It's been quite a while since last I wrote something long that is not the parodies I am working on with my co-writer, Windy. I honestly can't remember when I started writing this, over a year ago actually, but I had forgotten it. I found it in my documents and read it over and decided to continue it. I really hope you like it.

You do not need to read any other story to understand this one, but it does make references to another I wrote called "When dawn breaks I will still be there." Like I said, you don't need to read it at all to understand this one, but if you wish to do so, then by all means do!

Silver Tongue

Chapter one

Running down the hall of Harvard, long, black hair flowing and bouncing behind, was twenty two year old Catherine. She made herself way by pushing and squeezing herself through the mass of students and teachers, all dressed in heavy winter clothing. It looked like a survivor's competition. Everyone raced each other trying to reach the food courts and cafeterias first to avoid long lines, and others just wanted to leave as soon as possible to start their weekend.

As Catherine rushed between the crazed crowd, a very large man brushed brusquely against her, making her lose her balance and stumble to the side, bumping into several people who either tripped along with her or shoved her aside with a curse or rude remark. Catherine ended up falling against a young woman who quickly reached out to steady her.

"Thank you," she told her quickly, then turned to the guy that had pushed her in the first place. "And watch it next time you big idiot!" she yelled after him, but he either didn't hear her or didn't care enough to reply back.

Huffing in annoyance, Catherine resumed her journey across the hall. Finally, she made it out of the crowded hall and into a long corridor with many doors, each with a tag with the name of the owner of the office. She passed about twelve doors before she arrived in front of one that said 'Nair Silver Tongue'. Without the need to knock, Catherine entered the office.

An old woman was sitting behind her desk reading some papers. At first look many were fooled by the appearance of the woman. Even though she was in her mid-sixties, she appeared almost twenty years younger. Her blond hair tied back in an elegant bun, though somewhat lacking its former shine, looked young and healthy and enviable for many much younger women. Her ice blue eyes were strong and firm and full of life and deep mystery. Yet even if all her appearance made this woman look much younger than she was, people would quickly realize that she was older than she looked when she spoke to them. She had an air of authority and deep experience and knowledge that could only be acquired by long years of life and learning. There was a mysterious aura around her. No one could truly understand her and her power over people. She was never forceful, but by a single glance it seemed that she could read thoughts and souls and get any answer she wanted from anyone.

The old woman put down her paper and looked up with a smile at her niece.

"Good morning Catherine. You seem to be in a rush."

"I am. I'm sorry to barge in and leave so quickly but I am late for an appointment and I need to borrow some books I saw you have for an assignment," she said while searching through one of the three bookshelves in the office.

"Have you in mind a place to go this weekend?"

"Place to go? What do you mean?" she asked, looking over her shoulder with an inquisitive look, then looking back at the books.

"I mean, are you planning on leaving that pile of books and papers for a day and go out to have fun and relax for a change."

"I have no time for that, aunt Nair," she said with mirth in her voice. "I have two assignments due next week and a test as well."

"Honestly child, you need to live life a little more! You live buried in books and studies and you hardly give yourself time to relax and have fun. You act more like an old woman than I! I question whether or not you will ever get married or have more friends than just the youth from your classes. They seem to be around you more out of interest than of true friendship."

"Of course they are! Do you think I don't know that? But I am their 'friend' out of interest above all as well. That's how things work when you're about to graduate in Laws School. You should know."

"I do know, but I worry about you. At least they do not spend every waking moment with their noses stuck in the pages of books."

"To get grades like mine so that I can afford enough scholarships to afford Harvard is not easy. Plus I've managed to make six years in four. At this rate I'll be out of college in no time!"

"Oh Silver Tongue, you need to learn to live."

"I know how to live! And please stop calling me like that!"

"Why can I not call you by your name?"

"It's my surname, and it sounds like weird, ancient surname."

"It is an ancient surname, and it has passed down through many generations. Names always have special meanings, and yours, both name and surname, are truly special."

There was silence for a while as Catherine continued to search through the books, ignoring her aunt's last comment.

"Aunt Nair, where are the books on Russian and Middle East laws and politics?"

Catherine turned around and found her aunt staring at her with penetrating eyes. Catherine had gotten used to her aunt staring at her like this after a few years of the same thing. She had asked the reason for her to do this, but she never got an answer. The old woman seemed to bore into her soul. She could feel as is her aunt could see an entire world within her every time she stared at her this way.

