Disrupting Haldir's World

Chapter 3 – Into the Fire

Haldir tossed and turned on his pillows and when he still couldn’t sleep, he punched the pillow before tossing and turning some more. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so frustrated and yet Elisabeth, the subject of his frustration, lay in his bed only a few yards away. He groaned as he pictured her supple body beneath his as he drove himself into her over and over. It would be so gratifying, for both of them. She had said that she would rather have these few days together with him, knowing that nothing would ever come from it, than to miss out on ever experiencing what they could give each other, but was it true? When it came time for them to part, how would she feel then? Could he stand to see her hurt that much? It would hurt him, too, he thought. In their extremely short time together he had felt something for her that he had never experienced before and he didn’t comprehend it.

He had had many elleths and even a couple of human women over the years and had never allowed himself to become emotionally entangled with any of them. He couldn’t figure out why he was feeling this way about Elisabeth now. Maybe he needed to take one of the other women, just to get the relief he craved. It would allow him to observe the situation more clearly since he couldn’t think straight right now. No, he thought, the idea of even touching one of the other women repulsed him. He had been a little put off by what he had seen in their minds. They knew how to use their bodies, but for the first time in his long life, he wanted more than that. It was Elisabeth that he desired, body and soul. He groaned into the pillow and tried to sleep.

When Elisabeth woke after a restless night, she found Haldir already dressed and standing at the edge of the talan. His arms were clasped behind his back as his eyes wandered over the lake and the deep forest behind it. He always stood so straight, even when he walked, always looking like the proud warrior that he was. Though she had been silent, he had been aware of her every move and now he turned to watch her approach. She felt as though his eyes were boring into her soul. Nobody had ever scrutinized her with such intensity before.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked at last.

“No, I did not,” she admitted. “And you?”

“No,” he told her. They watched each other for a moment before Haldir stepped towards her and pressed his lips to hers. Placing a hand behind her head, he opened her mouth with his tongue, and tasted her as he moved his body closer. Instead of tensing up when she felt him against her this time, Elisabeth reached down and ran her hand down his back and over his tight buttocks pulling him even closer. He groaned before he released her mouth.

“Elisabeth,” he warned with a growl. “You are pushing me to my limit.”

“Good,” she told him. “Maybe we can finish what we started yesterday.”

“It would not be right,” he reminded her. “I cannot take what you offer.”

“Yes, you can. You simply do not wish to,” she corrected him.

“You have no idea how badly I wish it,” he told her, biting her earlobe gently before pushing away. “Let us go see if there has been any word of the Uruk-hai band.”

Disappointed, she nodded and followed him down the rope ladder. At the bottom, he took her hand again and she found herself grateful for even this small token of affection. They conversed together while they walked and Elisabeth was surprised when she realized how comfortable she was with him now. Was it just yesterday that he had led her fearfully to the lake? It seemed as though they had known each other for a lifetime.

When they approached the camp, she saw that the others were gathered around a small fire, eating some sort of wild game that was sizzling and dripping on a spit. The women started nudging each other and whispering when Elisabeth and Haldir approached, making no real attempt to hide their remarks.

“I see she’s still walking straight,” Aggie laughed quietly. “It must not have been much of a night.”

Judith replied, “He probably accepted his payment and realized that he had gotten a raw deal. I don’t know what her story is, but she’s not what she says she is.”

Haldir didn’t know if the women thought that they were being quiet or if they were intentionally being cruel to Elisabeth, but he didn’t like it. She had been willing to pay for their safety with her body, even before she understood that it might actually be pleasurable. Elisabeth did not have a bad thing to say about even one of these women, though from what both he and Rúmil had seen, none of them treated her the same way. He hated the idea that they now thought that she hadn’t pleased him and he wanted to dispel that notion at once.

“Do you wish something to eat?” Haldir asked Elisabeth, cupping her face. He kissed her softly and smiled at her as he led her to the fire. That got the attention of the others, as he had planned. He hoped that he had made it obvious that he wasn’t displeased with her.

