Title: Faril Nin [My Huntress]
Author: Codi Lyn { iluvobiwan91
Genre: Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: PG-13 – R (for descriptive battle scene/wounds)
Pairing: Orophin/OFC [Gwaeron]
Timeline: Begins before the Fellowship enters Lorien in Third Age 3018… concludes during Fourth Age 250
Chapter: 4/13
Chapter Summary: His hand rested as a comforting weight on her head and he urged her gently. "Tell me what you see."
A shaking breath came into her lungs and Gwaeron swallowed past a sore throat before letting her answer pass. "He dies."
Author's Note: I don't know quite what season it is when the Fellowship are in Lorien, and so there are a few changes in time-flow versus how things played out in the movies. Follows movie-verse, but I make a few references to things that happened in the books. But little things like these I have the license to play with, as the author. J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson have rights to the important stuff, this story is written purely for pleasure.
Chapter FourThe days passed slowly for the separated lovers, even pulling those close to the couple into the gloom that weighted them. Gwaeron's visions continually lengthened and grew in detail night by night, leaving her with little or no rest, and plaguing her days so that a moment's remembrance would leave her unable to stand for trembling. Orophin's days were spent in the sparring courts, punishing himself with hard exercise in the desperation to put her from his mind. Had it not been for Rúmil's intervention, the elf would have willingly stayed fighting with himself until unconsciousness forced itself upon a drained body. Instead of dropping wholly into sleep, Orophin was banished to his chambers where unrest met with the faint cries of his beloved's nightmares, keeping any peace from resting within the broken edhel's thoughts.
At times he felt strong enough to go to his huntress, to pull her from the terrors that overwhelmed her and feel the touch that haunted him. Before he could even leave his room Gwaeron's words would pierce him once more and halt all forward-movement, crumbling him to his knees where Rúmil would find him cracking in tears come sunrise. There was so little his brother could do, but it was done.
Though it did nothing but hurt, Gwaeron would sometimes peer out of her window in the half-light of morning to see Orophin's path to the training grounds. His shoulders were burdened in uncharacteristic posture and his normally long strides were halved and sluggish, hinting at unrest. The lady ranger herself was much more visibly changed after so many days of depravation. With no energy, no desire to leave the flet, to see her friends or wander the forest, the murmur began that her Dúnedain vitality would leave her too soon. With Anauriel's help Véredhiel was cared for, and basic tasks completed such as taking in what nutrition she could stomach.
In so dismal a way this month passed and at the appointed time Rúmil and Orophin were summoned to return to the borders and hold their watch of the Golden Wood. Outside of his talan that morning Rúmil stood closely with Anauriel, a tightly bundled Véredhiel nestled between them as they spoke their hushed farewells. His warmth spread to her fingers as he pressed them to his face and lightly against his lips. "This shall be one of the loneliest guards I've gone for. I shall miss seeing you each day."
"It won't be long until you're come back. I'll miss our moments of peace at the end of each day… I'm afraid there won't be much peace to be had." The last she spoke unhappily and he answered with a sigh.
"I'm afraid you're right. With each day my brother worsens and I cannot force him to speak with Galadriel, nor can you urge Gwaeron."
"I shall try to keep from pushing. It's so difficult being this helpless."
Rúmil lifted her face nearer to his and admonished sweetly. "You are not helpless when you care for our ranger and her child as diligently as you do. They are in your protection while I'm away…"
"As Orophin is in yours." She finished for him and was answered by his adoring smile and nod. Closing the distance, the warden took her mouth into his own and held the elleth for a blissful moment, savoring the new love that blossomed between them.
"Take care, dear one. I'll return in a month's time." He assured her and placed a sweet kiss upon the baby's forehead before departing at last and joining the others in his group of galadhrim.
"No!" Gwaeron screamed and pressed her fists into the mattress beneath her as sobs tumbled without consent from her mouth. She lay shaking and weak on her back, the darkness of her foresight sapping life and strength from her bones. "What must I do? How can this end?" Her cries echoed softly through the rooms of Orophin's flet until they beckoned Anauriel by her side and the ranger rolled into the touch to embrace her friend. "What can I do?" The woman begged feebly, wishing all of this misery to be over with.
Unable to hold back, Ana carefully spoke. "Perhaps if you spoke of these dreams, it might serve to…"
"No." With voice shaking Gwaeron cut her off, turning away to curl around herself. "No, I could not bear to speak them aloud. I cannot." Choking up with the imagery so fresh in mind, the fear in her hushed tones pleaded with Anauriel to release her.
