Heru en'tel'Kormaie n'tanaa nat'amin. Can you all tell I'm bored at work? For those of you who don't have eight hours to sit in front of a computer and do nothing but surf the internet and pretend like you're working, that is my poor attempt to say in Elvish, "Lord of the Rings is not mine."
Anyway... (Hey, a girl needs something to do) Here is the chapter. Read. Enjoy. Review.
Carrie sat there, staring dumbly at Elrond for what seemed like forever. His words kept echoing in her ears. 'No' she thought. 'That can't be possible. She was an elf?'
"Curiouser and curiouser," Carrie mumbled. The line from a book she read in her childhood came into her head. It was perfect. She did feel as if she had fallen down some rabbit hole. Didn't Alice sit down next to a tree and fall down the hole? It fit.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Elrond was looking worriedly at her.
Carrie shook her head. "Never mind." There was just so much in the recent past for her to get her mind around. "So, what you are telling me is that my grandmother was half elf?" Elrond nodded. "So that makes me, what, 1/8th elf?" This was absolutely ridiculous. Ludicrous! Carrie could just imagine the conversations with future boyfriends. 'Well, I'm mostly Italian and Greek, but I'm 1/8th elf on my mothers side.' Yeah. That wouldn't make them run like hell for the door.
"It doesn't work quite like that."
"No?" Carrie smiled sweetly. "Then why don't you explain to me how it does work." Luckily, Elrond did not catch the edge in her voice.
"Your grandmother chose life as a mortal, young and forced into it though she was. That makes all of her children and her children's children mortal."
"Ah." Carrie scowled at him. "Now that you've explained that, maybe you can explain why it is that my perfectly normal life all of a sudden became this freakshow nightmarish warped fairy tale!" Carrie slammed her hand down on the table.
Elrond stood up. "You have had a trying few days." He smiled understandingly at Carrie. "I will call for an escort to bring you back to your room where you may find some rest." Carrie remembered why she came to the library to begin with.
"I want to go to Rohan," she blurted out.
Elrond looked at her. "That is out of the question." Carrie's face fell. "It is far to dangerous for you to travel to Rohan. You must know that. You know what is to happen. I would not let you go even if you had experience in battle and knew how to ride a horse. How are you going to get there?" A young elf maiden entered the room. "No, milady, you will stay with us in Rivendell until we see how this war will play out."
"But I'll be safe there in the caves!" Carrie was desperate.
"No, Carrie. I am not worried about your safety once you are there. It is the journey that I fear. You will be safe here." With that he turned to the elf maiden and asked her to escort Carrie back to her room. Carrie turned away before he could see the tears starting to tumble down her cheeks.
As they walked back up to Carrie's room, the elf maid tried to make her feel better. "He's right, you know. It is very perilous out there."
"I don't care. I have to see him."
"Don't worry, milady. Legolas is quiet adept in battle. He will survive and you will see him again."
Carrie looked confusedly at her. She had meant Aragorn.
"I didn't mean Legolas. Why do you think I meant him?" Carrie asked.
The young elf smiled at her. "You were the one asking about him before you arrived, were you not?" Carrie looked horrified. Talk about a bunch of gossips! "Don't worry. You're in good company there, with your feelings."
Carrie's eyes snapped. She would not be included in a blanket statement with what apparently was a bunch of elf groupies. "I have no feelings for him."
The elf smiled. "Of course you don't. Same as he doesn't have any for you." Carrie whirled on her.
"What are you talking about?" Carrie demanded. "He doesn't have feelings for me. He's an elf. I'm a human. That just doesn't happen." She thought of Aragorn and Arwen and realized that she was wrong. She should correct her statement. That just didn't happen for her. But everything she had read about Aragorn and Arwen talked about pain and sacrifice. She didn't want Legolas to give up an immortal life for her.
Whoa. She was getting way ahead of herself. She was assuming he actually had some kind of feelings for her, which she knew wasn't true. Although, what the elf said...
She looked at the elf expectantly, waiting to hear her response. She was grinning, obviously she had some kind of knowledge that she was enjoying teasing Carrie with. It reminded Carrie of the young girls that were in shows with her. Thinking about that, about her home saddened Carrie briefly, but she was quickly brought back to the here and now with the anticipation of what the young elf had to say.
"No, it usually doesn't happen. And it isn't generally approved of. Which is why he maintains the attitude towards you that he has."
