Characters in Chapter-
King Elessar Estel (Aragorn)
Prince Eldarion(El-dar-ion
Royal Guards
Maeglin(May-glin)
Saira(Sae-rah)
Enelya(N-ae-lee-ah)
Nessa(Ne-essa)
Uruviel(U-ruv-ieel)
Orel(Or-eel)
Me: Well, not exactly on time; gomen! Our phone lines were bust cause of a crossed wire, or something technical like that; so I couldn't get on the Internet and update. That means that Divine Chaos has to go hang somebody else from the ceiling by their toenails and beat them with a wet noodle.
Divine Chaos: (wanders away) Darn!
Me: Pbbbbbbbbbbbbbbt
Drake: (pops into existence) Are you sure that's wise? Making fun of a reviewer.
Me: Of course! She can't hurt me, otherwise she'd never find out how the story ends.
Drake: Oooohhh! Hmm, cockeyed point of view... So how does it end?
Me: I have abso-frickin-lutely no flippin clue! Besides, you're my muse, you'd know anyway.
Drake: Well... DUH!
Me: (rolls eyes) Okay Drake, I believe you.
Drake: The disclaimer? It's your turn...
Me: But didn't we do a full story disclaimer?
Drake: Yeah, but we should do it every now and then just in case.
Me: (wonders) In case of what? (shrugs) Whatever. So fancy disclaimer thingy... Oookkaayyy...
I in no way whatsoever own anything of J.R.R. Tolkien's invention; this includes King Elessar, Queen Arwen, The king of Rohan-
Drake: They get the picture.
Me: Ahem, as I was saying... What was I saying?(crickets chirp)
Drake: er... You don't own anything.
Me: Oh yeah! (grins widely) I do own however Saira, Enelya, Uruviel, Orel, Nessa-(Uruviel, Orel, and Nessa pop into scene)
The Three: Excuse me!
Me: Heh! Okay... I don't own them, Kikyou-chan, Mrs. Yasha Darakshanian, and Jess own them...
The Three: Thank you! (disappear)
Me: Okay... That was freaky... But yeah, I own pretty much everything you don't recognized from the books or the movies. So you big mean lawyer guys can go persecute someone else.
Big Mean Lawyer Guys: Crud (walk away grumbling)
Me: Okay! Time for Reviewer appreciation time!
Review Appreciation/Response Portion
Divine Chaos Yeah yeah yeah... I won't leave ya hangin'... If ya lucky... lol. (runs away screaming from the attack of the wet noodles)
Blue Kat Thanks so much for reading! I hope your trip went O.K. and you can read and review the other chapters (hint hint).
Mrs. Yasha Darakshanian Thanks for reviewing! I didn't invent Arwen, Elessar(Aragorn), or Eldarion. And the book says that Aragorn had several daughters so Eldarion's sisters don't really belong to me, just their names. Does that clear stuff up for you? Also I don't own Tathar, just the name. Understand better now?
Ogreatrandom Thanks for your review, I'm glad you liked it.
Me: Also any ideas you guys come up with that you want to see in later chapters, or have suggestions to make the story better please either Email me or tell me in a review. If I like, and use your idea, I will give you credit and kudos and dedicate the chapter to you.
Drake: You're just desperate for reviews, aren't ya?
Me: You betcha.
Drake: (Rolls eyes)
Me: And now that I've bored you to tears with this idiot (points to Drake).
Drake: (glares)
Me: I'll actually let you get to the story now! Enjoy and review!
Chapter Four
"Saira!" Enelya called. "There you are! We've been trying to find you for ages.
"You have? I'm sorry, I wasn't here. What do you need?" Saira asked Enelya, before the woman could open her mouth Maeglin butted in.
"Saira, I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, how am I supposed to protect you if you constantly run off without telling me?" Enelya got an annoyed look on her face.
"I'm trying to talk to the Queen here!" She snapped, poking Maeglin in the nose with each comment. Saira grinned as what appeared to be a full fledged argument broke out.
"Well I suggest you try harder, girl." Maeglin retorted, bringing an old injury forward by teasing Enelya about her childlike looks.
"Well it would help immensely if you didn't always butt in and interrupt me!" Enelya half yelled, she stood on her tiptoes so that she could glare into Maeglin's face instead of his chest.