“So maybe she can use her body after all,” Aggie sneered, chewing on a piece of meat. “She is no different than we are.”

Haldir had had enough. “I would appreciate it if you would keep your unkind remarks to yourself. You know nothing about what has happened between us and it is none of your concern.”

Aggie looked away, but rolled her eyes as she did so.

Haldir pulled a few pieces of meat from the spit and brought it over to where Elisabeth now sat. He offered some to her and she thanked him, taking it.

“Have we had any word yet?” he asked his brothers in Elvish.

“No, nothing,” Orophin replied. “All is quiet on the border so far.”

“You look a little tired today, my brother. Were two women more than you could handle?” Haldir asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I handled them just fine,” Orophin answered. “Besides, I look no more tired than you do and you had only one.”

“I fear that my lack of sleep was for a different reason than yours,” Haldir admitted.

“Oh?” Orophin invited him to continue.

“Apparently, the woman I desire is a virgin,” he told them, glad that the humans could not understand the conversation.

“Is…still…or was?” Rúmil asked, eyeing Elisabeth.

“Is still, thus the sleepless night,” Haldir concluded.

“So she convinced you to leave her untouched?” Orophin asked as his eyes roved over Elisabeth’s body. “You are stronger than I would have been.”

“No, she was willing, but I did not feel right about it,” Haldir admitted.

Both brothers looked at him in surprise.

“Haldir, I have never known you to be so concerned over the feelings of one of your conquests,” Rúmil chided.

“I do not understand it myself,” he told them, frowning. “I will be glad when they leave so that my life can return to normal.”

“Why do you not take one of the others?” Orophin asked. “Based on my experience last night, you will not be disappointed.”

“I have considered it,” he told them, honestly. “It would certainly solve a couple of problems. Not only would I get some relief, but it would keep me from giving in and doing something that I might regret.”

“Maybe you would not regret it,” Rúmil said, also taking in Elisabeth’s figure, which could not be concealed by her plain dress. As if noticing his gaze on her, she turned to look at him and he saw the contrast between her pale blue eyes and her dark hair.

“She is beautiful, Haldir,” Rúmil said, admiring her. “Maybe if you do not wish to have her, I will take her myself.”

“I would strongly advise against that,” Haldir said, placing an arm around Elisabeth’s shoulder, surprised at the sudden rush of jealousy he now felt.

“If you do not want her, why should you care if I have her?” Rúmil asked, smiling at Elisabeth, who returned his smile.

“I never said that I do not want her, only that I did not think it was right to take her under the circumstances. I am now questioning my wisdom,” Haldir responded, kissing the top of Elisabeth’s head.

“Take one of the others and leave this one for me,” Rúmil suggested. “That would be best. I could teach her much in the short time they will be here.”

“Did you not have the young, pretty one?” Haldir asked, surprised at his brother. “Did she not please you?”

“Oh, yes, but she gets paid to please. There is something…unsatisfying…about being with someone who sells her body. She knows what to do, but you do not know if what she is feeling is real or if she is acting. I will bet you would know with this one.”

Haldir nodded. He had known. There had been no doubt in his mind that she had been thoroughly enjoying herself yesterday when he had finally pulled back. He knew without a doubt that if they had joined it would have been extremely pleasurable for both of them. He glanced at Elisabeth and met her smile with one of his own.

A dark shadow loomed in front of them now as Rowland faced Haldir.

“Well, did you get what you wanted?” the man asked, looking at Elisabeth with disgust.

“That is not something I care to discuss with you,” Haldir said icily as he rose to his feet and faced the man down. “I am sure that you had other things on your mind last night besides how Elisabeth was faring.”

Rowland glanced over at Cecilia and remembered their exciting night together. The woman had quite an imagination. He should be able to keep his mind off Elisabeth easily enough for the remainder of their trip, though he still wanted her once they left. Haldir stood with his arms across his chest as he arrogantly regarded the man who finally turned and walked away.

