CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Galadriel's Wisdom

Arwen was not asleep. And she was sure she was not dreaming. Yet just when she had lost all hope, when she was sitting all alone in the dark, (all alone except for the poor helpless frog who had once been Ling Kray the pirate) the room was suddenly filled with golden light.

"Lady Galadriel!" The dark-haired daughter of Elrond cried. "Thank all the stars you have arrived in time. Please, cut me loose from this chair so I can save my friend."

"Alas, Arwen Evenstar," said the golden-haired queen, as she hovered over the helpless captive in a golden pool of light. "I can do nothing for you. You must call upon your greatest strength."

"I have no strength left," Arwen sobbed bitterly. "I've struggled and I've struggled and I can't loosen these ropes. And I can't lean over far enough to kiss the frog and turn him back into Ling Kray. And from the very beginning, I've shown nothing but weakness in the face of every single challenge."

"Really?" asked the Lady Galadriel. "I think it was very brave of you to leave the shelter of my sacred forest and come here to the sinful city of Zin Zaraboob. You've made many friends here, have you not?"

"Ribbit!" said the big green frog trapped in the glass bowl. Arwen could just imagine what Ling Kray was trying to say. He was counting on her. He believed in her. Yet she was powerless to help him now, even if she had grown to like and admire and . . . and . . . well, even to love the fierce pirate.

"I'm no use to anyone," Arwen choked out, through fresh tears. "You warned me not to come here, blessed Lady of Light, and you were right. I haven't put a stop to the evil all around me. Instead I've become a part of it! I've been lazy and greedy, I've gossiped and lied, and I've wasted whole days lying around drinking the Happiness Drink . . ."

"Those things cannot be undone," the golden-haired queen said bluntly. Her cool gray eyes were clear and pitiless.

Arwen wished she could hide from Galadriel's knowing gaze. She wanted to bury her face in her hands. But her arms were tied behind her back. She could only lower her head and let the heavy falling tresses of her shining black hair hide her pale, tear-streaked face.

"You gave in to luxury and took the easy path," Galadriel continued, her face grave. "But even your human side has its place. Part of the reason you have survived as long as you have is that Queen Zuleika underestimates you. She doesn't understand that you have a secret power."

"I do?" Arwen lifted her wet face and swollen eyes, gazing up at the fair-haired elven queen with total incomprehension.

"You have friends," Galadriel said gently. "You have not failed in everything, Arwen. You must call on their strength as well as your own."

"But how do I . . ." Arwen only shut her eyes for instant, scattering teardrops from her long black lashes. Yet in less than the blink of an eye the Lady Galadriel had vanished.

Arwen Evenstar was weak, but she wasn't stupid. She understood perfectly well what Galadriel had been trying to tell her. Closing her eyes, she called up images of all the friends she had made on her adventures. At first the pictures were all of Ling Kray. Arwen saw his flashing black eyes, his teasing smile. She remembered the thrilling feel of his lips on hers, and his hard bronzed body pressed close to hers.

A secret power . . . Arwen had never understood that her greatest weakness was really her greatest strength. She had fallen deeply in love with a man everyone else saw as an evil pirate. And because she trusted him, she had found the untapped goodness inside of him, and brought it out. Maybe that was what Galadriel meant. Her thoughts shifted, and she remembered sharing stories and laughter with Captain Margo . . . and Captain Tamara . . . and all the other girls of the palace guard . . . and even with Prince Kassim!

"There she is!" Just then the door flew open, and three figures appeared in the dim light. There was red-haired Captain Margo, and coal-black Captain Tamara, both armed and ready to fight. And there was fat little Prince Kassim, acting very important and sure of himself.

"Ling Kray told us to wait in the caverns," the little boy announced. "But I said we had to come to the surface. I am of royal blood, and I could sense that you were in danger!"

"Well, it took you long enough to get here," Arwen said, covering her shock and awe with a casual smile. She had summoned her three friends just by admitting to herself that she cared for them. She had begun to realize that she could do far more than she thought if she just believed in herself.

That was Galadriel's wisdom . . . and Ling Kray's.