Katie took the book out in the gardens and picked a bench to sit on while she read. But she hadn't gotten very far before she heard footsteps on the path and looked up.

It was Boromir, whom Legolas had told her was actually the Steward's son of Gondor. He stopped short when he spotted her, then approached.

"I am sorry to disturb your reading, Katelyn Elvellon," he said courteously.

Katie was in a good mood, and grinned. "You can call me Katie," she confided, and gestured to the seat beside her, which he took with a bow.

"What do you read?" he asked, indicating her book.

"Some Elvish poetry translated into the Common Tongue," she said, handing him the book Erestor had given her. "But I'm afraid I don't understand much of it," she confessed. As he paged through she added, "It makes a lot of allusions to events I don't recognize."

He stopped at one page in particular and began to read it.

"This poem was not written by the Elves," he said, pointing to the page. "It is Gondorian." He sounded surprised. "Lord Elrond's library is extensive indeed!"

Katie read over his shoulder. "Who is this—Telemnar?" she asked.

"He was king of Gondor for only two years," Boromir replied. "This poem speaks of his tragic death. You see, there was a Great Plague that struck Gondor in 1636. The then King of Gondor, Telemnar, and all of his children were struck down by it." Katie whistled between her teeth. "This is a lament for him and for the city." Boromir handed the book back.

"Wow," Katie said, peering at it. "Thank you! Now there's at least one poem in here that I understand!"

Boromir opened his mouth (to ask how she didn't know her history or what the word "wow" meant, Katie guessed), but someone else spoke up.

"One can never say that there is a lack of teachers in Rivendell!" Legolas said, having drawn up to them silently. Boromir rose to greet him, and Legolas reciprocated cordially. "How are you this morning, Katie?" he added.

"I'm great, thanks," Katie answered. "Boromir's helping me make sense of this." She held up the book.

"Are you fond of poetry?" Legolas asked Boromir.

Boromir took his seat again, looking noncommittal. "The poems of my own people I hold dear to my heart," he answered diplomatically. "But poetry is more to my brother's liking that to my own."

"Here, Legolas, I've got a question for you, too." Katie handed him the book and pointed to a verse. "What's Dorwinion? They mentioned the River Running, which I know the Forest River in Mirkwood flows into."

Legolas laughed merrily. "It is a wine—a much-loved and praised wine."

"Ah," Katie said, the light dawning. "Well the poet seems to be particularly fond of it. I think the entire poem is an ode to Dorwinion!"

"I would prefer a god home-brewed ale from the Green Dragon, myself," a voice spoke up thoughtfully from nearby. It was Pippin, with Merry and Frodo. They had spotted the little gathering and had apparently decided to join them. After the regular greetings were exchanged, Merry added, "I don't suppose there's an ode to pipeweed in that book of verse?"

Katie laughed. "I'm afraid not," she said regretfully. "I'd like to read one! Maybe one of you could compose a poem on it?"

Legolas had been paging through the book as they were talking, and he now crouched down beside Katie's seat.

"Here is a piece I believe you would enjoy," he said, showing her the page. Next to her, Katie noticed that Frodo and Boromir were entering in on a conversation detailing the delights of different kinds of ales, with Frodo's two friends tossing in comments randomly.

All we need now is for a couple more people to arrive, and we'll have a regular party! Katie thought wryly as she tried to listen to Legolas's explanation. No sooner had she finished the thought than Glawar and Lithorniel appeared, taking a leisurely stroll arm-in-arm through the gardens. After the perfunctory hellos, Glawar jumped in to add an idea to Legolas's literary analysis, and they were soon deep in discussion. Boromir chivalrously gave his seat up to Lithorniel, who took it with a nod of thanks and exchanged amused looks with Katie.

"I think about half the population of Rivendell has converged on me," Katie joked in a low voice to her friend. "Remind me never to try and study in the garden again!"

Lithorniel laughed. "The same thing used to happen to Glawar and me just after we were betrothed," she agreed. "We would come here to be alone, and inevitably someone would arrive and say, 'I hope I am not interrupting anything?' and then proceed to interrupt everything."

Katie laughed. "What did you do?"

"We explored until we found a place no one else visited," she answered simply. She paused, looking at Katie thoughtfully. "Would you like to see it?" she asked.

Katie's eyes lit up. "Yes, please! If you don't mind me knowing where it is," she added politely.

"Not at all." They rose, and Lithorniel touched her husband's arm briefly before the two of them slipped away, Katie surreptitiously pulling the book out of Legolas's hands as she passed him. He barely noticed.

The sound of the gentlemen's conversations died away into the distance as they headed out of the gardens and down to the river.

"Glawar and I do not often come down here anymore," Lithorniel confided as they turned and walked along the river. "But perhaps you and some betrothed will want a place to be private, someday?" she suggested teasingly.

Katie chuckled. "Not likely, I'm afraid. I rather wish I could stay here indefinitely, but I'm sure to get sent home sometime."

Lithorniel nodded. "You never know, though. Ah, here we are." She led Katie under the branches of some willows, which curtained and hid the entrance to a path amidst the close-growing tree trunks. The path twisted and wound downward, then opened up, and Katie suddenly found herself standing in the midst of a little dell. She caught her breath at the sight. The sun shone down onto a riot of brilliant late-blooming flowers. There were a huge multitude of different kinds, everywhere she looked. If she squinted, she could see the glittering of the river behind a brake of trees.

Lithorniel stood by watching her young friend's reaction, a smile on her face.

