When Lothiriel woke up, she was in her own bed. At the light coming in through the windows, her first observation on the day was that it was well past sunrise. It had been many years since she had slept so long. Then her eyes quickly flew to her father's bed. Slowly she rose, looking at Edemer. Her brother was awake, and looking out the open window with glassy eyes, not seeing the first spring bird landing on the sill.
She looked at Eodier. He looked peaceful...still. She swallowed, but no tears were forming. She had known. He had told her. And she would do as he said. She would be strong.
"He passed this morning." Edemer said, shutting his eyes. Lothiriel nodded, stepping to touch her fathers' crossed hands. "He said we were to make for Dol Amroth, Lothy." She looked up.
"Was that all he said?"
"He...he also said for me to take care of you." Edemer managed a small smile. "As if I needed telling. But I promised. And then...he fell asleep again." The boy wiped his eyes. Lothiriel held her brother's hand. She would not tell him of what Eodier had said to her. She did not know why, but she wanted to hold it to herself for a time. "There isn't much more we can do, is there?" She whispered. "But leave."
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The next morning, there was a fresh mound in back of the small, faithful farmhouse. There was still only one headstone, but Edemer had moved it a bit, and now there were two thistle flowers twined about each other. And fresh flowers at it's foot.
The workhorse was still tired but they had no choice but to pack him with their few belongings, Edemer riding him with Lothiriel behind him. She watched the farmyard slip away from them in the dim morning light, the other animals set loose to their own fates. And her parent's grave. "Goodbye Mamma, goodbye Da." She whispered, then turned to look on the road, at what was to come, not what was behind. Plans were forgotten; summer and harvest would not come. But though their world had been rocked and all but shattered, they had to be brave and strong. They had promised their father they would be.
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The next day the sun rose over the mountains, and the two children awoke further from their home then they had ever been. But they both shook the feeling from them, trying to embrace the newness. "How long shall we travel?" Lothiriel asked softly, "And do we know the way?"
Edemer took her hand to help her mount the horse, and then urged the beast forward. "Da once said this path led all the way down the mountain, to a small river called Ciril. And if a man were to keep going southwest, even when the river turned away and left you, it would take you right into Dol Amroth." The horse picked up the pace, as if it felt them starting to go downhill. Lothiriel was comforted. Then she thought of something.
"So ... we will be in Gondor then." She bit her lip. Edemer had the spirits to laugh. "Yes, of course silly, that would be where Dol Amroth is." Lothiriel had the spirits to be mad.
"I knew that!" She snapped. "I just...did not realize it." But she fought the urge to look behind her, homeward. With a sigh, she accepted the fact that the mountains...and Rohan...were going to be left behind her for a good long while.
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After two days of steady travel on the mountain path, the land began to look greener, less rocky. Birds were singing above their heads, and the two couldn't help but feel their hearts lighten a bit. Lothiriel looked behind them, realizing the mountains had ended, and now they were entering gently rolling hills. It was warm here, and she packed away her long cloak. The path was a bit harder to follow here, years of growing things making it faint. But Eodier had taught his son well, and Edemer did not lose it.
That night they ate sparingly of Lothiriel's good bread, and were, for the first night of travel, able to talk of things. They spoke of when they were little, one of the few memories Lothiriel having of her mother was spring celebration day the year she died, when they sat out under the stars for the night. She remembered her mother's eyes like stars themselves, her smile big and loving. 'Of course she could be a princess...' Lothiriel thought, drifting to sleep. 'She was as good and kind as any of the stories tell...'
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The next day it was raining, and the going was slowed. But they kept on, until the path ran right to the banks of the Ciril. Lothiriel gazed at the swift water; it looked so new and alien to her. But Edemer acted as if he'd seen a river a hundred times, and led the horse alongside it, where the path seemed to fade away to nothing. Lothiriel didn't mind admitting that she was afraid then. It seemed so easy when one had a path to follow...
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The air was damp and the rain misty. Lothiriel soon had her cloak out again, warding off the wet and chill. She noticed the water seemed to be getting stronger as they went forward, and they had to keep climbing the banks to stay safe. "It's the snow thawing on the mountains, it flows to here." Edemer noted, and Lothiriel nodded. It was still odd to think of, the soft snowy winters becoming something so strong and a bit scary.
For another day or so, they traveled the same way, the river beside them becoming stronger and stronger. Lothiriel developed a sneeze due to the now constant damp weather. And then they saw the Ringlo.
Edemer froze. Lothiriel looked about, at the strong water flowing and mixing in a foaming white current. "It's pretty when the rivers come together like that Edemer! Now, which way do we go?" She sniffed.
Her brother however, was turning pale. "We're...supposed to cross the river." Lothiriel's eyes went wide. "We can't cross this Edemer!"
"I know!" He cried, shaking his head. "I'm such an idiot! I should have known better and crossed the day we met the Ciril!" He moaned, But Lothiriel kept looking about. "We can travel back a bit, do not worry. I remember a calmer place not far from here." Her soothing voice calmed her brother, who nodded.
And so they doubled back, this time they both scanned the banks. After an hour they came to the wide place Lothiriel remembered, where the water was still swift but not as deep. "See now, we can cross here just fine." She assured her brother, who nodded. She rolled up her skirts as Edemer urged the horse forward. The animal didn't seem very happy with the idea, but he complied, stepping slowly down the bank and into the cold water.
