Chapter 1 Bees and Wine

One Year Ago

The innkeeper had run out of arguments. So had the blacksmith. And the Mayer. “Lady, that barrel is rightfully ours and you know it.”, scolded Isilme. The frustrated elf stood indignantly in the middle of the yard with his fists on his hips, the picture of impatience. “The innkeeper promised to sell it to me.”, the woman countered angrily. “But that was two weeks ago.”, sputtered the innkeeper. “You never came for it so I..” His voice trailed off at her look. “A promise is a promise.”, said the young woman sternly. She stood in the open door of the barn loft with her foot on the large barrel of wine. The elves in the courtyard below were flummoxed. Why did she have to be so stubborn? In two days another shipment of wine would arrive. They needed the wine now. Lord Elrond was waiting back at camp. He tried again. “Lord Elrond himself sent us to get this wine. He is a mighty elflord and he will be very upset if we tell him you took his property.” There. That ought to put the fear of Illuvatar into her. “If he’s so mighty why can’t he keep his own supplies up?” she said sarcastically. The elf opened his mouth to answer and then realized he didn’t have one and snapped it shut. The older elf Tulka strode forward angrily. He’d had enough of arguing with this little hardhead. “Now listen here, you little brat. Give us that wine. RIGHT NOW!!!”, he ordered. Humans!! The woman looked at him for a second and then smiled. “Alright”, she said in a very agreeable voice. Too agreeable, thought Isilme. He was just about to say so to Tulka when the woman put her foot against the huge barrel and rolled it out the loft door. The two elves turned to run, but were hindered by the crowd of men in the courtyard. The behemoth hurtled down into the courtyard and landed with a deafening crash. Sticky wine shot in all directions, plastering mankind and elf alike. Unfortunately the cork missed hitting anybody and flew across the yard, slamming into the beehive hidden in the branches of the huge tree at the entrance. Immediately, an indignant swarm of bees left the hive to find out who had attacked their beloved home. What met the tiny soldier’s eyes was a swarm of humans and elves, all of which were being entirely too loud and aggressive. The little army bravely charged. Sareei leaned against the loft door and surveyed the scene below. “Amazing”, she called down to her horse Ariel, “those elves sure can run when they have to.”

Elrond and Gandalf cantered their horses down the road at a good clip. Tulka and Isilme should have been back to camp long ago. What in Middle Earth could be taking them so long? Growing worried, the two patriarchs had decided to see what was keeping the youngsters. As they neared the village, a young woman on a black horse rode past them. “Good day, gentlemen.”, she smirked as she swept past. “Good day to you, good woman.” responded Elrond. As they neared the village Gandalf noticed several bees buzzing angrily near their horses. “Here now”, he scolded, swatting at them. “Off with you.” he commanded. As they rounded the bend in the road and entered the yard, they pulled their horses to an abrupt halt and surveyed the scene before them. Sticky elves and men were running everywhere and bees were thick in the air. “I’ll take care of this.” said Gandalf. He raised his staff to command the bees to go. However, as he did the staff slammed into the beehive in the branches above his head and it promptly clattered to the ground between their horses. Before either one of them could react, bees began pouring out of the hive in an angry swirl. Elrond uttered something unintelligible in elvish and wheeled his mount away. Gandalf uttered something a little more human and both riders went careening out of the village at a dead run. “The river” shouted Elrond. “Get to the river.” As the riders flew down the road with an angry swarm on their heels, the “watcher in the woods” nearly fell off of her horse laughing. Even Ariel was chuckling.

Isilme —moonlight Tulka—steadfast Sareei—outspoken Ariel—lion of God

Chapter 2 Uruk-Hai

Six months ago

The rider sat back in the saddle and surveyed the orc’s progress. They had been following the trail the rider had laid out with unerring accuracy. They were almost past now as the rider watched from their vantagepoint in the trees, their eyes slits as they watched the orcs move into position. The rider was upwind and the fog hid them neatly from view. Just a little more. There. The last orc passed their hiding place.

“Now they can’t get away.” The rider thought grimly as they moved out from their hiding place.

“Hey!”, the rider shouted. The orcs jumped in surprise. “Bet you never thought you’d see me again, did you?”, they said in a deadly voice.

One of the orcs took an angry step in their direction. “You have been at us ever since we raided that village. We haven’t slept in three days. But we’ve finally tracked you down.” The other twelve Uruk-Hai snarled in rage. They were short tempered to begin with and doing without food and sleep for three days hadn’t improved their tempers any. Keeping them from sleeping was bad enough, but making off with their food was even worse. How had they done that? You’d think they were an elf or something.