"Well if it was important I wouldn't have interrupted!" Maeglin shot back, also half yelling. The couple were so involved in their argument that they didn't even notice a crowd gathering around them.
"Important!" Enelya almost shrieked. "It's extremely important!"
"How could some stupid little revolt be more important than her not running off into danger all the time?" Maeglin yelled, Saira twitched, revolt? Should she interrupt to find out what this was all about? Probably.
"Maeglin, Enelya." She started to say stepping forward.
"BACK OFF!" They both yelled at her in unison before going back to their argument. Saira looked surprised, and then amused.
"Two months." A voice said beside her. Saira looked over to see Nessa standing next to her.
"What?"
"I give it two months before they're married." Nessa said, tilting her head and grinning at the two.
"I'll take that bet, loser buys lunch." Saira said.
"Agreed." They shook hands on it.
"If they ever stop tell them I went to my quarters to rest." Saira told Nessa who nodded and grinned.
Saira walked off to the cave she called her home, it was larger than most, the size of the tavern at least and tall enough for her to stand up straight with a couple of feet between her and the ceiling. The lighting was dim and had only a few candles in the corners of the cave that cast eerie shadows. She walked over to the pile of pillows, cushions, and blankets that was her bed and sank down onto it picking up a half read book and lighting the group of candles on her bedside table so she could read. Finally the day caught up with her and halfway through the second page she drifted off to sleep. When Enelya and Maeglin had stopped arguing and came to see her the candles were still burning and the book had fallen out of Saira's hands.
"Shh!" Enelya warned Maeglin before taking the book from her and marking the spot she was at and then blew the candles out while Maeglin gently covered Saira's small form with a warm blanket. "She looks different when she sleeps." Enelya said.
Maeglin nodded in agreement. "Yes, she is not nearly as stressed while she sleeps, she looks more like the young girl she is now." They noticed that Saira was starting to stir and quietly left the cave, leaving their young queen to her dreams.
When Saira awoke the next morning she was almost happy she was going to start her job as the Prince's maid. The noise from the thieves city had become almost overwhelming in the few months that she had been back from her journey to the east that caused the initial rumors about her death.
She could hear the buzzing of conversation and laughter, the predictable argument of the moment between Maeglin and Enelya, Uruviel and Nessa laughing together outside her cave where they guarded the entrance; the few children that lived there could be heard running around and laughing as they played. While it was pleasant Saira had trouble just enjoyed listening to her people anymore because of how large their numbers had become the sound had become nearly unbearable.
She quietly got up and changed from what she had been wearing into her 'Lessien' guise, she was supposed to meet Tathar at the Scarlet Dragon to receive her maid uniform and be given instructions while on the way to the palace. Only four people knew where and why she was going, and even then they didn't know the whole truth. Once she was dressed as the young beggar woman, Saira donned a fine black velvet traveling cloak before leaving her cave. "Uruviel, Nessa." She said to her two friends. The two immediately went to her.
"Is it time, Saira?" Nessa asked while Uruviel hung back some.
"Yes, let's make our way to the dining hall." Saira said, Uruviel and Nessa took their places on either side of her and together the three friends went to tell the people what would be happening. Saira received two reassuring smiles from her friends before she entered the dining hall.
"My people." Saira half yelled, she waited for everything to calm down. "I must leave you again for a while. I will be unable to come back for some time, while I am absent I put you in the charge of my loyal second, Nessa you are to follow her commands as if they are my own. I will not be far and I will be able to help Nessa if need be." Saira paused to catch her breath and allow the people to talk amongst themselves for a minute. "You have trusted me so far with your lives, I ask now that you show that same respect to Nessa. I hope I will be home soon." And with those parting words she left to rejoin Uruviel; Nessa had to stay inside now that she was the regent.
"You don't hope to be back soon." Uruviel said the moment Saira had left her cloak at the entrance and they left the underground city and headed for the tavern; Saira shot her a surprised look. "Oh, don't look so shocked." Uruviel replied to the question in Saira's look. "I'm not stupid, I can tell you're not happy there anymore."
"That's not true, Uruviel! Those people are my life!" Saira exclaimed.
"They are now maybe, but you had no intention of staying. Your plan was to fix them and abandon them; you always do that, Saira. If you see someone who has a problem you try your hardest to fix them. Those thieves were no different; you turned them into a well working team and now you're restless again."
"That's not true." Saira protested.
