Disclaimer: If I owned any of this "Lord of the Rings" stuff, I wouldn't be sitting here, writing fanfiction. I own Arwith. Steal her for your own use, and I'll send small, furry animals to eat your socks.
"Eowyn, I really don't think this to be the wisest course of action." "But maybe it would work. Faramir, it's not as though any other maneuver's succeeded. So it's at least worth a try. Won't you give it the benefit of the doubt?" Faramir looked doubtfully at his wife, as though the very last thing he wanted to do was give it the benefit of the doubt, but he eventually nodded. "Alright, if you honestly think it might work." Eowyn smiled, gave her husband an encouraging kiss on his cheek, and left to practice her fencing, leaving Faramir to think and sort out his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Arwen was still upstairs in the hospital wing. Her midwife had instructed her to stay abed until she was stronger, despite Arwen's constant insistence that she felt quite fine. "Unbelievable! I feel perfectly alright. I see no reason why I should not immediately get back to my responsibilities." "I'm sorry, your Highness, but a woman who's gone into labor within the last twenty-four hours can hardly be described as 'perfectly alright.'"
Aragorn had stopped trying to interrupt these squabbles that were erupting between Arwen and the midwife, but Elrond sided entirely with the midwife. "She's right, Arwen. You should rest for at least a few days." "No."
People around her began to stare, but in her haste to speak her mind, she failed to notice. "The moment I get out of this bed is the moment my baby break ends." Elrond tried to remind her that he was still her father. "Arwen-" But…
"I'VE BEEN SITTING AROUND FOR A MONTH WITH NOTHING TO DO! I'M A QUEEN AND I NEED TO GET BACK TO IT!"
While his wife continued to rant, hopping up and down as best as she could while sitting on her bed, Aragorn wisely slipped away. He promptly gathered up Eldarion from the nurse who was holding him, staring at the queen and looking terrified. Aragorn brought him back over to Arwen and tried to get her attention, murmuring, "Arwen, here" while handing Eldarion off to her. She immediately fell silent, clearly feeling huffy that her maternal instincts were overriding her urge to fuss, and possibly feeling that she had been tricked into silence. However, she quickly forgot about it and was soon shushing the babe to sleep.
The midwife, a short, dumpy woman in her mid-forties called Mrs. Miggs, dragged Aragorn away, whispering to him as soon as they were out of hearing range. "How did you think to do that?" Aragorn shrugged. "I had a hunch. Why is she acting like this?" Mrs. Miggs waved the thought off carelessly. "Oh, she's fine. Plenty of mothers are contentious a few days after they've had a baby.
"What I can't understand is all this energy. She only had that child eighteen hours ago. She should be exhausted." "Yes, but, well… She isn't."
Mrs. Miggs suddenly appeared enlightened. "Maybe it's all in her head. You know, like with hypochondriacs. She thinks she should feel well, so she does."
Aragorn was prevented from responding when Faramir approached him from behind. "Aragorn," he whispered. "Aragorn, I need to speak with you. It's about… whoever she is." Aragorn looked back at Arwen, who was alternating between trying to lull Eldarion to sleep and exchanging angry mutters with Elrond. Mrs. Miggs was trying to coax the frightened nurse from before into coming within four feet of Arwen. Aragorn looked back at Faramir. "Let's talk somewhere else."
The two men walked down to a small balcony and sat at a table. Faramir spoke immediately. "Eowyn was talking to Luthien last night and she told me about an idea she has to further our currently nonexistent communication with that girl down in the cells. It's a simple idea: apologize."
Aragorn stared at Faramir, his expression failing to alter in any way. "… I don't understand." Faramir sighed. "Go down there, apologize for making the last two days irritating, and maybe she'll respond with so much as a blink when you say something." "… I don't understand."
Faramir huffed exasperatedly and spoke slowly, as one might to a child. "Listen. Go down to cells. Take her upstairs, into the air. Say something to the effect of 'I regret my actions that you have witnessed since our first meeting. Please forgive me.' After you have said this, ask her simple questions, such as, 'From where do you come?' And do not, under any circumstances, behave in a manner that could be considered hostile. Now do you understand?"
Gandalf walked past. "I've just a very interesting conversation with Luthien. I'd like to discuss an idea of hers with the both you." Aragorn spoke without turning away from Faramir. "Gandalf." The wizard turned to look at him as he continued to speak. "Gandalf, Faramir and I have both taken leave of our senses. Tell Luthien we'll try out her idea if she won't say relate any more of her wise plans to anyone else." Gandalf turned to walk through the door, only to discover a young man named Alec (you remember, from chapter three) was standing there behind him. "I could bring it as long as I'm going that way, if you'd like!" Aragorn continued to stare in the same direction. "It would be fine, Alec." Alec grinned widely at the king's answer, saluted, and quickly turned toward the stairs. Shortly thereafter, the sounds of tumbling, a series of yelps and various other destructive noises came from the direction of the stairs. Aragorn never changed his appearance, but he winced and closed his eyes when he heard a woman's shriek and the crashing of pots and pans as they fell to the floor. The last sound heard was that of a lid as it landed at the bottom of the stairs, loudly twirling about in one spot before coming to a stop. At the end of it all, Alec could be heard yelling, "I'm fine, everything's fine!"
