Disclaimer: Done it all before, I think. If not I only own Aleyna and Tysan.
Chapter 3
I've been waiting
The next few weeks were occupied with learning the bow and how to handle a sword. Aleyna soon found herself becoming adept at using a bow and arrow and elvish long sword. Also she could change in between the two quickly, to save any trouble. Finally she learnt to shoot arrows in rapid succession, running across to the training courts before she fought the twin who had taken part in the exercise with her. After one such course Aleyna lay panting on a grassy hill she had managed to walk to before collapsing.
"You're getting good cousin." Elrohir smiled.
"Smashed my record yet?" Aleyna asked.
"And mine and my twin's here." Elrohir kicked Elladan, who had collapsed on the ground much like Aleyna.
"Good, you were getting complacent." Glorfindel walked up.
"Sorry, I would get up, but I like looking at the clouds." Aleyna waved a tired hand in the air.
"No she's not, she's just lazy." Elrohir smiled.
"That's it." Aleyna jumped up.
Aleyna tackled Elrohir to the ground, despite the fact that she was larger and heavier than her. She managed to force her cousin to the ground, his black hair becoming covered in dust. Jumping up Aleyna smiled triumphantly up before doing a small victory dance. Her victory was soon over as Elrohir tried to force her to the ground. She soon managed to floor him again and jumped up before flipping out of the arena.
"That wasn't fair." Elrohir panted as he stood up.
"I won, twice may I add." Aleyna said, smiling sweetly.
"I bet I know who can beat you at archery." Elladan smiled sweetly.
"Who, Tysan, Arwen, you or your brother, Glorfindel?" Aleyna asked.
"None, the best archer, it has been said, in all Middle Earth." Elrohir joined in.
"Alright, the suspense is killing me." Aleyna smiled.
"Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood, your betrothed dear cousin." Elladan bowed low.
"You must be kidding me!" Aleyna exploded.
"No, fair cousin." Elrohir smiled at Aleyna's discomfort.
"I thought that was just a joke." Aleyna blushed.
"Not at all dear cousin, father wouldn't joke about a thing like that." Elladan joined in.
"So you mean I'm going to get married to a prince I don't even know?" Aleyna asked shocked.
"You'll probably get to talk to him at some point." Elrohir shrugged.
"There has to be a way to get out of this." Aleyna muttered to herself.
"Your mother made it foolproof; she knew what you would be like." Elladan smiled.
"Foresight is a terrible thing." Aleyna muttered as she walked off.
"Hey cousin, you forgot to watch your back." Elladan shouted as he pounced on her back.
The next few minutes were spent with Aleyna rolling around in the dust with Elladan. She was covering up her discomfort at the fact that she was betrothed. She still felt like the girl she had been back home, not the respected lady she seemed to be here. At least at home people found something for her to do, like washing up, cooking or tidying. Here as soon as she did something it was cleared up after her. She wasn't allowed to help in the kitchens. So besides when she was training she had very little to do. She had taken up embroidery, and discovered how bad she was at it. The only alternative was to read or talk to people. Of all the beings in Rivendell Aleyna liked Bilbo best.
"Remind me never to do that to you again." Elladan panted.
"No problems." Aleyna smiled, blew a kiss and ran off.
Running through a garden Aleyna ran straight into a wall. Her room led onto a garden that was shut off from the rest of Rivendell. The gate that was there was locked when Aleyna wasn't in there, due to the fact that the garden led onto her balcony, which led into her rooms. Taking the key Aleyna opened the small delicate padlock, which was very strong despite its appearances, and walked into the garden. Pulling the wooden gate shut behind her Aleyna looked around her.
There was one large tree which shaded the half the garden, and it was perfect for climbing. The tree felt old, unlike the other plants in the garden. In the other half were beautiful flowers and rose arbours on the wall. A small stone bench sat underneath one of these arbours. There was a small waterfall, where the water gathered in a small pool. Paying very little attention to all of this Aleyna walked through into her room. Also ignoring this room she walked through to bathroom. Here there was a sunken bath with a stone basin for washing in the morning. Silently thanking her maid Aleyna slipped into her bathwater.
