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Part 3 – Off To Rivendell
When they reached the camp, the sun was lowering in the western sky, causing ripples of violet and pink to grace the horizon. Legolas was back in the camp again, and he strode over to them purposefully as soon as he saw them return.
"What has happened?" he asked.
"There has been a development in town, and Aniel has agreed to travel with us to Rivendell."
Legolas took a double take of his friend, noticing the seriousness marking his face.
As they most usually spoke in Sindarin when together and did so now, there was no need to worry about Annabelle eavesdropping on their words. Quickly Aragorn apprised Legolas of the situation as it had been told him. Several times Legolas glanced at Annabelle unbelievingly and swore. He was clearly upset. Something about him also seemed to accept the inevitable, and rather than emote his inner turmoil as before, he became calm instead, stillness itself, and grimness marred his features. At last he sighed.
"All right," he conceded, turning to Annabelle. "First thing is first. Let me see your latest injuries, if you will."
When she didn't understand, he simply took her by the hand and led her away to his campfire, where he had stowed his bag with the ointments in. He busily got to work placing some cream on her bruises, and he removed her wrist bandages and tossed them on the fire. At least her wrists were healed now, thanks to the herbal knowledge that went into mixing the creams.
Lightly he ran his fingers over where the cuts and been. Yes, it had healed nicely, with barely a scar discernible. Annabelle let his fingers rove, watching fascinated as he studied her arms. There was really no need for him to spend so long with his inspection, though she was caught by his carefulness and gentleness as his fingertips went up and down her skin, appraising it's state. His mind seemed to have drifted off for the moment; she knew there was a lot on it, things she couldn't rightly guess. Eventually she pulled her arm away from him again, smiling, and he smiled too when he realised what he had been doing. He busied himself putting away his bag again, whilst Aragorn approached and sat down beside the two.
He brought some bread, cheese and fruit for them, and he also carried a book with him. He sat down, waiting for the inevitable that he knew would happen.
"Aragorn," said Legolas on cue. "Could you translate for me please. I must question Aniel carefully."
"My friend," the man said. "She is tired, and there will be many, many who will wish to question and hear her story. Let this occur later." When it looked as though Legolas would argue, he added meaningfully, "Let it go, for now."
Resignedly, Legolas let it go. Instead he said, "Ask her how she is? Is she faring well?"
Aragorn smiled at this sign that his friend's mental state was much less intense than the afternoon. He pulled out the book he had been carrying.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" He passed the book of translations over to the elf. On the cover was written: The Languages of the Dunedain. Common Speech to Harad.
"Ah!" Legolas flipped through it quickly. "Thank you!"
Without a further glance up, he deftly searched to find the translations to Harad that he was looking for.
"Are you well?" he asked directly to Annabelle, using her tongue.
"Yes, thank you, I believe I am."
She smirked. It was a little adorable to watch the elf shift his intensity to the book in front of him. He never did anything by half. He smiled his satisfaction that he had gotten through to her so easily. Then he quickly looked up the word 'believe' in order to better fathom the end of her statement. He nodded, and took a bite of his bread.
Wordlessly, Aragorn slipped away from the fire, leaving them alone again. He was so relieved that Legolas had a focus other than the terrible blow they had taken today by the so-called 'message' that was delivered. There was something to take the elf's attention away from the implications of it all. Or if not something, then someone.
Clearly, Legolas had taken to this human he had saved, and because of his desire to communicate with her, Aragorn guessed that he wished to protect her. That is what one did with their charge, they protected them. Annabelle seemed just as happy to play along and keep Legolas entertained, and for that Aragorn thanked the Valar. It would make their journey a lot easier, keeping stress and anxiety to a minimum.
The rising of the sun heralded the first day of their journey north together as a group. They planned to pass through Rohan and, keeping east of the Misty Mountains, take the route of the River Anduin, so far as Minas Tirith, where they would ford the Great River. Then they could eventually continue onwards to Rivendell.
It was debatable at this stage whether they would detour to visit Lorien first. Almost certainly, someone would be dispatched to send word to the Lady Galadriel in the Golden Wood. Some kind of council may even need to be convened on the matter, almost in the way that it had only a few years earlier with the threat of Sauron heavy on the land. Hopefully it would not come to that, however all those that understood this new threat were worried. They knew they had good reason to be for they possessed scarce little intelligence on the matter. This was why Annabelle's eyewitness account was crucial. Action was going to be needed, but others had to be informed first, and the specific plan of action discussed and agreed upon. But before all of this happened, they first had to travel the River Anduin, and somewhat hurriedly.
The prior evening, men had been sent into town to renew essential supplies, so they were now ready to ride. It would be a pleasant ride for the most part, there really was no more fear of orcs or wild men. Most of these had been pushed far east out of Mordor and into the unknown realms beyond. The weather this time of year was fairly pleasant. Indeed, Middle-Earth was a temperate land, the only real extremes of climate were the high peaks, but they were not going there.
A few new items of clothing, including a warmer cloak for evenings, were found for Aniel in the town the night before. With relief she was able to discard her old, travel worn garments and dress more sensibly for riding in some soft but durable pants and a short tunic of blue. She was also given a brush for her hair, and some bands so she could tie it back when riding. Luckily her shoes were still in good order.
