Title: Luthien's flute
Author: B-witched83uk (bwitched83uk@aol.com)
Rating: PG
Summary: Aragorn, Arwen and the family travel to Lothlorien after receiving a mysterious letter from Celeborn.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Lord of the Rings. The whole of Middle Earth belongs to Tolkien.
Warning: An unhealthy amount of angst. Aragorn/Arwen lovers brace yourselves.
Chapter10
Helpless
Celeborn laid Aragorn's lifeless body on a bed, overly cushioned with pillows. His head rolled limply to the side as he was being moved. Arwen was right behind her Grandfather, her eyes red and swollen from tears. The children stood silently at the foot of the bed, saddened and confused.
"Naneth, who did this?" Eldarion had Luthien's face buried in his night shirt. Arwen simply turned and looked toward Astald, who instantly felt uncomfortable under her fixed gaze.
"I know not who he was. A man hooded and cloaked. Like a shadow he appeared and then was gone. He moved like mist on a moor." Her tears still fell as she took hold of Aragorn's hand and brushed her fingers over his lips. Celeborn had called for aid and the large room was now filled with Elf's tending the unconscious man.
"Never have I heard his name spoken."
All eyes shot to Astald as he spoke unexpectedly. Arwen knew he had seen the darkness as she herself had done. But it made it no better to hear.
"The man who attacked you was the dark sorcerer who held me captive." The feel of Luthien's eyes burning him was too much to take. "He haunts my dreams nightly."
Eldarion walked closer to his mother and rested a hand upon her shoulder. "How do we rouse him? What is wrong with him? Is he in deep sleep? Is he alive?"
Celeborn stood as a figure of authority as he ordered the children, and all others, out. "The last thing Arwen needs is your questions Eldarion. You shall be called when we know more." None dare argue with him, even though they desperately did not want to leave their father.
Alone now, Arwen moved out of the way to make room for her Grandfather. Celeborn placed his hands either side of Aragorn's head, mimicking the earlier actions of the dark sorcerer. His eyes instantly closed and his breathing quickened.
"What do you see?" Arwen's voice was quivering at the site of her lover's lifeless body. "Is he still there?"
Celeborn's eyes snapped open, a clear mist blowing in them. He turned to look at Arwen's face as he told her what he saw. "Aragorn is still in there, though I can not make contact with him. He has been pushed so far back in to his own mind that I fear he may never wake."
He took hold of Arwen's cold hands and placed them on Aragorn's chest. "You have reached him before? As he slumbers yes?"
Arwen looked at him helpless. "Whilst he slept yes. But you said yourself, he is too far back."
Celeborn walked to the door. "If anyone can reach him Arwen, it is you! I will now consult your Grandmother's books, they may help shed light on this. In the mean time, you must reach him. You are his only hope!"
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Once alone, Arwen realised that she was afraid of the body before her. He was so cold, so like that of the dead. Wherever now or later, Aragorn would someday die. She would one day find his lifeless body and no power of love could stop that. Now more then ever her Elven heritage of immortality taunted her.
"Estel. I know not if you can hear me verno nin, but if you can, you must open your mind. You must let me in."
The palms of Arwen's hands found his temples. She began to empty her mind and focus on reaching her lost love.
"Valar guide me. Open his mind. Let me in. Spare him!"
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"Arwen!" Aragorn sat by the lake in Rivendell. Not the place it was now, but the haven as he had known it. He was dressed as a ranger, a King still in exile. The day was dying and the moon begun to glow in the shinning waters. Arwen gracefully came to sit beside him, her long lilac gown brushing the grass as she did so. She had been crying, he could tell.
"I can not find my way back." His voice was calm and soft. Another tear slid from under her lids, her eyes an alluring blue as she reached out her hand to stroke his rough face.
"It is not your time. You must find a way back to me, to our children." Her hand moved to his chin.
"I have tried, I have tried until I fell to the ground in exhaustion. I am tired my love, so very tired. This is where my forefathers wish me to stay." He was not afraid of death, he had never been. It seemed to Arwen as though he was quite content to sit and wait for death to take him.
As he looked at his wife, so grieved, he knew there was no way of easing her woes and letting her know of the bliss that awaited him. Aragorn stood and walked away from the lake. He was quickly followed by Arwen. In to his arms he scooped her, her hair flowing down her back.
"You would leave me? Will you not even fight?" Her tears were unashamed as they washed her face like rain fall.
"Arwen, my Arwen. It is not something that I can fight. The call is so strong. I know not how you have managed all these years, ignoring the call of the sea."
Her anger was present in her words as she answered in haste. "I ignore it because the alternative is leaving you, leaving our children. Estel, I beg you to stay, come back with me now, please."
On her knees, she begged him until her voice was hoarse. Her eye's were stinging from the salty tears. He couldn't understand why he was so calm about leaving his family, he only knew the peace that filled his heart. Somehow he just knew that everyone he loved would be safe and happy.
"I can hear the stars. They are calling me to them. They urge me to say my farewells. Please do not cry for me, we will again be reunited in the halls of Mados." The back of his hand stroked down her jaw line before sliding over her pointed ears. He smiled at her warmly, a picture of tranquillity. "We have not long together before I must go, stay with me, be the last thing I see in this world."
Arwen drew a deep breath as an unbearable pain soared through her chest. It was agony, like the sharpest blade piercing her heart.
"Arwen, what is it?"
She fell to the ground, fighting for breath, "I can feel it! I can feel my heart! It is braking" She lay on the cool grass, her eyes as wide as the moon. Aragorn feel to his knees and pulled her to him, holding her close against his body. "Arwen no. Please no."
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Arwen jerked upright, back in Lorien. The pain in her chest now but a dull ache. Celeborn held out his hand for her to take, knowing full well what was happening to her. Aragorn was dying and with him she would go. She was bound to this man in life and death. Arwen's eyes closed as she fell, weakened, back down to the bed. She fell on top of her dying love. Her sobbing could be heard for miles around as she simply lay there, helpless.
