Chapter 11, The Mirror of Galadriël
We awoke at dawn the next morning and set out once again for Lórien with Haldir and his brothers leading us through the woods. The hobbits chattered excitedly amongst themselves and Gimli spoke cautiously to Aragorn; yet the only one of us who seemed to get no sleep was Boromir, in whom I could see fear and trepidation. Even with assuring words of safety and protection from Aragorn, there was no change in his heart or mind. Meanwhile Legolas and I said nothing to each other; the rest of the fellowship noticed this unusual shyness just as I did for when we stopped at lunchtime Aragorn asked with a laugh,
"How is it already noon and I have heard not a well shot gibe or stab from either our good lady or dearest elf?"
"Indeed I too find that interesting my friend," Gimli agreed with a hearty laugh, "the wonder of the forest is great, but it could not bring about such a reconciliation between two such sharp tongued hounds!" I gave Legolas' tamed tongue no second thought, though it was nice not to have him nagging on me, even if it were for only a day.
We stopped again at dark and ascended to another set of flets; this time I camped with Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir, and Legolas instead of the hobbits as I did on the first night. As I lay down in my furs, I watched Legolas and Aragorn stand awake and speak to each other for a brief while until I saw Aragorn leave Legolas and lay down in his furs as well. I only watched a few minutes longer before I myself fell asleep. It was hard to me to sleep this night because of the cuts I had on my stomach and arm. Though they were both wrapped they ached when I lay on them. In the end I found myself tossing turning more than sleeping.
The next day we walked with few breaks; I knew that we would reach the city that day because I remembered reading about it. As we traveled deeper in the woods the scenery and wildlife became more and more immaculate: the flowers, trees and everything else was perfect. During one of our breaks, I sat with Sam as he told me,
"Isn't it brilliant? I feel as if I was inside a dream, if you take my meaning." Darkness fell soon after but that did not stop our hike through the woods. Haldir told us that we were not far from Caras Galadhon, the city of the lord and lady, and it lifted my spirits. We finally reached the city walls after hours of travel and followed them down to the southern gates. I was very tired then and struggled to keep pace with the rest. Frodo assisted me though with encouraging words and the offer of his small shoulder to rest upon.
"We are not far, see? There is the gate!" he said hopefully, "We can rest when we enter the city!" As I walked on, I felt a great loathing towards my wounds for they prevented me from sleeping! My sleepless night soon took its toll on me, but luckily I had Sam and Frodo to help me through the gates. Upon entering we found a fountain where we washed our faces and drank; the water seemed to revive our lost energy and I was fatigued no more. I could travel farther now with this refreshment of my limbs and heart. We climbed stairs and past many flets as we climbed to the tops of the trees. We finally approached the largest flet I had seen since my arrival in the woods; it could have been as big as a ship's deck yet it was not so crudely fashioned. Everything looked timeless and pure and elaborate arches adorned the edges of the talan. Haldir passed before us saying,
"Wait here." And ascended a scale of stairs before us. Moments later on that same pearly fight of steps, Haldir and two others appeared; I knew immediately who the other two were: The Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. They wore shining white clothes and the faces were fair and ageless. The only age that could be seen upon them could be seen in the depths of their eyes; they were almost grey with memory. Their long hair and pale faces made them, undoubtedly, the most beautiful people I had ever seen.
"Welcome friends of Rivendell to fair Lórien." Said Lord Celeborn to our company. "To see a fellowship of such diversity brings hope to my heart. May it be a sign that though the world is now dark, better days are at hand, and that friendship shall be renewed between our peoples." He looked at me and I smiled wearily; I then looked to the Lady Galadriel and found to my surprise that her eyes were already fixed upon me. "Here there are nine, but ten set out from Rivendell. Where is Gandalf for I much desire to speak with him." I felt Celeborn's gaze fall upon me again but my eyes were lost at Lady Galadriel; I felt as if she read my heart inside out like a book.
"He has fallen into shadow." She said whole-heartedly and looked upon the rest of my companions. "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife; stray but a little and it will fail. But do not let your hearts be troubled, for they are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight, you shall sleep in-"
You carry too many things upon your heart for one so young, Laura Barnes. A voice echoed in my head; it was Galadriel and I knew so. I looked at her cautiously as I heard her continue, For you know what you must do, and that is all that is to be asked of you.
There was little conversation before we left the flet to retire; we descended from the treetop and found Haldir's brothers awaiting our arrival. They led us to a pavilion of tents the elves had made for us, and after a few words with Aragorn and Legolas they took their leave. The pavilion was near a fountain and filled with squashy couches for us to sleep on. We all settled in comfortably and I was glad of the couches after such a long time of sleeping on hard ground. In Lothlórien I found myself more relaxed than I had been in a long time. The statues were a soft white, and the lights around gave off a soft glow. As I began to settle down I heard the conversations of the others who were not ready to sleep yet.
