Oh, my gosh, everyone. I'm so sorry! I should have updated sooner, but I
was caught up in school and everything. But, excuses aren't worthy
anything. I strictly remember writing that in a story, but I don't
remember which one. Lol, anyway. Well, please, enjoy this. It's nice and
long, and I don't own anything from the genius Tolkien's world. I won't
start on who I do own, the list is too long.lol. Have fun!
Chapter 1: "Muirnait"
"When may I see you again, Lord Haldir?" Moiré asked his retreating form. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder.
"Meet me by the Nimrodel to-morrow afternoon when the sun is at its peak," he murmured before disappearing into thick wood, leaving Moiré to her thoughts.
***
The next day at the Nimrodel, Haldir was there already when Moiré arrived there. He was looking out at the woods on the other side of the river with his tan cloak over his shoulders and his hand resting on his sword hilt.
"It is about time you arrived, Moiré. You must not keep one waiting, 'tis rude," Haldir said arrogantly, turning around to face her.
"Lord Haldir," Moiré said quietly, laying a hand against his chest as she approached him.
"Aye, Moiré?" he asked her, looking down into her blue eyes.
"What are you thinking, right now?" she asked, her eyes shining with her youth.
Haldir thought a moment, then said, "About how beautiful the woods are."
"Oh," she murmured, sighing with barely contained disappointment. She turned around and began to leave, but Haldir placed a hand on her shoulder first.
"What is it? Why are you leaving? I thought you needed to speak with me," he asked her in confusion.
"Lord Haldir, if you do not see it now, then you never will," she replied, her eyes frowning at him. Her eyes mirrored every emotion that she ever felt about anything.
He sighed and tilted her chin up with his index finger. He gazed down into her eyes and took a shuddered breath. "Amin hiraetha, Moiré (I am sorry)," he said. "Forgive me."
"For what?" she asked. "There is nothing to forgive now."
She smiled up at him, knowing he finally realized what she had meant and why she had come. She took a breath and closed her eyes, feeling Haldir cup her face with his hands. He looked down at her closed eyes and then kissed their lids. Her skin felt like satin against his lips, and he wondered why he had been too afraid to show her how he felt before. Her blonde locks fell over his hands, feeling like warm silk over his fingers.
"Moiré," he said quietly, his lips a whisper away from hers.
"Eru, kiss me if you are going to. You must not keep someone waiting, 'tis rude," she said with a playful smile, slipping her arms up around his neck.
Haldir chuckled quietly before his lips settled on her own soft, rose petal ones. He caressed them gently, feather-soft, before pulling back to see her eyes closed. It was only a moment of passion, and had been over far to quickly. He kissed her cheeks, first one and then the other, and saw her eyes flutter open.
"I would have thought you were better at this certain 'art,' Lord Haldir," she said, gently caressing the nape of his neck with her hands.
"Haldir," he said automatically. "Call me Haldir, for it seems you and I are in for more than just a friendship, Muirnait."
"What does that mean?" she asked before Haldir guided his lips to hers.
"It means 'beloved' or 'little one' in the Old Tongue," he answered, mild desperation in his eyes.
"Oh," Moiré said quietly.
"And, here, I call you little one, for you are still small," he added with a faint smile.
Little? He thought her little? She was not little, and she would not tolerate being considered it.
Her thoughts were interrupted, and completely forgotten for the moment, when she felt Haldir's lips upon hers again. He kissed her more desperately this time with a need and a passion that surprised her. A passion that was saved for after marriage, she thought, but was not quite sure and frankly her thoughts were a bit too scattered for her to think straight.
She could not think. He was fogging her mind. Her thoughts were intercrossed and she was more confused then she had ever felt in her life. Her thoughts jumped around from one place to another, having no mercy. Moiré heard her own breath catch in her throat as the kiss deepened even more. They brought out the passion of the kiss until need of breath screamed in each one's mind.
"Moiré," Haldir said, brushing a hand against her cheek.
Moiré leaned into his touch and said, "Muirnait. Call me that, Haldir."
"Muirnait," he amended, rubbing the pad of his thumb against her lips.
"And I am not little, Haldir, so call me that only if you call me the other meaning," she said sternly, yet her voice was wistful.
