Chapter 10
"And Rivendell is that close?" Hylin held the map nearer to her face.
Haldir smiled, "It is properly called Imladris, yes."
"And it is mastered by a great Elven sorcerer?" Her fingers traced the route from the wood to the Last Homely Home.
"Only as much as Lothlorien is ruled by a great Elven Witch," he answered and reclined with his arm under his head.
They had taken their days' lesson to a patch of sunlit garden at the base of the flet. Roswyth had spread a ground blanket down for Hylin to rest on with her books. Even in the full glare of sunlight, it was still too cold for Hylin not to wear her overdress and a shawl against the early spring chill, but Haldir lay against the cool ground in his usual garb. He never brought his weapons to their lessons, but a slim dagger was concealed in his boot.
Hylin wrinkled her nose at his teasing words, "To us simple Edain, she is a witch. There are none amongst my people who can read minds and see visions. Or lead wanderers astray."
"The Lady of the Wood does not lead wanderers astray," Haldir corrected her with a grin, "I do."
"You do?"
"Yes, it is the easiest thing in the world to lead Edain, dwarves and the like away from Lothlorien." he answered and propped himself up on an elbow.
She leaned over the book from which the map gleamed, "How do you do it?"
"Our voices. First, by separating them and second by pretending to be their comrades and leading them until they all find themselves safely together and safely away from our woods." He flicked a gnat from his sleeve.
"So, you can sound like anyone?" she asked confused.
"There are only so many accents and ways of speech in the world," he explained, "It doesn't take decades to learn them and devise ways to mimic them in all the noise of a wood. The forest has its own voice that lends us aid."
Hylin glanced at the ancient trees around them, their thick trunks spreading out in majestic form, "Do they—think? Do they know?"
In one swift movement, Haldir pulled himself upright beside her and said, "Aye. They think and feel and know as much as you or I. Their speech is quiet and flows into the ground with their roots and whispers in their leaves. All elves hear it. Some of the Edain too, but they had –advantages."
"Ah." She did not sound satisfied by this answer but pressed no further, "Tell me more about Imladris."
"It is said to be a place of refuge and safety. A great place of learning as well," Haldir explained, "I have only been there once, long ago, when it was newly built and the trees were young."
"And did you meet the elf Lord there?" Hylin asked excitedly.
"Nay, his company was reserved for my Lord and Lady and my princess Celebrian as she was then."
"Your princess?" Hylin looked none too pleased with this title.
Haldir laughed.
"Of course she did not belong to me. I was merely escort for her and the Lord and lady for her marriage to the Lord Elrond. But she was—is-was the princess of my wood."
Hylin frowned at as he stumbled over the last words. He seemed to suddenly have remembered something sorrowful.
"Was she beautiful, your princess?"
He nodded, "Very. She had the appearance of Lord Celeborn in her coloring, but the grace and gentleness of my Lady. She was the jewel of our forest."
He reached across to the book that she held and turned several pages with his long fingers until a page revealed a glowing portrait of a noble, silver-haired elleth with large blue eyes and full red lips. She held the arm of a stern ellon with hair that flowed midnight dark past his shoulders. But most commanding were the deep grey eyes that looked out from the page as if to read very thoughts of the spectator.Even from the page, his image was intimidating.
"Is that the Lord Elrond?" Hylin whispered.
"Aye, it is. Although he was merrier in those days—when the world was younger. As we all were-younger."
Hylin looked up to meet Haldir's eyes with her own. His eyes, darkened by sorrow and memory, brightened when they met her own.
"Come, let me hear your lesson for today."
Hylin smiled and moved the heavy tome off her lap to replace it with a slim volume filled with freshly written Sindarin. She handedit to her teacher with a confident air of accomplishment. Haldir turned all his attention to the pages before him and this allowed Hylin the pleasure of examining his face. To anyone who knew him, Haldir was deeply concentrated on the book before him; the outsider, he might appear almost angry. His dark brows furrowed over his deep blue eyes. Those eyes …
But then, Haldir was beautiful in all his features: the strong aquiline nose, the full lips just slightly parted as he read aloud under his breath. She admired the way the light soaked into his golden hair illuminating each strand. His hair spilled over his shoulders free of fuss except the most basic braids. Her eyes trailed to the long narrow fingers as they flicked through her book, an archer's hands. He was comfortable with her. This was the most tranquil Hylin had ever seen the beautiful March Warden in all the time she had lived in Lothlorian. As he reached the final page, Hylin shook herself a little to pull away from the lure of staring too hard.She didn't want to be caught if he happened to glance at her. If Haldir was aware of her gaze, he did nothing to show it.
The sun peeked through the branches overhead and warmth surged through Hylin's body. She stretched out her arms in the heat. They had been sitting for a long time while she was reading and she was ready for a walk.
"Your phasing is -impeccable," he said after a moment of thumbing through the pages, "Sentence structure is strong and your writing is easily understood."
"Roswyth and I practice all day. I have little else to do, so I have given it all my attention." Hylin beamed, "I'm glad you're pleased."
"I am pleased," hesmiled. He rose to a sitting position opposite her, "It is rare to find someone with an affinity for language."
"Like you?" she said teasingly.
"Like myself," he agreed, "Tomorrow I think we should begin speaking in Sinadrin rather than common if you feel prepared enough."
