Author note: Drumroll please... I HAVE UPDATED WITHIN A WEEK. Almost unprecedented! This chapter is long but I couldn't find a good place to split it. I *really* enjoyed writing this one, the landscape of the Anduin is fun to attempt to describe. Also Keren's feelings have been tricky too, but I liked the challenge. I hope you all like it, please review x

Chapter Eleven - Anduin

Keren awoke with Haldir kneeling beside her, gently pressing on her shoulder.

"Time to go," he whispered. "Make ready swiftly, the boats are already waiting and it is an hour's walk from here."

He left her side quickly, flying down the ladder as if he could not wait to get away. She smiled sleepily, for she knew he was excited to travel and see new horizons again. But what emotions were lying under the surface for him, knowing that this journey was the same as the last he had made with her mother?

And when he parted from Orwen's daughter, what then? Would they meet again? Keren tried not to think about it, and instead pulled herself out of bed and dressed hastily, in the new clothes Galadriel had provided. To her delight she saw her very own elven cloak, of the kind that long ago she had seen Legolas wearing in Minas Tirith. Light and colours shimmered and flowed across its surface as she picked it up and placed it around her shoulders, pinning it closed with a leaf-shaped brooch.

Her pack was light, for she had not brought many clothes with her all that time ago, and slightly musty, for she had had no call for her own garments since arriving in Lothlórien. She smiled fondly as she bent down to lace her elvish boots, the only items of clothing she felt she could justify taking home with her, for they would serve her well on the road. Not that there was to be much travel by way of road.

She was a little nervous of travelling so far on the Great River, for she had heard of its rapids and ravines. Haldir's plan was to float gently down the Silverlode for the short while it flowed through Lórien before it emptied into the Anduin, then be carried far southward, for a fortnight he reckoned, until they reached the rapids of Sarn Gebir. From there they would take to the land west of the river and continue their journey on foot, until they had passed the Rauros falls. Once back on the water it was a relatively short hop further down the Anduin to Osgiliath, and from there…

Back to the Houses, back to her home, no more than an hours' fast gallop from the river. In some ways she willed the journey to be over quickly, and yet she could not wish her time with Haldir and Legolas away. All she could hope was that the journey would be safe and free of trouble. She found it hard to worry for her safety all the while she was to be protected by her two friends, however. She was sure she would be utterly useless in any emergency or disaster, but she was selling herself short, for both her time with the elves and her work as a healer had taught her much common sense and quick thinking.

One thing she had not been prepared for was the small knife lying sheathed at the top of her pack. Surely they were not expecting her to have to fight? She was no stranger to knives, or blood, or injury - but she was used to dealing with them after the fighting was done.

"You will probably never need to use it," came Haldir's soft voice from behind her. He must have crept back up the ladder, stealthy as only elves can be. "There will be two of us with you and we are both hardened fighters. However, two is not two-hundred, and it is better to be safe than sorry."

"Or dead," Keren said wryly.

"Best get used to the feel of it in your hand, just in case," he said. "Are you packed and ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready, although now it comes to it, I am loath to go. I have missed my home but - "

"Less talk, more action," Haldir interrupted. "There will be plenty of time for talk on the road. Now take this to break your fast, and let us go."

He handed her the cake-like lembas bread, which she had often tried before, but never enough to grow tired of it. She had a feeling she soon would. Holding it between her teeth, she shouldered her pack, adjusted her cloak, took one last look around the tree she had called home for almost a year, and climbed down the ladder.

An hour's march brought them to the quiet bend of the Silverlode where the elves of Lórien moored their small boats. Keren could see two made ready for departure - Haldir took their packs and loaded them into the front of one. While he was doing so she looked around for Legolas, but he still had not appeared, nor was there any sign of the Lord and Lady come to bid farewell. Haldir was clearly having the same thought, for he sighed impatiently.

"Why is there such a rush, Haldir?" Keren was prompted to ask.

