Chapter 11 - “The Proverbial Hits the Fan”

As the meal ended and people started drifting away to cross the corridor and into the Hall of Fire, Penny could feel herself shaking. She knew it was ridiculous, yet it was still completely freaking her out not only to be here but to be part of an event she knew so well. However she also knew... she KNEW... it had never happened... had it?

Halbarad, Aragorn, Gandalf and Elrond had exchanged glances all through the meal. The other three could tell Halbarad was concerned. Gandalf had been keeping a close eye on the proceedings and had seen her eyes widen as she had clocked Frodo. He mulled over this.

“Interesting,” he had mumbled to himself.

Halbarad was leading her to the Hall of Fire. She didn’t want to go. Didn’t want to witness the reunion of Frodo and Bilbo that would take place there, see Aragorn and Arwen side by side as Frodo had seen them, hear Bilbo sing his song of Earendil. Part of her did - wanted to very, very much, like it was a dream come true - but most of her wanted to run screaming back to Hampstead and her duvet and the grey London rain.

She closed her eyes in fear as she stepped into the Hall but the sound that met her there stopped her breath. Halbarad felt her grip on him relax completely as she stared in wonder at the elf who was singing.

It was heavenly. Rapturous. There were no words to describe it. Even though she didn’t understand a word it didn’t matter. In that moment she felt every fear leave her, every iota of panic fall away as she lost herself in the beauty of that voice.

Halbarad, watching her, smiled. It was the first time he had seen her as she probably truly was. Admittedly she still looked a little strange to him with her shoulder length hair, but she was clean, presentable and pleasant enough to look at. She was not too plain at all, in truth (when she wasn’t screaming, trembling or weeping that was). He led her to a bench and she sat, still transfixed, her eyes not leaving the elf. Halbarad hesitated for a few moments and then, seeing she was not aware of his presence for the time being, took the opportunity to mingle.

She saw it. Saw Frodo rush to greet his friend as Elrond stood watching them, smiling, but she did not flinch or panic. She smiled. It was wonderful to see these two famous hobbits interact with each other. Even from the opposite side of the room their affection and ease with each other was obvious. As another hobbit curled up to sleep near them she realised she now knew which one was Samwise. She smiled. Good. That pleased her enormously.

After some time she could feel herself growing drowsy. She stood and left, hoping she could remember the way back to her chambers. Gandalf and Elrond were talking together as she passed them by. They glanced up at her. She bowed slightly and smiled, not knowing what on earth the Sindarin for ‘goodnight’ would be. They returned her smile and watched her disappear, Gandalf in particular studying her from underneath his enormous eyebrows.

Penny woke early the next day. She had slept better that night, though still restlessly. Without questions and pressure, she could almost forget where she was and what was happening, and that helped considerably. She realised too she was better away from company, or at least company she ‘knew’ and ‘recognised’. The only exception had been last night as she had listened to the elvish songs.

She washed and then tidied her hair. She had come back to her chambers the previous night to find her Bree dress and undershift, which had disappeared, were back, looking clean and fresh. She had been very touched by this. It was kind and meant she didn’t have to go through the drudgery of washing them herself. Her hand was still cut and bruised and she hadn’t relished the idea of pounding a heavy wet dress against rocks for hours on end. She now changed to the clean undershift.

She headed out to find out where breakfast was being served, if she hadn’t missed it. She made her way back to the dining hall. Many people were there, including Halbarad she noted. She felt very self-conscious though no one gave her a second glance.

A figure bustled past her. A hobbit. He turned and grinned at her, saying something. She furrowed her brows in incomprehension and shook her head smiling apologetically.

This was... which one was this? Pippin? Pippin or Merry. It wasn’t Frodo or Sam. That was definite. The face looked young enough and cheeky enough for her to suspect it was Pippin. Part of her brain refused to process it but another part was thrilled at actually meeting him properly, face to face.

He was miming eating now and holding out his hand to her to take her with him to the tables. She smiled, nodded in thanks and let him do so.

