One Day You'll Know

Chapter 14- The Fellowship of the Ring

Days turned into weeks during their stay in Rivendell, and there was pressing concern in Lord Elrond's House on the issue of what to do with the One Ring. Noelle hadn't exactly given it much thought herself, as she figured people smarter than her would know what to do. What could they even do with the Ring, other than hide it from Sauron?

One morning though during breakfast, she and Gandalf were discussing this very topic. Apparently Elrond had called an emergency Council to be held later that day. Noelle's eyes widened in surprise at the suddenness of it all.

"Who's going to be there?" she asked.

"Myself, of course. Frodo too. And Legolas and several of the dwarves."

Noelle nodded, as she stabbed her fork into the dish of fruit salad she was eating. "Makes sense."

"I'd like for you to be there too."

Noelle looked up. "Me?"

"Yes. I believe you could offer some good insight. I assigned you to this mission in the first place, and you have been traveling with Frodo more than anyone except Sam."

Noelle shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't really want to go to the meeting. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was sitting through a council meeting listening to them all discuss things for hours on end. She had done that plenty enough as Obi-wan Kenobi's Padawan. But if Gandalf wanted her there, she really couldn't refuse him. That's what it was like when he was your former mentor/father figure/friend.

"Alright, I'll come, I guess. I'm not really sure what you think I'm going to be offering though," she said with a shrug.

"Always so unsure of yourself, aren't you?"

~~~~~~~

Noelle felt really out of place in this council, especially in a dress. Dresses always made her feel so unlike herself, even though she didn't look out of place. She, Gandalf and Frodo were basically the first ones to arrive, along with a few of the dwarves. Legolas also came in and sat next to Noelle, who was in between him and Gandalf.

"You seem a bit troubled," Legolas remarked.

It took her a second to realize he was talking to her, as Noelle saw Gandalf giving her the side-eye. She also gave him a look before responding to Legolas.

"No, I'm fine. I just get bored at these type of things."

"Tis an important matter," he pointed out.

"I know," Noelle nodded. Some more people began filing in next to the dwarves. One guy looked kind of important. He had ginger hair and beard, and his clothes spoke royalty.

"Who's that?" Noelle whispered to Gandalf.

"Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor."

"Why's he here?"

Gandalf snorted. "I don't know everything!"

"Don't you?" Noelle teased with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Str-Aragorn take a seat on the end of the semi-circle. Noelle still kept forgetting his real name was Aragorn. After calling him Strider for so long, it was hard to wrap her brain around.

The one dwarf who resembled Gloin (Noelle had found out that it was actually his son, Gimli) was muttering something about how long this was taking.

Finally, Lord Elrond took his place at the head of the council.

"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands on the brink of destruction- none can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate. This one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo." He extended his hand, gesturing to the stone platform in the middle of the courtyard.