A/N: YAY! I have an update for you, my patient, loyal and lovely readers!
Enjoy!
#
Chapter Thirty-three
The mountains floated by as they travelled down stream and the cold clean air whipped her hair around her. Serafina sat in the front of the boat with her knees around her ears.
"You would think that they could have given us a bigger boat. Surely your elf Lady could have foreseen that the three of us do not fit," she grumbled.
"I'm sure she could have! But the Lady is such a wonder, and a beauty that I will not have you befouling her name by questioning her powers or capabilities. Never again will I meet such beauty,"
"If you are lucky we may meet her again one day," said Legolas.
"If that is true there could never be as happy a dwarf as I,"
Serafina dropped her head back to her knees. It seemed there was no hope for Gimli. She tried not to listen as the elf and dwarf launched again into raptures about the forest and the Lady. She looked at the other two boats. They seemed to be more comfortably seated. Envy for different companions surfaced but slowly she realised that she wouldn't want to be in one of those boats either.
She shifted her weight trying to find a more comfortable position. Something foreign pressed against her side. With a thrill she remembered the gift from Galadriel. She had decided already to wait to look inside the pouch until evening, away from the elf's keen eyes, but curiosity nudged at the corners of her mind.
As subtly as possible she moved her hands to the pouch to try and feel the contents within, but the shape gave away no hints. Her hands moved around the pouch with increasing curiosity.
"Never did I think I would be so blessed as to behold such wonder with my own eyes,"
"It speaks well of you dwarf, to give praise where praise is due,"
"Aye,"
Serafina rolled her eyes; her companions were so fixated on their praise of the elf that she was sure they would not notice her movements. Ever so carefully she shifted again to peek inside. Bound paper and a leather-bound book sat neatly in the pouch. Books? What purpose did the elf witch have in giving her books? Apparently Galadriel was not all knowing; she seemed to not be privy to one certain piece of information, one that would render her gift unusable.
"What do you do so secretively?" asked Legolas.
With a scowl she closed the pouch quickly, "I am minding my own business,"
"Unless my eyes deceive me, something rather uncommon I assure you, you have acquired a new pouch,"
"Aye, master elf! Is that a gift from Lady Galadriel, lassie?"
"Yes, if you must know. But I might have gotten more use out of one of those pretty cloaks,"
"Don't be so ungrateful lass! A resourceful girl like yourself could find many uses for such a gift!"
"What's inside it, Serafina?" asked Legolas shrewdly.
"Something to help me on my path, wherever it may lead," she answered flippantly.
"And what is your path?"
"I don't know, but if it does not lead me far away from you, and all your kind, I will make myself a new one!" she spat into the wind.
From behind her a suppressed chuckle echoed from Gimli. She smiled - glad he was not totally changed from the dwarf she had been friendly with.
#
"I can take the second watch," to the stunned silence that met her proposal as the fellowship prepared for sleep after their first day on the water she added, "It's not like I would do a worse job than the dwarf."
"That is true enough," agreed Legolas slyly giving Aragorn a sideways look.
"And what do ye mean by that Master Elf?" asked Gimli darkly.
Serafina ignored them, "I have spent the entire day in a boat so small I could do nothing but sit with my head on my knees. Let me take the second watch - I am not tired and I have nothing to do tomorrow but what I did today."
"Spreading the watches would give us more rest, I am not opposed to that," interjected Boromir absent-mindedly.
Aragorn raised an eyebrow at the man but said nothing.
"Good it is settled then," she said with finality, "Legolas will wake me and I will wake…"
"Me. When the morning star is at its lowest between those mountain," said Aragorn looking at Serafina intently.
A mischievous smile twitched at her lips but she fought it down and prepared for sleep, she would need as much as she could get.
She slept quite deeply; too soon though gentle hands shook her awake, gentle but careless.
"It is your watch, Serafina,"
She mumbled her acknowledgment and made her way closer to the still burning fire.
"Do not forget when to wake Aragorn,"
She didn't answer.
"I don't know what you are up to thief,"
"Good-"
"But maybe you would tell me what has passed between yourself and Boromir," he paused again but she did not answer, "His behaviour towards you has been most unexpected of late,"
"And what do you make of it Master Elf?" she said turning to him with an eyebrow raised.
"We each have our own theories," he answered vaguely.
