Wow, it took me four chapters just to describe the events of one day!  You guys must be terribly bored by now, I know I am.  Right, well, this chapter ends the Xanthe/Gaviwyr drama, making room for lots of Olihre drama.  His drama will feature a particular elf and dwarf, but you will have to stay tuned to the next chapter before you learn why.  Thanks to my Beta, Daisyprincess!

Chapter Four- Cold Silence

“I think we are avoiding a rather key issue here, Xan.”

An unladylike groan escaped Xanthe’s blue lips as she turned and buried her head in Gaviwyr’s tunic.  “Can we just feign ignorance and move on, please?”

Gaviwyr rolled his eyes playfully, an effect completely lost on the shivering girl burrowing into his chest.  “I AM ignorant, and I would LOVE to move on, but I am afraid my conscience won’t allow it.  I simply don’t understand why you are out here…alone…in a blizzard.” 

The emphasis on his words was not overlooked by Xanthe, who raised her head only long enough to give him a rather weak look of indignation.  Then, back into his tunic she whimpered, “I was not myself.”

Gaviwyr was fairly sure that he understood what had happened, though he still could not believe that Xanthe would be so foolish.  “In a blizzard?” he repeated.

“It wasn’t snowing at the time…not much anyway.”

Gaviwyr was about to pry her for more information when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.  His grip instinctively tightened around the bundle in his arms as he narrowed his eyes against the brilliant light of the sunset. 

When she felt him tense, Xanthe sat up quickly, peering into his eyes for an explanation.  “What is it?”

The look of shock on his face soon turned to a smile as Gaviwyr took Xanthe by the cheeks and planted a firm kiss on her lips.  Pulling away quickly, he pointed behind her.  “It’s Legolas, and your brother!”

Xanthe turned sharply, shielding her eyes with the back of her hand.  The sight was one of the most welcome in her life, though she knew that she would soon have a lot of uncomfortable explaining to do.  Waving to the two on horseback, she turned back to Gaviwyr, excitement warming her veins.  The smile she had seen earlier however, had been replaced with a look of puzzlement, and then quickly transformed into a grim frown. 

“Gav, what’s wrong?”

Gaviwyr felt his heart plummet to his gut as he tried to determine what to say next.  “In my shock and frustration regarding Eomer, I completely overlooked another obvious clue in our puzzle.”

When he paused for a moment, Xanthe put her arms around him and stroked the nape of his neck comfortingly.  “What, Gav?”

“I told Olihre where I was going.  He knew as much as Eomer did.”

“What?” Xanthe cried, releasing Gav’s neck and crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Gaviwyr nodded.  “I can understand why Eomer would have motive to deceive us, but why Olihre?”

His only reply was an exasperated gasp from Xanthe.

*          *          *

“Uh oh,” Legolas sniggered.

“I thought the shrieking had stopped?” Olihre was suddenly less than excited to see his sister.  His initial concern for her well-being was quickly replaced with the dread of having to confess his actions to her.

“It had,” Legolas replied calmly, “at least until she saw you.”

“You’re not helping,” Olihre really didn’t need any help from the elf right now; he was already doing a fine job of digging his own grave.

“This is true,” was the only reply he received.

“Let’s get this over with.”

“Yes…let’s.”

*          *          *

Gimli was in the lead, showing an adeptness than none had ever seen when it came to him and horses.  Eomer and Aragorn were trailing behind him, and neither was complaining of the slight windshield that he so conveniently created. 

They had been traveling for some time when they came across two sets of hoof prints.  After concurring that they belonged to Olihre and Legolas, it was decided that they should follow them as far as they could, their goal being to reunite their group before continuing the rescue mission.

The sun was beginning to set when they came upon the wretched horse in the water, its body even further encased in the ever hardening ice surrounding it.  Gimli had moved to jump from his horse, but was stopped when Aragorn pointed downstream. 

“No!” he had cried.  “Look…tracks…further ahead!”

The three companions continued silently, their eyes never straying from the nearly invisible tracks heading away from the poor animal.  At a narrowing of the stream, they could see where two horses had finally crossed in safety, and they themselves followed in the same fate.  Once across, the footprints became easier to read, for the cliffs not far beyond provided a back wind, which formed massive snowdrifts, one after another. 

“I think we’re nearing our destination!” Aragorn shouted above the gale.

“Let’s hope we’re not too late!” Gimli shouted back. 

Eomer stayed dismally uncommunicative.

*          *          *

The silence in the group was unbearable.  While any bystander may have expected a tearful reunion of sorts, none was to be had here or now.  Legolas had been the first to greet the two soggy figures huddled against the rocks, but his hearty greeting had been met with cold stares.  The elf knew when to excuse himself, and he promptly did just that, reasoning that he wanted to get a better view of their return path from atop the cliffs.