"I want to ensure we reach our first mooring point on the Anduin before nightfall," he explained. "The lands are far safer now, but still I would like to look around it in daylight before we judge whether to sleep there. It is well known, and therefore at risk of being watched by brigands."

"Where are we aiming for?"

"The place has no name, but is oft used for shelter when folk travel down the Great River," he replied. "A glade of beech trees on the west bank, about fifty miles south of here."

"And we are truly to be on the river for two weeks?" Keren asked for the third time, for she was not looking forward to it.

"I would rather short legs, with no travelling by night, and plenty of time to rest and eat." Haldir said. "We are in no great rush once we are past the first resting place and I can get a sense of the world outside. Unless of course I sense something is still amiss."

"But the Abhorred - "

"Speak not his name." Haldir said quickly. "The memory of him will fade all the quicker the less he is talked about."

"But the land all about is surely safe now he is dead, is what I was going to say," Keren replied even quicker.

Haldir looked at her steadily.

"Evil things do not always need a master's order to do evil. Of course we must still be wary, for there was malice before him, and malice there will always be after him. There must be some darkness in the world, however small, or else the light will shine too brightly, and burn itself out having no opposition. Then all would be dark again."

Keren thought she understood, but was in no mood to handle her friend's philosophical ramblings, for she was concerned where her other friend had got to.

"I wonder what is keeping Greenleaf," she said quietly. "I have never known him to be late to anything before."

"He is not late, we are early, although I am keen to depart as soon as we may," Haldir replied.

He took to checking the boats, to the mild annoyance of the two elves who stood a few yards away, who had already checked them twice. They stood silently watching the human girl. Like a feather she was to them, blown across their way briefly, meaning nothing, light and wispy as air, and immediately forgotten, even as they saw it. They knew not why she had come to their land, and cared not either. She felt their gaze and smiled wistfully at them. They smiled back. Two-and-twenty years was very different from many thousands, but still, it did not cost anything to smile.

In the back of her mind Keren was aware that she must be another year older, but she could not say when her birthday had been. Sometime back in the spring. But whether it was the actual spring or a Lórien spring… Perhaps she was still one-and-twenty after all.

"Are you ready to return to your world, your time?" Haldir asked.

Keren shook her head in bafflement.

"How do you all do that?!" she said, her voice high with amused bewilderment. "How do you all know what I'm thinking?"

Haldir looked alarmed at her outburst.

"I had no idea, I was merely asking a question."

Keren frowned.

"In truth, the change will not be as great as perhaps it once was," Haldir went on. "With the master ring destroyed, the Lady's ring has lost its power. Oh, yes, she bears a ring of power," he said as Keren reacted in surprise, "as does Mithrandir. Such things can be spoken of now. Time is catching up with the Golden Wood, or perhaps the other way around. Already our seasons begin to follow those of the outside world. You, perhaps would have felt the passing of time differently, but it is nothing compared to what it was at the height of the Lady's power."

Keren shook her head, bewildered.

"I do think - " Haldir began, but then looked around to see if they were being overheard. The two elves had got bored simply watching, and had left their post. "I do think that it is this dwindling of her power that has increased the Lady's desire to sail West. She is still very proud. It must be a hardship, to rule over a failing land, failing because your source of magic is dead - the realisation that in fact not all your strength comes from yourself after all."

"Perhaps she had lived so long with the ring she had forgotten what it was to not have it," Keren wondered. "I think behind her pride she is frightened of what she will be without its power. But I love her. And I am sad she is leaving these shores."

As she finished speaking the Lady herself appeared, far back in the woodland, her husband at her side. Beside them was Legolas. Together they stopped and made gestures of parting, before Legolas walked towards Keren and Haldir purposefully.

"Just in time, friend," Haldir said.

"My apologies," the elf said. "I went to the Lady for counsel before our journey south."

"What about?" Keren wondered, then swiftly realised it wasn't any of her business.

