5. Despair

The stone floor was cold and yet smooth like glass. There was now a little light about her and she could see that her prison was a small room, cut into rock of some description. Her hand moved instinctively to her still slightly swollen belly, the muscles cramped periodically and the cold enhanced the pain. It was then that she noticed her hands were unbound, her mouth was sore but she could now breathe properly.

Slowly she tested the ground around her, it was all smooth and flat. She stood. At once she could see the source of the light, a small opening in the cavern roof, she began to walk towards it.

"So my lady you have awoken, how do you find your accommodation?" The hissing voice sent shivers down her spine.

"I would have expected more from you, being used to ancient splendour as you are." She turned, her delicate ears searching for the source of the voice. A rectangle of pure white light appeared in the southern wall.

"So you have decided to reveal yourself to me, I notice you have changed little but then… our kind rarely do." Arwen saw the face which still haunted her nightmares.



Aragorn awoke, the previous night's events flashed through his tired mind. Speedily he dressed and crossed the hall to the nursery, the crib was empty. He spun on his heels, panic flashing through his thoughts. He stopped, a strip of green caught his eye.

"My Lord, it is I Elaviél. The child was crying, I saw no sign of her mother so I took it upon myself to comfort her. Have I done wrong?" Aragorn sighed as his wife's maid revealed herself to him.

"No, of course, it is part of your duties. Have you seen the Queen this morning?"

"Apologies my lord, I have not."

Worried, the King turned to the man servant who had appeared behind him,

"Get the chamberlain and my soldiers at once! We will meet in the Great Hall as soon as possible." He barked and sped off down the corridor.

Two hours later the mounted party was crossing the plains outside of the city walls. They had seen no sign of the Queen or of her captor and the longer the search continued the more the King despaired.

Suddenly one of the guards caught sight of a piece of blue silk, so carefully crafted it could only have come from the mantle of Arwen. The company found a track near by and followed it down to the river.

A waterfall cascaded down the sheer rock precipice, concealing the cave behind it but the King's ranger eyes spotted it. At a single word his party began to move towards the foot of the cliff but at another they halted. Aragorn sensed movement high above them, he settled his men to wait.

The figure in the doorway was surrounded by a fiery starburst, the water fell sparkling like a rainfall of diamonds behind him.

Slowly she walked towards the dark-haired elf, her footsteps reverberated off the stone walls. Her poise was graceful, she was every bit the elven queen.

"Come outside. The evening sun is beautiful and you are at your most radiant at this time of day." His voice was less hissing, more gentle, closer to how it had sounded when she was young. The evening sun was warm and inviting. She stepped out onto the stone ledge.

To her right was a sheer drop onto jagged rocks, to her left the grey wall rose to the heavens and ahead of her the water fell straight down into a crystalline pool. The only way out.

The fear left Arwen like a great weight being lifted. She knew what she had to do.

"You will never touch me again, as long as I live I swear you will never defile my body again or haunt my dreams. I can trust my husband, he will protect my child." As she said these words she walked the few steps towards the cliff edge. With her left hand she pushed against her captors chest with all her might and threw herself over the edge.

As her body fell towards the blue mirror her head tipped downwards, she spread her arms and felt the wind rush through her hair. She was a bird, graceful and carefree.

Her husband watched her plummeting towards the earth, but that was all he could do, watch. As she grew closer to the water she forced her arms in front of her head and entered streamline leaving hardly a ripple on the surface.

"ARWEN!" Aragorn cried and rushed to the water's edge. He could see nothing.