Chapter 11 Take the Plunge
"Whatever you are planning I truly wish you would not plan it." Orophin stated with a sigh, shaking his head.
"I plan to walk up to Aduial," Rumil stated confidently. "Give her my most charming and gracious smile and then ask her to attend the festival with me." Orophin stared at the back of his younger bother's head as he leaned around the hedge, an almost wolfish leer on his face. Without a sound Orophin picked up a rock, judging it's weight carefully.
"Exactly how angry would you be with me if I were to knock you on the back of the head, drag you home and lock you in your wardrobe until you came to your senses" Orophin asked curiously.
"Angry enough to lace all your food with Torogtal until the end of the age," Rumil answered, his eyes never leaving the path he was watching. "Why do you ask?"
"Only curious," Orophin replied, tossing the rock over his shoulder with another sigh.
"Here she comes!" Rumil stated excitedly, looking very much like an elfling with a new toy. "Rhach, she must be escorting some foreign visitor."
"Foreign visitor? We haven't any visitors in Lothlorien... apart from the one our brother is hiding." Orophin frowned, leaning over his younger brother's shoulders. "You troll, that is Faeneth."
"It cannot be Faeneth," Rumil rolled his eyes. "She is wearing a dress."
"I suppose you might be able to call it that," Orophin's expression grew even more perplexed as he watched the pair of elleths pause on the path. Rumil was right about one thing, it did not really look very much like Faeneth. Aduial shooed the courier off with a laugh and continued down the path toward them.
"Wish me luck!" Rumil stated cheerily.
"You certainly need it." Orophin stated with a frown.
"Aduial you're looking particularly lovely today!" Rumil all but materialized on the path a step behind the sentinel and she paused, glancing over her shoulder with a half smile.
"Rumil you joker," she laughed, looking down at her dusty training uniform. "what is it you want?"
"Why do you have to assume I want something?" He asked with his most wounded expression as he fell in step beside her. "Can I not compliment a very dear and attractive friend?"
"Not unless you have some foul deed in the works," She smirked, shaking her head. "Whatever it is the answer is no."
"You wound me, Aduial," he said with a playful pout. "As it happens it was my intention to ask you to accompany me to the festival."
"The midsummer festival?" She asked, missing a stride. She paused, her brow crinkling.
"It is only a few short weeks off!" he stated cheerfully, "I am, after all, a rather fine dancer if I do say so myself and as I recall you are terribly fond of dancing. What say you?" Aduial said nothing, a curious look playing across her face. Rumil was undaunted, however, his charming smile firmly set in place.
"Rumil," She finally smiled. "Whoever she is, you really should talk to her rather than trying to make her jealous by going to the festival with me."
"Jealous?" Rumil gaped, his jaw worked but no sound came out and Aduial began to laugh.
"I really do think of you as if you were my own brother so do not think I am being harsh," she stated, squeezing his arm affectionately. "You can be quite the rogue and that does put off many a fine elleth. If you would only behave yourself you might find a very nice elleth and settle down. You will not get anywhere with silly games." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and a gentle box in the arm.
"Now do try to stay out of trouble!" She called over her shoulder as she continued down the path.
"Jealous!?!" Rumil sputtered out. "your brother?!?!" But Aduial did not hear him.
"Ah, I see that went about as well as could be expected!" Orophin stated, taking hold of his arm much the same way Aduial had.
"Get off me!" the younger brother snapped, jerking his arm free. He stared at Orophin a moment, his jaw unhinged. "Jealous!?!?"
"Aye, I know," Orophin replied sympathetically. "Who would be jealous of you?" Rumil glared at him darkly.
"Stop trying to cheer me up."
"And you did not see any reason to tell me any of this?" Celeborn's normally handsome face was contorted into an ugly grimace. He stood near the window, looking very much like a cat about to pounce. His voice had not risen to a volume that would be considered impolite but there was a rather large vein pulsing in his neck and his breathing was uneven as if he were locked in mortal combat. Which was not far from the truth.
"Until he was strong enough to defend himself? No, I did not," Galadriel replied placidly, her attention focused on her needlepoint. She pulled the thread taut with a delicate flick of her wrist, her manner as relaxed and serene as her husband's was agitated.