"Yes, it is. You fixed them and now you need some other adventure to occupy you. You would never have come back last time if it wasn't imperative; you set rumors of your death so you could live freely and without worry. Now you're going into the lion's den." Uruviel said.
"If you dislike this so much why do you still follow me?" Saira demanded as they entered the Scarlet Dragon.
"You know why, Queen Saira." Uruviel said shortly and quietly, emphasizing her name and title to remind her of her responsibility.
"Yes," Saira said quietly as well. "I suppose I do." Uruviel silently disappeared when she saw Tathar approaching, she sent a silent prayer to the Valar to keep Saira safe; Uruviel hoped that Saira knew what she was doing.
"Lessien! There you are; I was worried you wouldn't make it." Tathar said, smiling at the young woman in front of him.
"You should know that I can take care of myself by now, Tathar." Saira said, returning his smile. "But it's sweet of you to worry." Tathar grinned again.
"I suppose you are right. Now, follow me I have rented a room for a while so that you can clean up a little and change." Tathar told her as he led her to a small room with an adjoining bathing chamber. "I'll leave you now and wait for you in the main room." As soon as Tathar was out of sight Saira stripped down and got into the tub of warm water that had been provided for her to wash in. She found a bar of rough soap and a cloth to wash with, after she rinsed off the soap suds Saira scrubbed her hair with the soap and then poured a pitcher of water that had been standing nearby over her head. Saira half stood to set the pitcher out of the way and slipped, banging her arm against the side of the tub. She let out a yelp of pain and muffled a string of curses.
"Lessien?" Tathar called from the other room.
"Yes?" Saira called back.
"I thought I heard something, are you all right?" He asked, worried that she had hurt herself.
"I'm fine, I'll be out in a minute." Saira said, stepping out of the tub and drying off. Once she was dry enough she pulled the maid's outfit on; it was a simple floor length red dress with long, wide sleeves. Saira left her hair down and went into the main room. "I'm ready." She said.
Tathar turned around and grinned at her obvious discomfort. "You look beautiful, red suits you." Saira blushed as red as her dress. Tathar grinned even wider, and then frowned slightly.
"I thought you said you were not hurt." He said walking to her.
"I'm not." Saira said in confusion.
"You're bleeding." Tathar said indicating the drops of blood on the wooden floor.
"Oh." Saira said in surprise and rolled up her sleeve. On her upper arm was a small, but deep cut. A thin trail of blood ran down her arm and dripped off her fingers. A soon as she noticed it her cut began to twinge. "That hurts."
Tathar pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around her arm to stop the bleeding and keep the cut clean. "Thank you." Saira said while she rolled her sleeve down. "Are we all ready to go now?" She asked, eager to start her new job.
"Yes, shall we?" Tathar said, bowing to her as though she were a noble lady and proffered his arm for her to take. Saira curtsied somewhat unsteadily and rested her hand on the crook of his arm.
Tathar watched as Lessien was lead away by the head maid to be given instructions for her new assignment. At the sound of footsteps behind him Tathar turned to see the king watching him. "I hope you know what you're doing, bringing her here."
Tathar nodded and left to go to his chambers and prepare for the midday meal. King Elessar watched the boy leave and shook his head; that young man was so much like his father it almost frightened him.
Eldarion was reading in the palace library when his father found him. "Are you sure this is wise, Elda?" Elessar asked in Elvish.
"What?" Eldarion asked in the same language, setting his book down. He had always known the language of the elves and his father and he often conversed in the language.
"Having her brought here as your personal maid, you know perfectly well that she is the Queen of the thieves in Minas Tirith. What if she is here to kill you?"
"Of course I know who she is, she intrigues me. When I was in her city she could have kept me there and ransomed me away; but she didn't. She kept me there to protect me, or so she said. I found out that they will not kill unless there is no alternative, if they are caught thievery is enough of a crime. She won't kill me."
"How can you be sure that she isn't planning this to earn your trust and kill you?" Elessar asked, concerned for his only son's well being.
"I don't."
"Then if I can not change your mind, please be careful. Do nothing to alert her to the fact that you know her identity." Eldarion smiled at his father's words.
"I already have something in mind, Ada." Neither of them saw a shadow with eyes in the corner of the library listening to their every word.
