Chapter 3
"For a little child she weighs a great deal!" Merry shifted the unconcious Rosie against his shoulder. He, Frodo, Aria, and Pippin still sat on the steps, waiting for Gandalf to return with Rhian and Erin.
"So say you, oh Merry of the Great Girth!" Pippin laughed. "Give her to me then."
Rosie twitched, then curled up again on Pippin's lap and slept on.
"I wonder why she sleeps so," Frodo said.
"I know- I was exhausted after I arrived," Aria explained. "And she is only a little girl."
"A heavy little girl," Merry put in.
Frodo turned to Aria. "Do you truely know these two ladies?"
"Not really, only the elder, Rhian. She would sing sometimes, in front of the students. And she never teased me either."
Pippin looked up. "She sings?"
"Beautifully; I'd never heard anything like it until I came here."
"Aria..." Frodo paused. "Can you tell me why on earth they were dressed so strangely? The dark one, Rhian? wore..."
"Jeans. Lots of people wear them."
"Women?"
"Yes. Everyone wears jeans."
"And the other, Erin..."
"That was a ballet costume."
"Ballet?"
"A kind of dance, that's very beautiful."
"I wonder," Merry said, "wether they might perform for us?"
"I hope so," Aria said.
"Hope what?" asked Aragorn, coming from the path with Arwen beside him.
Pippin explained again about finding more strangers in Rivendell, as Arwen bent over the waking Rosie. "And who is this dear child?" she wondered.
"Rosie, the cousin of the two ladies with Gandalf. She has been sleeping almost since she arrived."
Rosie blinked and yawned. "Where's 'Ian?" she asked, looking around her. "I want 'Ian an' Erin to take me to Daddy an' Jon-jon."
"They'll be back soon," Arwen told her. Aragorn smiled, watching them; Aria, catching his expression, looked away, feeling like an intruder.
Rhian, Erin, Gandalf, and Elrond set out to return to the Last Homely House, burdened with books.
"Lady Rhian," Gandalf said. "When Lady Aria came here, she had with her a paper, listing her ancestry. Do you?"
"Why, yes, yes I do. In my backpack."
"May I see it?"
"Yes, certainly."
When they reached the house, Elrond sent a young elf to have rooms prepared for 'the ladies', and to take the books to them. Rhian looked through her backpack, finding the folder with her geneology papers and giving it to Gandalf before the wizard sent them back out to where their friends waited.
"There you are!" Pippen cried, spotting them. "And here I thought he'd keep you forever."
"Not forever," Erin said. "Merely an eternity."
The hobbits laughed. Rhian lifted her eyes smiling and started when she saw the tall, dark man, and the exquisitly lovely elven woman who held Rosie on her lap. Frodo, seeing her loss, quickly stood.
"Aragorn, the ladies Rhian and Erin. Rhian, Erin, the Lord Aragorn and Lady Arwen."
The two sisters were getting better at these introduction; the bow and curtsy came easily. The names were familiar; there was something important about these two. But they could not remember.
"We were just saying," Merry said, "that we hoped you would perform for us tonight."
"Oh..." the twins spoke and blushed simultaneously.
Rhian laughed. "Perhaps," she said.
"'Ian," Rosie said, "I wanna story."
"Yes!" Pippin cried. "We want a story!" He mimicked Rosie's expressions. "Please 'Ian?"
"All right," Rhian surrendured, sitting down. "What story?"
"The Kitchen Knight," Erin said.
"Not again!"
"A story of Bradamante then."
"Erin! Can you think of any stories that don't involve blood shed?"
"Can't you simply choose a story?" asked Merry impatiently.
"Sit silently until we have completed the opening ceremonies! Rosie what do you say?"
"A made up story."
"There, all right, you heard her. A made up story. Now just you sit quiet while Rosie and I begin the process of Making Up A Story. Come over here, Rosie!" Rosie hopped off Arwen's lap, climbing up by Rhian, who drew a pair of pretend spectacles from her pocket, unfolded them, and perched them low on her nose. An imaginary paper was found rolled up in her ear, and an invisible pen in her hair. "Now then," she said, "first we need characters. Rosie?"
"A princess!"
"Very well, a princess..." Rhian scribbled on her imaginary paper. "P-r-i-n-c-e-s-s. What kind of princess?"
"She's got a sword."
"Has she now, all right, princess with a sword..."
