Athëa - Queen of the Savages

The Counsel of Lord Elrond

Athëa stepped out from under the pillars to take place in the counsel amongst men, elves, dwarves and hobbits. When she took a seat next to Aragorn, her eyes locked with an elf in front of her. He was the most beautiful elf she had ever laid eyes upon. His hair was white as the sandy shores of Valinor and his eyes were blue as the deepest ocean. Though she did not know his face, she knew his eyes too well. A tear fell on her cheek.

The counsel was a gathering of representatives of different folk from different realms of Middle Earth. Gandalf the Grey, a Hobbit of the Shire, Dwarfs from the Blue Mountain, Men of Gondor and Elves of Mirkwood, including their prince Legolas.

Legolas couldn't take his eyes off the unknown elleth stepping out into the counsel. He felt his heart skip a beat as his eyes sank into hers. She looked like no other elleth he had ever seen before. Her beauty almost blinding him.

Though she had the fairness of his kin, it was obvious that she was a warrior and knew the turmoils of hardship. Her braided white hair and the silver rims on her ears made it apparent that she was proud to be an elf, though her skin was darkened from the sun just as the kin of Man.

"Bring forth the ring, Frodo", Lord Elrond demanded.

The hobbit stood up and placed a ring on a stone table in the middle of the counsel. Athëa immediately was knocked back in her chair from the loud whisper in her head. A whisper of pain and agony. A whisper of evil coming from the ring.

She took a deep breath, fought off the confusion and looked up to see Lord Elrond's disbelieving eyes on her once again.

The ring must have had a similar effect on the rest of the counsel, because within a few seconds the counsel was erupt in yelling and mistrust.

Athëa found peace in looking at the small hobbit sitting next to Gandalf. His childish expression soothed her soul and she soon figured that one could look long for evil where there were none. The hobbit had carried this burden for much longer than any in this counsel could and yet evil was still to find him.

As if Frodo had heard her thoughts, he suddenly stood up. "I will take it! I will take the ring to Mordor". Everyone stopped their arguing and focused on the hobbit. "Though I don't know the way", he finished with innocent eyes.

Gandalf laid an acknowledging hand on Frodos shoulder.

"You have my sword" Aragorn said.

"And my bow", Legolas followed.

"And my axe", Gimli of the Blue Mountain said, almost taunting the elven prince.

Boromir stood up. "You carry the faith of us all little one. If this is indeed the will of the counsel, then Gondor will see it done."

"Hey! Mister Frodo is not going anywhere without me!" a hobbit jumped out from under a bush, followed by two others pledging their loyalty to the tiny brave one.

Athëa stood up and stepped closer to the nine companions. She could feel the eyes of the others following her closely. She kneeled before the hobbit whispering in his ear: "The ring have once before brought me to my knees. I will give you my all to help fulfill the task at hand - even if death shall claim me." Frodo looked up at her in awe.

*****

The night was drawing closer as Athëa stood on a balcony overlooking Rivendell. But this time it was not the beauty of the city in her focus, cause her eyes were fixated on a fairhaired ellon below. She almost did not hear the presence of a man walking up next to her.

Aragorn rested his arms on the rail of the balcony.

"Its funny", he said with wonder lingering in his voice. "When I was a child here in Rivendell, I was told stories of an elleth sharing your name. But you cannot be her, cause the Athëa the stories told of, left for Valinor ages ago."

He turned and faced her. "And I doubt she would ever be welcomed back in elven realms, had she stayed in Middle Earth."

Athëa stood up straight and gave Aragorn a welcoming smile, before she turned around and walked down the nearby stairs. She figured that if he didn't technically ask her a question, she didn't technically have to answer.

Instead she followed the path she had seen Legolas walk just moments before.

The air hung thick with the scent of the cool moon and the damp woods. Silence filled the air, except for the sound of the wind playing with the trees. She reached a part of Rivendell, where city and nature was tangled in each other, and stopped.

"You know, you could climb the tallest tree in Middle Earth and I would still be able to catch your scent, wood elf", Athëa proclaimed taunting.

"That may or may not be true, but the question is; why do you even feel the need to follow me?" she heard his voice from far above her head.

Legolas jumped down in front of her. He landed so close to her, that she could feel the air around him brushing against her skin. Elegant and soundless.

Their eyes met and it felt like time stood still as they stood there, drowning in each others orbs. A tear fell from Athëas eye as she reached her hand towards him. He let her rest her hand on his cheek, cause even though she was a stranger, she felt familiar. In a weird way she felt like home.

"I can't believe it's really you", Athëa broke the silence still gazing into his eyes.

"You know me?", Legolas questioned, making Athëa wake from the spell of his gaze.

Frightened of her own behavior and carelessness, she started backing away from him, while sending him an apologetic look. She turned and ran back up the path, leaving Legolas confused and wondering.

Coming back up the stairs where she had left Aragorn earlier, she was now met by the grey wizard. He was making it obvious to her, that he had been watching her behavior towards the elf, and gave her a stern look as she walked up the stairs. Looking down on her feet, she walked over and stood beside Gandalf.

"You must be more carefull my dear Athëa", he said with the sternness of a father.

"The king of the Woodland realm is yet to tell his son of the happenings of Dol Guldur - Legolas has no knowledge of how his mother passed", he looked down on the ashamed elleth.

"And if Thranduil was to have told any stories of his wife's quest to her death, he would not have spoken fondly of you." He gave her a sad smile.

"You tell me like I don't know, my dear Gandalf. It is just that I seem drawn to him, like i'm trying to escape the inevitable", she answered, still looking at her feet. "I will be more carefull in the future." Embarrassed she turned around and walked towards the sleeping quarters.

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So this was the first three chapters! Pretty nerve wrecking to post, but here it is!
I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it :-)
Please leave a comment, I would looove to hear your inputs!

And for all the Legolas lovers out there, there will be a lot more interaction between him and our heroine - don't you worry. ;-)

I can't wait to tell you more of "The Hidden City" and their effect on the story!!

Remember that this is the story of Athëa, but I will try and stay as close to the timeline of lotr, without copying the original story.

I will post at least one chapter a week, until the story is finished, so please follow if you like it so far.

So to all inhabitants in Middle Earth: sleep well and I'll see you soon <3

- nindeanin