Maethor awoke the next morning, dressed in a simple blue dress and circlet but in her feet, she wore her boots and inside each holding daggers. Normally for a lady, this would be nowhere near acceptable but for her, this was her everyday life.
Maethor then pulled on her dark hood and covered her face, she didn't know what evil servants could have been sent. She made her way up to where she and Legolas had agreed to meet, together the two then went to join the council. Maethor and Legolas both knew that women weren't welcomed to such meetings but then again she wasn't your average woman.
The two had arrived just as Lord Elrond had, so there was no room for questions of her presence among the men. Only very few present actually knew who hid under the shadows of the cloak. Maethor sat next to the princeling, feeling every set of eyes on her as whispers as to who she was and why she was there but none were answered when Elrond called the council to order.
"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands on the brink of destruction, none can escape it." Elrond now stood to his feet while Legolas and Maethor shared a look and then Legolas and Aragorn shared the same. "You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom." Elrond finished before he turned to Frodo. "Bring forth the Ring, Frodo." he said and motioned to the podium in the middle of the council.
Frodo stood to his feet and carefully placed the Ring before retaking his seat next to Gandalf. All stared as Maethor felt her lips turn into a snare, knowing this object was the cause of all her problems.
"So it is true..." All heard Boromir, the Captain of Gondor, whisper, casing all the attention to turn to him as he stood up from his seat. "In a dream...I saw the eastern sky grow dark but in the west, a pale light lingered. Voices crying 'Doom is near at hand. Isildur's Bane is found. Isildur's Bane..." Boromir inched closer and close with his hand out to the Ring, ready to take it. Maethor prayed that he would snap out of his trace but he didn't. So at the last second, both Maethor and Elrond jumped to their feet. "Boromir!" the two called out but it was drowned out as Gandalf spoke in the black language of Mordor, that was written on the band.
Everyone watched as the sky grew dark and the earth began to shake a bit. The elves braced themselves as the pain of darkness hit. Maethor sat back down in her chair immediately as her hands flew to her ears as if to try and block the sound out as she shut her eyes tightly. But the flashes of her bloody past appeared in her mind.
Once Gandalf was done, the sky cleared and all was back to normal as Boromir sat back in his seat. "Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris." Elrond said from his seat.
Legolas looked to Maethor who was trying to calm her breath. "It's okay, You're safe." he told her as he took her hand in comfort. Aragorn looked across at the two in concern. Maethor looked to Legolas and then to Elrond and then finally to Aragorn to bring herself back to reality.
Suddenly a dwarf snickered "Scared little girl." he said. Maethor leaned down and fingered the dagger in her boot but her uncle stooped her. "No, Amdi." Maethor let out a soft growl as she removed her hand.
"Why does she not reveal her identity?" a man demanded.
"Because she is a spy of Sauron." exclaimed a dwarf. "She's a spy!" said another.
But before anyone could jump to her defense, Maethor was one her feet. "There is nothing more disgusting than being accused of being the one thing that nearly destroyed everything you hold dear." she growled and removed her hood.
Boromir smirked from his seat for he had none who hid under the cloak the moment she walked in. He then rose to his feet "Amdiriel." he greeted with a smile. Amdiriel mirrored his smile and bowed slightly to the Captain of Gondor as he did the same to her. Whispers went around as soon as her true name left his lips. "The lost Captain of the White Tower... The orc slayer"
Amdiriel and Boromir both smirked at their reaction and both wishing they could break their façade but knew better not to.
Across the council, Aragorn sat there, stunned at the revelation. He had heard may tales of the of her, Boromir and Faramir leading the people of Gondor to victor along with stories and whispers of her adventures and coming to the aid of others all over Middle-Earth, even to the Dunedin, where she aided in defending the rangers in a surprise attack.
The noise was silenced as Amdiriel coughed and said "Well, now that we got that sorted may we return to the problem at hand?" she said, motioning to the Ring, before sitting herself back down.
"It is a gift..." Boromir said as he continued standing "A gift to the foes of Mordor. Long has my father the Steward of Gondor kept to forces of Mordor as bae. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe." Maethor had to bite back a growl at the mention of the Steward. "Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him." Boromir insisted.
Amdiriel rose to her feet yet again. "You know we can't, Boromir." she said causing all to look at her. "The Ring is altogether evil. It will destroy us long before it would help us." she told him.
"She's right." said a voice from behind her. "You can not wield it, none of us can. The Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master." Aragorn stated.
