Author's note: And on to the fifth!

Chapter 5

"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
-W. Edwards Deming (1900 - 1993)

The next time Melina regained consciousness, the sun was high in the sky and she was horrified to find out that her condition was deteriorating. Her vision was hazy, her mouth dry, she could smell the acidic scent of bile on her dress...she must have thrown up during the night. Her hair was pasted to her sweaty face, her dress was also drenched in cold sweat and though she realized her temperature must be sky rocketing, she felt terribly cold.

Trees and swamps and flowers and bushes zoomed past her at an incredible speed, making her nausea worse than ever. There was another pain as well, many strange pains in fact; all over her body she felt the burning sensation of blades digging and cutting into her soft flesh, but she could see no knives. She could hear strange voices as well: deep, evil whispers filled her ears and from the corner of her eyes she saw dark figures watching her.

Melina felt it again, despair, a deep and dark feeling that settled in her broken heart, because she realized at that moment, that she was going insane. She was having difficulty separating vision with reality, truth with lies. She felt the man behind her, cradling her broken shell, whispering in her burning ear, but he felt so distant. She was still in this strange half way trance when the sun set, but with the growing darkness, her grip on reality faded even faster. She knew she was sick, in mind and in body, and for the nth time since she had arrived in this world, Melina wished for death. Once and for all she wanted her pain to be over, had she not suffered enough for her sins? She doubted her body could take any more pain, any more hurt, any more or anything. She was welcoming the strange darker than dark blackness that was creeping in her vision.

There was no more pain, no more nightmares, no more nothing. It was all left behind as she walked into this comfortable, soft, even plushy, darkness.

After what she would later call "The Blackout", Melina remembered waking up on two different occasions, before fully regaining consciousness. The memories were strange, as if she was watching a movie in which she was starring, though she felt nothing of what her body seemed to be going through.

The first time she awoke, she was in the arms of the blond man. He had one hand under her neck and the other under her knees. They were standing still, she could see trees above her, most of which were loosing their colourful leaves as a sweet breeze swept through them. The air was clean here, and smelled of nectar and delicious food. She could hear whispers around her, many of them...not demons though, no, angels. A dozen or more of them she figured, though she could only see the gentle face of the blond stranger, looking down at her with a...yes, a smile on his serene face.

Melina smiled back, though when she did she felt an intense and searing pain in her abdomen, she screamed. The blond man dropped to his knees and laid her on the ground, she could see more people around her now; lo! how they looked beautiful in their long robes, all of them, angels. But the increasing pain kept her from lingering her eyes on them any longer, she closed her eyes shut to fight against the pain, and then she knew no more.

The second time she emerged from oblivion, Melina was lying down on a bed, and a black haired angel and looking straight at her. He was surrounded by the purest light she had ever seen, his grey eyes were sharp and seemed to be on fire, like diamonds. She could feel both of his warm hands on each side of her skull, forcing her to look at him. He spoke to her, long and musical words, almost like a chant. And then, to her eternal surprise, her bent over slightly and kissed her forehead. His lips were warm and soft, his breath sweet, she felt tears of relief fill her eyes; something inside her lifted, like a giant weight she had not realized she carried. When, after a long moment, his lips parted from her head and he sat up again, Melina saw a smile on his godly face as he whispered something to her.

And finally, for perhaps the first time since she had entered this world, she fell in a true restful sleep.

Soft, warm, peaceful...these and more Melina perceived as she lazily awoke from possibly the best night of sleep anyone had ever had. Her body felt heavy, but was not hurting any more, the air she breathed was clean and incredibly refreshing. Melina opened her eyes slowly after she turned on her left side and buried herself deeper in the giant blanket covering her. There was someone moving about in her room, a woman. Melina might have felt troubled or frightened, but she felt too good to be bothered with such exhausting emotions. She watched the maiden come to and fro, carrying now some folded clothes, then a churn of water. The woman looked young, her hair was long and a stunning tone of brown, her face was perfect and Melina could hear her humming when she came close enough to the bed. The room she had slept in was large, and airy; in fact it seemed that the wall she was facing was more of an open archway than a proper wall. Outside the arch she could see many trees, trees of every colour imaginable, and amongst these were houses and corridors and stairs.

