So what did you think of the last chapter? I would very much like to hear what you think please! Also if you did not know, I also post this story on Wattpad and AO3 under the same username so check it out if you want. Anyways on with the next chapter xx
"Elvish"
After a few moments of crying, Galadriel seemed to get ahold of herself. She immediately wiped her face free of any wet tracks and stepped back before grabbing onto Eleniel's hand and pulling her towards Celeborn. The Elf Lord immediately bowed his head but she would have none of that especially from family and greeted him the same way she did Galadriel. Everyone could've sworn that his face turned a little red.
Eleniel could see the look that her niece was giving her and she mentally let her guard down then let her slip into her mind.
"I have been searching for you." She heard Galadriel's quiet voice say in her head.
She mentally sighed. "I know dear one. I just cou-"
Her niece cut her off before she could keep talking. "It was not your fault. Some people are just too weak to resist."
Eleniel could admit that her niece was correct that some people were simply just not strong enough to resist temptation but, that did not mean that she would not blame herself at least a little.
She closed her mind off once again before smiling at Galadriel. They did not realise that while they were talking that Celeborn had begun addressing the Fellowship.
"Nine there are here yet not the nine that set out from Rivendell," At this moment Celeborn looks at her as did everyone else. The elves were staring at her in awe including Legolas. Gimli, Boromir and the Hobbits were looking confused and Estel was looking at her with an unreadable expression. He simply stared at her with no reaction. Eleniel was wondering who the other member was.
"Tell me, where is Gandalf?" Celeborn asked them. Gandalf? He was the other member of the Fellowship. Then everything clicked in her mind. Gandalf was the person that caused them great grief which could only mean that he was dead.
Eleniel didn't particularly like Gandalf nor did she hate him. He simply meddled too much for her but she could understand that they were the same as children of the Valar although they were also different for as he had limitations placed on him, she did not. Her quest was to simply end Melkor and Sauron with any means necessary. Melkor only survived because of Sauron so once he was dead then her quest would be complete. There was also the fact that unlike the other Maiar, she did not belong to just one member of the Valar but instead belonged to all of them and was blessed by them all.
"He is dead." Eleniel said, acknowledging her friends grief for their friend. She saw a few sad eyes and Frodo even had a watery smile on his face as if to reassure himself that he was okay.
She saw Galadriel stare at Estel for a moment before she said, "Gandalf the Grey has fallen into Shadow." Eleniel gasped quietly, no one but herself hearing. A Balrog of Morgoth, an altogether evil thing created by the very person that she had come to despise.
Legolas nodded. "Yes for we went needlessly into Moria." He said. Eleniel saw Gimli wince slightly making her glare at the Elf Prince. He blanched slightly when he caught her eye before averting his gaze.
"Needless? I think not. No part of your journey has been needless thus far." Eleniel looked at the sad dwarf, a reassuring smile appearing on her face. "Do not feel sad for the lives lost in Moria, Gimli. Your cousin Balin fought valiantly for your ancestral land and shall always be remembered for that." The dwarf in question looked surprised and probably wondered how she knew Balin.
She walked towards her dwarf friend and laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "There is much suffering in the world, my friend and soon there shall be more. Do not despair over the loss of Khazad-dûm, for it is not your caves, mountains or treasure that the great dwarfs shall be remembered by. They shall remember your passion, your liveliness, your beards," Right here, she gave him a little wink making him chuckle. "It is not your mountains that show the strength of your people. You choosing to be on this journey shows the strength of your people."
Eleniel knew that Gimli felt much grief when he thought about Moria. She herself had been there once before. She had saved Balin from orcs a long time ago which led to them becoming great friends and decided to visit her old friend. Admittedly, many of the dwarves did not welcome her but after some time, she gained their trust. Her friend had told her of the problems that the orcs and goblins were causing them. She had tried to convince them to return to Erebor but Balin could not return to a kingdom that did not have his King sitting on the throne. Eleniel then offered her services but he would have no part in her death. When she left Moria, she knew that would be the last time she'd see her friends.
The dwarf gave her a bright which she returned with one of her own. Eleniel glanced at Boromir, noticing a pained expression on his face and in that moment she knew that her niece was talking to him in his mind. "Go now and rest for you all have faced much. Our borders are well protected, you will find peace here." Galadriel smiles at them all briefly before looking at her.
"Would you like your own room or would you like to stay with the Fellowship?" She heard her say in her mind.
