I awoke before dawn, the forest still grey with the early morning light; the very air an indrawn breath waiting to be exhaled.
Eldarion was yet asleep, his chest rising and falling in a rhythm I found to be strangely beautiful. His expression was of calm; asleep, he looked as though a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
Slowly, I stood, and walked a few paces to a clear pool of rainwater that lay untouched, reflecting the twilit sky in its blue depths.
As I cupped my hands and drank the cold clear water, I saw a face that looked back at me from the mirrored surface. It was that of a girl, young, with deep hazel eyes and long brown hair that seemed to carry within it a hint of green leaves, and branches that wove a pattern in the winds. As I watched, the water stirred with a breeze I did not feel; and the reflection wavered and changed , to a face I had seen only once before, in a dream...
Something made me turn around. Standing there was the dream-woman, my mother, her face reflecting the calm of the proud upright trees that stood erect in the silent greyness. Yet somehow, here, in the shadowed forest, she seemed smaller; yet immeasurably ageless, a straight oak in the pale light.
"My daughter," she said, her voice sighing with the sound of leaves in the wind.
"Mother?" I asked, still hardly daring to believe it. It was a question and yet not a question ; I looked deep into those unfathomable hazel eyes and knew she was my mother.
She smiled, and held out her hands to me. I took them, and suddenly the world spun, and melted in a haze of green light; and then it seemed that I was looking at the world through her eyes. I saw myself, a tall girl, dark-skinned, her expression one of calm peace; and in each of her eyes shone the light of a captured star, deeper than the roots of the oldest trees, a white tinge of light coloring the air around her.
No, came the sighing voice of my mother, echoing in the recesses of the forest. Look deeper.
Something in my gaze shifted, and suddenly green fire sprang into my vision. It ran in the veins of the trees, soaking every leaf and branch. It covered the me-girl and ran through her, into her, pulsing in her heart and covering her skin. I looked down, at my mother's hands, and saw that they ran with the same green fire, but it shone almost blindingly...
Good, came her voice again. Now you will be able to see with your own eyes. She released my mind and soon I stood again in my own body, every nerve tingling with the newness of the green fire that I still saw.
My mother stood straight and tall, and seemed to grow larger, stronger, more powerful.
"I am called Yavanna, of the Valier that sit in judgement upon the hill of Tirion upon TĂșna; and long ago the Elves gave me the name of Kementari, the Queen of the Earth." As she spoke I seemed to see in her a tall tree, that spread its branches to the sky and its roots in the earth, that spoke with the sea and the wind as its roots touched every growing thing in Arda; in every whisper of its leaves spoke the voices of all life, from the tallest redwood to the secret things growing in the mould.
"Your father's name was Bregalad Quickbeam, of the people of the Onodrim- you know them as the Ents. Long ago I asked a boon of my brother Manwe; his favor was to let the trees defend themselves, and thus the Shepherds were born. But your father had some strength about him; I knew that when I saw him walking lonely in his dream." She paused, and seemed to look away beyond years, into a dream that had passed long ago. "And I could not resist him, not for one night; I did not expect you to be born. I know not even why Eru Illuvatar has seen fit to give me life from the womb; and yet I should not be surprised, for I am the Bearer of Fruit. But you- you have captured part of my heart, from the moment I first saw you. Yet you are neither Valar nor Ent; indeed, when I saw you with your companion I wondered if Atani blood runs in your veins. But the sap of Telperion is not mistaken; you too can be a Goddess, if you choose to be. And yet the blood of Middle-Earth runs through you; you take joy in this land. Aman, I think, is too much a place of reflection for you; at least, not yet. There will be time. I wait, as I have waited for long Ages..."
"But what of my Quest?" I asked, surprised. She had sent me on my way, and now she seemed to have forgotten about it completely.
"The memories of the Valar are not so short as that," said my mother, a small smile on her lips. "In this quest lies your destiny. This task is yours to perform; but remember, nothing is without price. And to bring back such great beauty to this land may exact one you are not willing to pay."
"What must I do?"
"You have set a course to the West. The Entwives lie in the empty lands of Ei'ryn- thought to be but a barren waste. You must travel south and west, towards the Gap of Rohan, and pass the mountains by the Westfold...more I cannot say. It is in your hands now, and the hands of your companion." Again the small smile reached her lips. "I think that your companion was not chosen by chance; and that I am right in saying that in him, too, your destiny lies. Let your heart be your guide, Entling. I will not come to you again until I deem you ready for your choice." She leaned over and kissed me gently on the forehead, light and cool as a green leaf fluttering to the ground, and then she was gone, leaving no traces of herself in the silent forest.
I walked slowly back to Eldarion, my mind a tumult of thoughts and questions. The sun began to rise, and I watched its first rays pour over Eldarion's sleeping face, I knew the truth of my mother's words.
In him, too, your destiny lies.
