Review Response
Sosaku-sama- I'm glad you like it and I hope I'll live up to your expectations. Staying away from suedom is going to be tricky... But I will prevail!!!!
SCREAMINGwhispers- Thanks so much for your suggestions, I'll definitely keep them in mind.
tomato sauce- LOL... continuing!
Clumsy Elf- Yeah, that happened to me... It was horrible, I deleted it from the site. I still have it on my computer if I ever feel like fixing it... Good luck with yours!
Running eagerly to the nearby stream she stared at her reflection hungrily. A furious expression crossed her beautiful, flawlessly pale, face, her gorgeous light green eyes darkened. Gracefully reaching out a long, slender, manicured, hand out the young woman dashed her reflection from the water. "Why can't I be normal for one moment! Must I stay immaculate and flawless the rest of my cursed life!?" She exclaimed angrily, for indeed the mud had dropped from her face and rough peasant dress, her hair remained in it's braids without so much as a minuscule strand out of place.
"Keday? Keday? KEDAY! KEDAYVETH ZEIAHN WHERE ARE YOU!?!!" The frustrated voice of a young woman about the same age as the absentee in question, Keday.
Keday looked up from her rant. "Yes, Wenda, I'm here Mellon-n?" she said in boredom.
"KEDAY!!! Must you constantly say things in a different language???" Wenda, Wendawen Mar?in, asked in exasperation. Wenda wasn't as beautiful as her often frustrating best friend, but she wasn't by any means dull, more cherubic than gorgeous.
Wenda's features were more innocently mischievous and childlike than anything. She had wide blue eyes, shoulder length dark blond hair, and very lightly tanned skin.
"Wenda, I'm too perfect!!! If for just one day I-" Keday started to yell.
"-could be a normal person who is imperfect!" Wenda finished, imitating her friend's voice. She grinned impishly down at her shorter friend.
"Very funny, Wenda." Keday said, gracefully splashing her friend from where she was lounging by the stream.
Wenda plopped awkwardly down on the muddy ground next to her friend. "I do not know why you're complaining anyway..." Wenda informed her. "Half the women would do anything to be like you, the other half want you gone so they can have the attention of their boys back."
Keday stared at her friend in horror. "But I don't want that!!! I only want to be normal, like them!!"
Wenda grinned, leaning back on her elbows. "Hey, look at it this way, friend. You can have any man you want."
"WENDA!" Keday shrieked, scandalized.
"What?" Wenda asked innocently. "I'm just telling you the truth!" Keday pushed her into the shallow waters of the stream. "Hey! Not fair!"
Keday laughed and ran from her wonderfully imperfect, rather annoyed (and annoying) best friend.
The large city of Minas Tirith, at least the small village like area of houses, heard the sound of shrieking and laughter. Turning the ten people gathered outside saw the two young women, Wendawen Mar?in and Kedayveth Zeiahn, chasing each other down the hill.
Half of the men couldn't stop staring and the other half were to old to be staring at an eighteen year old. The women and younger girls just glared at their suitors or Keday jealously.
Wenda took a flying leap and knocked Keday over as they rolled down the hill to land in a large mud puddle. Wenda sat up and glared at her best friend, bangs sticking up in muddy spikes. Keday on the other hand managed to completely miss the puddle and land gracefully on her feet.
"Ai! Why me..."
"Keday, what got into you today?" Calime Zeiahn demanded of her daughter once she had dragged her into their small home. The middle-aged widow stood hands on hips and a disapproving look on her face.
"I'm just trying to be imperfect!" Keday exclaimed. "I am so tired of being perfect and beautiful and graceful!" Calime hid a laugh behind a frown.
"The Valar have blessed you child!" Keday's mother insisted "You should be thanking Them for Their gifts, not shaming your family by cavorting throughout the city and cursing before our respected fellow citizens." Keday sighed.
"But mother! I don't want to thank Them!" She exclaimed. "I want to get dirty when I work, make mistakes, I don't want to be the way I am now!"
"Child, if you ask me you made quite the mistake today in the market! You and Wenda both!" Keday glared at her mother "And if you ask me-"
"Which I'm not!"