Returning her eyes to the room, Melina was beginning to think she liked this place. Unlike the castle in which she had woken up after meeting Gandalf, this room was very organic, though just as richly decorated. There was a statue of a woman left of the archway and on the right was a long tapestry depicting a giant golden tree. Closer to the bed, where the maiden was now putting down a few accessories, was a vanity topped with a mirror; both were made out of wood which had been intricately decorated with beautiful carvings. The vanity sat against the left wall of the room, close to her bed, though separated by what seemed to be a window with long white curtains that moved slowly with the autumn breeze.

The maiden stirred again as she finished arranging the combs and trinkets on the vanity, most of which Melina could not see. She moved so gracefully across the room, like an ethereal being that barely touched the ground; no sound came from her soft shoes as she walked, only her robes ruffling betrayed her reality. Melina watched as she disappeared into another archway on the right of the room, across the vanity and the bed she was lying in. Fully awake and curious now, Melina sat up in her bed and examined the rest of the room. Her bed was placed in a corner of the room so that there was only space for one small night stand between the wall to her right and the head of the bed. On the wall were four large paintings, each of them depicting what seemed to be a different season of the same picture: a large house near a large waterfall which fell into a large, crystal blue river. A valley it seemed to be, with many trees and flowers in the summer painting.

Turning away from the wall and back to the flowing curtains on her left, Melina slowly pushed her blanket away and swung her legs off the bed. Her feet met a nice, soft carpet and she took a moment to entangle her toes with the pleasing texture. She noticed a pair of baby blue slippers lying on the carpet and put them on; perfect size, incredibly warm and yet very light. Looking back up, Melina began to wonder if she was not in a dream instead of reality. The thought scared her, and she pushed it far away for now. Even if this was a dream, at least it was a good one and she would enjoy it while it lasted.

Stepping out of the bed and onto her rested legs, Melina untangled the nigh gown that must have been given to her during her sleep and walked slowly towards the curtains. Once she walked by what seemed to be ten layers of soft, transparent silk, Melina found herself on a beautiful balcony looking out on the autumn painting she had just examined in her room, except that she was in the house depicted on the series. The valley seemed endless, and the waterfall glorious; the river that spread underneath was just as blue as the pictures had told and the trees just as majestic. What the painting could not have prepared her for were the details of the house she was standing in. All around her, she could see statues amongst the trees, archways covered in flowers, corridors emerging from bushes; such a strange architecture for Melina's mind to process. It was difficult to determine weather the buildings or the plants had been there first, or if they had all been grown together. The harmony between nature and the house was beyond incredible, it was perfect.

Melina stood still, stunned by the beauty in front of her, for a long time; and it took her longer still before she finally turned back to the room. When she re-entered, the maiden was standing in front of her with a frown on her face. Melina's heart skipped a beat. It was difficult to say what emotion she felt at that moment: fear, wonder, surprise, amazement, curiosity...all these things and above all she suddenly was certain that this was not a dream. Never in her life would she had been able to dream a creature such as this woman. Perfect in every way and possessed by a strange aura of divine power that, to Melina, could only confirm that this being was akin to angels.

Unfortunately, the maiden's reproachful look when she took Melina's cold hands in her own was anything but angelic. The tall woman pulled Melina all the way inside the room and through the second archway in which she had disappeared earlier. It led to an adjacent room which turned out to be a private bathroom. Melina was still taking in the wonderful sight of the steaming bath when the maiden began undoing her nightgown. Melina suddenly felt the fabric fall down her shoulders and barely had time to grip it tightly before it lowered past her small breasts.

