AN: I just realised that I haven't talked about the plot bunny in a LONG time. I guess its because Fluffy Glorfy Carrot Daft (ask Annabel Jones) went on vacation and left me to fend for myself... Sorry [i am so not crazy ;)]

Thank you so much fir the follows favs and reviews! You make my day!

Annabel Jones: Thank you mellon nin! It is very much appreciated :) I know, i know, poor Alysae. She always gets in the worst kinds of trouble. As for that... I guess you'll need to wait and see ;)

MustardLady: I know right, but what did Lady Galadriel mean by that? Hmm... there are so many things that will be revealed soon! And yeah, those elves sometimes... I really really like the twins and their relationship with Alysae, honestly they are so much fun!

the8horcrux: Haha yes! I actually was a pretty big fan of Rick Riordan, and I still love his books. I mean, they're so dam good! ;)

PrettyRecklessLaura: Then I hope you enjoy this chapter!

XxxChelaxxX: Yesss! a new reader! You binge read my story? *gasp* (it makes me want to squeal, sorry...) I hOpE you enjoy this chapter too!

Nymiriel: Thank you thank you for your kind words! It really made my day :) I will keep it in mind :) And please enjoy the latest installment as well. Thank you again!

EmmaCBlackstairs: Gee thanks mellon. i was beginning to wonder where you were... ;)

. . . Chapter 13— Do not let your heart be troubled . . .

Galadriel turned to her, and her eyes widened in shock and her mouth parted. Alysae blinked.

Then, the lady elf's face smoothed back in a kind expression, but not before she had said four words —words which she had not said, not really; more like spoken in her mind if that was ever possible— words which had filled Alysae with dread, and had brought her entire world crashing down— a second time since setting off from Mirkwood.

"You should be dead."

Alysae gasped and took a step back. "What, what do you mean?" she stammered uneasily. Her fingers trembled slightly, fisted against the material of her riding tunic.

Besides the fair Lady Galadriel, the dark haired twins were frowning at her.

"What is it grandnaneth?" asked Elrohir, his eyebrows drawn up together.

But the lady of Lorien ignored them both and focused her keen eyes on Alysae. Her blue eyes were penetrating, seeming to pierce through her and read...read her. Her soul felt bared and lay open for anyone to see. Secrets, memories, thoughts...it all swirled before her eyes, scrutinized and thoroughly examined by prodding fingers. Alysae felt a tremble shake her body.

"Do not fear me, child," the gentle voice came again. Alysae looked wildly around her, wanting to see if anyone had heard it.

"Of course not, dear. Only you can hear me."

Alysae's eyes widened. "You can— you can read my mind?" she asked rather incredulously.

"Yes, child. And it is my voice you can hear, for I am speaking inside your mind."

"Inside my—my mind?"

Lady Galadriel nodded with a slight smile upon her fair face. "I know what you seek, Alysae Thranduiliel. I know why you have come."

Alysae frowned in confusion. "How do you know?" She was so flummoxed that all her previous knowledge on Lady Galadriel, who knew next to everything, seemed to have evaporated in thin air. In fact, she could barely think straight. Her mind whirled and her fingers clenched and unclenched at her side.

The kind smile was still upon the Lady's face. "Never mind, my dear; It shall all be revealed soon. Do not let your heart be troubled." The lady of Lorien turned and now spoke to all. "Go now and rest for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight you will sleep in peace."

"We have talans prepared for you," added Celeborn. He spread his arms and in an instant, a tall elleth was by his side. "Mirwen shall show you to them," he said.

And so with a muttered If you will follow me, Mirwen began leading the way, her footsteps light. Alysae and the twins were quick to follow, Alysae still stuck on what just happened. They walked on the platforms still, the leaves forming a golden roof above, and passed many talans, with some windows shining like yellow lights.

"Sooo my dear Mirwen," started Elladan with a grin. "How are you on this fine day?"

"I believe it is nighttime already," the elleth answered coolly. "And I am well." Her pale hair hung neatly down her back, barely swinging as she moved.

