Title & Chapter Number: You Saw His Eyes (A Ballad) 1/4
Author(s): - Author's Index
Fandom: Middle Earth
Rating: R
Disclaimer: LOTR character are not mine and I write only for non monetary reasons
Warnings: Some minor (het) sexual content, violence
Betas: Julie
Cast: Haldir, Orophin, Rumil, other character's I have created
Timeline: Sometime before Helms Deep
Spoilers: It's long but lots of Haldir
Summary: Haldir and his brothers find their hands full when they come to the aid of a small keep. Haldir will find out that Galadriel's premonition that he had some changes coming in his life happen quicker than he expects, and finds the results as challenging as anything he'd encountered before.
Notes: None
You Saw His Eyes (a ballad)
When first I saw you
I saw beauty
And I blinded my eyes
For fear that I should weepWhen first that I heard you
I heard sweetness
And I turned away
For fear of my weaknessI blinded my eyes
My face I turned away
I hardened my heart
For fear of my ruin~*~*~*~
Geillis stood on the outer wall, the sun setting behind her while Connor, her father’s captain of their guard, squinted to see in the distance.
“Looks like there are two, maybe three, and in a hurry,” Connor grunted as he leaned over the wooden palisade surrounding their keep. The small castle and village enclosed by the walls sat on a rocky promontory, a weather beaten hill carved of granite. The dull brown of the grassy plain before them seemed to swallow the oncoming travelers. Geillis squinted, but could see clearly that there were three, one being carried.
“There are three, one is wounded,” she said. “They look like elves.”
Connor frowned, the corners of his mouth deepening in a grimace of distaste and eyed her suspiciously.
Geillis caught his expression and gave him an indifferent shrug. “The sun is shining on their hair. No humans have hair that shade of color. Come, we will ride out to meet them.”
Connor grasped her arm. “Your father wouldn’t like it. You know how he feels about elves.”
Geillis frowned, withdrawing her arm from his tight clasp. “One is wounded,” she stated firmly. “They would not be approaching unless circumstances were dire. I’ll not leave them out on the plain. My father is not here and I will take responsibility for my decision.” She turned, hurrying down the wooden stair, calling for her horse. Connor followed quickly but muttering all the while with aggravation. He leaped down the stairs, in an effort to catch up but Geillis was nearly mounted when he reached her.
She leaped onto her horse, turning the roan around in a circle as she waited for Connor and another of her men to mount. She shouted for the gates to be opened and urged her horse into a canter, her black hair flying out behind her. They rode, the men a few steps behind her until they surrounded the elves. The two paused, laying the wounded elf on the ground. They did not reach for their weapons, but stood wary as the horses pranced around them.
“Who are you and why have you come onto the lands of Lord Aidan?” Geillis questioned them as she leaned over the neck of her horse. The two elves looked at each other for a moment, then one turned toward her. He was very tall, and the sun set his silvery blond hair on fire as she looked at him. His gray eyes were cool as he returned her stare. His long hair was pulled back off his forehead in an intricate braid and the sides also were woven and hung behind his ears. A style that was familiar to Geillis for she wore her own in a similar manner. The elf’s dark brows rose in question as he bowed slightly.
“I am Haldir, of Lothlórien. We were ambushed in the gully a few leagues back. My brother Rúmil was wounded. My brother Orophin and I were outnumbered and found it necessary to flee. We have come to ask for aid.” His gaze was aloof as he looked up at her and she frowned suspiciously.
“I did not think Elves allowed themselves to be caught unaware,” she responded impudently and then bit her lip at the elf’s expression.
Haldir’s face became stony, his grey eyes glinting with suppressed anger. “Even elves cannot see what lies behind rock. And we don’t carry a hundred arrows.”
Geillis pushed away her remorse and frowned. The elf’s eyes narrowed as he looked up at her, an icy glitter. Even though she sat above him on her horse and looked down upon him, she still felt the arrogance of that stare. “I am sorry, but times are difficult now. Come, you must have Connor take the wounded elf. The two of you can ride back to the keep with us.”
Haldir hesitated for a moment, and then turned to lift Rúmil to Connor, laying him gently over the captain’s lap. He moved toward Geillis to grip her horse’s bridle for a moment.
“Thank you. May I ask to whom I speak?”
Geillis’s eyes widened in consternation and she sat up straight. “ I am sorry. I am Geillis and my father is Lord Aidan. He is off hunting a patrol of Orcs with half our men. Come,” she said reaching out her hand to Haldir. “If you were ambushed by Orcs, then I am sure it is probably the same Orcs he was following. If so, then they will be back, and my father before them I hope.”