The disgust had been obvious in Rowland’s eyes and when Haldir glanced down at Elisabeth, he felt her pain. No matter what she did, it seemed as though it wasn’t good enough for these others. They either thought that she felt herself above them or felt that she was just like them and had equal disdain for her either way. Yet, he had seen only kindness and concern from her towards them.

Judith and Aggie were whispering again and with his keen hearing, Haldir could hear every word. Once again they were criticizing Elisabeth and throwing in comments about what they’d like to do with Haldir. They both desired him and he knew he could have either one if he wanted, but he would rather remain frustrated than to have one of these evil-tongued wenches.

“I am going to check with my wardens at the border,” he grumbled, wanting some solitude. He turned and kissed Elisabeth gently before telling her, “I shall return soon.”

The minute he left, Judith opened her mouth, “Well, how was he? Was he as good as he looks?”

Elisabeth blushed. She didn’t want to make things worse with the woman by refusing to answer, yet she wasn’t about to lie and make up a story. It was hard to know what to say.

“He is quite wonderful,” she finally came up with as a truthful compromise, not looking at Judith.

“How wonderful?” Judith pressed. “We want details.”

When Elisabeth’s discomfort became apparent, Rúmil took pity on her and motioned for her to follow him into the woods. She quickly complied, wanting an excuse to be away from the women just as Haldir had. Following the lithe elf, she stepped onto a fallen log that lay across their path, carefully balancing as she walked along it for a ways before sitting down next to him.

“Why did you not just tell them to shut their mouths?” Rúmil finally asked, speaking fluently in her tongue.

Elisabeth looked surprised. “You speak the common tongue.”

“I speak several languages as do both of my brothers,” Rúmil replied.

“But the women said that you did not speak our language,” Elisabeth told him, confused.

“They assumed it, but never bothered to ask. I am using their ignorance to my advantage,” he grinned.

“I’ll bet you are,” she smiled back at him, wondering how much he had already overheard.

“Tell me about Gondor, Elisabeth, what is it like to live there?” Rúmil asked, curious about the kingdom and the lives of the humans who lived there. She began to speak and they effortlessly fell into conversation, forgetting about the others for a while.

~~~~~~~~~

Haldir walked back into the clearing, relieved that there was still no sign of the remaining Uruk-hai. Though he had told his brothers that he would be glad when the humans were gone, it wasn’t exactly true. He wished to spend as much time with Elisabeth as possible while he could and he immediately looked around for her when he returned.

“She went into the woods with your brother as soon as you left,” Aggie snickered.

“For what purpose?” he asked, his face expressionless.

“What do you think?” Judith asked. “They were holding hands and seemed to have some definite plans in mind. I thought I saw them kiss as they walked off together.”

Haldir displayed no emotion on the outside, though it burned inside him. Thoughts spinning through his mind, he sat down on a log by the fire and within moments Kate was at his side.

“I am sorry, Haldir,” she said, sounding sincere. “That is the sort of person that Elisabeth is. She has a very hard time committing to one person and moves from one lover to another. We should have warned you about that.”

He looked at her in disbelief, knowing for a fact that Elisabeth had never had a lover. Kate’s hand was suddenly on his leg and she began to move it back and forth as she spoke to Haldir, apologizing for Elisabeth. He suspected that she was playing a game with him, but still, he wondered if she had been right about Elisabeth and Rúmil. His brother would not do anything to intentionally hurt him, but then he had no idea how strong Haldir’s feelings already were for the woman. To make it worse, Haldir did not know Elisabeth well enough to say whether or not she would allow herself to be seduced by Rúmil. Since she had not gotten what she wanted from Haldir, would his brother do as a replacement? He couldn’t stand the thought of the two of them together and though he was half tempted to go look for them, he was afraid of what he would find.

“I am going to try and get some rest,” he said, removing Kate’s hand from his leg. He climbed up the ladder to the talan and took off his tunic, but rather than lying down on the bed, he sat in the chair, knowing he would not be able to sleep until he found out what was really happening between Elisabeth and Rúmil. He closed his eyes, but he opened them moments later when he heard the sound of someone climbing the rope ladder. He sighed as Kate entered the room and stood in front of him.

“Why don’t you let me pleasure you?” she asked in her most seductive voice. “I know that you want it and why shouldn’t you? It can be just this one time or you may use me as much as you want while we are here.”

Why not indeed, he wondered, looking at the beautiful girl. Because he would be thinking about Elisabeth the whole time, for starters.

“No,” he said when she sat down on his lap and began to kiss him. She was talented, he had to admit, but this was not what he wanted. He gently pushed her away.

“I could do things for you that Elisabeth could never conceive of doing,” the blonde told him, kneeling in front of him now as she moved his legs apart. She ran her hands over the front of his leggings and he reacted immediately, against his will.

He groaned as he pulled her hands away but she simply smiled and reached down to untie his laces with her teeth.

“No, Kate,” he said, letting go of her arms to grab her head with both hands and push her back.

