Chapter 6

Elizabeth had woken from her slumber, feeling very rested and eager to play outside. Seeing a dress laid out for her, Elizabeth took it eagerly and put it on. It was a cute little jumper with a pocket on the front and on the pocket was a little squirrel.

She walked around the corridors randomly looking for anyone she might know or recognize. From Elizabeth's point of view, the hallways in Elrond's home were very long and very tall. They made Elizabeth feel very short despite the fact that she was short already. But the designs on the walls and ceiling were so elaborate and beautiful, that Elizabeth could have just sat there on the floor and stare at them all day.

Elizabeth walked in awe of Elrond's home until she spotted Frodo sitting with an older hobbit. Elizabeth recognized the hobbit immediately as Bilbo. Her face lit up as she ran to them.

"Frodo! Bilbo!" she yelled as she approached them.

Frodo and Bilbo looked up from a book they were reading and smiled as they saw Elizabeth approaching. Bilbo opened his arms in welcome to give Elizabeth a tight hug. He hadn't seen the small, amusing child for quite a time now. Bilbo embraced her tightly. Elizabeth said something that was muffled because her face was still buried in his coat.

"Beg your pardon?" Bilbo asked.

"I've missed you, Bilbo." Elizabeth said, after removing her face from Bilbo's coat.

"What about me?" Frodo asked, jokingly.

"Well I haven't missed you because I've been with you." Elizabeth explained. "But I have been scared that you wouldn't be ok."

Frodo smiled. "I've been worried too, Elizabeth. After all, how could I survive without your wonderful smile? But we do have some catching up to do."

Frodo lunged at Elizabeth to tickle her and she giggled in response. Neither of the hobbits or Elizabeth noticed the two elders watching them. Elizabeth giggled loudly as Frodo lunged and tickled her again. Bilbo, being the old hobbit he was, just sat on the bench laughing along with the two youngsters.

"The strength of Frodo and Elizabeth returns." Elrond stated, smiling slightly at the sight of two youngsters tickling each other.

"Their wounds will never fully heal. They will carry it the rest of their lives. Pity. They're both so young. Elizabeth especially." Gandalf replied.

"And yet to have come so far, one still bearing the ring, the other with a purpose to be here that only the Lady of Light and yourself know of, they have shown extraordinary resilience to the Ring's evil." Elrond stated.

"It is a burden Frodo should never have had to bear. And Elizabeth's purpose is too complex for the mind of a eight-year-old human child. We can ask no more from either of them." Gandalf said, hinting that the Ring and Elizabeth should stay in Rivendell.

"Gandalf, the enemy is moving. Sauron's forces are massing in the East. His eye is fixed on Rivendell. And Saruman, you tell me, has betrayed us. Our list of allies grows thin." Elrond argued. "And what purpose would Elizabeth serve? Other than to get in the way?"

"His treachery runs deeper than you know. By foul craft, Saruman has crossed orcs with Goblin-men. He's breeding an army in the caverns of Isengard, an army that can move in sunlight and cover great distance at speed. Saruman is coming for the ring." Gandalf announced.

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the elves. We do not have the strength to fight both Mordor and Isengard." Elrond argued. "Gandalf. The Ring cannot stay here. And neither can the child, though I thoroughly disagree with your choice of sending her on the quest."

Gandalf looked out at the gates of Rivendell as the Prince of Mirkwood and the steward of Gondor rode in.

"It would not be my choice, but hers." Gandalf said simply. "It is only Elizabeth that can make the choice."

He turned his attention back to place where Elizabeth was playing with Frodo and noticed the small girl watching him interestedly. Gandalf could understand her curiosity. He smiled at the young girl and her worried face immediately broke into a smile and she returned to Bilbo who began to tell her a story.

"This peril belongs to all Middle Earth." Elrond said as the son of Gloin arrived. "The must decide now how to end it. The time of elves is over. My people are leaving these shores. Who will you look to when we've gone? The Dwarves? They hide in their mountains, seeking riches. They care nothing for the troubles of others."

"It is in men that we must place our hope." Gandalf decided, thinking about Aragorn and Elizabeth.

"Men. Men are weak."

Gandalf's mind immediately thought of how Elizabeth would have reacted to that statement had she heard it and the old wizard had a hard time keeping himself from laughing. The wizard regained his composure and answered the elf lord's statement.

"What about Elizabeth? She is part of the race of men and you've seen first hand that she will not give in to evil without a fight." Gandalf countered.

"The race of men is failing. The blood of Nùmenor is all but spent, its pride and dignity forgotten. It is because of men the ring survives. I was there, Gandalf. I was there 3000 years ago, when Isildur took the ring. I was there the day the strength of men failed.