At her reaction the maiden looked confused. She spoke a few soft words, pointed to the bath and tugged slightly at the nightgown. Melina felt her heartbeat accelerating and her breathing shortened, she felt panic and fear. Irrational though it was, for she had been bathed by the nurses at the residential home countless time, she suddenly felt afraid of disrobing in front of someone. The maiden seemed to ponder for a moment before she smiled and slowly, silently, left the room. Melina felt ashamed, she knew the woman had only meant to help her. Still clutching the soft fabric, she pushed the tears of frustration away painfully before taking a few deep breaths and calming herself. It was foolish to keep thinking that she was unharmed by the events that had happened to her; it would take a while, maybe it would never fully happen, for her to recover.

Luckily, the hot bath did a very good job at relaxing her tense body and worked miracles on her dirty hair. While she simmered merrily in the very large tub, playing with the different oils and soaps that had been deposited on a nearby table, Melina examined the bathroom. The ceiling was much like it was in the room, flat and crossed with large dark beams which were intricately carved with beautiful patterns. Unlike the bedroom, this room had no archways leading outside, only one window behind her which was covered with a thick blue curtain; much more private. Aside from the bath, the room was furnished with a long wall mirror besides which was a folding wall for changing. There were a few paintings decorating the walls, most of which carried the theme of water. Melina noticed a chamber pot placed in one of the corners of the room, not far from the window, she would have to make use of it later.

The bath lasted until the water turned cold and Melina's fingers and toes were so pruned that it hurt to walk. A towel had been left for her as well as a dress which hung on the folding wall. After drying, Melina wrapped the towel around herself and walked towards the dress, as she did so she noticed someone moving to her left and jumped in surprise, the figure also jumped away, equally frightened. Her heart threatening from jumping out of her throat, Melina examined the woman in front of her...it took her a long moment before she realized she was staring at her own reflexion. When she had first woken up in the horse castle, Melina had been able to examine her scars with a self-examination, it was another thing entirely to see what they looked like from a third-person perspective. Horrifying came to mind. As she walked slowly towards the mirror, Melina's towel dropped and she was graced with a full view of her mutilated body.

Everywhere, scars.

Not only on her arms and legs, but some on her breasts, her butt...and her face. What could have been a pretty face, perhaps a little too skinny, but a fair complexion, blessed with beautiful green eyes; the whole thing ruined with numerous scars on her cheeks, one across her left eyebrow, two on her nose and a particularly nasty one across her lips.

Melina felt all the air in her lungs leave her as she covered her face with both hands. Her throat felt like fire and her eyes stung. She choked a few times before falling to her knees and her tears began to flow freely. Her noises must have worried the maiden for a few minutes later she heard the woman run into the room and approach her. Melina wanted to push her away, to yell at her, tell her to leave; but all she mustered was waving her left hand at her while still covering her face with her right. Warm fingers intertwined with her own, the touch made her shiver and jerk away, but the maiden fell to her knees and scooped up Melina's body into a tight embrace. She felt the maiden's chin rest on her head and though she still felt irked by the touch of a stranger, Melina had no strength left to fight it. She was not able to say how long they remained in that position, hours, maybe days. It took her a long time to cry her last tears and finally breath normally.

The maiden's embrace never lessened, and though the position must have been uncomfortable, she never moved a limb. The touch, for Melina, went from unwanted, past tolerable, and into desirable, even needed. Long after her tears had stopped, Melina finally made a movement to separate herself from the woman's hold. Nothing sudden, a simple lifting of head head, straightening of her neck. She looked up into the maiden's clear blue eyes, in them she saw compassion, love and care. No pity. Together the stood up, the maiden standing between Melina and the mirror as she guided her behind the folding screen. When the maiden took the dress down from the screen and offered to help her into it, Melina nodded.

With someone to help her, Melina found the placing of a dress in this world to go much smoother than the first time she had attempted the feat. They were done in a moment's time. The dress was long and warm, made for chilly autumn days such as this one. When they emerged from the screen, Melina walked directly to her room, not bothering looking into the wall mirror. The maiden followed her silently. Confused as to what she should do next, Melina turned to the other woman.

