Chapter 12 Some Enchanted Evening

Red golden light filtered through the leaves of the trees, casting the city in a warm glow, Silivren paused on the foot bridge, looking down at the landing below, there he was, standing with his brothers, looking as if he had not a care in the world.

The news of the mortal hiding in their wood had spread quickly in only a few hours and secretly she was glad Arwen had taken to her bed in one of her many despondent moods. They would not keep this knowledge from her a moment longer.

The plan had been carefully laid out, Aduial and Meril were busily primping Aragorn and in less than an hour Haldir would come to take Arwen for a walk in the gardens under the guise of cheering her. The Marchwarden left nothing to chance and she was certain even now that any number of details were set in motion.

But at this moment she hardly cared. She could stand on this bridge the entire night just watching him, his movements, the way he carefully avoided the questions of the other wardens who stopped to trade rumors of the mysterious Captain of Gondor. One might actually believe he had no knowledge of it at all.

She sighed bitterly. There was no sense in standing around, an obscene amount of planning had gone into this whole affair and she had given her word to see it through. There was no time to be wasted lurking in the shadows of a tree, spying on an elf who barely knew she was alive.

"Remind me what we are doing out here." Dinendal prodded uneasily, trailing a half step behind Rumil. For his part Orophin tried to look as if he had no interest in that bit of information at all, his expression was far off, as if he normally went for a relaxing stroll through dense clumps of trees. In truth Din suspected from the slight leer he wore that he was thinking about a certain golden haired warden and her fiery personality.

"We are observing our quarry," Rumil replied, a slightly mad gleam in his eyes.

"If anything goes wrong and Haldir catches us anywhere near Aragorn we shall spend the next two centuries on the northern fences." Din insisted.

"Do not be silly," Rumil scoffed. "He will not catch us and things most certainly will go wrong! By now the torogtal has had ample time to do its work and he should begin to smell like a dead animal."

"I should like to point out that my wife spent half afternoon with him and, had it worked, she would most certainly notice." Orophin declared.

"It will work!" Rumil insisted, creeping through the shrubbery along the path. He looked over his shoulder at his brother and frowned. "Where is Din?" Orophin turned to look behind him and perhaps ten yards back Dinendal was silently slinking off in the opposite direction, his attention fixated on something near the gardens' pond. Rumil scowled, backtracking through the underbrush.

"Just where do you think you are going?" he demanded, grasping Din by the back of the tunic, though the other elf seemed not to notice.

"Is she not the most lovely thing you have ever seen?" Dinendal sighed, both brothers peered over his shoulder at the elleth, garbed in a stunning red gown and slowly turning the pages of a book.

"No," they said in unison.

"You know," Orophin said with a half smile. "you should go speak to her. She is all alone, if she shoots you down there will be no one to witness it."

"Thank you," Din stated, looking at him with a disgusted expression. "that makes me feel so much better."

"You can not waste your time on elleth," Rumil insisted, attempting to drag him away. "You have to ruin a mortal's life."

"Oh, you can ruin Aragorn's life on your own," Orophin assured, prying his brother free as Din stared off across the pond with a love sick expression. "Go have a good time and make an idiot of yourself."

"Yeah," Din sighed, creeping off through the underbrush in Faeneth's direction.

"Why did you let him go?" Rumil demanded irritably, "He is completely useless with elleths and that one is busy any way."

"This is why you cannot keep a love interest for more than a month," Orophin stated sagely, dragging his brother off in the opposite direction. "You do not understand elleths."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rumil demanded hotly.

"No elleth in Arda who wants to be left alone goes around in a dress like that," his brother replied.

"Do you have frozen custard in Gondor?" Laurelin asked, catching hold of Aragorn's hand in both of hers and swinging it as she hopped down the garden path.

"No, I haven't had frozen custard in a very long time," he answered, smiling. He bent his arm, pulling the elfling's feet off the ground and she squealed in delight.

"Darling, lord Aragorn is not a climbing tree," Aduial reminded gently, desperately trying to hide her smirk.

"No, he's much better!" the elfling insisted, earning a laugh from the mortal.

"He has been very sick and you promised Haldir you would look after him, on his first trip out" Aduial insisted. Laurelin's face crinkled a bit and she carefully straightened the sleeve of Aragorn's tunic so that he looked more tidy.

"Haldir said if I rumpled you then you might be mistaken for a cave troll and that would be bad," Laurelin offered, sending both adults into peals of laughter.

"That I might," he replied. "I probably looked very much like one when I got here."

"A little bit" the tiny elfling stated, she scratched the end of her nose pensively a moment. "What's a cave troll?" she asked.

