Chapter Eleven: New Friends
That night brought little rest to anyone in the homely House. Gandalf and Elrond had spent the whole night watching over Frodo who was still deeply held by the curse of the fell blade. Bilbo had slept, but the fatigue and worry were plain on his aged face. Mélanyë had slept too, but with evil dreams of dangers she'd never seen.
The whole next day and night was full of worry and doubt. Elrond had not permitted anyone to interrupt his work, and so Bilbo and Mélanyë spent the day in the Hall of Fire together. They listened to the beautiful songs, but their spirits were not lifted. Not even the song to Elbereth could chase away the despair that hung over the two hobbits.
That night, Mélanyë woke suddenly from a dream of evil pursuit. She sat up, heart pounding and eyes darting around her dark room. They rested on a figure standing in the shadows near her bed. Panic seized her as she tried to run, but the figure came into the moonlight and her fears evaporated.
"Lindir?" She watched as her friend came and sat next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"I was worried about you," he said. "I'd never seen you so sad before. Is your brother all right?" She sighed softly.
"I don't know. Elrond won't let us see him." She looked into his dark eyes. "He's very sick, Lindir." He hugged her.
"It will be all right, Mel," he said soothingly. "Elrond is a good healer. I'm sure he will be able to help Frodo." He held her for a long time, and she felt her fear and worry melt away. He kissed her forehead and got up to leave, but she held onto his hand.
"Can you stay with me?"
"You need to sleep," he said.
"I'll sleep better if you stay." He smiled and sat back down.
"Mel," he said, brushing some stray hair from her face, "I remember when you would be afraid of the dark." He saw a small smile on her lips.
"Not when you were here," she said. He sighed softly and lay down. She curled up next to him and rested her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Well, I'm here now," he said as he rubbed her back. "Mára lómë, Melda." he whispered, but she was already asleep. He smiled and carefully pulled a blanket over them before closing his eyes.
The sun was streaming in the windows the next morning as the two lay together. Mélanyë had slept through the night, and the evil dreams did not return. Lindir watched her peaceful face and stroked her cheek with his hand. He thought about all the times he'd stayed with her when her mother went away. Often she'd be gone for months helping protect Rivendell from the increasing threat of warg and goblin attacks. Mélanyë would sometimes be so worried for her that she would not be able to sleep unless he stayed with her.
With that memory of so long ago, he realized suddenly how much older she was. She was no longer the little girl he knew years ago. She was a young maiden now, and as she slept in his arms he realized how deeply he loved her. It wasn't anything he could explain- there was no one word he could say that would describe how he felt. He just knew that it was more than mere kinship. A soft knock at the door interrupted him from his thoughts.
"Mélanyë," Bilbo called from the other side. Gently, Lindir slipped his arm from under her head and walked softly to the door. He opened it to see the little hobbit waiting patiently outside. He slipped through the door and shut it softly.
"Mel is sleeping, Bilbo, do you need something?" He thought that Bilbo had given him an odd look as he opened the door, but it was gone.
"I had just come to tell her that some young hobbits are here that she might want to meet. They just arrived early this morning and are settling down to a nice afternoon tea if she'd like to join them." Lindir nodded.
"Thank you, Bilbo, I will tell her for you." The hobbit bowed and left. Lindir stood at the door for a moment watching the hobbit leave, and then quietly slipped back into her room.
Mélanyë joined Bilbo and the others about an hour later, just as they were starting on another round of seed cakes. The four hobbits stood when they saw her coming and Bilbo walked over to her. The worry and sadness was plain on their faces.
"Mélanyë, these are the hobbits that Gandalf spoke of," he said. "This is Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took." He pointed to each in turn. She smiled broadly.
"Hullo," she said shyly.
"She sounds like a hobbit," said Peregrin. "My name is 'Pippin', by the way, Bilbo here is just being formal." Meriadoc shook her hand.
"You can call me 'Merry'" He pointed to the other hobbit. "And we call him 'Sam'." Mélanyë bowed to them.
"Well, my friends call me 'Mel', so I guess you can call me that." she said. They all sat down to another tea and talked endlessly about their dangerous journey. Mel listened with interest as they described the flight out of the Shire and being chased by the Black Riders. She thought uneasily that her nightmares were very similar to their adventure. The conversation then turned to Frodo, and they all voiced their concerns over his recovery. Mel thought Sam seemed troubled, and he rarely spoke. Merry and Pippin were doing most of the talking, but she saw that they too were sad. Even in her own despair, she searched for a way to lighten the mood.
"Would you like to see my bakery?" she asked them. Immediately three pairs of eyes were staring expectantly at her.
"Bakery?" Pippin sounded more than a little interested. "With cakes?" She smiled widely and nodded.
"Oh, now you've gone and done it," said Merry. He pointed to Pippin. "He's dangerous around desserts."
"And you're not?" Pippin chided.
