Written for Back to Middle-earth Month 2012. Prompt B7: Song Lyrics: "Now the light is slowly beckoning you to the shore" - Karine Polwart - The Light on the Shore
Orodwen stood in the stone passageway, lit only by a flickering torch. She felt her eyelids heavy with sleep, but she would not yield. This vigil was the last service she could give her lady.
The dark watches of the night passed slowly. It was nearly dawn when the Steward left his wife's chamber. "She is gone," he said harshly. Orodwen looked up, blinking. He stood before the torch, his face in shadow. To Orodwen's dazed eyes, he seemed haloed in flame. "Call her ladies to-" Denethor gestured to the room. He turned abruptly and strode off, but not before she heard his breath catch in a sob.
Orodwen steeled herself and entered the room. Finduilas lay motionless on the bed, her head resting against the pillow as if sleeping. But her breast was too still, her face too pale. Feeling tears prick at her eyes, Orodwen smoothed the dark hair back from her lady's forehead.
From the window, the Anduin glimmered far off with the sun's first rays, but not even Elvish eyes could catch a glimpse of the sea. "Gentle and gracious lady," Orodwen whispered. "May the light call you back to that shore you loved so well."