Her heart was thumping slightly as she found herself being made to sit right amongst the hobbits. Bilbo was not with them, but the other three were there. Aragorn was seated near them and some of the dwarves. Aragorn looked up as Penny sat, smiling and inclining his head at her.

“Aiya,” she said, suddenly remembering it from some fanfic she had read. She prayed it was correct. He beamed at her. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Aiya, Pen-ii,” he replied across Frodo and Sam to her. Halbarad, seated on the opposite side from Aragorn looked up as he spoke, saw Penny and smiled at her, also repeating the same greeting.

Aragorn glanced over at his friend and said quietly in disbelief. “She speaks Quenya now!”

Halbarad chuckled. “I sincerely doubt it. She can barely speak Sindarin.”

Aragorn shook his head. “It’s all very odd.”

Halbarad sighed, “Well, I did tell you just that two days ago!”

Pippin was busy introducing himself and the others to this woman he had befriended in the doorway before he sat down beside her. She didn’t speak Westron, that much was clear, so he spoke simply and slowly.

“I am Razanur Tûk of Sûza, or Raz. This,” he indicated Frodo, “is Maura Labingi. Beside him,” he pointed at Sam, “is Banazîr Galpsi...”

Sam interrupted to say, “Ban. Just call me Ban.” Penny repeated “Ban” and Sam smiled broadly.

“And this,” said Pippin, laying a hand firmly on his other cousin’s shoulder just as Merry bit into a large slice of bread and honey, “is Kalimac Brandagamba. But you can call him Kali.”

Penny, having only just caught their names and already struggling to remember them since they were so strange sounding to her and unfamiliar, smiled nervously.

“I am Penny. Penelope, but you can call me Penny. Penny or Pen.”

They all nodded and bowed their heads. Frodo was turned to her, speaking Sindarin. Penny looked bewildered.

Halbarad broke in. “Maura she speaks no Westron, nor Sindarin bar a few words. She is not from here.”

Frodo nodded and the hobbits, eyeing her with interest now, fell to the important task of eating and teasing each other across the morning repast.

Penny’s appetite failed her once more as she sat there, transfixed and not a little giddy at the thought of who she had just been speaking to and been introduced to. At least she now knew their names. Well... perhaps. Possibly. She’d forgotten quite how mad sounding they were. She would probably remember Maura, but as for the rest...

Aragorn and Halbarad watched her as she stared at the hobbits, though she did her best to cover it.

She couldn’t really accept it. She was here, sitting next to the Ringbearer, the Mayor, the Thain and the Master: four of the Fellowship and no less brave or heroic than Aragorn himself sat beside them. They would face talking trees, giant spiders, kill a Witchking and destroy the One Ring in the next few months.

As she had done so many times before, she paled, shook and felt her head swim. Her head sank into her hands. This was not happening. It couldn’t be happening. She shook her head. She needed to get out. She needed to leave. At this rate she might never come to eat in this wretched Hall ever again. She needed to get away from them all. Now. Right bloody now.

She stood. Halbarad stiffened, his hand frozen as he lifted his food to his mouth. He watched as she inclined her head to the hobbits, murmuring an apology, and left with as much dignity as she could muster given that she was trembling like a leaf.

Aragorn and Halbarad exchanged a glance.

“Well at least she hasn’t run off screaming or weeping for once,” Halbarad murmured.

Merry, sat beside him, cast a quick glance in his direction and then at the woman nearing the large doorway to the Hall. The hobbits had noticed her reaction to them but had just assumed that, being foreign, she was unused to hobbits. Now it seemed she was ill or in distress.

“Poor woman,” Frodo muttered, watching her leave.

Penny could feel her stomach twisting in knots. It was taking all her willpower to not break into a run but she didn’t want to create yet another scene.

‘Halbarad must be fed up to the back teeth with me,’ she thought. ‘Poor sod.’

