Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or any characters thereof
Authors Note: Hi everyone! This is Galadriel, not Lock Owl (that'll be me, Estel, your editor for this evening), and I would like to sincerely apologize for my delay in updating my portion of this story. Ok, I want you all to know that I am new at this whole story writing deal, so please bear with me. Thanks a bunch.
Oh, and one more thing, please remember that this story is AU. Thanks.
'…in italics…' means thoughts
'…in bold…' means Galadriel speaking into someone's mind
"…regular…" means normal speech
R2R from Estel:
Dujoran: That would have been my doing, about Estel making it to Lothlorien in one piece. I always felt that he ran away without a destination in mind, but had he had one who is to say he'd not have reached it? His age was raised a bit, mostly because at the time Galadriel and I began this story I was that age, thirteen, and needed to get out a bit, if you know what I mean. Is there anything in particular you would like us to clarify? As for "Pervasive Elf-witch", that's something of an inside joke between Galadriel and I, but it seemed like. . .well. . .she was scaring him and he just reacted.
Alaskantiger: Rivendell, actually (just a helpful pointer). His reasons are actually only my knowledge and not Galadriel's, so as this is her chapter you won't get his reasons quite yet--but you will in time.
Grumpy: I should think so, I am a teenage boy! You will see. . .
Leggylover03: Actually, I'm not Lock Owl. Lock Owl is Cody, I'm her friend. If you've read 'Loving the Wind' I'm that friend. But I'll get the message along to her to get with the updates.
Shadowfax04: Thanks! While it may be a while between updates, we won't stop writing until the story is finished.
Thanks, it was great hearing from all of you!
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I had also heard Elladan and Elrohir speak of their grandmother's temper. Apparently, her moods can change faster than lightning. By this time, my eyes were blurred with hot, salty tears and I could not see the Lady as she approached me. I felt a soft, warm hand stroke through my hair, but I pulled away. 'Why do the twins always have to be right?' I imagine that the Lady Galadriel was trying to evoke some sort of maternal instinct inside herself because she then proceeded to hug me. It felt like I was being wrapped up in a warm blanket, similar to when Celebrían hugs me, and I felt I no longer needed to cry. 'Oh, no. Contact. My weakness.'
"Estel, I am sorry. I know that must have been very frightening for you. It is for most people, let alone a boy your age." 'A boy my age? What does she think I am a infant?'. . .'Hush!' I had somehow forgotten that she could read my thoughts.
"Now then, please tell me why you ran away from Imaldris." I wasn't about to give up that easily. I shook my head no. I could feel the tears rising one again. "Please Estel, I need to know."
I decided to be somewhat mature…"Have you ever known shame, Lady?" I asked in a quivering voice.
She looked confused, as if I had just presented her with a complex mathematical equation. "No. No, I have not." I could see that she was trying to read my mind again (or maybe I was just paranoid), so I put my hands over my ears, as to prevent her from entering my thoughts, and quickly exclaimed, "Then you will never understand why I ran away!" And then I started to cry, again, and the tears came with a blistering headache.
The Lady of the Wood rose to her feet and, without thinking, I stood too. "Estel, come with me. I want to show you something." She lead me through the forest and into a clearing. In the middle was an elaborately carved stone pillar with what looked like a stone washbowl on top of it. It took me a moment realize that this was not a washbowl, but the Mirror of Galadriel! I had, once again, heard about this from the twins and I vowed never to listen to them again.
"Estel, do you know what this is?"
"Y-Yes"
"Do you know its purpose?"
"Y-no, I mean yes."
"Then you know what I want you to do, correct?"
I couldn't take this any more. "Forgive my impertinence Lady, but I do not want to gaze into your Mirror." She turned to get a pitcher of he shelf behind her, "And why is that?"
"Because…" I could not admit to her that I was afraid of the truth. I knew that whatever I saw in the Mirror she would see as well and I did not want her to.
'Look into the Mirror, Estel.' I flinched. I hated when she did that. "No!" There was a short intake of breath from the Lady and I knew she was angry. I covered my head with my arms and crouched like she was about to throw something at me. But the Lady Galadriel did not yell, she did not scream, she didn't event reprimand me. I found this astonishing.
"Very well," she said in a forced calm, "I shall leave you to collect your thoughts." Before I could anything, she walked away with silent footsteps. 'Was that it? Was that all she was going to say? If it was Elrond in place of the Lady, I'm sure I would be in for another lecture. Perhaps Elves are not as similar as I thought.'
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