Title: A Bond of Brothers 
Chapter Ten - Words of the Wise
Author: Oakenshield (Oakenshield@lonelymountain.zzn.com)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Elladan/Elrohir, implied Celeborn/Haldir
Warnings/Spoilers: Incest
Archive: Anyone who wants it is welcome to have it, just let me know first.
Disclaimer: The characters and the places all belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, and I
am making no profit from this at all.
Summary: Galadriel and Celeborn have the twins brought to Lothlorien and there
they counsel them. 

-------

Chapter Ten - Words of the Wise


Celeborn peered over the railing at the figures climbing the stairs that led to
the highest talan in Caras Galadhon. He had observed them for some time, seen
them vanish as they turned corners to watch them reappear. He had watched
anxiously, nervously, joyously.

Three figures walked the long stairway. Two were fair - his guards - the third
was dark and frail looking, taking the steps with heavy legs. One twin alone,
though his head was bowed too far for Celeborn to see which twin it was.

Why were they not together? He would be glad to see either, but even happier to
see both. Has something ill befallen one brother? Was that why the other walked
with unsteady footsteps?

"They are all right, Celeborn." Galadriel came to stand at his side and looked
down onto the stairs. "Do not fret so. Only one child may climb our stairs but
both are within our realm."

He nodded and tried to smile. He had felt it too. Both brothers were safe; if
'safe' was the word. Both brothers were in Lórien, but they were not happy.
Sorrow radiated from the one climbing the stairs, and anger from the one who
was further away. He was not looking forward to facing either twin but he
feared the reaction of one more than the other.

"Elladan is going to be furious," he said quietly.

Galadriel raised an eyebrow. "Of course he will," she said, laying a hand
lightly upon her husband's arm. "He wouldn't be Elladan, otherwise. I for one
will be glad to have him shouting before me, just to know that he is before
me."

Celeborn nodded. "I too," he said, then a worried frown pulled at his mouth.

Why was he so afraid of facing Elladan? He had never been *afraid* of his
grandson before. Was it really fear? Or was it guilt? Guilt for his part in the
twins' downfall, his part in aiding Elrond to deceive them, his part in
Haldir's betrayal... He had betrayed them as surely as Haldir and Rúmil had. He
had betrayed them, his wife, his daughter and his own honour. 

He shook his head, wondering why he had been such a fool. How *could* he have
been such a fool? The affair he had once had with Haldir had been stale for
centuries, how had he allowed himself to be seduced so easily? It was not as if
he had even wanted to relive the past, but, simply, Haldir had made him feel
strong when he had been weak. 

He was a father, a grandfather, he should have been strong for his family, not
weak and gullible for an old lover! He was the Lord of Lórien, not some slip of
an elfling! He knew Haldir had once been in love with him, he knew Haldir was
bitter because the love was not returned, that was why he had ended it the
first time. He had never wanted to hurt the young marchwarden, he had never
expected Haldir to fall so in love with him... 

He never should have slept with him in the first place, as beautiful as he was.
Haldir was young, too young back then. Celeborn had been irresponsible in a way
that made him cringe to think of now. He had wanted Haldir for sport, but
Haldir had wanted him for love. He hadn't realised that the oaths he had made
Haldir swear for his body had been spoken with the young guard's heart. A bit
of fun had turned serious and bitter. It was because of him that Haldir had
turned serious and bitter. It was because of his rejection that Haldir had
wanted Elladan so much. It was because of the hurt he had caused that Haldir
had pursued Elladan in the manner he did.

So why had he trusted Haldir? Why had he poured his heart out to him? How had
he been so weak? Surely Elladan would ask all these questions. That was what he
was afraid of. He had already lied to his daughter, and to Elrond. Could he lie
to the twins too? The ones who had been most affected by his foolish fling.

"They would never forgive me," he whispered, starting a little as he felt
Galadriel's hand close around his own.

"I forgave you."

He looked into his wife's clear eyes. He did not deserve her, not after what he
had done. He did not deserve her forgiveness. Though her forgiveness had not
come easily. It had been a long time since he and his wife had argued, but
after the twins had run away, they had fought all night. He had never felt the
stinging blow of her hand to his face, but he had that night. He had never wept
until he was hoarse, he had never sunk to his knees to beg for forgiveness, but
he had that night.

It had been long years since he had made love to his wife, but he had that
night.

He feared he had broken her heart, but he had not. Could her heart be broken?
Did she not love him enough to be crushed by his infidelity? That had hurt more
than anything. She had not wept. She had condemned him for betraying the twins,
and Celebrían, but she had said nothing of his betrayal to their marriage. She
had been angry, and he had been terrified. Not only of her temper, but also of
losing her. He realised then, he loved her. He wanted her. He wanted her as he
had wanted her when he had first laid eyes on her. He wanted her like he had
when they had been young and life had been easier. For a while Haldir had given
him back that carefree life, but he wanted it with his wife, not his guard.

But what did she want? She had grown so secretive. She was weighed down by
troubles she would not share with him. Her heart was overtaken with secrets
only she knew and they were consuming her. He wanted to make her laugh again,
but how could he when no laughter would come to his own lips? His family was in
pieces, and it was his fault.

"Do not take all the blame onto your shoulders, Celeborn," she said to him.
"The burden is not yours alone."

"You are so beautiful, Nerwen," he whispered, clasping her hand. "You are
beyond compare to all others. I would ask your forgiveness a thousand times
over."

"You do not need to," she said with a faint smile. "But we will worry no more
about it. It is in the past. We must look to the future now, Celeborn. We must
be strong."

"My Lord Celeborn." A guard stepped through the door, clearing his throat to
announce his presence. "I do beg your pardon, I did not mean to intrude."

"Come in, Tinion," Galadriel greeted him. "You are not intruding."

"We have Elrohir with us," Tinion replied. "We found him at the borders of
Mirkwood, alone. He is not well, and he said little on the journey. Dinendal
went on to find Elladan. They are following not far behind, and I believe
Elladan is making rather a fuss."

"Naturally," Celeborn sighed. "Send Elrohir in please. Then you may be
excused." He clasped the guard's shoulder. "Thank you, very much."

"My Lord." Tinion bowed politely and stepped out of the door.

They got the easy twin first. Celeborn supposed that was a blessing. He did not
think he could cope with Elrohir crying and Elladan shouting at the same time.

The door opened again, and Elrohir stepped through nervously. Celeborn felt
weak at the knees at the sight of him. He was pale and drawn, hunched and
shrouded in a fur cloak, with dirt on his face and leaves in his hair. The
Prince of Lothlórien had come to this? This could not be Elrohir. This could
not be the child who stood tall and straight with gleaming hair, the child who
laughed with bright eyes, the sweet, timid and honest younger twin. This could
not be him. Yet it was.

"Dear Eru," Celeborn whispered softly, staring in disbelief. "What have we
done?"

Elrohir stood before them with his head lowered, and he visibly trembled as he
tried to speak. He looked terrified, like a rabbit stunned in the scent of a
stoat.

"M- my Lady..." he finally offered, glancing up at Galadriel before tears
consumed him and he could speak no more.

"Don't you dare 'my Lady' me!" Galadriel hastened towards him and took him in
her arms as he all but collapsed into her embrace with ragged sobs. "I am your
grandmother, Elrohir. I have not disowned you." She kissed his cheek and
squeezed him tightly with tears shining in her eyes. "Oh, I am so thankful that
you are safe!"

"I am sorry," he whispered as he wept, clinging desperately to his grandmother
in a manner Celeborn had not seen since Elrohir had been a child. "I'm so
sorry."

"Elrohir." Celeborn walked to him and laid a hand between his shoulders. He had
to touch him, to prove he was not dreaming. He had dreamed of the boys
returning many times, he had dreamed of them half dead, but no dream could
compare to the joy and the horror of this reality.

"I'm sorry..." Elrohir gasped again, flinching under Celeborn's hand as he
turned to look at his grandfather.

"Shh, it is all right." Celeborn enveloped him in a hug and held him close.
Even beneath fur and cloth, he could feel the sharp edges of shoulder blades
and ribs. Elrohir had lost weight. He was frail, and filthy, and Elladan was
probably the same, and he could only think that it was all his fault. He should
have spoken his mind, he should have stood against Elrond at the start, he
should not have told Haldir. It was his fault.

Elrohir stuttered on gasping breaths. "I'm sorry for everything," he sobbed
hoarsely. "I... I have caused so much trouble, so much pain... I... Oh, I am so
sorry..."

"Come, Elrohir. Sit down." Galadriel walked to a couch and seated herself.

"Am I in awful trouble?" Elrohir whispered fearfully as Celeborn led him by the
arm to sit between himself and Galadriel. "I would understand if you wished to
punish me after... after everything I have done."

