The Lady of Battle

Disclaimer: I make no earnings from this. It is purely for fun.

The Border

Quickly she ducked to avoid the silver blade being thrust toward her head; rolling onto the ground and regaining her stance on the other side of her opponent. She stood readied for another attack and appraised her opponent. The two warriors slowly circled each other, Rhokrist smiling confidently and Brenauth bearing her usual statue-like expression. They had been sparing all morning and had yet to speak. It was Brenauth's way and Rhokrist had been trying to understand it for centuries. She knew her tutor must still be angry with her, and had yet to mention the issue. And asking Brenauth before she was ready to discuss it would not be wise. Her tutor was not one that would be rushed. It was simply understood that she was an elder and the elder way, being put simply, was the meek way.

Yet, Rhokrist had always disagreed with these ways. She found the ways of the elder unnerving and reclusive, finding her mentor's actions the most aggravating of all. It was no secret the Rhokrist was a passionate elf and had shown this in every skill, every lesson learned, every training session, and even in personal matters. This being on the contrary to her mentor's ways. It would seem they were complete opposites in every way. Even in looks, Rhokrist's golden hair offset Brenauth's spectacular, midnight mane.

Rhokrist had stayed after class hoping to be given resolution for her actions the previous week and still had received none. Brenauth's silence was disturbing her so much, that it was beginning to weaken her sparring. She had begun to tire both physically and mentally, so she began to angrily lash at Brenauth, bringing blow after blow down toward her opponent. It only served to anger her more when Brenauth effortlessly warded off her attacks. Her fatal mistake was seized and Brenauth brought her own sword to Rhokrist's throat.

"You loose control of your sword and allow it to lead you." Brenauth broke the silence while turning and walking to her belongings, while sheathing her sword. Her prize student was always letting her own emotions break her concentration. It was a weakness that she hoped to rid her student of, but she knew Rhokrist was strong-willed. Her strong feelings only reminded Brenauth how young her student was and she was realizing it would only be lost with age and experience, something her young friend had plenty of time to gain. But it was not a flaw Brenauth took lightly. She knew it could be her young students undoing, as it had been for someone she knew once, long ago.

Brenauth started to walk toward the royal halls when Rhokrist spoke.
"Will you not speak with me?" She was always getting straight to the point. Brenauth swore to herself at times that her young friend was human. She certainly did not have the patience the other elves possessed at her age. Brenauth slowly turned and, with her head hung wearily, she approached the young one. She gazed into Rhokrist's deep, brown eyes and without realizing it herself let an expression of sadness fold over her face. Rhokrist remained still, stunned, while receiving this intimate exchange.

"I have nothing to say to you, Galell." She used her student's birth name, which she had not done since her student had acquired the name, Rhokrist. The fact that she had chosen to use it, expressed her sincerity. She calmly walked to her student and handed Rhokrist her cape, turned, and quietly walked away. Rhokrist was relieved at this and let her head sink.

"You had better hurry Rhokrist, or you will be late as usual." Rhokrist heard this yelled back to her from the trees where Brenauth had retreated. She smiled to herself and happily started to walk toward the stables. She was pleased to be getting nagged by her mentor and friend, yet again.

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Brenauth sat at her desk reading through the translations the historian and she had been working on. It had, indeed, been a strange find that day. They had discovered a new name written in the ancient scrolls, which had been retrieved from a party of orcs, sent to scout the borders of Gondor. The leader of the guard who had retrieved them, a human, had been wise to send them to Caras Galadhon for translation. They were very old and Brenauth was still unsure why a scouting party had been carrying them. Strangely, they had been wrapped in a way that would signify a teaching manual, or to give a sermon. An even stranger question; when had orcs cared for such things? When had they even cared to learn to read and write?

The name, on the other hand, was one she had never come across. That is, a name that she had never seen translated from the tongue of Mordor. It could be any name for all she knew, but it was not a given orc name. It was a name that had come into Mordor and had been translated into their tongue. And this was very rare; orcs killed everything they found. And the fact that they had allowed the bearer of this name to live, took this being into Mordor, and allowed it to become so important that these ignorant beings had bothered to record it's name, was extremely bizarre.

Still, she had not been able to translate its name and an eyebrow rose, accompanied by amusement showing in her eyes.
{A challenge.}
She always welcomed a challenge.

