Golden Leaves of Lorién

Chapter Eight: Just Before Dawn

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"She's dead." Erlyannil stood before the Lady in a small grove protected from the darkness of the outer forest by a ring of large birch trees. Galadriel shut her eyes and looked up at the night sky.

"Yes, I have felt it. I have felt the winds that coursed through this city. There was a storm around the woods and the wind reached through the forest to us. I did not think it would happen so soon, for it has been many seasons since we have felt the angry breath of terra. I could hear it depart with the breath of a dying young girl on its wings."

"What does it mean, Galadriel?" There were no tears in the girl's eyes now but a deeply troubled expression, and behind that, inexplicable pain.

"I do not know. Soon daylight will come and no more shall we be accursed with these strange omens." Galadriel looked to Erlyannil suddenly, as if to search out any reaction at the reminder off daylight's approach.

"Surely you don't blame Thranduil's people for this--"

"If they had not come, none of this would have transpired. But no, young one, it is not in my power to place blame on anyone for the woe of my people."

That's right, because it didn't just begin now. It began years ago when my father first fell in love with my mother.

"No, Erlyannil," Galadriel reprimanded, as though she could hear the girl's thoughts. Perhaps she could, for her gaze was piercing indeed and there was none other as perceptible as the Lady of Lorién. "You blame your parents for a curse placed on our people. And you believe that when you walk through the city, the people look upon you with scorn, for you are but a reminder of a hapless bonding. But you are wrong. Only some of us can see a path in the future, even then only vaguely, and no one can change it. What happens will happen but what you can do…"

Erlyannil's eyes were glued to the ground. But at this, she looked up, and finished for Galadriel, "…What we can do, what we may do, is change it. History repeats itself only if you let it do so. The winds tonight have told me, atara, that with me rests the choice."

A breeze rustled the treetops then and Galadriel smiled inwardly, though bitterly, and fought back tears as she looked upon the young girl she had raised for so many years. "I believe that in you rests some of my power," she said.

Erlyannil's lips formed a smile but briefly. "Perhaps, but what you mean to say is that it rests in all of us. Just that I have chosen to use it."

"Have you?"

"Yes. Daybreak is just hours away now. There is…something I must do."

"You mean, someone you must speak to." Galadriel smiled knowingly at the weary girl. "Erlyannil, mellen, the choice of what to do is yours alone, but…it is as a pool. What you do will always dissipate into ripples and waves. Some of which may disappear quickly but some…" She stopped and looked up again. I have raised your daughter well, Arlynn. "But you already know this, my daughter. You already know many things. Perhaps that is why he was so drawn to you. I have seen how he loves you, Erlyannil."

Galadriel saw the girl blush suddenly and a warm smile played across her face. "The young prince of Mirkwood was but a haughty young Elf in childhood, and just as any other little boy, he scorned the young maidens and ventured out to play at archery. I have watched him grow, for every few years he would visit these woods and each time he would have grown a little bit more. And now, mellen, he has found you. I see the hopeless, desperate love in his eyes. He has fallen in love with you and he refuses to fall out of love."

Erlyannil shook her head resolutely. "But he leaves when light comes and our city becomes what it was before. It will be a lie to go back to how everything was."

"Yes, it will." The Lady's sharp blue eyes were trained on the girl. Erlyannil's gaze matched Galadriel's, but her eyes were grieved.

"Thank you, atara, for everything you have taught me," she whispered and then turned to leave the grove. Galadriel watched her leaving and then sighed heavily. The weariness on her face was heavier than before but in her eyes one could see that she had found a long sought after relief.

Now I know. Now I understand my daughter. I understand Arlynn. Your daughter is just like you but she has the knowledge of the Ancients in her, and she understands the forces of our world just as I do. She is young but she knows love. I did not before, I could not understand then, but now I see why you would forsake so much, why he would slay for you. You died for him but you lived on in her, mellon, and now she knows the desperation of love. And the choice she must decide for herself. The same that you were faced with so many years ago is what that young maiden had to face, and now what Erlyannil must face. But she and the son of Thranduil will not let history reproduce in our time again.