-"What now?" Melina said out loud, though she highly doubted the woman would understand.

Though the words might have had no meaning for the maiden, she walked past Melina and picked up a brush from the vanity. At first she invited Melina to sit on the small bench which had been stored under the vanity, but one look at the mirror was enough to make Melina take a step backwards. The bed instead then. The maiden laid out the blanket in a comfortable manner before sitting down and inviting Melina to do the same. The next hour or so was then spent on brushing her long, untamed, but finally clean, hair dry. When that incredible feat was finally over, the maiden returned to the vanity and chose a few accessories for Melina to wear. A silver circlet was placed on top of her head, giving her a very stranger queenly feeling, and a silver pendant with a blue gem in the middle was tied to her neck. Melina was torn between wondering what she looked like now, all dressed in these fancy garment, and the image of her face in the mirror earlier. She decided that perhaps it was too early to confront her scars again and turned to the maiden for further instructions.

The woman smiled to her and, as she stood up, told something to Melina in her musical language while motioning for her to remain in the room. Following this, the maiden quickly left the room. Melina decided to head the woman's order and remained in the room. Now, dressed in an incredibly beautiful silver blue dress, she walked slowly to and fro in her bedroom, inspecting the paintings more closely and avoiding the vanity at all cost. It was not long before the maiden returned, and with another person following her closely. Melina did not recognize the man at first, he bowed to her and it was not until he lifted his golden head again that she realized he was the blond rider who had brought her here.

She experienced a strange array of feeling, not for the first time since she had arrived in this world: irrational happiness at the sight of his youthful face, sorrow at the memory of the circumstances of their first meeting and the departure of Gandalf, curiosity, for she wondered what happened after she had blacked out and wonder. So much wonder she had already, and would continue, to experience in this strange valley with this angelic people. The rider looked even more handsome than before, dressed not in ridding clothes, but a silver robed, his hair braided in a complicated fashion.

While she was still contemplating his beauty and her memories, the rider had offered her his arm. It took a few words in his deep voice to shake her back to reality. Smiling apologetically, Melina hurriedly hook her arm with his and let herself be guided out into the rest of the world. They walked together through many corridors and it seemed to Melina that the house was never ending. Each corner brought new marvels to her eyes and soon Melina had forgotten about any of her worries and concentrated in watching.

The entire house was richly decorated with paintings and carvings of various scenes she did not recognize. Some of the statues were so realistic that Melina had to resist the urge to touch them and make sure they were not live beings. Trees and flowers, as she had first witnessed on her balcony, truly seemed to have free reign in the house; and though nothing seemed disorderly, she could see that walls had been built with openings specifically created as to not cut this or that tree.

These modification resulted in the strangest layout she had ever seen; with holes in the floor, walls and ceiling, twists and turns of the corridors which would have been unneeded if they had simply cut down a few large trees. There were no windows as far as she could see; the whole house was open to the outdoor elements and at this time of the year, the marble floor was covered in a thin layer of dead leaves which danced constantly with the breeze.

The entire place smelled wonderful; a mixture of autumn and the sweet smell of wild flowers. There was also the lingering humid smell of water which probably came from the waterfall she had seen earlier. When they began climbing a few flights of stairs built around large trees. Melina then heard a beautiful sound…the sound of someone singing. They, there was indeed more than one voice, were singing in that beautiful and exotic language. Their voices were faint at first, but the more they climbed, the louder they became. The combined sound of running water, chanting birds and their song, was the most beautiful thing Melina had ever heard. When the golden rider finally stopped walking, to her legs' relief, she noticed they were standing in front of an archway. On the other side, she could see some sort of private office; there was a desk filled with papers, and the walls were lined with bookshelves crammed with hundreds of books. Melina then realized that she had seen no doors in the entire house, not one.

Not a very private people, she thought.

