Forget me not

Chapter 3

I smiled at Elladan and wrapped his smooth skin with a bandage, hoping that this would be fine until later. I’d treated it with some salve that I had hidden in my saddlebags and hoped that there was no poison on the blade, or if there was that it was slow acting and that it would not take effect until we were well into Lothlorien.

“Inwe,” I approached my friend, but she did not respond. I repeated her name and set my hand on her shoulder only for her to spin around, hand on the hilt of her blade. I stepped back, startled.

“I’m sorry, Merewen. I am just… rather jumpy.” She turned back and began to walk away.

“Inwe, you realize that this was no fault of yours, do you not?” She nodded after a moment’s pause, which did not convince me in the least. “You could not have known they were coming.”

She spun to face me, anger glowing in her eyes. “That is just it, Merewen! I should have been able to tell. That is what I do; I sense things about the future. I know when things will happen. It is entirely my fault. I was so wrapped up in getting to Helas that I was not aware of my surroundings. I put us all in danger, I was a fool—”

I swung my hand at her face and caught her off guard, leaving finger marks where my hand had struck. “Inwe, stop it right now! This is no fault of yours! No one is expecting you to tell us if we are about to be ambushed. Granted, it would be nice to always know, but we will not always know these things. Stop blaming yourself!”

She stared at me blankly, surprisingly able to keep the anger and frustration out of her voice as she responded. “You are right, Merewen. I was foolish to believe that I should be able to protect my friends when I am gifted with something that they are not. Forgive me, I wish to be alone with my thoughts. If something is wrong with Helas, I wish to think on times past.”

She stepped past me and found her way into the forest alone.

*****

Later, we started off again on our way through the mountains, across the high pass, and south to Lothlorien. It was cold and windy the next few days, and we were frozen to the bone, but Inwe did not seem to register the cold because she was lost in the depths of her thoughts. It was difficult to make our way there with the horses, so it took a great deal more time than it would have without, but once we reached the other side, our horses would be more useful to take us swiftly to the woods.

It would be days yet before we reached there, and I longed to return home, to Mirkwood. We passed so close to the woods of my home that I doted upon running off in the midst of the night to return home to my family, but I did not, for I knew Inwe was in need of a friend, regardless of how stubborn she was acting.

Often, Elladan approached me to travel by my side. We spoke of many things to pass the time. We had never been terribly close in Rivendell, but this was a good chance for us to acquaint ourselves with one another.

He told me a lot about his father, not the Lord Elrond I knew, the mentor and teacher with his strict rules and unbending order, but the Elrond that took his sons out when they were younger to hunt and camp in Imladris, the Elrond that taught them various languages and the ways of other peoples. I grew fond of this Elrond, though I knew I would likely never meet him, and laughed at the stories that Elladan told me.

We did not stop speaking and telling stories even when night fell. He offered to take first watch, and I, not wishing to leave him up alone with his injury, offered to spend some time with him as company.

“So, tell me of Mirkwood, milady.” He smiled at me in such a way I blushed, though I am sure he did not notice in the pitch of night.

“I told you, Lord, to call me Merewen.”

“As soon as you stop calling me 'Lord' and use my name, also.”

I smiled and agreed, “Very well, Elladan. Mirkwood is wonderful. It may not be one’s favourite place to live if one does not know it well, but I rather like it there. I miss my family, my mother mostly, though she insists everyday that I dress more like a lady and finally settle down with a worthy elf.”

He smiled, “Dress like a lady, and how does a lady dress, Merewen?”

I laughed at his obvious use of my name instead of ‘milady’. “In flowing garments of colours complimentary to her skin and eyes. She must dress in skirts and corsets, often wearing beautiful circlets made of mithril and gold. She must adorn herself with jewellery and wear her hair as is preferable to the male population.” I laughed, “Surely, one cannot see me in such garb.” As of right now, I wore a male’s tunic and a pair of leggings that fit snugly over my legs with a plain brown belt and boots too large for my feet. My hair was loose over my shoulders instead of up and adorned with ornaments to please the eye.

He laughed with me, “I think that women who try to look pleasing to the eye with too much fervour are asking for unwanted attention. I prefer the woman who is not so engrossed in her own looks that she knows how to entertain herself and others.”

I smiled at his kind words and blushed, wondering if he was insinuating anything. “Indeed, my thoughts exactly….”