Arha looked up at the stars above. The cold that came with the
moon bit into her black clothes. The desert's raw temperture extremes
have become the norm to her, but she still hated how cold it could get.
She brushed back her hair with her fingers and sighed. Nothing seemed
to be exciting at all in the middle of a vast wasteland. Is this what
her life is supposed to be? Dying and being reborn to forever protect
the nameless ones? She sighed and sat down upon the icy ground. A white crystal
next to her shone in the moonlight and so she picked it up and brought
her treasure to her room with no windows.
She saw the man stir. Arha had kept him alive in the Painted
Room for some time now, but she didn't really know what to do with
him. She knew that killing him would bring her no satisfaction. Her
heart beat furiously in her pale chest as she clenched the tailsman she
stole from him. Why give it back to him now? He can't do anything in
it. He has no magic in his hands that he's used to help him get out of
here. But somehow...she knew she couldn't kill him.
Tenar. That's what he had called her. 'I am Arha..no, I am
Tenar.' She argued with herself in her mind. Now, she sat with him in
the tomb, ready to kill everything that she was raised on. Ged reached
out and touched her hair.
"Tenar, if you're ready, we'll leave now. The Nameless Ones are
strong, but they don't hold you here. Give me your hand. I can't see in
the dark," He said and I took it. I led him out of the Great Treasurey
and into the abyss.
Tenar laid with Ged in the Master's Chambers at Havnor. She
looked at him with loving eyes, but she knew he wouldn't stay with her.
He had already explained that he must leave, but she didn't want him to
go. She loved him too much. Ged stirred.
"Tenar, why aren't you sleeping?" Ged asked as he saw her bright eyes looking at him.
"I just am. Ged, I don't want you to leave. I love you too much
to see you go. Why can't you just stay here with me? We can go back up
into the mountains. We can build our own place of wood and stone. Then
we can live happy...together." Tenar whispered and Ged touched her
cheek.
"You know I can't do that. I am a mage. I go where I am called.
But, if you want me to, we can go back to the mountains. We can sail
the sea together. If that's what you want. I'll come if you call me.
I'll come back from the dead, if you called me." He said and kissed
her. She touched his cheek where the talons had set into long ago and
a tear ran down her face. She knew this was wrong, but she couldn't
help it. Her heart had grown to love the older man. Ged pulled away
to look into her bright eyes.
"Tenar, we can't do this. I have to leave, but, I don't want
to." He said and she saw him cry. It wasn't like a regular man would
weep, but like a boy that had to leave his only love. This man that
had grown wise over the years, had suddenly become a teenager.
"Ged, Sparrowhawk, please, don't do this to yourself. I
understand that you must leave. I'm sorry that I made you this way."
Tenar said and embraced him. Sobs shook his broken body that was just
beginning to heal from their rough journey. His tears soaked her
breasts, but she took it willingly. Emotions like this were new to her.
Ged grabbed her hand and kissed it gently.
"Tenar, I love you." He whispered into her ear and she nodded
her head. She knew he had to leave tomorrow, but she didn't want him
to.
"Ged, I love you too. When you leave tomorrow, I want you to know I'll always be with you."
She said and kissed him. They laid there in the master's chamber, holding what was left of their
adventure together.
Ged readied his boat for travel. The sun was warm against his
tan face as he looked at the great sea green abyss in front of him.
"Sparrowhawk!" He turned to see Tenar running toward him in a
beautiful blue gown. Her pale skin and dark hair glistened in the sun
as she ran down the stone steps to him. He embraced her and smelled her
scented hair for the last time.
"Ged, I--" Tenar whsipered, but he hushed her.
"It's okay. I understand how it feels to leave someone you
love."
"I want you to have this," She said and wrapped his fingers
around a piece of cloth. "Don't open it until you leave. Promise me
that." He nodded and she watched him go. He turned and saw her wave
to him and he smiled. Ged waited to until Havnor left his sight and
then opened his gift. He smiled and tears welled up in his eyes. It was
a crystal statue of her that strung around a leather leash. The cloth
read in her native tongue "keep me by your heart, always. Love, Tenar."
He sighed and put it around his head and felt the white crystal cool
his skin. She'll always be with him, until the very end.