Chapter Four:
Elladan had nearly chatted her ear off as he showed her to her room, despite the lack of participation in the conversation from her side. He told her that dinner was to be served in a few hours and that someone would come to fetch her when it was ready. In the meantime, a few servants had drawn her a bath and laid out a light blue dress for her to wear to dinner. She looked at the long-sleeved dress with a bit of disdain. She did't care for dresses, but she didn't want to be rude either. She slipped into the hot water of the bath and thought about her next plan of action. Dinner. That was going to be a problem. It would appear highly suspect for her to not be hungry after romping about in the woods. If she refused, she might risk insulting the elves, and they might toss her out!
But would that really be a bad thing? Sure, there wouldn't be a cozy bed in the woods, and sure there might be orcs roaming the woods, and sure Saruman might somehow find her, but it would be alright, right? She let out an exasperated sigh. Ugh, she was safer here than not here at the moment, so she couldn't risk refusing the elves' hospitality. After soaking for a while, Laurel hauled her weary body out of the tub. Now that things had slowed down a bit, she could feel the throbbing of her head where that orc had struck her. She flopped down onto the bed, not caring that she was still completely nude from her bath. The sun was starting to set outside her window, so she knew she would have to think of something soon.
A knock sounded at the door. "Lady Laurel?" It was Elrohir! Laurel quickly grabbed the dress and sprinted to the bathroom.
"One moment please!" she called, trying to slip the dress on. However, she quickly realized this dress would not fit her at all. The waist was too narrow to slide over her hips and was much too tight around the bodice if she tried to put it on the other way. Ugh! It wasn't like she had enormous breasts, Laurel huffed. They were neither small nor large, and the same went for her hips. She had a good figure with all the training she did in her spare time, but she certainly wasn't fat enough to not fit into a dress! This was ridiculous. Swallowing the embarrassment, she called out to Elrohir.
"Elrohir?"
"Yes, my lady?" he responded, voice slightly muffled from the door.
"Would you mind fetching someone to help me with my dress, please?" she pleaded. She felt so embarrassed. Not fitting into a dress! This was never a problem she had to face with tunics and breeches!
"Of course, my lady, one moment," he called back. She waited a few minutes until there was another knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Laurel called to this new person.
"My name is Arwen, Lady Laurel, Elrohir said you needed assistance dressing?" The soft voice was of that of an elleth, which put Laurel slightly more at ease.
"Come in!" she called. She poked her head around the door to the bathroom, spotting the elleth that had just entered her room. "It would seem that the dress left for me doesn't exactly fit," she explained, her cheeks burning bright red. Arwen smiled softly and nodded her head.
"One moment, I will see if we have anything more suitable," she said as she exited the room. She returned a few minutes later holding three different dresses and handed them to Laurel to try on. The first two fit exactly like the blue dress, so those were out. But the last dress fit better than the others. It was an emerald green dress with sleeves that hung slightly over her hands and modest neckline. The back of the dress dipped lower than the previous three, nearly to the small of her back, but her hair would cover most of it. She came out of the bathroom to show Arwen the winning dress.
"You look absolutely radiant!" Arwen smiled. "Now we just have to find some shoes to match, finish your hair and then my father will be expecting us for dinner."
"Your father?" Laurel questioned.
"My father is Lord Elrond," Arwen clarified with a sweet smile. Laurel paled at that. She thought she had asked Elrohir to get a maid or servant, not Lord Elrond's daughter! Now she really must seem like a fool to them. Laurel sighed and ran her hands down her face. Today was not the best day.
"Try these." Laurel turned to find Arwen holding out a pair of green slippers that matched her dress. She eyed them warily, she hadn't worn shoes in hundreds of years. But if she was going to be a good guest, that meant wearing shoes. She begrudgingly slipped the small shoes onto her feet, not at all liking the way they pinched her toes.
"They're perfect," she lied. But Arwen seemed to believe her so she quickly steered her toward the vanity where she began brushing out Laurel's long hair. Laurel wondered why Arwen was here taking care of her like this and not a servant or maid of some kind, wasn't this kind of work below her station?
"Your hair is so beautiful," Arwen said with a smile. Laurel gave her a smile in return through the mirror.
"Thank you," she replied easily. She had done more talking to more people today than she had in a thousand years. Honestly, she was both loving it, and becoming tired from it at the same time. Arwen painstakingly brushed out every strand of her thick hair, letting it naturally form curls as it dried. When she was done, Arwen set the brush down and held out her hand for Laurel to take.
"Come, I will show you to the dining hall." Laurel took Arwen's hand and let herself be pulled along. They passed many winding hallways and down a large set of stairs before coming to a large, open hall with lofted ceilings and chandeliers of glittering crystal. There was a long table with a large buffet of food laid out for the many dinner guests in attendance. There were so many elves here! Laurel had never seen so many people all in one place before. She gazed around the hall, taking in the art that hung on the walls and the intricate moldings.