"My proposal to build a colony in Ithilien," was all he said.

"And was she in favour?" Keren asked, a little perturbed by her friend's coolness.

"Very much so."

Legolas swung his pack off his shoulder and placed it in the front of the second boat with Keren and Haldir's belongings.

"Two of us in the first boat," Haldir instructed, "and one with the packs and supplies in the second. Keren you are of course in the first with one of us."

Keren nodded in agreement, having never held an oar in her life, and knowing that navigating the waters of the largest river she had ever seen would not be the best place to begin practising.

"In the front then," he said, "so that we may see if you fall overboard."

She looked up at him in alarm, but he winked and laughed.

"These are Elvish boats, you could not fall in if you tried. Not until we reach Stonespikes, anyway."

She stepped heavily into the little boat, setting it wildly rocking so that she careered forward and grabbed both sides in a panic. Even Legolas, in his stern mood, tried to hide a laugh.

"It appears we do not have a natural sailor," Haldir said. "But I am sure you will not be stepping onto it as if it were dry land again in a hurry."

Keren did not speak for fear she would damage delicate pointed ears.

As the little boat eased in its rocking, the two elves upon the bank materialised again. Haldir nodded his thanks to them, and, to Keren's shameful disappointment, gracefully boarded her boat and took up his seat behind her. She hated herself for begrudging her dear friend his place by her, wishing Legolas was sat with her instead. But the Mirkwood prince had silently taken up his place in the boat behind.

She very much wanted to talk to him, not about anything to do with the night before, but just to talk as friends, carefree. She wanted to know that everything could be as it was before, for the thought of losing his friendship because of her selfish feelings of lust caused her heart to bite.

Could he have guessed, realised how she now felt, seen how suddenly these feelings had come upon her?

Or perhaps they had always been there, and so wrapped up in the loss of Faramir had she been that she had not recognised them for what they were. Always she had longed for the elf's company, thrilled at the sound of his voice, enjoyed the touch of his cool hand on her skin. She had thought that was because she was enamoured with the very idea of elves. But now, after almost a year in their company, after a year of beauty and wit and wisdom and grace, all the things every elf possessed, only when he had arrived in Lórien had she realised that he was different.

Back in the gardens of the Houses of Healing at their very first meeting, she had assumed any elf would have had the same effect on her. Her mother's tales of the elven folk had so piqued her interest she assumed it was that she was feeling. She remembered her fascination, her fear, mixed with a desire to draw closer. She had been so slow to realise that that was not the case. Never had she felt that with Haldir, or Galadriel, or any elf that had crossed her path. It was not elves she was fascinated by, it was him.

Why even now her heart was beating faster from just seeing him, being near him. If the next time they spoke he touched her in some way… She both shivered with excitement and burned with shame at the thought of it. And if elves could truly read minds…

The elves on the bank stepped forward with long poles and gently pushed them out into the flow of the current, interrupting her thoughts. The boat rocked again slightly, but Keren fought against reaching for the sides, determined to prove that she wasn't as inept on water as her friends thought, and instead turned to look at the Lady of the Golden Wood, all in white, illuminated by the rising sun.

And so it was Galadriel saw Keren for the last time, a little afraid, and yet full of a silent courage that she had not had before, her face set, her back straight, the water bearing her away to the next chapter of her life. The mighty elf allowed a tear to fall. She could not conceive of a way they would ever meet again, for what the fates asked of this child was too much. She lifted a hand in farewell as the little boats were carried around the bend in the river, taking Keren from her sight.

Go well, daughter of the stars. Be brave. Prove me wrong.

The Silverlode, even at its widest, was a gentle river, and it bore the three friends slowly through the last remnants of the Golden Wood. As they drew nearer to the mighty Anduin Keren felt as if a veil was being removed from across her eyes. She had lived with the elves, she had lived as an elf, and the Keren of two years ago, the Keren who had never laid eyes on one, was making herself known to the Keren that was now sat in the little boat. She was heartbroken at having to leave, but overjoyed, a little disbelieving, that she had actually achieved her secret dream. She had left the city, she had seen the mountains, she had seen the elves. And so much more.