Nevertheless, they did not simply barge into the room, her companion rang a small bell that hung on the side of the archway before entering the study. Once inside, Melina realized that they were not alone; a man was standing off to her left on what looked like a balcony. He was looking out on the valley below and only turned to them after a long moment. To say that he was beautiful would have been a gross understatement, his face pale as snow but his hair dark as the night, his eyes seemed like endless pools of power and Melina felt in her very core that this person was someone to be reckoned with. His age was difficult to determine, neither old nor young, there were no grey strands in his hair and his face was beardless.

He inspired awe and it was in awe that Melina stared at the man. And then something in her memory stirred, she recognized this person. He had been the one who had kissed her forehead; there was no doubt about it. Unconsciously, her hand rose up to the place where she had felt his warm, soft lips. His watched her movements for a moment; finally, when she thought she could not take his piercing stare anymore, looked away and began to speak with her companion. The conversation lasted a few minutes; and she could only guess its topic.

Their frequent glances in her direction indicated that she at least was part of the debate that seemed to be taking place between the two men. Unsure of what she should be doing, Melina began to wonder around the office. She examined the title of a few books, but was unable to make heads or tale of the strange alphabet inscribed on them. Not only another language, she thought, but not a Latin one either...nor any other written language she knew of. Slightly more frustrated than before, she abandoned her examination of the library and returned to the two men. The man with black hair seemed deep in thought at the moment, and only when she stood close to him did he seem to return to reality. Before she could step away or react, he had placed his hand on her right shoulder, and though his touch was warm and gentle, Melina had to overcome the reflex of jerking away.

As she tensed under his hand, Melina saw a deep sorrow in the man's eyes; she could not help feeling as if he knew what she was going through, and perhaps he did. She felt his fingers squeeze her bony shoulder slightly before he retracted his arm, he cared about her, that much was certain. The man spoke again and it took Melina a long moment before she realized he was talking to her.

-"I'm sorry," she said apologetically, "but I do not understand you."

But the man spoke again, and again, until Melina's ear was finally able to comprehend that he was repeating the same word...ah, this again. He was introducing himself. For a moment she was brought back to that day with Gandalf, when she had learnt his name. She wondered where he was at that precise moment.

-"Elrond." the man spoke the word again.

-"El...ron...d..." Melina attempted the short, simple name. "Elrond."

Elrond nodded. Encouraged by this achievement, Melina turned to the golden rider and waited for his name.

-"What?" she asked, after he spoke his name once.

The man chuckled, Melina's heat skipped a beat. If she would spend the rest of her life attempting to make this man laugh, it would not be a wasted life. The sound was, indescribable. So shocked was she that she completely forgot to listen to him as he repeated his long name a dozen or so more times. Shaking herself mentally, Melina concentrated. If she was to thank this man for probably saving her life by bringing her here, she would at least do it knowing his name.

Now...Gler...no...Glo..yes. Glor...fin...del...maybe?

-"Glorfindel." she said in a whisper, trying the word on her tongue; but apparently she had been louder than she thought for the golden rider smiled brightly (her heart skipped once again) and nodded.

The two men now stared at her and seemed to be waiting for something. Oh right, she thought, my turn. Pointing at herself, she repeated her name a few times, slowly. One after the other, Elrond and Glorfindel spoke her name, flawlessly of course, then returned to conversing with each other. Now that the introductions were done, it seemed there were other matters to settle. She realized she was hungry and though well rested, this overflow knowledge to assimilate was beginning to take its toll on her mind. But the men seemed oblivious to her presence for now and there was little she could do except to interrupt them, which would be highly impolite. She opted instead to go look out on the balcony.

The view was much like the one from her own room, though slightly higher. Melina had not paid much attention to the sun since she had woken up, taking for granted that it was morning, but it seemed she had awoken from her slumber in late afternoon. The sun was slowly disappearing on the horizon, leaving behind a beautiful orange glow which made the river look like liquid gold. All around the house below lanterns began to appear in the growing darkness, she wondered how many inhabitants there were here. It seemed this house was the only building in the valley, which was strange in itself. She would have expected an entire community to be living in such a paradise.

