What I must do is all that concerns me.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), American writer, philosopher, poet, essayist

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Chapter 37

Old Friends

The bearer of the grey eyes was laughing, for he had succeeded in his plan to get rid of the meddling old woman, the being who had given the task of destroying his creation to the little half-elf thing he was really starting to hate. His success had been short-lived when the demon had failed to kill the she-elf after possessing the body and mind of her foster father.

After some time spent in quiet contemplation, an idea came to his devious mind, giving it the impetus it needed to start planning a way to get rid of the meddlesome and resilient elf once and for all and to break her mind in the process. Perhaps the time had come to reunite the young she-elf with some very old and dear friends.

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It was shortly passed the noon hour when five hunters arrived at Imladris seeking respite for themselves and care for one of their horses that had become lame during the early part of their trip. They were rough looking men, the kind of men who took their hunting seriously. At the moment, however, only four of the hunters were mounted on horseback, the fifth horse was limping badly, barely putting weight on his leg as it was led slowly and carefully through the courtyard gates.

When Lord Elrond had greeted the five men, they told him that they were hunters who lived on a small farm on the outskirts of Bree. With all the craziness that had been going on lately with unseasonable storms, fires, floods and the like, hunting had not been that good around their home and so they had ventured farther in hopes of finding enough game to fill their cellars before winter. Not wanting to hunt in Elven territory without permission, they had come to Rivendell in hopes of receiving its Lord's permission. One of their horses had stepped in a hole the day before and had sprained his leg, but since their families were depending on them to fill their cellars, lame horse or not, they had decided not to turn back to Bree but to press on.

After hearing their story, Elrond offered them the hospitality of his house until their horse recovered from his injury and could again travel comfortably. Speaking to one of his capable stable hands, the horse was turned over to him and the new guests were shown to the quarters they would be occupying until they were all ready to leave.

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"Anayah. Anayah, can you wake up for me, please?"

Slowly she opened her eyes and noticed that for the first time in some weeks the room did not spin and the light did not hurt her eyes as much as it had in the days since her assault. Her skull fracture as well as the many other bones that had been broken, still ached unmercifully but, as she had been reassured not too long before by her foster father, those symptoms would be going away soon. She blinked a few times to try and clear the cobwebs from her mind and the mist from her vision and when she finally got her eyes to focus, she saw Lord Elrond sitting on the edge of the bed looking at her with concerned eyes. She groaned and closed her eyes again, then felt as her father's cool hands brushed her tussled hair out of her eyes.

"Is it still that bad?"

She reopened her eyes and blinked several more times to clear her fuzzy vision.

"No, actually Ada, it is much better today for the room does not spin and the light does not hurt my eyes – as much."

Tenderly he touched her face noticing that the bruising had finally disappeared.

"Well, then, perhaps today would be a good day for you to get some fresh air. Perhaps if you took in some fresh air and sunshine you might feel so much better that the next time I enter your room to check on you, you will be sleeping with your eyes open instead of shut."

They both laughed.

She reached out with her good hand and patted her father on his arm.

"I believe you are correct, Ada. I have lain abed for much too long and I am in great danger of wasting away! Already it is my fear that I would be unable to defend myself against my brothers, much less a nasty demon with glowing red eyes."

She was immediately sorry for her words, noticing how her father dropped his eyes as she had spoken.

"Are you still troubled about what happened?" She took the elf Lord's hand and bringing it to her cheek, held it there affectionately.

"Anayah, what I did that day will trouble me for the rest of immortal my life whether or not I reconcile your forgiveness with my heart or not. It is very healing for me to know that I have not lost your love but when I come into your room and still see you lying here, in pain, I cannot help but feel a small measure of responsibility."

"Well then, I will have to relieve you of that responsibility by getting out of bed, getting dressed and going about my life as usual."

She sat up and immediately regretted her movement when white-hot fire flashed in front of her eyes causing her to grab her head with both hands and rock back and forth, taking deep breaths and praying to Ilúvatar to make the pain go away. Immediately she felt her father's gentle hands remove her own from her temples and place a cup of hot tea in them.

"The next time you try to relieve me of responsibility, daughter, try doing it a little slower. Now sit here for a few moments and drink your tea for I have put a medicine in it that will help with the pain but will not put you to sleep. Elenath and Míriel will be in shortly to help you bathe and dress and in one hour, someone will be here to take you outside."

As Lord Elrond rose to leave, Anayah spoke to him.

"Thank you Ada – for everything."

As he turned to leave, he favored his foster daughter with a smile.

"You are quite welcome, daughter."

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Exactly an hour later there was a knock on her door, and when invited to do so, four very large elves walked into her room smiling at her. She was not quite ready for her excursion for her hair was still unbound and had picked the day to be uncooperative. Elenath had broken two hair ties on her braid already and had just left the room to look for a third hair tie when the Guards arrived to take her for her walk.

"Do not fear, fair Lady," Súrion said after executing an exaggerated mock-bow. "I have just what you need."

Reaching into the pocket of his tunic, he removed one of his own spare hair ties and after receiving Elenath's permission, proceeded to braid and tie Anayah's hair himself. She was surprised at how agile the silver-haired elf's hands were as he swiftly and deftly braided her hair then tied it securely at the end.

He stood then and stepped back and his Captain then stepped up to the bed and carefully picked her up. At this, she protested.

