My deepest thanks to the reviewers of last chapter. You've kept me in good spirits when I was down. Here is the next chapter, albeit somewhat late. The chapter goes back and forth between Anira and Haldir.

sweetblonde14, PoeticTragedy01, Lintered, Lady Anck-su-namun, Ponytail Goddess, Nelarun, Elfinabottle, walkure13Brynhild, GreenWood Elf, Haldir's Heart and Soul, alfalfa7, lovenhope, Elwen of Lorien, luvthefluf, tree, Penguin Goddess, not magical me, Jenn, and Lady-Isowen.


When I can look Life in the eyes,
Grown calm and very coldly wise,
Life will have given me the Truth,
And taken in exchange - my youth.
-Sara Teasdale


---Chapter Twenty Eight---


Anira slept fitfully the following night. She was haunted by dreams of what could happen and was kept awake by those worries. A cold sweat covered her and she whimpered as the sheets twisted around her. Sheer exhaustion met her the next morning as she roused herself to bathe. Something wasn't right, it was nagging her in the back of her mind. A little black cloud affected every aspect of her thoughts.

The day was quiet, no meetings being held or servants rushing about. A white and grey sky overhead covered most of the sun, occasionaly creeping out to shower some of its light down below. Anira's footsteps echoed softly in the hallway, making hardly a sound.

Turning the corner, she was met with a strange sight around the bend. A flurry of black hair and violet skirts came flying into her at full speed. A confused elfling hid between the folds of her dress, burying her face into them and clutching her thighs rather tightly. Anira looked up to see two twin ellyn, identical down to the last detail, standing before her.

"You haven't by any chance seen our sister?" One asked. He looked to be an adolescent, and bore a startling resemblance to Lord Elrond.

"She just ran down this hallway, her name is Arwen," the other provided. Both held a silky voice, entrancing and melodic. The little being within her skirts trembled and grasped her tighter. Anira caught on quickly.

"No, I have not. Mayhap she ran into the gardens?" Anira indicated the gardens to her left and watched as the two ellyn thanked her hurriedly and sped off. A tiny sigh of relief was heard behind her and she turned to see just who it was she had rescued.

The elfling, who she guessed was Arwen, looked very much like her twin brothers. Her small frame breathed heavily and her face was flushed.

"Are you all right?" Anira asked her, bending down to her level. The elfling nodded, her dark tendrils of hair flying around her face. "Why is it that you were running away from your brothers, little one?"

"Elladan wanted me to play with them, but the last time I played with them they put a spider in my hair," she replied in a tiny voice. She clutched nervously at her dress.

"Where is your nurse? Or your Parents?" Anira asked.

"Nurse is busy, and so are Ada and Nana. I am not allowed to be by myself," she replied.

"Then we must get you back to one of your other guardians," Anira told her, standing up and beginning to lead her down the hallway.

"No!" Arwen stopped, refusing to move but still holding tightly to Anira's hand. Anira looked down at her curiously. "If you take me back I will have to stay with Elladan and Elrohir!"

"You speak of them as though they are spawn of Morgoth! Come now, they can not be that horrible," Anira said. Arwen clearly opposed any idea of going back and still stood firmly in place. Relenting and seeing no way out of the situation, Anira agreed to take her back to her own rooms and "hide" her from her brothers.

As they walked to said chambers, Anira noticed Arwen observing her carefully.

"Where did you come from?" Arwen finally asked. Anira became slightly alarmed.

"What do you mean?" She asked, hoping to avert a highly uncomfortable conversation. Had her parents not explained to her the ways of life?

"I meant what realm you came from," Arwen said. Anira inwardly let out a relieved sigh.

"I came with the Lothlorien party, I believe you were present when I arrived in Imladris," Anira said, her mind flashing back to images of a small, dark haired elfling flanked by twin ellyn.

"But you do not have silver hair like Grandfather, or Grandfather's March warden, or any of his other wardens," she said curiously, thinking hard.

"I am originally from Mirkwood, but I have moved to Lorien," Anira told her.

"Why did you leave? I've heard Mirkwood is a dark place, filled with spiders and orcs," Arwen recalled, her voice involuntarily getting softer as spoke. Anira laughed, amused at the small elfling's description of her home.

"Some of it, yes, but there are places such as where I lived that were not overrun. I left because I needed to, there was nothing left for me," she wondered why she was explaining this to an elfling. They had reached her guest rooms, fortunately, for Anira was not sure if she could withstand explaining more of her story without bearing some kind of grief she had left undealt with.


"Four days, they couldn't possibly still be in the area?" Bercalion muttered on his horse next to Haldir. There were tracks every so often, but they lead to nowhere. The orcs had seemed to be going in circles, until now.

"It's possible they could have left, but there is always the small probability that they took a drastically different route than ours, making it seem as though they are gone. I have a feeling they are still around Imladris," Haldir answered. "Nestaron! What do you see?" He called to the trees above him.

"Nothing, my lord. Not a sign of them," his voice replied back, weary and close to miserable. Bercalion seemed to radiate satisfaction at this answer, sure that Haldir would now turn them around and head back to the city. Haldir only nodded and they continued on.