Haldir took her hand, leaping effortlessly onto the horse behind her while the other elf did the same with her guard. She wheeled the roan and with a leap sent it galloping back to the keep. Geillis shivered as the elf grasped her hips, his fingers digging in lightly as he held on, and she flushed as sudden warmth seeped through her from where he touched her. They flew into the keep and Haldir slid off the horse before they had even come to a stop.
“Connor, get everyone out on the walls. Maire!” she called to a young woman who hurried out from the keep. “My basket! Connor, call me when you need me!”
Haldir gathered an unconscious Rúmil in his arms and she led them into the keep. They laid him gently on a wooden table and Geillis gently felt the elf’s arm, noting it was still bleeding and twisted, and also that the side of his tunic was sticky with blood.
“His arm is broken. I could splint it, but I am sure you can heal that.” She reached for a small basket the girl Maire brought, sorting through a variety of phials and leather pouches. Pulling one from the basket, she opened it and sprinkled a small amount into her hand. She showed it to Haldir. “This will help the bleeding on his side. Do you think the blade was poisoned?”
Haldir shook his head as she sponged the blood away from Rúmil’s side. The other elf leaned near watching both Geillis and Haldir closely. “No, I put Rúmil to sleep until we could find time to heal him, but I could not wait much longer.” Haldir moved beside Geillis. “He will wake, but will need some time to heal. I can repair the arm, and your herbs will help as well,” the elf said as his fingers gently pressed the arm into place. Haldir murmured softly under his breath, and had healed the wound in his side by the time that the door to the keep burst open.
“Orcs!” Connor shouted. “I need you on the tower now, Geillis!” He ran back outside as Geillis spun to face him.
“Aye, I am there!” she called back, grabbing her bow from a nearby corner. She motioned to Maire and pointed at the sleeping elf. “If he wakes, keep the elf on the table even if you have to tie him there!” She hurried to a stone stair that ran along the outer wall of the keep and proceeded to run up the steep steps quickly.
Haldir grinned at the girl, who stared at Rúmil with some trepidation.
“Tie him to the table, he might like that,” remarked Orophin to Haldir softly, laughing as they hurried behind Geillis up the stairs. They reached the top and above them a trap door was fitted into the ceiling. Geillis was just pushing it open with a long pole. She frowned and turned to Haldir, complaining. “The children are always playing with the ladder and had two nearly fall, so I took it away. You’ll have to give me a lift up.”
Haldir nodded, and she placed a foot on his hands so he could toss her up through the opening. She was lifted quickly and rolled to her feet with a grunt. She glanced up as the elves pulled themselves up through the opening with feline grace, their cloaks hardly moving with the effort.
“Damn elves move like cats,” she muttered, and saw them grin. Standing on the parapet of the tower, she pulled her bow from behind her, ducking as an arrow whistled narrowly past her head.
She aimed at one of the Orcs below. “That one has too good an aim,” she declared and loosed the arrow. It hit the Orc, sprawling him on his back as the elves followed suit. They shifted as the hoard of Orcs swarmed around the palisade. The tower, which sat directly in the center of the keep, allowed them full view of all the walls.
Connor was in front below them. Turning to follow the curving line of the walls, she swore as the walls shuddered and boards flew apart, and the Orcs behind it pushed their way through.
“The wall is breached!” she shouted, turning to Orophin. “Can you stay here?” she asked, looking toward Haldir, who translated her question into Elvish.
Orophin nodded, and she pulled off her quiver, handing it to him. “You might need these.”
She hurried back to the trap door and leaped down through the opening. Haldir followed and they ran out of the keep toward where the Orcs had breached the wall.
Geillis pulled her sword from her back, noting for an instant that the elf stared at it before pulling his own from its sheath. They reached the Orcs advancing toward them with many of her guards. Geillis swung her sword toward the nearest creature, snarling angrily as she hacked at him. The Orc staggered in both surprise and pain, and then fell to the ground as she stabbed him again.
The elf moved ahead of her, and she watched in amazement as Haldir’s sword cut a swath through the Orc. She whirled as another tried to stab her from behind, leaning away from his swing as he tried to cut off her head. The sword grazed her cheek as she twisted, falling to land hard on the ground behind her. The Orc loomed over her snarling as he brought the heavy scimitar down. She rolled away just in time, and the sword smashed into the dirt. She leaped to her feet, only to see the Orc stagger back, dropping to his knees as an arrow protruded from his chest. She glanced quickly over her shoulder at the tower above her, and smiled as Orophin waved back with a grin.
She brushed the blood from her cheek and looked around as the Orcs began to retreat. She sheathed her sword and ran to kneel beside one of her men who lay on the ground. “Too few,” she whispered painfully. “We had too few.” Closing his glazed eyes, she bowed her head in sorrow.
