Long chapter warning.
Chapter Nine
It seemed a bit Hollywood-like the way the climate changed so drastically from freezing cold to cool, but I wasn't complaining.
Gimli was, however, but not about the weather. He was still mumbling, but had switched to Dwarvish, so I had no idea what he was saying.
Bill had been reloaded of his things, and I was walking alongside the pony, holding his mane for balance. I was still quite sick, and I hoped I wouldn't give whatever I had to the others. Well... If Boromir fell ill, I might not feel remorse.
I grinned to myself, and stumbled along behind the others.
.
Two days of traveling later, with myself still sick, we reached a familiar wood. At least, familiar to me. I also noted a look a relief grow on Aragorn's face, and wonder on Legolas's.
"They say an Elf-Witch lives in these woods." Gimli hissed to the Hobbits. I watched Frodo closely, and saw him jerk suddenly, and look around as if he heard something, and wasn't sure if anyone else had.
Without as much as a warning, her voice entered my head. I was so startled I tripped on a root, and had to yank Bill's mane for balance, earning a glare from Sam.
It was what she said more than actually hearing her that disturbed me.
"They are yet waiting for you, and wait will they until the ends of time, whether you save them or not. Do not idle here."
I had no idea what on earth Galadriel meant, but it scared me. I had a mission? What else could I do except 'help' the Fellowship destroy the Ring?
Lost in thought, it took me until the arrow point was touching my shoulder to realize we were ambushed.
"What business have you in the Golden Wood?" demanded an Elf I recognized as Haldir.
"Haldir, it is me!" Aragorn exclaimed. Haldir's gaze shifted from Gimli to the ranger, and his hard expression softened, and he nodded to Aragorn, "Elessar, it has been long since you have come to our wood. Why come you now with such strange a company?"
"The tale is long, and secret, for the most part, but will you accept our company for a night?" Aragorn replied.
Haldir said nothing, but began speaking to a few other Elves in his own tongue. Finally, he answered, "I will take you to the Lady's tree, and there she will decide what is best."
We were blindfolded, to Legolas's dismay, and Gimli's indignation, and led through the woods. For some reason I didn't think I'd ever be able to explain, I felt drawn forward, like I was being sucked in, and, although in blindness, I didn't trip once.
When the clothe was untied from our heads, we were in the heart of Lorien, with the glimmering blue-white lights, and staircases wrapping around the treetrunks. Bill was led away to a stable by a various Elf, and I swayed on the spot, trying to pretend there was more strength in my legs than actuallity.
"Eleanor, are you well?" Pippin asked, advancing towards me. I forced a smile, and shook my head.
"Our 'companion' is ill." Boromir explained, his voice full of sarcasm as he said companion.
"I can take her to the healing talan." volunteered a handsome blonde Elf to Haldir's left.
"First the Lady must see them, then you may." Haldir said. The Elf with sympathy for me let me use him for support as we climbed the steps to one of the grandest of the flets.
There stood Galadriel and Celeborn, the latter dazed, but both looking very luminescent. It was silent for a long time.
"Nine there were that set out from Rivendell, and nine there remain, but why has Gandalf been replaced?" Celeborn asked in monotone.
"Replaced?" Boromir barked a laugh, "Nay, we found her, and had no choice but to take her with us."
"And know you what happened to Gandalf?" Galadriel inquired sadly, gazing at Frodo. Frodo shook his head, "Is he alright?"
Galadriel was silent, and closed her eyes for a time, shaking her head.
"Nay." she began slowly, "He has fallen into shadow, and there shall the grey pilgrim remain."
"How?!" Sam burst out, and then reddened.
"In the mines of the last Morian Dwarves he fell, for in those mountains lives a balrog. One of the last of its race, but living still. They battled, and Gandalf is lost to us forever." There was a strange look on her face. Immense sadness, but also...
... Well, if I knew better, I would say it looked like she was telling a grand joke, and pleased it had worked.
"How do you know these things?" Gimli demanded, but not in his usually hard tone. Galadriel didn't look at him at all. Instead, her gaze was focused on me, and I was feeling quite uncomfortable.
