Chapter Seven, Leaving Rivendell
It was three days later that the Fellowship were preparing to leave for the next day the 28th October, just after dawn. It was decided to stay a little longer in Rivendell to give Frodo more time to recover, but also to give the four Hobbits some sword lessons, so they knew the basics before they set out on their journey. They could be taught more as they went along their journey as there were enough of them to teach them.
Evelina was walking through the beautiful gardens on her way to the training yard where Lord Glorfindel, Arwen's husband was teaching the Hobbits for the last time. All of the Hobbits had taken surprisingly quickly to the lessons, but it was Merry and Pippin that surprised them all by excelling in it, Evelina and Neville weren't as surprised as the others for they reminded them of the twins who were notorious pranksters but could be serious when the time called for it. She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts as she bumped into someone sending her to the floor, it was only the person's quick reflexes that stopped her from meeting the hard ground.
"I'm so sorry." Evelina apologised. "I wasn't looking where I was going." She looked up into the person's face only to recognise that it was in fact Boromir that had stopped her fall. Evelina just about managed to stop the scowl that wanted to appear on her face and instead adopted a neutral expression. "That's quite alright. I was in fact looking for you." Boromir told her after he'd checked her over yo make sure she wasn't hurt. "I wanted to apologise myself, for what happened at the council. I do not know what happened. I have never treated a Lady the way I treated you and I am disgusted with myself. I'm sorry." Boromir said sincerely.
"That's okay." Evelina said with a small smile as she had figured out what had caused his abrupt manner at the council, if what she'd seen of his behaviour and mannerisms the last few days she'd hazardous a guess and say the Ring was behind it. "I think it may have been the Ring that caused you to act in such a way and I may be able to help you, like I helped Frodo and Bilbo yesterday." Evelina told him. After the Council had finished Frodo had introduced her and Neville to his Uncle Bilbo, they'd hit it off like a house on fire what with them exchanging stories with the elderly Hobbit.
It had been late yesterday afternoon that Frodo had come to her in a terrible state. The Ring had caused Bilbo to try and attack Frodo when he refused to let Bilbo hold the Ring. He'd come to her asking her for a way to help his dear Uncle. She ended up removing the Ring's presence from not only Bilbo's mind but also Frodo's, where it had started to take hold. It had been a long and tiring time that it had exhausted Evelina's energy and nearly all her Magical Core, for the Ring had put up a long and vicious fight.
But before she allowed Sam to fetch Aragorn, Neville and Legolas she had built shields not only around Bilbo's and Frodo's but also the other three Hobbits as well. The shields were sort of like the ones that protected her and Neville's mind but she had altered them so that they had to fight the Ring for themselves for it to truly work, otherwise they'd never know their own strength and would make them more easier targets. Neville had ended up putting the shields around Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and also Gandalf when he, Aragorn and Legolas had found her completely exhausted and close to collapse. To say they were unhappy to find her close to collapse in Bilbo's room was an understatement, she'd been forced to stay in bed for the rest of the day and not allowed to do anymore magic until this afternoon.
"How?" Boromir asked, he tried to keep his tone neutral but Evelina could detect the eagerness in his voice. "I can build shields around your mind to stop the Ring from taking full control, but you will have to fight it and repel it yourself for the shields to fully help you." Evelina replied neutrally. "I won't tire myself out as much as I did yesterday, for the Ring doesn't have full control on you, yet. I also put too much power into it yesterday when I was trying to help Bilbo. The Ring had a very tight leash on him." said Evelina, when she saw the question forming in his eyes. After a few moments Boromir nodded his head, though Evelina could see he was rather nervous through his strong facade, she smiled reassuringly at him as she told him to sit down on the grass and make himself comfy.
* * *
It was two hours later that Legolas found her. She was just leaving the Training Yard, where she'd watched the last hour of the Hobbits training after she finished helping Boromir. He was actually quite nice when the Ring wasn't influencing him. "Hello, Legolas." Evelina smiled happily at her second mate. She felt her cheeks start to heat up as her heart rate increased as he smiled at her and placed a kiss to the back of her hand. She cursed inwardly as she felt her cheeks heat up even more. They always did this whenever she was around either Aragorn and Legolas, but it was a bit better with Aragorn as she'd finally admitted- at least to herself, or so she thought- that she was in love with Aragorn. At least she didn't act like a stuttering school girl with him like she did with Legolas on occasion. "Hello ind-nîn." Legolas greeted her, smirking when he saw her cheeks turn a brighter shade of red. "How have been, on this fine Autumns day?" He asked.
"I-I'm g-good thank you Legolas." Evelina stuttered, she cleared her throat before trying again. "I helped Boromir like I did the others and watched the Hobbits train for awhile, after I'd finished. And yourself? How have you been?" Evelina asked kindly.
"I'm glad to hear." Legolas smiled at her. "You didn't exert yourself, did you?" He asked concerned, when she shook her head no he smiled and kissed her hand again, that Evelina just realised he was still holding. "That's good. I hated seeing you like that yesterday, Evelina and I know Aragorn and Neville did as well. I'm well thank you, but I was hoping you'd accompany me for a walk around the gardens?" Legolas asked hopefully.