"And red hair."
"And...red...hair. What next?"
"Dragon."
"Ah-ha! Good or bad?"
"Bad!"
"One bad dragon...what else?"
"A prince. And his horse!"
"A prince...and...his...horse. Okay."
"The horse's name is Carrot."
"Really? A prince with a horse named Carrot. There. Anyone else?"
"A troll. The green kind."
"Green troll. Princess, dragon, prince, horse named Carrot, and a green troll. That should be enough. Where are they?"
"Camelot."
"Oh, Camelot is it? All right, C-a-m-e-l-o-t. Why are they in Camelot?"
"The princess is in the tower..."
"In...the...tower..."
"...and the troll is guarding the door..."
"Guarding...door..."
"...and the dragon is sitting on the walls..."
"Dragon...on...walls..."
"...and the prince is fighting the dragon."
"Where's the horse?"
"With the prince, silly!"
"Oh, yes of course. All right. Now," Rhian turned to her amused audience, "we have a story to tell!" She stepped up onto the first stair, and struck a dramatic pose. "Once upon a time," she began, "in a far away land, there lived a beautiful princess named-" she paused, looking at Rosie.
"Briyann."
"Named Briyann, who was the daughter of a great king, his only child and a warrior in her own right." Rhian began to pace back and forth, getting into her story. "She traveled far and wide, seeking adventure, until one day she came to a distant land that was plagued by a dark and terrible dragon called-"
"Raygen."
"...who breathed his fiery breath on the fields and withered the crops, unless the king, a sickly aged man, sent out a maiden from the city walls for him to devour. When Briyann rode into that place, she found much weeping, for the king's daughter, a fine lady and true, had made up her mind to go to the dragon and would not be detered. When Briyann had heard all this, she said to the king's daughter 'Let me go to be the dragon's maiden, for my blade is strong, and with the help of heaven perhaps I may slay this foul creature.' The king's daughter agreed, 'But,' she said, 'if you do not suceed and the dragon returns I shall be the one to go and none shall stop me.' To this they agreed, and the next day the king's daughter took Briyann and clothed her in white, girdled about her waist with a silken cord of blood red, and Briyann took her sword in one hand, and a shield bearing the device of a silver falcon in the other, and went out of the city gates alone with none beside or behind her, and before her the dragon. And when she reached the dragon's lair, deep in the mountains, she called for it to do battle with her, or be named a coward." Rhian was completely wrapped up in the tale as she spun it, so much so that she did not notice her growing audience; Gandalf and Elrond had come out of the house to listen, and also an old hobbit and a young hobbit who went to sit by Frodo and Aria. The elves also began to gather, watching the strange young human woman.
"The dragon Raygen came forth from his cave, fire shedding from his nostirels, to see who would so defy him. When he saw that it was a maid who spoke so bravely, he laughed, and flame spread from his jaws, but inwardly he quaked, for he could see that her heart was strong and brave. He set upon her fiercly, with wing and fang and claw, and the blood of both stained the ground until, with what strength was left her, she cleaved the creature's head from its shoulders, and it fell dead at her feet. Briyann sank down in a faint from weariness, and the next day when she did not return, the king's daughter, thinking her dead, went out of the gates alone as Briyann had done. When she reached the dragon's lair she called out, but there was none to answer her, for the dragon was dead and Briyann dead to the world, though her heart beat yet in her breast. Finally, after some time past, the king's daughter went down into the cave, and found the beast beheaded and Briyann lying still, and mourned her; but then, wait! For Briyann's shield where it lay by her cheek was misted with her breath, and when the king's daughter saw this she rejoiced, and bent to tend her wounds. And soon she was revived and her eyes opened, and she bid the king's daughter to take the red girdle from about her waist and bind the dragon's head with it, that it may be brought back to the city for proof, and that her horse be brought, for she would return home to the land of her birth. This was done, and with much rejoicing was Bryianne given a hero's leave of that country."
Rhian paused to catch her breath, and as she did she realized that a great crowd had gathered and she stopped, blushing. Elrond stepped forward.
"A fine story, Lady Rhian."
"It's not done," Rosie told him.
"Oh? Perhaps she will finish it for us tonight."
"If my lord wishes it," Rhian said.
"He does," Pippin put in.
"The hobbit speaks truly," the elf lord said, "but first let these ladies go to their rooms and prepare for tonight's feast."
