things for the morning.
"Of course Derist, what is it?" Sorinth said, curious as to what could need his attention at so late an hour.
"Does Gondor have its own language?" Derist asked, unsure of how much he should admit to at this point.
"I'm not sure, I've never asked. But I would assume it does, as all great kingdoms should. Why?"
"A piece of conversation I heard only, between Lord Elessar and Salogel, I believe his name was. I couldn't understand what they were saying, it was unlike any speech I've ever heard. Musical almost. Gondor is privileged to have such a beautiful language." Derist seemed to become lost in thought as he remembered the sound of the Elvish tongue.
"Is that all?" Sorinth asked, breaking his man from his thoughts.
"Yes sir, I was just curious. I better turn in for the night." Sorinth nodded his approval and Derist quickly sped away.
Sorinth found his eyes drifting through the camp, searching until he found his target. There, sitting by the fire talking quietly with Gimli, was Salogel. Sorinth suddenly realized that though he had been introduced there had been no true explanation as to the presence of Salogel. He had been alone with the Lord and that conveyed a position of importance, and he was clearly not one of Aragorn's guards, so what was this Man doing on this journey? Sorinth didn't know at this time, but he planned to find out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Welcome to the land of Brelan.
* It's an honor to be here.
** Mithril for your thoughts.
** Brelan quickly approaches.
** And here I thought we were travelling to it.
Go easy on me if I screwed up the Elvish, never used it in a fic before. Hope you liked, they'll be action in the next chapter I believe, but I'm not sure, I haven't written it yet. Stop by again for more later.
Diana ^_^
PS - Review???????????