“You’re going be sorry you ever saw us.” threatened their leader.

“I’m already sorry I ever saw your ugly face. You’ve got a face that would stop the Anduin in it’s tracks.” The rider sneered and held up a burning stick.

The orcs started laughing.

“Now what do you think you are going to do with that?” the leader wanted to know, laughing. “You’ll need a bigger weapon than that to hurt us.” The orcs were all laughing by now. Some were taking out arrows and preparing to fire.

“I’ve learned that it isn’t the size of the weapon, it’s the results that count.” The rider said softly. “If I were to drop this you would be very, very sorry.”

“Well, why don’t you drop it then?”, challenged the orc. “We’re hungry and you look to make a tasty meal.” The other orcs snickered.

The rider’s smile faded as their face took on a more serious mood. They were silent for a second.

“Do you remember being near the village of Greenfen about a week ago?”, asked the rider softly.

“Yeah.”, bragged the leader. “There were plenty of tender young ones there. We had a feast.” He was so busy laughing he missed the change that came over the rider’s face.

The eyes grew cold as steel and the corners of the mouth turned down. “I just wanted to make sure you remembered.”, they said, their voice deadly quiet. Then they threw the burning stick to the ground in front of the orcs.

Suddenly, the ground in the clearing was a sea of flame. The orcs tried to get out through the entrance but the searing flames engulfed them before they could escape. The rider sat on their horse, watching them burn alive. “Quite fitting.”, they thought coldly, “considering all the children you ate in that village.”

When the rider was sure all the orcs were dead, they turned their horse and disappeared into the mist.

***********************************

Elrond was troubled. Not that dead orcs were troubling. The less there were, the better. Someone had apparently soaked a small clearing with oil and then lured the orcs into it and set it in flames. But no one had come forward to claim responsibility for the act. Who was this person? Even the Rangers couldn’t tell him. He pondered this puzzle as he sipped his tea.

A light knock at the door of his study broke into his thoughts. “Enter.”, he said quietly.

Aragorn entered and came to his chair. “Ada, we can’t find a trace of anyone out there. The heavy rains have washed away all evidence of tracks. Whoever executed those orcs is long gone.”

“Executed?” Elrond raised his eyebrow at the word.

“Yes.”, said Aragorn. “We have found evidence of three other orc bands being ambushed. All killed in some manner or another. But the one thing that was clear was that each time it was a deliberate trap and they walked right into it, with no way to get back out. One group died in a pit full of spikes. Another died from drinking from a poisoned pool. Another from poisoned food. Although how someone could get to their food to poison it without being caught is beyond me. It sounds like the work of an elf.”

Elrond was thoughtful. Aragorn waited patiently. Finally Elrond spoke. “Send messengers to Lorien and Mirkwood. See if anyone there has heard anything; a rumor perhaps of an elf or a human who would have such a vendetta against the orcs.”

At Aragorn’s look he smiled. “I know Estel. Such feats would be beyond any human, except possibly a Ranger and they are all accounted for. This looks to be the work of an elf, an extremely bold one at that. But I would feel better checking all possibilities.” He looked at his son. “It disturbs me that there is someone this.dynamic.in Middle Earth, someone who executes orc bands at will, and no one seems to have any knowledge of them.” He seemed lost in thought for a moment. Then he looked up at Aragorn and smiled.

“Go Estel and send the messengers. Then have your brothers come in from the archery field. We must be prepared if we find this mysterious rider has decided to come to Imladris.”

“He apparently doesn’t want to be found by anyone. He may not appreciate it if we try to discover his identity.” Aragorn warned.

“He is not the first I have found so, and he will not be the last.”, said Elrond grimly.

Aragorn left him to his thoughts and went to seek his brothers.

“I wonder what drives you, strange one.”, mused Elrond as he sat deep in thought.

*********************************

Sareei went to the bar to tell the innkeeper she had decided to stay for the night and ask for a room. As she waited to get his attention, a drunken farmer smirked and slipped his arm around her waist.

“Here, pretty one, you don’t have to worry about a place to sleep.”, he said as he leered at her.

Sareei smiled sweetly at him and shoved a large jug of wine off the bar. It landed neatly on his foot with a crash. He howled in pain and hobbled away. The innkeeper turned at the noise.

“What was that?”, he wanted to know.