She was not sad to be returning home however, although she was apprehensive. Would her place at the Houses still be there - would there be a new healer in her room now, perhaps one better than her? How would Palen react? She hoped not with anger. And her father? Now that she knew the truth she felt even more awkward about her relationship with him - guilt and shame were far more present now, that she had left him alone to grieve, that she had not been able to see for herself the explanation of his behaviour towards her.

The one thing she did feel free of was the worry of seeing Faramir and Éowyn. They would be either in Rohan or Ithilien, and her path was to neither of those places. She assumed they must be married by now. Perhaps Éowyn was already with child? She winced at the thought.

She was very much looking forward to discovering just how many months had passed since she had left Edoras, for time after that was a blur. She knew in the outside world it had been the height of summer all the time she had made the journey north. If Palen truly was pregnant, as the strange Elunis had suggested, then perhaps she had already given birth? Would she really have a nephew to meet once she got home?

The clear and sparkling water of the river soon became duller, a murky greeny-brown, and she realised they must be joining with the Anduin, and they had truly left the enchanted elven land behind. She looked behind her to say a last silent farewell to her second home. She did not think she would set foot there again, and Haldir's sad gaze back at her confirmed that thought. He did not say anything, which she appreciated.

Slowly she turned away from the gently rustling trees, and set her eyes on the sight before her - the little Silverlode showing barely a ripple as it met the busy waters of the Anduin rushing by across their path. She felt Haldir drop the oar into the water and steer them smoothly into the new current, a process which was far less bumpy than she had expected, although she felt herself tense up in preparation for a near-capsize which did not come. She wanted to turn to see how Legolas mastered the crossing, as he doubtless had, but thought it safer to remain facing forward until she had got used to the faster, choppier waters.

She let out a small sound of excitement - she was on the Great River! The very one she had crossed when going to Cormallen all that time ago. She had thought that a long and brave journey then. The south-flowing waters were going to take her home, far quicker than by land. She spared a thought briefly for Leofric, the Rohan horse that had carried her so far northwards, who had seemed more than happy to settle in Lórien. The elves had a great respect for horses from the Mark, and had taken him to their stables willingly. She had rarely visited him, but she had wished him a hurried farewell, with only a little sadness, for she would never be a horse lover, and besides, he got to remain in the magical wood to the end of his days.

Haldir and Legolas used their paddles only for steering, allowing the river to carry them forward at its own pace. The world slipped by, great trees either side of them providing a fair amount of shade from the sun, although Keren found she did not need her cloak or outer garments, for the air was warm.

At least late spring then, she thought.

The day went quickly, despite Legolas being silent for most of the journey, for Keren was enjoying the new sights around her. They did not stop for lunch, Haldir and Legolas munching on way bread whilst they still steered to avoid the occasional rock in the river, Keren making do with the same despite knowing there were fresh provisions in the packs. She did not want to be a special case.

As the sun's light started to fade though she was mighty hungry, and was relieved when Haldir pointed out their place of rest for the night. They pulled the boats up onto the shingle and went and sat on the soft grass a few feet back from the river.

"I will scout the land roundabout," Legolas said, and disappeared into the trees. Keren could not help a look of worry flit across her face, which Haldir saw.

"He is in an odd mood, I will admit," he said to her. "But there, we are all prone to that sometimes. It will pass."

Keren said nothing, for now she was sure the elf-prince was avoiding her, perhaps was even wishing he did not have to do this journey in her company.

He must have guessed how I feel, and is not wanting to give me false hope, she thought. It hurt. She did not feel ready for another heartbreak. She willed herself to stop thinking of him so much. If she could trick herself into feeling nothing, that would surely make it better.