Haldir watched as she knelt near each fallen man, looking for injuries, calling commands to those who followed her. Then she stood, and strode back into the keep.
Rúmil was sitting on a bench next to the table, his face still gray, as a frightened Maire stood over him with a large heavy fry pan. Rúmil looked up as they entered, his blue eyes dark with irritation. “I fear the Orcs had better treatment than I here in this keep,” he groused to Haldir in elvish. “This young child threatens to bash my head in if I so much as move a muscle,” he continued as both Maire and Geillis listened, unable to understand what he said.
“Perhaps you would have liked it better if she had done as the lady told her and tied you to the table.” Orophin quipped and grinned as Rúmil looked at the young girl appraisingly. Maire stared back, certainly able to understand his expression and she flushed, her cheeks growing quite pink. When Geillis approached the table, she turned and fled.
Geillis frowned at Maire’s retreating back. She stared at Rúmil with a stern glare, her dark brown eyes glittering with disapproval and Rúmil returned her gaze with an apologetic smile. Orophin nudged his brother as Haldir moved closer to Geillis.
She flinched as Haldir stepped in front of her. “Your cut needs to be healed,” he said, reaching out to touch her cheek.
Geillis leaned back quickly to avoid the elf’s hand, about to refuse when Orophin spoke quietly. She did not understand his words but his voice was melodious, yet insistent and they halted her rejection as she stared at him. “What did he say?” she asked Haldir who turned to his brother with a faint smile.
“Orophin says you must let Haldir heal the wound or it will scar terribly.” Rúmil looked up at her from the bench, his face solemn, but his eyes twinkled merrily. Geillis glowered, certain that elf had said more than that.
Haldir stepped closer, his expression challenging her. “Do you have the courage?” he murmured as she stared back up at him. His gray eyes glittered, impelling her to accept and she wondered if he had been aware of her reaction to him on the horse earlier. Geillis gritted her teeth, and nodded imperceptibly.
Suppressing a grin, Haldir grasped her chin in one hand while laying his fingers gently over her cheek. She stared into his eyes as he looked down at her, refusing to drop his gaze as he murmured softly in his language. She felt a tingle sweep out from his fingers, flooding in an increasing tide of warmth that swept through her small frame making her tremble slightly. His face was impassive except for his eyes as he looked at her. The grey orbs glinted with amusement as he watched, then they narrowed, hooding his expression, but she saw the flicker of something far different before he hid it.
She started as Connor strode up behind her. Haldir released her, his expression impassive once again.
“Geillis, are you hurt?” Connor asked, staring distrustfully at Haldir as he stepped back.
“I am well, Connor,” she replied, trying to ignore the flush of warmth that still permeated her body. She turned around to face the Captain as he stood for a moment longer, to see his expression was angry and skeptical. Connor and Haldir stared at each other for several moments before Geillis pushed between them.
“Connor? Geillis asked, gripping the man’s tunic to drag his attention from the elf.
“Your father approaches,” Connor growled, and with a last look at Haldir, spun on his heel and walked away.
“You have made no friend there, my brother,” Rúmil whispered to Haldir as he stood watching the human. “Best you watch your back with that one.” Geillis, hearing him gave the elves a weak smile and followed Connor outside. *~*
Geillis hurried to the wall, taking the steps two at a time. She stopped as Connor grabbed her arm, spinning her to face him.
“Have you gone mad?” He stared at her angrily. “Your father will not approve of this.”
Geillis met the captain’s fierce stare with her own. “I will deal with my father when he gets here, Connor. You can not tell me how to behave.” She wrenched her arm free of his grasp and spun to stare out at the plain before them.
Aidan and his men rode a few leagues distant. Geillis ran back down the steps and into the stable. Moments later, as Haldir and his brothers stepped out from the keep, she rode out of the stable, barely allowing the men enough time to open the gates before she was through.
Haldir stepped onto the wall, a few feet from Connor, who continued to bristle with anger. Did the elf realize it? He clenched his teeth, biting back words.
“Why do you distrust me?” Haldir asked.
Connor turned toward him, his face flushed. “Tis not only I, elf. The Lady Geillis has forgotten herself to allow you so near. The Lord will make things right.”
Haldir’s chin rose slightly as they stared at one another. His grey eyes were icy and he gripped his sword, but revealed no other emotion. “We have done nothing to earn this distrust. Did we not aid you when the Orcs attacked?”
Connor’s lip curled with a sneer. “They would not have come except for you.”
Haldir’s eyes glinted dangerously, as Rúmil and Orophin approached from behind. “I do not think the Orcs waited in the gully for three elves to happen by. More likely it was your men for whom they waited.”
