Welcome back to my fic! Wow, between the school musical and homework lately I'm surprised that I've found some time to type this up. Anyway, I'm glad that everyone has been enjoying the fic up until this point, though some of your opinions will probably change after this chapter, or so I suspect. The show must go on though, right? Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Lord of the Rings or Tolkien Enterprises.

ooOoo

To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 12: Too Late

Haldir was in a dimly lit room, silent and alone. There was no breeze coming through the terrace because the curtains were drawn. The air was heavy and stale around him as he sat in a wooden chair, paralyzed at the sight he beheld. He gripped the arms of his chair tightly as his mournful eyes rested upon the limp body lying before him.

He had come too late.

Time seemed to stop as waves of grief crashed repeatedly into his heart and mind. His brother had been attacked by orcs and they had brought an early, unnatural death to him. Haldir cringed as he thought of this, tears now starting to stream down his face.

"The one time you needed me and I was not there for you." He whispered as he slowly arose from his hard seat and stood up next to the bed where Orophin's lifeless body was lying. "I am sorry I have failed you."

Now Haldir sat softly on the edge of the bed and placed one hand on his brother's cool face. "How could this happen to you?" He whispered, audibly questioning the Valar. His face crinkled up with an expression of pain and he cried, attempting to muffle his wails with all of his willpower, but failing miserably. "You were so strong, so sure of yourself, so smart... I do not understand how this could have come to pass."

Mentally, he thought back to the scene he found when he entered the healer's talan an hour ago. There had been no time for hope or even a goodbye because Orophin had already been declared dead. Something inside of Haldir had broken upon seeing his brother laying motionless on the bed and he had immediately been filled with a terrible rage. How dare the Valar allow yet another one of his family members to perish needlessly?

Rumil had been there too, having come in with Orophin from the fences. Ever the emotional one, he was crying loudly, going on about how he had been unable to help Orophin in time to save him. Haldir had reacted very poorly to that admission and, being shrouded by his grief, had shouted at him for not protecting Orophin. He had told him to leave and Rumil had listened, unable to control his wailing as he ran down the steps by himself.

Of course, he now wished he had not screamed at Rumil. It had been a momentary lapse of judgement on his part, a gut-wrenching reaction to the situation, one he was unable to control as he had struggled with the piercing grief of loss. It had been an unfair thing to accuse Rumil of not protecting Orophin though. After all, Rumil had surely been busy fighting several orcs on his own and there was only so much one ellon could do at a time.

Haldir suffered silently with his thoughts, knowing his poor reaction would cause a rift between him and his remaining brother. Of the three, Rumil was the youngest and the most sensitive, often wearing his heart on his sleeve and being very open with his affections. He loved to joke and laugh, but also deeply cared for the elves he surrounded himself with. Haldir knew it would take a great deal of work to fix the problem he had now created.

His brother Rumil deserved to be here with him, to share in the grief of this horrible moment with family. Now that he was gone, Haldir selfishly wished he was there. He hated that he was alone with Orophin's body, suffering with no one there to offer any comfort or understanding.

Most of all though, he wished this was all a horrible nightmare that he would wake up from at any moment.

Unfortunately, it was not.

Reality had struck him hard this time and Haldir had never felt so alone in his life. Ever so slowly, his family was being slain one by one and he could not seem to prevent it from happening. Rumil was now the only family he had left and he had ran him out with his own anger and grief. "What a fool I have been." He thought to himself, shaking his head and then staring at Orophin again.

He wondered to himself if Orophin had known that he had cared and loved him. Haldir was not one to frequently express such things, but it had been there, nonetheless. He just hoped that somehow, Orophin had known it. The last thing Haldir remembered doing with Orophin was scolding his for his inappropriate treatment of Belegwen.

"If only I could have gone to him and made things right between us. If only that had not been the last thing I said to my brother." He thought, shivering under the weight of his emotional pain as tears continued to flow down his cheeks.

Haldir leaned forward and kissed his brother's cheek one final time. "You will always be my brother and I will always love you, no matter what." He whispered close to his ear, gripping his shoulder tightly to try and impress the full meaning to him, as if he could somehow still feel it.

Unable to sit so closely any longer, Haldir walked numbly back to the chair and gazed at Orophin once again. It was there that he allowed his anguish to truly swallow him whole. He cried for the entirety of the night, knowing he would never see again Orophin walking in the Lothlorien woods.

ooOoo

Belegwen's eyes widened as she noticed that something was very wrong with the atmosphere in the warden's halls tonight. Absolute silence surrounded her as she exited the bath. This made her uneasiness even worse. She had already terribly worried about the situation at the fences today which she had heard about when the warden had approached Haldir. Naturally, she had heard many a rumor as well. Most of them were horrible and involved Haldir's brother Orophin being mauled by orcs.