If the young woman was at all surprised to suddenly be shown politely from the cell where she'd spent the previous two days, escorted into a sunlit courtyard and seated in a chair at a table, she didn't show it. Her eyes quickly scanned the area. The sun was bright and the air clear. The stones that made up the floor tiles and the walls were a faded sort of white and the foliage was bright green from the morning dew. Aragorn sat at the table as well, with Faramir and Gandalf sitting on either side of him.
Aragorn was the first to speak. "Hello. I am Aragorn, the king of men. You have already been introduced to Gandalf the White. This is Faramir, son of Denethor II." He took a deep breath, and continued slowly. "As you may know, orcs have been attacking the local towns, having been roused by some unknown force. Two mornings ago, during our pursuit to discover this inciter, we found you. Due to the uneasy manner of our engagement and to your… unorthodox appearance, we hastened to bring you into our custody. Upon doing so, I admit that our sequence of questioning was unnecessarily coarse. Your obviously displeased reaction influenced us to bring you down to your prison cell. The following orc attack interfered with your natural desire to vacate the area, but did bring you promptly back into our charge. Due to the unsettling nature of our previous encounters, you have been unfairly judged as an unsavory character. I…" Aragorn paused again, as though he considered his next choice to be almost painful. "I apologize for my actions." Gandalf and Faramir nodded in agreement. "As do we."
The girl still didn't move for several moments, and Aragorn was considering giving up the entire idea, when her cloaks began to rustle softly on one side. The three men watched with interest as she produced something from underneath her cloaks and calmly placed it on the table before Aragorn. It was a knife, longer than a dagger, but shorter than a sword. The blade itself was well polished and the hilt was bound in leather. It was the dirk Aragorn had flung in her direction before she lost her balance and fell from the tree two days before.
Aragorn stared at it before picking it up by the hilt. He glanced up the girl and placed the dirk on the opposite side of the table in front of her. He also removed sword and laid it in its scabbard on the ground. Faramir did the same and Gandalf followed suit with his staff. "You are now the only one present with any means to defend themselves," Aragorn pointed out. "And as you can see, there are no guards. It's just us.
"We would care to make a few inquisitions. Any answer at all that you could give us would be helpful, and we would grateful. Would you be willing to answer?" Without moving her head, the girl's eyes rolled smoothly from their normal position to Gandalf at her left, then to Faramir at her right. She looked back at Aragorn and didn't move. Aragorn waited, cleared his throat, and mentioned in a low whisper, "I think she would prefer it if the two of you were not present." Gandalf and Faramir looked doubtfully at him, but slowly rose from their chairs, retrieved their belongings, and left, glancing behind. Faramir whispered to Gandalf, "Do you think it best that we leave him with her?" Gandalf answered, "I know not, but I will trust in Aragorn's instincts."
When they were alone, Aragorn glanced at her and removed a book from his lap, setting it on the table. He opened it to reveal many maps. "From where do you come?" he asked. She looked at the pages and slowly pulled it to herself. She flipped through the pages easily and soon paused to glance at one that caught her interest. She ran a long, white finger down one of the pages, dragging a claw-like nail along the border one country, and turned it back so that it faced Aragorn once more. He leaned over and studied the indicated map. It was a map of one of the more mountainous northern countries She moved her thumb over one of the less mountainous regions, near the foothills.
Aragorn nodded. "Where did you go when you left?" She slid one hand under the front cover and closed it. She opened it again to the first page, revealing a large map that covered the vast majority of Middle Earth. She placed her hand in the middle and spread out her fingers, covering much of the area.
Aragorn swallowed and asked again. "You know of the inscription depicting you during the time of the first war of the Ring, so I already know you were there, but… How long were you with Sauron?" She stared for a moment and slowly rose, walking around the table to where he was seated. She reached beneath his chair and came up with the sword Narsil. She unsheathed it, paying no heed to Aragorn. She held the hilt carefully, using her index finger to support the tip of the blade. She ran her eyes up the edges, starring at it intently. She brought it upright in front of her face, and glanced at the man still watching her with fascination.
His breathing became heavier as she lowered the blade mere inches from his face. His breathing slowed when she let the blade land softly on his fingers, just skimming the knuckles above his palm.
Aragorn came back twelve minutes later, looking somewhat excited. He immediately spoke with Gandalf. "Come, friend. We have much to discuss." Gandalf hurried along behind him, but such was Aragorn's enthusiasm in the matter that he did not slow his speed. He quickly pried Elrond away from his daughter and grandson and gathered them all together in a study with Faramir. "I have just finished speaking with that girl, and I've been informed of several things." Faramir broke in, saying, "You spoke with her, or you spoke to her?" Aragorn paused. "… To.