Night was settling in comfortably by the time she felt his hand on her shoulder. Though she did not hear him approach, she was not startled. Before turning around, she knew she would see Glorfindel, and indeed it was his smiling face that let her know they could now leave the cozy study. Again he offered her his arm and she followed him out, after he bowed to Elrond, who was staying behind. They walked back in silence, the language barrier was beginning to highly irritate Melina, but there was nothing to be done about it today.

She was unsure of their destination until she recognized the archway to her bedchamber. She was confused; was she expected to go back to bed already? Melina was starving, she had tried to ignore the growing pain in her stomach for the past few hours, but it was beginning to be difficult to walk because of it. Unfortunately it was impossible to tell Glorfindel that. He unhooked his arm from hers when they were in the archway, bowed deeply, said a few words and then disappeared.

Having nothing better to do, Melina re-entered her room. It seemed the maiden, or perhaps someone else, had changed the bedsheets; they were now pale blue instead of pure white. A few lanterns had been lit in her bedroom as well as the bathroom. After glancing in the bath chamber, Melina noticed that another dress had been hung on the folding screen. If she had thought the dress she had been given earlier was elegant, it paled in comparison to this new one. It was composed of two layers; the first one was made of a thick cotton-like material, silver in colour and adorned with tiny gems around the collar. The second layer was made of lighter material, like a cloak, of a darker grey colour and seemed to tie at the waist with a navy blue belt. Melina believed the entire thing would most likely look lovely, though how she was going to figure out how to put it on was beyond her. She wondered if she was even supposed to put it on at this time.

Luckily for her, the maiden came to her rescue. The woman walked into the bathroom with a large smile on her face, she too had changed her robes. She was now wearing a very beautiful deep red dress made of the same material as her own it seemed. Before she knew what was happening, Melina was disrobed, rubbed with a nicely scented oil, and redressed. After the cloak was fastened around her waist, Melina was guided back to the bed room where a new necklace was given to her, this one without a gem though stylish none the less. No circlet this time, instead the maiden indicated she should sit on the bed. Confused but obedient, Melina sat down and felt the woman settle behind her, seconds later fingers dug into her hair and began braiding them.

The process took a very long time, but Melina could have let it go one forever. The feeling of strong, yet soft, hands working on her skull was something she had never experienced before, at least not like this. If she was a cat, she would have purred. Heavenly, was a good word to describe it. When the maiden was done she stood up and examined her work. It took Melina a few seconds to reawaken her body from the trance it had succumbed to, and when she opened her eyes she saw that the woman was inviting her to the vanity...to the mirror. The warm fuzzy feeling quickly left her and she suddenly felt cold and afraid. Afraid of a mirror. The thought made her angrier than she had ever been in her lives; had they truly succeeded in making her afraid of her own reflection?

Slowly, Melina stood up from her position on the bed and walked towards the maiden. She stopped in front of the other woman, looking up at her wonderful face, how she wished her face would look so. The maiden turned slightly to her right, looking into the mirror and smiled. Melina turned her face away, hiding the tears that were threatening to erupt from her eyes. A soft finger on her right cheek forced her head up though and the warm smile of the maiden, or perhaps it was the power she saw in her eyes, strengthened her resolve. Melina slowly turned towards the vanity, staring at the table first but slowly she lifted her eyes.

First, Melina saw the reflection of her waist, the contrast between the two layers of her dress did indeed look stunning; higher up she realized once again how skinny her body had become when she had trouble finding the bulge of her breasts. The gems surrounding her collar were glimmering merrily under the candlelight now and her necklace looked amazing. Her bare neck showed only minor scars, having been suffered when a menacing blade had been pressed against her jugular during her rare rebellions.

