Thanks for the reviews! Sorry this chapter's a little short; but in the next one we finally get to fight… Yay! Hope you're enjoying it and please review.
I'll also be putting up the beginning of a new fanfic soon – another LOTR one. I'll tell you more when it's up, and don't worry I won't forget about Mithmír!
***
When she heard the news of the hobbits, she visibly sagged in the saddle. Only Legolas stopped her from crying out: his blue eyes met hers and locked onto them in a grip that was as tight as any made by hands and arms. She swallowed her scream, but the tears in her eyes could not be removed. She gulped once, nodded to Legolas for thanks, and then turned back to the Mouth of Sauron and his wicked leer. Her throat was dry. She gripped Brialvastor's smooth sides more tightly with her thighs, seeking to draw comfort from the familiar, faithful being. He whinnied a little; and she respected him greatly for his courage. Many other horses should have long ago fled from the skeleton-like beast before them.
The Elf hated to see such pain and hopelessness in her eyes. He wanted to tell her that she should never be alone and that she need never fear again. He now knew with a heavy heart why men wanted to keep their wives at home: they wished not to lose what was most precious to them of all. With the revelations about his feelings for her came not only joy but woe and fear also, and in abundance. He reminded himself that he had promised not to tame her; and he would lock her in no cage. Nevertheless his heart ached for her.
Mithmír's soul was in torment. Had she known it, her visions of the fate of Frodo and Sam were not very different from the tortures Faramir had (wrongly) envisioned her of receiving. She could almost hear their screams reverberating around her skull… She blinked again and again to stop herself breaking down; but she couldn't hide the way her hands shook as they grasped Brialvastor's reins.
She was unaware as the others moved away somberly. It was Legolas who called softly to her, and his voice which broke her seeming trance. She kicked Brialvastor forward slowly, and Legolas waited till she was beside him before moving away with her. 'Do not blame yourself,' he said softly after a while.
She looked at him with blank eyes. 'How can I not?' She asked plainly.
'Blame needs not be laid,' he said in vain. 'For if this has truly come to pass, if the Ring has been taken by Sauron…' He shivered, and his eyes seemed to look for a second not at hers but at some other place far from Middle Earth. 'Then the eternal darkness comes anyway; and no one shall any longer care whose fault it was. Then I shall indeed wish to be across the Sundering Sea in Valinor…' And a wistful look came into his eyes.
'Lucky are the Eldar who can escape on white ships to such places,' commented Mithmír lifelessly.
'You count yourself not with them, then?' Asked Legolas in surprise.
'I do not know,' she said honestly, her eyes devoid of any spark of enthusiasm or any trace of happiness.
Legolas drew his horse close to hers, and laid a gentle, consoling hand on hers. 'I hate to see you this unhappy, Lady.'
Mithmír turned on him, and finally there was emotion in her eyes, but it was bitter and unpleasant with anger. 'How dare you try to console me, Legolas? Think you not of what the hobbits are being put through at this very moment in the dark land?' She sobbed once, and a single tear escaped her eye and moved down her cheek. 'Can you not feel their pain and hear their screams?' Another tear followed its predecessor. 'If you were I, if you had… deserted them before their greatest obstacle, would you not wish that you were enduring that rather than them?' She could not hide her tears now, and they flowed down her face in a torrent of sorrow.
'Do not cry, nín meleth [my love],' begged Legolas. He moved his hand up to tuck her hair behind her ears. 'It makes my heart weep also.' His hand lingered for a little around her face, and deft fingers wiped away her tears. She looked up at him with reddened eyes. Legolas noted that even this couldn't make her appear less beautiful in his eyes.
'Fight all the harder for them, Lady,' he continued in a strong voice, dropping into Sindarin completely. 'Fight for revenge.'
She smiled weakly at him. 'I believe you are right, Legolas,' she replied somewhat shakily. 'Maybe Celebdîn can help me there…'
'Celebdîn?'
'My sword, silent silver,' explained Mithmír with a stronger grin. Legolas realized he'd found a way to change the subject. The woman took her hands from Brialvastor's reins and drew the sword from its sheath. The blade glinted boldly in the light. Legolas leaned over it in wonder.
Legolas read out the Tengwar inscription in Sindarin: 'Celebdîn: dínen hathol, síladínen, dínen tirith, dínen estel, dínen celeb…'
Mithmír looked at him with a wide grin, and translated, 'Celebdîn: silent sword, silent shining, silent guard, silent hope, silent silver.'
'It is a wondrous weapon indeed,' he commented. 'Where did you get it?'
'From my father the Dúnedain, but it was made by the Elven smiths of Imladris and Lothlorien.' She grimaced. 'May it also be called dínen guruth, silent death, for the battle today!'
'Glad to see that you're feeling better, Lady,' smiled Legolas mildly. 'Your warrior spirit has returned thricefold, I see.'
'You shall fight beside me, fearless, Legolas Greenleaf? Can you match the battle-skill of the wild shield-maiden?'
He chuckled, and the sound oddly complimented the ring of metal as she sheathed her sword. 'I shall try,' he replied.
***
Off to war before Mordor soon!