She wasn’t looking where she was going and suddenly stopped herself short before she walked straight into someone. She murmured an apology and looked up into a pair of grey eyes, like those shared by Aragorn and Halbarad. Same dark hair too. He had a beard, clipped very short, but it was clear he had been travelling since his clothes were stained with dust and mud but they were fine nonetheless: brocaded and the cloak fur-lined. He had that same stench about him that Halbarad had always had on the road. She could smell him from here. He smiled pleasantly enough and said something to her and stood aside to let her pass so he could continue into the room.

As he went past her, Penny stared after him in astonishment as she saw, upon his hip, a horn. A white horn, tipped with silver and with gold embossed upon it. The horn of Gondor.

The room span. Thank God she was near the door frame because she leaned out for it suddenly to keep herself upright.

Four hobbits and two men watched her, concerned, as they saw her pale and sway slightly. Halbarad stood, waving Aragorn to stay where he was, and he followed after her.

Boromir. Bloody Boromir! All she needed was to have Legolas and Gimli pointed out to her and she’d have the set!

Looking up she was aware of a group of blond-haired elves sat at one of the long tables and she could still see the dwarves, so the two of them would have to be here somewhere.

She turned on her heel and sped down the corridor as fast as she could.

She was walking in the gardens, had almost managed to forget and get herself back on an even keel, when she heard a bell ring. She felt her chest tighten. The Council. She wondered where it was being held.

She felt faint and sat before she fell down, leaning up against a tree trunk. Then she heard a footfall behind her and turned to find Halbarad smiling at her.

He would be a loose end today. Normally he would not have stayed so long in Rivendell and he only stayed now because of the need to get to the bottom of the mystery of this strange woman he had found. He could kill time and perhaps help her to relax and calm a little by showing her round Imladris.

It was the last thing Penny needed. What the bloody hell was he doing here! She just wanted to be left alone but he was always hovering! She was being ungrateful she knew: when she felt panicky she was glad to have him around, but right at this moment, in the knowledge of what was happening right now, she didn’t need it. She shot a dark look at him.

“What are you doing here, Halbarad?” she said, the annoyance clear in her voice.

He scowled. Back to the fiery Pen-ii so it would seem. He had second thoughts about showing her round. There were things he could busy himself with, friends he could visit. He didn’t have to take time out to be pleasant to her.

She could see he was irritated. “Goheno nin, Halbarad,” she sighed. “I am... oh, you wouldn’t understand. Meeting the periannath, seeing Boromir, it’s all too weird.”

Halbarad had shot her a look as she had said the name of the Gondorian ambassador. There is no way she could have been told his name by someone. He had only arrived in Imladris just before the breakfast meal. He shook his head. Another thing to tell Gandalf and the others.

He held out his hand to her, “Come Pen-ii. Let me try and help you forget whatever it is that troubles you for a little while.”

The day passed without incident. Halbarad spent most of it in Penny’s company, as much as anything to keep an eye on her. Penny managed to forget, for a while, something of what was troubling her. She saw the stables, the kitchens, elves working at looms, spinning wheels, tanning, smithing. The place was a hive of activity. She was surprised by how big it was and it was clear there were more buildings outside the walls of Imladris itself. Quite the busy little community. Apart from the fact that nearly everyone she saw was stunningly beautiful in a way that made her want to weep at her own physical inadequacy, and they all had pointy ears and were ridiculously tall, it was, in the end, quite an interesting and relaxing day.

The next morning she found herself once more seated near the hobbits at breakfast. Conversation flowed round her as she silently ate her fruit and bread. She was slowly accepting this situation but it still made her very uncomfortable. There were many things which she refused to think about even though they kept coming back into her head again and again. The most pressing of which was that she KNEW. She knew what the outcome of all this was, what was going to happen. That had hit her at yesterday’s morning meal. She didn’t want a repeat performance.

She screwed her eyes tight shut. ‘I’m not thinking about it. I refuse. I don’t want to know.’