~~~~~~~~~

Elisabeth ran to the talan as soon as Judith told her where Haldir was. The woman had actually shocked Elisabeth by smiling at her when she had passed on the information as to Haldir’s whereabouts. Normally if one of them smiled at her, it was because they were mocking her. Maybe things were changing for the better. She couldn’t wait to see Haldir again and her heart fluttered at the thought. Just being away from him for the last hour had been difficult. Somehow, she would convince him to take her back to his talan and they would take up where they had left off the day before. She smiled as she climbed the last step but the smile dropped quickly from her face when she looked up from the ladder and saw him. He was sitting in the chair with his tunic off, holding Kate’s head in his lap as she knelt in front of him. Quickly looking down, Elisabeth began to descend the ladder even as Haldir tried to stop her.

“No, Elisabeth, this is not what it looks like!” he said, alarmed, still trying to push the tenacious Kate away.

Elisabeth was already running into the woods before he could make it to the ladder. Haldir glared at the blonde woman who was now trying to keep him from leaving the talan.

“Get out of my way, Kate!” he muttered, angrily. “You have already done enough damage.”

He pushed her aside and almost jumped down to the ground, quickly looking around for Elisabeth but not seeing her.

“Where did she go?” he demanded. He grabbed Rúmil by the tunic. “Where?”

“I am not sure if I want to tell you,” his brother said angrily. “How could you do this to her?”

“Do what? I did nothing!” he sputtered. “Besides, was it not your suggestion that I take one of the other women anyway?”

Rúmil said, “But I suggested you leave Elisabeth to me and you have no intention of doing that. You do not deserve her.”

Haldir ran his fingers through his hair, explaining to Rúmil exactly what had happened.

“I did nothing, “ he reiterated, “but I am sure that from her point of view it looked as though I was doing quite a bit. I was simply pushing Kate away when Elisabeth appeared, but I know how it looked from her vantage. I must find her.”

He ran off into the trees, not sure which direction she had taken.

~~~~~~~~~

Elisabeth ran blindly through the trees, just wanting to get away so that she could be by herself. She was so foolish to have let herself become attached to Haldir before she had gotten to know him better. Obviously, the story he had given her about not wanting to hurt her had been just that, a story. He simply had wanted somebody that could give him pleasure for a few days and didn’t want to take the time to bother training her. Now he had chosen another who was far more experienced and Elisabeth was hurt and humiliated, once again. She could imagine what the others were saying about her right now and she did not have any desire to return to the camp any time soon to face their mocking laughter.

Elisabeth thought she heard somebody behind her and ran faster. The last thing she wanted was someone coming after her to catch her crying. It was hard to see through the veil of tears and she suddenly stumbled over a large tree root, causing her to lose her footing and tumble down a steep hill. The wind was knocked out of her as she rolled several times, finally slamming into a tree at the bottom and hitting her head and her back. Everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~

Haldir looked around, seeing no sign of Elisabeth. He had thought he had caught sight of her only moments ago, but now there was nothing. She couldn’t have disappeared that quickly and it must have been only a deer he had seen through the brush. Her dress was almost the same beige color. He stood looking around and reached out with his mind, but could not sense a human nearby. She would not go far and maybe it was best to let her have some time to herself to return on her own when she was ready. He would explain what had happened when she came back. Slowly, he made his way back to the camp.

