Disrupting Haldir's World

Chapter 7- Clash of Wills

Days went by without any word from Haldir and Elisabeth grew more despondent, though Rúmil begged her to give his brother some time to cool down. She had hoped that his anger would abate and he would return to her, but that seemed less likely as each day went by.

During these days, much of Elisabeth’s time was spent with Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel, getting to know them better. She had assumed that the blood-union had been mostly ceremonial, but they took it as seriously as if she were truly their own child and a bond had begun to form. With both of her parents and her two brothers dead, it warmed her heart to have somebody once again treat her as a daughter, as family. It had been many years since anybody had shown any concern for Elisabeth and she had almost forgotten how good it felt.

When she wasn’t with the lord and lady, she was with Rúmil, who tried his best to keep her busy and take her mind off of Haldir. He had shown her almost every bit of Caras Galadhon and when they weren’t out walking, they were sitting together in either his or Haldir’s talan, talking.

“Do you think he will come back? Has he done this before?” Elisabeth asked the first day.

“Haldir can be rather hot-tempered, but I have never seen him go away like this. I do not know what to tell you,” he shrugged.

“Do you think what I did was wrong, Rúmil? She asked.

“I would not have allowed you to take the risk, either, but once it had been done, I would have been happy because the problem had been solved. You have to understand Haldir. He is not as forgiving as I am. He is proud and stubborn and is not accustomed to being defied. That is not all, Elisabeth. You scare him and he does not know how to handle that.”

“I scare him?” she asked, incredulous. “He is the most intimidating being I have ever met!”

“Yet you can bring him to his knees, Elisabeth. He does not like it.”

~~~~~~~~~

Haldir paced the shore of the lake. He’d been pacing for days now and it still wasn’t helping. Every time he tried to examine the situation, he kept arriving at two facts. First, that she had deliberately taken the risk after he had told her not to do so. It had worked out in the end but still, she had defied him.

The second issue was that she had power over him that nobody had ever had before. On a regular basis he fearlessly battled Orcs and Uruk-hai. He fought off wargs and wolves and a host of other creatures at great risk to his own life and yet he had never once known a drop of fear. Even worrying about his brothers during battles did not cause him fear because he had always had faith that it would turn out well and it always had. But when he had seen Elisabeth lying on the bed, possibly dying, he had felt a terror so great that it had threatened to incapacitate him. His feelings for her were so strong, that she was making him weak, teaching him fear, and taking away his self-control; all things upon which he greatly prided himself. She had too much power over him and he didn’t like it.

He sighed and paced some more. On the other hand, was that such a horrible price to pay? She had given so much of herself to him, was it so bad for her to have some power over him? Maybe it was a compromise one had to make in a relationship, but he had to decide if he could pay that price. He had lived for so long with very little change in his life, and now Elisabeth had come along and in a matter of a few days, threatened to disrupt his perfect little world. He continued to pace as time slipped away.

~~~~~~~~~~

Elisabeth heard footsteps outside and her heart began to pound. When a knock came, she sighed and went to the door. Rowland wanted to speak to her so she let him in.

He sat down and asked her how she was faring.

“Physically I am fine but emotionally...” she shrugged.

“Still no word from Haldir?” he asked, frowning.

“No, nothing,” she admitted.

“Elisabeth, I will be leaving tomorrow. Lady Galadriel has said that I am healed and I feel well now. I only need to do some repairs on the horse cart and I will be on my way. Do you plan on coming with me or will you stay?”

She sat down slowly. “I had assumed that I would be staying, but if Haldir does not want me here, it would be torture to remain.”

“If he has not returned by now, he probably is not planning on doing so,” Rowland told her. “I am sorry.”

Elisabeth stood and turned away, not wanting him to see her tears. Rowland was right. She had risked everything to be with Haldir and now he didn’t want her. He had told her that he loved her, but wasn’t forgiveness part of loving another? She felt that she had made the only choice possible and even though it had turned out the way she had hoped, he had not accepted it. It was almost as though he was unhappy that she had solved their problem, allowing them to be together. Maybe he had simply grown weary of her and that was why he had wanted to send her away early. If that was the case, then all his words about how much he cared for her had been lies to make her feel better and ease his conscience. It would certainly explain his harsh reaction to what she had done. Maybe he had not wanted her to become elfkind, but had only wanted her to leave and instead she had gone behind his back and thwarted his plans. Then he didn’t truly love her after all and she would not stay here under those circumstances. Still, the feelings she had sensed in him when they had been together had seemed so sincere…

“I shall plan on leaving for Rohan with you in the morning if Haldir does not come back before then,” she told Rowland, her decision made.

