For all my lovely readers, here is a lovely long chapter for you.

Disclaimer; I own nothing. At all. But Cahra, I own her. I don't own Haldir...i wish i did, but hey.

This chapter is dedicated to my loyal reader, Lady Anck-su Naman, who has been with me since the beginning.

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Haldir led the giggling elleth in through the door of his talan, his face open and accommodating, his yes full of lust, but his mind bored. He had done this a thousand times, and lately, the satisfaction seemed to diminish. Indeed, calling the little washer elleth...Cary, yes, Cary, bask to work gave him more satisfaction. She did have a delightful behind. He liked to watch her clean the rugs. His attention has swiftly brought back to the matter at hand however, when the elleth wrapped her arms around his waist, and placed gentle kisses at the base of his neck. He sighed, before turning around and kissing her softly. He had grown to hate this tenderness that always must come first. His lust had once demanded he push the elleth against the wall and take her there, then, her skirts around her waist, his leggings undone, but the Lady's he wooed were gently bred, and therefore must be gently loved.

The release used to make it worth his while, but again, lately it too was fading. He walked back towards his room, pulling her after him, when he felt something crush beneath his foot. He looked down and saw the remains of the drafted report he had been writing that afternoon. On top of his beautifully clean rug. He looked closer in the growing darkness. The rug, despite being cleaned, was exactly how he had left it. Including...

"Haldir?" asked the elleth a little suspiciously, as she too caught sight of the offending garment. "Who do these belong to?"

"They are mine." he answered quickly, grabbing them before she could. "They are mine. I must have left them lying about."

"I did not think that the Marchwarden would wear an elleth's underwear," she stated, her eyebrows raised."

"I..."

"Or lace,"

"Well I..."

"Or about three sizes too small.'

"Ah...yes. They aren't mine."

"I can tell. Good night Haldir." and with that, the disappointed elleth left, leaving a fuming Haldir behind her. He stormed past her and out into the darkened trees of Lorien, where he threw himself at the door of Cahra's talan, buckling the door under his superior strength.

She blinked open her eyes sleepily. She had fallen asleep in her chair, tying to finish the lace for market tomorrow. It would fetch enough to buy her bread and fruit for another few days, at least until Haldir paid her again. It seemed that the space between pay day grew a little longer each month. And it also seemed that she would be eating stale bread again, as by the look on Haldir's face, the lace would go unfinished. And he hadn't knocked. Why did he never knock?

"Why did you not clean up like I asked of you? Was it so difficult? Was so meager a task too beyond comprehension for you to..."

"My Lord," she interrupted, still blinking the sleep from her eyes. "I did exactly as what was stipulated. I cleaned the rug. I also cleaned the curtains whilst I was there, they were filthy. What is the problem?"

"The problem is the rubbish you left there, I had company! You have no idea how embarrassed I was to invite them into my home and have...have"

"Undergarments upon the ground?"

"Yes!"

"My Lord, I think you will find that your contract stipulated that I clean only your cloth and garments, not every elleth west of the border. From now on, your female companions clothing is none of my concern. And the rubbish on the rug was paper, and therefore, nothing to do with me."

Haldir stood there, his face red, his mouth opening and closing in shock, before stating "Fine. If that is the way you fell, I shall simply have to find myself another wash maid.'

"Then you do that, if you feel you must, Marchwarden."

"I will." He went to stalk out, stopping at the door. "Don't come back and beg me for your job back, you shall not have it."

"Alright," she said, going back to her lace.

"And don't go...bursting in to tears or anything...female like that, because I shall remain unmoved by it." he stated, stalling, waiting for her to beg and plead with him not to sack her.

"Believe me, Marchwarden, I will not.

"Fine" he snapped, turning on his heel, and stalked out.

"Fine", she whispered to the lace, trying to fight the depressing prospect of a future without work.

"Fine," he muttered to himself, as he faced the looming and depressing prospect of finding another elleth who would wash things just the way he liked. Who would use that sandal wood soap he liked so much. Who would keep his home and clothes so clean. Who would...

"No," he muttered, back at his own talan. "I don't need her, I will simply find someone else. There must be thousands of elleths, much more attractive, who can splash around a bit of soap satisfactorily!"

(&(7

"There are no elleths around who can splash around a bit of soap satisfactorily!" he murmured to himself, as he chased the fourth maid he had hired in a week out his door.

The first had been insufferable. She simpered and giggled and flipped a cloth around, never cleaning anything and whilst he appreciated the low cut dresses she wore, she was maybe a quarter of his age. And she giggled. He hated giggling.

The second was not particularly bad, she just wasn't particularly good either. (admit it, his mind whispered. She's just not Cahra.) And she hadn't dusted underneath anything, only around it. it was most frustrating.

The third was the worst by far. He made the mistake of bedding the attractive elleth, and she never left her clothes on after that, expecting more and more from him. Nothing was cleaned at all, and he resorted to burrowing Rumils tunics as his were all dirty. There was little satisfaction to be had in her arms to begin with, and it only decreased exponentially.