"-you should use this gift of yours to find yourself a good husband to care for you once I have followed your father to the Undying Lands." Keday sighed.
"They'd all love me, for my appearance! Not for me! I will not marry until I have done away with this curse!" She stormed into her room and slammed the crude door behind her.
The room was bare, a bed, a rough bedside table, and low drawers for Keday's few clothes. Keday had long since covered the mirror that hung over her drawers, she honestly couldn't see the point of having one, seeing as how she always looked perfect... much to her consternation. Keday slumped onto her creaking and lumpy bed and leaned against the wall, contenting herself with a good long sulk. Her mother wanted the best for her, she understood that... but in her opinion Calime was going about it the wrong way. The simple farmer's wife had been raised to better her offspring's life for their own good by marrying well. Keday was perfectly poised to marry any man she wished and live a comfortable and relatively happy life, she understood that. She just didn't like it.
Keday knew that in her situation the man that she eventually wedded would not love her for her mind, but for her body and forced mannerisms. That was not a future she wanted for herself. She wanted a love like the one that their rulers, King Elessar and Queen Arwen had. One that had no limitations, no conditons, only pure, unrestrained love for each other.
A light wind blew leaves against Keday's window as she stared out the opening mournfully. She knew that in her position she had hardly any chance to find this true love. Others like her merely married as best they could and tried to learn to love their spouse. Keday felt caged; she could never be happy like that. She would never be able to be joined with someone she did not love, she would rather live a lonely life than be joined into a loveless marriage.
Keday frowned... no, she thought. I would marry, I would find someone that I could be content with. A miserable feeling settled over her as her independent side clashed with the side that had listened to her mother's lectures about marrying to better her life. Keday sighed and stared out her window at the magnificent view of the royal city that dominated the eastern skyline.
Calime still sat at the kitchen table where Keday had left her. An earthenware mug of hot tea was on the table cooling quickly. The woman had made no move to drink the tea since she had steeped it. She was troubled by conflicting emotions considering her headstrong daughter. Before his untimely death her husband, Kyth, had confessed to a mistake he had made at Keday's birth. Now this knowledge was tormenting her conscience. Her daughter's right to know was competing with her desire to better Keday's life. Finally Calime took a sip of her warm tea and gagged when she realized that the leaves had not been strained from the mug.
Calime was no closer to deciding on what course of action to take as the sun sank lower. Should she tell her daughter so that Keday could try to undo what had been done? Or should she wait longer until Keday had matured? Calime took a long pull of her now strained tea, the tangy sweet flavor calmed her, but still did nothing to help her decide what to do.
She rose quietly and stepped down the hall to her daughter's room. Opening the door quietly Calime saw that the girl was asleep on her bed, face turned towards the window. Stepping forward softly she walked around the bed to bring the blanket up over Keday's body and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Pulling back Calime saw tear streaks on the momentarily peaceful face of her daughter and felt a sharp twinge of guilt, knowing that her words had caused these tears. She sat gently on the edge of the bed and smoothed Keday's silky hair back from her face while wiping her tears away with the corner of her apron. Calime looked up and wearily peered at the view through the window; acres of farmland and quaint villages surrounding royal inner city of Minas Tirith. In that moment she made her decision.
The next morning, before the sun had even begun it's course across the sky, Calime left a note written on the tabletop in charcoal from the previous night's fire and stepped out the door. It would be many hours before Keday awoke and found her mother's note. By that time Calime had crossed the many acres by way of their single mare and was standing before the chambers of the one person who could possibly give her clear advice on what to do.
Calime was pacing across the smooth stone floor as she waited to be shown into the chamber. Her pacing was interrupted as a young man in a spotless, deep red, tunic and dark grey leggings stepped forward. "Mistress Zeiahn." His rich, cultured voice broke the suffocating silence.
"Yes." Calime stepped forward swiftly. Aramon bowed to the woman swiftly and gestured to the grand doors.
"The king will see you now."
Yep... that's it. I hope everyone liked it. Feed me with con-crit!