Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR. I also don't own Caleniel, Cadunír, Rodwen, Elvellaswen, Gaenír, or Aearoniell; they belong to Tador and Aearoniell, who have given me permission to use their characters for my own twisted ideas.
Lady Caleniel
By: Mika Saito
Chapter 8- A change of plans
Legolas watched the demon carefully. Like most of Aearoniell's other spells, this demon was a fire demon. He glanced quickly at Gimli, who was watching the demon just as carefully.
"You may recognize this demon. It's a balrog, much like that of the one killed by Gandalf, though it is more powerful despite its smaller size." Aearoniell laughed darkly. Neither Legolas nor Gimli responded. "No smart remark, Prince?" She taunted, but Legolas ignored her.
The demon moved forward, knocking Gimli aside- straight into a wall. Gimli slumped to the floor, unconscious. Legolas glanced nervously at his fallen friend while dodging an attack from the demon. It took a lot to knock a dwarf like Gimli out of the fight.
Aearoniell smirked as she raised her hands up in front of her. The daemon was doing its job perfectly, Legolas was to distracted with dodging its fiery attacks that he wasn't paying attention to her.
She shouted the simple spell when Legolas came within the range of her attack.
Legolas cried out in pain as he was engulfed in flames. Aearoniell didn't wait long before she lowered her hands and ended the spell. As much fun as it would be to just finish him off and be over with it, his death would also slow their plan down. Although his part wasn't too big, it was big enough to be important. Aearoniell smiled innocently as she moved to stand over Legolas's limp form.
"I'll be seeing you later, my dearest Prince." Aearoniell laughed darkly. Whispering the word to her teleportation spell she disappeared.
Caleniel sat alone, she was still in the same room she had awakened in. Gaenír had left her a few minutes ago and had not said anything about where he was going or when he would be back.
"My father is probably in Mirkwood by now." She mumbled to herself, thinking that she was alone.
"Of course he is, if you don't mind me saying. He is, you are his only daughter after all." A meek voice drifted to Caleviel's ears. Turning slightly in her seat, Caleniel saw a she-elf carrying a tray approach her.
"Who are you?" Caleniel asked curiously.
"My name is Elvellaswen, I'm a servant of Lord Gaenír. He asked me to bring you some food, and to keep you company while he attends to some matters of which I am not to speak of." Elvellaswen moved forward and sat the tray down in front of Caleniel as she spoke. Caleniel nodded silently.
"Do you trust Gaenír?" Caleniel asked suddenly, deciding that if Elvellaswen could not be trusted then oh well, the worst that could happen would be for Gaenír to find out about how she really felt.
"Not really." Elvellaswen said carefully. For all she knew the she-elf her master had asked her to entertain could just be testing her loyalties. "Why?"
"Because something about him doesn't seem right. I think he lied to me about the whole sending that she-elf to keep Legolas busy long enough that he could talk to me." Caleniel chose her words carefully, hoping that Elvellaswen was telling the truth about not fully trusting Gaenír, and not just bluffing.
"You mean to say that Lord Gaenír has some other plan that he's trying to cover up?" Elvellaswen asked curiously.
"I think so, but I can't seem to figure out what it is." Caleniel sat back in her seat, seemingly forgetting that Elvellaswen was there.
"It could be anything." Elvellaswen voiced her thoughts, completely unaware that they were not alone anymore.
"What could be anything?" The two she-elves looked up quickly. Elvellaswen, seeing her other master there, bowed respectfully.
"This feeling that the Lady Caleniel was describing to me." She lied quickly.
"You were talking about feelings? It didn't sound like it to me," Aearoniell shrugged. "You're dismissed Elvellaswen." Elvellaswen bowed again and left the room.
"So you're Caleniel, the one that Gaenír spoke of so reverently." Aearoniell stated while looking Caleniel over.
"Yes." She stood. "And you must be Aearoniell, the one that Gaenír sent to keep Legolas busy so that he could talk to me." Caleniel smiled and extended her hand.
"Gaenír told you who I was?" Aearoniell took Caleniels hand and lightly shook it before turning around.
"I don't think he planned on telling me who you were, but when I woke up he was standing where you are now, and there was… I think it was a portal of some kind… through it you could see you and Legolas, along with a dwarf whose name I don't know."
"Really? And where is Gaenír now?" Aearoniell turned to face Caleniel again, her face emotionless.
"I don't know. He left me here about an hour ago with no word as to where he was going." Aearoniell nodded and left the room.
"What have I gotten myself into this time?" Caleniel murmured to herself as she sat back down.
"Any word as to where my daughter has gone?" A tall elf with dark hair looked pleadingly at Thranduil, hoping that they had found some clue.
"No, nothing as of yet." King Thranduil shook his head sadly. He had hoped just as much as Cadunír to find Caleniel before now, and it was discouraging to have found nothing that could point them in the right direction.
"You're sure it was Gaenír who did this?" Cadunir asked Rodwen again.
"I'm positive. Though I didn't see him I know Caleniel, she wouldn't leave like she did without just reason." Rodwen sighed. It had been almost a full week since Caleniel had left. There had been no word from her, and to make matters worse they had received a letter from Gimli saying that Legolas had been badly injured, and that he wasn't sure that he would survive.
Gimli had not given too many details about how the prince had been injured, just that he had been fighting another elf who had used magic. He had given the elf's name, Aearoniell, though it didn't help much. The king had sent some healers to the Glittering caves in an effort to help his son, but they hadn't received word about how he was doing.
There wasn't much else they could do until they either received word from Caleniel or Gaenír, or unless they found a clue as to where they had went to.
