The Forming of the Fellowship
The next morning Adriana blinked awake as the sun fell across her face. She yawned and stretched and then paused as she sensed something different in her room. Adria tilted her head to the side and then turned to look towards the couch of her room. She grinned before leaping off the bed and snatching the elf into a hug which was returned warmly, "Arwen! How are you? Aragorn gave me your message but the one time I saw you, you were otherwise engaged." She glanced down at the bare neck of her friend pointedly. "Perhaps I'll have to tease my friend Aragorn on his choice of jewelry the next time I see him." She received a chuckle and a swipe to the arm which she dodged with a practiced air.
Arwen glanced at her, cerulean blue eyes resting just once on the tear drop necklace, "Adriana, it has been a long time. I'm quite well but if you breathe a word to Aragorn, you will not be." Adria raised an eyebrow in surprise and grasped her friend by the shoulders to pull her back to look at her—Arwen generally wasn't the first to throw down the gauntlet but then lifted her hands in defeat. Adria released her friend and then moved to the curtains and once again began to prepare for the day.
Splashing water onto a cloth she hummed appreciation at the warmth and spoke again her voice thoughtful, "Arwen…will you be at the council today?"
The answering voice was equally quiet and lost in thought, "No, I will not. I heard that Prince Legolas of Mirkwood and a company of elves had arrived as well as Gimli a dwarven Lord. My father has already requested that you sit in on the council at Gandalf's urging. He believes that Frodo will feel more at ease if he sees familiar faces such as you and Aragorn."
"Legolas is indeed here and I will, of course, be at the meeting. They wouldn't be able to stop me. What do you think one should wear to these occasions?" The very top of a dress appeared over the railing in answer and after drying Adriana slipped it on and then stepped from behind the screen buckling her sword to her side. Her bow and arrows remained in her room as she and Arwen exited. "Aragorn is to be there?"
Arwen nodded quietly. Then she stopped suddenly and grasped Adria by the hand and pulled her into a room, the few servants left as they saw Arwen and the other princess of Rivendell (word had spread quickly). "He will be there and if this council goes as I think it will. He will do something rash; please don't let him be the only one doing it."
Adriana tilted her head to the side her black locks falling onto her features. She swiped the hair away and grinned, "Oh, so if we both do something rash it is okay?" Arwen glared at her pointedly and Adriana lost the humorous air. "You have my promise, Arwen. I will not let Aragorn do anything that I wouldn't do."
The she elf watched her carefully for a moment before smiling, "Thank you sister, it seems I will have much to tell Liawing in my next correspondence. Yes, yes, I will send her your love." She had held up a hand to stop the flow of words that had burst forth from her friend, "Your letter that you've written will be sent with my own. She will receive both within days and yes, I will also tell her the truth now. Though I doubt it will change anything, you now have two sisters, Adriana. You also have two homes, don't forget that…but now let's go to breakfast."
Adriana swept into the open dais where the meeting was to be held and glanced for her chair; she'd been told by Arwen that as Princess of Rivendell her chair would look different than the rest. She spied it and moved closer to it admiring the lighter band of wood that surrounded the dark wood. It was intricate but as she looked at her uncle's chair saw that her's was quite restrained in intricacy, in comparison at the very least. As she settled into her chair, and after rearranging her deep lavender dress appropriately, she looked around at those settled. The dwarves had arrayed themselves to one side and the elves to the other. Humans sat sporadically throughout everything and Adria allowed herself one nearly unnoticeable eye roll as her eyes rested on a familiar human. She knew him now to be Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor. He was, of course, the human that had assumed she was to stable his horse.
Adriana grinned lightly as she thought of the timid elf that had crept up to her at the noon hour during lunch, muttering a very fast and flustered apology to the new princess. She didn't know when the humans would be arriving and had been eating breakfast, she was ever so sorry. Would Adriana please not say anything to Lord Elrond? After meeting the timid elf's blue eyes she'd smiled warmly and murmured that all was well. So, at least she now had a new acquaintance out of the human's mishap.
