The Art of Deception

by Tears of Eternity

Who am I? My name is Ariana. But you can just call me Aria." She's the girl with the perfect life. But no one know about the "training" her parents put her through. What happens when she lands in ME and meets a certain golden-haired Elf? CH. 13 UP!

10. Chapter Nine: Guard Duty

The Art of Deception

Disclaimer: don't own LOTR

Chapter Nine: Guard Duty

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * Legolas's POV * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Though it had been late, the dining hall had been crowded, as usual. Elves sat around, eating, laughing, and joking around with their friends. Elves of nobility, warriors, commonfolk—all relaxed and forgot about their stations in the dining hall as they chatted with friends.

In the winter, most of the Elves inhabiting Mirkwood came to the caves, to the immense, underground palace of my father. Some preferred to face the cold and stay above ground, as they could not stand being underground for any large amount of time. The place was large enough to accommodate those who came and even more. It had been built to hold the people and endure sieges. We came every winter to make sure the palace stayed intact, clean, and ready to be inhabited in case of any attack. The darkness had been spreading. Lord Elrond and his company had arrived in autumn, causing more Elves than usual to stay in the palace during the winter. Many met with old friends from Rivendell; some made new friends. All in all, negotiations seemed to be going pretty well.

The topic most were talking about these days was the move back above ground. We were a little late about it this year. Spring had already begun to spread itself among the land while we were still here, underground. The Equinox* would come soon. We would be celebrating it in just a few more weeks. Many Elves had yearned to go above as soon as possible but stayed out of respect for Lord Elrond and my father. But no matter. We would be leaving soon; preparations were already being made, packing and such. I was but one of the many that longed to see the sky and trees again.

But today, as I sat down along with Aragorn, there was a new topic of conversation: the strange silver-haired girl that one of the orc-hunting parties had brought in with them. I wondered how the news had spread so fast. My gaze strayed over to a particularly noisy table where a young elf was talking loudly to his friends. Suppressing a groan, I answered my own question. Calel. Of course. He was young, in Elven terms at least, only a century or so. He was also the biggest gossip in Mirkwood. I had never met such a talkative elf! However, he was gaining in skill in the weaponry and had accompanied us on our orc hunt. By the Valar, I thought, he must have told everyone! Others were crowding in around Aragorn and me, recognizing us as those who had also been there. They eagerly waited for us to tell what had happened, who the girl was, and basically any more details that we could recall.

I didn't know why everyone was so interested. Maybe it was just because of her hair color. The only other I had heard of, not met, that had that hair color was Lord Celeborn of Lothlorien. But he was a powerful Elf-lord; uniqueness was to be expected of him. And from what I had heard from my hunting party, even his hair was not quite so bright as this young human's. Perhaps it was just the natural curiosity of the Elves. Or perhaps, I thought ruefully, we have just been shut underground too long, locked away from the rest of the world for the most part.

Aragorn, sitting beside me, looked a little hesitant, unsure whether to tell or not. He glanced uncertainly at me. Normally, he was not so unsure, but he was not in his own home. This was my father's realm, and things were different. I gave him a barely perceptible nod, but he caught it and launched into the story. I guess that it couldn't hurt. After all, she was only a young woman with strange colored hair. And it wouldn't do any good to try to keep it a secret now anyway, not after Calel blabbed the whole thing out to everyone within hearing range.

Questions were coming at me and Aragorn from all sides. With a sigh, I resigned myself to tell everything, or mostly everything, I knew about the silver-haired girl. This is going to be a long night, I thought as three questions interrupted me after I had finished the first two sentences.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After leaving the dining hall, I walked wearily toward my quarters. It was past one o'clock in the morning, and I was tired. If anyone asked another "So who is this girl? I heard that she has silver hair" I would probably burst. I had patience—quite a lot in human terms, not quite so much in Elven terms. We Elves of Mirkwood were not known for our patience, and we knew it. That could be left to the Elves of Lothlorien or Rivendell.

