Unfading Grass

.:MegChes:.

Preparations through Min's eyes

I tightened the strings of my cloak and drew on my hood. It was especially chilly today, and the winds were blowing furiously. I growled. One thing I hated was when the weather shifted so suddenly- one day it was the sunny, the other day rain was pouring and the degrees dipped so low that my parents wouldn't even let me go outside.

Where is he? I thought to myself, biting my lip. I couldn't stand the excitement. I longed for the day when I could get a bow of my own- maybe even the Galadrim Bow 2000, the most impressive bow around. For now Legolas would let me use his. Suddenly, I saw a familiar figure in the distance. I half-expected it to be my teacher, but then, to my dismay, I realized who it really was.

"MIN! ARE YOU CRAZY???" It was Imbequesse, my annoying older sister. If we stood beside each other, people usually couldn't tell how we were related. She had long, straight blond hair, and piercing gray eyes. "Minyaré, do you know what the temperature is?"

My teeth chattered as I shook my head. She would spoil it for sure. I had been waiting all day for this time to come, and now my annoying, pathetic sister was ruining everything.

"IT'S NINE DEGREES! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF?" She grabbed my arm and dragged me after her as she began to make her way back to our palace.

"I have a cloak," I yelled over the wind, gesturing wildly. Imbequesse grabbed hold of the fabric and rubbed in between her fingers. She snorted.

"This is cotton, Min, and the thinnest one I've ever felt. I am not going to get mom mad at me for leaving you out here."

"NO!" I wailed, pulling my arm away from her so furiously that the drawing pad I always carried around fell out and toppled into the grass. "PLEASE! Just give me, like, ten more minutes! I promise I'll come in!" I stooped down hurriedly to pick up my sketches, but I knew she saw.

"Min," she growled through gritted teeth. "What is that?" She snatched the drawing pad and flipped back a few pages. She pointed to a girl with a big head and bulging eyes. It was supposed to be her, and I purposely made her ugly because I drew it that day she ripped up a really good sketch I made of Eldarion as a half Uruk-Hai. My sister was actually very pretty, so I knew she would blow up when she saw it.

"It's a caricature," I explained hastily. I tried to grab it from her, but she held on firmly.

"My head," she whispered, touching the page. "My eyes. Oh my gosh Min, what have you done to my eyes?!"

"It's a caricature," I repeated, finally snatching back the pad. My sister glared at me.

"I am so telling. I am so telling on you. Drawing demonic pictures like that of your siblings. I am going to tell mom to banish that wretched drawing pad from your possession!" she threatened, shaking a finger in my face. Tears sprang to my eyes, and at that moment a blond elf stepped out from nowhere.

"Why, hello Lady Imbequesse," Legolas greeted kindly. My sister's raging expression melted immediately. "I was simply going to give your lovely sister here a brief archery lesson, maybe ten minutes at most, because of this inconvenient weather. If you would please give us some space?"

Imbequesse gawked at him. "Of course," she murmured, and she turned and walked away briskly.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "You saved my life," I whispered, gazing at him in awe.

"A lovely picture you have there," he joked. "But enough of that. We don't have much time." He pulled out his beautiful Galadrim Bow 2000. It seemed to have an angel-like glow about it. "Here," he offered. Carefully I clutched the bow in my hand and tried to position it correctly. He laughed, and rearranged my right hand. "Your holding too tight. Let go a bit." I loosened my grip. "Good. Now focus ahead to that cloth, hanging from that tree."

Ahead of me I saw a gray piece of fabric fluttering in the breeze. It was about the size of the huge window we had in our living room. "See, Min- as we keep progressing, that cloth is going to shrink...smaller and smaller. We'll build up your keen sense of eyesight, so pretty soon you'll be shooting targets smaller that a horse's eye."

"Cool," I murmured.

"Now," he instructed. "Pull back the bowstring." I obeyed. "Place the quiver of your bow near your mouth, and your eye above where your fingers are. Focus on the point of your arrow, and beyond that, focus on the target." It was a bit confusing, but I did as I was told. "Aim for the very center- but to do that, you have to aim a little below the center."

"Ah," I murmured. I pushed my aim farther down.

"Now, let go."

The arrow whizzed like a prisoner set free from jail. The slender stick flew through the air and shot that cloth down. I gawked, not believing what I had just accomplished.

"Good," Legolas complimented, patting my shoulder in approval.

We did this a few more times, and each time I stepped back a little bit, futhering the distance between myself and the cloth.

"Very nice," Legolas exclaimed, clearly impressed. "We better be going inside now."

"Lady Minyaré!" My handmaiden, Nurithil, came running towards me and Legolas. She curtsied hastily, being in the presence of two royals. Quickly she shoved a huge package in my arms. "It's from your brother Eldarion. Don't ask me what the heck it is, but I suggest you open it on your birthday. Good evening to you both." She rushed away.

"My birthday," I gasped. "I forgot all about my birthday." I felt the edges of the package. It seemed to be a roll of some huge piece of parchment. My heart leapt at the possibilities of what it could be.