"No," Galadriel said, taking hold of his quivering hands. "We only wish to talk
to you and your brother. I felt you were fading, Elrohir, and we called the
guards out to find you. We only had you brought back here by force because we
were scared you were going to die. You have been most unwell, haven't you?"

"How did you know where to find us?" he said, then seemed to realise. "Oh, yes,
of course. The mirror." He gave a harsh sounding cough. "We didn't want you to
find us... we tried not to let you find us, for so long... But I couldn't live
like that anymore. I couldn't do it! I had to lift my soul to call out to you,
and ai! Elladan will hate me so much for this!" He coughed again.

"We thought we were going to lose you!" Celeborn said, offering Elrohir a
supporting hand as the coughing buckled him. He had never seen such malady in
an Elf. Though their father's mortal blood was surely to blame for that. Had
the choice of the Peredhil been revoked in Elrond's rejection? Were the sons of
his daughter being forced into mortality? He looked at Elrohir's gaunt face,
and tried to catch his eye. Tears were all that shone in the silver orbs. The
light that had once made his eyes beautiful was now but a pale glow of sorrow,
like a dying candle.

"I am all right," Elrohir said, breathing heavily as his coughing ceased. "I am
getting better, I think. Do not worry about me, Grandfather."

Celeborn leaned to press a kiss to his grandson's forehead. It was still the
same selfless Elrohir he had known. "Never do that to me again, Elrohir.
Promise me! If you had died, I never would have forgiven myself!" He winced at
the harshness of his words as Elrohir's lower lip trembled, but fear and relief
hardened his voice, rather than anger.

Elrohir sniffed. "I'm sorry..."

"Hush." Galadriel took him into her arms again and gently rocked him. "You are
safe now, my child. We are going to look after you and make you well again. You
have no cause for fear, or for sorrow. Everything is going to be all right."

Elrohir looked up at her with wide, wet eyes. "I felt you in my dreams," he
whispered. "I felt you calling me home. I want to go home, so badly... But we
can't. Elladan won't."

"We will see," Celeborn consoled him. "Let us talk to Elladan."

Celeborn did not expect Elladan to cooperate, but he would do everything in his
power to make things right. He knew he could never hope to make everyone happy,
but he would try to make thing as well as they could possibly be. Though he had
no idea how he would do this.

"Do Mother and Father know we are here?" Elrohir asked, snuggling close to
Galadriel's side, relaxing beneath her arm.

"No. Nobody does," Galadriel told him, squeezing him gently. "We wanted to talk
to you both alone without the rest of the family present. We hoped we could
talk to you calmly that way, and take time to sort some things out without any
influence from your parents."

"I miss Mother terribly." More tears rolled down Elrohir's cheeks, streaking a
line through the dirt on his face. "But what about Father? He will not have us
back."

Celeborn looked at his wife over the top of Elrohir's head and met her
thoughts. Now was not the time to talk about Elrond. Elrohir would not be able
to stand the torment of knowing his father claimed not to have them as sons.
Celeborn did not know how Elrond could say such a thing. He could not condone
the incestuous relationship of the twins, but they were still his blood. He
still loved them.

"I do not know what to do," Elrohir wept. "It is so awful! I cannot make sense
of it!" He jumped as the door clattered open, and the bustling sound of a
struggle seeped into the room.

"Ah, here comes Elladan," Galadriel said calmly as she rose.

"Do not let him be angry," Elrohir whispered softly and closed his eyes as he
sunk back into the soft upholstery of the couch.

Celeborn wished he felt as calm as Galadriel looked as he stood to join her.
His stomach was turning over. How would Elladan look? How would he be? How much
had he changed? The spiteful creature that had left Imladris on Midsummer's Eve
ten years earlier was not the Elladan that Celeborn knew and loved. Had time
and hardship made him colder still?

Elladan was hurting badly, he could feel it. His eldest grandson always hid
pain behind anger.

"Curse you, release me this instant!" Elladan shouted as Dinendal shoved him
through the door and Celeborn was relieved to see he looked somewhat healthier
than his twin did, though just as grubby. "I am not going anywhere now, am I?
Undo my bonds!"

With a nod from Celeborn, Dinendal untied Elladan and stepped out of the room
looking grateful to be rid of his prisoner. Surely, Elladan had not come easily
and Dinendal must have had a stressful journey.

Before either Celeborn or Galadriel could speak to greet him, Elladan stormed
between his grandparents as if they were not there, and stood tall before
Elrohir.

