Duty to the Wounded
"I will always love you."
I remember him saying that, just before he went to the Northern Wall and never came back to me. His body was never found in the rubble scattered about the city of Minas Tirith. I was alone…again.
My mother had left me; my father had left me…now he was gone as well… I could only walk among the white streets of the city, alone and helpless. There was nothing left for me…nothing to satisfy the hunger within my soul. I needed someone…anyone.
The city was busy, recovering from the fierce battle we had almost lost. To me, we had lost; or if anyone did, it was me.
"Morwen, dear, please take care of yourself!" Kendria said, her voice filled with only the best of concerns. She was my only friend, if that's what you'd call her. She had taken me in under the worst of times and has cared for me ever since that day of loss.
She served the Steward, who was missing as well…Many believe a suicide, but all I can think of is my loss…my heart's bleeding wound.
"What exactly do you mean? I am still alive, am I not?" I asked her as I folded linens in a pathetic attempt to act normal.
"You need to be productive again. That is why I have arranged for you a duty to the Houses of Healing. Maybe you will find…him amongst the wounded." she said, knowing not to mention his name around me.
"What am I to do there?" I asked.
"Well, whatever they may need you to. They need as much help as can be provided and I thought it would be good for you."
I just nodded, knowing I couldn't get out of a duty to the city and the wounded. And deep inside, somewhere within me, I hoped beyond hope that he would be there, waiting for me to save him…
XXX
I walked up the white street toward the Houses of Healing, finding it a longer walk then I had imagined. It was as if with each step I took, the path grew longer and longer; my nervousness growing with each breath that I took.
I had a mass of horrifying images racing through my mind, occupying my whole attention. The fire, the crashes, the screams…the blood…All terrifying reminders of the battle we had been forced into. Nothing good came out of war; not one thing.
I reached the double doors of the Houses of Healing, pausing for a few everlasting moments. This was my destiny…A haven for the wounded and lost…and I was entering into the center of the pain of their losses; helping me to face my own…
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