“I would be glad to have your company,” he told her, smiling as he left.

~~~~~~~~

Haldir paced. Tomorrow was the day that Elisabeth was supposed to leave but he didn’t think that she would do so. Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel would encourage her to stay, knowing that she would be safer here than in Rohan. And surely Rúmil would talk some sense into her if nobody else did. She would not leave; he was confident of that.

~~~~~~~~

They would be leaving in a few minutes. Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn had both tried to talk Elisabeth out of it, as had Rúmil, but she would not listen. She was convinced now that she had been nothing more than a minor distraction for Haldir for a few days; a distraction that he had grown tired of. She would not humiliate herself by clinging to him when he wanted her gone. She still had her pride, if nothing else.

Living in Rohan would not be so simple now, since she would have to keep her ears hidden. She would also never be able to marry a human and have a family now, but that did not matter. The thought of being with anybody other than Haldir was inconceivable, though he had obviously not shared her love. She would now have to go through eternity alone though she was certain that Haldir would not suffer a similar fate. He would never have a shortage of females wanting to be in his bed.

Elisabeth carefully packed her small bag and put it in the horse cart. She said her tearful farewells to Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel and promised them to come back and visit, though it would have to be when Haldir was out of the city. She turned to Rúmil and hugged him.

“I could kick my brother,” he said angrily.

“Do not bother, Rúmil,” she replied. “It would have been much worse if this had not happened. If I had done as Haldir wished, I would have remained human and gone through the rest of my life mourning for the loss of a love that had only been imagined. Now I understand how little I truly meant to him, that I was simply a plaything for him, and that knowledge will help me to heal.”

“Is that right?” a voice said, from behind her. Her heart skipped a beat and she had to take a breath and steady herself. She turned around.

“Haldir,” she greeted him.

“Elisabeth, where are you going?” he asked, frowning.

“I am going to Rohan, as planned. Have you forgotten?” she asked, forcing her voice to remain steady.

“I assumed that you would be staying here,” he said.

“Why would you assume that? You told me that you did not want to see me again. I am doing as you requested and I am leaving,” she answered evenly.

“I was upset at the time,” he informed her curtly. “I came back here so that you could apologize and we could work this out.”

“Apologize for what; for risking everything to be with the one that I love? I will not apologize for that. If you had loved me as I love you, you would have forgiven me.” She climbed into the horse cart. “It is obvious that we do not share the same feelings for each other. Let us go, Rowland.”

Haldir stood with his arms folded across his chest. This was not what he had expected but he would not back down. She owed him an apology and she would give it to him. The horse started forward and Elisabeth did not look back as they pulled away.

“Haldir, do something!” Rúmil said, upset. “She is leaving.”

“That is doubtful,” Haldir said, unbending. “She thinks that I will come after her. If I do, it will give her the upper hand and she will be running my life from now on. If she does truly want to go, I will not stop her.”

He watched as she disappeared from sight, finally realizing that she had no intention of stopping. She was so stubborn.

~~~~~~~~~

Elisabeth cried silent tears as they pulled away. If he had wanted her to stay, now would have been the time to ask her to do so. She had been right, then, after all. He had wanted her gone. He had claimed that he wanted an apology so they could work things out and she wondered briefly whether he had been serious. He had to have known she would not apologize; therefore the apology was simply an excuse to blame this on her. But what if it wasn’t? What if he had meant it? No, she still would not apologize for what she had done. He should have forgiven her and he had not. He was so stubborn.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Rowland asked. “I don’t want you asking me to turn around and take you back when we get halfway there.”

“I won’t,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I will make a new life in Rohan.”

~~~~~~~~~

“I do not know which one of you is worse,” Rúmil said to Haldir. “You insist on an apology that she does not owe you and she insists on leaving when it is in her best interest to be here. She will be in danger in Rohan. Lord Denethor’s men frequently travel to that kingdom, according to Elisabeth.”

“I cannot believe she actually left,” Haldir said quietly, staring after her.

“She would have stayed if you had asked her,” Lady Galadriel said quietly. “You could go after her.”

“You mean I could give in? No,” Haldir said, walking to his talan.

