“Come now, dearest. You’re not going to kill him.”
The elven-maiden looked over her shoulder and gave her human love an
irritated glare. “Fine, I won’t kill him,” Arwen said as she,
Aragorn and Legolas continued descending down a long flight of
stairs. “But if we don’t find that pendant down here, I’m going
to throw him in the river and he will not set foot on the bank until he
has searched every inch of the bottom twice!”
The ranger laughed and turned to Legolas behind him, giving the elf a mischievous smile. “She could do it, too.”
“Oh, I know she could,” Legolas said with a slight laugh, stepping
carefully as the stairs became steeper and more slippery. “Why do
you think I’m hiding in the back?”
The three were descending down into a dark and damp cave that opened
into the river below; looking for Arwen’s precious Evenstar
pendant. There had been two more to their company only a few
moments ago but they had chosen to run for their lives, which at this
point was probably a smart move.
Arwen, her love Aragorn, dear friend Legolas, and two brothers Elladan
and Elrohir, had ridden up to the cliffs of Rivendell to swim in the
pools of the Riverfalls on the warm summer day. The sky was clear
and fair, and Arwen’s elven eyes could see for miles across the lands
of her home.
Her oldest brother, Elladan, was in a playful mood and challenged his
little sister to a race. “First one to the Rainbow Fall wins!” he
cried, and took off towards the waterfall.
“Noro lim, Asfoloth!” Arwen whispered to her white stallion, and
they raced after Elladan, who had gotten only a half length head
start. The galloping horses were neck-in-neck for most of the
distance but, in the end, Arwen reached the Rainbow Fall before Elladan
by a good two lengths.
The others couldn’t help but laugh at the older elf, who was fuming for
losing to his baby sister. “Come, Elladan, you brought it upon
yourself,” Elrohir said to his twin as he draped an arm around his
sister. “You know perfectly well Arwen is the faster rider.”
After having a good laugh at Elladan’s expense, they all turned their
attention to the coolness of the pools and the soft spray of the
waterfalls. After swimming and playing in the water for a time,
Elladan decided it was his turn to have a little fun at his sister’s
expense.
Arwen wore her precious Evenstar necklace nearly every minute of every
day, and only ever took it off while in water. The star-like
jewel now sat on a rock next to the pool in which they were swimming
and, when the elf-maid’s back was turned, her older brother grabbed it
and ran towards the cliff.
“Give it back, Elladan!” she yelled as she chased after the older elf,
who now dangled the pendant over the cliff’s edge by its chain.
“Now now, dear sister, be nice,” he teased. “Once false move and I
might…” his words stopped suddenly at the sound of rumbling.
The rock he was standing on was not as stable as he had thought, and
began to give way under his weight. Legolas came from what seemed
like nowhere and pulled Elladan to safety before the crumbling rock
could take him with it. Everything had happened so fast that, without
realizing it, Elladan had let the chain of the Evenstar slip though his
fingers, and they all watched as the glistening silver fell from the
cliff and down into the river below.
All stared open-mouthed at Elladan, who had a look of horror on his
face ─ for he would never intentionally have dropped the
necklace he knew his sister cherished. “Arwen, I didn’t…” but his
voice cracked as he saw the elf-maid’s usually fair complexion flush
red with anger.
“I don’t think now is a good time, Elladan,” the elf’s twin whispered
while pulling lightly on his arm. “Let’s give her time to cool
down.” Elrohir led the guilty elf away before Arwen could vent
her wrath upon him, sure that Estel and Legolas would be able to work
things out somehow.
The question now was, had the Evenstar been lost forever?
Aragorn lost sight of it once it hit the water, and the only things Arwen
could see were images of herself stringing Elladan up by his pointed
ears. Luckily, Legolas’ elven eyes followed the light of the
glistening pendant as the current pulled it into a cave that the river
had carved into the cliff.
“There’s a way down there,” Arwen explained, a hopeful look in her eyes
at the thought of saving her precious pendant. “The elves of old
used to dock boats in the cave, and built a long flight of stairs that
lead back up to the forests. They’re not used anymore for that
purpose, but we can still use the stairs to get into the cave.”
So now the three, with Arwen in the lead, descended down the ancient
stairs with only the natural glow of the elves to light their
way. “Careful,” Arwen called to Aragon and Legolas behind
her. “It's getting steeper and the ceiling is coming in closer.”
“Of course, it had to be a cave,” Legolas mumbled to himself though Aragorn heard him.
“Well of course it did,” the Ranger laughed. “That is the kind of
luck we have, after all. But at least we won't get lost in this
cave since Arwen knows were we’re going.” Aragorn heard the
elf-maid clear her throat and looked back at him with
uncertainty. “You do know where we’re going, don’t you?”
“Well, no. Not exactly.”
“But you spent much of your time here in Rivendell,” Legolas said,
knowing Arwen lived both in Rivendell and fair Lothlorien.
“Surely you’ve visited here before?”
“My brothers say that mother and father did take us into the cave once,
but I must have been very young because I don’t remember.”
