Elerrina

Hide and Seek

As soon as she opened her eyes she regretted it. The world spun widely in a blur of colors and she was sure she would have fallen down had it not been for the fact that she was already lying on the store floor. Immediately she closed them shut again against the blinding pain that shot through her head at the action.

The dizziness faded slightly inside the darkness of her eyelids and she concentrated on Elladan's arms holding her, anchoring her to reality. She felt the palm of Elladan's hand quickly move to her forehead, his other arm frantically pressing her closer to him.

"Is she all right?" She heard the younger twin lowering himself to his knees next to them. His usually peaceful voice was edged with distress and the words left his mouth in an urgent rush. A different hand was pressed to the side of her neck, feeling her pulse just as his elder brother had done only seconds ago.

Elladan did not answer. Instead, she heard him muttering softly to himself in elvish, the voice almost inaudible, his palm still pressed against her forehead. Suddenly she felt a warm feeling wash through her and her body relaxed a little as the splitting headache lessened only slightly. Her shaking was also reduced to faint trembling and she slumped even further against Elladan's chest.

Elrohir said something in elvish to his twin and she heard Elladan answer not even a second after. The strange words flowed almost magically from their mouths, and yet she could catch the evident fear and alarm that hung in them. She rarely heard Elladan speaking in his native tongue; he always used the common tongue around her, and the natural way in which the words echoed in his melodic voice felt comforting, distracting her from her aching body.

In a swift movement, she felt herself being lifted into Elladan's arms as he quickly rose from the stone floor. The world spun again and she wrapped both of her arms around his neck to stabilize herself, burying her throbbing head in the crook of his neck, her face hidden by the silky curtain of dark hair.

Elrohir said something else in elvish before she heard his footsteps hurrying away down the corridor. Before she had time to realize it, she noticed that Elladan had also started moving, his steps rushing with inexplicable ease through the hallways. She could feel his heart drumming inside his chest as he carried her in rushed steps, almost running, her body seeming to be weightless to him.

The slight rocking as they moved through the house made her feel sick as everything threatened to spin once again. Elerrina felt another wave of warm calmness wash over her, suddenly making her feel tired and sleepy. She concentrated on her breathing, focusing on the sweet scent of the soft skin at his neck. That seemed to work, and slowly she started to feel better.

She heard a door being pushed open, and then felt Elladan walking into a room, but she did not lift her head from his neck to look at where she was. She could hear movement inside the room, and some words in elvish reached her ears every second or so, all of the voices sounding shaken and alarmed. She could feel the overall anxiety that hung heavily in the air.

"My Lord!" One of the voices exclaimed as Elladan carried her inside, and the next thing she was aware of was of a new pair of hands helping Elladan lower her onto a long chaise.

"Rina?" Elladan's hands flew to the sides of her face and she finally dared to open her eyes.

Immediately she met a piercing pair of wide, worried silver eyes, fear and alert seeming to consume them. A deep sigh of relief escaped his lips as his eyes met hers, but the worry and despair never abandoned the silver orbs.

She caught the face of another dark haired elf peeking down at her behind Elladan, light blue eyes wide with panic and she could tell that the elf was restless and anxious by the commotion that filled the room.