A/N: Okay, people... I like reviews!!!! It lets me know how you, the readers, are enjoying (or disliking) this little figment of my imagination. Anyway, on with the story.

Chapter 7- Sunning By The Stream

"Where is your mother, Indilisse?" Rúmil asked, looking down at her now after a rather prolonged silence between the travelers.

"What do you mean?" Indilisse glanced to her side.

He shrugged, "I was only wondering if she had left for Valinor or if she was with her kin somewhere else."

She smiled and shielded her eyes from the sun. "She remains in Mirkwood for a few weeks more, and then she is to come to Lórien. I will be very overjoyed to see her again. Father and I have been in Minas Tirith for fifteen years. He has been the only one to travel back to see her on business."

"Why were you in Gondor?" Haldir asked, turning to glance at them.

"The Steward requested our presence." Indilisse replied, "He needed a new strategy for his army. Ada reworked their system. And Lady Finduilas needed someone to birth her child."

There was silence again, except for a faint trickling stream, and Narië sighed heavily, "You are lucky to still have your parents with you."

Indilisse smiled at the elleth, "My father would go mad if he was in Valinor where there are no wars, and mother decided that she would wait for him before she left because she had always said he would be here until the end of days. She did not wish to wait so long for him."

Everyone chuckled, and Haldir reined his horse so that it would slow up enough to walk beside the others. While leading had always been hi preference, and he needed the time to cool off from Indilisse's unfair statements, after a while it had grown quite tedious to not speak with anyone and listen to the incessant remarks Rúmil made about his sexual proclivities pertaining to Indilisse. In a way, it disgusted Haldir that Rúmil was so unabashed in his words to Targon's daughter. Even if she was a regular elleth, Haldir would still find it detesting as he himself, although he too would indulge in a little innuendo every once and awhile, would only speak so openly with someone he was involved with.

Haldir sighed and glanced at Indilisse from the corner of his eye. Today she wore a fine feminine riding outfit, her hair pulled back into a half braid, the remainders falling around her shoulders in glittery flows of soft-looking hair. Her cheeks were slightly pink from the cool air, and the wind blew a few strands of loosened hair from her braid across her face. She put her reins in one hand and reached up with a delicate gloved hand to brush them back. Her hand went slowly back to the leather reins, making him follow along the length of her body. The subtle breasts resting upon her chest, bouncing slightly with the jarring movement of the horse, and her hips rose and fell slightly on the horse's bare back, riding expertly.

For a brief moment, he allowed himself to close his eyes and imagine the older elleth atop him. His hips moved in a rhythmic pattern, each thrust meeting each of her controlled and achingly wonderful relaxations, sending her back up and down again along himself in mind numbing sensations. She would have her eyes closed, her back arched slightly and her face contorted into a look of ecstasy as he ran his fingers over the hard nubs of her breasts. Their release would come simultaneously, and he would grab onto her ample behind and pull her hard against him, riding the waves out together.

A wavering sigh escaped his lips, and he realized how far he had let his imagination wander. He was pressing relentlessly against the front seam of his leggings, and the action of the horse beneath him caused him slight pain for his elevated state. Haldir chastised himself profusely, thanking the Valar that his tunic covered him, though not amply, and almost did not hear Rúmil speak to him.

"Are you well, Brother?" Rúmil asked. "You sound as if you are in pain."

Haldir opened his eyes and blinked a few times, acquainting himself with his surroundings again.

"Haldir?" Rúmil questioned again.

"I am fine, Rúmil." He snapped, "I am only enjoying the fine fall air."

Rúmil shook his head and chuckled lowly to himself, though everyone did hear it. Haldir had been acting weird for a few days now, but had not told anyone why he was so preoccupied. Then Haldir shifted upon his mount and Rúmil knew. Who was it? Indilisse? Narië? Nindë?... After all they had spent a great deal of time together at the festivities the previous night. Rúmil could not wait to inform Orophin of this new development that would, undoubtedly, allow the younger brothers a wonderful time goading Haldir.

