Promise Me

Chapter Two

Days turned into weeks and the sounds of battle grew louder, seemingly by the hour. Gabriella only opened the tavern for evenings now, and the hours grew shorter with each day. Inventory ran low and vendors could not get any more stock. Not that it mattered much, really. She saw no more than a handful of patrons each evening and usually they were the same people. Most of the families had left. The streets were far more desolate than she'd ever seen.

But not everyone left. Mama and Papa had a fortnight ago, as had Dory's parents and so many of their friends' parents as well. But Dory remained and she and Gabriella stayed together in the apartments over the tavern at night. By day, they worked right alongside the others who'd chosen to remain. Men continued their fortifications, while she and Dory and Ava and the other women of their age were shown how to assist where they could. As the war came closer, more wounded men found their way to Minas Tirith, and the women who'd remained assisted the healers in any way they could. And when night fell, they came to the tavern to forget, if only for a little while.

Gabriella had no head for nursing, nor did she have the stomach, but during the daylight hours, she toiled alongside the others just the same, often fighting off nausea or gagging at the terrible wounds and injuries war inflicted upon Men. At first, she could only just barely tolerate the sights and smells, but as the time ground on, she learned to brace herself, to swallow hard and block the bile that rose in her throat. Dory was a natural, and while Gabriella tried so hard to be like her, more often than not, she had to excuse herself and bolt outside to be sick.

The days themselves seemed grayer. It rained more often now, the skies heavy and black as if they held all of the sadness in the world, only to find they could no longer contain it and so had no choice but to rain. The air felt as leaden as the skies, pressing in on all sides and Gabriella found herself wishing for just a hint of sunshine to break through, to offer up a pinprick of hope in all of the gloom.

"Gabby? You've a letter."

She spun around as Ava wove her way through the crowded Great Hall to press the creamy ivory missive into her hand. "A letter? From whom? How did it get here?"

"A rider brought it, and two wounded men with him. I don't know who it's from. I suppose you'll learn that when you open it."

"Thank you." Gabriella offered her a smile even as she rolled her eyes. "I thought perhaps the rider might have said."

"No." Ava's dark curls bounced this way and that as she shook her head. "All he said was that he was from Rivendell."

"Rivendell?" Gabriella's heart gave a mighty leap and her smile grew genuine. "There is only one person who would be writing me from Rivendell."

"When did you meet an elf?"

"Never you mind. Excuse me." Gabriella hurried away from the Great Hall, out through the back door to the small garden where the herbs were all grown. Her heart hammered against her ribs so hard, black dots danced before her eyes as she stared down at her name in elegant script across the front of the letter. The red wax seal bore an equally elegant R and crumbled as she carefully broke it.

The paper was heavy and creamy, ivory and blue, with the same R as the wax seal, and her eyes misted over.

A low marble bench stood just under the overhang, so she sank into it, taking care to keep the letter from getting rained on and ruined when she unfolded it completely to smooth against her lap.

"My Dearest Gabby,

"I'm here now, in Rivendell, and it's too quiet. But that won't last, as we've been summoned to a council to convene in the next hour or so and since I have no idea when I might have this chance again, I thought I'd just let you know I am thinking of you. Perhaps more than I should be, considering what lies ahead, but I cannot help myself. You are, as always, the first thing I think of when I wake and the last thing I think of when I go to sleep.