A familiar face sat at her next to her and she smiled up at him, "Aragorn! I'm glad you are here but where is Frodo? …and what of Gandalf?" He favored his friend with a smile and then inclined his head across the dais where the old wizard was leading the small hobbit. Adriana frowned as she surveyed her new small friend. Frodo's eyes were dark with knowledge that one so young should not have to bear. When he looked to her though, she smiled warmly and raised a hand in greeting, ignoring an affronted elf's gasp to her left. Frodo smiled as he sat down and when he looked over to talk to Gandalf, her blue eyes swiftly turned to glare at the elf. Snapping blue gray eyes held the young elf in his place, "That hobbit carried the one Ring all the way here. You'd do well to remember that he's shown more fortitude and strength than most any creature is called to show in their entire lives."
The heated words had sprung effortlessly to her lips and after gauging the elf's reaction (he appeared quite contrite, although he was moving his chair ever so carefully away from hers) she sighed and the anger melted away. It was in her code to defend friends, be it life or honor, to the death. Thankfully, it had not called for quite such an extreme yet. Aragorn at her side had raised an eyebrow at the outburst, "Adriana, for a newly discovered princess of Rivendell," here the elf at her side gasped once again and Aragorn winked ever so slightly in her direction before continuing, "I'm amazed at your grace at scolding. You kept it so quiet I don't think anyone heard."
She blinked once and then smiled amusedly. "Except for you?" She queried sweetly.
A hand being rested on Aragorn's shoulder stopped his reply, "I'm afraid I heard as well. I apologize for my countryman's attitude. He knows not of what he speaks." Adriana follows the hand back up to a by now familiar face and she flushed brightly while standing to curtsy, although she now curtsied to put her on equal ground with royalty—prince to a princess.
For a moment she debated about using just his name, as he had asked for the night before but propriety kept her correct, "Prince Legolas, I apologize for my rash tongue, it has often gotten me into trouble." Aragorn at her side snorted once and she arrowed a glare at him before again standing. Legolas simply reached for her hand and once again brought it to his lips. Adriana was once again surprised by the heat that emerged where lips touched skin.
Amused blue eyes met blue gray for a moment and Adria smiled at the shared secret (He had caught on quite well that as a new princess she should probably act like one) and then he was releasing her hand, "There is nothing to forgive Princess Adriana. I trust you slept well?" Adriana abruptly thought of the way her hand had seemingly burned all night, much like it was right now, and of her dream memories—simply moonlit twisting paths walking beside a shadowy stranger…this stranger, who, oddly enough, didn't seem so strange to her now.
She inclined her head, "I slept well, thank you," a small lie, she reasoned couldn't exactly count against her, "…and yourself?" He replied in the affirmative and then both ended the conversation; Legolas to greet Aragorn and Adria to sit down and wait for the council. To her great amusement the elf that had affronted her had switched spots with another elf. Her amusement was cut short as Elrond swept onto the dais.
He looked to her and bowed his head for a moment to which Adria returned the gesture of greeting before he looked gravely around, "Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle earth stands on the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom."
Adriana glanced about at the gathered crowd of dwarves, elves, and man. It seemed that this was the correct way to start such an important council meeting because looks, which had previously been hardly concealed distrust and dislike between the races now turned solemn. Moving around the circle her graze rested on Frodo and once again she was struck by the knowledge of the burden that the Ring had already placed upon her young friend. Elrond spoke again while gesturing to a stone plinth in the middle of the circle, "Bring forth the Ring, Frodo." The hobbit obeyed and he walked forward and placed it down. It clinked down with finality and a dark shade of evil seemed to spread around even as the gathered men, elves, and dwarves began to stir and murmur to themselves.
Boromir was the first to speak, "So it is true." Adria, listening to the spreading murmurs, watched the proceeding through neutral eyes. It had seemed to her that as soon as the ring was placed in the center, ripples of evil had begun to reach the circle. That unrest, the sense of the evil, seemed to be what was causing this murmuring. Her blue gray eyes finally strayed to her young friend and she watched as he returned to his seat and looked to Gandalf for approval.