"Why did you wish to see me again apart from yesterday? You could not have known that this would happen, and our friendship would deepen in such a significant way."
Haldir saw her frown and sigh, leaning against his chest.
"I sensed it might happen, and was hoping against all hopes it would not," she said sadly.
"Why is that, Muirnait?" Haldir brushed his hand over her hair, holding her close.
"Because, my father, brother, and I are leaving to return to Mirkwood to- morrow at dawn. I wanted to tell you yesterday, but would not bring myself to it," she said woefully.
Haldir looked devastated by this ill news. Instead of saying something he would later regret, he tilted her face up again and kissed her passionately. He kissed her as if he could thrive on it alone, as if it was the only thing keeping him alive right then.
He pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes were closed from passion still. He pressed gentle kisses over her face, then made his way back to her lips again. A moment later he started it all over for what must have been so preciously short a time, but to Moiré, it seemed forever since she was in his warm embrace.
"Haldir," she said, stopping him by placing a hand against his cheek. "Please. This will only make it harder, Haldir."
Haldir winced slightly at that, but recovered quickly, murmuring, "Then I want it to be as hard to say goodbye to-morrow as I am allowed to make it, Muirnait," against her lips.
"Haldir," she said, her voice barely over a whisper as she felt her breath catch in her throat. "Please, Haldir. I do not want it to be so."
However, it was too late. Her protests were drowned out by the reckless youth she felt in Haldir again as he kissed her fervently, passionately. Beautifully, she thought.
Moiré brought her hands up behind his neck again, lightly caressing his neck. His hands played rhythmically up and down her back and the wind toyed with the ends of their hair.
"Moiré!" a distant voice called, bringing the two out of their wake of romance.
"My father is calling for me," she said, resting her brow against Haldir's.
"Meet me here again after dinner to-night, Muirnait. Please," Haldir said.
"Haldir-"
"Please," he begged.
"Moiré!" her father called again.
"I will," she said, smiling.
Haldir smiled back and kissed her quickly on her lips then disappeared into the wood, leaving Moiré there to run and answer her father's call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Moiré," a soft voice said from beside her. "Where have your thoughts strayed, my friend?"
Moiré turned slowly to face Estelwen, her best friend, riding beside her on their horses. She blinked in the bright sunlight as they rode into a glen and shook her head.
"I just want to hurry up to Helm's Deep to save Lord Haldir," she said, remembering to refer to him as his proper title to others.
"Do not bother calling him 'Lord Haldir,' sister," her eldest brother, Rowan, cried out to her as he dismounted his horse near a waterfall. "We all know that you both are courting."
Moiré turned red as she said, "It is none of your business, brother, whom I am courting or not." She walked up behind him and planted her boot on his hindquarters, then extended her leg all the way, sending her brother to crashing into the water. She shrieked in surprise when he grabbed her arm and pulled her in with him.
"Rowan!" she gasped when she came up after him pulling her under.
"Moiré!" he said, mocking the shock on her face.
"Children! We have a long rode ahead of us. 'Tis only been two hours since we left the fortress," Toror, their father, called to them with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Sorry, Father," they both said. Moiré grinned and suddenly dunked Rowan under the spring warmed water. Moiré jumped out of the water and onto her horse before Rowan could swim back up to the top and retaliate against her.
"She-Elves," another of Moiré's brothers, Elemmiire, murmured as Moiré sped past him on her horse.
"I beg your pardon, Elemmiire, for you might want to bite your tongue before it is cut out of your mouth," Estelwen said, playfully punching him on his arm.
"Forgive me, Estelwen. But I would only permit that to happen if it were done by a she-Elf as beautiful as you," he said, making her blush.
"Regular she-Elves," Moiré thought as she rode past her father and other brothers quickly, Rowan chasing her now.
She rode faster and faster until she was unsure of being able to dodge trees and bushes. The wind whipped the hair that had escaped her braid around her face. The speed sent a thrill of exhilaration through her.
Then she felt it. A pain so harsh and quick that it had her pulling the reins on her horse back until she stopped, then fall off to the side.
"Moiré!" she heard the rest of the party call.
