Chapter Five

~ Estel ~
I awoke with a distinct feeling that I was missing something. I sat up with a gasp as I realized that the Elessar was gone. I looked around wildly.

"Looking for this?"

I whirled to face the dark-haired healer from before. He held the Elessar, and his grey eyes were stormy. I reached out for it, but he did not yield it. I frowned, confused. Only the Believers knew what the Elessar was truly worth; why would a common healer want it?

"It was my grandmother's," I said finally.

One of his eyebrows rose. "Your grandmother's? Who is she?"

I hesitated. By my oath, I could not explain too much of the Believers. But even more pressing was the knowledge that most of the common people did not like or believe the Believers. "My grandmother, the Lady Galadriel," I answered.

His eyes widened. "How can you be a child of Galadriel?" he demanded. "You are no Elf, and neither are a half-Elf."

I cocked my head, confused now in turn. Of course I wasn't an Elf! Where did he get that idea? "What are you talking about?" I retorted. "The Elven Lady Galadriel passed over the sea long ago, many, many, many generations before I was born. I speak of the Lady Galadriel who was the mother of my father, Lord Elessar of Gondor."

~ Elrond ~
I stared at Estel. What she was saying was utterly impossible, and yet I sensed no lie from her. That could only mean . . .

"What Age do you live in?" I asked, striving to keep my voice from trembling as I gave her one last test.

"The Fourth Age of Middle-earth," she answered unblinkingly. "The Third ended when the Ring-bearers passed over the sea, for they said that it was the twilight of Elves and that the time had come for the Dominion of Men."

I handed her the Elessar, my mind spinning with what I learned. Estel wasn't lying. I knew that without a doubt, for even with Vilya I sensed no lie, and in my over six thousand years I had become an exceptional judge of character. That meant that for some reason and somehow, she was from the future. Now the question becomes, does she know yet that she is in her past?

"Are you a Believer?" Estel asked suddenly, breaking into my thoughts.

I shook my head. "No, Estel. I am no Believer. I am Lord Elrond of Imladris."

~ Estel ~
For a long moment I gaped at him. Lord Elrond? That's – That's downright impossible! He sailed generations ago!

He smiled. "That was my first reaction too, you know," he said wryly, nodding toward my open mouth. I shut it, blushing furiously. "So. You are not from this age. Tell me, what has become of Middle-earth that a human child would come to possess the Elessar?"

"I am no mere human child," I corrected him. His eyebrow rose again, but he did not comment. "I am the last of the Believers. We are . . . basically the Elendili of the Fourth Age. Through my parents and grandparents, I am a descendant of all four children of Elros Tar-Minyatur and of . . . oops."

"Of who?"

I blushed again. I hadn't considered this part. As a descendant of Arwen Undómiel, I was also a descendant of Lord Elrond. Oh, is this awkward. How do I tell him that he is destined to forever lose his daughter to a mortal as Thingol lost Lúthien?

"Of you," I finished finally, looking him straight in the eye. "I am descended from Elros and Vardamir Nólimon through a Ranger named Strider, and from you I am descended from Arwen Undómiel."

~ Elrond ~
Strider? Arwen? I closed my eyes. Oh, I knew who Strider was. But for that marriage to come about, it meant two things – that Aragorn would fulfill his destiny and become King of Gondor and Arnor, for that would be no other way that Arwen would marry him, and that . . . that I would lose Arwen. For her to marry Aragorn would be for her to choose mortality, and die.

"Lord Elrond?" she asked cautiously. "Are you all right?"

I gave her a forced smile. "Yes. I just . . . The things that you speak of have not yet happened."

Estel leaned back. "Probably," she agreed. Then she continued, telling me of everything that befallen her and Middle-earth.

I felt rage and sadness fill me as I absorbed her tale. For Middle-earth to fall from a kingship of Aragorn and Arwen to become a place ruled by stewards where the ancient bloodlines were preserved only in Believers who were shunned and persecuted. . . It makes me wonder what hope is left in the world of Men. For I hear from her that with the passing of the Elves, Men only quarrel more.

"My brother left a mission to discover the true identity of Strider," she said, catching my attention. "The secret of his true identity died a few generations back, and we have longed strived to recover it. However, my brother . . . He died, as did my father."

So you don't know yet that you are the last heir to the throne? I studied the child. Her innocence was touching, in a way, the same way Aragorn's had been when his mother had taken him to Imladris for fostering.

"Do you know who Strider is?"

I considered it for a moment. Should I expose her true identity? Or keep her in ignorance to keep her safe until she was ready, the same way I had kept Aragorn in ignorance?

I apologize for the back and forth between the POVs, but there aren't that many other characters that I've introduced yet and I wanted to show their thoughts so . . . yeah. Sorry.