2. Field of Vision
"Ah, Marchwarden," the willowy elleth smiled as she opened the door, bowing her platinum blonde head respectfully. "What might I do for you this morning?"
"It is hardly morning, Silivren," Haldir replied with a smirk, glancing up at the sky, tinged gray with the first light of dawn. "I hope I did not wake you."
"Nay, but I shall not be permitting you to wake my Lady." Silivren replied, lowering her voice before glancing back into the room behind her.
"I would not ask you to wake lady Arwen for anything in the world." he replied, lowering his own voice, "She has slept precious little of late, I only stopped to tell you that I leave for the fences and to give her these." He handed Silivren a bouquet of elanor blossoms, tied with a white ribbon. Silivren smiled as she took them, glancing up at the warrior.
"I shall be sure to tell her for you." She promised.
"If she should need me do not hesitate to send for me." Haldir insisted before turning toward the steps that led to the talan. "I am at the southern fences. It would not take me long to reach her."
"You are kind to offer," Silivren replied. "But I have no wish to trouble you."
"It is no trouble." Haldir replied, bowing his head before descending the steps. Silivren watched him go with a sigh and was about to close the door when another voice made her pause.
"And would you believe he is available?" Meril appeared descending the steps that passed the door. "Will wonders never cease."
"Good morning cousin." Silivren grinned, closing the door to the talan and stepping out onto the terrace. She greeted Meril with a hug that the warden returned.
"And he's thoughtful too." Meril pointed out, with a grin, brushing her finger tips over the elanor blooms in Silivren's hand.
"And a bit smitten." Silivren countered. "What brings you to my door this morning?"
"I came to shoo my brother-in-law on his way actually," Meril replied with a smirk. "But I see I missed the fun."
"Lady Arwen did not rest well last night." Silivren replied with a frown.
"Nor did my brother." Meril added, resting her arms on the railing and leaning over to watch Haldir descending the steps below them. "We must be the caretakers of the two most listless elves in all arda."
"Aye," Silivren nodded in agreement.
"Let us switch!" Meril suggested with a wicked smile "I shall be Arwen's handmaid and you can mind Haldir for a bit."
"You would make a horrible handmaid." Silivren insisted with a giggle.
"You are probably right about that." Meril conceded with a sigh. "But you would be quite good at minding Haldir."
"Haldir can mind himself." Silivren answered, her cheeks coloring ever so slightly.
"Are you sure?" Meril prodded. "Most elves could do with a bit of minding."
"Most elves are not Haldir." Silivren giggled, poking her cousin playfully before easing the door open and slipping back into the talan on silent feet.
"Aye," Meril frowned. She peered over the rail to see Haldir melt into the early morning mist and then glanced back at the door Silivren had disappeared behind. Her eyes narrowed and an almost wicked smile curled her lips.
"Aye, most elves are not Haldir," she murmured. "so much the better."
"She is so... glorious..." Rumil sighed with a besotted smile, staring up into the treetops as he lay on his back in the middle of the flet "and lovely and wonderful." Orophin chuckled at his younger brother, making a face at their friend Dinendal who shared the outpost with them.
"And wise." Dinendal added, his brow furrowing in skepticism. He stretched languidly and shifted to dangle his legs over the side of the flet, looking out over the southern border of Lothlorien. It was not yet mid day but already they had grown bored of their peaceful post. The southern fences rarely saw any activity and for this reason were regularly rotated with the more dangerous northern fences.
"Not to mention she and Haldir have been friends since they were children." Orophin added, "He would not take kindly to you trifling with his best friend." the warden leaned back just a bit to gain a better view of the next flet between the trees. He could just see Meril sitting next to Haldir, the pair of them chatting to pass the time.
"I would never trifle with a lady like Aduial!" Rumil insisted defensively, reaching up to pluck a mallorn blossom from the branch above them, spinning it idly between his fingers.
"You have trifled with enough other ladies." Orophin observed, he grinned wolfishly as he caught Meril's attention. She hid it well and had he not known here so he would have thought she had not seen him. But the tint of her cheeks and the way she pointedly ignored his staring told him all he wished to know.
"Name one!" Rumil challenged.
"Name one in Lorien you have NOT trifled with!" Orophin returned.
"Faeneth." Rumil replied promptly to which both Dinendal and Orophin shook their heads in exasperation.
"Name another." His brother snorted. Rumil opened his mouth but Orophin interrupted "Who has reached her majority." Rumil's mouth snapped shut with an audible click and his brother smirked at him smugly before turning his attention back to Meril.
"I cannot think of one." Rumil finally admitted sourly.
"You do not fancy Aduial." Orophin stated drily "You have simply run out of other options." Dinendal glanced between Rumil's petulant pout and Orophin who was busy leering at his wife on the next flet and sighed.
"We are watching the trees not the elleth!" he snapped, lightly cuffing Orophin in the back of the head.
"You are not my brother!" Orophin snorted, smirking as he gave the other warden a playful shove. "And there is nothing in the trees to keep my attention."
"Except perhaps the elleth in the next tree." Rumil grinned wickedly.