"Lady Laurel, I hope you are settling in well." Laurel looked over to see it was Lord Elrond who was speaking to her.
"Oh! Yes, thank you very much for your hospitality, Lord Elrond." She bowed her head slightly to him as well for an extra something, she had no idea how to interact with elves. Lord Elrond smiled softly and held out his arm to her to lead her to the dinner table.
"You must be famished from you trying day today. How long have you been away from home now?" he asked as he pulled out her seat for her. Internally, Laurel started to panic, why would he ask that? What if Saruman came to him already? Does he know I'm missing? Will Lord Elrond send me back to him if he finds out? Her head was spinning out of control with her erratic thoughts, until someone spoke, jarring her out of her downward spiral.
"Where do you hail from, Lady Laurel?" This time it was Elladan that spoke. He was seated across the table from her, grinning at the opportune seating arrangements. Oh no, how does she answer that? She didn't even remember where she was originally born.
"Stop asking her so many questions!" Elrohir chuckled. "Let her eat first and relax, I am sure she would rather do that than be interrogated after the horrid day she has endured." Elrohir glanced at her with a soft smile. He was seated directly to her left, and she gave him a grateful smile in return. But how long could she really avoid those questions? "How fared Imladris while I was away protecting our borders?" Elrohir jested, obviously at the expense of Elladan who had sat this last patrol out.
"Things have been well, no news to report of late," Lord Elrond took a sip from his wine goblet. "Oh, but I forgot to mention, Legolas Thrandulion will be visiting us shortly, he should arrive on the morrow." This apparently sparked excitement between the twins.
"This is excellent news! What business does Legolas have in Imladris?"
"King Thranduil has sent Legolas here as an ambassador to represent the Greenwood." Lord Elrond took another sip of wine. "But in truth, I believe he is tiring of his royal duties, seeing as Thranduil is grooming him to take over the kingdom once he sails West." Laurel was trying to keep up with all the names and places she was hearing about, but it was all rather confusing. Who was this 'Legolas' and what/where was the Greenwood?
"Lady Laurel, are you not hungry? You have yet to touch a single thing." A blond elf next to Elladan spoke. He was taller than the others, more broad in his shoulders, and had a more regal appearance than most. At present, he seemed to be watching her every move intently, eyes narrowed at her and an unmistakable air of superiority permeating his vicinity. Laurel glanced down at her empty plate, then at the dishes of food in front of her. She gingerly spooned some salad onto her plate, noticing that the blond-haired elf was still eying her.
Laurel took a deep breath and slowly gripped a fork, carefully handling it the way she had seen the others do. She stabbed at a piece of lettuce and slowly brought it to her mouth, not knowing what would happen if she ate it. She put the leaf in her mouth and made a show of chewing thoroughly and swallowing it. She looked over to the blond elf and he seem placated for now. However, now she didn't feel so good. Her stomach felt like it was flopping all over the place. Laurel quickly stood and excused herself, racing out of the hall. She had no idea where her room was, so she ended up emptying her stomach out an open window in one of the many hallways. She hated the disgusting feeling of that singular leaf in her stomach, she just wasn't made for that sort of thing. After taking some deep breaths and calming herself, she decided to wander about and see more of the place she would being staying in for a while.
A half hour later found Laurel in the stables. She had no idea how she wound up here, but she was glad she had! She found Elrohir's horse and greeted him with a soft pat on the neck. The horse whinnied in excitement at seeing her again and brought his head up to press against hers. She laughed lightheartedly and stroked his neck.
"Thank you for your help today," she thanked the stallion. She could feel the happiness radiating from the large dappled grey horse. She could tell how loyal he was to Elrohir and that the stable hands fed and treated them well. Laurel decided she had enough of these tiny elf shoes, so she shucked them off and opened the stall gate to sit with Elrohir's steed. She saw the halter hanging on the wall above the horse and read 'Celeg' engraved on one side.
"Celeg?" she tried out. The stallion neighed gleefully, stomping a hoof for emphasis. Laurel laughed and rubbed Celeg's neck. "If I'm not mistaken, Celeg is Sindarin for 'swift', are you a swift horse?" she spoke lovingly to the grey horse. He whinnied again, drawing another giggle from Laurel. She let out a yawn though as well, it was getting late and the sun had set long ago. She watched as Celeg laid down in the hay in a corner of his stall and Laurel sat down to lean against his side. "Thank you for being my friend," she whispered sleepily. It wasn't long before she was fast asleep, dreaming that tomorrow would bring a better day.