Hello! Welcome to my fanfic To Be Forever Faithful! This will be my first Lord of the Rings fic, but I will try my hardest to deliver the story. I came up with the idea just today and found that I could wait no longer! I must start! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or anything associated with it. I only write these fanfics for fun and I do not intend to make any money off of them.

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To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 1: A Long Night

Night. The Lothlorien forest was filled with dark shadows. However, there was one elf who did not pay these shadows any heed. There were very few things that scared Haldir and creatures of the night were not included amongst them.

In fact, there were only two things that really scared Haldir. Love and death. And tonight of all nights, he had seen death take the spirit of one of his wardens right off this very earth.

Orcs. They had surrounded Curudae and had ambushed him. Why Curudae had wandered away from Haldir's patrol was still a mystery. They had heard his screams, but come to late. He was slain. The picture was still lurking vividly in Haldir's mind. There had been so much blood; it had seeped out of his head, dark, thick, and unnatural. Haldir could almost still smell the stench of Eldarin blood entwined with the nauseating orc filth.

Despite the horrifying scene laid out before them, his wardens had still found the will to slaughter the remaining orcs. However, now that his time at the fences had ended, Haldir could not get Curudae's slain body out of his mind.

Breathing heavily with despair, Haldir could think of nothing else as he stormed up the black marble stairway to his quarters. At once he pushed his door open, but lingered in the doorway to take in the familiar surroundings. There was a bed made for a single occupant wrapped in soft, cream-colored sheets. To his left was a wooden rack which held a massive amount of armor and several warden uniforms, along with a few pairs of normal clothes that were neatly folded, but seldom worn. Other than a body-length mirror and a few odd souvenirs he had acquired during his travels, there was little else to occupy the space.

He found himself first wandering toward the wooden rack, touching one of the warden uniforms on his shelf with the lightest touch. "Never again will Curudae don this uniform," Haldir thought forlornly, dropping his hand to his side and bowing his head in anguish. After a few moments, he found himself wandering in front of the mirror to look himself over.

Haldir easily saw the weariness in his face, which matched his inner turmoil. He reached up and wiped some orc blood from his cheek. "Putrid beasts." He thought to himself as he started to strip off his armor. It felt great to get the pieces of fitted metal off his skin and feel the cool night air.

He quickly collected his thoughts when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he replied, rather annoyed that one of his wardens was interrupting him at this time of night.

Haldir was surprised to find it was Belegwen who opened the door. He immediately felt uncomfortable that he had invited her in. Thankfully, he had not removed his pants yet; he had not expected the only female warden of Lothlorien to enter while he was half naked. She appeared to be quite astonished for an instant, then snapped back to attention, ignoring his state and becoming the serious warden she was trained to be.

"Marchwarden, I have an urgent message from Lord Celeborn. He wishes to see you immediately, sir," she said, looking fatigued, but devoted to her current job as messenger.

Quickly recovering from his own embarrassment, Haldir replied, "Very well then. Tell him I will be there momentarily."

"Yes, sir," she said, then hurried out of the room to relay the message to Lord Celeborn. He sighed as she exited. Never during all the many years of his life had their been a female warden until her. He was honestly surprised she had made it so far in the ranks and had stayed with the wardens for so long.

When her parents had been mysteriously slain, Belegwen had begged to be trained for the guard. Such a thing had never been heard of at the time and was not a popular idea amongst the wardens or the lord and lady of the wood. It took years of pleading, but finally when Belegwen was of age, Lady Galadriel had decided Belegwen's training was a worth a try. It had turned out that Belegwen was very motivated and successful at her training; she had quickly risen through the ranks during her three millennia of service.

Haldir sighed. Though she was very good at her job, the other wardens had not taken to her presence very well. Even after her long years of service, there was still an awkwardness surrounding her feminine presence at the fences. Haldir knew she would never fully be accepted as a warden because of her gender.

Belegwen seemed to be aware of the issue, but had never been one to acknowledge the problem. She wisely kept working to the best of her ability and generally ignored the whispered words and sideways glances of the other wardens. She intended to remain a warden, no matter what others thought of it.

Quickly, Haldir managed to get a clean tunic on and then made his way though the city and up the grand staircase to the lord and lady's dwelling. Lord Celeborn was there awaiting his arrival, facing away from him as he looked over his fair city.

"You wished to see me Lord Celeborn." Haldir said calmly as he bowed down, making the old Eldarin lord aware of his presence. There was a measure of unease lingering around Celeborn's demeanor, which unsettled Haldir as he waited silently for his counsel.

"How did this happen?" Celeborn finally asked, his tone so low it could almost be called a whisper.

Haldir found himself speechless at this point. He should have known that when Celeborn had read his report, he would want to know all of the intricate details surrounding the incident that led to Curudae's passing.

"My lord, let me explain-"

Celeborn turned around, and stared into Haldir's eyes. He could see great pain in the elven leader's face. "A great tragedy has befallen us tonight. Tell me, Haldir, why was this warden not at his post?"

Haldir felt a pang of guilt pass through himself as he stared into the eyes of an elf he respected greatly. "I know not, sir."

Celeborn, looking deeply saddened, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. The pain in his eyes seemed to dig into Haldir's soul. Wearily, he said, "Haldir, it is your job to look watch over us all; to keep your wardens and your city safe. More care must be taken. This cannot happen again."

"Yes, sir."

"And now we shall need a new second in command since Curudae has..." Lord Celeborn said, his voice drifting away mid-sentence, seemingly too hurt to admit what had happened aloud.

"I shall see to it immediately, sir," Haldir replied, his mind already starting to mull over various wardens who were in the upper ranks.

"You think much too hard, my Marchwarden. Do you not already know the answer to your mental inquiry? She whom you have spoken to on this night would do a fine job," a smooth female voice from behind them said confidently. They both turned to see Lady Galadriel floating down the stairs, the light around her effervescent and awe-striking. The room filled with a quiet glow of calmness and serenity that often accompanied her presence.

"You speak of Belegwen, my lady?"

"She has been part of the guard for three millennia now, nearly as long as you, my Marchwarden. While she will not find immediate approval among our ranks, her presence and leadership would greatly benefit many."

Slowly she walked up to Haldir and looked him straight in the eyes. "Do consider her, Haldir. You are now dismissed," she said, a mysterious smile touching the corners of her face.

Clearly, she knew more than she was letting on.

Extending a bow of respect to his leaders, Haldir turned and walked away, feeling very uncertain about the lady's suggestion. While Belegwen had the skills to do the job correctly, Haldir was unconfident as to whether or not he could work harmoniously with her. He was even more uncertain of what the other wardens' reactions would be to such an appointment.

But still, the lady had suggested her. Her suggestion could not be taken lightly, as Galadriel never spoke without reason.

"Perhaps there is some merit to this idea, though I do not see it." He thought as he entered his room and stripped off his attire once more. Putting on a robe, he strolled down the marbled stairs to bathe before he took his rest.

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Chapter edited on 05/14/20 by P.G.

Important note to both old and new readers on 06/05/20:

Thanks for coming to read TBFF! It brings me great joy to know that there are still fans reading this story nearly 20 years after its initial creation. Just a quick note—if you're reading through this entire fic again or for the first time, I am in the process of editing the story with the hopes of making it more readable before I finish writing it. I've been through it once to edit already, but I need to go through again because there are still some errors (I'll probably never find them all, but I sure can try!). This fanfic is a labor of love for me and I plan to make it as good as I can. Thanks for reading-I hope you enjoy this fic.

-P.G.