Jibade7It is really great to hear people like my characters. I hope I never disappoint you anytime. J
Anonymous: Well said, but Haldir is really at the verge of a Nervous breakdown…don't you think? ;)
Ariendar: Yea for you review, made my day! And your compliments are gratefully accepted. I feel so happy I could cry! Goes crying on Ariendar's shoulder Oopsie! Hehehe.
Haldir's heart and soul: Patience! Patience my love! Fingers The One Ring my prescioussssss.
Crecy: you are not alone! My mom thinks I am pretty absent minded too… Oh the woe of being the only genius in one's house! Don't you think? (Just kidding!)
Elven Script: Don't worry, they won't. Here is your next chapter and hope it's much less sadder.
Drangonsinger: Thanks for the review. Here is your next chapter.
Angel Of Storms: Thanks for adding my name in your Authors alert list. It matters a lot. Hope you like this chapter.Disclaimer:
I don't own Hogwarts or Middle Earth. Duh!
Thoughts or dreams are in Italics
- Anarya of Lorien
CRYSTAL DREAMS
Chapter – 13 (Return to Caras Galadhon)
Ithilwen's Point of view:
I still did not fathom what it was that troubled her so, but what ever it was, it was big.
"Anya, the lady awaits you." I said. She turned to look at me, she had washed her face but still her eyes looked freshly cried. She smiled at me and walked out of our talan. So this was the place I was to live for a while now. My talan was nowhere this grand. I ran my fingers along the silver walls to catch gentle motifs of flowers and birds running along it.
"Ithilwen?" a voice called me. I turned back to see Anya stand there in her world's dress. She was looking at me as though expecting something.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Is she only expecting me, or are you to come too?" I smiled as I shook my head.
"I am afraid, the lady wanted to talk to you-" she looked up at me. "-Alone." I completed. Her face fell at this. She nodded her head and slowly walked out of the talan. What was wrong with her? She wasn't herself lately. But then, what did I really know about her?
I sighed as I grabbed my robe and walked into the bath that was prepared for me. It would be nice to have a bath now.
Anya's Point of view:
The quiet breeze blew onto my face as I faced her talan. The lofty mallorn suggesting the abode of a mighty ruler. There she abode, the White Lady of Lothlorien. I slowly began my ascent towards the top of the mallorn tree, holding its silver bark for support. Soon, I stood before her door, waiting for her to call me. Then it came, it was no sublime message to my mind but a call from her, for all to hear.
"Enter, Anya." I gulped what fear I had and for the second time in my life, I walked through the gauzy curtains to see only the Lady seated there, with what looked like some piece of embroidery she wanted to complete.
"My lady." I bowed down. Her azure eyes looked up at me and her lips parted in a graceful smile.
"Come in, penneth." She said. I nodded and walked towards her. She pointed to a cushion near her seat and asked me to sit there. I did the same. This way, I had my face near her lap. Was she doing this as a remedy if I started crying? As I sat down on the large cushion, her hands fell on top of my head. (penneth - young one)
"It has been hard hasn't it?" she asked. Her voice was gentle and anxious. I looked up at her, seeing her gaze at me with sympathy and benevolence. Tears struggled to break free of the bond that I had created, restrains were breaking.
"And to think that I was the one who brought this upon you…" I bowed my head down. Whatever were the charges I wanted to press upon her, it seemed oblivious now. She did feel sorry. She placed her finger beneath my chin and slowly and gently raised my face to meet hers.
"It was all for some good, my child." Her voice so resigning. I nodded my head. She smiled. What had happened to me? I was not supposed to give in. I was supposed to shout. I was supposed to argue and to make her feel for what I had gone through. But I couldn't. I merely smiled back. One that was true and genuine. One that had a tinge of sadness, but she could see all that lay in my heart…I wouldn't lie to her, then again, I wouldn't be able to.
"You would feel bored if you were to remain in your talan all day, wouldn't you?" I nodded my head. What I wanted now was work. God blessed work. Something that would divert my heart from self-pity. She closed her eyes in thought before opening them again.
"What would you like to do?" I frowned as I considered the various jobs that I could have. I then turned back to the Lady,
"It would be better if you were to suggest one for me, my lady." She smiled as she nodded her head.
"How does gardening suit you?" she asked, some excitement flowing from her to me. I nodded my head enthusiastically. Her smile grew as she ran her hand over my head, stroking me.
"Fine then, young one. If you were to feel too bored, then you can attend duty as a tender of my garden. But remember, this is not a duty for you. Only if you feel bored. In all other aspects you are still my guest." I smiled as I motioned to stand up. But she stopped me. I turned to look at her, her eyes sad and almost pleading.
"What is it, my lady? What can I do for you?" I asked. I could do anything for this kind a woman.
"Please, do not hate Haldir." She said. It was a statement or more like a gentle command. But I could feel her urgency in it. I could see that she loved Haldir, as a child of her own. And I was silent for a while, contemplating what I should say. I stood up and slowly turned to go out. She did not stop me. But then again I felt her presence.
