A/N: A big hug to those of you who have taken the time to read and review this little fic. I've fixed the little typo (good eyes, Orphelia-Rose) and please, don't hesitate to tell me if I've missed anything else. I cringe when I see little things like that....
Keep r/r please!
Chapter 5: Dreams and Nightmares
"Poor child."
Legolas sat in a chair at Karalynn's bedside and he looked up as Kythe walked in.
Her green eyes settled on the sleeping figure in the bed and sighed.
"Poor, poor child." Kythe repeated in a soft voice. "I suppose it was all too much for her to handle, wasn't it?"
Legolas said nothing as he turned back to Karalynn. He reached forward and placed his hand over her forehead. Her skin was slightly clammy and warm to the touch but she was sleeping peacefully under his watch.
After Karalynn had become sick, she had fallen to the ground, crying and muttering words of nonsense. Legolas had quickly taken off the ruined tunic he wore and for once he was grateful that he had worn another garment underneath it. He had carried her back to her bedroom and after laying her down on her bed, summoned the royal healers.
They had cleaned her up and given her sleeping potions to drink after declaring her illness a mere case of nerves. Thankfully she had taken the medicine without a fight or trace of resistance.
The king himself had gone to see that Karalynn was alright and he had decided that he would speak to her after she had fully recovered or when the messengers had returned- either way, their meeting would be delayed and at least one source of tension would be set aside for her.
Legolas had watched her sleep for nearly half the day, unable to move from her bedside.
He felt responsible for her now; after all, he had been the one to find her first- unconscious and vulnerable in the forest. It was his fault that she had reacted so- his fault for not thinking about her situation fully. He was not as wise or as old as his father but nor was he as naive and child-like as Lohr. He should have known how a human would react, especially one in her place. He should have taken heed of the physical signals that her body had been giving him- her damp and overly pale skin, her trembling hands, the way she had recoiled at his touch and avoided making eye contact with everyone else at the table. She was acting like a trapped animal, backed into a corner. But no, instead he had been too busy noticing the way her eyes seemed to change color in the light. Too busy noticing the perfect curves of her lips. Too busy wondering if her eyelashes were as lush and as soft as they looked.
He should have known better.
Kythe noticed his expression and sighed.
"Ah, Legolas." she said, moving closer to him. "I see that you are practicing the art of berating yourself once again. Don't you know that it is my job to point out your failings? Not yours."
Legolas looked at her solemnly.
"She doesn't think she belongs in Middle Earth, Kythelin." he said quietly.
"That's nonsense." Kythe said but Legolas shook his head.
"I'm beginning to think she's telling the truth." he said. "She mutters about tales that I've never heard of. You know as well as I do that I have poured over all the collections of stories and myths of Middle Earth growing up but yet not one word of the stories she utters sounds familiar to me. And haven't most humans been in the company of elves? Or at least heard of them? We are not the stuff of fairy tales but she reacts to us as though we are."
Kythe put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.
"Legolas, she is ill." Kythe said kindly. "She needs rest to clear her mind. When she wakes up refreshed, I'm sure that everything will become clear for her. Of course she doesn't feel as if she belongs here. She's lost her memory, after all. And as for her strange tales, I'm sure it's due to distress. Perhaps she had a nightmare last night and that is causing her to think these strange thoughts. Dreams often have that affect, you know, as do injuries of the head."
Legolas smiled slightly. Kythe's words were comforting and rational.
"Thank you." he said, glancing back down at the still figure.
"Anytime, my friend." Kythe said. Her green eyes suddenly twinkled. "Perhaps you should look into the mirror as you watch over her, Legolas. It reminds me an awful lot of the way Faran looks when I'm around."
His blue eyes darted up to hers and a brief flash of indignation flitted across them. But it soon disappeared and he only smiled at her.
"Silly Kythe." he said. "Do all the young female elves romanticize this much? I suppose now you'll be comparing me with Beren and Luthien ."
Kythe bit her bottom lip and managed to smile at the same time.
"Why would I do that?" she asked innocently. "Silly Legolas, Beren and Luthien were in love. What would that tale have anything to do with you?"
Legolas said nothing and turned back to Karalynn.
"I didn't say that it had anything to do with me." he muttered. "I was just making a comment on how you seem to think these days. Always trying to infuse some romantic nonsense into ordinary things...."
"I do not!" Kythe protested.