"What all the time? Every day?"
He nodded, "It is the best way to learn. It must become ingrained in the mind and heart as well as the tongue. Elvish is a slippery language."
Hylin laughed outright at this declaration, "That almost sounds like criticism."
"Only by comparison to common," He defended holding up both hands, "Many elves never master common because it is considered rudimentary to speak it."
"Too crude then?" Hylin gave him an appraising look, as if to ask if he shared this opinion."
"Less—elegant," was the safe reply. He smiled, "I, however, find it to be beautiful and earthy. There is something natural in the tones and sounds of your language that I have always found attractive."
They gazed at each other for a long moment caught in the hush of the sunlit plot. Hylin's breath caught a little in her throat as it always did under his gaze but for once, she did not look away. A few long moments passed as they drank in the sight of each other. There, in the sun lit breath, Hylin felt that whatever happened, this serene moment would last her whole lifetime. She did not dare move or it would break the spell. Instead, Haldir took her right hand into his own, palm up. With his other hand, he traced the lines traced into her skin, a map unlike those found in books. Hylin swallowed as tracks of heat followed where his fingers touched.
"You are happy here?" he asked softly.
"Yes," she whispered, "I think it is the happiest I have even been in my life—being here."
"Could you always be happy here in Lothlorien? Would you not miss your people?" he asked. His hand moved to cradle her wrist now instead, a calloused thumb sliding over her pounding pulse, as if he could feel the truth before she spoke it.
"I have very few people left in the world," she said and tried to focus on his words and not what he was doing, "There are not many who would miss me."
"Surely not," he breathed and pulled her against him, their bodies drawn together, as they knelt in the fresh new green of the springtime grass. She felt the firm strength of his body against her, his right hand sliding to the small of her back, "How could you not be missed? If I came into this part of the forest and found it was empty of you, the trees would be less fragrant, the gold leaves dimmed, the air less sweet."
Hylin panted softly at the heady closeness of his warmth, all words having fled from her mind. His chest was solid under her hands, his breathing steady and regular.
"Hylin," he said quietly, as if recalling the first word of a hymn. He brought his face so close to hers that his breath tickled the curls nestled around her ear, "I would miss you."
A little sob of relief broke from her lips, as Hylin wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her there in the brightness of the golden wood, all unspoken longings of months past released. Her senses were overwhelmed by his smell, his warm realness touching her, pressed against her body. Haldir's arms held her gently, reverently. Hylin slid her hands up his back and her fingers wove in the bright fall of his hair, as silken-soft and light as she always imagined.
He groaned and renewed the kiss, deepening it till their lips opened and they drank deeply of each other's taste. Hylin shivered in his arms and her hands dropped from his hair to his back to pull him closer, ever closer to her. Gods, how had she ever been able to keep her hands off him? Her passion met his own, the tears bright in her eyes more of relief than sorrow.
They wavered off balance in their embrace until Haldir caught them both and lowered Hylin gently to the ground. Haldir balancing his weight carefully off her smaller frame. He rained kisses along her jawline dropping to the curve of her throat pulling pants and groans from her that were the sounds only lovers shared. Her hands moved to his waist, pulling him closer, the full length of their bodies almost meeting—
"No," Haldir gritted the words out as he pulled away, "No, my love, no."
She caught him, "No, you're right. Not here."
He moved them to standing in a fluid motion, his hand cradling her close to him as she regained her balance. He kissed her again, lightly on the lips, then against her hair, a long, sharp inhalation as if to seal in her scent. Hylin, shaken to her core by the power of the emotions and sensations raging through her body, reached up to trace the shape of his jaw, running her fingertips across his mouth.
"I have long wondered how it would feel to kiss you," she whispered.
"And how do you find it?" he asked huskily pulling her feminine frame close to his own.
She rose up on her toes and kissed him again, "Less elegant."
Far away a call came ringing across the wood, a bird call, but one used by the March to signal the changing of the guard. Haldir's eyes, darkened by desire, became resigned and he stepped away from her. The loss of his warmth made Hylin move closer, but she knew he was called away by duty. Silently they gathered her things. Haldir folded the blanket over his arm like an official banner and not a picnic blanket, the picture of officious duty. He offered her his free arm and she wrapped hers around it.
"I may be gone for several days," he said and looked ahead of them into the wood, "There are have been stirrings and sightings along our further most borders. I must attend to it."
"Be safe," she asked softly, "I will miss you.
"And I you," he laced their fingers together thoughtfully, "I will send Gault to you to help with your lessons while I'm away. You must promise me to finish the story of Elrond before I return."
"Oh? Is he so very interesting? "she asked.
"I think you will find him so. His life is one that may prove helpful to us." Haldir replied. His tone attempted to be disinterested and failed.
They had arrived as the steps that circled up the tree of her flet. She moved to the first step and brought herself eye to eye with the Warden.
"It pleases me to hear you say that," Hylin said shyly, "Us. We. You and I-together."
"It will not happen without difficulty," he said seriously, his hands cupped her elbows andplayed with the folds of her sleeve thoughtfully, "There is much to discuss."
A furrow formed between her brows at this mention, but she smothered the worry that rose in her chest. Haldir leaned in and gently kissed her, long and slow.
"Farewell my love," he whispered, "I shall return soon."