Part 53.
Before the stars set Arwen returned to the Houses of Healing, passing silently through the darkness, like no more than a shadow, or the wisp of a dream. She left her head bare, allowing the starlight and moonlight to shine on her face and hair, giving her ethereal beauty an even more delicate and lovely appearance.
She stepped softly over the cobbled paths, her boots silent on the laid stones.
Finally Arwen reached the Houses of Healing and stepped inside.
First she went to Merry's side, pausing in the door way, watching as he slept. Then she closed her eyes and sent a stream of thoughts into the sleeping hobbits mind. Immediately a faint smile appeared on his lips, and he turned over, sighing happily.
Arwen smiled as she left him, going this time to Eowyn's room. Before she reached it one of the ladies beckoned fiercely to her. Complying with the request, Arwen walked over to her.
"What are you doing here at this time of the morning? All of the patients of this House are resting. Who are you?" She hissed furiously at Arwen.
"I have-." She began, then Ioreth, the woman who had helped Aragorn earlier walked over to them.
"It is all right, Tireth." Ioreth told the woman. "This lady is a dear friend of Lord Aragorn. She Lady Arwen Undomiel." She finished, her tongue stumbling over Arwen's unfamiliar name.
"All is well then." Tireth said. "My apologies Lady."
"You should be in bed yourself." Ioreth chided her.
"I am fine, thank you." Arwen said to them, "I only wish to look in one my friends while their ills last. They are very dear to me." "Very well. Have a care not to wake them." Tireth said, before leaving.
*********
Finally Arwen was able to step into Eowyn's room. To her surprise the younger woman was awake, staring about the darkness.
"Are you well, Lady Eowyn?" Arwen asked softly.
"Arwen." Eowyn said. "I thought I heard you talking to the ladies outside."
"Are you feeling better?"
"I cannot sleep. The darkness is too pressing. I feel it closing in around me." Eowyn told her.
"All is well." Arwen said to her, turning the flame on the oil lamp up so that it set the room in shadow. "Is this better?"
"Much." Eowyn said to her, "Thank you."
"You are welcome, Eowyn. Is there anything else you would like?"
"Tell me a story, or talk with me? I do not think I will sleep much more this night." Eowyn answered.
Arwen smiled at her, "I will sing to you of far off Lothlorien if you like. My grandmother Galadriel used to sing to me when I was child." Eowyn nodded, her eye lids almost drooping.
In the darkness Arwen began to sing, softly so as not to wake any of the others who were ill.
*"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
Beyond the sun, beyond the moon, the foam was on the Sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden tree.
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in the Eldamar it shone,
In Eldamar in beside the walls of Elven Tirion.
There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years,
While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears. O Lorien! The Winter comes, the bear and leafless Day;
The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away.
O Lorien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore
And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor.
But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?"*
When Arwen finished Eowyn was laid back against her pillows, her eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. Carefully Arwen reached over to brush a stray lock of hair away from the younger woman's face.
Then she stood silently and left the room, pausing only briefly in Faramir's door to see that the young steward was regaining his strength. Then she proceeded once more to Merry's room, smiling down at the sleeping hobbit, before sitting at his bedside, looking out of the window.
************
In the hours before dawn Arwen stared up at the stars, thinking longingly of Rivendell, and of her father, who remained there waiting for her to return. Several times she felt the sting of hot tears on her cheeks, but she sat still, like one who was numb, or in too much pain to move at all.
When the stars set, and dawn came Arwen rose from her place, checking on Eowyn and Faramir once more, before returning to Merry's beside with a cup of tea for him.
She woke him gently, calling his name until he was roused from his peaceful sleep.
Once roused he sat up and looked over at her. "Arwen! I did not expect to see you here so early." He said to her.
"It is not so early that the day has not come yet, look out of the window. The sun is painting the sky in glorious colors this day." She said to him, her tone light and jovial.
"Thank you for being here Lady. It is always nice to see your lovely face." Merry smiled at her.
"It is even nicer to see a note left for your companions when they wake up and you are gone." Legolas chided her from the door way.
"I couldn't sleep. You knew that I was safe though." Arwen answered.
"Knowing and seeing are two different things Lady." Gimli told her.
"Stop fussing! I told Gandalf I would be here. Go and chide him for not telling you." She smiled at them, passing Merry his cup of tea.
"Here you all are!" Aragorn said to them. "I was starting to think you had all disappeared."