"So tell me Indilisse, is Lórien how you remember it?" Narië asked. "I am but half your age, and I would like to know of any differences."

Indilisse smiled brightly, "I would say it is very much alike, though when we left, it was after the succession of reign from Lord Amroth to Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. People were still getting used to their way of ruling... which is simply perfect."

Haldir smiled to himself. At least she had the same love and devotion to the high elves of the Wood, speaking well of her other less than apparent traits.

"How have people changed?" Narië asked.

"It depends." Indilisse said, "See, you have Rúmil here. He had just discovered females when we left, and had made it a daily habit to try and peak into the bath house secretly."

Rúmil flushed and chuckled uneasily. "I cannot believe you remember that."

Narië laughed, glancing at Rúmil, "He has not changed at all, Indilisse."

"That is my point." Indilisse laughed, touching Rúmil's hand atop his thigh sympathetically and removed her fingers quickly. "And it still seems as if he does not do a sufficient enough job concealing himself in the trees."

"You are ruthless." Rúmil muttered.

Haldir raised a brow questioningly at Rúmil, "Had you thought that no one noticed you over these many years?"

"There was always hope." He replied, "But now I will never be able to show my face again."

Indilisse laughed, "I doubt that very much, Rúmil of Lórien, Keeper of Untouched Maidens."

"I do like that epithet." Haldir said, repeating it over in his head. "It suits you Rúmil."

Rúmil was quiet for a few minutes, "Well, now that you are done embarrassing me, I can embarrass you fairly Indilisse."

"Idle threats do not scare me." Indilisse replied, not amused by his words. Really, Rúmil had only known her for her first twenty-five years of life, and she could not remember any instance where she should be worried.

"This is anything but an idle threat." Rúmil grinned wickedly. "Perhaps you remember spending time watching over the practice field."

Haldir's ears perked as he listened as closely to this conversation as possible.

"Can you fault me for being interested in the art of bearing arms?" Indilisse defended, "Since all of the wardens within the city had to attend daily weapons practice, I found it quite beneficial to my skills."

"And you were not watching the finely muscled, lean elven bodies?' Rúmil asked, "Because I remember a certain elf..."

"Rúmil, if you do not stay your tongue now, I will cut it out later." She threatened.

Rúmil laughed, "Now that is an idle threat that does not scare me."

"Besides, Keeper of Deflowered Maidens," Indilisse replied, "I was only twenty five. Hardly had I ever thought of the opposite sex in those manners."

Narië looked at Indilisse and smiled, "I used to go watch the wardens practice also. There was something about the way that their bodies moved while in play that intrigued me."

Indilisse gave Narië a surprised look, as if she had not expected Narië to say something so openly about that. Haldir watched as a bit of pink crept to Indilisse's ears. "But that does not mean I only limited my viewing to just one warden."

Haldir glanced long ways at them and chuckled.

Rúmil also chuckled and leaned closer to Indilisse, "But who was it that gained the majority of your attention?"

Indilisse elbowed Rúmil and glared at him, making Haldir think that Rúmil knew who she had a penchant for as a young elfling, but she answered instead, "Of course it was Orophin."

"Ack!" Rúmil coughed, choking on an imaginary substance. "Orophin? Why Orophin?"

"Are you jealous?" Indilisse asked with a cheeky smile.

"Aye." Rúmil said.

Indilisse's smile grew larger, "Good."

Haldir sighed bemusedly to himself, thinking of the middle brother and how Indilisse had been thinking of him for sometime now. How he wished it had been him that had been bestowed the secret interest of Indilisse.

"You cannot just say that, Indilisse." Rúmil whined on. "What does Orophin have that I do not?"

"First of all, you had not even thought of becoming a warden when my watching of the wardens was taking place." Indilisse replied, "Secondly, Orophin is a valiant warrior, but does not flaunt it like his brothers."

