Chapter Two

"I am Haldir," he began, tapping his chest as he said his name.  "These are my brothers, Orophin," he continued, pointing to the tall Silvans who stood to one side of him and a step behind, "and Rœmil."

At the sound of their names, Orophin and Rœmil nodded at the women.

"Hal Dear?" Elise whispered to Anna.  "His name is Hal Dear?"

"I think so," Anna replied.  Biting her lip, she held the bat in one hand and pointed to her chest with the other.  "Anna," she said to Haldir. Pointing to Elise and Rebecca, who still hovered just inside the doorway, she said their names as clearly and distinctly as she could.

Haldir nodded his understanding, and repeated each name. Pointing at his brothers, he said their names again, annunciating each syllable.  This time Anna nodded, parroting Haldir's pronunciation of the Elves' names.

"An-na," Haldir began, looking the woman directly in the eye to be certain that he had her attention, before pointing behind him at the ship that floated offshore.  "Ship," he said, "An-na go on the ship." He accompanied this short speech by wiggling two of the fingers of his right hand in a walking motion over the palm of his left.  Seeing the fright in her eyes as they widened at her understanding of him, her head shaking violently back and forth, her grip on the bat tightening, Haldir sighed.  It was becoming obvious to him that their language barrier would preclude the women from understanding the Elves' intent.  It did not appear that they would volunteer to accompany the Elves back to the White Ship.  He had no wish to alienate them, but it seemed that he would have no choice but to take them by force. He resolved to try once more. 

"An-na," he said, no longer smiling, but looking sternly at the wide-eyed woman, who took a step back from him, "An-na, E-lise, Reb-e-cca, go in the ship, with Haldir, Orophin, and Rœmil." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the waiting ship.

"No! Absolutely not! Who do you guys think you are? We're not going anywhere with you! Get out! Get away from us, or so help me God I'll bash your brains in!" Anna yelled, raising the bat over her shoulder. From behind her Elise raised her fire poker, while Rebecca began screeching, turning and disappearing inside the house.

In a movement nearly too swift to follow with the naked eye, Haldir stepped up to Anna and ripped the bat from her hands, flinging it across the porch.  Ignoring her screams as well as her beating fists and kicking legs, he slung her over his shoulder, turning to carry her down the beach.

Elise had no time to react to Haldir's sudden attack on Anna before she found herself disarmed and slung over Orophin's shoulder.  One strong arm kept her pinned, her hard punches and strong kicks not seeming to register on him at all.

"Rœmil Éfetch the little one!" Haldir called over his shoulder to his brother as he stooped to collect his weapons with his free hand. 

Although she tried desperately to evade him, Rœmil reappeared outside of the house in moments carrying Rebecca's limp form draped in his arms.  At Haldir's sharp, questioning look, Rœmil shrugged, saying, "She swooned." He lifted her to his shoulder before bending to pick up his weapons and follow his brothers with their shrieking burdens to the skiff.

In one seamless motion, Haldir set Anna down in the skiff, dumped the rest of his weapons in the bottom of the boat, and pulled his sword from its sheath. "Sit still," he ordered, knowing that the point of his sword aimed at Anna's throat would work as an adequate translator.

Orophin and Rœmil set their burdens down next to Anna, who promptly ignored the point of Haldir's sword to check on the unconscious woman. Elise sobbed, leaning against Anna, who glared at Haldir with undisguised malice.  "Where are you taking us?" she demanded, not expecting a reply.  Haldir simply held his sword steady, staring back at her.

Haldir's brothers pushed the boat into the water before jumping back in and taking up the oars.  

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"Surely you did not expect their gratitude or affection, Haldir," Orophin ventured, smearing a thick slice of bread with jam as the three Elves sat at a small table in the galley of the ship.   "They are unable to understand but a few words that we speakÉwe stole them from all that was familiar to them - a heinous theft in any culture, certainly - threw them into the bowels of a ship, and bear them hence to which end they know not."

"Aye, Haldir.  I would not be overly fond of us, either," Rœmil  agreed, his upper lip coated with a thick mustache of jam.  His pink tongue licked at it, followed by his sleeve as he continued, "And as thrilling as this conversation has been, one of us must break away to venture into that nest of vipers to bring them their breakfast."