Saira, now known as Lessien, walked into Prince Eldarion's chambers to begin her job. Valar this was weird, she was playing maid to the very boy-man that she had held captive underground only a short while ago. Shaking her head she began making the bed and once finished she started straightening up his room. Chucking the last of his dirty clothing into a woven basket she started to the door when it opened suddenly, slamming against the wall as the prince stormed in furiously. Saira was so startled that she dropped the basket of laundry with a thump and muffled a yelp.
Eldarion stared at Saira in surprise, shock, and then anger; he suddenly pulled his sword from the sheath at his side and put it to Saira's throat.
"Who are you and why are you in my private chambers?" He demanded; Saira squeaked. "Tell me NOW!" Eldarion pulled his sword back to swing it.
"My lord!" Saira cried, playing a simple maid. "I am your new maid, if it pleases you." She bowed her head and cowered convincingly. Eldarion pulled the sword away and re-sheathed it.
"I apologize miss, I did not know that a replacement for Freida had been found; my actions were rash and inexcusable." Eldarion held his breath and hoped that Saira would fall for it.
"Apology accepted, Your Highness. Shall I continue, or would you like me to leave you?" Saira asked. Eldarion shook his head.
"No, you may continue. If you have any questions about where to put items you may ask me." Eldarion turned away to his desk and began to pen a letter to his honorary uncle who ruled Rohan.
Once Saira had recollected the laundry and straightened the rest of the room she took her leave of the prince and went to the washroom so that the people there could clean the prince's clothes.
Later that day after the laundry was done Saira was on her way back to Eldarion's chambers with his clean clothes. When she reached his door she juggled the basket so it rested on one hip instead of holding it by both handles in front of her the way she had been. She knocked lightly on his door. "Enter." He called, sounding slightly distracted. Saira opened the door and entered as she had been bid.
"My lord prince." She said curtsying when he looked up to see who it was. "I have your clean laundry, shall I leave one set out for you to wear to dinner or put everything away?" Saira remained as she was until he responded.
"Yes, leave out a set of clothes suitable for dinner please, miss." He said, barely looking up from the window. Saira stood up straight again and set the basket on his bed. She pulled out a long, dark blue tunic for him to wear, along with a pair of black leggings.
She probably should have asked him if the clothes were suitable, but she didn't bother. He had told her to pick out a set of clothes, if he didn't like them; well, that was his problem. Saira then put the rest of the clothes away; folding the regular shirts and trousers and hanging up his nicer tunics and leggings so that they would not wrinkle.
"You are aware of your living arrangements?" Eldarion asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
"Yes, I am to stay in the adjoining room in case you need something." Saira said, quickly becoming annoyed at the servile manner she had been forced to adopt. "I will be at your beck and call for the remainder of my time as your personal servant. You need only to say my name and I am to appear." Saira's voice was full of disgust and contempt.
"You know, I am not as bad as you seem to think I am." Eldarion said softly, he stood and walked over to Saira and grasped her shoulders. "I am not the tyrant you are so convinced that I am." He leaned down so that he could look her in the eye. "You will not be harmed, physically or mentally, you will not be overworked, and I will not force you to bed me." Saira raised her eyebrow and Eldarion winced at the scorn in her look. "Despite what you think, I am an honorable man and I have every intention of treating you like the equal you are."
Now Saira was insulted. "Don't try to win me over with pretty words, Highness. I am not stupid, a maid is not the equal of a prince."
"True." Eldarion said. "But you're not a regular maid, are you-"
"Your Highness, please don't mock-"
"-Saira?"
Me: There you go! I hope that last bit made sense to you and wasn't confusing. I understood it perfectly, but I did write it...
Drake: Basically if you're confused let her know and she'll try to fix it.
Me: Shut up you.
Drake: Bah! I'm so unappreciated and misunderstood.
Me: I honestly have no idea when the next chapter will be out. I'll try to get at least another chapter out before the 8th when my school starts. But after school starts I'm not sure how frequent the chapters will be up.
Preview:
Saira awoke late that night to the sounds of a scuffle in the adjoining chambers. She was confused as to what might be causing them, until she thought that maybe the prince was intertaining a 'guest'. Saira flushed a bright red and was about to return to sleep when she heard a shout that definetly wasn't from pleasure.
Saira opened her door to see what was going on and stopped dead when she saw five black dressed figures attacking Eldarion; with swords.
Me: Now be a good little reader and review please! (happy face)