Menel, Chapter Four
"I felt as if he knew me in all my dark despair,
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there."
~Roberta Flack, Killing Me Softly
"And when the stars threw down their spears. . ."
~William Blake, the Tyger
Answering reviews:
Alexis: Well, yes it hardly seems like something Aragorn would have done, but then, everyone falters at some point. No one's perfect.
EarthFairy: Aragorn does like Menel. He doesn't know that she's his daughter, though.
Anonymous: That was Faramir. Aragorn doesn't know.
Kikari: Don't worry, Faramir and Menel are both in for some serious changes.
Ithilwen: Thanks. Yay, someone liked my chapter!
Kawaii Bluebear: Yikes! Calm down, I promise to make things at least slightly better. Maybe change her outlook a bit, don't know quite yet.
Miriel Sakamoto: While it may take some time, things will look up.
Aragorn Elessar: We're always open to suggestions! Glad you liked it.
Acacia Jules: I don't know what will happen, but let's hope Aragorn and Faramir don't agree. . .that would not be good.
Iarhyn: No, he probably would not have. But WHAT IF he did? That's what this story is about.
Luna: Thanks! And your English is fine, better than most, in fact.
Branwen: I fail to see how eye colour is a major liberty. Seriously, this is a story, not a regurgitation of fact. If you can't point out a discrepancy without that nasty manner, why not just leave off reviewing? Writers and researchers are different. Just check your dictionary.
Asia: He's not the bad guy. He's just a bit upset. After all, alcohol can really change someone's manner.
Smeagol's Preciousss: Thanks.
Firelien: If for years you had dealt with major shame, what would YOUR reaction be? As far as this story goes, we're being pretty nice to Faramir.
Eryn Lasgalen: Thanks a lot. As for the flamers reference. . .hehe, I wrote that.
Enedilwen: Thanks! And good luck with yours.
Xel: Menel is Aragorn and Eowyn's daughter, and Aralya and Eldarion are Aragorn and Arwen's children. That was not the end. Eldarion and Menel are about the same age, I think we agreed on fifteen.
Jedi Knight 666: Maybe, you'll see, maybe. Isn't waiting terrible?
*****
"Eldarion, why are you stopping?" I asked. We had been told to ride until nightfall, still perhaps one half hour away, but Eldarion had dismounted and motioned for me to do the same. He offered his hand to help me down, and I took it, confused.
"Your decision," he said, half-snorted. "My father was right about you," he added, though his back was to me as he walked over to his horse. My shoulders slumped. Great, the one person who had never looked on me with pity, who had always been nice, had now decided to turn himself and my best friend against me. "He told me, when I was readying my things for the trip," Eldarion continued, "he said, 'There's something not right about all this, Eldarion. This is not, as Faramir claims, Menel's decision'. At first, I didn't believe him. I respect my elders, as I've been taught. But then I saw your face. . ."
"This is my decision," I argued, the line my parents had told me to use. "I want to do this."
"Sure. Where are we going, again?" He asked. I blanked. He nodded. "Thought so. I am no-one's pawn, Menel. Either you tell me what's going on or you don't, but until I know the truth I shall go no further." The way his feet and jaw were set, I knew his words were true.
What could I do? I could hardly bare to think of the truth, let alone to talk about it. What lies could I tell? I was not good at lying, and Eldarion would see right through me. "I am no monster," Eldarion said. "We shall rest here tonight, and tomorrow either tell me, or journey on alone."
After that, things changed. Neither of us spoke of our confrontation. It was as if we were just friends, on a journey together. Both of us went off to gather firewood. "Let's race," I suggested. "To see who can gather the most wood and be back at camp before dark sets in."
"You're on!" Eldarion agreed, and we each ran in opposite directions. I gathered quickly, focusing on finding the right type of wood and being faster than Eldarion. Suddenly, I felt my load lighten. He had snatched the wood right out of my arms!
"Cheater!" I cried, dropping the rest of my load and chasing after him. He reached our camp first, and dumped the wood on the ground, falling to his knees beside it and turning to face me. "You cheated!"