She focused in on the chatter instead. ‘Better start learning sometime, I guess. Familiarise myself with the accent, any words that are repeated.’ It was a fairly useless exercise: she’d never shown any propensity for languages but it kept her brain occupied, at least, and that was the main thing.

As she left the hall she felt a hand upon her arm. She turned to find Halbarad looking down at her.

“Pen-ii. We need to talk with you. Elrond, Aragorn, Mithrandir, all of us. It is important, Pen-ii. You understand?”

She guessed what was happening and her heart sank. Just when I thought I could forget about all this for a while. A wry smile twisted her lips: ‘No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!’ Too bloody right! Not that she blamed them. But...

She sighed. She was NOT looking forward to this. Not one tiny bit.

Elrond had put aside the entire morning for this. He had insisted that Glorfindel and Erestor be present also. Gandalf and Aragorn had been concerned at such a large number of people questioning her. Elrond was firm, however.

“You have both told me she found the hobbits of significance, Maura and Bilba in particular. She knew of the Nazgûl, considered them a joke. This is serious and my foremost counsellors should be here.”

Gandalf nodded. He knew better than to argue with Elrond, especially since Elrond had already allowed the delay in questioning her.

Halbarad led her to the same room as she had been taken to before. As she entered she could see that there were in fact large doors that, on the opposite side of the entrance to the room, opened out like French windows onto the gardens. The weak autumn sun filled the room as did the scent of whatever flower was growing round the doorway. She smiled but as she turned to face those already in the room, her smile froze.

Oh my God. They had to be joking!

A single chair was placed in the centre of the room facing a row of chairs placed in a semi-circle around it. It couldn’t have been a more intimidating arrangement. She noticed too that there were more people here than last time.

‘And all male, of course. Typical. I’ll be outgunned hormonally just for a bloody start off!’

Elrond was already seated in one chair near the centre with Glorfindel to one side on his left. It had to be Glorfindel, she knew, because he was blond, though she wondered briefly if it might be Legolas. No, there is no reason why Legolas would be here, she scolded herself. She suspected the other dark haired elf was Erestor, as Elrond’s chief advisor. She noted she was not introduced to either of them. Aragorn was seating himself next to Glorfindel as she considered all this, while Gandalf and Erestor came to sit on Elrond’s right.

As she had entered the room had fallen silent. Those standing and chatting had broken away to take their seats immediately on seeing her. Halbarad led her to the central chair and then took his place next to Erestor.

Penny looked round at them all slowly. There faces were stern, though not cruel. This was serious, she knew. They would be gentle, or at least she hoped they would, but she suspected they would want answers and that they would not stop till they got some.

She let her eyes flick up to Gandalf. ‘Please God. Please understand me. Help me, dammit. You. You, of all people. Please.’ Her eyes were filling with tears. Her stomach was tight with nerves. She could feel her skin go cold and clammy as she started to tremble. She strongly suspected she was about to bring up her breakfast.

A glance was exchanged amongst the inquisitors as they saw the effect they were having on her without having even said a word.

Elrond shifted in his seat slightly. “Pen-ii?”

She looked up at him, her hands clenched tightly in her lap to stop them from shaking quite so much.

“Pen-ii, who are you? Where do you come from?”

No reaction other than obvious confusion and incomprehension.

He tried something else. “How do you know of us? You mentioned Aragorn to Halbarad, you knew Elladan, knew Glorfindel and the name of his horse. You recognised me and Mithrandir immediately.” He was gesturing to each of them as he named them. “How, Pen-ii? Tell us.”

She was staring at him nervously, then round to each of them. She suspected what he was asking. Her gaze settled finally at Gandalf but he just watched with kindly eyes that gave nothing away.

Aragorn was speaking now, his voice deep and gentle, “Pen-ii, why did you mention me to Halbarad? Halbarad. You.” He pointed at her and then motioned talking with his hand and then pointed at himself, “Me. You said ‘Aragorn’, ‘Estel’, ‘Elessar’.” He twisted his hand as if asking a question. “Why? How did you know?”