A burst of laughter echoed in the stone hallways. Some were still up. These days, no one cared much about when to sleep; we didn't need that much anyway. Aragorn and most of the other Men would be in bed by twelve, but Elves stayed up far later. However, I was wearied from the continuous days of hunting orcs. A sigh escaped me. I longed to see the stars. On these dark nights, when I had time alone to brood over my thoughts, I always longed to feel the light of the stars shining on my face. I could feel them, of course, hovering on the edge of my senses. Nature whispered to me, whispered comforting, soothing words of peace and joy. But it was but a shadow of what it was above ground. I would be very glad when we returned to the woods above.

I was startled out of my thoughts by a small scream. In an instant, I was alert, scanning the passageway and doorways of rooms around me for who might have screamed and why. I got the answer to my questions very quickly. A human serving woman came bursting out of one of the rooms farther down the hallway. The room where the girl is staying, I realized. A look of panic and fear was on her face. She had been left to watch over the girl in her sleep and alert one of the healers if there were any changes in her condition. The silver-haired young woman came after.

I halted as I saw her. She should not be out of bed so soon, I thought, frowning. I walked quickly forward to escort her back to her room. What I saw made me freeze in my tracks. As I had approached, her head had turned towards me. But her eyes were strangely empty and glazed, as if in a trance. In fact, how she was now reminded me of the Elven sleeping trance. But she was not an Elf. Slowly, she raised one arm (the other was in a cast) and began to take slow, halting steps forward. Her hand felt the air around her. She resembled one who had just gone blind and did not know what to make of it yet.

For a moment, I just stood there, dumbfounded. She seemed asleep, yet she was walking and her eyes were open! But the shock lasted only a moment. The next, I was hurrying forward, gently taking hold of her hands and leading her back into her room. She made no effort to resist me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the frightened servant. She looked like she was scared out of her wits. Then again, I might be too if I had seen my charge walk out of her bed with her eyes wide open while still seemingly asleep. "Go and get Lord Elrond," I ordered, though in a gentle tone of voice. She gave a small, frightened nod and sped off quickly, as if she would rather be anywhere than here.

I continued leading the girl back to her room. Her hands were calloused, as if she had either done much work or had been trained in the use of a sword. I considered the former more likely. Many Men tended to look upon females as incompetent, not suited to doing anything other staying at home doing the cooking and cleaning. And here was a young woman, surely no older than fourteen years of age. Perhaps a maid, I wondered. I led her over to her bed, and she lay down on it by herself. I felt relieved. I did not particularly know what to make of the situation. I sat down in the chair the maid had been using and proceeded to wait for Lord Elrond.

But only moments later, the girl sat up again. It happened so quickly that I almost jumped backwards. Once again, the large, unseeing eyes—grey eyes, I thought—turned towards me. She stood and began to walk again. She was muttering something under breath, too soft for humans to hear, though I heard every word. But I did not recognize the language. It was all just nonsense, gibberish to me. Patiently, I let her continue her trek until she was at the doorway before beginning to lead her back again. I sincerely hoped that Lord Elrond would be here soon.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I yawned tiredly. I had been up all night, watching over the girl. I had been allowed to sleep, of course, since even in sleep I would be able to detect it if she rose to get up, but it had not been very restful. The girl seemed to get up every time I had begun walking the Elven dream-paths!

Lord Elrond had come soon after, accompanied by my father once again, to my surprise. I did not know that they stayed up so late discussing political issues. Lord Elrond had quickly diagnosed his patient as a 'sleepwalker.' He said that she was still asleep, but the dreams that haunted her mind took the form of physical action. It was very uncommon but not unheard of in humans. I had suggested afterwards that we post a guard other than the royal maids, since they would probably be scared senseless.

My father had been growing increasingly disapproving during this conversation. He did not have a very high opinion of humans and seemed to consider this girl more trouble than she was worth. He had said that it would not be necessary. I had argued with him about it, bringing up the arguments of "what if she walked all around the castle, scaring people?" and "she might hurt herself," though I don't think her cared very much about the latter. In the end, my father, being the kind of person he is, placed me in charge of the girl. He had said that since I had brought her here, she was my responsibility, and I would have to take care of her. I had not even tried to argue. My father had had that stubborn look on his face, and nothing I could have said would have changed his mind. And so I was appointed guard duty.

