After brushing through the tangled knots in her hair, she could not help staying away from such a commodity, she insisted to herself that she had wasted enough time and needed to go, now.

She slipped past the rest of the guards to the front, specious room where Theoden King sat and talked with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Eowyn. She shuffled her way quietly and quickly so that they only noticed she was there when she was in front of the powerful king, speaking loudly and clearly.

'The white wizard has an army of orcs, filling all of Isengard. You must arm yourselves,' urgency rushing her.

But her statement was somewhat lost at first because of her entrance and the surprise she gave everyone there. Not only was she here and not at Isengard, she had come to the king unannounced and did not look the same as when the three had left her.

The purple gown flowed around her and the grey thread outlining the corset make it seem like she wore a silver armor along her chest, stomach and pelvis. The embroidery at the bottom of the dress and at the sleeves boasted of royalty, but on Anna, it seemed a pale elvish dress, nothing the high beauty would wear. Her hair was calmed and some pulled back, her elvish ears shown on their own for the first time.

But most prominent, other than the never fading flashes in her eyes, was the gold chained headdress given to her by Galadriel. The gold lightning bolt hung on her forehead and Legolas remembered Galadriel's words. 'Wear this upon you head when you have decided your path.' What had she chosen?

The revealed face and figure of the elf, once covered by her untamed tresses and borrowed clothes, took most aback. Though, Theoden had not known her before and would not be left speechless for long.

'Guards!' As surprised men in shields came upon Anna and received a hand signal from Theoden, they grabbed her arms and took the daggers from her belt.

'Leave those!' she screamed as she struggled with them. Their grip on her arms burned her heart to ice as her worst fears of society were realized.

Theoden turned to Aragorn. 'Is this the one you spoke of? The one missing?' Aragorn nodded his head. 'Send her to the dungeons immediately.' It was not this statement, nor the strong arms clothed in rough leather holding her that sunk her heart but the terrible silence of the others.

'Aragorn! You are not going to let him do this to me, are you? I have just arrived with information,' Anna pleaded as she pulled against the guards grasps. 'Ten thousand orcs now fill all of Isengard.' Another hand signal stayed the guards and Theoden's interest was picked.

'It is about time you arrived,' Aragorn responded. 'Too busy getting Saruman's directions to get here any sooner, I presume.'

Anna scrunched her face. 'I didn't speak with my maser,' she said, her old name for him slipping out, in front of Theoden king.

'Who is this that barges in unannounced, calling Saruman her master?' Theoden asked. 'I will not have another snake whisper spells into my ear.'

'This one is not a snake,' Aragorn responded. 'A rat maybe-'

'But we have not the proof,' Legolas interrupted as he stopped the guards from taking her away. 'She is called Wanderlust by your people. Anna we call her.'

'The elves?' Theoden again asked.

'No, her friends,' Legolas responded without effort, 'those that traveled with her.'

'Well, suspicion is enough these days,' Theoden said, mostly to his guards. 'We will take your guidance along with what else we have learned, Wanderlust, as you stay with one of the guards while you are here,' Theoden told her.

'We will watch her as well. We have learned our lesson in leaving her with another,' said Aragorn and Theoden ended with a nod.

'All of Isengard,' he added to himself, Anna's energy for action quickly catching on to him as well.

Seeing her king dismiss the elf, Eowyn interjected, thoroughly annoyed, 'Now that we know her name and her business here, I would like to know where she gets the right to wear a royal color?'

'It was the only color other than white,' Anna said innocently, completely ignoring the point.

'Is the so-called elf not pure enough for such a color?' Eowyn shot back, now seeing where she got the dress. 'She certainly lacks some quality of the real elves.'

Anna's temper burst. She stepped forward, threateningly. 'Take that back.'

'I'd rather take back my dress,' Eowyn responded.

The two would have reached each other if Aragorn and Legolas had not stepped in. Aragorn pulled on Eowyn's arm as Legolas turned Anna from the king's sister-daughter.

'Let them go. The ladies were about to brawl,' Gimli commented, merrily drinking and feasting as eh watched the spectacle.

Anna wretched from Legolas's grip for a moment and faced the dwarf. 'I would be careful if I were you. I could easily slip into your meal something less than appetizing.' She submitted to Legolas's directions and followed him into another room, away from the hall.

Remembering the sting 'medicine,' Gimli pushed his half-eaten meal away from him, not wanting to experience what one of her poisons might do to him. A slightly anxious face not usually seen on a dwarf made Aragon smile after such a drama.

Eowyn turned to leave in a huff, upset to see no one else had seen any problem with all the elf's pretensions. However, Theoden stopped her for a moment. Having high respect for Wanderlust though enough as well for Eowyn not to say this in front of the she-elf, he defended her quietly. 'Eowyn, sister-daughter, the she-elf has no other quality that separates herself from anyone except for her name. She is the same as yourself along with an added responsibility that her given name produces.'

He released her and Eowyn left respectfully, ego still bruised. Though, this was nothing compared to the shattered soul that was only building up recently, already in another room with a Mirkwood elf.