Olihre had wanted to rush to his sister’s side and embrace her, but Gaviwyr held her tightly, protecting her as a hound would his feast.  Fearing that he was likely to get his fingers snapped off if he approached her, Olihre held firm to his position, sitting atop his horse, a good ten feet from any rabid creatures.

The three humans stared at each other for some time, each willing the other to speak first.  Finally, when Olihre could no longer take the chill, he launched himself from his horse, landing upon his feet only to drop immediately to his knees.

“I know I don’t deserve to be heard by either of you, but please, I beg you, at least allow me to apologize.”

Gaviwyr’s jaw trembled with tension, his lips held in a tight line.  Xanthe looked away from her brother’s eyes and fixed hers instead upon his shoes.  When Olihre saw that they were not about to stop him, he proceeded to explain, looking directly at Xanthe all the while.

“We…Eomer and I, we thought that it would be a great surprise to have Gaviwyr come back, expecting you to know of his plans, only to find that you were unaware.  We thought it would be exciting and intriguing.” 

Olihre paused to gauge how they were receiving his explanation.  If anything, the two looked more vexed than before.  His voice cracked a bit as he continued.  “Y-You seemed alright, Xan, it didn’t seem like you were very upset.  If I had known you were, so upset that is, I would certainly have given up the ruse.  I swear I would have.”

All of the anger that Xanthe had been holding onto, all of the outrage that she had sworn would protect her, dissolved into a mess of hurt and betrayal.  “How could you have not seen it?” Her voice was a strained blend of animosity and pleading.

Olihre knew exactly what she spoke of.  “Now that I look back I can see all of the indications, but then…then I saw only what I wanted to.  I wanted the plan to work.  I wanted to see you happy-- more than just happy, I wanted to see you overjoyed.”

Gaviwyr listened with only half his ability; his thoughts were trained on another.  “What did Eomer want with her?”

Olihre was surprised to hear Gaviwyr speak.  Looking quizzically at his sister first, he furrowed his brows and shook his head.  “I don’t know what you mean.  He wanted her to be happy too, I suppose.”

Gaviwyr snorted at this, throwing his head back as he chuckled maliciously.  “Then you surely have been deceived!  Perhaps he fed you some rubbish story of happy surprises, but his scheming was much larger, I’ll bet!”

Olihre could see what Gaviwyr was leading to.  “Nay, My Lord, I assure you, Eomer had no such intentions.  He has in fact become very close to the Lady Lothiriel.  His only thought was of a surprise, perhaps a riotous one, but a surprise nonetheless.”

“What kind of fools are you?”  Xanthe wailed, her voice echoing off of the cliffs with a ferocity that made even the wind halt for a moment.  “The King of Rohan and the best swordsman in Osgiliath, bested by their own dimwitted antics!”

“Great ones,” Olihre conceded.  “We are the worst kind…once trusted, now despised…supposed friends and family…”

“End it!”  Gaviwyr demanded.  “You have made your case.  There is no more to be said.”

Olihre hung his head low, nodding in defeat.  Only when he heard a fair voice upon the wind did he regain his composure again. 

“The trait that is supposed to separate intelligent beings from more feebleminded ones is the ability to communicate in an advanced fashion.”  With a quick leap, Legolas jumped from a ledge some feet above, landing between the two parties effortlessly.  “There is always more to be said when loved ones are at odds.”

“Time is needed, Legolas,” Gaviwyr insisted, only to be halted by a hand.

“Time we do not have, my friend.  From above, I can see a party come to save us.  Eomer is among them, and he will without a doubt spare no time before he begs your audience.”

*          *          *

Gimli felt an itch assault him, though it could not be pinpointed to any one place on his body.  Shifting uneasily atop his beast, he turned his focus to his two companions, whose eyes were fixed upon the tracks on the ground.  He followed their suit, but still could find no relief from the uncomfortable sensation that plagued him.  Suddenly an impulse took him that was beyond his control.  As if a hand guided his head, he raised his chin skyward, peering up the looming cliffs some yards ahead of him, and several yards to the right.  There, a flash of golden hair caught his attention, whipped about by the wind, and only partially masking the broad smile of the elf who stood peering directly at him.  

“Haaa!” Gimli chuckled loudly, “We’ve found those blasted troublemakers!”

Aragorn followed Gimli’s gaze and smiled faintly when he too caught sight of their watcher.  “What in the world is he doing up there?” he mumbled.

Eomer saw Legolas only briefly before he scrambled back down to a lower ledge, and jumped out of their line of sight.  “Hurry!” he urged his companions as well as their horses.

*          *          *

Olihre was still kneeling in the snow when the three rounded a bend and came upon them.  Legolas was perched lightly upon a boulder, his arms wrapped casually around his knees, which were pulled up to his chin.  His eyes were focused on Xanthe and Gaviwyr, who were speaking in low whispers to each other.  His elven ears could pick out bits and pieces of their conversation.