Connor did not deny the logic of this and he turned back to the wall. Geillis had reached her father and they now rode side by side. *~*
“What have you done, daughter, that you need to ride to greet me?” Lord Aidan looked at his daughter, noting the flushed face. “Do not tell me you and Connor have had words again,” he said and sighed, shaking his head.
“Not in the way you think, Father.” Geillis brushed back her hair as the breeze blew the locks into her face.
Lord Aidan squinted at the keep. “It may be far yet, but it looks as if there are strangers who stand on our walls.”
“Aye,” Geillis agreed. “We have visitors at the keep, Father. I allowed them inside for one was wounded and I felt we must aid them.” Geillis glanced at her father from the corner of her eye.
Aidan leaned forward in his saddle, resting his arm on the pommel. “There is nothing wrong with that, if you felt they were harmless enough. I trust your judgment, Geillis.” He glanced at his daughter with a smile. “We are not so hard-hearted that we would leave an injured man on the plain to die.” Lord Aidan straightened as he noted the color flood into her face, and frowned, waiting for her to respond.
Geillis bit her lip and then met her father’s gaze firmly. “They are elves, Father.”
Lord Aidan stared at her for a long moment, an expression of utter sadness crossing his face before he looked away. The silence had become oppressive when he finally spoke. “You know how I feel about elves,” he asserted.
Geillis looked at her father imploringly. “I could not leave them there. They were ambushed by Orcs in the gully, and one was wounded.”
Lord Aidan sighed in frustration, raking a hand over his face. “I suppose you could not. Elves will not seek aid from humans unless the circumstances are dire indeed.” He slowed his horse to a slower gait, motioning for his men to continue riding into the keep. They had neared the walls and he stared at Geillis, but his eyes were distant, focused on some far-off memory. Aidan shook his head and his expression saddened. “You are so like your mother.”
Geillis’s face paled as sudden fury engulfed her. “I am not like her at all!”
Lord Aidan’s eyes widened at her outburst, and he reined in his horse, leaning toward her with an unyielding glare. “You are the spitting image of her, but for your brown eyes, which I suppose you get from your real father.” Aidan sat back with a frown as Geillis shook her head in denial.
“I may look like her, but I am not my mother.” She spat out the words as she attempted to urge her horse away.
Lord Aidan grabbed the horse’s bridle, forcing her to remain near him. “You are stubborn and strong willed, exactly like she was,” he argued angrily. “Will you follow in her footsteps and fall under the spell of the elves as well?” he demanded suddenly.
Geillis stared back at him defiantly. They had stopped a few feet from the wall, and the men above looked down at them curiously.
Lord Aidan took a deep breath as Geillis responded unhappily. “You are the only father I have known, and I love you as such. Do not compare me to my mother.”
Lord Aidan bowed his head in remorse. “I will not speak of it further. Let us go into the keep, that I may greet these guests you have invited into our lives.” He gathered the reins and with a gentle kick, urged his horse forward and they rode into the keep in silence. *~* Haldir stood waiting on the wide steps of the castle, his brothers a step behind him. He watched as the two humans rode into the keep, sensing the anger both tried to conceal. Lord Aidan rode to the steps, dismounting gracefully and handed the reins to a servant. He turned toward Haldir, flipping his cloak back over his shoulders, his hand resting on his sword in a wordless expression of distrust. Aidan stared at him with a flash of recognition and then reached out a hand in welcome.
Haldir nodded in greeting, grasping the lord’s hand in a firm grip. “I bear greetings from Lord Celeborn and the Lady of the Galadhrim,” he said as Lord Aidan stepped up to the same level as he. They looked each other squarely, and Haldir kept his expression neutral as he waited for Lord Aidan to speak.
“It is Haldir, is it not?” Lord Aidan asked, as he seemed to assess Haldir. “It was many a year since you came here last, but a name I do not forget, or a stare as direct as yours.”
Haldir bowed his head, acknowledging the Lord’s excellent memory. “Your memory serves you well, my lord. I apologize if my gaze offends you.”
Lord Aidan’s lips curved in amusement. “Nay. I know you to be direct and forthright. I can appreciate that in a man or an elf. Come inside that we may speak more of your journey. My daughter tells me you were ambushed.”
They walked inside the keep and Lord Aidan settled into a chair near the fire with a grateful sigh. Grasping the tankard he was given, he eyed the girl as she hurried away, and then turned back to Haldir, who sat in the chair opposite him. “I fear the Orcs who attacked you were probably waiting for me, but fate choose you instead. Geillis said one of you were injured?”
Haldir nodded. “My brother Rúmil. We can heal most wounds, as you must know. But only if time permits. The Orcs were hard on our trail and I dared not take even the barest moment of time to stop. I knew your keep was not far and hoped that you would give us aid.”