"Oh they're very scary," Aragorn answered, pretending to scowl. "They're big, smelly and stupid and they walk like this." He held his arms stiffly at his sides, hunched his shoulders and slowly drug his feet along the path as he made a growling sound. Laurelin released his hand, tumbling into the grass and rolling around in a fit of laughter. Aduial gave him an odd look, rolling her eyes as the elfling sprang to her feet and began impersonating a troll, though her growls sounded more like a lost bear cub.

"Look at it this way," Aragorn defended. "she will never wake you in the night with troll nightmares."

"It is a very small comfort," Aduial answered, shaking her head as the tiny elfling scattered dirt off of the carefully tended path. "I shall be sure to remind myself of it when I have to scrub her feet later."

"Can we take Aragorn for frozen custard?" Laurelin asked, pausing with her arms held out in front of her.

"Perhaps another time dear, it is almost your bed time," Aduial replied, Laurelin opened her mouth to protest.

"Cave trolls don't like custard." Aragorn stated seriously.

"Oh," she seemed to consider this a moment and then returned to her troll impersonations, snarling and heavily stamping her feet.

"You are very good with children," Aduial stated, taking his arm as they walked.

"Aye, well, I've had some practice." Aragorn admitted.

"You will make a good father some day," She said. She frowned as he paused on the path, a distressed look on his face. He rubbed his forehead, unsettled by his reawakening memory.


The red-orange glow of sunset spread out across the citadel, turning the white marble of the tower of Ecthelion brilliant shades of silver and gold. The Tower Guard stood watch in silence, as unmoving as the cold stillness that had settled over the hall of the Steward. Beyond the court of the fountain a single figure sat, hunched on the seat that faced into the black lands, his face buried in his hands, oblivious to peaceful beauty around him.

"There is nothing more you could have done." Mithrandir's voice was soft and grave, his gnarled hands clutching his staff as if he needed it to steady himself.

"I'm sure they find they terribly comforting," Thorongil answered bitterly, staring out across the plain, tears streaking his face.

"Finduilas lives, and when the sting of this sorrow has passed they will take comfort in that," Mithrandir said soothingly, gripping the captain's shoulder. "There will be other children."

"Do you know that for certain?" His eyes looked almost desperate as he gazed up into the wizard's face. Mithrandir's brow knitted and he settled on the bench beside his young friend.

"What do you fear, Captain of Gondor?" He asked in almost a whisper. Thorongil's shoulders slumped as he buried his face in his hands once more.

"It is only chance that Denethor did not bury his wife with his daughter this day," the captain answered wretchedly. "Gandalf, I do not know how I managed to save her."

"You managed," the wizard answered gruffly. "And that is all that maters. It is not always yours to give and take life where it is deserved. It is only yours to do what is right."

"He is like my brother," Thorongil choked out. "It hurts as if she were my own child." A sob twisted from his throat and he slumped against the wizard's shoulder, the old man's arms comforting him as if he were only a boy.


"No," he said softly, his voice thin, "I don't think a family is in my future"

"Lord Aragorn?" her fingers brushed his arm soothingly, her lovely face crinkling in a frown.

"Old memories," Aragorn stated, trying to sound reassuring. "They just come rushing back to me all at once. It's nothing to be concerned over."

"I know it must be unsettling," Aduial said gently. "But the sooner your memories return, the better."

"I know," he nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry, I was so eager to get out, I had no appreciation for how exhausted I still was."

"It's all right," Aduial answered with a soft smile, "I thought as much. Follow this path here and it will go straight back to the entrance we came in. Haldir's talan is right outside. Laurelin, it's time to go."

"Can't we stay out an catch fireflies?" she pleaded, looking up at her sister with large sad eyes.

"You can play with Lord Aragorn another time," Aduial said with a smirk. "Now say goodnight."

"Goodnight!" She squeaked out, wrapping both arms around his leg.

"Pleasant dreams, pen neth," he answered, stroking the top of her head. She released his leg and turned off the other path, scampering toward home.

"You will be all right on your own?" Aduial asked.

"I am sure if I am not home at a proper time Haldir will come out looking for me," Aragorn laughed.

"I am sure he will," Aduial giggled in return. "Goodnight lord Aragorn."

"Goodnight, my lady." he said, watching a moment as she followed up the side path, catching up with the elfling who was now chasing a firefly. He sighed, turning his feet up the main path. He should really return to Haldir's talan but at the moment he felt so unsettled and the cool evening breeze felt soothing on his skin.

He slowed his pace, breathing deep the sent of flowers and he closed his eyes as he paused a moment. It was not Imladris but it still held that familiar feeling of home. Elven voices raised in song met his ears, the silver glow of Star-glass lamps, the tranquil stillness, all so much like that rose laden garden he wandered as a boy.