"You left me!" He looked down at his brother with indignant tears of rage in
his eyes, his hands trembling at his sides like he was using all his will to
stop himself hitting Elrohir. "I thought I had lost you! Yet you were only a
few hours ahead of me on the road, going willingly with Tinion! How could you
leave me like that? How could you do that to me! Do you know how afraid I
was?!"

"You left me," Elrohir whispered, looking up at him with identical tears. "And
I did not know Tinion was there until he stopped me. I was heading home
anyway."

"*You* ran away from *me*, Elrohir!" Elladan cried. "You ran away, you took my
horse, and you left me in the middle of the forest, all alone. Did you wish me
to die?!"

"Did you wish *me* to die?!" Elrohir yelled back at him. "Did you wish my
illness to take me?! Or my grief?! I wanted you to follow me. Why didn't you?
You thought I would come back, didn't you?"

"I hoped you would!" Elladan stamped his foot like a spoiled child, but
Celeborn found no amusement in the gesture. "I hoped you loved me enough to
stay with me, through anything."

"Likewise." Elrohir looked down at his feet again.

"Coward." Elladan turned away from him. "You sicken me, as much I love you."

"Likewise!" Elrohir shouted as he leapt to his feet. The swift movement nearly
sent him crashing to the floor again, but Galadriel quickly darted his side to
catch his arm.

"Elrohir!" Elladan spun back on his heel, his previous anger at his brother
apparently forgotten. "You are still unwell..."

Elrohir shook his head. "I am all right," he said shortly, letting Galadriel
ease him back onto the couch. "Do not fuss so, Elladan. It is not as if I am
dying. Not anymore."

Elladan pursed his lips and held his head high but Celeborn could still see
tears clinging to the corners of his eyes. The twins had fallen out, badly by
the look of things. It was something of a relief to see that they still fought
like brothers, though they were lovers.

"So what are we doing here?" Elladan demanded, assured that Elrohir was well
enough not to have his undivided attention. "Pray, tell me for what means did
you have me accosted, bound and all but dragged here?"

"Would you have come if Dinendal had not taken such action?" Galadriel
countered, sitting beside Elrohir again. "We do not wish to punish you, far
from it. We want to help you. We want to talk you, Elladan, so please at least
try to be civil."

"For my sake," Elrohir whispered, shifting closer to his grandmother. "Please
Elladan, hear what they have to say."

"Civil?!" Elladan ranted, pacing the floor. "Do tell me how you expect me to be
civil! You wish to make things right now? Why did you not feel this way
earlier?!" He stopped to look Celeborn in the eyes, then turned back to his
grandmother. "You aided my father!" his voice quavered suddenly.

"We did not agree with him..." Celeborn began.

"You aided him in your cowardly silence!" Elladan flopped to the edge of
another couch and put his face into his hands. "If you did not agree, why did
you not stand up to him? Why would no one stand up to him? I know we are wrong,
but we should not have had to face this alone."

Celeborn moved slowly to sit beside him. "Oh, Elladan..." He dared to venture
close enough to put his arm around his grandson and was surprised when Elladan
leaned heavily into his embrace. The poor child was exhausted. "Please forgive
me. I did not want to deceive you, but we could not go against your father's
wishes. I know we should have, but you are here now, and Galadriel and I want
to do everything we can to make things better. I do not care if you love each
other, as long as you are safe, and Galadriel feels the same."

"You told Haldir of us." Elrohir looked over at his grandfather with a frown.
"Why?"

Celeborn had not expected the question to come from Elrohir, and somehow it
hurt more. He would have rather felt the question directed with anger rather
than hopeless hurt and confusion.

"I still do not understand," Elrohir whispered. "My grandfather would not
betray me in such a way. I cannot see why you told him everything. Everything.
You told him things that Elladan and I did not even know." He wiped the tears
from his face with shaking fingers. "I do not understand!"

"I thought I could trust him," Celeborn replied feebly. It was a pathetic
answer. It wasn't even an answer at all, but he had already given it to Elrond,
and to his daughter as she had wept pitifully and begged to know why he had
done it. He doubted Celebrían believed it, that he had merely wanted a
comforting friend and had turned to Haldir. She was not a fool; she had to know
there was more to it than that. He was only thankful that his daughter had not
questioned him further. She had been too distraught at her sons leaving to
bother about what her father had done.

