Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not my own, yadda yadda yadda. I'm not making any money off of this. (Though I wish I could.)
A/N: Fair warning. Talya breaks a little in this chapter. Before anyone can call cry baby, remember that she has put up with an awful lot in a very short space of time.
The next two weeks passed quickly.
I had resumed a similar training schedule as when we had been traveling, now that I was able. First thing in the morning, Fili, along with Balin, instructed me on sword fighting. After lunch Kili and I would have target practice. Most afternoons we spent at the pools, and most evenings were spent by a large bonfire. Day by day, I could feel myself get stronger and, when I looked in the mirror, I could see a subtle strength growing where there had not been before.
I knew that our time in Rivendell was drawing to a close when, one night while I was walking to my room, I overheard Gandalf and Thorin arguing about Thorins' map. Gandalf had not been around for most of our visit here to Rivendell, and I wondered if Thorins' temper was not to blame for the wizards absence. I kept my distance as Gandalf, Lord Elrond, Balin, and Thorin swept past, heading towards Lord Elronds' study.
I was almost to my room when Maerwen approached me.
"My lady Talya, your presence is requested." She urged me forward and I frowned. She was unusually frazzled.
She led me to a part of Rivendell I had never been in before. It was a small garden tucked back out of the way of the main paths. Large trees with low, sweeping branches lined the grassy area, the way only lit by the moon and stars above. I cursed as I stumbled over a tree root that Maerwen had so gracefully avoided. She reached out and steadied me, before bringing me towards the center of the grove. There, a glowing figure stood.
It took my eyes a minute to adjust and when they did, I felt my heart drop and tears gathered in my eyes. The woman was beyond stunning. Her skin was white marble and flawless, her hair a pale gold of spun silk. Eyes of the palest blue peered at me from under impossibly long lashes. Her face was heart shaped, her lips lush, her nose a elegant slope. Her figure, like most elves, was willowy and slim. She wore a long flowing dress of fresh snow that continued on past her in a delicate train. A silvery crown sat atop her head, an intricate necklace adorned her throat, a simple ring on her long and delicate fingers. Her feet were bare, and as she stepped towards me, she seemed to float.
Maerwen bowed her head low and backed away, leaving me alone with this angelic creature.
I sunk to my knees in the grass as she neared and I was sure I had died.
"Talya Conner," Her voice was smooth and pure, flawless. She smiled at me and I bowed my head low.
"Lady Galadriel," my words were the barest of whispers. Tears slid down my face and she knelt elegantly before me to tuck her hand under my chin. She tilted my head up and I looked searchingly into her eyes.
"I have much desired to speak with you since first I laid eyes upon you in my mirror," She said softly, wiping away a tear in a very motherly and tender fashion.
"So strange that the Valar have brought you here, to change the fates of your companions."
I struggled to find my voice.
"So you… know that the line of Durin falls?" I asked, my voice a whisper.
" It is but one of the paths I have Seen," She answered, tilting her head to look at me. She reached down and took my now calloused hands in her unspoiled and smooth ones. She slowly pulled me to stand before her and she blinked slowly as she appraised me.
"It is not often that the Valar choose one of the race of man to accomplish such a task. You are quite special,"
I swallowed and shook my head.
"Why did they? Choose me, I mean," I asked softly, voicing aloud a question I had been wondering since I first accepted that this was real.
"Of that, I can not tell you. Even I can not answer for the reasoning of the Valar," She smiled softly at me. "But from what Gandalf has told me, and from what I have glimpsed, I can begin to see why. You have strength, and courage. Your stubbornness matches that of a dwarf. Your compassion, an elf. Your resilience, a hobbit. And not least of all, it is because there is something within you that can save Thorin Oakenshield and his kin from their fate.,"
"What?" I asked, breathless.
"That, Talya Conner, you will have to find out for yourself." She turned from me and began to walk. I fell into step next to her and for awhile, we walked in silence. I was stunned. I could never have imagined myself in the presence of such a being and my heart ached.
We stopped before a small table and Galadriel reached into a small satchel that lay there. She pulled something out and held it in her hand a moment before turning to me.
"I fear that you will face many trials on your road ahead. Sacrifices will be made before the end, but you have a strength in you, sweet child. Never forget that when the path grows dim."
Galadriel took my hand in hers and pressed something into it. I looked down, frowning, and opened my hand.
