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Don't Panic!  by Boz4PM

Many thanks, as ever, for the reviews - it is so interesting hearing people's comments and reactions to it all. Much appreciated. ~Boz~



Chapter 13 - “A Square Peg”


Halbarad, Aragorn and Glorfindel walked Penny to the dining hall for lunch leaving Gandalf and Elrond debating what should be done with her.

Penny felt a little odd now that her story was known and understood. She was pleased, relieved even, but it was a bit weird knowing that they knew all about her now.

She could tell the three of them were glancing at her every now and then as they walked, no doubt in a mixture of astonishment and bemusement. She could hear them muttering to each other occasionally and looked up at one point to see Aragorn shaking his head as if in disbelief while Glorfindel cast a look in her direction.

She bridled. Then she scowled.

As the four turned a corner into another corridor and then started down a wide flight of steps towards the door of the dining hall, she heard Glorfindel whisper something to the other two. She glanced up to see him leaning in to Halbarad who was nodding, looking serious. Aragorn was listening intently. It was obvious they were talking about her.

She stopped, hands on hips and glaring at them as they carried on walking past her not even realising.

“That’s it! You’re just being RUDE now, you know that? And you great heroes and all! You should know better! It’s not MY fault, you know. I can understand it freaks you out, but there isn’t ANYTHING I can do about that! Imagine how I feel, for God’s sake!”

The three had stopped and glanced at each other. Glorfindel’s eyebrows were raised. Aragorn, on a higher step from him, was staring at her in astonishment. Halbarad, though, laughed.

“She has a temper on her. In fairness, though, we WERE talking about her and I believe she has guessed as much.”

Aragorn looked impassive but his eyes were glinting with laughter as he said, “Given that we now know she knows precisely who she is talking to, I am amazed at her audacity.” He bowed, “Forgive us, Pen-ii. You are right to scold us. We should not have forgot ourselves and been so rude.”

She stared at him for a moment as if considering his apology, though in truth she had only understood ‘goheno’. She nodded curtly.

“Right. Well. Just don’t let it happen again, that’s all.”

She stomped past them and down towards the dining hall.

The three watched her, catching each other’s glances. Halbarad was grinning.

“I don’t know what she just said but she sounded just like my mother!”

Aragorn snorted, “I know what you mean.”

Glorfindel whispered, “Sounded just like Elrond to me.”

The three laughed.

Penny, assuming the laughter was at her expense, turned her head and scowled.

The three bit their lips and sniggered, holding their hands up to her as an apology. “Not about you, Pen-ii. Not about you,” Halbarad was saying. He turned back to the other two, “A grown man of near seventy made to feel like I am no more than twelve! This is ridiculous!”

Chuckling they followed her down.

'Men! Bloody typical. Even sodding elves behaving like pillocks.' Still, Penny couldn’t believe she had just done that. She had just told off Aragorn, Glorfindel and Halabarad. ARAGORN, GLORFINDEL and HALBARAD! The mind boggled. She was getting WAY too familiar. Not good. Even if they WERE being very ungentlemanly and talking behind her back to her face... or something like that.

She smirked as a thought flitted through her head: the sooner she learnt Sindarin the better. Then she could REALLY give them what for! She shook her head even as the thought came to her, though. No, she would have to learn how to behave. They might accept it once or twice as a joke, but there were limits. No one would have dared speak to three such warriors and heroes as she had just done, let alone a woman; and a woman who barely knew them no matter how much she may THINK she knew them from having read about them all so many times. She was going to have to learn to bite her tongue.

As she reached the dining hall she slowed. She was still nervous about large company, especially given those she knew would be there.

The three males, seeing her hesitate and better understanding it now, came up to her. Halbarad spoke gently to her and insisted she take his arm. He glanced at Aragorn and they both mutually decided they would take her to the end of a table and away from the general company. Glorfindel, bowing to her and taking her hand to kiss it, which flustered, embarrassed and thrilled her all at the same time, excused himself to go off and ensure Elrond’s other guests and visitors were being looked after.

Just as the three sat down, the hobbits came over to join them, talking excitedly and all at once to Aragorn. They noticed Penny and bowed, greeting her and she returned their smiles and inclined her head.

