DISCLAIMER:
I do not own, or have anything to do with Lord of the Rings and the story's related characters. The characters Taryn, Nefiáthiel, and Nefára belong to me, everyone else is property of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Elvish in the Chapter:
Namárië = farewell
Mithrandir is an Elvish name for Gandalf. ;)
talan = um, please tell me I dont have to tell you again....*wink*
Haldir! Daro! = Haldir! Stop!
melamin = my love
Quel undome, Haldir o Lórien = Good evening, Haldir from Lórien
Quel undome, mela = Good evening, love
Taryn took a deep breath and looked at Celeborn shakily. "I was born on January fifteenth, in the year 1984 in my world. It would have been the year...3001 here, and from there my life went downhill. My mother died at childbirth. I never met her. My father left me with my mother's parents when I was five years old. He said...he said he couldn't raise me because he didn't know how," Taryn shrugged. "To tell the truth, I hated him...for everything that he did, and for everything that he didn't do. I still hate him, I suppose. I haven't thought about him in a long time.
"My grandparents became my life. They supported me, and were there for me when I needed someone to talk to. They came over from Ireland, another country in my world, and ever since I found out about their immigration, I have been interested in all things Celtic in origin. I suppose that's why I loved all of Middle-earth so much. Anyhow, I began going to antique shops when I was two months away from being seventeen to search for anything and everything with Celtic origins. On the day before I turned seventeen, an antique shop was put in right down the road from my grandparents' home. I thought it was too good to be true. I had one of my favorite stores within walking distance...how great is that?" Taryn laughed a moment, and then paused for a split-second before continuing. "The first day I set foot into that store, I fell in love with it. Soon, it became my home-away-from-home, and the store's owner, Eileen, became and aunt...a mother to me, even."
"What was this 'store' called Taryn?" Celeborn interrupted.
Taryn's eyes grew wide. "Don't freak out, okay?" Celeborn raised an eyebrow in reply and Taryn continued. "The Barrow-Downs..."
Celeborn opened his mouth to reply, and Taryn wagged a finger at the Elf Lord. "I told you not to freak, and you did anyhow..," Taryn shook her head in a joking manner, and Celeborn and Galadriel couldn't help but laugh.
"Back to story...The Barrow-Downs became my home-away-from-home, and Eileen let me work there to earn some odds and ends that I wanted when I was out of money. She only needed my help so often, so she gave me whatever it was I wanted and then let me work it off later. Eventually though, she just stopped asking for my help and started holding things for me and asking me if I wanted them when I stopped by. That's how I ended up with the Necklace. Two months ago, I walked into the Barrow-Downs, and Eileen had this set aside in the back, waiting for me. She gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday...then, when I put it on, the Necklace swirled to life, and and when I looked into this mirror, I woke up here a couple of weeks after the fact..."
Galadriel locked Taryn with a curious glance. "A mirror? What did this mirror look like?"
"It looked like the Necklace, I suppose. It looked to me like it was a match...with the same engravings as on the Necklace..," Taryn replied before she was 'helped' out of her chair by Galadriel and escorted out of the Library. In a short time Taryn found herself int eh Lady's quarters in front of a giant vanity mirror. One that looked as if it matched the Necklace. One that looked just like the one in the back of the Barrow-Downs.
"Is this your mirror, Taryn?" Galadriel looked at the girl, and then watched as Taryn's jaw dropped. The girl nodded slightly and then turned to Galadriel.
"So...then...Tolkien was right...," Taryn mumbled to herself. "Then Middle-earth is our history..."
As Taryn moved closer to the mirror, Celeborn advanced toward his wife. "What has this mirror to do with anything?"
Galadriel watched Taryn intently as the stroked the glass of the mirror slowly. "That mirror is how she was transported here and when the time comes, it will be that mirror that will send her back," Just then, a soft-skinned Elven maiden entered the Lady's quarters.
"My Lady," she bowed gracefully, her silver gown flaring about her pale feet. "The Fellowship has come. They are on their way up this moment."
"Thank you, Uruviel. I shall be in the Hall momentarily," The two Elves exchanged their words in their own tongue, and Uruviel nodded. "Namárië."
"Namárië," Uruviel spoke, and then turned and exited the Lady's chambers.