She nodded. She understood. Her gaze sunk to her knees. How on earth was she going to explain this.

She looked at them all and they could see the tears in her eyes, the despair in her gaze.

She looked, pleadingly, at Gandalf once more and spoke directly to him, “Mithrandir, I can’t explain this. Really I can’t. I mean, I will, but you will not understand it. There’s no way you’ll understand it. I don’t understand it for goodness sake. It’s mad. I’m mad, I think. And you will think I’m crazy too. Completely insane.”

She had tears running silently down her cheeks, while she pointed at herself and tapped the side of her head.

Gandalf spoke. “It is not easy and I cannot understand her exactly, but I feel she is frightened we will not understand. That we will think her insane. I think she thinks she is insane herself.”

There was a ripple of murmurs among the questioners. Penny was watching them sadly, unsure of what to say or do.

Aragorn spoke once more, “Go on, Pen-ii. We are listening.”

She took a deep breath then held out her hands, palms together.

They could see how violently she was shaking now.

Without looking at any of them, but keeping her gaze firmly on her hands, she opened them, as if they were a book.

There was a silence as those sat in front of her tried to work out what on earth she could mean.

She glanced at Gandalf. “A book. I have read about you all in a book. I know your stories.”

Though his face showed little, his eyes were suddenly a little darker than they had been. Somehow she guessed he understood her at last.

“You are not real. None of you. You can’t be.” Her voice was rising a little, the edginess and panic in it clear for them all to hear. “You don’t exist. Any of you. This place doesn’t exist. Imladris, Eriador, Arda. It’s.. You’re.. You’re NOT REAL!” She collapsed into sobs, bringing her hands to her face.

Elrond growled, “I do not appreciate being shouted at in my own halls.”

Erestor was looking dark and both Glorfindel and Aragorn were astonished. Halbarad, having seen this behaviour all too often simply sighed and shook his head.

Gandalf, however, sat thoughtfully for a minute, his eyebrows arched in surprise. At last he spoke. “She has heard of us. Of all of us. She has read about us.” There was a gasp of astonishment.

“What!” exclaimed Aragorn, staring at Gandalf and then at Penny.

She, meanwhile, had lifted her head as she heard their reaction to whatever it was that Gandalf was saying. ‘Please. Please tell me he has understood. Somehow. Please. He’s a bloody demi-god, for goodness sake. How could he NOT understand me?’

“I do not know how,” Gandalf continued. “Nor do I think she has said how. But... and this may go some way to explaining her strange behaviour... she did not think we existed. We were not real for her. To meet us in the flesh, to know we do exist, is very distressing and traumatic for her. That much is clear. Painfully obvious, in fact, and I should have realised this a lot sooner.”

Five pairs of eyes turned to stare at Penny in utter astonishment and disbelief. She felt their gazes on her and flushed, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“But how..?” Halbarad was saying. “How could she have ‘read’ of us? It doesn’t make any sense! Who knows of us other than ourselves? No-one outside of the elves of Imladris or the Dúnedain knows of me? Who, outside of a few people, knows of Aragorn’s lineage? How did she know of what happened at the ford? I don’t believe her. She’s lying!”

For the first time Halbarad truly doubted his instincts about this woman. Elrond and Erestor nodded their agreement with him.

“It is not possible, Mithrandir. You are mistaken,” Elrond was saying.

Gandalf just nodded calmly. “We shall see,” he said.

He turned to Penny and said her name and she turned to look at him, her cheeks still wet with her tears.

“Pen-ii, they do not believe you. How do you know us? What do you know? How can you know things that no-one but those who were there could tell you?”

Her brows furrowed. He said again, “We do not believe you could know such things from a book. How is it possible?”

As he asked the second time his eyes closed and Penny suddenly heard his voice in her head, as if calling to her from a great distance. He was speaking in his own tongue, and yet she understood him, though she knew not how. Just the sense of what he was saying at least. She gasped, staring at him in astonishment.