"It's going to be a huge celebration," a familiar voice rang from the stairway. I looked up and smiled, seeing the old, but majestic figure of my father, Aragorn. He walked towards us, flashed a smile at Legolas, and embraced me in a huge hug. "My little girl, turning seventeen." I fidgeted under his hug and pulled away.

"Huge?" I cringed. I didn't like too much attention.

"Well, of course." He looked at Legolas. "A double celebration. We're celebrating your birthday and Legolas' coming back all at once. We've invited people from all over the place." He winked at the both of us. "The servants are up and about, setting up the preparations. 'Tis going to be a grand event."

"Mhmm," I murmured. My father waved his hand in departure.

"Later, my love." He met my two other sisters and ushered them out into the dining room.

I turned to face Legolas and pulled out a folded sheet from my pocket. "Here," I whispered, handing it to him. I watched as he unfolded it.

"Directions for sketching Eldarion," he read aloud. "Shading will come later after my next archery lesson." He looked up and smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I replied. "Maybe I can teach you how to draw my mother sometime. But I'm saving the best for last."

"You're a very talented girl," he smiled, although something I said must placed him deep in thought. He pocketed the slip of paper. "I'll see you around." He left silently, disappearing into the shadows of the eastern corridor.

I sighed, watching him vanish into the darkness. It was the weather. All the weather's fault.

Kind of groaning, I trudged up the stairs and flung open my bedroom door, smiling to see everything was where I had left it. Tossing my drawing pad and the package from my brother on the bed, I turned around and closed my door, locking it. By routine, I got down on my belly and stuck my head under the bottom of my bed, feeling around for the pleasant touch of paper.

My eyes bulged out as I saw that all my secret sketches, which I kept under my bed, were gone.

I rolled over onto my back and screamed.

Plunged in Gloom through Min's eyes

"Lady Minyaré!" Nurithil called out. I sighed, and peered down through the foliage of the tree I was precariously perched in. "Lady Minyaré! What are you doing out here in this weather?!"

"Mourning," I answered softly. "Grieving...grieving the loss of my loved ones."

"Get down from there, my Lady. Orders from your parents. They insist on having you inside for family dinner with our guest Prince Legolas. I bet they wouldn't be too pleased seeing you out here freezing yourself to death." She looked up the tree, and her forehead furrowed- she was obviously enraged. "For goodness sake, Lady Minyaré, you don't even have a cloak on!"

I answered in a deathly silence. I closed my eyes and let the wind ruffle my dusty brown hair. I tried to keep tears from coming out, but they flowed forth after a moment of hesitation. Yes, I was always dramatically sensitive when it came to losing good drawings or sketches. I didn't understand how people could be so heartless, how they could treat a perfectly good work of art as some random trash. I didn't care who the culprit was, all I wanted were my drawings back.

"Lady Minyaré, I am warning you, if you don't come down that tree..." she paused threateningly. "I'm armed you know."

"Oh," I retorted sarcastically. "I'm like so scared." I was in a foul mood.

Abruptly, an arrow embedded itself in the branch I was nearest to, merely grazing the cloth of my sleeve. I gasped, and looked down at my handmaiden. "Nurithil!" I yelled in shock. "Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Get. Down." She ordered through gritted teeth. She slung the bow it was carrying over her shoulder (it wasn't even a Galadrim Bow 2000). "I may be a handmaiden, but your parents have given me the permission to do whatever I can to make you follow family instructions. Now if I see you disobey them, I assure you that you will most certainly regret it."

The tone of her voice really hit the nail hard. Quickly I scrambled down the tree and whined as Nurithil threw a thick cloak over my head, obscuring my vision. She pinched my ear, which was protruding slightly under the fabric, and dragged me inside the palace. Instantly I felt a heavenly warmth from the fireplace engulf me. I snatched the cloak off and shoved it at Nurithil, at the same time sniffing the air and recognizing the smell of a fabulous dinner.

"Nurithil," I asked her, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "Have you encountered any...sketches...recently? Anytime when you were cleaning out my bedroom?" I took her shoulders and shook her furiously. "This is serious. I may never smile again for the rest of my life if I don't know."

Nurithil sighed. "My lady, even if I 'encountered' your sketches, I know how much drawing means to you. I would never throw them away."

I gasped in glee. "Then where are they? Do you know?" I frowned. I hoped the Nurithil hadn't been paying attention to the light outlines of my most recent sketch. It was my most private, deepest thought- probably only Eldarion knew about it. I wasn't a very good diary-writing person, but I would often express my feelings through my beloved ebony pencil.

"My lady, you are holding up the feast," Nurithil murmured impatiently. "Come along now." She placed her hand on the curve of my back and escorted me into the dining room. There I saw the engraged, impatient faces of my family. The twins, Neverin and Neveriniel, were bouncing up and down in their seats in the most pig-like fashion.

"WE WANT FOOD! WE WANT FOOD!" they were chanting.