“Oh, someone just broke a large jug of wine.”, Sareei explained, smiling. “I think you should put it on that farmer’s tab. The one that just went out the door. And now, about that room.”
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Chapter 3 A Visiter Comes to Imladris

Three Months Ago

Tulka and Isilme were exhausted. They had just come in from a long ride as scouts. They were definitely ready for some hot food and some rest. Isilme laughed as he stretched his tired muscles.

“What?”, asked Tulka.

“As difficult as this latest scouting mission was, I would still rather go out there and fight orcs and wargs than ride to that village again and have to deal with that human.”

Tulka shook his head. Was Isilme ever going to stop complaining about that day? He had received just as many bee stings as his brother, but Isilme didn’t hear him complaining about it all the time. Maybe his brother needed to have a talk with Lord Elrond. Just to help him to stop dwelling on that one human.

Just then, he heard Isilme gasp in horror.

Tulka followed his brother’s horrified gaze to the front gate. Standing there, beside her black horse, was Sareei.

“Sweet Illuvatar !”, whispered Isilme. He was frozen to the spot, his feet refusing his commands to run.

Tulka blushed in shame at his brother’s cowardice. He pushed past his terrified brother and walked boldly up to Sareei.

“And what brings you to Imladris, Lady?”, he wanted to know.

“I know that Lord Elrond is a healer and I have some rare herbs I would like to sell to him.”, answered Sareei.

Tulka took another look at his brother. He hadn’t moved.

“I will tell Lord Elrond that you are here. Please wait.” He took another look at his brother and headed up the front steps to the house, shaking his head in disgust. Yes, Lord Elrond was definitely going to have a talk with Isilme.

Sareei turned to Isilme and smiled. He shuddered.

“My gosh, he’s quiet for an elf.”, she said to herself. She stepped towards him, trying to be friendly.

Somehow, Isilme felt he should run, but his feet still wouldn’t move.

Sareei tried to make small talk.

“I found some lovely herbs on the way here. Would you like to see?”, she asked as she stepped back towards her horse.

Isilme silently shook his head.

“Now honestly, I don’t know why you are so afraid of me.”, she gently scolded as she dug a small sack out of her saddlebag.

“I’m not such a bad person. See?”, said Sareei, “Here is some nice lavender. She walked over and held the open bag up to Isilme’s face. “Here , take a deep breath. Isn’t that nice?” She smiled.

Isilme took a deep breath and his lungs filled with the sweet scent of ……PEPPER!!!!!!!!! He started coughing, his eyes were burning, his lungs were on fire.

Sareei stood there shocked. She sniffed the bag. “Oh I’m sorry. I got the wrong bag. This is pepper.” She announced.

“You think!” thought Isilme as he choked and gagged. “I should have known better.”, he reprimanded himself.

Sareei tried everything she could think of to assist the elf but he refused every bit of help she had to offer, so she finally gave up. The resulting commotion brought several elves from the house. They stood and stared at the scene in the courtyard.

Sareei dug back into the saddlebag and brought out another sack. “This must be what I am looking for.”, she murmured. She opened it and stepped toward Isilme. His eyes widened and he raised his hands as if to defend himself. Sareei stepped closer with the bag but he only backed away as he continued to cough and gag.

“But it’s alright, this is really lavender.”, she tried to reassure him. She stepped toward him again and he fell backwards over a small bush to avoid her. “I checked the bag myself.”, she promised. Just then she saw someone out of the corner of her eye and turned to face the house. On the front steps stood Elrond and Gandalf flanked by Tulka and several others.

“Good day Lady. How may I help you?”, asked Elrond as he eyed the ailing Isilme. “And what have you done to my scout?” Tulka ran to his brother’s side.

Sareei smiled. “Oh I was just showing him some lavender, but I got the pepper by mistake. I found the real lavender but now he won’t let me get near him.”

By this time Isilme was retching in the shrubbery. Elrond raised an eyebrow and motioned for two elves to assist the ailing elf into the house.

As they passed him, Gandalf noticed Isilme was dripping wet. “Why is he wet?”, he asked with a frown.

“I’ve always heard that if you get pepper in your eyes you should wash it out with water,” she explained, “and all I had to use was the fountain over there. I tried to wash out his eyes but he kept getting away.”

Gandalf and Elrond exchanged glances. “Perhaps you should come into the house.”, said Elrond quietly. “I can examine the herbs there.”

“But I would like to go make sure Isilme is alright.”, Sareei protested.

There was a muffled cry of dismay from the hall where the elves had disappeared with Isilme.

Elrond looked at her . “I think Isilme needs some undisturbed rest at the moment.” He smiled at Sareei.