He climbed the stairs and walked inside, noticing at once how quiet and lonely it was. It had never felt that way before. He looked around and when he saw how clean the talan was, he intentionally messed it up so that it didn’t remind him of Elisabeth. He slowly walked to the bedroom and saw that the bed had been made so he unmade it. He lay down on top of the blankets and was hit by her scent, taking his mind back to the short time that they had spent here and how wonderful it had been. She would be back. He would sleep for a while and chances were she would wake him, begging him to forgive her. It wouldn’t take her too long to figure out that he wasn’t coming after her and that she would have to be the one to give in.

~~~~~~~~~

Elisabeth was already regretting leaving. They had barely gone five miles when she was hit by a longing for Haldir so deep that it hurt.

“Rowland, I have changed my mind, would you please take me back?” she asked finally. “If he wants an apology, I will give it to him.”

“Sorry. I told you I wouldn’t do that and I meant it,” he said, rather harshly

“Why not?” she looked at him, surprised.

“It is not in your best interest to be with him. Do you not understand that he used you? He told you what you wanted to hear because he knew that you would only be there for a short time and it would not matter. Then when you became elf-kind he was stuck. He either had to give in and commit himself to you or back down and admit that he did not really love you; that it had been a game for him. He could not admit that, so instead he came up with an excuse to blame it on you. I know what I am talking about, Elisabeth. I know how men think and I doubt that he is any different, though he is an elf. He simply wanted you in his bed for a while and after he was done with you, he wanted you gone. It would be pathetic and degrading for you to go back. Will you beg him to take you back into his bed?”

She looked down at her hands. It was exactly the same conclusion she had come to herself. If she were to return now, he would probably laugh at her and send her away. No, she would not humiliate herself that way. She stared ahead as the horse cart continued on.

~~~~~~~~~

It was around noon when Haldir awoke and realized that he was still alone. She was not coming back. The footsteps on the stairs announced Rúmil and Haldir didn’t bother inviting him in. He came in anyway.

“So, explain this to me, because I am really confused,” Rúmil said, plopping down into a chair. “I thought that you said that you loved Elisabeth.”

“I did. I do,” Haldir said sullenly.

“Then why did you let her go?”

“She made that decision all by herself, as usual.”

“Haldir, Lady Galadriel was right. You did not ask her to stay and in fact you told her that you did not want to see her again. As far as she knows, you have rejected her so why would she stay? She thinks you want her gone.”

“Why would I want her gone?” Haldir asked. “I just want her to admit that what she did was wrong and to apologize.”

“You are so pig-headed! You are upset because she risked her life for a chance to be with you? How many would be willing to do that? What other choice did she have?” Rúmil almost yelled.

“She scares me, too, Rúmil. She has too much power over me,” Haldir said, finally admitting what Rúmil had already known.

“Haldir, I believe that is the way it is supposed to be when you love someone.”

“I do not like it, but I thought we could at least work on that part if she stayed,” he said.

“So, go after her and ask her to stay. As it is now, she thinks that you used her until you grew tired of her,” Rúmil said.

“That is ridiculous! She knows that I love her,” Haldir stated.

“No, she does not,” Rúmil warned him.

“She will be back,” Haldir insisted.

“No, she will not,” Rúmil said, walking out the door.