"Hello Strider!" Merry greeted him, "Have you seen Pippin in your travels?"
"I have. He is on his way up to see you now. I can only stop by a moment, I have to go and speak with Gandalf, Imrahil and Eomer. I stopped in to tell you that you may get up today if you like Merry. Pippin says he will take you on a short tour of the city. He has been given the day off by his Commanding Officer."
"Pippin has a Commanding Officer?" Merry asked.
"When Pippin arrived in Gondor he made a pledge to the Steward of Gondor, Lord Denethor. Since then he has been in the tower guard. A position of high honor for him." Aragorn explained to the small hobbit.
"You should be away then Aragorn. The other will be waiting for you." Legolas said to him.
"I am on my way. Gandalf told me Arwen would be here. It is asked that she join us in our council." Aragorn said to her, offering his hand.
Reluctantly Arwen accepted his hand, allowing him to lead her out of the room.
************
"Aragorn I didn't bring Nallahir with me." She told him as they walked outside.
"So you walked here in the middle of the night, all on your own?" Aragorn asked her, a little surprised.
"He was tired, he needed a rest." Arwen defended her horse.
"Up you go, dear Lady." He said to her, halting beside Brego, leaning down to give her a leg into the saddle. Once astride the bay horse, so different from her own Nallahir, she shifted forward, so that Aragorn could sit behind her.
Sighing he rested his chin on her shoulder for a moment. "I missed you this past night, Arwen. Too long was it without it's brightest star."
Then, holding Brego's reins in one hand, and Arwen's hand in the other he guided the horse to where the others waited for them.
Part 54.
As they approached it was clear that Eomer and Imrahil were waiting for them impatiently, while Gandalf sat on a bench puffing his pipe. Unhurried Aragorn dismounted, careful not to unseat Arwen, then reached up to help her down from the big bay horse.
"What took you so long Aragorn?" Gandalf asked.
"I was delayed in the Houses of Healing, speaking with friends." Aragorn told him.
"You are here now, and the Lady Arwen is with you." Imrahil said, "We should begin."
"Have you seen my sister this morning?" Eomer asked, eager for news.
"She sleeps soundly, or she did when we left. I spoke with her last night, Eomer. I do not think she has taken much harm." Arwen smiled at him, seeing the weight removed from his mind.
"The war with Sauron and Mordor is not yet over." Imrahil warned them, pausing for his words to take effect.
"For once you are right, Prince Imrahil." Arwen agreed. "The storm has barely broken upon us, we have seen the breaks, and now we experience the calm, but we have yet to weather the tempest."
"How is it that you can look upon the destruction of Middle Earth as a mere storm?" He exploded at her.
At once Aragorn opened his mouth to defend her, but Arwen spoke first, not wanting him to come to her defense. "I do not see a storm as a mere thing, Imrahil. In a storm only the grace of the Valar keeps all from being washed into the sea. I pray that the grace of the Valar is with us as we prepare for what we know is yet to come."
"We do not have time for childish games and explanations." Imrahil said, seething.
Gandalf didn't even try to hide his smile. "The Lady is right. Only the grace of the Valar keeps us here. We must trust in it, even if we do not understand its will."
Suddenly Imrahil lost his aggressiveness and became calm. "My apologies, Lady Arwen. I was wrong to shout at you. I just do not know when this war will be over." He sank into a chair like a man defeated.
Arwen stood and laid one of her palms on his forehead. "Be still, and do not despair. This war will be over. The end will come Imrahil."
"When?" he asked, looking up at her.
"When the instrument that begun all of this is destroyed and the mountain reclaims its prize. Then the essence of the Dark One will be destroyed, and he will be gone forever. That day will come. I have seen it, unless my heart deceives me." She told him gently.
"All I can see is darkness. I can see no hope here, all is forsaken." He said, shaking his head.
Aragorn saw a hint of frustration cross Arwen's face, before she became calm and peaceful. Then her hand, now resting over his hair began to glow. "There is hope here Imrahil." She said softly. "Hope is often born when all is forsaken. Do not fear anymore Prince of Dol Amroth. The darkness will lift, and dawn will soon come."
"What is to be done then?" Gandalf asked them. "What would you do to halt the spread of Sauron's evil?"
"We must push him. We must push Sauron until he empties his land of all his servants." Aragorn told them bluntly. "It is all that we can do."
"How many men can we muster?" Gandalf asked.