Halbarad had felt her stiffen beside him, though, as they had appeared. He touched her arm and murmured to her, “Pen-ii, I know this is hard for you. But we know about you now. That must help a little, I would think. We will not judge you if you want to leave.”

She didn’t understand him, but guessed he was reassuring her and she smiled at him, grateful for his concern. In truth it WAS a relief, somehow, knowing that both Aragorn and Halbarad knew and, she presumed, would not blame her if she found it all too much to cope with. As a consequence it was all so much easier to deal with, strangely. She was actually able to eat and enjoy a meal for the first time since she had arrived. That was in spite the fact that she was sat opposite to Aragorn, next to Halbarad, within spitting distance of four famous hobbits and that the rest of the Fellowship and other ‘well known persons’ were also somewhere in the room.

Halbarad noticed and was glad.

After the meal there was a brief, silent, hand gestured debate between Halbarad and Penny. She made to leave and he, stopping her, looked questioningly at her as if to ask where she was going.

She pointed and then made a rubbing motion of her skirts between her hands as if washing. She needed to wash the elvish undershift.

He shook his head, taking her hand to show the cuts and bruises, healing but still visible.

She smiled gratefully and, placing her hand on his, tried to reassure him. “I’ll be fine. I promise.”

He moved his finger to point to both himself and her alternately several times. He clearly meant ‘we’. Then he gestured in the direction she had pointed.

She flushed and shook her head vehemently. There was no way he was coming with her to watch her wash an undershift. She strongly suspected, rightly, that it would be the Middle Earth equivalent of him watching her wash her knickers.

He nodded, accepting her refusal. “Then I will make sure someone comes with you,” he said. She didn’t understand. He shook his head and smiled. “Don’t worry. Go.” He would send someone to her room or to catch up with her.

All six of Penny’s inquisitors had been thrown a little, to say the least, by what had occurred that morning. It beggared belief and yet there was no other explanation that would fit her knowledge of the unknowable and her behaviour thus far. There was no doubt in any of their minds that her tale, however bizarre and outlandish, was indeed true.

All six, and Aragorn, Gandalf and Elrond in particular, tried not to think about the fact that she knew the outcome of all the efforts they had made thus far and were about to put into motion. All held on to the idea that the story she had read had been worth telling for the right reasons. Not because in the end hope utterly failed them and darkness fell.

Gandalf was especially keen to talk to her more given that he could now, on a basic level at least, understand her and throw his mind to her. Still he knew he was getting only an outline of whatever she said and he had to keep his thoughts to her fairly simple. But it was enough. It had certainly been more than enough that morning.

He grinned. He was pleased his immediate instinct and reading of her had been proved right. There was a small part of him that was terribly proud, and yet utterly unsurprised, that these events he was part of were as significant as he had always known them to be. He was not at all shocked to learn that she knew of hobbits, and the names of the five in Rivendell in particular. He had always known hobbits would have an important part to play in all this.

A slow, warm smile spread across his face as he chewed at the end of his pipe while Elrond made a show of standing by the open door to the garden in an attempt to get away from the tobacco smoke.

The person Halbarad sent to Penny was the same female elf who had showed her to her chambers that first evening in Rivendell. It was now generally known in Rivendell that the human female who had arrived with Halbarad had been found by him, lost and far from home, and that she spoke neither Sindarin or Westron. So the elleth kept things simple and used lots of hand gestures.

Penny quickly learnt her name was Mireth. She had been surprised by Penny bringing soap with her but had not objected. She had led Penny to her own chambers to collect some washing she had to do so they might do it together and then they walked through the gates and the trees down to the river.

Halbarad had made a point of showing Penny the washing stoop the day before so that she could go there whenever she felt she needed to. Penny was grateful he had done so, but even more grateful he had sent someone to keep her company.

As they walked Mireth talked. Penny did not understand any of it, and Mireth knew this would be the case, but Penny found it pleasant all the same. It was relaxing to have someone chatter at you and feel at ease enough with you to do so.

“You shall have to teach me,” she said.

