To Warm An Advisor's Heart

You nearly jump out of bed when you wake. “Wha- Where-“ you pause. You begin to remember what has happened the past few days. Somehow you turned into an elf, your right ankle is screwed up, not to mention you are only a wall away from a gorgeous elf who saved you life but a few days ago.

“Perhaps this is the closest to Heaven I’ll ever get,” you muse aloud. You grin. “I don’t mind the thought of being here forever.” You stretch. You slowly stand and explore your room more thoroughly.

You look through the vanity and find that all of the dresses are your size. The colors range from dark blue to lavender to light yellow. You pick out a yellow dress that has pearl flowers embroidered in it. You lay it on the bed followed by undergarments before going through a door near the vanity.

You gasp. There is a large white bathtub in the middle of the room with four golden claws holding it up. You quickly fill the tub up with warm water. You pour in a bottle of blue liquid into the bath. You grin when you see bubbles form. You feel like your two again as you play with the bubbles.

When the tub is full, you take off the blue dress you fell asleep in the night before and get into the tub. You sigh. The warm water caresses your body as you wash away the sick feeling you always get after being in an infirmary of any form.

By the time you are ready to get out, the water is cold and the bubbles are gone. You grip the tub and push yourself up. You step out and wince when your right ankle throbs in pain. Shit. You cry out as your ankle rolls. You stumble before falling on the ground.

“Damn it,” you curse. “I’m many times am I going to fall. For fuck’s sake, can’t I take a bath without things going wrong?!”

The door burst open and you scramble to cover yourself with your hands. You see Erestor run into the bathroom. He stops in his tracks when he sees you sitting on the floor, unclothed. He flushes and looks away.

“Sorry,” he says. “I heard you fall and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“It’s okay,” you say. “Could you please hand me a towel?”

“Of- of course.” Still blushing, he keeps his back to you as he grabs a towel. He walks backwards and hands it to you.

You get on your knees and wrap the towel around yourself before sitting down again. “Okay.”

He turns around. He looks down at your ankle and frowns. “You really need to stay off of that thing. I’ll talk to Elrond about getting you a crutch.”

“Thanks, but I think it’s getting better,” you say. You move to stand, but fall back as soon as you put pressure on your ankle.

Erestor growls. You feel your nipples harden at the sound. You blush as you unconsciously cross your arms over your breast. “You need to stop putting pressure on your ankle. It’s never going to heal if you keep walking on it.”

You grumble. “Fine. I won’t walk on it anymore until I get a crutch. Happy?”

“Very. Now, let’s get you settled in bed.” Before you can protest, he picks you up and carries you to your bed. He notices the dress. “Were you going to wear that today?”

“Yes.”

He smiles. “Wise choice. It’s beautiful and it suits you.” You feel your cheeks heat up and you look away. “I’ll go and get Elrond. I’m sure he has an unused crutch.”

Erestor leaves you alone in your room. You dry yourself off and manage to put on your undergarments and dress without much trouble. You are towel drying your hair when Elrohir and Elladan enter the room. Elrohir is carrying a crutch for you.

“Hello, our beautiful Rose,” Elrohir greets. “Elrond sends his apologies for not meeting you himself, but he is in a meeting with Glorfindel and Thranduil. Erestor was going to come back as well, but…” You raise an eyebrow. What is he not telling you? Elrohir hands you the crutch. “Anyway, we said we’d be happy to deliver this to you.”

“And escort you to breakfast,” Elladan adds.

“Breakfast,” you gasp. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Since yesterday afternoon,” he answers. “Relax. Father said that we should show you the grounds. He will meet us out there as soon as he can.”

“I thought I wasn’t allowed outside until my ankle heals.”

Elrohir laughs. “Father didn’t expect you to walk as much as you have around the house. From what Erestor has said, you’ve probably re-sprained your ankle twice now,” he says. You blush. “Take your crutch Rose, and let us depart your bedroom before my brother and I begin to think wicked thoughts.”

“I doubt she’d mind that much.” Elladan winks.

You roll your eyes. “Of course I end up in a world full of perverted males,” you say dramatically.

“All males are perverts, some of us just hide it well,” Elrohir says.

You chuckle. You take the crutch and slowly stand. You sigh in relief when your right ankle doesn’t hurt. You use the crutch and half-walk half-jump out of the room with the twins on either side of you.

The three of you enter the dining room to find that the only other two people there are Arwen and Aragorn. Elrohir pulls out a chair for you that puts you beside Arwen. You look at her in awe, realizing that she is the type of elf that would look beautiful even if she was in sweat pants and a ratty shirt.