"For a little child she weighs a great deal!" Merry shifted the unconcious Rosie against his shoulder. He, Frodo, Aria, and Pippin still sat on the steps, waiting for Gandalf to return with Rhian and Erin.
"So say you, oh Merry of the Great Girth!" Pippin laughed. "Give her to me then."
Rosie twitched, then curled up again on Pippin's lap and slept on.
"I wonder why she sleeps so," Frodo said.
"I know- I was exhausted after I arrived," Aria explained. "And she is only a little girl."
"A heavy little girl," Merry put in.
Frodo turned to Aria. "Do you truely know these two ladies?"
"Not really, only the elder, Rhian. She would sing sometimes, in front of the students. And she never teased me either."
Pippin looked up. "She sings?"
"Beautifully; I'd never heard anything like it until I came here."
"Aria..." Frodo paused. "Can you tell me why on earth they were dressed so strangely? The dark one, Rhian? wore..."
"Jeans. Lots of people wear them."
"Women?"
"Yes. Everyone wears jeans."
"And the other, Erin..."
"That was a ballet costume."
"Ballet?"
"A kind of dance, that's very beautiful."
"I wonder," Merry said, "wether they might perform for us?"
"I hope so," Aria said.
"Hope what?" asked Aragorn, coming from the path with Arwen beside him.
Pippin explained again about finding more strangers in Rivendell, as Arwen bent over the waking Rosie. "And who is this dear child?" she wondered.
"Rosie, the cousin of the two ladies with Gandalf. She has been sleeping almost since she arrived."
Rosie blinked and yawned. "Where's 'Ian?" she asked, looking around her. "I want 'Ian an' Erin to take me to Daddy an' Jon-jon."
"They'll be back soon," Arwen told her. Aragorn smiled, watching them; Aria, catching his expression, looked away, feeling like an intruder.
Rhian, Erin, Gandalf, and Elrond set out to return to the Last Homely House, burdened with books.
"Lady Rhian," Gandalf said. "When Lady Aria came here, she had with her a paper, listing her ancestry. Do you?"
"Why, yes, yes I do. In my backpack."
"May I see it?"
"Yes, certainly."
When they reached the house, Elrond sent a young elf to have rooms prepared for 'the ladies', and to take the books to them. Rhian looked through her backpack, finding the folder with her geneology papers and giving it to Gandalf before the wizard sent them back out to where their friends waited.
"There you are!" Pippen cried, spotting them. "And here I thought he'd keep you forever."
"Not forever," Erin said. "Merely an eternity."
The hobbits laughed. Rhian lifted her eyes smiling and started when she saw the tall, dark man, and the exquisitly lovely elven woman who held Rosie on her lap. Frodo, seeing her loss, quickly stood.
"Aragorn, the ladies Rhian and Erin. Rhian, Erin, the Lord Aragorn and Lady Arwen."
The two sisters were getting better at these introduction; the bow and curtsy came easily. The names were familiar; there was something important about these two. But they could not remember.
"We were just saying," Merry said, "that we hoped you would perform for us tonight."
"Oh..." the twins spoke and blushed simultaneously.
Rhian laughed. "Perhaps," she said.
"'Ian," Rosie said, "I wanna story."
"Yes!" Pippin cried. "We want a story!" He mimicked Rosie's expressions. "Please 'Ian?"
"All right," Rhian surrendured, sitting down. "What story?"
"The Kitchen Knight," Erin said.
"Not again!"
"A story of Bradamante then."
"Erin! Can you think of any stories that don't involve blood shed?"
"Can't you simply choose a story?" asked Merry impatiently.
"Sit silently until we have completed the opening ceremonies! Rosie what do you say?"
"A made up story."
"There, all right, you heard her. A made up story. Now just you sit quiet while Rosie and I begin the process of Making Up A Story. Come over here, Rosie!" Rosie hopped off Arwen's lap, climbing up by Rhian, who drew a pair of pretend spectacles from her pocket, unfolded them, and perched them low on her nose. An imaginary paper was found rolled up in her ear, and an invisible pen in her hair. "Now then," she said, "first we need characters. Rosie?"
"A princess!"
"Very well, a princess..." Rhian scribbled on her imaginary paper. "P-r-i-n-c-e-s-s. What kind of princess?"
"She's got a sword."
"Has she now, all right, princess with a sword..."