He felt at peace here, more peaceful than he had felt for many long years. It was almost enough to banish the longing ache from his heart.

"Far better not to remember that," he murmured to himself softly, once more picking is way slowly along the garden path.

"You needn't have worried," Arwen sighed, taking Haldir's arm as they walked the garden path. The suns last rays kissed the leaves of the trees and overhead a lamp or two sprang to life, adding their silvery aura to the magic of twilight.

"Of course I need worry, my Lady" Haldir scoffed, "that is my job. I see to the safety of all in this city."

"Was I in some danger?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"Yes," he answered simply. He held his breath a moment as she gently squeezed his arm. Her fragile touch sent a tingling through his skin and he forced himself to shake it off.

"It cannot be helped, you know," she said softly, her gaze straying to the flowers that dotted the garden path.

"No, I suppose not," he conceded, feeling heart heavy at the sadness in her eyes. "At least not by me."

"I am an awful, ungrateful friend, aren't I?" she asked, forcing a half smile. He opened his mouth to reply and just as quickly closed it, narrowing his eyes.

"I smell a trap." he stated.

"That is because you are very perceptive." Arwen answered, she shook her head with a sigh "But I am, you are always here for me. When have I ever been there for you?"

"I assure you, my Lady, I manage quite well on my own," Haldir insisted.

"Do you really?" She asked, her brow creasing in a frown. "I had thought that at some point you might find someone more worthy of your affections than I. But you have not, have you?"

"Ah, my Lady, who could be more worthy than you?"

"I am serious," she scowled. "There are any number of eligible elleth in Lothlorien, you might at least talk to some of them!"

"I speak to many," Haldir insisted defensively.

"Border reports do not count," Arwen insisted. "You have to make a bit of effort."

"To be honest they do not seem very interested in speaking to me about anything that does not involve swords or arrows." he shrugged, the tips of his ears turning pink.

"You make yourself too unapproachable," she argued, Haldir gave her a knowing look and she paused. "We are not talking about me!"

"Does potentially mangling with my social life make you feel better?" he asked curiously.

"A little, she admitted grudgingly.

"Then by all means, continue," he offered.

"Well at the very least you should take someone to the Midsummer festival," she insisted. "You are perfectly capable of being charming and yet you insist in skulking about the wood as if there were some threat behind every shrub...." her voice trailed off and she stared blankly at the ground. A pair of boots were protruding from beneath the branches of an overhanging lilac. Haldir scowled, they were the unmistakable treads of a warden, and he prodded the errant elf in the calf, earning a yelp and a rattling of branches as the elf rolled onto the path in a panic.

"Dinendal whatever are you doing?" Arwen asked, her lips curling in the faintest smirk.

"I am..." His voice trailed off as he picked a leaf from his hair. He seemed to grasp desperately at a reply for a moment before sighing miserably. "I am attempting to make friends."

"With shrubbery?" Arwen asked with her most mystified expression. Haldir closed his eyes, only the odd curl of his lips as evidence that it was taking every ounce of his will to keep from laughing outright.

"With an elleth!" Din stated quickly, though this only seemed to anger her and he cringed as her eyes narrowed.

"If you have an innocent elleth in that lilac I am going to personally take a switch to your backside." she snapped as he scrambled to his feet. She scowled at him darkly as she leaned into the bush, peering through it's branches.

"Oh," she said her voice softening. Through the cover of the lilac she could easily make out Faeneth seated on the bank of the pond, worrying her lower lip as she turned the pages of a well worn book.

"It's actually easier to make friends if you try talking," she stated with a more teasing expression, causing the young warden to blush.

"Haldir said that," he admitted. "But if I talk I just say something stupid."

"He does tend to choose his words poorly," Haldir stated as if it pained him a little to say anything derogatory about his young protégé.

"Nonsense," Arwen shook her head, folding her arms over her chest. "You seem to have no difficulty at all speaking to me."

"You are not the most beautiful and charming elleth on earth," Din sighed, peering around the lilac with a longing expression. His skin tingled with the same hint of danger he felt before combat and he turned to find Arwen glaring at him once more. "What I... I...you.... well..."

"I see what you mean," Arwen conceded to Haldir who was still struggling not to laugh. She grasped Dinendal by the front of his tunic and stood him up straight, dusting leaves and moss from his chest.

"Relax a little," she ordered. "No, too relaxed. At ease, not sloppy. Soft smile, a little more. There." She stepped back and appraised him. "well, you are not the worst I have ever seen."

