Unafraid Of You
Ch.10: Only A Dream
He had been waiting for her for quite a while now. Where was she? She never took this long before. Just when he was really beginning to worry about her, Elrohir saw Courtney walk out into the stable yard. Something about her weak smile made his heart sink.
"Is there something wrong meleth?"
Courtney pushed all troubled thoughts to the back of her mind and followed Elrohir into the stables to get their horses. "I'm fine Elrohir. Just a little tired."
He knew that she had lied to him, but if she wanted to keep it to herself then he would drop it and wait for her to tell him herself. "I am taking you somewhere special today."
"Really? Where are you taking me?" She smiled bright, this time it was genuine.
"It wouldn't be special if I told you before we got there," he laughed at her and they trotted out of the stables at a leisurely pace. "I hope you like it. No one else knows about it and it's a good place to take someone you love."
Courtney blushed and leaned over to kiss his lips briefly. "You're too sweet for words, you know that?"
He smiled slyly at her. "It's part of my elf-charm."
"Oh give me a break!" Courtney playfully smacked his arm as they rode off into the distance, laughing, and for a moment her dark thoughts fled her.
"It was just weird 'Dan. I've never seen that look in her eyes before. She seemed almost haunted," Stephanie frowned as she took a sip of the wine in her hands. She never thought that she would ever get used to drinking it so often, but it was a simple adjustment for her.
Elladan paced back and forth in deep thought. "She wasn't happy at all for us? Not one bit?"
Stephanie looked up at him and shook her head. "She looked like she wanted to be happy but couldn't. It was strange. I think I need to talk to her. She's hiding something and I don't want to have awkwardness between us now."
"Everything will work out, I promise. Maybe talking is all it will take," Elladan smiled reassuringly at her and hugged her small body close to his bigger stronger one.
"I'm hoping that you're right. Whatever it is that's bothering her is going to bother me until I actually figure out what it is," She pulled away from him and picked up the book that she had been reading earlier, trying to distract her thoughts about Courtney. "I think I'm going to go take a long hot bath and then a nap. Lord knows I need it."
Elladan kissed her deeply and smiled at her. "I will be up to check on you in a while, alright?"
Stephanie nodded her head in his general direction as she ascended the grand staircase to turn left into the corridor where her bedroom and Courtney's bedroom were located. She reached out for the doorknob, but turned around to stare at Courtney's bedroom door. She walked over to it and walked inside. It looked just like her room except it smelled like Courtney, like vanilla and water lilies, while her own room smelled more like oranges and tangerines. There was a bed in one corner, large enough for two people and a nightstand with a picture frame and a book on it. Stephanie walked over to the bed and sat down, picking up the picture from the nightstand. She smiled. It was a picture that she had taken while she and Courtney had gone dress shopping for prom. Stephanie touched the glass of the frame gently before setting it back on the stand. There was a book sitting there. The title caught her eye. Dream Interpretations: What Do They Mean? She gave it a quizzical look before picking it up and opening it to the first page. She skimmed it quickly and put it back. What was Courtney doing with a book like that? Stephanie shrugged her shoulders and took another look around the room. There was a small bookcase that held books of different sizes and thickness.
"You read too much Court," Stephanie kneeled down and quickly skimmed the titles. There was everything from Romance to mystery. She stood back up and noticed a small desk sitting in a far corner of the room that wouldn't be noticeable unless you already knew it was there or really looked for it. There were pieces of parchment and a small bottle of ink sitting on it. "That's the writer in you."
Stephanie took one last breath of the familiar smell that was her best friend and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She hoped that Courtney wouldn't notice someone had been in there while she was gone. Stephanie felt bad, like she had snooped, but she hadn't really found anything and it wasn't like she was trying to snoop. She was just curious. The only thing that bothered her was that book on dream interpretations. What was that all about? And was it something that had to do with Courtney's strange reaction to Elladan's engagement to her? Stephanie shook her head and massaged her temples. She could feel a headache coming on and all she wanted right now was to lie down and not have to get up again for a long time.
