Chapter Text
“Why in God's name are you summoning me at this hour?” Talin yelled at the young guard who had the displeasure of summoning her to the holding cells where most prisoners were kept prior to their trials.
“Well, my Lady,” the guard said. “We found this creature outside the city walls. And when we captured them, it asked for you by name.” Talin glared at the guard and sighed.
“Fine. Show me.” The guard took her to the cell, where inside was a creature she somewhat recognized, but only from books from Earth from a game. The creature smirked and flicked its tail when Talin approached.
“What is your name?” she asked the creature. It stared at her for several long seconds before it finally answered.
“Ardula.” Talin noticed open cuts and wounds on the creature’s body. It was thin - far thinner than Talin was.
“How long has it been since you last ate, Ardula?” Talin watched as Ardula stood up, her tail swaying idly.
“Well, seeing how I was thrown in here a few hours ago, not recently.” Talin told a guard to bring food and her healing herbs. The guard nodded and left. She motioned for the first guard to open the cell door to let her in.
“I can’t let you do that,” the guard said. “We don’t know what this creature would do to you. Plus, I don’t want to be the one to explain to the King how I let his wife into a cell with a creature of unknown origin.” Talin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“If I went in with a sword, would that be better?” The guard shifted and nodded.
“Your sword, please.” The guard handed her their sword to her. She hated these kinds of swords. She stepped aside and let the guard open the door. The guard she sent to get food and medicine returned. She thanked him and set the tray on the small table in the cell.
“Please eat,” she said, motioning to the food. “There are herbs in the tea that will help you heal.” She opened her medicine kit and waited patiently for Ardula to sit and eat. Ardula poked at the food with a suspicious eye.
“No poison? I assume I am not in Faerûn anymore.” She dug in, ignoring the utensils laid beside the plate. She looked up at Talin, who still waited patiently.
“Well? Whatever you’re to do, get on with it,” she said around a mouthful of food. Talin let out a sigh. She walked over and eyed some gashes on her arms and a few scattered on her back, fresher than other scars that peeked over the collar of her shirt.
“This might hurt a bit,” she said, getting ready to put ointment on one of the larger gashes she could see. She carefully dabbed the wound, waiting to see if Ardula recoiled at all. Ardula only hissed but otherwise didn’t move. Feeling more confident that there wasn’t too much pain, Talin continued to clean.
“Do you mind taking your shirt off? I can have the guards look away if you prefer..." Talin waited patiently for a reply. Seeing Ardula devouring the food that was brought, she realised the poor thing must have been starving. Talin pushed some of her hair behind her ears. Doesn’t matter what or where this creature came from, she was badly hurt. If only Boromir saw her.
Ardula flicked her ears as her hair was moved, and jerked her head. She dropped what she was holding and wordlessly yanked her shirt over her head, shaking her head again as it got caught on her horns. She swore in a language Talin didn’t recognise as it tore, and wrestled the shirt into a corner.
“I can get you a new set of clothes afterwards,” Talin said, moving to her back. The gashes were worse than she’d thought.
“Do what you will. It matters not to me.” Talin took more ointment and started to clean the wounds.
“Do you mind telling me where you're from?” Talin asked. “You remind me of a creature from a game I played back where I’m from.” She paused waiting to see if Ardula responded, and went back to get some herbs. She crushed them together and chewed them slightly to make a paste. Ardula blinked after her, having finished the food.
“Game?” She shook her head again. “Hm. I am from the continent of Faerûn, on Toril.” Talin thought for a moment. Faerûn. Toril. Those names weren’t familiar to her. She flashed through every map she has seen throughout the years and nothing came to mind. She did remember there were lands past the Grey Heavens that had been lost to time.
“Well,” her thought trailed off. The portal to Earth had been closed off for years now. She saw to that after the fall of Sauron. “You’re in Middle Earth. In the lands of Gondor. Currently in the city Minas Tirith.” Ardula tilted her head as she thought.
“Earth. Middle Earth.” She thought longer. “I know of Earth. Our great mage Elminster wrote of it, brought things to Toril from there. But Middle Earth, I don’t know it.” She pulled her lips in an approximation of a grin, her fangs flashing. “It’s a pleasure.” Talin smiled slightly.