"This is amazing," Katie said, taking a few more steps forward to stroke a flower reverently with one finger. "However did you find it?"

Lithorniel shrugged. "Glawar and I went exploring one day, and we discovered it. It was only later that I realized where we were."

Katie frowned and tipped her head.

"Lossefalme's secret flower place," Lithorniel said softly.

Katie gaped at her. "Shouldn't we leave?" she asked cautiously.

Lithorniel smiled. "No need. Dorlarth's spirit no longer haunts the place, ever since your grandmother freed Lossefalme from his clutches. His spirit flew to the Shadow."

She slipped in amongst the flowers, touching them softly with her hands. "Once we found the place, I began to come here to cut flowers, just as Lossefalme did. There is always something blooming here, even in the depths of winter! I hope this place will be a comfort to you as it has been to me."

She led Katie over to where a tree curled thick roots about to make a little seat. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"Now tell me what has been happening to you since you arrived in Mirkwood!" Lithorniel said eagerly. "I feel I have not had a good, long conversation with you for sixty years!"

000

When the two of them returned to the house, it was well past lunchtime, so they ate in the kitchens, where they were met by Pippin and Sam, who had sneaked down to have what Pippin termed "a preliminary afternoon tea".

"It's not the true afternoon tea, you understand," he said seriously. "That will come in about an hour. This is just for starters."

So they all ate together. Sam seemed to be pretty much in awe of the elves, but Katie tried hard to draw him out, and she soon had him chatting along. She felt that hobbits were quite a bit more like herself and her friends at home than the elves were. They were familiar and comforting to be around, in a very different way than elves.

Lithorniel was busy in the afternoon, so at the behest of Pippin, Katie went with them. They took her to one of the verandahs, where three other hobbits were sitting, chatting. One was Merry, whom Katie already knew, and another was Frodo, whom she had met briefly. The other was much older, and Katie didn't recognize him. Merry introduced him as Bilbo Baggins, Frodo's cousin.

"Oh, so you are the hobbit that came to live in Rivendell!" Katie exclaimed. "The elves told me you were here, but with so many people visiting, and so many places to hide, I just never managed to meet you!"

Bilbo greeted her with a deep bow. "And you are the Katie Elvellon that all the elves speak of. Lord Elrond told me your story. I am very honored to meet you."

Katie blushed. She hadn't ever thought about herself as some sort of honored heroine before, and it made her a little embarrassed and uncomfortable. But as Bilbo soon began chatting away with her as informally as he did to everyone, even Lord Elrond himself, Katie was soon at her ease again.

In short, it was not until well after dinner that Katie had time to meet with Erestor again.

"And how did you enjoy the poetry?" he asked her as they made themselves comfortable in the library.

Katie went off in a gale of laughter. "I'm sorry, Erestor," she said between chuckles, "but I think I've only read five lines! For future reference, I should warn you that the gardens are a very bad place to study."

TBC

AN: Yeah, weird chapter ending. You'll live. :) I meant to get more in this chapter, but it would've made it too long. I'll have to pick some of it up in the next instead.

The Reviewing Llama: Yes, the elves are definitely rubbing off on Katie. She's becoming quite elven, really. I'm glad it's coming through to my readers! —continues to update like the llama-loving person she is—

Laer4572: What, you don't like gwathel vuin?. :) If it bugs you, do remember that it refers to a sworn-sister, not a biological sister, which is muinthel. The word can also be used for a very, very close friend or an ally. But officially, I must tell you have I have no idea why it would bug you. :)

Tara: No, killing Húnvel is not on my agenda. You can sleep soundly at nights, knowing that at least one elf is safe in Middle-earth! lol Hope your friend gets better soon!

theycallmemary: A nuncheon is like a lunch, or a small snack. Not only would they have a different written language in Middle-earth, they would have a different spoken language, too! The Common Tongue isn't technically English. But it's a common convention to make it English, as they did in the movies. And therefore, I represent the written Common as written English. I actually thought about putting in a scene where she discovers the LotR books while back in Pennsylvania, because I thought it would be really cool. But I don't think it's going to fit into the storyline anywhere. Perhaps when I'm finished writing the stories I'll write a couple of random chapters with plot ideas that just never fit into anything. What do you think?

migetgirl: Thanks! Always happy to see a new face (screenname. Whatever.)! I didn't write the "find a man" thing with jealousness in mind, but you can think of it that way if you want. And as for the look between the twins—you'll have to interpret that on your own!. :)

Saltwater: Maaaaaybe there'll be a romance… Maaaybe not… lol I'm being purposefully maddening. :) I love seeing everybody's theories about who she'll end up with! (Or not…)

werewolflemming: Thanks for the questions; I'll use them as a guide to write the next chapter!

IwishChan: Oh, I don't know; I think lessons with Erestor would be interesting! I remember how much I always look forward to classes where I like the teacher and the subject matter. World religions and Arthurian lit this semester, for instance. Yes, I love to read, too!

Erasuithiel: I just kept laughing when I read your review, because I was the same way about Faramir! (Not about the Council, though, because the first time I went to see Fellowship I hadn't read the books yet… Bad Ashley!) Yes, they totally screwed with Faramir's character. And Frodo's, for that matter. lol Thanks! It's a lot of work to stick to the books, but I'm happier with the final product.

Thanks also to Princess Siara, Fk306, FallenTruth, Thalion, and Ravens Destiny! I love each and every one of you! Yay!

Please review! Your reviews keep me sane! (Or at least, as sane as I ever get…)