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L U M O R N E L

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While I stared in astonishment, Legolas nearly choked.

"What?!" Legolas appeared to have swallowed an apple, whole and bitter. "She's here?"

"You know of her?" Aragorn asked inquisitively. I nodded halfheartedly, not really hearing Aragorn's words past the burning question that consumed my thoughts:

Why is she here?

I glanced at Legolas, who strode to his chest and brought out a set of clothing. I didn't know what Kaylessa's intentions were, but if she were to tell her brother who she is to him, that his mother is very much alive... was Legolas strong enough right now to accept that?

Well, I couldn't find out what she intended to do still dressed like this. I took a step towards the door, then stopped and glanced at Legolas. His blue eyes were already on me.

"I'm going to change before we meet her. I'll be quick, I promise. And Aragorn will be right outside my door." I glanced towards the man for confirmation and he nodded.

Legolas thought for a moment, obviously warring between letting me go and demanding I stay with him. Finally, slowly, he nodded.

:::::::

Not even ten minutes later, the three of us, and my two guards, pushed through the doors to the meeting hall. The same place where Command had determined my fate. The same place I had visited upon returning, telling of all that had transpired between here and Erynbâr.

Their reactions, to hearing that I was now me, had varied. Dervorin—the man who had stood upon our first meeting and, with vivid animosity, had demanded I be locked up—had gone silent. He had sat almost stone-like in his chair, except for the muscle that fettered in his jar and for the emotion that swam deeply in his eyes. He had kept glancing at me as if I would strike out and kill him... but confusion and wariness had been swimming in his gaze as well. I had questioned Legolas about him. Apparently, I had killed his son before the Black Gate; his only child and heir. I couldn't blame him for his hate.

Despite Legolas's words yesterday, I hated me too. I had killed so many people. So many lives wasted. So much blood on my hands.

The others, however, had looked upon me warily and, I had noticed, with curiosity. I was now consciously the woman—elleth—from nine years ago. I was the one who had fought for Middle-earth and then betrayed it.

I wondered what they thought. I wished they were considering the truth—that Sauron had placed his ring on me and that I would never willingly hurt so many innocents.

Now, pushing through those doors, I felt as if I was strolling into a den of wolves. Even with Aragorn, their leader, by my side. I had been told that many now questioned him, now that they knew he backed Gwaraith.

We walked into the meeting hall, and despite the fact that Kaylessa stood where I had a couple months ago, a couple vigilant guards flanking her sides, the attention of Command shifted to us. Well, mostly to me.

I did my best to ignore them. Instead, I studied Kaylessa. She was the same as ever, except that she had a wound healing on her temple and a bruise to match. Her hair, just a few shades lighter than her brother's, fell to her waist, littered with beautiful braids that helped pull the hair away from her face. Where there should have been a sword, there was nothing. I could only assume that her weapons had been taken from her. But I couldn't help but think that she still wasn't unarmed. She had to have at least another knife, and if she didn't, well, she had her quick witted tongue.

Her steel-blue eyes focused on me, her gaze having a weight that was physical. I couldn't help but compare her to her brother. Their faces were nearly the same, though her face held more of a feminine beauty to it and her jaw line was slightly more pointed, her brows having more of a delicate arch. But they had the same nose, same cheek bones. Though her slightly lighter hair resembled her father's, and her gray blue eyes, flecked with darker bits of blue were obviously not her brother's or her father's, the resemblance was uncanny. I couldn't understand how no one else in the room hadn't pointed it out. Or how Legolas didn't stare at the familiarity of her features. Those were surely his mother's eyes that she wore, how did he not recognize them?

Aragorn took his seat at the head of the table and Legolas took his. There was no chair for me. So, I stood behind Legolas.

"Well!" Detrius exclaimed, plucking a berry from the berry bowl that always seemed to appear around him. "Now that you finally decided to join us, we have an elf that needs questioning."

"And I," Kaylessa retorted, "have told you I only wish to speak with Lumornel."

"So you have said." Aragorn spoke lightly, choosing his words with care. "However, you are an unknown visitor who found the Western Hope without help from the inside. We know not who you are or what your intentions are."

How had she found the Western Hope? I had only known the general location—the mountain range and between which rivers it might be—and if Elladan and Elrohir hadn't shown me to the entrance, I would have never found it.