She fought to keep her eyes open, but the pain in her chest had her falling into a world where pain was no more whilst she slept. She tried to wake up, but could not. She could hear her friends and family calling her and riding up around her.
"Moiré," she heard Rowan say. She guessed it was he that lifted her up into his lap. She felt his fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse. "She is still breathing, Athair. Do not worry Estelwen. Wake up Moiré," he added in her ear. Finally, Moiré felt all consciousness leave her.
About an hour later, Moiré felt herself bumping up and down rhythmically. She figured she was on a horse and found her guess right when she opened her eyes. She winced and pressed her hand over her thin, leather armour over her heart.
"Good, you have awoken, Moiré," she heard her father say to her.
"Father, what does 'athair' mean?" she asked suddenly, remembering what Rowan had said earlier.
"It means 'father' in the Old Tongue, Muirnait," he told her, steering past a tree.
"Haldir calls me 'muirnait,'" she murmured.
"Hmm?" her father grunted, thinking she had spoken to him.
"Nothing, Father. I was just saying that Haldir calls me Muirnait," she repeated, leaning her head back against his chest.
"Do you love him?" he asked her.
"Of course I love Haldir. Why else would I be on this trip to save him?" she asked, irony in her voice.
"I know you love him like that. That is how your brothers love you. Do you love him more than family, like you would spend the rest of your life with him, daughter?" he asked, a stern gentleness in his voice.
Moiré thought this over for a moment. She had never told Haldir she loved him, and had never thought the matter over either. She thought one time Haldir had said he loved her, but was not sure. He could have said anything, for he spoke in the Old Tongue, when she was under the intoxication of one of his marvelous kisses.
"Yes," she said after a minute of thinking. "I do love him."
She felt her father nod and sped the horse up slightly.
*
Night was descending upon the earth and it had been a few hours since Moiré's discussion with her father. They had ridden in silence, the only noises being the horses and the sounds of the forest. They were all on the alert, ready to fight at every irregular movement or sound in the forest.
Suddenly, Kathel, another of Moiré's brothers, stopped.
"Something is amiss here," he said, listening intently. "I can-
Suddenly, he was pulled up into the low tree branch above him by long, sticky, hairy legs-or arms.
"Kathel!" Rowan and Moiré shouted in unison. Moiré jumped off her horse and ran over to where Kathel had last been seen. When she looked up, she screamed and threw herself on the ground, rolling over.
"What is it, Moiré?" Estelwen asked, jumping off and running over to Moiré.
"No! Stay back! Spi-"
Moiré was cut off as giant hairy, sticky legs and a full, two-part body emerged from the trees and pulled her up. She yelled a very unladylike oath at it.
"Moiré!" Rowan yelled, drawing his sword and running over to the spider. He swung up at it, and feeling as if he was hitting nothing but air. Suddenly he heard a loud hiss, then a screech and felt his blade catch on something. He felt warm, sticky blood oozing down on his face and felt Moiré fall down into his arms. He quickly dodged to the left just in time to see the giant spider falling down onto the ground, his blade lodged into the thing's wicked, black heart.
"Rowan," she murmured, throwing her arms around her brother's neck. "Kathel!" she added, finally remembering why she had been abducted only a moment before.
Rowan set her down and pushed her away towards her father. He dislodged his sword and ran over to where he heard muffled grunts and shouts in the trees. He looked up and spotted his target. He immediately thrust his blade up, heard the horrid screech again and felt blood pouring down on his face. Kathel fell, bound in spider's web, onto the ground. Rowan quickly pulled him out of the way as the spider fell right where he had been lying.
"Kathel!" Estelwen yelled upon seeing the blonde Elf bound in silver threads of web.
"No!" Moiré's father thundered. "We must flee from here first, then tend to him!"
Rowan threw himself on Kathel's horse and then pulled him up on it. He urged the horse on with his knees and sent the horse into a gallop, his own horse following with great speed.
When they reached a spot they thought was safe, Moiré collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion. Rowan and Kathel both tumbled to the ground in Rowan's hurry to dismount. Estelwen steadied herself against her horse and closed her eyes, pressing a hand to her temples. Elemmiire rode beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Moiré's father and the rest of her brothers and the riding party all stopped and dismounted.
