1Katelyn was just about to sit down between a disgruntled Abbey and a curiously vigilant Samantha, when a door banged open and four people came speeding into the room. A man dressed in deep gray robes with silver stitching and light grey eyes, and dark brown hair. He had a carefully lined face and arched eyebrows that made him look stern. Two identical, young men, each with hair that matched the first man, and emerald green eyes. The last, a beautiful woman with raven hair and a pale, perfect, flawless face wearing a flowing gown of purple silk.
"My Valar..." the eldest man said when his eyes laid upon Katelyn.
"Tari!" the woman practically shrieked. She ran over and embraced Katelyn in a bone-breaking hug.
Katelyn managed to slip out of her grasp, wide-eyed and looking quite scared. "Who are you?" she asked in a frightened whisper. The man strode forward and laid his hands on Katelyn's shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Who are you?" she repeated, gazing back into those stormy gray eyes that were full of knowledge and years beyond measure.
"Lady Galadriel apparently did very well in erasing every memory you possessed of Middle-Earth." the man whispered, more to himself than to her. His voice was that of a father, calmly speaking to a child.
"Please, tell me who you are." Katelyn pleaded, wondering who all these new faces belonged to.
The man smiled indulgently while tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "My Tari... I am your father; Elrond."
Katelyn jerked out of his grasp, stepping backward and almost tripping on the hem of her dress in her haste to get away from him. 'This cannot be true...' she thought desperately. 'How could Legolas possibly have been telling the truth? If I really am Tari, then that means that...'
"Daughter." Elrond said gently, reaching out and laying a soft hand against the side of her face. She almost stepped back again, but she did not feel that he meant her any harm. His other hand rested against the other side of her face. "Do not fear daughter, for you shall soon remember everything that was taken from you..." Elrond said. He began to murmur words in a speech unknown to her.
She felt very dizzy, and her head began to ache fiercely. There was a tingling sensation at the tops of her ears, as they formed into delicately pointed ones. Her hair began to shine brightly, and grew a few inches. The lightheadedness began to cloud her vision, and she swayed on the spot. The tingling sensation was all over her body now, but she could only feel herself falling to the floor. She heard someone rush forward, and she felt warm arms catch her before she hit the cold marble floor...
"What did you do to her?" Legolas asked furiously when he had caught the falling Katelyn.
"Do not fret, my prince, she is perfectly fine. She is only sleeping while every memory and though that she had before she was sent away from here is restored to her." Lord Elrond said calmly.
Legolas continued to glare at him, but swept the unconscious form into his strong arms.
Abbey quickly went over to Samantha and asked quietly, "What is going on? What did he do to Kate?"
"I don't know..." she answered just as quietly. "I feel so strange here... So out of place."
Abbey scoffed. "'Out-of-place' is an understatement, Sam. Once Kate wakes up, we'll take three horses and get out of-" the rest of her words were cut off as Queen Lothiriel called to them.
"Lady Abbey, Samantha, please follow me, and I shall show you to your rooms." she said politely with a warm motherly smile on her face.
Lothiriel had seemed so pleasant good-natured since they arrived, that the two did not hesitate to follow her. Legolas followed behind them, still carrying the sleeping form of Katelyn... Or was she Tari? Elrond and the woman that had embraced Katelyn were accompanying them as well, speaking in low voices that held cheerful tones.
They turned down a long corridor, and Lothiriel stopped, and turned to Abbey and Samantha with a grin still present on her maternal face. "Lady Samantha, your room shall be the first one on the left," she said, pointing to a set of double white-oak doors with brass handles. "And Lady Abbey's shall be the third door on the left." Lothiriel gestured to the appropriate set of doors.
Samantha hesitated slightly, but then opened the door to the room. It was magnificent. The room was large and spacious, and had been painted in shades of violet. The room had an enormous bed, a bureau, desk, wardrobe, and an floridly designed vanity. It also had a separate lavatory. Abbey's room was more or less the same, save it was done in shades of deep navy.
"Will these rooms do?" Lothiriel asked genuinely, when Abbey and Samantha had emerged from gawking at their chambers.
"I should think so!" Abbey stated, still amazed at the proportions of her own room. "The rooms are amazing!"
Lothiriel smiled graciously, before turning to the door in-between Abbey and Samantha's rooms, and opening it. The room she revealed was painted in pale greens and cream colors. The queen-sized four-poster bed had matching silken sheets and pillows. The only thing that set this room apart from the others, is that it had a large balcony with stairs that led down to a flowered courtyard below. Legolas immediately went inside the ample chamber, and set Katelyn gently on the bed. He was about to go fetch a cloth and warm water to tend her cuts when his mother chivied him out of the room saying, "Out, out, out! The poor dear needs to rest!"
"But mother, she needs-" Legolas protested.
"I want you to go and help these ladies find some food! They look famished. I'll look after her, and Lord Elrond will as well." his mother answered firmly.
Legolas opened his mouth to protest more, but closed it, yielding to defeat. He turned to the patient Samantha and Abbey and said, "Follow me."