Hola! Welcome back to the fic To Be Forever Faithful. A big thank you goes out to my reviewers. Your support and constructive criticism is appreciated. Enjoy this new chapter!

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

ooOoo

To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 8: Receiving Advise

Haldir slowly walked away from the training area, having exhausted himself for the night. He had trained without a partner today and had found that he really did not miss Belegwen. Though they had only worked together for one day now, she had spent most of it lagging behind him. Because of this, he had not been able to train as hard he would have preferred.

Silently, he brushed a hand through his light gold hair, the moon making it shimmer much in the same way as when the sun hit golden mellryn leaves. The wind ignorantly blew it back into his face, its breezes carrying his tendrils every which way. He was just about to enter the stairwell that led up to the warden's talans when he heard a voice on the wind.

"Haldir," the voice softly called again. However, this was not a normal voice heard from his ears, but instead was a voice coming from depths of his mind. It was the Lady of Light, Galadriel, calling to him. "Come speak with me Haldir," she said in a low, whispered voice. "You know where to find me."

The wind suddenly seemed much cooler than it had before. A chill was suddenly running up his spine. Haldir calmly turned around and headed towards the lady's garden, where they had often met in the past. "What could this be about?" He wondered to himself, wishing he knew why he was being summoned out of the blue.

A few minutes later he found himself deep within the heart of the lady's personal garden. It was one of many places of great beauty in Lothlorien. Haldir found himself surrounded by moonlit flowers of every shape, color, and height, all well-tended and enjoying the power that radiated from their land. Haldir made his way through the garden slowly, looking for Lady Galadriel as he walked down each path.

"It is beautiful night, is it not?" A gentle voice said from behind his back. Haldir quickly turned around, only to find himself face-to-face with the magnificent lady herself. Clad in intricately woven white lace, the lady's hair shimmered like gold by the light of the moon. She was surrounded by bright light, a product of her having been in the presence of the two trees long ago. Her deep eyes dug intensely into his, searching for something he did not quite understand.

Not waiting for him to answer, she continued slowly. "It is a perfect night for a nice run, I would say. What a pity it is that your partner cannot join you."

Haldir said nothing about this comment either, looking down at his shadow, which was cascading across the ground. Suddenly, his head rose up and he looked Galadriel straight in the eyes. "Forgive me for changing the subject my lady, but I am very confused and in need of answers. Why did you choose Belegwen for the job as my second?"

A slight smile graced Galadriel's face momentarily before she replied. "Belegwen is an elleth who demonstrates great devotion to the city as a warden and is hungry to defend our lands. I have rarely seen such determination in an elf before. Most importantly, her heart is honest and true. I do believe it is important that we put her wonderful attributes to good use."

Now a bit embarrassed at having asked a what now seemed like a rather stupid question, Haldir turned away from her and stared out into the starry sky. "However, there is only so much an elf can do Haldir." She stated softly, placing a gentle hand upon his shoulder. "As long as you ask it of her, she will try her best."

"Yes, I know," Haldir whispered nearly inaudibly, his eyes focusing on the larger crescent moon that hung high in the dark bluish-black sky admid a scattering of stars.

"I must request that you work her into the training slowly. It takes courage for her to do what she does and I would hate to see her spirit waste away within the confinement of the healer's talan."

"I understand, my lady." He whispered gently, a bit of what might have been shame lingering in his voice.

"Very good," she stated, slowly removing her hand from his arm. "You shall train her and she will learn much from you. Together, you will have the power to elevate one another towards a greatness that neither of you could achieve alone."

Astonished with these new words, Haldir quickly turned around to ask the lady what they meant, only to find himself quite alone with wind as his only companion.

ooOoo

Eltirwen eyed the elleth on the bed rather curiously from the next room. Belegwen seemed to be making a rapid recovery. Already she could walk around, though she was still a bit sore in the legs. Eltirwen had told her to stay in bed regardless of this, however, because she would need all the rest she could get before returning to the training field with Haldir.

There was no doubt in Eltirwen's mind that Haldir was going to overwork her again and that she would be seeing the female warden in the very near future. She knew from years of dealing with the Marchwarden that he was very stubborn and set in his ways. She doubted he would change his advanced training regimen any time soon.

"The warden with the greatest rank can be a fool at times, same as anyone else." She muttered to herself as she put some water in a kettle over her small wood stove, intending on having some tea before she went to bed.

She strolled into her personal quarters lazily, coming to a stop in front of a large mirror. Eltirwen then proceeded to take her tight braids out, quickly unraveling her dark brunette hair. She smiled as her hair fell around her face, framing it perfectly and making her look quite attractive. Eltirwen loved wearing her hair long, but being a healer meant it was more reasonable for her to have it out of her face.

After quickly slipping off her dress and putting on her nightgown and robe, she slid into the kitchen again and took the whistling kettle off the stove. Carefully, she poured equal amounts into two delicate china teacups. After stirring in an assortment of herbs, she quietly picked up both cups and headed to her patient's softly lit room.

"Here, drink this Belegwen." She said softly as she held one of the steaming cups out to Belegwen. "How are you feeling tonight?"

"Much better, all thanks to you," she said, a half smile appearing on her moonlit face. Eltirwen watched as Belegwen silently took a sip of her tea, then cringed as it burned down her throat. The heat of the tea brought tears to the warden's eyes, though she blinked them away immediately.

"It's hot." Eltirwen pointed out, stating the obvious.

"Indeed." Belegwen muttered, staring at her cup, her mind seemingly somewhere else at the moment.

"Well, I believe you are fine now, so I shall have no choice but to release you tomorrow. I'm sure the Marchwarden will be thrilled." She said, throwing a bit of sarcasm into the genuinely good news. "Now, you must get some sleep tonight in order to be refreshed in the morning."

"Perhaps, but I must finish more of this book first. It really is rather interesting." Belegwen said, indicating an open book she had laid down on her lap.

"What book is it?" Eltirwen asked, genuinely curious about what the only female warden in Lothlorien enjoyed reading. She watched as Belegwen lifted the cover of her book up to her to reveal the title The History of the Lothlorien Wardens.

Eltirwen immediately felt frustrated. "Where did you get that?" She hissed, almost dreading the answer that she knew was going to come.

"A warden brought these for me earlier. He said they were from the Marchwarden and that I was to study them whenever possible." Belegwen answered, not realizing she was fueling Eltirwen's wrath. Eltirwen then looked down at the floor to find six other thick books lying there.

"That troublemaker cannot seem to stay out of here, can he? I swear, if he comes in here again..." She idly threatened, trailing off as she realized there was little she could do to change Haldir.

"You put down that book now and go to bed! You can finish it tomorrow!" Without warning, Eltirwen yanked the book away from her and grabbed both tea cups up with her other hand. "See you in the morning Belegwen! And for goodness sakes, do not always do everything that ellon says. Most of the time he is just being an awful brute!"

With that stated, Eltirwen shut Belegwen's door and headed off to bed.

ooOoo

Edited on 05/16/20 by P.G.

There's another chapter. What did ya think? Feel free to tell me. Thanks for reading it. Until the next chapter...

-P.G.