"Then I suggest you choose one and be satisfied with it; my business does not concern you,"
"It may not concern me, but until you are on that path of yours, it impacts us all. Stay alert, Serafina. Being on watch is not a duty to be taken lightly,"
Serafina thanked the gods fervently as he turned his back on her and laid himself down for sleep. Once she was sure that the elf and the rest of the company were indeed sleeping she sat by the fire and emptied the contents of her pouch.
The flickering firelight revealed two books, a small quill and an equally small phial of ink. One of the books was leather bound and had the air of much use and great age, the other was simpler, newer and bound lightly with twine. She picked up the older book first and held it as close to the firelight as she dared. It opened easily, as if it was happy to reveal its secrets to her. Serafina's eyes widened in disbelief at what met her eyes.
Beautifully illustrated pictures almost danced on the pages before her. Underneath each picture was a word, or two, written in a clear hand. It was a book for learning to read and write. She flicked through it several times and realised that the first part of the book was devoted to leaning the letters, in relation to sound. She began to recognise the same letter appearing in each word on a page. In the middle of the book she found more and more words strung together, she thought perhaps they were stories, or poems. By the end of the book the writing went on for a few pages without break but for illustration.
Curiosity burned her, but her pride hurt sorely. It was one thing to admit she could not read or write. It was another thing entirely to accept help and humble herself to learn. Frustratedly, she dropped the beautiful book and picked up the other one. She flipped through the pages but there was nothing to see. It was blank. She ground her teeth and wondered what the elf witch was playing at. Her mind thought up scenario after scenario, trying to account for such a gift, attempting to find the motivations behind her obvious desire for Serafina to be literate. But nothing came to her.
Angrily she thrust all of it back into the pouch and wished she had not volunteered to take the second watch, the moments of discovery were not worth the lack of sleep. Her eyes rested on Legolas and she scowled. Slowly an idea came to her, perhaps she was going to be able to make the night worth while after all. She smiled to herself, pleased to have something to do and set about work, she wanted to be completely finished by the time she was to wake Aragorn.
#
The second day of paddling was passing without anything exceptional. Serafina noticed she was marginally more tired than usual, but not as much as she'd expected. Nevertheless she scowled in the insistent sunshine. Was Legolas really so gifted a paddler? She had worked pins into the underside of the boat and attached a pair of old tights to them with rocks inside. She had even been careful to hang them from his non-preferred side so that he would be forced to correct his strokes often, but the elf seemed non-pulsed.
They floated further and further down the river, but the further they went, the surer Serafina was that she had not attached the weights to the boat correctly. Legolas paddled with such ease and grace, and with so honest an expression that she knew something had gone wrong with her plan.
Frowning angrily she turned her mind over to the contents of her pouch. Slowly she tried to figure out if she wanted to be able to read and write. She certainly had no objections to the ability. Her problem, she knew, was what the company would think if they knew that she was trying to learn to read - she could not stand the humiliation. But, she thought to herself, she would not be with them for much longer; surely she could get a head start for a few nights by firelight? They would never need to know.
A furious voice broke her reverie,
"What is this?"
Serafina looked up to locate the enraged cry. Boromir had stopped paddling and was hauling something out of the water on the right hand side of his boat. Her eyes widened and she turned around instantly to look at Legolas, he however, was watching Boromir with a confused gaze. Slowly her stomach sank.
"Who did this?" demanded the man, shouting across the water.
Serafina kept her face guilt free, she continued to look at the thing in his hand as if trying to figure out what it was.
"What is it Boromir?" came a voice from further up river.
In the distance Serafina saw the shape of Aragorn in a grey boat turning around to paddle back up river towards them. Instantly her face betrayed her and reddened. She cursed herself out loud and a hearty chuckle sounded behind her.
"Good one lass! You've got some daring in you, I'll give you that," said Gimli.
"Others might call it foolishness," mumbled the elf.
Serafina ignored her two companions and tried desperately to wipe the guilt from her face, but she knew it was no use; they were, after all, her stockings. Resigning herself to her fate she raised her own voice to carry to Boromir,
"In fairness Boromir, it seems I attached them to the wrong boat - I sorely hoped to see the elf make a fool of himself. But I will settle for this," she said letting a twinkle come into her eye.