"What did you blush for Sam?" Asked Pippin in a joking tone, "You soon broke down!" Sam looked back at him as if he was in no mood for such questions.
"If you want to know… I felt as if I hadn't got nothing on, and I didn't like it. She seemed to be looking inside of me…" I had no doubt who 'she' was.
"That's funny," said Merry, "almost exactly what I felt myself." I too felt Galadriel's stare, but it was nothing harsh like the rest described; it felt almost as if she lifted some of the burden off my shoulders. I had long wondered what my meeting with Galadriel would be, and since I had met her, I felt as if I never wanted to leave the flet.
"She held you long in her gaze Laura." Boromir said in pointing manner. I looked at him before I nodded and replied,
"I suppose she did, but that was all."
"Well have a care!" he replied quickly, " I do not feel too sure of this Elvish lady and her purposes."
"Speak no evil of the Lady Galadriel!" Aragorn said sternly. At that moment a glimmer sparkled in the corner of my eye; I turned my head to where I thought I saw it but when I looked I saw nothing. I had just traveled miles in the woods with only four hours of solid sleep; my eyes were probably playing tricks on me. I shook my head as I curled up in my blankets laid on the couch. It did seem like forever since I had last slept on something close to a bed; Rivendell was perhaps the last time I did and that was months ago. As my eyes shut, I heard Aragorn and Boromir bicker, and I thought it strange to hear people besides Legolas and myself fight, very strange indeed.
For the next few days we awoke to sunny mornings and for the first time in months I slept in. Merry told me that I had slept the entire day when I asked him the time, but knowing that he'd try and fool me I asked Sam who answered me truthfully,
"You slept nearly beyond noon Laura. Never saw a person sleep so long. I'd thought you'd had left us in you sleep!" I laughed and gave him a huge hug as I said,
"I don't think that I'd ever be able to leave you Samwise Gamgee!" The days that passed were calm and mellow, which I think all of us could afford. For the first time in ages I washed myself in the cool waters of a nearby fall and the Lady sent to me Elvin maids to tend to me. At first I protested, but they told me to be at rest, for just because I travel and make my quarters with men does not mean that I had to stew and stink like them. They rubbed my body with oil and tended and redressed my wounds. The open wounds closed quickly so all that remained were menacing scabs on my waist and arm. Soon after they braided my hair and, much to my reluctance, dressed me in a white dress. What made me laugh was that I had no other shoes than my brown leather boots that I was given in Rivendell, so beneath my dress was my clunky brown boots. The dress was beautiful, I couldn't deny that, but I could not return to the fellowship wearing a dress when from since the day they first met me I wore pants. The maids refused to give me my old clothes until they were washed and the stains of blood and travel were removed. They gave me a mirror when I was done, and when I looked upon myself I was shocked at what I saw; I had not seen a clear reflection of myself in ages and saw that my skin was tan and I had lost a lot of weight from the constant travel. When I looked at myself in the mirror I touched its smooth glass because I didn't recognize the girl who was staring back at me. I was amazed that this tan, fit girl was me…and I looked good.
Lucky for me when I returned to the pavilion no one was there, and I didn't exactly want to wait around for someone to find me wearing the dress so I left. I couldn't imagine the humiliation and snide remarks that I would receive from the hobbits if they saw me. As I walked through the trees I thought to myself, now that we were in Lothlórien, Frodo would look into Galadriel's mirror and then we'd be on our way down the river. Upon thinking this, I realized that after we went down the river, Boromir would go after the ring, the Orcs would attack us, the fellowship would break and Boromir would die.
Not would die, but could die. A nasty little voice said in my head. You know how and where Boromir is going to die, just…like…Gandalf. Thinking this made my eyes water. I knew about Gandalf and I couldn't stop that, why would I be able to save Boromir? What if I did save him and he went crazy again? But it's not a matter of what you "want" to do, it's what you "have" to do. The voice said again. I growled and slammed my fists against a nearby tree.
"Why should it have to be me?" I looked at the tree in front of me and rested my head on its trunk. "Who the hell decided that?" I was ready to throw in the towel, just go to the rest of the fellowship and say, 'Well, it's been great, but I am going to hang out in Lothlórien, good luck!' but I knew that this wasn't something I could just walk away from, I knew this since the day I decided to go with the rest.
"Like I have said before, you carry too many things upon your heart." A smooth voice said behind me. I turned around and saw the lady Galadriel standing over a silver basin. I knew immediately what it was; that was her mirror. "Perhaps this will sooth you?" she extended her hand to something on the ground beside her basin. I approached as I looked and saw it was my Taekwondo bag. My heart fluttered when I saw it, and I grabbed it immediately. This was my only connection to my old world and my other life. "This was brought to us months ago from Rivendell." I ran my fingers on the nylon sides of the bag and remembered its old feel. I looked up to her and said,
"Thank you, thank you so much. This means…everything to me." Galadriel nodded and smiled gently. I set the bag on the ground and looked back into her misty eyes. She broke the silence and asked,
"Why do you concern yourself with the troubles of harnessing the future? What will be will be."