And then, Gandalf had to endure Elrond's tale about what had happened between him and Isildur up on Mount Doom. To tell the truth, the wizard had heard that tale from the elf lord about one hundred times and he was getting sick of it.

"There are two that could unite them, one who could reclaim the throne of Gondor and the other would be able to overcome all evil and help Frodo destroy the ring." Gandalf explained.

"The first you speak of, he turned from that path long ago. He's chosen exile." Elrond stated. "I know not of a second."

Gandalf just smiled.

"Surely you cannot mean the child?" Elrond asked, his eyes becoming wild. "Gandalf, you must be out of your mind! Sending a child to Mordor?!"

"The Lady and I have foreseen it. And if we have seen it, it is bound to happen." Gandalf said. "Quite frankly I do not agree with the notion of it, myself, but I have not the choice to decide for Elizabeth."

"Not necessarily." Elrond said. Was that a pout on the elf lord's face?

"She will make her own choice, Elrond. And if she chooses that path, we cannot stop her." Gandalf reminded Elrond.

"And you will have the Lady keep her in Lothlorien until they leave for Helm's Deep." Elrond ordered. "If she is to fight, we best let her train in Lothlorien, under Haldir of Lorien. Then, when they fight, perhaps she can save lives that are not meant to be lost."

Gandalf stared at Elrond. "What are you saying? Are you saying you have seen something that you know is not right? If you have seen the death of an elf, than it is their time."

"Not according to Galadriel. According to the Lady of Light, a great elf will die, but it is not his time. She believes that Elizabeth's purpose in Middle Earth is to restore life and destroy Sauron and all his evil." Elrond said. "That is why she must only go as far as Lothlorien and train with Haldir so that when the time comes, she can save the elf she is meant to."

Gandalf turned away from Elrond and sighed.

"I had wished that she would not have to endure the pains of fight and battle." He said. "But if the Lady agrees with you and I than perhaps both destinies will be fulfilled. I shall tell Aragorn to leave her in Lorien."

Elizabeth crept into the dark cold room where she saw a statue of a woman. She noticed a Strider sitting nearby, reading a book. Another man was at the statue, but he had orange/blonde hair. Elizabeth watched as the man by the statue picked up a sword that lay in the statue's hands.

"You shouldn't touch that, ya know." Elizabeth spoke up, slightly startling the two men.

"What?" the man by the statue asked.

"You could hurt yourself if you play around with knives." She said again.

The man by the statue raised an eyebrow. He was not used to being reprimanded by children of lesser rank.

"You don't know what you speak of, child." He said harshly. "I have handled swords far sharper than this before."

A minute later, the same man slit his finger and it started to bleed. Elizabeth resisted the temptation to jump up and down and sing "Ha ha, I told ya so."

"See?" Elizabeth asked. "Told ya so."

The man let the sword clatter to the ground and he walked away in a huff. Elizabeth went up to the sword and picked it up carefully. Strider came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and drop the sword again.

"I apologize." Strider said. "I thought you saw me."

Strider picked up the sword and put it back in the statue's hands. Elizabeth turned around when she heard the swish of robes entering the room. It was the pretty lady that had come to rescue Elizabeth and Frodo.

"Why do you fear the past?" a female voice suddenly asked.

Elizabeth frowned up and the pretty lady and Aragorn. She got the distince feeling that something secret was going on between the pretty lady and Aragorn.

"You are Isildur's heir, not Isildur himself." Arwen continued. "You are not bound to his fate."

"You! You're the one that saved me!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"Yes, child, I am, but let him speak." Arwen answered.

"The same blood flows through my veins." Strider said. He took a step back and turned to face Arwen. "The same weakness."

Elizabeth was quite confused at this point in time. What was Strider talking about? Whose blood was the same as his? What weakness? Elizabeth frowned, slightly confused.

"Your time will come. You will face the same evil. And you will defeat it." "Arwen replied. "A si i-Dhuath ú-orthor, Aragorn. Ú or le a ú or nin. (The shadow does not hold sway yet, Aragorn. Not over you, not over me.)"

Arwen looked down at the eight-year-old girl and smiled. "She will have her time also. And you will have to be strong for her."

Strider followed Arwen's gaze and looked down upon Elizabeth. Elizabeth became uneasy under the intense gaze of Strider an his elf friend.

"What?" Elizabeth asked, confused and afraid she was in trouble. "What did I do?"

"Nothing yet, child." Arwen said gently.

"Ok…" Elizabeth said, unsure of whether this elf was very wise, or very strange. She began to speak like her cousin did when he was very disturbed. "I'll just…go now…and find Gandalf. Bye, then."

((Ok, I get the feeling that Elizabeth is a little incomfortable around Arwen. Anywho, if you're reading this, than my rewritten chapter 6 has showed up. TTYL!!))