"Dearest Valar, please do not let it be true. Please let him be well and recover." Belegwen thought to herself as she silently started up the stairs. The emptiness of the hall was also concerning. It was only early evening and the moon had not even risen yet. The sky was still a fair, medium shade of blue and was only now beginning to show the first signs of darkening. "Usually there are many wardens out and about at this hour. I fear what their absence means for Orophin and Haldir." She thought to herself, feeling anxiety at the thought of another warden losing his life on the fences.

The stairwell was so silent that she could nearly hear her silent footsteps going up every step. Belegwen shivered, not enjoying the cold draft that floated through the deserted halls.

After a few more seconds curiosity overcame her. Stealthily, she leaned up against one of the doors and listened for any sounds of life. Shutting her eyes, she could make out the faintest whisper of two elves conversing at whisper, their voices tinted with obvious concern.

Belegwen quickly pulled away, now scared about what seemed like inevitable bad news. Though Belegwen was not terribly fond of Orophin, she certainly did not want to think about his eternal life ending unexpectedly. No elf should die in such a way.

As Belegwen rounded the corner of the spiral staircase, she saw the first warden she had seen all night. A few steps up from her was Rumil, lying facedown on the stairway. He was shaking slightly as he sobbed and gasped repeatedly. Immediately, pity struck Belegwen's heart and she quickly approached him.

Kneeling down gently beside him, Belegwen placed one of her soft hands gently upon his overturned head. She stroked his golden locks softly as he continued to cry, not even bothering to look up and see who had approached him. "Rumil," she murmured, "Let me help you to your room."

"What good is it?!" He wailed, his voice cracking as he spoke with her. "My brother is dead! It matters not where I go because he shall never return!"

Shock and pain immediately hit Belegwen as she finally heard the truth voiced aloud. She had hoped to all of the Valar that the rumors had not been true, but clearly they were. She had simply been denying the truth until she no longer could.

Though Belegwen would have loved to sit and cry with him in the stairwell, something inside of her told her she should not. At least, not at the present. She had to be strong for this ellon who had just lost a beloved brother. This would be very hard for him, for it was well-known that the three brothers had been extremely close to one another.

Using all of her mental and physical strength, Belegwen pushed herself up from the cold marble floor and preceded to put Rumil's arm over her shoulder and lift him to his feet. When she finally got him off the floor, his legs buckled underneath of him and he sagged down against her, unable to contain his grief. In response, Belegwen wrapped her arm tightly around his middle and hoisted him back up, refusing to leave him there for all of the elves to see.

"Come, walk with me Rumil and I shall help you to your bed." She whispered softly. Belegwen knew from experience that there was little one could say that would comfort an Eldarin soul after such a tragic loss. She could only help him find a place where he could remain undisturbed until he was ready to deal with the pain.

Slowly, step by step, they made their way up the staircase. When Rumil's knees buckled, Belegwen would heave him to his feet with all of her might and then they would continue on.

Finally, the pair arrived at his room. Belegwen kicked his door open and they entered, the soft blue light brightening at their presence. When the two reached the bed, Rumil simply fell onto it, now bursting with sobs anew.

Gently, Belegwen lifted his feet onto the bed, not wanting to leave him half off the bed. Carefully, she removed his boots from his quivering feet and laid them at his bedside. Once he looked comfortable enough, Belegwen sat down beside him on the bed and began stroking his hair once more.

"Haldir is right. This is all my fault." She heard his muffled voice say into his pillow. Belegwen's eyes grew larger upon hearing this. Was Haldir truly blaming poor Rumil for Orophin's death? How terrible!

"That is preposterous, Rumil. The fault is clearly with the orcs, not you." Belegwen stated, pulling his face up sideways so she could look him straight in his eyes. "I am certain Haldir was upset when he said that. Do not take it seriously."

"He would not even let me stay with him!" Rumil exclaimed, then buried his head back into his pillow, wetting it down with tears.

"I am sorry," Belegwen murmured as she stroked his soft golden locks, trying to comfort his as best as she could. "I am so sorry."

Belegwen sat there with him until he finally used up all of his strength and fell into a light sleep. It was only then that she felt her own pain rise above the surface of her strong exterior.

"Though he was never kind to me, he did not deserve such an unnatural death." She thought to herself as she gazed at the starry sky through Rumil's bedroom terrace. "No elf deserves that kind of death."

Soon she could hear a beautiful lament floating through the sky, the voices of several elves melding together harmoniously to honor Orophin's valiant life. One by one, tears filled her eyes and dripped down her cheeks as she lamented for him. Finally realizing that she would need some rest, she silently left Rumil's room and went to her own.

ooOoo

Edited by P.G. on 05/18/20.

Did you like it? Please review and tell me your opinion. I'm sorry, Orophin fans. I hope that you will all continue reading my story regardless of my twisting of Tolkien's world. In a way though, all fanfics are twisted though, so this one really isn't that different.

Anyways, It will probably be a couple more weeks before I update again (we start doing play dress rehearsals tomorrow). The performance will be next week. After that I should have more time. Perhaps I will squeeze in a weekend update though (I just remembered Easter Break! Yay!) Well, until then...

-P.G.