I yawned again. I hoped that she would wake up soon.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I stumbled into the waking world at an extremely hard tug to my ears. Elven ears are very sensitive so this hurt a lot more than it would to a human. With a rather undignified yelp of pain and surprise, I jumped backward, knocking over the chair. I rubbed at my eartips, extremely glad that no one had seen a prince of Mirkwood jump like a startled rabbit just because someone had pulled on his ears.

It was now the seventh day since the girl had arrived, and I had been on guard duty every day. Lord Elrond had not considered this very unusual but had said that she would wake up soon. Now that she was awake, I took a good look at her. She was a small figure but lithe, sitting on the bed like that. Her left cheek was covered by a large, purple but fading bruise. Twigs, leaves, and other assorted items stuck out of hair that was silver in color, the same hair that had made others so curious. No one had tried to bathe this girl while she was in a healing sleep, afraid of waking her up and disrupting the process. Her skin still had some fading bruises on them but was rather pale underneath. Large, crystal gray eyes inhabited a small, pointed face. Her left arm was up in a cast, and she cradled it awkwardly. Even so injured, there was still an air of innocence around her, almost like that of a child. The eyes that gazed at me were full of surprise and astonishment, not the slyness and cunning that my father would have expected.

She opened her small mouth as if to begin speaking but then broke off as she began to cough. The sound made me realize that I had been staring and stirred me into action. I seized the cup of water on a small table next to the bed and handed it to her. She looked up at me with those wide, innocent eyes and accepted it gratefully. She drank greedily—well, she has not had water properly in a week, I thought—and then turned her gaze towards me again. She began to speak, but she spoke in a tongue I did not recognize. It was fast but smooth. My confusion must have shown on my face because she halted suddenly in her jumble of words.

I attempted to communicate, trying Sindarin first, though I doubted she knew the language. "Lle rangwa amin?" Do you understand me?

Obviously, she did not, gazing at me with confusion. She spoke again, in a seemingly different tongue than before. She was trying to communicate as well. But, once again, I did not recognize the language. I spoke in every tongue I knew, from Sindarin to Common, but she did not understand any of it. That was strange. I had met no one that did not know Common! Apparently, she was also trying several different languages, though I recognized none of them. I certainly did not know all of the languages on Middle Earth, but I was certain that I could recognize them. But this girl had spoken in not tongue that I had ever heard. By the expression on her face, she was equally frustrated and confused.

Disturbed by this news, I quickly made an excuse and left, walking quickly to fetch Lord Elrond. This matter had to be seen to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"So you say that she does not understand any of the languages you spoke, not even the Common?" Lord Elrond asked, furrowing his brow.

"Yes," I replied. "She seemed to be speaking in several different languages as well in order to try to communicate, but I did not recognize any of them."

"That is very strange," my father spoke, frowning.

"I know, Ada. That is why I think that you should come see her with me, Aragorn as well for he is well-traveled." I replied.

"Yes, of course," Lord Elrond said vaguely, as if deep in thought.

"Well," my father spoke reluctantly, "if Elrond is going, then I should too." I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was not looking forward to this.

We set off down the hall.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * Aragorn's POV (third person)* * * * * * * * * * * *

He had been strolling down the hall, whistling cheerfully. Aragorn had had a good night's rest and was now heading on his way to visit Legolas and check up on the silver-haired girl. She was a mystery, that one. Aragorn felt rather sorry for Legolas right now. From what he had heard about the girl's night roamings, he had not had a good night's sleep, not that he needed it as much as Aragorn would have, in many days. He hoped that she would wake soon, for Legolas's sake and that of curiosity.

He reached the room and began to push the door open. It wouldn't budge. Aragorn frowned. That was strange. Why would Legolas bar the door? But before he had a chance to call out to his friend to see if anything was wrong, a shriek followed by a loud splash came from inside. The shriek had been feminine. Aragorn's quick-thinking brain quickly surmised that Legolas was probably not there and that the shriek must have come from the girl. The splash… was someone attacking her? Alarmed at the notion, Aragorn threw his weight against the door. It gave a little. He did it twice more and the door burst open.

