She was still in the city when the Shadows grew long. While her uncle fell into despair and made the orders, she was the one who carried them out. It was she who organized the evacuation of the people from Minas Tirith. It was she who personally ensured that Minas Tirith was ready for the attack that was sure to come. And when the fallen King of Rohan came, she saw that he was prepared with honor to be placed in the Great Hall. She did not know why she lingered close to the Great Hall, but then she saw the young, uncrowned King of Rohan. Through sorrow weighed heavily on him, he bore it with quiet strength. In the flickering candlelight, she spotted a single tear. But then at the words of her father, the foreign king's demeanor shifted from grief to hope. And that was the only time she saw him display his deeper emotions to her, even if it was inadvertent.
He never told her anything about himself, yet she knew him. Between her own observations of her husband and stories from his friends and family, she knew what he was capable of behind his role as kind, husband, and protector. In their early days as husband and wife, she struggled greatly to be the queen her new people deserved even though her sister-in-law did her best to teach her the ways and words of the Rohirrim. But when she approached her husband with her concerns, he had no words of comfort or encouragement for her.
She did not blame him for his fears, his pain, his brokenness. She understood that Death did a number to his self-esteem as a human. It did take his father, mother, cousin, and uncle. She told him, nay, she promised him that she would never leave him, that she would always be there for him. But she did not know why he would hide from her. He never told her anything, shoring up his emotions behind the calm, courageous mask he always wore. The only emotion that he allowed her to see was anger and indifference. They had their fights, and he somehow always gained the upper hand. And after the burst of anger, he was stone-cold, and she supposed that was the closest she would get to an apology. But on the inside, she screamed for explanations.
It was not fair. She did not know why he hid from her. Was it because he loved her and was scared to show it? Was it because he did not care for her? Oh, how she envied the apparent friendship, the closeness between her husband and the King of Gondor. She envied everyone, for they received smiles and all she received were cold kisses. But with time, she learned to read him despite his mask. She knew that he lied to her all the time, saying he was fine when he clearly was not. She wanted to tell him that he could confide in her, that it was alright to cry. She wanted to tell him that he was built to love, and even though he was broken, that he could try. The first and last time she endeavored to reach past his walls ended horrifically. He did not even bother talking to her for weeks.
It was not fair. He was breaking her. She could not just go off and tell her family about her problems. It was something that she and her husband had to talk about. With each child she bore, she wondered if her husband would even care. She wanted to give up, but then she remembered that she had her children to think of. If she died, who would love them? She doubted her husband would. She had to live for them. She had to show them the love of a mother, even though she barely remembered hers.
Eventually, her children grew up, and they learned of their mother's deep sadness. They saw their father's emotional distance from their mother. They saw he never smiled for her, never laughed, never cried. They saw their mother cry noiselessly behind closed doors. But she never complained. And when they were of age, she told them that she lost her mother when she was very young. She made them promise to never be afraid to cry to the ones they loved, to confide their fears in them.
She told them, "Be kind to those you love and spare them the heartache of seeing you suffer." Then she looked into their eyes, and they saw that she too was broken.
Author's note: It's not my best work, but I like the idea enough to hopefully come back and fix it up. If you couldn't tell, this was inspired by Halsey's "be kind".