Haldir went for a long walk.

~~~~~~~~~

Each mile they moved away from the lothlórien woods caused Elisabeth to become more agitated. When they finally stopped for the night she gathered up her courage and asked Rowland again to take her back.

“I know I am being foolish, but I have to speak with him; I have to hear from his own lips that he does not want me any longer. He felt something for me and I am sure of that. I need to know if he truly only wanted an apology, as he said, or if it was all a game and he wants me gone.”

“No, Elisabeth!” Rowland said, turning on her angrily. “You are not going back. I finally got you away from that place and you are not returning.”

“What do you mean you finally got me away from there?” she asked, warnings sounding in her head.

“I knew that I wouldn’t have a chance with you while he was around, but that things would change once I got you away. Now please shut up about going back. You are going to Rohan with me and we shall make a new life in Edoras.”

“Rowland, you and I are not going to be together, ever,” she told him bluntly.

“Why do you say that?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“For one thing, I am elf-kind now and I will not take a human husband for the same reasons Haldir couldn’t let me stay with him as a human. I will not watch a husband age and die while I live on. More importantly, when my hand was mutilated, you wanted nothing to do with me. You do not care about me as a person. You only want me for what I can give you, as long as I am whole. It did not matter to Haldir that my hand was mangled. He wanted me for what was inside me.”

“Sure he did. It had nothing to do with the fact that you were spending every minute in bed with him,” Rowland sneered.

“If that was all he had wanted, he would have chosen one of the prostitutes, not a virgin,” she blurted out.

He eyed her with interest for a moment. “So I was right, you are not like the others,” his eyes narrowed. “You have some other reason for leaving Gondor.”

“That is my own business,” she said, growing nervous.

“I wonder if maybe it would be more worth my while to return you to Gondor than to take you to Rohan. I have no need to go to the kingdom of the horse lords myself if you are not part of the deal.”

“I will give you all the silver that I have left if you will return me to Lórien,” she told him, trying to remember exactly how much that was.

“Oh, you shall pay all right, but I do not wish to be paid with silver or gold,” he said looking her over. “I wish the same payment you were willing to give Haldir to save us. Or is a human not good enough for you now?”

“That payment was not my idea!” she said, very concerned now. “I…talked him out of it anyway.”

“You were willing, though, were you not?” he grabbed her and pulled her close.

“Because we had made a deal to save our lives! I have no such deal with you,” she reminded him, trying to push him away.

“Then you shall not return to Lórien but instead will go back to Gondor,” he sneered.

“I paid you to take me to Rohan and you owe me that at least,” she said, trying to remain calm.

“We are all alone, now, Elisabeth,” he said darkly, running a hand down the front of her bodice. “Who is going to help you? Pay me what I ask or return to Gondor.”

She tried to slap him, but he easily caught her arm, laughing at her helplessness.

“Then I shall return to Gondor,” she decided, thinking she would slip away during the night and go back to Lórien. Right now she just wanted Rowland to get his hands off of her. She began to try and move towards a bedroll but he pulled her back against his body.

“I do not trust you,” he said. “I think you will try and take the horse cart back to Lórien and leave me here.”

“I would not do that,” she said, having planned to walk back.

“We shall just make sure,” he said, dragging her to the horse cart where he procured rope and proceeded to bind her wrists and ankles.

“I do not believe that you are doing this,” she said, seething.

“You had just better hope it is all I do. I still think you owe me the payment I want,” he said. “I just wasted a week living in a tree so that you had time to play with your elf. You owe me plenty.”

After he placed her on a bedroll, Elisabeth worked at her bonds but they were too tight. How had she gotten herself into this one and more importantly, how was she going to get herself out of it?

~~~~~~~~~

Rúmil banged on Haldir’s door only briefly before opening it.

The younger elf immediately informed his brother, “I am going to get Elisabeth and you can either come with me or stay here. If you do not come with me, I am going to do my best to win her over myself. If you do not want her, I do!”

“Are you quite through?” Haldir asked his brother.

Rúmil let out a pent up breath, “Yes.”

“If it makes you happy, I have decided that I was being foolish,” Haldir admitted, standing with his back to his brother as he looked out the window. “I am going after her, first thing in the morning.”

“And you will not try to make her apologize?”

“No, I am going to…apologize, myself,” he forced the words out as if they caused him pain.

“You are?” Rúmil asked, shocked. Haldir never admitted when he was wrong.

“Yes,” he added, “so I hate to ruin your plans, but you will not get to have her for yourself after all.”

“And will you make sure that she knows how you feel about her?” Rúmil queried.

“Yes, I will make that clear, if I have not already,” Haldir rolled his eyes.

“And will you bind yourself to her?” Rúmil asked, crossing his arms.

“Do not push me, Rúmil. If I bring her back, it will give us a chance to try and work things out, but she still scares me.”

“So, why do we not leave tonight and see if we can catch up with her?” Rúmil suggested.

“We are not going. I am going.”

“No, we are going and I think we should go tonight.”

“Why?” Haldir asked.

“Just a feeling I got when I was around Rowland the last couple of days,” he shrugged. “The way he watched her.”

Haldir frowned. Rúmil’s feelings were rarely wrong. Haldir had not noticed anything earlier with Rowland, but things may have changed while he had been away.

