The sun rose slowly in the east and painted the sky a soft pink. Rumil turned as the first rays stretched themselves through the canopy and lit the talan with a soft golden light. He was surprised to see just how bad off Intara was.
Her skin was a horrible ghostly pale color and her dark eyes were dull and ringed with red circles. A heavy layer of sweat coated her skin and gave it the illusion of wet dough.
"Intara…"
"Is it that bad?" She answered weakly, trying to crack a smile through pale lips. "You never use that name unless it's THAT bad."
"Oh no…Vanimle sila tiri." He knelt beside her and touched her face with his fingertips. "Never before had I seen you look more stunning than just now."
"That may work on an elleth, Rumil, but I'm much smarter than that." Intara coughed painfully and Rumil quickly got water for her.
"Very well, if you insist." He said with a grin. "But you'll be made well again soon enough, let's get you to the city."
"Rumil…"
"Dina…." Rumil said as he and another elf maneuvered her onto a stretcher. Her face contorted with the pain of it, but she would not cry out. Rumil's mouth turned up in a crooked, apologetic grin. She was much too stubborn to tell anyone how much pain she was in. The stretcher was lowered to the forest floor as soon as Intara was secured to it, then Rumil and another took up their positions. "We're for the city now; we'll be there in no time."
That might be all the time I have...Intara thought dully as she tried to focus on Rumil. He and the other elf jogged through the woods bearing the stretcher between them. She found it was a futile effort to try and retain consciousness and she slipped into the black once more, hoping that this time, she'd be permitted to stay there.
Intara woke to find herself staring up the height of a great mallorn tree. The silver of the moon cast an ethereal glow over the bark and a gentle breeze carried a soft song to Intara's ears. She tried to focus on the words, but found it impossible.
"You are awake….that is good." Intara turned her head to the voice, albeit far too quickly and felt a dizzying wave of nausea pass over her. She closed her eyes against it. "You shouldn't move over much." Intara snorted derisively. "No response?"
"Why should I respond when you are already in my head, Lady Galadriel?" Intara answered coldly.
"I suppose you are right," Galadriel said with a coy smile. "I suppose you are in a great deal of pain…"
"Pain is nothing…"
"Do not play the brave hero, Intara. And do not lie to me." Galadriel said fixing a stern eye on the injured woman lying in the bed. "I have sheltered you before…you must endeavor to be less reckless."
"Then you know this was not my doing." Intara shot back angrily. She tried to sit up but fell back to the bed. That little movement sent wave after wave of pain shuddering through her body and robbed her breath from her lungs.
Galadriel sighed.
"Here, drink this…I shall send Aragorn up to you shortly."
"No." Intara said after she had swallowed all of the bitter draught. "I don't want him to see me like this…not now."
"As you wish." Galadriel said with a bow. She watched from the doorway for a moment until she was sure Intara had drifted off into a warm, dreamless sleep.
Intara shut her eyes against the light and muttered a few choice curses in both elvish and common tongue. She wondered why she had roused out of the heavy sleep Galadriel had put her into. Then she heard the voice echo through her foggy mind once again.
"Intara?"
She groaned and covered here eyes. Where the night had been soft and bathed in cool silvers, the morning light was harsh and golden.
"Kela…" She said stretching, then quickly arrested the motion as it sent awful stabbing sensations rippling though her body. She groaned and tried not to move farther.
"Well, it's nice to see you as well." Aragorn said as he knelt beside her bed. She finally opened her eyes and focused on him. "How fare you?"
"Better when I was asleep," She answered, enjoying the sheepish look pass over his features. "awful to be perfectly honest with you. How are you, cousin?" She would milk this for all it was worth.
"I am well enough." Intara knew then that something was wrong. His eyes were too dull and he was trying too hard to make small talk. He looked thin, worn out, and tired.
"Do not lie to me, Aragorn. Tell me true; how many were lost in Moria?" She would not admit it, but she had grown fond of the four hobbits.
"Only one…"
"Frodo?"
"No….Mithrandir."
"No!" Intara tried to rise, but fell back weakly, Aragorn placed a gentle hand on her shoulder in an effort to calm her. "No—"
"Had I not seen him fall, I would not have believed it myself."
"What of the others?"
"They are well, all of them. Just heartbroken over the loss." He grasped her hand and squeezed it gently. "I am glad to see you alive though. I was worried when the entrance collapsed..."