Lothiriel curled up her legs as the water rose, envying her brother's waterproof leather boots. She could feel the current pressing against them, but the horse was strong. Even at the halfway point, where the current was swiftest, it kept its feet. Lothiriel relaxed as they were nearly across...
And then the horse's hooves were suddenly pulled under.
They'd hit a hole filled with sand, and Lothiriel screamed as the current now knocked the horse over and she hit the water. Her first instinct was to swim. She'd swam before it mountain streams or ponds, but this was entirely different. But every bit of her shouted for her to swim, hard.
The minutes it took seemed like hours, but finally her hands grasped the exposed tree roots that lined the riverbanks. Hanging on, she looked around. "Edemer?!" She yelled. She looked downstream, to see the horse, it's rider tangled in it's tack, being swept away. A sound, something between a cry and a moan, escaped her lips as she clung to the bank.
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"There's no one out there...no one but me."
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She forced herself up the riverbank, grasping at the dirt and roots. When she reached the grass of the other side of the river, she rested for only a moment. And then she was up and running, tears falling freely but she rubbed at them stubbornly with dirty hands. And ran.
Lothiriel stumbled along the tree-lined bank, tripping at ever other step. So many trees in one place. She struggled to keep up with the river's flow, but her brother had already disappeared. All she could do was follow.
Struggling and stumbling, dark was coming on, but Lothiriel kept going. The sky had cleared, and by moonlight she kept looking. And when she was just ready to give up, she heard a groan in the dark.
He was caught up in the roots of an overhanging tree, and it took all the strength that was left in her for Lothiriel to grab his arms and pull him up the bank. And then she fell over, exhausted.
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"You look like a muddy orc." She woke up to a raspy voice. Lothiriel opened her eyes, to see her brother looking at her, shivering and almost blue. His face was cut, his long hair was bloody, but he was alive. She gulped, sitting up.
"You're hurt..." She managed, touching his arms and legs. He winced. "Just bruised Lothy, I can manage."
"You're cold too." She trembled, but Edemer just shook his head. "It's all right, we have to move on. We...we lost our food, we need to find people before anything else..."
Lothiriel nodded. Edemer sat up painfully, looking about to get his sense of direction. "We're passed the place where the rivers met." Lothiriel told him, and he nodded. Then looked into the woods. "This way then." He slowly stood, Lothiriel taking his hand to steady him. "Lean on me Edemer." She told him, and he did so. But sparingly, he knew his little sister had already given too much of her strength.
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The trees thinned, and they came upon fair ground. Lothiriel was painfully reminded that her shoes had been near worn out in the mountains, but she did not complain. Edemer was far worse; she could feel him starting to catch fever. But they kept walking, one foot in front of another, their clothes drying in the spring air.
For two days, they walked on in the way Edemer said, while he grew weaker and weaker. But Lothiriel smelled something sweet in the air, something she had never felt before. Something that kept them moving, though they were faint with hunger. On the third night in the grass, while Edemer labored to breathe, she heard a sound to match the smell. A sweet crashing of waves echoing over the plain. And then, as she slipped into a half delirious sleep, she heard hooves coming their way.
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He rose to watch the sun rise over the ocean.
It had been on this day, at this time, that he had met her. Their mother had had her child too early, and the baby had come backwards, and so it was no wonder he was kept in the dark. Every day for over a week he asked if it was time to see his new sister, but every day his father had shook his head. They could not bother his mother. He was too young to see her so ill. But he had disobeyed them.
An 8-year-old Imrahil had crept out of his bed in the early morning, and into the sickroom of the palace to see his mother. She was sleeping by the window, her long dark hair framing her pale face. A little bundle was nestled into her arms, and he came near to see. At his footsteps, his mother's eyes had flown open, big and grey blue, like the ocean. She smiled. "Imrahil..." She whispered. "Come...see your little sister."
Slowly the little boy walked to her bed, and she opened her embrace a bit for him to look. His sister was a tiny baby, the tiniest he'd ever seen. He had other younger siblings, but none of them he could ever remember being so small. Or looking so much like a delicate doll..."Will she break if I touch her?" He whispered, with wide eyes. His mother smiled at his care. "No Imrahil...but take care."
Gently, he touched her tiny hand, and her eyes opened. But the little girl did not make a sound, looking at him with sparkling eyes exactly like his mother's. "Hello Lethemine..." He whispered, "I'm Imrahil...I'm your brother."
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Imrahil looked upon the sea now. That had been years before this very day, this very hour. He admitted that he had not thought of his sister Lethemine as much as he once had, but today he remembered much. Of how she had grown but always been rather frail, of how he had been so over protective of her...and how she had left him for another. He sighed as the sun began to climb in the sky, turning back to his chambers. But something caught his eye below.
Three of his border guards were riding up to the palace, two bearing children before them. The Prince squinted in the sunlight. "What tidings do you bring, my good men?" He called down to them. The dark haired rider who had the lead looked up, bowing his head for a moment. "My Lord, We found these children half starved within our borders, alone and ill."
"Hasten to bring them in then!" Imrahil called for a servant and made his way through the halls and stairs to the palace courtyard, where the men where carrying the children inside. One look at the boy, who was carried by two, told Imrahil right away that they had come from Rohan. But as the girl child was carried by, he was shaken. He stopped the guard, and bent to look into her white face, into her blankly staring eyes. Blue grey eyes.
"Get them inside, get them warm!" He cried,
his servants hurrying to do as he asked. Imrahil stared after the girl,
wondering if his eyes were betraying him...
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