"I can bring perhaps one thousand, five hundred on foot, five hundred on horses." Eomer said. "Many of my soldier are wounded, or left dead on the Pelennor Fields."
"I can muster three and a half thousand." Imrahil told them, "Five hundred of those men on horse-back."
"And with the Dunedain, and Gondor, I estimate two thousand." Aragorn said. "Seven thousand, and we are to ride to war."
"What about Frodo?" Arwen asked him. "The smallest member our Company bore the greatest responsibility. Size does not matter, my Lord. It is what you do with what you are given now." With those words she turned to leave them.
"Lady, where are you going?" Eomer asked.
"I have given my council, Eomer. I am not in charge. I am only here to say what I think, and what I know. The rest is up to all of you. I have other things to do."
"Arwen, please. Is there anything else you can tell us, anything that may help?" Aragorn asked her.
"You are Isildur's heir, melamin. Do not fear those from the shadows. In the light they are extinguished. Trust your heart and if you find yourself in despair, look to the Evenstar. It's light, the light of my love, will see you through. Remember that the deeper the darkness, the brighter the light shines."
"Will you ride with us in our campaign?" Eomer asked.
"I do not know. I will tell you all when I decide." She said to him.
"I thought you would stay with Lord Aragorn to the end?" Imrahil asked.
"I do not know if I am to participate in this, I must seek council of my own now. Good day to all, my Lords." She told them, walking toward Nallahir, who stood not far off, tossing his head impatiently.
"Arwen do not leave the safety of the city!" Aragorn called after her, as Nallahir's hooves churned up the dust.
**************
"What do we do then?" Imrahil asked.
"We go to war, my friends." Aragorn told them, still looking after Arwen.
"She gave us all some sound advice gentlemen." Gandalf said to them, still puffing on his pipe, which he had re-lit. "The storm of Mordor has not yet broken, yet hope comes to us in this time. The light still shines brightly in this White City."
"So we must make ready to ride out. Where shall we go to?" Eomer asked.
"Minas Morgul." Aragorn looked far off into the distance. "We will ride to Minas Morgul."
"Let us make ready then." growled Imrahil, both eager, and a little afraid at the idea of fighting a war in Mordor.
"Then let the Lords of Gondor go to war." Gandalf said, looking into the distance.
Before the stars set Arwen returned to the Houses of Healing, passing silently through the darkness, like no more than a shadow, or the wisp of a dream. She left her head bare, allowing the starlight and moonlight to shine on her face and hair, giving her ethereal beauty an even more delicate and lovely appearance.
She stepped softly over the cobbled paths, her boots silent on the laid stones.
Finally Arwen reached the Houses of Healing and stepped inside.
First she went to Merry's side, pausing in the door way, watching as he slept. Then she closed her eyes and sent a stream of thoughts into the sleeping hobbits mind. Immediately a faint smile appeared on his lips, and he turned over, sighing happily.
Arwen smiled as she left him, going this time to Eowyn's room. Before she reached it one of the ladies beckoned fiercely to her. Complying with the request, Arwen walked over to her.
"What are you doing here at this time of the morning? All of the patients of this House are resting. Who are you?" She hissed furiously at Arwen.
"I have-." She began, then Ioreth, the woman who had helped Aragorn earlier walked over to them.
"It is all right, Tireth." Ioreth told the woman. "This lady is a dear friend of Lord Aragorn. She Lady Arwen Undomiel." She finished, her tongue stumbling over Arwen's unfamiliar name.
"All is well then." Tireth said. "My apologies Lady."
"You should be in bed yourself." Ioreth chided her.
"I am fine, thank you." Arwen said to them, "I only wish to look in one my friends while their ills last. They are very dear to me." "Very well. Have a care not to wake them." Tireth said, before leaving.
*********
Finally Arwen was able to step into Eowyn's room. To her surprise the younger woman was awake, staring about the darkness.
"Are you well, Lady Eowyn?" Arwen asked softly.
"Arwen." Eowyn said. "I thought I heard you talking to the ladies outside."
"Are you feeling better?"
"I cannot sleep. The darkness is too pressing. I feel it closing in around me." Eowyn told her.
"All is well." Arwen said to her, turning the flame on the oil lamp up so that it set the room in shadow. "Is this better?"
"Much." Eowyn said to her, "Thank you."
"You are welcome, Eowyn. Is there anything else you would like?"
"Tell me a story, or talk with me? I do not think I will sleep much more this night." Eowyn answered.