The elleth rose after laying a steady hand on her friend's back, silently willing her to take comfort, and moved to where Véredhiel was still blessedly asleep. The baby clung to a soft jerkin that belonged to Orophin and was nestled among the bed of blankets that had been arranged especially for her. Ana covered her further with the jerkin and smiled as she lightly stroked a rosy cheek. "She does know her father."
"You have entered the realm of the Lady of the Wood. You cannot go back." Haldir informed the half-caste group of travelers and grimly ordered the members of this 'fellowship' to be blindfolded immediately.
Orophin quickly found the Aragorn at the head of the group and leaned close to murmur discretely. "You will stay by me, my friend, your company is in good hands. There is much I must speak with you about." The ranger glanced intrigued at his long-known friend but was interrupted by dark cloth obscuring his sight. As the band made its careful way into Lothlorien, the elf told Aragorn all that had happened, from the moment Gwaeron had arrived soaked and holding a babe in arms to the Wood, up to the last night he had seen her run from him in tears and all Rúmil had shared of her since. "I know not what tortures her at night… I cannot accept that they are merely dreams. Whatever she's hiding away is tearing at her from within. She needs you, your counsel can only do good, I beg of you."
The heartfelt plea struck the Dúnedain to the core as the grasp on his arm tightened with his words. It was clear enough that whatever was tearing at Gwaeron had also been wearing heavily upon Orophin. "As soon as we have met your Lord and Lady I shall go to her, you will take me." A distressing thought came over Aragorn in his hopes for his sister. "I need her well…"
"As do we all." Orophin prayed desperately that having Gwaeron's brother near would bring some kind of change for her good. From Rúmil's accounts he knew that the lady ranger deteriorated day by day, falling into a shadow of the beauty and strength that once filled her person. The week he had now been on the borders brought back memories of what had once been his huntress, each tree and brook reviving her spirited visage to his thoughts. The depression that stained the elf mused if he would ever have the same woman again, but he pushed the idea away. Every hope now grew all the more difficult to sustain and the effects were easily reflected in his outward appearance.
Aragorn, who had studied his comrade intently upon his approach, also saw these changes and grew concerned at the differences made. Orophin's eyes held little glow and showed clearly the weakness in a gaze that hid little, and every move seemed a great effort to be made as though he had half the energy to work with as before. There were many ways in which the Dúnedan understood his sister's choice. Gwaeron held the strings of innocence and nurturing within her that struck fiercely when it came to any death but her own or her enemy's. It was a simple truth to comprehend that the woman could not bear the fading of her elven lover. Such a truth was easy to read when the same knowledge haunted his heart as well.
In the matter of her 'dreams' Aragorn felt the worry rise in him again, for he knew well what they meant. The sighted trait of Númenor had been shared between he and his sister all their lives, and through the years Gwaeron's sense of foresight had proved more distinct than those that he had experienced but rarely. Whatever was being shown to her mind's eye held a disturbing verity that brought such pain. The only solution was to know what she saw, and he could be the only one to draw it out of her. The 'Strider's' wonderings were silenced and brought to the now as his company's sight was restored and they found themselves arrived at Caras Galadhon.
"Where is Gwaeron, Ana? Where has she gone?" Aragorn questioned the elleth in Orophin's talan with urgency, eager to find his sister after having the news of her worsened condition confirmed by the Lady of Lorien herself.
While the ranger dealt with the she-elf, Orophin had found his attention quickly drawn to where Véredhiel played contentedly lying on her back. Coming to sit on the bedside, he leaned over the child and ran his fingers carefully along her face and over the soft curls that grew slowly at her crown. Smiling at his touch, the baby cooed for him and fisted her fingers open and closed reaching upward, giving the elf cause to smile genuinely for the first time in too long. It hadn't occurred to him amidst his darkness how greatly he had missed seeing the elfling. Answering the little girl's request, Orophin gathered her into his arms and found her perfectly situated against his shoulder with ease.
His friends' discourse finally reached to gain his focus again and found it at an impasse. "I don't know where she is, Estel, only that she took Tar with her." Aragorn frowned at Anauriel's apparent lack of knowledge and glanced about in frustration before resting his eyes on Orophin in astonishment. It seemed his companion had all at once become the vision of a proud father cradling his new daughter. The ranger took a step toward him in realization of the child, herself. "This is Véredhiel, then?" As he drew closer he could not help his surprise. "By the Valar… She has every look of Gwaeron but for her eyes."
