Chapter 12

((A/N: and now comes the interrogation of Haldir! MUAHAHAHA!))

Elizabeth cocked her head to one side and watched Haldir as he stood next to her bed.

"You can sit down, ya know." She said. "You don't hafta stand."

Haldir raised one eyebrow, but sat, setting his bow and quiver against the bed stand.

"You can talk too. There's no one watching, 'cept me an' you." Elizabeth said. "You can't get in trouble for talking, can you?"

Haldir seemed to be amused. "No, I cannot. I tend to think the silence as peacefulness."

It was Elizabeth's turn to raised one eyebrow. "Silence is boring. You never will have any fun in your life with too much silence. That's what my mummy says."

"How fascinating." Haldir said in a dull, bored tone.

"You sound bored. You must have too much silence." Elizabeth continued. "Wanna play a game?"

Haldir sighed. "If I must."

"You must and you will have fun." Elizabeth said in her best mummy voice. "The game is called 'Fingers' and I play it with daddy all the time."

"Wonderful."

"You know, you're like the worst babysitter in the world. All the other ones are nice to me and like playing 'Fingers.'" Elizabeth pouted.

"I'd rather like to keep my fingers, thank you." Haldir expressed.

"Are you ticklish?" Elizabeth asked, changing the subject and forgetting all about her game.

"What?"

"Are you ticklish?" Elizabeth repeated in an exasperated tone.

Haldir just stared at the small girl as if she were some psychopathic maniac come back from the grave to tickle him of all things.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and tickled Haldir in all the places that humans were normally ticklish. No response. But when Elizabeth tried Haldir's funny bones, he immediately grabbed her wrist and told her to stop that.

Elizabeth pouted childishly at the marchwarden. "Party pooper."

Haldir looked at Elizabeth and tried desperately to think of a comeback.

"Nogoth. (Dwarf)" Haldir said, forgetting that Elizabeth couldn't understand Sindarin.

Elizabeth tilted her head to one side and looked Haldir straight in the eye. She searched through his mind for the meaning of the word and finally found it. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Haldir's funny bone, causing him to jump.

"I am NOT a dwarf!" she yelled.

"How did you…? Never mind. The Lady said you would have mind powers." Haldir said.

"Cross dresser."

Haldir had no idea whatsoever what a cross dresser was. But he eyed Elizabeth mischievously, raising one eyebrow.

"I think you need to learn not to mess with the High Marchwarden of Lorien." Haldir said, as he stood up to full height.

Elizabeth, seeing the mischief in his eyes, giggled and backed up to the edge of the bed. But that didn't stop Haldir from climbing onto the bed and grabbing the small child.

She let out a happy scream as Haldir began to tickle her wherever she'd tried to tickle him and soon the marchwarden had her laughing.

All of a sudden, a head poked around form outside and frowned.

"I heard a scream, is everything all right?" the voice of the head asked. It was another blonde elf that was raising one eyebrow in surprise.

"Hey Haldir, I thought Rumil and I were supposed to be the mischievous ones." The elf said.

Haldir's head snapped up and the two regained their composure quickly.

"That doesn't mean I can't have fun with my new student." Haldir responded.

"Student?" the elf asked. Then he noticed Elizabeth. "Oh. Is that her?"

"No Orophin, I took in another student of my own free will and this one just happened to come in with the Fellowship." Haldir said sarcastically.

"Was my brother just sarcastic? Something must be wrong with him." The elf, known as Orophin stated looking directly at Elizabeth. "And what might your name be?"

"Elizabeth and I'm eight years old. How old are you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Me?" Orophin asked innocently. "Why, as a matter of fact I'm 28 years old."

"Orophin, no lying." Haldir said sternly.

"Fine. Add a couple of zeros on to twenty eight and you've got my age."

"That would be two thousand eight hundred, in case you haven't learned that far in mathematics." Haldir cut in.

"Not that you'll learn any here," Orophin said.

"Are you really two thousand years old?" Elizabeth asked.

"Two thousand eight hundred and thirty four to be exact, but I enjoy rounding it down to twenty eight hundred." Orophin answered.

"Wow." Elizabeth said. She looked out the window and at her friends. "I wanna see Aragorn. And the hobbits."

Haldir's smiled faded into a look of knowing and understanding.

"Very well. I shall take you to see them."

Haldir led Elizabeth down the many stairs that wound about the tree and finally, Elizabeth ran to the Fellowship when she reached the bottom.

"Hi guys!" she squealed.

A loud snort caused her to frown at a sleeping Gimli and Aragorn swatted him. Elizabeth giggled as she launched herself into Aragorn's lap.

"Miss me?" she asked.

"Not a bit."

Elizabeth put on a look of mock hurt. "Not even one bit?"

"Well…maybe a little bit." Aragorn said. "We were worried that you'd be so sad that maybe your heart would fade."

"Why would my heart do a silly thing like that?" Elizabeth asked.

"No reason." Aragorn answered knowing that he shouldn't have said that in the first place.