“Alright.”, said Sareei, sounding a little disappointed. “I hope he will be alright.”

“As long as he stays away from you.” muttered Tulka.

“What?”, asked Sareei.

He got a hard look from Elrond. ” So do we all, Lady.”, he said. He bowed stiffly and then turned on his heel and went to seek his brother, muttering something about ‘evil’.”

Elrond took them to his study. Once there, he offered Sareei a glass of wine and then took out the contents of the saddlebag and began to examine them.

Sareei found Elrond’s study fascinating. She walked around the room, looking at the huge bookshelves. On one of the shelves behind Elrond were several interesting looking bottles. Sareei’s curiosity got the best of her. She reached for one of the bottles. “Don’t touch.”, came Elrond’s gentle reprimand. Sareei jerked her hand back. “Sorry.” ‘How could he see what I’m doing when he has his back to me?’, she wondered.

There was a soft knock on the study door. Tulka entered at Elrond’s quiet recognition.

“Lord Elrond, the healers tell me that Isilme will be alright. As long as he doesn’t have anymore…incidents”, the elf said, glancing quickly at Sareei. She ignored him.

“Thank you, Tulka. You may go back to your brother.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”, said Tulka. He turned to go. Without warning Sareei was standing just behind him. He jumped back with a start and hurried to the door, giving Sareei a wide berth.

“These herbs are very rare and are in excellent condition. I will take all you have. At your price of course.” Elrond paused. “Out of curiosity, Lady, where did you find these? They are extremely difficult to come by.”

Sareei smiled. “Oh I just know where to look, that’s all.”, she replied.

Gandalf wondered just where this young woman had been traveling to acquire things that even elves found it difficult to come by. He returned Sareei’s smile and took another thoughtful puff on his pipe. “I wonder.”

Chapter 4 The Dream

Sareei’s eyes flew open with a start. Oh, no. She hadn’t meant to sleep so long. By now her adversary had already found a place of concealment. He was most likely already there now, blocking her path. Well, today would be the day. Today she would show him who was cock of the walk. He would regret ever unsheathing his sword. Today she would wipe that maddening smile right of off his face.

She tumbled out of bed and quickly dressed, the cold morning air sending shivers up her spine. She smiled as she pulled on her gloves. Let him set an ambush. She was ready for anything, she thought as she finished fastening her sword around her waist. She strutted out the door, ready for combat.

She had just rounded the corner to the courtyard when the ambush came. She felt the hair rise up on the back of her neck as she passed the last pillar. He was behind her! Snarling deep in her throat at her own carelessness, she whirled to meet her attacker, sword in hand. She barely had time to block the fierce blow that slammed down at her, the force making her stagger backwards. She glared at her opponent. There was that maddening smile again. It carried the assurance that once again, he would be the victor. This lit her anger like a firebrand. It always had. His sword swung again. The air swishing past her ribs as she barely jerked back in time to avoid injury.

“You’re too slow. I almost gutted you that time.”, he said sternly.

“You’re too confident.”, she retorted with a lightening swift strike at his face. He danced away, light as an elf. There was that smile again.

“Oh, the kitten has claws.”, he taunted. “Still a little too slow to do you any good.”, he smirked.

“I’m fast enough to beat you, old man.”, Sareei came back.

The two danced around each other like butterflies, each looking for a weakness in the other’s defense. Steel met steel with sharp rings like the tolling of frantic bells. As the man struck at Sareei, she would wait until the last second and then block the blow.

“That’s a very dangerous game you are playing, missy. One that might get you killed.”, he warned.

“Are you going to fight or just talk me to death, old man.”, Sareei mocked as she blocked another blow and then dealt a deadly one of her own. Again the old man danced back, blocking the force of the blow with the hilt of his sword. Sareei dropped to the ground and swung her leg out in a deadly arc, trying to sweep her opponent’s feet out from under him. He jumped lightly over her leg and landed a few feet away, sword at the ready.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that to win this match.” His piercing blue eyes danced with laughter.

Sareei laughed. “Why don’t we just raise the stakes on this match?”, she asked. She deftly stepped aside to avoid the fierce sword thrust that her opponent delivered. Then she turned and ran at the opposing wall. She ran a few feet up it to gain momentum and then flipped over his head in a graceful arc, landing behind him. His fierce blue eyes held the warm light of approval at the swiftness and grace of her movements. So she had been paying attention when he had tried to teach her that maneuver.

“How exactly do you intend to raise the stakes this time?”, he wanted to know as he jumped aside just in time to avoid a sword stroke to the chest.

