These Tears We Cry
Aranel lay in the luxurious bed sleeping comfortably. Lord Raumo had his arms wrapped around her from behind, thoroughly sated. He had raped her multiple times, though he didn't see it that way as she had eventually felt pleasure when she had given up fighting.
Rolling over, she cuddled close to his chest. She was dreaming pleasantly, and, therefore, not of Raumo. She was dreaming of a man with sapphire eyes and chestnut brown hair. Shivering slightly in her sleep, she saw herself give up her immortality for love. Aranel cuddled even closer to Raumo, seeking after comfort and warmth.
Slowly, she woke to the rough kissing of Raumo and realizing both her location and state of (un)dress, jumped up and promptly rolled onto the floor with a small thud.
Rubbing her rear-end a little, she turned wide-eyed towards the man sitting naked on the bed, his arousal quite obvious. "Why am I here?" Defiance made its way into her voice. "What power do I have that you so desire?" Anger rose in her throat and she fought to keep it at bay.
Raumo stood and walked over to her, perfectly comfortable with his nakedness, while she tried to hide hers. "The future, my little one." His voice was soft and soothing, or so it was meant to be.
Trying to convince him otherwise, she spoke softly, "I have no idea what you are talking about, my lord." Her eyes betrayed her, though, revealing both her fear and her secret.
Raumo looked at her with a contemplative look for a brief moment and then smiled. "Do not lie, lovely one. I know that you see what the future may be in your dreams." His voice was silky and his hands cruised over her skin. Putting his hands under her knees, he lifted her off the ground, regardless of her struggling, and dropped her, quite literally, back on the bed. When she began to fight him more violently than she previously had, he swiftly hit her hard on the head, knocking her out, blood trickling from the wound. He took great pleasure in ravishing her limp body.
Failon had stopped only once late in the afternoon to give the black mare a short rest and to give himself a chance to eat a fast meal and have a brief rest. Meldi caught up to them then and Failon removed his packs, so that the brown horse could relax a little.
After about an hour, he put the packs back on Meldi and re-tacked Lírë. Mounting his mare, he nudged her into a fast canter with Meldi following close behind.
The wizard rode Lírë at a fast canter late into the night. Meldi followed behind at a slower pace. When he felt Lírë tiring, he slowed her to a walk and then stopped her at a likely campsite. Unpacking, he followed the same process he had the last two nights. And much like the last two nights, he slept restlessly and dreamed of terrible things until his horses lay down beside him.
Finally, Lord Raumo carried Aranel back to her room and dropped her ungracefully on her bed. She cried out in pain, but the dark lord could not have cared less and left the room. She roused herself out of sleep enough to change into a clean nightgown and out of the clothes she had worn that day, which stunk of sex and were a little bloody.
Stumbling back to the bed, she fell asleep as soon her head hit the pillow. Her entire body hurt, though from her waist down hurt most. She tossed and turned throughout the night, dreaming of Raumo touching her and hurting her.
In the middle of the night, she bolted upright in the bed. She was soaked with sweat and shaking. Making her way to the bathroom, she grabbed another nightgown. Once in the bathroom, she washed herself and put on the clean clothing.
Alasseo and his men reached the southern border uneventfully. Once, there a patrol schedule was set up and Callon set out on first watch. He walked through the dark forest keeping alert for intruders, while thinking about Raumo.
"I can't believe him," he muttered to himself. "Not only does he drag that poor elleth off because he's power hungry, but he has the gall to bed her…against her will, I'm sure." Letting out a loud yell, he kicked the nearest tree, drawing the attention of one of the nearby soldiers.
"My lord, is something wrong?"
All he received was a dark look that sent him quickly back to patrolling. Alasseo went back to watching and fuming. When dusk fell, the patrols changed and he returned to the main camp to sleep through the night.
When she came back out, Aranel climbed into bed again. This time when she slept, she had peaceful dreams. She dreamed of the sapphire eyed man again. He was kind and sweet and held her safely in his arms. She didn't know who he was, but she knew he was a wizard by the white staff with the sapphire on top that he kept close by. She felt safe with the man in her dreams.
She saw her parents and her sister, before they traveled west. She dreamed of the time she had gone on a picnic to see her father at the borders when he had been on patrol. Her mother had gone and her sister, her older brother and even her twin brothers had gone. They had had a wonderful afternoon.
Then her dreams changed. She saw Legolas pacing back and forth talking to the wizard from before and she frowned in her sleep. Legolas was upset and then the blue eyed man appeared on horseback bidding farewell to the princes of Mirkwood. She did not know what was said, though. She turned over in the bed, twisting the sheets around her body.
Again, her dreams changed and she saw a dark army invading Mirkwood. She could hear the cries of the people as they were killed. The sky was blood red as were the river and the ground. She flipped back over in the bed again cocooning herself in the sheets even more. She screamed, though, when she saw the five heads on pikes; five heads which she recognized immediately, King Thranduil, Prince Anárion, Prince Óron, Prince Legolas, and Prince Elhael.
Aranel again woke up sweating and fighting her way out of the sheets. She wasn't sure how many more times she could handle seeing that vision. Seeing that the sun would soon be up, she went over the sitting area and with a sigh, began to read the book that was sitting on the chair. She knew if she tried to sleep, she would only see more terrifying images.
Lord Raumo sat in his sitting room late into the night contemplating how he was going to overtake Mirkwood. As he was slipping off into sleep, he decided that his best option was to get an agent in as though he were one of them; someone who would gain the trust of the king and his sons and who could…no, would relay all important information back to him.
Satisfied that he had found a beginning of a solution to his problem, Raumo rose from the chair. As he walked towards his bed, he stripped off his clothes. He slept well that night; thoroughly sated by both his solution and the woman he had 'bedded' that afternoon.
With a horse sleeping quietly on either side of him, Failon dreamed peacefully of soft touches and gentle caresses. He dreamed of velvet skin and silky hair and honeyed eyes. In all his time on Middle-Earth, he had never had any such thing and, even in his dream, he knew that when he met this woman, he would be lost forever. He shifted in his sleep at this realization, but settled quickly. Meldi and Lírë snorted and whickered softly, delicately shifting around the man between them.
After sleeping quietly for a few more hours, Failon awoke to a silky nose snuffling in his face. He chuckled and pushed Meldi away. The horse returned to eating the green grass around them. Remembering his dream that night, he shook away the guilt. There was nothing wrong with thinking about a woman when he was supposed to be saving another for his best friend. Gods! How he missed the feel of a woman and scent of a woman.
Aranel carefully studied the ancient map of the forest she had found in the bookcase in her room. She memorized every detail, no matter how insignificant it may have seemed. She was determined to get away.
Her entire body still ached and she wondered if he would hurt her this much every time. She hoped, though, that he would get tired of her and just leave her be. That was doubtful, however.
Days passed for Aranel in much the same manner as the first few had. Raumo would come to her room after he had eaten his morning meal most days. He would drag her to his bed and rape her over and over. Her body never became used to his violence, but her heart lost all will to fight. After a few days, she stopped fighting him when he came for her, but when she stopped fighting in the bedroom, he beat her even worse. Raumo made no move to "gain her power," either.
Alasseo spent the next few days putting his plan into action. He had to be extremely careful, so as not to get caught by anyone. All the castles inhabitants were so afraid of 'Lord' Raumo that any tiny indication that he was doing something out of the ordinary would immediately be reported to him.
Failon made his way towards the stronghold. Every night, he would dream fretfully until the horses lay down beside him and then he would dream of the beautiful woman. Each night, he became more enchanted by her.