"How is your head, Catherine? Has the aching increased?"

"It has been better of late," she answered carefully.

"The books are back here," said Nair, turning and walking further into the office. They arrived at a little gathering room.

Catherine looked around but saw no books. She was then taken by surprise when her aunt began to push a wardrobe along the wall. She didn't bother to offer her help since she was always shunned away anyways. Catherine gawked at a small door that appeared from behind the wardrobe.

"I never knew this was here. Why didn't you ever tell me about it?"

"I like to keep some things secret. I am sure you know that by now."

Catherine had to hold the urge to role her eyes, remembering the many secrets and mysteries her aunt always held. She walked into the small room which was lit by a lantern that was connected to the wall outside. The room was very small. It had room only for the bookshelf and three people. Catherine crouched and began searching through the books. As she did, something caught her attention and made her smile. She reached for a framed picture of a handsome young man with wild golden hair and blue eyes.

"You two were very alike- dad and you- almost like twins. Too bad I never got his golden locks or blue eyes."

"You look a lot more like your grandfather, my father," Nair chuckled. "Tall, long black hair and honey eyes. He was a true definition of a dark beauty."

Nair observed the picture and smiled, caressing the image of her father.

"I miss him," she said, longingly.

"So do I," Nair replied, wistfulness in her voice. "Well I will leave you now, child. I have a meeting in an hour and I want to find a chair as far from the air vent as possible. Apparently people do not understand that having cold air conditioner during winter is an insanity!"

Catherine chuckled.

"Alright, see you later then."

Catherine resumed searching though the books, but felt as if she was being observed. She turned her head to find her aunt staring at her profoundly, a hint of melancholy in her eyes.

"Uh, is everything alright aunt Nair?"

The old woman smiled calmly.

"Nothing, child. Goodbye, Catherine."

Without another word, Nair turned and left Catherine wondering what that melancholic farewell was about. Suddenly remembering that she was late, Catherine continued to search through the books. When she thought she had everything she wanted, she put back the books she had taken out and prepared to leave. Just as she was standing to leave, something caught her eyes. Catherine crouched once more before the old bookshelf and reached out for a small book. It was leather bound with a silver spine. It was only about three inches wide and four long. But what caught her attention the mots was what was written on the cover, Argentum Lingua.

"Argentum Linguea? Silver tong," she said to herself, translating the words from Latin to English.

Catherine had no more time so she stuffed the book in her pocket and ran out of the office. She reached her car without breath. Her things had already been packed and stuffed in the backseat of the car in the early morning. Catherine had learned never to leave anything, not food, not clothing, not even her dishes at her dorm, because the girls she shared the dorm with liked to have parties in the weekends and everything Catherine owned would disappear or appear broken, stained of half eaten.

Catherine started the engine and drove out of the parking lot of her building and into the street in direction to Berkshire where she lived. Not ten minutes had passed when she found herself in a traffic jam.

"Oh come on people! I am late as it is!" she said, slamming her forehead on the steering wheel.

The phone began to ring. Catherine reached for it, but seeing it was her friend whom she was due to meet in less than ten minutes, she decided not to answer. Traffic began to move slowly. She saw that there had been an accident and that a police man was moving traffic. When it was her turn to stop, Catherine remembered the little book she had found. She pulled it out of her pocket and studied it once more. The cover was engraved with the words Argentum Lingua, her surname.

"Silver tongue," she muttered to herself, translating the meaning of the word. She opened the first page. Her eyes widened when she saw a beautiful picture that had been hand drawn in ink. It was a young man with a most handsome face. His facial features were gentle and fine. There was a lovely smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. He was wearing an elegant robe. It was a complicated design. His attire had several layers, all with embroidery of leaves and vines. He was holding his right hand up, his palm facing the sky and from it light or magic seemed to be projecting. His left hand has held waist height and he was holding a small book, identical to the one she was holding. Catherine flipped the page and saw a single sentence in the middle of the page, it was written in Latin.

"Ancient silver tongue I call thee. Take me to the land where my spirit can be free to be what it was meant to be." She read it carefully in an undertone, wondering what this could mean.