“Well,”, said Sareei as she countered his next stroke, “Not only does the loser, meaning you, have to cook breakfast, but he has to do the dishes as well.”

“I don’t do dishes!”, exclaimed her father, Astalder. With a sudden burst of speed and energy he leapt at Sareei, aiming a fierce blow at her head, taking her off balance and making her duck. Before she could recover, he pinned her sword to the wall with his own. His triumphant smile faded when she swiftly took her sword with her other hand and instantly laid it against his throat. It was replaced with a look of shock and then pride.

His radiant smile lit up his face was he looked at his daughter. She released him and stepped back with a smile, triumph shining in her eyes.

“You little minx. You’ve been holding back on me, haven’t you?” Her father stood facing her with his hands on his hips. This time she had surprised even him. A lifetime spent training her to take care of herself had culminated to this one moment. She could hold her own with any war lord he could think of. His face was glowing with love and pride. He burst out laughing at her impertinent curtsey.

As she rose from her curtsey, she felt something land on the ground right behind her. It had landed as lightly as a bird. For a split second Sareei thought it was a bird, but the hair raising up on the back of her neck and the feeling of intense evil behind her told this was no bird. Her father’s face changed from one of great joy to a cross between horror and rage. Without saying a word, he swiftly reached out and grabbed the front of Sareei’s tunic, throwing her behind him as hard as he could. She landed several yards away from her father. As Sareei picked herself up, she looked around and saw what had caused her father’s alarm.

Standing before her father was a grey warrior! It stood upright like a man. Some say it came from men who had sold their soul to the darkness. The creature was covered with smooth gray reptilian skin marred by numerous tattoos; curses and blasphemies, all written in the Black Speech. It’s eye’s were red slits, full of malice. Sareei knew they were servants of the dark powers. She knew that they were skilled warriors and deadly assassins who killed mercilessly at their dark lord’s bidding. She never knew who they served. Her father would never tell her. He would only say that it was better for her not to know, and then would immediately change the subject. The thing glared at her father, angry to be robbed of his prey so quickly. It growled low in it’s throat, snapping it’s teeth in her father’s face, as it raised it’s own sword. That was too much for Sareei. Her father was her whole life. This repulsive intruder wasn’t going to threaten her father and get away with it. She gripped her sword tightly and took a step towards the grey warrior, anger boiling in her heart.

“NO Sareei!” Her father put up a restraining hand. “Go get Ariel and get out of here as quickly as you can. Go to our favorite place. Stay there till I come for you.” His tone left no room for argument. He firmly planted himself between his daughter and the deadly thing, his sword ready.

Anything she would have said was cut off by the hissing voice of the grey warrior. “The master has sent me for her. I am to take her to him immediately.” The creature looked Sareei up and down in a leering manner that turned her stomach. He took a step toward her.

“Over my dead body!”, came her father’s heated reply. He leaped at the warrior, swinging his sword at it’s head. The creature moved away with the fluidity of a snake recoiling and then struck out at her father with a lightening fast stroke. Astalder barely moved out of the way in time, blocking the blow with his own sword. He knew how their race fought, keeping out of it’s opponent’s way, wearing them down until they grew tired and made a mistake. He knew that he couldn’t outlast it. No one had been able to. Their strength and endurance were far superior to a human’s. They simply waited one out and then moved in for the kill. And the kill was usually slow and painful. Astalder had seen enough victims to know death at their hands would not be gentle or swift, but he had to buy some time for his daughter to get away.

The thing struck at him again, trying to slice him on the upper arm. Suddenly a sword blocked the blow, and a small fist smashed into the repulsive grey nose.

“You leave my father alone!”, shouted Sareei as she aimed another blow at the ugly thing. It was caught off balance and stumbled backwards. Astalder shoved her back.

“Sareei, I told you to go. You can’t help me here. Now go!” Panic rose in his heart for his only daughter. He knew why the dark lord had sent for her. The thought of it was unbearable. “I said, go!”, he shouted at her.

“No!”, she shouted back. “I’m not leaving you. We go together or we die together.” Tears spilled down onto her cheeks at the thought of leaving her father to this evil beast. Her jaw took on the firm pout that her father knew so well. “I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.” She choked back her tears and fixed him with a determined look.

Her father knew there was nothing to be gained in arguing with her. He knew that look well enough to know that her mind was set and that an earthquake couldn’t shake it loose now.

“Alright, but stay behind me. And if I tell you to run, you’d better run. Understood.”, he said sternly.

