Dreams of Sapphire Stars

Night, beneath stars, watching the night sky. He cannot forget what his lady said.

"I know where you are..."

If she knows, why does she not come? Why does she pull at him with dreams when he needs her so?

"I am with someone who needs my help..."

But it is he, Eomer, who needs her help, he who has none to soothe his aching heart.

"Do you know what those stars are?" Her voice whispers. He ought to be startled, but he is too tired, too used to being sucked into dreams.

He does not know what those stars, the ones that burn like tiny jewel chips formed of blue fire, are.

"That is Ravisoron, the Griffin. He is an ally of Men. Do you see those stars there?"

His eyes are drawn to another cluster of blue stars. He does not recognize them, either. Where did they come from?

"Those have two names in the language of my people. In your tongue, they are the Seven Raven Sisters, or the Seven Swan Brothers. The fourteen winged warriors. It depends on what Court you are from. They, also, are allied with your Race."

He does not understand.

"I know. But you will. And now for the last star, the little one poised between the Cat and the Dragon?"

This one he sees, a small violet-blue star that glimmers like a sapphire. Or is it a dozen stars all clustered together? He does not know, but that star burns his soul with recognition.

"What is that star?" He whispers softly.

"Morelinde. The Nightingale. That is me. It is also called the Swan. That is me. Remember that."

"I will," he says, though he does not quite understand. But she is gone, and he is soon asleep.