Chapter 2
"Aria! Come and see who I have brought!"
They were in a wide, open room; a strange sort of room. In her own time, Erin thought it would have been referred to as multi-purpose, but here that didn't seem to fit. All the different things it was used for just seemed to blend and flow together...It gave her an odd feeling. A sense of belonging without belonging; she had felt is since arriving, but in this house it resonated more strongly.
She let her gym bag slip from her shoulder to the ground as Pippin crossed the room to where three other hobbits were just turning in response to his shout. No- two hobbits and Aria! They followed Pippin to where the two sisters and Rosie stood, near the door.
Pippin was telling Aria how he had found them. "They say they're from your world, and don't know how they got here."
Aria looked up apprehensivly; she wasn't sure what to expect at all. 'Please don't let it be one of them,' she thought, thinking of the cruel tormenters she had left behind...But the first words out of the dark haired young woman were an apology.
"I still should have done something."
Aria shook her head; they were sitting outside on the steps, waiting for Pippin to return with Gandalf and Elrond. "They just would have done it to you too. It's happened before, whenever someone else tried to stand up for me."
"Let them do what they like! I don't care. I should have said something."
Aria shrugged. "There wasn't much you could have done, but thanks anyway."
They weren't able to continue talking, because Gandalf, with Elrond behind him, had appeared in the doorway. Rhian, Erin, Aria, and Frodo all stood; Merry had a sleeping Rosie holding him down, and the wizard gestured for him to stay put. Rhian bowed, and Erin curtsied, both deeper than before.
"Ladies," Elrond said, "be welcome here."
"Our thanks, my lord," Erin said quietly.
"Guard this young one, Merry," Gandalf said, bending to touch Rosie's fiery red curls, "for we must speak with her guardians awhile."
"You come from the same time as Lady Aria?" Gandalf asked. They stood in a small, quiet room, where two windows opened onto a garden of surpassing lovelyness.
"Yes sir."
"When did you arrive here?"
"Only this day, I think not more than an hour ago."
"What do you know of how you came to be here?"
"Not much, not clearly...well, Rosie, the little girl, our cousin, climbed the bookshelf, and it tipped, and...and the books began falling off, and..." she paused uncertainly. "On particular book fell open, and there was golden light all around us, and we were drawn into it...and then we found ourselves in a glade. We walked down what we supposed was a path, until we met Pippin, who brought us here."
Elrond leaned forward and spoke. "What book was this, Lady Rhian?"
"It was...oh dear..." She paused. "It was a book about Middle Earth, my lord, that...tells a story, about you, and Frodo, and many others."
"What was the name of this book?"
Rhian bit her lip. "It was...it was called 'The Lord of the Rings', my lord."
Gandalf frowned darkly. "What do you know of the rings? Have you read this book?"
"Oh, yes, several times, but...Since we came here, I- we- cannot remember it. We know of the One Ring, the names of Frodo, and you. I know the name of Aragorn, and who he is, and I know something of a few others, but everything I know, or think I know, is hazy. It took me some minutes to remember who Pippin was when we met him. And...and I could not tell you, now, how the story ends. I have...forgotten." The wizard looked relieved, somehow.
"Lady Aria knew something of Middle Earth before she came here; the names of Bilbo and myself, and of Rivendell, but not that of Frodo and his company, or Aragorn. Can she have read this...Lord of the Rings?"
"I do not think so; in the age we come from, it is a rare and difficult book to find. But I know that she has read another book, that tells the story of Bilbo, and his adventures. I have read it too, and I can remember what happens in it."
"I see. Perhaps, Lady Rhian, and Lady Erin, you will show us the place you found yourself when you arrived in Rivendell?"
"It was here...I remember the shape of this tree...oh! Erin, look!"
"I see, Rhian!"
The whole contents of their bookshelves were spread over the grass, books tumbled over each other haphazardly. Rhian knelt and began gathering them up, murmuring their names as though greeting old friends. "Rose Daughter...Beauty...Deerskin...The Deed of Paksennarion...The Wanderer...The Forestwife...Redwall...The Blue Sword...The Once and Future King...The Book of Three...Over Sea Under Stone...The Last Prince of Ireland...Maire...Taliesin..." She stopped. "Look at this!" she called. "I've found it!" She lifted a heavy red book in her hands, and opened it, but the pages...
"Is this the book?" Gandalf asked. "But it is..."
"Blank," she whispered. "The story hasn't been written yet."