Suddenly, I felt as though I had been dipped in ice. In my hands were my dog tags that I had thought I had lost.
"How…?" I asked softly. I could not tear my eyes away from the metal in my hands.
"I watched your struggle in the flood, watched as Gandalf worked so diligently in his magics to bring you forth. When your body and soul was firmly ensnared within this plane, I turned to walk from my mirror when something caught my eye. Upon reaching in, I found these. I knew then I must journey forth to Imladris and speak with Gandalf the Grey, and the head of his order, Sarumon the white."
I clutched at my tags and looked up at her sharply at the mention of Sarumon. I wished so suddenly to be able to tell her everything that was to come. It was some what of a burden, knowing that I could so easily save or destroy this world depending on my actions and words. I felt tears well in my eyes again.
"Hush now, Talya. You can not concern yourself with the fates of all those in Middle Earth. Time and life goes on as it will and such events that are reflected within your eyes will come to pass. The pain you wish to spare others is noble, but even I know that certain fates will be met, whether you will them or no." Her voice was sad and in it reflected the pain she felt at the many lives that had come and gone in her time here in Middle Earth.
We walked silently back towards the path and she stopped just shy of the trail. I turned to look at her again, and for a moment panicked at the thought of never seeing her again.
"The time you thought of earlier is near. Two nights hence, Thorin Oakenshield will leave from a South-western path into the wilds beyond the Misty Mountains." She smiled at me again and touched my face softly. "Our paths may yet cross again."
She bowed her head ever so slightly, "Alàmenë."
I bowed my head deeply in return and turned to face the direction I came. When I looked back, Galadriel was gone.
I walked slowly, still clutching my tags in my hands. My mind was replaying my time with the Lady Galadriel over and over again, and my heart ached. As reassuring as her words were that I was indeed meant to be there and that she believed the Valar had chosen correctly, the enormity of my task ahead weighed heavily on me.
I spent the next few hours wandering through Rivendell, my thoughts too hectic and jumbled for me to be able to rest. When I finally became too tired to continue, I sat down on a stone bench and stared once more at my tags. I thumbed my fingers over their inscription and I thought of Alicia and the others for the first time in days. I felt my throat constrict at the thought of never seeing them again. I pulled the tags over my head and settled them in the familiar spot between my breasts, the chain a reassuring weight around my neck. I put my head in my hands and sat for awhile like that.
"What are you doing out here?" I jerked my head up at the harsh tone and my eyes landed on Thorin. Judging by the foul mood he was in, I assumed that he had just gotten back from his meeting with Elrond and Gandalf.
"I needed time to think," I answered. I didn't bring up my visit with Galadriel, knowing he would bristle at the mention of elves.
"And what, might I ask, would you need to time to think about? Home? The elves that you so lustily stared upon earlier?" He snapped. "If you find them so appealing then by all means, stay here. The company will be departing soon and since you no longer are in need of Gandalf to guide you through the wild, you will have no business accompanying us."
My jaw dropped at his words and I bristled.
"I would have thought by now that you would realize I am not so easy to get rid of." I snapped back, so very angry suddenly. I ignored his comment about the elves.
"And I would have thought by now that you would realize when you were not wanted!" His voice was loud now, his voice a snarl. "You are nothing but a joke to my nephews. A childhood playmate they will soon outgrow and leave behind. Balin indulges you the way he would a dwarfling, toddling about with your toy sword. You are a passing amusement to the rest, no more. When we leave you behind, and make no doubt, Lady Conner, we will leave you behind, not a single one of us will glance back at you and wonder how you fare! So go now, and do as a woman should and find yourself whatever manner of a husband that will have you. Go home and bother us no more!"
His shoulders were heaving and I sat stunned. His words tore through me and left me breathless. After all that I had been through in the past few weeks, after all that had been said and done, after everything Galadriel had told me…. It was entirely too much. I stood up and swallowed back the sobs I knew were coming.
"Good night, Master Oakenshield," I said as evenly as possible. I turned around, doing an almost complete about face, and walked away, leaving Thorin standing alone.
I broke out into a jog and soon, a full on run. By the time I reached my room and shut the door behind me, great wracking sobs tore through my throat. Damn him for saying such things to me. Damn him for making me doubt myself, and the affection that the others showed me.
I cried into my pillow for a long time. I cried for the friends I had lost. I cried for the life I had had. I cried for the enormity of the task that was set upon me I sobbed and sobbed until at last, no more tears came.