Cale au Aratar 2
"If it weren't for the oath he gave you master Frodo and his love for Lady Althilwen, he would have already faded."
Guessing, what question would be the first to be asked, Haldir continued,
"Neither do we know, nor is it our place to guess, why Legolas said nothing of his wound.
"But we will hunt down the traitor, till he will wish, that he had never set food on arda!"
as the last part had been hissed in Sindarin, only Aragorn, had fully understood, what Haldir had said, though Imrahil and Faramir, seemed to have been able to guess the meaning of the words.
Silence reigned in the room, till Rumil turned to Aragorn and Faramir:
"Elessar, Steward, we have to discuss the preparation of the coronation – the three weeks will be over all to soon, and everything has to be ready!"
After a questioning glance to Aragorn, his future king, Faramir answered:
"The coronation? It will be in three DAYS and everything s ready – though I wonder, what elves would have to do with its preparations..."
The clear laughter of the three elves filled the room, cleansing it of the tension, that had entered with their entrance.
"But it is not Elessars coronation we came to prepare! In three weeks time our prince Lúin-Nor will be crowned here in the White city, as has been agreed with Isildur."
"I have never before heard of this prince Lúin-Nor. Is he the heir Gil- Galads, Legolas spoke about?"
Prince Imrahil ventured, interested not only as a prince of Gondor, but also because of his elvish ancestors.
"Lúin Nor is indeed the heir of Gil-Galad and we have waited for millennia's, that he could claim his crown – since the day, Isildur claimed the one ring.
It is our responsibility as the ilsa tirnoë to prepare his coronation, within the next weeks, elves from all realms will arrive in Minas Tirith to swear allegiance to our king – as will you Elessar as the king of Gondor."
This announcement was not taken kindly, as the angry murmur of the Gondorians showed. It was unheard, that a king was forced into swearing his allegiance to an other king, if he had not lost a war against him; and now in times of peace the king of Gondor should be forced to swear allegiance to an unknown elven king.
Only Aragorn himself was not taking part in this angry murmurs but watched the three Marchwardens of Lothlorien silently before he addressed them:
"I would have sworn my allegiance freely if he had asked for it – so why is it dictated upon me, who was raised by elves?" the annoyed undertone was not missed by anyone in the room.
"When Isildur agreed to take this oath, that binds everyone of his descendants to the house of Lúin-Nor, he had just betrayed him. Isildur is the reason, the Prince would not take his rightful place. As long as the one ring was not destroyed his very existence had to be kept a secret to insure the safety of our race.
To insure this would never happen again it was decided, that the house Isildurs would have to be bound to the house of Lúin-Nor.
The Prince does not wish to take this oath, but he has to, to insure the safety of his descendants."
Isildur! Silently Aragorn cursed his ancestor. He had brought so much pain to Middle Earth with his decision to keep the one ring as an heirloom for his family. Even now, when the ring was destroyed, did the curse he had brought over the house of Numenor live on. But he would worry about the Elven Prince on a later point of time, when he was sure, that Legolas would survive.
Neither Haldir, nor his brothers Rumil and Orophin had said, that Legolas would survive the poisoned wound, which stated clearly, that they did not expect him to live.
How could he have been so ignorant he asked himself, he had been constantly in Legolas presence, and yet he had not noticed, that his friend was mortally wounded – what kind of friend did that make him, what kind of king?
He still remembered, when he had first met the prince of Eryn Lasgalen, he had been still a small child of only five years and had been utterly fascinated with Legolas long soft golden hair. So fascinated indeed, that Legolas had taken one of his knives and cut a strand of hair off, so that Aragorn could play with it as he left Imladris for his home.
And now Legolas was dying right in front of him, and he had not noticed. His best friend was fading in his very presence and all he thought about, was if he would be a good king!
When had been the last time, he had really talked to Legolas, had asked for his opinion or had listened to his worries?
It did not matter any more, he had wasted already enough time, he would find a way to help Legolas, and if was only to make his last days as happy as possible!
*~*
The potion Elladan had given him, did nothing to lessen his pain, but that would only happen, if the poison had left his body.
He felt his mind drifting to places of his past, to days, when he had been happy. No, he corrected himself, he was happy – even when every fibre of his body screamed in agony. Peace had once again come to Arda, Aragorn had claimed his birthright and he, he was surrounded by his closest family.