After washing thoroughly Aleyna emerged. She walked through into her dressing room and looked at all her dresses. She would much prefer to wear a pair of her tight trousers with a tunic and shirt, but she wasn't allowed to wear them for dinner. Instead she chose a simple green dress. She brushed her hair, which had been falling out of the ponytail she had pulled it into and left it to fall down her back. Running a brush through it quickly she looked at herself in the mirror.
A knock came at the door and Tysan floated, rather than walked in. Today she was wearing a black dress with silver trimmings; she seemed to have gone into mourning for the life she had known. In a way so had Aleyna. She wasn't the same woman she had been before. She had decided not to think of it though; denial seemed to be the best option. There would be a time for her to come to terms with her parent's duplicity, but now was it. Now she had to get used to her new life.
"Time for dinner." Tysan nodded.
"I am sorry; I never meant to cause you any pain." Aleyna apologized.
"How could you cause me any pain? I think you've been the only one who's been truthful out of this." Tysan shook her head.
"I don't want things to be how they are." Aleyna sighed.
"We have no say in the matter." Tysan seemed jut as upset.
"I don't think I've come to terms with everything that has happened yet." Aleyna confided.
The two decided that then would be a good time to leave for dinner. It had become a ritual among the five cousins that they would have dinner together every evening. Anyone else was allowed to eat with the five, but they had to be there. This allowed the two new sisters and their cousins to get to know each other, and tell everyone about their day. They didn't choose to eat in the dining hall as all the other elves did, they ate in a smaller dining room that Elrond had said they could use.
Today, apart from Elladan, Elrohir, Arwen, Tysan and Aleyna, there was also Elrond and Glorfindel. The group sat around the table and talked about what kind of a day they had had. Glorfindel would not let Aleyna get away with her silent modesty and told Elrond about the three's bouts as he saw them. Aleyna and the twins were quite happy to play down the reports, the twins saying that they won it, and Aleyna was saying that her victory wasn't that big a deal. At the end of the meal Elrond stood up and everyone looked his way.
"Now I think you are all wondering why I joined you." Elrond began, "There is one hobbit coming this way bearing the one ring. I am asking one of you to go and accompany him and his four companions to safety, here." Elrond finished.
"I shall go father." Arwen spoke up.
"No you shall not." Elrond forbid.
"Father I am not a child!" Arwen protested.
"You shall not go, and that is final." Elrond's voice was quiet but dangerous.
"I shall go." Arwen engaged in a silent battle with her father.
"You shall go, and Elladan, Elrohir and Tysan shall go and scout the land." Elrond finally sighed.
"When do we leave?" Tysan asked.
"In the morning." Elrond walked out.
The next morning found the children of Elrond and Tysan standing by their steeds, ready to depart. Aleyna stood with Elrond as he bade his children farewell. Elladan and Elrohir left first, one on a midnight steed and the other on a white steed. Arwen was next on a white horse, wearing a riding dress. Finally was Tysan. She had a beautiful buckskin horse, with a flowing mane and tail. She wore simple trousers and tunic over a shirt. She rode her horse out of Rivendell, pausing to take one final look back before she rode off into the wilds.
Elrond sighed when all of the four riders had disappeared. It seemed suddenly that he was very old and careworn, longing to leave these shores for Valinor and his wife. Aleyna could find herself sympathizing with her uncle. He hadn't lost his wife, but where she was right now she might as well be dead to him. Aleyna smiled kindly at her uncle, she couldn't fault him in the lie she had been living all her life.
"Do you think I have done the right thing?" Elrond asked.
"I don't know. Arwen would never have forgiven her had you not let her go." Aleyna muttered thoughtfully.
"And yet if something happens to her I will never forgive myself." Elrond shook his head.
"They're adults, they have to leave sometime." Aleyna sympathized.
"Where did you get all that wisdom from?" Elrond asked.
"I might just surprise you sometimes." Aleyna smiled.
"You seem a little too calm about everything that's happened to you." Elrond gave Aleyna a sideways look.