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"Legolas," she whispered. Her voice sounded faraway to her, but she stepped further into the archway. The prince stood just paces away, his back turned to her, in a small darkened corridor. He turned around to meet her and she saw the surprise in his face. "You thought I would not come?"

He shook his head hastily but remained silent. In the darkness she could perceive his eyes searching out her face yet she could scarcely see more than his silhouette against the light emanating faintly from the city.

"Daybreak approaches." She hated the way her voice sounded, so distant and without life, but she could not bring herself to speak with expression. Her voice remained blank. Erlyannil was nearly at a loss for words, for the prince would not speak. He just watched her in the darkness and she could still feel his eyes on her. "Legolas…" she expelled with a heavy sigh.

"Every sigh is like a little of your life's breath being swept away," he said, his voice low and quiet, "to hear such a sound of despair from you is near to breaking my heart."

Erlyannil brought her eyes up from the floor. "Why do you say so?"

"You are so youthful and…innocent. Beautiful. Beauty and wisdom like yours should not be wasted upon sighs of despair for something hopeless." Legolas stepped closer to her so that they were nearly against each other. He looked down at her and she could feel his light breath on her face.

"Innocence and beauty. You speak of things that I do not have, my prince." She could feel his flinch at the title 'my prince,' but nevertheless she continued. "I am just a young and unfortunate orphan living in a beautiful place surrounded by a beautiful people. I am just the daughter of a union that caused grief to this magical place and to yours…" She dropped her face but she could feel his hand on her chin, raising it up.

"Why the formalities? Why all the lies? Why, Erlyannil?"

"I do not know what you speak of, my prince."

"I love you."

Erlyannil closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "And I you. But, Legolas, you leave with daylight."

"So you have said already. I know."

"It cannot be. It all happened so quickly, and now it must end quickly also. There is nothing more we can do. For the grudges between our people have more than worsened with your peoples' stay and…"

"I know all of this, Erlyannil. That is not what you came to tell me, or you would not have come at all. It would have been better if you had rested this night, and forget all about this."

"That's impossible," Erlyannil retorted stubbornly.

Legolas reached down and felt in the darkness for her hand. He caressed her fingers with his. "I know it is," he whispered, "…my father told me that…that it was my choice."

"And Galadriel said the same to me. But—Legolas, we ourselves are…pivotal in the course of our people. You are the son of the king of Mirkwood and I am, well, I am many things. You understand, right?"

"Erlyannil." Legolas' voice was sharp with finality. "That is not the reason why I choose to leave and forget about you, and why you choose to live your life here without memory of me. The reason is…" he entangled his fingers in her hair again and smiled into the darkness before continuing, "that the love between us cannot even be breached by hundreds of leagues or thousands, even if we never see each other again."

"It was not meant to be, was it." It wasn't a question, but more of a statement when she said it glumly.

"Yes it was, and that is why it happened. It is why I saw you amidst the trees that day and felt something strange in the air. And why everything happened here. It is meant for us to part."

She felt tears welling up in her eyes and took her hand away from Legolas' to wipe them away. "Did you mean what you said? That you will leave and…forget about me, and I, live without memory of you?" Her voice was shaking uncontrollably.

In answer, Legolas bent down and kissed her gently. He enveloped her in his arms and then bowed to kiss her forehead. "I will never forget you."

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The company from Mirkwood left with the break of dawn. Thranduil and his small entourage of friends and guard, his son with the group that had first arrived with the purpose of seeking truce departed on horseback through the trees. The people of Lorién came to bid the Elves farewell, though the parting was not sorrowful to many of them. Memories of pain were all but subdued with the foreigners' stay. But for two, there was nothing that could have been more hurtful than that morning.

Erlyannil and Legolas had spent the remainder of the night, catching light snatches of sleep in that small archway, encircled in one another's arms. When day had nearly broken, though, Legolas left her with a kiss lingering on her lips. Erlyannil's emotions felt as though they were caught up in a tight knot in her throat. She sat in that archway for a while longer, and then walked through the awakening city towards the forest as the sun began to peek through the forest of branches.

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Disclaimer: Being a work of fanfiction, the original is property of J.R.R. Tolkien (and Saul Zaentz). Any original characters and plot are the rightful property of me. J Extra comments, questions? Email to: jidai_rinoa@hotmail.com