Well here is the fith chapter :) Thanks to Glenstorm63 for all the corrections ! I hope you will like it ^^
Laew realised, in retrospect, that going on a solo mission was not unudual for her. Neither had asking Strider if he had wanted to come with her been unusual. And as either one of them had been hurt during said mission, Dolleaw did not know why she was surprised she had to patch up the ranger after a skirmish which had been a little bit too rough with a pack of wild wargs.
The man had been in a pensive mood all day and the mercenary was dying to know what the matter was with her friend. But she knew better than to pry, and so she just waited for him to confide in her, in his own time. Surprisingly it was not long before he broke the silence of the cave they had found refuge in.
"Laew… I have something to tell you." It was barely a whisper.
"What? Did you pull one of your stitches? Because if that's the case I will probably kill you myself!" There was no heat in her tone though. But the serious edge in her companion's voice worried her.
"No, I would never dare! I'm not suicidal." Despite himself the ranger could not help smile at this.
"Then what's the matter ?" Laew's tone was soft, encouraging him to continue.
"I didn't tell you all the truth about me. When I told you how my parents died I did not reveal their names. You have to understand, that I must be especially cautious about this information, because of what it means about me. My father and my mother were..."
Strider paused for a moment. Was he about to loose another friend over his bloodline? Would he see revulsion in her eyes the moment she knew who his ancestor was? What if she blamed the destruction of her kingdom on him? However he could not continue his dark thoughts any longer as the elleth interrupted him.
"I know." The words were delivered in a flat voice, as if she did not care at all.
"Excuse me?" Strider -or Aragorn- asked, surprised.
"Well, the Chieftain of the Rangers of the North? Even if it's suppose to be a secret. Foster-son of Elrond Peredhel himself, and owner of the ring of Barahir? Another secret, I know. I admit I did have some clues. You only confirmed what I suspected. But the true question is, why did you decide to tell me this now?"
"Because I think I too guessed who you really are." There was a pause.
"And what gave me away ?"
"Not 'what', but more like 'who'." At her confusion he continued.
"After meeting you the first time when I was a child I was so curious about you that I went after Lord Elrond for answers about the Isil elves. But he wasn't being very cooperative, neither was Erestor. So I looked for the only person who I could turn to for the information."
"It was Glorfindel who gave me an account of the tale of your people. But it was the way he spoke about you that caught my attention. He described you with such fidelity that I already had doubts when you told me your history back in the Prancing Pony. But it was the first time you took off your mask and your hood that I finally had the confirmation. You hair's color is not very common for an Isil elf."
Doleaw stayed silent at this. Yes, Glorfindel would have known her well enough to give a very close description. And because she had been foolish back then, he more than probably known she was still alive. But still, it did not completely answer her first question.
"So I ask again. 'what prompted you to tell me this now?' "
"Today is my Birthday. Usually, since I left Imladris, I would spend it alone in the wild, but to have the occasion to share this with someone who can actually understand..."
"If you want me to understand then you will have to start at the beginning don't you think ?"
"Well, if I must go back that far, it would be the day I learned my true name. I never felt so damn lost than the day Lord Elrond told me of my true lineage. It was like drowning. Everything was a blur and breathing was so hard, I thought I was going to faint. I did not want to be the Heir of Isildur, nor to be the Hope of Men or a future King."
"I just wanted to be Estel Elrondion, adopted son of Lord Elrond of Imladris. I wanted to learn whatever Erestor wished to teach me, to spar with Glorfindel or go hunting with Elladan and Elrohir. I was desperate to simply sit in the evening with my family in the Hall of Fire and listen to the songs Lindir would have written in the afternoon."
"All I wanted was for my ada to reassure me, to tell me everything would be fine in time. He did not. Instead I saw him backing down, closing himself completely to me. I know that when I told him all this, I lost him."
"He told me the other option for me was to leave Imladris. To leave and come back only when I would be ready to accept my duty, my destiny."
"And now, to be honest, since this day I find myself questioning every one of my memories, even the fondest. Since, there has always been a shadow of doubt. 'Did he really love me?', 'Was he just deceiving me?', 'Was it affection or duty that prompted him to sing to me after a nightmare?"
He seemed so lost that Laew's heart cried for him. Her situation was so close and yet so different. Where she had known, or guessed, what her family really thought of her, never had she been directly rejected. On the contrary, she had never been under the illusion of being embraced and nurtured for her and her alone.
"Our weapon against the Mordor still stands."
"Our weapon ..."
"...weapon..."
"Well, at least you have the luxury to doubt it. Believe me, sometimes it is far better to have some illusion and doubt than knowing the true answer," she mumbled softly. She brought herself back to the present with a slight struggle.
Upon seeing the ranger's inquisitive stare the elleth sighed, "Did he tell you everything?"
Strider hesitated before answering, "Yes, I know the prophecy."
The mercenary glanced at him sharply. Then slowly and deliberately she lifted a slender chain from around her neck.
Aragorn frowned. He was certain he had never noticed Laew wearing a necklace before. Not until this very moment. But when he saw the two pendants on the chain his heart stopped.
There were two black rings. The ranger recognized the first one immediately, forged in black iron with a moonstone in its middle. Mornië ! So the fourth ring of power had survived !
But the second one also caught his attention. It was a black iron ring, but forged in gold all around in the center were finely crafted flowers. He had once saw a similar ring, only on this one the colors were reversed.
Deciding to deal with the most important first he directed his attention to the first ring.
Mornië was exerting the same sense of power that the three others rings did. Aragorn had been able to sense it before, either with Vilya, Narya, or Nenya, and particularly palpable when Lord Elrond, Gandalf, and Lady Galadriel would meet together, as he had known them to do in Imladris.
Raising an eyebrow, he prompted the mercenary to explain. It was a non verbal pact they had made and respected until now. So that's why he simply waited for her to complete her history as he did his. After a while she relented and began to speak.
"The Dragon did defeat me. I remember the intolerable pain as his fire was devouring my body. But then my father, instead of using the last of his powers to kill the Dragon and destroy the ring as he did announce, used them to kill the beast and save me."
"And when I thought, I hoped, that in the end my father had finally acted out of love for me, had saved me from suffering and death because he cared about me, his last words were 'Our weapon against the Mordor still stands.'"
"The rest is as I already told you. I took off my burnt circlet, found a calcined body with my height and weight, and put the circlet on it. And that's how the Princess Silaqui of Seregon died."
In the end she could not help but let some venom colour her tone. She had never shared this with anyone, but actually talking about it showed her that she was not really above the pain, above the anger.
But her anger was not directed at her companion, so she forced herself to calm down. When she looked up she saw that the ranger was beginning to be sleepy, probably an after effect of the wound.
"Now sleep, I will take the first watch."
And as Aragorn closed his eyes and felt sleep taking him on the path of dreams, he could not help but ask himself a question.
'How close had been Laew and Glorfindel if they exchanged engagement rings?'
I hope you liked it ! Please r&r and give me your opinion :) It's very important to me !