"One could hardly describe their accommodations as being in the 'bowels of the ship," Orophin. Although I did not expect docility, neither did I expect three screaming Nazgul," Haldir sniffed, draining the dregs of his tea.  "I do not believe they have stopped their caterwauling for the briefest moment since we took them from the beach.  Had I even the barest fragment of sense, I would toss the three of them overboard."

"Nay, brotherÉas you have so aptly and consistently reminded me, it is  "the will of Ilœvatar that it be these three and no other," Orophin stated, smirking at Haldir.

"Kindly do not flaunt my own words at me, Orophin.  I know well that it is Ilœvatar's will that guides our actions," Haldir grumbled, frowning at the laughing pair of Silvan beside him.  "Still, as they remain foul-tempered shrews even after a full moon's cycle at sea, perhaps Eru might condone such an action - He has ears, also."

"Bah! How you exaggerate, Haldir!  They are not so shrewish as you would lead us to believeÉmerely frightened," Rœmil said, waving a dismissive hand at his older brother. With a humorous twinkle in his eye he continued, "Although, speaking of 'ears,' my eyes could not believe what they were seeing when the one tried to tear yours from your head, Haldir!"

Haldir winced at the memory, his hand unconsciously cupping the delicate point of his left ear.  "One would think they had never seen ears before!" he agreed.  "When she failed to separate my ear from my skull, the three of them screamed even louder!

"No Elf has walked the world of Men for more than an Age, HaldirÉI do not believe that they had ere seen an Elf before," Orophin commented, finishing the last of his bread and jam.  "You had best bring them their breakfast, RœmilÉthey will be hungry."

"Me? Why me? Why should it not be you, brother?" Rœmil challenged, raising his eyebrows at Orophin.

"It should be you this morn because it was my turn yesterday bringing their dinner.  Besides, did you not just venture that they are merely frightened?"

"Frightened, yesÉbut that does not make them any less loud," Rœmil argued, cringing a bit.

"Valar!" Haldir swore, frowning at the two bickering Elves.  "I will bring their breakfastÉyou two are worse even then they!" 

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Carefully balancing on one hand a tray piled with fruit, bread, jam, a pot of hot tea, and three cups, Haldir took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and opened the door to the cabin in which the three women resided.

Immediately, his ears were assaulted by shrill shrieks as two of the women scrambled backwards away from the door.  The bolder of the women, the one who called herself 'An-na,' no longer screeched when she saw him, but rather stood in front of the other two as if to protect them, watching his every move warily. 

Setting the tray down on a small table, the younger women's cries making his ears ring, Haldir felt his self-control begin to finally slip.  Slapping a hand down on the table, rattling the platters, he bellowed, "ENOUGH! I will tolerate this screaming no longer! We have not harmed you.  We feed you, provide you with the necessities you require. Never have we threatened you in any way and yet you persist on reacting to our presence as if we were demons from the bowels of Mordor!" Breathing heavily in his righteous anger, Haldir eyed the quivering, albeit speechless, females huddled in the furthest corner of the room.  After a moment, realizing that he had more than likely just exacerbated the situation by losing his temper, he sighed, shaking his silver head.  "My apologies," he said in a much softer voice, "I know that you cannot understand me as of yet. No longer will you be captive in this cabin.  Keeping you safe in here has been our only objective, but I believe it has only served to make you more frightened of us. You are free to walk the ship as you see fitÉI can only pray to Eru that you do not decide to throw yourselves from the deck into the sea."

Turning on his heel, he left the cabin, leaving the door standing wide open.

Anna watched the face of the Elf - she and the others had concluded that that was the only word that could accurately describe the tall silver-haired men with the pointy ears who had abducted them - shift from an angry expression to one of remorse.  She eyed the open door after he had left with curiosityÉand longing.  It had been weeks since she had last seen the sun or felt the wind on her skin.

"Anna, where are you going?" Rebecca called, as the older woman took a couple of hesitant steps toward the door.  "It's a trap! They'llÉthey'llÉmake you walk the plank!"