A mixture of a shrill-scream and car wheels screeching drowned the faint sound of shimmering bells and made Catherine's head snap up just in time to see a car lunging towards her out of control. She did not even have time to scream before the car collided with hers and everything went white before going black.

Catherine's eyes snapped open as she took in a deep gasping breath. She lunged forward and her forehead banged against the steering wheel.

"Ow! Dam it! Ow, ow, ow," Catherine moaned in pain, pressing her hands to her forehead.

For a moment Catherine was distracted by the pounding pain in her head, but suddenly she remembered what had happened and with a soft scream she looked up and looked herself through, searching for missing limbs and open, bleeding wounds. To her intense surprise the only wound she had right now was the bruise on her forehead which was beginning to swell and a thin line of blood was trailing down over her left eye. Carefully she wiped away the blood and quickly looked around. Her car seemed untouched, but what had her stunned was the scenery outside. She was in a forest lit only by the dim, last rays of the evening sun. She pressed her face to the window and saw that the threes around her were very tall and thick. Most of the leaves had fallen and there was a thin mantle of snow on the floor.

"What the hell?" she muttered, not believing her eyes. This was definitely not Boston. Catherine was in a state of shock. She opened the door and stepped out of the car. Her misty breath created large clouds of ice cold breath, yet in her state, she did not notice how cold it was. Catherine looked around her, searching for the street where she had been driving- she thought- a while ago, but there was none. She could see no streets, no cars and no people. She could hear nothing but night noises. Finally Catherine came into her senses and she realized she was standing in the middle of a forest, freezing cold and alone. Catherine realized she was shivering and groaned in complain of the cold. She walked back to her car and pulled out her winter pea coat, scarf and gloves. She then sat in the passenger seat and dialed her phone to call her mother. She growled when after second attempts the line was cut off before it even had a chance to go out. After she had been cut off for the third time, Catherine lost her patience and cursed loudly, using all sorts of colorful language.

Catherine moaned and buried her face in her hands. For a while she sat there trying to compose herself and think of what to do next. Finally she decided she needed to move since staying in the car freezing to death was no good. She looked around but realized she could not drive through the trees since there was not enough space between them for her car to pass. It took her a while to decide to get out of the car and walk to see if maybe further ahead there were any signs of people. There was not much lighting out now since night had fallen, but the moon was almost full so there was just enough light to see what was a few feet ahead.

Catherine left the car and turned on the light of her phone. She began walking forward careful not to lose sight of her car. She had walked some fifteen feet when she heard the snap of a dry twig. She swung around and pointed the light at a bush. The sound of a crude growl made the hair at the back of her neck stand. She felt her body go cold and her head felt light. She began to back away slowly in the direction of the car. As she did this, a pair of yellow eyes appeared and another growl sounded louder. Her feet began to back away with increasing speed as her breathing became heavier by the second. Suddenly a wolf broke out of the bush. It stared at her for a moment, giving her time to break into a run before it gave chase. Catherine ran at high speed, her feet seeming to have rocket boosters in them. She hear the wolf gaining, its growls and angry barks sounding each time closer. Catherine whimpered in terror as she felt the beast getting closer. She could see her car. She made one last attempt at pushing her legs beyond their normal capacity of speed and lunged for the car. She did not even stop as her hand reached for the handle as she crashed inside the back seat and at the same time brought the door to a close. The wolf, however, had its head already in the car, but Catherine had used such strength to close the door that the creature howled in pain when its head was smashed between the door and the car. This gave Catherine the time to kick the animal out and close the door. She jumped to sit and lock the door when the wolf jumped to the glass window, barking and growling furiously and making Catherine scream and jump back and hit her head against the other glass window, yet she was so terrified that she did not even realize it. She began to scramble through her baggage to find something to defend herself. She found a small kitchen knife she had brought since last time she left it in the apparent it was use as a dart in a game and she found the refrigerator pierced. Catherine held the knife tightly and snuck between the seats.