“Truth be told, I used to live on Earth. That was many years ago though.” Talin walked back and spread the newly formed ointment into the cuts. She took some linen cloth and started to wrap her back. She lightly patted Ardula’s arms to indicate she wanted them up. She lifted them. “Is that too tight?” Talin stepped away to see how the cloth clung to her body. Ardula gently twisted back and forth, then cocked her head at Talin, noting her half-elven features.
“It’s fine, tu'rilthiir.” Talin smiled and walked over to one of the guards.
“Inform Aragorn that she has woken. Send riders out for Gimli and Legolas as well,” she told the guard in Elvish. “Also, bring in a set of fresh clothes.” The guard nodded and quickly walked away.
“Tu’rilthiir,” Talin repeated. “You called me a half-elf.”
“Yes. And?”
“Nothing. I haven’t been called that since I first got here, years ago.”
“Would you rather I not? It’s just a habit of mine, I’m afraid.”
“No, just calling a half-elf that there is an insult. It’s a derogatory term elves would call those with mixed blood.” Talin shook her head. That was years ago, though. Ardula bowed sarcastically from the waist up.
“Apologies, then. On Toril, it is a fact of life.”
“I’ve been called worse though.”
“Uh, Lady Talin, we sent for those you requested. They should be here in a week's time,” the guard she sent said. “And the clothes you requested.” Talin took the clothes and set them on the bed in the cell. She thanked the guard and dismissed them.
“Ardula, did the guards take anything from you?” Ardula grinned sardonically.
“Only my pride. No, I arrived here with naught but the clothes off my back.” Talin smiled back at her.
“Do you mind telling me what you are? Only if you’re comfortable.” Talin leaned against the bars of the cell, looking at Ardula: Horns, long, pointed ears, and a tail. Not any Urku-hai or goblin she’d seen. The sword was within arms’ reach, but Talin didn’t feel threatened at all. If anything, Ardula was scared and hungry. The creature rolled her neck and stretched, careful not to pull anything.
“What harm. I am a tiefling. Hellspawn. Thinblood. Foulblood. Whatever you want to call me. It matters not.”
“Tiefling. That’s what I thought.” Talin pushed herself from the wall. “I am Talin Lynn Heart-Sword, daughter of Elinor and Theron, son of Thengal. Wife to King Aragorn who is the son of Drathorn, also the heir of Isildur.” Saying her parents’ names for the first time in a while stung a bit.
“Royalty.” Ardula’s voice took on an unreadable tone. “Well. I am Ardula Helvirahel. Former daughter of the God of Murder Bhaal, foster daughter to Akoryrr Helvirahel.” Talin let out a soft chuckle.
“Yes, I am the Queen of Gondor.” She paused again. “God of Murder, huh. Never heard of him. Do you remember how you ended up here?”
“Vaguely. I died, and then the Scribe of the Gods sent my soul elsewhere... here, I suppose. He left me with your name.”
“Any clue why my name?” Talin was from a different world; maybe that was why?
“You mentioned Earth a moment ago. What do you know of it?” Ardula leaned back in her chair, then leaned forward again with a hiss as she brushed her wounds against the chair’s back.
“Not much. That it exists, and there is apparently no magic there.” She shrugged. “That’s about it, I suppose.” Talin thought for a moment. The only magic that was done there was by her mother. Elven magic. Even that was rare.
“I see. Do you remember how you died?” Talin saw some blood (well, she thought it was blood) ooze through the cloth. “I might have to stitch that one closed.” She walked over to her kit again and prepped the needle.
“Lay down on the bed.” Ardula did so.
“How I died?” Ardula lay silently, her tail swishing in the air above her. “Yes. No. Yes?” She closed her eyes as if thinking. Talin cut open the cloth and pinched the skin that needed to be stitched.
“I’m good with my hands, don’t worry.” Talin giggled. “You have an answer that my children give me all the time.” She put the needle through the skin. “My oldest, Elinor Arwen, is always getting scrapes and bruises. Aragorn tells me that she reminds him of me.” Talin quickly finished the stitch. She chewed some athles leaves and put them on the stitch job.
“There, that should be better. Can’t have you losing too much blood.” She pulled out a healing potion. “Drink, it should make you feel better.” Ardula took the potion and sniffed it with a suspicious glare.