Mireth looked puzzled. Penny pointed at her tongue, made a talking sign, then pointed to Mireth and then herself. Mireth nodded, clearly delighted with this idea.

So then Penny found herself being told the names of things, most of which she instantly forgot. She laughed, holding her head as if she had a headache.

“Too much, Mireth! Too much! I’ll never remember it all!” and Mireth, guessing her meaning, laughed also.

She stopped her stream of Sindarin vocabulary and focused on just a few things. So Penny learnt ‘tree’, ‘grass’, ‘river’, ‘dress’, ‘slipper or shoe’ and ‘undershift’. Oh, and ‘soap’. She repeated them over and again. Then, on the way back from the river, Mireth tested her by pointing at them and looking at Penny with her eyebrows raised. Penny, laughing, would repeat the words and Mireth, hugely pleased by her student’s first lesson, grinned.

As they passed through the gate and came to the halls once more an elf came down the stairs towards them. He called Mireth and said something to her, indicating Penny as he did so. Mireth nodded and turned to Penny, “They have organised a Sindarin lesson for you. We will deal with these,” she indicated the wet clothes in the basket she was holding, “Then I will take you to Erestor’s study.”

Penny nodded. She had understood ‘Sindarin’ and ‘Erestor’ and had guessed the rest.

Erestor had been suggested by Elrond and, even if he had not, he would have put himself forward to teach her himself. Firstly, he was fascinated by the idea of learning or getting to at least know some of her language. The alphabet she used was most intriguing. Secondly he, like Elrond, felt that intimate contact should be limited to only a few for the time being and that it would be better if someone who knew her situation be the one to teach her. Erestor was, then, the obvious choice as busy as he was. Still it was unlikely she would be able to cope with much more than half an hour each day and he could spare that. Or, at least, he would just HAVE to spare it.

They went to Mireth’s room first and spread her clothes on an airer. Then Mireth came to Penny’s chambers. Penny just hung the undershift over the back of a chair.

“I will get you a clothes airer. There will be a spare one around somewhere I am sure,” said Mireth. She smiled and waved her hands at Penny as if to say ‘Never mind’ at Penny’s puzzled incomprehension.

She led her through corridors to Erestor’s study and stopped, indicating his door. She turned to go.

Penny called after her, “Mireth?” The elleth turned back to her. “Le hannon.” Mireth nodded, grinning, and went off in the direction they had just come. Penny turned back to the door, took a deep breath and knocked.

Not knowing if the response she had heard was a ‘come in’ or a ‘wait a moment’ she hesitated. Should she knock again? Should she go in? Bloody brilliant! First Sindarin lesson and she couldn’t even get through the sodding door!

She sighed. This was ridiculous.

She knocked again, tentatively.

The door was pulled open and Erestor, repeating his response to the first knock, motioned her to come in.

Okay. So she would have to try and remember that that meant ‘come in’. Not ‘please dither about outside my door like a complete idiot’.

Erestor’s study was about half the size of Elrond’s, though still large. All four walls were lined with bookcases and books. There was, as in Elrond’s room, a large door that opened out into the gardens. A desk was to one side and Erestor motioned for Penny to sit.

He said something as he did so. One word. He repeated it. He made a sitting motion and repeated the word a third time. She nodded and said the same word herself.

‘Okay. We’re learning, I guess. Trick’ll be remembering all this.’ Erestor nodded and smiled.

On the desk was a slate and a piece of chalk. Erestor now took up a position opposite her where a blackboard was resting on an easel. He studied her for a few moments and then he began. With the alphabet.

Penny groaned inwardly. He had to be joking, didn’t he? She was never going to remember this. No way. No way on earth.

She looked at him, scribbling letters on the board and did her best to copy them on the slate in front of her as he directed, repeating their sounds after him. Why couldn’t she have a bloody piece of paper? Something she could carry around with her? Something she could then re-read in her own time? Oh, God! This was just daft!

Erestor turned to see she was scowling at him. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Anything the matter, Pen-ii?”

She pointed to the slate. She made a writing motion. He looked puzzled.

She sighed. “Pen and paper. Can’t be that difficult, surely?”

She made the writing motion again. He came over to her and pointed at the slate. She shook her head.

