* Akala's P.O.V. *
When I reached Frodo's room, I heard voices on the other side of the door. I knocked and heard a voice say to enter. I opened the door and entered. I saw Frodo sitting up in bed, Gandalf the Grey sitting in a chair by the bed, Lord Elrond standing behind Gandalf, and another halfling standing by Frodo.
"I see you are awake, Frodo Baggins," I said as I walked over to the foot of the bed and crossed my arms across my chest.
Frodo and the other halfling looked at me with confusion. "Who are you?" the other halfling asked.
"I am a friend of the man you know by the name of Strider and of Gandalf's," I said. "I arrived here not long after you and your companions did."
"Alright. You know my name, but I don't know yours," Frodo said a little suspiciously.
I smiled a little at the corners of my mouth. "You will find out during the Council, I'm sure," I said. "I am glad you are awake and on the mend, halfling," I said, then I left.
For the rest of the day I walked around the elven city, did more archery, and did some reading in the library.
After dinner, I said good night to the dwarves and to the people I knew. I bowed my head a little bit to Aragorn just before I left and headed for my room.
I was drawing in a sketchbook on my bed when I heard a light knock on my door. I closed my book, placed it on my bed, and walked over to the door.
I opened it and found Aragorn standing there with a bag that had arrows in it. I bowed my head. "My lord," I said then looked back up to him. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
He looked at the bag of arrows for a moment then handed them to me. "I thought I should return these to you since you left them in the archery grounds earlier today," he said kindly.
I took them and nodded my head. "Thank you," I said in elvish.
"You're welcome," he said in elvish, then he bowed his head placing his hand over his heart. "Good night, Akala. I'll see you at the Council tomorrow," he said.
I returned the gesture. "Good night, my lord," I said. I heard him sigh as I started to close the door, but then Aragorn stopped the door gently and I looked up a little surprised. "Is something wrong?" I asked.
He sighed again a little frustrated this time. "Will I have to order you to call me by my name, not 'my lord'?" he asked, reluctantly.
I was taken back a little by the question. I looked at the ground for a moment, thinking about the question. Then I looked up at him. "Yes. Otherwise I will continue to call you 'my lord' because that is what I am supposed to do considering my position in your presense," I said, looking him in the eye.
He looked like he didn't want to, but I think he saw how serious I was about it. Then he shook his head and placed a hand on my cheek. "No. I will not order you to do something you don't wish to do. I will let you make your own decisions and support them," he said softly, then he kissed my forehead and smiled softly. "Good night, Akala, Queen Under the Mountian," he said and he left.
It took me a moment to wrap my mind around what just happened. I closed the door and put the bag of arrows on a chair and sat on my bed.
"I think he called you by your title because he wants to remind you he is not above you in status, that he sees you as an equal or above him in status since you are royalty and he is not because he has cast aside his birthright as Isildur's heir," Mirath said thoughtfully.
"But why would he cast aside who he is? Why can't he just accept he is above me because of our bloodlines?" I asked.
"Maybe because he doesn't want you to think you are lesser than he. I believe your role in this is to help him accept who his is meant to be and help him become the king he was born to be," she said.
I thought about that for a moment. "Maybe you're right," I said quietly. I changed into my nightgown, put my sketchbook away, and went to bed.