"What's the point in being angry about something you can't change?" Aleyna asked.
"I honestly don't know." Elrond shook his head before walking off.
Aleyna spent the next few weeks trying to occupy herself. Apart from Glorfindel, who was often busy, she had no-one to spar with, everyone was too busy. She could shoot arrows, and check her accuracy, but there was only so much self-tuition one could take in a day. So she took to sitting in the library and reading, although sometimes the whole history of Middle Earth got a little too boring and depressing for her, especially when she was in a happy mood. So she took to going for walks. Your own company can start to be very telling on you after a while, up to the point where you rescue a puppy just for some company.
The puppy was very young, its mother had abandoned it. Had Aleyna not found it the puppy would have died. She took to feeding it every two hours, constantly, night and day. After a week the puppy had opened her eyes, and was now exploring the room around her. Aleyna asked Elrond about the puppy growing fast, but received no answer, so she just concentrated on her new friend. The dog was closely related to a long-haired German shepherd, but was silver. Aleyna decided to name her friend Star.
A few weeks later found Aleyna trying a particularly difficult move she had been trying to master for a long time. Star wasn't helping; she kept jumping in the way, her jaws closing inches from the sword. In the end Aleyna sheathed her sword with a sigh of annoyance. Star just presented herself for patting. Aleyna patted the dog distractedly and turned to see Bilbo watching her, with a smile on his face.
"When Glorfindel told you to practice that move, I didn't think he meant for you to kill yourself over it." Bilbo exclaimed good-naturedly.
"I just can't get it." Aleyna declared, collapsing onto the bench next to Bilbo.
"I don't think many can." Bilbo comforted.
"That's comforting." Aleyna muttered.
"Maybe you should stop trying." Bilbo suggested.
"No way, my mother always taught me, if at first you don't succeed…" Aleyna began
"…Try and try again." Came a chorus of two voices.
"Since when did you get back?" Aleyna asked.
"Since, all of two hours." Elladan smirked.
"Well, I'm starving." Bilbo declared.
"Which is just as well, considering its lunchtime." Elrohir smiled.
"Are you coming Aleyna?" Bilbo asked.
"Yeah, I need a break." Aleyna declared.
"Since when were you trying that move?" Elladan asked as the group walked away.
"Since Glorfindel used it." Aleyna looked puzzled.
"And who is this charming lady?" Elrohir asked about Star.
"She's Star, I picked her up somewhere." Aleyna muttered still thinking.
"What are you thinking about?" Elladan asked.
"Just something." Aleyna shook her head.
"You seem to have been doing a lot of that lately." Elladan reflected.
Aleyna didn't answer; her mind was already off on another track. Someone made some comment on it, but she let it pass. She knew she would be able to revenge herself on them later. It was funny in a strange kind of way. She thought she had thought through everything she had to think through, but she hadn't. When she had plenty of time to think she hadn't really done all that much, but now, when there was company for her she was thinking a lot more.
Aleyna managed to rally herself for lunch. She spent it sitting in a small dining room just off the kitchen with Bilbo and her cousins, just talking. She told her cousins what she had been doing, and all about Star, while they, in turn, told her stories from their travels. Bilbo told of his adventures, which shocked Aleyna a little. She had read the Hobbit, and knew what happened, but it was just so different hearing it from someone who had actually been there, and experienced it himself, mainly the main character of the book. Elladan and Elrohir seemed a little uncomfortable about any mention of dwarves. Aleyna decided to ask someone about this at some point.
"Come darling cousin, we have orders to get you changed and to spend a relaxing afternoon with you; you have been sitting in the library for far too long." Elladan ordered.
"I was really getting to a good part…" Aleyna began to protest.
"I don't care; you need to spend time with people." Elladan waved down her protests.
"Fine then." Aleyna huffed.
Aleyna went and changed into a light green gown and then ran back down to find the twins in the garden. The three spent the afternoon just enjoying themselves. It was a welcome break from solitude, or only the company of Star for Aleyna. For the twins it was a chance to relax and laugh. For Star it was a chance to be pampered and have plenty of sticks thrown for her. Elladan decided to really throw a stick, and sent Star after it. After about five minutes Aleyna decided to drag the twins and go and look for her dog.
