Author's note: I don't know why I bother updating since you obviously don't
consider my story good enough to review. If you bother, I'll bother. Deal?
***
Mir stood, tense and expectant, as the door opened. To his amazement it was Rion who came in. In was even more amazing that he looked as much a prince now as when he was in Minas Tirith, dressed in finery and with a gold circlet across his forehead.
In the moment that Mir stood staring, Rion leapt across the room and flung his arms round his friend. Mir forgot his amazement in his relief, and hugged Rion back.
"Are you alright?" Rion asked.
"Yes, are you?" Rion nodded. "They said you tried to escape," Mir said, "and then the king said he'd see to you."
"They didn't hurt me." Rion explained all that had happened since he had first woken up here. Once he had finished Mir told his story. It was quite a long time before they had finished. Mir thought about what Rion had said and decided that Ariessa had probably been send to get information out of him.
"I don't think so," Rion said when Mir told him, "I think she just came out of curiosity."
"Would a girl normally go look at a prisoner because she was curious about him? She'd be too afraid he'd hurt her."
"Maybe," Rion admitted, but Mir could see he didn't really believe it. Probably taken in by a pair of pretty eyes. They talked some more, and inevitably ended up discussing the possibility of escape.
"Do you think the king was being honest about the storms?" Mir asked.
"I think so," Rion replied, "I remember the storm we passed through on our way here and I don't want to go through that again." Mir shuddered, remembering the hideous motion of the ship, the fear he had felt that they would all be drowned. He wasn't keen on it either.
"We'll have to wait 'til spring," Rion said.
"And what then? Neither of us could sail a ship home." There was a pause as Rion thought. Mir thought about it to, but all the options he thought of involved them being drowned or recaptured, neither of which were very pleasing options.
"Bribery," Rion suggested.
"Slight problem, neither of us has anything to bribe anyone with."
"Not here," Rion agreed, "but if we promise them a reward for getting us home, I'm sure my father would be happy to give them it." Mir nodded. He doubted anyone susceptible to bribes would be trustworthy, but they might be relied upon to help until they were given their fee.
It was beginning to grow dark outside when the door opened and a servant came in with a tray of food. She looked rather nervously at the two boys, and the hands carrying the tray trembled slightly. Mir guessed the tale about what he had done had got round. A guard came in the door behind her.
"Your highness," he addressed Rion, "I should take you back to your room now."
"I'll come and see you as soon as they'll let me," Rion said and left with the guard. Mir sat alone for a while. Somehow the loneliness had been increased by Rion's visit, because now he had to face the thought of more time alone, not knowing what was happening or when he would see his friend again. The king had said Rion could come to see him, but Mir didn't trust a word he said. No one who kidnapped people and asked them to betray their country could be trusted to speak a word of truth.
***
Ari walked into the main gardens where she had been told Prince Eldarion was. She was glad her father was letting him come outside, from the few conversations she had with those elves who visited she knew how important it was for them to be among living things. Prince Eldarion might only be part elf, but he would probably feel the same way.
As she looked around, she couldn't see the prince at first. She saw the two guards, standing idly around, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. For a few moments she was worried, but then the wind moved the branches of an oak tree, and she caught a glimpse of green fabric behind the brown leaves.
She walked to the tree and looked up at where Prince Eldarion was sitting, apparently oblivious to the green-brown stains on his shirt, staring into the distance. He glanced down at her when he heard the crunch of leaves, but then looked away, almost disdainfully it seemed to her.
"What are you doing?" she called up to him.
"Sitting," he replied.
"I can see that. Why?" He shrugged, and kept staring.
"Could you come down?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to talk to you, and it's difficult with you up there and me down here."
"Then you should come up." Ari hesitated. The prince was perched somewhat precariously on a narrow branch, his feet stretched across a wide gap to rest on another branch. There was very little supporting him and the fall was a long one.
"Are you frightened?" the prince asked, smiling slightly, and finally turning to look at her.
"No!" she replied a little too quickly, "Of course not!" She put her hand on a low branch and tried to tell herself there was nothing to worry about. After all, she'd been higher than the highest tree before now. She pulled herself up onto the branch with some difficulty as her dress got tangled around her legs. She would have worn something more practical if she'd known she'd be climbing dress.
She continued upwards with the same difficulty. At one point she made the mistake of looking down. The ground was close enough to seem frighteningly real, but at the same time was terrifyingly far away. She shuddered and returned her concentration to the branches she was clinging to.
By the time she reached Prince Eldarion, he was laughing softly. Ari glared at him fiercely.
