An Evening Walk
As Adriana walked through the hall her thoughts were all centered on her warrior mother. Passing a silvery mirror she stopped for a moment and regarded herself critically. Was it possible that her mother had her exact shade of eyes? Maybe the tip of her nose was like her mother's? She traced said nose tip gently and then smiled at her reflection. Her smile might also be like her mothers. Adriana sighed slightly dejected and turned away from the mirror but then her mood lightened and she grinned.
She would never know her mother personally but she now had an uncle who would be able to tell her about that wonderful fiery she-elf who'd left this world at about the same time that Arwen's mother had crossed the sea. For a moment her thoughts dwelled on a procession she had seen once, decades ago when she still Liawing's guardian at Ered Luin; a long line of somber elves walking through the forest…ethereal singing and whispers of elegance in the trappings of the procession.
So…it was with this mind-set that Adria entered the outer courtyard of Rivendell completely in her own world and unaware of both Gandalf's and Elrond's roaming eyes on her and the hobbits. She wasn't privy to the discussion of how resilient hobbits seemed to be or how a new army of orc/goblin-men ensured that the enemy would have no problem coming for the ring. She also didn't know about the proclamation that the ring couldn't stay here. For now, Adria was blissfully unaware that though her journey appeared done it was far from over.
However, Adriana was aware of three things at the moment. One, her friends were together and safe again and so one mission was complete though not exactly completed by her (she winced slightly as she thought of the chase of the Nazgul and of the river); two, she was a Rivendell elf and had finally found her true home; and three, there was someone galloping towards the courtyard arch.
She turned towards the arched and was rewarded by seeing a procession of people enter. The first was a human who came galloping in with a brown horse while glancing around awed at the city of Rivendell, the next was a group of elves that came and dismounted with ease, and finally dwarves entered the courtyard. Adria was interested for a moment and flicked her black locks behind her pointed ears as she watched the goings on. She had seen both humans and elves before but the dwarves were new. There weren't dwarves by her former home. Adria watched them carefully her blue-gray eyes bright with intelligence. Said dwarves glanced at her and then away and she hid a grin by turning away, the animosity between the two races was something she was aware of at least…books had their uses.
As she turned her eyes landed on the procession of elves and she watched as they took care of their horses and began to lead them away. For some reason her eyes were drawn to those of the leading blonde elf. He was pale with bright, dark eyes and was finely clothed in gray. Something about his stance triggered a slight recognition but she just couldn't grasp it before it flitted away.
A throat clearing brought her attention towards the other side of the courtyard and she saw the human gesture towards her. She glanced about and saw…no one. Confused, she walked across the clearing towards the man and the horse. As she reached the two she reached out a hand to pet the proud beast and was rewarded with a neigh. She smiled and turned towards the man, "Did you need something?"
He nodded his head, "You are here to greet the arrivals for the gathering right? I was told someone would be waiting. Stable him well, will you?" He threw her the reins and was gone in a swirl of his cape. Adriana was left staring at the reins in her hand and then turning her head to glare at the disappearing man.
She clenched her free hand but then sighed and clucked to the stallion. "Come here, boy. That's it. I'll be showing you to your stables." She held out a hand and then met the chocolate brown eyes of the horse and rubbed his velvety nose. As she lead him across the clearing and towards the stables she continued to talk, slightly irritated, to the creature sometimes lapsing into Elvish, "I'd no idea mortals could be so judgmental. What pray in my appearance yields anything but that I'm an Elvish maiden?" The horse whinnied slightly. Adriana nodded, "Right. Nothing, but he automatically assumes I'm the right elf and saunters away with his flaring cape to go wander Rivendell while I am left to stable you despite me not being said servant."
A quiet laugh met her ears and she glanced around to see the blonde elf walking a couple paces behind her, leading his white horse. "My apologies, My Lady, I couldn't help but overhear. I take it you aren't the help that was mentioned earlier." Adriana colored slightly, the rosy hue adorning her pale cheeks for a moment before fading. She addressed the elf at length.
"Eavesdropping is considered rude you know." Adria slowed both herself and the horse and allowed the other elf to come abreast with her. She couldn't help but grin mockingly at the elf. They entered into the stables and began to rub down the horses.
The male flashed a grin, "So I've been told…from my earliest days in Mirkwood." Adria's hand with the brush stilled on the horse's flank for a moment as that name stirred another flash of recognition. She huffed a sigh of exasperation as the recognition faded.
Her new-found companion glanced at her, "My Lady will excuse me if I've cause an insult to you. That was not my intention." Adriana turned from her task to look at the elf. She shook her head abruptly.
"No, no. Don't trouble yourself. The sigh wasn't about that." She spoke quietly. Adriana finished with the brush and put it away while grabbing some spare oats and feeding the waiting horses. A small neigh brought her attention to another stall across the small hall and she turned and was accosted by a pair of luminous eyes set in a black face. She gasped with surprise and then crossed the hall, "Lirimaer! I apologize old friend, I hadn't known you were still here, elsewise I would surely have come to see you. You helped me save Arwen and Frodo." She paused as she thought about the phrasing (after all she hadn't really done much saving) but then leapt to the top railing and sat, her dress trailing down the rails.
Lirimaer neighed again and proceeded to sniff her 'owner' delicately. She gently nosed the wound at Adria's side and then tossed her head slightly before looking at Adria with an accusing eye. Her soft whinny voiced clearly what her eyes already spoke of. Adriana grinned while reaching to pet her friend, "Yes, I am hurt so perhaps I didn't do all of the rescuing. Still, Lirimaer, you'll never believe it but Rivendell is my home, my real birth home. I never would have thought…" She trailed off as another small cough distracted her and again she blushed while looking into the bright blue eyes of the male elf.