Orophin smiled sadly at the recognition and pressed a hand to the infant's back to hold her nearer. He saw the change in Aragorn's gaze and knew he thought of his sister. "You must go to her, Estel." With a nod, the man stood straight again and turned to leave the flat, finding anyone still out who might have seen the young woman.
All answers brought him in the direction of the few fields of Lorien, and then another spoke that she had seen the girl go to one in particular which held the mounts of the galadhrim. It was this pasture that he found the lone mallorn in the center and a blue haired hound sitting obediently at the rise of a great root from the tree. Startling a few horses nearby, Aragorn ran toward the only evidence of his sister and turned the corner of the tree to find a frail, quivering form curled against the wood. She wept with eyes shut and he realized then that she was sleeping.
Coming to kneel beside her, Aragorn called to her gently. "Gwaeron? Gwaeron, wake up." Tar began to whimper and fidget, but remained at her feet faithfully. The man laid his hands on her shoulder and brow and touched her with care, breathing to himself in sorrow. "What have you done to yourself?" Too many nights of unrest had drawn lines on her face and darkened her eyes harshly against fair skin. Gone was the smile that he remembered frequently danced on her lips, and in its place the expression of an aged pain. "Gwaeron, it's Estel. Please wake up." He begged quietly and saw her at last begin to shift toward consciousness, opening green eyes that had lost much of the vitality he had once seen.
It took a moment for her gaze to focus, and then another to believe the sight they gave her. He smiled encouragingly as her fingers reached up to his grizzled beard and finally took him in. "H-how?" The fragility of her voice only moved him to take her into his embrace and she clung to him with trembling limbs as his shoulder stifled sobs of disbelief. "I've missed you, Estel."
He felt the whisper against his neck and turned to press kisses into her hair. "And so have I. Most dearly I've missed you." Holding her at last, the grief of Gandalf's death and the struggles to keep safe Frodo with the others released through the tears that dewed on his sister's hair. Aragorn let them calm for a few moments' respite before holding her out enough to see the heartache in her look, letting his smile fall at the sight. "What have your visions revealed?"
Surprise filtered through before Gwaeron lowered her eyes from his perceptive gaze and inquired. "Who told you of my visions? I've said nothing but that they are dreams."
The weary ranger sat back and took her hands within his calloused pair, still bloody from fighting his way out of Moria. "Orophin has told me much of what has passed since your arrival to Lorien."
These words brought her head up abruptly. "Orophin?" Her beloved's name felt almost foreign on her lips now, though the elf in question had never strayed long from her thoughts.
"He knows only what Rúmil and Anauriel have told him, I gathered the rest for myself."
Again her eyes dropped from her brother down to their hands brought together, trying to fight off images of Orophin's lifeless eyes and bloodied body in her arms.
Aragorn continued after watching her reaction. "He worries for you… as do I. You are not the same girl I left in Imladris this spring." Carefully he lifted her by the chin to see tear-welled eyes and trembling lips.
"I am not well, Aragorn. I cannot find rest anymore, my mind is filled with him." The woman's voice spilled out brokenly for the hard lump that had formed in her throat and she leaned again into his embrace, finding a comfort in his touch that she could not receive anywhere else.
Softly, he supported her and stroked the curls of his mother that graced her hair. "I will help in whatever way I can, Gwaeron. I swear it." The nod against him spoke that she had heard, but she remained quiet. "I know this vision frightens you, that you do not wish to speak of it… but I cannot help the fear that keeping it inside will only let it consume you." His hand rested as a comforting weight on her head and he urged her gently. "Tell me what you see."
A shaking breath came into her lungs and Gwaeron swallowed past a sore throat before letting her answer pass. "He dies."
With Véredhiel still in arms, Orophin sat on the cot to feed her with a bottle Ana had fixed for him. Keeping one hand on the bottle and the other tangled in his hair, the babe was fast approaching sleep with his loving embrace protecting her. In the room adjacent Anauriel paced slowly with her arms wrapped about herself, glancing out of the entryway every few minutes anxiously. "Do you think he's found her? They've been gone some time now. I feel so foolish for having lost track of her." There was rebuke in her voice as she voiced the questions, asking for some sort of assurance that she had not made a dangerous mistake.