Galadriel looked up at Taryn, a grin on her face. "Come, it is time for you to meet the Fellowship," Celeborn extended a hand to each of the women and led them into the hall. A third chair was produced for Taryn and rested beside the Lady Galadriel's. The Lady of the Wood bid Taryn to sit, and sit she did. Shortly after, Taryn watched as a familiar golden head crested the talan, and a grin curved her mouth. A light danced in her eyes, and as the Lord and Lady watched, Haldir noticed Taryn's presence immediately. He returned the smile, but tried to keep it subtle so that the Lord and Lady would not notice. Too late. They had noticed, but none spoke of it either then, or in the hereafter.
"My Lord, My Lady, Bearer," Haldir nodded to each of the Elves in Galadriel's Hall. "I bring before you the Fellowship of the Ring," As Haldir spoke, he let his eyes linger ont he Bearer of the Necklace, and Taryn gave him a longing once-over herself. Frodo clambered up onto the talan clumsily behind the Marchwarden as if the climb from the bottom of the great tree had tired him out. Taryn tore her eyes from the Elf to see what was the cause of the ruckus, and mentally slapped herself. Of course the climb had tired him! He was no Elf, but then again the climb had also tired her out the first time she had climbed to the Hall. How quickly she had forgotten...
Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn stood and bade Taryn to follow suit, their white garb contrasting greatly with the green and silver walls of the oval shaped chamber and its gold ceiling, and greeted their Marchwarden before Celeborn motioned to Frodo.
"Sit now beside my chair, Frodo of the Shire!" Frodo did as he was asked as Legolas filed in, followed by Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli, and the remaining three Hobbits. Celeborn greeted the rest of the Company as they entered, and once the eight remaining members of the Fellowship were seated, Celeborn looked them all over oddly as he, Galadriel, and Taryn took their seats once more.
"Here there are eight," He spoke surprised. "Nine were to set out, so said the messages. But maybe there has been some change of council that we have not heard. Elrond is far away, and darkness gathers between us, and all this year the shadows have grown longer."
"Nay, there was no change of council," spoke the Lady of the Wood herself, her golden hair flowing in waves over her shoulders and back. Her eyes were the deepest of blues, rivaling even those belonging to Frodo, and she cast those very blue eyes upon the Fellowship immediately. Her voice was a shock to the Fellowship, or so it seemed, for it was quite musical and clear, yet deeper than they had expected it to be, Taryn was certain. "Gandalf the Grey set out with the Company, but did not pass the borders of this land. Now, tell us where he is, for I much desired to speak with him again. But I cannot see him from afar, unless he comes within the fences of Lothlórien. A grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and mind are hidden from me."
The smile faded from the girl's face, and she hung her head at the admission she knew was to come. She sensed a few odd glances thrown her way, garnered by her reaction to the Lady's questioning, but she cared not. She was about to witness first-hand the delivering of ill news to the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim. Taryn tried her heardest to tune out the council before Aragorn spoke, but it was all too late. She caught the exact words she did not want to hear.
"Alas!" said Aragorn. "Gandalf the Grey has fallen into Shadow."
Aragorn's words hit a hollow in Taryn that she had never known to be there. Gandalf was gone, supposed dead by all in the Company, and a glance at Celeborn and Galadriel proved to Taryn that she was the only one to know of Gandalf Greyhame's true plight. The council continued on with Taryn physically in her seat, but her mind far, far away. With Gandalf taking the plunge into the void beneath the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, Aragorn had inherited the burden of leading the Fellowship into Mordor, and Taryn could tell that he was unsure of himself. Of course, he had every right to be. Truthfully, he should have been the King of Gondor at that very moment, and Boromir's father, Denethor, at his side. But he had refused that task from a young age, and it was now upon him to lead the Fellowship as best his Ranger senses could. The Fellowship had become his responsibility, and Frodo his main concern. Taryn noticed the slump in his shoulders and the fatigue on his face. The Man was visibly exhausted. Her eyes shifted to Frodo, and the grief on his face was nearly suffocating. That bit of haunting imagery was echoed by the other three hobbits. Gimli's look was of disappointment. Whether it was from the loss of his kin in Moria, the Darkness that had been awakened in that once, glorious Dwarven kingdom, or the loss of Mithrandir, Taryn was not sure.
