A/N: Wow, after 2 years of not updating you people still keep reviewing. I found this last night looking through old files and a new chapter just sprung to mind in about half an hour. Many thanks to those of you who have reviewed this past 2 years and to those of you who have put this in their favorites. Please spread the word, the story is coming back to life and my New Year's resolution is to finish this story in 2006. I hope you guys like this chapter.

I recently discovered that the elven language I'm using is not the standard one, but one used by The Grey Company, which is loosely based on the elven language used by JRR Tolkien and growing like any live language. When I started this story there were not many grammar resources available in the Internet as they are now, so I might feel inclined to change the elven language in the future to Sindarin or Quenya. In the meantime, if I messed up any words/phrases, let me know.

Also, please note that English is not my first language, so if I screwed up in any way, tell me and I will fix it.

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize from Lord of the Rings belongs to Tolkien. If you don't is mine.

Vanim Ar' Tel'Uuvanimo
(Beauty and the Beast)

Ch. 13 Utua Vanwa (Search Over)

The kwentra paused as if she was going to stop for the night, to everyone's confusion. But then, she gave her audience a mischievous smile, took a sip of the water that was given to her by one of the twins, and continued her story.

"Time passed, and Vanim learned the intricate art of magic under the careful eye of her new master. He had kept his promise. She was treated like a princess, but even with all the riches in the world, she still felt she was trapped in a gilded cage.

While she contemplated her new life from her balcony, she would sometimes catch glimpses of Lord Feuyaer exercising with all the other soldiers. Her master had kept his promise, no harm had come to her former master; in fact, his fighting skills as well as his heightened senses were of use to the man in white, making him rise in rank.

Lord Feuyaer seemed to know when she was looking at him, because their eyes locked at times when he seemed to be taking a respite of the hard exercise. He seemed to try to convey something through his eyes, but what exactly was it was not clear to Vanim.

But most disturbing of all were her dreams. Her dreams had returned about a month ago. The first time she had them, she could remember feeling her heart breaking at Fedriel's disappointed face.

Sad eyes looked at her, face contorted with disappointment; he closed his eyes and sighed loudly.

"Why have you forgotten me, Vanim?"

Vanim took his hands in hers.

"I have not forgotten you. Why do you say that?"

Looking at their joined hands, he looked back at her.

"Vanim, I am dying. I am not sure for how much longer I will be alive."

Tears threatened to spill across her cheeks at his words.

"I have tried looking for you, but it is impossible for me to do so now."

Fedriel closed his eyes and his shoulders barely moved as he emitted a sad chuckle. He opened his eyes focusing on hers once more, giving her a half-hearted smile that pierced through her heart.

"Dear Vanim, what have you been doing lately?"

Vanim widened her eyes at the question, not knowing how to answer.

"I-I… well, I am…"

The dream had been suddenly broken by the sound of knocking on her door, signaling the beginning of her day. She had a feeling that he had given her a clue of some kind of how to find him. Time was running short, and with each passing day she grew more restless.

A loud cry woke her from her reverie, bringing her back to the present. She looked down to the source of the sound. It seemed that Lord Feuyaer had taken 3 orcs in combat at the same time and he had still come out the victor. She saw money being exchanged from different groups when she felt a pair of eyes focusing on her.

Moving her eyes towards the victor, she saw him looking at her. She saw something in her eyes which she could not easily identify, but still filled her with warmth. She gave him a smile and a nod in acknowledgement. He replied by putting his right hand in his chest and bowing subtly, his eyes never leaving hers.

The connection was suddenly broken as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Come,Vanim, it is time for your lesson. Today you will learn how search for someone who is hiding by using your senses."

After hours of practice, Vanim was exhausted. She could see it was already dark outside, having lost the perception of time as she focused on her exercises.

"I am pleased. One more exercise, if you will. Focus on someone that you know is far away, see how far can you reach."

Vanim stopped for a second. Who she should look for? The answer came to her mind and made her smile. Focusing with all her might, she left her mind fly, looking for hrt target. Her eyes opened suddenly; hope returning to her heart as one thought plagued her mind.

"Fedriel is here?"

The kwentra silenced as she knew the guests needed to retire early tonight. They had a council meeting early the next day and they all needed to be refreshed. She bid them goodnight with a promise to continue the next day.

A/N: Pleeeeeeeeeeease... I'm craving for reviews. Is what keeps me writing, so I would love to hear from you, be it good or bad. What you think of this chapter? Good? Stinks? Let me know!