“And you never came back in all these years?” Aragorn asked,
realizing how long ago her last visit to the cave must have been if she
had been too young to remember it.
“It is not a place we would frequent. Elves do not much like caves.”
“Really?” Aragorn said in a very sarcastic tone as he turned and gave
Legolas a smug smile. “I never would have guessed.” Legolas
shot him an irritated glare, but it was one that did not meet his
eyes. In the realm of caves the two had visited, this was
certainly the least offensive of them all.
“I promise you, we won’t get lost,” Arwen assured as she finally
reached the bottom of the stairs and stood on the wet ground of the
cave. “It’s a very straight-forward cave, with one way in and one
way out.”
“Does that mean we’re going to have to go back UP those 144
stairs?” Aragorn groaned as he joined his love on the narrow
path, and heard Legolas behind him laughing hysterically.
“You counted?!” The prince couldn’t help but laugh, and this time it was the Ranger who shot the elf a dangerous look.
“We’ll carry you if we need to, darling.” Arwen gave the ranger a peck
on the cheek as she moved past him towards the mouth of the cave.
The Human just shook his head and followed, but not before giving
Legolas (who was still snickering) a playful smack on the side of the
head.
The three followed the path forward — following the crashing sound of
the river and the light reflecting from the water. Arwen looked
around as her elven hearing picked up a slight squeaking sound she
could not place. “What is that?”
Aragorn strained his ears to pick up what Arwen’s did, and smiled when
he realized just what the squeaking was. “Those would be bats,
dear.”
The elf-maid looked up, but saw nothing. She let her eyesight wander
around the inside of the cave, but could find no sign of the winged
mammals. “They must be hiding somewhere.”
“We could make a loud noise and scare them out,” Aragorn teased.
“Let’s not and say we did,” Legolas said as he did one more quick check
for any bats that might be overhead. “Come, let us at least try
to find Arwen’s pendant!”
They reached where the cave floor met the river and looked out onto the
sparkling water and, as the smell of the forest and river filled their
nostrils, all three had to admit that the cave indeed was beautiful.
Aragorn saw something sparkling out of the corner of his eye and turned
to see a bright light shining out of the water of the cave’s mouth, and
was positive it did not come from the slowly sinking sun. Arwen
let her eyes follow those of her love, and clutched his arm tightly
when she saw what he did.
The Ranger was about to step out onto the slippery rocks to retrieve
what he knew was the Evenstar, but felt a hand on his shoulder pull him
back. Legolas was smiling at him, shaking his head slightly.
The jagged rocks were spaced far apart, and the water crashing upon
them made them even more treacherous. Something silent passed
between the two, and Aragorn nodded in understanding. So it was
Legolas who stepped out onto the rocks and, through elven grace and
agility that no human could ever master, jumped almost effortlessly
from one rock to another to where the glowing pendant lay beneath the
water.
The elf could see the shape of the Evenstar glittering softly under the
cool and clear water. Taking one of his arrows from his quiver,
Legolas dipped it into the water and tangled the pendant’s chain around
the shaft — pulling the necklace from the water in one fluid
motion.
Arwen was practically bouncing with joy as Legolas made his way back
across the rocks and joined them on the cave’s solid ground once
again. He smiled to the elven maiden who looked at him with a
brightness that went beyond her natural elven glow. “I believe
this belongs to you,” he said and handed the precious object to its
rightful owner.
Arwen gave out a sigh of relief as she held the pendant in her hand,
and looked to the ranger and elf before her and nodded to them both in
gratitude. “Thank you,” she said, and meant it with all her
heart. “Thank you both so much.”
Aragorn stepped forward and gently clasped the chain around her
neck. “There,” he said and kissed her forehead lightly.
“Are you happy again?”
“Yes, I am,” she said, and took one of Aragorn’s and Legolas’ hands in
each of hers. “Happy to be here with you two, for you are both more
dear to me than you could ever know.”
The three stood for a while longer, cherishing the beauty of the fading
day and one another. Only when the sun had sunk down to where it
could no longer be seen did they turn to leave. “We should get
back,” Legolas said, glancing around the cave one last time. “If we
tarry any longer we will find out where those bats are hiding.”
They all laughed as they made their way back to the stairs they had
come down.
Aragorn stopped just before he mounted the stairs and let out a deep sigh. “Up the stairs…”
Legolas laughed and gave the Ranger a light push. “Yes, Strider, UP the stairs!”
As they slowly climbed the steep staircase, Aragorn turned to look at
his love who was behind Legolas. “Dearest, you’re not going to
kill Elladan now, are you?”
Arwen laughed lightly. “No, darling, I will not kill him.
If he feels badly enough and gives me a sufficient apology, I will let
it go. If he does not, however, I will casually mention what he
did to Father. Then Father can go after him!”
The thought of Lord Elrond confronting his eldest son with “that look”
in his eye was enough to send them all into fits of laughter.
“Never a dull moment in Rivendell,” Legolas said when he had recovered his breath.
“No,” Aragorn agreed, looking from Arwen to his elven friend. “Indeed not.”
