Hello, and welcome back to the fanfic To Be Forever Faithful. It has been a while since I last updated, and so I apologize. I have been busy as a volunteer counselor at our local Girl Scout Day Camp. It was a fun, though very tiring three days. Well, I hope you enjoy this new installment of the fic!

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

ooOoo

To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 21: Intimidation

Though it was not entirely unexpected, Belegwen still found herself rather annoyed when she was woken up with a rough and thorough shaking from the Marchwarden. Instantly, her eyes became aware of her surroundings and she quickly made sure the sheet was covering her body securely before gazing grouchily at the retreating figure.

Rather annoyed at his lack of concern for her privacy, she found herself feeling quite exasperated with him as she commanded her body to get out of bed. Again, her warden uniform was set beside her bed, clean and folded, ready for her to wear. Belegwen dressed in a fast manner, despite the fact that her body still felt slightly weak.

However, she could not keep a small smile from gracing her lips as she yanked on her boots. At last, she would get to go outside and do something! It was what she had desired for nearly a month now!

Belegwen quickly went up to the curtains blocking the terrace in her room and tore the shades open in a single, fast movement. Bright light immediately cascaded down her face and torso, bringing a glowing brilliance to the whole room. The rays were warm on her face and hands, something she had missed immensely. Nevertheless, she only reveled the silence and beauty of the morning for a few seconds. She had work to do!

Quickly, she put a few messy braids into her hair before she flew soundlessly out the door and found her way into the front room of Eltirwen's talan. Haldir was waiting for her there, a stoic look gracing his face. Not even acknowledging her presence, he quickly turned and started jogging down the talan stairway, expecting her to follow, no doubt.

Narrowing her eyes, Belegwen started to jog after him, hoping that she would be able to match his pace after being in bed for so long. She stopped to take a quick break at the bottom of the stairs, watching as Haldir took off at what he had previously deemed a 'slow run.' Not wishing to be left behind, Belegwen caught up and followed him closely.

A small smile graced her lips as they ran together over the rolling hills and through the golden mellryn. The wind rustled through her hair as she struggled to keep up with the swift ellon ahead of her. It was good to be back, even if it was simply training.

"Look at the progress we have made." She heard him say in a monotone as he quickly pointed to his right side. In the distance, Belegwen could see that all of the burnt trees had been cleared out and now there was a small brigade of wardens planting some new ones to replace what was lost.

Haldir came to a halt in front of the wardens who were working on planting mellyrn very diligently. All of their labor ceased as Haldir approached and all of their eyes flew from him to herself. Belegwen stayed back a few steps, unsure of how the wardens felt about her. She knew they had every right to be infuriated at the weakness she had shown during the battle.

Surprisingly though, when their eyes rested upon her, they all smiled. Belegwen's eyes opened wide as she wondered why they were all staring at her so. Was something about her amiss and they were simply trying to hold in their laughter? What was happening?

"How is this coming along?" Haldir's gruff voice asked, immediately calling Belegwen back to reality. She did not recognize the warden Haldir happened to be addressing, though she could tell that the golden-haired ellon had a high ranking amongst the wardens. He seemed to carry himself as strongly as Haldir did, with a very familiar arrogance about him as well.

"All is well Marchwarden. The task will be completed within the hour sir." He said, showing Haldir the few seedlings that had not been planted yet.

"Very well then, carry on!" Haldir barked, turning and quickly heading away. Belegwen sprinted after him as he quickly resumed his previous pace.

Now gathering a bit of courage, she sped up so that she could run alongside Haldir, rather than behind him. He noticed this immediately and locked eyes with her. Belegwen shivered a little when she looked at his eyes. Today he had such cold eyes, as if they had never seen a day of summer in their life. Once again, Belegwen found herself flabbergasted at his lack of emotions. It could not be good for him to keep his feelings pinned away inside himself, but that was precisely what he was doing.

Quickly breaking the eye contact, Belegwen concentrated on her racing legs and beating heart for a bit. Deep down, she knew that Haldir was still struggling with his brother's death, so she decided not to broach the topic of emotions.

After a while though, her anxiety was overridden by curiosity, and while gasping for air she asked him, "Haldir, why did all of those wardens smile at me? Is something amiss?"

She looked at him expectantly, but he did not make eye contact with her this time. "You proved your loyalty to them on that fateful night by giving away your position to yell out the commands. They recognize that you sacrificed yourself for their welfare and the good of Lothlorien." Haldir said, then softly added, "You have earned their respect."