"What attitude? I haven't seen or spoken to him the whole time I've been here. And the only message from him was quite cold and distant."
"That's what I'm talking about." The elf smiled at her. "I talked to Calenes, before he talked to you. He didn't know what to tell you, how much to reveal."
Carrie fumed. So Calenes hadn't been honest. "He lied to me?"
The elf maiden shook her head. "No. He told you exactly what Legolas said." She took a deep breath. "When he came to me, he wasn't sure if he should tell you what Legolas didn't say." Carrie looked at her, confused. "He told me that when he spoke to Legolas of you being here, a variety of emotions passed through his eyes – excitement, worry, longing, hurt. And then he became neutral and coolly spoke his message. Calenes knew those feelings were inappropriate and that Legolas did not want you to know how he felt. But he didn't know what to tell you. So I told him to give you the exact words that Legolas said, and nothing more." Carrie glared angrily at her. "But I was only trying to do what was best. I didn't want to betray his feelings, especially if one of those feelings was hurt." She looked away for a second and then looked back at Carrie. "I assumed the hurt was caused by knowing you didn't have feelings for him."
Carrie shook her head. "No, unfortunately that is not the case."
The elf continued. "I know that now. Calenes came back to me after his encounter with you. He was unhappy my advice caused him to upset you. Judging by your reaction and words, it was then we knew you and he were both being untruthful about your feelings." The elf looked at her. "So you must go to Rohan. You must tell him the truth."
Carrie rolled her eyes. "Seriously? How old are you? Don't you know there's a war going on out there? I'm supposed to go interrupt that? And say what? 'Hi. I know you're busy but I have a silly crush on you.' Please!"
The girl smiled. "I am 1936 years old." She smiled at Carrie's surprised gasp. "So as your elder, and someone looking out for both of your best interests, I'm telling you, you should do this. The world is uncertain. You must seize opportunities as they arise."
Carrie laughed "Ha! Opportunities. I don't have the opportunity to go to Rohan. Lord Elrond made that clear. I am to stay here. Besides, he's right. I can't ride a horse, I don't know how to fight, and I don't know the way."
The elf girl smiled and indicated their surroundings. Carrie hadn't noticed that the girl hadn't brought her to her room. They were standing in a stable. "This is Tel'Sul." She indicated a beautiful horse standing unbridled in one of the stalls. "She is one of the Mearas, and will bear you straight to Rohan. As long as she wants you to ride her, you will not fall off. You may even sleep as she runs, so you can travel straight and don't have to worry about making camp for the night or fighting off anything that tries to attack you in your sleep."
Carrie looked at her in disbelief. "She will take me to Helms Deep?"
"If that is what you wish." The girl smiled at her again.
"But..." Carrie wasn't sure what to do or say.
"Go now, milady!" She put a cloak on Carrie and gave her a travel pack. Carrie clumsily climbed up on the horse. The elf whispered something in elvish to the horse and she began to trot off.
"Wait," Carrie cried behind her. "What is your name?"
"Estella". Said the elf. "Tenna' ento lye oment, mellonamin" The only part of the phrase Carrie understood was 'my friend', but the beauty of the words and the voice which spoke them filled her with hope.
First let me say a blanket "Thank you!" to all of my wonderful reviewers for taking the time to write.
XxgemxX: Sorry, Carrie won't tell me how she died. It's not vital to the story, so I didn't push it. I figure I've upset her enough as it is.
nap-003: If you are still confused after this chapter, let me know what you don't understand and I will explain it as best I can without giving anything away.
Shadowfax04: Yes, I am evil. Muah ha ha ha ha
WhIPpeD CrEaM 0: Welcome aboard! Glad you liked it.
PsychoPixie: Ooh, Driver's Ed. Fun.
LtSonya: Yeah, the last chapter was a little short, but I update quick! --smile--. I'd write more to you, but I just caught sight of the words "hot elvish prince" and... and... what was I saying?
Gina: Welcome! Any image of Legolas in your mind is a good thing... And don't worry, the elf is coming back, but I couldn't very well have Carrie fall right into his arms when she ended up in middle earth. But he's coming soon... And if you liked that part with the blushing, you are going to love the stuff that's coming up.
padfootsknightingale: Welcome to the story! Glad you like it!
Julie7: Glad you like! Here's the next one.
mmm... hot elvish prince...