"Balrogion,"
"Celeborn, language," Galadriel chided, clucking her tongue, her gaze never meeting that of the elf lord.
"And how long has he been here, skulking among us?" her husband demanded.
"Five days," She answered. "And he was not in any condition to be walking much less skulking, It is a wonder he survived at all."
"He has no business in these woods among our people!" Celeborn glowered malevolently.
"Nonsense, Aragorn has lived most of his life in Imladris with an elvish name," Galadriel brushed aside his objection. "Elrond never had a moment's grief from him."
"Elrond is a bloody..."
"Celeborn do not speak like that of family" his wife interrupted with a scowl.
"My adar said I should not marry a Noldo," he snapped, his expression growing even darker if such a thing were possible.
"Well I can hardly be blamed if you were a rebellious youth," Galadriel stated, her attention returning to her needlepoint.
"You should have told me," he growled.
"Celeborn, had he died I could not have trusted you to keep that knowledge from your granddaughter." The Lady of Light replied crisply.
"I..." He paused, staring at her in confusion a moment. "What?"
"For all your blustering you have never denied that child anything," Galadriel stated. "What's more you are a completely abysmal liar. Had he passed I would need to contrive some way to convince her to sail West. Seeing as I could not very well rely upon you to aid in my deception I would need to convince you as well."
"Do you make a habit of this sort of behavior?" her husband asked, but his tone had lost some of its edge.
"Only in manners of politics," She replied. "And mercifully, you normally attempt to distance yourself from anything of the sort."
"Are you implying that you enjoy politics because you are such an exceptional liar?" he asked, his eyes twinkling despite his frown.
"I implied nothing of the sort," his wife insisted, a small smile curling her lips as she returned her attention to her sewing. "I said it outright."
"I believe you should make ammends," he stated, crossing the room to lean upon the arm of her chair.
"What did you have in mind?" she asked with a smile that could only be described as sultry.
"You could let me use him as orc bait," her husband suggest.
"Oh Celeborn really!" she snorted, rolling her eyes as she returned to her sewing.
"I might have guessed that Haldir would not trust me to fend for myself for even an hour." Aragorn smiled at the willowy elleth who had appeared in the doorway to the terrace.
"Actually I am here on an errand for the Lady," Silivren answered, smiling in return. "She had new clothes made for you."
"Really, that was unnecessary," Aragorn shook his head.
"You would not say that if you had seen what was left of your uniform," Silivren laughed. "Besides, you can not go about in Haldir's clothes forever."
"I wondered why everything seemed so long" he said with a chuckle, slowly rising from the bench and carefully making his way into the talan.
"That is quite a large hamper," he observed, watching as the elleth spread the garments out on the bed. "Silivren, most of these are clothes for court, not for travel."
"As befits a guest of your station." she replied with an affirming nod. "If there is anything else that you require you have only to ask and I will see that it is ordered."
"It is not my intention to remain in Caras Galadhon long enough to put such things to use." Aragorn stated.
"The Lady said as much," the elleth replied with a teasing smile. "And has asked me to tell you that none leave these lands without her blessing, and you shall not have her leave until your are once more whole."
"She is worse than my Adar," the mortal stated with a huff.
"The very least you might do is try the tunic for fit," Silivren giggled, holding one of the more regal selections out to him. "I am certain she will ask how you look and I would hate to have to lie to her." Aragorn shook his head, taking the tunic and shrugging into it. His arm became stuck in the sleeve and he frowned. drawing a giggle from the elleth.
"There is a fine thing," she stated, folding her delicate arms over her chest. "Fancy you going out into the wilds when you cannot even dress yourself."
Aragorn stifled a chuckle, his brow crinkled at the strange buzzing in the back of his brain, images surfacing from the depths of his patchy memory. A dark room, pounding on a door and the taste of stale liquor on his tongue.
"Can you not even dress yourself!" rough hands grasped him by the front of his shirt, jerking him to his feet. He swayed precariously and the figure in the darkness grasped him, none too gently, shaking him.
"Thorongil, snap out of it!"