Kaylessa haughtily stuck her chin up. "I have told you my name and I have told you my intentions." She nodded in my direction. "And as for how I found this place, I merely listened and tracked." She paused and pursed her lips almost imperceptibly. "I will admit, it did take me upward of a year to find you. I suggest changing your travel and sentry paths, they are much too easy for a skilled tracker to follow."

Aragorn thoughtfully inspected her. "When did you become aware of our location."

She smirked. "Seven years ago."

Aragorn sat back in his chair, the only sign of his astonishment.

"Seven years?!" Detritus exclaimed, his wrinkled forehead wrinkling even more as his wispy brows rose. "She could have told countless enemies of our location!"

"But in the seven years she has known," Aragorn countered, "we have not been attacked."

"My lord?" Thaldir said from where he sat in his wheelchair. I had learned from Legolas that Thaldir had lost the usage of his legs after having fallen from a great height. Though he was unable to fight, he ruled Felalas, a city within Gondor, with as much grace and wisdom as any good leader could. He was adored and respected by those who knew him. Aragorn was blessed to have such a man under his reign, though he was not yet officially crowned. "Are you suggesting that this elf maiden is not of the enemy?"

"I am not, I am merely pointing out that which is fact. If she were the enemy, would she not have led forces to where we lie?"

"She could have sent spies," Lady Fairiel offered, the elleth from Lothlorien who had tipped the vote in my favor when I had been sentenced for execution. "Though you have set up precautions, a skilled enemy could have slipped through your ranks."

"Then why is Kaylessa here now?" Legolas asked, narrowed eyes on his sister. "If she had sent a spy, why come herself?"

"Maybe her spy has sent word that certain things have aligned for her visit?" Dervorin, the man who had spoken and hated me because I killed his son, looked at me as he said the words, suspicion dripping from the syllables.

"This is ridiculous!" Kaylessa exclaimed, blue eyes flashing. "I did not send a spy, I am not of the enemy, and I am not planning anything nefarious with the prophecy-written. I am here to speak with her!"

"And about what?" Detrius questioned again.

"The business is of my own." She glared at the old man. Her eyes flashed to me. "And of hers."

Detrius raised his brows again. "And you think we would let you, a potential enemy, discuss undisclosed matters with Gwaraith?"

Legolas growled and fisted his hand upon the table. "Her name is not Gwaraith."

Detrius opened his mouth to quip a retort, but Orhallon, who lounged almost lazily in his chair, beat him to it. "Is it not, prince?"

Legolas pushed his chair back and made to stand, but I set my hands on his shoulders and gripped him tight. 

"Gwaraith may be one of the ugly titles I have been given," I said, "but my name is Lumornel."

Orhallon narrowed his eyes in assessment but I cut him off and spoke before I could lose my nerve. All eyes were on me, I held captive the attention of the room. I felt my palms tingle to life on Legolas's shoulders.

"I want to hear what the Lady has to say," I said, knowing that I had no actual say in this meeting. I wasn't on the council. And I knew quite a few of them would rather me still be behind bars than be able to listen to their words. I let my eyes slide to Kaylessa. "And... she can say whatever it is she needs to say here with all of you."

Estalyn, the Lady of Lebennin, eyed me with approval, a small smile on her lips. As did Fairiel, Aragorn, the twins, and Berion from Mirkwood. Idhor, the scarred man who spoke for Eomer, seemed to gaze upon me with a little less hesitation, less consternation. And Detrius and Thaldir openly seemed taken aback, though Thaldir hide his better. And Orhallon and Dervorin—

Nothing.

But as soon as the words left my mouth, despite what little headway I may have just gotten, I regretted them. What if she speaks of her mother and who she is?

"Lady?" Orhallon mused. "Who is she to deserve that title?"

The warmth drained from my face. Even Legolas turned his head, curious as to what my answer would be.

Kaylessa casually waved a hand. "She is being polite, as usual. I call myself the Daughter of the Woods, for I was raised among the trees. She simply humours my self given title."

I nodded, trying not to show just how relieved I was.

And polite? I remembered when I had choked her, then sent her rolling over Lorien's green grasses with a blast of my light.

