I don't own LOTR!
Secret Hurts
Chapter8
"Did you enjoy speaking to Tom, Aldalóme?" Gandalf chuckled.
"Very much so, Gandalf, but he did not know how I should go about getting back to my world." Aldalóme sighed, "I do wish my cousin were here, he'd know what to do, and he always was like my big brother…"
"Let us visit Lothlórien, I'm sure the Lady Galadriel can show you what has become of your cousin," Gandalf smiled down at the young girl.
"But I thought we were traveling to Hobbiton," Aldalóme pouted.
"Oh, we are… eventually," Gandalf laughed. "Would you like to go further and meet the Mirkwood Elves, or the Lord of the Eagles?"
"Um, actually, I'd rather not see King Thranduil," Aldalóme blushed as she stared at her pony's neck that Tom had leant to them.
"Oh?" Gandalf raised a brow.
"Well, I vaguely remember reading this one book about him… and I remember that it said he was not very hospitable to others not of his race," Aldalóme bit her lip.
"Yes, you are right, my dear. Would you like to visit the Eagles?"
"Maybe we could meet them another day?" Aldalóme asked. "I really would be honored to meet the Eagle Lord, but…"
"You are more interested on going to the Shire," Gandalf laughed. "Very well, Aldalóme, we shall soon be in Lothlórien and in Lady Galadriel's presence."
"Um, Gandalf… Aren't there guards for Lothlórien?"
"Yes, there are, how did you know that?"
"I think my sister told me something about them…"
"The Marchwarden, Haldir, and his two brothers are the main guards in charge of protecting Lothlórien," Gandalf smiled.
"Wouldn't it be funny if a dwarf were to come to Lothlórien saying that he had keen senses, only to be caught by one of the guards, and the guard to reply that they could hear a dwarf because he breathed too loud?" Aldalóme laughed as they entered the golden wood on the ponies.
"Where did you get such an idea?" Gandalf chuckled.
"I think my sister said something to that extent," Aldalóme grinned at Gandalf.
"Halt! Who trespasses in the Golden wood?"
"Greetings Haldir, it has been a while. How are you and your brothers?" Gandalf called into the trees.
"We fair well, Gandalf the Grey," Haldir climbed down from his tree-post, bow and quiver on his back. "Who is the maiden that travel's with you?"
"This is the Lady Aldalóme. We had hoped that the Lady Galadriel could help her return to her own land, for she is not of Middle Earth," Gandalf replied.
"Milady, you must think highly of the elves to have laughed at such a comment about dwarves."
"Actually, I don't really understand why you don't like the dwarves, but I remembered my younger sister telling me about what she had read, and I remember laughing with her," Aldalóme's eyes looked far away and sad to Haldir's elvish ones.
"You must miss your sister, fairly much," Haldir gazed kindly at her.
"The funny thing is… I keep getting this feeling that Areien is not dead, but alive…" Aldalóme frowned.
"Maybe the Lady Galadriel can help you," Haldir offered a hand to the mortal maiden and helped her dismount from the pony.
"Thank you, Marchwarden," Aldalóme curtsied.
"The ponies will safely go back to Old Tom," Gandalf assured Aldalóme as the girl cooed and ran her fingers through the ponies' mane.
"Thank you Gandalf," Aldalóme whispered to the wizard.
"I shall take you to the lady, Mithrandir, Lady Aldalóme…" Haldir offered Aldalóme his arm and they walked quietly through the woods into the very heart of Lothlórien.
"Your home is very beautiful, Marchwarden Haldir," Aldalóme stared in amazement as she gazed around the beautiful city.
"Thank you for your compliment milady," Haldir replied stiffly.
"Do the twins come and disturb it often?" Aldalóme grinned as the stiff Marchwarden turned his gaze on her, showing startlement.
"You know of Lord Elrohir and Lord Elladan?"
"I had the pleasure of making their acquaintances in Imladris," Aldalóme affirmed cheerfully.
"The twins of Lord Elrond do not visit often, Lady, but when they do… they seem to encourage mischief in my younger brothers," Haldir let himself smile at the young human.