The bags were all packed early that morning, and a man, an officer in Aragorn's army of Gondor, led a horse over to where she waited.
"My Lady," he said bowing to her, "this horse has been commissioned for your use to Rivendell. Her name is Bluestar. Ride her well." With that, he handed the reigns over and she turned grateful eyes to the mare. She spent a few minutes speaking softly to Bluestar, stroking the fine brown horse, wondering where she could scrounge an apple from. There were many apple trees in these parts, so she would keep her eyes open for one.
Unlike Arod, which did not have a saddle (elves never rode with saddles, to them that was a point of some mirth), Bluestar was saddled and Annabelle climbed easily on. Bluestar whickered gently, showing she did not mind.
"Good girl!" said Annabelle, stroking her and not hearing the approach of Legolas upon Arod until he came along side her.
"We ride, my Lady!" he announced triumphantly, in Haradian. Annabelle smiled encouragingly at his quick learning of the tongue. Gesturing forward he continued, "The woodpeckers are fastly go doing a message." Annabelle burst out laughing.
"Nearly," she commented. At his down face she said, "No one can learn a language in one week, Legolas." He wanted to see where he had gone wrong. "Horse, remember, not woodpecker. Where is your book?"
"Ah, I am sorry." He showed her he had the book in his bag and then gave her an evil grin, as if to challenge her to say he could not learn it.
Since they were going to be riding rather fast all day, he would not be able to look in said book until camp at sundown, but that wasn't going to stop him giving it a go. She admired that in him, he wasn't afraid to try something wholly unfamiliar. That gave her courage to face the long journey ahead, which, if she admitted to herself, she was still having some misgivings about, despite the company she was keeping. This was all very new to her, after all.
Legolas gestured to where Aragorn was leading out the group of twenty-five men. "Are you ready?" he asked.
"As ready as I will ever be," she responded, giving Bluestar a gentle nudge, and they were off.
At first she wondered where in the order she would be riding, but quickly she found that they were all galloping so fast, order did not matter at all. She wondered if they would be keeping this speed up all day. At least her canteen of water was within easy reach so she could unhook it from the saddle and swig from it whenever she needed, slowing Bluestar down slightly to do so.
Although she worried it would be a tiring journey, it wasn't long until the steady beat of the horses hooves upon the earth got into her blood and made her pulse race strangely. Every person to a man was hunched slightly over their mount, keen and alert as they raced over the open plains, sometimes shouting to each other but mostly keeping quiet and somewhat stern as they went. She saw Aragorn's figure out furthermost in front leading the rest of them, and while she expected Legolas to race up there with him, the elf held back and stayed with her, probably to make sure her riding skills were up to scratch and that she wasn't struggling. She was not.
She somewhat appreciated that she was not being treated as though she were wrapped in cotton wool. That would have been terribly embarrassing to her, as though she was not an equal to the rest, not as in control or as capable. But no one had asked her if she could ride, no one had asked her even if she wanted to, if it suited her. There had been no looks of trepidation directed towards her and no behind her back comments or concerns. Instead, they were simply getting on with it, trusting she was as equal as the rest of them. She liked this. It was a different attitude to what she was used to back home, where often there was an unspoken feeling that being a woman made her less. That simply didn't enter into the picture here, and it somewhat opened her eyes.
They continued riding hard, taking breaks at midmorning and midday to water the horses and rest themselves. They went through then until midafternoon, where they stopped for one of their regular rests.
The land they had been riding through was open and green, with occasional stands of trees here and there. There were also many little streams that they forded, where wildlife grew more abundantly along the edges. There were many wild flowers and wild creatures everywhere they passed. Sometimes their passage startled a group of hares that would spring off in fright amidst the shower of hooves. Overall, Aniel could see that they were falling into an easy routine, one that these men were well used to and comfortable with.
As they halted to refill their canteens, Legolas came up to her.
"You ride well," he offered, his first words to her since morning. "Because you are…er...girl," he said, searching for the word, "…I was not sure, but…" He gave her a thumbs up.
Ah, so they had worried a little after all, but Aniel supposed she had proved herself, even if her ass was getting more than sore. If they could ride all day long and not complain, not frown and not lie down for a nap at the rest break, then she would do the same.
She punched him lightly in the arm for pointing out she was a girl. Hmph, some things never changed, even in different races, males were still males. So she said, pointedly, "This girl does know how to ride a woodpecker," to which Legolas cracked a grin.
He said, "I can leave you to ride alone…? Or do you need me to…?" he motioned "staying close".
"Oh, no, um, I think I am capable…" she trailed off. She was hoping Legolas would ride with her some more, but if he wished to be up front with Aragorn, no doubt his rightful place, she wouldn't say a word against it.
It was a little bit lonely when they started up again and the elf went to join Aragorn, but because it was the end of a long day, it was all Aniel could do to stay on her horse and focus on where she was going. She was starting to feel ragged, and Legolas' words about her being 'a girl' began to take a place of prominence in her mind and she wondered if he was right. But even more so, she was determined to show them she could do it, so she finished off the day with gritted teeth, relieved when they finally halted to camp. She simply held her nose ever so slightly in the air whenever one of the men politely inquired how she had fared that day.