She thanked him and slowly ate the food to make it last longer. She soon got sleepy, and instead of going into the tent, she lay on her back and stared up at the velvet sky, wondering what Galadriel would do to help her.

Markus returned back to the fire. He dropped to his knees beside it to tend to it. He peered over at Luna, his expression curious, but of what, he did not know. What was not eaten, Markus rewrapped and placed back in his pack for their next stop.

_________________

Her eyes remained turned onto the moon. She couldn't sleep now, she realized with disgust. Her mind was working too much. She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest as she still stared at the sky.

"It would do you good to get some rest, Luna." He said, his eyes trained on the trees. "We have a long way to go and alot of ground to cover." He idly tossed a log onto the fire and looked down to watch it burn.

His thoughts turned to Lothlorien and Lady Galadriel. He thought of the beautiful land; the silver pillars that were the trees and of the leaves that did not fall, even in the autumn. It was Lady Galadriel's magic that enriched the land. The forest was magic and well protected. No evil could enter into Lothlorien. Markus smiled at this thought.

_________________

"I can't sleep." she realized how small her voice sounded. It was just all so new to her, traveling for a purpose. And the chance to find out who she was. She hugge her knees closer to her and looked at the ground as the fire caused shadows to dance over it.

"I understand it is alot to take in. It is alot to work for, but I hope it will be worth it in the end." Markus sharpened the blade of his sword. "You should prepare yourself. Who knows what you will see when you look into Lady Galadriel's mirror. You may not like what you see. It can show you many things; things from the past, the present or the future. You may see something you do not like. I only hope you can handle it..." He thought back to when he had asked Luna to remember anything from her past. He shuddered slightly, hoping that that had been the worst of her history.

_________________

She nodded. "I'm trying." she wondered at what she had remembered. What had happened? Why did the name of Sauron give her so much fear? She turned her eyes to the fire. She had seen fire in her memories.

"That's good. Try to relax your mind. Push it to the back of your mind actually. It does not bode well to dwell on things. It drives the most successful men crazy..." He shook his head dismissively. "You really should get some rest, Luna."

_________________

She wordlessly nodded and laid down on her side, watching the fire. She used her arm as a pillow. Perhaps he was right, she thought as she felt her eyes begin to droop. Not long after she had drifted off.

Sirel slipped the ring out of her pocket and examined it in the moment. Luna had just fallen asleep, and Markus was keeping watch.
She watched the ring as the moonlight glittered off it. It was quiet beautiful. She slipped it onto her finger.

As the last of the fires embers went out the sun rose. Markus began to gather up his things. "Would either of you like breakfast before we go?" He asked quietly, unsure of waking them. Luna certainly looked peaceful.

_________________

Luna stretched and yawned, then opened her eyes, blinking a few times. "Breakfast?" she asked through her hand as she yawned again. "Breakfast would be good..." she felt herself craving a nice hot cup of tea as well. She fiddled with the finger that use to hold the ring, and wondered what would happen when Markus saw it on Siriel. Luna had never been given a gift before, but he had said it was for a beautiful woman...she glanced at Siriel. It fit.

Sirel awoke slowly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What? Breakfast?"

Markus boiled some water on the fire as he passed out some bread and raked in his bag for his tea leaves. "Yes. We shall have breakfast and then continue on. The more ground we cover, the quicker we get to Lothlorien." Markus beamed brightly. After a moment of rummaging he found the tea leaves and continued to pour them into tin cups and add the boiled water. "There you go," he said as he handed one cup to Luna and another to Sirel.

_________________

"Thank you." Luna took the cup and gratefully sipped the tea. "Is there any shortcuts?" she asked curiously as she looked up at Markus.

Sirel grinned. Markus' smile was contagious. "Yes, thanks." She took a deep swig from the cup, coughing as it scalded her throat. "There are some secret passes through the mountains, but they are highly dangerous, nigh inaccessible and infested with goblins. That's the path I take most often, but my own life means little to me - I would not risk it with you travelling with me. No offense intended, but I would not wish my risky decisions to cause your death."