A/N: I own nothing.
***Chapter 10***
***Deirdre's POV***
"Stay close, young hobbits. They say a great sorceress lives in these woods, an Elf-witch, of terrible power. All who look upon her, fall under her spell and are never seen again." Gimli warns the hobbits, speaking of Lady Galadriel, apparently rumors get out of Lothlorien about the Lady of the Wood.
"I heard that it wasn't magic keeping people here. But she is so beautiful that no one wants to lose the sight of her, because to them nothing will ever be fair again." I said, causing the hobbits to look at me and Gimli to scoff.
Frodo halts in his steps, his mind must be filled with flashes from Galadriel. A little bit of a cheap tactic, very distracting, but it would come in handy for having to communicate with people far away.
"Mr. Frodo?" Sam asks, noticing that Frodo had paused in his movements.
"Well, here is one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox." Gimli says, turning back around to find an arrow right in his face.
"So Mister eyes of a hawk and ears of a fox, did you see this coming?" I teased, I think it was exceptional that I could make jokes when having dozens of arrows pointed in my direction, and they were all sharp.
"The dwarf breathes so loud, we could have shot him in the dark." Haldir stated as he approached our group.
Gimli actually growled, like full on animalistic annoyed growl. The bows aimed at us were lowered and we were escorted through the woods, until we reached a platform.
"Mae govannen, Legolas Thranduilion." Haldir greeted Legolas in elvish. (Well met, Legolas son of Thranduil).
"Govannas vin gwennen le, Haldir o Lorien." Legolas replied. (Our fellowship stands in your debt, Haldir of Lorien.)
Now I would love to say that I understood exactly what they were saying because somehow magically I could speak elvish. However, this was not the case. I understood what was said because I was a nerd, and had not only memorized almost every line from all three movies but also tried to learn the language of the elves, which is not a simple task when you try and learn from websites that don't necessarily agree with one another. If only Tolkien had made a dictionary for the languages that he created, but sadly he did not. So now I am stuck with remembering the translations.
Haldir looked over at Aragorn and recognized him.
"O, Aragorn in Dunedain istannen le ammen." Haldir said as way of greeting Aragorn. (Oh, Aragorn of the Dunedain, you are known to us.)
"Haldir." Aragorn responded, bowing his head slightly in recognition of the elf.
"So much for the courtesy of the elves, speak words we can also understand." Gimli growled out at Haldir, he really must hate elves.
"We have not had dealings with the Dwarves since the dark days." Haldir explained, the Dwarf tongue was likely unknown to him and the Dwarves weren't a race which dealt with the elves often.
"And you know what this Dwarf says to that? Ishkhaqwi ai durungul." Gimli insulted.
The translation I believe being something along the lines of I spit upon your grave which is definitely not the best thing to say to the people with pointy arrows, good job Gimli. So as punishment, I flicked his nose and scowled at him.
"Be polite. Do not expect something of others if you are not able to do the same." Was my sharp reprimand.
"That was not so courteous." Aragorn reprimanded him along with me, giving Gimli a dark look.
"And what have we here? A traveling company with two women?" Haldir questioned as he looked us over, I stood up straight under his scrutiny making sure he knew that I wasn't weak.
I merely nodded my head to Haldir, understanding that this was a patriarchal world and it was strange for women to be traveling with a group of men as we were. Haldir's eyes moved to Frodo.
"You bring great evil with you." He stated then looked back at Aragorn. "You can go no further."
Aragorn walks a distance away from us with Haldir and argues heatedly in favor of us continuing on in Lorien. I moved back over to Frodo, who looks depressed still, not only the weight of the Gandalf's death bears down upon him but he carries a torment on his journey. When Frodo takes a seat, I sit beside him and wrap an arm around his shoulders. For the comfort I can offer, Frodo leans into me, resting his head on my shoulder.
"Gandalf's death was not in vain… nor would he have you give up hope. You carry a heavy burden, Frodo… don't carry the weight of the dead." Boromir tells Frodo, his words sincere and reasonable.
As he says this, the good man that he is shows through. I smile up at him with tears in my eyes, happy that he is still the man he truly is at heart right now. But the thought of him fading into madness and greed makes my heart ache, the Ring truly does terrible things. Boromir's eyes meet mine and he gives a soft smile in return to my own.
Frodo looks up suddenly, as Haldir and Aragorn return to the group. The look on Haldir's face is one of supreme annoyance, he is obviously not happy that he will be taking us into Caras Galadhon.
"You will follow me." He says, voice coming out terse.
Haldir and his group of elves lead us deeper into the woods, in the direction of the great elven city. As we walk, my eyes dance among the trees and plants that grow in Lorien. I can understand why it is called the Golden Wood, everything is so beautiful here. As we walk the beginning of the outline of Caras Galadhon forms in the distance. Light dances from the city and the sight is truly enchanting.