Elladan ran two fingers over the polished table, then stopped and allowed his gaze to swiftly pass over the council members before finally landing on Kaylessa. "Will you speak Eryniel, as Hiril Lumornel bids you to?"

She glanced at Legolas, then me. "No. I will speak only to her."

"Alas," Legolas quipped in mock sadness, though he smirked and sat back. "We will not let you."

Kaylessa bristled.

"What if we had a smaller audience?" I interjected, throwing a quick, apologetic glance down towards Legolas.

After a moment's hesitation, she shrugged. "You and Aragorn?"

Legolas tensed.

I'm sorry.

Detrius harrumphed and turned towards Aragorn. "Surely, my lord, there should be more witnesses to her words?"

I nearly let my jaw drop at the audacity of his words. As if Aragorn couldn't be trusted.

"Are you questioning your King's allegiance?" Legolas questioned lowly, such frost and sly venom in his voice that I had to look down to see that it was really Legolas who spoke, not King Thranduil.

To his credit, Detrius didn't blanch. But he did flinch away from the elven prince, then rolled his shoulders as if he hadn't been startled. "I did not question his allegiance," he said scathingly, though I doubted the words were true. "I myself am simply curious as to what the elf maiden has to say."

"And if what she says is deemed worthy, would Aragorn not tell you of what she said?"

Detrius petulantly glared at Legolas, then dipped his head. "Of course."

"Actually," Orhallon leaned forward and right out of his relaxed position. "I agree with Lord Detrius, but for different reasons. If the maiden were to attack, and our living candle with her," he flicked fingers in my direction, "shouldn't someone more trusting with the maiden's words than a few guards fight alongside Lord Aragorn? And Detrius, as you are well past the battling age, I will be glad to take your place."

Detrius bristled but said nothing, while Legolas spoke.

"Lumornel would never attack Aragorn, but I see the reasoning behind your words. I will join y—"

"No," interjected Kaylessa. "Three of you questioning me will be enough."

Legolas glared. "It is not up to you—"

She smiled. "It is, actually."

The glare Legolas gave her only intensified. Well, I guess they're catching up on all their missed years of sibling rivalry.

"Very well," Aragorn stated. "All but Lady Kaylessa, Lady Lumornel, and Orhallon leave us. We will reconvene at noon."

After a moment of tightrope silence, the council members rose and left. All but those Aragorn deemed to stay. And Legolas.

Kaylessa rose a finely sculpted brow at her brother. Legolas defiantly stared back.

"I am not leaving," he said with all the rank of his princely station exuding from his voice, his posture, those cold eyes.

"Then I am not speaking." Kaylessa lazily rolled her gaze to Aragorn, as if Legolas wasn't worthy of her argumentative gaze.

Legolas's hand curled tightly around the arm of his chair and he whipped his fiery gaze to Aragorn. "I am not leaving. I am Prince of Eryn Lasgalen and I can be trusted with her words."

"But she will not speak in your presence," he said soundly, yet firmly in that bold voice of his. "So I ask you kindly to wait with the others."

The ranger's eyes seemed to say that he would fill in his friend later. But that wasn't what Legolas was concerned about.

Legolas stared at his friend in angry disbelievement, then whipped around to me, pleading.

I sucked in a breath. Kaylessa watched emotionless, Orhallon looked on amused, and Aragorn seemed pained. Slowly, I shifted my attention once more to my prince.

"Legolas—"

"I will not leave you with her." His blue eyes burned with all his princely rank. I almost cowered.

"Legolas," I tried again, softly, and tried my best to ignore the sets of eyes on us. I gripped the back of his chair. "I will be fine. Aragorn will be with me too. And remember I once knocked her on her butt." My hands glowed for emphasis. "She won't stand a chance against me."

Those eyes bored into me. If I didn't know him so well, if I hadn't spent countless, tiring days across the lands of Middle-earth getting to know his expressions and mannerisms, I may have thought he was adamant in his position. Some other may think he was unmoving in his plea, pulling the full force of his rank on me.

But I saw the faintest furrow between his brows, the way his fist clenched and unclenched in his lap, the ever-slight grinding of his teeth. He was warring with himself, knowing I was right, but his mind telling him to stay.

"Legolas," Kaylessa said gently. I glanced at her. Had that soft voice come from her? "I can promise she will be unharmed."

