My Note:

YES, the idea of overhearing something in a dark, shadowy corner is SOO overdone, but my muse was off on a date with the poltergeist that haunts my house, so I was left with my wee little mortal mind. Sorry.

Tsanra brought up piping hot dish after another throughout the course of the meal. She was at a total loss as to what Gandalf had meant when he had spoken to the two Lords. She pondered over the conversation over the entire meal, and nearly spilt the hot raspberry cream coffee on Lord Wensil at the dessert course. As it was, she was covered from head to toe with bits of the dinner. There was gravy all over her smock and peas mashed under her fingernails. Her hair had come out of its normally very neat little bun and was frizzing out around her face, making it look like a little ugly black halo. All in all, she was not in the best of moods when she was finished serving dinner. Besides, Gandalf had said that if she listened, she would find out something interesting. The only thing interesting that she had found out was that the dead people in the Dead Marshes had moved somewhere else. What did that have anything to do with her, all the way here near the Shire?

Tsanra hurried down the stone steps coming from the elegant Tea Room, went into the kitchen, and stripped off her dirty work apron. The fire was burning in the center of the room, but no one else was around. Strange, she thought, there's usually someone here to tend the fire. It must be later than I thought. Going into a dark corner, Tsanra hung up her apron on the rack clearly marked CLEAN, instead of taking in to the laundry room. Let someone else take care of that. Tsanra was in such a foul mood that she just wanted to get to bed.

Three figures entered the room just as she was preparing to leave, and she shrank into the shadows of the kitchen again. She did not recognize two of them, as they were hidden by cloaks, but she did recognize Gandalf. He was speaking quietly, furiously, to both of them.

"…know she has to…"

"It's too soon!" murmured one figure, with a deep, husky voice of a man who is very upset.

"You said that we…" moaned the other, a woman.

"You relinquished whatever right you had to her when you…!"

"Don't tell me about rights. Not you." The man's voice was full of unmasked loathing when he spoke to Gandalf. The woman wrung her hands and tried to calm the man.

"You know the prophecy. It said that the child would be the one who would decide things once and for all, not myself, not either of you, not any member of the Fellowship, but the child of the line of Sauron!"

There were more murmurings, and Tsanra strained to hear what was going on. Several moments later, the man finally spoke up again so she could hear him.

"…Only a child, and so young!"

"No! If she were an adult, she would certainly fail. Adults see all the darkness around them, and quail at the sight, then run, hide, and fail. Children carry within them great hope and innocence. They can see that there will be light in the future. She is old enough to bear the burden, but young enough to still see the light. I will send her on the first leg of the journey tomorrow. Now, go." Gandalf's voice left no room for argument, and the two left. Before the woman stepped out of the room, she whispered back to Gandalf, "Don't let her come to any harm."

"You know that I cannot make any promises," he sighed, suddenly a tired old man, "But I will try my very hardest."

Satisfied, the woman nodded and said, "That is all I can ask." She was swallowed up by the shadows, and Tsanra heard the door close behind her.

Gandalf sat down by the bench, warming his hands over the fire. His face was illuminated by the flame, casting dancing, warm light over his wrinkled old face and white, long hair. He sighed deeply, and wrapped the folds of his cloak tighter around him against the cold of the night. "Well, my dear," he grumbled, peering into the shadows where Tsanra hid, "was that interesting enough for you?"

THECheeseTurkey: Thanks for all the encouragement, but what can I do to make it better? What are your ideas for your AU? If you like you could bounce ideas off me, I wouldn't mind, might give me some original thoughts.

Silwyth: Thanks for all the reviews. I need to know people are reading all this stuff I turn out… :-)

Acharnae: I need all the tough criticism I can get… Nobody's telling me how to make it better. How can I make Tsanra not a Mary Sue without her being a totally depressed cutter? I'm not in the mood for that kind of story… Maybe later. I'm adding totally new characters pretty soon, don't be shocked. The accent in chapter 3 is something of a cross between a lisp and a figment of my imagination. The other quote is my own exasperation with some people at my school which was rather spontaneous and probably should not have gone in the story.