Disclaimer: I own none of LotR at all, it all belongs to the great and wonderful JRR Tolkien.
Chapter Four: Hidden Kingdoms and Hidden KingsThe three hobbits, the four elves, Samisen, and Gimli traveled along the men's trail. The trail seemed to be leading towards Safarsee and Safaris. That, of course, was because the men they were following were from the two cities. The company stopped to have a rest. Frodo collapsed onto the ground.
"Ooooh!" groaned Frodo, "I don't think I can go much further today, at least for an hour or two. I am all worn out, and my feet ache. Oh, I just ache all over! Go on without me if you like, but I cannot move another step!" All the other hobbits agreed with him.
"Then we shall go no further for an hour or two," said Legolas, "We shall not move on until our hobbits are ready."
The hobbits rested, and had a meal, although it was not a very big one, and not nearly the size the hobbits would have liked.
"Come along, my little hobbits, we must move on," Elladan reminded them after they had let the hobbits have quite a reasonable rest. "We must catch up with those two men and retrieve the ring."
The hobbits got up, but not without some grumbling and muttering, such as: "Oh, go chase a kite!" and "My feet still hurt!" and "You all go on without me. I'm going to go to sleep," and the like.
"Oh, go to sleep, and be done with it, you confounded nuisances, you, you blasted hobbits!" Gimli muttered under his breath. He wanted to get going, and was a bit irritated by the delay, and was a wee bit upset with the hobbits, but the two elves and Samisen shot him some awful glares, and he shut up.
The four hobbits got up and they started another march that lasted for four hours.
"Oh, please! Can't we rest?!" begged Frodo, "We've been marching for four hours! I need another rest. Anyways, if you are not going to stop this time, then you can just go on without me."
"If Frodo stops, I do to," said Sam defiantly, plopping down beside Frodo.
"Come along, you silly hobbits, we have to keep going," pleaded the dwarf.
"Well then, go on without us! We won't be any more bother that way," retorted Bilbo, as he sat down beside the two other hobbits. They face outwards to make a square, all of them with their arms crossed defiantly.
"All right, all right," laughed Legolas, sitting down right in front of Frodo, copying the hobbit's posture, except that he put his head up at a somewhat proud angle. The others all laughed at this, and sat down with the elf and hobbits.
"All right, we will give you an hour's rest, but then we must go on," said Elladan.
They rested for about an hour, and then went on.
After an hour's march, they came to garden, complete with benches, and some of the most beautiful flowers, they matched those in Lothlorien and Elnaroralaoso in beauty and pureness. In the middle of the garden was a beautiful fountain. There were also two benches facing one another by the fountain, close enough to each other, that you could dangle your feet in the water. The water was so pure that no matter how dirty your feet were or whatever you put into the water, the water would not be dirty at all. They sat on those benches, dangling their feet in the water to soothe them. They did not notice someone in the bushes, watching them. They were looking around the garden, but none of them saw their silent watcher. Suddenly, anyone noticed them, the person whisked themselves off.
As a matter of fact, it was an elf who lived in Laticeana, a hidden, long, long forgotten kingdom of the elves. The elvenking of Laticeana had known that the travelers were coming and had sent an elf to watch the garden for their arrival, for that was the beginning of his realm.
Elladan, who had some of the keenest ears of them all, had heard the soft rustling of the bushes, and, turning that way, saw a flash of something he thought it looked like a person. Legolas was sitting next to Elladan.
He scooted closer to Elladan and whispered in his ear: "I think that I just saw someone run away, Elladan. They were in that bush over there. I think that they were spying on us! I believe it was another elf. What do you think?"
"I do not doubt that you are right. I thought that I saw something as well, though I didn't think anything of it, but if two of us have seen it, then it must have been something," Elladan replied. "Let us not mention this to the others." I wonder if the elf will come back soon, Elladan wondered, for he was certain that the person he and Elladan had seen was an elf, I wonder if we will actually get a good night's sleep. But he did not say that.
Instead he said, "Come, let us spread our cloaks on the ground, and get a good night's sleep." They did not say anything to the others, and they all went to sleep.