"Oh," she murmured breathily to herself as they ran up yet another hill. The familiar ache in her legs had returned, but Belegwen challenged it. She had known that training was going to be painful after resting for so long, but she knew if she pushed herself now, she would be happier with the results later.

Instead, she busied herself with thinking about the profound this Haldir had said to her. "Could it be true?" She thought to herself. "No," she thought as doubts clouded her mind like a storm, "How could they possibly think highly of me after all that has happened to Lothlorien because of my ignorance?"

Nevertheless, all evidence seemed to say that Haldir was being truthful. They checked on group after group of wardens during their run and all of them seemed quite pleasant towards her, some even appearing grateful. One warden even whispered his thanks in her ear while Marchwarden Haldir was speaking with the leader of the site. Upon their return into the city of Caras Galadhon, Belegwen was openly smiling with hope in her eyes. What had once seemed impossible was now very possible indeed!

"Stretch." Haldir commanded her as he lifted his puissant arm behind his back gracefully. Belegwen followed his example in silence, feeling pleasantly surprised at what she had seen and heard today from the wardens.

Respect. It had been the biggest obstacle to her success before today and now it seemed as though she had unknowingly conquered the problem. She felt mild disbelief at how easy it had been to prove herself in battle to the wardens. She had never suspected that respect could come so easily.

"We are done training for now. I will meet you at lunch so that we can discuss more strategies for successful border patrols. Are we clear on this?" He questioned, clearly recognizing her mind was somewhere else for the time being.

"Yes sir," she said, then watched him walk away to report their project status to the lord and lady. Slowly, still caught up in her thoughts, Belegwen found herself heading towards the training grounds, her legs still throbbing gently from their excursion.

A little bit of archery practice would surely take her mind off of these things. Quickly, Belegwen armed herself with a bow and arrows from the utility shed, then set off for the sunny field where the targets were.

However, before she could reach her destination, a strong hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the forest effortlessly. Immediately, Belegwen was shoved up against a giant mallorn tree rather violently. Though she struggled, she could not seem to get her arms away from her attacker, who had them pinned above her head. Looking up, she glared into the green eyes that were glowering right back down at her. Then, her breath caught in her throat when she saw who it was.

Erthalion.

Belegwen had seen Erthalion lose his temper in the past and had spent many years trying to avoid him, not wanting to be brought into one of his tirades. It seemed unavoidable now though, as he appeared rather angry with her for some reason. His teeth were gritted harshly as he held her up against the tree, his fingers digging painfully into her wrists.

"Well, here she is, the newest Marchwarden of Lothlorien. The wardens have said many good things about you recently, but I think you have them all deceived." He said connivingly, then leaned in close to her ear and whispered to her with a dangerously low voice, "You do not appear to be at all brave or strong to me."

Belegwen's eyes enlarged with fear as Erthalion pushed her against the tree even harder, bruising her wrists with his iron grip. "They hail you some sort of a hero, but I know better. You are no hero at all, just an elleth who wishes to be someone she is not!" He barked gruffly, his hot breath burning against her cheek as he belittled her. Again, she tried to resist his grip and pull herself away from him, but he was simply too strong.

She shivered and desperately wished that she could get away from him as she felt him come even closer to her face, his lips slightly touching her ear. "You are a nobody and there is nothing of worth that you can offer the wardens. Nothing." He whispered threateningly into her ear.

"Stop it. Let go." Belegwen whimpered, her eyes filled with genuine fear as she waited to see what Erthalion would next do. Was he going to try and hurt her? He was already holding her wrists so tightly that they felt as if they might break underneath the pressure of his forceful hands.

Again, she gasped as she was hurled against the tree with his brute strength, the bark digging into her back through her tunic. "They will realize how worthless you are soon though, mark my words." He growled and then, without warning, Erthalion pushed her one final time and leapt up into the shiny golden trees, no longer visible to her eyes.

Feeling anxious and slightly dizzy, Belegwen slid down the trunk of the tree and fell into a sitting position silently. "Oh no," She choked out softly as tears began to pour out of her eyes uncontrollably. "What am I going to do?"

ooOoo

Edited by P.G. on 05/23/20.

There's another chapter. I'm sorry that this one wasn't that great. I'll try harder on the next one. Until the next time...

-P.G.