It was a long and cold night. Catherine had pulled out a blanket from her luggage and wrapped herself in it in an attempt to save herself from freezing to death. When the sun rays filled the car with light, Catherine stirred and moaned under her cover. Still frightened, she carefully sat up and looked out the window. There was no sign of the wolf. She had stopped hearing it growl and pace after about two hours since it had gone after her, but she had been too afraid to even check. Now that the sun was up and the wolf was gone, Catherine decided she needed to get out of there. She emptied her backpack from everything except one medium size notebook and a pen. Then she filled it with all the can food and other snack she had, just one extra set of clothes, the most basic personal hygiene items, and a blanket since nothing else fitted with the amount of food she stuffed in it. She found a bottle of Pepsi she had not finished and tucked it along with the other things. She had her black pea coat, a red, long-sleeves shirt and under that a thinner, white, long-sleeves shirt. She wore leggings under her grey jeans, black gloves and scarf and grey winter boots.

With the knife on her hand and a heavy backpack, Catherine set out to find a way out of the forest. She walked slowly, her feet aching within the first hour. Her back was not doing so well either since her backpack was heavy. After three hours of walking, Catherine's legs gave beneath her and she stumbled to the floor, falling on her hands and knees with a tired gasp. Catherine slides her backpack off and allows herself to fall flat on the ground, the knife closely beside her.

"Dam it. I need to start going to the gym," she muttered breathlessly.

Catherine had drank all the Pepsi almost as soon as she had begun her journey and she had replaced it with snow which had melted to become drinkable water. She swallowed all she had in her bottle and refilled it. She took out a can of sausages and ate it along with Ritz. After that she continued her journey. Long hours passed but Catherine seemed to be getting nowhere. Suddenly Catherine stopped and looked around her almost frantically. She studied her surroundings carefully. Her breath became heavy and she let out a curse to the sky when she realized this was the third time she passed beside the same large threes with the swirly roots that seemed to make the image of a fat lady sleeping on the ground.

"Come on, God! Why on Earth is this happening to me?!"

Catherine kicked the snow from the floor and sat down, exasperated. Her head then snapped up and she looked to the sky. It was getting dark, which meant wolves would be prowling the area very soon. She felt her body cold from the inside out at the thought of facing another monster like that and she dashed to her feet and looked around, searching for a place to be safe for the night. She looked up at the threes and decided that was her best chance for the night, so she climbed on the one with the thickest branch so she could have a better chance of not falling off during her sleep. It was a terribly cold night. Catherine was wrapped in her coat and blanket but it was not enough to fight the harsh winter winds of the night. Her head was beginning to ache, though she had gotten used to having headaches out of the blues so she buried herself in the blanket and tried to ignore the pain and just sleep.

The next morning Catherine's head ached had diminished. She took out another can of sausages for breakfast, but when she opened it, she found that the contents was frozen. She began to curse and complain and from every ten words, eight were curses. She began to walk around the area, searching for wood to try to start a fire. As she picked up branches she heard the slightest sound and spun around frantically.

"Hello?!" she yelled. "Hello!"

There was no answer. For a moment Catherine was tense, expecting to see another wolf come out of the bushes and she held her knife in her hand tightly. She then felt that she was being observed and spun around. She yelped when she saw a man standing about two and a half meters away. He was very tall, taller than any man Catherine remembered seeing before. He looked to be somewhere in his late forties, though for some reason she thought that his face looked very handsome for his apparent age. He had wavy, brown hair down to his shoulders and blue eyes. But what really called her attention was that he was wearing some sort of Renaissance Festival costume. It looked very real, and the sword on his belt looked even more real. Another sound from behind made Catherine turn around. She saw two more men, one that looked to be in his early forties and with an extremely handsome and roguish face, with dark hair and stunning green eyes, and the other who looked hardly a year older than herself, with shoulder length, pale blonde hair and blue eyes, also very handsome. When she turned to look at the first man, she saw that two more were by his side. One looked very old with greyish hair and tired blue eyes, but strong enough to punch another man out with a single fist, and another who looked just a few years older than herself, with long, wavy, black hair and grey eyes. But what was really off here was that they were all wearing Renaissance Festival costumes and their weapons looked too real.

There was something else that caught her attention, the smell of blood and grime. Catherine swallowed hard. What had she gotten herself into? A group of super model Renaissance Festival cosplayers who were either so fanatic that they did not bathing and use something to fake the smell of blood, or actually killed something or someone, just to make themselves smell like blood. Maybe they were just crazy, wild men who lived in this forest and she was just in time for their "fun" time. She felt faint at the mere thought of it.