“…patience?  Why should I…”

“…only saying…cause more trouble than…”

When Gimli rounded the bend and gave out a shout of greeting, the two nearly jumped out of their tight embrace.  Aragorn soon followed, trailed by an emotionally torn King of Rohan.  His eagerness to see Xanthe was overshadowed only by his reluctance to face her wrath, and the wrath of his friend and advisor.

“Is everyone well?” Aragorn asked, jumping from his horse and heading directly to Xanthe and Gaviwyr.

“Xan was soaked when her horse fell through the ice…”

“I am fine, My Lord.” Xanthe interrupted Gaviwyr, a look of embarrassment upon her face.

“We need to get back to the palace soon, all of us.”  Aragorn surveyed the small cove.  Legolas and Gimli were the only ones who did not show outward signs of being cold, though Eomer’s shivering could be due more to the icy stares he was receiving from Gaviwyr.  Xanthe seemed to be avoiding eye contact entirely.

When Olihre stood and advanced towards Eomer with his fists balled into tight weapons, Aragorn cleared his throat and spoke sternly to both of them.  “You are both to blame for this situation, but now is NOT the time to settle things.  We must get Xanthe back before her body goes into shock, if it hasn’t already.”

Olihre nodded, his chest heaving in an unrestrained sigh.  Eomer glanced at Xanthe and Gaviwyr, and then back towards Olihre.  “He’s right, we were both fools, but I am more to blame, it was my idea in the first place.”

Olihre’s fists relaxed a bit as his eyes filled with regret rather than rage.  “We’ve already discussed it…we are both to blame.”

“Let us hope than we will be forgiven,” Eomer glanced towards his Guard, “by both of them.”

*          *          *

The snow was falling no harder than it had been all during the day, but the air temperature had fallen much colder as the sun went down, causing the snow to harden into crunchy ice, and providing no relief to the travelers.  Xanthe was now dressed in the extra clothing that Olihre had brought for her, as well as an extra cloak that Aragorn had taken off and insisted that she wear. 

The horses were wonderfully obedient, weathering the storm with perfect dignity.  Xanthe had been set upon Gimli’s horse, while Gimli himself had been placed in a rather reminiscent position, sharing Legolas’s steed. 

Hours passed and little was said.  Aragorn and Legolas would occasionally call to each other from their separate places in the caravan, noting trivial things about the weather or terrain.  Gimli and Legolas chatted quietly from time to time, bickering as they normally did, though in this instance, it seemed that each was a bit more tolerant of the other.  The other four members of the group stayed markedly silent.

When the gates of Minas Tirith came into view some hours later, a sigh of relief was shared by all in the group.  The guards greeted them, expressing their concern and happiness that their King and his fellows had all returned safely.  As they wound their way up the cobbled streets, their paths lighted only by the full moon above and the occasional street lamp, restlessness was felt by many.

Eomer sat in the rear of the group, and every time Xanthe dared look behind her, he would catch her gaze and hold it for a moment, his eyes baring a pleading look.  Xanthe was still furious at Eomer and her brother, but she could not suffer such tension any longer.  It would take time before she would count either of them as her confidants again, but until then, she resolved, she would at least be civil, though she could not say so much for Gaviwyr. 

Pulling back on the reigns of her horse, she sidestepped Legolas and Gimli, who were directly behind her, and waited until Gaviwyr passed as well, tossing her a questioning look.  Eomer hesitated, seemingly afraid to bring his horse parallel to hers, but in the end, he had no choice.  When she looked at him with expectation in her eyes, he merely nodded his head curtly and looked ahead of him, avoiding eye contact at all price. 

“Please tell your sister that I apologize for having spoiled her wedding dinner.  I will tell her myself of course, but not until later.  Her wedding is tomorrow, and I do not want to upset her any further, it should be a day of happiness.”

“I am sure she will accept your apology without hesitation.” Eomer knew that it sounded trite and impersonal, but he knew aught else he could say without launching into an enormous discourse, something he could readily see would not be appreciated by either his friend or Xanthe.

“I am sorry I have caused so much trouble to everyone here.  I only intended to go for a ride…”

Eomer bit his lip in restraint and nodded his head habitually, wishing he could say all that he wanted to at the moment.  Instead he settled for a short reply.  “We were more than willing; we all worried for you.”

Xanthe dipped her head in acceptance, feeling that she had said all that she could for the time being.  She knew that the people she really needed to be apologizing to were ahead of her, both on horses and waiting back at the palace, but this small discourse had felt good.  She had worried previously about Eomer’s intentions, but now, after having spoken with him, albeit vaguely, she could concede to herself that he was an oaf, yes, but an innocent one.

That only left Olihre.  Dear Brother, you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into…

*~*~*

You’ve read my chapter

For that I’m indebted

And if now you review

Legolas won’t be beheaded