A Lasting Pain
They looked on in silence, watching painfully as their younger sister, now seeming so much wiser than they themselves had ever been, gave her gift of immortality away.
Pain twisted in their hearts as the crown of Gondor was placed on her head; she was no longer their Undomiel, the tiny little she-elf who would run to
them when they returned home from guard duty.
This was Queen Arwen, Sovereign Lady of the realms of Arnor and Gondor. Wife of the great king, Elessar Telcontar.
Her light, they knew would fade, and the Evenstar would be no more.
And Elessar, who had once been their beloved brother, Estel, had risen to the throne and would also die.There was no choice in this matter for him.
There never had been, and yet it still pained them.
There they were, the new Lords of Imladris, as old and wise as any,
Standing somber, barely speaking, filled with more fear than they had ever been.
No orc or creature of darkness had ever stilled their elven blood or filled them with more fear.
For the first time in their lives they felt pain,
A pain that would never cease.
They had felt pain when their mother had sailed across the sea,
but it too had faded as they knew they would see her again on the white
shores of Valinor. Arwen would not sail, and they would not see her again.
Because of this the pain they felt would last throughout the ages, never ending
and still as sharp as the first moment.
Even through the grief and heartbreak they smiled as they watched the two lovers kiss,
sealing their bonds and forsaking her ties to the elven people.
They knew deep in their hearts, past all the selfish grief, that this was for the best.
To live without love, is to never have lived at all.
And if mortality is the price for her heart they knew they must accept this, and so they did.
It was then that the young lords of Imladris decided their fate.
They would remain in middle earth until all that had once been was gone,
Until the Evenstar faded and the Last Great king of men died,
and the light of the trees was smothered out by the hands of mortals.
They would remain and set sail on the last ship, they would succumb to their grief on the last day.
But it would not be this day, all the darkness and evil had been driven out.
The sun shone brightly that day, as it would for one hundred and twenty more.
The light of their Undomiel had not yet faded, the golden trees still shone, and the Greatest King of men stood tall.
This was not a day of grief, this was a day of joy.
Racing from the steps of the House of Elessar, was a small elf child: dark haired and grey eyed wearing a white jewel around her neck.
Only when she reached their embrace did they realize that it was no child it was their sister,
The Queen of Gondor,
Arwen Undomiel.
"Aa'thaed e elea omenta niuve, Undomiel."
Translation:
Aa'thaed e elea omenta niuve, Undomiel. – May the light in your eyes never fade, Evenstar
R&R