Arwen smiled at her, "I will sing to you of far off Lothlorien if you like. My grandmother Galadriel used to sing to me when I was child." Eowyn nodded, her eye lids almost drooping.
In the darkness Arwen began to sing, softly so as not to wake any of the others who were ill.
*"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
Beyond the sun, beyond the moon, the foam was on the Sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden tree.
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in the Eldamar it shone,
In Eldamar in beside the walls of Elven Tirion.
There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years,
While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears. O Lorien! The Winter comes, the bear and leafless Day;
The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away.
O Lorien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore
And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor.
But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?"*
When Arwen finished Eowyn was laid back against her pillows, her eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. Carefully Arwen reached over to brush a stray lock of hair away from the younger woman's face.
Then she stood silently and left the room, pausing only briefly in Faramir's door to see that the young steward was regaining his strength. Then she proceeded once more to Merry's room, smiling down at the sleeping hobbit, before sitting at his bedside, looking out of the window.
************
In the hours before dawn Arwen stared up at the stars, thinking longingly of Rivendell, and of her father, who remained there waiting for her to return. Several times she felt the sting of hot tears on her cheeks, but she sat still, like one who was numb, or in too much pain to move at all.
When the stars set, and dawn came Arwen rose from her place, checking on Eowyn and Faramir once more, before returning to Merry's beside with a cup of tea for him.
She woke him gently, calling his name until he was roused from his peaceful sleep.
Once roused he sat up and looked over at her. "Arwen! I did not expect to see you here so early." He said to her.
"It is not so early that the day has not come yet, look out of the window. The sun is painting the sky in glorious colors this day." She said to him, her tone light and jovial.
"Thank you for being here Lady. It is always nice to see your lovely face." Merry smiled at her.
"It is even nicer to see a note left for your companions when they wake up and you are gone." Legolas chided her from the door way.
"I couldn't sleep. You knew that I was safe though." Arwen answered.
"Knowing and seeing are two different things Lady." Gimli told her.
"Stop fussing! I told Gandalf I would be here. Go and chide him for not telling you." She smiled at them, passing Merry his cup of tea.
"Here you all are!" Aragorn said to them. "I was starting to think you had all disappeared."
"Hello Strider!" Merry greeted him, "Have you seen Pippin in your travels?"
"I have. He is on his way up to see you now. I can only stop by a moment, I have to go and speak with Gandalf, Imrahil and Eomer. I stopped in to tell you that you may get up today if you like Merry. Pippin says he will take you on a short tour of the city. He has been given the day off by his Commanding Officer."
"Pippin has a Commanding Officer?" Merry asked.
"When Pippin arrived in Gondor he made a pledge to the Steward of Gondor, Lord Denethor. Since then he has been in the tower guard. A position of high honor for him." Aragorn explained to the small hobbit.
"You should be away then Aragorn. The other will be waiting for you." Legolas said to him.
"I am on my way. Gandalf told me Arwen would be here. It is asked that she join us in our council." Aragorn said to her, offering his hand.
Reluctantly Arwen accepted his hand, allowing him to lead her out of the room.
************
"Aragorn I didn't bring Nallahir with me." She told him as they walked outside.
"So you walked here in the middle of the night, all on your own?" Aragorn asked her, a little surprised.
"He was tired, he needed a rest." Arwen defended her horse.
"Up you go, dear Lady." He said to her, halting beside Brego, leaning down to give her a leg into the saddle. Once astride the bay horse, so different from her own Nallahir, she shifted forward, so that Aragorn could sit behind her.
Sighing he rested his chin on her shoulder for a moment. "I missed you this past night, Arwen. Too long was it without it's brightest star."
Then, holding Brego's reins in one hand, and Arwen's hand in the other he guided the horse to where the others waited for them.
Part 54.
As they approached it was clear that Eomer and Imrahil were waiting for them impatiently, while Gandalf sat on a bench puffing his pipe. Unhurried Aragorn dismounted, careful not to unseat Arwen, then reached up to help her down from the big bay horse.
"What took you so long Aragorn?" Gandalf asked.
"I was delayed in the Houses of Healing, speaking with friends." Aragorn told him.
"You are here now, and the Lady Arwen is with you." Imrahil said, "We should begin."
"Have you seen my sister this morning?" Eomer asked, eager for news.
"She sleeps soundly, or she did when we left. I spoke with her last night, Eomer. I do not think she has taken much harm." Arwen smiled at him, seeing the weight removed from his mind.