"Aria! Come and see who I have brought!"
They were in a wide, open room; a strange sort of room. In her own time, Erin thought it would have been referred to as multi-purpose, but here that didn't seem to fit. All the different things it was used for just seemed to blend and flow together...It gave her an odd feeling. A sense of belonging without belonging; she had felt is since arriving, but in this house it resonated more strongly.
She let her gym bag slip from her shoulder to the ground as Pippin crossed the room to where three other hobbits were just turning in response to his shout. No- two hobbits and Aria! They followed Pippin to where the two sisters and Rosie stood, near the door.
Pippin was telling Aria how he had found them. "They say they're from your world, and don't know how they got here."
Aria looked up apprehensivly; she wasn't sure what to expect at all. 'Please don't let it be one of them,' she thought, thinking of the cruel tormenters she had left behind...But the first words out of the dark haired young woman were an apology.
"I still should have done something."
Aria shook her head; they were sitting outside on the steps, waiting for Pippin to return with Gandalf and Elrond. "They just would have done it to you too. It's happened before, whenever someone else tried to stand up for me."
"Let them do what they like! I don't care. I should have said something."
Aria shrugged. "There wasn't much you could have done, but thanks anyway."
They weren't able to continue talking, because Gandalf, with Elrond behind him, had appeared in the doorway. Rhian, Erin, Aria, and Frodo all stood; Merry had a sleeping Rosie holding him down, and the wizard gestured for him to stay put. Rhian bowed, and Erin curtsied, both deeper than before.
"Ladies," Elrond said, "be welcome here."
"Our thanks, my lord," Erin said quietly.
"Guard this young one, Merry," Gandalf said, bending to touch Rosie's fiery red curls, "for we must speak with her guardians awhile."
"You come from the same time as Lady Aria?" Gandalf asked. They stood in a small, quiet room, where two windows opened onto a garden of surpassing lovelyness.
"Yes sir."
"When did you arrive here?"
"Only this day, I think not more than an hour ago."
"What do you know of how you came to be here?"
"Not much, not clearly...well, Rosie, the little girl, our cousin, climbed the bookshelf, and it tipped, and...and the books began falling off, and..." she paused uncertainly. "On particular book fell open, and there was golden light all around us, and we were drawn into it...and then we found ourselves in a glade. We walked down what we supposed was a path, until we met Pippin, who brought us here."
Elrond leaned forward and spoke. "What book was this, Lady Rhian?"
"It was...oh dear..." She paused. "It was a book about Middle Earth, my lord, that...tells a story, about you, and Frodo, and many others."
"What was the name of this book?"
Rhian bit her lip. "It was...it was called 'The Lord of the Rings', my lord."
Gandalf frowned darkly. "What do you know of the rings? Have you read this book?"
"Oh, yes, several times, but...Since we came here, I- we- cannot remember it. We know of the One Ring, the names of Frodo, and you. I know the name of Aragorn, and who he is, and I know something of a few others, but everything I know, or think I know, is hazy. It took me some minutes to remember who Pippin was when we met him. And...and I could not tell you, now, how the story ends. I have...forgotten." The wizard looked relieved, somehow.
"Lady Aria knew something of Middle Earth before she came here; the names of Bilbo and myself, and of Rivendell, but not that of Frodo and his company, or Aragorn. Can she have read this...Lord of the Rings?"
"I do not think so; in the age we come from, it is a rare and difficult book to find. But I know that she has read another book, that tells the story of Bilbo, and his adventures. I have read it too, and I can remember what happens in it."
"I see. Perhaps, Lady Rhian, and Lady Erin, you will show us the place you found yourself when you arrived in Rivendell?"
"It was here...I remember the shape of this tree...oh! Erin, look!"
"I see, Rhian!"
The whole contents of their bookshelves were spread over the grass, books tumbled over each other haphazardly. Rhian knelt and began gathering them up, murmuring their names as though greeting old friends. "Rose Daughter...Beauty...Deerskin...The Deed of Paksennarion...The Wanderer...The Forestwife...Redwall...The Blue Sword...The Once and Future King...The Book of Three...Over Sea Under Stone...The Last Prince of Ireland...Maire...Taliesin..." She stopped. "Look at this!" she called. "I've found it!" She lifted a heavy red book in her hands, and opened it, but the pages...
"Is this the book?" Gandalf asked. "But it is..."
"Blank," she whispered. "The story hasn't been written yet."