Rowan pulled his soiled blade out of its sheath and wiped the black spider's blood from it on the grass. Then he began to break the strands of web from his brother's upper torso and face.
"Athair," Rowan said when he finished pulling the sticky web from his brother.
"Aye, son," Toror said, gathering the horses together and putting them in their own spot.
"I must speak with you in private," Rowan said, walking over to him.
"Let us gather firewood then, my son," Toror said.
Moiré sighed and stood up. She pulled out her pallet from her horse's load and set in on the ground near the water. She lay down as Kathel came and sat beside her. She stared up at the stars as muttered something incoherently.
"How are you feeling, brother?" Moiré asked him, still gazing at the stars.
"How would you feel if you were to be a giant spider's meal, Moiré?" he asked sarcastically, glancing at her.
Moiré returned the gaze, smiling, saying, "I was abducted to, but only you were to be a meal because they love you so."
Kathel glared at her and tweaked her nose. "They must love you to, sister, for they attempted to have you as a meal."
"True. And as though the spiders may love you, I love you more," Moiré said, sitting up and embracing her brother around his neck.
"I love you as well, sister."
Meanwhile, Rowan and Toror had walked a ways down the stream to gather firewood.
"What is it that you needed to speak with me about, son?" Toror asked Rowan.
"Have you told Moiré yet, Athair?" he asked, going directly to the point.
Toror sighed as he picked up a piece of dry wood and turned to his son.
"No, I have not, Rowan. I will tell her when she is ready. She is in love with Haldir. I do not think it would be best for me to tell her before she confesses her love to Haldir, do you agree?"
"Aye, Athair, but she needs to know! It is not fair for her to live blindly without knowledge of who she is! She has to know!" Rowan said, sighing audibly and walking back to their campsite quickly, an irritated swagger in his stride.
Toror sighed and knew his eldest son would never understand his wishes to keep secrets from his daughter.
Special thanks to my beta, Merenwen Luinwel, and for Iarejedi for looking over this too. Again, sorry guys for taking so bloody long to update, but better late than never, huh? If you are an anonymous reviewer, and you want to know when I update, email me (my email is in my profile) and I'll put you on my mailing list, k? Anyhow, talk to y'all later!
All for one and one for all, Aramis
Chapter 1: "Muirnait"
"When may I see you again, Lord Haldir?" Moiré asked his retreating form. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder.
"Meet me by the Nimrodel to-morrow afternoon when the sun is at its peak," he murmured before disappearing into thick wood, leaving Moiré to her thoughts.
***
The next day at the Nimrodel, Haldir was there already when Moiré arrived there. He was looking out at the woods on the other side of the river with his tan cloak over his shoulders and his hand resting on his sword hilt.
"It is about time you arrived, Moiré. You must not keep one waiting, 'tis rude," Haldir said arrogantly, turning around to face her.
"Lord Haldir," Moiré said quietly, laying a hand against his chest as she approached him.
"Aye, Moiré?" he asked her, looking down into her blue eyes.
"What are you thinking, right now?" she asked, her eyes shining with her youth.
Haldir thought a moment, then said, "About how beautiful the woods are."
"Oh," she murmured, sighing with barely contained disappointment. She turned around and began to leave, but Haldir placed a hand on her shoulder first.
"What is it? Why are you leaving? I thought you needed to speak with me," he asked her in confusion.
"Lord Haldir, if you do not see it now, then you never will," she replied, her eyes frowning at him. Her eyes mirrored every emotion that she ever felt about anything.
He sighed and tilted her chin up with his index finger. He gazed down into her eyes and took a shuddered breath. "Amin hiraetha, Moiré (I am sorry)," he said. "Forgive me."
"For what?" she asked. "There is nothing to forgive now."
She smiled up at him, knowing he finally realized what she had meant and why she had come. She took a breath and closed her eyes, feeling Haldir cup her face with his hands. He looked down at her closed eyes and then kissed their lids. Her skin felt like satin against his lips, and he wondered why he had been too afraid to show her how he felt before. Her blonde locks fell over his hands, feeling like warm silk over his fingers.
"Moiré," he said quietly, his lips a whisper away from hers.
