Into the West (A Lord of the Rings Fan Fic)

Chapter Twenty Three

Amaruil was restless that day, her thoughts constantly drifting to what Legolas had told her; despite her refusal to believe that it meant what he thought it did she couldn’t help worrying about what he was doing.

Arwen’s words broke in on her thoughts, rays of sun through the clouds of worry which were gathering overhead. “Amaruil, is anything wrong?” she asked, concerned.

“Oh no, my mind is but a little preoccupied,” she replied with a smile. “I spoke to Legolas last night.”

“Are they returned?” she asked eagerly before checking herself. “No, they cannot be for my father would have announced their arrival… It was in your dreams?”

Amaruil nodded shortly, a distant half smile on her face as Arwen leaned forward in interest. Amaruil related the story of what had happened to her oldest friend while Arwen watched her carefully, her long fingers laced with Amaruil’s as she listened intently. “Worry not Amaruil,” she finally said when Amaruil had finished her story. “I believe the same as you – I am sure that my mother’s mother did not mean for her words to be taken that way… If she did then I am sure that Mithrandir would have told Legolas that it was not just a mere message but also a serious warning and if that is how it ought to be taken I am certain that not only is he acting out of care for you but also that he is taking the right path. He cannot shy from what he pledged himself to do merely because he might die.”

“And so you let Aragorn leave,” Amaruil sighed as Arwen shut her eyes slowly, tilting her head forwards and letting her long ebony hair hang heavy in the air like a glistening waterfall.

“I did and every day I consider that bittersweet decision. He would not have stayed for anything though… It is what he was born to do and he must try at the very least. Something about this speaks to my very soul, has lodged itself in my heart and my bones and tells me that this was all meant to happen,” she murmured, staring intently at their hands as if in her mind she could turn Amaruil’s into Aragorn’s, “but that doesn’t mean I do not lament it or the danger it brings upon this world.”

“Perhaps the end is nearing… Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli the dwarf are nearing the South and Gondor and if Frodo and Sam are still going I am sure that they will soon near Mount Doom though what evils they find there are too great to comprehend,” Amaruil said, as much to reassure herself as Arwen.

“They will need all aid available to them,” she replied, “it is a hopeless war we are fighting and Sauron’s forces are great and powerful. I know that many Eldar are going to fight but I fear what that will do to our race if we lose.”

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“Please hîr Elrond!” she begged as he examined her sadly. “All I ask is that I might help in any way possible, like I did before. You know that they will need all the help that is available to them and I am more than willing to do my part.”

Elrond shifted his gaze to the window, silently watching the gentle swaying of the trees as they danced to a tune which escaped his ears; he couldn’t bear to watch Amaruil kneel before him on the stone floor, her dress pooled around her as her eyes welled up from frustration though he knew she would claim it was the gradually brightening spring sunshine which shone into the hall. “I cannot allow you to fight Amaruil, you must accept this.”

“And yet I cannot!” she cried passionately. “Why did you allow me to fight at the Battle of the Hornburg if you will not now let me to fight in ones which are yet more important than that?”

“When I let you fight at the Battle of the Hornburg I was acting merely as your lord Amaruil but now your parents have asked me to fulfil their role here… I have always seen you as another daughter Amaruil but I cannot allow you to go to your death knowing that I had the power to stop it,” he said quietly, his slow words hanging in the air like hovering birds.