Chapter 2

italics - thoughts or memories

xxxxxxxxx -passage of time

(Haldir POV)

I could find nothing. The trees were empty, the woods were silent. I could not sense any intruder at all. If I had not seen the gray shadow, I doubted I would have noticed its presence. Indeed I doubted if I had seen it at all, if it was not a figment of my imagination conjured up by some passing cloud over the sun. There was nothing at all.

Suddenly, like a candle in the night, I felt life light up behind me.

"Looking for someone?" A voice said.

I spun around, at the same time notching an arrow into my bow. I pointed it straight at the figure, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air, right behind me. He was hooded and cloaked in a weathered grey cloak that seemed to blend just as well with the trees as my own. His face was hidden in the shadow of the hood.

"Who are you," I demanded "to dare to enter the golden forest of the Lady of the Wood?"

"Show yourself."

"I have no wish to." He replied. His voice was like the sighing of wind on water.

"You shall and you will – intruder." I retorted sharply.

He remained silent.

By this time, our voices had attracted the attention of the other guards of the wood. They gathered around the gray figure, bows notched and raised at him. My brothers stood at my side, eyeing the silent figure.

"And now, good sir, you will show your face." I stated.

He said nothing.

"Well?" I snapped, angry at his continued silence.

At this, he raised gloved hands and lowered his hood.

The first thing that hit me was the brilliant white-grey eyes, gleaming like the stars of heaven. They were silver in color. A mane of silky, dark hair, pulled back by two strands, framed his pale face, hair black like the wings of night, but even they were tinged with silver, as they reflected the sunlight. His pulled back hair revealed two delicately pointed ears. But as my eyes studied his pale face, I realized the features were too delicate for any male.

"It is an elleth." my brother said in wonder.

For a moment, we all stared in amazement. Who was this elleth who had so meticulously slipped past our nets? And she was very beautiful, her were features flawless, perfection even for an elf. Her eyes locked me in a gaze so powerful, I almost could not shake myself of it.

"Who are you and what is your business in Lothlorien?" I demanded.

Still, she uttered no word.

"Will you not speak?" my brother asked.

"Who are you?" was her reply.

"It is we who are asking the questions here." I said. But my brother answered her.

"We are the guards of Lothlorien, protectors of the wood." He replied. "I am Rumil and these are my brothers Orophin and Haldir." indicating Orophin and I.

"Haldir is the Marchwarden of the Lady of the golden wood."

Her eyes turned to me again and she bowed slightly, eyes flickering to the ground for a split second.

"You still have not told us your name and business here, my lady." I stated.

"They call me Elenna." she said, her voice soft as a whisper. "My business is my own."

"No one may enter the golden wood without the lady's permission." I objected. "And no one has ever gone past our borders undiscovered." I glared at her.

She lowered her eyes to the ground and did not answer.

"We will see to the Lady about this." I continued. "Blindfold her and bind her hands" I ordered.

With this she laughed, a soft, tinkering sound that sounded like sparkling water.

"I fail to see the humor in that my lady" I said wryly.

"Blindfolds and bonds are no use on me, Marchwarden." she said, eyes glimmering with unsounded laughter.

"Well, my lady, unless you can see through cloth and escape with your hands tied, I fail to see how they would be – ineffective." I sneered.

"Oh but I do not need my eyes to see. And I can certainly escape with my hands tied." she said a matter of factly.

"Indeed." I scoffed.

"Blindfold her, and take her to see the Lady. We shall see about this"

(Elenna POV)

He looked down on me disdainfully and turned away to face his guards.

"We go to Caras Galadhon."

One of his brothers, the one who had spoken to me, stepped forward with a blindfold and hithlain rope.

"My apologies, milady." He said softly. I smiled slightly. "It is of no concern."

I felt him gently place the blindfold over my eyes and then tied my hands firmly, but not too tight.

"Come, my lady." He placed his hand on my shoulder.

"I do not need you to lead me, I can walk myself." I told him.

"You will stumble." He said. "And you do not know the way."

"I will follow you, but you have no need to guide me" I replied.

He was silent for a moment. Then he said, "As you wish my lady."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We continued onward into the forest, I could feel the life of the forest swirling around me. All was dark because of the blindfold around my eyes, but I could feel the forest. Its life was light a bright light, mapped out inside my head. I could feel every tree, every flower, every creature, and every blade of grass.

I could perceive where he traipsed at the front of the group and where his brothers walked, just a few feet in front of me. I knew where the little white bird perched in the trees above me, where the path narrowed as the trees crowded in, and where an overhanging branch of the tree hung low in the path before me.

I could see.

There were nights in the wilderness when not a star shone in the sky, and the moon did not show its face. Nights where the darkness was absolutely and totally complete, and even my elven eyes could not pierce it. It was then that I learnt how to rely on my other senses rather than just my sight. I learned how to feel the life around me, to sense their being, their life appearing as bright shapes of light in my mind. And in doing so, I was able to avoid walking into any trees or boulders of the sort. I honed my hearing to locate every small sound, every rustle of a leaf. Together, I could see just as well, if not better, as if I saw it in the light of day.