The Lord and Lady had requested that she have them translated already but she had not been able to as quickly as she had anticipated. She sat back into her chair and rested her head. What could these scrolls signify? They told of a mighty spirit, born into the wrong realm, where it had fought against its rightful brothers. Until its brothers were able to set it free and bring it unto its true home and enable it to fulfill its true destiny.
{Orc prophesies?}

"Absurd." She said out loud to herself. These beings were incompetent and ignorant, incapable of knowing of spirits and brotherhood. She had just begun to discern whether these were scrolls stolen from one of the other realms, possibly Rohan, some old peasant’s tale. But she heard the sound of heavy hooves on the stone courtyard. The sound was increasing quickly as the horse approached and Brenauth knew by the speed it was urgent. She quickly strode to the royal halls' entrance and arrived just as the rider dropped from his mount.

He was from the border patrol and it was obvious that he had been involved in a fight. The rider weakly, but in a determined fashion, strode to her and handed her a parchment.
"I was bid to place this into your hands, Lady Brenauth." He spoke between gasps of air.

Lord Celebron arrived and slowly walked up to her from behind.
"What news does he bring from our borders?" He asked calmly.

"It would appear, my lord, that a large party of orcs have migrated south, about 5 hundred leagues from our southern border. There have been many scouts sighted and it would seem, by their behavior and numbers, they are planning something significant." She handed her Lord the parchment as she spoke to him and walked past him. She immediately began to give orders along the way.

"Soldier, see to your wounds." She said this without looking at the carrier but instead turned to Lord Celebron.

"Can my Lord spare me to the borders?" She had an eerie feeling about the behavior of the orcs lately. She felt that it, somehow, was connected to her mental distress as of late. She would see this dealt with herself.

"Of course, Lady." He began to walk back to his halls. She immediately left for her own quarters and on the way gave orders for preparation.

"Prepare the horses and alert the Calvary; they ride for the border." She walked quickly and never stopped while speaking, Servants bowed toward her, and busily raced to complete their tasks.

She walked to her rooms and went to her wardrobe. She opened it to reveal a sword and armor; unlike any in Caras Galadhon.

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They had been riding all day and she had decided to ride on through the night toward the south border, where the scouting party had been sighted, just the day before. She felt it imperative they arrive as quickly as possible. The carrier who had brought her the parchment had told her that he had been part of the party which had ran into the orc scouting party and had told her that these orcs were very difficult to bring down.
"They had moved in elven ways; fast and powerful." He had told her that the orcs had killed three of them before the elves had been able to kill them.

She led the Calvary through the forest and allowed her horse to set the pace. It walked carefully over the fallen limbs and brush on the forest floor. The rest of the horses followed closely behind in single file. She looked up and noticed the full moon and let her head fall back. She knew they were still well within the borders of Lothlorien and she felt there was no reason to be on alert at this point.

She felt at home out in the forest at night and even thought she knew that the reason which had brought them out this far was not pleasant, she was glad to be out in the forest. She missed being out here when she was back in the city. Her duties hardly allowed her to accompany patrols and she was slightly excited to be going to the border. She could feel that the others were not as pleased to be going. She even felt a tinge of fear coming from one of them which none of the others would notice. The elf showed no physical evidence of it. It hadn’t occurred to her that the others would feel that way. It had been so long since she had felt fear; not since she was very young had she felt that horrible emotion and even though she no longer allowed herself to indulge in it, she tried not to forget the time in which she had no control and could not keep it at bay.

They continued on through the night and arrived at the southern border the next morning. The elves at their posts showed obvious relief to see their comrade’s arrival and with excitement began to descend from the talans to help their friends dismount and settle in. It was a marvelous encampment. Looking around, Brenauth felt sheer pride for the elves and their commander for the good work they were doing. The talans were high in the trees and very strategically placed. They faced toward the city, into the realm and she noticed while walking toward the outer side which faced toward the south, so that the leaves and treetops completely camouflaged to elves within. They could comfortably remain inside and not worry whether they were being seen by an enemy, while keeping a watchful eye for any trying to enter the realm.
"We are very proud of these newer talans." The young elven warrior proudly told Brenauth how they had went about the construction. He had been there throughout the entire process and Brenauth was finding this discussion quite pleasant.

"Who designed these talans?" Brenauth was very impressed and would like to know how this person had come to these designs.

"Why, our newly appointed March warden, my Lady." The young warrior gave her the answer with a tone as if she shouldn't have had to ask the question but should have already known the answer.