“Kids, hm? Well.” She drank the potion in one long gulp, sighing as the pain started to fade. “How many?”
“Well, there’s five. Four girls and a boy. All of them seem to have my knack for jumping off cliffs, which still gives my personal guard a heart attack.” Talin let out a laugh, reminiscing of a time she jumped off a cliff to prove a point to Boromir. To her credit, Ardula didn’t even blink.
“You jump off cliffs. A feat of bravery, or stupidity?”
“Depends on who you ask.” Talin shrugged. “A long time ago, my arm got caught in a warg harness and I toppled over a cliffside. I was presumed dead. At that time, we were facing a difficult enemy. When I showed up alive and kicking, my parents decided to spill that I’ve been cliff jumping since I was eight in human years.”
“Eight.” Ardula thought back. What was she doing at eight? Oh. Right. Perhaps not the best thing to say that she’d murdered her first set of foster parents at eight. “Eight,” she repeated simply, a hint of question in her voice.
“Yeah, I was eight. My parents took me hunting with a bow. Shot a deer and it ran off, so I chased after it. They found me down river unharmed with a dead deer.” People still find that hard to believe.
“I’m a hundred years old. People are still surprised at the stuff I did when I was child.” Talin saw light begin to peak through the tiny window in the cell. “It’s almost morning. Why don’t you rest, and I’ll send for someone to come get you? Or I can come back here. Your choice.” Ardula shrugged.
“Doesn’t matter to me. If you trust a stranger to wander your... whatever this is, that’s on you. If you insist on coming down yourself, so be it. I’ll be here either way.” She eyed the window. “Yes. I’ll be here.” Talin bid farewell to Ardula.
Gods of Death. Gods of Murder. What was happening?
Talin found Aragorn sitting in the throne room.
“Morning,” she said to her husband. “Where are the kids?”
“Out with Boromir, I told him to keep them distracted for now.” His eyes flicked to her and motioned for her to come closer. “What did you find out?”
“She is a tiefling. A creature from a game back on Earth.” Talin took a cup of tea from a servant and thanked them. “And her name is Ardula, and has no real recollection of how she got here.” She sighed and sat on Aragorn's knee. If some of the other Lords saw this, they would lose their shit.
“Did she hurt you?” Talin shook her head no. He played with the necklace around her neck.
“She had some wounds and one I had to stitch up. Nothing major. Very hungry though. The guards didn’t let me in there with her without a sword.” Aragorn chuckled.
“Why don’t you go get some rest? You’ve been up most of the night.” Talin shook her head.
“I’m fine, I’ve been through worse.”
“At least change.” Aragorn eyed the blood. She nodded and left to go change.
Talin came down in a fresh pair of leather pants and a sleeveless silk tunic in blue. She hated having to wear dresses. Seeing she was part elf, she managed to get away with it. The only time she wore a dress was only if the occasion required it. She took her spot next to Aragorn in the throne room and motioned for a guard to both bring Ardula up and to send for her children.
Her children came first and bowed slightly at them, then took their spots on a bench off to the side. Boromir took a position behind Talin as per the normal. The guard finally showed up with Ardula. Talin smiled and stood up.
“You look better rested.” Talin saw Ardula’s tail flick up and down again.
“That’s what a few hours’ rest does, yes.”
“This is my husband, King Aragorn.” She motioned towards Aragorn who nodded slightly. “And my children.” She motioned towards her kids.
“Pleasure.” Ardula’s face said anything except that, but she nodded politely at each of them. Her tail twitched as she adjusted the rough tunic, shifting her weight.
“My wife tells me you're from Faerûn. Where is that exactly?” Aragorn asked. His face was relaxed, and she decided that he wouldn’t order her killed right then and there.
“My Lady,” Boromir whispered to Talin, “One of the guards informed me you spent several hours in her cell.” Talin rolled her eyes.
“I had a sword on me. Ardula isn’t a threat to us,” she hissed back. “Release your grip on your hilt.” Boromir took a step back and relaxed a bit. Talin’s eyes shifted to Ardula.