“Paper.”

She looked about her and saw some scrolls and parchments on a table behind her. She pointed. “Paper.”

Erestor looked at what she was pointing at. He snorted.

“Parchment! Are you mad? I am not wasting paper on lessons! It is expensive and difficult to make and it cannot be wasted on such things. You can use slate and your memory like everyone else. When I think you are ready you can learn to use a quill and then and only then will you get parchment. And sparingly too.” He turned back to the blackboard, “Paper indeed!”

Penny opened her mouth and then closed it again. Clearly what she had suggested and asked for was utterly preposterous judging from his reaction. She mentally kicked herself. Paper was a luxury, no doubt, not the wasted resource of her time.

She felt a sinking feeling. This was going to make it ten times harder to learn this bloody language. She couldn’t write anything or keep anything written. It would all be in her head or on a slate that would be wiped clean for the next lesson. This was hopeless. She’d never learn to communicate. She sighed, picking up her chalk and carried on copying the letters and repeating their sounds.

Erestor did not overtask her. She started with six letters first of all and was given a word to learn that began with each one. Even if she didn’t know what the word meant, it would at least help her to remember the sound.

He glanced at the candle burning near him. The wax had melted down to near the half-hour mark. He stopped and inspected her slate.

Her letter forming was neat. This was good. He just hoped she would remember it. He handed it back to her, smiling.

“Very good, Pen-ii. Well done.”

She was not the first non-speaker he had taught, nor would she be the last he suspected. He was well practised at this.

He turned to the bookshelf nearest them and scanned along a high shelf till he found what he was looking for. A Sindarin reader. He handed it to her, leaning over the desk beside her as he opened it for her at the first page: an alphabet and one word written next to each letter. He read the first six lines for her, saying the letter’s sound and then the word that went with it.

She realised this was exactly the lesson he had just given her. He was reading the same words he had been giving her for each letter as she had copied them out several times each. She smiled. She picked up the book and waved it at him.

“Can I keep this? Is this for me to take away with me, to study?”

He guessed her meaning from the expression on her face and the hand gestures she was using. He nodded. She grinned.

Okay. Not perfect, but a lot better. Much better in fact. It would be hard, but who knew how long she would be stuck here and she would just have to work at it and do this. No matter how long it took.

It was still early in the afternoon when her first lesson finished. Her book under her arm and muttering the new words she had learnt to herself, Penny decided to wander in the gardens for a bit. She wondered where Halbarad was. In fact she wondered what on earth would happen now, and if any decision had been reached about what they would do with her. They had far more important things to worry about than her. She was just an unwanted pain in the backside, a problem they could have all done without. She was fairly certain of that. Not for the first time she felt how irksome she must be for them.

She had barely stepped out into the gardens when she saw Gandalf walking towards the halls. He looked up on seeing her and smiled.

“Pen-ii. I am glad I found you: Halbarad was looking for you.” He projected the last part of his sentence.

“Me?”

He nodded and indicated round a corner where the path led to the main gate. She nodded and headed off that way, Gandalf coming with her now that he had run into her since he had not been going anywhere in particular just then.

Halbarad was on his horse, Aragorn beside him and about to climb in the saddle. There were several elves, also on horseback, including Glorfindel, Elladan and Elrohir. She hadn’t met Elrohir yet. Halbarad hadn’t seen her, as he was deep in conversation with an elf beside him, but Aragorn smiled at her, saying her name and nodding, before he put his foot in the stirrup and swung his other leg up and over Roheryn’s rump.

For a moment Penny was baffled. They were leaving? Halbarad was going? But... but... he had only just got here. A wave of panic. He was leaving her alone amongst them all! Shit! She’d not realised quite how dependant she had become on his being around. Bloody ridiculous of her. Just a few days ago he was some stinking, ignorant, arsewipe and NOW she didn’t want to lose sight of him. She was kicking herself. She was being utterly stupid.

Elladan, seeing her, and not having had an opportunity thus far to greet her properly since that night he had spent with her in the woods, moved his horse forward and inclined his head to her.

“Pen-ii. Mae govannen.”