"If you care for him, you must not try to smother it, or make it stop," Haldir said. "That is not how hearts work."

"I don't care for him," she said quickly, a little angrily.

Haldir nodded.

"As you wish."

Legolas returned, all being clear.

"There is no sign of recent habitation, and no one has passed this way for weeks. I think we shall be safe here for the night."

Keren opened the food pack in answer to this welcome news, and Haldir started collecting wood for a small fire. Before long they were enjoying a simple but filling meal of the kind that Keren had got used to in Lórien. She wondered how her stomach would fare when faced with the meat-heavy rich food of Gondor once more. They boiled some river water at Keren's insistence - "the germs" - and refilled their bottles, the elves laughing to each other about the healer's preoccupation with illness.

"It's all very well when you have a crystal clear spring in your beautiful forests, but I'm from a city with no fresh water, and you have to… " She tapered off. "Oh, never mind."

They sat in companionable silence for a while.

"Do you have a feel of the outside world now, Haldir?" Keren wondered after a while.

"Yes, I think we will be able to journey at leisure," he replied. "We must be cautious whilst on foot, for the portage-way we shall use was once the haunt of orcs, but that is many days ahead of us yet. For now I say we enjoy the river, for no longer are its banks a constant danger."

Keren grew tired, and, knowing the elves did not sleep as such, took herself a little away from them to set up her bed under a tree. She had always been good at sleeping through noises, no doubt from sharing a room since infancy, but tonight she felt if her two companions stayed up talking quietly she would be listening to their conversation, worrying if Legolas was complaining about her. They did not comment on her distance, content that she was well within sight and calling distance should there be trouble. She had a small hope that Legolas would query it though, but he did not.

The morning after was cool, and a breeze was blowing southwards along the river, speeding their process a little. It continued like this for a few days, until the land began to open up around them, the trees thinning. The sun shone down stronger, and the breeze was instead changing direction, moving the grasses either side of the river this way and that. Clouds moved quickly across the sun, making it alternatively hot and cold in quick succession, too quick to keep taking her cloak on and off. Keren could feel her forehead begin to burn.

She grew more and more uncomfortable through the day, the landscape not doing much to inspire her. Tall reeds to her right, that occasionally broke to show a long swathe of grassland, and to her left a bare, barren land, with nothing growing in at all, all rock and earth.

"Has there been a fire do you think?" she asked the others.

"Nay, no fire," said Legolas, his boat beside Haldir and Keren's. "Those are the Brown Lands, that stretch from my country to the Battle Plain before the gates of the Black Land. They have been laid waste for many thousands of years. Whatever once grew there, only the ents can tell. And whatever poisons befell it still linger in the earth."

It was the most he had spoken on the journey so far, and Keren was sad it was about such a topic.

"I would look to the west if I were you Keren, for often you see swans in the rushes along the Horse-country bank. Yes, we are almost upon Rohan," Haldir said in response to her look of interest. "Far from where you were of course, but the same country nonetheless. We will come to the joining of the Limlight with the Great River soon, and that marks the northern border of the horse-lord's lands with those of the Lord and Lady. We are currently on what folk call the North Undeep, the first great western bend in the river. We are making good progress."

"How much longer on the river do you think?" Keren asked.

"No more than a week at most by my reckoning," he replied. "Would you agree, Legolas?"

Legolas nodded.

Keren sighed to herself. They had not exchanged more than a few words since leaving Lothlórien, and he showed no signs of recovering from this strange silence. She vowed to speak to him that evening, although how she would be able to get Haldir out of the way she did not know.

She was not able to, nor the next evening, nor the next. She had imagined a journey of fun and laughter, but those moments were few and far between, and she could not help but feel that she had caused this in some way.