At once, Aragorn was alert and ready to fight his enemy with his small dagger. He saw no one. Seeing a pool of water leaking out from the bathing chamber, he rushed towards the doorway… and froze in shock. The girl with silver hair was sitting in the bathtub, spluttering. Rose petals covered the water and her body, while a large puddle was quickly spreading across the floor. Now Aragorn realized that she must have fallen into the tub. He began to recover from the shock of seeing a young woman in a bathtub and the thought to hurry away before she saw him began to form in his befuddled mind.

Unfortunately, she saw him at that moment. For a moment, she seemed to freeze too, and they stared at each other for a second. Aragorn had only the time to take in the innocent air of her look before a cry rent the air and he saw a bar of soap flying towards him. He had not time to leap out of the way, and the soap struck him right in the groin. His face twisting a little at the pain, he staggered out of the doorframe before she could throw any more objects at him.

Aragorn stumbled out into the hallway and sat down, trying to recollect what had just happened. The only clear thought he had was, she throws hard!

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OMG THAT CHAPTER WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO CRAPPY!! I hate it! AAH die die chapter!!!! Ugh… I am soooooooooooooooo sorry if you're disappointed by that chapter, but I have sorta a writer's block and I haven't update in so long that I thought for now speed was needed… I promise that I will update sooner this time!!! But I had to get this up tonight or else it wouldn't have come till next week cuz I'm busy tomorrow. Well, questions: HOW OLD WAS ARAGORN IN LOTR? ALSO, I'M CONSIDERING MAKING MAJOR MAJOR REVISIONS TO LEGOLAS'S FAMILY. THE IDEA OF HIM BEING THE ELDEST SON DOESN'T REALLY SIT RIGHT WITH ME… I'M CONSIDERING COMPLETELY TAKING OUT GALELAS AND TOTALLY REARRANGING THE FAMILY. WHAT DO U GUYS THINK? ALSO, SHOULD I MAKE LEGOLAS'S MOTHER ALIVE OR DEAD IN THIS STORY? OOOH, AND HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET FROM RIVENDELL TO MIRKWOOD?? SOMEONE SAID ONE MONTH, I THINK.

I'M SO GLAD THAT MOSTLY EVERYONE HATES GEOMETRY!!!!!!!! IT JUST MAKES MY DAY!!!!!!!

Dragonlet: Yes, I loooooooooooooove the Rhapsody series!!!! I introduced them to my friend at school and she likes them too but I haven't found anyone else who's heard of it yet!!! YAY! U have!!! Elizabeth haydon is such an awesome writer!!!  ^_^  btw, glad u like my ficcie

Lady of the Dark: oooo, do I see eminem? Yes I do!!! I luv eminem!!!! He rocks!!! He's kinda a mini obsession with me right now…

LadyTremere: OMG U'VE MET MARGARET WEIS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??! COOLNESS!!!!! I would looooooooooooove to meet her! Lucky you!!! And she's critiqued your work?!?!?!?!??! MAJOR COOLNESS!!!!!! Wow, I bet u write really well don't you? Ok, now I feel totally amateur( is that how u spell it?) doesn't molten just mean like melted? Dunno… maybe liquid would be more accurate…

Miss Save the Squirrels: cool! Squirrlies!!! LoL

The Majestic Moose: I finished it! The ending was… interesting. Well I won't say anything to ruin it for u! glad u thought my chappie eight was funny!

KindCalypso: I wish I was good at geometry… unfortunately, I suck at it and my teacher isn't making it any easier either

JadeGoddess: I learned that Westron, or Common, is NOT the same as English… besides, a language barrier is interesting to write about… I always wondered what would happen if they couldn't understand each other. lol  

Muriel: yes I have!!! They were really good!!!!

Deortheod: I hate trigonometry too!!!!!! Even tho we're just learning a teeny tiny bit in geometry right now.. ugh… sine cosine and tangent… too many decimals!!! And I completely totally hate proofs too!!!!!! When are we ever gonna use this in life anyway?

Starshines: Common, or Westron, is NOT the same as English! That's why they can't understand each other.