"You try climbing in a dress!" she said. Then an image came unbidden into her mind of the prince wearing one of her dresses, perched as he was now, and she began to laugh as well.
The laughter was cut short as a strong gust of wind made the branch she was sitting on sway hideously, and she gripped until her knuckles turned white. She was at the mercy of the wind, and it felt as though she could be flung to the ground in an instant should the weather decide to be cruel.
"Are you afraid of heights?" the prince asked.
"No," she replied, reasonably honestly, "I just prefer to have something solid beneath me when I'm in the air." He looked puzzled at that, and Ari wondered if perhaps she'd said something she shouldn't.
"Why did you want to talk to me?" Prince Eldarion asked.
"I thought you might be lonely."
"If your father is a man of his word I can go see my friend if I become lonely. Why should I need to speak to you?" Ari fought down the rage his implied insult of her father caused.
"Surely having someone to talk to is preferable to sitting up here alone," she said.
"I'm not alone. I'm with the tree."
"Trees don't make very good conversationalists."
"Perhaps not to humans, your highness." The way he spoke her title reminded her of all the formal dinners and state occasions she had to get bored through.
"Can't we dispense with formalities?" she asked, "We're both the same rank after all."
"Very well, Ariessa."
"Ari," she corrected.
"You can call me Rion. No one ever calls me Eldarion except my father, and only when I'm in trouble."
"Let me guess," she said, "'Such childish behaviour is not suitable for one of your rank.' 'You must behave in a dignified manner at all times.' 'You are not like other children and to behave as though you were the worst of brats is simply intolerable.'"
Rion laughed. "You even got the tone right. Have you met him?"
"I don't need to," Ari replied, "my father's just the same."
The expression on Rion's face changed instantly from mirth to pure fury. "My father is nothing like yours!" he snarled.
"You need not say it as though it were such a terrible thing!" Ari snapped back.
"It is a terrible fate for a good man to be compared with one who condones kidnapping!" Ari could have hit him, but was afraid that doing so would result in her landing in a bruised heap at the bottom of the tree.
"I do not know the reason for my father bringing you here," Ari said with fury to match Rion's, "but he must have felt the reason justified the crime. Occasionally even the best person will do something that is wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that their intentions are pure. Humans are not infallible. And nor are elves."
"But humans can still know something is wrong and choose to do otherwise," Rion countered.
"Have you never done anything wrong?"
"Nothing that rates with kidnapping."
"Where do you draw the line between what is an acceptable wrong, and what is not?"
"When someone gets hurt!"
"Father has not hurt you!"
"Maybe not physically, but there are other ways to hurt someone! And anyone who enjoys hurting people cannot be considered good!"
"Father doesn't take pleasure in other people's pain!" She made the mistake of leaning forwards as he she spoke and in her anger lost her grip on the branch. She had less than a second to process the terror of having nothing beneath her when she hit the ground with just force that it knocked the breath from her lungs. The pain blacked everything out for a few moments, but as she got over the shock it diminished to a dull ache. She would probably have some impressive bruises because of this.
Those moments were all the time it took for Rion to descend the tree and the guards run over.
"Your highness, are you injured?" one of the guards asked.
"I'm fine," Ari replied, getting to her feet.
"I'm sorry," Rion said. Ari didn't bother to reply. After all, it was his fault she'd fallen and made such a fool of herself. She was only trying to be kind. She walked away.
"Ari," Rion called. She stopped, but didn't turn to look at him. "I didn't mean to offend you," he continued, "but please try to see things from my perspective." Ari walked off again, and this time he didn't stop her.
A long while later, Ari sat by her window still running the scene over and over in her mind. Her father was a good man and Rion was judging him without knowing all the information. But surely he was right that nothing could excuse kidnapping. Her father had treated Rion well. But he'd also taken him from his home.
The arguments went round and round in her head until she didn't know what to think any more. She pitied Rion, but she was also angry with him. But when she thought about his situation she became angry with her father, and the only reason she had been angry with Rion was because he had been angry with him.
She'd never sort this out like this. She needed to argue it through with someone so she could see all the different points separately and come to a conclusion. Traag was always happy to argue something over with her. He said arguments were more interesting than just having a conversation.
***
Author's notes: I know it's not much of a cliffhanger, but I hope I've caught your interest and you're all wondering who Traag is.
The thing about arguing is true. It's the reason my best friend and I spend most of our time arguing, although our arguments tend to deteriorate to the stage of 'is' 'isn't' 'is' 'isn't'. The current argument is about which of us is the more stubborn.