"Caras Galadhon… the heart of Elvendom on earth. Realm of the Lord Celeborn and of Galadriel, Lady of Light." Haldir announces, his voice holds love for his city.
The architecture of the elves is rather simplistic in its elegance. There is little decoration on the white structures that carefully intertwine with the tree's natural beauty to make a truly splendid sight, my breath catches in my throat as I truly see the beauty and magnificence of the city before me. Delicate light filters through the structures, as though every beam that the elves formed here is radiating its own light. We walk up stairs that twist around the form of a great tree, the ledges that appear on every tree near the city look as though they are leaves made out of light.
When we reach a platform in the palace of the trees, bathed in silver light, Haldir steps to the side and we all look up to what he gazes upon. Walking down the steps toward us are two of the most enchanting figures I have ever seen. Both looking like angels walking directly to us from heaven, the Lord and Lady of the Wood are holding hands as they walk down to meet us.
As they approach a light is emanating from them, which faintly grows dimmer as they walk closer to us and farther from the heavenly stars above. I bow my head reverently as they reach the platform in front of us. When I look back up, I see the Lady Galadriel looking at Frodo. Their eyes meet and there is a sort of warmth and comfort in her eyes that could settle a stampede of elephants.
"The Enemy knows that you have entered here. What hope you had in secrecy is now gone. Ten there are here, yet eleven set forth from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf?" The Lord Celeborn asked us, his voice was rich and lovely. "For I much desire to speak with him… I can no longer see him from afar."
The answer is radiating out from the fellowship in waves of sorrow. Galadriel looking into Aragorn's eyes reads the answer, and there is a sadness in her eyes when she sees this.
"Gandalf the Grey did not pass the borders of this land. He has fallen into shadow." Galadriel states, her voice sorrowful as her eyes.
"He was taken by both Shadow and Flame: a Balrog of Morgoth." Legolas explained, his voice full of the pain of having to state the words. It sounded so final, being said aloud. "For we went needlessly into the net of Moria."
Gimli sadly bowed his head, feeling it was his fault that Gandalf had fallen. He had wanted to go into Moria so much, wanted to show the fellowship what he was so proud of, make his own contribution to the Fellowship in ways other than just fighting. Wishing he had been able to offer protection to the group, but instead bringing anguish.
"Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. We do not yet know his whole purpose." Galadriel spoke to Legolas, then turning to the grieving Gimli. "Do not let the great emptiness of Khazad-Dum fill your heart, Gimli son of Gloin. For the world has grown full of peril. And in all lands, love is now mixed with grief."
Gimli looked up at the Lady as she spoke these words. A small comfort issued from Galadriel to him. Galadriel then turns to Boromir, I can see the starlight shining in her eyes. Boromir meets her expression for a second, but quickly turns away.
"What now becomes of the Fellowship? Without Gandalf, hope is lost." Celeborn says, my eyes slide over to Aragorn. He is a symbol of hope and to me having come this far is impressive.
"The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all." Galadriel states, but looks at the downcast Boromir. "Yet hope remains, while the company is true."
I know she is speaking about Sam, you don't get much more loyal than this hobbit is to Frodo. She smiles as she looks at him, Sam is able to meet her gaze and keep it.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Go now and rest, for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight you will sleep in peace." Galadriel says comfortingly.
At her dismissal we walk away from the Lord and Lady of the Golden wood. When we reach the base of the stairs that we had just recently climbed to meet with the Lord and Lady, we are met by a beautiful female elf. She smiles when she sees us, as soon as we step onto the ground she approaches us.
"I am here to collect you two ladies. The Lady thought that you might like a chance to wash up, separately from your male companions." Her voice was soft and sounded like water flowing. I think it's an elf thing, having a lovely voice.
"Oh, thank you." I said with a relieved smile on my face, this meant a bath, fantastic. "I'm Deirdre."
"I'm Saffron." Saffy chirped up, I think by this point we had just given up on anyone calling us by our less formal names. "What is your name?"
"Mithchel. Now if you will please come with me." She requested, her voice full of compassion and patience.
"See you all later." I called back to the Fellowship with a smile, as we followed Mithchel away from our friends.
We reached a hallway and she led us to two doors side by side. She smiled and stood before the doors, they were beautifully designed and looked as though the tree had intended these doors to be attached to it.
"You may bathe in here. New gowns will be brought to you shortly. When you are finished, tell one of the maids that you need to get back to the fellowship and they will fetch me to lead you back." She said happily.
"Thank you, Mithchel." I said as I disappeared into one of the rooms, I could faintly hear Saffy do the same thing before ducking into her own bathroom.
