𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 • 𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐑

27. The Ithildin Door

——[～Æ～]——

——[～Æ～]——

     To be miserable seemed the Fellowship's fate for the rest of their journey. They trudged onward to Moria without much enthusiasm, and even the hobbits failed to strike up a conversation that lasted more than a few exchanges. Elsinore remained stony at her place in the line, between a sullen Boromir and unfazed Gimli. What had begun as a beautiful day in the morning became clouded and grey in the afternoon, as if the heavens were reflecting the Fellowship's morose attitude. 

"How much farther would you say it is, Gimli?" Elsinore asked the dwarf in front of her after they'd been hiking a stony path for hours. Though she dreaded the mines they were approaching and the evil within, she could not bring herself to dampen the dwarf's excitement. It would not be her place to break his heart when he so looked forward to visiting with his cousin who ruled the caverns.  

"Oh, I'm sure we'll see it soon enough,' he said cheerfully, his words punctuated by the clinking of his axe's handle hitting the ground as he used it for a walking stick. "Just wait, m'dear, and you'll be treated to the comforts of fine dwarven hospitality!"

She was glad she was behind him so he could not see how weak her attempt at a smile was.

"I look forward to it. You men will be much more bearable after you've had some baths."

A playful shove came from behind, making the she-bear stumble a step, and Boromir's mischievous smirk gave him away the moment she looked over her shoulder. Her position as the only woman in the Fellowship had earned her inevitable teasing from the men she traveled with. It often came in the form of questioning why it takes so long for her to style her hair after having it for a few thousand years, or blaming her motherhenning of them on her feminine nature. She thought it to be only fair, after enduring their friendly prodding, that she return a few blows. 

     The sound of her laugh made Aragorn's head raise from its lowered state at the back of the line, his attention caught by the smile she was flashing at Boromir for whatever had just transpired between them. His heart lifted some at the sight, taking comfort in her apparent happiness despite her presence in his troubling thoughts. They were both fully aware of her self-thwarted ill-intent that morning, but Elsinore's reasons for betraying the Fellowship were hers to know and his to learn. For months she had voiced a deep hatred for Sauron and all his works. Many of the things she had told them of coming orc attacks and a pattern to plundered villages had been proven true, as much as Elrond had disliked it. The ranger wondered if the elf lord had been the only one that had been immune to the she-bear's trickery, if Elsinore had managed to spin an intricate web of lies that ensnared them despite their caution. Yet he couldn't make sense that after everything he'd seen her do and heard her say, that she'd been acting under false pretenses. She must have wanted the Ring for another reason. The foolishly optimistic parts of his heart wanted to believe it had been a momentary shortfall caused by the Ring's dark influence. Unable to continue lingering on the thoughts that spoke reason - that Elsinore had sought to steal the Ring for herself without its twisting her thoughts - he settled to blame the evil they had traveled so far together to destroy.