Legolas' face was a mass of emotions, most of which Taryn couldn't decipher. There was one; however, that Taryn knew well. Confusion. Being an Elf, death was foreign to him, and being introduced to such a concept by the departure of a companion was the unthinkable variable, and simply added to his misery. Taryn felt sorry for the Elf. She had no clue how to comfort him, but she knew that he would be all right eventually. All he needed was time, and that was what he would receive in Lórien. Boromir; however, was a completely different tale. Taryn read him like a book, and his eyes betrayed to the Lord, Lady, and Taryn herself, every emotion he felt. In his eyes lay distrust, fear, and anger: distrust for the Lady of the Golden Wood and Lothlórien altogether, fear of the power she held, and anger at Aragorn for leading them to such a realm inhabited by a creature such as Galadriel, although it was most needed by all of the members of the Fellowship. Taryn shook her head, and cleared Boromir from her mind, consenting to give the council her full attention once more. She tuned in just in time to find Galadriel speaking again, her musical voice echoing off of the intricately carved walls of the Hall, and her blue gaze laid upon Frodo once again.
"Your quest is known to us, but we will not here speak of it more openly. Yet not in vain will it prove, maybe, that you came to this land seeking aid as Gandalf himself plainly purposed. For the Lord of the Galadhrim is accounted the wisest of the Elves of Middle-earth, and a giver of gifts beyond the power of Kings. He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through the ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.
"I it was who first summoned the White Council. And if my designs had not gone amiss, it would have been governed by Gandalf the Grey, and then mayhap things would have gone otherwise. But even now there is hope left. I will not give you council saying do this or do that. For not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing betweent this course and another, can I avail; but only in knowing what was and is, and in part also what shall be. But this I say to you: your quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains, while all the Company is true," with that she cast her blue eyes upon them all in a searching manner, and held them long in her gaze. None of the Fellowship - save Aragorn and Legolas - could endure her stare long, and averted their eyes, while Sam's head fell, and his eyes met with the floor of the talan, the hobbit blushing a bright pink. Finally, she quitted her gaze and spoke once more. "Do not let your hearts be troubled," She smiled as she spoke, giving the Fellowship assurance that they would be well-protected. "Tonight you shall sleep in peace."
As if a great weight were lifted from the Fellowship's shoulders, the travellers relaxed and as if suddenly their grief and exertion had caught up to them, the eight seemed suddenly more weary than before. Taryn looked on as Celeborn dismissed the Fellowship from the council and they filed out. When they were gone, Taryn turned to Galadriel.
"My Lady?" She inquired sheepishly, her voice cracking on account of not speaking for such a long while.
"Yes, Taryn?"
"Might you grant me leave?" Taryn's eyes darted to the retreating figure of the Marchwarden in a panic, and Galadriel's eyes followed Taryn's.
"Of course, Child. Go," Galadriel ushered Taryn away, and with a smile on her face, Taryn took of at a brisk pace after Haldir. He was nearly to the steps to descend from the Lady's talan when Taryn made it out of Lady Galadriel's Hall and called out to him.
"Haldir! Daro!" The Marchwarden turned and grinned once he realized the source of the voice calling out to him.
"Taryn," he stood still and waited for Taryn to catch up to him before taking her up in his arms. "I have missed you, melamin."
"And I have missed you," Taryn whispered sadly into Haldir's ear before pressing a chaste kiss to the Marchwarden's cheek. "You have to go back out North, don't you?"
Haldir nodded sadly against Taryn's shoulder. "I do."
Taryn sighed. She should have known better than to ask questions, the answers of which she already knew. "All right then. Will I see you tomorrow?" Her eyes pleaded with the Elf and he nodded.
"I will make time to come to you."
Taryn smiled brightly. "Good. I will see you tomorrow, then. Quel undome, Haldir o Lórien."
"Quel undome, mela," he replied with a half-smile before pressing a lingering kiss to Taryn's forehead. Taryn smiled as he did so with closed eyes, keeping in mind the future she hoped the two of them would share together. Haldir squeezed her hand gently, walked away dejectedly, and descended from the talan. The warm feeling Taryn had felt at Haldir's close proximity faded immediately and she opened her hazel eyes to see no one other than herself upon the talan before the Lady's Hall. She sighed and descended from the talan after Haldir, and looked around once she had reached the forest floor. Taryn figured that it was her turn to bid the Fellowship welcome to Lórien, and so she set off to find them, her silver dress trailing along behind her...
Go to story...
Prologue - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
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