6) Liaisons – Year of the Sun 60 Yávië (Fall)

Fëatur

Checking his surroundings, Fëatur moved cautiously into a cave. He was truly afraid, being so close to the lands of the enemy. Angband was less than a day's ride away. He glanced one last time at the orange glow and fumes rising from the peaks of Thangorodrim before he pressed forward. A lump formed in his throat. The Dark Lord was ever full of deceit and traps. "Mandos, protect me," he whispered as he rounded a corner into a wider chamber. Though it was entirely dark, with his elven sight he saw a woman sitting on a wool blanket.

"Were you expecting someone else?" she said with a hint of sarcasm. She lit a candle with the tip of her finger. The glow illuminated the beauty of her face, heart shaped with large warm brown eyes along with her dark brown hair and reflected off the golden trim of her blue robe. "I see you got my message."

Fëatur gasped in relief. "Yavëkamba!" he exclaimed. "I cannot express how worried I was." His fatigue fled and he felt elated.

She patted the blanket beside her, and he came and sat. "I knew you were still with me," she said with a tone of hope. "I got your parting message in Angband, and I feared the worst, but I knew. I am glad for the mercy of Mandos. Your former comrades still believe you to be dead. That has some advantage."

"I will take what advantage I can, Yavë," he said as he stroked her cheek with his fingers. "I have missed you. It has been too long." An almost forgotten feeling filled him with a rare joy.

"And time grows short." She took his hand in hers and a grave look came over her, the earlier smile fading away. Her soft brown eyes bore into his, letting him know how serious she was. "The Dark Lord's plans move forward, and he has tasked Ardana with orchestrating the destruction of the Sun and Moon."

"What?" Horror filled Fëatur's face. "How is that possible? Such a thing cannot be possible." He hoped that she was joking. He looked again into her eyes and knew that she wasn't.

She squeezed his hand tightly. "I have seen it, Fë. Morthaur found many of Fëanor's gems that were consumed by Ungoliant. Now, they are things of darkness. With the blood of a Vala in sacrifice, he can unleash the power of these gems to destroy any light. The world will fall into darkness."

"I always knew that Ardana was obsessed with the stars, but this is…is unbelievable." He put one hand to his lips. This was a horror beyond imagination. "She has become a monster, just like her master. But how…how will they sacrifice a Vala?"

"It is happening as we speak, Fë," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Ardana will bear a child of Morgoth. Half Vala, half Noldo. The child's blood will be the catalyst. I do not know how to stop it." Her voice trailed off and he knew that she felt helpless.

Fëatur tried to rise, he needed to fix this now, but she held him back. "I have to…I have to stop it," he said in a voice full of urgency. "We cannot let this happen, Yavë."

"You'll never make it back into Angband. They would kill you for certain this time." She pulled him back to her. "There is no way in."

"There has to be," he said emphatically. "There has to be."

She cradled his face in both hands and gazed into his eyes. She stroked his golden hair with her fingers and then mused for a moment. "You really do look exactly like your sister. Same eyes, same nose, same mouth. Remember how you two would pretend to be each other for the amusement of Melkor? I…I have an idea." A knowing look crept across her face.

"I see where you are going. I cannot believe I didn't think of that before, but then, I have you. Do you have a plan?" He knew where she was going, and it gave him a sliver of hope.

She shook her head. "Not yet, but I will," she said with a sigh. "You know what I mean, but for now, I just want to enjoy the time that we have together." She undid her robe and pulled it off and then laid down onto the blanket. "We will think of something, Fë."

Fëatur took a deep breath at the sight of her lithe body reclined upon the blanket and he drank in the beauty of her form. As evil as he had been, he hoped that there would be some small measure of peace and joy in his redemption. He closed his eyes and smiled for a moment before lying down beside her. He traced his fingers along her chin, down to her neck and she smiled back at him. Even a moment away from the impending horror would be a blessing. "You must be careful," he whispered in her ear. "I cannot lose you. You cannot give them even a hint that you are helping me."

She undid the laces of his pants. "I could not bear what I was hearing from the Dark Lord. We were both deceived by honeyed words. All he desires now are chaos and destruction. I will embrace any doom that awaits me if I can be with you."

He took her with a passion born of love, hope, guilt, shame and fear all at once, wishing he could stay in this moment forever and forget his oath to Mandos. If only the world would fade around them, leaving just two interwoven souls in a cave without the weight of the world on them.

As he lay in her arms, stroking her hair and inhaling her scent, he whispered, "I don't deserve you…deserve this. I did so much wrong. A hundred lifetimes won't make up for my misdeeds."

"Nonsense. We both fell for the lies, but we realized who the Dark Lord really was. I was just as swayed as you were. He would make the world great. He would make us great. We would live in a pure land, one that we held dominion over. All of it, lies," she said with a hint of disgust, her lips pursed and her nostrils flared. "The Dark Lord cares only for himself. We are just tools for his dominion."

Fëatur nodded reluctantly. "As always, you have some wisdom. I will think on this. And, I understand what you were saying about my sister. Is she too far gone to reach?"

"I believe so. She is cruel and truly believes in the words of the Dark Lord. I would not try."

Fëatur turned his head down and sighed in resignation. "I was afraid to hear the truth of that, but I knew it in my heart. Maybe there is a way to prevent the birth of this child?"

She shook her head. "I fear not. Ardana will be guarded day and night. The Dark Lord has tasked one of his balrogs to watch over her. But there may be a way to remove the child so that Morthaur's plan will fail. I will not be party to the murder of a child, no matter who the father is."

"I'm listening."

"I'm still thinking," she said with a hint of playfulness a half smile returning to her lips. "But you should know that you have other allies in the south. They are called the Three of Ty-Ar-Rana and the Dark Lord names them as his enemies. If we can somehow take the child, they could hide and raise it in secret, far from the north and the power of the Dark Lord. I will tell you how to contact them but remain in the north for now. I will have a plan by the time Ardana shows."

"If it means that I can remain near you, I would camp in the shadow of Angband."

"That won't be necessary," she said with a chuckle. "I will contact you in the way that we had arranged. We will need to change our methods after that though."

"Wise as you are beautiful," he whispered sleepily, and they both drifted off into a blissful meditation, immune to the horrors of the world.