Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien. Save for characters that are not in his works.
"Slowly the days turned sour and the watchful nights closed in. Thrór's love of gold grown too fierce and sickness had begun to grow within him. It was a sickness of the mind. And where sickness thrives, bad things will follow."
~Bilbo Baggins
CHAPTER FIVE
T.A. 2767
It was their raised voices that woke her that night. Nuil lifted her head from her pillow and stilled her breathing, to hear them better. But through the stone walls it was hard to hear their words, only the muffled sound of their yelling.
Slowly she crept from her bed to her door, opening it slightly and pressing her ear towards the hall to hear. Nuil knew that eavesdropping was rude and her parents would scold her for it, but she worried. She worried that somehow she was the cause of the yelling. She hadn't done anything naughty, of course. Nuil had been on her best behavior since her little brawl with Dis near the treasury.
" . . . don't you dare blame this on me, Nolen!"
"Ugh! Woman, I know that!" he father replied, his voice barely containing his frustration. Nuil could see light from their bedroom door, it was slightly ajar. "I didn't come here for that!"
"But you did!" Meldamar yelled. "I can see it in your eyes as plain as day! Just like the King."
"I'm nothing like him!"
"Stop denying it! I see it; the way you gaze at everything here, just the mere glance of that blasted gold! Nolen, you know you cannot have it, yet you covet it! Think about our children, it will corrupt them, and they will grow sick! Nuil is only eleven winters!"
"I know!"
"No. You don't. You brought our children here and forced me to come because you left Nuil here, on her own!"
"She was cared for!"
"And Noledhe? He saw it, he told me of it!" Meldamar replied.
There was a tense silence after that. Nuil took a ragged breath, rubbing her cheeks dry from the tears that had been falling from her eyes. Her nails bit into her palms as she strained to hear more. She would not cry, they would make it better.
"Nolen," she heard Meldamar softly murmur, her voice full of emotion. "I see the Gold Sickness in you. I see it in our sons. Our-" her voice broke "-daughter."
"Mel . . ."
"Don't make me lose our family."
oOo
Nuil crept into her brothers room after she knew her parents had fallen asleep. She was shaken by her parents argument. She had heard rumors of gold sickness before. Whispers and nothing more. But never had she known that those words would be used towards her family.
They were sick?
Nuil felt fine. Or at least she did. All she wanted at the moment were Nilwe's comforting arms around her. She was done crying, now she wanted a hug. She wanted Nilwe to make it better. Like he always did.
All four beds were occupied by her brothers, their snores filling the air. Quietly she climbed into Nilwe's bed and curled up next to him. Nuil knew he would wake. She felt him stir and turn towards her. His bleary mumble met her ears.
". . . Nuil?"
She tucked herself to him, resting her head beneath his chin. His hand rubbed her back.
"Bad dream?"
She shook her head. "I heard them. Fighting."
"Oh." Nilwe wrapped her in a hug, making her feel instantly better.
"What is gold sickness?"
Nilwe went stiff and didn't speak for some time, and she waited. He would tell her. He always did. Nuil rubbed the cotton fabric between her fingers, an act of reassurance for her. Slowly his chin rested on the top of her head and she could feel his jaw clenching and unclenching.
"Some call it gold lust," he finally whispered after a long stretch of silence. "When a person wants gold so much that nothing else matters."
"Why do we have it?"
More silence. " . . . when father was given his longevity it came with a price. He would be cursed. Over time, he realized that he desired gold. He was cursed with the love of gold. So he ran from it, made himself a simple life . . ."
"Then why are we here?"
"I- I don't know," Nilwe said in a troubled voice. "But I know that it was not the only curse that our family shares."
"What is it?" she breathed in the fearful silence.
"We age and die when we love. Leaving behind the others who do not."
Nuil was silent, slowly letting his words sink in. She swallowed stiffly. "I hope I never love, and I hate gold."
Nilwe chuckled, amusement coloring his voice, "Of course, Nuil." He kissed the top of her head. "Get some sleep."
Her eyes slid shut and she drifted into dreams filled with her mothers words and her own, mingling into nothingness.
oOo
Nuil sat at the small desk in the corner of the living room, working on writing in dwarvish runes when a knock came on the door. Her head lifted as Meldamar opened the door and let Frerin in.