The land had changed again, the smooth Wold of Rohan giving way to the tussocks and windswept plains of the East Emnet, and the Brown Lands to the east rising but still bleak, still barren. The river was shallower, and instead of skirting rocks the elves now had to avoid being beached on the gravel bed. At their evening meals Keren and Haldir chatted merrily, although sometimes she was too tired to do much other than to eat and sleep. Having a passive role in travel she often felt was just as tiring. Legolas would sit and politely listen or add his thoughts, but gone was the easy conversation between him and Keren, the one thing she thought would never change. He often did not even look at her, and she found herself looking away quickly if their eyes did happen to meet.

A week and a half after setting out from Lórien all but the lembas bread had run out, as they had expected, and Haldir and Legolas took it in turns to forage at each new resting place. Finally, an opportunity had come for Keren to ask if all was well with her friend whilst Haldir was gone, but she found she had not the confidence to start any proper conversation.

Either side of the river the land was starting to get rocky, and after another couple of days they were sailing down a swift-flowing channel of water between two high stony banks. They had come to the outskirts of Emyn Muil. Within the next day or two they would hit the rapids and be forced off the river to carry the boats. Places to rest here were few and far between, and there was one night where they simply continued onwards for lack of safe harbour. Keren did not sleep, and felt dizzy and miserable the next day. She wished very much for home, for her little bed, in her little room, waking up knowing she had a day of rewarding work ahead of her in the Houses, with Palen at her side. In her daydream she was in another life, a life where she had not met Faramir, she had not met any elves, she had not been on a life-changing journey. And she was happy.

But always I would have wondered if there was something more to life, she thought, and looked back at the elves behind her, knowing that truly she would never wish them away, would not change a thing that had led her to this pass.

She felt a little better the next day, sleep having found her as soon as they found a place to moor their boats, a tiny crevice in the rock face in front of a small shelf. She wondered how many countless people over the years had rested there. She munched down her lembas automatically before setting off again, knowing that nothing else could be found in bare rock. She was silent herself as they boarded the boats that morning, for her head was replaying something that had happened in the night. Space had been at a premium, so she had slept right up against the stone wall, with Legolas and Haldir sat outwards towards the river either side of her, for that was all there was room for. She had woken at one point to see Haldir in the elvish, disconcerting, state of staring blankly into space. She turned to see if Legolas was in a similar state, but then felt foolish as she caught his gaze, for she should have realised he would be fully awake and keeping watch. She smiled hesitatingly at him, and in return he put a gentle hand on her head, before quickly withdrawing it and looking away, a deep breath escaping from his lungs.

"Greenleaf, what's wrong?" she whispered, and sat up gently, not wanting to disturb Haldir. "Something is wrong," she said again when he did not answer. "Are you angry with me?"

"No," he whispered in return. "Go back to sleep. You will need it tomorrow, for we are nearing the rapids."

"I don't want to sleep, I want to know what's going on." She cared little if Haldir could hear them now, for they were actually talking and she could think of nothing else. She knew he had guessed much anyway.

"Much is 'going on' in the world, Keren," he said with a little laugh, and her heart rose, for she had feared they would never have a lighthearted conversation again.

"But are we alright? Us, I mean. Since Lórien… I've felt…"

"What have you felt?" he asked quickly as she could not find the words.

"That you have been distant with me, like I have done something wrong, something to hurt you. If it was how I acted after the dance I'm sorry, I was just tired and hot and…" The words spilled out of her.

He was silent, and she had the strangest feeling that this time she had said something wrong.

"You have done nothing wrong," he said eventually, with an air of finality. She did not speak again, and lay back down to sleep.

She played the conversation around in her head as they journeyed that day, each time looking for a hint of expression in his voice or face over what he meant, but coming up with nothing. Before the day was out she heard a low rumbling, and knew that the rapids of Sarn Gebir were soon going to be upon them. The water grew much faster and choppier, and she saw Haldir's eyes begin scanning the western bank for the entrance to the portage-way. Already small rocks were blocking their path, and the elves had to work hard against the current to move right towards the bank, rather than be carried straight into the mouth of the rapids.

