Synopsis: (a brief) Chapter Three -- IN which: We get a glimpse of life back in Lorien and the decision making process of two determined Elves...
Author: Sabine Hawks
Disclaimer: Same as chapter 1's
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Linnathon a sovriel
Bengin nin guren a
Penna firiel
Alagos luutha
Alagos luutha. The storm of wind will come to pass.
Yes, it will, but when?
Narcirya felt the brush of the arrow's feathers against her cheek as she pulled the dart back. Her eyes narrowed and honed in on the target's circles. Without much thought or concentration, she let the string go and watched as the metal point dug itself into the center of the round grid. She nocked another arrow, the familiar caress of the feathers just another part of the never-ending pattern that had become her life.
And what would happen when her patience for the monotony wore out? Already her ability to abide the ceaseless ring of activities was stretching thin. Every action was simply a way to ease the suffering that slowly drove her mad. Her closest friend and confidant sat nearby, singing softly to her still, and the words cut into her subconscience. Narcirya's fingertips felt raw, her hands numb with gripping wood and fletch--her mind exhausted from grasping for reality. She flexed her hand, feeling the strain of leather from the archery glove protecting her palm. Her eyes traveled slowly to her companion, content to stretch upon a rock and embroider a belt. Narcirya turned away quickly, her eyes filling with tears. The thought that someone could be happy with such a simple thing--that she alone had to weather the battle within her body--was too much to willingly watch.
"Why don't you go to him?"
"Man?" her voice curled protectively.
"The human, why don't you go to him?" Linelei watched her friend with keen eyes, knowing this topic was an untouchable one...
"You make it sound so simple," Narcirya replied softly.
"It is. Leave this place and do what it is you have been desiring for so long. There is no reason to prolong your torment, this will not stop until one of you dies with grief!" As ridiculous as it sounded, Linelei's point was valid. Narcirya had heard of countless Elves who had wasted away in despair, their souls departing from melancholy and not some earthly malidy. Could that afflict her? Were her emotions controlling her that completely? She felt a constricting fear grip her throat.
"We promised never to see each other, we decided it was worse to indulge our hopeless desires than to bear the agony of separation," and the extent of that pain was audible in her voice. It shook with implication, betraying the tenderness that still infested her heart. Would she be less of a woman for giving-in? Was this the force of something greater than herself or was it merely her weakness for his embrace...
"There is no shame in admitting your error," Linelei murmured.
Narcirya stopped her restless pacing at those words. "There is no shame in admitting your fear to me." Her hand had touched the sunshine dripping from his head and for a moment she was consumed with that memory, stored away in the treasury of her brain. Eomer's presence was strong there, in fact she rarely pulled anything from the past that wasn't related to her time with him...
"Confound your sense to Mordor," Narcirya hissed angrily.
Linelei rose, her needlework abandoned for the moment. Her long arms slipped around her friend's waist easily, holding the shaking woman with the grace of a seasoned expert. This was not the first or last time Narcirya would crumble. No immortal should be without at least one love, she thought, and denying this one simply because Eomer was human...it was madness.
"I will go with you," Linelei added softly, encouraging her friend to cower against her shoulder, "We will go together to Rohan and meet this King, and he will love you as he did seasons ago and with the passion of a lover withdrawn."
It was comforting for Narcirya to hear her words, to be goaded by her friend's wisdom. Tangled in Linelei's bravery, arms and hair, she consented.