"Nilwe!" she called.
"Hello there, mimel 'urs," Frerin said looking at her. Nuil smiled at him, as Nilwe emerged from the hall. "Ho! Nilwe, you look exhausted. Shall we postpone our match?" There was a teasing tone in his voice.
"Never!" Nilwe cried, picking up the sword he had left by the door the night before. "I will be back before supper mother!"
Meldamar nodded barely glancing up from the coat she was embroidering. Nuil watched them longingly as they left, her heart dropping as the door was finally shut.
"I don't see why my brothers don't have to learn Khuzdul, like me," she muttered angrily.
"You are still young Nuil," Meldamar reminded her. "It is more appropriate for you to be learning instead of fighting with males."
Nuil groaned, pressing her head into the pages of her book. It was nowhere near as interesting as learning how to properly wield a sword. The history of trade was not very interesting at all. But Nan wanted her to learn it, no matter how boring it was.
"But I'm good at it!" she protested.
"Which means a day of study will do you no harm," Meldamar replied primly. The matter was settled in that sentence, leaving Nuil muttering under her breath and shooting her mother glares all afternoon.
Several days followed in the same manner. It grated on Nuil's nerves, making her angrier and angrier with her brothers each time they left with their weapons to practice. While she was stuck at home studying. To add insult to injury, they seemed to think it hilarious.
The final straw had been at supper, the sixth day, when they had teased her about her work. With the angry injustice of a tormented younger sibling she had burst into angry tears, flinging her food at Nildar, before running to her room. Hiccuping into her pillow as the hot tears poured down her cheeks, both from shame and anger, she heard her door open.
There was a dip in the mattress before a warm hand rested on her shoulder.
"Do not cry, little one," her father murmured. "They only meant it in jest."
Nuil balled her hands into fists. "It's not fair!"
"Nuil-"
"They get to go and practice while I am trapped, behind a book."
"Books are not bad," he reminded her gently.
"I know," she said guiltily.
"I did not know you felt so, little one," Nolen murmured. "Your mother and I do not mean to trap you, merely to teach you. You are our youngest and we are aging."
"Why does that matter?" she whispered.
Nolen sighed, squeezing her shoulder. "One day, your mother and I will not be here to guide you. We are old already, Nuil. We want you to be prepared. We had more time with your brothers, but now we feel our age creeping on us."
"You can't die!" Nuil said, turning to her father. He gathered her into his arms, kissing the top of her head and smoothing her brown hair.
"Shh, it will be alright."
Nuil clung to her father, face buried into his tunic. It terrified her to no end at the knowledge that someday her parents would not be around. They would not be with her, as her life progressed. And suddenly she understood Nilwe's words: "We age and die when we love. Leaving behind the others who do not."
"When mama dies, so will you?" she asked in a tiny voice.
Nolen sighed. "Yes, little one. But we will always be with you, watching always." He kissed the top of her head and rocked her to sleep.
The next day, she went with Nilwe to the practice arena. She almost forgot the worry in her heart for her family, the fear that lingered. But Nuil knew that it would always be there, haunting her. She just hoped that the days would stay bright for as long as possible.
So, it's getting a bit darker. I know not all families are perfect, so neither is Nuil's. Parents fight and there is contention, etc. I wanted to make it seem more believable and real. Also the whole longevity/curse thing does play a major part in this story, so it's not a one time mention. A certain elf played a part in that whole . . . gift.
Hopefully this chapter doesn't repeat itself, cause I was copying something into it and ended up pasting the chapter twice into the file. GRRR. Technology hates me, even my phone. :( I think I fixed it.
IceheartsChill: I can't let go of all the interesting stuff yet. Spoilers! Not quite sure what she is, I keep thinking that she's a dwobbit/race of men thing. She has Dunedain blood. Also now this elf gift/longevity curse. I guess everyone can come up with a name to call it? I listened to that song 'We don't belong' and read the chapter myself, it really does fit! :)
Well, I've been listening to music and watching videos on youtube for the Hobbit. Mostly Thorin, Fili and Kili stuff. T.T My favorite by far is one that I'll leave the link to on my page. So beautiful. The song may become the overall theme for this story, along with 'I would die for you' by Matt Walters.
Read and Review!
~filimeala