"Well, it seems you were wrong," Elrohir said bitterly. "I have never known you
to be a bad judge of character, Grandfather." He stared hard at Celeborn, as if
he suspected something, and Celeborn knew he answered his grandson's suspicions
when he lowered his eyes to the floor.

"Haldir offered an ear and a shoulder," Galadriel said. "Do not blame your
grandfather, and do not blame Haldir. Do not lay blame on anyone. No one is
wholly guilty that this has come about, and no one is wholly innocent. It is
the fault of all. Including myself."

"I thought I could trust Haldir too, so I cannot blame you for your mistake."
To Celeborn's astonishment, Elladan took the answer. "He is clever with words.
As is the brother of his who poured deceit into the ears of the brother of
mine." His limbs tensed with anger. "I advise you to keep them away from me. I
swear I will kill them both." He looked up at Galadriel. "And I beg your
pardon, but I do blame Haldir. I will never forgive him for what he did to us."

"I would have them punished, but your grandmother will not hear of it,"
Celeborn told him. Galadriel did not look on Haldir with anger, even after all
he had done. She said he was to be pitied, and so was Rúmil. She said there was
more to them than met the eye, but if there was, he could not see it. "They are
at the Northern Fences, you will not see them while you are here."

"I had better not," Elladan muttered. "If you value their lives."

"So," Elrohir sniffed, wrapping his cloak tightly around his body, as if to
hide in it. "Surely we are not just here to talk about Haldir and Rúmil? To be
frank, I would rather not hear their names at all."

"We want to find out what you want, and how we can help you," Celeborn told
him. "I know your mother wants you home. Your father..." he sighed. "He will be
difficult, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. We want you to
know that you have our support, and if aught goes ill, by your father's will or
not there is always a home for the two of you in Caras Galadhon."

Elrohir lifted his head and looked at him with wide eyes. "Really?" 

"That does not mean we approve of your incest," Celeborn added firmly. "I am
afraid it is still something we will never understand, and we will certainly
not permit you to flaunt it, but it is not something we can change, and we
would rather accept it than have you die in the Wild."

"So we can stay here?" Elladan asked. "All I want... I want to be with Elrohir.
I know no one will ever understand that, but that is all I live for. I want him
to be safe, and happy." He smiled at his twin. "I am sorry, my love. I have
been selfish."

Elrohir smiled back at him. "And I want to be with Elladan," he said. "But I do
not want to live like a vagrant anymore. And I miss my mother. I would like to
return home, just to see her, to say sorry to her. I would like to see if
things could be different. I appreciate that I hope for a lot, but I believe it
is worth trying for."

"Your father will not be an easy problem to tackle," Galadriel said. "Are you
prepared for that?"

"I could not care less about him, about any of them," Elladan said coldly and
Celeborn shivered at the stark honesty in his words.

"Celebrían is not on his side," Galadriel told him. "I think, if you were to
return you would have her support. Relationships are torn between her and your
father. She wants you back, more than anything. Forgive her. She has forgiven
you."

Elladan nodded slowly. "I do not know what to do," he sighed. "We tried to make
it alone, and we failed, and almost died. But I really do not want to go back
to Imladris. I do not want to see Father. I hate him for what he did, for how
he tore our family apart, for how he tried to turn so many folk against us."

"It is entirely up to the two of you what you choose to do," Galadriel said,
"and you can take as long as you like to make a decision, but I really would
like you to try again in Imladris. Even if it is just for your mother's sake. I
would like to know my daughter is happy again. She has been so sorrowful since
you left her."

Elrohir rose and walked slowly across the floor to Elladan and crouched before
him. "Please?" he said, looking plaintively into his twin's eyes with a look
the hardest soul could not have denied. "For me, Elladan. We will be all right
this time. We have a bolthole here."

Elladan sighed. "All right. I am outnumbered. We will go back to Imladris. I
will do this for you," he gave in reluctantly and Celeborn felt sorry to see
such a look of defeat on his face. "But do not expect me to be friendly to
Father. I can forgive my mother, but I will never forgive him."

"So, dare I ask, what about Galadriel and I?" Celeborn said. "Are we forgiven?"

"You are." Elrohir rose to kiss his cheek and hugged him. "I cannot believe you
want to help us. It means so much."

Elladan pulled his brother to sit beside him and took his hand. "I will return
to Imladris with you, Elrohir, I will not have you face it alone, as much as I
am loath to go back. We will see Mother and Arwen, and then we will come back
here. Does that sound fair?"

