Killing Beauty

The innkeeper Kester had always made a point of not noticing his costumers when they came into drink and whore, and he had no intentions of noticing these two travelers except that it was very late and the fog off the water was thicker than usual. Shutting down for the night, not expecting anyone, he heard the the distant clopping of the horse hooves coming across the Lane River bridge and paused to listen from his sweeping on the outside steps of the Dark Sea's Daughter. Gray riders on gray horses. He could make out no appearance as they slowly approached him. But he still watched and waited.

Once they were abreast of him, the lead rider turned his horse and said, "We need lodging."

"I have a room in the back," he answered and looked past the first horseman to the one behind him. "This way."

The room was small and damp, but it had a lock on the door. And the stable for the horses had dried seaweed for them to eat. The gray rider took the room, and Kester retired for the night.


Ashva did not relax until they entered the room and Haldir locked the door. But it was a false security. Anyone who wanted to capture them would have no trouble going through the ancient door. Haldir removed his cloak and laid it over the filthy matress. His weapons he placed on the floor within hand's reach, and then he bid Ashva lie next to him and rest. They had been riding a day and half a night, and he knew she was tired. He needed her to be strong for at morning's light she was going to see her mother to find out if the princess still lived. She believed she could do that much.

Ashva laid close to him, her cloak covering them, his shoulder her pillow, but sleep could not harness her troubled thoughts. Rising up to his face, she kissed him and reached down to caress his chest, but he stopped her and shook his head.

"Have I angered you?" she asked anxiously, unable to hide the troubles in her voice. "Tell me what I have done."

He smiled and replied, "You've done nothing wrong. I just need to keep my thoughts clear now."

That satisfied her and she returned to his shoulder. For a moment it was easy to pretend that they were back in the mountains and not in Lascana. All she had to do was wish it and she could feel the cold air above Wolf' Lair and the smell of fir and pine.

When he became still, she glanced up at his face and saw that his eyes were closed. But If someone came through that door he would be up instantly with sword in hand or bow nocked and ready to fire. Haldir did not seem to need as much or as deep a sleep as mortal men.

She was still awake when he stirred and decided it was time for her to leave. Ashva did not want to go, but he insisted and promised her he would not leave until she returned with the information he needed. And he promised more once they were on the ride back home. The princess, he assured her, would not interfere with their pleasure. Ashva for once did not really believe him.

Wrapped in her cloak, armed only with her daggers, she left the room and started off on foot through the fog to a grim dark keep overlooking the sea. Black trees, their limbs twisted from savage sea storms, welcomed no visitor; the bloodless flowers beside the walk offering no joy. She sensed the presence of strange creatures watching her from dark windows above, and a clicking sound she did not remember flitted overhead and disappeared. The keep of Sauron's mistress, a meaningless title to her, was even darker than she remembered, and there were stranger things than Os horsemen about.

Climbing the steps and entering a black stone courtyard, she looked around and asked, "Mother?"

"Ashva," a silky voice, rich with emotion answered. A woman of incredible beauty, with long black hair and eyes the color of troubled seas, appeared from the shadows, an Os horseman beside her. "I knew you would return my dearest Ashva." Welcoming her daughter with a kiss, she caressed her sweet face with long delicate fingers that could drive a man insane with a single touch.

"Mother," Ashva said and returned the kiss. "too long I have been away."

"Nevermind, you are back now," the woman said and turned to her companion. "Inda, are you not pleased to see Ashva back with us?"

"I always regretted she did not stay and help us fight the rangers," the man answered grimly, his slender stature the only reflection of his elvish blood. The coldness within his blue eyes came from another ancestor.

"I am still not much of a fighter," Ashva replied and lowered her eyes to placate the proud Os leader.

"Enough, that is in the past. Come, eat with us," the woman said and started towards a archway that led into the keep, her dark blue gown flowing about her like sensuous waves.

"Lady Melann," the Os horseman stopped her. "I have business that needs tending to."

"How long will you be gone?" she asked curiously. "I have need of your services as well."

"An hour, my lady," the man said and inclined his head deeply.

"Very well, hurry back, and do not make me wait any longer," she said and continued inside with Ashva following. Looking back at her daughter, she frowned and said, "I do not care for your clothes. They smell. Your room is still your own, go change into something else. I will have food served in my little garden." Seeing one of her servants loitering nearby, she said, "Go help her change."