"With all my respect my Lady," I stood as I answered with a sigh, "I cannot simply sit and watch another of the fellowship die, especially when I know of it before hand; that is murder."
"You could not stop Gandalf, why do you think that you would be able of stopping the fall of others?" she said,
"That doesn't mean that I can't try to prevent it! I just didn't do it right in Moria! This time I really can!" I burst out angrily; hearing her speak of Gandalf's death so easily enraged me.
"Do you think that you have the right to giving second chances? Second chances that dance with a person's life and future? This is no sport, it is life and death." I was quiet and I looked to the ground for consolation. I felt so shot down by what she said to me. "Laura, you and I do not need to look into the mirror. What of your present? What of all the relationships and all the persons that you have come into relation with? Does that not also affect the eventual outcome? The only thing that is undeviating is the past Laura, the future can always be changed." I looked at her in confusion as she spoke, first she told me to roll along with what I know is going to happen and then she tells me how inconsistent the future is? "Continue the journey Laura and do what you think you must; no one can decide those things but you." I shook my head and answered,
"No, no, that doesn't make sense. I don't have any answers just more questions!" Galadriel approached me and ran her fingers soothingly through my hair.
"Laura, do not dwell on accomplishing everything, even those who live forever cannot do that. You are who you are, and in whatever you do you have my faith." She then kissed my forehead and walked away. It was comforting to hear Galadriel say that, but it was still not enough to settle my nerves. I left the mirror, along with my bag, and ran back through the woods; I was angry at my self for not having the answers and angry at Galadriel for not giving them to me.
"Dammit." I cursed as I ran, "Dammit, dammit, damn, DAMN!" I soon came to a field of yellow and blue flowers and I fell to my knees in the middle of them. The flowers smelt so inviting and welcome, but I did not lie in them; I had a duty to do and I couldn't become attached or drop my guard. My thoughts swirled in my head and I couldn't think strait; the words Galadriel said to me were like echoes of a distant past that I could hardly remember. I growled loudly as I threw my bag in front of me and I watched it roll in the flowers.
"Laura?" A voice said behind me; I looked over my shoulder and saw Legolas standing in the flowers. I stood angrily and walked away from him as I said,
"Oh god, just leave me alone." As I walked to my bag I heard him ask,
"Laura what is the matter?" I stopped just before my bag and looked at him skeptically as I said in a sarcastic tone,
"What…all of a sudden, out of nowhere you start to care? Yeah right." I picked up my bag and continued walking out of the field. I heard nothing from Legolas for a few steps until I heard him start to say,
"I-"
"Listen," I interrupted and I turned around to look at him, "Not right now, okay? I'll fight with you tomorrow or any other day after that, but not…not right now."
"I know how you feel towards me Laura." He said loudly, "and though it is difficult I ask that you listen." I looked at him unbelievingly as he said, "I want you to give you my apology." He paused for continuing, "I never gave to you the recognition deserved. So having said this I wish to start anew. Will you please privilege me with that?" I thought for a moment trying to understand what he just said to me.
"Thank you," I told him hesitantly, "thank you…for that…I- I am tired and I appreciate what you told me. But I am going to sleep now." I turned my back to him and walked away slowly. I left the field and was in the trees when I remembered that I gave him no answer. I turned around and found him gone. I shook my head in delirious confusion as I walked back to the pavilion where I dropped my bag and plopped on my couch where I fell asleep.
Chapter 10 Review Replies:
Legolas-Obsessionist: Damnit! I hate black mail…I guess I'll just have to keep writing then…Good luck with your drawings!
Nightwoman: I couldn't answer that! You just have to keep reading! But thank you for the great compliment…and by the way I would be happy to add you to my mailing list, but I couldn't tell what your E-mail was from your review…could you please give me your E-mail address again?
ThoseRainyDays: Oh my gosh! I love your Pen Name! I love rainy days and it makes me so happy!
TriGemini: Well, yeah, this story is incredibly ambiguous…but I promise that a lot of these questions will be answered and a greater part of them will be answered in part two of the With Shores Beneath Their Feet series. So, hang in there!
Ms. Unknown: Yeah, you could really see the changes I've made in this chapter even though I have made a lot of little changes through out. I think it's pretty safe to say that from this point out you'll be noticing a lot of the changes I've made…
Egastin77: Thanks! Yeah that part is definitely coming up soon…Oh wait, no duh it's coming up! I feel stupid… :)