Intara barked a short laugh but halted abruptly as the action stole her breath. She grasped her aching middle and sighed.
"Galadriel says your innards are bruised and your leg has several tears in the muscles and ligaments. You probably shouldn't over exert yourself."
"My leg isn't broken?" Intara asked, looking up at him.
"No."
"Good, then I'll be up and about in no time." She said. She had been most worried about her leg…the rest of her injuries she could travel with.
"You oughtn't to be alive at all." Aragorn whispered.
"You think I don't know that?" She hissed in return. "I've been waiting centuries for my existence to end." She lay weakly back and waited to catch her breath. "And yet I go on, because my task is not yet finished."
Aragorn did not wish to dwell on his cousin's unnaturally long life, or her desire for it to come to an end, and changed the subject.
"The rest of the fellowship and I will be leaving as soon as we are provisioned. You will remain here, under Galadriel's care until you are well again and can go your way."
"You don't have the authority to end my quest, Aragorn."
"And that is precisely why I did not tell you not to follow us." Aragorn's eyes smiled, even if it did not reach the rest of his face. Intara glared at him through narrowed eyes, he was too smart for his own good. He rose and left the room, passing by a broad shouldered, blonde elf. She and the elf stared at one another for some time before he finally entered the room.
"I won't ask how you feel---you only ever visit when you're feeling poorly." He said with a crooked grin.
"The lady will only welcome me when I'm feeling poorly." Intara answered.
"And no wonder! Your tongue holds much less venom when you're incapacitated." He said as he came to sit in the place Strider had just vacated, a huge grin lighting up his face. "You are much easier to deal with when you are unconscious."
"Did you come here to mock me, or for some other purpose? Galadriel will be quite angry if you all keep disrupting my recovery." Intara quipped.
"Intara…" The elf's eyes softened. "How are you, truly?"
"You said you wouldn't ask me that." It was Intara's turn to smile widely as she watched the elf grimace.
"You are an insufferable woman, did you know that?"
"I'd heard." She sighed and her smile faded as she looked into his kind eyes. "I am well enough, Haldir---sore, but well enough."
"I was shocked to find that you had been brought to the city. I had stumbled on Aragorn a few days before. He was already in quite the motley company."
"Trust me, I was just as surprised to find myself tasked with following them." Intara reached for the cup that sat on the far edge of the table beside her bed. Her face contorted with pain and determination. Haldir watched for a moment as she struggled to stretch her battered limbs to reach her target. He moved it until it was just within her grasp. He knew better than to give it to her outright; he'd have to go change his tunic if he had. She took a sip of water and then replaced the cup before continuing. "Elrond wanted me to make sure nothing happened to them, instead, I find myself relying on the healing powers of the elves again for the third time in as many weeks."
"I'll let you get some rest then." Haldir said as he rose. "I must help get the fellowship ready to depart and then go back to the fences." He bowed, but kept his eyes locked on hers. "I hope, you will not leave before I return. I did miss you, Intara."
Intara grinned crookedly. "I'm sure you did. I'll probably still be here when you return from the fences."
"Tenna telwan san'."
Intara had been confined to bed for almost a week before the Fellowship was prepared to depart. She stretched herself up to peek over the edge of the talan and watched as theydeparted in the graceful gray boats of the elves. The lady of the wood stood at the water's edge, a vision in white. The boats slipped from Intara's view and around a bend in the river and she leaned back groaning at the pain lancing through her. Rumil came up to the talan afterwards and sat with her for some time, speaking quietly.
"Haldir was disappointed that he had to return to the fences."
"He said he'd be back soon enough."
"Aye. But he'd like to spend time with you. Last time—"
"Last time I had to leave. That could not be avoided." She said cutting him off. "And I shall have to leave again this time, there's no use dwelling on it or trying to change it."
"Can you never just remain in one place!?!" Rumil's voice rose. "You are always moving forward mindlessly…you are no better than those nazgul!" He stood from his seat and glared at her. "You never chance to look at what you leave behind and see that others care for you."
"Everyone that I ever cared for ended up dead!" Intara lashed back. "Don't you see that if I move on, everyone else is the better for it?"
"Not everyone, Intara." Rumil left the talan quickly and Intara went to sleep feeling vile for driving away a friend.
Vanimle sila tiri--- Your beauty shines bright.
Kela--- Go Away!
Tenna telwan san'---Until Later then.