Authors Note: Thanks again for all the lovely reviews and story favorites.
Chapter 15 - The Golden Trees
The suns fiery hue shone through the golden leaves just how she had remembered it. It bathed them all in a warm glow which she relished after the cold and damp of Moria. Still it could not penetrate the damp in her boots which squeezed out a new layer of water every time she stepped upon them. Just as it could not penetrate the damp in her eyes whenever she thought of the wizard.
It was very unlikely that they would reach Lothlorien before the black shroud of nightfall overtook them. She could see in the dark with no problem. After all she had traversed through this forest and others like it all her life, so she knew what signs to look out for, what dangers lurked under the fallen leaves. Aragorn and Legolas too had experience of the wilder places of the world, but the others did not. Someone would surely slip and fall on a twisted root, or break an ankle after putting their foot down a rabbit hole and what then? they could barely move their own weight without having to carry someone. There was always the alternative of making up a camp for the night, Lothlorien would be waiting for them in the morning still. But after Aragorn had spotted the figure in the woods the thought of staying put here overnight filled her with unease. What if it was still following them? She had tried to tell herself that it was a bear, like Gimli had said, but Aragorn had been so sure that it was not. Within the forest there was any number of places that it could be hiding, hundreds of trees, rocks and boulders. She felt the now common feeling of the hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention.
Aragorn was leading the procession once more, setting a good steady pace for the others to follow. He turned every so often to check on them or to wait for them to catch up, every time he did he caught her eye and when she felt herself submerging into her dark thoughts it was enough to bring her back to the surface. She stayed in the middle alongside the hobbits and Gimli with Legolas and Boromir bringing up the rear. The others did not speak much, apart from Gimli who seemed to have beaten his morose stance to replace it with a level of paranoia.
"Stay close, young hobbits" he said to them all of a sudden his voice low barely above a whisper. "They say that a great sorceress lives in these woods, an Elf-witch of terrible power" he continued scanning around them dramatically. A small smile played on her lips, she had never really thought about how people unfamiliar with Lothlorien and her grandmother perceived them. Galadriel was powerful indeed but 'an Elf-witch of terrible power' was not right to describe the beautiful woman who had helped raise her and who had a large compassion for all things of this world. Following in Gimlis example she too did a quick scan around seeing if anything had changed since the last hundred times that she checked.
"They say that all that look upon her fall under her spell" Gimli said, still talking away to the others. She almost laughed out loud at that, there was no spells cast on unsuspecting victims, although many did say that they were enchanted by her beauty and rightly so. She knew all to well what it was to be considered beautiful by others, after all many called her the most beautiful thing in all Middle-earth but it was not a title that she would have given herself, an they would surely not be calling her that if they could see the state that she was in now. Hopefully if this journey succeeded and the ring destroyed she would be remembered as something more than a pretty face, a savior of Middle-earth, that indeed would be a title worthy of.
"Mr Frodo?" Sam questioned, breaking her from her thoughts. Frodo was looking a little paler than usual and his eyes were squinted as though he was suffering some form of headache.
"Frodo are you alright?" she asked resting her hand on his shoulder as he continued to grimace.
"Well here is one Dwarf that she won't ensnare so easily" Gimli carried on although most of them had stopped listening and were now paying attention to Frodo, who nodded that he was alright for them to keep moving.
"I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox" Gimli said with a chuckle walking ahead of them.
"Oh" was all she heard the Dwarf say next and she looked up with a lump in her throat.
They were surrounded. Arrows were pointed at them from every direction ready to be released at any moment should they do or say the wrong thing. How had they managed to sneak up upon them unawares? Had they really been so lax in taking note of there surroundings. They were unnumbered but hopefully that would not be a problem.
"The Dwarf breathes so loudly, that we could have shot him in the dark" the smooth yet familiar voice chimed out from behind the surrounding elves, whose armor glittered in the setting sun. The bearer of the voice came into view, he looked just like he had the last time that she had set her eyes upon him. His golden hair shining brightly and his skin smooth and pale.
Still the bows of his men were raised at them all. Were they not expecting them? Her grandmother usually knew of most things that were going on in the world, how was it then that something of this magnitude had eluded her gaze? Or perhaps it had not.
"Haldir" she spoke out moving away from the rest of the group. A number of the arrows now pointed directly at her, inches away from her flesh. If they fired then they would not miss, although at a thousand yards these archers would still not.
Upon recognising her, Haldirs face whitened somewhat more if that were possible.
"My Lady Arwen" he stammered bowing to her, his arm across his chest in a show of respect. However courtesies were not what she wanted.
"What is the meaning of this? are all travelers to the borders of Lothlorien treated as such?" she questioned him.
"I apologise My Lady" we were ordered to treat all travelers in this manner at present" he explained , whilst some of the other elves looked unsure as to whether they should continue pointing their weapons at her now that they knew who she was.
"Please come with us, night is approaching and these woods have become perilous of late" he said turning away from them and walking back into the depth of the forest. She followed after him, the leader of the fellowship now. She hoped that he would take them straight to her grandmother but she knew that the path he had taken led in another direction. It was strange that she was the most useful companion to them at the moment, and she wondered what would have happened if she had not accompanied them after all.
After about a half hour of walking in silence with the elf soldiers flanking them on every side, they finally came to the bottom of a large oak which she had not seen on her journeys here before. Looking up through the thick branches she could just make out a platform jutting out on either side. It was constructed just how the main structure in Lothlorien was, but on a much smaller scale. Inlaid into the trunk of the tree there was a row of stairs spiraling up to meet the platform.