"There are many ways." she said mysteriously, and then continued, "Do not let your hearts be troubled, tonight you will sleep well."
I looked at the Hobbits, who looked like they were going to cry from the news, to Aragorn, Legolas, and Boromir, who were just looking in a lost sort of way at each other. Gimli was off to himself, gazing at Galadriel, and mumbling Dwarvish, with a pained look on his face.
Well, I thought optimistically, at least I hadn't screwed up the plot so far. Gandalf fell, and now he would have the transformation to Mithrandir. I smiled contentedly to myself, and wondered if it was possible to change the plot at all. After all, they hadn't been the same, but they had the same outcome as from the story.
"Why do you smile, you heartless spy?" Boromir suddenly snapped. My face fell, and I gave a sigh, "I thought we'd gotten past this spy suspicion."
"You smile at Gandalf's death as if-" Legolas began, but trailed off, his whole exterior suddenly wrathful. "-as if you contrived it."
"What?!" I nearly screeched. Frodo was now looking at me in terror, and Merry and Sam had frightened looks on their faces.
"Now is not the time to discuss such things." Aragorn hissed, gesturing with his eyes to Galadriel and Celeborn, who were whispering to each other. Galadriel turned toward us, and began, "I may assure you the incident was not planned by any forces other than those in Udun."
Boromir opened his mouth to argue, but then stopped.
"She needs help." suggested my support-Elf.
"Take her to the healing talan, but keep her under close guard." Boromir warned.
The Elf helped me to the said talan, talking all the way. His name was Galawe, and he had been born in the Ndaeldeldhrim, the Kingdom of Thranduil. He loved to sing songs from his homeland, but in Lorien they weren't as accepted. He complained that the Lorien Elves sung only sad, mournful songs, while the Sindarin Elves sang about the sun, and valleys to bright tunes, that would never fail to make the listener smile.
We reached the talan as he was telling me about Arienfea, according to him, the most beautiful Elf-maid in all of Arda. He was courting her, but she was very shy, making the task more difficult.
An Elf woman approached us holding a basin of water. She gave one look at me and ordered me to lay on one of the beds and wait for her to come to me.
The talan was empty save me, the woman, and Galawe, who was talking to the woman in hushed tones.
As I was lying on the comfortable bed, it struck me how ironic it was to be in the equivalent of a hospital in a land where the inhabitants couldn't get sick.
I mentioned this to the woman when she approached me, and she didn't catch the humor, only replied tactfully that being an Elf didn't stop bones from breaking and cuts from bleeding.
She gave me some kind of medicine, and I fell asleep soon afterwards.
.
I awoke, it was dark out, and I was alone. I felt completely restored to my good health, and very hungry.
I sat up in bed, and saw that I was now in an airy night gown with lots of designs and patterns in it. It was pretty, but not very practical.
Swinging my legs out of bed, I stood up, and wondered where everyone else was. Not that I expected them to see me at my sick bed. I wandered to the edge of the talan, looked down, and regretted it.
I was alot higher up than I thought, and vertigo struck me hard for a long while. I stood in the middle of the flet, thinking of what to do next. I looked around for my clothes. They were nowhere to be found.
Deciding I didn't care if I was seen - if you could call the voluminous attire- indecently dressed, I headed down the path over insanely thick tree limbs.
Out of nowhere, it seemed, Galawe appeared, saw me, averted his eyes, and said, "Lady, you need to be back in bed."
"I'm hungry, and not tired at all." I protested, feeling like a kid. Galawe shrugged, and, grabbing my arm forcefully, guided me back to the healing talan.
"Where is Luinmir?" Galawe asked, craning his head around. It was my turn to shrug, and Galawe darted off in search of her.
He returned shortly, proudly leading Luinmir, the Elf-doctor, toward me. Luinmir looked very disgruntled, and snapped at Galawe, "Am I not allowed a moment of meditation?"
Galawe didn't answer, but shot me a sympathetic look, and left.