Lord Aidan leaned back into his chair, rubbing his chin as he stared at Haldir. “And so Geillis has. The Orcs could not have been far behind.”
Again Haldir nodded. “They approached only a few moments after we had reached the keep.” He lifted a dark brow, as he remembered the battle. “The Lady Geillis is very proficient with her weapons.”
Lord Aidan took a long drink and waved the tankard at Haldir. “Aye, she has been taught well. I have no sons. She is all I have.” He coughed suddenly and turned away for a moment as Haldir watched him curiously. “She ranks among my best warriors,” he continued with obvious pride. “She has an unusual skill for a woman, but then she has never been like most women.”
Haldir and Lord Aidan both turned as the object of their conversation strode into the room, surrounded by several small children who clung to the ends of her tunic. She was laughing, her face flushed with color as she knelt and pulled one into her arms. She regarded the child with mock severity as she waggled a finger under his nose. She spoke to him softly while he stood before her, sniffling but apparently trying to be brave. Geillis smiled and the child laughed and hugged her, then ran from the room followed by the other children.
Geillis rose to stand beside Lord Aidan’s chair. He patted her hand. A moment later Connor strode in, and Aidan watched Haldir as his eyes narrowed. There was bad blood there. Connor had better be watchful, for he had no doubt if things were to come to a head his captain would be the loser.
“The walls are secure, my lord,” Connor said as Lord Aidan leaned forward.
“Have all the men stand ready. If you’ve been attacked by the Orcs, I have a feeling they will be back. We saw no sight of them so they must have retreated through the washes and gullies on the border.” He looked from Connor to the elf across from him, noting the palatable tension between them. He was going to have to speak to Connor.
Haldir rose. “If you will excuse me, my lord, then we must be on our way.”
Lord Aidan frowned and waved his hand. “No, please stay the night. It is not wise to leave past dark. I would like to speak further on what you have seen on your travels.”
Haldir met the lord’s gaze and nodded. “As you wish. But my brothers and I will give you leave to eat for you must be hungry. We do not need anything and will help stand watch. Call for me when you like.” He bowed, and, stepping around Connor who stared at him balefully, strode from the room.
“I do not like that elf,” Connor growled as soon as Haldir and his brothers had stepped outside. Geillis’s eyes narrowed as Lord Aidan looked at them both.
“Like or distrust? Or both, Connor?” he asked. “It seems you two are of different opinions when it comes to these elves.”
“I fear the elves have bewitched the Lady Geillis,” Connor replied sourly as he stared at Geillis fiercely. “I told her they should not have been allowed inside.”
Geillis snorted derisively. “And we probably would be all dead, save for the elves’ aid during the attack by the Orcs.”
“We would not have been attacked were it not for the elves,” Connor sneered back.
Lord Aidan held up his hands in frustration. “Stop this you two. You sound like brother and sister the way you fight. Connor, you know perfectly well the Orcs had been lurking near for some days. It was only a matter of time before they attacked. And you, Geillis, how come you to have this mark upon your face? I noticed it when you rode to greet me.”
Geillis paled as she touched the area of her cut. Only a dark pink area remained but Aidan could see that she had received some kind of wound.
Connor’s expression was furious. “ She allowed the elf to heal her. She was wounded by one of the Orcs.”
Lord Aidan sat up, his face becoming waxy in the firelight. “You let him touch you?”
Geillis’s chin rose in defiance. “It was only a small scratch, but they said it would scar. I did not think it would cause any harm.”
“Geillis.” Aidan covered his eyes as dismay and fear swept through him. When he finally spoke it was as if they were not there. “She told me. She told me this would happen, but I did not believe her. What now must I believe?” He sighed sadly as he pushed away the despairing memory.
“Who told you, and of what?” Geillis asked as she knelt next to his chair. “My mother?”
Lord Aidan shook his head, waving off Connor. “Nay, it was the seer.”
Geillis laughed crossly. “The seer! That charlatan?”
Lord Aidan stiffened, and glared at his daughter. Geillis shrank back as he pointed a shaking finger toward her. “She was my wife after your mother, and you will not say naught about her,” he snarled, gripping the arm of his chair as the haunting pain flooded through him. He stood up abruptly and turned to Geillis as she rose cautiously.
“I only say that she was not with us long enough for her to know anything about me.” Geillis shot back, her own anger clouding her face as she met Aidan’s glare fiercely.
Aidan refused to admire his daughter’s spirit, reflecting instead on the woman who’d been his wife for too short a time. “She may not have been with me long, but she held my heart. It is only because of her that I did not send you away.”
Geillis’s face went white and she stared at him with eyes filled with pain. “You would have sent me away?” she whispered anxiously as he turned away from her.