Melina closed her eyes, trying to push away the unwanted memories. A squeeze of her shoulder helped her overcome her weakness and in one quick movement she lifted her head high and opened her eyes. The woman that stared back at her barely resembled the wet mess she had encountered earlier that day. Her scars had been obvious then, but now amongst the intricate braids circling her face and the jewels shining at her throat, they were almost invisible. The lower lighting also helped to hide most of them from obvious view; Melina smiled, her reflection smiled...she looked almost pretty. Before she could begin to critique herself though, she turned to the maiden again. The woman was smiling brightly, her face lit by some unknown joy. She took Melina's hand and guided her to the archway leading out of the room. The maiden then pointed to somewhere in the distance where Melina could see many lights and figures moving about.

That must be where dinner will be served, Melina hoped with all her might, it just has to be!

She turned back to the maiden, who nodded at the unspoken question and they both set out in the direction of the lights. They crossed a few people going in the same direction, most of which either spoke a greeting or nodded in their direction. Each of them was more beautiful than the next, like moving statues with perfect features. To Melina, who was now all the more aware of her lack of such flawlessness, the sight was both amazing and frustrating. She felt jealous, how could she help it, when so many people seemed to have been blessed with flawless beauty and she walked amongst them as the ugly duckling from the story, it was impossible to not feel envious.

After a few minutes, they arrived downstairs in front a large archway. Inside, Melina could see a large dinning room with quite a few people already seated; but although she could smell the food, it seemed that no one had begun eating yet. Her stomach growled loudly and she began salivating at the thought of the meal to come. But when she walked through the archway, Melina suddenly felt very much out of place. Though her dress followed the dressing code for the evening; the hall was filled with beautiful people who wore their clothes much better than she did. Though she was starving; Melina felt the sudden urge to turn around and run away. The maiden waved to someone in the hall and with one look over her shoulder to Melina, left towards whatever friend waited for her.

Melina felt her feet turn and ready her departure, but before she could escape, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Glorfindel looking down at her with a smile on his soft lips; he had changed into an even more elegant robe and looked more beautiful than before…if that was at all possible. He bowed to her and offered his arm for the third time that day. Melina felt frozen in place, her mouth hung open and her mind refused to work properly. Fortunately, Glorfindel seemed to understand her predicament and he guided her hand into his arm and led her to the largest of the tables in the room; which was in fact the only one currently in use. Melina saw that the place of honour at the end of the table was occupied by Elrond; and the two chairs on his right were empty.

To her surprise, that is where Glorfindel led her; he indicated for her to sit on the second chair while he sat in the one closest to Elrond. Melina blushed brightly at the honour she knew was being given to her.

The feast began a few minutes later after Elrond stood up and spoke a few words. It seemed she was free to serve herself from any of the many dishes that garnished the table. Everything she put in her mouth felt glorious, and though she was afraid her stomach would refuse the sudden nourishment, it behaved surprisingly well.

She chose to drink water, or rather, water is what Glorfindel served her while keeping the wine out of her reach. Not that she wanted alcohol, she did not think her body was up to liquor just yet.

Dinner was not the most exciting of time for Melina, though she did enjoy watching the guests eat, drink and laugh, for a while; but she pained at not being able to communicate with them. Everyone seemed to be engrossed in some sort of conversation except herself. It grew worse after she finished her meal and the plates were taken away; people then began to move around the room in order to speak with others, even Glorfindel left her at one point.

Bored, tired, and slightly hurt, though she could blame no one for her pain, Melina began to head for the exit. She doubted that she could find her room alone, in the darkness, but she did not want to remain in the dinning hall any longer.

The air outside was fresh, and quiet. Melina breathed deeply. She did not notice that someone had followed her until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Surprised, she jerked away and jumped around to see the intruder. To her relief, it was her chamber maiden. The woman bowed her head and said something, her expression a look of concern...an apology? Melina bowed her head in return.

A moment of silence followed; Melina fiddled with the hem of her sleeves, looking down at the ground, then up at the rest of the house, until she heard the maiden ask a question. Turning her eyes towards her companion, Melina saw that she was offering one arm, while pointing up towards the house with the other. Nodding gratefully, Melina quickly hooked her own left arm into the woman's right and they left the dinning hall.

Note: The ending of this chapter was altered completely on January 9th/2008.