Just as she was about to try to say something, she heard the sound of approaching hooves. She turned around to meet the new comers. Catherine felt she had been slapped across the face, for the sight before her was the most stunning she had ever seen. Two stunningly beautiful men, physically identical to one another, were sitting on black horses. They both had very long, dark, straight hair that had been braided in complicated braids. They had the most stunning silver-grey eyes she had ever seen. Their complexion was utterly flawless and their bodies looked strong and muscular even under their winter clothing. The only difference between them was that one wore pale blue and silver grey while the other had darker blue and grey.

One of the twins, which is what she assumed they were, spoke. His voice was like the sound of a thousand silver bells, strong, but gentle and musical and the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. It made her go into a trance for a moment, but when she came through she realized she could not understand a word he had just said.

"Uh, hello. Do you speak English?" Seeing their confused expressions, she continued. "No? Well, Habla Español? Paral Italiano?! And that is all I know! What language do you speak?! Where the hell am I that you do not know English?!"

The men exchanged confused and curious glances. Catherine could hear them exchanging words but she could not even tell what language they spoke. As she looked them over, her eyes were suddenly fixed on the arm of one of the twins. It had a bandage around it which was stained with blood. Her eyes widened with fear. How had he gotten that? It was a bad gash. Who were these strange people?! The man realized Catherine was staring at his wounded arm and placed a hand over it as if confused as to why she was eying it so much. Catherine looked around, the men seemed to have come to a conclusion. They were smiling, or rather smirking, which made Catherine's fear grow.

"Dam it, dam it!" she muttered angrily. In her mind she could see only one reason for a group of seven men to smirk around a lost woman. 'I have to get out of here!' She thought urgently. She looked at her backpack. It was just a few feet away. In there she had all chance she had of surviving. The men had begun to close the circle around her. This was the time to act. Taking a deep breath, Catherine charged towards her backpack. She picked it up and with a mad scream and dashed into the forest, leaving a group of stunned men behind.

"What just happened?" asked the man with green eyes, surprise clear in his eyes and voice.

"I am not sure, Cathalon, but I believe she thought the worst from us. Should we go after her?" said the man who had first arrived at the scene where Catherine had been.

"I think we should," said the oldest of them. "She looks indeed lost."

"I agree," said Cathalon. "She must be very far from home, for I have never seen her likeness anywhere. But we must be careful. As Bemor said, she seems to think the worst of us. What do you think, Amener? How should we approach her?" he asked the old man.

"I think we have to make sure we have her first, which we will not if we stay here any longer. She dashed away at the speed of a frightened deer."

Catherine could hear the sound of her own heart drumming against her ears. She looked back to see if she was being followed and for a moment it looked like she had lost them. Suddenly she saw figures break from behind the trees like spirits of the forest. Had she not been running for her life, she would have admired their abilities to blend with the forest. She heard them yelling things in the strange language but she didn't slow nor stop.

"Miss! Miss please, come back! We will not hurt you!" Bemor yelled as he ran along with his companions.

"Are we truly chasing a lady through the forest?" asked the youngest of them there.

"I say it is an improvement, young Dyrin!" exclaimed Amener. "We need something else to chase besides orcs!"

There was a round of laughter.

"Aye," said the second youngest man. "But what do we do with this one once she is caught? She is not an orc, so how do we decide what-" but he was cut off by Amener.

"Careful with your thoughts, Seobryn, lest you wish to be assignment to stable duty when we return."

"What?! I said nothing and I did not mean what you-" said the boy all too quickly, but the smirk on the old man's face plus the snickers coming from the others made him stop in confusion, only to realize it had been just a bad joke. Seobryn flushed brightly and looked away, making his companions laugh.

"It appears that you five are not fast enough to catch up to her," said the twin with the light blue and grey garments, "so my brother and I will run ahead and get her,"

"You elves with your superior abilities mentalities!" exclaimed Bemor, faking exasperation.

The twins smiled mischievously before exchanging looks and darting ahead, secretly racing each other.

"Those two never stop amusing me," said Amener with a fatherly tone.

"Aye, and Elladan never learns that Elrohir is much faster than him and will always beat him by an arrow shot," said Cathalon with an affectionate smile.

The five men laughed. There was silence for a moment as they ran and in this silence they all exchanged looks. Their eyes became challenging before they all began to race one another.

