Disclaimer: All names and places that you have heard of belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. Any other names belong to me, Elenya, copyright 2002.
~*~A/N: I hope you all are enjoying so far, and no onward with the story! ;-)~*~
The sunlight streamed through the open curtains in Lina's bedroom. The maid must have come in already. Her thoughts were confirmed when she smelled the sweet smell of roses wafting through the air.
"I see you are awake, Lady. Well, your bath is drawn," the young maid said.
"Thank you, Saria," Lina said with a fond smile. She and Saria were quite good friends. In Rivendell, there was no real concept of servants, and all maids were treated with respect. In fact, most of the time, Lina was awake and bathed even before Saria arrived, so the maid was somewhat worried about Lina.
"Lina, are you alright? You were not awake as early as you usually are. Did you sleep well?"
"I am okay. I only had a little trouble sleeping. And I woke in the middle of the night. The rest of the night I slept restlessly and uncomfortably," Lina replied.
"What caused this uneasiness in the night," Saria asked, concern evident on her face.
"Oh, I do not know. Various unsettling dreams and mixed up thoughts, I guess," Lina said walking into the washroom.
An hour later, she emerged looking as elegant as she had been the night before, though she was not dressed in such formal attire. She wore a dress of flowing blue material. It defined the delicate shape of her arm and flared out around her wrists. Her waist could be seen as slim and slight, though her body was perfect. She brushed her raven hair so it flowed like a satin sheet onto her shoulders. At her neck lay a silver necklace with a blue gemstone shaped like a teardrop. At her ears hung matching earrings. She gazed at herself in the mirror, scrutinizing her appearance.
"My goodness! Lina!" Elrond entered the room. He had knocked first, but Lina had not noticed. He peeked in, and when he saw that Lina was only standing, looking at herself in the mirror, he chuckled. "Lina," he said again, "you look lovely and you are not even going to a banquet!"
Elrond always teased her about her obsession with looking perfect even with no occasion. He knew at heart that she could be as fierce a warrior as any male, yet she always worried about how she looked.
Lina laughed pleasantly. She was not vain; in fact she was extremely modest, which was the reason as to her criticism of her appearance. She never thought she looked right. "Good morning," she greeted her uncle. "Is there anything you need?" Elrond never came to her room unless he needed something.
"Well, when I asked Saria if you were awake, she said you were, but you had not rested well," Elrond said.
"Oh, it's nothing," Lina replied genially. "I am okay, it just took me a while longer to fall asleep." Though Lina confided almost everything into Elrond, since he was kind of like a parent to her, she did not want him to worry unnecessarily about her.
"Are you sure? Because it has been almost one year…" he trailed off, not wanting to make Lina uncomfortable by bringing up memories from the past.
"I am fine," Lina said, smiling, though she felt a little sick in the stomach. Elrond left the room quietly leaving Lina to her thoughts. After a few moments, she left her room and walked down the Main Stairway and into the Corridor.
The day passed with almost no events. Lina passed her time with talking with the hobbits. They delighted in hearing stories of Elven past, and since the Fellowship had arrived, no one in the House of Elrond had much to do. Usually, Lina would go into the main marketplace of Rivendell and roam around or teach Elven children singing and dancing. But today, she relaxed with the guests. She got along most with Pippin because she thought he was the cutest! Him and Merry and Frodo and Sam would ask Lina questions about Elven lore.
"So tell us more about the past of your kin," Sam asked eagerly.
"Well, I am not to learned in the lore of my people. I mean, I know the basic things, which I have already told you, but you will have to ask Elrond or Arwen for more details. Even in song, Arwen is well-versed than I am in the story-songs of our people. I usually sing songs I make up or have no true meaning in telling a story," Lina replied.
"I think I can help," a voice behind them said.
Lina turned to see Legolas standing there, smiling. "Since Lina cannot tell you more about the past of Elves, I will help her tell you."
The hobbits looked eagerly on for more, and Lina smiled. "Thank you," she said to Legolas. "They are so interested in old lore and I do not know any! Besides the major events of our past. And I told them all of that."
For the rest of the evening, the group of two Elves and four Hobbits sat engaged in a fascinating conversation. It turned out that Lina did know most of the tales Legolas told, but she did not know them well enough to tell others.
"Oh dear," Lina said, standing quickly up. "I must go help prepare the evening meal! I will see you all in the Dining Hall." With that, Lina turned and ran to the kitchens.
The rest of the group soon dispersed to get washed for dinner. Legolas walked to his room and realised that he was once again thinking of Lina. No matter how long they had spoken, she still seemed shy and ran away.
~*~
At dinner, Legolas found himself seated across from Lina. So they had found a chance to have a private conversation since the night before when Lina felt she had totally embarrassed herself. Now Lina opened more up to Legolas. Yet he felt there was something strange about her. She never spoke about herself, and after their conversation, she didn't seem shy at all. On the contrary, she was open and talked quite a bit. Yet she was always interesting and lively. Perhaps this is what Arwen had meant by saying that everyone loved her. She had a congenial personality and when she smiled, she made everyone else smile. Her radiance seemed to be transmitted through the very atmosphere she was in.
So it was like this that Legolas grew to befriend the mysterious Elenya Tindómiel. Over the weeks that the company had stayed at Rivendell, they became close friends. Yet Legolas still barely knew anything about her.
~*~A/N: Alright, I know… That wasn't the best of chapters. It's actually quite late here, about 3 AM, and I am extremely tired. But I felt the need to write this chapter. It was really hard to write and it still doesn't flow well. At least, in my opinion. But bear with me! I'm doing my best and I promise, the story's about to pick up its pace! I'm not one of those people who likes to rush into a plot. I want it to come naturally. But I promise it's about to come. Thanks to all of you who are going to review and please no flames! I tried my best! Thanks!!!!~*~