“Alright.”, said Sareei. She smiled bravely at her father. “Don’t worry Papa. We can take ’em.” She tried to reassure her father with her smile. He smiled back. He had no choice now. He had to win or his daughter was doomed to a life of horror. The thought sent anger coursing through his veins like fire and he turned to face the now advancing warrior.

He could hear Ariel slamming himself against his stall door, trying to break out to defend his human family. The enraged stallion’s screams distracted his opponent for a moment. Astalder took advantage of this and lunged at him with his sword. The warrior laughed and stepped aside, thinking to come back around and catch the human in the ribs with his sword. Astalder swiftly spun the other way and aimed a thrust at the evil thing’s midsection. The warrior jumped back and the blow only managed to slice across his ribcage. He gave a howl of rage and lunged at the man intending to tear him apart. The old man leaped aside and cut at the thing’s legs, trying to slow him down. As he did, he saw a flash of steel at the edge of his vision. He felt the warrior’s sword slice through his back and looked down in shock at the tip protruding from his stomach. The grey warrior gave a sharp grunt as it jerked the sword upwards and out, letting the man slip off of the tip onto the ground. The last thing Astalder heard was his daughter’s scream as he hit the ground, his blood swiftly pooling around him.

Sareei woke herself up with her own scream. It tore from her throat, carrying in it all the agony and grief she had carried with her all these years. She sat up in her bed, shaking and sobbing, trying to get her bearings. Her heart felt as though it were trying to pound it’s way out of her chest. Where was she? She looked around the dark room, hearing the gentle wind in the trees. Then she remembered. Rivendell. She tried to stifle her sobs, hoping she hadn’t disturbed anyone with her abrupt awakening. She should never have agreed to stay the night. But Lord Elrond had insisted that she couldn’t be allowed to leave Rivendell with sunset so close at hand. She should have left anyway. She knew she had this dream every night. She knew this would happen. Why hadn’t she just left. She laid her head on her knees and tried to stifle the racking sobs welling up in her throat.

Suddenly, her head jerked up. Someone was at the door. The knob turned quietly and a figure entered the room bearing a burning candle. It was Elrond. Sareei quickly wiped the tears from her face and tried to compose herself.

Elrond approached the bed, a look of concern on his fair features.

“I heard you cry out, Sareei. Are you alright?”,he asked gently. He didn’t miss the strained look on her face or the tear stained eyes. He set the candle down on the bedside table and sat on the side of the bed. This made matters worse for Sareei. Her father used to do the exact same thing whenever she had had a bad dream. The memory of her father sent more tears to her eyes. She turned her face away from Elrond, ashamed that he saw her in this condition. Elrond reached out and gently turned her face towards him. He quietly wiped the tears from her face, speaking gentle words that Sareei couldn’t understand. The tears still flowed out of control and Elrond gently took her in his arms and rocked her like a small child, singing softly in her ear as he gently stroked her hair. The words were unfamiliar but somehow they comforted Sareei and slowly the tears subsided. Her heart slowed it’s hammering. She lay against his shoulder and shivered. She heard his strong heartbeat against his hard chest. The dull ache of her grief was still there, but the tears had finally stopped. For now. At least this time, she didn’t have to lay in the darkness by herself, crying until she finally fell asleep. When she was finally calm, Elrond gently laid her back on her pillow. He smiled at her as he covered her with her blankets and quickly left the room.

Well, at least he hadn’t asked her about her dream, Sareei thought. She tried to settle down in her blankets and go back to sleep. Suddenly the door opened again and Elrond entered with a small glass of dark liquid in his hand. He sat down on the bed again and handed her the glass with a kind smile.

“I want you to drink all of this. It will help you rest.” He waited for Sareei to take the glass.

“But I really don’t need..”, Sareei started to protest as she looked into those kind eyes. Then before she knew what she was doing she had taken the glass and downed all of it. Elrond watched her with a small smile on his lips. Why did she do that?, Sareei wondered as she handed him the glass. She hadn’t intended to drink it at all.

Elrond reached out and laid her back against her pillow, covering her with her blankets again. He got up and moved towards the door. He stopped and turned towards Sareei as he reached the doorway.

“We can talk in the morning.”, he told her. “For now, rest well. I promise the dream will not return.” His gentle smile was reflected in his eyes. It warmed Sareei’s heart.

Suddenly she was very sleepy. The last thing she remembered was seeing Elrond standing patiently in the doorway, as if he was waiting for something. Then she fell fast asleep.

Astalder — Valiant one