".. like some love-struck female elf." he finished. He glanced up and grinned slyly. "Which, I suppose in a way, you are."
Kythe's cheeks flushed momentarily.
"Hush, Legolas." she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Keep speaking in this manner and you might wake the child."
"You weren't worried about that a moment ago." he pointed out. "Waking the child up... indeed. Will you continue to use such transparent reasoning in the future?"
Instead of arguing with him, Kythe took another step closer and examined Karalynn's face.
"She isn't a child though." she said thoughtfully. "Not by human standards, at least. She looks to be the same age as Estel is now, doesn't she? In her second decade?"
Legolas smiled.
"Ah, so you have managed to turn the conversation over to Estel once again." he teased. "The pretty mortal man that has all the maidens in Middle Earth batting their eyelashes in a flurry."
"He is not pretty but handsome." Kythe said. "The chil.. Karalynn, is pretty. In fact, she is quite beautiful. Wouldn't you agree, Legolas?"
He remained silent and turned his face away from Kythe once more.
"Don't you have somewhere else to be now, Kythelin?" he said, suddenly sounding serious. "I'm afraid that the sound of our voices will soon wake Karalynn and she needs to rest."
"Now who is using transparent reasoning?" Kythe said. "I can see right through your words, my friend. But however, I do have somewhere else to be- you are right. I shall come by and see how our dear guest is doing in the evening. Fortinbas and Faran are also eager to see how she is doing."
Kythe smiled suddenly and added, "And I'm sure your brother Lohr would like to see her as well."
Legolas made a sound of disgust and Kythe moved swiftly to the door before he could retaliate.
When he was sure she was gone, he let a smile pass through his lips and chuckled softly. Lohr was a source of amusement for him. Though he often rebuked his younger brother for his impulsive ways, he felt that Lohr did and said the things that older elves wanted to do and say but couldn't. He wanted his brother to grow up to be a wise and respected elf but deep inside Legolas hoped that a small part of his nature would remained unchanged.
Legolas had gotten angry at his brother in front of Karalynn for her benefit, not his. He wanted to save her dignity in front of the others but he knew that Lohr had only said what everyone else had been thinking- that she was indeed, a lovely vision to behold.
She was like a dream to him. Unreal yet visible.
He leaned forward and brushed a few strands of her fine, silky hair away from her face. To his surprise, her lips parted slightly and she exhaled a small sigh.
He pulled back his hand slightly, waiting.
Legolas had intended his touch to be whisper soft, as light as air, so as not to wake her. Her movement was a bit of a surprise to him and he watched her face carefully for signs of impending consciousness.
Have I woken her up? he thought sadly. Should I call for the healers to bring the sleeping draught again?
But though her eyes fluttered slightly, they remained closed. Legolas relaxed slightly and then frowned.
It sounded as if she had said something.
He leaned forward, until his ear was at her mouth and then he heard it:
"Lord is my... shepherd... shadow of death... fear no evil... thou art with me... cup... runneth over..."
Legolas' frown grew deeper. The words sounded ominous and dark. He leaned back slightly and saw that her features had twisted up into an expression of pain. Her head moved slightly to the side and her hands clenched and unclenched themselves into fists. Her chest hitched and her breathing became erratic.
"Daddy... Momma..." she whispered in anguished tones. "In this... in this hour... this hour of..."
She was having a nightmare and he saw that her body was getting ready to have a fit like the one she had earlier that day. He remembered the intense pain she had been in and quickly placed his hand over her forehead.
He bent down again, placed his mouth near her ear and began to sing softly.
"Sleep, sleep, peaceful slumber,
Overcome your tired mind.
Let your heart no longer wander,
May your worries now unwind."
Her face began to grow smooth again and her hands slowly relaxed. Legolas stroked her skin with his thumb and closed his eyes.
"Sleep, sleep, my sweet child,
Let your troubles become light.
Let the stars above in heaven,
Soothe your soul this night."
He sang the lullaby over and over again until he felt her body become still underneath his hand. He heard each soft breath escape from her lips and the rhythm was slow and steady and peaceful. She was safe now but Legolas lingered near her face, unable to pull himself away from her. He tilted his head to the side, studying her features with half-closed eyes. Even in slumber, her face was an open canvas of her emotions. It was refreshing to see that- lips that smiled or frowned or grimaced easily, eyes that were thoughtful and reflective instead of merely watchful, cheeks that paled or flushed brightly.