"So," I began innocently, "where are my clothes?"
"Gone." Luinmir replied crisply.
"Gone..." I trailed off.
"They weren't fit for wearing. Coarse, blue leggins? A shirt with sleeves only reaching the elbows?"
I inwardly admitted my shirt was probably ready to be tossed, seeming that it was missing two inches on the hem from where I had helped Merry, and the pants had been unargueably dirty and ripped. I sighed in resignation, and asked what I was expected to wear in public.
"The Lady has had three dresses made for you, along with a cloak, and proper shoes."
"I'm supposed to wear a dress on the journey?" I demanded incredulously.
"Well, what else is there?" Luinmir countered.
"Pants?"
"For a lady, what else is there?" she persisted. I gave up for the time being, and requested to see the clothes. Luinmir shuffled around on a table, and lifted the first dress for me to see. It was a light blue, with darker blue and silver on the hems.
"I'm expected to go a-questing in that?" Luinmir gave a hopeless sort of sigh, and shook her head, yanking out one of the other dresses. It was a forest green with brown and grey accents, and much more practical for the road. The third dress I didn't bother asking to see, but had the shoes brought over.
There were two pairs. One pair was slippers with beads and silver threads sewn on them. The other pair was undoubtably for travelling in. They were like high-topped tennis shoes, only made of soft leather instead of canvas.
"Do you need anything?" Luinmir asked. Food was my reply, and she gave me some sort of soup which reminded me of potatoes and carrots.
Then she left, off to meditate, no doubt. I stared off into space for awhile, then stood up to look at the cloak and the other dress.
The cloak was like the ones I was sure the Fellowship would soon be getting, except it looked a bit more inexplicably feminine. The last dress, however, made the blue one look simple and plain.
It was dark red, with- I regret the only word to describe the sleeves is not really a word, but is the only word I find appropriate-floofy white sleeves, hemmed in gold and black. "For only the most formal occasions."
I jumped, and whirled around, looking at Galadriel like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car.
"It's-" I stammered, "it's really-wow. I don't think I deserve it." Galadriel smiled.
"Something tells me it will come to use near the end of your journey. The blue one is for less formal, and the green is, I'm sure, self-explanitory."
I grinned, and laid the dress down on top of the others.
"But I did not come here to discuss your wardrobe." Galadriel began. Feeling a lecture was coming, I sat down on my bed, and looked up at her expectantly.
"In the First Age, Feanor son of Finwe created the Palantiri. The Seven Seeing Stones, and few of my race still know of them. He created them for communication from distant lands, and-"
"I know what they are." I blurted, "I mean, I know what they do." Galadriel looked suprised, but not annoyed.
"Then you know that they were lost save a few."
"Orthanc and Minas Tirith." I replied, nodding. Galadriel jerked in an unElven-like way, but then continued, "Elessar's mission is to save the last people of Gondor. In a way every member of the fellowship has a different task, which perhaps even they do not know yet. Yours concerns the Palantiri."
"Excuse me?" I croaked, trying to figure out what she was trying to tell me.
"In your eyes, I see power and strength to control the Palantiri, and bend them to your will. You are one of the few people left in all of Middle Earth with such an ability."
"I'm not even from Middle Earth!" I protested without thinking.
Galadriel was silent long enough for me to realize my error, and feel like an idiot. Then she said, "Since I see your regret for those words, I will ignore them, and continue on. Perhaps you have felt something, like the presence of something you couldn't understand as you entered my realm."
I remembered that afternoon, and gave a nod.
"I possess one of the seven stones. It was found in Amun Sul by Elros, brother of Elrond. He entrusted it to me, for he knew I could endure it."
"So, where were the others?" I inquired, getting curious.
"The stones were passed from Isildur to Elendil and his two sons. Elendil set three in Emyn Beraid, Amun Sul, and Annuminas. His sons placed theirs in Minas Ithil, Orthanc, Osgiliath, and Minas Anor, now called Minas Tirith."
"Can you write this down for me?" I asked, my head already drowning in information. Galadriel smiled, and nodded, "Later. For now I just wanted to inform you of your quest."