Then her eyes flicked to Legolas, of their own accord to gauge his reaction. His gaze remained fixated on the ring but where others' gleamed with greed and a lust for power, his clear blue eyes simply bespoke his solemn thoughtfulness. Adriana understood perfectly as she looked into his eyes. He understood that this undertaking was not going to be easy. That the price in lives given would be great and perhaps there would be a war anyway…she understood such thoughts because she too had been having them.
Feeling another ripple of shade darkened evil Adriana slid further into her seat and closed her eyes against the darkness that seemed to swirl about the ring. One man's murmured voice reached her ears, "The doom of man." She opened her eyes to see Legolas looking at her concerned. She offered a weak smile although secretly she agreed with the mortal.
Boromir clenched his fist and rose to his feet which brought her attention back to him and she watched as he spoke his face barely concealing the passion to which he spoke, "It is a gift." Adriana looked at him in disbelief and she saw Gandalf's eyes flick to him as well as they listened on, "A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring? Long has my father, the steward of Gondor, kept the forces of evil at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe." She watched as he paced about the stone circle of dwarves, men, and elves and then shuddered once again when her mind shifted for a moment to overlay her vision of Boromir with that of a beast caged for too long and slipping into insanity. Then Boromir was back, still pacing and speaking just as passionately, "Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him."
Adriana turned her head as she heard Aragorn move to speak, "You cannot wield it. None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master." She nodded slightly and glanced at Legolas across the way. Blue-gray met clear blue eyes for a timeless moment before the conversation turned again.
Boromir speaking with clear acidic disdain brought Adria back to the conversation, "And what would a ranger know of this matter?" She rose indignantly to her feet in a swirl of lilac silk, her blue-gray eyes flashing anger. She opened her mouth to speak, unknowing that she had mirrored Legolas in standing, when she heard him speak.
"This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance." Adriana turned to watch for Aragorn's reaction. She saw his eyes go dark with emotion…and felt her heart go out for her friend. He still did not want to lead, burdened as he was with guilt that he didn't need to carry.
Adriana felt the stares of the rest focus on Aragorn and sees Frodo looking with a clear question at Strider whom he seemingly can't fathom as anyone else. Boromir turns as well. His face is full of disbelief. "Aragorn?" He surveys this friend of the elves, this king among men and doesn't appear to like what he sees but then Aragorn looks away. Boromir rallies and he nearly spits with unconcealed disdain, "This is Isildur's heir?" Aragorn raises his head at the name and Adriana moves to stand beside him, resting a gentle hand on his arm in reassurance and as a sign of loyalty.
He glances at her once but then turns back as Legolas speaks quite pointedly to the human, "And heir to the throne of Gondor."
Aragorn turns again to Adriana, "Sit please," and then repeats the same to Legolas in Elvish. Both she and Legolas return to their seats.
Boromir outright snarled at Legolas as he turned and walked back towards his seat, "Gondor has no King." As he sits he looks back towards Aragorn, "Gondor needs no king."
This time its Adriana's turn to snarl and her hands clench into fists. Impudent mortals—what a waste of emotion! Strife over a throne that would be held for less than a century, such a waste!
Gandalf chooses this moment to speak and Adria calms as she listen to his voice, "Aragorn is right...we cannot use it."
Elrond stands as the tension dissipates a little, "You have only one choice…the ring must be destroyed." Adriana watches her uncle and his grave expression for a moment before her attention is drawn to the ring. It seems to hum now with evil. Her thoughts are interrupted by a red-headed dwarf getting to his feet and hefting his axe, "Then...what are we waiting for?" Adriana opens her mouth to stop but he is already swinging the giant blade down as he yells out. Then there is a flash of light and sparks as the axe is broken into pieces. For a moment, Adria's breath catches as the hum, and consequently its evil, grows louder.
Frodo similarly starts and Adriana's eyes swiftly move to him, her protectiveness spiking. She ignores the commotion as the dwarf, now on the ground, growls with frustration as he gets back to his feet. She hardly senses Gandalf looking to her and then at the hobbit who is grabbing his head in pain. Adriana moves in her chair, about ready to walk across the dais to Frodo, council meeting or no, when Elrond speaks again. She remains seated when she sees that Gandalf is also watching Frodo with a concerned look. If there is anything to be done, anything at all, Gandalf will do it.