"Sit still, little one," Anira told the squirming elfling. Running through the halls and hiding under various objects, including Anira herself, had mussed and tangled the elfling's dark, silky hair. Arwen stopped moving, but her eyes darted around the room, taking everything in all at once.

"Are you sure there is no one else who will look for you? Will they not be worried?" Anira asked.

"Ada is done with his work sometime around the afternoon, and Nana is busy with Grandmother until about that time too. I'm sure nurse will find me here though," Arwen replied happily. Anira sighed and continued braiding her hair.


Haldir stopped his horse suddenly, the group behind him halting as well. There was a deep echoing sound in the woods, heavy footsteps and deep, harsh breathing could be heard faintly. Haldir nodded into the trees, silently signaling both Nestaron and Neurion to nock their bows. Bercalion beside him and the wardens behind him all drew their swords as quietly as they could before dismounting and leading their horses to tie them up to a nearby tree. Haldir listened for a moment more before doing the same.

The sounds were coming from all around them now, surrounding them. They steadied their grip on their swords and above them Haldir could hear the creak of bows being bent back.

With an animalistic cry, the first ran charging into the clearing.


After finishing the elfling's hair, Anira listened to her babble on about different things as she herself sat reading, and trying to look interested.

She heard the incessant chatter stop, and looked up along with Arwen to see a stern looking elleth march into the room.

"Your mother would have been furious with me," the elleth said. Arwen leapt to her feet and obediently stood next to who Anira presumed to be her nurse. "Thank you for looking after her, I most certainly will be having a talk with those twins as well..."

"'Twas nothing. She was delightful," Anira told her, glad to see the elfling's face light up. The nurse thanked her one more time before leaving with Arwen in tow.

Feeling utterly lonely and not hungry, she decided to go for a ride. Perhaps she could sneak something from the kitchens when she returned, for she knew she would surely be missing dinner. Grabbing her riding coat, newly cleaned and mended, Anira walked through the ambient gardens to where the stables were.

Nariel seemed to be sleeping. Anira woke the mare up and begrudgingly the horse allowed her to tack up and lead her out of the stall. There was no one in the stables or outside, leading Anira to think they were all either out riding themselves or catching an early dinner.

She mounted and calmly they made their way to a trail leading through a garden closer to the forest. Anira threw her head back and tossed her hair behind her, feeling the warm rays of sun hit her face. Nariel seemed to be awake now and itching for a run. With barely a signal, the mare was off and galloping steadily down the smooth trail.


"Is that the last one?" Arborion asked, watching Dinendal drop the dead body of an orc atop the pile.

"Yes, thank the Valar," he answered. Bloodied and bruised, they found their horses and gratefully started towards Imladris again. Minor injuries had met them, the most serious a nasty gash on Neurion.

"If we hurry, we can reach Imladris in less than an hour, we are not that far," Haldir told them. They picked up their pace, penetrating through the dense forest next to the elven city.


They had slowed their gallop down to a walk again. Anira knew that they had stayed on the same trail, though she had been out for a while. Darkness was closing in, only a bit of light lingered from the setting sun. Anira looked above her sharply as the trees shook. Nariel was beginning to get anxious again, trotting and prancing. She threw her head back and forth, and then refused outright to go a step farther.

Anira tried crooning to the animal, soothing her with soft tones and stroking her damp neck. The trees shook more violently.

Anira's scream was cut short as a dark shape dropped from above and landed atop her, knocking the wind out of her and dragging her off her horse. A rag was stuffed into her mouth and she was thrown over the shoulder of her attacker. She could see Nariel turn tail and run off in the direction of Imladris as the assailant carted her off into the forest.


The courtyard was full of many people, as was usual when a company arrived. Haldir made his way towards Elrond and Celeborn to report what had happened.

"And there were no more in the clearing?" Elrond asked.

"None that we could tell, their carcasses are piled at the edge of the forest," Haldir replied. They dismissed him and Haldir glanced around him for Anira. She was not in the courtyard. He set off down the silent hallways towards their guest chambers, thinking she was probably in her room. He grimaced as he realized he looked a fright with dried blood and sweat coating him, most of it not his own. The maids he passed in the hallway were certainly opposed to the stench.

He frowned when he saw her door open, and after a cursory search of the gardens he was even more discomforted at her strange absence. He noticed a maid who usually attended to Anira's rooms pass by and he stopped her.

"You haven't by any chance seen Anira, have you?" He asked.

"She went off riding around late afternoon. Has she not yet gotten back?" The maid shook her head in a curious way and walked off.

A feeling of dread began to grow in the pit of his stomach, working its way through his body. His eyes widened as he saw a horse, Anira's horse, come barreling through the gardens near the stables with no rider.


What do you think? I might not be able to answer most of your reviews because I'll be leaving for a band tour to Denver, Colorado (anyone live near there?). I won't get back until Saturday night. Please review and leave your comments on this most pivotal chapter! I apologize again sincerely because I have been quite busy with school lately.

-ElfLuver13