"Stay here and keep watch "Haldir commanded two of the guards before starting up the stairs and out of view. She looked back at Aragorn who seemed as confused as she did. Lothlorien was supposed to be the easy part of the journey, a refuge in the centre of the dangerous areas of the wilds. But she felt like they had made a mistake by coming here.
As she ascended the staircase she found that the stairs themselves were rather slippery, a dew was forming on them as the air cooled and the sun was all but spent. She held onto handholds on the rough surface of the trunk to steady herself, and behind her Aragorn called for the hobbits to do the same. When she reached the top she was surprised to find the platform larger than expected, there was a covered in area over to the right so that if it rained the soldiers could still keep a vigil without getting wet. There was also a few wooden chairs scattered about, which Gimli was quick to flop down into. Clearly the depth of the stairs, which had been designed for Elf legs had taken their toll on the Dwarf. Although after all the stairs in Moria these seemed like nothing.
Turning back to face them once more Haldir seemed to be uneasy, as though his own feelings were at conflict with his orders. He scanned them over, looking at each of them in turn. They must have looked like a sorry lot. Grime encrusted and their emotions raw.
As his eyes fell on Legolas his face registered recognition.
"Welcome Legolas, son of Thranduil" he said bowing his head low to the Elf prince .
"Our fellowship stands in your debt, Haldir of Lorien" Legolas replied bowing his head to him in return. However Haldir continued to scan till his gaze settled upon Aragorn.
"Aragorn of the Dunedain, you are known to us" Haldir addressed him with a nod.
"Haldir" was all that Aragorn responded, with a nod of his own.
Now Haldirs gaze shifted over to the group of Hobbits, namely Frodo who was in front of the others.
"You bring great evil with you" Haldir spoke quietly, his vision locked upon the scared Hobbits. His intense gaze seemed to bear into his soul, before he looked back up to her. "You all can go no further" he said with stubborn finality.
She was not sure how long she and Aragorn had been trying to convince Haldir to change his mind, but the sun had long since gone and her restraint was fraying. She found herself wondering how he would react if she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him whilst screaming about all the terrible ordeals that they had faced in order to just get them to this point. But she regrettably resolved that it would not go well. The others were all sitting quietly in a circle, glum expressions mounted upon their faces. They had already resigned themselves to the fact that they would find no refuge here.
"Please Haldir" She begged him, keeping her voice low so the others could not overhear "We are in dire need of your protection, Moria I fear has all but broken us and we need a safe haven to rest so that we can continue on with our strength and emotions intact" she pleaded as tears from the result of tiredness filled her eyes.
Seeing that she was becoming upset Aragorn took over the begging whilst taking one of her hands in his " Please understand that we need your support" he said solemnly.
"If we bring this evil into Lothlorien, into our homes, the enemy will know that it has been here. Once you have continued on your journey what is to say that they will not still come looking for it" Haldir argued.
Although she hated to admit it, he had a point. Her father had said the same when the ring resided in Rivendell, he too had been worried that Saurons eye had been drawn there and it was only a matter of time before he sent some manner of servants to retrieve it.
"My father feared the same thing" she explained "Yet he saw that it had to be done for the greater good of all. The ring has to be destroyed and we are the ones who are going to do it, we need your protection. I will answer to my grandmother if she is displeased, you need not fear that you will be chastised for this. I will take full responsibility" she said hoping to cease any fears he may have had.
It seemed to take him the longest time to respond then, his dark blue eyes staying locked with her crystal ones.
"As you wish My Lady" he finally said walking back towards the rest of the company.
"You will all follow me" He said bluntly, he still obviously did not like this choice, but at least it was a step in the right direction.
"Well done " Legolas mouthed to her as he stood up from where he was perched on a gnarled and twisted branch.
She gave him a weak smile but felt to exhausted to even enjoy the achievement. Lothlorien was still a way off and she had to will her feet to take every step.
Like before the fellowship traveled the rest of the way in silence with only a few minor disturbances. The company was halted for some rustling leaves and a strange beast cry that rang out of the night, but once the guards were satisfied that they were in no immediate danger they carried on.
After stopping once more because of a badger bustling about in the underbrush ,the landscape around them began to change. The tall trees became sparser as did the golden leaves the covered the floor like a blanket, and they soon found themselves standing on a rocky ridge overlooking the valley below them.
The sight of Lothlorien never failed to take her breath away, just as Rivendell did whenever she returned home from a long journey away. Under the veil of mist that had settled there, they could see the great trees rising up, towering above the rest of the world around them. Millions of golden glittering leaves, supported by monolithic trunks. And through the leaves she could see the lights, thousands of them twinkling away in the boughs. She had rarely seen it from this angle and in twilight but it was just as beautiful. Beside her the hobbits released an audible gasp. If they had been amazed at the structures of Rivendell then this must be even more awe inspiring, an entire city built within the heart of nature itself.
"Caras Galadhon" Haldir introduced it to the members who were not familiar with what they were viewing.
" The heart of Elvendom on Earth. Realm of the Lord Celeborn and of Galadriel, Lady of light". He said proudly and with good reason.
Not far to go she thought to herself. However doubts played in the back of her mind. Haldir had seemed sure that he should not let them pass through this way. So what then would happen if her grandparents still turned them away?