"Regardless, she has informed me of several things of great importance. First of all, besides the fact that she was indeed with Sauron at a very early stage during his campaign against the world, she left shortly after his fall and has roamed the world since. I know she was born in the north, but I haven't yet established when. She was probably a member of his inner circle of associates, hence the reason the orcs are roused by her presence. Also, I inquired why she left Mordor, and I have reason to believe she was being detained, possibly because she was of some value." "Did she say how she managed to remove the words from the book?" Gandalf asked anxiously. "She has a small vial of oil on her." Aragorn explained. "When she rubbed it on a page with part of her cloak, the ink smudged."
"She said all this?" Faramir asked amazingly. Aragorn shrugged. "No, she still hasn't said a word. I think she may be a mute. She said it all with hints and gestures of the hand." "Such as…?" Gandalf asked. "An indication on a page, or something of that manner," Aragorn explained. "Upon inquiring of her departure from Mordor, she looked at a woman carrying a cage with a bird inside, so her leaving must have been reluctantly held back. When I asked how long she was with Sauron, she brought Narsil to my fingers, just above my palm." Elrond thought for a moment and murmured, "Similar to when Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron's hand." Aragorn nodded. "Yes, she implied that she left shortly after then."
"What else have you learned?" Gandalf asked. Aragorn continued, "Little else, except her traits." "And what are those?" Elrond asked. "Besides that fact that she never says anything, she analyzes a situation before she makes a decision. Her movements are slow. She makes it a point to notice everything… She's a thinker."
Someone knocked on the door, it opened, and Legolas peered inside. "Do I interrupt anything?" "No," Gandalf answered. "What is it?" "Well, I thought I should inform you that that woman is sitting on a column outside, reading a book and refusing to come down."
Everyone's eyes widened to their greatest extent. Aragorn squeaked, "What is she doing sitting a column?" "How did she even get up there?" Faramir asked. "They're four and a half feet around and twelve feet high." "Just as long as you know she's up there," Legolas said. "Is she doing anything destructive?" Aragorn asked. Upon receiving a shake of the head, he continued, "Let's just let her be for right now. We still have to decide what to do with her for the time being."
"What are we going to do with her?" Faramir asked when Legolas left. Elrond said, "I for one would like to speak with her myself." Aragorn led him outside.
Sure enough, she sat atop the only decorative column in the row, her many cloaks falling about the edges. She was carefully studying the maps in Aragorn's book, the halves draped over her lap. She ignored everyone on the ground and did not let it bother her that she was attracting many stares from passersby. Aragorn and Elrond stood just at the edge, Faramir and Gandalf standing a few paces back. Aragorn called up to her, "Milady." She paused in her meticulous inspection to shift the pages just so she could see him. "We would like make a few more inquiries of you." She considered this for a moment, then slowly closed the book. She brought it just over Aragorn's head, dropped it for him to catch, and slid smoothly down the thick column. She stood calmly before them, as statuesque as ever.
The two led her back to the table and sat down. Trying not to seem unnerved by the fact that he had not yet seen her blink, Elrond asked, "We know that you sided with Sauron for some time until just after he fell from power, and we assume you were being kept against your will. But what I would like to know is why." She placed her hands on the table in a relaxed manner, but continued sit perfectly upright, her back not touching the chair. She stroked the small area below the second knuckle on her ring finger. Aragorn took note of this. "Something to do with the Ring… Could you more specific?"
At this, she clasped her hands in front of her in a most business-like fashion and didn't respond. Aragorn and Elrond appeared distraught and ignored one of the maids, a woman in her thirties, when she came the walk, complaining to another about amount of dust on the courtyard floor. They listened, however, when she angrily exclaimed, "Look! You can even see that girl at the table drawing patterns in it with her foot!"
The two, the elf lord, and the wizard all appeared startled at this woman's acclamation, but upon peering under the table, they discovered that she was indeed drawing a figure in the dust with the tip of her tiny ankle boots. It was an oval shape, similar to a halo. But it did have the appearance of the sideways view of a ring.
Aragorn desperately struggled to comprehend this vague, unspoken message. "It's a ring, but we already know that." He grew increasingly frustrated when she dragged her boot in the dust and wiped the ring away. "Humph. Wonderful. She's led us to a dead end." Gandalf looked at him disapprovingly. "She has done nothing yet with reason. Her message says something." Elrond huffed contentiously. "What does it mean then; that she could destroy the Ring? It was possible for anyone to destroy the Ring. They need only cast it into the flames of Mount Doom." Faramir also stopped his observation. "There's no new message that I can see. All she's done now is make another ring in the dirt."
There was a heavy silence and everyone seemed unhappy. All at once, however, the realization of Faramir's statement sank in. Gandalf was the first to voice what they all thought. "She made another ring. She could create a new Ring."
She stared unfeelingly ahead.