Orophin took a deep breath and followed her gaze to the view out of his talan, frowning slightly. He couldn't rebuke the elleth when he had also been worrying for the past few hours that Aragorn had been gone. "I'm certain he's found her, it's only a matter of where they are." His words reassured her only slightly, and brought him no relief at all.
Sighing, the elleth walked into the room and quietly took the bottle from him when it was plain enough Véredhiel drowsed soundly and had little need of it. "Would you like some tea, Orophin? I think I'm going to make some for myself." She offered in a kind attempt to break the silence of waiting in some way.
The warden shook his head politely and rose to put Véredhiel in her cradle of blankets, situating her snugly amidst the clothing and blankets and smirking when he noticed his jerkin had taken its place in her tiny hand. "I thank you, no. I should be getting on to relieve Rúmil of duty, I'm sure he's wondered where I've gone." It was as he took his leave of the flet that Orophin saw Aragorn walking alongside his sister coming toward them.
At first he could make no move to do anything as he watched his beloved huntress making a weary path in his direction. The moment of seeing her now brought forth like a thunderclap in his ears the reality of his love for this woman. Orophin was so ready to do anything for her, anything that could bring back the life in her veins that seemed now utterly drained.
Gwaeron eventually looked up from her steps and saw him standing on the deck, watching her approach intently. With no warning a lightning glimpse of his dead body formed in her mind, causing her to stumble with faintness before her brother swiftly caught her. Aragorn's arms held her securely as her legs sought to find purchase again and he asked her in concern. "Are you all right? What is it?" Following her line of sight, he realize it was Orophin's presence that had effected this shock and shared an unspoken exchange with his younger sister as desperate tears stung her eyes. Nodding, Aragorn swept her up into his arms and allowed her face to hide in his neck and shoulder as he made his slow progress up the steps to the talan.
Orophin could only stand by and look on as Aragorn passed him with the precious woman held so close. It was like being dealt a blow to the face when he knew that no matter how willing he might be to save her, she was not yet able to let him.
The ranger gave him a solemn look of sympathy as he paused by the entryway, speaking softly. "She is not ready yet, mellon nin."
The elf looked long upon her shattered figure and let his emotional resolution show clear on his face as he met Aragorn's gaze steadily. "I know. Let her know I will wait as long as she needs."
Orophin joined his younger brother at his perch above their guests' allotted quarters, finding that the little ones and naugrim had already made their beds among the mellyrn roots and were sleeping comfortably. Their watch did not include the prince Legolas Thranduilion, allowing his free passage anywhere in the Golden Wood, but the galadhrim kept their eyes on this Boromir of Gondor who alone sat awake. "He's done nothing but set his eyes to the east. I feel a shadow on this man that is more than just grievance for Mithrandir." Rúmil expressed his concerns before sending a wary glance to the elder brother at his side.
"Thus far he has done little but stare eastward, brother, there is no wrong in it." When the younger warden conceded with a nod, Orophin clapped him on the shoulder like he used to do. "Take your rest and go find Anauriel. I will watch them tonight." A cursory look was shared between the two and Rúmil offered him 'good eve' before picking his path back to their talans to do as he was bid.
Several hours passed before at length the lord of Minas Tirith settled into his bedroll and all was perfectly still in Caras Galadhon, only the distant singing of lament and the breath of the forest creating any noise. Orophin's mind wandered until its focus returned, as it always did, to Gwaeron. He couldn't help the prod of jealousy when he recalled how easily she had slipped into her brother's embrace, readily accepting his touch, his comfort. Their separation made him long more than ever to only hold her hand, perhaps finger one of the curls at her shoulder, and the ranger received such devoted affection without ever having to ask.
"Your mind is elsewhere, mellon nin, than perhaps keeping guard over your visitors?" The Mirkwood prince's voice swayed like a young aspen's leaf beside him and Orophin smirked.
"Were you not also elsewhere, Greenleaf? How does your Meldiriel do this late in the evening?"
Legolas grinned as warmth spread to his ears. "She is fair, as always when I come to her in Lorien. A glow surrounds her here that is missed when we are met at Father's courts." The warden only nodded, easily understanding the love Meldiriel held for Lothlorien and certain of her loyalty to its Lord and Lady. The noble elf sighed quietly, forcing himself to be at peace. "It does me good to see her at such a dark time, when shadows grow heavy upon too many hearts." The prince knew not how distinctly his words matched his friend's current state. After another moment's silence Legolas studied his companion and inquired. "And how does your Gwaeron fare, Orophin? Meldiriel told me she is staying here… but I take it from your look that she is unwell."