Were all humans this intoxicating?
Had any human caught his attention in this way before?
Legolas blinked and watched with wonder at the way her ears curved into a half-circle without a trace of a tip. That small but obvious physical deformity that marked her as a mortal and not like him. But it was so perfect, so exquisitely formed that he wondered if her ears were mere accidents and she was an elf in human form.
It would have been so easy.
So easy for him to lean in and press his mouth against hers. He wondered what the skin of her lips felt like. Would they feel like the smooth iciness of a female elf's lips? Would they be warm or soft or like velvet? He was only an inch or two away from her face now and all he had to do was....
No.
He leaned back slowly and shook his head.
Stupid fool, he thought, annoyed at himself. You stupid, idiotic fool.
You bring a helpless and vulnerable human back to the palace as a guest and what is the first thing you think of doing when you are alone with her sleeping body?
He shook his head again and hardened his face, not allowing his thoughts to go any further.
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She sat on top of a grassy hill overlooking a small brook. It was warm and sunny and the sky above her was cloud-free and breathtakingly beautiful.
She looked down at her hands and then down at her body and saw that she was wearing only a flimsy white nightgown and nothing else.
( ...but where is my robe? Momma says I'll catch a cold if I don't... )
"But it's warm out here." she said aloud. "I'll be fine."
She heard a soft rustling in the space behind her and turned around. A white rabbit with pink eyes was making its way towards her. She blinked, seeing the dark blue waistcoat it wore but strangely enough, she was not surprised when she clearly heard it say:
"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!"
Then the rabbit pulled out a watch from its waistcoat pocket and glanced at it hurriedly before jumping away from her.
Without thinking, she ran after it and it led her down the hill and towards the brook.
"Wait!" she yelled out. "I want to talk to you! Wait!"
But the white rabbit with the pink eyes and the waistcoat did not stop nor did it even look back at her. It took a big leap forward and then seemed to disappear before her eyes!
She ran to where the rabbit had disappeared and saw a large rabbit-hole in the dirt.
( ...dark, deep, dangerous... )
She looked down, suddenly afraid and then looked up at the blue, blue sky.
Did she really want to go after the rabbit? Did she really want to jump into that dark and nasty hole?
No.
She took a step back, meaning to turn around and leave, when she felt a rough hand behind her shove her forward.
( ...fall into the rabbit hole, Alice, and see what wonders await you... )
And then she was tumbling... falling... down
down,
down.
Suddenly it was no longer warm or sunny. The sky was now an hideous shade of gray and ominous clouds loomed above, pregnant and heavy with rain. She couldn't remember landing or hitting the ground but now she was here, sitting in a flat field.
All by herself.
She looked around, dazed and unhurt and realized with a start that she had changed. Now she wore black and red and gray clothing... familiar... but yet not comforting. Not at all comforting. She hated these clothes.
She looked around again and gasped.
All around her were small, thin blocks of granite. Stones. Markers...
...for the dead.
She scrambled to her feet and backed away from the nearest one in horror. The sky above her brightened momentarily with lightning but she didn't hear the rumbling growl of thunder.
What she did hear were words... words that frightened her to the very core of her being.
( ..."The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters."... )
She moaned and shivered. A heavy and cold wind whipped her gray coat around her knees.
( ..."Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."...)
She brought her hands up to her ears but it was in vain.
( ..."Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil: my cup runneth over."...)
She wanted to scream out, to cry, to do something that would make the words stop but she knew nothing in the world could do that.
( ..."I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Amen."... )
In her terror, she cried out to the only two people that had never betrayed her- the only ones who had always protected her, loved her, cared for her...
"Daddy! Momma!" she yelled, searching the cemetery with frantic and tear-filled eyes. "Daddy! Momma! Help me!"
( "In this hour of grief and sorrow, I call on Heaven with all its power!" )
"Make it stop!" she screamed out. "Make it stop! Please, make it stop!"
And then it did.
The words fell away and a simple, haunting melody echoed in the wind. Her hands dropped from her ears and fell to her sides as she stood still, listening.
The voice was familiar and sweet and...
It was a lullaby.
She could not understand the words but she knew a lullaby when she heard one. She used to sing them to her dolls at night when she...
When she...
When...
( ...When?... )
She couldn't remember.
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