Haldir cringed at her remark. That was definitely directed at him.

"And he is a gentleman." Indilisse finished. "Do you not agree Narië?"

Narië nodded her head vociferously. "Aye, he is very."

Indilisse shot Rúmil a challenging glance, one brow cocked up at a harsh angle. Haldir sighed to himself again. What was it about her that made him ache in such a way to touch her? Maybe she had acquired some knowledge of witchery while she was traveling and had cast a spell upon him, so that she could have his undivided infatuation, while she rebuked him constantly for it. It seemed like a complicated idea, but it could have been plausible.

They rode for sometime more, nearing the gates to the city again, but they decided that they would rest their horses for awhile by a sparkling stream. It was a lovely little meadow, peaceful and green still for the rapidly changing weather. A few birds sang a joyous tune while Haldir and Rúmil surveyed the landscape for intruders, and left the maidens with the horses. Indilisse found a nice flat rock beside the stream and sat carefully on it, removing her boots and slipping her feet into the cool water. Narië followed and soon they were lounging back, their weight centered over the palms of their hands behind them.

"Why must they patrol this area? They know that it is safe." Narië said quietly, watching as Rúmil walked along the line of trees on the other side of the stream.

Indilisse looked in the direction Narië was and sighed, laid fully back on the large rock she was sitting on. "Once a warden, always a warden Narië. My father still thinks he must protect me, now by sending armed guards out with me for riding around the safest elven realm in all of Middle Earth. Before he had two Gondorian soldiers accompany me anywhere I went in Minas Tirith... at least he does not come in my room at night and search for monsters."

Narië chuckled, "You used to be afraid of monsters in your wardrobe?"

"You see, that is just it." Indilisse replied, "I never really was, but he insisted that he make sure I was safe until I was about a thousand years of age."

"I think he was just doing that to make sure you were not hiding any available he-elves within your room." Narië said.

Indilisse nodded, "No, he stopped that when he did discover that I was hiding someone."

Narië looked over at Indilisse and saw the satisfied smile upon her lips, "This has got to be quite the tale."

"Oh, it is." Indilisse said, "But for the sake of the Imladris elf whom I speak of, you will not receive a name."

"So it is an important elf." Narië nodded her head and giggled.

Indilisse was quiet and watched the clouds above them in the deep blue sky change shape. This was a such a peaceful place, and she found it much better than Imladris, even with its gardens and waterfalls. Indilisse closed her eyes, breathing in the faint scent of the grass and smiled again. "Tell me Narië, do you like Rúmil?"

Narië was silent, but Indilisse did not need to look over at the elleth to know she had a stunned look on her features. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I see the way you look at each other." Indilisse replied.

"Rúmil does not look at me, Indilisse." Narië said, "He only looks at you, because you are outspoken with him."

Indilisse opened her eyes and turned in her spot to look at Narië, "We only do it in jest, Narië. When I was younger, I would follow Rúmil around like a pup, because he had just grown up and he fascinated me beyond belief. He is nothing more than a big brother to me, who I like to joke with."

Narië smiled sheepishly, "But I am so shy. I do not think he even notices me."

"Trust me, Narië, he likes you." Indilisse said, "Rúmil likes quiet maidens. They are mysterious to him and he enjoys the wooing of said maidens because they are always a challenge."

"If that was meant to make me feel better, it has only made it worse." Narië replied, letting a long sigh escape her lips. "Now I will be in limbo as to where he and I stand."

Indilisse giggled, "He will seek you out when the time is right."

"I hope so." Narië said.

Indilisse pulled herself up into a sitting position and wrapped her arms about her bent legs, resting her head upon her knees. She looked around the glade again, and spied Haldir walking to the left of them, trying to surreptitiously glance in their direction. A large smile spread across her features, and she let a pleased sigh escape her lips as he looked at her again, this time their eyes meeting and lingering together, challenging each other to see who would be the first one to withdraw from the contest. Haldir could not manage and turned his attention back in front of him, with a sort of half smile.