Then, in one movement, she was out of her seat, and on the floor in front of him, her hands on his knees and looking up into his face as she wept in relief.

“Le hannon, Mithrandir. Oh thank God. Thank you. Thank you. You have no idea what it’s been like. Le hannon.”

He smiled down at her and leant forward a little in his chair to stroke her hair. But he said nothing, just gestured, kindly, for her to return to her seat and answer. She nodded and stood.

They didn’t believe her. Okay. Well. Let’s see now. She turned, looking at each one in turn. Start with the easy ones first, she guessed.

She approached Erestor. She bowed.

“Erestor?”

He nodded and couldn’t have looked more surprised if she’d slapped him in the face with a wet fish.

“Erestor, Chief Advisor to Lord Elrond of Imladris.”

Gandalf, smirking, dug him in the ribs, “I believe you have just been told your title and position in the house of Lord Elrond.” The others had their jaws on the floor.

“Mithrandir, well you know what I know of you. You are a member of the White Council.” Gandalf looked puzzled. She listed on her fingers, “Mithrandir, Saruman, Elrond, Celeborn, Galadriel: the White Council.”

There was a gasp and loud murmurs.

“What IS this, Mithrandir!” Elrond had to restrain himself from jumping from his seat.

Gandalf motioned for them all to calm themselves, though even he himself had been surprised by this.

She continued, “You went to Dol Guldur to find Sauron.”

There was an intake of breath all round the room at the mention of these two names.

“You persuaded Bilba to join Thorin, to kill Smaug and regain Erebor. You attacked Dol Guldur.” She made a gesture with her hand to indicate movement as she continued, “Sauron to Mordor.”

Stunned silence. They needed no translation for what she had just told them.

“Halbarad. Of the Dunedain. Great hero and warrior. Friend to Aragorn,” she turned to him now, “Called ‘Estel’ by the Eldar. Aragorn son of Arathorn and Gilraen,” Aragorn’s chin dropped, his eyes wide.

She motioned to her head as if placing a crown on her head, “King Elessar of Gondor and Arnor.”

Gasps and murmurs once more from all but Gandalf.

“Betrothed to Arwen Undomiel.” She looked at Elrond who was staring at her, his hands tightly clenching the arms of his chair, unable to speak or move.

She moved closer to Aragorn and slowly reached out a hand. He watched as her hand touched the hilt of his sword.

“Narsil. Isildur. The sword that was broken.” She made a motion as if breaking something over her knee.

Again: no translation needed. Aragorn and Halbarad exchanged an open mouthed glance, both shaking their heads in disbelief.

“You found Gollum, Smeagol.”

‘Gollum’ they understood, but not Smeagol. Seeing their confusion she realised that it, too, must be a translated name. She had no idea what his ‘real’ name was. She carried on regardless.

“You took him, Gollum, to Thranduil. You met the periannath. Fought Nazgûl on Amon Sûl. As did you,” she turned to Gandalf then who was looking at her in astonishment

“What! How can she know such things!” Elrond was standing, the fury and bewilderment clear in his face.

“Give it time, my friend,” Gandalf said quietly, reaching for his arm. “It will all become clear, I am certain of it.”

Penny had stopped, unsure whether she should continue. She knew she would be frightening them, possibly raising their suspicions of her to dangerous levels, but she had little choice. They wanted answers: they were going to bloody get them. Let THEM deal with a little insanity for a change. Share and share alike!

She glanced at Gandalf. He smiled and nodded, gesturing for her to continue.

She turned to Glorfindel. “Glorfindel.” He nodded, smiling, though clearly surprised. “Now, I have a question for you. One or two?” She held up her fingers, smiling.

He looked puzzled. Gandalf, though, his eyebrows raised, chuckled.

She turned to Gandalf, “Well, there is Glorfindel of Imladris, who rescued Maura from the Nazgul at the ford of Bruinen...”