“Let us go now,” Haldir said, moving towards the door.

~~~~~~~~~

Elisabeth feigned sleep as Rowland drank by the campfire. He had a bottle of whiskey and from the way he was now staggering and talking to himself at the fire, she knew he was drunk. She was terrified. The man already had some bad ideas, but now he was fortifying himself with alcohol and she kept expecting him to approach her. She hoped that if she pretended to be asleep that he would leave her alone.

Once again, he staggered away from the fire to relieve himself near a tree, but this time he stopped to check on Elisabeth on the way back.

“Hey, you awake?” he asked. She didn’t answer, but tried to keep her breathing even.

“Wake up,” he slurred, shaking her. “I’m ready for that payment.”

“I shall pay you tomorrow,” she said, acting as though she were half asleep, “in silver.”

“Uh uh,” he said pulling out his knife. “I’ve got a better idea.”

Not sure what he was going to do, she froze. He started sawing at the rope with his knife and accidentally cut her arm rather badly. She cried out and placed her hand over the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding, while Rowland simply started working on her ankles, almost oblivious to what he had done. When her ankles were free, she shoved him, hard, and tried to run away. She made it about ten steps before he caught her, knocking her to the ground and pinning her down with his body before starting to fumble with her dress.

Not only was she terrified but the stench of his breath was nauseating. It smelled like vomit mixed with whiskey.

“Get off of me!” she yelled, hitting at him with her fists. For a brief moment, she wished that her hand was still mutilated, because it had repulsed him so.

“Oh, come on now,” he slurred. “You sure gave it away to that haughty elf easily enough. It is my turn, now.”

She was no match for his strength and she had forgotten to get her knife back from Haldir. She was helpless now, unless she could outthink him.

“Wait, Rowland,” she said, trying to take control of the situation. “If I do this, will you take me back to Lórien tomorrow?”

“I don’t know that you’re in any position to bargain now,” he told her, pressing his body against hers.

“No, I am not, but you can either force me or we can work out a deal and I can assure you that you will enjoy it much more if I cooperate. I have learned much from Haldir.”

He was listening; she had his attention.

“I need to relieve myself first,” she told him. “It has been several hours.”

“I don’t trust you,” he told her, pulling her dress up.

“Please, Rowland! Then we shall spend the whole night together as long as you promise to take me back tomorrow. I will do anything you want me to do,” she told him, hoping he believed her.

“Anything?” he asked her, his interest growing.

“Yes,” she said, praying that her plan would work. She would have a hard time talking her way out of this one, if it did not.

“Fine, but I’m staying close. I do not want you running away.”

“Where would I go in the dark?” she laughed. “I am satisfied with this arrangement. It will be a small price to pay to keep from returning to Gondor.”

She went over to the bushes and made him turn around. As soon as he looked away, she picked up a rock and tossed it at the horses, hitting one on the side. She felt bad about doing it and cringed as the animal reared up suddenly, pulling at his lead rope. Moving quickly while Rowland was distracted by the horse, Elisabeth ran down the road, back the way they had come. She moved silently through the dark as rapidly as possible, hoping that her state of sobriety would give her an advantage over the inebriated man who was now shouting for her back at the fire. She pushed herself, wanting to get as far ahead as she could before having to hide in the woods. The road she followed was rough and she stumbled several times, not seeing well in the dark, but that could work to her advantage. Rowland wasn’t in any condition to be running after her.

Before long, she heard hoof beats and moved hastily into the woods. She watched as the man rode by. She could see his outline in the dark, but he would not be able to find her, concealed in the trees. Elisabeth waited until he had passed before once again stepping onto the road to Lórien and as she walked along, she began to grow angry. This drunken fool that had attacked her had been Haldir’s choice for a husband for her.

“He is a good man,” she said, trying to imitate Haldir’s smooth voice. “He would treat you well, Elisabeth. He would make a good husband for you.” Wait until she told Haldir what a good man Rowland was. Granted, he was drunk and hopefully not himself, but that was no excuse. He was certainly not anybody she ever wanted as a husband. The anger helped keep her moving well after her feet began to ache. Three times now, Rowland had passed her on the road and all three times she had heard him well in advance. She did not think he could have possibly made any more noise. His horse had been all over the place, too, almost as though it were also drunk. Rowland must have been pulling the reins as he tried to retain his balance.

For the last two hours, now, there had been no sign of the man and Elisabeth suspected that he had gone back to his camp to sleep off his alcohol consumption. She wasn’t sure how far she had gone yet, but knew that she had many more miles to go. She understood that there was a very good chance that Haldir would not want anything to do with her when she returned to Caras Galadhon, but at least she would know, once and for all, how he truly felt. She would get a straight answer out of him no matter what it took. And if the Lord and Lady truly wanted her to stay, she would do so, whether Haldir liked it or not. She would keep her distance from him as much as possible, but neither Gondor nor Rohan would provide a safe haven for her now. Lórien was the only sanctuary she had left.

Elisabeth’s feet began to ache so badly that she finally had to stop. The shoes she wore were very uncomfortable and she regretted not bringing a pair of the soft elven shoes she had been given in Lórien. Finding a spot in the woods, she wrapped herself in her cloak to try and sleep a little before the daylight came and exposed her.