"Yes, I have heard of him." She had heard the decision made when the Lady and Lord had wished to make an overseer for the commanders at the different posts along the borders. Their had been communication problems with these commanders and the Lord and Lady did not have time to see to this. They had decided to charge this new leader with full power to do his will, in order to see to the safety of the realm. She had agreed that the decision to create such a position was needed. But she had never known or met the one they had chosen. She only required to know things of which directly applied to her own duties or decisions and nothing more. It kept her life simple and her mind clean and clear.

"I will have to meet this commander when I return to Caras Galadhon." She was about to dismiss herself and had turned to walk to her horse when the young warrior interrupted.

"There is no need to wait my Lady. He is here at this post today." He motioned in the direction of one of the talans and glance back at Brenauth in a manner asking if he should lead her to this March warden. She looked up at the talan and nodded her head to give the young elf permission to lead the way.

They climbed the ladders and once she had retained her balance on the platform, she looked around to see three other elves standing as if waiting for something. They all immediately bowed to her and she returned the gesture. There was another room joined to the one they were all in and she could hear that there was counsel being conducted within. She heard a very warm and clear, solemn voice and listened as it gave instruction to a soldier. She could see the elf that was being counseled through the doorway but could not see the March warden. With a bow and the usual salute given to a higher ranking officer, the soldier turned and left the room, walking past Brenauth, to which he bowed, and began to descend the ladder.

Immediately the young elf walked into the room the informed the commander that a counsel member from the city wished to meet with him at this time and she heard him stand form his bench and bid the elf to bring her inside.

She entered and once she was well inside the room she turned to find that she knew this March warden quite well. She froze and without revealing any expression, of which she had perfected over the centuries, and she silently appraised this warrior.

He stood tall and straight; taller then any elf she had encountered in the realm. He stood proud and it reminded her of the elves of her true home. He had the demeanor of the eldar ones and it took her slightly by surprise to see one in this day and age wearing these characteristics. His long silver hair braided and twisted in a manner marking his high stature in the realm. His armor bearing the weight of many insignia revealing his rank and standing. His perfect features bore no expression and this told her absolutely nothing of his thoughts which also was rare since no elf in the realm had been able to completely hide their intentions from her. She had hardly been able to recognize him and after a few short moments of silence, and the surprise of finding that this elf, whom she had witnessed so intimately, was indeed the March warden of Lothlorien, she began to place everything together.

He was quite impressive and she considered that this was not the same weakened elf she had witnessed that day. This was a very capable warrior; capable of winning any elf maiden he wished. And yet there was no trace of that elf standing in front of her. What she had witnessed that day was not this maethor (male warrior). He possessed strength and she had felt it the moment she had entered the room. His features were perfect and he held his head high and yet he had a humble ore and this served only to impress her more. It was a rare quality in one so strong to behave so meek.
{Powerful.}
It would seem that this was the very thought that always entered her mind in this elf's presence; power.

But she would not forget that day and his behavior. She told herself that it was indecent and she would not be seduced by what she had witnessed that day. She gathered her thoughts and quickly recovered from this minor setback.

"Mae tollen, Lady Brenauth. It is an honor." His voice was completely calm and he showed no surprise or the slightest nervousness to be receiving a visitor from the royal halls.

" Mae govannen, March warden." She answered his greeting with an icy coldness that he must have notice though he showed no notice of it as he walked slowly around the talan and turned toward her once more. She had been going to request to hear of the new talans but had decided better of it since finding out who this new March warden was. She would simply get to the matter at hand.

"I would hear more of the orc party from the south, if you would." She had given an order and waited for an answer. He walked to the doorway and motioned for her to follow. He began to descend the ladder and didn't have to wait long for her to follow. He led her toward the horses and motioned for her to mount. They rode out toward the border and only about 20 minutes late they came to an open marsh land where the Lothlorien trees stopped and the open land began. Not far off she could see a large pile of orc bodies burning not that she had to look. She had smelled them only 5 minutes after she had left the encampment.

He dismounted and walked to horse on which she rode. She was starting to understand why her Lord had picked this elf to bestow such a large responsibility to. During their ride to this area she had been questioning that decision due to what she had witnessed that day by the river; control being a concern. But she had decided to ignore it for now.

*Translations
Mae tollen- Welcome
Mae govannen- Greetings