She squinted up at the sun. It was almost noon and she was supposed to meet Stephanie back at the palace for lunch. She looked up into the face of her dark prince. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even, meaning he had fallen asleep.
Courtney smiled at him and kissed his cheek, then laid her head back on his shoulder. She had done a lot of thinking while out this morning. She had something on her mind, that much was noticeable, even to Elrond. She recalled what had happened earlier that morning before she had seen Stephanie.
Flashback:
"You wanted to see me my lord?"
Elrond watched the human girl as she nervously wrung her hands in front of her. "Yes. I wanted to ask you if you are alright."
Courtney's head snapped up. "What do you know?"
"I know that you aren't getting sleep at night due to a nightmare. I wonder if you might tell me. It might put an end to your nightmare," Elrond hated the frightened look on her face. It didn't fit her personality at all.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "How would you know that? I haven't told anyone about it."
He smiled and walked over to her and took her hands in his. "I heard you scream in your sleep one night. I went to check on Stephanie because she hadn't been feeling well and I was taking her a headache tonic to make her feel better. On my way back to my rooms, I heard you scream. I didn't want to barge in there. How would that have looked? And I knew that I wouldn't get anything out of you so I thought I would wait a while before talking to you about it."
"I can't hide anything from you. I'm sorry if I scared you. I just can't get it out of my head. I have the same nightmare every night," Courtney felt her hand being tugged and before she knew it she was sitting in a comfortable stuffed chair across from Elrond. "I wish it would go away."
"Would you please tell me what it was you dreamed? Maybe I can help you out. I am a healer you know," he smiled at her, trying to soothe her as best he could, considering their current topic of choice.
Courtney looked down at her hands in her lap. "I know you're a healer of the body," She looked up into his eyes. "But can you heal the mind?"
Elrond frowned at the sadness in her eyes. "I will do my best to help you."
"Very well. I've been having the same recurring nightmare for about a month now. It starts out with me, Steph, and the twins sitting in the rose garden just below the library balcony. We're all laughing and talking. Then it flashes to another scene where Steph and Elladan are exchanging vows and getting married. They kiss and then the scene changes again. I'm in a dark cave out in the middle of nowhere. I walk through it, following crying and screams of pain. I get to an opening and there is Steph, chained to the wall, being beaten by orcs who taunt her and tell her that she was getting what she deserved for marrying an immortal elf and not a human of her kind. Then it turns around because I scream. The terrifying thing is that it isn't the face of and orc that is laughing at me and coming at me. It's…Elladan," Courtney looked up at Elrond, tear after tear falling down her cheeks. "What does this mean? It scares me so."
He didn't quite know what to tell her. It wasn't often that he was at a loss for words. "That is a disturbing dream pen-neth. I think I might have something that can help you though." He stood up and walked over to the large bookcase next to his desk. He pulled a small black book from its shelf and handed it to Courtney.
Courtney looked at the book and examined the inside cover. "Dream interpretation book? You think this will help me?"
"I think that if you can make sense of a dream, then things might be made clearer to you. Try it and let me know if you come up with anything," he kissed her forehead and walked out of the study.
She sat there a few moments more, skimming the book. She stood up and ran to her bedroom where she sat the book down on her nightstand next to her bed. Remembering that she had to meet Elrohir at the stables, she ran out quickly, anxious to see him and hoping she would avoid seeing Stephanie on her way to see him.
And that was where it had ended. Right then she had bumped into Stephanie and they'd had that awkward meeting. Courtney sighed and sat up. She really had to get back and start that book. Soon enough Stephanie would be asking questions and she would have to be prepared for whatever was thrown her direction.
"Ro? 'Ro you need to wake up love," she kissed his cheek softly then his lips.
Elrohir smiled and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. "Time to go already meleth?"
She smiled at him. "Yes. I told Steph that I would meet her for lunch. Come on. Get up."
"Alright. Give me a minute," he stretched out and stood up slowly, trying to cause mischief.
"You're not funny," she rolled her eyes at him and began to pack up the blankets that they had laid out. Just then she felt strong arms encircle her waist and begin tickling her mercilessly. She shrieked and laughed with glee as her waist was assaulted with tickling fingers. "Elrohir! Please! Stop!"