Orophin chuckled without humor and glanced at the prince before turning away. "You ask the wrong elf, for I am the last to know anything of her these days."
"But you have seen her, yes?"
The warden pinched the bridge of his nose and sought to breathe deeply. "Yes." He swallowed back a hard lump in his throat during the silence that followed, and then broke it in what came out as though uttering an oath. "By the Valar, I miss her so much. I can't even go to her, Legolas… She doesn't want me."
Quickly, Legolas came to turn him back to face him and held him by the shoulders. "You can't know that, Orophin. I'm certain she longs for you as much as you do her. It is not like her to keep away from those she loves, and has loved for so long."
Sagging in resignation, Orophin could not hold tight enough to his hope before murmuring the words matter-of-factly. "She is not herself, anymore."
With significant effort and cajoling on Ana and Estel's part, Gwaeron was at last induced to venture out and meet the fellowship that had accompanied her brother, a valiant effort to take her mind off brutal visions. Bringing Véredhiel turned out to be a hit with the halflings, who were fond of, and much used to the children of their friends and kin back in Hobbiton. Even Gimli felt a soft spot to the babe, such a rare thing among his kindred, and admired her kindly from a safe distance.
"Where do you think Verry's parents were from?" Samwise asked of the lady ranger as he sat next to the squirming baby in Frodo's lap, using the pet name they had formed as soon as the child's full name became too difficult for a simple hobbit's application.
"I don't know exactly, Sam. Though I never saw her mother, her father seemed to have the look of a Sindarin of Lorien, but I did not recognize him…"
"And do you know every elf in the Golden Wood, m'lady?" Boromir's accented voice addressed her from where he propped against a tree, arms crossed with a doubtful tone in his question.
Gwaeron turned to look at him and shrugged slightly, unaffected by the sarcasm he obviously meant by asking in such a way. "Not perhaps by name, but certainly by sight, my lord. You may well be unaware that much of my youth passed in this forest among the elves."
The dare in her answer earned the man's silent admiration and a half-smile briefly lifted the corner of his mouth. At her side, Aragorn watched this exchange warily, edging protectively closer to his sister while something about this 'brother-in-arms' suddenly put a bad taste in his mouth.
The longer she sat among the Shire-folk and their company the more the unstable walls Gwaeron had erected about herself were steadily picked apart to reveal her old nature. Easy laughter from Pippin, and the gentle playfulness of Merry reminded the woman of better times she had started to forget once surrounded her.
After a while, she began to notice Boromir drawing closer into the group and joining in conversation when it involved her, contrasting to the brooding figure he had previously posed. Her reaction to the subtle interest he paid her soon filled Gwaeron with guilt, finding herself warming with his attention. In the back of her mind her thoughts drifted to how she ought to be settling down, finding a good man to care for her and build a family. Orophin should be doing the same. Seeing herself as a woman available for courtship was almost too foreign, she had so long been attached to Orophin that there had been no desire for any other's attention. Gwaeron could not be sure she even desired it now.
Aragorn watched his sister vigilantly, finding those far away eyes being drawn to troubled thoughts, and placed a well-timed hand at the small of her back to silently ask if she was all right. Turning, Gwaeron gave him a nod and understanding smile, moved by the protective nature her brother tended to when they were together. He had been tight since she sat with the fellowship, and the woman gauged his reactions as she conversed more easily, finding that he tensed with every interaction she had with Boromir.
Soon the lady ranger encouraged her brother to have a turn holding Véredhiel and it brought a grin to her face to see his reaction of awe, hesitantly carrying the child as though she were made of blown glass. They shared a wondrous smile as he glanced up and met her eyes and it seemed to ease that tension he had been holding onto. The image he made brought immediately to Gwaeron's mind the similar sight Orophin made, holding the elfling as though she were his own. Unwelcome pain troubled her from behind her eyes and the woman shrank back a little from the scene, putting a hand to her brow and drawing the attention of at least one of the group.
"Are you all right, my lady? Gwaeron?" Boromir's hand touched her arm carefully as he voiced his concern.