Boromir did not answer. Even from such a distance Serafina could see anger surging through the man. In a swift and strong action Boromir ripped the stockings from the boat and hurled them through the air. The stocking soared swinging end over end with the rocks in the feet and eventually splashed into the river. Boromir hadn't stopped to watch the stockings fly, by the time Serafina turned her attention back to the man he was paddling forwards towards Aragorn. Four small faces looked between Serafina and the Captain of Gondor, one face watched her only, she could just imagine his grey eyes looking for the answer to an unknown question in her eyes, except this time she imagined them laced with distain.
"You meant that for our boat?" asked a quiet voice behind her.
"Yes," she answered curtly.
"Then next time you might double check which boat you sabotage. It would be terrible if another of your jokes went awry and Boromir became particularly angry. We Elves are much more forgiving,"
Serafina whipped her head around and regarded the Elf. He wore an unusually smug smile as he paddled down river after the men.
"You!" she growled under her breath.
But Legolas would not answer, he paddled on looking forwards. Serafina turned her gaze to Gimli, who met it strongly,
"Don't look at me lassie, I had no part in it! We dwarves don't like to get involved in the quarrels between men and elves,"
She scowled and looked forwards again, certain that Legolas had switched the boats.
#
That evening the company sat around the fire in uncomfortable silence. Boromir was evidently still angry, Serafina watched as he stared down all those who made eye contact with him. Legolas and Gimli seemed to be the only two of the company relatively unaffected by the day's events.
She looked across the fire. Instantly her eyes met Aragorn's. He was looking at her with that same searching gaze. Heat from the fire and from her own discomfort assailed her. They had barely spoken to each other in two days. Part of her was glad for the distance; it was easier to believe the visions were only visions with space between them, but looking into his eyes now sent a thrill through her body that she wished she could ignore.
"Come lassie!" exclaimed Gimli, breaking the silence, "Tell us a story,"
Serafina whipped her head around to look at the dwarf; he was watching her with a twinkle in his eye from the firelight. Legolas next to him was smirking, for what reason though, she could not care.
"Mind you make it a happy one," he continued, "this night is sombre enough!"
"Hear, hear," piped up Merry.
Serafina looked at the hobbit to judge his sincerity. He smiled at her encouragingly. She smiled back unenthusiastically and quickly glanced over the rest of the faces around her. Most of them wore indifferent expressions, though none as indifferent as Aragorn, who had taken out a knife and had begun sharpening it slowly. It did not go unnoticed by her how dangerous he looked at time like these, when he appeared to be relaxed but was always ready to spring into action should danger come calling. Boromir however, was not indifferent.
"Some of us don't want one of your stories thief," he said when her eyes met his.
Stubbornly she jutted out her chin and eyed the man back. His eyes held a threat and a dare. Serafina smiled at him goadingly and turned away.
"Not long before I got tangled up in this," she gestured around her to indicated the quest, "life was becoming difficult. I'd been in Bree for too long; there were too many lowlifes, like myself, and those that were better off weren't better off enough for all of us to live off.
"I'd resorted to going from house to house, taking food or valuables, or money if I could find it, simply to be able to live. One night I ended up in the house of somebody I knew by sight, but not personally - his name was Heston. He was the son of a farmer from just outside of Bree; he'd left the farm to try village life. Unfortunately he was not particularly good at anything. He'd tried to be the apprentice of the blacksmith, and the carpenter, he'd even tried to learn the art of running an inn, but he was constantly being cut loose. He was certainly physically able to perform all of these duties - he was as strong as any farmer's son ought to be, but instead he lumbered about like a great brute instead of a strong man.
"It was in the early hours of the morning when I broke into the house he was staying in, I went straight to the kitchen and stated making myself some dinner. I did not know that Heston was a sleepwalker. When I was in the middle of finishing off a loaf of bread and packing some things into my rucksack Heston walked around the corner, completely naked,".
A pair of snickers sounded in the night and Serafina began to smile with enjoyment as she told the story, "He asked me who I was, and what was I doing. I answered him truthfully - I didn't think it fair to lie to a naked man, but it didn't seem to worry him. In fact he began walking about the kitchen as if I wasn't there. Slowly I began to realise he was sleepwalking. I sent up a quick thank-you prayer to the gods and hoped that Heston wouldn't wake up from the chill in the night air," she paused and added saucily, "He was certainly cold,"
A bark of laughter erupted from Gimli. Merry cried out and pointed at Sam, who was blushing modestly. Before continuing Serafina caught the ghost of a smile on Boromir's lips, she smiled gleefully at her victory. Her smile only faltered when her eyes rested on Aragorn, who had not looked up from his knife and had no trace of a smile on his face.