Ashva could not argue and parted company with her mother with a bow of her head. The servant, a crippled creature with no will of its own, followed her obediently back into the keep and up another flight of stairs to some rooms on the second level. In her old room, she found that it had been kept as she had left it. Gowns of watered silk and gold thread hung from racks beside a bed covered with fur and. Ashva felt her life she loved slipping away as the servant helped her change into a gown of the darkest blue and red, the colors of fire on an ocean. Black slippers replaced her riding boots. A brush of ivory and boar bristles fought the tangles in her hair until it lay smooth against her back, and when the creature had finished, Ashva did not recognize the woman looking back at her in the great mirror.

"My lady," the creature said and returned the brush to her.

Ashva took it, but before the creature could shuffle away, she said, "Wait. Are there any elves in the keep?"

"I do not know, my lady."

"Thank-you. That is all," Ashva said and rose from the chair to gather her riding clothes and boots. The small dagger she always carried was hidden in the bundle and that was hidden beneath a pillow. She stepped out of the room and carefully closed the door behind her. She did not see Inda step out of a darkened corner and watch her . Slipping into her room, he came back with the long tunic that she had arrived in.

"I have it, my lady," he said and waited.

Lady Melann also stepped out of the shadow and took the tunic from him. She held it to her face and smiled. "My daughter brings me a great present, unlike the misfortune you brought me," she snapped at him. "Get the Gallates and do not show this to them until you are well away from the Keep. You will need extra men and a net. Kill him and I will kill you."

"My lady," the Os said with a deep and respectful bow. The mistress of Sauron never made idle threats.

"And do hurry back," she said and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Now I need to visit with my daughter."


Below the Keep, Inda produced the tunic and allowed the gallates to smell it. The size of small ponies, the gallates bristled with yellow fur and black stripes down their spines. They had been trained to follow a scent through the air, and while each one had its own handler, they could be freed and allowed to pursue the game unaided.

Snuffing the air, they quickly located Ashva's trail and started pulling their handlers towards it. Inda and the half dozen men with him fell in behind, weapons and nets at ready. Inda always expected the unexpected when he hunted elves. They were quick and savage when it suited them, and they often weren't where they were supposed to be. He reasoned that if Ashva did indeed travel with a male elf, as Lady Melann believed, then it was likely he was not exactly where she had left him. Fortuntely the gallates had been used to hunt elves before and they knew to sound if they scented one, no matter what they were tracking.

Deciding it would be best to leave two men with the gallate handlers, he opted to parallel them on the upper street for as far as it would go. Just before the high street descended down towards the river, one of the gallates sounded.

"Arm yourselves!" he growled at the men with him. "And keep alert!" When the second gallate sounded, he knew the elf was close. Leading two men on to the roofs while the other continued to parrallel the now roaring gallates, Inda motioned that another pair needed to hurry and swing back on the other side. Horsemen who had been sent to circle the city at high speed should be crossing the Lane River bridge now and following the bays of the gallates. Then he saw his prey ahead of him on the roof of the Dark Sea's Daughter. The elf nocked his bow, and Inda could see the white flight feathers of a Galadhrim. Dropping to his knee, his own bow string drawn and ready, he thought he would send it whistling by the elf's ear to get his attention. They were hunting very dangerous prey if they had to bring him back alive.

Haldir could see he was being hunted. Aiming at one of the beasts that was tracking him through the air by scent alone, he killed it and then leaped off the roof. He could hear the horses bearing down on him and the shouts of men as they tried to disorient him. Had they been ordinary men, he could have easily evaded them, but these men had elvish blood in their veins and were almost as quick as he. Suddenly something sailed through the air, thrown by a horseman but he ducked away from it. A second net was waiting for him. It dropped around him and immediately shut tight on his body. Made of something he could not tear through, he found himself lying on the ground staring up men he had fought weeks earlier.

Inda arrived, a cold smile on his face, and even though the elf was firmly snared in the net, he still respected the elf's abilities enough to use caution while extracating his sword and bow. "Lady Melann is looking forward to meeting you," he laughed coldly, "although I can't say the same for you."

Haldir tried not to show his horror at the mention of the hated name. It was said in elven lore that Lady Melann had been at Dagorlad Plain and had escaped on a fell beast. Where she went, no one said, but now he had an answer for them. And why had Ashva not told him who her mother was?