Victoria gaped in awe at the magnificence that was Rivendell. It was too much to look at from a first glance, so instead she walked towards the incredible view, trying to take it all in. Rivendell was made up of many structures linked by arches and stone bridges. Numerous balconies protruded from the cliff on which it stood, overlooking the valley filled to the brim with the tallest and the greenest of trees. Waterfalls poured out underneath the bridges and in between the buildings into the valley below, and as Victoria squinted in the bright sunlight, she noticed a courtyard in amongst the rustling trees.
'Wait, no, it can't be... it is! That is the exact place where they held the Council of Elrond! Well, soon to be held I suppose. How did they design this place, with the waterfalls right below it, and how its basically built off a ledge in a mountain...elven magic, obviously!' She wondered with a slight smirk.
Victoria heard soft footsteps behind her and turned to see Legolas walking towards her with two elf guards walking swiftly beside him.
"Time to go," said Legolas, gesturing towards a stone walkway leading into Rivendell.
Cautiously, she stepped towards the bridge, realising there were no handrails or safety nets at the bottom. Peering over the edge, she noticed that in the event that she would fall, all there would be to catch her, was a cold, rough tidal wave of water and rocks. 'Just don't be an idiot and fall in,' she told herself firmly.
At that moment, one of the elven guards walked beside her, "My lady we must make haste, Lord Elrond is waiting." he said urgently.
'Elrond? Waiting for me? What did I do? ...Oh, he's probably waiting for Legolas and the other elves from Mirkwood to arrive.' She thought, 'I don't suppose I'm that important here right now, with the council and the ring and everything... although, I have always wanted to see Rivendell.'
A sudden burst of energy and excitement hit her, she started walking over the cobblestone bridge at a surprisingly quick pace. The fear of falling into the raging waterfall below her was overpowered by a shot of excitement and adventure. Legolas and the two guards trailed behind as Victoria gazed all around the beautiful scenery. She ran her hands along the immaculate stonework of the archway she had just passed under, it was covered with carvings of vines and leaves twirling into complex shapes. Trees and flowerbeds lined the reception area, giving it a natural and balanced atmosphere of stone and greenery.
'The elves really like their nature don't they,' she whispered quietly to herself, a small smile appeared on her face. She still couldn't get over the fact that she was actually there, in Middle Earth. All of it seemed just too different from her own world, but this one was also incredibly beautiful and exciting at the same time.
She turned around to face the others, and found herself staring directly at a tall, dark haired elf striding towards them. He wore a long red robe with gold vine patterns embroidered onto the fabric, his hair was pulled back and braided to expose a welcoming face. Victoria knew exactly who this was.
"Gellon ned Legôlas Graànlàf i Mírkwood, galar i chent lîn ned i gladhol." (Welcome Legolas Greanleaf of Mirkwood, I see you have brought a fair lady with you), he spoke in a language she couldn't understand, she guessed they were somehow saying hello.
"Gi suilon Êlrond! Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn Víctoria. Odulen an edraith angin omenta." (Greetings Lord Elrond of Rivendell, this is Lady Victoria, she knows much of the upcoming council meeting. We need to determine if this woman is a spy of Saroun or simply insane), Legolas replied.
"Mae g'ovannen, amin a' ar' lle vee' ilya tuulo' lye ier e' en' ra quintö" (I will talk to her, and you will join me, as all information from our allies are valuable in these times of great importance.)
Elrond strode over to the lady with a warm smile on his face. He was old, but sort of young, if that was possible. She could see lifetimes of experience etched into his features, making him look fatherly and wise.
"Hi Elrond!" Victoria said with a grin that went from ear to ear. Lord Elrond was taken aback by the casualness of her speech. Suddenly remembering that that wasn't exactly the way to talk to a Lord of an elven kingdom, Victoria stammered, "I..um I mean, greetings Lord Elrond of Rivendell, it is an honour to meet you." correcting her bad manners.
The smile returned to Lord Elrond's face, "You have come a long way to arrive in Rivendell. I understand that you know information concerning the council meeting that is about to be held."
"Yes, I do, and I also know what will happen from this point onwards." Victoria tilted her head upwards to see Elrond's warm expression turn serious.
"Shall we go inside to discuss this matter further?" he asked. Well, it was more of an order rather than a question. "Sure," Victoria grunted as she followed Legolas and Elrond out of the blinding sunlight and into a tower at the very back of Rivendell.
Her legs burned from the amount of stairs she had to climb, and when she had finally reached the top of the spiral stairs, she saw a large room spread in front of her, deep brown wood furniture was dotted around the room and decorated with different tones of green and silver pillows and fabrics. A balcony was at the far end of the room, looking out over the grand vista of the valley. Victoria plopped down on a comfortable looking armchair with intricate wood carvings on the edges and arm rest, while Elrond and Legolas took two more seats directly facing her.
"Now Victoria, how did you arrive in Rivendell?" Elrond asked curiously. Victoria saw no reason to lie, "I honestly don't know how I got here, all I did was walk through a forest to clear my head, and then I fall out of the sky and end up in a completely separate world!"
Elrond was confused at this answer, he was expecting a simple story of simple folk, one of someone losing their way on a journey, but this was entirely different. Victoria spoke up, "Just asking, is this place real? Like, I can come here and affect things, or is it a fixed point in time or something?"