Pushing the ranger out of her mind Serafina ploughed on, "I think at that time part of me knew I should have left while I had the chance, but the opportunity of robbing him was still open to me, and I couldn't resist it. I began picking things up from in front of him, becoming less and less careful because the oaf was clueless. When I was about ready to leave another figure entered the room. It was a girl, naked, and about my age. I knew her as the daughter of the Captain of the Village Watch. She was in the middle of telling Heston to hurry up and come back to bed when she saw me. The two of us stared at each other for a moment. I knew she couldn't take me to her father; he would want to know what she was doing at Heston's home so late when the two were not married.
"Without any warning she strode up to Heston and slapped him hard in the face. He woke up instantly. She began screaming at him saying - 'There's a burglar, save me Heston!' The poor boy screamed when he saw me. He ran behind his lover, trying to hide his nakedness then he realised he was exposing her so he ran out in front of her to hide her body from my eyes, only to turn around to face her for his own embarrassment. She however, was not as stupid, nor as flighty. She pushed passed him, grabbing a frying pan as she went and hit me over the head with it before I knew what was happening.
"The next thing I knew was I was in a cell in the Village Watch headquarters. They tried to keep me there, but seeing as I hadn't actually stolen anything they let me go after a couple of nights. When they released me I looked up at the officer and it was none other than Heston. He had been given a job with the Village Watch for apprehending a burglar and preventing a crime. He told me he'd been hired for his quick thinking and level headedness".
Serafina stopped and looked around, all except for Aragorn were at least smiling. Laughter met her ears and she smiled.
"I can't believe they gave that idiot a job!" exclaimed Pippin, laughing.
"I couldn't either, but the day never came that I wished they hadn't,"
"Why's that?" asked Merry, "It can't have been good for Bree to have those kind of idiots enforcing the law,"
Serafina opened her mouth to answer but Boromir beat her to it, "Yes Master Hobbit, that would be the normal thing to think. But what was good for Bree and what was good for Serafina were probably very different things," the tone in his voice was unreadable. Serafina looked over at him trying to discern his motivations. When she looked away her eyes met Aragorn's again and she broke the contact instantly. Aragorn stood and the company fell silent. A solemn mood settled over the company once more, leaving the smiles and laughter from the story as a memory.
"Serafina," he said addressing her with her full name, "you will take the first watch. Legolas, you have the second,"
She stopped listening, and stared into the fire. Something had changed between them; she could not tell what it was. She was glad for the distance but his sudden contempt of her was uncharacteristic of him and unexplained. A frown came upon her brow as she realised she might have to leave soon; they were making good, steady ground down the river and the time for their paths to split would be soon. Lady Galadriel's smile seemed to flicker at her in the firelight teasing her with her knowledge.
Angrily she turned her attention from it and watched the fellowship prepare for bed and fall asleep one by one. All except Boromir, who paced about the campsite agitatedly.
The firelight flickered as she sat by it, waiting for the man to go to his bedroll and leave her in peace. It seemed however that Boromir had some other unknown intentions. He moved to the fire and paced across from her, looking up intermittently. She endured it as best as she good, ignoring him and pretending to watch the night vigilantly like she was supposed to.
"Fia," he began, she looked up at the use of her nickname but quickly looked away again. He continued, "Fia, you need to forgive my behaviour of late,"
"Of late?" she asked under he breath.
"I made a promise to myself to protect you, regardless of what you have become, because I owe it to you, I owe it to that child I sent down the river…" he let his voice trail off.
"You owe me nothing," she said, severely annoyed that he would begin talking like this again. She liked him better when he hated her.
"I owe you the chance of a life free from the trials you have lived through,"
"Boromir, listen to me -"
"No! You listen to me," he interrupted, his voice rising, "in Minas Tirith I can set things straight. You can have the life you were born to have,"
"The life of a prisoner's daughter?"
"It is better than your current situation," he spat.