"Thank you," Din replied uneasily as if he were unsure how he should reply. Arwen proceeded as if she hadn't heard him

"Faeneth likes adventure stories, archery, the color green, swimming and horses."

"You know all that about an elleth you only barely know?" Haldir asked, clearly impressed.

"What do you know about Dinendal?" she asked curiously. Haldir opened his mouth and just as quickly closed it. Arwen gave him a teasing look before turning back to the young warden. "Pick one."

"Um... Archery." Din stated, looking as if he already regretted his choice.

"What are you going to say?" She asked.

"Uh...."

"Whatever you do, do not say that," she advised., "try again."

"I... saw you on the ranges the other day, you are quite a good archer," Dinendal stated a bit lamely. Arwen sighed, shaking her head.

"I suppose that will have to do," she took his arm and steered him around, giving him a gentle nudge in the direction of Faeneth. "Now go make friends."

"But I..." He waffled, looking desperately at Haldir for some form of rescue. The Marchwarden gazed placidly up at a mallorn bloom, apparently entirely too happy to be left out of the conversation.

"Go make friends or I shall make sure that every lady in Lothlorien knows to check the lilacs for you." She stated drily.

"Sweet Elbereth," he gulped, tugging nervously at his tunic before striding across the lawn toward Faeneth."

"You certainly know how to put the fear of the Ainur in them," Haldir chuckled as she took his arm again and they continued down the path.

"And who would know better than you?" Arwen teased.

"Aye, even a legion of orcs cannot strike such fear in my heart," he confessed. "nothing is more fearsome than your displeasure, my lady."

"Except perhaps my grandmother's ire." she laughed.

"I would rather have the Lady's ire than yours," Haldir insisted firmly, smiling as she burst into laughter. "Do you feel better?"

"I do actually," Arwen said thoughtfully. "It is rather hard to feel gloomy when you discover elves in shrubbery."

"One of the many charms of our city," Haldir nodded in agreement.

"Excuse me, my Lady," Meril appeared on the path almost as if she had materialized from the hedge, her uniform perfectly pressed as usual. "I wondered if I might borrow your escort a moment?"

"All work and no play," Arwen teased, squeezing his arm fondly before releasing it. "You must promise to return him when you've finished with him,"

"You have my word, my lady," she saluted as Arwen continued down the path.

"Is everything ready?" Haldir whispered, his lips barely moving.

"Aduial just left him," Meril nodded in exasperation. "It took us a full half hour to get him properly dressed and unsuspicious! In the end I had to convince him that he frightened Laurelin in his rough clothes."

"You do not think he suspects anything?" he asked cautiously.

"I do not think he has any idea where he is at all," she scowled. "Certainly not enough to notice Aduial gave him the wrong directions. I do not understand the need for all this subterfuge, why could you not simply tell Lady Arwen?"

"No," he shook his head firmly. "It would be better for both of them like this without time to think about fears or worries. It should be like this with nothing more between them than starlight and no greater concern than the chill of the night air."

"And Orophin insists he is the only one in the family with any sense of romance," Meril stated with a teasing smirk. Haldir gave her a guilty smile before starting down the path.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To make certain my plans were not for nothing," he answered in a low voice.

"I cannot decide if you're a voyeur or simply into self abuse," she snorted, shaking her head as she watched him disappear into the trees like a ghost.

Arwen sighed. A cool breeze ruffled her ebony tresses filling her senses with the heady perfume of night flowers as the stars twinkled to life overhead. She could still take comfort in twilight, it seemed now as if each day had become a race to it. Once the sun no longer washed the world in harsh reality and the sky twinkled to life in silvery magic she could put aside her sorrows. One more day was gone, one day closer to his return.

There was just enough enchantment in the dusky garden for her to believe it. That Aragorn still lived, that he would soon return to them. She could hear the far distant strains of a lyre and she almost laughed as it strummed out Lay of Leithian. It seemed so very long ago that she had sung this very refrain in a moonlit garden in Imladris and a boy had mistaken her for Luthien. She hummed to herself, forgetting that Haldir should have rejoined her by now.

Now it befell on summer night,
upon a lawn where lingering light
yet lay and faded faint and grey,
that Luthien danced while he did play.

How odd, she could swear she heard someone singing, and not an elvish voice to be sure. What's more he seemed close. Surely her imagination was playing tricks on her, but still, it was quite a fine voice and she found herself strangely curious as to who could sing with such passion. Perhaps some young lover wooing the object of his affections.

A sudden impish feeling came over her and she was reminded of Dinendal, perhaps his evening was going better than he had supposed. She crept ahead on silent feet, determined to see for herself who this minstrel might be.