Dawnstar and Friend

Eleanor’s POV
Today was the day of Elrond’s departure. His visit really did whizz past us.
Of course that doesn’t mean that we didn’t get round to more plotting... Planning.
The first fruit of which should be showing any time now.
Thanduil is standing with us apologising for his brother’s absence, but no-one can find Ernil Adindel. So, we are waiting for a little while to see if he turns up.
Then we hear a loud cry from the woods and we all swing up onto horses and ride at top speed towards the noise.
If you are wondering about Ginny and I having horses, we were supposed to ride out a little way with the leaving party before coming back.
After what seems like a few minutes riding, we come across the funniest sight I have yet to see in this world.
Prince Adindel of Mirkwood is dangling from a tree by ropes attached to his ankles and wrists, holding him in the most undignified position imaginable.
If that was not amusing enough he is absolutely, totally starkers. Naked as the day he was born, in fact.
Actually he is wearing one thing.
Paint
In some very crude designs, including the truly juvenile ‘kick me here’ with an arrow pointing to his groin.
I sit on my bay horse, trying my best not to piss myself laughing. I think Ginny, amongst others, may well be doing the same.
Adindel is twisting and turning, trying to get free of the ropes which bind him. This gives us a view of more than we ever wanted to see.
Once Erestor has recovered from his amusement, he says something about taking the ladies away as the view is rather inappropriate.
He leads us away from the clearing. I only notice a little later that the direction he takes us in is away from the palace.
I only notice this when we have been riding for a fair distance and Elrond and the rest of the company join us. They get us girls; that is Miriel, Ginny and I, to put our hoods up.
I work out what they are doing only when we have crossed the border, having galloped a long distance at top speed. After we pass the border, we go even faster and I realise that what I thought was top speed was nowhere near as we are on elfin wonder horses.
We ride through the night and it is far into the next day before we stop and that is only because it is clear that Ginny cannot possibly go on.
We stop and eat and rest a little while, though not for long. Ginny has gone to sleep in that time though. So Erestor picks her up and places her on his horse. Then Elrond and the twins notice that Miriel and I do not look much better than our human friend, us not being used to such hard and long riding.
We are then put on to each of the twin’s horses so we can rest on them and then we go on... and on, and on... it seems forever and I soon go to sleep.
When I wake up, I am being laid down on some blankets in a cave and I see that both Ginny and Miriel are being laid down on more blankets. Since I am awake, they feed me before telling me to go back to sleep. I am happy to do so.
I wake again several hours later. This time my friends are awake. We eat and over the food, Elrond explains things.
“As you might have noticed, we have just got you out of Mirkwood. I know you three have slept for a fair amount of the journey so you probably don’t know what the time is right now. We are four days hard ride from the borders of Mirkwood, though that actually only took us two and a half days as we rode through the night. I would have been quicker, but Maedhren had to slow down occasionally to wipe out our tracks. We have taken a rather less used, if harder path through the mountains to lessen our chance of your family, Aranel Miriel, from catching us before we reach Imladris.
I am sorry to have taken you with us, but the subterfuge would not have worked if we hadn’t taken you at least some of the way and we are not so dishonourable as to leave you alone and defenceless.”
Miriel shakes her head.
“I don’t really want to go back; Ada coddles me far too much.”
“If you could send him a message saying you wanted you to come etc, when we get to Imladris, I would greatly appreciate it. I would rather not have your father wanting to kill me.”
Something then occurs to me.
“What about clothes or our luggage? It is not like we packed before we came on this little whirlwind ride.”
“We have had this planned for a little while so my sons sneaked into you rooms during the night before we left and packed you each a few sets of leggings, tunics, and dresses not to mention the things you brought from that other world. They are on the pack horses, which reminds me, you need to change. None of you are exactly dressed for this.”
We laugh at that and go retrieve and change our clothes behind a screen that Glorfindel and Maedhren set up to give us some privacy. While I am retrieving a pair of riding leggings and tunic, not to mention my green hoody (what, its comfortable and the weather in the mountains stinks), I check that they really have got all my stuff. Suddenly I am thankful that Ginny and I decided to keep all our things from our world together in our packs, ready, just in case.
Once we have finished changing we sit down again. The watch has changed and those who were on watch are taking a short break before we leave again.