"Eru, kiss me if you are going to. You must not keep someone waiting, 'tis rude," she said with a playful smile, slipping her arms up around his neck.
Haldir chuckled quietly before his lips settled on her own soft, rose petal ones. He caressed them gently, feather-soft, before pulling back to see her eyes closed. It was only a moment of passion, and had been over far to quickly. He kissed her cheeks, first one and then the other, and saw her eyes flutter open.
"I would have thought you were better at this certain 'art,' Lord Haldir," she said, gently caressing the nape of his neck with her hands.
"Haldir," he said automatically. "Call me Haldir, for it seems you and I are in for more than just a friendship, Muirnait."
"What does that mean?" she asked before Haldir guided his lips to hers.
"It means 'beloved' or 'little one' in the Old Tongue," he answered, mild desperation in his eyes.
"Oh," Moiré said quietly.
"And, here, I call you little one, for you are still small," he added with a faint smile.
Little? He thought her little? She was not little, and she would not tolerate being considered it.
Her thoughts were interrupted, and completely forgotten for the moment, when she felt Haldir's lips upon hers again. He kissed her more desperately this time with a need and a passion that surprised her. A passion that was saved for after marriage, she thought, but was not quite sure and frankly her thoughts were a bit too scattered for her to think straight.
She could not think. He was fogging her mind. Her thoughts were intercrossed and she was more confused then she had ever felt in her life. Her thoughts jumped around from one place to another, having no mercy. Moiré heard her own breath catch in her throat as the kiss deepened even more. They brought out the passion of the kiss until need of breath screamed in each one's mind.
"Moiré," Haldir said, brushing a hand against her cheek.
Moiré leaned into his touch and said, "Muirnait. Call me that, Haldir."
"Muirnait," he amended, rubbing the pad of his thumb against her lips.
"And I am not little, Haldir, so call me that only if you call me the other meaning," she said sternly, yet her voice was wistful.
"Why did you wish to see me again apart from yesterday? You could not have known that this would happen, and our friendship would deepen in such a significant way."
Haldir saw her frown and sigh, leaning against his chest.
"I sensed it might happen, and was hoping against all hopes it would not," she said sadly.
"Why is that, Muirnait?" Haldir brushed his hand over her hair, holding her close.
"Because, my father, brother, and I are leaving to return to Mirkwood to- morrow at dawn. I wanted to tell you yesterday, but would not bring myself to it," she said woefully.
Haldir looked devastated by this ill news. Instead of saying something he would later regret, he tilted her face up again and kissed her passionately. He kissed her as if he could thrive on it alone, as if it was the only thing keeping him alive right then.
He pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes were closed from passion still. He pressed gentle kisses over her face, then made his way back to her lips again. A moment later he started it all over for what must have been so preciously short a time, but to Moiré, it seemed forever since she was in his warm embrace.
"Haldir," she said, stopping him by placing a hand against his cheek. "Please. This will only make it harder, Haldir."
Haldir winced slightly at that, but recovered quickly, murmuring, "Then I want it to be as hard to say goodbye to-morrow as I am allowed to make it, Muirnait," against her lips.
"Haldir," she said, her voice barely over a whisper as she felt her breath catch in her throat. "Please, Haldir. I do not want it to be so."
However, it was too late. Her protests were drowned out by the reckless youth she felt in Haldir again as he kissed her fervently, passionately. Beautifully, she thought.
Moiré brought her hands up behind his neck again, lightly caressing his neck. His hands played rhythmically up and down her back and the wind toyed with the ends of their hair.
"Moiré!" a distant voice called, bringing the two out of their wake of romance.
"My father is calling for me," she said, resting her brow against Haldir's.
"Meet me here again after dinner to-night, Muirnait. Please," Haldir said.
"Haldir-"
"Please," he begged.
"Moiré!" her father called again.
"I will," she said, smiling.
Haldir smiled back and kissed her quickly on her lips then disappeared into the wood, leaving Moiré there to run and answer her father's call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Moiré," a soft voice said from beside her. "Where have your thoughts strayed, my friend?"
Moiré turned slowly to face Estelwen, her best friend, riding beside her on their horses. She blinked in the bright sunlight as they rode into a glen and shook her head.
