(Author: Rhiana)
(The Next Day)
Boromir wandered around, thinking heavily
on what Leila had told him. Why would she want him to be careful? What
did she mean? Did she know something that he did not? It shouldn't matter.
He would do whatever it was that he had to do to keep the Ring, Frodo,
and her all safe during their journey. He thought it would be a good idea
if she were to stay in Lothlorien, but likely she would hear none of it.
Still, he didn't like the idea of her being
with them when they traveled outside the city. Orcs were abundant, and
it would be very easy for her to be captured. And, he thought, Orcs so
loved to torture, to have an escape and a vengeance for the pain and torture
their kind was made to endure before they became Orcs, as they were now.
He wondered what kind of Elves it would take to join with Sauron, and decided
they must be the most evil and weak-minded, for all knew what Sauron was,
and how terrible he could be. In a way, he supposed they had brought it
on themselves.
He found Aragorn standing at the
edge of the river, staring into the water. Though there had been tension
and disdain between them at first, he felt as though it was all right to
stand beside the Great King. Though Boromir would die before he admitted
it, he and Aragorn were brothers, in a way.
"Leila knows something," Aragorn said,
not raising his gaze from the beautiful flowing waters. "I do not know
how she knows, but indeed she does." He looked up at Boromir finally, and
asked him. "Has she spoken to you of anything?"
Boromir nodded, knowing better
than to lie. "She told me she has bad feelings about something that's going
to happen after we leave this place. For me, the sooner we leave the better,
but..."
"Go on," Aragorn prompted when he stalled.
"She told me to be careful. Made me
promise. It was almost as though she feared for my life, as though she
knew something bad was going to happen to me. Not the Fellowship, not you,
not Frodo, not Legolas...but me." He stared down into the waters, and felt
the tension within his soul begin to ease away. Then he felt as though
Galadriel herself were watching him, and jerked his gaze away, almost painfully.
"I fear she may be right. Something does not
feel right about the air. I sense something evil, and nearby. We must be
careful, for it could mean our lives." He looked at Boromir. "Frodo
is the one that has been chosen for this. This task has been appointed
to him by Fate, and we must aid him in its completion, or all of Middle-earth
could be thrust into Shadow forever. That must not happen, Boromir. It
must not," he said, and turned, walking along the path that led back to
their quarters.
Boromir stood next to the river still, his
gaze roaming the trees, searching for the Elves he could not see, but knew
were there. "But Leila, sweet....how do you know? And what do you fear
for me?" he whispered, to no one but the wind and water.