Catherine could hear approaching laughter. For some reason their laugh made her heart tighten with terror for she could imagine the enjoyment they were planning on having once they caught her. Her lungs seemed to have closed and her legs burned with pain. She began to slow down, which made her whimper in despair as she did her best to continue going. As a last attempt at running, Catherine dropped her backpack to lighten her weight. As she pushed herself to the limit, she saw a flash of dark blue and grey before finding herself before one of the twins. She tried her best to make a corner turn but she was too close to him and she ended up tripping and falling hard on the ground, the knife flying out of her hand. She groaned in pain for a moment before she remembered what was happening. When she saw the man leaning over her she screamed and threw kicks at him. The man dodged them easily and stepped away with his hands in front of his chest and his palms facing her as a sign of piece which Catherine did not register. She got up and began to run again but the man caught her wrist, making her scream in terror.

"Let me go!" she shrieked. The man released her wrist, but she stumbled back and fell again. She was about to try to run again when she realized that she was surrounded by all seven men. Catherine then shrunk into a fetus position and shielded herself with her arms.

"Please don't hurt me! Please, please, please, please!" she begged in tears.

Catherine heard words being spoken to her. Some were the melodious voices of the twins and other were deeper and rougher, coming from the other men. The voices sounded gentle, but she was too afraid to see it.

"Miss, please, it is alright. We will not hurt you," said one of the twins.

"Easy for her to believe you, Elrohir. You made her fall like a catapulted stone," said Elladan, half serious, half mocking.

Elrohir glared at his brother before crouching beside Catherine and lightly placing his hand on her shoulder. The mere act made her stiffen like a stone.

"Miss, it is alright. Get up. We can help you."

Elrohir gently but firmly tugged at Catherine's arm, making her look up to him. He offered her a gentle smile which left Catherine stunned and speechless for a moment, both because she did not expect it from him and because his beauty surpassed all that seemed humanly possible. Elrohir took this chance and pulled her to her feet. Catherine slowly came out of her trance. She was stiff as a stone as her eyes traveled to study each of the men. As she did, she realized they really did not look hostile towards her. There was a hint of worry and curiosity in most of them; the others just looked at her without clear emotion. Lastly, her eyes reached the other twin behind her. She stared at him, not believing that such beauty was created not once but twice. They were breathtaking indeed.

As Catherine looked around herself, she felt a small smile tugging at her lips. This was truly an out of this world experience. She was surrounded by the most beautiful men she had ever seen, and two of them did not even look human but angelic. She wondered then if there was a possibility that she was really just dreaming while her body was in the hospital in a coma state or maybe even frozen in some part of the forest. But the cold, the hunger, tiredness and pain she felt were too real to be a dream. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. This was all too overwhelming for her.

"What do we do now?" asked Bemor.

"I honestly do not know," said Elladan. "She does not understand us, and she is not yet over her fear of us. See how she trembles."

It was true, Catherine was trembling slightly in fear. She was at a lost as to what to do now. She was lost, hungry, cold and scared half to death. She could not understand a word from them and she did not trust them yet at all. It was hard considering their attire and the lack of proper communication due to the difference in language.

All the men exchanged looks. Amener walked forward and stood some three feet from her. He bowed his head slightly with his hand over his heart in greetings. The gesture, though completely odd for Catherine, was understood by her. She bit her lower lip as she observed the old man. He had one of those 'loving grandfather' faces, if only he didn't smell of blood and grime.

"Can you understand me?" Amener said, but Catherine just stared at him with a blank expression.

"She is definitely not from around here," said Cathalon, making Catherine look at him. Apart from the twins, this man was the most handsome of the group. Yet his face was quite hard and a bit stern, which kind of scared her. Yet she could not help feeling a bit giddy, being surrounded by so many handsome men. "We cannot just stay here all day staring at her," said Cathalon.

"Aye, but what do we do?" asked Bemor.

Elladan walked towards her. He stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out a way of communicating with her. While he did this, Catherine decided this was going nowhere and that she needed to get away as soon as possible.

"Um, it was nice meeting you, but I need to go now, so bye," she said while taking a few steps back, her index fingers pointing away as she tried to tell them she was leaving.

Elladan saw where her fingers were pointing and narrowed his eyes.

"Archet? Is that where you wish to go?" he said while pointing to the same direction as she.

