[MillietheWarrior]

I worried my lip between my teeth, wondering if he’d think I was crazy if I told him about how I got it. But then again, Gandalf had died once, so maybe he was no stranger to ‘second chances.’ “I, um, I got it in a place called ‘The Halls.’”

“The Halls of Mandos?” Gandalf asked, his eyebrows rising up into his hairline. “You have been to such a place?”

“I guess?” I had no idea who Mandos was, or what the name meant “The woman…well, the elf I met there said it was just called ‘The Halls of Waiting.’ I assumed it was some sort of limbo, since prior to my arrival there I kinda of…died.”

[MillietheWarrior]

“You died?” I was pretty sure that if his eyebrows rose any higher, they’d disappear. “So then, this is your second life? And from your mannerisms and knowledge, am I to presume that your first was not in Middle Earth?”

“You presume correctly, Mr. Wizard,” I agreed with a nod. “I’m from a whole different world. Way, way different. It’s a whole lot to explain, and not something we have time for right now because I think it might take a couple of days, but that’s the gist of it. When I got to the Halls, I met an elf, who I mentioned before, named Vairë.” I heard Gandalf suck in a sharp breath, but ignored it, thinking nothing of it. “I don’t know who she was, other than the fact that she had pointy ears, but she told me I had the choice of taking a second crack at life, or going on to wherever it is dead people go to after the Halls. So, naturally, I took a second chance. Before I left, she put her finger on my forehead and it started to itch. Apparently, she left some weird mark on my forehead that Boromir said looked like some kind of white star.”

[MillietheWarrior]

“The mark of the Valar, I imagine,” Gandalf nodded, not elaborating on his dramatic gasp from before. “So when you arrived here…?”

“When I arrived here, I was dumped on top of a disgusting, smelly, and very pissed off Uruk-hai, which effectively saved Boromir’s life and nearly got me killed twice. Once by the Uruk, and the second time by Boromir. When the rest of the Fellowship arrived, Legolas recognized my mark, and said something about the Valar, and I spun some crazy tale about being sent by Galadriel to help them on their quest. When Boromir asked about his death and how I knew it would happen-”

“How did he know he was supposed to die?”

[MillietheWarrior]

“I made a stupid remark about being glad he was alive,” I muttered, looking at the tips of my sneakers as they peeked out from under my dress as I walked.

“And what did you tell him?”

“I said I saw the vision in Galadriel’s mirror and I wanted to stop it. You know, Galadriel is a really good scapegoat for awkward explanations.”

Gandalf’s lips twitched, and he gave in to the urge to smile. “Indeed she is.”

“But the mark, Gandalf. What was it, and why was it there? And who was Vairë?”

[MillietheWarrior]

Gandalf stroked his beard in thought as we strolled through the masses of people who were packing their things to go to Helm’s Deep. “My best guess is that the mark was there to signal your second life. I have seen it only on one other occasion, in a case very similar to your own. I know of the others who crossed over from your world, but that was many, many years ago, and few are alive today who would remember. The mark may also have been given to you so that you would be recognized and subsequently accepted into the Fellowship. Vairë is…”

He grew silent for a moment, his face grim. “She is the wife of Mandos, the lord of the Halls. I suppose you could call him the king of the dead, in a way. Vairë is known as ‘The Weaver;’ she is responsible for weaving the story of the world in her tapestries. I imagine that was why it was she who appeared before you; she is weaving your story as we speak.”

[MillietheWarrior]

I shot him an incredulous look. “That makes no sense. Why would a mark on my forehead mean recognition and acceptance?” The explanation about Vairë was pretty mind-boggling too, and I filed it away for later analyzing; my story was a tapestry being weaved? That was weird.

“All elves, young and old, know of the Valar. There is not a one who does not. So upon seeing the bearer of such a mark, one would not dare to question the validity of that person or their stories and explanations. Legolas’s easy acceptance of you lead to the acceptance of the entire remaining Fellowship. The marks disappearance may be a sign of the fact that it is no longer needed. But this is only a guess, my dear. I am not all knowing.”

[MillietheWarrior]

“Clearly.” I grinned when he spared me a withering look. “You didn’t foresee the Balrog, did you?”

“No, I didn’t,” he agreed dryly. “And I would rather you didn’t bring that up.”

“Sore spot?”

He gave me another self-suffering glance, and I couldn’t help giggling. “All right then, I won’t mention the Balrog. But Gandalf, how much of this are you going to tell the others?” I bit my lip, wondering how wise it would be to reveal so much about where I was from. “Aragorn already knows. I think you should tell him. But what about everyone else?”