~~~~~~~~~

Haldir and Rúmil followed the smell of smoke and easily found the camp. Glancing around, Haldir saw only one bedroll and for a horrible moment he thought that Elisabeth was sharing a bed with Rowland. If so, Haldir would turn around and leave and she would never see him again. He approached carefully and was happy to see only Rowland wrapped up in the blanket. The smell of cheap whisky oozed from the man and Haldir took an involuntary step backwards. It was one of the disadvantages to having the acute senses that were granted an elf.

He quickly searched the rest of the camp, but Rúmil was already shaking his head. “Her pack is here, but she is not.”

Haldir shook Rowland and finally dragged the sleeping man out of his bedroll, still incoherent.

“Where is she?” Haldir asked, fear gnawing at his guts.

“What? Who?” asked Rowland, not looking at the elf.

“You know who! Where is Elisabeth?” he asked menacingly as he pulled the man to his feet.

“What do you care?” Rowland said, trying not to show fear as he slowly awakened. “You pawned her off on me because you didn’t want her.”

Haldir stared at the man, wanting to pulverize him but at the same time, feeling guilt over what he had done.

“I made a mistake and I am here to correct it,” Haldir finally admitted, grudgingly.

“Well, you’re too late. She’s gone,” Rowland said, fully awake now.

“Gone where?” Haldir demanded. “Where could she possibly go?”

“Haldir, there is blood on Rowland’s arm and he does not appear to have a wound to go with it,” Rúmil said, concerned.

Haldir glanced down and saw what Rúmil meant. There was quite a bit of blood.

“Would you care to explain this? Is this Elisabeth’s blood?” Haldir stepped closer to the man.

“No…yes, but she’s fine. I slipped when I was cutting the ropes on her…wrists,” he said, realizing his mistake as the words came out. Now he really had some explaining to do.

Haldir grabbed the man by the throat and began to squeeze until Rúmil finally pulled him off.

“Stop it! We need him to tell us where she is!” his brother pointed out.

Haldir eased his grip but only slightly.

“I am going to give you one chance to tell me exactly what happened,” Haldir stated through clenched teeth.

“She wanted to go back to you and I didn’t think it was a good idea,” Rowland started. “I was afraid she was going to take off with the horses during the night and leave me stranded so I tied her up.”

“Then why did you decide to cut her loose?” Rúmil asked, knowing that Rowland was holding back information.

“I…I just…she said she had to…relieve herself. I cut her free so she could do that.”

“Is that when she ran off?” Haldir asked.

“Yes, she threw something at the horses and while I was seeing to them, she left,” the man’s eyes were darting back and forth and both elves knew that he was not telling them everything.

Haldir placed his palm on Rowland’s head and after a moment a look of fury crossed the elf’s face, seeing this, Rúmil stepped between them.

“Haldir, we need to find Elisabeth right now. If she has been wounded and is bleeding, she will be in danger. There are wolves in these woods.”

“After I find her, I will come back and deal with you,” he warned Rowland. “Which way did she go?”

“She went back to Lórien to find you, though I don’t think you deserve her,” he finished.

Haldir let the man go and got back on his horse, his brother close behind. Taking advantage of the situation, Rowland decided that now would be a good time to pack up and leave, hopefully never to see another elf as long as he lived.

~~~~~

Elisabeth woke to the feel of warm breath caressing her face. Disoriented, she couldn’t remember where she was at first, but she had been dreaming of Haldir and reached out for him now. Touching something that was neither human nor elf-kind, she barely pulled her hand back before sharp teeth snapped at her. Screaming, she rolled onto her knees and lurched to her feet, trying to move behind a tree as the warg lunged at her. The tree would not protect her for long, she knew, as she watched more of the creatures approach. They were closing in on her, beginning to circle around behind. The animals were massive, much bigger than the wolves she had seen near Gondor and not at all timid. Looking around for anything she could use as a weapon, her search was fruitless. She could not possibly fight them off and she would most likely die here, alone, never to return to Lórien. Sensing something behind her, she turned in time to see muscular shoulders tense before the warg leapt at her. One last scream rent the air before the wind was knocked from her lungs and the teeth began to tear. Everything went black.

~~tbc~~