~~~~~~~~~

Elisabeth felt a hard slap across her face and opened her eyes at once. She started to scream when she saw several Uruk-hai standing above her, but a large, dirty hand was immediately placed across her mouth.

“Well, boys, I think we just found us some bait,” the massive Uruk said, reaching down to lift Elisabeth to her feet. She struggled but she was no match for the powerful being that now held her. Terrified, she continued to fight as one of the others tore strips from her dress and bound her mouth, hands and feet. When they were done, she was flung over a massive shoulder and carried that way as they fled. It took her several minutes before she remembered her knife and now she struggled to reach down and pull it free, planning on using it on her captor first, then herself. As she fought to release the weapon from its sheath, the Uruk that carried her saw what was happening and slapped the knife from her bound hands before baring his teeth at her. She watched, horrified, as the knife hit the ground and was trampled. She was doomed.

~~~~~~~~~

“Well, did you find her?” Rúmil asked his brother at once.

“If I had found her, she would be here now, would she not?” Haldir asked irritably.

“If she had agreed to come back,” Rúmil pointed out.

“I would have carried her back if necessary,” Haldir added through clenched teeth.

“I am sure that would have endeared you to her,” Rúmil said under his breath.

“Then it would just be one more thing she could hold against me,” Haldir said angrily.

“I will help you search for her,” Rúmil told him.

“Later,” Haldir sighed. “Perhaps right now she simply needs some time to be alone. If she does not return soon, we shall go find her and bring her back.”

Kate walked over and started to sit down next to Haldir, but his hostile look was enough to make her change her mind. She turned to Rúmil but he simply looked down his nose at her before turning away.

Coming from the forest, Orophin walked over to his brothers and regarded Haldir silently before turning to Rúmil with a question in his eyes.

“Our brother is a little ill-tempered at the moment,” Rúmil explained. “It seems that Elisabeth has managed to get under his skin. Unfortunately, she caught him in a compromising situation earlier and has run off.”

“So, you took my advice?” Orophin asked Haldir.

“No, I did not!” Haldir insisted, exasperated. Rúmil explained and Orophin couldn’t help but grin.

“Ah, life is so much easier when there are no emotional entanglements,” Orophin stated.

Haldir looked up at him darkly. “I am not emotionally entangled and do not plan on becoming so.
She will be gone soon and that will be the end of it. I will have my simple, peaceful life back.”

Haldir turned towards Rúmil next, “And you…if you had not taken her into the woods, none of this would have happened. I hope you enjoyed her.”

“Oh, very much,” Rúmil grinned. “She is kind and intelligent and beautiful. Do not even get me started on her luscious body.”

Haldir fumed, wanting to knock his younger brother to the ground.

“But, alas, nothing happened,” Rúmil added. “We simply conversed. I took her to the woods to get her away from these clucking hens.”

“Nothing happened?” Haldir asked, trying to appear disinterested. “That was not what I was told.”

“By whom?” Rúmil asked, frowning.

“By the clucking hens,” Haldir admitted.

“I am beginning to think that, just possibly, these women like to cause trouble for Elisabeth,” Rúmil said, nodding wisely.

“Do you think so?” Orophin asked, sarcastically. “They have done nothing but belittle her since they have been here. They are not very nice, though they do have their uses.”

Both brothers glanced at him. He shrugged and walked over to Judith and took her hand, leading her back to his talan.

~~tbc~~