Legolas luckily met no one in the hallways on the way to his chambers as it was mid-day and all were indoors busy with luncheon or resting. He came to the large mahogany doors, which marked the entryway for the antechamber of the rooms he shared with Carandoliel. With furtive kicking, he knocked on the door several times, and on the sixth try Carandoliel came to the entryway. Her face reverted to horror as she looked at the creature in his arms.
"My heavens! What is that?" Legolas pushed his way past her, desperate to come under the protection of the stone walls of his room. He walked into their bedroom and laid the sleeping Írime upon a long, red cushioned couch, which occupied the wall opposite from their bed.
"Legolas!" Carandoliel came up behind him, demanding and explanation for his actions. She stared down at the huddled form of Írime and shuddered with horror. Her once white tunic was now stained a dull brown in several places, which were now overlaid by fresh streaks of red. Her face was covered in smears of blood and for a moment Carandoliel thought she was going to faint.
Legolas however, worked quickly and silently, molding her into an extended position and covering her with a thick, warm blanket.
"The curtains." He motioned towards the open windows which were freely allowing cascades of warm summer sunlight to pour into the room. "Close the curtains." Carandoliel obeyed quickly, returning to his side in an instant, her hands now firmly clasped in front of her and her fingers working furiously.
"Is that her? The woman?" Legolas nodded as he wiped away a small trickle of blood traveling the length of her chin.
"We haven't much time- find me a basin with water and a cloth." Carandoliel left quickly and returned with the desired items, kneeling herself at Írime's side and rolling up the cuffs on her sleeves. Legolas turned to her with a look of admiration as she dipped the cloth into the basin and wrung it out with determination. While Carandoliel wiped away the blood covering Írime's cheeks, Legolas had time to think.
{What would happen upon her waking? What would happen when the palace discovered her missing?}
He cut his eyes nervously towards Carandoliel and realized how close her soft ivory skin was to the quick hands of Írime. The sight turned his stomach and he pressed his hands against Carandoliel's shoulders.
"You should not be here when she awakens- she is violent and I cannot allow anything to happen to you." Carandoliel smiled uneasily and turned back to her work.
"I am not afraid." Her hands however, were trembling terribly and as her fingers worked they would slip every so often. She placed the cloth on Írime's right cheek and Legolas set his steady hand atop hers.
"I know you are brave but do not be foolish. I do not know what will happen when she awakens, she might…"
"I want to be with you." It was the first time she had ever interrupted him and for a moment he was taken aback slightly. Her eyes, now a washed, pale green turned towards him with set determination. She placed her free hand atop his own and squeezed it slightly.
"I want to be with you when she awakens. Nothing you can say will frighten me into leaving you." Legolas looked her small hand atop his and noticed that it was as steady as his own. He suddenly came to realize that just being around her, just touching her gave him strength and that it was true for her as well. All that was lacking in his heart and mind she completed, he wholly lived his life because Carandoliel was in it. He traced the lines of her soft ivory hands and smiled, nodding his head at her request. They both turned back to look at Írime and found her large white eyes staring at them intently.
Carandoliel fairly fell backwards in sudden fright as Írime lay stoically staring at them. Her light eyes in the brightness of the room seemed even more pronounced against her pale skin and Legolas wondered if the scant light the curtains were allowing in really was hurting her eyes. She wasn't blinking, merely shifting her gaze from one to the other, the small trace of a tear forming in her left eye.
"Írime?" Legolas' voice cracked slightly as he looked from Carandoliel, who still sat breathing shallowly, back to Írime, who had made no motion to speak or move. Her white eyes rounded on Legolas and again he had the sensation that she was looking through him, looking past his flesh and into something he could not see.
"Írime?" This time it was Carandoliel who spoke. Írime's eyes flashed over to her in an instant and then, very slowly, she began to extend her hand towards Carandoliel's face. She did not move but allowed the woman to touch the top of her cheek just below her right eye. Írime pressed the flesh beneath her eye slightly with her thumb, cocking her head slowly to one side as she spoke:
"Can you see?" Írime seemed to be searching desperately in Carandoliel's eyes for something but after a few moments her hand fell away in disappointment. Carandoliel's breathing became calmer as Írime seemed to fall back into her motionless trance upon the crimson cushions.
"Írime." Legolas spoke with urgency, trying to establish something, anything, that she would be able to remember him by. Before he could speak however, Írime's eyes rounded the room about her quickly and she sat up with a start, her white eyes now practically glowing in the dim light.
"Light…light!" Legolas rushed to the curtains to shut out the remaining light. His hands were tugging the heavy velvet curtains tightly together when Carandoliel called out his name in alarm. Írime had left the couch and thrown herself nearly across the room in a single leap. She was upon Legolas in no time- however, she did not touch him but instead grabbed the soft material of the curtains. With a hard thrust she threw them open, allowing the full shine of the afternoon sun into the room.
"Light! Light!" She opened her white eyes to the sun until they could bear no more and squeezed shut in protest. Clear, sparkling tears streamed down the scars of her cheeks and her face broke into a wide smile.
{She does not loath the sunlight. Araorë was mistaken!}
Legolas turned to Carandoliel, who still sat upon the floor, her eyes turned towards Írime who had begun to cup and uncover her eyes, as though playing a childish game with the bright yellow orb. Írime turned towards Legolas and grabbed his arm with eagerness, without digging her fingernails in or pulling him violently. She moved him towards the window where she was standing in the full light of the sun.
"See? Can you see?" She pointed towards the courtyard where dozens of merchants and servants were running about. She kept repeating her question and Legolas felt that she meant him to see something more than the elves coming and going from the castle. He turned to face her and came eye to eye with her wide white irises, his breath suddenly caught in his throat. Her eyes were no longer white- they were a myriad of colors too numerous to be counted. She was staring at the courtyard intently and for a fleeting moment Legolas wondered if she could see those colors in the scene below. She turned her eyes to meet his and the prism vanished, leaving behind only a faint gray-blue color in the very bottom of her irises.
"Can you see?" Her eagerness was almost childlike and her smile, more hopeful than joyous. He shook his head slowly, still watching her eyes. Her shoulders fell heavily and as she drew her hands up to her face Legolas feared she might try to harm herself again. She looked at the palms of her hands and suddenly, as though she had had an epiphany, she thrust her palms into his face, her old smile now splitting her face again.
"I…I don't understand." Legolas shook his head as she emphatically shook her palms in his face.
"You can see! I will show you!" She shook her hands and Legolas felt that she wished him to close his eyes. Instinct warned against shutting his eyes when his love and happiness were so close by and unguarded, but he had come to have faith in Írime. He still hoped, more than felt that his impulse was correct. As soon as his eyes were shut he felt Írime's hands, oddly cold, pressing against the flesh of his cheek and her thumbs pressing gently against his eyelids.
"You can see." Legolas opened his eyes and felt a scream rise into his throat and die on his lips.