The Starlight Queen

Chapter 6

"Wow..." I breathed, looking at the beautiful elven city.

"The Valley of Imladris. In the common tongue, it's known by another name." Gandalf said.

"Rivendell..." Bilbo and I said at the same time.

"This was your plan all along, to seek refuge with our enemy." Thorin confronted Gandalf.

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield." Gandalf responded. "The only ill-will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself."

"Roasted." I muttered, smirking.

"You think the Elves will give our quest their blessing?" Thorin asked, looking at him like he had gone mad. "They will try to stop us."

"Of course, they will. But we have questions that need to be answered." Gandalf responded. "If we are to be successful this will need to be handled with tact, respect, and no small degree of charm, which is why you will leave the talking to me."

"I could stand here all day..." I said, admiring the view. Kili bumped me, and I looked at him.

"come on." He said, nodding towards the others, who were making their way down the path. We ran to catch up with them, we walked on a bridge over a crystal clear river, at the end there was a platform, where gandalf stopped. I looked around, confused as to what to do next. A tall, handsome elf walked down the stairs, and greeted Gandalf.

"Mithrandir." He said

"Ah, Lindir." Gandalf responded, turning in his direction.

"Mín heard cin had crossed into i imlad" Lindir said. I scrunch my nose, trying to understand elvish.

"I must speak with lord Elrond." Gandalf said, getting straight to the point.

"My Lord Elrond is not here." Linder responded.

"Not here? Where is he?" Gandalf asked. suddenly, there was a loud noise, and I covered my ears, still trying to translate elvish. I knew it was a lost cause, because I had never heard elvish before, but whatever.

"Close ranks!" Thorin shouted as Elves on horses rode onto the platform, Kili pulled me into the middle of the group, everyone growling at the elves as they surrounded us.

"why are we mad at them?" I asked. "They haven't done anything..."

"They surrounded us." Kili responded, not looking at me.

"We are strangers in their home." I responded.

"Leave it to the traitor to side with the enemies." Thorin mittered. I punched him, and boy did it feel good. He growled some more, I'm pretty sure it was at me this time, but hey, who can tell.

"Gandalf!" one of the elves said, stopping his horse in front of Gandalf.

"Lord Elrond." Gandalf said, bowing. "Nin mellon! Where gar- cin been?" he asked, again in elvish. I frowned. I have got to ask them to teach me elvish.

"Mín've been faras a pack -o Orcs i came or- uin acharn. Mín slew a gwanod nev i dolen aglon." Lord Elrond responded. I think he was talking about food? And orcs, I knew that word. Lord elrond got off his horse and hugged Gandalf quickly.

"Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders." He said "Something, or someone drew them near." 

"oh. That may have been us." Gandalf said apologetically. I saw Thorin move towards the elf, face set in anger. I don't know, maybe it's just his rest face.

"Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain, Son of Thror." Lord Elrond said, noticing him.

"I do not believe we have met." Thorin said coldly.

"you have your grandfather's bearing." The elf said. "I knew Thror when he ruled under the mountain."

"Really? he made no mention of you." Thorin said bitterly. I stepped on his foot. He glared at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Shut him up." I whispered to Kili.

"And who is this?" Lord Elrond asked, looking questioning at me. "You are no dwarf, Pray tell, why is such a beautiful young lady traveling with a bunch of dwarves?" I gritted my teeth, and tried to breathe calmly.

"My name is Irena." I said, managing to smile and curtsy. "I may be a woman, but I'm an adventurer at heart, and I'm traveling with them because Kili is my best friend. I keep him in line" I finished, winking at Kili. Whew, I got through explanation. Why couldn't I do that with Thorin...? It wasn't so hard...

"What is he saying? does he offer us insult?" Gloin shouted, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"No, master Dwarf, he is offering you food." Gandalf said. The dwarves conversed with each other.

"Well, in that case, lead on." Gloin said. Lord Elrond turned and lead us through the glorious  palice. Every room seemed to drop my jaw farther than the last. When we reached a balcony, over looking the garden and river. As I sat down, the elves brought out some food. Ori looked at it in disgust.

"Try it." Dori pleaded. "Just a mouthful."

"I don't like green food." Ori said simply, setting a piece of lettuce down.

"Where is the meat?" Dwalin demanded, picking through some salad.

"Have they got any chips?" Ori asked, looking across the table. I didn't eat anything, I was listening to the beautiful music the elves where playing, it was quiet and peaceful. one of the female elves was playing a flute, another was playing the harp, and the last one was playing something that looked kind of like a lute. I think it was a lute. I'm not good at music. I saw Kili eyeing the one playing the harp, and I felt a paing of jealousy. But shoved it down, reminding my self of the nothing I was, and instead teased him.

"Kilis found a cute girl." I whispered in his ear. He looked at me, and I giggled.

"I don't like elves." He insisted. "Their all high cheek bones and creamy skin."

"Sure. sure." I said. "You should ask her to dance."

"She is the one that's playing the music." He said, frowning at me. "Besides, I don't know how to dance."

"Well, if your not gonna dance with her, you gonna dance with me, and your gonna learn." I insisted, grabbing his hand and leading him to the middle of the balcony where there was a big empty space.

"Iri, I don't dance." Kili complained, resisting.

"Well good thing you have a best friend that does dance." I said, placing his hand on my waist, and putting my right hand in his. "now, left foot forward one step."

"Won't I-"

"Just do it. Okay, now slide you right foot in a curve to... just follow me." I said. after a bit, he managed to waltz with me without stepping on my toes. Keeped trying to keep my cool, and not blush, but I'm sure I failed. Lord Elrond and Gandalf walked onto the balcony just then, I had no clue where they had been. As they sat down Kili and I bowed to each other, smiling.

"I told you you needed to learn how to dance." I said, smiling and sitting back down. 

"This is orcrist, The goblin cleaver." Lord elrond said, holding Thorin's sword. "A famous blaid, forged by the high elves of the west. My kin. May it serve you well." He said, handing Thorin his sword back. Gandalf handed his sword to him.

"This is Glambring, Foehammer. Sword of the king of Glandular." Elrond said, Unsheathing Gandalf's sword.

"What's your sword?" Kili asked me. I shrugged.

"I didn't know swords get names." I replied, fingering my hilt.

"Where did you get these?" Lord Elrond inquiered.

"We found them in a troll hoard on the east road." Gandalf said "Shortly before we were ambushed by orcs."

"and what were you doing by the east road?"

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Another one! Sorry this one was shorter than normal,  but I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! thanks for reading!😁