“Tell me what he did to you,” Lord Aidan growled instead.
“He only touched my cheek that was all. It was but a moment.”
Lord Aidan glanced at her over his shoulder, his brows furrowed as he gazed at her impassively. “You did not feel… anything else?”
He could see Geillis gritting her teeth, and he knew she was attempting to forget what the elf must have done. But he knew what she’d felt, for he had seen it once before. She bit her lip and reached out, but he closed his eyes, turning away once more. “You do not have to say anything. Your eyes tell me what you will not. Like your mother you have begun.”
Aidan glanced over his shoulder to see Geillis tremble and clench her fists. She turned away, striding out of the room with a loud slam of the door. *~* Haldir turned away from the palisade when he heard the door of the keep slam. Geillis ran quickly down the steps to stride angrily across the courtyard. Haldir nodded to his brothers and quickly followed Geillis as she slipped behind the stable. Orophin and Rúmil turned toward each other.
“It is as he thought then, the Lady Geillis,” Rúmil stated as he leaned on the rough wood, staring thoughtfully out over the plain.
Orophin turned, leaning back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “She has abilities that most human women do not have. But our brother has not fully decided, I think. His suspicions may be true, but how will we know for certain?” Orophin looked over to Rúmil, a sudden grin creasing his face. “Remember our last journey here? The young woman must have been only ten in human years, but she stared at Haldir every moment we were here. A very disconcerting gaze for one so young.”
Rúmil chuckled. “Aye, even then I think she was able to prick our brother’s cloak of indifference. In the few short years since, I think he has thought of her often, wondering if she could possibly be related.”
Orophin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Only Elrond will be able to say for sure, but how will we get them to meet?”
Rúmil glanced again at the plain, as a distant sound caught his attention. “I fear we may have to wait for that moment. The Orcs are returning.” *~*
Haldir slipped into the shadows after Geillis as she stomped furiously to door of the stable. She yanked it open and strode inside. Haldir slid in after her just as the door began to close. He grinned at her display of temper, and leaned back against the door as she moved across the dimly lit interior to her horse, and laid her forehead against the roan’s nose as it whinnied in greeting.
“You do not seem to be happy with your father’s return,” he said, and watched her start and spin around.
“Do you always sneak up on people?” she gasped, sliding the knife she held back into its sheath at her side.
Haldir smiled and straightened, crossing the small room to stand near her. He turned toward the horse as it whickered to him, gently caressing its ears. “Why are you so angry? Your father did not seem too displeased with our being here. He is not, is he?”
Geillis looked away nervously. Haldir’s eyes narrowed as she rubbed the horse. She glanced at him and the expression was wary. Was she concerned for her safety? He thought not and held back the smile that curved the corners of his lips. Geillis was not afraid of him. In fact, once she was willing to admit it to herself, it was all that she could do not to look at him. Look at the shining silvery hair, and feel the directness of his gaze that sent wild thoughts and emotions flooding over her the longer he was near. She took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the sight of his lips. Lips that she wished would…. No! She could not think of that! She whirled, forcing away the emotions his nearness was creating within her.
“He is angry with me, not you,” she admitted awkwardly. “I cannot explain to you why.” She could feel Haldir’s gaze on her face, did he see emotions that she could not control, and was he aware of his effect on her? He frowned. “I fear that perhaps we have brought up old painful memories.”
Geillis jerked her head in surprise. “And what would you know of that?”
Haldir reached out and gently grasped her shoulders. “I am only guessing, Geillis. But Connor and now your father seem to harbor some distrust of my race. I can only assume some misfortune has been brought on you by someone of my kind.”
Geillis looked away so he could not see the pain that must surely be evident in her eyes, but was unable to break the grip he had on her shoulders. “It is not for me to tell you. Only know that it has hardened my father’s heart toward all elves.”
Haldir gripped her chin, turning her to face him. He stared at her with compassion for a moment. “I was here once before, many years ago, and you were but a child.” He seemed to remember it fondly, for he smiled. “But you were a child with an iron will, I think, for you gazed at me with large brown eyes that reminded me of another.”
Geillis stepped back to free herself from his clasp. He released her and she folded her arms over her chest and gazed at him as she remembered the first time she had seen him, or any elf. “I had never seen an elf before. You were … interesting … to look upon.” She reached back to caress her horse, using the action to hide her gaze again. “I…” She froze as a loud commotion grew outside. At once she brushed past Haldir and threw open the stable door. Torches had been lit as the day faded into night. The keep’s soldiers were scrambling, heading once again for the walls.
She ran from the stable, Haldir only a step behind, reaching the steps of the hall when Lord Aidan hurried from inside. “On the tower, Geillis, you’ll be safest there. The Orcs have returned.”
