Lady of Rivendell

Chapter 3

Aelin stood cautiously behind a rock, her bow loaded and ready. The orcs they'd been tracking for the last week had caught onto another scent. Dwarves. Dwarves, accompanied by Mithrandir, which had led the orcs right to Rivendell's gate. Ada would not be happy when he rejoined the group. He had ridden off yesterday with Lindir, Glorfindel, and the twins to sweep the area, but she knew he would not have left if he'd realized what would happen.

Another older elf stood near her, and was gesturing for her to sweep around the rock and join the battle. She nodded, and dashed off. Aelin fired towards a group of orcs that was sneaking up behind a couple of warriors. Skirting the battle, she noticed an Orc on a Warg, pacing towards the rock that hid the gate. There was no sign of the dwarves. She raced towards it, heart pounding. Then- an arrow out of nowhere- and the orc and warg were dead. She slipped around the rock and looked down. Sure enough, twelve dwarves looked back up at her, along with the wizard and a small little creature that didn't look like a dwarve or anything else she recognized. "Mithrandir." Her voice was surprisingly steady. "What have you brought us this time?"

***

Father was in a council meeting. But before he had left, he had whispered to her, "They will try to leave. Let them. But if you want to go with them... This is your chance, lellig, take it. Only promise me that you will return."

She stumbled up the rocky path after them. "I'm coming with you, Mr. Thorin, whether you like it or not. You'll be grateful before this is done. You've got a- what are you again, Bilbo? A hobble?- you ought to let me come. I can help fight. I know my way around."

Bilbo mumbled something about being a hobbit, not a hobble. Thorin sighed. "Fine. Come. But only because Gandalf said we ought to trust you and that you could help."

Gandalf had said that? She wondered why, what else he might have said, then ran to the stone ahead of them. "See? I'm already helpful. You can't leave without the touch of an elf."

She brushed the stone with her fingers, and it split up the middle. The sides slid away, revealing a tunnel. Smirking, she led the way through.

***

Aelin frowned, watching the dwarves. "Are you drunk?!" she demanded. The paths of Mirkwood were painfully familiar to her, and she had been slowly walking, observing the fall leaves, when she'd noticed the strangely changed dwarves.

"Gandalf and Beorn both said to stick to the paths. It's not hard. Trust me, if you go off you'll regret it." Memories flooded into her head, bright blue eyes filled with concern. 'Next time, be more careful. I won't always be here to save you.'

Thorin nodded vaguely, then turned and walked into Ori. Kili had dropped his bow and was looking at the river in the distance. Even Bilbo looked a bit woozy. "I think I'll go up in the tree and see which way the mountain is." He started to climb. He was surprisingly nimble for someone who only stood as tall as her waist. Aelin glanced uneasily at the dwarves. She had become close to them on this journey

"Remember to stay on the path. I'm going to scout out a way over the river; I'll be back in a blink." She pulled the hood of her cloak over her dark braids and turned away from the dwarves.

The river seemed oddly devoid of bridges of any sort. To be fair, she had always avoided it, afraid of falling in, but she was sure she remembered one somewhere near here. She gazed off in the direction of the palace, wistfully. It had been so long... But they would not be welcome. Aelin knew enough to know that Thrain and Thranduil had had a quarrel, and his grandson would not be received well in the forest. No dwarves would, she supposed. Thranduil had always been kind to her, but he could certainly hold a grudge.

She closed her eyes and pictured the forest, the paths she had wandered as an elfling. The best way to Dale would have to be to go left, and then right- A crash sounded through the forest. She had taken too long. She dodged back, tripping over twigs and logs in her path. If there was anyone else nearby, they could hardly help hearing her, but that couldn't be helped.

Crashing through the leaves into a clearing, Aelin saw the dwarves fighting spiders. Fools, she thought, shooting quickly to destroy the last few spiders. Bilbo was nowhere in sight, but she had no time to ponder where he had gone. He was there, she was sure, likely hiding. Aelin stood back to back with the dwarves, watching for more spiders. She thought she heard footsteps, but dismissed it.

She turned to Thorin. "We're clear-" Footsteps sounded louder. So she hadn't imagined them after all. The king's guard. She mentally prepared herself to face a guard and have to explain herself as she spun around, her bow leveled and ready.

What met her was much different. A pair of blue eyes that she hadn't thought she'd ever see again. Legolas's bow dipped uncertainly, his eyes fixed on hers. "A-Aelin? What-"

She winced. She had hoped to visit again, but this was not the way she had wanted it to go. Lowering her bow, she said in a soft voice, "It's a long story."

He touched her cheek, and Thorin stepped forwards. "If you hurt the lassie-"

"Thorin, it's fine. He's an old friend." Aelin assured him. She turned to Legolas again and gave a slight smile. "It's been a while, mellon."

A red haired woman stepped up from behind him. "Legolas. Come on. We need to get back to the palace with the prisoners." She eyed Aelin. "Who is this? Do you know each other?"

He nodded slowly, then shook his head as if to clear it. "You're right, Tauriel. All of you, take a dwarve. I'll take the girl."