Imbequesse, and my other sisters, were simply staring at the food before them, hunger beaming from their eyes. The only reasonably calm people I saw were my parents, and the guest Legolas.

"Finally, Minyaré has arrived," Erhothien muttered. "What are you waiting for? Sit down. We're starving."

"Have you been trying to kill yourself outside again?" Imbequesse asked, distaste filling her eyes. I took a seat across from her, the only empty seat. My sisters were lined in one row across one end of the table, and I was the only girl among my brothers on the other side. I sighed with relief as I realized I had a seat beside Eldarion- my most annoying, but fondest sibling and friend. Legolas was farther down the table in my line of sisters, and my father and mother were seated on each end- the "high" seats, my siblings would call them.

"Dude, what took you so long?" Eldarion whispered. Then his eyes grew wide. "Did you get my package?" he asked, softer this time. He looked at Nurithil in a curious way as she curtsied and exited the room.

"Yeah." I looked up and saw my Father nod, a sign that it was all right for everyone to start eating. The twins nearly buried their faces in the mashed potatoes. "I'm not opening it till my birthday, but the suspense is killing me."

My brother didn't reply as he dug into his food.

Unlike most of my siblings, I was quite a picky eater. I usually didn't try something I hadn't eaten before unless it looked appetizing from the outside. Everything on my plate was scarce (all of them I had tried before, thank goodness) because I really wasn't very hungry. I thought it was from being out in the cold for too long. I stared down at my peas, and rolled them around under my fork, and tried to stab each little green sphere with one of the tines. The peas were moist, and kept slipping under my utensil. I growled in annoyance.

"Gosh, Min," Imbequesse muttered. "Would you just eat your food and stop playing pea hockey?"

Neverin thought this was quite funny and burst out in loud peals of laughter. I saw my mother, who was obviously already tired to tending to so many children, shake her head and sigh.

"It is quite interesting," Erhothien piped in, after chewing her dose of fried rice. She reached out for a piece of lembas bread. "It would be most fascinating to have it as a real sport one day, instead of the regular archery, swordfighting, and such." She dabbed her mouth with her napkin, reached down to her lap, and pulled out a small book. She flipped a few pages. "You are, though, Min, lacking the significant goals on each end of your plate. Otherwise there would be no point to the game, for where would each opponent shoot the ball? You are also lacking another player." She flipped a few more pages and began to read.

The table was corrupted with silence.

"Okaaaaaay," Eldarion muttered, rolling his eyes. "I cannot believe I'm related to that dudette."

I nodded in approval, and stuck one of the peas in my mouth. I glanced over at the other end of the table, to try and see what Legolas was doing. He, too, was a picky eater, or at least he'd told me so. I gasped. He was gone!

"Legolas is gone," I shrieked, tugging on Eldarion's sleeve. His sleeve drooped into the mashed potatoes.

"Geez, Min, quit it with the hand action, okay? I just washed this today..." he muttered as he tried to wipe off the stain with his napkin. What I said to him seemed to sink in at that moment. "Slipped away, probably. He always does. A strange dude, if you ask me."

I decided not to press the matter anymore. I wished I could slip away too, but I would be too conspicious and clumsy, and my father would surely call me back. How did he manage to do that? Slip around quietly, like some professional spy?

Time seemed to slink by slowly. By the time fifteen minutes passed, I had only eaten the peas on my plate and the mashed potatoes and fried rice were left untouched. I was falling into my own world of hurt, as I began to remember my lost drawings. Maybe they weren't really lost. Maybe Nurithil had hidden them somewhere to play a trick on me. How could she?!

"It is time," my father boomed. I jolted out of my thoughts and dropped my fork. How clumsy could I get? "It is time," my father repeated. "For Minyaré's early birthday present." My eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Suddenly, I gasped. "Shut up. Did you get me a Galadrim Bow 2000? Shut up."

"No," my mother smiled, as she stood up. She took out about five small brown-wrapped packages from behind her back. "It is actually much smaller, but we thought it would please you...and us all...to have your beautiful artwork displayed to the public during the grand celebration."

My mouth dropped open, as I pushed back my chair and dashed quickly to my mother's side. I grabbed a package and tore off the wrapping. It was my caricature of Eldarion using chopsticks- the large piece of paper was framed magnificently in a rectangle of polished mallorn wood, with beautiful floral designs carved within. One of my sacred, secret drawings I never showed to anyone, especially not my brother. "No," I moaned. "How could you? These belong under my bed- not in- not in- frames!" I screeched. My mother just laughed and handed me another package.

"Where did you get these?" I demanded.

"Nurithil, your handmaiden, discovered them under your bed. It was actually her terrific idea," mother answered. I am going to kill her, I thought to myself angrily.

This was going to get worse, I knew it. Did they frame my deepest secret? My deepest sketch? Holding my breath, I tore off the wrapping paper. Before I knew it, Eldarion was behind my back, peering over my shoulder at the drawing.

"Dude...is that...is that..."