"I just want to hurry up to Helm's Deep to save Lord Haldir," she said, remembering to refer to him as his proper title to others.
"Do not bother calling him 'Lord Haldir,' sister," her eldest brother, Rowan, cried out to her as he dismounted his horse near a waterfall. "We all know that you both are courting."
Moiré turned red as she said, "It is none of your business, brother, whom I am courting or not." She walked up behind him and planted her boot on his hindquarters, then extended her leg all the way, sending her brother to crashing into the water. She shrieked in surprise when he grabbed her arm and pulled her in with him.
"Rowan!" she gasped when she came up after him pulling her under.
"Moiré!" he said, mocking the shock on her face.
"Children! We have a long rode ahead of us. 'Tis only been two hours since we left the fortress," Toror, their father, called to them with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Sorry, Father," they both said. Moiré grinned and suddenly dunked Rowan under the spring warmed water. Moiré jumped out of the water and onto her horse before Rowan could swim back up to the top and retaliate against her.
"She-Elves," another of Moiré's brothers, Elemmiire, murmured as Moiré sped past him on her horse.
"I beg your pardon, Elemmiire, for you might want to bite your tongue before it is cut out of your mouth," Estelwen said, playfully punching him on his arm.
"Forgive me, Estelwen. But I would only permit that to happen if it were done by a she-Elf as beautiful as you," he said, making her blush.
"Regular she-Elves," Moiré thought as she rode past her father and other brothers quickly, Rowan chasing her now.
She rode faster and faster until she was unsure of being able to dodge trees and bushes. The wind whipped the hair that had escaped her braid around her face. The speed sent a thrill of exhilaration through her.
Then she felt it. A pain so harsh and quick that it had her pulling the reins on her horse back until she stopped, then fall off to the side.
"Moiré!" she heard the rest of the party call.
She fought to keep her eyes open, but the pain in her chest had her falling into a world where pain was no more whilst she slept. She tried to wake up, but could not. She could hear her friends and family calling her and riding up around her.
"Moiré," she heard Rowan say. She guessed it was he that lifted her up into his lap. She felt his fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse. "She is still breathing, Athair. Do not worry Estelwen. Wake up Moiré," he added in her ear. Finally, Moiré felt all consciousness leave her.
About an hour later, Moiré felt herself bumping up and down rhythmically. She figured she was on a horse and found her guess right when she opened her eyes. She winced and pressed her hand over her thin, leather armour over her heart.
"Good, you have awoken, Moiré," she heard her father say to her.
"Father, what does 'athair' mean?" she asked suddenly, remembering what Rowan had said earlier.
"It means 'father' in the Old Tongue, Muirnait," he told her, steering past a tree.
"Haldir calls me 'muirnait,'" she murmured.
"Hmm?" her father grunted, thinking she had spoken to him.
"Nothing, Father. I was just saying that Haldir calls me Muirnait," she repeated, leaning her head back against his chest.
"Do you love him?" he asked her.
"Of course I love Haldir. Why else would I be on this trip to save him?" she asked, irony in her voice.
"I know you love him like that. That is how your brothers love you. Do you love him more than family, like you would spend the rest of your life with him, daughter?" he asked, a stern gentleness in his voice.
Moiré thought this over for a moment. She had never told Haldir she loved him, and had never thought the matter over either. She thought one time Haldir had said he loved her, but was not sure. He could have said anything, for he spoke in the Old Tongue, when she was under the intoxication of one of his marvelous kisses.
"Yes," she said after a minute of thinking. "I do love him."
She felt her father nod and sped the horse up slightly.
*
Night was descending upon the earth and it had been a few hours since Moiré's discussion with her father. They had ridden in silence, the only noises being the horses and the sounds of the forest. They were all on the alert, ready to fight at every irregular movement or sound in the forest.
Suddenly, Kathel, another of Moiré's brothers, stopped.
"Something is amiss here," he said, listening intently. "I can-
Suddenly, he was pulled up into the low tree branch above him by long, sticky, hairy legs-or arms.
