To say that Legolas was shocked would have been a huge understatement.
"You want a woman to go with us?!" he nearly shouted the words. Elrond nodded seriously.
"But, but," Legolas stammered. He had to change the elf's mind, "it is to dangerous. She does not understand the dangers and hardships we will face! All she will do is slow us down!"
Elrond shook his head as if the matter was already settled, "I have thought about that, and assure you it will not be a problem. Besides, if Lady Victoria truly has the gift of foresight, then she does understand the difficulty of the trip ahead of her."
"You are right, the journey will no doubt be dangerous," Elrond continued softly, "and that is why I'm putting you in charge of her safety."
Legolas felt his eyes widen with even more disbelief; not only had he failed to talk Elrond out of his foolish plan, but he also had been given the task of watching over a woman who both annoyed and mystified him.
Elrond noticed his reaction, "You were meant to find her Legolas, She is in your life now for a purpose. That is why I put you in charge of her."
The blonde haired elf turned away from Elrond, breathing deeply. He knew there was no changing Elrond's mind, he would just have to cope.
"I will do this if I must," he finally said.
"Wonderful. Now all that is left to do, is to convince Lady Victoria." Elrond concluded.
"WHAT?!" Victoria exclaimed, staring at the elf in front of her.
"You will travel with the Fellowship," Elrond repeated, this time he was demanding.
Victoria fought down a scream. This really was the last straw, yesterday's interrogation was enough, but now Elrond was demanding, DEMANDING that she go with them. Legolas walked up behind her, "The journey will be long and fraught with much danger," he warned, "You would take a life threatening risk by accepting."
'He's trying to talk me out of it,' Victoria realised with a frown. Her mind was now made up.
"I will go"
The look on Legolas' face was worth any amount of danger she had to face.
"Good," Elrond said with a relieved smile. "I have assigned Legolas to be your guardian. He will see to it that no harm comes to you."
Victoria's jaw dropped, 'A guardian?! What am I a child?!' she thought. However, compared to the elves, she supposed she was.
"The Fellowship leaves in an hour. Go pack your things." Elrond said, dismissing her.
Victoria felt the anger boil up inside her and walked quickly to her room, before she lost her temper. She swung her door open and paced around the room, arms folded.
"Great," she said to herself, "now I have to put up with an annoying elf for a babysitter for the next who-knows how long!"
Just as she finished complaining to herself, she heard a knock on the door. She walked over and turn the shiny brass handle, not in the mood for conversation, and found Legolas standing outside in the doorway.
"What do you want?" she snapped at him.
"You are angry because I was assigned to be your guardian," Legolas started boldly, "why?"
"I am not a child, I don't need your protection." she snapped.
"We will see," Legolas spoke smoothly, a hint of annoyance was just visible below the surface of clear frustration.
Victoria let out a small growl as she started to close the door on him.
Legolas grabbed the handle, stopping her, "I did not ask for this responsibility,"
He glared at her and locked on Victoria's gaze, she frowned at him refusing to back down. After a minute, Legolas turned his sharp blue eyes away.
"Would you rather have Aragorn or even Boromir be assigned as your guardian?" He spoke softly, all the anger in his voice had diminished almost entirely.
"No," Victoria whispered, "I would have rather I was assigned to be my own guardian. I can take care of myself, thanks."
She turned away from the elf, walked over to the wardrobe and grabbed a leather back pack from inside. "If Elrond wants you to be my guardian, then who am I to argue?" she reasoned aloud. She set the bag onto the edge of the bed, and began to pack her things, making a mental list, 'Hairbrush, water bottle, journal, pencils, socks…'
She glanced over at the elf as he stood with an unreadable expression. "Don't you have to pack?" Victoria asked shortly, uncomfortable with his scrutiny.
"Make sure you are at the gates on time," was his only reply before he turned and left her room, shutting the door softly behind him.
Victoria was still contemplating over what she would need for the journey when a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts, an elf entered carrying a stack of clothes. Victoria recognised her at once, Arwen, daughter of Lord Elrond. She possessed striking poise and grace, and her dark wavy hair contrasted her fair skin and gentle grey eyes. Arwen's beauty was something that all three movies had failed to capture.
'No wonder Aragorn fell in love with her,' Victoria thought with a small smile.
"Greetings Lady Victoria, it is a privilege to finally meet you," she spoke softly.
"It's more of a privilege to meet you, Lady Arwen."
Arwen's cheeked coloured slightly, "I searched for some garments for you to take. I could only find men's traveling clothes, so I had to tailor them a little so that they might fit better."