While we wait, we talk to Glorfindel who keeps giving Miriel strange looks. Fairly soon, we ask him why.
“Your brother was acting rather strange, Aranel. It was rather like he knew exactly what we were doing and was actually helping us. I can’t quite work out why.”
They all give me a weird look when I laugh at this revelation and so I am forced to explain.
“He promised to help me escape because I said I would never have a proper relationship with him while I was a prisoner in Mirkwood.”
Everyone looks at me quite surprised.
“So he actually is really interested in you then?”
“I think so.”
I then laugh again and before any more conversation happens, we have to mount and leave for; you guessed it, more breakneck speed riding for ridiculously long periods of time.
After what seems, paradoxically, like forever and no time, we get within the borders of Rivendell, or Imladris as the elves call it. I know we are within the borders because the border guards greet us ecstatically, and inform us that Mirkwood elves have been sighted on some of the main paths across the mountains.
Eventually we get to a ridge that overlooks the city proper. I have to admit that I am impressed by the view, but my warped sense of humour will not allow me to admit this. So what do I do?
I tilt my head to the side and say in my most depreciating tone:
“Pretty.”
Elrond stares at me in disbelief
Then Ginny says something similar.
Elrond and co. give us looks of absolute amazement; they had obviously been expecting us to gawp in stunned admiration at the beauty of the city.
I love turning the tables on people.
As we ride down from the ridge, I start up a conversation with Ginny, talking about the wide range of spectacular sights we saw on our world tour that we took before coming here.
Eventually we reach a stone courtyard in the centre of what I realise is Rivendell proper, i.e. the palace where the royal family live.
There we are greeted by a dark haired elf called Melpomaen who I learn is Erestor’s second-in-command and therefore, has been responsible for making the arrangements for us to arrive... including a Welcome Ball tomorrow evening.
Oh joy. I sense the oncoming feeling of spending a whole day dressing. Hopefully, they packed a posh dress when they were arranging for our little flight because somehow I don’t think I have one in Imladris.
In recognition of the fact that we have been riding flat out for days on end, not to mention nights, we are shown straight to our rooms with baths already drawn.
If anything, our quarters here are more beautiful than in Mirkwood, partly because they are lovely and open.
The walls are made of soaring marble and there are elegantly carved wooden doors with matching elegant furniture, all of which is done in the design of trees.
Like in Mirkwood, there is a sitting room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. This time though, the bedroom has a balcony, which is as elegantly carved as everything else. The rooms are separated by a combination of carved wooden walls that look sort of like flat trees and there are clothe drapes embroidered with a lovely scene that looks like a part of Imladris.
The bath is a marble pool carved into the ground and even the pipes that supply it with water are elegant.
I now have another dark haired maid, this time called Rodwen, looking after me. I find her name amusing as I have enough of a grasp of Sindarin to realise that her name is the elfin version of Virginia.
She thankfully gives me a massage as my muscles are complaining about the sudden increase in exercise that they are not used to. She also washes my hair for me. I think there is danger of me forgetting how to wash and do my own hair if I keep having people doing these things for me. Not that I really mind all that much.
She puts me in what is probably the simplest dress I have worn since I have been here, though it is still elegant and incredibly beautiful. It is also, thankfully not either blue or gold. Apparently it is not compulsory for me to wear those colours.
This dress is a lovely shade of burgundy with white embroidery and a raised waist. It is made of gossamer and floats around me beautifully.
After I have dressed, I go to a private dinner with just my family, Ginny and Miriel present.
Thankfully it is not long and afterwards, I drop into bed, actually being too tired to notice that the twins have obviously packed my nightclothes as well as I have my silky nightdresses to change into.
I drop happily into the huge futon bed and sink beneath the layers of satin noticing nothing and wanting to sleep for a good 12 hours.
Ginny’s POV
“Aeyana, have you seen my book of elfin tales that Miriel gave me?”
“No I haven’t.”
“That’s strange – I’m sure I left it on the sitting room table, but it’s not there now.”
I shrug.
“Oh well, I must have put it down somewhere else. My mind is on other matters after all.”
...It’s the day that the elves from Rivendell will be leaving us.
I try not to think about this as I bathe and dress; instead I think about how they could be planning to help Ellie and I escape. No one has told me anything, not even Erestor, who, whenever I ask him, always gives me the same response: ‘Thanduil is a very cunning elf. If he suspected something, he will try every way he knows in order to trick the information out of you. It’s far safer if you and Ellie are kept in the dark about this.’