Everyone looked at Halbarad who looked back at them with an ‘I told you so’ expression on his face.

“...and then there is Glorfindel of Gondolin who slew the Balrog.”

There was a brief silence. Glorfindel was suddenly grinning.

“Well, she knows her history,” Erestor murmured. “I’ll give her that.”

Seeing his grin, Penny asked again, holding her fingers up as she did so, “So: one Glorfindel? Or two?” Glorfindel’s grin widened and Gandalf laughed.

Elrond snarled, “This is no laughing matter, Mithrandir.”

Gandalf coughed a muttered ‘no of course it isn’t’ but his eyes twinkled brightly still. Glorfindel held up one finger to her. Penny beamed.

“I knew it! I knew it, I KNEW it! A-ha!”

Glorfindel was pleased that his answer had delighted her so, but he was still utterly mystified. Baffled amusement was clear on the faces of all except Elrond who was doing his very best Queen Victoria impression by not being amused in the slightest by all of this.

She turned to him now. She bowed. “Elrond. Lord of Imladris. Father to Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen Undomiel. Husband to Celebrian who is now in Valinor.”

Elrond was paling.

“Brother to Elros, first king of Numenor.” She made the ‘crown’ sign again. “Son to Elwing and Earendil,” and she pointed to the sky and made a flashing motion with her hand.

Elrond nodded, slowly, the shock clear in his face.

“Earendil, son of Tuor and Idril of Gondolin. Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of Beren and Luthien,” and she pointed behind her to the tapestry she had admired so much before. “Herald to Gil-galad and fought at the Battle of the Last Alliance.”

A movement from Gandalf interrupted her. He was looking questioningly at her.

“Battle of the Last Alliance. Gil-galad, Elendil, Oropher?” She motioned, “Went to Mordor. Fought Sauron.” She made as if waving a sword about (much to the amusement of the warriors in the room).

“Elendil, Oropher, Gil-galad all died.” She considered dragging her finger across her throat but thought better of it. She made a spreading movement instead, though she wasn’t sure why – the gestural equivalent of ‘laid low’, she supposed.

“Isildur with Narsil,” she made a cutting gesture against the fingers of one hand.

She had not noticed but as she made that gesture, even before she said what she said next, the room was suddenly filled with tension you could cut with a knife. Elrond in particular was looking dark.

“Cut the Ring from Sauron.” She held one finger with the fingers of the other hand to indicate a Ring.

There was a barely perceptible intake of breath from all six questioners.

She turned to Elrond. “You and Cirdan. Told Isildur to throw it in Orodruin.” She gestured taking off a ring and throwing it. “Isildur,” she shook her head and finger, “refused.”

She had seen the look in Elrond’s face. She glanced briefly at the others and saw their faces, even Gandalf’s now, were grim and hard. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She wasn’t sure if she should continue or not but she did.

“Isildur killed by yrch. Ring in Anduin.”

Glances were being exchanged. Mutterings of ‘there is no way she could know this: this was only made public yesterday in the Council’ were being shared.

She carried on.

“Friend of Gollum.” She bent as if picking something up.

Gandalf said quietly, “She means Nahald.” There were quiet gasps from the others.

“Gollum.” She made a stabbing motion and snatched something.

“Gollum to ... Misty Mountains... umm... Emyn. The ‘emyn’?”

She looked at Gandalf who nodded slowly, unable to believe what he was hearing.

“Bilba.” She made another grabbing motion.

The mutterings grew louder now.

“Bilba gave it to...” She wracked her brain for his actual name. Not Frodo. NOT Frodo. “Maura.”

Elrond was on his feet now, his eyes flashing.

“Maura with the Ring.” She gestured to her finger again and then pointed to the floor, “Here to Imladris.”

She was shaking. She did not like the glare in Elrond’s eye. At all.

She slowly walked back to her seat, sat down, and waited for it all to kick off.

It was Elrond who started shouting first.