"Why do you suppose Haldir never assigns Meril and I to the same post?" Orophin asked curiously, standing to his feet and folding his arms over his chest as he pondered the question.
"One does wonder." Rumil replied, chuckling as Dinendal rolled his eyes.
"Perhaps he is afraid she would be a bit of a distraction." Dinendal suggested, trying to mask his annoyed expression.
"I find that remark insulting." Orophin scowled "My wife is not a bit of a distraction."
"Really?" Rumil asked with a grin.
"She is an extraordinary distraction!" Orophin declared proudly, leaning against the trunk of the tree and grinning over at Meril lasciviously.
Thorongil rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, his vision had grown clouded and he could see no more of the trees in the distance than a vague blur. The mist that had covered the lands in the early hours of the morning had thinned but had not entirely disappeared and the gray, overcast sky obscured the sun, wrapping the plains in shadow.
He paused, blinking into the distance for some sign of how far he had traveled and as he stood there, motionless he could see a figure in the distance. He rubbed his temples, his breathing raspy as he tried to see and he reached for his sword as it came closer.
"Who goes there?" he barked out, stumbling as his vision blurred.
"If my company is so irksome then I will simply have to go." An impish feminine voice replied. Thorongil drew his sword, his heart beating wildly in his chest as the apparition seemed to disappear and reappear in the mist.
"Who are you!" He shouted, turning left and then right before finally tumbling to the ground as disorientation claimed him.
"You can never know how you've lifted my heart." The woman's voice whispered as the figure dissolved in the mist.
Thorongil let out an angry groan of frustration, beating the ground with a fist as he struggled to find his bearings. He wiped the blood that trickled from his head wound with a dirty hand and moaned as he realized he had lost all sense of direction. With a shudder he slumped forward, his face pillowed in the cool grass as despair began to claim him.
"What if you should never try at all?" the soft whisper was like a caress on his skin and his eyes fluttered open. He struggled to haul himself up and he staggered as he gained his feet, sheathing his sword with a snap as he plowed blindly into the thinning gloom.
"Are you sure it's wise to allow Orophin and Meril to hold the same post?" Rumil asked his brother as he gracefully leapt from the rope ladder. Haldir glanced up into the tree tops with a bit of a smirk.
"They are on standby duty until nightfall." Haldir chuckled, pointedly ignoring the huff of feigned protest and the stifled giggle coming from the flet above them.
"My standby shifts are never that enjoyable," Rumil pouted glaring up at the tree.
"I should hope not, you spend them with me." Dinendal interjected, folding his arms over his chest with a slightly disgusted expression.
"You have four hours before the next watch," Haldir smirked, shouldering his bow before heading down the path. "Take some rest."
"Watch what?" Rumil rolled his eyes as he followed after his brother. "Nothing ever happens here. How many centuries have we guarded this silent border?"
"The lady wishes it," Haldir replied with a half smile. Rumil only glanced over his shoulder at Dinendal and rolled his eyes. The faint sound of horses hooves met their ears and Haldir squinted into the trees.
"A courier from the city," Haldir stated with a half frown. "That is odd."
"Mae Govannen, Faeneth!" Dinendal said with a smile as he caught the horses reins. The elleth leapt from the saddle and pulled her hood back from her honey blonde hair, giving it a shake
"Dinendal," She acknowledged politely before brushing past him. "Marchwarden, a message from the Lady."
"Hannon le, Faeneth." Haldir nodded as he took the parchment from her.
"Mae Govannen Rumil." Faeneth sidestepped around Haldir as he read to corner Rumil, blocking his retreat down the path. "So good to see you."
"Hello Faeneth," the warden sighed, glancing around for some route of escape.
"Are things well on the southern fences?" She asked with her most fetching smile "You have not run into any trouble?"
"Nothing ever happens on the southern fences," Rumil replied as if it were the most foolish question he had ever heard.
"The festival is coming up." Faeneth stated, taking a step closer to him and smiling innocently. "Were you planning to go with anyone in particular?"
"Uh..." Rumil blinked at her, backing up a step.
"It would... I mean I... or you..." Dinendal sputtered a moment, his tongue turning to lead as Faeneth gazed up at him a moment with perplexed cerulean eyes.
"Muster the galadhrim." Haldir ordered crisply, striding past the trio on his way back toward the borders. He let out a long low whistle and clusters of nearby elves immediately disappeared into the tree tops. "Take guard of the fences."
"Why?" Rumil blinked at his brother in confusion.
"Because, brother dear," Haldir replied with an annoyed sigh "It would seem the Lady's mirror has shown an intruder approaching who does not realize that nothing ever happens at the southern fences."
"And then Rumil said that Meril was a silly little elleth," the golden haired elfling chattered happily as she bounded down the path "And Meril, just sort of spun around and then Rumil was in the fountain!"
"Have I not told you that it is not polite to spy on people, Laurelin?" Aduial asked with a smirk as she caught the elfling's hand.
"Even Rumil?" The little one asked in awe.
"Especially Rumil," Aduial laughed.
"He's in love with you!" Laurelin announced with a dramatic sigh, "and he wants to marry you!"
"He wants nothing of the sort!" Aduial snorted, "where did you hear that?"