Geillis swept up the steps and then paused as Haldir turned to his brothers, who arrived from the palisade walls. Haldir gripped Rúmil’s shoulder. “How far?”
“The Orcs are but a league back. We have only a few minutes,” the elf replied.
“How many?” Lord Aidan asked as he buckled his sword to his side.
Rúmil grimaced. “It looks to be over a thousand, maybe more. They have brought reinforcements.” Orophin nodded agreement, his face grim.
Lord Aidan groaned. “So many. It is not good. Geillis, to the tower, we have need of your talents.” He turned to Haldir. “I ask for your aid once again, your skills as bowmen may yet save us.” Geillis disappeared inside.
Haldir nodded as he motioned for his brothers to follow and once again they raced up into the keep.
Geillis had just reached the top of the stairs, and flipped open the door to the roof, when Haldir and his brothers caught up. She had no warning when Orophin grasped her waist, and Haldir brushed past her, leaping up and pulling himself through the opening. As soon as he was through Orophin lifted her up quickly, throwing into Haldir’s arms, and then he and Rúmil both were up, pulling out their bows with graceful and unhurried movements. She caught her breath, as Haldir set her on her feet.
“I could have gone first. You did not need to pull me back,” she said irritably as she pulled her bow from her back.
Haldir gripped her shoulder. “I only wanted to make sure I was the first one up, in case the Orcs were nearer than we thought. Last time you were near hit when you stood up through the door.”
Geillis glared at him in annoyance. “It was not even close.”
Haldir bent down to pick up several long clumps of black hair that lay next to her feet. She stared at the stands and reached for her hair, feeling for the jagged ends that revealed how close indeed that arrow had come.
Orophin murmured something to Haldir and he turned away, giving Geillis a moment to stare at the three as they spoke quietly. They were all very similar in height, Haldir being the most solidly built. Orophin was slightly thinner, and Rúmil more so yet, his face from the side more angular than the other two. Their hair was the same silvery blonde, and their cloaks and quivers all were identical. Haldir’s sword peeked out from his side; the other two did not carry one. She turned away as Haldir looked back at her, to lean over the edge of the tower to peer at the men swarming over the walls below.
The Orcs were nearing and she could see their filthy armor and hear their roars as they marched closer to their walls. To her surprise they halted below the walls, just out of bow range. One large Orc stepped forward, long greasy hair hung below his helmet as he brandished his sword.
“You surrender to Uruk-Hai!” the Orc roared in his guttural common tongue. “You give us elves, and we may let you live!” The other Orcs roared with laughter, clanging their swords on their shields.
Lord Aidan stepped to the edge of the walls below her.
“We do not surrender to the likes of you. The elves have gone,” he shouted back. The Orcs answered with roars of disbelief and anger.
The Uruk shook his sword. “We watch, we see no elves leave! We want revenge for the Orcs they kill, or you all die.”
Lord Aidan shook his fist as the Orcs roared again, the smoke from the torches fogging the air around him. “We will not give them up, and you will be the first to die!”
At that Rúmil and Orophin both let loose their arrows, and although a human bow would not have reached them, the elven arrows did, finding their mark with ease. The Uruk screamed with rage and pain as he fell back against the others, and they swarmed over him toward the walls.
Geillis took a deep breath and pulled back her bow, squinting down the length of the arrow, to sight in the Orcs before they disappeared below the walls. It flew straight and true and another Orc lay flat on his back as the others trampled over him. Haldir stood on her left, the motion of him pulling the arrows from his quiver to pulling back the bow only a mere second as they were loosed, the string reverberating only a moment before another arrow took its place. His eyes scanned the hoard below him, looking for an easy mark as he shot. Glancing out of the corner of her eye to the right, she could see the same motions repeated by Rúmil and Orophin, their bodies tense with controlled movements. Their graceful fingers gripped the bow as the arrow rested only seconds before being released.
Geillis turned around, surveying the length of the wall, concerned where they had breached it before. The men stood in concentration there, and seemed to be holding off the Orcs.
She loosed another volley of arrows, and then gasped as she saw the gates below her bulging with the weight of the Orcs pushing on it. It was not going to hold. Their keep was not built to withstand a thousand hate-filled Orcs, and their chances of survival were beginning to look slim.
With a loud crash the distressed door burst apart, splinters of wood flying in all directions as the Orcs broke through.
Lord Aidan cursed and called for his men. Geillis jumped back through the tower floor. Haldir tried to reach her, but she had whirled too quickly, his attention not on her but the fighting below. Hearing him shout above her, in what she was sure was a heated curse, she ran quickly down the steps. She heard the trapdoor slam and knew the elves were just behind her. She ran out the keep, pulling her sword from her scabbard, to find Orcs swarming through the broken doors of the gate.
