Hola, and welcome back to the fic To Be Forever Faithful. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. My time seems to be rather limited and when I do get online, I like to read some fanfics as well as make my own! Anyhow, sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or anything associated with Tolkien Enterprises.

ooOoo

To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 4: Breakfast Tension

Warm air currents softly floated through Belegwen's open wall, blowing her silvery hair around her pillow a bit. A gentle sunray peeked in through her terrace, its brilliant light shining on her face. She blinked for a moment, then fully came out of reverie and began to appreciate the beauty of the new morning sun.

Carefully, she sat up in her bed and looked out the window. Had last night been a dream or had the Marchwarden wanted to have breakfast with her? Still a bit dazed, Belegwen made her way over to her armor rack. It now contained her cleaned attire, placed there during the night by the maids who cared for the wardens. Quickly and quietly, she dressed herself in her full armor. While the wardens often wore simple breaches and tunics, once a year they were required to wear their armor so they remembered how it felt and could smoothly operate in it if called to battle. While the armor was light, forged by the advanced skill of the Eldar, Belegwen was still looking forward to when she could wear her regular attire once again.

Afterwards, she found herself in front of her mirror, combing the snarls from her long silvery hair that cascaded all the way to the bottom of her back. Her quick-working hands pulled the top portion of her hair into four tight warrior braids, which she hoped would keep it out of her face. Once finished, she stared at the final product in the mirror, frowning a bit at her less-than-great braiding skills.

Belegwen sighed. "Beauty does not matter during battle." She reminded herself, then nonchalantly turned around and exited the room. She glided down the stairs and headed towards the dining hall.

Belegwen mentally cringed as she thought about actually sitting down with the other wardens to eat. She usually tried to avoid it at all costs because the ellons would look at her strangely as she sat by herself and consumed her meals, whispering disdainful comments about her that she could just barely make out. Having had enough of that treatment, Belegwen would often go to the kitchen and grab some food to take along with her, eating it as she walked to the training grounds.

Cautiously, she entered into the dining room and gazed around to see a variety of elves and wardens sitting with one another and eating, chatting jovially amongst themselves. Belegwen smiled when she noticed that no one seemed to be paying her any heed this time; the conversations were still going as she approached the serving area. She stopped short of the buffet when a hand of steel clasped onto her arm, preventing her from arriving at her destination. She looked back, a bit astonished at the strength of the hold.

When she turned around, she found herself face to face with the Marchwarden and he appeared to be very unhappy indeed. "You are late. I hope this isn't a regular habit because I will not stand for it." He said with irritation clearly laced into his voice.

Belegwen bowed her head slightly with embarrassment. "I am sorry Marchwarden, sir. It will not happen again."

"I should hope not. Meet me at the table to the far right once you have your breakfast." He replied, then turned and walked away before she had the chance to say anything back.

Belegwen's eyes became tiny slits as her annoyance with him became momentarily visible. "Someone obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." She muttered to herself.

"He is always like that, believe me," came a voice from behind her. Belegwen whipped around to face Malnen, one of the cooks who worked in the dining hall.

Inwardly, Belegwen flinched. Malnen was one of Belegwen's few female accquaintances. Malnen was tall and beautiful, with shiny golden hair that flowed down her back in waves. She was a rather gossipy elleth, but was kind enough to serve Belegwen her meals in a sack that she could take along with her. However, she was always teasing and flirting with the other wardens, which made Belegwen rather uncomfortable around her.

"So, what brings you to the dining hall? Have you made a friend?" She asked, her eyebrow cocked as she looked over at Haldir. When Belegwen realized what her eyebrow was suggesting, she blushed a little with embarassment. She had never thought about Haldir in that way before.

"Goodness, Malnen, of course not! This is simply a quick meeting between wardens, nothing more." She said in a mildly chastising voice as Malnen emptied her usual breakfast out of its sack and onto a plate for her, taking a moment to arrange the fruit in an artistic manner on the white china plate.

"If that is what you say, I will believe you. Still, should you change your mind, I think he would be quite the catch!" She said, whispering so a nearby warden was less likely to overhear.