***
Mir stood, tense and expectant, as the door opened. To his amazement it was Rion who came in. In was even more amazing that he looked as much a prince now as when he was in Minas Tirith, dressed in finery and with a gold circlet across his forehead.
In the moment that Mir stood staring, Rion leapt across the room and flung his arms round his friend. Mir forgot his amazement in his relief, and hugged Rion back.
"Are you alright?" Rion asked.
"Yes, are you?" Rion nodded. "They said you tried to escape," Mir said, "and then the king said he'd see to you."
"They didn't hurt me." Rion explained all that had happened since he had first woken up here. Once he had finished Mir told his story. It was quite a long time before they had finished. Mir thought about what Rion had said and decided that Ariessa had probably been send to get information out of him.
"I don't think so," Rion said when Mir told him, "I think she just came out of curiosity."
"Would a girl normally go look at a prisoner because she was curious about him? She'd be too afraid he'd hurt her."
"Maybe," Rion admitted, but Mir could see he didn't really believe it. Probably taken in by a pair of pretty eyes. They talked some more, and inevitably ended up discussing the possibility of escape.
"Do you think the king was being honest about the storms?" Mir asked.
"I think so," Rion replied, "I remember the storm we passed through on our way here and I don't want to go through that again." Mir shuddered, remembering the hideous motion of the ship, the fear he had felt that they would all be drowned. He wasn't keen on it either.
"We'll have to wait 'til spring," Rion said.
"And what then? Neither of us could sail a ship home." There was a pause as Rion thought. Mir thought about it to, but all the options he thought of involved them being drowned or recaptured, neither of which were very pleasing options.
"Bribery," Rion suggested.
"Slight problem, neither of us has anything to bribe anyone with."
"Not here," Rion agreed, "but if we promise them a reward for getting us home, I'm sure my father would be happy to give them it." Mir nodded. He doubted anyone susceptible to bribes would be trustworthy, but they might be relied upon to help until they were given their fee.
It was beginning to grow dark outside when the door opened and a servant came in with a tray of food. She looked rather nervously at the two boys, and the hands carrying the tray trembled slightly. Mir guessed the tale about what he had done had got round. A guard came in the door behind her.
"Your highness," he addressed Rion, "I should take you back to your room now."
"I'll come and see you as soon as they'll let me," Rion said and left with the guard. Mir sat alone for a while. Somehow the loneliness had been increased by Rion's visit, because now he had to face the thought of more time alone, not knowing what was happening or when he would see his friend again. The king had said Rion could come to see him, but Mir didn't trust a word he said. No one who kidnapped people and asked them to betray their country could be trusted to speak a word of truth.
***
Ari walked into the main gardens where she had been told Prince Eldarion was. She was glad her father was letting him come outside, from the few conversations she had with those elves who visited she knew how important it was for them to be among living things. Prince Eldarion might only be part elf, but he would probably feel the same way.
As she looked around, she couldn't see the prince at first. She saw the two guards, standing idly around, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. For a few moments she was worried, but then the wind moved the branches of an oak tree, and she caught a glimpse of green fabric behind the brown leaves.
She walked to the tree and looked up at where Prince Eldarion was sitting, apparently oblivious to the green-brown stains on his shirt, staring into the distance. He glanced down at her when he heard the crunch of leaves, but then looked away, almost disdainfully it seemed to her.
"What are you doing?" she called up to him.
"Sitting," he replied.
"I can see that. Why?" He shrugged, and kept staring.
"Could you come down?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to talk to you, and it's difficult with you up there and me down here."
"Then you should come up." Ari hesitated. The prince was perched somewhat precariously on a narrow branch, his feet stretched across a wide gap to rest on another branch. There was very little supporting him and the fall was a long one.
"Are you frightened?" the prince asked, smiling slightly, and finally turning to look at her.
"No!" she replied a little too quickly, "Of course not!" She put her hand on a low branch and tried to tell herself there was nothing to worry about. After all, she'd been higher than the highest tree before now. She pulled herself up onto the branch with some difficulty as her dress got tangled around her legs. She would have worn something more practical if she'd known she'd be climbing dress.
She continued upwards with the same difficulty. At one point she made the mistake of looking down. The ground was close enough to seem frighteningly real, but at the same time was terrifyingly far away. She shuddered and returned her concentration to the branches she was clinging to.
By the time she reached Prince Eldarion, he was laughing softly. Ari glared at him fiercely.
