Authors' Note: Here is my third chapter. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews! I just cannot express how happy I am. I was writing another story at the same time, but it had barely gotten any reviews so I was kind of depressed about that. But now I am very happy again! I was going to wait a week to post this next chapter, but since I received your wonderful feedback, I decided to update early. Oh and don't worry about Figwit's name. It will remain Figwit. To answer another reviewer's question about the pronunciation of Minyoiel names, to be quite honest, I am not sure myself. I have been pronouncing it as Min-you-el. But I am really not sure of the correct elven way. Thanks again! Happy Reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings.
Chapter 3 Wild Flowers and Pining
The commander of Lorien walked quietly through one of Imladris' many gardens. She struggled to remain in the shade as she did not want her fair skin further damaged by the powerful rays of the sun. Minyoiel was quite annoyed at the fact that even though she was sent here as a soldier, she had not been put on any sort of duty. Lord Elrond had dismissed her with a wave of his hand saying that if orcs attacked he would call upon her for help. But so far this trip had been a waste. The female let her thoughts travel back to Lothlorien where her fiancé dwelled. She missed him quite badly and knew that the other female elves had probably taken her absence as their last chance at Haldir. Thank the Valar that her beloved was strong in love for her and his morals were quite high as well. Suddenly, Minyoiel spun in her tracks. A noise had alerted her ears to a set of bushes that sat behind her. Was someone there? With all the stealth of a well trained warrior, she slipped her small fingers down to her bow. But she never got the chance to draw her weapon, for now there came a cry of, "Minyoiel over here!" Once again she whipped around to see Rumil and Orophin, her soon to be brothers- in-law, beckoning to her from a little ways ahead. Abandoning her mission and deciding that it had just been a squirrel in the shrubs, the elf walked towards them.
"Mae Govannen," they called cheerily to her. Well, they weren't Haldir, but they would have to do. The female greeted them happily in turn and joined them on the log upon which they sat.
"So, I see that you too, linger in this place of heat and silly elves without any mention of guard duty," she smiled grimly at them.
"Silly elves indeed!" Orophin shook his head in an agitated manner. He then pointed to a cluster of ancient looking trees in the distance. The distinct sound of giddy feminine voices and shrill laughter could clearly be heard from behind them.
"They have been following us since we arrived," Rumil smirked at the maiden.
"Hmm, that is quite strange," she said as she once again scratched her ears. Oh, how torturous these insect bites could be! "I have had the same feeling as well. But I have not yet been able to identify my stalker."
"Mayhap it is an orc dressed as an elf," Rumil shrugged casually. "You never can tell with these Imladris residents." At this, Minyoiel shook her head vigorously and she regaled them with her tale of sheer rudeness regarding the elf who had dared to collide with her.
"Can you even conceive it?" her voice was growing in intensity. "How dare he? And then he just stood there staring at me like an idiot." The brothers nodded gravely at her heated words. "But did he apologize you ask? No, not a word was uttered from his foul tongue!" Now her manner changed from one of anger to one of grief. "I do not know how much more I can take of this," she fretted while pulling upon her golden locks. "My heart cries out impassionedly for your dear brother!" Rumil and Orophin exchanged nervous glances. They did not like the way this conversation was going. The fact that the words "brother", "heart", and "impassionedly" had been mentioned in the same sentence, frightened them very much. So as politely as they could, the brothers attempted to steer the talk away from Haldir, hoping to try and calm the maiden down somewhat. Oh, this would be quite a long summer.
Figwit had removed himself from his hiding bush when he saw the two male elves join his beloved maiden. From what he could tell, there was no romantic interest between her and one of them, just a good friendship. He had not learned much about Minyoiel in the past hour, but his stalking had not been in vain. With keen eyes, the advisor saw her stop and sniff the many wild flowers. That gave him a good amount of ideas. The first one he planned to put into action right away. With a new sense of determination, he turned back and headed for the wild flower patch. But when he reached his destination, a horrible sight met his brown eyes. There were several elf maidens, sitting among the flowers as was popular to do. They had picked every single fair blossom and were now weaving them into garlands and circlets. It took all of Figwit's self restraint not to scream at them at the top of his lungs. But he did manage to give them a very nasty look, which they readily returned. Well, that plan had failed. But it didn't matter, he had many other ideas. Now, he headed back to the simmering library which was quite empty this time of day. Lindir was still there, sitting with a happy smile upon his thin lips. When he saw Figwit return from his stalking, at first he was alarmed. Could he have found out about the maiden's fiancé? Yet, his fears were quickly put aside when he spied the elf working feverishly at some sort of composition. Every now and then, he would recite it back to himself and then with a disgusted shake of his dark head, crumple up the parchment. This just kept getting better and better. Lindir returned to his small corner of the vast room and prayed to the Valar that Figwit would ask him to proofread it.
After a long while of complaining to the brothers, Minyoiel quickly tired and left them to their great joy. She retired to her stuffy quarters and sat down to write a letter to her dearest. But after a few minutes of sitting up at her desk, her head began to grow heavy from the heat and she decided to finish the note later. Instead she rested her body down upon the soft feather bed and shut her blue eyes for a time. The maiden had almost dosed off when she heard her door burst open with a loud bang. The commander sat bolt upright in bed, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Minyoiel!" Haldir held out his arms to her.
Mae Govannen: Well Met