"Where are the others of the fellowship?" I changed the subject, wanting to get back to a topic that seemed more real.
"You shall see them all before you go to bed, I daresay."
Without another word, she glided out of the room.
.
One by one, each member of the Fellowship entered the healing talan, to be examined by Luinmir, and make sure they were healthy.
Merry's cut was treated, Pippin, who had aquired a cough, was given some strongly sweet smelling medicine. A cut on Sam's foot was cleaned, and a tonic was given to Frodo for some reason. He looked fine to me. Gimli refused any help or treatment, declaring himself as healthy as an ox.
Aragorn and Boromir refused any help, whether they needed it or not. All this while I lay in bed, covers to my chin, and pretended to be asleep, so I wouldn't be bothered.
"Is Eleanor coming to the feast?" I heard Pippin ask before he left.
"No," I heard Luinmir answer, "she is still healing, and can not yet have such food."
My stomach growled softly, and I sent angry thoughts to Luinmir.
When at last everyone was gone, I rolled on my back, and looked up at the ceiling. I studied the patterns for some time until I dozed off, my mind in a confused and jumbled mass of facts and feelings. ~*~*~*~*~*~
Archanae: Ha, you caught me. Fair ye.... I thought it sounded strange. Hmmm, I read back at your mention of her hands being bound, and indeed, they were...whoops. In my defense of the whole Hobbit being carried by girl vs. dwarf: I never imagined Hobbits weighing that much, and maybe that's just my fault, but...yeah. Anyways, it's so much fun making Legolas the subject of envy and annoyance, because in most fanfictions, it's always "The handsome blonde archer saved the rest of the fellowship from certain doom by seeing the danger from afar with his bright blue eyes." Grr. I hate that kind of writing, don't you?
Author's Note: Ok, the info on the palantiri: Some of it's true, but some of it I just completely made up to work with my plot. Usually I look down on authors who change important things in the main story for it to work with their own fanfic, and I will understand if you don't approve of my writing about that section.
Chapter Nine
It seemed a bit Hollywood-like the way the climate changed so drastically from freezing cold to cool, but I wasn't complaining.
Gimli was, however, but not about the weather. He was still mumbling, but had switched to Dwarvish, so I had no idea what he was saying.
Bill had been reloaded of his things, and I was walking alongside the pony, holding his mane for balance. I was still quite sick, and I hoped I wouldn't give whatever I had to the others. Well... If Boromir fell ill, I might not feel remorse.
I grinned to myself, and stumbled along behind the others.
.
Two days of traveling later, with myself still sick, we reached a familiar wood. At least, familiar to me. I also noted a look a relief grow on Aragorn's face, and wonder on Legolas's.
"They say an Elf-Witch lives in these woods." Gimli hissed to the Hobbits. I watched Frodo closely, and saw him jerk suddenly, and look around as if he heard something, and wasn't sure if anyone else had.
Without as much as a warning, her voice entered my head. I was so startled I tripped on a root, and had to yank Bill's mane for balance, earning a glare from Sam.
It was what she said more than actually hearing her that disturbed me.
"They are yet waiting for you, and wait will they until the ends of time, whether you save them or not. Do not idle here."
I had no idea what on earth Galadriel meant, but it scared me. I had a mission? What else could I do except 'help' the Fellowship destroy the Ring?
Lost in thought, it took me until the arrow point was touching my shoulder to realize we were ambushed.
"What business have you in the Golden Wood?" demanded an Elf I recognized as Haldir.
"Haldir, it is me!" Aragorn exclaimed. Haldir's gaze shifted from Gimli to the ranger, and his hard expression softened, and he nodded to Aragorn, "Elessar, it has been long since you have come to our wood. Why come you now with such strange a company?"
"The tale is long, and secret, for the most part, but will you accept our company for a night?" Aragorn replied.
Haldir said nothing, but began speaking to a few other Elves in his own tongue. Finally, he answered, "I will take you to the Lady's tree, and there she will decide what is best."
