Banquets, Chess, and an…Adventure?
Lia and Adriana both stumbled into the great dining hall laughing. Suddenly they stopped and straightened: their laughter and happiness fading from their faces. "Ah, I had not expected to see both my daughters lose their joviality so fast. Are we not who you expected?" Lierthylnon asked his daughters lightly though his eyes said something else entirely. The banquet hall was not empty. They had expected their father but not the gray cloaked man that sat beside him smoking on a pipe. Adriana quickly gained back her smile.
"Gandalf!" Adriana cried excitedly and all but flew into the old man's arms. "How are you and what brings you all the way to these parts?" The wizard's old eyes seem to darken but he smiled and returned the hug.
"Let's save that talk for awhile later shall we? In the meantime I would enjoy eating your fine elven food." Adria nodded and then went over to her spot.
The king clapped his hands and some elves entered into the room bearing trays that had a splendid feast on it. "So you shall. Gandalf later you will have to tell us what brought you here so suddenly on the Eagles wings and why you must leave just as suddenly." The old man nodded once in acceptance.
Talk was sparse over dinner and after Gandalf, Lierthylnon, Lia, and Adria had finished; all rose and entered a sitting room with unspoken consent. Adria spying a chess board, and wanting to break the silence, turned to Lia, "It's been awhile, you want to play me?" Lia smiled and nodded.
Each sat down at their respective places and began sitting up the semi-precious stone carved pieces, opal on one side and dark onyx on the other. Adria moved her midnight pawn and the game began. Playing chess for Adria was almost second nature. She had played with both her adoptive mother and father many times when she was a child but Lia had begun only several centuries ago, her preferring to read in the off time of the royal family.
Adriana enjoyed chess the most, as well as the occasional book reading; it suited her turn of mind and allowed her to think past all the worries of the day. She had lots of worries too especially with that odd feeling she had gotten as she left her home but somehow a coursing excitement had made its presence known as well.
Awhile later Adria was still winning and was busy chasing Lia's king across the board while Lia's queen tried valiantly to defend it. Lia sighed frustrated and stared at the board and Adria was able to turn her thoughts from the game and towards the two males' conversation. The chess game would be over in five moves anyway—Lia had forgotten about her knight.
"The Halflings have already started their journey I told them I would meet them but I have to go talk with Saruman first…and I came to talk with you first about a certain something." Gandalf muttered pointedly. Lierthylnon looked around but Adriana had already turned her head and was focusing on the board intently. Lia finally moved and Adria snaked out her hand and placed her piece where she wanted it.
Lia sighed again and shot a glare at her sister who only smiled and shrugged. "It's alright Lia, I don't mind waiting. You only started learning how to play a couple centuries ago."
Lia smiled and laughed, "Whereas you've been playing practically your whole life." Quietly she murmured so only Adria could hear, "Tell me what they say tonight okay?" Adriana smiled slightly; they'd done this ploy before. She missed the uncomfortable look that Liawing shot Adria as she was busy attempting to appear nonchalant and very involved in the game.
Lierthylnon continued to watch his daughters play but then finally turned his attention back towards Gandalf and off of Adriana. She inclined her head a fraction and tilted it to the side. His voice broke through her subtle shiftings, "Why did you fly here on the Eagles then? What am I supposed to do about the Halflings? Their doings have nothing to do with me. If you were supposed to meet them…ah," he stopped as realization hit him and turned to look at the fire. Gandalf beside him said nothing but continued to watch him with his tired eyes. He moved over to a chair and sat and took another long draw on his pipe.
"You know she will do it. She was born to do it and when she was given to you, you made a promise." The king flinched as if he had been struck and tiredly sank down into a chair beside him.
"She would and she would relish every minute of it. Who am I to keep her?" His emerald eyes grew hard and he glared at the wizard slightly, "She is my daughter!" His whispers rose at the end, "I do not want her out risking her life for Halflings."
"These are no ordinary Halflings. They've been called elf friends before and…one of them possesses the ring. Frodo Baggins is his name." Adriana tilted her head to the side—now why did that name sound so familiar? Ah, Gandalf had told her tales about his adventures with a Baggins. Biblo Baggins so then Frodo would be a relative? She sighed and turned back to the conversation…or lack of conversation.
…Silence…The fire crackled merrily and cast its light on the room. It shadowed the faces of the two but Adria could see out of the side of her eyes that both were troubled.
Finally Lierthylnon spoke again, "Who's to say that they will not fail as mortal men did so long ago? I was there; it was then that Elrond and I made that promise…so so long ago…" His voice trailed off his eyes dark with memories, "To think that it should have been finished and that he should be…could have been vanquished."
"Adriana!" Lia's voice brought Adriana back to the present and out of the secretive conversation. She looked at Lia and raised her eyebrow. Adria turned her head to the side slightly and then switched the look of confusion to a glare. Lierthylnon's gaze snapped back on his daughters and he took in everything that they did with a hawk-like intensity. "It's your turn."
Adria nodded and then once again hardly looked at the board before moving the desired piece into its position. 'Three more moves only,' she thought to herself. Lia was of course playing right into her trap. Lia pouted slightly and spoke once again, "I hate it when you do that you know." Adriana smiled.