"I'm safer than you- remember the time you ate both pies that my mum had made for my birthday?"
"You helped!"
"But you ate most of them!" The two continued arguing like this for several minutes, and Mélanyë listened in fascination. Bilbo covered a smile with his hand and Sam shook his head seemingly in embarrassment. Finally he spoke above the bickering cousins.
"I would love to see your bakery, Mel," Sam said to her. After the other two loudly voiced their agreement, she led them all up the stairs to the warm sweet-smelling room.
"What's this?" Pippin asked, pointing to a utensil he held up.
"That's a whisk. It's for-"
"And this?"
"An apple peeler. I-"
"What is THAT?" Pippin ran over to where Merry was looking over sacks of dry ingredients. Merry had gotten his hands covered in a fine dark powder.
"No, not the cocoa!" she ran over to them, hoping that the mess was minimal. She produced a wet cloth and began cleaning up the hobbit's hands. She hadn't noticed before, but she was only slightly taller than Merry, and being so close to him she saw that he had blue eyes.
"Thanks," he said politely, "I should learn not to touch strange powders in other people's kitchens." He elbowed Pippin. "You too, Pip." Pippin hid his hands innocently behind his back. Sam was quietly touring the bakery with Bilbo, and the two were talking softly, occasionally glancing Mel's way to see that the other two weren't causing a nuisance. Pippin turned back to his inquisitiveness.
"So what's cocoa? We don't have that in the Shire." He tasted it and promptly grimaced. "It doesn't taste very good!" Mel laughed.
"That's because there's no sugar in it. Chocolate is very bitter until you add some sugar." She walked over to a cupboard and took out a plate of dark cookies. "Here, you'll like these." Merry and Pippin each took one and took a bite. Pippin's eyes went wide with delight and he promptly finished off the rest of his. Merry took smaller bites, enjoying every bit of it.
Sam, having seen her bring the cookies out, led Bilbo over to the others and they each took one. They finished off their treats in contented silence, savoring the new taste. They thanked her and she noted with satisfaction that the hobbits' mood seemed much lighter.
She spent the next few hours showing them some of her baking techniques. It thoroughly fascinated Sam, and he watched her closely, thinking he could use what he learned when he returned to the Shire. After they finished a few cakes Mélanyë saw Elrond through her window. He walked slowly through the courtyard and seemed haggard and exhausted. She dropped the bowl she was holding and rushed to the window. The others came up behind her and they all watched as Elrond sat by the fountain with bowed shoulders.
"Frodo..." she whispered, fearing the worst. She saw Arwen rush to her father's side and hug him.
"What's wrong?" Merry asked quietly. Mélanyë shook her head and watched as Arwen helped her father up and took him back into the main house. Just then the door to the bakery swung open and Gandalf came in. The five hobbits looked expectantly at him.
"Frodo is resting now, but you may go and see him."
When the door opened, Sam immediately rushed to his master's side. He picked up his hand and felt that it was warm, but still cooler than normal.
"He's not awake!" he said as the others filed into the room and crowded around his bed. Gandalf stood beside Sam.
"No, as I said, he is resting. Elrond has put him into a healing sleep." He put an encouraging hand on Sam's shoulder as he spoke. "The shard of the blade has been removed, and now all that is left is for him to heal on his own."
Mélanyë came close to Frodo's other side and knelt by his bed. The color had returned to his face and he looked as one in peaceful dreams. The other's watched as she took his hand and kissed it.
"He'll be all right," she said, looking up at the others by the foot of the bed. "He is at peace now. He's dreaming of home."
They stayed with him for the rest of the night, talking quietly or simply watching him. When the moon was high in the sky Gandalf returned and suggested they go and sleep themselves.
"If he wakes, someone will come and tell you," he said to them. That was good enough for the others, but Sam would not hear of it. He held fast his master's hand and said that he would stay with him until he woke, no matter how long that took. Gandalf didn't feel the need to argue with him, and so let him be. Bilbo gave Frodo a kiss on the forehead before leaving with Merry and Pippin.
"Goodnight, Frodo," they both said in turn as they left. Sam looked up at Mélanyë who still stood at the other side of Frodo's bed.
"Aren't you going too, Mel?" he asked. In answer, she reached behind her head and unclasped the chain from around her neck. As she lifted it, he saw that it held the Ring. He gasped in surprise.
"You had the Ring all along?" She nodded wordlessly and carefully fastened it around her brother's neck, concealing it under his shirt.
"I had to take it from him," she said quietly. "it wouldn't let him heal." She looked anxiously to the door. "I couldn't return it with Bilbo here, and I wasn't sure how much Merry and Pippin knew about it. I know that you understand...If I was Frodo I know I would confide in you." Sam blushed a deep scarlet at her words and bowed his head. She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you in the morning."
After she left, Sam grasped his master's hand tighter and looked on his face with a mixture of sadness and hope. "Well, Mr. Frodo," he whispered, "I found your sister."