We were blindfolded, to Legolas's dismay, and Gimli's indignation, and led through the woods. For some reason I didn't think I'd ever be able to explain, I felt drawn forward, like I was being sucked in, and, although in blindness, I didn't trip once.
When the clothe was untied from our heads, we were in the heart of Lorien, with the glimmering blue-white lights, and staircases wrapping around the treetrunks. Bill was led away to a stable by a various Elf, and I swayed on the spot, trying to pretend there was more strength in my legs than actuallity.
"Eleanor, are you well?" Pippin asked, advancing towards me. I forced a smile, and shook my head.
"Our 'companion' is ill." Boromir explained, his voice full of sarcasm as he said companion.
"I can take her to the healing talan." volunteered a handsome blonde Elf to Haldir's left.
"First the Lady must see them, then you may." Haldir said. The Elf with sympathy for me let me use him for support as we climbed the steps to one of the grandest of the flets.
There stood Galadriel and Celeborn, the latter dazed, but both looking very luminescent. It was silent for a long time.
"Nine there were that set out from Rivendell, and nine there remain, but why has Gandalf been replaced?" Celeborn asked in monotone.
"Replaced?" Boromir barked a laugh, "Nay, we found her, and had no choice but to take her with us."
"And know you what happened to Gandalf?" Galadriel inquired sadly, gazing at Frodo. Frodo shook his head, "Is he alright?"
Galadriel was silent, and closed her eyes for a time, shaking her head.
"Nay." she began slowly, "He has fallen into shadow, and there shall the grey pilgrim remain."
"How?!" Sam burst out, and then reddened.
"In the mines of the last Morian Dwarves he fell, for in those mountains lives a balrog. One of the last of its race, but living still. They battled, and Gandalf is lost to us forever." There was a strange look on her face. Immense sadness, but also...
... Well, if I knew better, I would say it looked like she was telling a grand joke, and pleased it had worked.
"How do you know these things?" Gimli demanded, but not in his usually hard tone. Galadriel didn't look at him at all. Instead, her gaze was focused on me, and I was feeling quite uncomfortable.
"There are many ways." she said mysteriously, and then continued, "Do not let your hearts be troubled, tonight you will sleep well."
I looked at the Hobbits, who looked like they were going to cry from the news, to Aragorn, Legolas, and Boromir, who were just looking in a lost sort of way at each other. Gimli was off to himself, gazing at Galadriel, and mumbling Dwarvish, with a pained look on his face.
Well, I thought optimistically, at least I hadn't screwed up the plot so far. Gandalf fell, and now he would have the transformation to Mithrandir. I smiled contentedly to myself, and wondered if it was possible to change the plot at all. After all, they hadn't been the same, but they had the same outcome as from the story.
"Why do you smile, you heartless spy?" Boromir suddenly snapped. My face fell, and I gave a sigh, "I thought we'd gotten past this spy suspicion."
"You smile at Gandalf's death as if-" Legolas began, but trailed off, his whole exterior suddenly wrathful. "-as if you contrived it."
"What?!" I nearly screeched. Frodo was now looking at me in terror, and Merry and Sam had frightened looks on their faces.
"Now is not the time to discuss such things." Aragorn hissed, gesturing with his eyes to Galadriel and Celeborn, who were whispering to each other. Galadriel turned toward us, and began, "I may assure you the incident was not planned by any forces other than those in Udun."
Boromir opened his mouth to argue, but then stopped.
"She needs help." suggested my support-Elf.
"Take her to the healing talan, but keep her under close guard." Boromir warned.
The Elf helped me to the said talan, talking all the way. His name was Galawe, and he had been born in the Ndaeldeldhrim, the Kingdom of Thranduil. He loved to sing songs from his homeland, but in Lorien they weren't as accepted. He complained that the Lorien Elves sung only sad, mournful songs, while the Sindarin Elves sang about the sun, and valleys to bright tunes, that would never fail to make the listener smile.
We reached the talan as he was telling me about Arienfea, according to him, the most beautiful Elf-maid in all of Arda. He was courting her, but she was very shy, making the task more difficult.