The fourth he was sure had stolen and sold his best tunic, and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw it a day later on another ellon. That had been the final straw. He had given up hiring someone else. There was just no one who could...who could...no one who...was...Cahra. But he was too proud to go back to her.

Three weeks after he had fired Cahra, he had resorted to washing his cloths himself. And it turned out to be a lot more difficult than he had expected. He couldn't find the sandal wood scented soap, his hair was all over the place, he was soaked, and he had torn his shirt on a submerged branch in the process. His back ached from having bent over to scrub the clothes, which were dirtier than when he had started. Realization hit him that this must be what Cahra felt like every day, with his constant flood of chores for her to complete. He never had any time to do anything anymore. "What an insufferably difficult, useless, unproductive..."

'Necessary chore?" came a familiar voice from the path. He turned around sheepishly, a little embarrassed that the mighty Marchwarden was seen washing (or trying to wash ) his own clothes. There stood a pale skinned, darkly ringed eyed, tired looking Cahra, an unreadable expression on her face. He reddened slightly. In shame.

"If you would do me the service of leaving me alone lady, I am washing my clothes."

She shrugged her shoulders at the proud March wardens folly, before moving downriver to wash her own clothes. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, and nearly laughed when she saw him trying to clean a shirt, tearing it in the process, and with no soap. He let out a small cry of frustration, hitting the water in his rage, the splash wetting him further. He couldn't do it! He hadn't felt this much hopelessness since...well...ever!

"It looks as though you require help Marchwarden," she mentioned softly, sitting up.

He looked down, ashamed, of himself and his previous behavior. He couldn't do this anymore.

"Would you ...perhaps... if you are not currently occupied...maybe consider...Help me Cahra?" He had a look of such desperation on his face, that with his bedraggled hair and soaked clothing, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. And he had remembered her name. For the first time in the century she had known him, he had remembered her name. He looked so forlorn kneeling by the river, mud in his hair, that she found herself letting go of the bitterness she had felt towards him for his previous treatment of her. She approached him, a bundle of her own clothes with her, which she placed upon the ground. "What are you using to wash those with?" she asked, her eyebrows drawn in confusion. He looked up at her a little sheepishly. "Water," he said as though that were perfectly normal. "I could not find the soap you use.'

She bent down beside him, drawing a cake of soap from her pocket. The familiar and soothing scent of sandalwood filled his head. "Where did you get that?" he asked, reaching for it, and inhaling the scent deeply.

"I made it," she said quietly, and he turned to look at her, as though seeing her for the first time. He handed the soap back to her.

"Will you help me? Teach me how this is done?" he asked humbly. She wordlessly reached for the tunic.

"You have torn this one terribly Marchwarden.", she said, before drawing it through the water once more. "Lather the soap." Haldir rubbed the soap briskly in his hands. "Now give them to me." He held the soap out to her, confused. "No," she laughed a little, "Your hands." He realized then that he had never heard her laugh. It was a lovely sound. He gave his soap covered hands to her, and she placed her much smaller and surer hands over his. "Now, see where the embroidery is around the collar? Gently rub the soap over it. That's right. Like that. Not too hard, or you'll tear it. Now see the stain on the lapel? Soap the stain, then rub the two sides of the fabric together. The friction helps dissolve the stain." He watched as the stain faded from sight, and he rinsed the soap from the tunic. He realized then just how close her body has to his. Her arms were wrapped around his, guiding his hands, her body pressed to his side. She almost unconsciously moved against him, guiding his movements, and the proximity of her to him made him feel comforted, and warmed him against the chill of the water. Also, her breasts pressed against his shoulder. He shivered. He forced his mind back to the task at hand, only to have his eyes wandering down the front of her dress, which caused further distraction to another part of his anatomy. But he noticed something else. She felt a lot thinner than any elleth should.

"Now," she said, startling him from his reflections. "See? It is clean." He looked into her smiling eyes, and returned her smile. He had never been this close to a female without intending seduction. But there was something wholesome and cleansing about her presence, that awakened gentler feelings within him. Softer feelings. He enjoyed spending time with her. He had missed her near invisible presence in his life, and not just for her cleaning. She lifted the heavy water logged tunic from him, and hung it over a branch to dry. As he watched her, he saw her sway on her feet suddenly, her face pale. He frowned. There was little strength in her movements

"Now, I have my own washing to tend to, so you continue to do just as I showed you. But don't wash that other shirt. I'm afraid that I will have to repair it first, to save it fraying anymore My Lord."

He smiled at that sheepishly. "You repaired the rents in my clothes too?" he asked a little wondrously. He had thought that she had taken them to a seamstress of some sort. It never really occurred to him just how much of a rare find she was. Until now. Now that he had witnessed and experienced her work. Also, now that he had searched in vain for another like her through every maid in Lorien, and had been found wanting. Her. Wanting her.

"Well yes. Who else would do it?" she asked, a little surprised.

"Could...Could you show me?" he asked a little hesitantly. Unsure of himself for perhaps the first time in many, many years.

"If you like. Now, let us finish getting these clothes clean."

Now i know there are a few reading this, so please, tell me what you think! Anything i should change, or that is frustrating you? Let me know. I love reading your feedback. Enjoy!