Legolas didn't turn from me, simply kept searching my face with those blue eyes. But I couldn't help but think his gaze wasn't focused on me, instead it seemed to be focused inward. Distant, intense.

Then, his fingers grazed my arm and he stood and he left.

As soon as his imposing figure left the room, a hive of bees erupted in my middle. Quickly, I sat down in the seat he had been in and fidgeted with my hands under the table. Thankfully, only Aragorn was watching me. He smiled. I didn't know which was worse; the fact that he obviously saw every interaction between Legolas and me, or that he blatantly showed his enthusiasm for our courtship.

Courtship.

How had I forgotten that Legolas is officially courting me? We had been friends for so long, had feelings for each other for most of our journey during the War of the Ring, that I forgot about the courtship and just... assumed we were together. Our relationship had occurred naturally—with some hiccups. But it didn't need a status. It just was.

Orhallon shifted in his chair so that he appeared more serious. Suddenly, he wasn't the laidback man of Command, he was the river trader of the Gilrain, capable of pulling off any deal. He was not one to trick nor was he one to slight. His hunter's garb transformed along with his posture. His worn clothing suddenly wasn't the garb of a man who walks through the forest, it was now a symbol of his hard earned rank; the leathers travel worn and water stained, but obviously of fine make. The long knife changed from an ordinary hunter's knife to a weapon of protection that may occasionally descale a fish caught on the river. The fine quality of the weapon further showed his self-given rank. He was still a jerk, but he was a capable jerk, not one to mess with.

"Lady Kaylessa," he said, cool and collected. "Say what you will."

She eyed him a moment, then decided he wasn't worth her time. She glanced around the nearly emptied room and walked along the side of the table, as if she had done this many times. Her hand casually ran over the backs of chairs, as if she didn't have a care in the world. She reached the seat just in front of me and sat down at Command's table. She was so out of place in this foreign room, yet with the way she carried herself, she made herself belong. Apparently, she didn't need the King's Halls and a relationship with her royal father to act the part of nobility. The arrogant part, at least.

She turned the full force of her strange stormy eyes on me. "I come asking for help. And should you do that, I can provide information that will help in the fight against Talaedra."

"How do you—"

Kaylessa cut Aragorn off with the mere wave of her hand, her gaze never straying from mine. "I am here to talk to Lumornel. You two are simply here to spectate."

I glanced at Aragorn, then quickly back at the elleth. "How do you know about Talaedra?"

Kaylessa leaned back in her chair. "Ten years ago, my mother and I came across a wayfarer visiting our town. He was injured, pale, and not altogether about his wits. This ellon was Alagosson. My mother and I, not knowing his intentions, took him in to nurse him back to health." She shook her head in disgust. "Had I known who he was, I would have slit his throat."

"What did he do?"

"I'm getting there. He had been inflicted many wounds and had lost too much blood. While he was in our care, he was in and out of sleep. The herbs we had given him for the pain had loosened his tongue and slowly, he began murmuring things. He spoke of Sauron and his upcoming allegiance to him, plans for battle, and an elleth by the name Talaedra, though we simply assumed she was his lover.

"Despite this, he really didn't say much. My mother and I had to put together his fevered murmurings and by the time we realized he was working with Sauron, not because Sauron wanted him to, but because Alagosson needed the allegiance for his own dark plans, Alagosson had fully awoken from his sleep. He tried killing us, failed, and left before I could return the sentiment."

That didn't explain... "What about Talaedra? You only heard her name so how could you know she was the enemy?"

She raised her brows. "Patience. I'm getting there. I wanted to follow him, but my mother wouldn't allow it. So," she shrugged, "I paid someone to do it.

"The man followed him until the Langwell River and lost him to the Misty Mountains. But Alagosson stopped in Framsburg to send a letter and the man I hired intercepted it and copied his words. The contents are unimportant, but it was clear he was speaking to someone with higher rank than he and that went by the name 'Talaedra.' It was several months before I learned of this because I had left to deliver a message to Lady Galadriel for my mother, which is when I first met you—"

"Galadriel knows about the—your mother?!"

She narrowed her eyes at my near slip up, the lantern light flickering off her brow. I hated how there was no sunlight in the caves. Though I knew it to be morning, the lantern's glow made it seem like midnight.