Catherine was quite cunning and clever so she could quickly understand that there was something in that direction after all. Considering that the first thing he said was a one word question, she could decipher that this was the name of whatever place was there.

"Yes, yes, Archet," she replied, hoping she was not just saying something folly.

"Apparently she wishes to go to Archet," said Elrohir.

"But why Archet? There is really nothing there," Seobryn said.

"There is people there, Seobryn. Perhaps she is searching for someone," Amener said.

Through this time, Catherine had been slowly walking backwards. Elrohir was aware of it and chuckled. The sound made Catherine's hair crawl, it was so beautiful and surreal.

"I think our lady here really wishes to leave," Elrohir said with amusement.

"Then let us take her there. She should not be traveling alone," said Bemor.

Elladan nodded and whistled and two seconds later both black horses came galloping. Elladan then extended a hand to her. Catherine quickly took a step back, raising her hands breast height and gently waving them, trying to tell them it was okay.

"No, no, I'm fine. I'll go myself. Thank you." Catherine was not in the mood of traveling with a bunch of weird dresses men, no matter how handsome they all were. As she walked away she noticed that the youngest of the group had her backpack. Her eyes were wide with fear of him not giving it back, but Dyrin saw her eyes on the pack and understood. Slowly so to not scare her, he walked to her and gave her the backpack. Catherine took in and muttered a thank you.

"She does not want us to take her," said Elladan.

"We cannot let her wonder around alone," said Cathalon. "She is not from these parts. She could be a spy of the enemy."

"What do you think, Amener?" asked Bemor. "You are the oldest Dunedai among us. You have seen more than we. What does she look like to you?"

"I do not get the impression that she is a spy, not with the way she reacted to us. A spy should be careful not to be seen or call the attention and she has done the complete opposite. Besides, she was only armed with a small knife, that is hardly a weapon against an enemy. But she is definitely interesting. I have never seen clothes like hers, nor heard the language or accent."

"Then should we take her with us?" asked Cathalon.

"I think we should," said Amener.

There was a short moment of silence before Elrohir spoke.

"Nay, I think we should let her be."

Everyone in the group looked at him with confused looks.

"Why is that?" asked Bemor.

Elrohir simply looked at his brother. Elladan nodded to him in understanding.

"Let us let her be, for now."

The tone he used made the other man understand that there was a good reason for it and nodded. Catherine was still backing away when Elrohir came close to her. She stopped, wondering what he wanted. Elrohir took her hand brought it to his lips to place a light kiss one it. Catherine had tried to pull away, but when his lips touched her hand, she felt a sudden lightheadedness take over and her face burned bright red. Elrohir smiled, yet there was something hidden in that smile, a triumph or a feeling of victory. As soon as his hand loosened, Catherine pulled it back quickly against her heart, holding it as if it burned or as if it had been contaminated by the act, yet the man lost not his smile as he backed away. He extended his hand, offering her knife back. Catherine took it and quickly turned and hastily walked away.

The rest of the men walked away, returning to whence they came.

"It looks like the strange woman caught your interest, Elrohir," Elladan teased.

"She did, but not in the way you believe," he replied with a small smirk.

"Why did you do that?" Elladan asked with more seriousness.

"I wanted to examine something, and I think I got what I wanted. Did you see her reaction? She was completely bewildered. Another woman would have not reacted this way, even if she was afraid. This one acted as though the act was something abnormal, something she is not accustomed to. Does she not, in a way, remind you of someone?"

Elladan's eyes narrowed as he thought for a moment.

"You are right. This is strange indeed."

"When does your wife return from Lothlorien? She is the only one who can really help us here."

"She will not be back until spring."

"That is too far away. We will need to do this ourselves."

"Aye," said Elladan.

Elladan looked over his shoulder, his farsighted vision catching Catherine as she walked towards Archet.

I cannot say just how happy it makes me to post new stories. It's such a fulfilling thing to see my stories take shape and know that others enjoy them.

Leave all the reviews and comments you want. I humbly accept constructive criticism, but please, if you simply dislike the story, then there is no need to read it.

The next few chapters are done and I just need to revise them so expect a few updates soon, though I am working on several other stories so if for a moment you don't see an update, don't think I've dropped the story. I have never dropped a story nor will I ever do so.