Easy for him to say – he’s not the one on tenterhooks waiting for a sign that means escape.
Adindel doesn’t join us for breakfast, nor is he out in the forecourt where all the horses are standing waiting. Thanduil paces up and down.
“I’m sorry about this, everyone, but I have no idea where my brother is. This is most unlike him.”
All of a sudden, a loud, masculine cry sounds out from the woods. Instinctively, we all mount our horses and gallop off in its direction.
The sight that greets us is both one of the most disturbing and one of the funniest sights I’ve ever seen: Adindel trussed up in the trees, completely naked apart from large daubs of Mirkwood-green paint which run up and down his body.
As Adindel struggles against his bonds, everyone’s eyes become fixated on the large arrow running down his navel.
I think back to the über-dignified elf who threw me a cloak, while telling me to look more civilised. I can’t keep the giggles back any longer. Once I start, I can’t stop. You know when you giggle so much that you only have to think about the cause of it to begin giggling again? Well that’s how it is for me.
As Thanduil rushes over, shouting at his brother to stop struggling, Erestor calls out:
“I think I’d better take the ladies away. That view isn’t really appropriate for un-matured eyes.”
He begins to lead us away. It’s only a little while later when the rest of the Rivendell elves catch up with us that it dawns on me – this is our escape!
Well, I certainly didn’t see this coming...but then, why did Legolas allow us to ride right past him? I mean, he must know every inch of Mirkwood, including the way back to the palace.
I’m about to voice my thoughts when Elrond tells Miriel, Ellie, and I to put our hoods up and keep our heads down.
We bring our horses up to a gallop and continue at the same pace for miles and miles; galloping across the border and up into the mountains.
Initially, I enjoy myself: the adrenaline that is still coursing through my veins, the sumptuous mountain scenery that’s so different from caves and woodland, and of course, the image of Adindel all serve to keep me going for quite a while.
But then the hours begin to drag – all through the night and into the next day is a constant ride, sometimes slower, sometimes faster, a few water breaks along the way, but still the same dreary activity hour... after hour... after hour.
I begin to lose all feeling in my thighs and around my pelvic area. My knees are crying out for want of rest after being forced into the same position throughout the long ride. Oh, I’m used to riding elfin style, but never have I ridden so hard for so long.
When the riders in front slow down in order to give the horses a breather and a drink, I momentarily relax my muscles. Big mistake. I’m so tired and saddle sore that my eyes begin to droop and I find myself slipping sideways...
A strong, supportive hand grabs my arm in the nick of time, startling me awake. It’s Erestor who calls ahead to Elrond. The latter takes one look at me before nodding and telling everyone to dismount.
Erestor lifts me off my horse. I’m very thankful for this as my legs buckle beneath me as soon as they touch solid ground. I’m guided to a springy patch of mountain bushel, which I lie upon, snuggling up into the folds of my cloak. Within moments, I’m asleep.
I do wake up briefly when I’m being lifted on to a horse with its rider behind me. I don’t make any movement though, as I’m still stiff and sore; and when the rider wraps his cloak about us both, I nestle into his warm, strong arms and think no more.
When I’m next awake, I find myself lying on and covered in blankets. There is something very hard beneath me. Great – it’s not exactly the best bed to wake up in when you’re aching and bruised all over.
This was evidently a well planned operation, they could have at least thought out our sleeping arrangements a little better.
I stretch and sit up. The morning sunlight is pouring through the entrance to a huge a cave, at the mouth of which, is a small fire with some of the male elves sat around it.
Glorfindel turns and smiles when he hears my footsteps.
“Good morning, sleepy head. How are you feeling?”
“Very sore. I bet my legs are black and blue all over. Is it very far now?”
“We’re over half-way, but we’ve still got quite a way to go yet.”
Oh joy – that’s really going to be a barrel of laughs.
I walk over to the cave entrance. The view is just spectacular: a steep mountain path falls away beneath my feet; it’s dotted with gorse bushes and clumps of mountain plants. I can’t see the bottom of the mountain, but I can its smaller neighbours and then a great emerald-green blanket of woodland stretching away from me as far as the eye can see.