Elizabeth yawned.

"That isn't fair. How come Haldir got to have fun with you and when you come down to see us, you're already tired?" Aragorn joked.

"Because he tickled me and that wasn't fair." Elizabeth said. She yawned.

"Perhaps you should take some rest." Haldir suggested. "Come, I will take you back to your room."

"No! I wanna stay with Aragorn." Elizabeth said. "And you can't make me go."

Haldir almost looked as if he'd been hurt by Elizabeth's words but the feeling was chased away.

"Very well. I shall inform the Lady that you will be with the Fellowship." Haldir said curtly as he turned on his heels and began to walk back up the stairs.

"Good night, Haldir." Elizabeth called. Haldir stopped in his tracks and almost turned around and bowed, but didn't. He continued up the stairs saying only his thanks.

"I will see you in the morning, my lady."

Elizabeth turned to Aragorn. "Is he mad at me?"

Aragorn smiled. "No, Elizabeth he is not. He is simply disappointed that you'd rather spend time with me than himself."

"But I'll spend lots of time with him when you guys leave." Elizabeth said.

"I know. He's just trying to detach himself and stay attached to you at the same time." Aragorn answered.

Elizabeth yawned. "I don't get it."

"You'll understand when you grow up." Aragorn answered. "And when you do, you can set that marchwarden straight."

Elizabeth didn't answer as her eye lids suddenly became droopy and fell.

"Elizabeth? Oh."

Aragorn set the eight year old on a blanket with a pillow under her head and covered her with an elven blanket.

"And so she sleeps." A voice said. It was Legolas.

"Yes, my friend, she sleeps. Too long has she endured the burden with us. And I sense that something is about to happen. Something that Elizabeth should not have to see." Aragorn said.

"Aye," Legolas agreed. "Her soul and body is already tainted by the Ring and this war."

The elf prince stroked Elizabeth's cheek with the back of his hand. He looked tenderly down at the small child and smiled at her sleeping form.

"She is as a sister to me, Aragorn. I cannot bear to leave her, yet I know she must remain." Legolas confessed.

"I would speak of her the same way, had you not already voiced my thoughts." Aragorn answered. "But now, we rest."

Legolas nodded and lay down on his own blanket, allowing his eyes to glaze over, but he left them open.

Clean elven feet walked on the grass and through the sleeping Fellowship. They stopped in front of the head of Elizabeth and the owner of the feet scooped the child up in her arms.

It was Frodo that was awakened and he frowned when he saw Elizabeth being carried away. He followed the one carrying her, down a series of steps and into a small clearing below the place that the Fellowship slept. Elizabeth was set against the roots of a large tree and the lady carrying her dipped a pitcher into a small pool of water.

"Will you look into the mirror?" she asked.

"What will I see?" Frodo asked.

"Even the wisest cannot tell, for the mirror shows many things." She began to pour the contents of the pitcher into the well/mirror of water in the center of the clearing. "Things that were, things that are, and some things that have not yet come to pass."

Frodo stepped up to the mirror cautiously and carefully. He glanced at the elf before looking back into the water. It stirred and images flashed before his eyes.

Various members of the Fellowship; Legolas, Merry, Pippin, and Sam. The Shire, Bag End—it was on fire! Orcs were everywhere, the death toll was catastrophic. Sam, he was whipped; chained up and walking in line with other hobbits that hadn't died. And then the Great Eye was seen. It began to pull Frodo closer to the mirror, at least, until he grabbed the Ring and pulled himself back.

Elizabeth was brought out of her sleep as Frodo fell to the ground. She moved to help, but something told her that she shouldn't interfere.

"I know what it is you saw." The Lady said. "For it is also in my mind."

And then, from Elizabeth's point of view, it seemed as if Galadriel and Frodo were having some sort of staring contest. The next thing Elizabeth knew, Frodo held out the Ring and Galadriel seemed to reach for it.

Now Elizabeth knew that Frodo wasn't supposed to be giving the Ring to other people, Galadriel least of all. She frowned and took a step forward to set the Lady strait when she saw that she was indeed too late.

"Instead of a dark lord, you would have a queen! Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Treacherous as the sea! Stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair." Galadriel, or someone who looked strangely like her, shouted in an otherworldly voice.

And as soon as the voice had come, it disappeared and Elizabeth was left staring wide-eyed at the Lady she had once trusted as a friend.

"I pass the test. I will diminish and go into the West and remain Galadriel." The Lady said.

"I cannot do this alone." Frodo said helplessly.

The Lady turned to him.

"You are a Ring Bearer, Frodo. To bear a ring of power is to be alone." She held out her hand for the hobbit to see. "This is Nenya, the ring of Adamant. And I am its keeper."

Frodo just stared at the ring.

"Now go, rest, for you have a long journey a head of you." The Lady said, smiling. After the hobbit disappeared over the stairs, the Lady turned to Elizabeth and smiled kindly. "Will you look into the mirror?"

((What do you think Elizabeth will see? How will it effect her?))