For Anya, he does not. I turned around to look at her, her blue orbs burning into me, there she sat before me, a complete mystery that not even a Master of Occlumency would be able to read.
"Please send word to Ithilwen that I would like to meet her. I think it would be better if I was the one who told her." I merely nodded and turned my back to her and walked away. She was right. Ithilwen probably liked Haldir a lot. She would hyperventilate if I told her. It was all for the better. For the first time today, I felt like smiling.
I walked to our talan, the one that I shared with Ithilwen, the female guard of the Border. She was reading a book, seated on a chair in an open space that seemed to be a part of our home. There were the thick mellyrn boughs leaned inside to give a natural dome for the open space, but still there were enough open spaces between the branches for the sunlight to peek in. these elves were really splendid architects. I had to commend them on that. As I stepped into the open light, she looked up from the book and smiled as she saw me. She was not the same Ithilwen who served in the Border who stood before me now. She was wearing a dark green robe that seemed to be made especially for her. The gold and silver embroideries in the sleeves that seemed to hide her hands altogether, seemed to compliment her dark tresses that she had left loose.
"Ithilwen?" I asked, gasping at the transformation. She smiled as she nodded and stood up to welcome me.
"What did the Lady say?" she asked me. I smiled at her as she held my hands in hers. Here was the beginning of a true friendship I thought.
"That she shall tell you when you go to speak with her now." I said clutching her hand a little tighter. My hands were shaking. I had not the slightest idea how she would react if she found out. Would she hate me? But then what had I wronged to earn her hate? I sighed as I removed my hand from hers.
"She wants to talk to me?" she asked, astonishment evident for me to see. I nodded as I turned away to see little sparrows sitting in the boughs of the trees around us. I looked back at her when she spoke again.
"Is it about you?" she asked, choosing her words with care. I closed my eyes and bowed my head as I nodded. She sighed.
"And does it involve Haldir?" I looked up sharply at her as she said this. There was a smile in her face. It was a sad and resigned smile as though she knew what the Lady would say. I couldn't nod my head anymore; I couldn't even breathe for a while. She clasped my hand again and said she was going to see the lady. I nodded my head numbly and watched her leave the terrace towards the hall of our talan and then proceed to the door. Just as she put her dark green cloak around her, she turned to look at me. Her face smiled a little as she bowed down a little and vanished through the steps, down to the forest ground.
Ithilwen's Point of view:
I was burning inside. How dare she? How dare she level such accusations against him? How could she? I closed my eyes a little to control my anger a little. It was her fault. She had seduced him. It was that girl who had been the sole cause for this…if this was true! I took a deep breath as I leaned against the mallorn trunk. Tears of rage and indignation welled up in my eyes. Haldir was too noble – too respectable to do this. But then, why would the Lady lie to me? Had Anya tried seducing her March Warden, wouldn't she order her out of this place? And would Haldir have fallen had she seduced him? She was a witch. She was capable of anything. I nodded my head. She had used magic against him…to bring him into her enchantments.
And why would I allow her to do that penneth? The voice of my Lady sounded in my mind. She was watching me. But how could Haldir do something like this? It was a cruel crime in the sight of the Eldar.
You forget who she is. Oh yes! She was supposed to be Laurelin! And I believe that! I thought sarcastically. The lady's voice sounded again, this time a little amused.
You believed it once! Take heart penneth. She has no need to lie and why would she tell it out to me if seduction were indeed her motive? And remember, few can lie in front of me.
I nodded. I slowly climbed up the stairs to our talan. The talan I would be sharing with Anya. The girl who had shared her bed with Haldir for a day. I knocked hard on the door. But no answer greeted my knock. So I opened the door rather noisily to find myself standing in an empty hall. Where was she? I moved to the open terrace but apart from sparrows there seemed nobody else. I was about to check the kitchen when I found her asleep in her bedroom.
Her hands lay above the grey coverlet as her head gently rested upon the silver and white cushions. A symbol of innocence. Was this the witch who I blamed of seduction? I blinked my eyes to avoid my tears from falling. Mayhap what the lady told me was true. Mayhap Haldir did take her by force. Mayhap…I was wrong. I slowly made my way towards the girl who lay asleep in her bed and folded some of her dark brown hair behind her ears. She stirred but did not wake up. It was better this way. Or else, I wouldn't know how to react. What to do? What to say? I sighed as tears finally escaped my restrain. But these were neither due to rage nor doe to indignation. These were tears of sympathy. Sympathy for her. Sympathy for Haldir. Sympathy for his memory of Laurelin, my sister.
"What shall you have me do, Anya?" I asked, my voice choking with unshed tears. She slowly smiled in her sleep. The answer she gave me…complete trust. Something I could never give up on. I sighed as I slowly got up and walked out of the room, with one last look at her face.
My new family. My friend.
::Loud trumpets sound:: Well! Here you are! The end of chapter-13. And now, we come to another important part of story reading. Reviewing of course! So please do me the honors if you will!
- Anarya of Lorien.
