DEFINING MOMENT

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

TA 3019

Lothlorien

And so it was with heavy hearts that they entered Lothlorien. They were brought to the Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. Aragorn told the tale of Mithrandir's fall, and again each one felt grief.

The Lord and Lady looked upon each member with grave seriousness, their eyes full of gravity and unease.

"I will do what I can to aid you, each according to his wish and need," Celeborn said, after Aragorn had finished telling of their journeys.

"Even now there is hope left," Galadriel said softly, and her face was filled with a beautiful light. Boromir had never seen such a beauty. Even Elrond's daughter couldn't match her. "Yet this I will say to you: your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while all the Company is true." Her blue eyes gazed deeply into each one's eyes.

Her beauty fell away, and her face was hard as a rock.

In his mind he could feel her saying something to him. Denethor will cause Gondor's fall...Yet even now there is hope left. Boromir felt sweat breaking out on his forehead. It trickled behind his hair into his shirt, for the Lady searched his eyes long and hard. She probed deep, and Boromir feared she'd see that he'd once thought of taking the Ring for Gondor. Shame filled him, and he could bear it no longer. He could endure many things, but the Lady's gaze was not one of them. He broke his gaze and looked away.

He was not the only one. None but Legolas and Aragorn could endure her glance.

Yet the Lady smiled, softness returning to her face. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Tonight, you shall sleep in peace."

Yet that evening, as the lament for Mithrandir was sung, Boromir sat against the roots of the trees of Lothlorien. The Lady Galadriel's words had struck deep in his heart.

Father will cause Gondor's fall? Nay! That cannot be so! The events of the last month had built up within his heart, and he felt sorrow. None of these people were Gondorians, so how could they know his love for Gondor.

Perhaps they mocked him. Yet none of them, save perhaps Legolas and the Hobbits, knew of having a home. As he sat beneath the large branches of the tree, the Elvish lights and water could not suffice. He'd been gone long, and now he wanted to return—to do something—for Gondor.

Why could the others not see that destroying the Ring would do no good? They said it was evil because it was made by Sauron. In Gondor they did not dare say his name. Yet these folks uttered his name with contempt. They said the Ring was evil.

But each time the Ring gleamed upon Frodo's neck, Boromir saw the hope of his country hanging there.

Soft footsteps came upon him. He glanced up. It was only Aragorn.

"Take some rest," he said. Aragorn looked somewhat rested. He did not carry his sword about his waist, and he did not wear his old cloak about his shoulders. "These borders are well protected."

Boromir shook his head. Aragorn would never understand. Maybe he thought it was safe here, for he had been raised by the Elves. "I will find no rest here," he admitted.

Aragorn looked at him.

"I heard a voice inside my head. She spoke of my father and the fall of Gondor. She said, 'Even now there is hope left.'"