"There!" Legolas's voice shouted over the roar of the water, and he pointed to a gap in the rocks, behind which lay a sharply rising path, leading away from the river.

"We have to carry the boats up that?!" Keren shouted in return.

Haldir looked grim as he paddled fiercely against the growing power of the water, the boat just nudging the bottom of the river, before he quickly jumped out and pushed it the rest of the way onto land. Legolas did the same alongside.

"Only for a short distance," Haldir replied, as if the impressive feat of landing the boats had not happened. "It is steep for half a mile or so, but then once you are at the top of the cliff it is a flat walk, and only a mile at that, then down more gently to the other side. And you will find the boats are light - Greenleaf and I will take one each, whilst you can have the packs. We will be able to do it in one journey if your arms and back are feeling strong."

"I think I can manage a few bags for a couple of miles," she said. "But are you sure this is it? It doesn't look especially cared for."

"It is not," Haldir said. "Likely we will find it overgrown, but it is our only option, unless we want to go the very long way around through Rohan by foot, after clambering through the Drear Hills for good measure."

"It was along here that I journeyed with the Fellowship," Legolas said, "although we had missed this entrance in the darkness and had to clamber up the bank further along to reach the path. The way is narrow and, yes, overgrown, but we are far lighter laden. We should be on the other side of the rapids within the hour."

"And from there?" Keren checked.

"Back onto the river," Haldir confirmed. "It flows far faster south of the rapids, but smoothly, and will bring us swiftly to the Royal Stones, the old gate-keepers of your country, Keren."

"We are close to Gondor?" she wondered.

"As it was many years past, for it has dwindled greatly. And your city is still many leagues away. You are not to be rid of us that quickly." Haldir smiled, but there was a sadness behind it.

All three knew it was not the time to think of parting, so they busied themselves emptying the boats. Keren ended up with her pack on one shoulder, Haldir's on another, Legolas's in her right hand, and the food pack, now empty but for water skins and waybread, in her left. It was awkward going, but nothing was too heavy. The elves each took a boat over one shoulder, and offered to take their own packs on their backs, but she stoically rejected that suggestion. Her small knife was now attached to her belt, within easy grasp if a rogue goblin reared his ugly head, but she was trying her hardest not to think about that. Both Haldir and Legolas seemed to have no fear of attack.

The steep climb up to the portage-way was the worst part, for she often needed her hands to steady herself, so she threw the light food pack around her head like a necklace. It swung about in front of her impractically but at least she could make a grab for a rock or weed if she felt off-balance. She had set off first so that the elves matched her slower pace, and so they did not have to keep turning to check she had not fallen. When they reached the top she was out of breath, and her legs were wobbling a little from the climb, but they pressed on, and found the remainder of the walk far more easy going. Keren was actually relieved to be using her legs properly after so long cramped up in a small boat, and they soon lost their shakiness. Down to her left the river was crashing and foaming over the rocks of Sarn Gebir, a marvellous sight, but one she did not look down upon too often when the cliff-path became narrow, or when a fallen rock blocked the way.

The path soon began to lead downwards, and after half a mile of descent it opened out by a natural pool at the side of the river, carved out by the swirling waters. She plopped down onto a rock worn smooth and slippery by the passage of time.

"It is wonderful here!" she shouted over the roar of the rapids just upstream. "The power of the water! And we are so close!" Spray hit her in the face as she spoke, and she spluttered and laughed.

Haldir grinned at the timing.

"I suppose we could have a bite to eat before getting back into the boats," he offered, "although all we have is the waybread. There will be a choice of food, I hope, for our evening meal."

They sat together in silence, watching and listening to the water rush through the rocks upstream and spin into the little pool at their feet, before suddenly being released into a deep, smooth-flowing stream just beyond. After almost an hour of each of them being silent with their own thoughts, Keren mostly wandering off to stretch her legs more, Haldir sprung up with enthusiasm.