Eleniel glanced briefly at the group and nodded towards them as if to say that she will go with them. "I will ask one of the servants to run a bath for you so you may bathe and to give you a change of clothes." She brightened at the thought of a bath before walking over to her niece and giving her a hug before leaving with the servant that appeared out of nowhere.
Aragorn was lost in his thoughts. Eleniel was the Lady of Light's aunt. She was of high birth, apart of the Elven race that travelled from Valinor to Middle Earth. Her father was Finwe, High King of the Noldor. Although Aragorn couldn't fault her for keeping her secrets, he himself had secrets of his own, he also couldn't help feeling a little hurt. He thought that they were slowly making there way to trusting each other and becoming good friends.
"What was that all about?!" Boromir demanded, raising his voice a little. Gimli and the Hobbits all looked at him aswell, wanting to know what just happened with their elleth friend.
Aragorn sighed before responding, "It seems that our Elf friend is no mere Elf. She is Eleniel, daughter of Finwe, High King of the Noldor and the Lady Galadriel's Aunt."
The rest of the Fellowship that did not speak Elvish gasped. The Hobbits thought that the reaction of the Lady of Lorien's to their friend made sense now. "Then she has lied to us. This proves that she is not to be trusted!" Boromir shouted at the group, scaring the Hobbits and making everyone else angry. And just like that, the hurt Aragorn felt was gone.
"There's a difference between not telling people you have only known for not even a week your true parentage and where you're from and lying about being a servant of Sauron, Boromir, son of Denethor." They heard from behind them. Turning around, they saw Eleniel standing there. Boromir just glared at her with a dark scowl on his face. Aragorn saw the looks of awe the Hobbits, Dwarf and Elf were giving her which he understood. He could not deny that she looked breathtaking in her baby blue, off shoulder dress that rested comfortably on the forest floor. Her long dark hair was held up in a ponytail with two strands of her hair at the front, framing her face. A necklace around her neck that he had not noticed before caught his attention. It held a single jewel that at first glance looked completely white but once under the light of the moon, different shades of blue were seen. It was beautiful and unlike any jewel he had ever seen and he grew up amongst the elves.
"Lee!" The Hobbits shouted, rushing to greet her with a hug which she gladly returned, a bright smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye (Dumbledore vibes or what?).
She greeted them all as enthusiastically as they her. Eleniel caught his gaze, giving him look as if to say 'Are you mad at me or something?' to which he answered with a smile and a shake of his head. He saw relief appear on her face followed by her own answering smile.
Boromir scoffed before turning his back to them and marching into the pavilion where the Fellowship would sleep together instead of getting separate rooms. They were so use to sleeping together that it would be weird if they suddenly slept apart. Although Merry was at the Healing House and would be staying there so they could look over his shoulder wound thoroughly. It seemed that Eleniel's help had healed his wound but the elves said that he would still feel pain and that it would take some time until he could move his shoulder properly without feeling pain. Because of Merry, Aragorn had decided that it would be best to wait until he was fully healed before moving on. He was not going to risk something happening to Merry because he couldn't properly defend himself due to his shoulder.
"My Lady-" Legolas began to say as he walked towards her until she cut him off. "There's no need to call me a lady, mellon. I think we've spent enough time together to warrant you being able to call me a friend." She replied smiling. The Fellowship watched as his cheeks turned red making the Hobbits laugh and him and Gimli tease Legolas. He glared at the rest of Fellowship before he too marched into the pavilion to the sounds of their laughter.
"So how old are you?" Pippin asked her, Sam reached over and slapped him on the back of his head making him hiss in pain.
"You don't just ask a Lady for her age Pip." He hissed at his friend. "Oh, sorry Lee." Pippin apologised only for her to laugh.
"It's okay Pip. And to answer your question, well I'm several Ages old. Honestly I stopped counting the years after the First and Second Age." Pip looked at her in awe as did Frodo and Sam.
"Wow! You're old." He blurted out making her laugh at him as his friends hit him again for being rude as they called it.
She shook her head at their antics before telling them it was okay and that she knew she was old. She was the oldest Elf in Middle Earth which actually said something considering Legolas was several thousand years old.
They sat outside talking for a few hours. Her talk about her life distracted them from their lost for a short time before the Hobbits and Gimli decided to call it a night. Soon it was just her and Estel left awake. They sat in a comfortable silence, his mind somewhere else and hers blank as she stared up at the moon and around at the beautiful trees of Caras Galadhon.