“Arwen, Aragorn, this is Rose,” Elladan introduces as he sits beside Aragon. “Rose, this is Arwen and Aragorn.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” you say.

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Arwen says. Her blue eyes hold a mischievous glint to them. “Any elf who managed to get Erestor out of his office for a few minutes this morning is a pleasure to meet.”

You have a feeling that she is about to say more, but Aragorn puts his hand on her arm. “Do not tease,” he says. Arwen pouts, but falls silent.

‘Stupid man,’ you think. ‘First Elrohir, now Arwen and Aragorn. Will I ever find out what the hell is going on?’

You lose train of thought when you see a plate of eggs put before you. Your stomach growls at the sight and smell of food.

“Someone’s hungry,” Elrohir teases. He is sitting beside you and is currently tapping at your foot underneath the table. You give his foot a good kick, causing him to yelp.

“Are you all right?” Arwen asks. Elladan looks constipated as he tries to hold in his laughter.

“Yes.” Elrohir breathes. “I’m fine. Just stubbed my toe.”

“Sounds like it hurt more than a mere toe stub,” Elladan says. He winks at you. “Sounds like it was more of a hurt pride.”

Elrohir says something in another language. You don’t know what it is, but it’s enough to make Arwen to burst into laughter and Aragorn drop his fork.

“Elrohir, not while a lady is present,” Aragon scolds.

“It’s all right Aragorn,” Elladan tells him. “Rose doesn’t know our language.”

Arwen stops laughing. Her cheeks flush in anger. “Are you saying that I’m not a lady?” she demands.

“No,” he says. “What I’m saying is that the only lady in the room can’t speak elven.”

“Yeah, everything can’t be about you Arwen,” Elrohir says.

You feel a pain in your heart as you watch them fuss. You never had siblings and it’s times like these that you wish you did. You get over your self pity and watch in amusement as Aragorn tries to break up the spat.

“Please,” he says. “All of you should be on your best behavior around our guest.”

“It’s okay,” you say. “I don’t mind.” From the look Aragorn is giving you, you know that’s not what he wanted you to say.

The siblings fall silent after a while and all of you eat your meal in silence. The second you’re done, Elrohir and Elladan are getting up. “Come on, let’s go,” Elladan says.

“We’ve got a lot of ground to cover and you’ve got a lame leg so we need to get going,” Elrohir says.

“It’s not a lame leg,” you say defensively. “It’s just a sprain.”

Elladan snorts. “That must be one hell of a sprain.”

“Elladan!” Aragorn snaps.

“What? She cusses too. She said the ‘s’ word in front of Father yesterday,” he says. “I think Father got a kick out of that.”

Aragorn is about to say something else, but Arwen cuts in, “Let them have their fun.” She caresses his face. “Let’s go to the gardens.” You can almost see him melt at her touch. You giggle when Elrohir acts like he is about to vomit.

“Let’s go before they start making out or something,” he whispers in your ear. He helps you up. He and Elladan guide you outside, leaving Arwen and Aragorn in their own little world.

“It must be nice to be that in love,” you say thoughtfully.

Elrohir snorts. “Whatever. I’m not for that gushy romance crap. Just give me a she-elf who likes to roll between the sheets more than a few times a day and I’ll be good.” He nudges your shoulder.

“I don’t think so,” you say. “As tempting as that offer is, I’d rather roll between the sheets with someone I love.”

Elrohir tries to look offend. “So you’re saying you don’t love me?” He fakes a tear. “But, what will I tell my sperm? They were looking forward to-“

“Don’t go into details dear brother because I doubt she wants to hear them,” Elladan interrupts.

“- making babies with you,” Elrohir finishes. He looks to Elladan. “Clean enough for you?”

“Good enough coming from you.” Elladan puts an arm around you. “Don’t listen to that prat talk about only wanting sex. He wants love as much as the rest of us, he just won’t admit it. Now enough of this talk, we’ve got better things to do.”

“Like what?” you ask.

“Well, if you like animals then we could go to the barn and see the horses,” he suggests.

Your eyes widen. “I love horses! I’ve always wanted one but I never was allowed to.” You follow them outside. You enjoy feeling the warm sun rays against your skin. There are green fields stretched out in every direction. A barn is to the left of the home and to the right is…

“Is that the river I landed in?” You point to the large river that is down a hill and a ways from the home.

“Yes,” Elladan answers slowly.