"Come, we must reach the Hill of Sight by sundown," he said to the others. "Back to the boats."

Keren clambered into her boat, with far more grace than she had that first day, and threw the packs into the other. She smiled at Legolas briefly as he climbed in behind them.

"How are you faring?" he asked her in reply. "Not too hungry? Tired?"

She was surprised, and stuttered a little.

"I - I am well," was all she said. But her stomach flipped, and her heart danced, and her head turned. She suddenly longed to be back in a forest glade, with music, and a fine gown, and wine, and him reaching for her. But she could not tell him that, of course.

The elves paddled the boats out into the stream and they swept along, the little pool soon far behind them. The cliffs either side of them, which Keren had already judged to be too high after walking along one, grew yet higher, and higher, as they went on. The course grew narrower and even faster, until she began to feel a little hemmed in, the sky becoming a thin ribbon of blue above.

In the distance she began to notice that what she thought had been two large natural rocks either side of the river, where the ravine was narrowest, were in fact carved pillars of stone.

"The Pillars of the Kings," said Legolas. "I must now draw my boat in line with yours, for the way ahead is small and dark, however lofty the Kings may be."

He slowed his boat and brought it behind Haldir's, and he was lost to Keren's sight. Her gaze was fixed forward anyway, for she beheld a sight few in that age had seen.

"Here stand two forefathers of Aragorn Elessar," Haldir said. "Isildur, son of Elendil, on the right, and his son Anárion on the left. The Land of Stone they were kings of once, and as stone they now guard its ancient northern river-gate. No large vessel may pass through here, and often the mere sight of them is enough to stop smaller boats journeying with ill will from passing."

Keren looked up, and up, and saw that the giant stone hands of their left arms were stretched out forever in warning to any invaders. In their right hands they each held an axe, and atop their helms were crumbling crowns. The faces were worn and the eyes were blind, but Keren still felt fear and humility and awe. She had not felt so towards any living person except the King, and if she had ever doubted it before she now knew that the magical blood of Númenor was strongest in him than any in the world, for it was the power and might of that lost land that she felt now, though she did not know it. She looked down at her knees, as many good folk with pure hearts had when passing the Kings of old, though they could not always say why.

All grew dark and cold as the boats passed the pillars, for suddenly they were in a chasm with no light ahead, only above, and that was but a thin sliver of cold sky. The noise of the river grew almost overwhelming as it crashed and boomed and echoed off the sides of the cliffs, now sheer and unfathomably high. Haldir and Legolas kept their eyes up and the boats in line, but Keren shut her eyes against the cold spray and turbulent waters, and thought of a night, long ago, when she had first beheld an elf under a willow tree.

Haldir tapped her shoulder after a while.

"Look ahead, there is light," he said, and she looked up to see the chasm suddenly ending, a gap between the rocks growing swiftly brighter and larger. Suddenly they were through, and she blinked in the sunlight.

They were on the northern edge of a vast lake, the southern tip only just visible, and either side surrounded by hills masked with trees on the lower slopes, the two furthest on east and west both stretching out into the water. Between them was a mountain isle, tall and craggy, the lake splitting to run around it. The water around the boats was a pale green, aerated by its turbulent passage through the rapids and the chasm, and now suddenly allowed to be calm. A dull roaring was just on the edge of her hearing - the falls of Rauros lay ahead.

"The hills of Sight and Hearing lie before us, with lonely Steeple Isle in their midst," Haldir said as Legolas pulled up alongside, the river slowly flowing through the centre of the lake. "The western hill, of Sight, we head for now. Although the trouble from the Black Land is over, the eastern shore still sits troublesome in my mind."

Legolas nodded his agreement, although there was a look of foreboding - of grief, Keren thought - in his eyes, as they let the waters of Nen Hithoel take them closer to their place of rest.