Eruanna's Ride

One spring morning I was walking through the south garden of the palace singing softly to my self. The air was fresh and spring could be smelt in the breeze. Laiqualassё had been gone for two month and I was fretting. I missed him so much and was eagerly awaiting his return. Behind me I heard someone clear their throat. I turned and smiled at Gil-Galad curtsying neatly I greeted him. "What brings you to the gardens, My Lord? Is court not in session?" I asked.

"I came to find you, my lady Eruanna. Melethwiel said you could be found here. The court was in session however I received and message which I believed to be of great importance and had to deal with immediately," Gil-Galad said. "Come; walk with me a ways, my Lady." He offered me his arm. I took it and we walked along the path to were a bench had been placed among a bed of snow drops and tulips. He ushered me to sit but did not do so himself.

"My lady, the message I received was most grievous. The emissaries sent to Erin Lasgalen did not as a whole reach their destination. They were attacked by a band of orcs and wolves as they entered the mountain pass. According to the message there they were lucky and managed to escape with few loses. However, in a need to tend the wounded they retreated in a valley at the feet of the Misty Mountains on the western side, which they name Imladris. At first they believe they would soon continue to Erin Lasgalen however many of the injured had been cut by poisoned blades. So the company split, some remaining with the injured in this Imladris to tend them and the rest continuing on to Erin Lasgalen and the halls of Thranduil." The high king stopped to catch his breath. It allowed what he had said to sink in.

"What of Elrond, and… and Laiqualassё?" I asked dreading the answer that I may receive.

"Elrond is fine; your foster son remained with the injured in Imladris to help tend them," Gil-Galad pause. "Eruanna, Laiqualassё was among those wounded. In the report it was said to truly be a superficial cut but the poison is strong." He put a hand on my shoulder as my eyes fell. Tears accumulated in them before they dripped down my cheek.

"My Lord King, I ride then for Imladris," I spoke in a determined voice. My arm was well again and I could ride fast.

"I did not doubt that your decision upon hearing this news would be any different Eruanna. I am sending and escort for supplies and healers to Imladris. You shall travel with them. They depart at noon." I was relieved that Gil-Galad was not going to argue with me on this.

I left the gardens as soon as Gil-Galad took his leave. I returned to my rooms and immediately began dressing my travelling clothes. I had not worn leggings and a tunic in months and was enjoying being free of the gowns commonly worn by women at court. I pulled on my soft leather riding boots and belted my sword and long knife around my waist. It was the same knife as I had been given almost two centuries before on our march south from Gondolin. Then I tucked my little ivory sheathed knives into the tops of my boots. I went to the closet and grabbed a cloak. It wasn't until I had draped the sliver-grey material around my shoulders that I realized that it wasn't my cloak by Laiqualassё's. I could smell the unique mix of spices and earth that was so distinctly Laiqualassё. "Hold on, you stubborn elf. Don't you dare fade on me," I thought. I wrapped myself in his cloak letting the smell of him envelop me before going back to packing.

I took a pair of saddle bags from their peg in the wardrobe and I put some extra leggings and tunics into them as well as my hairbrush and a jar of muscle rub. I had long ago learnt that if one had to travel long and hard a container of muscle rub made the experience much more pleasant. I went over what supplies I needed from my room in my mind then I remembered the little treasure that was tucked away in a chest at the foot of my bed.

I opened the lid of the ornate chest and pulled out a beautiful bottle made of a glistening golden crystal containing a clear substance. I could remember what Calirion the Vanya had said to me. "Keep it safe young one for there will come a day when you wish someone to live and you have no means to make it happen. This will keep any being alive for half a year even if they are on the door step of death. Use it well. I did not know if this were the occasion where I would have need of it, but if it was I would rather have it with me then have it lying at the bottom of a chest hundreds of leagues away.

In the Shadows of the Misty Mountains

"Travellers approach," called a scout from a tree. "It is the Lady Eruanna and the healers from Lindon." I heard the call as we descended into a valley that was walled by sharp cliffs. Laid out before me I saw for the first time Rivendel and came to a full understanding of why it was so named. The vale of Imladris was a valley cleaved into the feet of the Misty Mountains. It was a beautiful place. At that time it was wild and uninhabited.