"But she's your dog." Elladan protested.
"Yes, and you lost her, now where did you throw that stick?" Aleyna asked.
"Somewhere over there." Elladan waved and Aleyna raced off, with the twins coming up behind her at a more leisurely pace.
Aleyna soon found Star. The dog was getting excited, or agitated about something, and Aleyna decided to see what it was. So she followed her dog through the brush and emerged in a clearing. She guessed it was somewhere near the fords, as she could hear running water. That wasn't the thing that had worried her dog though. There was a rider less horse, standing next to two bundles. One was larger. Kneeling down next to it she felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. It turned out her suspicions were right, it was her cousin, Arwen and one of the Hobbits Frodo.
"Star, go and warn someone." Aleyna ordered.
"But who?" The dog asked.
"Elrond, Glorfindel, the healers, anyone who can understand you." Aleyna exploded.
Star complied and Aleyna turned back to Arwen. She didn't dwell too long on the fact that she could understand her. She looked both of them over, checking who was the worst wounded. The chatter of the brother's soon stopped as they saw the two people. Elladan ducked and picked up Arwen, while the other picked up Frodo. Aleyna took the horse, soothing it as she led it into Rivendell.
A few days later still saw everyone scared out of their minds. Their worries were not for Frodo, who was healing, but for Arwen, who had been stabbed by one of the Morgul blades. The wound wasn't that serious, but Arwen seemed to be fading, the poison working its way into her blood. Aleyna ended up dragging Aragorn away and making sure the Hobbits were with them before she ran off somewhere. She often stayed with Merry, Pippin and Bilbo, Sam not leaving Frodo's side.
Frodo had just recovered, and there was to be a feast to celebrate that night. Whilst Aleyna was in the kitchens helping out Elladan came looking for her. He had to look for her, and in the end found her covered in flour. Her hair was falling out of the bun she had pulled it back into and the flour had mixed in with the dark colour of her hair, making her look like she was starting to go grey. Her face was flushed from the heat of the kitchens and her dress was covered, even though she was wearing an apron. Elladan had to drag her to Arwen's room, where she spent the rest of the morning being drilled on protocol that she would be using that evening.
In the afternoon Aleyna was able to escape to the library. She knew that she would only have a few hours, someone would soon be after her to bathe and dress, but for now she was home free. She settled herself in her favourite chair and began to read. After a while she heard the library door open and someone walk in. A few moments later another someone, Elladan walked in. Aleyna was obscured by a bookcase, but she could see the pair very well from her point in her chair. Silently she slipped the book down onto the table nearest her and craned her neck.
The other elf was a tall male with blonde hair plaited into warrior braids. When he glanced in her direction and saw piercing blue eyes. She almost gasped when he looked in her direction, but was soon able to stop herself. He was dressed in green trousers and boots, but the rest of his outfit was covered by some sort of light orange overcoat.
"Legolas, I told you, father isn't in here." Elladan answered a question.
"Will you tell him I want to see him on a matter of urgency?" Legolas asked.
"He says all matters of urgency can wait until tomorrow." Elladan soothed.
"Fine then." Legolas sighed in defeat.
"Until then just relax, enjoy yourself, and look for some pretty maiden…" Elladan began.
"I'm betrothed to your cousin." Legolas reminded.
"She's not that bad." Elladan stood up for her.
"I haven't met her." Legolas stated, almost sadly.
"She isn't all that ecstatic about marrying someone she's never met." Elladan confided.
Aleyna listened in on all of the conversation. In the end Elladan persuaded Legolas to leave the library. As soon as the door had closed Aleyna began to giggle quietly. Elladan soon came round and joined in the mirth before hauling Aleyna to her feet, and dragging her to her room, where her maids were waiting…
Author's note: Another chapter up. This one had Legolas in it tee hee. I hope you enjoy as always. Review if you want, if not, don't bother.