What Lord Celeborn wanted was not to interrogate his guest but to offer her a place where she could feel free to express herself, especially knowing how many contrasting emotions she hid. They walked back to the gardens and to his joy, he found that Mistril was less tense than when she arrived. Of course, she did not ask anything about the brothers and their business in Lothlorien considering it was not something she needed to know. She was right but her coming to his land was already a step forward towards regaining her light.
"Do you enjoy your time here, Mistril?" Lord Celeborn asked.
There was no real place he wanted to take her to (like Galadriel did) but he did want to make her feel like she could run if she needed to. Mistril was not an elleth that could be confined. That was one of the reasons she probably traveled so much in the past.
"There are three main lands of elves and each is different and special in its own way. Lothlorien is truly magical. I can see why Arwen enjoys her stay here." she answered not really giving a subjective answer. Lord Celeborn chuckled at her evasion and stopped.
"But it's not home, is it? No place will ever feel like home." He said understanding her view. "I have to recognize I am curious. Not about your years as a captive but your years as a free elleth."
"In Gondolin?" She asked thinking she had to give him the same story she gave Elrond.
"No. I'm sure those years were the happiest but I am more curious about your travels."
"I haven't gone too far. I tried to keep away from Angmar and-" she smiled as she remembered one particular place. "I got lost once and discovered the most beautiful place in Middle earth: the Shire..."
The way her eyes sparkled was a clear sign of how fond she was of that far away land. It looked like her whole demeanor changed, as if she suddenly became younger.
"The hobbits welcomed you?" He asked curiously.
"Yes. There was the Took family, very joyful fellows. They invited me in their little hobbit hole and told me stories, asked me so many things...it was the first time I felt safe in a long time."
Seeing how she was reminiscing such happy moments of her life, Celeborn decided to grow bolder and ask her details about her stay with the woodelves.
"What about Greenwood? Why did you run in the forest when you knew goblins were following you?" He asked in such a way that did not feel like judgement but pure interest.
She gave a long sigh and turned to look into the elder's eyes. For a second she almost seemed guilty but it faded instantly.
"I did not plan my stay there, at least not under the circumstances it happened. But the Elvenking saw right through me, he was right to doubt my intentions. He figured it out before I remembered but Glorfindel's arrival probably confused him." She stopped and took a long look around before she turned her eyes on Celeborn. "Darkness fills me body and soul and he felt it. He was right all along and yet he still let me live there. He did it for Legolas."
"You chose Greenwood. You wanted to hide there."
Mistril nodded, seemingly not feeling any remorse for her past actions. She just looked...empty.
"I heard rumors about wood elves and their Elvenking, of how suspicious he is, how he doesn't like a majority of things and keeps to himself. He witnessed his father's death and his wife died while protecting their son. I would lie if I were to say I was not curious."
"So what truly happened?"
"I heard of a creature that lurks in the darkness of the mountains. A little vile creature that comes down in order to find food, fish mostly. He speaks to himself and to another and he doesn't quite remember much of who he was. One man mentioned he had seen him and heard him speaking with his precious. Sauron used that word before after forging his ring, it sent chills down my back. It's been lost for so long..."
He could visibly see the stress of having such a direct connection to the evil. Although her expression and tone changed, her eyes were still so cold. It felt like two people living in the same body and he was sure it may just as well be the case.
"Were you going to kill the creature?" He asked.
"No. But I wanted to make sure he will never see sunlight again. Unfortunately goblins noticed me and I had to run before I could catch a glimpse of him. They were a lot more than I expected so I thought that if I run through the forest I will eventually find the woodelves. I was shot when I was already hungry and tired. I was down in that clearing for a month before Legolas found me. Trees led him to me and I will forever be indebted to the young prince for bringing me back to life."
Lord Celeborn smiled and somehow they ended up not far from where Galadriel showed Mistril a version of her future. The orange haired elleth stopped and look at it from afar. Celeborn was a wise and mature ellon, he didn't have to see inside her mind in order to know exactly what she was thinking about. He couldn't lie that he would quite enjoy it if Galadriel was right about Mistril's future.
"Am I weak if I give in? Or am I weak if I don't?" She suddenly asked, her voice sounding so far away although she was standing next to him. "I don't know what to do, which path to choose. What I know is that I want him to be there, on the path if not at the end waiting." She turned and looked into Celeborn's eyes with so much innocence that he couldn't believe for a moment that she was the fearless Daewen.
"What do you want? Where does your heart lead you to?"
She placed one hand over her chest and looked down at her feet. It was selfish of her to want him to love her but she couldn't help it. She was already harbouring so many feelings for him.
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