Elvellaswen had been standing right outside the room while Aearoniell and Caleniel talked, wondering if she should have trusted Caleniel enough to say that she did not really trust her master. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize that Aearoniell had left the room until she heard the harsh order for her to go back in.
"Yes." She bowed quickly and re-entered the room. She entered the room just in to over hear Caleniel mumbling to herself.
"What have I gotten myself into this time?"
"It's not all that bad, is it?" Elvellaswen interrupted, surprising Caleniel again.
"It is. I don't know what Gaenír and Aearoniell have planned, but it can't be good." Caleniel looked up at Elvellaswen, worry shining in her eyes. "I should have just done what my father asked of me and not what I thought my heart was telling me." Caleniel mumbled.
"You can always turn the unknown into something that will be of use to you." Elvellaswen sat next to Caleniel, her mind wandering back to her own past. She had been through a lot in her past. She had never been accepted, being a half-breed she stayed away from elves, and though humans had been kind to her she had eventually decided to stay away from them.
Her mother had been an elf; she still lived in Rivendell. Her father had been the human. Elvellaswen had mixed characteristics from both her parents. She had pointy ears and was tall and graceful like her mother, she had black hair and sea green eyes from her father.
"What do you mean?" Caleniel asked, drawing Elvellaswen out of her reverie.
"You can plan something that can change the unknown." She replied, though she was still making no sense.
"Like what?" Caleniel looked at Elvellaswen hopefully.
"Well, to start, what do you want to do the most?"
"Go back to Mirkwood, where my father is." Caleniel answered, the question seemed easy enough.
"Aright, lets see hear, what can you do that would get you back to Mirkwood without Gaenír suspecting?" Elvellaswen thought aloud. "Ha! Got it. You can talk Gaenír into taking you back to Mirkwood, because that it where your father is right now. Your explanation would be so that you can talk your father into giving his blessing to your marriage to Gaenír. Then, before Gaenír suspects anything you have the guards of Mirkwood arrest him!" She smiled happily.
"It could work." Caleniel said thoughtfully. "It's worth a try." She smiled and hugged Elvellaswen. "When Gaenír comes back I'll talk to him about going back to Mirkwood, and if he agrees then I can ask to bring you along, to keep me company and to help with things."
"You don't have to do that." Elvellaswen shook her head slightly. "I'm fine here."
"But you are the one who came up with the idea, it's only right that you are there to make sure I don't mess it up."
"Alright." Elvellaswen smiled again.
"Caleniel." Gaenírs voice cut into the happy moment.
"Now is you chance!" Elvellaswen whispered to Caleniel before dismissing herself and leaving Caleniel and Gaenír alone.
"Yes Gaenír?" Caleniel turned to face Gaenír.
"I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable." He turned to leave.
"Wait!" Caleniel jumped up from her seat and rushed to grab Gaenírs arm, stopping him from leaving.
"What is it?" He pulled his arm free and led her back to her chair, making her sit down before seating himself next to her.
"I have something I want to discuss with you." Caleniel started slowly.
"Continue." Gaenír looked at her questioningly.
"Well… You see, I was thinking." Caleniel paused, being careful not to look into his eyes. "While I do love you, it is important to me to have my fathers blessings before I marry someone." She paused again, trying to find the correct wording, trying not to give anything away.
"And?" Gaenír prompted her again.
"If we go back to Mirkwood I could talk to my fath…" Caleniel spoke rapidly, hoping to get it over with quickly.
"No." Gaenír interjected, his eyes narrowed in anger.
"Just listen to me for a minute, please." Caleniel asked quietly, still avoiding his eyes. Gaenír nodded silently, he would listen, but he wouldn't give in. "If we go back to Mirkwood I could talk to my father. I know I could get him to agree with my marriage to you."
"Why would your father be in Mirkwood?" Gaenír asked, his curiosity getting the better of him
"Because I disappeared during my time in Mirkwood. He worries about my safety, so the moment he hears of anything happening to me he immediately leaves for wherever I am, or, in this case, was." Caleniel explained, gathering up her courage she looked into his eyes.
Gaenír didn't reply. He was thinking about her proposition from every was he could, and every way it seemed to only improve upon the plan he had already laid out. Nodding slightly he finally voiced his answer.
"I'll go prepare the horses for our departure." He turned to leave.
"Gaenír, I will need someone to help me prepare things after I talk to my father, and I wouldn't trust Rodwen to help- she would only try to get me to change my mind." Caleniel smiled to herself when Gaenír stopped for a moment before nodding.
"Elvellaswen will be your assistant." He said, leaving the room afterwards, hoping that she didn't have anything else to say.
"Aearoniell, tell Elvellaswen to pack something quickly, and get find someone to get four horses ready." Gaenír spoke to seemingly nobody, but he could sense that Aearoniell was hiding herself in the shadows.
"Why?" She stepped out of the shadows, revealing herself to be wearing an elvish dress.
"There is going to be a slight change of plans. Nothing to endanger the overall goal, just something to get us closer." Gaenír explained while still walking down the hallway toward his own room.
"Oh really, what is it?" Aearoniell was surprised when Gaenír turned to face her.
"We're going back to Mirkwood, that's all you need to know for now." Gaenír smirked at her questioning look before turning around and walking away again. "Now go do as I have asked you to, also, pack something for yourself."
Aearoniell smiled happily. She was actually going to go to Mirkwood with Gaenír. Usually Gaenír didn't let her join in on things that her presence may raise questions on, but something about this time seemed ok. It's probably because Gaenír knows that our dearest Prince won't be there, so he can't identify me as the one whom almost killed him. Aearoniell walked off down the hall to do as she had been told. She was smiling the whole time, though she wouldn't be smiling if she knew what, or rather who, would be in Mirkwood when she and Gaenír arrived there.