"Yes." Elrohir embraced him tightly. "Thank you so much, Elladan."

"I will come with you," Galadriel said. "We both will. We will try to talk some
sense into Elrond."

"No," Elrohir declined. "We must face this on our own. It is our trouble, and
we must take the consequences for it. I do not wish to rock the boat by
angering Father towards you."

"I can handle your father, Elrohir; I have done so many times in the past, I am
not frightened of him," Galadriel said. "Besides, I would very much like to
speak to him. There are things I want to discuss that could help things between
you and him. It could make him see things differently. Please allow me to."

"I do not want to be helped with him," Elladan said coldly. "I want nothing to
do with him. It is not important. I do not want to speak to him, and I do not
want to stay in Imladris. He says I am not his son. He is not my father.
Elrohir and I do not need you to accompany us and hold our hands. We will be
fine alone. I want to get it over with as quickly as possible, if I must do it
at all."

"If you insist," Galadriel sighed, holding up her hands and looking very much
like she wanted to argue. Why was she so keen to speak to Elrond, Celeborn
wondered. What did she know that could change things so much? "We will provide
you with an escort, of course."

"Do you not trust us to go alone?" Elladan stiffened. "Do you think we will
turn back and run off at the first opportunity?"

"We do trust you," Celeborn told him. "But it has been reported there are orcs
in great number this winter, especially on Caradhras. I know the two of you can
look after yourselves but I would rather not risk it. We have only just got the
two of you back here and safe again. Allow us to be a little fussy with you."

"It is fine with me," Elrohir agreed. "I agree with Elladan, I want to get it
over with as soon as possible. We will wait until the year has turned, it is
but a month away, then we will go. If that is well with you?"

"It is," Galadriel said, crossing to kiss them both. "And now I will have baths
drawn for you!" she laughed, pulling back from them. "You are a little
fragrant, to say the least!"

******

Imladris


Celebrían quietly opened the door to Arwen's bedroom and peered inside. Her
daughter lay cocooned in her covers, fast asleep. Bless the Peredhil for
sleeping with closed eyes.

She walked quietly across to the bed and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Do not be angry with me," she whispered. "I will bring your brothers home."

She pulled her cloak tightly around herself and felt the short sword hanging at
her hip. Elrond would miss it in the morning, but not before he would miss her.

"Goodbye, my beautiful Evenstar," she whispered and left the room, shutting the
door quietly behind her.

Keeping close to the shadows, she walked quickly and quietly from the house and
into the gardens below. The night was dark and cold, and the first full moon of
the New Year glowed in the sky, illuminating her path. She had prayed for the
cover of a cloudy night, but it was not to be granted.

She had stalled, fearful of the words of the males about orcs, disturbed by
Erestor's scars and tales of his torment, but she could stall no longer. She
had to find the twins. It had been two months since she had called out to her
mother for help, and none had come to her. She had to see her in person. She
had to speak to her father, she had to find out the truth about Haldir. She was
not afraid anymore.

Stealing towards the trees, she froze as an uncomfortable feeling surged down
her spine and she turned around to face it. She stared into the darkness of the
garden for long seconds. Nothing was behind her... Then a movement at a window
in the house above caught her eyes. A movement of golden hair by a curtain.

She gasped as her eyes met Glorfindel's from his bedroom window. She had been
spotted, and by the worst person possible. Now he would stop her, he would tell
Elrond. She could do nothing but stare at him as he stared back at her. Then he
gave a small smile, and an understanding nod, and closed his curtains. He had
seen nothing. He understood what she was doing, and why she was doing it. He
was on her side, for once.

Breathing quickly, she walked into the copse of trees where she had ordered ten
of the best guards to wait for her. Her horse was saddled there, waiting too.
Rather reminiscent of the twins' departure, she thought. Light leather armour
was buckled beneath her dress, and she wore leggings and riding boots. The
journey was to be hasty.

"This is not wise, Bellion," she heard from within the trees. "Lord Elrond will
have our hides! He has forbidden her to go. It is not safe."

"Which is why I have asked the finest of the Imladris guard to join me," she
said to announce her presence. "Fear not for me, Tholinnas," she said. "I will
be fine. Look." She showed him her sword. "Are we ready to depart?"

"My Lady Celebrían..." he looked like he was about to argue further.

"Are we ready to depart?" she repeated.

"We are, my Lady," Bellion said.

She mounted her horse with determination in her heart. "Then let us go." They
were to take the pass of the Redhorn. She was not afraid.