"And what would a ranger know of this matter?" questioned Boromir. Amdiriel could feel a burn of anger as Boromir spoke to the should be king.
Legolas then jumped up to speak. "This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance." Legolas defended his friend. Silence overcame the council at the revelation as Amdiriel shut her eyes in defeat, for she had been trying to hide Aragorn's true identity from Boromir.
Boromir turned and looked at Aragorn in disbelief "Aragorn? This is Isildur's heir?" He questioned.
"And heir to the throne of Gondor." Clarified Legolas. Boromir looked to Amdirel as if he was putting the pieces of a puzzle together. "Sit down, Legolas and Maethor" Aragorn told the two elves. The two did as their friend asked of them but Boromir looked back at Legolas "Gondor had no king." he said and then made sure to look at Aragorn "Gondor needs no king." he said before sitting in his seat. Amdiriel rolled her eyes, knowing that was a lie, for a king was never more needed.
Aragorn looked down as the words that Amdiriel had spoken to him the night before echoed in his head.
"Aragorn and Amdireil are both right, we can not use it." said Gandalf. "You have but one choice" Elrond said, "The Ring must be destroyed." Boromir sighed in defeat as silence came over the council again.
"Well what are we waiting for?" the dwarf named Gimli asked. He then picked up his ax and brought it over his head and down onto the Ring. The ax shattered on impact into a bunch of pieces and threw the dwarf backward. Amdiriel and the other elves around her, threw up their hands in front of their faces to shield them from the shards of the broken weapon.
Gimli's kinsmen helped him as Lord Elrond spoke. "The Ring can not be destroyed, Gimli, son of Glion by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into the hear of Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from when's it came!... One of you must do this."
"One does not simply walk into Mordor." Boromir told the council. "It's Black Gates are guarded with more than just orcs, the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a baron wasteland, the air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this, it is foully."
"Have you heard nothing, Lord Elrond has said?" Legolas demanded. "The Ring must be destroyed."
"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it." Gimli snared from his seat. Boromir stood to his feet "And if we fail, what then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?"
"I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an elf." Gimli yelled. Both elves and dwarves stood and started to yell at each other in outrage. Amdiriel was about to jump in until she saw how little good it did when Gandalf and Boromir started to yell at each. Amdiriel looked around and saw that only she, Aragorn, her uncle, and Frodo were the only ones not in the fight. Amdiriel looked to her uncle who then gave her a nod.
Amdiriel stood and grabbed her dagger from boot. Amdireil saw the invisible line the ran in between the arguing members. She turned her back to them and then let out a deep breath. She then let her dagger fly between the people and into the tree behind them. Everyone gasped and then turn to Amdiriel who stood there unimpressed. "Look at all of you! The Ring hasn't even bee among us for more than an hour and it has already divided us. We are supposed to be uniting against it yet here we are bickering amongst ourselves. Stop it! You want to be leaders than be the first ones to shut up!" She told them. No one dared to speak, they knew they were in the wrong.
"Now who will take the Ring to Mordor?" Asked Lord Elrond.
"I will..." said a small voice from behind Amdiriel "I will take the Ring to Mordor...No, I do not know the way." Said Frodo. Everyone was stunned by the courage of such a small person.
Gandalf walked forward "I will help you to carry this burden, Frodo Baggins as long as it is yours to bear." Amdiriel knelt down before the halfling "I shall do my best to keep you safe so you can complete this task." she told him. Aragorn smiled and then stood to his feet "If by my life or death, I can protect you, I will." He then moved to stand in front of the young hobbit. "You have my sword."
"And you have my bow." said Legolas as he came forward. "And my ax." said Gimli who then joined the group.
"You carry the fate of us all, if this is indeed the will of the council, then Gondor will see it done." Boromir said.
Suddenly, a yell came from behind them and in ran Sam "Mr. Frodo isn't going anywhere without me."
"Well, it is hardly possible to separate you two, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not." Elrond stated while Sam looked guilty.
"Hey! We are coming too!" yelled Merry as he ran in with Pippin right behind him. "You're going to have send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." he said.
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard." Amdireil said in elvish, making Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas chuckle.
"Besides, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission, quest...thing." Pippin stated proudly.
"Well, that rules you out, Pip." Merry told his cousin, who's once-proud smile faltered.
"Ten companies." said Elrond as he looked at the group that now stood before him. "So be it, you shall be the fellowship of the Ring." he declared. Each member of this now fellowship feeling a great sense of pride.
"Great... where are we going?" asked Pippin.