Blindfolds do not hinder me.

(Haldir POV)

I glanced back to see her duck expertly under a low hanging branch over the path. She has been walking unassisted for hours now and has not once tripped on a rock or caught on a stray branch. For that matter, I would not have even known she was still following us if I had not looked back.

She was as silent as a wraith.

I marveled at her ability to walk so smoothly without her sight and her hands tied behind her back. More so she followed my brother's lead as steadily as if she could see him, even though his footsteps were as silent as my own.

I studied her face. She held her head up, occasionally turning it sharply to the left or right.

I looked questioningly at my brother. He shrugged and kept on walking.

I could not shake off the feeling of awe as I watched her traipse confidently behind me. How could this elleth be so skilled in moving through the woods? And how could she have possibly escaped our diligent watch?

She was like a shadow that passed unseen through the trees. And she would not tell of her business in here. She was wrapped in an aura of enigma.

And she was also strikingly beautiful. I can not shake off the image of her silver, white-grey eyes looking at me. Like two stars framed by the black hair that flashed silver in the sunlight. Her delicate features and pale face that ended in a sharply pointed chin.

I would even be bold enough to say her beauty rivaled Arwen Udomiel, the fairest to walk this earth since Luthien Tinuviel. Indeed, she resembled the Evenstar in appearance faintly, except while the Evenstar shone with a clear, radiant light, she seemed to sparkle and glimmer. At moments some brilliant beauty would shine through and then it would dim and simmer again. She was like a jewel that glinted in the sunlight.

Star-wards she was called, but I felt as if I was the one attracted to the stars that were her eyes.

I caught myself at that and cast the thoughts from my mind. I should not be thinking about this when I have a duty to do.

"We will reach the talans of the guardhouse shortly." I informed her, stopping to look back. "We will rest there for the night and continue on to the city in the morning."

She turned her face directly to the spot where I stood and nodded. If her eyes were not blindfolded, I would have said she looked straight at me, but that could not be possible.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We reached the guardhouse talans by nightfall. Calls were sent up into the trees to alert the others stationed there of our arrival.

A rope ladder was cast down for us.

"My lady, you will need to climb now to get up into the talan." I told her. I went over and untied her hands.

She nodded at me and strided over to the ladder and started to climb as effortlessly as if she was blindfolded at all.

Rumil, who had been walking in front of her all the way, looked at me in amazement. I could do nothing but shrug and continued up the ladder after her.

(Elenna POV)

I climbed the ladder made of hithlain rope until I felt myself rise up between an opening in the wooden platform of the flet. I pulled myself through and settled on the wooden boards. I sensed Haldir and his brothers follow after me onto the talan and sit down by my.

"My lady, I think it is safe to remove your blindfold now," He said, "We are so far into the woods, that you will not find your way back out without help anyways".

I felt hands as someone, his brother Rumil perhaps, untied the blindfold that had been around my eyes for many hours now. As the blindfold fell away, I saw I was in a fair size talan with screens to block the wind.

And I saw the Lothlorien woods in their full glory. What had been a magnificent forest of light in my mind, was even more so stunningly dazzling as my sight was restored to me. The bark of the mallorn trees gleamed silvery white in the dim twilight light. It was the most beautiful forest I had ever seen.

Haldir and his brothers sat opposite to me, while some others of his guard settled elsewhere on the talan. However, I noticed, most of his guards had stayed behind at the borders.

"I daresay you will have been tired from our journey." He continued. "Rest now and we will continue at dawn."

I nodded. "I don't suppose I will need this again, will I?" I said, holding up the blindfold now sitting limp in my lap.

"No." He replied "Though I must say it will not change matters much." He added, glancing at me.

I smiled pleasantly at him.

"Indeed."

I rested my back against the strong trunk of the tree the talan was built around. I was not a bit tired at all. Usually, back in the wilderness, I liked roaming the forests at night more than I did in the day. The starlight and the darkness were welcoming to me. But Haldir and his brothers showed no signs of resting anytime soon, so I laid my head back and pretended to rest.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They stayed up speaking to each other in muffled tones late into the night. I silently willed them to sleep but they showed no signs of doing so. When they finally settled into places of their own and became silent, it was very late at night.

Their even breathing told me they were deep in reverie. I opened my eyes and slipped up onto the branch above me. Then I climbed higher and higher into the tree. I had no intentions of escaping, but I needed to see the stars.

(Haldir POV)

I was shaken out of my reverie for some strange reason.

I was wandering the peaceful paths of an elvish dream when something called to me, and pulled me back into reality. As my eyes came back into focus, I looked around the talan around me. My brothers were quietly resting, as were the other guards.

But the place where she had been was ominously empty.

I got up on my feet and scanned the area. There was no sign of her. How could she have stirred and not woken me at all? And how would she have gotten past the guards on duty below the talan?

Then, far above me in the canopy of leaves, I caught the sound of soft singing, carried by the breeze, drifting down to me.