"Come on, Mir!" he continued. "I know you missed me!"

The elleth did not do as much as glance his way, her blue eyes cool and impassive. "I, unfortunately for you, did not miss your sore presence."

"What?" cried Elladan. "You wound me with your cruel word, O dear Mirwen!"

She scoffed and shook her head.

Meanwhile, Elrohir approached Alysae. "Are you well?"

She started from her thoughts. "Oh? Yes. I am well."

"It can be rather strange the first time she speaks in your mind," sad Elrohir with a wry smile.

"Indeed," Alysae muttered distantly.

Mirwen stopped. "Those are your talans," she gestured to two wooden doors from the side of the wooden wall. "And I believe you already knew them." She added with a pointed glance to Elladan.

She turned to Alysae. "And I will show you to yours."

Elladan sighted dramatically. "very well," he said, clutching his chest. "Farewell! Begone from my sight cruel woman! I must now nurse my poor wounded heart. Farewell!" He staggered to the left door, nearly falling on the doorknob. With one last wave and cry of (fake) despair, the door slammed behind him. Mirwen remained unfazed.

"I think my brother might be smitten with her," Elrohir whispered to Alysae who shook her head and fought a smile.

"Bye Ro," she said, moving to stand next to Mirwen. He gave her a smile and retreated to his own door. "See you in the morning," he called out as the elleth and girl were walking away. Alysae waved and strode away, leaving Elrohir to stare at her wake. He sighted.

-xxx-

The rest of the walk was spent in silence. Mirwen clearly was not bothered by it, in fact she rather seemed impassive all the while. Nothing seemed to faze her.

She showed Alysae to her talan and then left. No questions asked, no smile, no frown.

Alysae did not let it bother her —after all, it might be just how the elleth was, reserved. Instead she explored her new home for now.

It was large, with a high ceiling of interwoven branches, here and there they jutted out to make a sort of ledge or shelf on the walls. On the other side of where Alysae had entered the room, many windows adorned the wall, in fact they were simply spaces between the branches. Rolled up fabric above them permitted her to cover them.

Pushed against a wall at her right, a large white bed stood, oozing comfort and softness. In alcoves all around the room, small lights blinked out like will-o'-the-wisps or yellow stars.

There was another room which held a bathtub and white towels.

Alysae glanced at the corner of the room; her belonging were in a pile on a floor— her saddlebag, packs, everything. She let out a breath of relief. After she'd have rested, she'd go see Celeg, see how he fared.

She stripped of her dirty tunic, feeling embarrassed at the fact that the rulers of Lorien had seen her in such a state. But then, it all made her think back about how Lady Galadriel had just read her mind and plainly told her that she knew everything about her. But the worst, she thought as she threw the tunic to the side, was what the lady had said.

You should be dead.

The words felt evil, malevolent, like thousands of hissings snakes that made her want to recoil. It made her want to wipe her mind clean from these words. She felt slightly nauseous. She had not showed it when she had been in front of everyone back there, how her heart had pounded wildly, and how her fingers shook, and her stomach curled. How she'd been moments away from panicking and fleeing.

She let out a ragged breath. Tears stung at her eyes. What did all of this mean? Was she being punished by the Valar? Had she done something wrong— something to offend them? She was sick, possibly dying —it was now something that she had to acknowledge. She could no longer pretend it was nothing, that it would simply go away if she'd wish it.

You should be dead.

Did this mean that she was going to die soon? A sob escaped her. She did not want to die. She did not want to leave her brother, her father, her friends, behind. She wanted to live, to eat and laugh and play pranks on the twins, and spend time with her Adar, and read all the books there are to find, and raid the kitchen again for a midnight snack, and study to become a healer, and grow old, and get married and be a mother, find love. She wanted to have a life. To live.

She closed her eyes shut, and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook. She was alone. No one could help her.

Not even Gandalf would tell her anything. No, she had been kept in the dark —deliberately. What did all of it mean? Why did the fading happen to her? She wanted answers —no, she needed answers.