"From Rumil... on the ranges yesterday!" The elfling replied brightly.
"Ah, there they are!" The elfling let out a squeal of delight at the new voice and raced ahead down the path, wrapping both arms around the knees of a willowy elleth with platinum blonde hair who laughed at the enthusiastic greeting.
"Silivren, thank you again for agreeing to watch my sister," Aduial said with a sigh. "With Meril on the fences and Faeneth's courier duties I have no one else to see after her."
"It is no trouble at all!" Silivren replied, prying the elfling from her legs and scooping her up in her arms. "Lady Arwen barely needs me at all and besides, having an elfling around seems to cheer her."
"Last time she let me paint with her!" Laurelin stated excitedly.
"This time shall we try not to paint Lord Celeborn please?" Aduial asked hopefully.
"It was HER idea," Laurelin whispered loudly to Silivren who began to giggle.
"I do not doubt it!" Silivren replied with a grin. If she had learned one thing as Arwen's handmaiden it was that the lady seemed to take great delight in mischief. In fact she could not remember Lady Arwen smiling even once since Laurelin had spent the afternoon with them except when... She paused a moment turning to Aduial.
"Is Haldir... well?" She asked her brow furrowing in concern.
"Why do you ask?" Aduial questioned, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.
"He seems, weary I suppose," Silivren replied with an elegant shrug. "When he was here this morning I noticed it."
"Orophin says he needs a wife," Laurelin piped up. "But Rumil says there are girls in Mithlond who do something but I do not know what because Meril told him she did not wish to know about what the girls in Mithlond do."
"Please try not to tell Lady Arwen all that you've learned," Aduial sighed, kissing the little one's forehead.
"Aduial?" Laurelin asked with a serious expression.
"Yes dearest?" Her sister answered.
"Where is Mithlond?"
"Daro!" Haldir felt his chest rumble with the shout as the figure stumbled through the edge of the trees. A tattered cloak shrouded the man, his attire marking him as a captain of Gondor. His mail was badly damaged from battle and his clothing tattered but when he had been someone he had clearly been a man of importance, a great leader among his people. It seemed almost a shame to threaten him. "Who trespasses here?"
"Thorongil," the man replied, exhaustion robbing the strength from his voice.
"None may enter these woods without the bidding of the Lady," Haldir barked out as the figure paused, his head bent, hiding his face.
"I have nowhere else to go," the raspy voice met his ears. The marchwarden shook his head as the figure stumbled forward a pace and beside him Meril drew her bow. He laid a hand on his sister-in-law's shoulder. He would not give the order to fire unless he had no choice.
"We have nothing you seek here!" Haldir called. "only death. Turn back!" The figure staggered forward a pace and lost his balance, leaning heavily against one of the great Mellyrn with a groan.
"Undomiel," he moaned, his fingers digging into the bark of the tree as he struggled to stay on his feet. Haldir froze only a moment, his fingers twitching as he felt Meril's muscles tense in anticipation.
"Hold your fire!" He shouted, leaping for the ladder. "Hold!" Haldir scrambled to the forest floor, racing to the figure and catching him as he pitched forward, crumpling to the ground like a rag doll. He pulled back the cloak, hissing at the battle wounds that marred the mortal. His tunic was stained black with blood and Haldir could feel him trembling from shock, and dehydration.
"Dear Valar, Aragorn," Haldir swallowed hard. "What have they done to you?" Orophin and Rumil were the first to his side and they skidded to a stop their eyes wide in recognition.
"Haldir of Lorien?" Aragorn murmured, coughing as a slightly delusional smile curled his lips. "Fancy meeting you here."
Author's note - Thank you thank you for all the wonderful reviews. My RL has become a bit hectic so it is taking me quite a while to get each chapter out but thanks for your patience!
TSS - there will be a lot of dark themes in this fic but I'd like to say right now that it will NOT be tragic. Some of our characters are just dealing with some tough issues but I'm a firm believer in a happy ending.
RS- Haldir is a bit lost at the moment. He does genuinely love Arwen he just hasn't realized yet that they are completely wrong for each other... Don't worry... I promise to work everything out.
Narwen - Ta Da! One future king of Gondor per your request! Can I get you anything else?
Grumpy - Shhhh... we're not supposed to tell anyone his alias... what would Ecthelion Steward of Gondor say? Valar I hope no one reads my reviews! giggle
Elbereth - Hmmm... you must have uncovered the secret of time travel since ATW was only finished last Sept. Can you let me know how you do that?... because I have lots to do this week and I'd like to zoom forward to Fri and see if I get it done! JK... seriously... I have a very limited social life so I'm always very happy to be greeted with new reviews. Especially considering I never expected anyone to read any of my stories anyway.
Jay - I really feel bad for Hal too... and I was rough on him in ATW so now I will just have to make it up to him... after I mess with his head for a bit!
Alexathenle - Well... um... I tried to get Elladan and Elrohir to come to Lorien... I really did... but for some reason I can't even get them to come out of their rooms... there is a lot of giggling and noise in there too...
Brownie - sigh I must inform you that under no circumstances will Arwen and Haldir be getting it on... Hey! Don't throw that!