"And red hair."
"And...red...hair. What next?"
"Dragon."
"Ah-ha! Good or bad?"
"Bad!"
"One bad dragon...what else?"
"A prince. And his horse!"
"A prince...and...his...horse. Okay."
"The horse's name is Carrot."
"Really? A prince with a horse named Carrot. There. Anyone else?"
"A troll. The green kind."
"Green troll. Princess, dragon, prince, horse named Carrot, and a green troll. That should be enough. Where are they?"
"Camelot."
"Oh, Camelot is it? All right, C-a-m-e-l-o-t. Why are they in Camelot?"
"The princess is in the tower..."
"In...the...tower..."
"...and the troll is guarding the door..."
"Guarding...door..."
"...and the dragon is sitting on the walls..."
"Dragon...on...walls..."
"...and the prince is fighting the dragon."
"Where's the horse?"
"With the prince, silly!"
"Oh, yes of course. All right. Now," Rhian turned to her amused audience, "we have a story to tell!" She stepped up onto the first stair, and struck a dramatic pose. "Once upon a time," she began, "in a far away land, there lived a beautiful princess named-" she paused, looking at Rosie.
"Briyann."
"Named Briyann, who was the daughter of a great king, his only child and a warrior in her own right." Rhian began to pace back and forth, getting into her story. "She traveled far and wide, seeking adventure, until one day she came to a distant land that was plagued by a dark and terrible dragon called-"
"Raygen."
"...who breathed his fiery breath on the fields and withered the crops, unless the king, a sickly aged man, sent out a maiden from the city walls for him to devour. When Briyann rode into that place, she found much weeping, for the king's daughter, a fine lady and true, had made up her mind to go to the dragon and would not be detered. When Briyann had heard all this, she said to the king's daughter 'Let me go to be the dragon's maiden, for my blade is strong, and with the help of heaven perhaps I may slay this foul creature.' The king's daughter agreed, 'But,' she said, 'if you do not suceed and the dragon returns I shall be the one to go and none shall stop me.' To this they agreed, and the next day the king's daughter took Briyann and clothed her in white, girdled about her waist with a silken cord of blood red, and Briyann took her sword in one hand, and a shield bearing the device of a silver falcon in the other, and went out of the city gates alone with none beside or behind her, and before her the dragon. And when she reached the dragon's lair, deep in the mountains, she called for it to do battle with her, or be named a coward." Rhian was completely wrapped up in the tale as she spun it, so much so that she did not notice her growing audience; Gandalf and Elrond had come out of the house to listen, and also an old hobbit and a young hobbit who went to sit by Frodo and Aria. The elves also began to gather, watching the strange young human woman.
"The dragon Raygen came forth from his cave, fire shedding from his nostirels, to see who would so defy him. When he saw that it was a maid who spoke so bravely, he laughed, and flame spread from his jaws, but inwardly he quaked, for he could see that her heart was strong and brave. He set upon her fiercly, with wing and fang and claw, and the blood of both stained the ground until, with what strength was left her, she cleaved the creature's head from its shoulders, and it fell dead at her feet. Briyann sank down in a faint from weariness, and the next day when she did not return, the king's daughter, thinking her dead, went out of the gates alone as Briyann had done. When she reached the dragon's lair she called out, but there was none to answer her, for the dragon was dead and Briyann dead to the world, though her heart beat yet in her breast. Finally, after some time past, the king's daughter went down into the cave, and found the beast beheaded and Briyann lying still, and mourned her; but then, wait! For Briyann's shield where it lay by her cheek was misted with her breath, and when the king's daughter saw this she rejoiced, and bent to tend her wounds. And soon she was revived and her eyes opened, and she bid the king's daughter to take the red girdle from about her waist and bind the dragon's head with it, that it may be brought back to the city for proof, and that her horse be brought, for she would return home to the land of her birth. This was done, and with much rejoicing was Bryianne given a hero's leave of that country."
Rhian paused to catch her breath, and as she did she realized that a great crowd had gathered and she stopped, blushing. Elrond stepped forward.
"A fine story, Lady Rhian."
"It's not done," Rosie told him.
"Oh? Perhaps she will finish it for us tonight."
"If my lord wishes it," Rhian said.
"He does," Pippin put in.
"The hobbit speaks truly," the elf lord said, "but first let these ladies go to their rooms and prepare for tonight's feast."