She sneered at his reaction, shaking her head. Did he think that she was beginning to favor him? That would not happen in a long time. ____________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________

"She is beautiful, is she not?" Rúmil questioned, looking at the elleths lounging lazily by the stream.

Haldir glanced over as his brother joined his side, hoping that Rúmil did not mean Indilisse. "Huh?"

Rúmil smiled, "Narië. Is she not beautiful?"

"She is." Haldir nodded, "But not my type."

With a happy laugh, Rúmil slapped Haldir's shoulder rather harshly, "Aye, I know that. But she is perfect for me. I just do not know if I should speak with her about it."

Haldir raised a brow and chuckled, "I do not think I can remember a time when you were so reserved around an elleth."

Rúmil nodded, "Well at least I did not let my imagination run away with me while riding a horse."

"I had hoped you had not noticed." Haldir replied quietly, looking above him and into the trees. He sighed and reached for a low branch, pulling himself atop of the soft bark and sitting down easily. "Do you think that they noticed?"

"No, I do not believe so." Rúmil said, joining Haldir on the low branch, "Indilisse would have commented on it, knowing her."

Haldir did not say anything and sighed.

"Did they invite you out riding?" Rúmil asked.

He shook his head, "No. That was what we were 'discussing' when you arrived. Master Targon asked that I ride with her to make sure she did not get into trouble."

"Aye, because you are the perfect babe sitter." Rúmil laughed, "Do you even remember what Master Targon was like when he was still March Warden? What he made you do?"

"I have pushed it from my mind," Haldir replied. "All I know is that in addition to raising you and Orophin, he continually assigned me child watching duties for his wife."

Rúmil sighed and looked over Haldir's face. "It infuriated you that he did that. He was testing you, though, to see how you could handle things in diplomatic ways, you know that right?"

Haldir shrugged, "Interesting, I always thought that it was to see if I was easily persuaded into anything that the elfling could think of doing."

Rúmil was quiet and turned his attention back to the elleths for some time before speaking. "But you did not care about the tasks. You loved her as a sister."

"So did you." Haldir replied. "But she has changed in many ways since then."

"So have we." Rúmil looked at Haldir.

"She is no child now." He said and smiled feebly.

They both looked ahead and watched as Indilisse stood up easily and brushed off her leggings, drawing their attentions to her back end. Haldir and Rúmil glanced at each other with appraising looks, laughing lightly.

Rúmil nodded his head, "Aye, she is definitely not a child now. As a matter of fact, she has a very healthy female elven body, and a searing wit."

"Targon would geld us if he knew we were talking of his daughter in such a way." Haldir replied.

"But he is not here, so all is fair." Rúmil reminded, seeing the far away look in his eldest brother's gray eyes. If one thing was for sure, it was that Indilisse that he had been thinking of earlier in the ride. This opened up a whole new category of possibilities... and would Indilisse see Haldir in the same light?

Indilisse giggled at something Narië said and then adjusted her tunic slowly, raising her hands to her hair to carefully undo her braids. It seemed as if Indilisse was showing Narië how to do this, almost in a seductive manner, teaching her how to gain attention of other ellyn. Rúmil chuckled to himself, knowing Narië did not need these pointers, all she needed was a dose of confidence in herself, but he was glad for Indilisse trying to help her out. Carefully, Indilisse undid her braids, running her fingers through her long hair, tossing her head back in a flirtatious laughter and throw her hair over one shoulder while batting her eyelashes. There was a sharp intake of breath from beside him and Rúmil glanced at Haldir, who had a contorted look on his face.

Rúmil punched his arm playfully, "If she does this to you that easily, I cannot imagine what it is like in your thoughts of her."

Haldir grumbled and ran his hands over his face. "Never, ever before have I had this trouble..."

"The next few months should be interesting." Rúmil said, jumping down from his perch and making his way over to the sunbathing elleths.

*-*-*-*-*

Reviews please!