She stayed like that for a long while, still in her underclothes, and shivering and shaking and trembling on the floor. When finally she felt calmer, she donned a white nightgown that felt light and airy, and which had been laid on the bed, and washed her face and arms with water from a pitcher in the bathroom.

Then she crawled into bed, the mattress sinking under her weight, and buried herself in the covers, feeling like she'd sunk in a cloud. Finally exhaustion took in and she fell asleep.

-xxx-

When she next awoke golden light streamed in the room through the openings on the wall. A soft chirping told her that a bird was near.

Alysae stretched, feeling extremely refreshed. Her mind was at peace, she felt content, despite the fact that she knew her worries about her inner turmoil would soon reappear. She glanced around the room; it was still the same as yesterday, although with perhaps more light, except for a white cloth draped over a chair.

Curious, she got out of bed, her tangled hair falling into her eyes. The cloth was in fact a dress; with long sleeves like tendrils of mist, and a belt of argent leaves woven together, the fabric was light and soft to the touch; it was beautiful.

Alysae splashed her face with water and donned to the dress. It fell around her nicely, perfectly allowing her to move freely around. When she glanced at her reflection in the mirror in the bathroom, she though she looked like a tired mortal version of a Galadhrim elleth. She spent the next few minutes working on her hair. Seriously, it wasn't fair— how come elves always had perfect hair, luscious and thick and soft, and nearly impossible to tangle?!

Sometimes she wanted to shave her hair off, then shave Legolas' and make a wig out of his hair, and then always wear it. It would solve every problem that needed solving, she thought. No more need for washing her hair, nor spending time on special creams to make it soft and not frizzy, nor actually brushing it or spending hours to remove all tangles. Sounded like heaven to be honest.

Finally her hair hung smooth and straight down her back, free of tangle. She moved to put her silver brush on the table when she remembered the gift Arwen had bestowed her. The brooch was still in her pack so she took it out. The silver tips of the butterfly wings caught the light when she looked at it sitting in her hand. It would look marvelous with that dress, she thought. She pinned the top half of her hair back, twisting the strands together and used the glimmering brooch to hold it all in place.

She glanced at her reflection; no longer did she look like a wild woman, but instead she looked normal, albeit a little worn out. She pinched her cheeks to try to get some color in her face.

She was taking her books out to place them carefully on the table —she had taken the story of Beren and Luthien, and Erestor had gifted her with another book before she left: Snow White and the seven dwarves, she had never read it before and it sounded interesting— when a knock came at the door.

"You may come in," she called out, curious as to who it could be. The door opened —elven doors were never locked as an elf would never intrude upon the privacy of another without permission, and would therefore not need a lock— and an elleth with a warm smile entered.

"You are finally up!" she said, her eyes twinkling.

"Finally?" Alysae questioned.

"It is past midday, my Lady," said the elleth with a smile.

"Midday?" Alysae exclaimed. She had never thought that it would be that late. "Why did no one wake me?"

"The Lady said you needed your sleep, besides why does it matter? You must feel better now."

Alysae nodded, her hands still on the books.

"Oh! Pardon me!" exclaimed the elleth suddenly. "I am so daft! I have forgotten to introduce myself, please pardon me. I am Laereth, and I have been tasked to assist you."

"No worries," Alysae laughed. "I am Alysae, though you must probably already know that. Pleased to meet you."

The elleth beamed. "Same here." Then she frowned. "My lady! You should have called for someone to help you get dressed!"

Alysae glanced down as if only now remembering the white dress. "Oh there was no need," she said. "It really is a beautiful dress."

And the smile was once more back on the fair face. "I know! It truly is wonderful. Lady Galadriel herself chose it!"

Alysae's eyes widened in surprise. Lady Galadriel chose this? Personally? For her? She felt a little overwhelmed.

"Could you give her my thanks, then?" She asked, playing with the fabric of the dress.

"No need, you can ask her yourself!"

"Myself?"

"Of course," Laereth laughed. "You are invited to eat dinner with our lord and lady, as well as Lord Elladan and Elrohir. Oh and that reminds me, I will call for a plate of food to be brought to you. You must be starving!"

