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"Believe me," Celeborn assured her, "it took quite a leap of faith to allow the man near my neck, as well. No one else has ever gotten close, except my family."

He shrugged his free shoulder. "I suppose it comes from my occupation, always fighting, killing and having people trying to kill me ... to allow someone near my neck would be like inviting death. I think that was the hardest part about the tattoo, though I'm glad I got it. It's come in useful."

"Nearly everyone in the Four Lands has heard of the Rose of Death, or the Black Rose," Celeborn explained, "which means me. Once upon a time, back when I was young and violent, I would leave a black rose on anyone that I killed, to let people know who it was. Eventually people started talking about the Black Rose, or Rose of Death, and feared the name."

He scratched at the back of his head.

"People didn't know it was me, though, so I got attacked a lot ... and I had to kill a lot of people because of it, people I had no quarrel with. Once I got the tattoo, people recognized me and knew that it was foolish to attack me, and ... let's just say, a lot more people are alive than would have been otherwise. They knew not to pick a fight."

"People trying to make a name for themselves," Celeborn suggested with a shrug. "People ... who think I shouldn't be in the same area as them ... people who don't like elves ... basically people who are stupid and have nothing better to do."

Celeborn chuckled. "Well, thank you very much - but I'm afraid that our world is quite different from ours, those who study are rare. The humans especially, those who remain in their own country at least aren't too bad, but most of them don't travel unless they're looking for trouble."

He frowned. "Fools."

"I suppose it's possible that some of them might," the fighter admitted with a shrug, "but I haven't seen anyone like that, or heard of them, and I've been traveling for a very long time."

Years ... and years and years, in fact.

"I saw ..."

Celeborn's voice was soft, thoughtful.

"I saw the worst things ... and I saw the most wonderful things ..."

He smiled. "I met my wife while I was traveling," he told her happily.

"It was pretty ... interesting," Celebor replied thoughtfully, his eyes focusing on the sky as he remembered back to the event. "I was traveling, she was traveling ... I was attacked, she helped me out. I was outnumbered, about ten to one, and I think I might not actually have made it if she hadn't helped me. From there, we learned that we were heading in the same direction, ended up traveling together for safety, and once we arrived at the city we kept running into each other ... accidentally on her part, on purpose for mine."

He winked at her, grinning.

"Really?" Celeborn grinned, his interest piquing. "In what way?"

He loved stories, especially stories about people that he knew.