"There were rules?" he asked innocently, picking up a few sticks and arranging them for a fire. "You should have told me that there were rules." A blaze sprang to life beneath his hands, I know not how. On the ground beside the blaze I sat, Eldarion next to me. Suddenly it occurred to me that I had forgotten something. What was it? "Here," Eldarion interrupted my thoughts, nudging me with some food.
"Thanks," I replied, chewing. Now, with food in my hands, I realized just how hungry I was.
After we ate, Eldarion and I rolled out our bedrolls and lay down next to each other. I was sleepy, I admit, and the lull of the fire and the calm night together put me in a more relaxed mood than I had been in for months. "Look," Eldarion said, his arm extended towards the stars. He moved it a bit, pointing. "There's the Great Hunter. See, his bow is visible tonight."
"I don't see him," I admitted.
"There," Eldarion said, taking my arm and pointing. Following his and my fingers, I did see the hunter. "Here, too, is the Beast he is chasing. See it there?" I told him that I did. "And the dipper, just there. Then there, the brightest star in all the heavens, in the dead north. See those there? Queen Berothial, Aralya calls them, and she says that the stars scattered about are her cats."
Eldarion knew a lot about the stars. For perhaps another hour he talked, pointing out various constellations. All of them were new to me, and finally I asked him how he knew so much. "It is a strange story. A few years ago, I asked my father exactly what a star was. Aralya had asked me, and I didn't know. The answer to my question was that there are many stars, and no one knows exactly what they are, but there is lore to go with them. Every arrangement of stars has a name, and a story."
"Did he tell you the star lore then?" I asked.
"No, not then. It was later. . .I did not understand then, but looking back I see that this was one of those things there is a time and a place for. If we talk about the stars in the daytime, they lose their beauty at night. Perhaps a week after I had asked about the stars, I went up to the roof at night to see the stars shining out in all their majesty. It was that night that I learned about the stars."
To this there was naught for me to say. It continued to amaze me, the involvement Aragorn had in the lives of his children. I suppose in my heart I had always know that Faramir and I had an unusual relationship, but the more I spoke to Eldarion the more I saw just how different we were. Eldarion, like his father, seemed to understand many things. Maybe, just maybe, if I told him about Faramir. . .maybe he would know what to do.
"I felt as if he knew me in all my dark despair,
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there."
~Roberta Flack, Killing Me Softly
"And when the stars threw down their spears. . ."
~William Blake, the Tyger
Answering reviews:
Alexis: Well, yes it hardly seems like something Aragorn would have done, but then, everyone falters at some point. No one's perfect.
EarthFairy: Aragorn does like Menel. He doesn't know that she's his daughter, though.
Anonymous: That was Faramir. Aragorn doesn't know.
Kikari: Don't worry, Faramir and Menel are both in for some serious changes.
Ithilwen: Thanks. Yay, someone liked my chapter!
Kawaii Bluebear: Yikes! Calm down, I promise to make things at least slightly better. Maybe change her outlook a bit, don't know quite yet.
Miriel Sakamoto: While it may take some time, things will look up.
Aragorn Elessar: We're always open to suggestions! Glad you liked it.
Acacia Jules: I don't know what will happen, but let's hope Aragorn and Faramir don't agree. . .that would not be good.
Iarhyn: No, he probably would not have. But WHAT IF he did? That's what this story is about.
Luna: Thanks! And your English is fine, better than most, in fact.
Branwen: I fail to see how eye colour is a major liberty. Seriously, this is a story, not a regurgitation of fact. If you can't point out a discrepancy without that nasty manner, why not just leave off reviewing? Writers and researchers are different. Just check your dictionary.
Asia: He's not the bad guy. He's just a bit upset. After all, alcohol can really change someone's manner.
Smeagol's Preciousss: Thanks.
Firelien: If for years you had dealt with major shame, what would YOUR reaction be? As far as this story goes, we're being pretty nice to Faramir.
Eryn Lasgalen: Thanks a lot. As for the flamers reference. . .hehe, I wrote that.
Enedilwen: Thanks! And good luck with yours.
Xel: Menel is Aragorn and Eowyn's daughter, and Aralya and Eldarion are Aragorn and Arwen's children. That was not the end. Eldarion and Menel are about the same age, I think we agreed on fifteen.
Jedi Knight 666: Maybe, you'll see, maybe. Isn't waiting terrible?