The tiefling was tall. Curved horns and sickly-blue skin. White hair. Talin waited patiently for her to respond, absentmindedly playing with the Evenstar Necklace by tracing the pattern over and over again. Eternal love. She looked at Aragorn again, still relaxed as ever, then glanced at her children. Her youngest, Athena, looked mesmerized by Ardula’s tail as it swished. Elinor was as patient as ever. Amira and Anya, her fraternal twins, looked bored out of their minds. Her only son, Eldarion, was relaxed like his father. Ardula crossed her arms as Boromir and Talin whispered at each other.
“To answer your question,” she said when they broke apart, “Faerûn is a continent on the planet Toril. That’s about all I know. Never was that good at astronomy.”
“Planet?” Aragorn asked. “Like Earth?” Talin felt that question was more directed at her.
“Possibly. You remember how I told you Earth was in a solar system? With several other planets?” Aragorn nodded. “It’s possible. But from my understanding Middle Earth was on its own planet.” He stood up and walked around Ardula. The guards reached for their hilts but Aragorn put his hand up.
“Talin says you came to us injured. You haven’t given us a reason to deem you as a threat to my family or my people. I can have a maid escort you to a room.” He looked at her up and down.
“Elinor, why don’t you escort Ardula to the bathhouse?” Elinor jumped off the bench and nodded excitedly. She ran to Ardula and grabbed her hand and started to lead her off.
“Are you sure that was a good idea?” Talin asked, knowing how her daughter is.
“I’m certain of it,” Aragorn replied, kissing the top of her head.
Ardula carefully extracted her hand from the child’s, but followed at a more sedate pace.
“A maid? You lot certainly are fancy,” she said, looking around. “I had a butler. He died.” She blinked. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” Elinor laughed slightly.
“I guess you could say that,” she said. “We have loads of them really. Most are nice, some are trying to win us over. Others are just plain rude. One maid tried to tell mother that us ‘Girls’ shouldn’t be allowed to learn swordplay or wear pants.” Ardula snorted in disbelief.
“Please. I was wielding garrottes at the age of eight and daggers at the age of ten. I wielded my first sword at eleven.” She watched somebody hurry past them in the opposite direction.
“And pants - trousers, whatever - are much more practical.”
“Exactly!” Elinor exclaimed. “Mother told that maid by the time she was three in human years she was already practising with a sword and shooting a bow.” She paused for a moment. “I think that maid was let go a while ago.” Ardula grinned, her fangs flashing in the light.
“That maid would not have survived my household.” Elinor giggled.
“You sound like Mother.” Ardula pulled an expression of mock horror.
“Gods forbid. You take that back!” Elinor smiled and shook her head no.
“Mother wields two swords at once. I’m starting to learn as well. She makes it look easy. She even still rides into battle with father.” They turned a corner.
“We are here!” Elinor grabbed Ardula’s hand at the knuckle line and dragged her in. “Wait, I'll get the water going.” She rushed to an empty bathroom and started the tub with hot water, then put some lavender oil in it.
“Come in!” Ardula’s breath caught at the scent of lavender but stripped down and lowered herself into the water.
“Thank you,” she said. Elinor took the chance and started to wash Ardula’s hair, gently. She glanced down and saw scars, starting to trace one but stopping herself.
“You have very soft hair.” Elinor filled a cup with water and dunked it over the hair several times. “I'm good at washing hair because Mother made me wash my siblings’ hair for a while till I got good at it.” She stopped. “May I touch your horns?” Ardula shook her head, spraying water everywhere.
“I’d rather you not,” she said. “They’re rather brittle.” She paused. The last time she’d been in a bath, being bathed by someone else... No. Don’t think about it.
“Okay, no worries.” Elinor smiled. “Would you like some privacy or..." She got up to grab a towel and threw it on the stool she was sitting on. “The waters here have healing properties. I can’t explain it. Father said it was Elven Magic from the Lady in the Golden Wood.” Ardula blinked. Did she want privacy? Then she blinked again.
“Elven magic? So there is magic here?” She thought back to the healing potion. “Never mind. Yes, some privacy would be... appreciated. Thank you.”
“Sure thing! Just holler, someone would come to you. If you want to chat later, I’ll be in the training yard with Boromir or Mother practicing.” Elinor waved goodbye and took off to find her siblings and train. Ardula watched her go, then turned to the nearby soap. Would that she were here. She’d make better sense of this place than I, she thought.