This, in turn, brought Aragorn's attention back to his sister and restored the ranger's anxiety. "Gwaeron? What is it?" Speaking her name elicited a wince as she tried to obey by opening her eyes.
The ache now clawed its way past her vision to throb at her temples. "I'm all right." Supplying weakly, she sought to assuage his fretting. "Just a sudden headache."
"You should lie down and rest. I'll take you back to the talan, now…" The worried brother made to stand, but was kept seated by a hand on his shoulder.
"No, no you stay here with Véredhiel and your friends. Please. I can take myself." Gwaeron forced a smile and he conceded reluctantly, watching her rise and slowly make her way. When the ranger's attention returned to the baby in arms, another gaze remained fixed on his sister until she had walked out of sight, the owner of that gaze quietly removing from his company to follow the woman.
Gwaeron moved gradually toward Orophin's flet, focused on easy steps to lessen any jarring to her head, and therefore did not sense the presence of another until Boromir's footfalls were well within earshot. She paused to glance behind her and made a small smile to see him some ways behind her, but clearly in careful pursuit. "You could have asked to walk with me instead of stalking quite so conspicuously."
Quickening his pace to catch her up, the captain bowed his head discomfited. "Forgive me. Would you allow a poor prowler to escort you, my lady?" The man's voice was burly and warm, bringing the familiarities of Men back to awareness and a softened expression to the maiden's face. "Stealth has always been my brother's talent and not mine, I'm afraid. I prefer open battle to hiding among trees."
Gwaeron took his offered arm, finding herself grateful for the stability, and drew an irony from his comments. "What a contrast we make, then, for my skills lie with stealth and concealment." The taller Gondorian looked sidelong down at her, his brow knit in confusion. "I see my brother's not told you I'm a ranger the same as him."
"I was unaware… In fact, Aragorn never made mention of you in our few conversations." An intrigued look crossed his battle-worn face and his next words sent a queer feeling to settle in the woman's stomach. "I should like very much to know more of you, my lady."
In her uneasy silence, Gwaeron broke eye contact with the noble-born soldier and took a breath to sort herself out. Before he could speak again, their attention was turned quickly to the galloping of a great hound straight for them, barking menacingly and clearly aiming for the man touching his mistress. Tar bounded at break-neck speed, ready to tackle the stranger when Gwaeron put out her hand, fingers straight, and commanded firmly in elvish for her hound to halt. The dog silenced and skidded to a stop a few lengths before reaching them, still poised on his haunches, itching and ready to jump the man who dared hold her. In the meantime Boromir had drawn the waist knife he always wore and pushed the weakened lady half behind him to defend her. Almost irritated by such display, the lady ranger pushed down the strong arm holding out the dagger and reproved him. "There's no need for such measures, sir. He's no danger once I give command."
Unconvinced, the Gondorian gestured to the lowly growling hound with blade still out. "I would more easily believe so if the beast weren't making sounds like a warg at my throat."
Brushing past him, the woman moved to her great 'beast' and took his head in her hands to effortlessly calm the dog, waiting until the tail started thumping the ground and his body relaxed. She turned back to her armed escort with a little impatience. "Put away the knife, Boromir."
"You mean to say this is your hound?" Skirting around so that he came closer with the woman still between the dog and himself, Boromir chuckled nervously. "I can see he's well equipped for your protection."
Gwaeron answered that he was and told the captain how she'd been gifted him as a pup from Elrond's son, Elrohir. The tenseness drained after a bit more talk and she began again in the direction of the talan, closely followed by the two males on either side of her that were dubious of each other and more than attentive to herself. Her steps matched the length of the captain's stride and, though she met his gaze but rarely, Gwaeron could feel his eyes surveying her as they walked. Her headache returned to full force when they reached the base of the stairs and she stumbled slightly from the pain, soon feeling Boromir's hand supporting her elbow and his inquiring voice.
Another called to her from behind them, but she could not at the moment move to see its source. "Gwaeron!" It came closer now and soon the woman was traded from one set of hands to another, catching a glimpse of blonde hair before being pulled to this one's chest. "Thank you, Boromir, I'll take care of her. You may go back to the others." She now recognized Legolas as the speaker and immediately calmed in her friend's caring embrace. The prince's voice was somewhat clipped as he dismissed his comrade and pulled her into his arms, mounting the stairs with Tar close on his heels.
