Disclaimer: See part one.
Chapter 2: The elf.
The people kept talking in low hushed voices still staring at the spot where the man had been just seconds ago. She used the confusion as her cover and crept over to where T`quel was lying. She bit her lower lip and gently lay a hand on his stomach.
She sighed deeply when she felt he was still breathing and then suddenly he blinked his eyes open and started to lick her hand. She scooted the dog up in her arms and was about to escape from the tavern, when she remembered the man who had defended her. There was something about his eyes something about the way he had looked at her as if he knew who she was.
She looked around, hoping to see him but he had disappeared, just like the small man by the bar. She could hear and see the confusion on the people in the room, they had forgotten all about her. Some stairs led up to the second floor and the sleeping quarters, she could hear low and hushed voices talking above her, and recognized the voice as Strider¢s, she quickly crossed the room and headed upstairs
"Hey you, have you seen the man called Strider?"
Turning around she saw three small men, one carrying a large candlestick one a frying pan, and the third had just his fists, clenched, ready to attack. She just shrugged her shoulders and pointed down the hall. The three guys looked at each other and then at her before the one holding the frying pan said.
"You're the girl from downstairs, do you know Strider?"
She shook her head and the three men sighed. They continued to walk down the corridor and then suddenly stopped outside the last door. " I think he is here, I can hear master Frodo" one of them called, and in the next minute the door burst open and they charged inn.
She waited a couple of minutes, then slowly walked down the corridor towards the door. She didn`t know what drew her towards this Strider. Maybe because he was different then the other men, or maybe because he seemed to know what she spoke, maybe he knew what she was.
T`quel wriggled in her arms and she put him down, knowing he wouldn`t go far. A cold wind washed through the corridor ripping at her clothes. It was colder then the usual draft. She wrapped her cloak tighter around her but the wind chilled her bones. When she reached the door she could hear mumbles and hesitated a second before she gently knocked three times.
The murmur stopped and she could hear people move quickly around and furniture scraping against the floor. The door opened and a glinsening blade greeted her in the darkness and the hooded man looking around in the corridor. She took a step back and was about to run away, when he seemed to relax.
"Oh…it`s you"
His voice wasn`t the harsh one it had been downstairs and his eyes were softer. He looked at her for a long time, and then down the corridor. "What do you want?" he asked and she bit her lower lip and stared down in the floor.
"Diola lle"(Thank you)
She said quietly, staring down at her bare feet. The man looked at her rather surprised and then shrugged.
"You are welcome" he answered and scratched the bridge of his nose. Just then somebody called from inside the room. "Who is it?" before Strider had time to answer two curios heads appeared in the doorway looking at the girl, and one of them said rather surprised.
"Blimly it`s an elf"
She raised her head and stared at them, it was the second time she had heard the word, elf.
"Mani naa tanya?"
Strider seemed shocked to hear her question and he turned around, wondering if any of the hobbits knew the elven tongue, but they looked at him, waiting for him to translate what she had just said.
"You don't know what you are?" he asked, the girl just continued to stare down in the floor. Then something suddenly hit him and he said. "You don`t understand the common tongue"
" Manke naa lle tuulo'? " (Where are you from?) She raised her head and one green and one blue eye meet his. It took him a couple of seconds to notice what was different about her face and for a moment he wondered if he could be mistaken. All elves had only blue eyes. But the lady in front of him had an elvenglow that made everything else seem like the background. And there was something strangely familiar about her, as if he had seen her before in a dream.
She heard him repeated the question and the words woke something inside her. For a moment green visions danced in front of her eyes and a name kindled in her memory, for just a brief second everything seemed clear, then it vanished. She looked at him helplessly.
"What did she say?" Strider grabbed her shoulder and dragged her into the already crowded room.
He pointed to a chair by the fireplace, where another person was sitting staring aimlessly into the glows. She hesitated but then sat gingerly down on the edge of the chair, then turned her head to stare at him again.
"So…what did she say, what is she doing here?" one of then urged.
" She told me that she was thankful for my help" Strider asked half dazed.
"Help…what did you help her with?" one of them asked, and quickly another one answered. "Didn`t you see Pippin, she was the one on the table, the one those men were hassling, it was a good thing you helped her"
"Oh" Pippin replied looking rather embarrassed, he had been to occupy with the pint.
"So…what is she doing here, alone?" Strider sighed deeply and stared quickly at the dark haired elf. Who was she? What was she? What had happened downstairs?
"She said she had been in the city for weeks…don`t remember how she got here"
"Then what do we do, shall we leave her here?" Pippin asked, the elf turned around and stared at them, the fire was reflecting in her eyes. They seemed to glow in the darkness. Strider walked over to the window and stared out into the night, thinking.
They had to hurry to Rivendell and that it was a far to dangerous journey to bring an elfmaiden on. He could let her stay and tell Lord Elrond about her, but there was a voice in his head that told him that he had not met her by coincidence. She was meant to follow them.
"We should probably take her with us to Rivendell…. at least there she will be safe" He explained and the hobbits nodded in agreement. The hobbit that had been, quietly sitting, on the chair turned around and stared at the others.
"Wouldn`t it be to dangerous for us to take her with us….you know the black riders" he almost whispered and the other hobbits turned quiet and Strider sighed. "They are looking for the ring, Frodo…not an elf….I think she will be safe"
Strider walked over to where she was sitting and placed a hand on her shoulder, she flinched slightly at his touch, turned around, and meet his stare.
" Mani naa essa en lle?" (What is your name?)
He asked softly. She didn`t answer but stared in the fire for a long time, and then she turned around and muttered something only he could hear.
"What did she say?" Pippin asked and nearly jumped up and down of excitement, this was turning into one great mystery "She said she don`t have a name" Strider replied.
Strider turned back to the elf and they spoke more in the language the hobbits didn`t understand, the only thing they recognized was the name Rivendell. After a while she nodded.
" Diola lle" (Thank you)
" Lle Anta kaim" (You need to rest)She nodded again, and was about to say something, when a thought suddenly hit her. "T`quel!" she said and pointed to the door. One of the hobbits hurried over to the door and opened it, a few minutes later the scabby dog ran in and jumped into her arms. She looked at all the people staring at her, and although she never felt safe in presences of other, she somehow knew she could rest safely here, because the people in this room would not close their eyes to sleep.
"Quel kaima" She muttered, then she curled up in front of the fireplace T`quel safely placed in her arms.
Just then, they heard the rain start to pour down from the sky, and the piercing noise of the Black Riders as they neared the city. Frodo shuddered and clenched the ring.
Strider walked over to the window and stared out into the darkness wondering if he had made a mistake, and if it would cost the life of the people in this room. He could feel it. This was only the beginning of something greater.
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