Chapter 10- Wooohoo! I reached the chapter 10 marker! I didn't think I'd get this far. I owe a huge part of it to all the support from y'all So thanks so much, and enjoy! And sorry that this is a short one.
Ailith tried to speak. But she found that no words would come. Instead she just stared up at Estel, and wished she was somewhere else.
"Tell me Ailith, what are you doing here?" He didn't break eye contact. She felt like she was melting into the wall. Elrond was looking at her as well. She was feeling faint.
"I was just...I just got lost, and I heard you talking.."
"And you stayed to listen at the door?"
"No! Yes, I was just curious. I didn't hear anything."
"Yes you did."
"I..." Ailith tried to speak again, she was trying not to cry. She couldn't tell what the look in Estel's eyes was. And that scared her.
"Ailith is that you? What is going on?" Arwen had rounded the corner, followed by Elladan.
"I spied on them. I heard them talking. I heard Lord Elrond call Estel the king. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking! I was just tired of secrets!"
"I don't spy on you to discover you're secrets Ailith." Estel looked tired and upset, angry. She didn't understand why it mattered so much. Suddenly her panic turned to anger. Anger at everything. At her father, at Lana, at Arden, at her unborn child. Anger at these perfect immortal elves, anger at Estel, or Aragorn, or whoever he was. Anger at all these secrets. Anger at herself. She felt something inside of her burst. A dam of emotions. She started yelling.
"I have no-one to speak to about my secrets! There's no door for you to listen at, because I don't have a place to go! If you're so eager to hear what I haven't told you, if you're so eager to know more about the wretched girl you took in out of charity then I'll tell you! I left Bree because I was alone! Because my sister left me, because my father hated me, because the man I loved left me alone and abandoned. No-one wanted a filthy little whore, the daughter of a drunk. I left because I'm pregnant, and I just wanted to run away! Are you happy now!?" Tears were running down her face. She felt powerful. Like a storm, crushing everything before her. She turned and ran before anyone could react. She left them standing by the tapestry and didn't look back.
Everything was a blur. She ran without thinking. She just wanted to run and run forever. She looked up and realized she was in the gardens. She fell gasping against a statue of some beautiful perfect elven woman. She leaned over and vomited, her tears raining down her face. She screamed as loud as she could. She screamed to cleanse herself of everything. She angrily punched her stomach. The place where the child was. She didn't care what would happen to her now. They would cast her out most likely. And she would wander. Maybe she would die, and then she could see her mother. The only family member who had left her only because she had been forced. Ailith no longer believed that Lana had left for some secret reason. That Lana would be back. Lana had seen an opportunity to escape, and she had. Ailith screamed again, looking up at the night sky, where the first stars were beginning to rise. She hated them. Beautiful and unreachable, safe in the sky. She hated all the stories she had heard. The stories where beautiful maidens won out against evil, where bold heroes saved the day. Those stories weren't for her. They were only for a few. She slid down, her back against the statue. All the anger that had filled her with energy was draining. She felt empty. Her tears of rage turned into tears of grief. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes. She let herself drift away. Usually her mind would take her on some adventure. But now there was just darkness. No, less than darkness, nothing.
She didn't know how long she sat like that. She didn't care. The night sounds began. Crickets and trees singing in the breeze, soft voices in the distance. She must have been in a little visited place, because no-one bothered her. She just wanted to disappear. Fade into the world around her. But the world around her had other ideas. She heard soft footfalls approaching over the path of stepping-stones. She opened her eyes. Estel was standing above her. She closed her eyes again.
"Are you here to drag me to the gate and send me out your Highness? Or maybe bring me back to shame me in front of all the elves, and debate what to do with me?" Her voice sounded raw and pained. There was a soft rustle. She opened her eyes to see that Estel had sat down next to her. His face was in shadow, but she could make out his features in the soft light of the stars. He sat with his legs crossed. She couldn't bring herself to look at him for more than a moment.
"I'm not going to do either Ailith."
"Then what will you do? Keep looking after me, pitying me like I'm some pregnant dog that showed up on your doorstep? Tell me, what is there to do?"
"Ailith..."
"They all blamed me. They all looked at me like I was filth. No-one blamed Arden! He was the one who stole my heart! He was the one who told me he loved me! He was the one who lay with me and left me like this. But they look only to me with their blame. I am the whore, I am the harlot, I am at fault they say. I hate all of them. So you can just continue what they started." She was crying again, sobbing, her entire body felt like it was being torn apart by all the emotions raging within.
"I don't blame you Ailith. You are young, and you were alone. I don't blame you." Estel reached out and wrapped his arms around her. She froze for a moment, but then she let herself be held. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed silently. He stroked her hair and said nothing. Finally she felt her sobbing begin to slow. She looked up at the stars.
"I'm sorry." She said softly.
"No, I am sorry, there is nothing for you to be sorry for."
She hugged him tighter. She was well aware that she was probably making him uncomfortable. He let out a small noise.
"I can't breathe Ailith."
"Oh, I'm sorry." She loosened her vice like grip. She realized how strange it was that she was sitting here clinging to the rightful king and getting snot and tears on him. The thought was so funny that she ended up laughing. Estel looked at her. She tried to speak.
"I..hngg, I'm sorry. The king is sitting in a garden with a sobbing peasant girl crying onto his tunic."
"I'm not a king yet, and I don't mind." he smiled slightly. Her laughing turned back into sobbing. They sat for a while, the night spinning around them. He said nothing, and she cried. Finally she spoke.
"What's your real name? You have so many, which were you born with?"
"Aragorn."
"Then what is Estel?"
"I was raised here as Lord Elrond's adopted son. I didn't know who I was. Estel means hope in Elvish. It's the name I grew up with."
"What happened to your parents?" She just wanted to talk. To talk until her mind was filled with other's stories.
"My father died when I was two. My mother fled here with me. She died fairly recently. Her name was Gilrean,"
"I'm sorry."
"All things die."
Ailith sat in silence again. She felt utterly drained. She didn't feel any better about things, but in a strange way she did. If only a little. She could feel her eyes growing heavy.
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Ailith had fallen asleep. Aragorn didn't want to move and wake her. The night was warm enough, and the gardens were peaceful. Her features were soaked in dried tears. He lifted her wet hair away from her face. How had he not noticed? Of course she was with child. He had suspected, but he had been in the wild, he hadn't had time to think on it. After Ailith had gone, Arwen had sent him to look for her in one area while she looked elsewhere. She had told him she had known. That afternoon she had realized it. Aragorn couldn't judge the girl. He had traveled to far and seen to much to judge her for this. A soft rustle alerted him to someones presence. Arwen sat down next to him.
"You found her."
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Aragorn recounted in a whisper what had occurred . Arwen stroked Ailith's hair.
"Poor girl. She'll be safe now. We'll help her."
"But where will she go in the end? I want so much for her to find her place."
"She will."
"I won't let any more harm come to her Arwen."
"I know." Arwen leaned over and kissed him softly. When they pulled apart she lay her head on his shoulder. The stars shone above, and the full moon glowed. A cool breeze stirred the warm late summer night, and the world around them sang with life. Ailith stirred and opened her eyes.
"Aragorn?"
"Yes?"
"If it's a boy I'm going to name it Estel."
Well, thats all for this chapter. This seems like this could be a good end for the story, but it's not! I have many plans you see, it doesn't end here (Mwhaha) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if it was over sugary. Don't worry, there's more adventure coming up.