Home Soon, Love (Book 1)

20 Home Is Behind, The World Is Ahead

"I will get the boat so you don't hurt your precious hands or get a little sand on your dress" Anayla's statement made me want to lash out for thinking of me weak, but I had a better idea. Before she could beat me to it, I effortlessly lifted the boat and carried it, slightly laughing at the trails Bennet left from dragging his own. "Both of you, let's go. We do not have time to compete in who is better than who. We only have one purpose here, and it is to keep Latalia away from Laketown" I heard Anayla quietly sigh in hurt at Bennet's cold comment. She did seem to have a problem with me as I did her, yet I felt pity for her. She loved this man I was forced to be wed to. I do feel sorry for her fate, even with Bennet only caring for my well being.

"We head this way and stop for the night when we reach the East Bight of Mirkwood" we walked through the small woods. Once Bennet finished saying this, I heard rustling in nearby trees, hoping it was Legolas. I thought of what information Legolas and I exchanged yesterday that Anayla could have known. Remembering she was carrying the bags, I ran over and grabbed my own bag of belongings. I crossed the bag over my torso and grabbed a small, square-shaped, banana leaf wrapped item out. I broke off pieces of the lembas and offered it to Anayla and Bennet, they both accepted. The plain bread satisfied my morning hunger, as I put the rest in my bag and headed further down our path.

Finally, after hours of stepping over fallen logs and avoiding spider webs dangling between trees, we had made it to a clearing. The hour was noon, yet we did not stop for a break. "We will make it just before dark if we quicken our pace" Bennet stopped so I was now walking next to him. He placed his right hand on my back, as if to make sure I kept from staying behind in our journey. "If you want to know, I can tell you why you must move when we stop to rest" I nodded, trying to conceal how happy I was to know what in the name of Valar was going on. I walked faster in hopes that Bennet would remove his hand from my back, which worked. He fell back in the line to talk to Anayla, I assumed it was about the travel. But as I turned back around, I wish I had not even thought of the idea.

Bennet was indulging in her bodice in ways that would be punished. Especially being out in the open, so I just faced forward and kept walking away from the woods. My feet began to ache but I ignored it with every step. I was not going to show any signs of weakness in front of them, especially in front of Anayla. "We are almost there. We should find horses if given the chance" Anayla spoke up on our silent, long trip. "Latalia, you cannot stay in the East Bight. Convince them to keep moving to safety" Legolas' voice echoed through my ears. I opened my bag and pulled out an item most dear to me. In my hand I held a small, twisted shell shaped trinket. Gandalf had given it to me, for if I needed a quick escape.

To impress my fellow companions on my journey, I blew through the shell and stood firm to the ground, waiting. "Latalia, get a move on" Bennet barked orders, but I moved not even an inch. "Latalia, I said we need to-" the ground slightly began to rumble, as the site ahead pleased me. In the distance, I could see my baby galloping towards me. My horse was of golden tint and he had bright white braided hair, with the same hair hung around his hooves. Behind my horse GoldenBoy were two white horses following in our direction.

"Hey GoldenBoy" he nuzzled my face with his nose, his sign of love to me. "Bennet, you take this one. His name is Arion" I patted the horse, showing Bennet there was nothing to worry about with this horse. "Here Anayla, you get MoonMax. She is better for riding when you carry luggage" I walked back to my horse and mounted him, like the others did. "We shall not stay in the East Bight. 'Tis very dangerous, something we cannot risk" I waited for Bennet and Anayla to get used to their horses. Bennet seemed to have trouble getting Arion to listen, so I hopped off of Goldenboy and walked to face Arion.

"Please carrui ammen na safetui arion. Im cannot gar- cin being pickui an who na- atop -o cin foeir hi." The two looked at me with confused faces as Arion huffed and turned to face the right way. " What I said to Arion is for him to cooperate and not be picky as to who rides him" Bennet tensed, obviously being uncomfortable with the horse's feelings. I again mounted Goldenboy and whispered in Sindarin for him to take us to Rohan. "We should be to Rohan soon now if we try not to make stops." I lead the small group of us forward. This was my chance to prove to them how useful I was.

"Since we are not to stop for the night, can you now tell me why I am to go to Rohan?" I looked back to see Bennet contemplating his answer. With a sigh, he began to explain what I had been missing. "Your parents are not yours biologically. Your father is the son of a wizard and rare elven woman. Your mother was a high elf, yet her identity is currently unknown. There is a high chance you are a part of the same ancient elven tribe as your grandmother. The gifts you behold are dangerous around men. They do not understand what it means and you will be hunted down. Hence why we were attacked just before dawn." he paused as if thinking of what information to let out next.

"I know of my blood relation. I also know of the tribe." I pulled out the dagger from my bag, earning a small gasp from Anayla. As I spotted a small puddle I assumed was left from a previous night's storm, I took this chance to impress Bennet. I sang as slowly and beautifully as I could muster, watching and feeling the water travel over the ground, up GoldenBoy, and up into my hands. "I can do whatever I wish with the water" I levitated it into the air, a few feet over Bennet's head. He stared at it with such amusement, until his gaze switched to fear when I dropped it a little. He shut his eyes hard and tensed, but the water was floating just inches above his head. Indulging in my little game, I bursted out laughing at his reaction.

"Latalia, quicken the pace. I would like to arrive as soon as we can" he tried his best to act as if he did not just fear being drenched by water. "Noro lim" I commanded GoldenBoy, making him run over the flat plains just east of Mirkwood. I called "Noro lim" to Arion and MoonMax as well, as we were moving rapidly over the fields. The scenery we rode past was slightly blurred, but even then its beauty stood out like a bright ray of warm light in the dark. GoldenBoy moved fast, passing by East Bight. The area was bare of the forest life around it; it resembled a desert. "Thank goodness we are not to stay there" I called to the other two, nodding their heads in agreement.

Nightfall came quickly, yet the horses ceased to stop running. I commanded for GoldenBoy to slow down and for the other two horses to follow. "Take this, it should keep you content till we have another hearty meal" I passed them each some lembas as the horses galloped. "Since when have you become so independent and leader" Bennet spat, speeding up to make sure he was in front of me. "Since I found myself over my vacation of avoiding you. And besides, it it wasn't for me, we may just be stuck in East Bight right now, probably getting killed by some creature." I felt proud for standing up for myself.

"The creature that should be feared is you. And you just so happen to be the whole reason we are in this mess in the first place." Anayla barked, causing my face to get hot with anger. Just to let out some anger, I opened my water canteen and sung as quickly as I could, before they could catch on.

Water poured from from the tops of Anayla's and Bennet's head. They huffed and cursed at me for dumping the water on them. "Get over it, or leave me to go to Rohan alone" I huffed with confidence. "Your parents sent me to marry and move you because they feared you. Why don't you think you couldn't visit your family after the wedding? They are all scared of you Latalia. They want you gone." I shut my mouth, mustering all strength I had to hold back tears. The rest of the fast ride was quiet except the sound of the horses hooves hitting the cold ground.

Like Akita had taught me weeks ago before I left to Bree, I positioned myself the right way atop GoldenBoy to sleep without falling off. Once I laid down comfortably, I drifted into a deep, uncomfortable sleep.

(Hey, just wanted to say I do have a horse at my grandparents house named GoldenBoy. But he is not the same type of horse though. GoldenBoy is actually a palamino horse from Florida.)