[MillietheWarrior]

“I do not think the rest of the Fellowship should be told until the quest has officially ended…if it ever does?” He looked at me in askance, and I chuckled.

“Nice try, Gandalf. But you know I can’t say. I’ll figure out something to tell them, or nothing at all. And I won’t say a word without consulting you first, ‘kay? Are we just going to keep going along with the story that I’m from Lothlorien, or something? ‘Cuz it seems to have been working well so far.”

“I suppose,” Gandalf mused. “Galadriel is rather omnipotent these days, so I imagine she already knows of you and your origins. I do not know when I shall next get a chance to speak with her, but for now, we shall leave your story as it is.”

[MillietheWarrior]

“You don’t think Legolas will question it? ‘Cuz he’s an elf and all. He might be wondering why a scrawny little human was chillin’ with his glowing, fancy kinsmen.”

Gandalf gave me a weird look at the word ‘chillin’,’ obviously not knowing what it meant, but getting the gist of it. “Perhaps you are simply one of Lorien’s best kept secrets,” he said after a long moment’s pause. “And I see no harm in it remaining as such.”

“Cool beans. I think I’ve got it all. Shall we go and gather the rest of the wolf pack?”

Again, the weird look, but Gandalf nodded nonetheless and I happily skipped along beside him as we headed back to the halls.

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[MillietheWarrior]

I was pretty much ditched by everyone but Boromir when Gandalf and I returned.

The other three followed along behind the wizard, intently listening to whatever it was he had to say to them. I wasn’t worried about missing anything, but I couldn’t help but wonder why Boromir was choosing to stick with me instead of trail after the wizard. “Hey, ‘Mir. Whatcha doin’ back here with me?”

Boromir did a remarkable impression of Gandalf’s ‘weird look’ as he turned to watch me. “I know we haven’t had much of an opportunity to speak, so I had hoped to do so before the chaos of leaving the city took hold.”

[MillietheWarrior]

I nodded my head; sounded reasonable. “All right; shoot.”

I needed to stop using words from my world, because I was seriously confusing people. “Yes, well…When we first arrived, I wondered at the story you wove to present to Grima. You said you were my fiancé.”

“Yep. And?”

“I just thought it a very odd story. And very clever. But it took me completely by surprise.”

“I gathered as much when you nearly choked on your own air.”

[MillietheWarrior]

Boromir chuckled at that, his face relaxing marginally. “I would just like to tell you, my lady, that the story did warm my heart. And gave me much to think on in my time in that cell.”

“Like what?” I asked, thoroughly interested. Me mentioning that we were fiancés, no matter how totally fake it was, made him think about things? What kinds of things?

“Like what I have been missing out on in life. I believe when this is all over, I would very much like to settle down and finally start a family. But that is neither here nor now, and I shall not speak of it.” He turned to give me a small smile, and I felt my cheeks heat slightly at the warmth and kindness in his eyes. Oh, lordy, I hoped he was going to elaborate on that one. “Perhaps one day our paths will lead the Fellowship to Gondor. I believe you will love my home. It is fair, and beautiful.” He paused, as if working up the courage to say something, his face twisted up with hesitation. “Much like yourself.”

[MillietheWarrior]

With that parting remark, Boromir promptly jogged forward to catch up with the others, leaving me standing stock still in the middle of the path with my mouth open. Holy fish monkeys, Batman! Did he just say what I think he said? Was he insinuating he was considering me for…whatever it was he wanted to do after the war? And had he just…called me ‘fair and beautiful’?

I pressed my hands to my cheeks, feeling them heat with the blush I knew was rising up my neck.

That was the nicest thing any man had ever said to me. Sure, I’d had boyfriends in the past, but everyone knows how men are these days. There’s no chivalry, no beautiful, eloquent compliments, no making death threats about keeping their girls safe as someone yanks them off to the dungeon.

[MillietheWarrior]

I blinked.

Huh, Boromir had made death threats at the whole of the Edoras court when he’d been dragged away. On my account. For me. I hadn’t really thought too much on it, since I assumed it was just because I was a woman, and he was a man, and making death threats was what one did in the company of the opposite gender here in Middle Earth, but now that I thought on it, it was a bit strange (granted, so was my reasoning behind death threats and why they were made).

Then did that mean he’d just…indicated he was interested in me?

[MillietheWarrior]

Holy crap.

I threw up my hands, thoroughly frustrated with the complicated sorting of emotions my mind was tempted to sort through, and decided I didn’t need this right now. What I did need was to go and find Eowyn and demand she get me a pair of pants and a tunic because there was no way in heaven or hell I was going for a fucking walk across Rohan again in a dress.

Mind made up, I turned on my sneaker clad heel and jogged back up to the halls to find Eomer’s sister.

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