An Elf woman approached us holding a basin of water. She gave one look at me and ordered me to lay on one of the beds and wait for her to come to me.
The talan was empty save me, the woman, and Galawe, who was talking to the woman in hushed tones.
As I was lying on the comfortable bed, it struck me how ironic it was to be in the equivalent of a hospital in a land where the inhabitants couldn't get sick.
I mentioned this to the woman when she approached me, and she didn't catch the humor, only replied tactfully that being an Elf didn't stop bones from breaking and cuts from bleeding.
She gave me some kind of medicine, and I fell asleep soon afterwards.
.
I awoke, it was dark out, and I was alone. I felt completely restored to my good health, and very hungry.
I sat up in bed, and saw that I was now in an airy night gown with lots of designs and patterns in it. It was pretty, but not very practical.
Swinging my legs out of bed, I stood up, and wondered where everyone else was. Not that I expected them to see me at my sick bed. I wandered to the edge of the talan, looked down, and regretted it.
I was alot higher up than I thought, and vertigo struck me hard for a long while. I stood in the middle of the flet, thinking of what to do next. I looked around for my clothes. They were nowhere to be found.
Deciding I didn't care if I was seen - if you could call the voluminous attire- indecently dressed, I headed down the path over insanely thick tree limbs.
Out of nowhere, it seemed, Galawe appeared, saw me, averted his eyes, and said, "Lady, you need to be back in bed."
"I'm hungry, and not tired at all." I protested, feeling like a kid. Galawe shrugged, and, grabbing my arm forcefully, guided me back to the healing talan.
"Where is Luinmir?" Galawe asked, craning his head around. It was my turn to shrug, and Galawe darted off in search of her.
He returned shortly, proudly leading Luinmir, the Elf-doctor, toward me. Luinmir looked very disgruntled, and snapped at Galawe, "Am I not allowed a moment of meditation?"
Galawe didn't answer, but shot me a sympathetic look, and left.
"So," I began innocently, "where are my clothes?"
"Gone." Luinmir replied crisply.
"Gone..." I trailed off.
"They weren't fit for wearing. Coarse, blue leggins? A shirt with sleeves only reaching the elbows?"
I inwardly admitted my shirt was probably ready to be tossed, seeming that it was missing two inches on the hem from where I had helped Merry, and the pants had been unargueably dirty and ripped. I sighed in resignation, and asked what I was expected to wear in public.
"The Lady has had three dresses made for you, along with a cloak, and proper shoes."
"I'm supposed to wear a dress on the journey?" I demanded incredulously.
"Well, what else is there?" Luinmir countered.
"Pants?"
"For a lady, what else is there?" she persisted. I gave up for the time being, and requested to see the clothes. Luinmir shuffled around on a table, and lifted the first dress for me to see. It was a light blue, with darker blue and silver on the hems.
"I'm expected to go a-questing in that?" Luinmir gave a hopeless sort of sigh, and shook her head, yanking out one of the other dresses. It was a forest green with brown and grey accents, and much more practical for the road. The third dress I didn't bother asking to see, but had the shoes brought over.
There were two pairs. One pair was slippers with beads and silver threads sewn on them. The other pair was undoubtably for travelling in. They were like high-topped tennis shoes, only made of soft leather instead of canvas.
"Do you need anything?" Luinmir asked. Food was my reply, and she gave me some sort of soup which reminded me of potatoes and carrots.
Then she left, off to meditate, no doubt. I stared off into space for awhile, then stood up to look at the cloak and the other dress.
The cloak was like the ones I was sure the Fellowship would soon be getting, except it looked a bit more inexplicably feminine. The last dress, however, made the blue one look simple and plain.
It was dark red, with- I regret the only word to describe the sleeves is not really a word, but is the only word I find appropriate-floofy white sleeves, hemmed in gold and black. "For only the most formal occasions."
I jumped, and whirled around, looking at Galadriel like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car.
"It's-" I stammered, "it's really-wow. I don't think I deserve it." Galadriel smiled.