Setting her gently on the cot, Legolas sat beside her and asked what he could do to ease her discomfort and was answered merely by having his hand brought to the curls at her crown. They said nothing more as he carded his fingers soothingly through her hair and waited for the pain to pass; Gwaeron with her eyes shut tightly, and Legolas with his keen pair finding every change that had come about in his friend who was as dear as a sister to him. "What has happened to you, huntress? Whatever wounds you have born have made you unwell."
"You have never been in such a place, Legolas… You have never loved someone you could not share your future with, because to share that future would mean their death should they love you in return." The breath she took was shaken with emotion and he put his other hand on her arm to give any strength he could. "I don't see how I can take another, for every man who could show interest would only bring my thoughts to Orophin. I can never be rid of him, and nor do I wish to be."
The elf brought her gaze to his from where it had fallen and spoke fervently. "Have you not thought to yield to your heart's guidance? That its path ends well in your favor?"
A small light flickered hopefully in her eyes before being quickly put out. "In my favor, only. If I should keep him bound to me… he'll die, and it would be my doing." Crumpling to tears at even the mention of such a future, Gwaeron covered her eyes and let herself be pulled again into the hug of her friend.
Legolas cradled her and made to speak his mind, to tell her exactly what she was doing by leaving Orophin, but was stopped by the firm warning of Galadriel in his mind. "No, my prince. It is not yet time for her to receive Orophin's fate and understand the choice she's made."
Sighing, the young royal conceded and rubbed the ranger's back to comfort her what little he could. "When, then? They neither of them can endure this torture of distance much longer. Something must be done, my Lady." He let the words convey his worried urgency as his fingers felt the woman's thinned frame beneath his touch, pain in her every move.
"It will be done. Your concern is rightly felt, but Gwaeron shall come to me soon. This will not occur while your Fellowship remains, however, and that is all I may say." Nodding, Legolas accepted the much wiser Lady's counsel and tried to content himself with the time he spent at her side while he could.
An hour had not passed in full before Aragorn returned to the flet with Véredhiel sleeping easily in his vigilant hold. Legolas greeted him with a nod, pressing a hand to the brow of his own charge who lay in a fitful sleep of her own, and spoke soft words before rising to meet the other ranger. Having only heard of the child and yet to see her for himself, the elf approached with keen interest and smiled at the sight of something so long forgotten as an elven baby. "This is their daughter, then?" His fingers played wondrously at feather-soft curls of their own volition.
Aragorn could not hide his frown at the word. "She is not of their blood, but was found." His correction seemed almost to be ignored as Legolas reached to hold the little one, his eyes never leaving her.
"But do you not see she was meant to belong to them? Your sister's colors and Orophin's eyes could not have been better bestowed upon a child of their making… The Valar have truly given them to be her parents in all but blood." His words seemed to change the man's view enough so that Aragorn's face could not belie his realization. Legolas watched this with a sad smile. "You see? Gwaeron must return to Orophin before another life fades needlessly e'er the end of this war."
The ranger's grey eyes moved across the room to his sister, desperate as they regarded her state. "If you are right, then what can be done?"
Shaking his head, Legolas shifted the babe more securely in his arms. "We can't but care for and encourage her as needed…"
Aragorn fell into a seat facing the woman of his blood, his heart clenching for the inability to heal this hurt that engulfed her. "I cannot sit by and do nothing."
"Your presence, alone, gives her the strength she cannot draw from herself. There is nothing we can force her to understand or change. She must come to it as she is ready, and I believe she's started on the way to doing so. Gwaeron has come to see there will not be a man she can give herself to in Orophin's place."
A quizzical look came from his friend. "What do you mean?"
Finding a seat across from him, Legolas explained. "I met her today as Boromir brought her to the talan, and it was no great task to see the Captain admires your sister. I believe she tried to see him in the light of a potential mate, but could not. Gwaeron spoke to me when I took her inside and said how every feeling another could bring her, only returned her thoughts to Orophin."
"Her heart has long been with Orophin, I can understand her not being able to truly withdraw it again. But her love is too great to let him fade with her death." The clean, but wearied ranger reasoned aloud and sat a moment in silence before realizing his brother in arms had made no response. Legolas' expression bore a shadowed gravity that did not suit the fair prince, causing Aragorn to press him. "What is it, my friend?"
The Greenleaf paused a breath before meeting his eye and speaking plainly. "Orophin is already fading."