When I looked at the room that I was standing in, I had to take a deep breath. The room was beautiful, there was a great sunken bath in the floor and it looked big enough to fit several people at one time comfortably. A rack was set next to the bath, and there was more lotions and oils than I could count. I walked over to the rack and began rifling through the rack, finally finding the perfect scent for me. It was vanilla, I had always had a faint scent of vanilla on my skin, probably from my years of using both vanilla body wash and body spray. So now I had the scent of vanilla as my usual scent and the cleansing oil that matched another for my hair would make my scent return fully. I quickly stripped off my gown, weapons, and undergarments and sunk into the steaming water.
There was no way to describe the incredible feeling of sinking into my first hot bath since we had been in Rivendell. Compared to the few icy baths that I had gotten to indulge in, this was paradise. I could very well be dead and this was my own personal heaven. Even though the general joke was that I was going straight to hell for being such a mean person at times. Sometimes I even joked that I already had a condo waiting for me.
Once my fingers and toes began to turn pruny and the water lost some of it's heat, leaning more toward cool water than the pleasant heat it had been when I sank into the bath. I rose from the tub and grabbed the towel-like cloth that had been laid out on a nearby chair. Some of the water dripped off my skin and got on the floor, which made me feel a little guilty. After drying off and wrapping my wet hair in the towel, I found the clean clothing that had been left for me. There was even fresh undergarments, though I was a bit worried about lacing my own corset once again. I had never had to fasten a back-lacing corset on my own before. After a few long minutes of tying the lacings in the back, which involved leaning against a wall at one point to get the little bit of extra leverage to pull it tight. Then being knot-challenged as I was, seriously I used to tie my shoes once and then leave them tied for weeks because it was complicated, I had to retighten the laces but somehow managed to tie the corset. My dress was much easier, as it didn't have any ties in back and merely had some lacing on the sides to bring the bodice in tight.
The dress was a beautiful blue, with silver sleeves falling open at the elbow. It definitely reminded me of the stars. The dress seemed very suiting to be of Lothlorien origin, as this was a city of lights. I slipped back on my leather boots and walked over to the vanity that was on one side of the room. There was a brush sitting on the counter, and after towel drying my hair, I brushed it out, leaving my hair falling in gentle waves down my back. Then, looking down at the droplets of water that had splattered after my bath, I quickly blotted up the water. I gathered up the dirty clothes that I had shed, and put them on the chair. Looking around the room, I found that it was in rather good condition considering that I had used the room to bath in, I walked out of the door of my room into the hallway. I had half a mind to just sit around and wait until Saffy came out of her bathing room. But the thought struck me that maybe she had already finished and was heading back to the fellowship's encampment. So I knocked on her door.
"Saffy?" I questioned, listening for any sounds that may come out from behind the door.
"Yeah?" Came Saffy's voice after a moment.
"Are you about done? Or should I go to the camp without you?" I asked, wondering how much longer Saffy was going to be.
There was a moment of silence in the room followed by footsteps approaching the door that I stood outside of. Then the door was opened to reveal Saffy in a silver gown with blue sleeves, we were dressed exactly opposite of one another, but her hair fell freely down her back as mine only her hair didn't have the same waves to it.
" I'm done." She replied happily, just then an elf maid walked through the hallway toward us.
"Excuse me? But I was wondering if you knew where Mithchel was, she was going to show us to where the fellowship is staying?" I asked politely.
"Of course. I'll go fetch her quickly." The elf said kindly, and with that she continued down the hallway in the direction that she was already heading.
About a moment later Mithchel came walking back to us, smiling brightly. Compared to Legolas, who masked his emotions so much, these female elfs were always smiling.
"Well, now that you are both clean. I'll show you where your friends are staying." She said, then began walking causing me and Saffy to trail behind her.
As we walked the sound of singing began, the sole voice of a female elf began the song.
A Olórin i yaresse… (Olórin who once was…)
Mentaner i Numeherui (Sent by the Lords of the West)
Tírien i Rómenóri… (To guard the Lands of the East…)
Her voice was joined by the voices of other elves who added their own part to the lament.
Melme nóren sina (Our love for this land)
núra ala (Is deeper than the deeps)
Eäro… (Of the sea…)
…Maiaron i Oiosaila, (Wisest of all Maiar,)
Manan elye etevanne (What drove you to leave)
Nórie i malanelye? (That which you loved?)
…Ilfirin nairelma (Yet we will cast all away)
ullume nucuvalme. (Rather that submit.)
Nauva i nauva... (What should be shall be...)
The translation to the song echoed in my mind, during one of my Lord of the Rings marathons when I had wanted to pay attention to the movie entirely and opened an online transcript of the movie, I had memorized the words in English as I couldn't keep the Elvish straight.
