Belladonna Took
by Belladonna Took
Chapter 23 Arwen and Ada
It felt like an eternity to Bella, her last few days before reaching
the sanctuary of Rivendell. She was very eager to see Arwen and Lord
Elrond again. She spent a large portion of her time telling Fengel all
about Rivendell and its inhabitants. He was so taken with the
description of everything and everybody that he was almost as eager to
get there as Bella was. It was as the Last Homely House came into view
that Fengel got the full view of the place that Bella had described. It
was just as she had described it.
When they had dismounted, their horses were taken to the stables where
they were feed, watered and cared for the way that only elves could. As
they crossed the courtyard that lead to the steps up into Lord Elrond’s
home the door was swung open and Arwen appeared before them. Pink
cheeked, appearing as if she had run a great distance but appearing to
be breathing with little effort.
“Bella, you have finally returned. I was beginning to worry that something had befallen your party.”
“No, Arwen, I found them dawdling along the path. Taking their sweet
time while we all worried over their safety”, Legolas said with a smirk
on his face.
“We were moving as fast as possible. We couldn’t risk being worn out
before we even arrived here in Rivendell”, Bella stated with a cheeky
grin on her face.
All were ushered into the hall where, Lord Elrond was waiting with his
usual grim expression. He greeted each individually and then sent
everyone off to clean up for the evening meal.
Fengel was placed in a room adjoining Bella’s and Gandalf was next door
to her. She saw that Fengel was bathed, thoroughly cleaned and dressed
appropriately for the occasion. After attending to him, she bathed and
dressed fairly quickly in attire that coordinated with Fengel’s.
Thèya had both outfits created for the pair. They were both of
dark sapphire blue velvet. Bella’s was a floor length gown, fitted at
the waist and beautifully embroidered with the evermind flower that
Bella had grown to love. Fengel was dressed in a pair of blue velvet
trousers, a stark white shirt and a blue velvet jacket. He wore his
small crown perched just at the top of his head. Bella also wore the
crown that was given to her by Thèya that matched Fengel’s.
They left Bella’s room intending on going to the hall for dinner when
an unknown elf intercepted them in the hallway. “Lord Elrond would like
to speak with you right now. Please follow me.”
As they followed this elf down the hall Bella was taken to an area that
she was familiar with. They were being led to Lord Elrond’s study.
Bella became concerned that Lord Elrond would not want Fengel in
Rivendell. But all her fears were soon quelled when much to her own
joy; Lord Elrond greeted her as she would expect he greeted his
children. He wrapped his arms around the little hobbit as she
approached him tentatively. He shook hands with Fengel as he
courteously extended his hand in the fashion of his father and
brothers. Bella beamed with pride as the little man she loved so dearly
showed the manners of a man 3 times his age.
Lord Elrond then sent Fengel from the room. “Now Bella, we need to have
a talk. I was told about the greeting that Legolas received from you
when you met in the woods. Yet you greet me as if we are strangers.
Although I am not one for showing large amounts of public affection, I
am not a completely cold elf. Do not feel as if you need to treat me
any differently than you would treat Arwen, Legolas or Arador.” Elrond
said affectionately. “And feel free to call me Ada. It would be my
honor to consider a brave and noble hobbit lass, as one of my own
children.”
Bella could no longer contain her emotion. She burst into tears and
threw her arms around the seated elf lord. Much to her pleasure, she
felt his arms close around her and felt the gentle pat of his hand on
her back. He knew that she had been though a lot and knew that she
needed this kind of affection.
It was about ten minutes before Bella could control the tears flowing
from her eyes. She hadn’t realized how much she missed her own father,
until Elrond had shown her the same affection she would have expected
from her father. So Ada, Bella and Fengel made their way to the hall
and a feast like none Fengel had ever seen before.
Chapter 24 Changes
As the weeks and months went by Bella and Fengel both healed
physically. Bella took solace in her drawing and in writing. Arwen and
Ada had given her a beautiful book of palest blue leather, with silver
on the binding and a beautiful silver lock that was opened with a
delicate silver key. In it she recounted her travels, often including
drawings of the people she had seen, the places she had been and the
odd plant life and flowers she had encountered. She had the most
difficult time writing about Theya, her dream and her protecting
Fengel. By the time she had finished the chapter about rescuing Fengel
she had tears streaming down her face. The loss of Theya felt like the
loss of Bella's own mother as Theya had loved her like she was her own
daughter.
Worst of all for Bella was watching the small changes in Fengel. He no
longer had the sparkle and impish gleam that always resided in his
eyes. He no longer wanted to play the games they used to play. He spent
most of his time with Elladan and Elrohir. They had taken over Fengel's
training that had been started by Haldir. There were days that Fengel
returned from a day of training and went to sleep and didn't wake up
until the next morning. He was determined to learn how to defend
himself n case Grim ever tried to attack him again. It broke Bella's
heart to see this little six year old boy feeling like he had to defend
himself. To all who saw the change in this child there was a fear that
he would grow up to be a warmonger that was never satisfied.
Bella just wanted to get him back to the Smials. She believed that once
Fengel was in the company of her brothers and sisters he might see that
he didn't need to be a fierce warrior. That it was possible to be happy
and play games even after the death of a parent. He had begun to relax
with the influence of Bella and Arwen and at the urging of Ada. Elrond
had insisted that Elladan and Elrohir teach Fengel some of the games
that they had played as children. He slowly came out of his shell and
Bella slowly grew into her role of mother.
By the time they left Rivendell had someone suggested that Bella was
not actually Fengel's mother they received an earful from the two of
them as well as Bella's Ada. He had grown quite fond of the little
hobbit lass and was having a tough time accepting that the two of them
were leaving.
But leave they did. One fine summer morning, Bella, Fengel and Gandalf
set off on the last leg of Bella's journey home. The parting was
bittersweet, as no one believed that they would ever meet again, in
this lifetime.