"Something tells me it will come to use near the end of your journey. The blue one is for less formal, and the green is, I'm sure, self-explanitory."
I grinned, and laid the dress down on top of the others.
"But I did not come here to discuss your wardrobe." Galadriel began. Feeling a lecture was coming, I sat down on my bed, and looked up at her expectantly.
"In the First Age, Feanor son of Finwe created the Palantiri. The Seven Seeing Stones, and few of my race still know of them. He created them for communication from distant lands, and-"
"I know what they are." I blurted, "I mean, I know what they do." Galadriel looked suprised, but not annoyed.
"Then you know that they were lost save a few."
"Orthanc and Minas Tirith." I replied, nodding. Galadriel jerked in an unElven-like way, but then continued, "Elessar's mission is to save the last people of Gondor. In a way every member of the fellowship has a different task, which perhaps even they do not know yet. Yours concerns the Palantiri."
"Excuse me?" I croaked, trying to figure out what she was trying to tell me.
"In your eyes, I see power and strength to control the Palantiri, and bend them to your will. You are one of the few people left in all of Middle Earth with such an ability."
"I'm not even from Middle Earth!" I protested without thinking.
Galadriel was silent long enough for me to realize my error, and feel like an idiot. Then she said, "Since I see your regret for those words, I will ignore them, and continue on. Perhaps you have felt something, like the presence of something you couldn't understand as you entered my realm."
I remembered that afternoon, and gave a nod.
"I possess one of the seven stones. It was found in Amun Sul by Elros, brother of Elrond. He entrusted it to me, for he knew I could endure it."
"So, where were the others?" I inquired, getting curious.
"The stones were passed from Isildur to Elendil and his two sons. Elendil set three in Emyn Beraid, Amun Sul, and Annuminas. His sons placed theirs in Minas Ithil, Orthanc, Osgiliath, and Minas Anor, now called Minas Tirith."
"Can you write this down for me?" I asked, my head already drowning in information. Galadriel smiled, and nodded, "Later. For now I just wanted to inform you of your quest."
"Where are the others of the fellowship?" I changed the subject, wanting to get back to a topic that seemed more real.
"You shall see them all before you go to bed, I daresay."
Without another word, she glided out of the room.
.
One by one, each member of the Fellowship entered the healing talan, to be examined by Luinmir, and make sure they were healthy.
Merry's cut was treated, Pippin, who had aquired a cough, was given some strongly sweet smelling medicine. A cut on Sam's foot was cleaned, and a tonic was given to Frodo for some reason. He looked fine to me. Gimli refused any help or treatment, declaring himself as healthy as an ox.
Aragorn and Boromir refused any help, whether they needed it or not. All this while I lay in bed, covers to my chin, and pretended to be asleep, so I wouldn't be bothered.
"Is Eleanor coming to the feast?" I heard Pippin ask before he left.
"No," I heard Luinmir answer, "she is still healing, and can not yet have such food."
My stomach growled softly, and I sent angry thoughts to Luinmir.
When at last everyone was gone, I rolled on my back, and looked up at the ceiling. I studied the patterns for some time until I dozed off, my mind in a confused and jumbled mass of facts and feelings. ~*~*~*~*~*~
Archanae: Ha, you caught me. Fair ye.... I thought it sounded strange. Hmmm, I read back at your mention of her hands being bound, and indeed, they were...whoops. In my defense of the whole Hobbit being carried by girl vs. dwarf: I never imagined Hobbits weighing that much, and maybe that's just my fault, but...yeah. Anyways, it's so much fun making Legolas the subject of envy and annoyance, because in most fanfictions, it's always "The handsome blonde archer saved the rest of the fellowship from certain doom by seeing the danger from afar with his bright blue eyes." Grr. I hate that kind of writing, don't you?
Author's Note: Ok, the info on the palantiri: Some of it's true, but some of it I just completely made up to work with my plot. Usually I look down on authors who change important things in the main story for it to work with their own fanfic, and I will understand if you don't approve of my writing about that section.