NOTE: New fic again! Good or bad, I'll let you decide! This might or might not be a Mary Sue. If it is, I do not apologise, because there can be good Mary Sues and I will do all I can to make sure this story is good. Before I begin, though, I would first like to thank Plasmolysed Cell Membrane for the help in finding a good name for the female character. Finding names can really really be a huge problem sometimes. Almost as difficult as finding Nemo, but not quite. (Sorry, I just had to be corny.) And I have to say something else: I LOVE NAME GENERATORS AND NAME TRANSLATORS!
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DISCLAIMER: Don't have
the copyrights of LotR. Can't afford them anyway. And they're pretty good with
Peter Jackson, ya?
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Gwynna leaned against the white stone railing, staring out at what lay before her. The White City was beautiful, and she loved Gondor, but nothing could stop a girl's daydreams. In her dreams she had adventures in dark forests, and she battled Orcs at the feet of snow-capped mountains. It mattered not that she could not fight in real life. In her dreams she was beautiful, with fair skin and long, smooth blonde hair, and graceful. In real life she was dark (compared to others, anyway), with wavy dark brown hair, and she was very prone to accidents, sometimes tripping over her own skirts. At times she hated the way she was, much to the despair of her father Leorian. "To me, Gwynna, you are perfect. You have to have faith in yourself," he always said to her.
Today Gwynna was daydreaming about riding, flying across the plains, challenging the winds. She was all right at riding, but she had never had any chance to allow her horse, Elenion, to gallop. She had never been out of the White City. Her father, who worked in the court of the King, often journeyed with King Aragorn to Ithilien to see Faramir, Prince of Ithilien, or Legolas, who ruled (in a way) over the Elves he had brought from Greenwood. Her father always told her wonderful things about Ithilien, which he claimed was the fairest country he had ever seen. She wasn't exactly sure what that meant, because she had never seen anywhere other than Minas Tirith.
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Leorian walked out of the Hall beside the King, the day's matters already addressed. He was a good man, Leorian, and Aragorn trusted him.
"There was something you wanted to speak about, Leorian?" Aragorn asked.
Leorian nodded. "I am considering sending Gwynna away from Minas Tirith. Not permanently, of course, I could not bear that. But I am thinking of sending her away. She has lived all her eighteen years in Minas Tirith, and has never set eyes on anyplace else. I know it is not uncommon, but… Gwynna is special."
Aragorn smiled. He understood what Leorian meant. That was what he felt for his children, as well. Except perhaps Leorian felt it more. After all, Gwynna was all that he had, after the death of his wife. There was a great love between father and daughter. "Are you thinking of sending her to Ithilien? Faramir and Éowyn would take good care of her."
"Yes, I was thinking of sending her to Ithilien, but not to Faramir. I was thinking about sending her to Legolas, to live with the Elves. What do you think, my lord?"
Aragorn thought on it for a moment. Ithilien would do Gwynna good, no matter if she went to Faramir or Legolas. And he could see Leorian's point. Living with the Elves would be a great change for Gwynna, and he could only see good coming out of it. Gwynna would learn about the ways of the Elves, learn from their ancient stories and histories. She would be well taken care of, and educated in a way she would never be if she continued to live with Men.
"I agree with you, Leorian. Sending her to the Elves is a wise choice."
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Two weeks later…
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Gwynna stood at the gate of Minas Tirith, holding Elenion's reins. Her father was next to her, with his steed. Eldarion came up to her. "My parents and sisters send their regards," he said. "We'll all miss you."
Gwynna gave Eldarion a hug. Although Eldarion was the heir of the throne, neither he nor his sisters flaunted their status, and Gwynna had grown up with them. She would miss him too. "Come to Ithilien sometime. It'll be nice to see you there," she told him. He nodded, and grinned at her.
"It's time to leave, Gwynna," her father said. He had already mounted.
She gave Eldarion one more hug. She mounted Elenion, and dropped her bag. Eldarion chuckled, bending down to pick it up for her. "Hopefully the grace of the Elves might rub off you a little," he said, handing the bag to her. His eyes gleamed mischievously. "Anyway, it should be more difficult for you to hurt yourself on the trees. I expect to see you with less scrapes at our next meeting." He tapped her wrist, where he knew she had bruised herself against the door the last time she had left the house hastily. She winced. It was healing, but it still hurt a little. She heard her father laugh behind her, and two spots of red bloomed on her cheeks.
"Goodbye, Eldarion. Till our next meeting," she said, as Leorian nodded to the guards. The gate began to open.
"Till our next meeting," Eldarion echoed as she began to ride out.
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They let their horses travel at a slow canter, at first, but Leorian knew that his daughter was dying to let Elenion gallop. She had never had the opportunity to ride over such a wide, open space before. Elenion was a good steed, a gallop would do him no harm. He gave Gwynna a nod and a grin. "Let's fly," he said.
Gwynna's laughter caught in the wind, the most beautiful sound Leorian had ever heard.
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Gwynna could not wipe the smile off her face. This was exactly what she had dreamt about, flying across the fields. She saw her father riding a little ahead of her, and urged Elenion on with a laugh. Elenion was a strong horse, and revelled in this galloping.
Father and daughter raced each other across the fields, a joyous moment for the both of them.
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Eldarion stood watching the horses and their riders grow smaller and smaller, vanishing into the distance. Yes, he would miss his childhood friend. Although he knew that she would not be leaving Minas Tirith permanently, he knew that it would be a long time before she returned to the White City. A feeling tugged at the back of his mind. He didn't know what made him think so, but he couldn't help thinking that something was going to happen. Something that would change everything.
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NOTE: Well this chapter might not be too long, but then again I've never been one to write very long chapters, have I? =0) Please review this, though, I want to know how everyone finds it!