"Yes, she knows. She foresaw my mother and I after the event that crippled her and discreetly sent us aid. As I was saying before you interrupted, I didn't return home to learn of what my tracker had found until after the Battle of Morannon.

"When I learned of Talaedra—and told my mother her name—well," she cut off abruptly. "My mother knew of her. She—" she glanced at the two men "—is waiting outside this base."

My heart flipped. "What? Why? Le—people can't know just yet that she—"

She scowled. "Stop cutting me off. She is here because I made the mistake of hunting down Talaedra myself and we now need the safety of the Western Hope. Besides, it's about time my mother and I officially joined the fray."

"But—"

"Stop doing that. If you let us in, and keep her presence a secret, then we will tell you what we know of Talaedra. It'll be better if my mother tells you anyway. She is the expert on the matter."

I bit my lip. Let her mother, the Queen of Mirkwood, into the Western Hope. But keep it a secret. That I could do. "But why can't you tell us about Talaedra?"

"Because once you know, you'll ask me too many questions and I'm not the one capable of answering them."

Kaylessa finally acknowledged Aragorn. "My lord, my mother can provide valuable information, but her presence here must be kept hidden. Even from other members of the council." She glanced at Orhallon. "And if either of you ever utter that she is here or lay a finger or harmful word on her I will personally see to it that you meet an untimely end. If my mother wants it to be known she is here, she will tell them herself."

"Why?" Aragorn asked. "Who is she?"

Kaylessa eyed Orhallon meaningfully. Aragorn dismissed him from the room, then turned his determined eyes on her again.

"My mother," she said, "is the Queen of Eryn Lasgalen."

His eyes widened, he flicked his gaze to me and back. "How is she alive?"

"Long story." She waved her hand. "She has offered to tell you herself."

"What of Legolas? Does he know?"

"No," Kaylessa and I both answered.

"Speaking of which," she said, "my mother has decided it is time she reunites with her son."

"What?!"

She nodded. "I know." She made a disgusted noise at the back of her throat. "A brother."

"H-he can't know! Not right now! H-he's too—" fragile.

She remained quiet. Aragorn stood from his seat and ran a hand through his hair.

"Regardless, my mother now remembers enough to want to see her son."

"And what of the King?"

She bit her lip and seemed to look far away. "Close, but not there yet. I'm hoping by the time this new war is all over—if we survive it—she'll have remembered enough to go to him. It's why her identity must remain hidden. If he found out she's alive before she's ready..." she shook her head. "Will you help me smuggle her in?"

No. Not if she's going to tell him.

"You won't learn of Talaedra without her."

"Lumornel," Aragorn said, striding over. "We can't win a war when we don't know who we're fighting."

"But Legolas..."

He thought quietly. Then— "She may help him. Having his mother alive again may help heal him."

"Or break him further," I said softly. "The shock it will send him into—Aragorn, can elves even endure that? And what about... he'll be so angry with me for not telling him."

"He survived learning of your reincarnation—"

"Yes, but this is different. His mother never died. And she never went to him after she fell. She abandoned him."

He had nothing to say to that but answer with grim silence.

"So, Lumornel, is that a yes or a no?"

I glanced at her. "Why can't Aragorn answer for me?" So I don't have to make this dreadful decision.

"Because my mother wishes to give the information to the prophecy written, the one chosen by the Valar for this fight. You are the one who must take action for them, not Aragorn, nor anyone else."

I sucked in a breath. Ulmo, Nienna, Irmo, Varda. They're all counting on me.

Knowing that, knowing that Eru had gifted me for the sole purpose of fighting this fight... I saw all the people counting on me, though they didn't know it. The peoples in the starving towns, the wandering rangers who were losing hope, the elves who were losing their love for Middle-earth, the children who had known nothing of darkness but were now confronted by it, and all those living in fear, making decisions they wished they never had to dream of.

Knowing all that, there was really only one answer I could give.

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—oop yep I updated a little later than usual. I've had a very busy day, what with graduation rehearsal and all. Very thankful that I even get to have a graduation, even though some things aren't how I like them.

Same as last week, grammarly decided not to work so sorry about any mistakes. I did read through it twice though. But, knowing me, I probably missed some.

Anyways, you like? You excited/anxious about what the Queen has to say?

See y'all next week

God bless,

~phoenix