Chapter Four - Anger Takes Hold
She was being ludicrous. How could he say that? And after which he had let yet another three Hobbits join his so called 'Fellowship'. She felt humiliated, not one of them had backed her up, made her feel like she was not just some useless woman whose place was to stay here out of harms way. Had she not faced up against the Black Riders and come away unscathed?
She was going and that was that. Not one thing he could say, that any of them could say, would change her mind.
She was not ludicrous, she was furious. Her father had betrayed her in front of the entire council, people who had once looked up at her with respect. And then there was Aragorn. If there had been a time to aid her it would have been then. To save her from this embarrassment, how could she have been so stupid? She knew all along that they would object. So why did she not just follow them out of Rivendell when they set out, then no one would have been able to stop her. But now they would be expecting her to try such a thing, she imagined that her father would post guards outside her door to make sure that no escapes were attempted.
She sat on the edge of her bed facing out towards the open window, sunlight streaming in onto the stone floor. Sunlight set the wrong mood. Sunlight was for happiness, for hope. But she was angry, her ideal weather would have been the blackest of storms, like the one that was raging inside of her.
A light knock on the door broke her from her day dream, she had a good idea of who would be on the other side. So she replied with a brash, "enter."
She was right, again. Aragorn came slowly into her room shutting the door behind him ever so quietly. He did not come any nearer for a moment, instead he stood near the entrance staring towards her. She could feel his heavy stare on her back but she would not turn. Instead she gritted her teeth as she tried to fight back the tears that brewed in her eyes.
"Arwen," he said, breaking the silence. "I know that you meant well, and I admire you for that. But you cannot come with us. You know this, so why do you want it so?"
"You do not know what I want, that was obvious when you let me be humiliated by my father in front of the council," she snarled.
"Arwen, please," he pleaded, moving round to her side of the bed and taking up her hand away from it's position on her knee to reside within his palm.
"No, Aragorn," She said firmly, snatching back her hand. "You do not understand why I did it, do you?" she questioned him, looking into his blue eyes searching for an answer.
"You did it so you could protect Frodo," he replied, bending down he reached out to brush away one of the tears that had fallen from it's place.
"No!" Arwen cried. "I did it so that we could still be together, so you did not have to do this unspeakable quest alone."
"But we will see each other again," he reassured her, putting his arm around her quivering frame.
"Do not promise things that you cannot keep," she said quietly.
" Do you think that I am going to leave you? That I am going to …..to die?" He questioned.
"Yes ,Yes I do," she admitted. "I know that it is a horrible thing to say, but that is what my heart fears".
With that she began to sob freely and pulled back both her hands to cradle her face. Aragorn held her tightly, kissing her hair trying in any way that he could to sooth her.
"I will not leave you," he whispered into her delicate pointed ear.
She looked up at him and smiled slightly, his words were what she wanted to hear but he could not promise they would be truth. That his fate would not be in his hands. He put his hands on either side of her face and slowly drew her lips up to meet his. The remnants of her anger quickly dissipated, leaving her as they first slowly, then passionately showed their true affection for each other.
Again there came a knock at the door, making Arwen jump up from her place and quickly motioning for Aragorn to do the same.
"Who is it?" She called, hoping it was not her father for a repeat performance of what had occurred earlier that day.
"It is your Father," came a rather quiet reply on the other side, which made her wince.
"Just a moment," she told him, turning to face Aragorn. "I will speak to you later, at our usual spot" she informed him.
He smiled at her . "Good luck," he said wiping the last tear away from her face and kissing her softly on the tip of her nose.
As Aragorn left he gave Elrond a low bow. Elrond on the other hand just lifted an eyebrow, seeming to question as to why the ranger had been with his daughter and why she had not opened the door immediately when he had arrived?
Arwen decided to face the window again when her father entered. The sunlight was beginning to dwindle now and only a red glow was remaining to light the outside world.
"Arwen," he said. "why don't you come sit down?" he asked her, taking up his own seat on a large ornate wingback over near the fireplace. Obediently She did as she was told and placed herself in the chair next to him, without giving him any eye contact. "I am proud of you, you must remember that," he told her.
"That was not how it seemed earlier," she replied, still facing forward staring into distant space.
"I am sorry for how you may have felt I made you look to the other council members, but at the time I did not care. All I care for is for the welfare of my daughter, who I fear will be signing her life away," Elrond said truthfully, standing up from the chair and then bending down in front of her so that she had no choice but to look at him.
"I wanted to help that is all, and I had it thrown back at me," she explained to him.
"I understand that now. And I may have some news that you might find indeed pleasant. A certain Hobbit has made it apparent that he will require you on the journey after all," Elrond stated, giving her a moment to let his words sink in. Arwen searched his eyes for the truth but it seemed as though this was it.
"You mean I am going?" she asked, in confusion. It was not usual for her father to change his mind once he had made a decision.
"Do not think that I am any happier with the thought than I was in the meeting. It took many a persuasion from Gandalf before I came to this conclusion," He admitted to her.
"Oh father," she cried in delight, flinging her arms about his neck.
"If you have any trouble you must come straight home, understand?" He instructed pulling her back and looking at her straight in the face. "I will not have my only daughter unhappy and in turmoil," He explained.
"Of course I will," she told him, knowing deep inside this would not be the case. For if she was to return home, he would simply tell her that he was right all along and she was wrong.
"Thank you father, I love you," She told him once again pulling him into an embrace.
"I suppose I had better leave you to pack," He stated, getting up from the floor. "Oh and Arwen, earlier when I knocked at the door and you were in here with Aragorn, why did you not answer the door straight away?" he asked her, eyebrows raised.
"I think you're right father" she told him. "I have to pack," she smiled sweetly and lord Elrond slipped silently out of her room.
The red haze from outside the window had now gone, and the twinkling of the stars shone outside like a million fireflies.
Arwen laughed in the darkness, it was all fitting into place.