Miriel comes up behind me and catches her breath when she sees what I have already seen.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before – Ada never liked me going very far from the palace.”
I put my arm about her waist and she returns the gesture. We then just stand staring at the view in front of us, a light mountain breeze playing across our faces.
Eventually, Elrond calls us back to the fire. Ellie has woken up by now and all three of us sit round the fire eating fruit and elfin whey-bread while we listen to Elrond’s explanation of the past days’ events.
So THAT was where my book went!
When Elrond makes his pointed comment about ‘not being dressed for this’, I look down at my floaty, spring-green gown. Well, it WAS floaty and spring-green – the constant riding over the past few days means my beautiful dress is now all wet and stained. I have never liked being so unkempt so I gladly change into my leggings and tunic.
And now, even more riding...
***
I have to admit though, when we ride to the edge of the ridge that overlooks Rivendell, all my aches and pains are forgotten in the beauty of the place. Not that I let any of our male companions know this, they deserve a little punishment after what they’ve just subjected us to.
Ellie, apparently, agrees with me and gives the most offhand assessment of the view possible.
“Pretty.”
I can hear the tone in her voice... ah-hah!
“Rather spectacular I suppose.” I reply, equally offhand.
The looks on everyone’s faces!
“On a par with the Taj Mahal wouldn’t you say?”
“Or the Pyramids.”
“Possibly. Hey! I know – what about the Great Wall of China? Now you have to admit that that was pretty impressive.”
“It was rather wasn’t it? Ooooo, no-no-no! Pompeii! An entire town...”
I sigh.
“Ostia was better...” Ellie sighs too.
I love to turn the tables on people.
When we are finally able to dismount, we are informed by Erestor’s second-in-command that there is to be a Welcome Ball tomorrow evening.
Well I’m certainly not complaining. If the preparations here are anything like the ones in Mirkwood, then I’ll be more than happy to participate – anything to make me feel feminine again.
Miriel’s POV
I can’t believe I’m free at last!
OK, maybe ‘free’ isn’t really the right word to use, but Ada kept coddling me so much that I sometimes felt as if I would explode. Is it any wonder that I was so bubbly and excited when Ginny and Ellie first arrived?
The sudden change in my life started with the yell from the woods, and the rather fast ride to the source of the noise.
My word, the sight of my uncle swinging about in the trees, that’s something that’ll stay with for quite a while I think.
Out of family loyalty I at least try to suppress the giggles
I suppose everyone was expecting me to be all embarrassed. Legolas certainly did. He came up to me when we first sighted Uncle Adindel.
“I’d look away if I were you.”
Like I was going to do that - this was the most fun I’d had in ages and I wasn’t about to let it pass. I always felt my uncle was a bit overly arrogant at times and it was about time he was taught a lesson.
Then Lord Erestor suggests that us impressionable females should go somewhere else. I notice almost immediately that he is taking us away from the forest palace that has been my home all my life. I also notice that Legolas seems to notice what he is up to and is letting him get away with it.
I wonder if he minds that I seem to be included in the group.
I don’t really remember much of the journey – I think my brain wants to blot out the obvious pain we were put through, though I do feel for Ginny, who was obviously suffering more than Eleanor or I.
Oh, but Imladris is so beautiful. I didn’t speak for fully five minutes when we first saw it and you must know how hard that usually is for me!
Then Ginny and Ellie both brush it off and start comparing it with places they have been in their world. Having heard descriptions of those place and seen Ellies drawings which she tells me are fairly crap ones, not to mention their ‘postcards’ as they call them of some of these places, I realise that they are deliberately trying to needle the Rivendell elves.
They succeed spectacularly. The Sinda in me rejoices at the expressions on the Noldor’s faces.
Everything here seems so much larger than back home. It’s probably because everywhere has windows and balconies, it’s so open. I’m really going to enjoy waking up in the mornings.
I could never understand why Ada insisted on living in that cave. OK, we wouldn’t have got quite so many wonderful views, but at least we’d be out in the open air.
I think I will do what Lord Elrond advised me to do and write to my father. Ada is extremely proud – he hates the thought of anything damaging his reputation. His daughter running off to a foreign land would certainly count in the highest of travesties.
However, I’m not going to think about that just yet, not when there’s a Welcome Ball to prepare for.
I wonder the Imladris boys will be like...