"You try climbing in a dress!" she said. Then an image came unbidden into her mind of the prince wearing one of her dresses, perched as he was now, and she began to laugh as well.
The laughter was cut short as a strong gust of wind made the branch she was sitting on sway hideously, and she gripped until her knuckles turned white. She was at the mercy of the wind, and it felt as though she could be flung to the ground in an instant should the weather decide to be cruel.
"Are you afraid of heights?" the prince asked.
"No," she replied, reasonably honestly, "I just prefer to have something solid beneath me when I'm in the air." He looked puzzled at that, and Ari wondered if perhaps she'd said something she shouldn't.
"Why did you want to talk to me?" Prince Eldarion asked.
"I thought you might be lonely."
"If your father is a man of his word I can go see my friend if I become lonely. Why should I need to speak to you?" Ari fought down the rage his implied insult of her father caused.
"Surely having someone to talk to is preferable to sitting up here alone," she said.
"I'm not alone. I'm with the tree."
"Trees don't make very good conversationalists."
"Perhaps not to humans, your highness." The way he spoke her title reminded her of all the formal dinners and state occasions she had to get bored through.
"Can't we dispense with formalities?" she asked, "We're both the same rank after all."
"Very well, Ariessa."
"Ari," she corrected.
"You can call me Rion. No one ever calls me Eldarion except my father, and only when I'm in trouble."
"Let me guess," she said, "'Such childish behaviour is not suitable for one of your rank.' 'You must behave in a dignified manner at all times.' 'You are not like other children and to behave as though you were the worst of brats is simply intolerable.'"
Rion laughed. "You even got the tone right. Have you met him?"
"I don't need to," Ari replied, "my father's just the same."
The expression on Rion's face changed instantly from mirth to pure fury. "My father is nothing like yours!" he snarled.
"You need not say it as though it were such a terrible thing!" Ari snapped back.
"It is a terrible fate for a good man to be compared with one who condones kidnapping!" Ari could have hit him, but was afraid that doing so would result in her landing in a bruised heap at the bottom of the tree.
"I do not know the reason for my father bringing you here," Ari said with fury to match Rion's, "but he must have felt the reason justified the crime. Occasionally even the best person will do something that is wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that their intentions are pure. Humans are not infallible. And nor are elves."
"But humans can still know something is wrong and choose to do otherwise," Rion countered.
"Have you never done anything wrong?"
"Nothing that rates with kidnapping."
"Where do you draw the line between what is an acceptable wrong, and what is not?"
"When someone gets hurt!"
"Father has not hurt you!"
"Maybe not physically, but there are other ways to hurt someone! And anyone who enjoys hurting people cannot be considered good!"
"Father doesn't take pleasure in other people's pain!" She made the mistake of leaning forwards as he she spoke and in her anger lost her grip on the branch. She had less than a second to process the terror of having nothing beneath her when she hit the ground with just force that it knocked the breath from her lungs. The pain blacked everything out for a few moments, but as she got over the shock it diminished to a dull ache. She would probably have some impressive bruises because of this.
Those moments were all the time it took for Rion to descend the tree and the guards run over.
"Your highness, are you injured?" one of the guards asked.
"I'm fine," Ari replied, getting to her feet.
"I'm sorry," Rion said. Ari didn't bother to reply. After all, it was his fault she'd fallen and made such a fool of herself. She was only trying to be kind. She walked away.
"Ari," Rion called. She stopped, but didn't turn to look at him. "I didn't mean to offend you," he continued, "but please try to see things from my perspective." Ari walked off again, and this time he didn't stop her.
A long while later, Ari sat by her window still running the scene over and over in her mind. Her father was a good man and Rion was judging him without knowing all the information. But surely he was right that nothing could excuse kidnapping. Her father had treated Rion well. But he'd also taken him from his home.
The arguments went round and round in her head until she didn't know what to think any more. She pitied Rion, but she was also angry with him. But when she thought about his situation she became angry with her father, and the only reason she had been angry with Rion was because he had been angry with him.
She'd never sort this out like this. She needed to argue it through with someone so she could see all the different points separately and come to a conclusion. Traag was always happy to argue something over with her. He said arguments were more interesting than just having a conversation.
***
Author's notes: I know it's not much of a cliffhanger, but I hope I've caught your interest and you're all wondering who Traag is.
The thing about arguing is true. It's the reason my best friend and I spend most of our time arguing, although our arguments tend to deteriorate to the stage of 'is' 'isn't' 'is' 'isn't'. The current argument is about which of us is the more stubborn.