Chapter 9: Last Night in Lorien

"I've been such a fool."

Mithra sat up in bed with a moan of dismay.

It was past midnight, but she could not sleep. The night air was hot and heavy, unusual for March in Lorien, and her thin night dress clung to her body like a second layer of skin, damp with sweat. The heat, however, was being ignored, another issue taking precedence over it.

"Theodred."

Mithra said his name aloud, an element of desperation and worry in her voice that she did not recognise. She had not seen him since slamming her door in his face after being chased to her home and ignoring his pleading shouts. Tomorrow morning he planned to leave, or so he said. Mithra, despite her reluctance to let him go, knew that letting him do so while still on bad terms with him would be the stupidest thing she had or ever would do.

Making up her mind at last, she pushed back the covers and got out of bed, only taking a moment to change into a dry night gown. Once this was done, she passed out of her room, glanced both ways quickly, and laid her hand on the handle of the door to the room opposite hers, the one that until recently had been occupied by Mathas. Then, taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and slipped inside.

The first thing Mithra noticed when she woke up the next morning was incredibly bright sunlight. She raised an arm to shield her eyes almost as soon as she opened them, and it was when she did so that she realised she was not in her own bed but Mathas'.

Then everything came flooding back to her, and she rolled over to see the sleeping form of Theodred, one arm around her shoulders. She shuffled closer to him, glad to find that her night dress was no longer sticking to her, and nestled into him, a small, satisfied smile on her face.

"Is that you, Mithra?"

She cursed silently; her affection had woken him up.

"Who else?"

She looked into his sleepy eyes and smiled warmly, but got a bemused look in reply.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular," she told him. "Lying in your arms, kicking myself for waking you up…"

The prince yawned groggily and sat up, watching her suspiciously. "No, really. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Thanks," Mithra muttered. "You certainly know how to make someone like me feel appreciated. We made up, don't you remember?"

Theodred sighed deeply and yawned again, before lying back down. "What time is it?"

"Not yet eight in the morning."

He groaned. "I'd hoped to be on the road by now," he moaned, sitting up again and getting out of bed.

"No!" Mithra grabbed his arm tightly and looked into his eyes, silently pleading. "Please," she whispered, "Please…"

Theodred didn't say anything,but Mithra found her attention drawn away from his eyes. He was shirtless, and the sun that shone on his tanned skin seemed to make him even more attractive. The hint of a grin played on his lips for a moment as she sighed wistfully.

"What?" he asked.

"You look remarkably wonderful this morning, Theodred."

Grinning, he eyed her tousled hair and scanty night gown. "You're not bad yourself."

They exchanged smiles, before he got up off the bed and went to the wardrobe to hunt for some clothes. Mithra stood up slowly, watching him sadly now.

"Do you really have to go?" she asked.

Theodred simply looked back at her, before pulling her into his arms and kissing her gently. "If you hurry up and get dressed," he whispered, "You can come and see me off."

Nodding obediently, Mithra instantly did as she was told.

After she had gone, Theodred turned back to the wardrobe and continued to look for his own clothes. He found them at last, the garments he'd been wearing when he left Rohan, now carefully washed and repaired by the Elves. He got dressed slowly after washing, thinking out the journey that he was about to make.

He knew how to get back to Edoras from here and to Dunharrow from Edoras, so finding the way would be no trouble. Celeborn had granted him permission to leave, more Elves he couldn't remember the names of had been all too happy to weigh him down with provisions, mostly wafers of unusual bread with an easily forgotten elvish name Theodred couldn't recall. He'd then been told a horse he could use would be saddled and waiting for him in the stables, although he was more than capable of saddling a horse by himself.

Fully clothed, Theodred now turned to his armour, and began to strap on the thick, well-worn plates of metal and leather. This was a procedure in which he was well practised, and was completed quickly. To finish, Theodred fastened his sword belt round his waist, before turning to look at himself in the full-length mirror. He felt a surge of pride rising inside him to look like a man of Rohan once again, and sighed deeply. This time, he stepped out of the door to meet Mithra with a smile on his face, and took her hand encouragingly when he saw the sad look in her eyes.

"You'll have to lead me to the stables," he told her.

She said nothing in reply, only nodded, and led him away.

The stables of Lothlorien were quite unlike anything Theodred had ever seen before: palaces in comparison to Edoras'. As promised, a white horse stood apart from the rest, already saddled. As soon as Mithra saw it, she began to remove the saddle.

"What are you doing?" Theodred asked.

"Getting you a better horse."

He watched her go to a tall, fine beast with a coat of deepest ebony and stroke its neck. It nuzzled her affectionately, and Theodred saw a smile grace her features.

"Of course, that one there will suffice, but you want speed. Callisto here used to belong to Mathas. You won't see a finer horse in Rohan."

Theodred strongly doubted her claim, but chose to stay quiet.

"He'll see you to Dunharrow in time," Mithra continued, and he watched her fasten the saddle onto the animal. When finished, she turned to look at him, and the unhappy look in her eyes that Callisto had momentarily banished returned.

"And now you have to go," she said quietly.

"I do indeed."

Slowly, tears welled up in her eyes. "You made my cry!" she exclaimed. "How dare you! I hate you for leaving!"

Smiling sadly, he pulled her into a tender embrace. "I'll miss you too," he whispered to her, but she drew away and pointed a finger at him accusingly.

"If you don't come back, if you don't return, I'll…" She broke off, and the first bout of tears streamed down her cheeks. "You had better come back to me!"

"I will," he promised. "You have the word of honour of a man of Rohan. It will not be broken." Mithra winced and tried to ignore the similarities this bore to the last few words Mathas had ever said to her.

There was an awkward pause as Theodred tried to understand why she seemed so upset from his words.

"Callisto is waiting," she said in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.

"Mithra." She looked up into Theodred's eyes as he said her name. There was a look in them that she had never seen before. "I love you." And so saying, he drew her into his arms again and kissed her, holding her so tightly she was almost short for breath, but she clung to him as long as she could, savouring every moment with him. They separated wordlessly, and Mithra watched Theodred mount the horse that she had seen Mathas ride so many times before.

He looked down at her from the saddle and tried to smile encouragingly. "I'll see you soon," he told her, gathering up the reins in his gloved hands.

Her reply was simple. "Goodbye."

And then he was gone, out of sight in moments, with only a tearful lover left behind to show he had ever been there at all.

A/N: Firstly, sorry it's taken me so long to write this chapter. I haven't got an excuse, save for the World Cup, which is a pretty poor one I guess, seeing how few and far between good England matches are. Secondly, kindly do not jump to conclusions about anything in this chapter. Remember that I'm only small, and would be far too embarrased to write anything like what a certain Koala suggested in IT! Thirdly, which do you prefer: nice, predictable stories with happy endings, or interesting, original ones with sad endings? Just wondering.

Oh yeah, and thanks for taking the time to read this! Any reviews will, also, be very much appreciated!

the green lama