Disclaimer: When the heat of Hell desists,
And white snow covers its plain,
Blue Kat will own something,
So Peter Jackson, if you sue me,
You are insane.
(Sing to the tune of In Dreams from FOTR. Which I ironically don't own the rights to either.)
Chapter Sixteen
I had no further dreams regarding the shadowed stranger, nor did I hear Galadriel's voice whispering on the wind at night. Life had more or less settled back down and I spent a very quiet and relaxing week in Lothlorien.
But the greatest part of it was that I only had two Sindarin lessons. There is nothing more convincing than an injury…
Of course, all good things must come to an end and Aragorn happened to be the bearer of that news.
"We plan to be setting off again soon," he informed me, poking his head into my room one evening. I looked up from my book.
"Please tell me you're joking," I replied, reluctant to leave such relaxing tranquility that I had been privileged to experience in Lothlorien. Aragorn shook his head.
"No, I'm afraid not. Be prepared to begin traveling again sometime in the next two days," he said, ducking his head out of the doorway. I sighed irritably.
"Total brownie points deducted: fifty, leaving Aragorn with a grand total of five," I muttered, sinking back into the chair.
*
There was a muffled knock at the door the next evening.
"Come in," I called from my desk. I was doing some homework Legolas had assigned me and I was desperate for a good excuse to put it off temporarily. A handmaiden, fair-haired and wearing a simple white gown entered. I regarded her with an inquisitive stare, wondering if they had cloned this particular elf many times, as there seemed to be six hundred completely identical other ones running around the wood.
"The Lady and Lord have requested your presence, my lady," she said softly. I nodded and silently cheered.
"Okay…" I paused. "Where do I go?"
"Follow me, m'lady," she replied, exiting the room. I clambered after her, abandoning my pen and paper on the desk, walking quickly to catch up with her long, yet strangely elegant strides.
She led me to the same room I had gathered with the Fellowship our first day in Lothlorien. The other members of the Fellowship had evidently been summoned for a similar purpose, as they had all congregated near the foot of the stair Galadriel and Celeborn had descended the last time we were here. I took my place beside Aragorn and waited patiently for further instruction.
Celeborn and Galadriel suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. They were wearing similar clothing and had it not been for the absence of the glowing light behind the couple and their slightly less regal and aloof manner, I would have sworn I had traveled back in time. They descended gracefully and stood in front of us, regarding us with the cool impassive stare that was common amongst the elves.
"Now is the time," Celeborn finally began, "when those who wish to continue the quest must harden their hearts and leave this land. Those who no longer wish to go forward may remain here, for awhile." He looked at us, his grey eyes filled with a slight warning. "But whether they stay or go, none can be sure of peace. For we come now to the edge of doom…" He trailed off.
"They all resolved to go forward," said Galadriel quietly after a moment of silence.
"As for me," piped in Boromir, "my home lies onward and not back…" I nodded.
"Yeah. Somehow I don't think Elrond would be too pleased if I randomly popped up on his doorstep, especially after all that fuss I made about having to go," I added. Celeborn gave me a rather strange look. He was the only one who was not used to my strange speech and little outbursts.
"That is true," he replied after a moment of awkward silence. "But is all this Company going with you to Minas Tirith?"
"We have not decided out course," replied Aragorn. My eyes widened.
"WHAT?" I exclaimed. Celeborn looked at me in surprise and Aragorn got that familiar look of annoyance. Gimli looked smug, probably thinking of all the ways this could get me kicked out of the Fellowship and/or ruin my credibility. "What do you mean?" I continued, ignoring the looks I was getting. "Is this your subtle way of saying 'hello, I don't know where the hell I'm going, but nevertheless I will lead on a group of people to God-knows-where, even though the general good of Middle-earth is at stake'!" Aragorn placed a hand on my shoulder, either to reassure me or shut me up. I'm guessing the latter.
"Beyond Lothlorien, I do not know what Gandalf intended to do. Indeed, I do not think he had any clear purpose," he replied calmly. I opened my mouth to protest, but Celeborn held up a hand to silence me. I shut my mouth and looked at the floor.
"Maybe not," he replied, "yet when you leave this land, you can no longer forget the Great River…it cannot be crossed by travelers between Lorien and Gondor, save by boat…" It was incredibly tempting at that point to go bang my head against the nearest solid wall I could find. But Aragorn was looking a little more than stressed, so I decided that it would probably be best to just roll my eyes and look annoyed.
A long conversation ensued about the details of our travel that had obviously not been thoroughly considered before then. So I sort of spaced off, constantly fighting the urge to scream.
"…Then I will furnish your Company with boats…" Celeborn's words jolted me back into reality. A huge smile broke out on my face.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!" I exclaimed, nearly kneeling down on the floor in gratitude. Celeborn looked at me quizzically, obviously perturbed at my strange displays of gratitude, but he seemed to wave it away.
"You are most welcome, my lady," he answered almost too politely.
Aragorn proceeded to thank Celeborn for his wonderful endowment, less frantically and more formally than myself, I might add. Celeborn managed a benign smile.
"All shall be prepared for you and await you in the haven," he said. "I will send my people to you in the morning to help you make ready for the journey. Now we will wish you a fair night and untroubled sleep."
"Good night, my friends!" bade Galadriel, smiling slightly. "Sleep in peace! Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with the thought of the road tonight…goodnight!"
*
I was roused the next morning from a very peaceful slumber by one of the cloned handmaidens. I grumbled about the earliness of the hour and tumbled out of bed. The bath was already drawn, the water warm and inviting. I stepped into the heated water, wondering when I would next have the luxury of a real bath. I climbed out twenty minutes later, toweling my hair dry, wearing a soft bathrobe. The handmaiden sat me down at the vanity and proceeded to brush my tangled tresses. She fashioned my hair into a single braid that hung down my back. She then twisted it into a bun at the nape of my neck, securing it in place with a comb. At my insistence, she left me to dress myself. Once I was certain she was out of earshot, I raided the bathroom for soap.
About an hour later I was packed up and ready to go, with about twenty bars of new soap hidden in my pack—plus the three I had left over from my last raid. Another cloned handmaiden—or maybe it was the same one—entered the room and guided me to the haven. Three boats sat on the riverbank, seeming to strain at the ropes that bound them to solid ground.
Unlike the boats, I was not as eager to leave Lothlorien. For the first time in a month or so I was rested and relaxed, an immense weight lifted from my shoulders, one I had not realized I had carried with me. A great peace was present in Lothlorien and I did not want to leave that. I wasn't ready to face the turmoil of the real world again.
I suppose that having access to soap, water, and a bath also made me reluctant to leave, but that wasn't the entirety of it.
I stared at the dark waters of the Anduin as they slipped noiselessly forward; ready to carry me toward evil itself, away from the serenity that was Lothlorien.
A/N: The dialogue with Celeborn and the Fellowship was taken from the book. However, I changed the "said" stuff and left out some stuff. And wrote Haley's lines and stuff too (duh).