A new coughing-fit brought his memories back to that fateful night at Helms' Deep.
*
"Then we will die as one of them, elf!"
This one sentence had seemed to rip his heart out of his breast and break it, he doubted, that either Aragorn or Gimli had seen the anguish that must have shown in his eyes at these words. It was in that moment, that his fate in Estel wavered: not only had the man given up the hope in their friendship and their ability to win that fight, but he had also given up on surviving that night. He was ready to condemn Arwen to one of the most painful deaths imaginable – just because he feared, that he would make the same mistakes Isildur had made.
Later, as he had apologised to Aragorn he had not done it because his behaviour deserved an apology, but because Aragorn needed the hope; ironic, that Aragorn, who had been named Estel – hope, by Elrond his foster father, was the first of them who lost it. Or was it rather, that he gave all hope away and had nothing left for himself? It was unlikely that he would ever know.
He had been so relieved, when the army, that Elrond had promised finally came. Aragorn had shown them hope, but the elven army ensured, that they believed they could win the battle, the war – almost all of them had given their life in that battle, out of two hundred only sixty-four survived.
It was only when Aragorn called to him, to kill the torch-carrier, that he was wounded. His ability, to concentrate completely on one goal, gift and curse at the same time, had allowed him to shoot him – and to be wounded doing so.
The arrow had pierced his right side, staying stuck; he had to push it all the way through and break the shaft to be able to remain fighting.
At once had he known, that the arrow had been poisoned – and which poison it was, having experienced Black poison on more than one occasion. Sending a prayer to the Valar, that he would find the strength to ignore the pain in order to keep going, he had strapped his belt higher to reduce the blood loss and had remained fighting.
No one but the other elves noticed, that his cloths were not only stained black with the blood of the slayed Uruk Hais, but also with the silver red of his elven blood. The amount of silver in it, indicating, that it was a life-threatening wound.
They had remained silent.
* A new wave of pain rushed through him and only Althilwens presence allowed him to remain silent and not scream in agony.
Three days he reminded himself, he had nearly three days till Aragorns coronation and he would be present!
"If it weren't for the oath he gave you master Frodo and his love for Lady Althilwen, he would have already faded."
Guessing, what question would be the first to be asked, Haldir continued,
"Neither do we know, nor is it our place to guess, why Legolas said nothing of his wound.
"But we will hunt down the traitor, till he will wish, that he had never set food on arda!"
as the last part had been hissed in Sindarin, only Aragorn, had fully understood, what Haldir had said, though Imrahil and Faramir, seemed to have been able to guess the meaning of the words.
Silence reigned in the room, till Rumil turned to Aragorn and Faramir:
"Elessar, Steward, we have to discuss the preparation of the coronation – the three weeks will be over all to soon, and everything has to be ready!"
After a questioning glance to Aragorn, his future king, Faramir answered:
"The coronation? It will be in three DAYS and everything s ready – though I wonder, what elves would have to do with its preparations..."
The clear laughter of the three elves filled the room, cleansing it of the tension, that had entered with their entrance.
"But it is not Elessars coronation we came to prepare! In three weeks time our prince Lúin-Nor will be crowned here in the White city, as has been agreed with Isildur."
"I have never before heard of this prince Lúin-Nor. Is he the heir Gil- Galads, Legolas spoke about?"
Prince Imrahil ventured, interested not only as a prince of Gondor, but also because of his elvish ancestors.
"Lúin Nor is indeed the heir of Gil-Galad and we have waited for millennia's, that he could claim his crown – since the day, Isildur claimed the one ring.
It is our responsibility as the ilsa tirnoë to prepare his coronation, within the next weeks, elves from all realms will arrive in Minas Tirith to swear allegiance to our king – as will you Elessar as the king of Gondor."
This announcement was not taken kindly, as the angry murmur of the Gondorians showed. It was unheard, that a king was forced into swearing his allegiance to an other king, if he had not lost a war against him; and now in times of peace the king of Gondor should be forced to swear allegiance to an unknown elven king.
Only Aragorn himself was not taking part in this angry murmurs but watched the three Marchwardens of Lothlorien silently before he addressed them:
"I would have sworn my allegiance freely if he had asked for it – so why is it dictated upon me, who was raised by elves?" the annoyed undertone was not missed by anyone in the room.
