Welcome back to the fic To Be Forever Faithful. A big fat thank you goes out to everybody who reads and reviews this fic. Several of you have requested longer chapters and quicker updates. If I make the chapters longer, the updates will unfortunately be fewer. Plus, I like to read fanfics online as well and so it's hard for me to crank out more than one chapter a week. That might, however, change once we get into summer vacation (only three more months!). For now I will just try my best to give you quality chapters when possible. Now, onto the story! Enjoy!

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

ooOoo

To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 10: A New Type of Training

Belegwen slowed as she and Haldir arrived at their first destination. They came to a complete halt in front of the dining hall. Immediately, Belegwen's hands fell to her legs and she hunched over, trying to catch her breath. As she inhaled and exhaled audibly, the morning sun blazed down upon her thin figure and she stared at her shadow, which lingered in the brown dirt just ahead of her.

"Stand up straight if you want to catch your breath," Haldir demanded, sounding somewhat agitated. "You will never catch your breath if you stoop over like that."

She looked over at him as she returned to a straightened standing position. Mentally, she grimaced at her progress. Haldir's breathing did not seem to be affected by their exercise and he generally appeared unruffled from their endeavor. She had not previously thought that she was this poor of a runner. However, Belegwen reassured herself that some of the problem was that she was fresh out of the healer's talan and was still not fully healed.

"Stretch a bit also, unless you would like to send yourself back to Eltirwen." He said nonchalantly, staring up into the golden leafy branches of the trees as if there was something terribly interesting up there.

Belegwen did as she was told, bending back her legs one at a time to stretch her quadriceps. Secretly, she was still wondering if Haldir was all right. He seemed to be preoccupied with something today and that was not like his usual self at all. Something was bothering him, but what could it possibly be?

"Sir," she said, trying to get his attention quietly, "Marchwarden sir, I am ready now." After a moment, his eyes snapped away from their distant viewpoint and met with hers.

"Very well then," he said, sighing as a breeze blew his golden hair across his face. He brushed it away quickly and said, "Before we go to breakfast, you will learn another lesson." Belegwen's curiosity had been piqued and she gave him her full attention while he explained.

"Before you can lead any wardens in my stead, you must gain their respect." He stated strongly, showing that he thought what he was teaching her was of the utmost importance. "For they will not follow you if they think poorly of you."

Now Belegwen became anxious. How could she possibly get the wardens to respect her after all of the mockery they had submitted her to over the years? Would she ever be able to lead them? Perhaps this job was not meant for her after all...

"You shall start out by getting to know them a bit better. However, that is not your first task." He shared as he started to move up the stairway to the dining hall door, motioning for Belegwen to follow his lead.

They came to a stop in the middle of the entrance. Belegwen watched as the wardens ate and talked merrily, their light hair gleaming in the sunshine that was pouring through the glass ceiling of the room. She shivered at the sheer amount of wardens that were inhabiting the room, concerned about the task Haldir was about to issue.

"Today, I merely want you to go up to all the tables and wish the wardens a good morning. If they ask you anything, answer it in a mannerly way, unless it is vulgar, in which case you shall ignore it. Am I understood?" Haldir asked, looking down at her and awaiting an answer.

Belegwen met his gaze, her eyes filled with terror. Her mouth opened up a bit and her jaw quivered, as if she could not find the correct words to respond with. She could not believe that he wanted her to do this. How could she-

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" He stated, his exasperation clearly perceptible.

"But-" Belegwen stuttered, not moving a muscle in any particular direction. Surely he would understand why she did not wish to do this. Most of the wardens in the room had never spoken to her at all. She seldom spoke with them either. Belegwen did not even know some of their names.

Haldir's furrowed his brow dangerously and narrowed his eyes. "If you want them to respect you, you cannot fear them." He stated slowly, his voice taking an eerie monotone. "If you have the courage to speak with them openly, you will be regarded by them. Do not fear what they think, for it truly should not matter to you. You want the honor of being a Marchwarden, so go and do it!"

Mixed emotions passed through Belegwen's mind. He had hit the nail on the head. How he knew about her terrors, she did not know. Was it that obvious, or had he found out more about her from Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel?

Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. However, she knew he was right. She did want to be a Marchwarden now, quite badly in fact. She had worked so hard during these first days of training and she knew she had a long way to go. She was torn because a small part of her was ready to give up, but the larger part of her screamed out for her to surpass all her fears and achieve the dream.

The dream.

Becoming a Marchwarden had never crossed her mind until about a week ago. Belegwen had never thought she could accomplish a task this big. Her family had never had a history of high warden positions and she had figured she would be no different. Now that she knew it was possible though, she was not quite ready to give it up.

Her eyes closed for a second, though it felt like an hour to her. Then, she opened them and an expression of raw determination rested upon her suddenly composed face. "I understand Marchwarden, sir." She replied, pulling herself back together. Both her mind and heart finally agreed and she stepped forward toward the first table.

A tiny smile appeared on Haldir's face as she walked over to the first table. She was going to do it. He had seen her emotions just now. It had taken quite the mental battle before she had acquired the confidence to do what was necessary.

"She will make it through this training if she allows herself to." He thought to himself as he watched her. And indeed, it appeared she would. Belegwen left the first table with a smile on her face and walked over the next.

All that she had needed was a small push out the door.

Haldir's face quickly returned to its normal stern position. He went and got himself a plate of food from the buffet and sat down at his designated table. From there, he watched as she slowly accomplished what he had asked of her.

Now that the other wardens saw she truly thought she belonged here, perhaps they would treat her more normally. Maybe that had been the problem all along. Or at least, that is how Haldir himself had viewed the problem. It was still entirely possible that their would never be a normal work dynamic between Belegwen and her colleagues. Haldir was rather unsure of this and only time would tell the truth about her future.

Seeing her smile suddenly reminded him of the kiss he had bestowed upon her earlier in the morning. He had gotten so caught up in her social anxiety that he had nearly forgotten. "I must have just been tired and lost in the moment. I will not allow myself to be off guard like that ever again." He thought to himself as he chewed on a strawberry from his plate.

Allowing himself to deny the problem for a little longer, his mind then wandered back to all of her faults. She had lagged behind once again during their jog today. He had not gotten to run the speed or distance he was accustomed to. He would not have time to take a second one tonight either, as he had a busy day of training planned for her that he was obligated to fulfill.

In spite of all this, Haldir could not help but feel a bit happy for her as he watched her conquer her fear of socialization. She now seemed to be doing it naturally. This was definitely an improvement. Now she would at least be treated fairly, or so he hoped. However, the second she looked in his direction, his face soured again, a frown lightly touching both ends of his mouth.

ooOoo

Edited by P.G. on 05/17/20.

Did you like it? Please feel free to tell me your opinion. Frankly, I'm not sure if this is turning out exactly how I had planned it, so I'm not so sure if the comments will be good or not this time. I'll try to update soon!

Anyway, wish me luck! I have Solo & Ensemble Contest on Saturday. Plus, I have a nasty cold. These two together always seem to bring me bad luck at performance time, especially because I lost my voice for it last year (no voice+vocal performance=disaster). Let's just hope my good friend Dayquil will get me through it!

-P.G.