"Whatever it is Denethor, it can wait until morning." he replied drowsily, sinking back onto the bed. "With all you have had to drink I can not believe you can even stand!"
"It can not wait!" The steward's son replied, almost pleadingly, jerking him to his feet once more.
"Is Mordor invading?" Thorongil asked blinking sleepily.
"No!" Denethor replied in exasperation.
"Oh, good" A pair of leggings hit him hard in the chest and he wobbled, wind milling one arm in an attempt to stay upright.
"It is Finduilas," his friend choked out.
"What ever you have done to anger her, sleep on my couch and go back to her properly contrite in the morning," Thorongil stated, giving up and flopping back on the bed once more. "Leave me out of it."
"She is delivering!" Denethor grasped him by the collar, shaking him almost violently.
"De..." Thorongil blinked the sleep and alcohol from his eyes. "It is too soon."
"Do you think I am completely unaware of that?" There was an almost mad gleam in his friend's eyes. "The healers say there is nothing they can do." Thorongil stumbled to his feet, rubbing his forehead.
"Denethor... I"
"Please!" The steward's son pleaded. "Please, I have seen what you do for the wounded in battle, Please, anything you can do."
"This is different," Thorongil insisted.
"She asked for you," Denethor entreated. "She says you have the magic of the elves."
"I only have some..." he looked into the other man's eyes. There was nothing but terror there.
"I can make you no promises," he said softly.
"I ask for none," Denethor answered.
"Lord Aragorn?" He closed his eyes, swallowing hard as he felt Silivren's hand on his arm and he turned to her forcing a smile.
"It is nothing," he insisted.
"Are you certain?" she asked gently, "you look unsettled."
"Quite," he nodded reassuringly "I only lost my balance for a moment."
"I do not understand elleths," Dinendal stated, his brow knitting as he inspected the fletching on his arrow.
"Elleths are only one of the many things I do not understand," Haldir answered as he stood, perfectly still, aiming at the target across the ranges. Orophin and Dinendal had been right, it felt good to get out. The warm summer sun filtered through the trees with a golden glow and the air was alive with the scent of wildflowers. All in all it was a perfect day.
"How do you go about making an impression on an elleth?" Din asked, an almost distressed expression on his face.
"Apparently the only impression I make upon elleths is one of intimidation and fear," the marchwarden chuckled. "Why do you not ask Orophin when he arrives?"
"I did," Din answered with a frown as Haldir stepped back and he took his place before the target. "He attributed all his luck to Meril's momentary bad judgment."
"If nothing else, he is honest," Haldir chuckled and shook his head. "I really do not know the first thing about females. As far as I can tell their sole source of amusement is in being cryptic and impossible to comprehend."
"You get on quite well with Lady Arwen and Aduial!" Din objected, releasing his arrow to fly into the target.
"That is somewhat different," Haldir sighed. "They are friends, nothing more."
"I will settle for that!" Din stated enthusiastically. Haldir shook his head again.
"I speak to them hardly differently than I would speak to you," Haldir shrugged. "The only advice I can offer is to find an elleth with whom you share some interests and then talk of those things."
"Excuse me, Haldir," the marchwarden turned at the sound of the female voice.
"Faeneth, is there something I might do for you?" She seemed different somehow and he frowned, clearly a poor choice because it seemed to make her appear even more nervous at approaching him.
"I... I was wondering if you might know where Rumil is today?" She asked, twisting her fingers in the hem of her sleeve. Ah the dress, that was it. Haldir could not remember ever seeing the young elleth in a dress before.
"I have not seen him today," Haldir shook his head. "Is something wrong?"
"No!" Her voice was almost a squeak and she appeared even more uneasy. "no, nothing wrong at all. I was just looking for him."
"Dinendal, have you seen him?" Haldir asked. He turned to look at the young warden only to find him staring, somewhat unabashedly at the back of the elleth's dress.
"I... bu...nuh...erm." He sputtered a moment as if his tongue had been glued to the roof of his mouth. Faeneth turned to look at him and he quickly tore his eyes way, gazing directly into her face with the expression of a terrified deer. She frowned in confusion.