Tears began to fill my eyes once more as I heard the loss and desolation of the elves who had learned that Gandalf was dead and grieved for his passing. We walked into the fellowship camp just in time to hear Sam talking about the lament.
"I bet they don't mention his fireworks. There should be a verse about them." Sam said as he began to think of what the verse should be to honor the special part of Gandalf shown mainly to the hobbits.
"The finest rockets ever seen, They burst in stars of blue and green, Or after thunder… silver showers…Came raining down like a rain of flowers." Sam tried thinking of the fireworks. "Oh that doesn't do them justice by a long road."
"Here you are, ladies." Mithchel said as we stood on the edge of the camp.
"Thank you very much, Mithchel." Saffy and I echoed at the same time.
Aragorn moves from his resting place and crosses over to where Boromir is sitting on the ledge of a stone fountain.
…Ú-reniathach (No more will you wander)
i amar galen (The green fields of this earth)
I reniad lín ne môr, nuithannen. (Your journey has ended in darkness.)
I took a seat near the hobbits not wanting to hear the conversation between Boromir and Aragorn, but knowing that I couldn't escape it.
"Take some rest. These borders are well protected." Aragorn encouraged.
"I will find no rest here. I heard her voice inside my head. She spoke of my father and the fall of Gondor. She said to me 'Even now, there is hope left.' But I cannot see it. It is long since we had any hope." Boromir's voice sounded, full of despair. "My father is a noble man, but his rule is failing. And now our…our people lose faith. He looks to me to make things right and I- I would do it. I would see the glory of Gondor restored. Have you ever seen it Aragorn? The White Tower of Ecthelion, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver. It's banners caught high in the morning breeze. Have you ever been called home by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?"
"I have seen the White City, long ago." Aragorn says, carefully avoiding calling Gondor his home.
"One day our paths will lead us there. And the tower guard shall take up the call 'The Lords of Gondor have returned." Boromir says.
My eyes water up as soon as the words leave his mouth. I turn to Saffy and bury my face in her shoulder. Silent tears roll down my face as she wraps her arms around me, understanding why my tears fall. With a glance upward, I see her sad face.
The camp is quiet that night and the fellowship lay down to take rest in silence. There is no one keeping watch and my mind takes long to quiet. I keep my eyes shut, trying to force my mind to shut off and sleep to claim me. But there is no rest, I finally grow frustrated and sit up. Frodo has left the camp to go and speak with Lady Galadriel. So I rise from camp and decide that I want to take a walk by the river.
It is only a short walk to the river and the water flowing makes a soothing sound. In the corners of my mind I know that I should return to camp, or go and speak with Galadriel. That I need to find my answers before sleep will come to me. The dress is so lovely, that I strip it off and wade into the river in only my undergarments. The water rushing around me is cold, but soothing at the same time.
"You should not wander into the waters without anyone knowing where you are. You may be lost to the current and everyone would wonder what took you from them." Galadriel's voice spoke inside my head.
I smiled a little when I heard this, I guess she was done talking to Frodo. Deciding that maybe she had a point about the river, I walked back to the shore and shivered a little in the cold night air. My skin was wet, as well as the cloth on my body. But I still dressed in my dress once more, wanting a little more protection from the night air.
"Come to my Mirror." Galadriel's voice said in my head once more.
A pulling sensation led me in the direction of her mirror. It only took a few minutes to walk to the mirror and the way I walked avoided the camp and the probably conscious Frodo.
"Will you look into the mirror?" Galadriel asked me, as she fetched fresh water to pour into the pool.
I nodded my head, remembering what Frodo saw in the mirror, but somehow I felt brave enough to look in for myself. Seeing my acceptance, Galadriel poured the silvery water into the pedestal. Then she motioned for me to step up and gaze into the water. I move up and stare into the pool of water.
There is nothing for a moment as the mirror begins to sense that it is needed to be used. Then images begin to flash before my eyes. I see Boromir's death, Gandalf's return, and the end of the war. The images that I know will come flash before my eyes, then new images move through the water. Legolas and Gimli are travelling to Mirkwood with a she-elf. Her face is not shown, but time passes and Legolas and the she-elf stand, she is garbed in a beautiful white gown, a veil over her face. They share a kiss and then turn to face the people of Mirkwood who gathered for the celebration. Saffy stands to one side her hand grasping that of a beautiful blonde elf woman. Legolas, his elf wife, Saffy and her elf love are standing on the docks ready to head into the west. Saffy has aged slightly, she looks to be about 24 now. Legolas' bride drags him to the beach as he complains about her getting her dress wet. But she pulls him into the beautiful waters none the less.
Legolas pulls his wife in and kisses her. Then upon the kiss breaking, the face of the elf is finally revealed. She looks just like me.
***End Chapter 10***
Sorry about not updating in a while. I hope that I can be forgiven. Please Read and Review.