"When Isildur agreed to take this oath, that binds everyone of his descendants to the house of Lúin-Nor, he had just betrayed him. Isildur is the reason, the Prince would not take his rightful place. As long as the one ring was not destroyed his very existence had to be kept a secret to insure the safety of our race.
To insure this would never happen again it was decided, that the house Isildurs would have to be bound to the house of Lúin-Nor.
The Prince does not wish to take this oath, but he has to, to insure the safety of his descendants."
Isildur! Silently Aragorn cursed his ancestor. He had brought so much pain to Middle Earth with his decision to keep the one ring as an heirloom for his family. Even now, when the ring was destroyed, did the curse he had brought over the house of Numenor live on. But he would worry about the Elven Prince on a later point of time, when he was sure, that Legolas would survive.
Neither Haldir, nor his brothers Rumil and Orophin had said, that Legolas would survive the poisoned wound, which stated clearly, that they did not expect him to live.
How could he have been so ignorant he asked himself, he had been constantly in Legolas presence, and yet he had not noticed, that his friend was mortally wounded – what kind of friend did that make him, what kind of king?
He still remembered, when he had first met the prince of Eryn Lasgalen, he had been still a small child of only five years and had been utterly fascinated with Legolas long soft golden hair. So fascinated indeed, that Legolas had taken one of his knives and cut a strand of hair off, so that Aragorn could play with it as he left Imladris for his home.
And now Legolas was dying right in front of him, and he had not noticed. His best friend was fading in his very presence and all he thought about, was if he would be a good king!
When had been the last time, he had really talked to Legolas, had asked for his opinion or had listened to his worries?
It did not matter any more, he had wasted already enough time, he would find a way to help Legolas, and if was only to make his last days as happy as possible!
*~*
The potion Elladan had given him, did nothing to lessen his pain, but that would only happen, if the poison had left his body.
He felt his mind drifting to places of his past, to days, when he had been happy. No, he corrected himself, he was happy – even when every fibre of his body screamed in agony. Peace had once again come to Arda, Aragorn had claimed his birthright and he, he was surrounded by his closest family.
A new coughing-fit brought his memories back to that fateful night at Helms' Deep.
*
"Then we will die as one of them, elf!"
This one sentence had seemed to rip his heart out of his breast and break it, he doubted, that either Aragorn or Gimli had seen the anguish that must have shown in his eyes at these words. It was in that moment, that his fate in Estel wavered: not only had the man given up the hope in their friendship and their ability to win that fight, but he had also given up on surviving that night. He was ready to condemn Arwen to one of the most painful deaths imaginable – just because he feared, that he would make the same mistakes Isildur had made.
Later, as he had apologised to Aragorn he had not done it because his behaviour deserved an apology, but because Aragorn needed the hope; ironic, that Aragorn, who had been named Estel – hope, by Elrond his foster father, was the first of them who lost it. Or was it rather, that he gave all hope away and had nothing left for himself? It was unlikely that he would ever know.
He had been so relieved, when the army, that Elrond had promised finally came. Aragorn had shown them hope, but the elven army ensured, that they believed they could win the battle, the war – almost all of them had given their life in that battle, out of two hundred only sixty-four survived.
It was only when Aragorn called to him, to kill the torch-carrier, that he was wounded. His ability, to concentrate completely on one goal, gift and curse at the same time, had allowed him to shoot him – and to be wounded doing so.
The arrow had pierced his right side, staying stuck; he had to push it all the way through and break the shaft to be able to remain fighting.
At once had he known, that the arrow had been poisoned – and which poison it was, having experienced Black poison on more than one occasion. Sending a prayer to the Valar, that he would find the strength to ignore the pain in order to keep going, he had strapped his belt higher to reduce the blood loss and had remained fighting.
No one but the other elves noticed, that his cloths were not only stained black with the blood of the slayed Uruk Hais, but also with the silver red of his elven blood. The amount of silver in it, indicating, that it was a life-threatening wound.
They had remained silent.
* A new wave of pain rushed through him and only Althilwens presence allowed him to remain silent and not scream in agony.
Three days he reminded himself, he had nearly three days till Aragorns coronation and he would be present!