"I thought I was supposed to be going for a walk? I did not realize that a walk entailed being carried around like a newborn elfling. Now put me down, good sir, before I get cranky and decide to swat you like I would a fly."

"And with the strength of one no doubt!"

Though both Súrion and Saeros laughed, neither was able to dodge the pillows that came their way.

Rahan's deep laughter joined the others before he explained to his charge that he would put her down once they had reached the gardens - and not before.

The walk, once she had reached the peaceful and scenic gardens, was refreshing even though she exhausted herself in the process of walking its well-manicured walkways. She was barely awake when her Captain arrived back at her room with her cradled in his arms and was fast asleep before Rahan had carefully tucked the blankets up around her shoulders. As the four Guards turned to quietly leave the room, none of them failed to notice that for the first time since her attack, she was sleeping with her eyes open.

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Nobody noticed the absence of an evening sentry in the living area at the foot of the stairs that led to the family's private chambers. Nobody noticed as the two intruders crept silently up the steps careful not to make a sound and nobody noticed as the two intruders entered Anayah's private chambers, quietly closing the door behind them.

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The many elves in the Hall of Fire eating their breakfasts and visiting this morning, the Lord of Imladris included, jumped when Elladan, exhibiting a great measure of unlordly behavior, came charging into the room yelling for his father. Elrond rose from his seat as his eldest son reached him, breathless, his grey eyes dark with worry.

"Ada, Anayah is gone and I cannot wake any of her guards. I fear that they may have been poisoned."

As the Lord ran from the room towards the warriors' barracks to see what aid he could lend the stricken Guards, a frantic Stable Master ran in through the front door, almost colliding with his Lord. Elrond turned to the elf and laying his hands on the shoulders of the breathless being, calmed him enough so he could understand what the frantic elf was trying to say to him.

"My Lord Elrond pardon my intrusion but I must tell you that the Lady's stallion has gone mad and is even now trying to tear down his stall and though we have done everything that we can think of, we have been unable to calm him. The window in the stables is broken and the falcon has disappeared, leaving but a feather and some blood on the broken glass to tell us of the route he used when he left. My Lord, I fear that something dreadful may have happened to cause the Lady's friends to act in such a fashion."

Glorfindel had been drawn to the commotion in the Hall by the sheer volume of the voices and after he arrived had reassured his Lord that he would personally see to the horse leaving the Healer free to see to the stricken Guards. Both groups parted company and, followed closely by Elladan, Elrond hurried on to see what he could do for the four Thurin Tirith.

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Some hours later, while the Noldor guards, Rahan, Semoro and Saeros were well on their way to recovering from their ordeal, the single Silvan guard, Súrion, was still retching forcefully and painfully into a bucket that he held in his lap with trembling hands. Though still weak from their ordeal, it seemed that all four would make a full recovery.

The poison used on Guards was a common poison, both tasteless and odorless, and had been slipped to them mixed with their evening tea the night before by person or persons unknown. The Captain had been the first elf to open his eyes, looking at Lord Elrond's face in confusion, wondering how it had come to be that the Imladris Lord and Healer was standing over him. The confusion soon fled, replaced by a smoldering anger when he had asked and had been informed that Anayah was missing.

Glorfindel had returned to the house to report that he had managed to calm the rampaging stallion and when he was asked how he had managed his task the golden-haired elf Lord had chuckled before he gave his reply.

"I simply explained to him that yes, we knew that his Lady had been taken, and as soon as her Guards had recovered from their ordeal, we would go search for her. He calmed right down."

His eyes turned serious.

"He is only the second Mearas that I have ever encountered in either of my lives but I can tell you with certainty that the Mearas is the most intelligent breed of horse I have ever known."

It was soon apparent after Elladan's early morning summons that the five humans had left and after that fact had been discovered, it was not hard for any of them to make the assumption that the five were the ones responsible for poisoning the guards and taking Anayah. It was decided that the four Guards, Glorfindel, himself, his sons and Legolas would leave at first light of the next day to begin their search. And though it was their deepest wish to start searching right away, they all decided that no one would benefit from it, especially if it caused Súrion to fall unconscious from his horse.

"Very funny." Was all that the nauseous elf managed to say before he had to again turn away to have yet another conversation with his new best friend – the bucket.

TBC

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COMING NEXT: Repeating History: Finally, the mist before her eyes cleared and she got her first look at the humans that had dared to take her forcibly from her home - she saw them and thought she was going to be ill. Anayah recognized the five human's immediately for all bore the distinctive look of their grandsire and though it had been many years since she had last seen them, there was no mistaking them for who they were.

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kahui(): I am honored that you saw balance in my chapter. Usually my friends call me "unbalanced" – just before they laugh and run away. Seriously... My 'Black Rider' stories are the first fiction that I have written in 38 years as I am a trained 'technical and editorial' writer, and I learn something new every day and it makes me feel good to know that I am finally getting something right! As far as the visitor goes... he will appear from time to time in this and the other stories I am planning although his identity will remain a mystery. I have left clues ALL over the place as to who he is though.

Soccer-Bitch: I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter. Things are heating up for our girl.

DesolateAznVamp: I live on the 12th story of a high-rise and I look out over the big valley and I can see the trees changing colors – beautiful. Now – good luck in school! Here is the next chapter – enjoy.