"I'd be happy to." Evelina assured as she squeezed his much larger hand gently. Legolas smiled at her and lead her to a garden that was on the far side of Rivendell. The garden was surrounded by willow trees that ran around the edges of the garden, making it seem secluded; like a secret garden that nobody knew about. There was a stream running half way through the garden with a white stone bridge standing over the stream; that gleamed in the sunlight, all of the flowers were in bloom, which while unusual in Autumn gave the garden a lovely aroma that was carried around the garden on the wind.
"It's beautiful, Legolas." Evelina said with a happy smile on her face, she felt safe and at peace here in the garden with Legolas, it felt like she could just forget the on coming war and it was just her, Aragorn and Legolas. But she knew she couldn't get sidetracked, oh she would get closer to Aragorn and Legolas and whoever her third mate was as she was already in love with Aragorn, and she admitted to herself that after spending sometime with Legolas just the two of them or when Aragorn joined them- there was something there for Legolas. She just hoped he and Aragorn felt that same way about her as she did them.
"I'm glad you like it." Legolas said happily as he led her across to the bridge and just stood there in each other's embrace looking out over the mountains that surrounded Rivendell, much like when Aragorn had taken her to a similar garden the other day where they shared their first kiss. She hoped that in the coming days that her feelings for Legolas would replicate what she felt for Aragorn. But here in this garden, she could just relax and enjoy her time with Legolas.
* * *
It was the day they were due to leave and Evelina was making sure she had everything packed before she met up with the rest of the Fellowship. She had packed everything the night before, but Arwen had turned up at her room unexpectedly a little under an hour ago with lotions and dresses for Evelina, "You'll never know when you might need them and you can use the lotions in that amazing tent of yours." Arwen said firmly when she went to argue. Satisfied to know there wasn't anything being left behind Evelina made her way to the small courtyard that had an archway of vines, that was above the path that led out of Rivendell.
She blushed as she reached the courtyard as she realised she was the last one to arrive out of the corner of her eye she saw Arwen, who was standing to the left of Lord Elrond, mouthed 'sorry' to her, nodding her head Evelina made a beeline for the others. "Evelina!" Pippin shouted as he and the other Hobbits ran over to her, which unfortunately drew the attention of the others to her. "We thought you weren't coming." Merry exclaimed, his smile turning into a frown as he saw her try to stifle a yawn and the dark circles under her eyes.
"Are you alright, Evelina?" Sam asked concerned. "I'm fine Sam, I just didn't sleep well last night." Evelina assured them, laughing happily when the four of them hugged her all at the same time, nearly knocking her of her feet, if Neville hadn't come up behind her at the right moment. "Careful you four, you don't want to injure Eve before we even leave Rivendell." Neville chastised, but the smile on his face took the heat out of his words, though the Hobbits still apologised anyway even if Evelina did wave it off.
"Are you sure your alright, Meleth-nîn?" Aragorn asked as he softly kissed her on the lips. Before she could answer Legolas had taken her from Aragorn's arms and was checking her over himself. Evelina rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness and kissed him on the cheek, stopping him in his tracks. She smirked and giggled at him as he appeared to be in shock as he raised his right hand to softly touch his cheek. "I'm fine. Now the pair of you stop worrying, it's just nightmares." She groaned as the pair of them frowned in concern at her, she just knew they'd be watching her closely now.
Thankfully they didn't get a chance to say anything else as Lord Elrond cleared his throat gathering everyone's attention. "The Ring Bearer is setting out on a quest to Mount Doom." Lord Elrond spoke softly from where he stood before the stairs, surrounded by those who wished to see the Fellowship before they set off on their journey. "And those who travel with him know no oath or bond is laid to go further than you wish." He paused as he looked at those of the Fellowship.
"Farewell. Hold to your purpose and may the blessing of Elves, Men and all Free Folk go with you." Lord Elrond finished his speech as he raised his hands in farewell. "The Fellowship awaits the Ring Bearer." Gandalf said gravelly, from the back of the group near the archway. Neville and Evelina looked around for Frodo, wondering where he'd gone until they spotted him looking up at one of the balconies where Bilbo was stood watching them. Sighing Frodo moved to stand next to Gandalf, taking one last look at Bilbo as he walked out of the courtyard.
The Fellowship traveled in silence for quite a while as they followed Gandalf and Frodo out of Rivendell, Sam in the back leading the pony Bill, and Aragorn bringing up the rear. Evelina and Neville were walking slightly in front of them with Gimli beside them, and Pippin and Merry in front of them with Legolas and Boromir. Just as they reached a turning Neville and Evelina heard Frodo's voice drift over quietly to them on the wind. "Gandalf." Frodo called as he looked left and right. "Mordor. Gandalf. Is it Left or Right?"
"Left." Gandalf said simply as they carried on with their long and dangerous journey.
End of chap 7!
Translation:
*Elvish: ind-nîn. English: my heart.
*Elvish: Meleth-nîn. English: my love.