Sword and Arrow

Chapter 20

At night, the forest city of Caras Galadhon was lit by globes of elflight, painting the trees in shades of blue and casting eerie shadows. The Fellowship had been forced to wait until nightfall to meet the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim, for they had been away on business to one of the borders.

Space where the Fellowship waited was not exactly a prison, but it came close. It was a rather small area, fenced by weaving trees and ringed with guards that gripped their spears tighter whenever someone approached the edge.

It might have been nearly midnight when Haldir came along to take them to the Lord and Lady. He silently led them up stairs and platforms that twisted around trees. Beruthiel noted there was a streak of blood on the side of his face, and the tips of his hair were a dark, dark red. Had he been fighting at the border, too, then?

Moonbeams seemed to glisten in the night as they reached higher up in the trees. These trees were huge, nearly as tall and wide as the pillars in the great city of Dwarrowdelf. Beruthiel wondered how long they had taken to grow that big, and if these elves had been there every step of the way for them, pruning, tending, smiling with pride when their little saplings grew into monstrous pillars capable of supporting an entire city.

Haldir stopped on a large platform with no railing at the side and retreated to the edge. On the side opposite to the stairs was another set of stairs, though these were made of polished white wood and were shallow. An arch with twisting and curling shapes was carved above the stairs, but Beruthiel could not tell if it was of bone or of white mallorn wood.

A glow appeared from far away, and as it got closer, Beruthiel saw that it came from two figures, an ellon and an elleth, hand in hand. The ellon, or male elf, was dressed in pale grey robes, while the elleth, or female elf, was draped in a long, flowing dress of pure white.

Beruthiel's heart nearly stopped as they came closer. The sorceress. She was beautiful, beautiful beyond description. Even more beautiful than Lady Arwen. Was this the spell that the sorceress would cast upon them? As the glowing couple descended the stairs, Beruthiel forced her mouth shut and stood straight in her formal Ranger parade rest: stiff back and straight legs evenly spaced, hands folded behind her, standing at Aragorn's right shoulder. Though a little more to the side than the parade rest officially demanded; if she had followed actual protocol she would be invisible behind Aragorn. Which would have been preferable to facing down this unearthly pair.

Both the sorceress and her husband were unimaginably tall. He was almost as tall as Aragorn, who was the tallest person that Beruthiel knew, and the sorceress was an inch or two taller.

Aragorn's eyes widened. He bowed his head and touched his first two fingers to his forehead, then to his mouth in the proper respectful greeting.

Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn did not bother with a proper greeting. "The Enemy knows you have entered here," Celeborn said bluntly. "What hope you had in secrecy is now gone." His eyes narrowed. "Nine there are here, but ten there were, set out from Rivendell." his sky-blue eyes swept over the group. "Tell me, where is Gandalf? For I much desire to speak with him."

Galadriel's eyes suddenly got a faraway look to them. "Gandalf the Grey did not pass the borders of this realm," she said sorrowfully. "He has... fallen into shadow."

Legolas bowed his head, the moonlight shining silver on his pale head. "He was taken by both Shadow and Flame. A Balrog of Morgoth." Broken voice, broken heart. "For we needlessly went into the net of Moria."

Galadriel gave them a faint smile. "Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. We do not yet know his whole purpose." She cocked her head to the side, glancing at Gimli. Her wavy blond hair perfectly caught the light, glittering golden. "Do not let the great emptiness of Khazad-dûm fill your heart, Gimli, son of Glóin." Gimli looked up, startled, for he too distrusted this sorceress. "For the world has grown full of peril. And in all lands, love is now mingled with grief."