She laughed lightly partly to change the way those eyes were measuring her and also partly to calm herself. A small nudge at her back nearly set herself off balance but she regained it and looked at the elf again, "I'm sorry; you must think me positively mad. I assure you, I generally don't talk aloud to creatures…even if they are intelligent horses. Lirimaer however is a friend." The elf nodded and then held out a hand, Adriana accepted it and gracefully slid off the rail to land lightly before the elf, he released her hand after a few moments and then offered his arm. She once again accepted.
"I understand. Such a lovely one," Adriana smiled at his speaking of Lirimaer's common name, "it would be easy to talk with her." Here he stopped and bowed once in Lirimaer's direction. He spoke quietly, "If you do not object I propose I take your friend for a walk tonight." Adriana once again paused as the same recognition flashed through her; she scowled as it flitted away again. Lirimaer tossed her head again and in answer turned away towards another horse in the neighboring stall.
Adriana laughed lightly, "I believe she is giving you permission. I have not properly introduced myself; I'm Adriana of the Ered Luin elves and also of Rivendell." The elf nodded in understanding and after removing her arm once again took her hand but this time brushed a kiss across her knuckles. Adriana promptly blushed. Such courtly air…and again the recognition flared and went out.
"It is my pleasure Adriana; I'm Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood. My company and I have arrived for the Council of Elrond at my father's behest." Those words caused her to start abruptly and she withdrew her hand while immediately bowing her head and curtsying. The recognition flared strong now.
She looked up with sparkling blue-gray eyes and met his bright blue ones, "My apologies Prince Legolas," she stressed this word but then continued, "I should have perhaps realized who you were at once. My sister, Princess Liawing spoke of you before." She cut off her speech as she looked at him again this time actually seeing him.
Graceful features and expressive blue eyes, the courtly manners, the fine clothes, and also the company that followed him, Adriana closed her eyes as she thought of all the clues that she had missed. When she opened them those blue eyes were still watching her and he had stood and was again offering her his arm. She rested a pale hand against the soft gray velvet and together they quitted the stable.
"Liawing was very open in her praise of you Prince Legolas." Adriana broke the silence as they walked under the trees on a worn path through the surrounding forest. In the distance the sound of the waterfall could be heard and a few birds were singing their last songs for the day as the sun was just beginning to set.
Legolas looked at her and then away, "Please, Lady Adriana. Just Legolas…part of why I left is to get away from the court life. My father recognized it and sent me on this trip to help alleviate the spark of adventure." Adriana's eyes widened in surprise, a fellow adventurous soul appeared before her in the form of a courtly prince…how odd.
"If you are to be Legolas then I am to be Adriana." Legolas nodded while softly speaking her name once. She ignored the way she thought she heard him say it, as if it were something important. "You said earlier you were here for the Council tomorrow?" He nodded, "What are you to say during it, if you don't mind me asking that is?"
He swept aside a couple of willow fronds in her path and she walked through while murmuring a thank-you, then they continued on through the failing sunlight and further into the woods. "I don't mind, Adriana. I was to tell him that Gollum has escaped the elves imprisonment."
Adriana glanced back towards him, "Gollum?" She saw a bench and sat at one end, Legolas followed and sat at the other.
Legolas nodded briefly his blue eyes darkening, "He is a cursed creature…one that has been touched by the ring for far too long. It has poisoned him and bewitched him at turns and he cannot do anything but seek it. The imprisonment was partly to stop this but also to keep the creature safe…he was the only one who knew the present location of the ring. His anger and need for revenge runs deep." The two faced each other on the bench, Legolas resting one hand on the back edge and Adria shifting so her whole body was angled toward her new acquaintance.
As she was listening she was also admiring the rugged beauty of the forest as she walked beneath the trees. The moon was out and once more its lunar glow lit up everything in a ghostly light. A few birds were still calling out. To think that such beauty could remain in a world that was circled forever by hate, revenge, and anger. Adriana made the connection to Frodo immediately and glanced at Legolas, "I'm sure it does. That ring is a vile creation, captivating and alluring. There should be no such things in this world. The creature that escaped, Gollum, he was caught by Mordor spies and was made to talk. He spoke of the hiding place and that is what caused Aragorn and I to come to Rivendell. The ring-bearer barely made it…he was stabbed by the Nazgul, and I…I was supposed to be protecting him."
Her lips pressed together in a hard line but then Legolas rested a hand on her shoulder she looked up surprised and flicked a piece of dark hair behind her ears, "You did protect him, I heard the story whispered among my company and they heard it from Arwen. You were cut weren't you?" Adria nodded and once again her hand went to her side. She stood up in a rustle of silk and turned away, embarrassment still clear on her features.
"Yes, but that doesn't make it any better. I feel like I failed. If ever there is a chance to prove otherwise I will not let my friends be hurt again." Legolas again watched her with those blue eyes and Adria turned away and began walking along the path. A few moments later she heard him get up and follow.
They moved another screen of willow fronds and were about to step through when two figures standing on a bridge met their gazes. Both Adria and Legolas glanced at each other and then looked away. "I guess our night walk has been cut short. It was a pleasure Legolas. Tomorrow I'll see you at the Council?" He nodded and once more lifted her hand to his lips.
"The pleasure was mine, Adriana." She smiled once and then he was gone, disappearing into the night. She dropped the fronds she had been holding and then began to walk back towards the glowing city of Rivendell.
Her sleepy home of Ered Luin, her calling of the horses and thus learning of her blood line, and even her flight from the Nazgul had never seemed so far away. As she drifted off into her memories that night her fingers were pressed against a spot on her hand that seemed to burn. Twisting paths through a moonlit forest were all her wandering eyes saw and all that Adriana thought about.