A Rose Trapped Inside a Fist

Disclaimer: I disclaim owning anything of the Lord of the Rings trilogy or The Hobbit. I only own my own characters brought forth from my own wild imagination (Narloth, Erebwen, Rhovan, Belegor, Tindir, Dagorast and Ashare).

Chapter Three- Tears of Truth

We arrive at Erebwen's and I scan the room for signs that Morlyg is around but I neither hear nor see any trace of him- good. Rhovan won't do anything rash and we can spend time with Erebwen alone.

"Anything to drink?" Erebwen asks.

We shake our heads.

"So did Nar's swordsmanship skills impress you?" she asks, turning towards Rhovan.

"She's not as hopeless of a cause as I expected," Rhovan teases.

I roll my eyes, making sure he sees.

"I'd say it went well then," Erebwen laughs.

"Rhovan's a good teacher," I say.

I turn towards him, catching him staring at Erebwen and he blushes.

"You okay?" Erebwen asks, noticing the change.

"F-Fine," he stammers, turning redder. The color even reaches his ears.

"So how have you been lately?" I ask her, saving Rhovan from his predicament.

"I've been well. Morlyg has been helping my parents harvest their crops and I've been helping them can preservatives."

"How nice of him," I acknowledge. I try to sound sincere but it doesn't come out that way.

"He's a great help," she replies with a smile.

I notice the smile reaches her mouth but not her eyes. I wish she'd tell me what was going on. I half regret bringing Rhovan, thinking she may have said something if it had been just me here.

I see him frowning out of the corner of my eye. He cares deeply for her and I can tell by how he often looks at her that he loves her. He always has.

We speak with Erebwen for awhile, laughing and telling jokes and stories. Rhovan of course mentioning the elaborate plan I had come up with when I was thirty to get my crush, Belegor, to notice me. It had not ended well and it was without a doubt my most embarrassing moment but now we all laugh about it. At times like this I make a mental note to bring up their embarrassing moments but I know neither of theirs tops mine…and they know it.

When we become hungry we eat lunch together. I take my time to enjoy the fresh fruit and bread. I've always been a slow eater, something I inherited from my Father. Rhovan and Erebwen finish before I do and go to the kitchen together.

Rhovan's POV:

I see her washing her plate and grab a nearby towel to dry it.

"Erebwen…you know that you can tell me anything, right?"

She looks me in the eye and I notice she's pulled the sleeves of her dress up to wash the dishes without getting them wet. She quickly realizes and pulls them down but not before I see the bruises. I notice that some of them look recent. I catch her hands and she looks up, her eyes betraying her. Whether she realizes it or not, she has told me everything I need to know. He's hurting her.

"I know," she replies quickly and looking at her feet.

"I'm here for you. You can call on me day or night. I'll be there."

She nods, sniffling a little, and returns to washing her plate.

I want to say more. I want to tell her about my feelings for her and that I love her but now is not the time and with everything she's going through, what she really needs is reassurance and comfort from her friends.

"Thanks for helping me clean up. Odd to find a man willing to help out in the kitchen, though." She pauses and then says, "you just wanted to question me, didn't you?"

"No, I don't mind helping. Do you find that so hard to believe?" I ask, wondering what Morlyg does other than beat her. I can't imagine hurting someone so gentle and kind. My heart beats faster as her grey eyes look up at me.

"Well…you're a man."

" You noticed that, did you," I reply, chuckling.

She smiles up at me, her grin wide and white. I wonder if Morylg has ever made her smile. That's really all I want from her, her smile and laughter. I want to make her the happiest woman in Middle Earth.

"Narloth is here for you as well, just so you know," I add, planting a light kiss on her forehead. Her hair smells like flowers and fruit. The preserves, I remember, smiling. I step back even though my desire to be closer to her is almost overwhelming. We stare at each other for a moment and I wonder if she wants the same thing as I do.

"We should get back," Erebwen says quickly.

"Of course," I reply. "Narloth could be choking on her food and we'd never know."

She laughs. It is my favorite sound in the world that laugh. Probably because it sounds so weird and makes me laugh with her.

"With as slow as Nar eats, she'd be the least likely person to do anything of the sort," Erebwen replies.

Narloth's POV:

They enter the room together and I can tell Erebwen seems different somehow. She looks happy, relieved. Rhovan must have said something. I glance at him and he winks. I chuckle and despite the fact that she isn't sad, give her a hug. I am sure she doesn't mind.

"Thank you," she mumbles in my ear.

I don't know what to say to her so I just nod.

The next day, Rhovan begins training me in hand to hand combat. He already knows I'm pretty good and I am excited to do something I've been trained to do before. As we practice, I find that although I'm not extremely strong and that it's been a while, I'm very quick and I'm exceptionally good at anticipating Rhovan's moves and his weak spots. I'm not sure if that's because I've known him forever or if I'm actually good at seeing my opponent's next move. I'm impressed with myself and continue to block and dodge his advances while trying to throw in some punches of my own.

Before we started practicing, Rhovan had instructed that we were not to hit each other, just block. I understand his caution but eventually I will need to know how to take a hit. I would need to experience a real fight to improve. With Rhovan this will be a touchy subject. I know he won't want to hurt me.

"You're actually really good," he remarks.

"You sound so surprised," I tease.

"I am," he admits. "You should incorporate this into your swordsmanship. Wait until you get better with your sword though."

"Alright."

We practice a little longer and then we sit down in the lush grass. Rhovan tells me what happened with Erebwen in her kitchen and I frown.

"Are you sure?" I ask seriously. We need to be positive.

"Yes," he replies.

"I don't know. I think we need more proof. Any ideas?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the one who always has a plan."

"I do not al-"

"Do I really need to bring up the time when you were thirty and you really like what's-his-name…Belegor, so you decided to-"

"Okay, okay," I interrupt before he goes any further. "Give me a minute to think of something."

I go through different scenarios but they all involve Erebwen eventually leaving Morlyg. For good. If she's not willing to leave, she'll keep going back and nothing will change. She has to make the choice. I voice these thoughts to Rhovan and he becomes very quiet, deep in thought.

"She needs to be shown that she deserves better," he says after a moment. "I need to tell her about my feelings."

I think about what he says but I'm unsure if that will change anything. Rhovan is certainly a better person than Morlyg but I'm not sure if Erebwen has any feelings for Rhovan. I'm not about to voice that to him though, it would destroy him.

"Morlyg will come after you Rhovan," I say.

"I can take him," he says confidently.

"He'll come after Erebwen too."

"I'll protect her."

"You can't be by her side every second."

"Well we have to do something," he says, getting frustrated, and pacing back and forth.

"Do you think her parents know? I don't want to go behind her back but maybe they'll forbid her to see him."

"Or we could tell Lord Elrond, maybe."

"Or we could just kill him."

I say it jokingly but I realize that in our anger both of us are considering the thought.

"I don't know," Rhovan sighs. "Let's take a night to think about it."

I nod in agreement.

Later, when I crawl into bed I feel like my body is on fire. I came up with several plans to help Erebwen but I don't feel any will work. I can't concentrate on anything but my anger. Morlyg is hitting my friend. The friend I grew up with and have known forever is being beaten.

I shake my head and try to fall asleep. I toss and turn all night.