Chapter Six

I apologize for taking this down, but I needed some major revisions before I could continue. This chapter now leads up to something I wasn't planning on getting to until later, and it kinda leaves off, but I'll be posting Monday night, so I don't think it's much of a cliffhanger.

Tessa sat in her chair, just picking at her food as the three rambunctious boys had conversations detailing their most amazing physical feats and increasingly disturbing extracurricular activities. Her empty stomach was getting unbearable, but she couldn't bring herself to eat anything at the table.

Spencer leaned over and asked "Do you want the last slice of toast?"

"No, Spence, you go ahead," she said quietly.

"But you haven't had anything!" he said with concern.

"I'm just feeling a little queasy right now. I ate some stuff at dinner, I'm fine." She smiled at her friend. "I think I'm going to go lay down."

"Okay, do you want me to get you when we go to Rosaria?" he asked as she stood up.

"No, I'll come and find you," she said.

Aragorn, trained to be chivalrous, stood when he noticed Tessa leaving. She paused for a moment and just looked at him uncomfortably and he looked back at her with a questioning expression. Then he noticed he was the only one standing.

"You don't stand for women when they leave the table, do you?" he asked.

Tessa shook her head and continued her exit.

Ian just laughed at the awkward exchange, but Kyle and Spencer both silently decided that they were going to take Aragorn's lead whenever manners were concerned.

He sat down and the boys continued eating.

Kyle turned the conversation to their battle. "So Aragorn, where did you learn to sword fight?"

Aragorn swallowed the mouthful of food and answered, "Well, you mostly just pick it up from watching others, but the elves here and I spar. Before that they would just show me how to block and parry. You know, the basics."

"Could you teach me?" Kyle asked.

"Oh, that might not be a good idea," Halbarad said as he walked in. "He could very well show you something that will get you killed. But you are right, you do need to learn to fight, and judging by the looks of you boys, defending yourself is not a skill you have obtained."

Spencer just looked down at his thin arms and scrawny legs. "I have to fight too?"

Halbarad looked at Spencer with a smile. "Even you. Although we may have to wait until you have grown some. A good sized broadsword could weigh more than you." He gave him a pat on the back.

"Yes, I think that is how we will spend the day. Spencer, you might find Lord Elrond's library more to your liking. If you have finished..."

"I'm full."

"Good, I'll show you to the library. Aragorn, if you could take these two to the practice clearing, I will meet you there."

The ranger and the youngest boy went up the tan stone steps and trough a long open-aired hallway. There was an open door that led to a large circular room with stone shelves and large wooden chairs with soft, lumpy pillows on each seat.

Spencer watched Halbarad walk away, leaving him completely alone. He glanced at the shelves, wondering how he was supposed to reach the top shelf. There was a book about and inch and a half thick with a white cloth cover and gold lettering. The History of Western Beleriand: Foes and Fields of the Second Age. Not very interesting. He walked up and down the shelves looking for something exciting, but it wasn't until he had reached an abandoned-looking corner of the library that he did. It was a small forest green book with a full color illustration of a wizard waving a staff through a cave, however, he couldn't read the language at all. He guessed it was probably elvish, seeing as all the people here were elves, but it could be a different way if writing English, in which case he would have to find someone to teach him.

"That was my favorite story when I was younger," said a sweet feminine voice.

Spencer turned around with surprise at the sound.

An elvish lady laughed at his shocked expression. "I am called Arwen. What is your name?"

He gulped, "Spencer."

"It is very nice to meet you Spencer. I hear you have had quite an adventure so far."

He gulped again not knowing how to answer that. Arwen just smiled and laughed it him good naturedly.

"Do you want me to read that to you?" She asked, gesturing to the small green book.

"Could you teach me to read it?" He asked.

She looked at him with an approving smile, "Of course. It would be my pleasure."

Meanwhile, Halithir was wandering the halls of Rivendell, marveling at the beauty and stability of the place in such a time of disturbance. As he skipped down a narrow set of stairs, he stumbled upon Tessa, going to her room. Tessa went up the small side stairway that led to her little room. There was a thin window facing south, with a view of the river. The bed was small and plain, but there was a soft colorful rug beside it. There was a scene with two elves, a couple, with the man holding a large silver jewel and another person looking on with anger in the corner. Tessa sat down on the floor and was tracing the figures with her fingers.

He must love her, she thought about the angry man, otherwise he wouldn't be angry that she loves someone. Yes, she decided, he wanted her for himself.

She kind of groaned as her stomach rumbled again. She wanted to climb up on her bed, but the thought of putting so much effort into that when the floor was right there...

"Tessa?" said Halithir "May I come in?"

"Sure," she replied.

He came in and sat on the edge of her bed. After he was comfortable, he asked, "How are you adjusting?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Considering everything, other than those goblins, this actually is a much nicer place than high school."

That got a fairly blank look from Halithir, so she elaborated. "It's where teenagers go to school. We just sit in classrooms all day. It's really boring, and I didn't really have a lot of friends, so I only went because I had to."

"Well, if the goblins are the only bad thing you can find in this world, I have some news for you." he looked at her happy regretfully. "There are plenty of other things that would kill you. Orcs and evil men for a start. And they are getting stronger and attacking more homes and villages. It may not be the same tedious school you are from, but this is a dangerous world."

"I know," she said. Her smile still fell a bit as she thought about how close she had been to being killed before Aragorn had come.

Halithir accepted this as an agreement.

"I do have a question about Middle Earth." she said. "What do girls my age normally do?"

He thought about it for a few seconds, his life mostly consisting of hunting and fighting monsters. "Well, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen,"

"Most women of the west, in places like Bree, or Rohan, would be living with their families until they are married. I think most women marry around eighteen"

"Oh," Tessa said, her smile completely gone. "My family. I have a little sister, Tammy. She's seven."

Tears started falling down her face, thinking of how Tammy would be feeling, what her parents would think. She had been gone for days, they must have started looking for her after practice, maybe the next morning at the latest. Thinking of her parents loss was enough to start her crying.

Halithir couldn't bear to sit by. He sat on the floor next to her, trying to soothe her, holding her. "Shh, Tessa, I promise you will be fine. I'm right here, don't worry. Shh."

"I'm never going to see them again!" she sobbed.

Halithir couldn't say what he wanted. She really wouldn't see them again, but hearing that would make her truly inconsolable. She needed something to hold on to. Something.

"Maybe you will." he said. "You came here, maybe you could go back."

She tried to calm herself down. "Yeah," she hiccuped. "We just have to figure it out."

"And we will, but you have only just arrived. I believe that this did not come about easily, and so it won't be easily reversed," he said, not wanting to give her false hope.

Tessa's face got teary again.

"But I promise that we will try."

"Okay," she sighed, relaxing a little bit. "I'm okay now. Really."

She smiled once again, and that convinced Halithir that she would be okay. He patted her head and scooted away.

"What you said earlier," she said, in a different tone of voice. "About what other girls would do. What am I expected to do? I don't have a family to live with, and I'm too young to get married, even if I wanted to, which I don't."

"That's a good question. I may have to consult with my brother, and a few others, but I may have a solution."