Yes, the story got a name change! I changed it from "Smoke Screen," a thievery/escape artist term to "Deadly Schemes," because I felt it reflected the story a bit better, and where the plot and characters were headed.

Anyways, please enjoy this new (somewhat short) chapter!

Jasmine was led by the elf guard-Gelluinith-through the deserted paths of Rivendell, the moon rising steadily in the young night sky above them. All the while, Jasmine felt her heart pounding, utterly unsure of what Lord Elrond might want to talk with her about.

They soon reached a particularly extravagant lodging, with a large porch out front. Jasmine saw Elrond, clad in the same silken robes from dinner, seated on a high-backed chair, waiting for them. He rose when he saw them, his face as grim as it had been earlier.

"Ah. Jasmine," he said, by a means of greeting. "I am pleased that you have come." He gave Gelluinith a look, signaling for her to leave. The elf gave a little curtsey and strode away.

Only when Gelluinith's shadow disappeared amongst the pillars bordering the path they had just traveled did Elrond beckon to Jasmine to follow him into his house. "We have things we must discuss," he said, his voice sounding tired and strained.

This isn't weird at all, Jasmine thought sarcastically, stepping cautiously onto the porch and even more cautiously taking another step to enter his house. Her hands flew to the daggers she had snuck into the folds of her dress.

Elrond's house, although dim, was still cheery, and Jasmine felt, despite the strange circumstances, rather safe in it. There were plush, pastel-colored furniture pieces decorating the space, as there were in her and Elle's own bedroom.

Elrond paused to look at her, his wise eyes meeting her defiant ones.

"Why am I here?" she asked sharply, growing uncomfortable under his stare. I should have brought my hood, she thought bitterly, instinctively backing slightly into the shadows that one of Elrond's taller cabinets cast over the floor.

Elrond flinched slightly, but quickly regained his composure. "Right," he said. "I forgot that you would have questions." He gave her a small smile. "As do I."

"What?" Jasmine snorted. "You have questions? Who was just dragged into a stranger's house in the middle of the night? I'm pretty sure it was me, not you."

"Why did you join this quest?" Elrond asked her, ignoring her remark.

"Excuse me?" Jasmine said, startled, even though she had heard his question perfectly fine.

"You hate dwarves, I would imagine," Elrond said coolly. "Why would you choose to join a company full of them?"

"I-I-I…" Jasmine stammered, backing further into the shadow of the cabinet. "That's none of your business," she gulped after a moment.

Elrond stiffened again. "Do you not trust me as you once did, Muindes?" he asked softly, his voice laced with hurt and sentiment.

"What did you just call me?" Jasmine gasped hoarsely. Muindes…? Muindes, Muindes, Muindes… why does that name sound so familiar?

"I called you by your name," Elrond said gently, watching, even through the veil of the shadows that she had concealed herself in as her eyes widened. "It was the name your mother gave you when you were only a few moments old. It means "beloved young woman" in Elvish."

My name. My mother. Jasmine nearly choked.

"I was like an uncle to you when you were growing up," Elrond said, his eyes misting slightly. "For I was like a brother to your father. We were always best friends, and it seemed only natural that when you were born, I would help raise you."

Jasmine felt her own eyes well slightly with tears. I won't cry. I won't. But after so many years of pushing these memories away, she found it hard to have them all come rushing back to her at once. Now that she thought about it, she did have memories of Elrond being with her as a child. She remembered playing hide-and-go-seek with him, and tag, and collecting mushrooms by the pond with him by her side, telling her what all of the different fungi were called and how they were used, and her not really listening to what he was saying, because, Look, Uncle! Look at how pretty this one is! It's purple, can you see? She felt a tear roll down her cheek, and she took a step forward out of the shadow of the cabinet.

In the light, she could see that Elrond was crying too. "And then when your parents died, I looked all over for you, hoping that you might have survived the…" his voice caught, "...what happened. But I never found you. And I thought you…" he trailed off, his voice becoming incomprehensible amongst the sobs.

Jasmine remembered the night her parents had died as clearly as though it had happened yesterday. She remembered traveling with a pair of white horses, her father and their luggage on one, and her mother with her arms wrapped around Jasmine seated on the other. They had been heading to Bree, as she recalled, to stay at the Prancing Pony before continuing on. There was a hobbit party in the Shire in a few days, and they wanted to get there early, or that was what Jasmine remembered her mother telling her. She didn't remember who the party was for, or why they were going, but she did remember her mother telling her something about the hobbit being "an old friend of her father's."

Only, when they had been near Bree, a group of dwarves, drunk and filthy, approached them, shouting at them and kicking at their horses' hooves. Jasmine's father had drawn his sword, but the dwarves had all been armed themselves, and it wasn't long before they had driven the horses into such a frenzy, what with all of their yelling and kicking and brandishing of shiny axes, that the animals whinnied and knocked her family off their backs. Jasmine remembered the feeling of crashing to the hard, damp ground, still clutched tightly in her mother's arms. Sickening cheers and screams from the dwarves rang through the woods around her, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her father dueling three at once with his blade.

She remembered her mother giving her a fleeting kiss to her forehead, and whispering frantically in her ear, "Go! Get out of here! Get to Bree as fast as you can!"

"I don't want to leave you!" Jasmine had wailed.

"Nana and Ada will try and meet you there," her mother had said then, her eyes creasing with worry. Jasmine should have known then that her mother had been lying. Her mother, her beloved Nana, had known that she and her father wouldn't be able to fend off the dwarves. She had just been trying to give her daughter hope so that she would have the strength to get to safety.

And so Jasmine, crying hysterically, had stumbled blindly through the woods that night, and only when the sun was making its first appearance on the horizon did she accidentally come across the front gates to the village of Bree.

The people there had been nice to her, all of them not wanting to be the one to tell her that no, her parents would never come to meet her, and that yes, she really was all alone here. She had held onto the false hope for a long time, before she finally let go.

Elvish Translations:

Muindes: Muin [beloved/dear] - des [young woman]

Nana: Nana [mom/mommy]

Ada: Ada [dad/daddy]

Thank you so much for reading! We finally get to learn a little bit about what happened to Jasmine's parents in this chapter! More explanation is to come, so if the story doesn't totally make sense to you yet, it will soon! If you have any ideas, though, I'd love to hear what your guesses are!

Any favorites, follows and reviews are so appreciated! They encourage me to keep writing! :) And please check out my other stories, The Daughter of Fire and Greed and The Moon's Dream for more hobbit fanfic juiciness. :P