"The war with Sauron and Mordor is not yet over." Imrahil warned them, pausing for his words to take effect.
"For once you are right, Prince Imrahil." Arwen agreed. "The storm has barely broken upon us, we have seen the breaks, and now we experience the calm, but we have yet to weather the tempest."
"How is it that you can look upon the destruction of Middle Earth as a mere storm?" He exploded at her.
At once Aragorn opened his mouth to defend her, but Arwen spoke first, not wanting him to come to her defense. "I do not see a storm as a mere thing, Imrahil. In a storm only the grace of the Valar keeps all from being washed into the sea. I pray that the grace of the Valar is with us as we prepare for what we know is yet to come."
"We do not have time for childish games and explanations." Imrahil said, seething.
Gandalf didn't even try to hide his smile. "The Lady is right. Only the grace of the Valar keeps us here. We must trust in it, even if we do not understand its will."
Suddenly Imrahil lost his aggressiveness and became calm. "My apologies, Lady Arwen. I was wrong to shout at you. I just do not know when this war will be over." He sank into a chair like a man defeated.
Arwen stood and laid one of her palms on his forehead. "Be still, and do not despair. This war will be over. The end will come Imrahil."
"When?" he asked, looking up at her.
"When the instrument that begun all of this is destroyed and the mountain reclaims its prize. Then the essence of the Dark One will be destroyed, and he will be gone forever. That day will come. I have seen it, unless my heart deceives me." She told him gently.
"All I can see is darkness. I can see no hope here, all is forsaken." He said, shaking his head.
Aragorn saw a hint of frustration cross Arwen's face, before she became calm and peaceful. Then her hand, now resting over his hair began to glow. "There is hope here Imrahil." She said softly. "Hope is often born when all is forsaken. Do not fear anymore Prince of Dol Amroth. The darkness will lift, and dawn will soon come."
"What is to be done then?" Gandalf asked them. "What would you do to halt the spread of Sauron's evil?"
"We must push him. We must push Sauron until he empties his land of all his servants." Aragorn told them bluntly. "It is all that we can do."
"How many men can we muster?" Gandalf asked.
"I can bring perhaps one thousand, five hundred on foot, five hundred on horses." Eomer said. "Many of my soldier are wounded, or left dead on the Pelennor Fields."
"I can muster three and a half thousand." Imrahil told them, "Five hundred of those men on horse-back."
"And with the Dunedain, and Gondor, I estimate two thousand." Aragorn said. "Seven thousand, and we are to ride to war."
"What about Frodo?" Arwen asked him. "The smallest member our Company bore the greatest responsibility. Size does not matter, my Lord. It is what you do with what you are given now." With those words she turned to leave them.
"Lady, where are you going?" Eomer asked.
"I have given my council, Eomer. I am not in charge. I am only here to say what I think, and what I know. The rest is up to all of you. I have other things to do."
"Arwen, please. Is there anything else you can tell us, anything that may help?" Aragorn asked her.
"You are Isildur's heir, melamin. Do not fear those from the shadows. In the light they are extinguished. Trust your heart and if you find yourself in despair, look to the Evenstar. It's light, the light of my love, will see you through. Remember that the deeper the darkness, the brighter the light shines."
"Will you ride with us in our campaign?" Eomer asked.
"I do not know. I will tell you all when I decide." She said to him.
"I thought you would stay with Lord Aragorn to the end?" Imrahil asked.
"I do not know if I am to participate in this, I must seek council of my own now. Good day to all, my Lords." She told them, walking toward Nallahir, who stood not far off, tossing his head impatiently.
"Arwen do not leave the safety of the city!" Aragorn called after her, as Nallahir's hooves churned up the dust.
**************
"What do we do then?" Imrahil asked.
"We go to war, my friends." Aragorn told them, still looking after Arwen.
"She gave us all some sound advice gentlemen." Gandalf said to them, still puffing on his pipe, which he had re-lit. "The storm of Mordor has not yet broken, yet hope comes to us in this time. The light still shines brightly in this White City."
"So we must make ready to ride out. Where shall we go to?" Eomer asked.
"Minas Morgul." Aragorn looked far off into the distance. "We will ride to Minas Morgul."
"Let us make ready then." growled Imrahil, both eager, and a little afraid at the idea of fighting a war in Mordor.
"Then let the Lords of Gondor go to war." Gandalf said, looking into the distance.