Disclaimer: "The Lord of the Rings" and all related items belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. This is merely an excursion into Middle Earth as it transitions from a land of hobbits and elves to the domain of man.
The Dark Forest – Part XIII
My heart is in my mouth. He has spoken to me, in that lilting accent – he told me that I am safe, as I already knew that I was. He told me that I will recover well from my wound – so Mother will not have to tend me when I return home. I hate to think of returning home! I have never felt so light in all my life. I feel that I could walk on water if I tried.
He told me that he had not seen someone of my kind for many a long year; that the language had changed so that it was hard for us to understand each other unless we tried. He told me, while he stared into my eyes, that he wanted to help me, and that I was very brave; and that there had been a great evil in the forest. The boar? I asked him, and he told me that it was. He said that that evil had diminished now, but shadows still roamed beneath the trees and off the familiar path. Then he smiled at me, and I felt the most curious sensation. It was as if the very tips of my fingers were tingling, responding to some atmosphere that I could neither hear nor see. In my stomach I felt a fluttering, like that of butterflies when I have held them loosely in my palm. He said, gently, that this was not the time for such deep matters, and that would I join him, tomorrow, to break my fast? I agreed most heartily, and he seemed amused.
I am not sure if amused is what I would have him be with me. My nurse, the lady who entered the room with me, told me in a quiet murmur as she changed my dressings that I was not to eat for the remainder of this day. No matter how hungry I was, she instructed me. The dressings dictate that I rest and not ingest anything for the remainder of the day. I do not care – I feel as though I have eaten my fill, and I never want to partake of any mortal food again.
Gods! Is he one of you? Is my beloved, the beautiful, the handsome, the kind one of you? He cannot be a man who lives among my people; if he was, he would be a prince beyond any reckoning. Each time I look at him he is more beautiful to me; I would treasure even just a painting of him, though it sorrows me that nothing can capture that radiance in an everlasting form. He lights the room when he enters, and when he leaves, he trails a gentle peacefulness that calms me. I am ready to rest now – though he is such a beacon of peace, even speaking with him for that short while was a terrible ordeal. I think perhaps that it would only be an ordeal for me – my heart beats faster as I think this.
I do wonder what Melin would say about my situation. She alone is the one person in my circle of friends and family who has been – or is in – love with the Duke of Marinty. I am so curious to know if she felt like this also.
As of now, I will settle down to await my breakfast with him tomorrow – I am nervous, frightened, and yet I want to see him more than anything else in the world. All else is but a bad memory now, except for my father – and perhaps the answers to my questions will lie with the one whom I believe I love.