In the morning, they woke up, only to find themselves surrounded by elves. "Come with us," said a solemn looking elf who appeared to be their leader.
They marched along for about half an hour. Suddenly, the leader of the elves held up his hand in the signal to halt. "I am sorry, but we must blindfold you all, for none except those who live in Laticeana may see the path we are now to walk."
The elves blindfolded them, and they made no objection, for they were too tired. Well, none that is, except for maybe Legolas, for he was an elf of Mirkwood and an elven princeling, and elves from Mirkwood especially are not to partial to being blindfolded by other elves, for they feel that none of one race should blindfold others of that race.
After a lot of arguing, he finally consented to being blindfolded by the other elves. They marched along in silence, except for a few groans and moans and mutters about how unfair this was, although most of it was from Legolas. Finally, they were stopped, and the blindfolds were taken off. What they saw took their breath away.
They were surrounded by waterfalls, and two of the waterfalls had caves with paths running through them, one through which they supposes they had just come through. They were standing on a path that doubled as a bridge that led to an island, and there was another path/bridge that led to the other cave. The elves let them stare in wonder and amazement at their surroundings for a while, but hen they told them they had to move on, for they had to get to Laticeana before dark.
When they finally got there, they were led to a small palace and up three flights of steps to a room that seemed to be the throne room. Inside the room was a throne and on the throne was an elf with an elegant, elaborate crown on his head.
"Hello," said the elf, "I am Telern, elf king of Laticeana. Welcome to my kingdom. I am curious to know, what are your names?" Legolas nudged Sam with his elbow.
Sam just looked up at Legolas, and when Legolas said nothing, Sam just shrugged and looked at the king.
Legolas half bent down sideways, and hissed under his breath in Sam's ear, "Tell him our names, you half-minded hobbit!"
Sam sighed. Why must I always introduce us, he thought, why can't he do it. Oh well. But why...oh, forget it, might as well do it, no one else seems to want to.
He sighed again. "All right. Well, this is Mr. Frodo Baggins, and this is Mr. Bilbo Baggins, and I am Samwise Gamgee. This is Legolas, prince of Mirkwood, and this is Elladan, son of Elrond Half-elven of Rivendell. This is Gimli, son of Glóin, and last, but not least, Samisen of Minas Tirith."
"Well, Samwise Gamgee, we are pleased to have you in Laticeana. But to pass through, you must solve Riddles. You will have to travel to get the next Riddle and the answer is not a thing, but a person. Here is you first Riddle..."
The First Riddle of Laticeana
Where dwell the little folk, the halflings of old?
Where dwell the little folk of which the tales have told?
Some of the halflings dwell in their little halfling town.
What is it called? Why of course, it's !
But who has the next Riddle?
Yes, of course, it's Esor Eegmag!
"This Riddle looks like it will prove to be quite easy... hmm, just give me a moment," said Frodo. "Oh, yes, I have it! It's Hobbiton! Oh, wait. We know that it's Hobbiton, but we do not know who has the next Riddle!"
"Oh, let me figure it out. Please!!" begged Bilbo. "All right Bilbo, go ahead," answered Legolas. "All right, let me see..." Bilbo studied the Riddle for a while. "Ooooh, I see. It was so simple, we just didn't see it. Esor Eegmag is just Rose Gamgee spelled backwards!"
"Why Bilbo, I do believe you're a genius!" cried Sam.
He turned to Legolas, and was about to say something, but Legolas didn't let him start. "Yes Sam, I will go and get the next Riddle from Rose."
"Legolas, how did you know what I was going you say?" asked an astonished Sam.
"My dear Sam, sometimes you are so predictable," answered Legolas with a sly smile, and he went off at a run.
"Give my love to Rose and the children!!" cried Sam as Legolas sprinted off.
Legolas was back the next afternoon (he got through because one of the elves who lived in Laticeana guided him through and back). When he came back, he had the Riddle that had been given to Rose.
The Second Riddle of Laticeana
Former dwelling of a ring,
Where the elves do sing,
Dwelt the son of the lord.
To there, he must go
To retrieve the Riddle.
For him it is little
More than going home.
Elladan gave one glance at this Riddle and stood up. "Farewell. I will see you soon, when I return."