And to her surprise, Alysae found that she was in fact hungry.

"Any preferences?" asked Laereth.

Alysae shook her head. "Anything is fine, although I would very much like for some water and bread."

"Noted!" Laereth smiled. "It will be brought up to you in no time."

"Thank you very much," Alysae said. She found the enthusiastic elleth kind and easy to be around, and she hoped that she would see her more. It wasn't such a bad start to Lothlorien after all.

"Need anything else?" the elleth asked.

"As a matter of fact," said Alysae, turning around to fetch her pack, "it would be very kind of you if you could find a way to fix this." She took out her dresses; they had been folded and rolled, and now the fabric was all wrinkled. "They are marred by wrinkles and folds." She turned around to see Laereth staring at her as if she had seen a ghost.

"Where did you get that?"

Alysae frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"This," the elleth reached out to her head, but did not actually touch her. "That, that brooch."

"Oh!" Alysae's hand flew to the back of her head. "Arwen gave it to me before I left. Why? Is something wrong?" She asked it a little frantically, feeling like she'd done something wrong. She knew she shouldn't have accepted that gift!

Laereth shook her head slowly. "No, it is simply... It has been many years since I have last seen it. I remember it catching the light amid hair golden like yours. I thought it lost."

"You knew the Lady Celebrian?" Alysae asked slowly.

A pained look crossed the elleth' fair face. "She was a dear friend of mine."

Alysae reached back to unclaps it. "You keep it then," she said, holding it out to the elleth, her hair falling loose in her eyes. "It holds more meaning to you."

Laereth shook her head. "No. It was a gift to you."

"I mean it," Alysae insisted.

"So do I."

Laereth stepped forward and gently closed Alysae's fingers over the sparkling brooch. "Celebrian would be most happy to know it in your possession."

Alysae made a worried face. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Very much so."

"Well," she glanced at her fist, "if you insist..."

"Here, let me," Laereth positioned herself behind Alysae, and took hold of her hair, pulling it back like the girl had done before. She twisted the strands, and reached for the brooch to hold it all in place.

"There!" the elleth beamed. "It looks very good on you!"

"Thank you," Alysae blushed.

"Any time, dear." The elleth moved to the door. "I will fetch you some food, and after that, if you would like to, I can give you a tour of our fair city."

"I would love to."

"Perfect!" Laereth clasped her hands together and left the room with a swish of her hair.

Not long after, she was back with a platter filled with bread, and fruits and cooked vegetables, and sweets and cakes also. The food was excellent, especially the warm soft bread, and the pistachio and honey delicacy. After that Alysae was full and content. She set her fork down with a small sigh.

"Thank you Laereth," she said with a smile.

"No worries," the elleth smiled. "Leave the platter, it will be collected afterwards. Would you like the tour now?"

Alysae nodded.

So elleth and girl left the chambers; Laereth walked at a slow pace, not seeming to get bothered when Alysae often stopped to admire this or that. They walked among the many stairs in the trees, by the 'layers' of talans, and many platforms, through the sort of grand communal dining Hall (which was really a large platform in the open, with rows of tables, and benches and chairs, and many lights round it all, diffusing a silver glow on all), by the bathing springs, thought the market hall, down the training grounds, and at the stables.

Alysae threw her arms around Celeg's head when she saw him. His white mane had been brushed out and was silky soft, his butterscotch coat was shiny. He rubbed his nose against her hair.

"I missed you!"

Celeg snorted and stamped, and dipped his head down her back.

"I think he missed you too," laughed Laereth.

They stayed at the stables for a while, and after that, it was nearly dinner time so Laereth brought Alysae back to her room.

"Thank you so much," she told the elleth, who gave her a radiant smile.

"It really was my pleasure." Laereth brushed her hair behind her ears. "It has been too long since anyone has come from outside the borders. It is rather refreshing! I must take my leave now, but a maid shall take you to the private dining room for dinner. Goodbye!"

And with a wave, Laereth parted, leaving Alysae feeling happier than she had in a while.

-xxx-

Sooo? Whatdya think?