The Ranger ➵ Kili Durin

PART I : CHAPTER 5

Elvira's eyes fluttered open to the sound of running water and the sunlight streaming onto her face. She glanced around, becoming uneasy at her foreign surroundings, before the memories of what happened not long before came crashing down. She was back home. In her own room. Elvira groaned again and threw her head against the pillow, for she knew that she now would have to explain everything to the dwarves. The dwarves. She began to chuckle to herself at the thought of how they were coping here in Rivendell. Thorin no doubt was having the most fun, and she chuckled again. She sat up once more, noting that her left shoulder was sore, and she hissed in pain, threw her blankets off of her body and swung her legs to the ground, standing up and looking down.

"Only elves could get me to wear a dress again," She muttered, noting that she no longer had her leather corset, her boots or her riding pants on. These were instead replaced with a long, dark blue, shimmering gown that flowed from her waist elegantly. The dress had no sleeves, so she was able to assess her wound clearly, seeing a now almost fully healed impalement wound. No matter how much she despised it here, she could not deny how magnificently awe-inspiring their medical healing was. She went to a mirror, taking in her pale skin and bright blue eyes, before beginning to once again messily braid her hair back the way it usually was. She was almost finished with this when the door to her room swung open, revealing none other than her beautiful cousin, Arwen.

She gasped. "Nin mel! Nin cusenne! {My love! My cousin!} You are awake!" Arwen ran forward and hugged her cousin tightly, and Elvira gripped her the same. She missed having her best friend around her for all those years, and seeing her again brought tears to her eyes.

"Im miseden cin, cusenne, {I missed you, cousin}" Elvira replied. Arwen laughed, with tears in her eyes as the pair took each other in again for the first time in 90 years. Both had grown in wisdom and strength, and neither had aged hardly at all.

"Where is Uncle Elrond? I have yet to see him," Elvira asked. She admitted she wanted to see her family. She avoided them at all costs, scared that if they knew Elvira was an orc slaughtering Ranger, they would no longer love or accept her. She obviously thought wrong, as her dark haired cousin embraced her yet again, happy to have her back.

"My father has come to see you many times, but you will see him soon. He is declaring a celebration in honor of the Princess returning to the kingdom," Arwen told her, and Elvira's smile fell. She did not want to be the princess, and she certainly did not want the company to see her as one.

"I am sorry, nin mel, I know you don't like it, but please, no one even knew you were alive! You cannot be mad at him for being happy," Arwen tried to reason.

"I am not mad, nin mellon {my friend}. I am just, a little overwhelmed, that is all," She said, her head beginning to pound against the walls of her skull. Elvira's only fears were coming true. Her duties were being brought back to her and the company of Thorin Oakenshield will know that she had been lying to them. All the work she spent getting them to trust her will be gone soon.

"Thank you, nin mellon. Now, we must get you ready to be presented!" Arwen said, trying to lighten the mood she knew her cousin was bringing down upon herself.

The dwarves sat in a brightly lit dining hall, the sound of flute playing and low chatter filling the air. They dug around in the plates brought before them, questioning the absence of the meat and wondering why everything on the table was so green. They all had been chatting to one another, except Kili, who stared melancholily at the table in front of him. He was so worried about Elvira that he hardly had done anything else but stare at the floor and worry. Was she even still alive? No one would tell him anything, no matter how many times he pleaded other elves around him to.