Victoria smiled at the woman in appreciation. "I was wondering what I should wear. I was afraid I was going to have to wear a dress the entire trip," she said with a little laugh, as she picked up she clothes and went into the bathroom to try them on.
The thick white shirt Arwen had found for her buttoned up the front, and went halfway down her thigh. The deep blue pants fit her like a second skin, needing only to be rolled up at the bottom to fit her legs.
Arwen laughed as she walked out to model her slightly oversized clothes, "Lucky I brought this," Arwen giggled, handing her a thin leather belt. An intricate swirl design ran along the length of it, adding detail to the plain outfit.
Next she tried on the boots Arwen gave her. The leather went just below the knee, and unlike the clothes, fit her perfectly. Lastly, Victoria tied the deep blue cloak around her shoulders, marvelling at it's velvety texture.
"Thank you so much," Victoria said gratefully.
"You are most welcome... My father says that you have come from far away, so far away… from a place so different to Arda, I can hardly believe such a place even exists, and yet here you stand. A bringer of knowledge to Middle Earth's darkest hour... Perhaps a goddess? A prophetess?" Arwen wondered aloud, staring at Victoria with awe and slight disbelief.
Victoria chuckled, "Um, I-I'm not a goddess, or a prophetess, I'm just a girl."
"Well so am I," Arwen exclaimed.
"Yeah, but your'e an elf, daughter of Lord Elrond and soon to be Queen of Gondor, that's so much more t-than… this," Victoria said, gesturing to herself.
"My father says you have much to offer, so much good that can be achieved through your knowledge, and I think that aswell, Arwen whispered, smiling warmly at her. "You are more important than you know."
Victoria smiled as she closed the lid of her backpack, slung it over her shoulder and made her way towards the door.
"What did you mean when you said 'Queen of Gondor'?" Arwen asked quietly, her forehead scrunching up into a small frown.
"Oh right, um, forget it, i-it doesn't matter…" Victoria replied quickly, realising her mistake, "Don't you have to see Aragorn?" She asked cheerfully.
The elven woman took Victoria's hands in her's, "good luck."
"Bye," Victoria breathed as she watched the elf swiftly leave the room, not making a sound.
She took a moment to glance around the room a final time, processing everything that had happened in the last 24 hours, wondering how it had come to this. She had finished all her assignments, and was planning a relaxing weekend of Doctor Who marathons and late morning starts, and now she was about to embark on what she thought would be the greatest adventure of her life. Reality dragged her away from daydreaming; how strange, usually she would be daydreaming about Middle Earth, but in this case the opposite was true, and in this case she was actually in Middle Earth! 'And I'm gonna travel with the Fellowship!' She thought eagerly. A bolt of excitement hit her straight in the gut as she clicked the door shut and walked silently to the gates of the city, teeming with anticipation.
It was late afternoon. The sun was high in the sky, yet the clouds blocked most of the sunlight from reaching the ground, turning the weather cool and calm. A crowd of elves dressed in flowing robes surrounded the gates to say their farewells as the Fellowship was already forming. Everyone was there except Legolas.
She twisted her head around in search of the elf, she eventually spotted him whispering to Elrond at the very far end of the group. Victoria had a pretty good idea what Legolas was talking to him about. 'The jerk still can't get over the fact that I'm going,' she thought angrily.
Victoria was distracted from her anger when Gandalf approached her, he led her over to the Fellowship and introduced her to the hobbits.
She shook their hands politely, as they either grinned or gaped at her.
"You're going with us?" Pippin asked wide-eyed.
Merry elbowed him sharply, as Victoria giggled at Pippin's antics. She received an unwelcoming look from Boromir, and a firm handshake from Gimli.
"At least she's not an elf," he grumbled as he saw Legolas making his way towards them. The look he shot Gimli could've frozen water.
It seemed as though the only friendly person in the Fellowship was Aragorn, who smiled widely as he gently shook her hand. "Welcome to the Fellowship of the Ring, Lady Victoria. I look forward to us traveling together."
Victoria's eyes widened and felt heat rise to her cheeks, 'well maybe this trip won't be so bad…' she thought grinning.
Elrond strode up to the Fellowship, "The Ringbearer is setting out on the quest of Mount Doom. On you who go with him, neither oath nor bond is laid to go as further than you will." Elrond caught her eye, and smiled slightly before finishing his goodbyes, "Farewell. Hold to your purpose, and may the blessings of elves, men and all free folk go with you."
Gandalf turned towards the dark haired hobbit, who was at the front of the group, "The Fellowship awaits The Ringbearer."
Frodo slowly plodded through the gates looking tired and older than his years. Victoria glanced back at the great elven city one last time before following the Fellowship under the archway, left onto the dirt path, and into the wild.