Part 95 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.

A/N: lady scribe of avandell planted this plot bunny. See what you think.

Partners

"The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone here and there who thinks and feels with us, and though distant, is close to us in spirit-this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

(May, 3020 III)

I suppose most of my kind are only meant to be functional. We endure all manner of weather, from soaking rains, to chilling snow to baking sun. Little thought is given to us or the hardships we suffer. If we become infirm, then we are simply replaced with another that is new and fresh.

In my case, however, things were somewhat different. I was not destined for just any location or just any owner – I was given to the queen of Rohan. Probably because of that fact, I was a bit more ornate than the garden benches usually carved in the woodshop. I was carefully crafted, sanded and painted to reflect who my august owner would be. Indeed, I think a goodly portion of love went into my making, by a craftsman eager to honor his sovereign.

I do not know if my maker ever learned of how appreciated his efforts were, but I believe the queen has cherished me ever since she received me. Servants have come to place a covering over me in the worst weather, likely at her direction. Few other benches receive such doting treatment.

But even more important to me than the care I am given, is the importance I seem to have in the lives of the royal family members. The queen herself made frequent use of me when first I came to rest in a place of honor in her garden. I watched as she slowly expanded the existing garden, and under her guidance it began to flourish in a way not seen for many years in Rohan.

During the course of her work there, or at day's end, the queen was fond of settling on me to survey her handiwork. She also enjoyed coming to visit her garden, and me, even when she was not working. Together we watched many suns set, and even quite a few of them rise. Sometimes she came alone, and sometimes the king accompanied her. Over the years, her family grew and the children joined their mother, pleased to sit and talk with her of life and love, problems and joys.

Though they grew older, their fondness did not wane, and they still returned to visit with her, and usually in turn, to end up seated on me, deep in discussion. I am just a garden bench and do not know much of man's wisdom, but I truly believe the queen was an inspired wife and mother and friend. All whom she counseled here seemed deeply affected and helped by her guidance.

In my most egotistical moments, I like to think I played a small part in that. Not that I did anything of great significance, but perhaps I helped provide a setting conducive to the exchange of thoughts and feelings.

Despite the care taken of me, I have had to be repaired and refurbished a number of times, but the queen is unwilling to part with me. I know she could ask for a new bench and it would readily be given, but perhaps in my weathered wood she sees an echo of her memories. Perhaps we are tied together in a way normally known only to the Elves, who I have heard commune with the very trees.

I do not know how long it will be before the queen is forced to lay me aside. Eventually, it is likely I will be beyond repair. When that happens, I can only hope she has me removed to an inobtrusive part of her garden, and lets me age back into the elements, here in the garden I have come to think of as my own.

THE END

8/31/06

End note: It is not essential that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written, but there is an advantage to doing so. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order (#15 came after #17, I think), but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.