*****
"Eldarion, why are you stopping?" I asked. We had been told to ride until nightfall, still perhaps one half hour away, but Eldarion had dismounted and motioned for me to do the same. He offered his hand to help me down, and I took it, confused.
"Your decision," he said, half-snorted. "My father was right about you," he added, though his back was to me as he walked over to his horse. My shoulders slumped. Great, the one person who had never looked on me with pity, who had always been nice, had now decided to turn himself and my best friend against me. "He told me, when I was readying my things for the trip," Eldarion continued, "he said, 'There's something not right about all this, Eldarion. This is not, as Faramir claims, Menel's decision'. At first, I didn't believe him. I respect my elders, as I've been taught. But then I saw your face. . ."
"This is my decision," I argued, the line my parents had told me to use. "I want to do this."
"Sure. Where are we going, again?" He asked. I blanked. He nodded. "Thought so. I am no-one's pawn, Menel. Either you tell me what's going on or you don't, but until I know the truth I shall go no further." The way his feet and jaw were set, I knew his words were true.
What could I do? I could hardly bare to think of the truth, let alone to talk about it. What lies could I tell? I was not good at lying, and Eldarion would see right through me. "I am no monster," Eldarion said. "We shall rest here tonight, and tomorrow either tell me, or journey on alone."
After that, things changed. Neither of us spoke of our confrontation. It was as if we were just friends, on a journey together. Both of us went off to gather firewood. "Let's race," I suggested. "To see who can gather the most wood and be back at camp before dark sets in."
"You're on!" Eldarion agreed, and we each ran in opposite directions. I gathered quickly, focusing on finding the right type of wood and being faster than Eldarion. Suddenly, I felt my load lighten. He had snatched the wood right out of my arms!
"Cheater!" I cried, dropping the rest of my load and chasing after him. He reached our camp first, and dumped the wood on the ground, falling to his knees beside it and turning to face me. "You cheated!"
"There were rules?" he asked innocently, picking up a few sticks and arranging them for a fire. "You should have told me that there were rules." A blaze sprang to life beneath his hands, I know not how. On the ground beside the blaze I sat, Eldarion next to me. Suddenly it occurred to me that I had forgotten something. What was it? "Here," Eldarion interrupted my thoughts, nudging me with some food.
"Thanks," I replied, chewing. Now, with food in my hands, I realized just how hungry I was.
After we ate, Eldarion and I rolled out our bedrolls and lay down next to each other. I was sleepy, I admit, and the lull of the fire and the calm night together put me in a more relaxed mood than I had been in for months. "Look," Eldarion said, his arm extended towards the stars. He moved it a bit, pointing. "There's the Great Hunter. See, his bow is visible tonight."
"I don't see him," I admitted.
"There," Eldarion said, taking my arm and pointing. Following his and my fingers, I did see the hunter. "Here, too, is the Beast he is chasing. See it there?" I told him that I did. "And the dipper, just there. Then there, the brightest star in all the heavens, in the dead north. See those there? Queen Berothial, Aralya calls them, and she says that the stars scattered about are her cats."
Eldarion knew a lot about the stars. For perhaps another hour he talked, pointing out various constellations. All of them were new to me, and finally I asked him how he knew so much. "It is a strange story. A few years ago, I asked my father exactly what a star was. Aralya had asked me, and I didn't know. The answer to my question was that there are many stars, and no one knows exactly what they are, but there is lore to go with them. Every arrangement of stars has a name, and a story."
"Did he tell you the star lore then?" I asked.
"No, not then. It was later. . .I did not understand then, but looking back I see that this was one of those things there is a time and a place for. If we talk about the stars in the daytime, they lose their beauty at night. Perhaps a week after I had asked about the stars, I went up to the roof at night to see the stars shining out in all their majesty. It was that night that I learned about the stars."
To this there was naught for me to say. It continued to amaze me, the involvement Aragorn had in the lives of his children. I suppose in my heart I had always know that Faramir and I had an unusual relationship, but the more I spoke to Eldarion the more I saw just how different we were. Eldarion, like his father, seemed to understand many things. Maybe, just maybe, if I told him about Faramir. . .maybe he would know what to do.