When the elf returned, he had the third Riddle:
The Third Riddle of Laticeana
The fading Wood, bereft of time,
Into one of it its trees, you must climb
To seek the one that holds the next
Riddle that you must find.
Trees of silver, trees of gold,
These are the treasure that this Wood holds.
"'A fading Wood, bereft of time,' " muttered Frodo, "'trees of silver, trees of gold.' There's only one place I know that fits that description. Someone in Lothlorien has our next Riddle," he finished triumphantly.
"I will go to get this Riddle," Legolas volunteered. Everyone else nodded, and off he raced. The Riddle that he brought back was this:
The Fourth Riddle of Laticeana
A shepherd of trees,
Branches swaying in the breeze.
The forest he dwells in
Has magic it keeps in
To move when it wishes.
A beam of quickness,
Seek him for this:
The answer to all your Riddling.
"Well, Gimli, shall we solve this one together?" asked Legolas.
"Yes, Legolas, let us solve this Riddle together," replied Gimli. "This will be the hardest Riddle that we have had to solve yet."
"Yes Gimli, this will be a challenge, but it is a good challenge. We must work together to solve this riddle, so let's get started." They looked it over for a little while.
"I have it!!" they both shouted at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.
"Let's see what you have," said Legolas.
"Well, for the first two lines, wouldn't a 'shepherd of trees' be an Ent?" asked Gimli.
"That's what I got, too," Legolas confirmed, "but which Ent?" They puzzled it out in the end with a bit of help.
"We think that by 'a beam of quickness', they're saying 'Quickbeam'," Legolas announced after a while. Everyone clapped. Frodo and Sam had helped a bit once they had figured out they were trying to find an Ent. They had heard Merry and Pippin's stories about the Ents and remembered the other hobbits' fond reminiscences of the kind, quick Ent.
"I will get this Riddle, Legolas my friend, since you have most likely worn yourself out, puzzling over that riddle," laughed Elladan, "Goodbye!"
"BUT...BUT...!!" stammered Legolas, who had really wanted to see Quickbeam.
Elladan came back a little later that day. "Well, I have the answer."
"Yes, what is it, what is it? Are we done Riddling?!" all the other asked.
"We are..."
"Yes, go on, go on!" cried all the others, impatient to know if they could pass through Laticeana and get after the thieves.
"We are..." started Elladan again, "We are..." he took a deep breath, "We are – done Riddling!!"
"Hooray, hooray!!" came the answering cries. "We are done riddling!! Hooray, hooray!!"
"Bregalad, or Quickbeam if you like, said that he was told to tell me that though we are done Riddling, we must solve a Final Puzzle..." This announcement was greeted with groans and moans from the others.
"Though The Final Puzzle is not a riddle..."
Cheers and shouts of "Hurrah!" were heard from all.
Later, at Telern's palace...
"So, I see that you have solved my four Riddles, and are wondering what the Final Puzzle is."
"Yes, King Telern, we would like to be able to pursue the thieves of Vilya as soon as possible," answered Sam.
"Very well then, you shall," said Telern. "Here, I will give you the Final Puzzle. There is one change though. You must each solve your own puzzles, by yourselves. This will be the one time when you are not allowed to work together. Here are you Final Puzzles."
They took the puzzles, and worked on them and worked on them, and worked on them, until they were quite tired of them. But they kept at it so that they wouldn't have to stay in Laticeana forever. Finally, Sam managed to finish his, and took what he hoped would pass as his completed Final Puzzle to Telern.
"May I go on now, King?" Telern looked it over.
"You didn't answer this correctly.." Sam groaned in despair.
"Then what am I supposed to do?!"
"Answer me this," the king replied: "Why have you continued on your journey, through all the trials and tribulations that have befallen you?" Sam looked puzzled.
"For the same reason I didn't give up when I was going with Mr. Frodo to Mount Doom: because I believe in what I'm striving for and I won't let it go."
"That is a good answer, my little halfling," Telern answered, "And that is your final test. You're free to go."
An astonished Sam was ushered into another room to wait for his companions. The others finally did the same as Sam and answered well. They were all allowed to pass through Laticeana.