Lierthylnon turned his head from the game and once again Adriana tuned into their smoky conversation. Before focusing solely on their conversation she moved another of her pieces in response to Lia's rather speedy turn. Two moves.
In her peripheral vision she saw Gandalf place his hands on the armrest and clench them in anger, "It does not matter if it was long ago or simply two decades ago…you promised. An elf-promise is not to be broken as you know." He released the armrests and once again took another drag out of his pipe. Expelling the smoke there appeared to be a dark figure that was raising a sword on a man lying beneath him; a glittering strand of silver smoke wrapped around the finger of the sword-wielding man.
Lierthylnon waved a hand through the smoke and met Gandalf's eyes; his own mirroring the defeat that slumped his shoulders and seemed to add centuries to his visage, "I know. She is my daughter though," He added the last defiantly.
A small nod was all Lierthylnon received from the gray-dressed man for a time. Finally, gently, Gandalf spoke again, "Yes, she is your daughter now but you are not her father."
A nudge brought her out of the intense conversation and she turned to the board again the checkered boxes swimming in her vision. She blinked and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Lia looked at her worriedly and made a move to get up but Adriana shook her head almost imperceptibly.
She slowly reached up and wiped the tear quickly away and in the same motion moved her piece, "Check." She spoke quietly and Lia once again cast a disquieted look towards her before turning again to the board and letting out another sigh. Adriana smiled slightly.
Meanwhile the fire-side conversation had taken a turn and though she shouldn't be Adriana was glad the conversation was not focused solely on her alone. "You asked earlier why the Halflings should have anything to do with us…I've told you. They have the ring and they are going to the Prancing Pony. I was to meet them but they are going to have to continue on their own to Rivendell unless Adria goes with them because I have to talk to Saruman. They'll need help though; a meeting is scheduled or will be. You have to send someone. Send her. She'd be swept up in this battle with Saruman anyway. It's her destiny."
Adriana suddenly stood up and turned towards her father and Gandalf, "I think…it's time for you to speak with us—me openly." The look in her father's eyes nearly broke her heart but she met his gaze resolutely. He nodded slightly and watched Lia make her move on the bored.
"Lia," His voice was quiet but her attention focused on him, "Leave us now. I have to talk to your sister…alone." She nodded and then went to Adria hugged her fiercely. Lia looked at her sister, clasped her shoulder once in reassurance and love, and then swept out of the room.
The small click as the door slid into place seemed to finalize something in her. Her mind and soul abruptly stopped the tumult that they had previously been flying through. Imagine shifting, twisting, shifting again never settling. It all just…stopped. She was at peace for once in her long existence. "I'm going." She spoke firmly.
Lierthylnon smiled bitterly at his daughter, "So you are." Gandalf had risen and cut through the father's words.
"Shouldn't you perhaps know what we are talking about?" He inquired dryly and Adria met his blue eyes once again a smiling pulling at her lips.
"My father is supposed to send someone to a meeting in Rivendell. Elves only ever gather if there is something important going on and unfortunately this time it deals with all of Middle Earth am I right?" Gandalf nodded once and she swiftly continued, "Halflings from the Shire have set out on a journey to the Prancing Pony and they were supposed to meet you but you are going to Saruman to seek counsel and might belate. They will have to continue to Rivendell alone. They have the one ring and so are in danger of the ring wraiths and Saruman's anger. They cannot be allowed to journey there by themselves, the Wraiths will not give up easily." The last statement was met with silence. Adria decided in that moment to not say what she had overheard about her destiny. It would happen when it happened. Destiny did that to people.
Finally Lierthylnon nodded sadly but he smiled at Gandalf, "See? I told you she would know. Fine then, go my daughter with my blessings and know that this will always be your home despite what you must now do."
Gandalf smiled slightly too though his eyes remained hooded, "At dawn I will discuss things with you, Adriana, and tell you everything that you need to know. You must be swift and hope to the heavens we aren't too late."
She ran to her father and hugged him her mind still a swirl with all she had learned, "Good-bye father. Amin mela lle (I love you)." She nodded in the direction of Gandalf and then walked towards the door. Stopping at the board she looked at the small carved pieces and trailed her fingers along the edge of the board. Gently she picked one up and looked at it—it was the knight. She placed it down on the board except this time in a different place, "Check-mate." She murmured to herself before walking out the door and shutting it on her former life.
Gandalf beside Lierthylnon spoke quietly to him, "Whatever happens…she will never again return to this place." He nodded his respect in the direction of the king and then he too left the room. The words of a prophecy seemed to echo around the suddenly empty space, mocking the elven king.
Lierthylnon was left alone to stare at the flames and contemplate how destiny always managed to disrupt life. The flames rose up then and crackled breaking the silence and the old king's thoughts. He turned and walked over to the chess board and stared at it for a few minutes. Finally he reached out and flicked the king on Lia's side sending the small figurine careening across the board before it tipped over and fell on its face. "May the Ring never make it to its master, and may man win their final battle."
He looked once at the chess set where dark had triumphed over the white and slowly ran a hand over his face tiredly. With that troubling gesture he too left the room. The fire crackled alone in the hearth, heating the room even though no one was left in it except whispered conversations and life-changing replies.