"Well, to us it seems quite real, it is our home, if you hadn't arrived, I would be attending to other duties, but I am here with you discussing this matter. So yes I think you can affect things just like every other person on this earth." Elrond concluded. Victoria had to take a minute to process the crucial information put before her, 'If I really am in the story of Lord of the Rings, and I can affect things, then I can surely change the story aswell. It's like in those movies, where you step on a butterfly and you change the course of the human race! …Ugh, I better not mess anything up then.'
Lord Elrond broke the silence, "How do you know about the council meeting and the ring?" yet another question, but this time Legolas answered, "She talks of 'television' and stories of the events about to happen including the council. Obviously it is impossible to have such things, moving pictures and future telling books." Legolas scoffed at the idea.
Upon hearing this remark, Victoria shot him a dirty look, "And I suppose you know everything there is to know about televisions, I just so happen to make the 'moving pictures' you speak so terribly of!" she crossed her armed in frustration.
"Well, if we are quite finished," Elrond said coolly, trying to calm the two of them down, "Can you tell me what will happen from this point onwards?" Victoria sat back on against the chair gazing out the balcony, staring at blank space.
"Lady Victoria," Elrond said, drawing her attention back to the question.
She eventually spoke, "I can't."
"If you claim to know what will happen and you do not tell us, how can we confirm you truly possess this information?" Legolas said doubtfully.
"Because, Legolas, if I told you what will happen, I could seriously change things, I don't know what moments to alter or what moments I have to leave untouched. Plus it wouldn't make for a very good story if you always know what will happen next…Spoilers!"
"You are wise not to tell us too much," Elrond turned to Victoria with a glint of respect in his eyes, then turned to Legolas, "I will see you at the council meeting tomorrow, good day."
That was Legolas' cue to leave and he was happy about it, in truth, he found her puzzling. Nothing about her made sense, from her strange clothes, to the way she spoke, she was unfamiliar to him and he knew next to nothing about her. She made him feel uneasy, a feeling he didn't like at all. After Legolas had exited, Lord Elrond continued, "If you truly are from another world, how do you know about the events of another one?"
This interrogation unfortunately went on for what felt like hours, Elrond would swamp her with questions and she would try to answer back honestly. Soon enough, the sky was a canvas splattered with reds and yellows creating a beautiful sunset painting, and Elrond finally came to a conclusion, "Lady Victoria, you will attend the council meeting tomorrow morning. Please be ready by 8 o'clock, I will have a room prepared for you. Please get some rest."
Victoria skipped down the stairs, much easier to go downhill than uphill. When she reached the bottom, she saw the setting sun shine through the branches casting a pinkish hue on the surrounding buildings. 'I'm hardly tired, I can't think about going to sleep at this point.'
She decided to walk around for a bit, she strolled in no particular direction in between the buildings, marvelling at the architecture and detail put into every brick and column. Eventually she reached the edge of Rivendell, and sat down on the bare rock, dangling her feet over the edge of the cliff. She stared at her beaten up green canvas shoes, covered with dirt and smudges, they instantly reminded her of home. 'All the time spent alone, no one really there, and yet here in my fantasy world I feel more alone than ever…' she was lost in thought for a while, just thinking about home, and how different it was to here, breathing in the fresh forest breeze and admiring the view.
As the sun was disappearing under the horizon, Victoria felt as if she was being watched, and spun her head around in all directions until meeting the gaze of an elf staring down at her. It was Legolas.
"Oh it's just you Greenleaf!" she tried not to sound surprised.
"How did you kno- Never mind…" he started in confusion but eventually gave up, apparently she knew more about him than he did!
"What are you doing out here alone? You are expected at the council meeting tomorrow, you shouldn't be wandering around." Legolas nagged.
Victoria suddenly remembered how annoying Legolas could get, "Ugh, the council meeting is tomorrow, I'm not needed anywhere right now so I'm allowed to relax. And anyway, you're the prince of Mirkwood, what are YOU doing out here alone? Shouldn't you be attending to your royal subjects or something?" At this point Victoria just wanted to be left alone.
"I came here to apologise…" He muttered slowly.
"Apologise for what?" She snapped impatiently.
"For strangling you earlier." Victoria's eyes widened with realisation at what he had just said.
"Oh that… um, don't worry about it, i-it's fine…" She stammered, not really knowing how to reply. She looked up at him, she could tell he was guilty, it was in his eyes and in the way he spoke. Sympathy rose up, she was almost touched by his sincerity, yet she was still incredibly annoyed with him.
"Apology accepted," she told him quickly. There was an extremely awkward pause, until a full minute later, Legolas spoke. "May I walk you back to your room?" he asked. Victoria took a second to think it over, 'It's getting dark, I have to get back to my room anyway, and it would be a bit rude to decline his offer. He's honestly trying to make up for his mistake… ugh fine.'
"Okay," she answered. Legolas held out a hand to help her up from sitting on the ground, she stood up by herself, "I'm fine, I don't need help." Victoria told him firmly. Legolas' eyes were cast down to the ground, and Victoria suddenly felt bad for him, he was only trying to help. She walked throughout Rivendell with Legolas strolling beside her in silence. Over bridges, under archways and past numerous gardens until Legolas stopped outside a dark oak door on the far side of the city.
"I suppose I will see you again at the council tomorrow…" He began.
"Yes, I'll see you, uh, then," Victoria continued, "Thanks, by the way," she said trying to make him feel a bit better. Legolas' lips curved upwards, to the tiniest of smiles.
"Goodnight Lady Victoria," Legolas finished as he turned to walk in the other direction. Victoria watched as his silhouette quickly disappeared into the darkness. She shut her door quietly, 'I had better get to sleep, I have a big day tomorrow.'