[VanimaEdhel]

"Where do you suppose we should start?" Poppy said, looking fairly dubiously at all the paths open to the three.

Menelduliniel looked around at the doorways. Suddenly, the big maple door caught her eye. She liked that door. Why she liked it, she did not know. Maybe it was because it stood out amongst the stairways and open passages. It looked like it was hiding something. Or maybe it was trying to appear as if it was trying to hide something…Menelduliniel’s head suddenly started to hurt thinking about it.

She looked over and it appeared as though Estelarion and Poppy both saw the obvious door by the southwestern stairway. Menelduliniel went over and tried the handle. It was locked, of course. Menelduliniel felt somewhat foolish for not assuming that it would be.

"Look for a key!" she said, beginning to follow her own command, "But stay in this room!"

The three all went to different parts of the room, Menelduliniel looking in the doorway to the North and the staircase in the Northwest, Estelarion looking around the doorway at the South, and Poppy looking around the maple door and the southwestern staircase. Estelarion, finished searching the doorway to the South joined Menelduliniel in searching the staircase in the Northwest.

"I found it!" Poppy said, her voice echoing a bit. The two Elves ran over to where Poppy knelt on the stairway. She had found a little nook and inside that nook was a key. Menelduliniel looked at it carefully, trying to see if it was the right key or just a key to another part of the castle. Poppy got up and walked over to the maple door, easily sliding the key in and turning it in the lock. She waited for Estelarion and Menelduliniel to come before she opened the door. Menelduliniel drew her knives and Estelarion took an arrow from his quiver. Poppy, chewing on her bottom lip, slid the door open.

All three gave a fairly disappointed exhale once they went into the room. It appeared to just be an ordinary dining room. There was a door in the northwestern corner of the room that appeared to be much like the door they had just passed through. Menelduliniel ran over to that door and tried it again, once again finding only a locked door.

"Do not be so hasty to leave," Estelarion said, looking at her disappointed face, "For appearances may be deceiving. There may be something to find in this room yet...I hope."

Estelarion’s face betrayed him, showing that he, too, was disappointed that they did not find anything of use yet. He seemed to see that his face showed his emotions, however, and quickly busied himself looking around the room. Poppy also began to look around the room. Only Menelduliniel stood, looking fairly melancholy, for a few minutes.

After those few minutes passed, Menelduliniel decided that moping would do her no good right now. She began to look around the room with the others. Estelarion seemed to be poking around the walls around the door that they came in through. Poppy was poking around the big fireplace, looking up on the ledge and just within it. The silver apple and pear of the same substance particularly attracted her, but she did not touch them, for fear of upsetting an inhabitant of the room.

"What are you guys looking for?" Menelduliniel asked, thinking that she may have missed something important at some point. The others just looked at her and shrugged a bit then went back about their searching.

Menelduliniel looked at the table. One of the chairs caught her eye. It seemed to be out of place. It was at a strange angle, diagonal to the other chairs in the room. Menelduliniel put her hand forward to touch it, but drew it back, as something inside of her told her not to touch anything that seemed strange. She had learned the hard way not to touch anything that should not be touched whilst she was on a quest with Mithrandir. Touching anything usually meant either death or near-death.

Menelduliniel looked at the broken wineglass and wondered what struggle occurred in this room and why it was commemorated in such a way? Then Menelduliniel had a thought. She ran to the first door and took out the key. She brought it over to the second door. Both Poppy and Estelarion gave her a strange look as she tried the key. Much to both her and their surprise, the lock clicked and Menelduliniel pushed the door open.

They entered into what seemed to be a sitting room. There was a small mahogany table with ornate legs. Menelduliniel, however, was immediately drawn to a strong odor of flowers. She crossed over and saw lilacs of three colors. She yearned to touch them, but told herself not to.

"I have never smelled flowers that had such a strong odor," Menelduliniel commented.

"Maybe it is the surroundings," Estelarion suggested, shrugging, then commencing his new search.

All three looked around this new room, more fascinated than they were with the dining room. This room, although it was by no means less beautiful, did not have the feeling of mourning and fear that they found from the dining room.

Menelduliniel made her way over to the beautiful armchair that was in one part of the room. She sat in it, under a disapproving stare from Estelarion.

"We should not touch any–" he began, before he stopped, seeing Poppy sit down on the couch and seeing that nothing happened to either of the hasty women. He gave a small snort of surprise, then sat down.

"What do you think we ought to do?" Poppy asked, "Shall we go back?"

"After I collect my thoughts," Menelduliniel said, "I want to go over this room once more."

The three sat for a time, smelling the sweet odor of the lilacs. Finally, Menelduliniel arose and looked around the room once more. She suddenly noticed a small cabinet just to the right of the window. She had not looked in that cabinet, nor did she think that Poppy or Estelarion had done so. Menelduliniel gestured to the cabinet, then turned to Poppy and Estelarion, who both gestured for her to open it. Menelduliniel, finding that it was not locked, opened it.

There was nothing that particularly attracted Menelduliniel. She liked the tea set, yes, but there did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

She slumped back over to her chair.

"What do you propose that we do now?" Menelduliniel asked. Estelarion shrugged. Menelduliniel turned to the small Poppy and said, "You seem to hold importance on this quest. I believe that it should be you who decides what we are to do next."

Both Elves looked expectantly at the small Hobbit...

[ February 23, 2003: Message edited by: VanimaEdhel ]