Chapter 1
Legolas was on his way to Rivendell, carrying a message from his father, King Thranduil of Mirkwood, to Lord Elrond. He was passing through The Gladden Fields, heading toward the Misty Mountains that would take him to Rivendell, when he saw a human form lying on the side of the road some miles ahead. It was a cold, over cast day, and even with his Elven sight, he could not tell from this distance if they were alive or not. Though the chill didn’t bother him, he knew a human wouldn’t survive in it long. As he approached, he found that the person was a naked female. She had pale skin that was starting to tinge blue, and had a mass of long, curly red hair. He hurried on toward her to find that she was alive, but unconscious. He hurried to dismount, quickly removed his Elven cloak, and carefully wrapped her in it. He rushed to find wood, and then started a fire to ward off the cold of the coming night.
Legolas delayed his journey for many days while he cared for the woman. He left her only long enough to get water and wood for fires. He fed her portions from the lembas that he had brought for the journey to Rivendell. One morning, the woman awoke as he watched over her and he discovered that she had eyes of a vibrant blue shade, which he’d only seen among the Elves. Fear seized her, but slowly receded as a sense of familiarity filled her. She found him to be extremely polite, and was delighted when he addressed her as ‘my Lady’. He introduced himself, told her of his journey, and how he had found her. He asked her who she was, and they were both surprised that she didn’t know her name, or how she came to be there. Legolas decided to take her to Rivendell with him then, for it was a time of war, and was not a place for a woman to be out unaccompanied. Maybe Gandalf and Lord Elrond can help, he thought. So, with her wrapped in his cloak, Legolas helped her mount his horse, Nieninque, a beautiful white stallion; and they continued on the journey to Rivendell. Throughout the remaining journey, the woman slipped in and out of consciousness, and was in fact unconscious when they arrived in Rivendell.
Another Elf of Rivendell, Glorfindel, spotted Legolas’ approach and sent a messenger to Lord Elrond, who was in council with Gandalf. When the messenger informed Lord Elrond of Legolas’ arrival, and said that there was a strange woman riding with him, both he and Gandalf hurried out to meet him, and were entering the courtyard when he pulled Nieninque to a halt in front of them.
“Who is this?” Lord Elrond demanded.
“Forgive my tardiness, Lord Elrond. I stopped to help the woman who was naked and alone in The Gladden Fields when I found her. She has been unconscious most of the journey, and was only briefly awake. I spoke with her, but she could not tell me her name or how she had gotten there. Though she has been unconscious, I have found no apparent illness. I stopped to care for her, because I could not leave her there in good conscience,” Legolas informed them. “I thought you might be able to help her.”
“How long has she been unconscious?” Gandalf asked as he reached up to take the woman from Legolas’ lap so that the Elf could dismount.
“At least six days straight. I found her fifteen days ago. Over that time, she was in and out of consciousness, although she only woke the one time. There hadn’t been any Orc or Goblins around, I did not see any tracks that matched her either…it were as if she wasn’t there, and then she was. I saw no tracks at all. She awoke three days after I found her, but only briefly,” Legolas answered as he jumped from Nieninque and handed the reins to a stable hand.
Gandalf grew worried, six days was a long time to be unconscious; the woman was in danger. “Come Elrond, we must get her inside. We might be able to find out who she is and where she came from later…right now, if we don’t get her inside, we may find out nothing at all. She’s in danger of dying,” Gandalf said, and hurried inside The Last Homely House carrying the unconscious woman, leaving Lord Elrond and Legolas to follow.
The Last Homely House of Lord Elrond housed many rooms, and had many open terraces and verandas. The windows were pane-less, and were instead, carved with many ornate designs. It was situated at the top of a hill that was in a deep ravine, and was surrounded by lush gardens. Gandalf led the way to the room Legolas occupied on his many visits there, and stopped to wait for Legolas and Lord Elrond to catch up.
“Ah, good, Gandalf is already here,” Lord Elrond was saying as they approached Legolas’ room. “Well,” he said matter-of-factly. “It is my opinion that since Legolas found the young woman, he should be the main one to tend to her,” he paused and watched them both for their reaction, but received none. “Good thinking, Gandalf, it was wise to come here. She will need to be close to him.” Gandalf nodded, agreeing with Elrond.
“Lord Elrond,” Legolas said. “I do not mind caring for the girl; actually I think it is a sound idea since she has already met me. I pity her for the shock she would receive when she awakens, and does not find me there. However, her condition puzzles me; I’ve never seen anything like it. When we spoke, she showed no signs of pain or illness, she was not wounded either, yet she is apparently sick. I will require your healing powers if she is to recover.” Elrond nodded to the young Prince of Mirkwood, although at nearly four thousand years old, Legolas was hardly young, except among the Elves.
“Very well, my friend,” Elrond said. “They will be at your disposal. I will do everything in my power to help the child.” He extended his arm in a sweeping fashion to point to a door diagonally across the hall from Legolas’ room. “This room should be suitable for her as long as she is with us,” he said. “I will leave you to tend to her now, I will come and see her later this evening,” and with that he turned and left Gandalf holding the woman, along with Legolas at the door.