She returned his greeting as Gandalf said in her head, /He has been told. He deserved an explanation of your reaction to him. His brother also knows since nothing can be told to one without the other knowing. Elrond told them./

Penny nodded. “Le hannon, Mithrandir.”

Even as she said this, an elf who was the near spitting image of Elladan moved his horse to stand beside his brother. He smiled at Penny and, murmuring her name, he greeted her with a slow smile.

Something about him seemed softer, gentler than his brother. Penny strongly suspected he would not have thrown forty fits over her using his comb and that, if he’d felt the need to wash it, he would have done so more discretely than Elladan had done. ‘Less like his father,’ Penny concluded. Though how or why she came to such a conclusion she was not sure. Penny bowed.

“Mae govannen, Elrohir. I am honoured.”

Mithrandir, rather than translating, whispered the Sindarin for it in her ear. She repeated it hesitantly and blushing slightly. Elrohir grinned and acknowledged what she had said with an incline of his head.

The horses were turning to the gate and the twins moved away from her. Aragorn was off through the gate already following two other elves. As Halbarad turned his horse he saw her at last. He smiled.

“Pen-ii! Thank you for finding her, Mithrandir.” He walked his horse to her and looked down at her. “I wanted to say farewell.”

She understood ‘navaer’. Why the bloody hell did she feel tears come into her eyes? She was getting pretty damn cross with herself.

“Navaer, Halbarad.”

She wanted to ask if he was coming back. If she would see him ever again. If.. oh, God.. if this was IT and he was off into the wilds of Eriador till he got the message to round up the Dúnedain and head South to Rohan. In which case she really would never see him again. She was NOT going to cry, dammit.

She clenched her fists behind her back where neither he nor Mithrandir could seem them and dug her nails into her palms. She tried to sound breezy as she spoke.

“It’s a shame. I was going to show off the Sindarin I learnt today.” She waved her reader at him.

Before Mithrandir could explain she pointed at a tree. “Galadh,” she said. Halbarad grinned at her.

Then she suddenly realised. She turned wide-eyed to Gandalf and he looked at her, clearly sensing she was remembering something, that she knew something.

“They are going out to look for the Nazgûl, aren’t they?” Gandalf nodded.

She turned back to Halbarad and he smiled, though his face was grim having heard what she had said and guessed at its meaning. He had to go. He nodded and kicked his horse gently into a trot and rode towards the gate to catch up with the others, already out of sight through the trees.

“Halbarad!”

She ran after him. She really didn’t know if he would be coming back with Aragorn and the twins or not. ‘DON’T think about it. Don’t bloody THINK about it you silly cow!’ She refused to burst into tears. He stopped as she came level with his knee and looked up at him. She held her hand out to him and he took it.

“Le hannon. Le hannon for everything. I didn’t deserve the way you put up with me. I was dreadful to you. I am sorry. Just...”

It was pointless saying it. She knew. But she couldn’t help herself.

“Be careful.”

A sudden flash of inspiration made her add, “May Elbereth protect you.” That sounded suitably ‘Middle Earthian’ and the right kind of thing to say at such a moment.

Halbarad nodded, smiled, squeezed her hand and then said “Navaer Pen-ii” before riding out of the gates of Imladris.

Penny caught the sob in her throat so he wouldn’t hear it.


Author's Note: Okay. I 'fess up. BIG boo-boo and I'm amazed no-one spotted it at the time. *sigh* Too late to change it now ‘cos it would mean rewriting the last three chapters. The canon is that Aragorn and the twins leave to look for the Nazgul (with others, and others are sent out before them too) straight after the Council.

If I had remembered I would have had them question Penny before the Council, but wanted them to do it afterwards and misremembered when Aragorn left. Thought it was the next day or a few days afterwards. But no. It's there. First page of "The Ring Goes South". Well, it's too late now and the first major AU mistake and you all have my sincere apologies. *hangs head* Serves me right for presuming I remembered correctly rather than assuming I was wrong and double-checking first (you would have thought I’d have learnt from experience by now to not trust myself, wouldn’t you?). Let this be a lesson to us all. Principally me.

Ahem

Yes. Well.

Carry on. *grin*





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