"Well, sorry to trouble you," She stated, bowing her head to Haldir and carefully edging away from Dinendal.
"Like that elleth there," Haldir remarked, placing a hand on the younger elf's shoulder as they watched Faeneth march, rather resolutely, across the ranges. "You have a fair bit in common with her, you should have thought of something to say."
"All of the things I could think to say were likely to have got me slapped." Din stated.
"Ah but you would have made an impression!" Across the ranges Faeneth swept by a cluster of male wardens practicing and the youngest turned, his eyes growing wide as he took in her appearance. His hand slipped on his bow and his arrow went loose, imbedding itself in the tree just above Haldir's head but the elleth seemed not to notice.
"I should probably have Meril speak to her about not wearing that dress while we are training." the marchwarden stated with a slight cringe.
"Just do not ask me to do it," Dinendal stated miserably.
"Males are completely incomprehensible." Aduial stated with a slight frown, settling in the grass beside Silivren. Not far off Laurelin was standing on a rock, desperately trying to reach a butterfly resting on a mallorn bloom.
"I have certainly had no luck comprehending them." Silivren answered with a smile.
"I had one ask me to the festival today just to make another elleth jealous," Aduial shook her head.
"I found one peeping into some innocent elleth's window yesterday." Silivren nodded in sympathy.
"Aduial, would you mind telling Haldir that I am kidnapping his brother and tying him to my bed?" Faeneth appeared, flopping in the grass beside them with an irritated scowl. "I promise not to harm him in any way."
"Rumil did not like the dress?" Aduial asked in surprise.
"I would not know!" Faeneth crinkled her nose, stretching out in the grass and tucking her hands under her head. "I have not been able to find him anywhere! I have been looking for him all day!"
"Did you try that nice tree outside the lady's bath house?" Silivren asked curiously.
"Yes," Faeneth paused, rolling onto her side to look at them quizzically. "Have you ever tried to climb a tree in a dress? It's horribly difficult!"
"If you tuck your hem into your belt it goes a lot better." Laurelin advised. The trio turned to find the tiny elleth sitting cross-legged in the grass before them, watching them all intently.
"Dearest, aren't you picking flowers?" Aduial asked.
"Not any more," Laurelin replied.
"Why don't you go play for a bit, we will have to go soon." Aduial shook her head as she shooed her off.
"I'm going to have to remember that." Faeneth's brow furrowed as she inspected the hem of her gown.
"Do you ever have the feeling that males are completely mad and have no real grasp on reality?" Silivren asked pensively.
"If you hang around Haldir and his brothers long enough you become convinced of it." Aduial replied. "Which might be your whole problem, Faeneth. Were there no other young fellows impressed by your new look?"
"I hate to say it," Faeneth sighed. "But I think you and Meril are wrong about me and dresses, I might as well be invisible for all anyone noticed."
"Maybe they didn't like the color," Laurelin, dug her toe in the grass, scratching a spot on her nose.
"Dearest," Aduial began.
"Rumil's favorite color is green but Haldir likes silver... and he says he hates red." the elfling offered.
"Where did you here all this?" Silivren asked curiously.
"On the ranges," Laurelin replied. "the wardens talk about elleths when they practice."
"What do they say?" Faeneth asked eagerly.
"You are taking advice on males from an elfling?" Aduial asked skeptically.
"They behave like elflings!" Faeneth replied.
"Point taken," Aduial shrugged.
"Rumil says that an elf wants a bit of mystery in a lady... but Orophin says he has never actually been with a lady so it doesn't matter." Laurelin offered. All three elleths blinked at her in stunned silence a moment and she took this as encouragement. "Haldir says that if elleths were only more direct and to the point elves would not have to figure everything out and Dinendal says that walking around and breathing is enough to get him going."
"All right then!" Aduial scrambled to her feet, scooping the tiny elfling up in her arms as her friends burst into peals of laugher.
"Where's he planning on going?" Laurelin asked her sister curiously. "Do you go someplace special when you're in love?"
"Something like that," Faeneth blurted out, still giggling. Aduial scowled at her. The elfling cocked her head to the side, twining one braid around a chubby finger.
"Does it take a long time to get there?" she asked.