Gandalf relinquished the woman to Legolas, and then opened the door Elrond had indicated. The room they stepped into was beautiful. Legolas had thought that Elrond had given the woman a small room like his, with just a bed, a trunk, a small table and chair and a door to the veranda. He was wrong however for the space between the doors in the hall was deceiving. The room was in fact very large, and it was made up of two levels.
The lower level was shaped like an oval and was separated from the upper level by three low steps that went all the way around the oval shape. A door on the other side of the room led out onto a wide veranda that overlooked the gardens. There also was a small table, over which hung an oval mirror that was framed in gold on the upper level. On the lower level, stood a large four-poster bed that was decorated with sheer white curtains that were laced with gold thread. These decorations also adorned the door to the veranda. Like Legolas’ room, this one also had a trunk, except in this room; it was white with gold trim instead of brown with brass trim.
Gandalf walked to the bed, pulled back the curtains and fastened them, then walked to the veranda door and opened it, walking outside. Legolas held the woman lightly in his arms as he descended quickly to the bed. He laid her down gently, and then proceeded to remove the cloak from around her, slipping her between the blankets. When he had made sure she was warm, he rose, and sliding the cloak from between her and the blankets drew the curtains about the bed, and then joined Gandalf on the veranda. The wizard was gazing out over the gardens when Legolas approached, and he sighed heavily as Legolas came up beside him and stood quietly.
“I knew someone would come,” Gandalf said in a tone barely above a whisper. “I didn’t know who it would be, whether Elf, Human, Hobbit, or Dwarf. I didn’t even know if they would be male or female. All I knew was someone would come. I asked Ilúvatar to send someone who could help us in the danger we are now facing, that was all.”
Legolas was taken by surprise at Gandalf’s confession. Then suddenly, he became angry and cynical. “You ask for help, and the Great Ilúvatar sends a naked woman who doesn’t even know who she is or how she got here? Well, isn’t that helpful?” he yelled angrily.
Gandalf sighed and looked at his friend sadly. “We must be thankful for who He has sent us, and help her as best we can. I have a feeling that she will be with us for some time. I bid you good night,” Gandalf said gently putting a hand on Legolas’ shoulder before he turned and left Legolas alone with his thoughts.
Legolas cared for the mysterious woman he found on his way to Rivendell for several days while his anger at Gandalf and Ilúvatar remained. Lord Elrond had come and gone several times, but he also seemed at a loss for what ailed the girl when none of his healing powers seemed effective. On the ninth day after they had arrived in Rivendell, the woman awoke.
Elrond, Gandalf, Legolas, and a female Elf came to see her. Elrond looked down at the woman as she lay in the bed, then over to the female Elf that had entered with them. “Arwen, you appear to be the same height and size as this woman, will you bring her something to wear?” Arwen nodded and then turned to go to her chambers. Elrond looked back down at the woman in the bed before him. “It is good to see you awake, my Lady. I am Lord El-,” he started but was interrupted by the woman. Her interruption came as a surprise to Lord Elrond, and Legolas could not believe that she dared to interrupt him.
“I know who you are my Lord,” she said quietly. “You are Lord Elrond of Rivendell.” She turned to face Legolas before continuing, “You are Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood and son of Thranduil. You are the one who found me and brought me here.” Legolas was shocked…he hadn’t told her his father’s name. Finally, she faced to the wizard. “And you are Gandalf, you are of the Istar.”
Gandalf nodded to her, then with a bemused expression, glanced at Legolas and Elrond with a knowing gleam in his crystal blue eyes. How else would the woman know so many details about them? She’d been unconscious ever since they had arrived, and he didn’t believe Sauron had heard of his visit to Saruman that had not gone as Saruman had expected. Gandalf doubted very seriously that Saruman would admit his defeat…even to Sauron. He felt the only way this woman could know of them was if Ilúvatar had truly sent her.
After the shock of her revelation wore off a few moments later, Elrond addressed her. “Well, it appears you know a great deal about us, my Lady. Yet, we know nothing of you. Who may I ask are you?”
“I…” she started, and then became confused and scared. “I don’t know, my Lord. I have no memory of who I am or how I came to be where Legolas found me.”
Gandalf stepped forward. “If I may speak,” he said and looked at Elrond who merely nodded, but saw Legolas take a step forward as if to stop him, but then pause as he began to pale. Legolas knew from their last conversation over a week ago what Gandalf was about to say and he didn’t like it.
Gandalf turned and walked over to the woman and sat down on the foot of her bed. “My Lady, I cannot tell you who you are, because I do not know. You will have to discover that on your own. What I can tell you, however, is that I believe you were sent here by Ilúvatar to help us in our time of need. It is apparent that though you know nothing of yourself, you know much about us. What we need to do now, with your permission, is find out how much you know. We will hold a council as soon as the Lady Arwen returns with something for you to wear and you are ready.”
The others nodded in agreement, though Legolas was reluctant. Gandalf continued just as Arwen returned carrying some clothes in her arms, “We will leave you now so that you can prepare privately,” Gandalf motioned to Arwen and asked, “My Lady Arwen, will you stay and help her prepare?” Arwen only nodded in reply. As Arwen helped her dress, all the woman could think was, what do they think I know, and how are they going to find out?