"Being a thief? Instead you would have me brought to justice, that would be a better situation for me?"
Boromir regarded her with his hard eyes and spoke in a whisper, "We all have our duty to perform,"
"And my duty is to give my life to your country, to pay my debt," she sneered.
"I would not take your life Serafina,"
"No, not since it is your duty to protect me,"
"Justice must be served,"
Serafina's eyes flashed with anger, "What if justice has already been served? What if Arnudor's justice was to die for taking a child away from its mother?"
"We do not know the full circumstance there,"
"And yet you would lure me to Gondor to imprison me when the whole situation is not known,"
"What of your debt to Olin? Have you forgotten that you owe him his life, similarly to how I owe you yours?"
Serafina was silent for a moment; it was true she had tried to forget Olin. For so long she had thought him dead, and now to know that he had not died she almost wished he had, for his own sake.
"You did forget him," he said flatly, "I wish I were as callous as you,"
"I did not forget him!" she cried, a ghost of movement came from the area where Aragorn slept next to Frodo and Sam. Remembering the company was sleeping she lowered her voice to an angry hiss, "I see no point in tormenting myself day after day for something I had no control over,"
"You could have had control over it, just as I could have asked to hold the baby,"
"I could not," she said in a low, harsh whisper, "I yelled and screamed at Garth for days, desperate to go back and see the people who had killed my friend. Garth put me in a sack and dragged me all the way to Rohan and then when I tried again to return to Minas Tirith he dragged me North until I was so lost I could not have run away if I tried. Then we travelled together to Bree. I would have gone back for him. I am no coward. By the time we made it to Bree I had tried to block out the images in my head. Be assured Boromir, had I had my way you would have had me in his place,"
He regarded her for a long moment, the fire crackled away between them and Serafina looked down at her knees.
"Then you may be a better person than I have given you credit for, but that does not excuse you,"
"I don't trust your motivations to go to Minas Tirith,"
He looked at her curiously for a moment then walked across the fire and sat by her side, "At times I don't trust them either," he paused frowning heavily, "but is it truly the best path to destroy it?"
Serafina's eyes widened at his sudden subject change. "I want no part of it," she warned.
"I want no part in destroying it,"
"You misunderstand me, I want no part in anything to do with that thing,"
Boromir however did not seem to hear her, "To think that we might be destroying something that would have the power to defeat all of our enemies,"
"Boromir -" she began, but he still was not listening.
"What if we are delivering to him? What if we fail and it comes into the hands of Sauron?"
"Stop it!" she said hitting him hard on the shoulder to get his attention, "that is not your concern. Your concern is getting Frodo safely to Mordor with Aragorn and the others. That is all,"
For a long time he looked at the place she had hit him. Serafina wondered whether he would react with violence or if he would simply reprimand her with words. After a moment though his face softened and became sad, "All I want is the power to look after my people,"
"You don't need a ring to have power Boromir," she said darkly, "look at the power you have had over my life, over Olin's life. You have done good things too, for Gondor I am sure, and here also in the fellowship. You did not need a ring for any of that,"
"I am talking about winning a war,"
"If you want to talk war then talk to someone else, I know nothing of it,"
"I," he paused, suddenly vulnerable, "I would talk with Aragorn, but he is suddenly distant,"
She swallowed and said, "I have not noticed any change in him,"
"Then perhaps I really am losing my mind," he said laughing in spite of himself, "He looks at you a lot though Fia. He cares for you,"
"I think you really are losing your mind,"
He smiled at her grateful for the good humour, "Will you not think again about Minas Tirith? Even if I cannot persuade Aragorn to change course, you should go there,"
"I am not going to Minas Tirith," she said through gritted teeth.
"At least consider it,"
"If you agree to go to sleep now and leave me in peace then I will consider it,"
Boromir laughed again, "You really are a terrible liar these days, but I will leave you to your watch. Goodnight Serafina,"
She watched him stand and walk to his bedroll. Once he was unmoving she cast her eye across the other members of the fellowship. They all appeared to be sleeping peacefully. As she turned her attention to withdrawing her books from her pouch she thought she saw some movement coming from Aragorn's bedroll. Her head snapped up immediately but no further movement followed. Dismissing it she turned her attention back to the books, yes it was time to learn to read.
#
Please review!