Mistress of the Fellowship (LOTR)

* 23 * Stranger

Everything around Ryker was not right. Waking up in a soft bed within hard walls told her she had been hurt but she did not feel the presence of elves.

Her eyes adjusted and she discovered she was in walls of stone. The bed was one of great artistry with purple satin drapes with glittering silver patterns of great elegance. The blankets covering her were both silk and velvet with the same graceful colors, colors Ryker would admit to being her favorite.

The stones on the floor were smooth and polished and cold on her feet as she rose. She was surprised to discover she was wearing a black silk gown which felt too delicate against her rough skin.

A mirror stood there and when she looked she did not recognized the woman who looked back at her. The woman had tanned skin which looked smooth and soft, her hair was long with natural waves looking like silk as it fell down her back all the way to her tailbone. Her face had high cheekbones and eyes fierce but with an apparent softness in them with lips the color of a cherries. Had she always had red lips? Was her hair really that long? Was she in fact this elegant woman she saw in the mirror?

"I bet you never thought you would see this woman." A voice said behind her causing her to jerk around and take a defensive stance.

The man she saw was tall and there seemed to be something familiar about him.

He seemed to emerge from the shadows and had a wicked grin on his lips for a moment as his eyes grazed over her making he feel violated in the thin silk.

"You have nothing to fear here milady." He said in a cunning tongue.

He was lean, tall, dark hair, dark eyes, and there was no denying that he was rather attractive for a man but something about him seemed elvish.

It was quiet clear he was arrogant, especially as he sat himself down and looked at her and that is when she discovered who he resembled. "Legolas?" she gasped under her breath making the man smile an amused smile that Ryker found to be... alluring? She knew she should be cautious but his smile was something that made her want to smile.

"The Alexzandron instinct is something that will forever amaze me. It is truly a blessing you are still alive to carry on the great warrior bloodline."

Ryker stared at him, not letting down her guard, and began to walk in front of him in attempt to claim the dominate role.

"Blessing you say? It is a blessing to lose one's family? Blessed be thou whom carries a dead people's blood? Blessed with the knowing that when my blood is shed it will be the last blood Middle Earth will ever have claim of the Alexzandron people? Blessed to carry a great warrior's culture to an end?" She turned her back to him and looked out the window at the setting sun for a moment and felt a longing to once again be free. "You know nothing about me. You know nothing about being blessed either."

She turned and glared at him but he seemed unharmed by her words as he sat cooly in the chair watching her every move, calculating the way her body moved and she could see he was trying to interpret what it was saying.

His eyes soon looked up at her and she hoped he felt the hate she felt for him. To her surprise he did not glare back or appear to be saddened by her words which the second was a relief for she did not want sympathy. Such a weak and foolish thing and a waste of time.

He stood once again but never broke eye contact with her and she stood her ground as he came closer. She had to raise her chin a bit to look him in the eye as he stood only inches from her. So close she could feel the heat from his body but not a bit of flesh.

He then did something that for once shocked the Alexzandron girl.

"Tá vios agam níos zó faoi tú ná a dhéanann tú."

How did he know her language? And how is the world did he think he knew more than she did?

"Lies!" she spat at him and gave him a disgusted look.

He continued to speak in her language and she looked back up at him with anger in her eyes.

"The Alexzandron may live on although never will their blood be completely pure again but before I explain this allow me to bring to the surface a long lost memory you have suppressed for far too long. Allow me to reform the scene of long ago. It was midsummer's eve and the world seemed to be wide awake as the full moon bathed the thick forested realm of Lorien or rather Xandrea as the Alexzandron knew it. This evening was one of great reverence as five leaders of the Alexzandron entered the woods for a council with the Lady of the Wood. Five men walked along and were son joined by five more men and yet another group of men. Not a female was present... or so they thought for a girl with dark red hair followed silently leaving nothing but a faint scent of evening blossoms. Once the meeting was called to order there stood many men, elves, and dwarves. Some from lands far away and others from familiar lands not so far. The little girl silently scales up a tree and seems to vanish against its bark as the meeting comes to order

Lady Galadriel wastes no time sharing the prophesy. The prophesy of what was to come to middle earth. Sauron was going to return and there was to be a battle for Middle Earth once again and it would take more than elves, men, and dwarves to defeat Sauron and his armies.

Suddenly a wave of chills flooded Ryker's body but she did not break eye contact with him but something seemed to be happening in her mind. Something was unfolding.

The man went on. "The fate of middle earth lay in the hands of the most unlikely of creatures. -

"That is not right." Ryker interrupted. "The fate of middle earth lies in the HEART of the most unlikely of creatures. With the spirit of a warrior and the haunted soul of a woman she will carry the fate of Middle Earth. It is she that will decide the outcome but her choice will be the influence of all those in which come into her life. Pain, suffering, anger, torment, haunting, and more will weigh on her to the point where she will break and whence broken she shall have chosen the fate of middle earth and there will be no stopping the chaos she will unleash."

He nodded and took a step back and said, "I will leave you with this to ponder for it is much to take in but rest assured I will return and we will continue our discussion.

With that he gave her a slight bow before turning his back to her and leaving her quarters.

The bastard! How dare he turn his back on her! An Alexzandron! But her anger was quickly dissolved and she was left with the suppressed memory.

Was she in fact the mistress of the prophesy? How did he know? Why did she forget?

He was wise to leave her to her thoughts because for the first time in her life she was not sure of anything.

For the rest of the night she was haunted by the memory as she heard Galadriel's voice and words while looking out the tower window and staring at the silver stars in the dark violet sky with a smiling moon.

The biggest question though was who was this stranger?