“Can I see the waterfall?” you ask.

The twins look at each other. You can almost hear their thoughts whirl. Is it safe? What would their father say? Would it bring up bad memories?

“I guess,” Elrohir says slowly. “I’ll have to carry you down the hill because we don’t need to risk you doing worse to your ankle.” You want to argue, but know it is useless. You really want to go to the waterfall and doubt they’ll let you if you don’t listen to them.

“Fine,” you say. “Let’s go.”

The three of you walk away from the home and head towards the river. “It’s so beautiful here,” you say, admiring the scenery. A soft wind caresses your hair as you look from the green grass to the large trees to the blooming flowers. “I’d love to live in a place like this.”

“You can live here,” Elladan says.

“Father already said you could,” Elrohir adds. “He actually hopes that you will. I think he’s going to ask you tonight if you will.”

“But he isn’t the only one who wants you to stay,” Elladan says. “We all do.”

“Why?” you ask. It boggles your mind that they want you to stay here. You’re nothing special. You’re sure that there are many she-elves around here who are far more breathtaking than you. After all, Arwen is.

“Because me and Elrohir think you’re hilarious,” Elladan says. “We both agree that you share the same sense of humor we have.”

“That and you’re hot.” Elrohir winks. You roll your eyes at the comment. “It’s true! Haven’t you noticed all of the males have been starring at you? I think even a few females have been looking at you.”

“Whatever.” You shake your head. “What about Elrond? Why does he want me here?”

“He enjoys your company and the fact that you like his garden,” Elladan answers.

“And he also hopes that you’ll- Ow!” Elrohir rubs his head. He glares at Elladan. “Why in the hell did you hit me?”

“Because you talk too much,” Elladan says.

You look from one twin to the other. Okay, you’re getting a little irritated with all of this ‘hey, let’s keep a secret from Rose to piss her off’ business. You want to force it out of them, but have a feeling that Elladan won’t allow either of them to say anything more about it.

You squawk when Elrohir picks you up without warning. You glare at him. He keeps a poker face. “What? It goes downhill from here. I don’t want you to roll your ankle.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m sure you didn’t warn me because you didn’t want to bother me,” you say.

“Exactly,” he beams. “Now you understand.”

Elladan slaps his forehead. “Please don’t judge the rest of the family on how this one acts. I’m convinced that he’s adopted.”

You bite your lip to keep from laughing. “An adopted brother who looks exactly like you. Sure, I can believe it.”

“Well at least my theory isn’t crazy to one person,” Elladan says.

“I think she was being sarcastic brother,” Elrohir tells him.

“Damn. Ah, well, I will prove it to all of you someday that you are adopted.”

You hear a distant and look at Elrohir. “Is that your stomach?” you tease.

Elrohir flashes you a wicked grin. “If I was hungry would you let me eat-“ he begins.

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” Elladan warns. “We’re getting close to the waterfall. You’ll be able to see it in a bit.”

Elrohir looks you over. “I’d still like to say that I’m hungry if I got the chance to- Ow!” he glares at Elladan. “Damn it, Elladan. If I wasn’t holding Rose I’d give you one hell of a beating.”

“I guess it’s a good thing you’re holding her. I’d hate to have to kick your ass in front of a lady.”

You chuckle. The laughter dies in your throat when you see the waterfall. Gallons upon gallons of water dive off the seventy-foot high cliff and pound the river below it. You gulp. How did you survive?

“Put me down,” you say. Elrohir hesitates before setting you down. You use the crutch and walk closer to the waterfall.

You can almost hear the orcs as you stare at the place you jumped from. You remember that day as though it happened but a moment ago. You remember every detail on each of their faces. You remember the taste of fear when you swore you weren’t going to make it. You even remember the burning pain that filled your body from running so fast for so long.

“Rose.” You feel a hand on your shoulder. “Rose.” You pull back when you feel a hand touch your cheek. You are about to run when you see Elladan (not an orc) starring at you. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” you say. You feel something wet against your cheeks. You bring your hand to your face. You stay at your hand as see that they are tears. You’re crying. You feel a pair of arms pick you up. You lean into Elrohir’s arms and close your eyes. “Can we leave?” Even to you, your voice sounds weak.

“Of course.” Elrohir’s voice is hoarse.

The three of you walk in silence, each in your own thoughts. You don’t know what the twins are thinking about, but as for you… all you can think about are the orcs.

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So, what do you think? Please review. Might not be able to update for a few days, will do as soon as I can. Ta for now. Much love,

Ivory Wolf