"You're not as scary as Lord Elrond," Aldalóme smiled up at Haldir.
"Pardon, milady, but Lord Elrond frightens you?" Haldir frowned.
"He's too serious," Aldalóme bit her lips. "I think people who are too serious have a tendency to scare me. My parents weren't very serious, and being serious some of the time is not a bad thing, but all the time… that's when you should worry about a person. And I'm not sure why, but I guess Lord Elrond is just intimidating."
"You do not think I am?" Haldir chuckled.
"I'm sure you can be, especially backed up by an arrow, but I think you are a kind person, and if I remember right from the twins, your brothers are a bit… silly."
Haldir laughed when Aldalóme told him what the twins thought of his brothers, "That they are, milady! That they are!"
"Goodness brother, what in Middle Earth has caused you to smile and laugh so?" a face resembling Haldir's poked out from behind a tree.
"And who is this charming maiden who causes our brother such amusement?" another figure appeared behind the first and both walked up to Haldir.
"Lady Aldalóme, these are my brothers, Orophin and Rumíl," Haldir chuckled. "Brother's this is the Lady Aldalóme."
"Hello," Aldalóme whispered shyly.
"Good day!" the brother's replied in unison.
"Have you been traveling with the Mithrandir long?" Orophin asked.
"Why do you have an elvish name?" Rumíl frowned.
"I've been traveling with Gandalf since he last left Imladris," Aldalóme answered quietly. "My parents, though from another world, loved the elvish language and thought it beautiful enough to give their daughters elvish names."
"Do you have any brothers?" Rumíl questioned.
"How many sisters?" Orophin asked.
"I have a cousin who is like a brother to me, and I had one sister," Aldalóme sighed tiredly, and to the surprise of all four of her companions, she disappeared.
"Where did she go?" Haldir frowned.
"We do not know brother," Orophin's eyes darted everywhere, but he found no sign of the young mortal maiden.
"Aldalóme?" Gandalf called slight worry in his voice.
"Why are you shouting Gandalf? I'm right here," Aldalóme frowned as she watched their anxious eyes travel to where they heard her voice; they sighted her in the tree's shadow. "What?!" Aldalóme crossed her arms beginning to become irritated at the looks all four males were giving her. "Blooming elves and old geezers!" She huffed before storming ahead of the four males, and effectively disappearing from their view before they had the sense to catch up. "Gramps never gave me odd stares, he never yelled at me… except when I was with the cousins and… I miss you Gramps. I miss my favorite cousin. I miss my sister!"
"Child, you have strayed away from my Marchwarden, why have you strayed to my gardens?" a gorgeous lady in white appeared before Aldalóme.
"Greetings Lady Galadriel, it is an honor to make your acquaintance," the young girl sighed tiredly after she had said, what to her, was a normal greeting.
"You are not from this world, and yet you were born here…"
"Was I, Lady? If so, to whom, when, and where?"
"You were born to a changeling couple that lived near the Shire… around the same day that they died your sister was born."
"Is she alive, Lady?"
"I am not sure, but there is a sense of promise on the wind," Lady Galadriel replied.
"Thank you, Lady. Your wisdom and words have helped to lighten my heart greatly," Aldalóme bowed her head respectfully at the elven queen, for she wore not a dress or skirt.
"Think nothing of it child. It may amuse you, but many of your ancestors were of the different types of people of middle earth, all but the kind that dig and dwell beep into the earth," Galadriel smiled.
"So, I have elf, hobbit and human in me?"
"You could well be any of those you wished, as your human ancestor was also very like the Mithrandir…"
"So, that is why my parents were changelings? Because their parents or ancestors were wizards?" Aldalóme frowned thoughtfully. The Lady only nodded in reply, but that was enough to make Aldalóme think that maybe it was a good thing she was a changeling…
"Once you choose a form for life, you will not be able to change it again. For that is the way of the changeling," Lady Galadriel sighed. "While we were chatting, Mithrandir has come for what he came for. You will be spending the night with us. We will see you off in the morning, young changeling."
"I hope you have a pleasant night, Lady of the Golden Woods," Aldalóme replied as she was dismissed to find Gandalf.