Disclaimer: I own nothing except my sanity, which I have lost a year ago along with my CD collection. Which I have found about four months ago. But that's not the point.

Author's Note: Just an idea in my head (inspired by Lion King 2) that blossomed into a chapter of my rambles/drabbles.

Musings of Shieldmaidens and Kings

Mirror Image

Eldarion had retired to his room, claiming that he was too old to watch the clouds swirl and glide in the twilight sky and that it was too feminine for someone of his stature to do. Estel had gone with him. He seemed to want more to do with his son's life as of late. Why this was mattered not. Maybe, my mind mused, he was making up for those few first months of his son's life that he missed. I was happy when I saw my two boys together nonetheless.

I put my second child and first girl, Nostawen, in my arms. She resembled my grandmother, Lady Galadriel, the most. Her golden hair had just started to darken and her sapphire eyes were jewels I wouldn't give away for the world. She laid her head in my shoulder and I smoothed her brow, which was damp and dirty from playing.

But now we were playing a new game. This game required mental prowess and an acute fourth sense.

"Nana, look! A sheep!" Nostawen screamed with delight—and a slight lisp that little children seem to have when learning to talk—and pointed at the orange streaked cloud. I, however, saw nothing more that a fluffy cloud that reminded me of my pillows inside.

Or maybe it just required an active imagination.

I quickly got ahead of my little daughter by spotting two Orcs fighting over the Ring, but I debated on telling my daughter the tale behind it. Aside from it being a bit too scary for a two-year-old girl's mind, I didn't know the entire story. What if I gave her the wrong information…

"Nana! It's Orcs!" my daughter squealed frightfully, clinging to me even more and I sighed and turned on my side, knowing that I would most likely have to talk to Aragorn about scaring our daughter into nightmares for weeks about things that are nearly gone from this world. Men just don't seem to grasp that young girls are more delicate than young boys.

"Where did you learn about Orcs?"

"Ada told me," she said with her big, blue, adorable eyes. "He said that Orcs were…male…malievolie…"

I laughed softly at her mispronunciation—it was ironic that the most evil beings ever on Middle-Earth now amounted to tales that little children stumbled over—and said, "Malevolent, dear. It means bad."

She nodded. "Uh-huh! That's what Ada said, but he said that they're all gone now."

"That's right, they can't hurt you now."

We spent the rest of twilight finding clouds and naming them either rabbits or dragons or whatever else we saw them as. The last one we saw was probably the most important of them all.

"Nana, Look! It's a King like Ada!" I heard Nostawen cry in joy. I looked up and sure enough, there was a noble figure in the sky with a sword in his hand. The deep blue sky showed through the faint clouds. The stars were coming out and the first one of the night was settled on the cloud king's neck.

I smiled and looked over into our bedroom, which looked out into the courtyard. A candle was lit and the light was fluttering to and fro on the walls of the room. Estel was looking out pensively into the stars, the Evenstar hanging limply from his neck. My smile grew a few moments later as I held Nostawen by the entrance to the courtyard, looking out at the stars at the lost King and his mirror image.

Translation:

Nostawen is the actual Elvish translation for 'Natalie.' Yes, that's my name. Please, don't stalk me.

You can find the translation for your name on www dot elvish dot org slash elm slash names slash n dot html.