Star-Crossed

Chapter 27

Several months later…

Arathorn was restless. He’d not slept at all that evening. He merely just lay awake, staring at the celling, wishing he was off somewhere else right now. Rivendell was lovely, yes, but when you were born to roam, you never wanted to stay still. Edoras he thought to himself that is where I will go. He stood and began gathering his things, that’s when he heard the horse hooves, lots of them. Curious he stepped outside. He saw the twins, Elladan and Elrohir, and between their dark coated mares, a tall grey stallion tossed his head. His rider was small in stature, but they carried with them an arsenal of weapons. The most easily distinguished was an ashen maple bow with veins of silver. A smile tugged at his lips, he knew who this was, everyone knew.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” Her drawled. Elladan nodded to her, taking the reins of her horse.

“Miss me?”

“Of course! It’s been ten years my sister, come here!” He picked her up with one arm and spun her around. Beuren laughed, looking up at her little brother with that crooked grin of hers.

“Shall we make myself known?”

“You already are.” A voice echoed in the silence behind them. Two men stood, one was Elrond, you could tell his voice from anywhere, but the other…

“Now, Beuren my friend, you’ve lost my ties with the mountain.” Gandalf teased, smiling at her. The moon was full, bright enough for even mortal eyes to see. His pale blue eyes twinkled, their wisdom still shone through though.

“It has been many years. The last time I saw you I was bent over a glass of the worst whiskey I’ve ever tasted.”

“Aye, but you’d had one helluva morning.” The two of them laughed, Arathorn grinned, and they even got a small smile out of Elrond.

“Now, let us get Beuren a place to rest, and a bath, you reek of horse.” Arathorn said, squeezing her shoulders.

“Glad you noticed.” She smiled back.

“You can occupy the room around the corner, I think you will find all that you need waiting for you.” Elrond spoke, his words comforting after her four month long journey; she’d taken several detours to stay off of the map.

“Thank you my lord.” She bowed slightly. Elrond smiled back and turned his attention back to Gandalf. They continued their walk back the way they’d come, rounding a corner and disappearing from view.

“Don’t wait up for me.” Beuren said turning to her brother. “I’ll be awhile.” Arathorn shrugged, returning back to his room.

Beuren went to her room; she unloaded all of her weapons relieved by the weight being lifted. She found… well, everything she needed. Placing her weapons in the corner, she dug for her polish and sharpening stones, she’d need to do that soon to, her sword was getting blunt. Leaving her room, she made her way down to the bathing pools.

The water was warm; it was always warm, no matter the time of year. She shed her clothes and lowered herself into the water. The stone surrounding the edge of the natural pool was jagged, but rubbed smooth by years of water erosion. It made a perfect bench to sit on. Beuren sat down, getting used to the heat. The steam could be seen even in the dark.

Sliding off the bench she dunked herself under the water, holding her breath as long as possible, combing through her tangled hair. When finally she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, she surfaced, slowly, not splashing the water. Upon turning around, she found that her clothes had been taken, a dark brown robe, made of satin she thought, and a soft green towel had been laid beside the edge of the pool. Several small bottles of varying sizes and shapes had been set on a small wooden tray.