"Kathel!" Rowan and Moiré shouted in unison. Moiré jumped off her horse and ran over to where Kathel had last been seen. When she looked up, she screamed and threw herself on the ground, rolling over.
"What is it, Moiré?" Estelwen asked, jumping off and running over to Moiré.
"No! Stay back! Spi-"
Moiré was cut off as giant hairy, sticky legs and a full, two-part body emerged from the trees and pulled her up. She yelled a very unladylike oath at it.
"Moiré!" Rowan yelled, drawing his sword and running over to the spider. He swung up at it, and feeling as if he was hitting nothing but air. Suddenly he heard a loud hiss, then a screech and felt his blade catch on something. He felt warm, sticky blood oozing down on his face and felt Moiré fall down into his arms. He quickly dodged to the left just in time to see the giant spider falling down onto the ground, his blade lodged into the thing's wicked, black heart.
"Rowan," she murmured, throwing her arms around her brother's neck. "Kathel!" she added, finally remembering why she had been abducted only a moment before.
Rowan set her down and pushed her away towards her father. He dislodged his sword and ran over to where he heard muffled grunts and shouts in the trees. He looked up and spotted his target. He immediately thrust his blade up, heard the horrid screech again and felt blood pouring down on his face. Kathel fell, bound in spider's web, onto the ground. Rowan quickly pulled him out of the way as the spider fell right where he had been lying.
"Kathel!" Estelwen yelled upon seeing the blonde Elf bound in silver threads of web.
"No!" Moiré's father thundered. "We must flee from here first, then tend to him!"
Rowan threw himself on Kathel's horse and then pulled him up on it. He urged the horse on with his knees and sent the horse into a gallop, his own horse following with great speed.
When they reached a spot they thought was safe, Moiré collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion. Rowan and Kathel both tumbled to the ground in Rowan's hurry to dismount. Estelwen steadied herself against her horse and closed her eyes, pressing a hand to her temples. Elemmiire rode beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Moiré's father and the rest of her brothers and the riding party all stopped and dismounted.
Rowan pulled his soiled blade out of its sheath and wiped the black spider's blood from it on the grass. Then he began to break the strands of web from his brother's upper torso and face.
"Athair," Rowan said when he finished pulling the sticky web from his brother.
"Aye, son," Toror said, gathering the horses together and putting them in their own spot.
"I must speak with you in private," Rowan said, walking over to him.
"Let us gather firewood then, my son," Toror said.
Moiré sighed and stood up. She pulled out her pallet from her horse's load and set in on the ground near the water. She lay down as Kathel came and sat beside her. She stared up at the stars as muttered something incoherently.
"How are you feeling, brother?" Moiré asked him, still gazing at the stars.
"How would you feel if you were to be a giant spider's meal, Moiré?" he asked sarcastically, glancing at her.
Moiré returned the gaze, smiling, saying, "I was abducted to, but only you were to be a meal because they love you so."
Kathel glared at her and tweaked her nose. "They must love you to, sister, for they attempted to have you as a meal."
"True. And as though the spiders may love you, I love you more," Moiré said, sitting up and embracing her brother around his neck.
"I love you as well, sister."
Meanwhile, Rowan and Toror had walked a ways down the stream to gather firewood.
"What is it that you needed to speak with me about, son?" Toror asked Rowan.
"Have you told Moiré yet, Athair?" he asked, going directly to the point.
Toror sighed as he picked up a piece of dry wood and turned to his son.
"No, I have not, Rowan. I will tell her when she is ready. She is in love with Haldir. I do not think it would be best for me to tell her before she confesses her love to Haldir, do you agree?"
"Aye, Athair, but she needs to know! It is not fair for her to live blindly without knowledge of who she is! She has to know!" Rowan said, sighing audibly and walking back to their campsite quickly, an irritated swagger in his stride.
Toror sighed and knew his eldest son would never understand his wishes to keep secrets from his daughter.
Special thanks to my beta, Merenwen Luinwel, and for Iarejedi for looking over this too. Again, sorry guys for taking so bloody long to update, but better late than never, huh? If you are an anonymous reviewer, and you want to know when I update, email me (my email is in my profile) and I'll put you on my mailing list, k? Anyhow, talk to y'all later!
All for one and one for all, Aramis