Tossing the other woman a look of disbelief, Anna said, "If they were going to kill us, they would have by now."

"Oh, yeah? That's the same thing you said when they were standing on the beachÉright before they kidnapped us!" Elise reminded her.

"I never claimed to be infallible, Elise, but I'm going to take my chances. I'm going outside.  I can't stand being cooped up in here any longerÉbesidesÉhe looked sorry that he had yelled at us," Anna replied.  "Plus, you have to admit we haven't been very cooperative."

"Of course we haven't been cooperative! We're prisoners!" Elise shot back.

Nodding toward the open door, Anna said, "Not anymore."  Turning, she stepped through the door into the narrow hallway, leaving the other two women still huddled in the corner of the cabin.

Her back to the wall, she inched her way like a fugitive toward the beckoning sunlight. Tensing, she peeked out of the door that opened onto the deck, expecting one of the Elves to appear at any moment and drive her back into the cabin that had been her unsolicited home for so long.

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Haldir was leaning on his elbows at the railing, staring out at the rolling swells of the ocean.  He was surprised, not that the woman chose to come on deck, but that she had opted to come to stand just a foot away from him, also gazing out at the ocean. 

A playful dolphin chose that moment to leap from the water, as it and several others swam beside the White Ship. 

"Ooh!" Anna cried in surprise, as the mammal splashed alongside the ship.  She smiled at their antics, the first time she had felt a smile touch her lips since the Before. 

"Dolphin," Haldir said, pointing at the slick mammals as they jumped through the waves.  "They follow the ship."

Anna glanced at the Elf, understanding only the word "ship." "Dolphin?" she asked, pointing at the cavorting creatures as they jumped high and landed with great splashes.  Seeing Haldir nod, she repeated the word a few times, trying to commit it to memory. 

After a few moments of silence, she turned to Haldir.  A bit hesitantly, her voice low-pitched and husky, she said, "Hal Dear?" When he turned, she looked into his gray eyes and, touching her own ear, whispered, "I'm sorryÉ"

Haldir smiled because her tone and expression told him that she was trying to apologize for attempting to rip his ear from the side of his head.  "Sorry.  You are sorry," he replied.

"Sorry, sorry," Anna repeated, the word in his language unfamiliar on her tongue. She turned to look once again at the playful dolphins.

"An-na? I am sorry, too.  Haldir is sorry," he said, looking into her blue eyes.  He touched his chest and inclined his head as he said the words, smiling again when he saw that she understood that he was apologizing for losing his temper. 

They spent the morning in a companionable silence, watching the mammals play alongside the ship.

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It became habit for Anna to join Haldir at the railing each morning after breakfast, to watch the waves roll by.  Starting with the word for 'dolphin,' Haldir found himself giving the woman language lessons each morning.  She seemed an apt pupil, rarely forgetting a word from the day before.  It pleased him to see her progress.

One bright morning they stood at the railing watching the dolphins, each lost in their own thoughts.  Anna's fingers played idly with the ring she still wore on her left hand.  Looking down at it, memories of her life Before and the days that had followed came flooding back in a rush.  Tears formed in her eyes as she slipped the ring from her finger, laying it gently on the palm of her hand. 

Haldir watched her curiously as she tenderly touched the golden circle with one finger, tears streaming down her face.  Tipping her palm, she let the ring fall over the side of the ship to disappear into the murky green-black depths. Her sorrow hit him with a force that rocked him to his core.  The ring symbolized someone she cared deeply forÉsomeone she had lost to the sickness loosed by the influence of Morgoth, he realized.  Her mate?

"An-na," he said softly, touching her chin with one finger to turn her tear-streaked face up to meet his.  In a heartbeat, he had her gathered in his arms, allowing her to grieve in the safety of his embrace.  "Shh, An-na," he whispered into her hair.  "ShhÉ"

As he held the weeping human, he didn't think about the strangeness of being able to feel her sorrow as he did, or the knowledge that came to him unbidden of whom the ring had symbolized. Neither did he think about his sudden, overwhelming need to comfort her.

But he thought about it later.