Nim
Legolas could hardly still the beating of his heart as he tried to slow his breathing, realizing slowly that she meant him no harm. She now lay curled into a ball and weeping silently.
"What is it? What is the matter?" Her silent crying continued with no response. He felt foolish; as though he were speaking to a child who did not understand his words and simply stood sucking his or her thumb. He had just made up his mind to leave when from within her muffled sobs he heard her whisper:
"Nothing can stop it. The man with the black eyes has seen you now…nothing can stop it." This time he fell to his knees beside her bed, mere inches from her tear-stained face. His earnestness was intense as he thought to reach out to her an immediately thought the better of it.
"Stop what? What can we not stop Enberaidien?" Her eyes opened wide and he realized how unbelievably white they seemed in the dim lighting. She drew her hands over the dome of her head, running her fingertips across the ugly patches of singed hair and resting them upon the two shiny scars.
"My name…that is not my name…my name…" She began to rock slowly back and forth, rubbing the scars across her head and speaking in a tortured voice. Legolas wished to continue the thread of their earlier conversation and found her direction shifting maddening.
"What can we not stop?" She did not hear him and continued to speak into the darkness.
"My name…not my name…Írime…my people call me Írime…Írime"
"Írime," Legolas was very nearly coarse with frustration. "Írime, tell me…look at me!" Her wandering eyes fell upon him in a instant, shutting out all fear that she could not understand him. When he understood he had her full attention, he continued very slowly.
"I need you to tell me- What cannot be stopped?" Her face slowly unfolded into a crooked smile which Legolas found rather disquieting. She moved her lips next to his ear and whispered:
"Death."
Legolas withdrew in silent horror as her lips parted and an unnatural laugh- a mirthless laugh issued forth. He felt his skin begin to crawl as he rose again to his feet and backed away towards the door, her laughter becoming more and more horrible by the moment.
"Death!" She screamed the word and suddenly was upon her feet, standing on the bed and gripping the footboard. The thin stream of light fell across her midsection and legs as she thrashed about wildly on the bed- dancing to some unseen and horrible melody.
"Death will find you Prince! You cannot stop it!" Legolas felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.
{Prince?}
He had not told her his noble title, nor had he addressed himself by his rightful and full name. How had she known? How had she known he was a prince? He looked at her in confusion, her eyes now wide and her smile the smile of a madwoman. She jumped down from the bed and landed on her feet with a soft *thwap*. With the same wide smile she padded across the stone floor and stood up against Legolas, passing her hands in front of his eyes, palms inward.
"You cannot see…but I can…I can see…" From the maniacal lunacy she seemed to taper off into an abyss of sadness. Her large white eyes began to fill with tears again and even in the dark, he could see her close her eyelids and force out two silvery drops. She backed away from him and pressed her palms against her eyes, her crying now becoming more pronounced and noticeably louder.
{What is to be done?}
He could hardly restrain the impulse to touch her and try to offer comfort, but she had been the one to initiate contact between them and Legolas felt it was wise to remain motionless. She moved into the sunlight again and Legolas noticed that she was no longer covering her eyes, but digging her fingernails through their familiar grooves down the length of her eyelids.
"No! Don't!" Not knowing what he was doing, Legolas dashed across the darkened room and felt for her body, clamping onto her wrists and pulling sharply. His sudden interference seemed to send her into a panic and her crying turned into shrieks of anger as she began to claw uncontrollably at her eyes. Despite his best efforts it was a few moments before Legolas could wrench her hands away from her face. Then, without warning, the strength suddenly left her body and all in an instant she fell onto the floor in a heap- fast asleep.
Legolas could hardly think for the blood pounding in his temples. His first impulse was to call out for help when he remembered how isolated they were. He felt something warm and sticky on his hands and knew it to be blood- her blood. Something had to be done for her and before he could reason his way out of it, Legolas had picked up the limp mass in his arms and carried her out into the hallway.