"The ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess. The ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom...only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor, and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this." Adriana focuses on the dwarf and fixes his name in her mind. The entire council is silent.
Adriana listens to the breeze rustling the autumn leaves and the birds before Boromir speaks quietly, "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust...the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly." Adriana glanced at the mortal man for a moment. What he spoke of was true, despite him being an impetuous, rude, dolt. Mordor was indeed a wasteland where creatures too cursed to live peacefully thrived on the hate and noxious fumes.
She quailed with fear for a moment. Her sense of evil heightened and then she thought of Frodo, and his strength that she had not long ago defended. He could carry it this far to Rivendell, was it her destiny to carry it the rest of the way? She shook of the evil thoughts that had been pushing down on her. The ring was devil-made. That much she was sure of.
Legolas rises in anger once more and confronts Boromir, "Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The ring must be destroyed."
Suddenly the red haired dwarf, Gimli, spoke with fury, the derision of dwarves for elves quite clear in his voice, "And I suppose you think you're the one to do it?"
Boromir once again adds his own anger filled voice, "And if we fail, what then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?"
Legolas turns snapping eyes towards the dwarf during Boromir's tirade. Gimli joins Legolas and Boromir as he leaps to his feet in anger, "I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf!" Adriana flinches as the council erupts into angry voices, matching facial expressions, moving fists, accusatory fingers.
On one side Legolas holds out his arms to hold back the angry elves while Gimli and the rest of the dwarves face them and then the men step closer to be heard over the din. Adriana closes her eyes amidst the noise as the ring hums, seemingly in satisfaction. Gimli's voice rises above the tumult, "Never trust an Elf!"
She opens her eyes to see Gandalf rising, "Do you not understand? While you bicker amongst yourselves Sauron's power grows!"
Adriana finally adds her voice to the fray as she rising to her feet, "You must stop this! The Ring wants discord among us, it wants us to fail! It feeds on our fears and strengthens them!" Her voice is unheeded except by Aragorn who turns to look at her in understanding and Legolas who nods somewhat reluctantly.
Gandalf continues, "None can escape it, you'll all be destroyed!" And now he is on his feet and walking towards the thickest fighting. Adriana watches Gandalf before seeing Frodo breathing heavily in his chair. She crossed the room, elbowing Boromir in the process of fighting through the thickest mash of bodies to reach Frodo's side.
"What do you think you're doing Elf?" He yelled at her. Adria glared at him, her eyes snapping storm clouds of anger, before going to Frodo. Boromir had taken half a step back from the angry gaze of the she-elf then turns to Gandalf and continues the argument. Frodo, meanwhile, watches the ring; his eyes focused on that which is not there. He utterly ignores the approach of Adriana. His eyes widen in fear and Adriana follows his stare to look at the ring. She winces when she feels the evil spiral again, intensifying the anger. The hum of the ring has increased in volume and once again she is struck that it seems satisfied at the pandemonium it's created.
She kneels next to Frodo in a swish of lilac skirts and places her arms around him as his gaze flicks from the ring and to the fighting, "Frodo…"
He suddenly surges to his feet, breaking her hold, and speaks for the first time, "I will take it." Adriana gasps quietly. The angry voices continue as he is unheard except for her. He speaks louder taking yet another step towards the angry crowd and the One Ring, "I will take it...I will take the Ring to Mordor."
Gandalf, hearing at last, turns towards him with eyes filled with sadness. Adriana's own heart is nearly breaking in anguish. This hobbit, seemingly to her no more than a child, is willing to go alone to Mordor. Adriana's eyes shine with understanding and then harden even as she mentally apologizes to Arwen, this was most definitely not what the elf had expected when she had managed to get Adriana to promise to keep Aragorn out of trouble. She sighed, still Arwen would understand and she could not let him go by himself. He would not go alone. Frodo was not going to bear this suffering by himself. This time she would protect him!
