Bound by Shadows | Adar x OFC | Rings of Power

Sílmelótë

Eleneth had been escorted to Adar's quarters once more. This time she was not shackled. The fire burned in the hearth just as before. Glûg posted two of his orcs at the door, but this time it felt like a comfort. This time they were there more to protect her, than to prevent her from escaping. The change to finding comfort from the presence of orcs disturbed her deeply, but she willed herself to accept it in the face of the decision she had made to return with Adar. The future was coming to her at a pace and she must focus only on moving forwards, taking what slim comforts and advantages she could grasp. She reminded herself that all she did henceforth, was for the protection of her family and her people.

Her clothes had been laid on the bed, spotlessly clean. She had washed off the filth following her fall from the horse, with water provided in a wooden bowl and dressed. Even though returning to the shadows of the ash cloud had taken something from her, she felt refreshed once more, slipping back into her palest lilac dress, layered with a silvery diaphanous silk. The sleeves and bodice were embroidered in a dark grey with the leaves of the Laurelin, using the finest thread. So fine, the leaves were only visible when the fabric moved.

She turned her attention to the knapsack she had carried through the Southlands for so many months. Tentatively she opened it and removed the items one by one, laying them on the bed. Each item reminded her of the naiveté she bore before her capture. The items felt delicate, as if they too carried the remnants of an innocence she felt may now be lost to her. The wooden pestle and mortar, hard as iron and light as the wind. A collection of unused, silver vials, leather pouches of herbs and seeds brought from her home. A sheaf of rough sketches of tiny buds she had encountered growing in the green-grey darkness. All of these things were infused with memories of home and safety, life and living things.

In the bottom of the bag, she found a silk pouch. It contained a single seed, gifted to her by her father. It came from the Sílmelótë, that bore a huge, hanging, trumpet-shaped, blue flower for a single night, before dying. It was a flower her father had cultivated over many long years and contained the power of hope in darkness, and renewal when hope has long since died. The seed would only be revealed on the day the plant entirely ceased to live. Her father had given her this seed on the day she left for the Southlands. He would believe even now that she was on a different mission to the north, to share healing knowledge with her kin in Rivendell. Eleneth's cheeks felt red hot with shame. She had lied to her family. Her father would have forbidden her from travelling to such a place.

He had given her the pouch and placed his hands around hers, "If you find fertile soil, sow light and renewal, that middle earth might gain goodness from what I have cultivated."

Eleneth held the pouch tightly in her hands now, trying to keep the memory of her father's voice for a few moments more.

The final object was a small, razor-sharp knife, with a shining steel blade, engraved with the words 'estel nárëa', hope is a flame. Eleneth turned the blade over in her hand, relieved to be holding it. She hugged it to her chest and remembered the wooden dagger she had carved to protect herself, which lay on the bed under her old, linen clothes. She took it out and strode purposefully to the fire. She looked into the flames, emboldened by the return of her possessions, grateful to herself for her resourcefulness during her imprisonment. She may have been naïve but this wooden knife showed her determination. She cast the rough dagger into the fire and stood watching it as small flames caught on its handle. Without looking away, she tucked her steel knife into the bodice of her dress and felt more like herself again. The darkness would not take her over. She pushed the deep ache for home aside once more and fixed her mind on the road ahead.

An idea came to her as she looked down at her belongings. The herbs, the pestle and mortar. She was required to attend Adar's speech, but she hoped to have time to do something else before it began, before he revealed the return of Sauron to his troops. Repacking the bag quickly and slinging it across her body, she left the chambers.