She whirled as an Orc stepped in front of her, trying to get past him, but he stepped in her way, swinging his sword over her head as she ducked. She sprang back as the Orc fell forward, an elven arrow lodged in his throat, sent by either Orophin or Rúmil from the steps of the keep. She turned back toward the gates and saw her father fighting in the midst of the hoard of Orcs pouring through the walls. She could see Haldir, his blond hair standing out in the sea of black-faced Orcs, fighting hard as he tried to get closer to the Lord. Blocking a swing from another Orc, she tried to make her way forward, but the courtyard was becoming a wasteland of death, bodies lying everywhere. And yet the Orcs still flowed into the keep.
She looked back over her shoulder, but the two elves were gone, and she was horrified to hear screams emanating from inside the hall. She rushed toward the stairs when she heard her father shout. It seemed like time slowed, as she turned back around, torn between the screams behind her and the realization that Lord Aidan was fighting for his life. Haldir stood a few feet away from Aidan, and she could see he was struggling to get closer, the elven blade he wielded leaving a path of dead Orcs behind him. But as one went down, another surged forward to take his place.
She looked on in horror as her father was impaled; the Orc buried his sword into Lord Aidan’s chest, then yanked it back out with a savage growl. Aidan dropped to his knees, his hands over his chest as bright red blood dripped through his fingers. He fell to the ground just as Haldir finally reached him, and she screamed as the elf lowered the man to the ground. She tried to run to them, but was forced to fight another Orc, slashing at his throat with only half a mind as she whirled around him to get to her father.
Haldir bent over the fallen man, checking quickly his wound, grim with the knowledge there would be nothing he could do. Lord Aidan coughed, then reached up to clutch Haldir’s tunic.
“You must flee; this is not your place. Take her with you; you must …” He coughed as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “You must take her.” He sighed, his eyes glazing as Haldir pulled his fingers from his tunic. Looking up from where he knelt he could see Geillis trying to get closer. He stood as she rushed up, only to have Orophin grab her by the waist.
‘Noooo,” she cried as he pulled her away from Aidan. Haldir shouted at him in Elvish, and they fanned back away from the gate. Orophin dragged Geillis as she struggled to free herself, gripping her waist tightly, nearly carrying the horrified girl.
Haldir grabbed her by her arms, shaking her violently. “You must come with me! There is no chance here!” he shouted as she twisted in his grasp. “Even Connor has been slain!” He shouted motioned toward the steps of the keep where Connor lay.
Geillis struggled in his iron grip, kicking him as he held her. He cursed, flipping her back against his chest, and placed his hands over her eyes, speaking the elvish spell quickly. When she fell limp against him, he gently flipped her over his shoulder. He followed Rúmil and Orophin into the shadows of the hall, where they could disappear from sight.
“We have to get out of the courtyard,” Haldir growled softly.
All three stepped back further into the shadows as several Orcs stormed past them. Rúmil nodded and pulled a length of rope from his hip. “I’ll go over the wall over there, it’s in the shadows of the keep. If we hurry we may not be seen.” He ran quickly to the wall, and in moments had scaled it to the rampart on the top. Orophin followed him quickly up the rope and then turned as Haldir stood below. He pulled Geillis from his shoulder, and then with a great heave, tossed her into the air where Orophin caught her easily. Seconds later Haldir was on the wall and Rúmil had dropped over the other side.
“It’s a good thing you put her to sleep,” Orophin remarked as Haldir bent over her. “But she will not be so easy to handle once she wakes.”
Haldir’s eyes glittered as he stared back over the carnage below, and when Orophin called from below, he lifted Geillis once again and, leaning over the wall, dropped her to Orophin, who grunted a little when he caught her.
“Good thing she is slim as well!” Rúmil grinned. “I would help you, dear brother, but my arm may not be strong enough as yet. And I do not think you mind so very much.”
Orophin gave Rúmil a look of mock dismay. “I dare not think anything of the sort when this lovely bundle has Haldir’s name written all over it. I fear to step where he intends to tread.”
Haldir landed silently beside them as they attempted to hide grins. “What is so funny that you two whisper and laugh under your breath? This no time for humor.”
Looking innocent, they shrugged their shoulders, but snickered as Haldir bent back over the girl. Haldir once again picked her up and they slipped along the edges of the shadows, pulling up the hoods of their elven cloaks and blending into the darkness. They ran silently, the noise and screams of the battle growing fainter as they fled. The sky lit up as fire raced through the keep and they hurried through the open plain below the keep, keeping to the shadows and shallow gullies to safety.
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