Belegwen, fearing he had overheard anyway, replied sternly, "Fraternizing goes against the code of the wardens. I do not think of my brothers in arms in that way."

"Very well then," she said, winking at her and clearly not feeling any remorse for what she had said. "Have a lovely day, my dearest Belegwen, and try not think about all of the attractive ellyn around you!"

Belegwen rolled her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her ire as she walked towards Haldir's table. The last thing she needed were elves gossiping about her and the Marchwarden.

Doing her best to hide her frustration, she soundlessly slid into the large wooden chair opposite him. He looked up at her with a face that was seemingly devoid of all emotion. His gaze was cold and calculating, as if he was trying to figure her out somehow. Though this made Belegwen uncomfortable, she met his eyes momentarily before turning her attention to the food in front of her.

"Being second in command will mean that you will carry the title of 'Marchwarden' and will be expected to carry out a number of responsibilities. You will lead watches on the border regularly, manage the wardens there, handle any potential threats to our borders, and write reports to the Lord Celeborn about the happenings at the fences. I will be required to teach you everything I know because if something ever happens to me during a watch or battle, it is you who will take my place. Is this understood?"

She nodded, staring into his stern visage. "You will spend an enormous amount of time with me learning about tactics, leadership, languages, and a large variety of other skills that will be necessary for this job. This will be challenging, to say the least, so do not make your answer lightly. Are up to the challenge of becoming a Marchwarden?" He asked, looking intently at her as if gaging her seriousness and potential while she thought the proposal through.

"Yes sir." She replied, inwardly feeling a bit shaken as she was starting to realize how much work this would be. It made her rather dizzy to think about how much knowledge she was have to master to be successful. However, it was an honor to hold such a position. To Belegwen, saying no to such an offer would be unthinkable.

"Very well then," he said with his commanding voice, "You will meet me at the training grounds in an hour. We will there find out what you know and what you lack." With that stated, he placed his green cloth napkin on his plate and stood up to leave. He stopped momentarily and met her eyes once more. "Oh yes, and Belegwen... do not be late this time."

"Yes sir," she said, inwardly burning with frustration over how big of a deal her tardiness had been to him. She had not meant to be late! She was not used to having breakfast at a set time!

ooOoo

Haldir had not taken but five steps away from her table when Orophin, his brother and fellow warden, confronted him with a mischievous grin plastered on his fair face. Haldir rolled his eyes, having something of an idea of the teasing that was about to occur. "What do you want Orophin?" He asked grumpily.

"You have a very strange taste in ellyth, Haldir. What were you and that thing talking about over there?" He asked, obviously trying to strike one of his brother's sensitive areas and purposefully upset him.

However, his plan worked a bit too well. "That thing?" He echoed as he raised his eyebrows in astonishment at the disrespect Orophin was showing to a fellow warden. He found himself greatly upset with Orophin's inappropriate choice of words. "That thing?" He hissed dangerously, grabbing Orophin by the front of his armor and pulling him closer to him to try and avoid making a scene. Some elves had already overheard though and the conversations around them were dying down as more elves turned to look at the Marchwarden as he put his brother into his place.

Haldir took a deep breath, let go of his armor, then firmly reprimanded him in a quiet, firm tone. "That thing, as you call her, is going to be your new Marchwarden, second only to me. If I were you Orophin, I would show some respect." And with that said, he quickly stormed out of the room, annoyed and embarassed by the actions of his brother.

As Haldir walked out of the dining hall and into the shade of the many golden mellyrn, he could not help but wonder about Belegwen's current situation. How could she allow such talk to continue for millenia? Was she truly unaware of the problem or did she lack the confidence to confront wardens in these situations?

Haldir did not know which it was, but he did know one thing. It was going to change and it was going to change now.

ooOoo

Edited by P.G. on 05/15/20.

Note: By the way, for those of you wondering, Belegwen's name roughly translates out to Mighty Maiden.

Well, there's another chapter. Please review. I hope you enjoyed it. I'll update soon, hopefully.

-P.G.