Aragorn had never felt so at peace in a place and felt a little sad and angry at himself when he thought about just staying here and about Gandalf. How could he be at peace when his friend was dead? He thought about forgetting the Fellowship and their quest and instead staying in Lothlórien being blissfully ignorant but he couldn't do that. He thought of his family. His Ada, brothers Elrohir and Elladan and his sister Arwen. Once upon a time he had entertained the thought of being with Arwen but that childish crush soon turned into a sisterly love and companionship.
He thought of his Naneth. A lady who lost her love, his father, when he was just two years yet still went to Rivendell for protection from the outside world and so he could be safe. She knew that the Heir of Isildur would never be safe especially while he was young. He missed his Naneth and wished that he had not been so stupid and petty when he was younger. Maybe he would have visited her more often if he wasn't angry about something as stupid as her not telling him about his heritage, something that he knew she had done to keep him safe but he did not understand and only returned to her when she was almost on her deathbed. Now, all he could visit was her grave.
Eleniel stood up before looking at him, "Want to go for a stroll?" She asked him, knowing that her niece would come soon to talk with Frodo, to which he answered yes and they set off with her leading the way as she knew her way around better than him.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as they walked before his gaze dropped to her necklace once again. "Your necklace," Aragorn said, once more staring at the jewel. "It is beautiful. I have not seen a jewel like it before."
Her hand came up to caress the stone with a certain amount of reverence as her gaze softened as she stared at it. "I am not surprised," she replied, staring at him fully now. "This jewel is called Sarnithil."
"Sarnithil?" He questioned her, confused for he was not familiar with this word.
She nodded her head. "Yes, Sarnithil is its name in Noldorin or moonstone in Common tongue."
Looking around them, he found that she had led them into a beautiful clearing with a single bench on the side as flowers of every colour decorated the forest floor. The bench did not look like it had been sat in for awhile which made him think that not many people knew about this place.
"Sarnithil is a jewel only found in Aman. It is made by gem stones being bathed in the light of the New Moon in Aman for a whole month," She said her eyes flickering from the jewel to the moon in the sky. "It must then be immediately bathed in the light from the Trees of Valinor which is why it changes colour when under the moon."
"It is a gift. Given to me from my family on my 1000th year birthday and the last thing I have of theirs." A wistful and sad smile appeared on her face as her eyes become glassy. "I wear it everywhere with me so I may remember them for I fear if I remove it that I'll forget my Naneth and Ada's faces. That I'll forget the sound of my siblings laughter, the look of their smiles or even their constant bickering."
Aragorn felt his heart ache for her. He reached out and touched her chin as he turned her face towards him, wiping her tears away with his thumb and grabbed her hand in his other, squeezing it to hopefully offer some form of comfort to her. She smiled gratefully at him before removing her face from his hand and turning back to look out at the clearing of flowers. He felt a slight ache when she moved but pushed that feeling away from him.
"This is the burden of immortality Estel." She continued to look at the flowers, Aragorn watching her. "You watch babes grow, become adults, fall in love, have children of their own and eventually die and be welcomed in the Halls of Mandos, Aulë or wherever they go. I've watched friends, family, my people pass on onto their next life while I remain." Eleniel was surprised. She had not so openly talked about the burden that her immortality and quest has had on her life especially not with someone that she did not know very well but maybe that reason was exactly why she was so open. Strangers were less likely to be bias or judgemental.
Estel looked as if he wanted to ask her something but was unsure of whether he should ask but she just nodded for him to go on. He asked her if she did not feel the call of the sea, to sail to the Undying Lands and be reunited with everyone. She only shook her head.
"I wouldn't be able to go back even if I did feel it." She muttered under her breath but he still heard her and wondered what she meant by that.
They sat together and talked for many more hours until they both finally felt tired. They returned to the pavilion, Legolas was still awake but only raised his eyebrow at them before going back to whatever it was that he was doing. They both muttered a goodnight to each other before slipping into their separate beds, them both silently praying that they could actually fall asleep with the loud snores that sounded like a storm that was going on in Gimli's body.
Sleep was slowly able to overtake them.
What did you guys think? Things were getting really deep there in that clearing. The romance will not be happening for a short time and in the next few chapters I will be abandoning Aragorn and Eleniel for awhile and start focusing on the rest of the Fellowship and their thoughts on what has happened since she joined up with them and even before that. As you can tell, this story is in third person POV which is how I prefer to write as it allows for me to develop each characters thought process, storyline and different reactions to things.
Also what are you thoughts on Eleniel's thoughts on her talk with Aragorn? I feel like it accurately depicts how she feels because even if she feels like she has known him her whole life, she hasn't and she knows that. He's just a stranger that knows some of her secrets. Hope you guys enjoyed xx