He laughed with her, enjoying the moment. "Do you yield meleth-nin?"
She felt her cheeks getting hot from laughing so hard and she really needed to breathe. "Yes! For goodness sake I yield! Now let me go!"
Elrohir held her close and turned her around to bestow another heated kiss to her already kiss-bruised lips. "Come on. I have to get you back before you are at fault for being late."
They mounted their horses and headed back to the palace. "Me at fault? You were the one holding us back!"
Together they laughed and taunted one another the whole way back to the palace.
Ch 11. Saying It To You
It was a quiet lunch. Neither girl said much except for a few small things here and there that were of no importance. It wasn't usual for them to be so quiet. But they had their reasons. One of them felt like a snoop and the other felt like a liar.
Stephanie stirred her spoon around in her soup, not sure of what to say or where to start. She had so many things that she wanted to say, but for some odd reason she couldn't get it out of her mouth. What was she waiting for? Courtney was her best friend. She would understand what needed to be said, wouldn't she? Stephanie lifted the spoon to her mouth and blew on the hot broth before putting it in her mouth, the broth running down her throat, warming her from the inside out.
This was bad. Why wasn't she saying what she needed to say? Courtney felt her friends' eyes on her more than once since they had started eating, but it was almost like she was scared to talk to Stephanie. Elrond told her that talking might help the situation, but she was starting to think otherwise really fast. She took a bite of her salad and tried to concentrate on what needed to be said. Finally she laid her fork down, wiped her mouth, and opened her mouth to speak.
"Steph? We need to talk."
Stephanie looked up at her friend like she was clueless. "Really? What about?"
Courtney looked down at her hands then back up at Stephanie. "I don't really know how to tell you. It's kind of complicated really. I just want you to promise that you won't say anything until I have completely finished what I have to say."
"I promise," she nodded her head and listened closely.
Courtney took a deep breath and began to retell her dream to Stephanie the same way that she had told Elrond that morning. The pain and hurt in Stephanie's eyes were almost unbearable, but she needed to know.
"And then he came after me like he was going to hurt me. That's when I wake up screaming and crying. I don't know what it means Steph. I wish I did."
Stephanie nodded her head slowly and took a sip of her ice water. Not really thinking, she blurted out the one thing that she hadn't wanted her friend to find out about. "I bet that's why you have that dream interpretation book in your room, right?" As soon as the last word escaped her mouth, she began to regret it. She covered her mouth with her hand, afraid that something else might escape her lips.
Courtney stared at her friend with an icy cold glare. "You were in my room. Why? What were you doing in there?"
"I was worried about you Court," Stephanie didn't get to finish her thought.
"Worried? You were worried about me so you decided to snoop through my things? That isn't fair Steph," she continued to glare at her friend, and then softened her gaze when she saw how regretful Stephanie looked right then. "I'm sorry Steph. I just don't like people going through my private things."
She wiped a tear from her cheek and tried to smile. "I really was worried about you. It was so unlike you to be so reserved with something so exciting happening to me. Usually you're ecstatic to hear things like that."
Smiling back, Courtney laid her hand on Stephanie's. "Let's make a deal alright? Let's make a deal to promise to tell each other when something important happens. We can't keep hiding things from each other Steph. We need to be honest."
"That sounds like a good deal to me. I agree to it," Stephanie squeezed Courtney's hand and let it go. Just then a funny thought came to her. "Do you remember trying to teach Halethen, the head cook, how to make pizza?"
"Of course! We made such a mess! Why do you ask?" Courtney watched the playful shimmer in Stephanie's eyes.
Stephanie stood up from the table and pulled Courtney along with her down the hallway towards the kitchen. "I want to have a pizza party. We can invite anyone who dares to try our cooking. Sound good?"
Laughing, Courtney nodded her head. "They would have to be brave indeed to try your cooking."
Stephanie playfully slapped her friend in the arm and with sly smiles and the most innocent look they could manage; they walked into the kitchen, hoping against all odds that Halethen would be up to their pizza challenge once again.