I was greeted by my foster son as we crossed the Bruinen. He drew me into a quick embrace and I saw the grief in his eyes. He told he would take me to Laiqualasse and I nodded following him without a word.

As I came to my husband's side where he lay on a pallet beneath a shelter the elves had erected to keep the wounded out of the elements. He seemed to be sleeping but his eyes were closed as I had so rarely seen them. He was fevered and Elrond had said that he often awoke delirious and incoherent. He would call for me or for his sister. I knew brushing his hair from his face murmuring words of love and comfort to him hoping he would hear them. I took my hand away but he caught my hand and held it with out opening his eyes. His grip had shocking strength for one who was so ill.

"Elrond, could I have some cool water and a cloth?" I asked making my self comfortable on the ground next to my beloved's pallet.

It was a long week during which I spent hour at Laiqualasse's side nursing him. At the end of the week those who were poisoned were either on their way to recovery or in the halls of Mandos, all that is except Laiqualasse.

"My Lady," some one said behind me. I looked up from where I had been feeding a semi-conscious elf broth.

"Yes, my Lord Rhovion," I said to Lindon's chief healer.

"I'm afraid he is fading my Lady," he said gently. "If we could get him on a ship he might have a chance of reaching the blessed realm he may have a chance but as it is his fea will not cling to his body much longer.

"Lord Rhovion, what if I told you I could aid him long enough to get him on a ship to Valinor?" I asked.

"I would tell you that you would have to perform a miracle," he replied looking at me with compassion.

From my saddle bag I took the crystal vile. "This was given to me by one of the Vanyar after the fall of Thangodrim. He told me that it would keep someone alive no matter how ill they were. I will give it to Laiqualasse and then I will take him to Lindon, to the ships." I felt sick at the idea of sending Laiqualasse over the seas where I could not follow, however I knew that the other option was death.

Lord Rhovion looked at me as though he had never seen me before. "You would part yourself from him forever. You know that after he boards that vessel you will never see him again. Will you truly give that?"

"Yes," I replied knowing that there was no other answer for me. I looked the healer in the eyes. "Saving his life is more important to me then anything. If I do not do this he will die. Either way I am destined to pain at least in heart break I can know that I save him some pain. I only ask you to help me keep him alive long enough to reach the blessed realm."

"I will give you my assistance in this, heril-nin," he said.

"Thank you," I whispered. I sat on Laiqualasse's pallet and pulled his head into my lap. Gently I brought the vile to his lips. "Swallow, dear one. It will make you feel better." Slowly I trickled the precious golden serum into his month. I watched him swallow the serum then I kissed his forehead.

"I must speak with Lord Elrond and the other healers." Lord Rhovion bowed and left.

"Eruanna," Laiqualasse murmured. His eyes were open and focused as I had not seen them since he had left Lindon.

"I'm here, my love,' I whispered smoothing his hair from his face. "You will live Laiqualasse. I will take you to the harbour so that you can go to Aman and heal." I leaned down and kissed his brow gently.

"I don't wish to sail," he said. "I wish no grey ship if it can no bear you as well," he said stubbornly.

"Hush, you need to rest," I hummed a lullaby and he drifted off into the restful paths of deep elvish dreams. Once he was fully asleep I slipped off the bed to go find Elrond. As I left the shelter I heard Lord Rhovion speaking to one of the healers under his governance.

"Those who truly know her have a great deal of respect for her but I did not see why until today, Railin. I thought perhaps it was due to her close friendship with Lord Earendil or because she was wed to the Lord Laiqualasse who was a captain of Gondolin and whose sister is princess of Erin Lasgalen. The respect they have for the Lady is born from her great heart. She is so full of love and compassion. Lord Elrond has told me that she fostered himself and King Elros as well as Lailitha of Ossiriand. She is steadfastly loyal to those around her."

"Yet she is only a mortal," said the young healer.

"Yet there were moments today where I forgot that she was not one of the Eldar. It is very hard to associate the transience of mortality with a woman who had seen the fall of Gondolin. However, it is startlingly obvious that the Lady is constantly aware of what divides her from those she has lived with for near on two and a half centuries. I tell you Railin she deserves the highest honours." The Lord healer's words flattered me; however I did not wish to speak to anyone except Elrond at that time.