Finally there is silence. Adriana watches, with new resolve, as the elves, dwarves, and men stop their fighting to turn towards the hobbit. All of them stilled by the knowledge, that the one who had already faced so much was volunteering for more, to stop the fighting. Adria watches the hobbit that she calls a friend as he speaks once more, his blue eyes frightened but resolved, "Though… I do not know the way."
Gandalf walks to his side and rests a hand on his shoulder, "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear."
Adriana again rises to her feet in another swish of silk and, ignoring the looks of the others, speaks to Frodo alone. Her hand stopping to rest on his other shoulder, "I will as well, Frodo. You will not do this alone. As you had it before you once again have my protection on your journey." She spoke quietly but met his eyes and he smiled slightly.
He then turned to watch as Aragorn began walking across the stone pavilion, "If, by my life or death, I can protect you, I will." Her heart stirs at his words—Aragorn truly is the rightful King. He just hadn't seen it yet. He crosses the pavilion and kneels in front of Frodo, "...you have my sword." Adriana smiles at Frodo's look of astonishment before grinning at Aragorn as he takes his place beside her. He returns the grin and Adriana, for a moment, is panicked at the thought of facing Arwen. Something told her that this was quite rash but… it was also right.
She glanced at Gandalf to see him slightly wink in the direction of Lord Elrond and she was surprised at the sudden thought, had they planned this? She transfers her gaze from Gandalf to her uncle and quirked an eyebrow at him. He answered in kind and her eyes lit with understanding. The years had been very kind to those cunning men. With a strategic move they were to get the best of the best for this foray. Although, as she thought of Frodo's darkened face, she wasn't sure she approved. Legolas moved next, "And you have my bow."
He is followed by Gimli, "and my axe." Adriana tilts her head in confusion—hadn't he just lost that ax to the Ring? She shrugged, perhaps there was a spare. Then Legolas was moving to stand behind her. She glanced at him and saw his crestfallen facial expression at the dwarf's proclamation whom she saw with great delight was looking up at Legolas with the same sheepish expression. This journey was going to be interesting. She smiled slightly before bowing her head in Gimli's direction in greeting and her hand tightened on Frodo's shoulder. Frodo reached across and patted her hand before looking around at the others who had vowed to protect him. Aragorn's hand moved to replace hers and she acquiesced, moving back and bumping into Legolas. She moved to his side, making room for Aragorn to take her place at Frodo's right.
Then Boromir strode up and spoke, "You carry the fate of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done." Adriana watched the human for a moment; perhaps…he was not all bad. She could see a particular brand of honor now that she knew what to look for. So, with a similar sheepish expression (comparable to Gimli and Legolas') she squashed her own differences as well. They would work together to help Frodo reach Mordor.
A sudden exclamation broke the solemnity of the moment and a rustling in the bushes followed by Sam's exclamation, "Here!" Elrond looks to the source of noise in surprise as Sam ducks under Aragorn's arm and to Frodo's side. He speaks brusquely,"Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me." Adriana grinned at his protectiveness, even as she tweaked his ear, and Sam blushed but yet still managed to keep his brusque manner.
Elrond now spoke drolly, "No, indeed it is hardly possible to separate you….even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not." She smiled at Sam's sheepish, but not sorry, expression and understood all that she needed to. The hobbits were like a huge extended family. Adriana decided she would have to teach her uncle about the hobbits someday because if she was right…
And proven right she was as just then two more hobbits introduced themselves to said 'secret' council. As Adria watched them rush forward she heard Merry's voice first, "Oi! We're coming too! You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." She nearly laughed at his dramatic flair but she supposed that that was hobbits for you. Adriana thought fondly as she ruffled both of their heads.
Pippin continued Merry's thought, "Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission…quest…thing…"
Merry glanced at Pippin and spoke, "Well, that rules you out, Pip." Adria once again choked down her laughter and schooled her features even as Elrond rid the surprise at two more additions from his face and surveyed the group. His eyes rested on Adriana for a moment and darkened with memory before he gazed at them all and murmured, "Ten companions…so be it." He announced to the rest of the council and then glanced at the ten, "You shall be the Fellowship of the ring."