Chapter Seventeen
Ilmare did not talk to anyone for the rest of that day and well into the night. She stayed inside the keep standing by a window, simply standing out at the far horizon in longing. One thought quickly conquered all the others in her mind to form one single, coherent idea, the quintessence of her longing: Olorin isn't here.
Sometime in the night nearer to dawn than dusk she heard movement behind her. "Hiril nin?" (My lady) a sweet, elven voice asked, sounding far more unsure than he normally was.
"Yes, Legolas?" she asked, not moving an inch save her lips.
"The men and boys are preparing to fight," he said.
"I had thought as much. They prepare for war, war in defence of all they know...War is fruitless..." she said bitterly.
"Do you think he will come?" Legolas asked delicately.
"Who?" she asked, sounding as though she did not care in the slightest.
"Mithrandir." His name was a shock to her heart.
"He has promised to come. Even if he comes alone, it will be a help to our side," she said, preventing most of her sadness from penetrating her tone.
"Why do you not run? You could be far from here by the time the armies arrive," he asked, walking closer to her. Still, he remained several feet away.
"Why do you not leave? You have as much opportunity as I, yet you do not."
"I cannot abandon my friends, even if there is only one left," he said at first courageously, then dejectedly.
"Olorin has told me he will be here. I will be waiting, no matter the cost," she said, her tone hardening in determination.
"You said Aragorn was alive...How could you know?" Legolas asked, not wanting to overstep the bounds between elf and Maia.
"I can sense him and the power of the Evenstar. It has not completely faded. He still lives," she said simply and confidently.
Legolas nodded silently, taking in this new reasoning.
"My lady, you should not brood..." Legolas said, finally walking close enough to touch her. Yet he did not.
"I know, but that does not stop me," she returned.
"He will come..." he assured her, reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder. He withdrew it at the last second. Anyone but she and he could have...
"I can see your love..." he said gently after a few seconds' silence.
"That is because you are an elf. You can perceive that which is hidden from mortals," she said as though it was the simplest of concepts.
"Mandos will not accept you until your task is completed."
Instantly, she whipped around, hair flying, and asked forcefully, "What do you know of my task?"
"Only the legend that you and Mithrandir are trapped in Middle Earth until you complete your task: defeat Sauron," he said, holding up his hands to show his surrender.
"So we are legend now...What more do they say of us?" she asked, turning back to the window.
"Some say that you two have been in love since the time of the Two Trees, but Sauron has kept you apart. Others say that you are the daughter of Elbereth and Manwe, and that you were intended for Morgoth before his betrayal," he said, calming down.
"Well, at least there is some truth to myth," Ilmare said, placing a hand on the window ledge.
"Which truth?"
"Now that you shall have to wait to learn until the company is one again," she said, withdrawing her hand.
"You intended all along to tell us?"
"Yes," Ilmare whispered.
"When?"
"Originally, I was to tell you just before the company reached the Mountains of Shadow. After you separated...I had to make new plans...Dying is not a part of it."
"And what if Sauron captures you?"
"Then he will imprison me until the sun turns cold and the Silmarilli fall from the sky, enveloping the land in darkness."
"Can he survive without the Ring?" Legolas asked, suddenly fearing worse news than he had ever anticipated.
"He could, if I were with him..."
When she did not continue, Legolas urged as gently as he was able, "How?"
"With my powers, he can forge himself a new body," she said simply.
This was met with stunned silence.
"I would ask you not tell anyone of this, but I know you shall be discreet with this information," she said, turning to stare at him with her silver eyes.
He nodded and said, "I shall disturb you no longer, my Lady."
Without another word, he left.