Chapter 6

The night was closing in, and Haldir was losing warmth with every moment, with every shallow gasp of breath that he took. He was reacting to the medicine, and the warm potion that cleansed his wounds made him wince with every drop that Éowyn wiped gently over him.

Please, please, be okay, Éowyn pleaded silently as she brushed her lips gently across his cheek. There was so much at stake here, so much that she wanted to settle. As Haldir closed his eyes again, Éowyn stood up. She needed to know all about Haldir's past – and his faceless enemy that wanted him dead so badly. She thought back on what the lady had said – told her to use her heart. She scowled and sat back up, and decided that if she wasn't going to magically find the lady in a dream, she would settle for the next – the only other elf there.

"Master Legolas!" Éowyn called out to the other elf.

"Lady Éowyn," he bowed slightly.

"I need you to tell me about Haldir," Éowyn said hastily.

"About...Haldir?" Legolas asked, puzzled. "His attack is something that we knew would come sooner or later. I cannot fight it, and neither can the Lady of Lothlorien,"

"Tell me. I need to know," Éowyn pleaded, her voice trembling slightly. Her face was pale, while her eyes were brimming over with tears.

"I do not know much, milady, for I have not spoken much to him," Legolas explained, apologetic.

Éowyn lowered her face and wiped away the streams of tears flowing fast and free. Why couldn't anyone tell her anything? Or simply come clean with it all? She ran away, disappearing into the woods. As she did so, she felt her heart clench, and a burning feeling inside, as if a part of her was brutally ripped out of her and torn apart, and seeing images around her go hazy and blurred, she collapsed onto the ground. The last thing she heard before her world went black was the deafening silence. And nothing else.

And for how long she lay there, nobody knew, but when she finally awoke, it was dark and the cold was seeping into her bones. She shivered and pulled the thin cloak around her, and as she started to pick herself up and walk back to the castle, she couldn't help but wonder where everyone else was. Haldir! She thought suddenly. I wonder if he's all right, and if he's conscious, please be...She closed her eyes, and hated to think what would be if he wasn't all right...

Entering the castle, she saw Haldir sitting up in the front hall. He was huddled near the fire, warming his hands and speaking softly to Aragorn, and both seemed oblivious that Éowyn had returned.

"Erm...hello?" Éowyn greeted hesitantly.

"There you are, Éowyn," Haldir said. He did not look pleased, and his forehead was furrowed in sadness. "The Lady wants me to return to Lothlorien as she believes that it is the only place that I can be safe...free from attacks..."

Éowyn understood what he meant at once, yet though she wanted him to be safe, and to live on, she also knew that it meant losing him forever. There was no way they would let her into Lothlorien, and they would be in two totally separate worlds, far away, and there was no telling when their paths would cross again. He sensed her sadness and fear, yet he knew that the Lady was right, that only in Lothlorien would he be protected. Could he really just leave Éowyn here like that?

Aragorn stood up abruptly, and left the room, sensing the couple's tension and worry rising in the air. Haldir stood up and smoothed Éowyn's hair back gently, while he hugged her close and tight.

"The fates brought us here and they will have to separate us, but there will be always room for you in my heart," Haldir whispered to her as the last embers of the fire burnt out.

A/n: Yay! Finally dragged myself here to update! Okay then...you know the procedure...see that lovely button there? Review! (: