And In The Dawn Save Them

Chapter 7 : Bad Omen

Illustration : The Fellowship of the Ring, film by Peter Jackson

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Alcara and Legolas were able to enjoy their secret love for a few more weeks. Legolas often came to visit her in the evenings, as he spent the day in various meetings and points with messengers, about whom Alcara knew little. Threats were multiplying, particularly around Isengard, Saruman's headquarters. Alcara had told him about the ravens' attack, and Legolas told her that they were not the only travellers to have come across them.

As autumn drew to a close and winter began to arrive - a beautiful, sunny, mild winter - Elrond's council was announced for the following day. They knew it would have far-reaching consequences, and Alcara prepared for the worst. The last royal feast with the delegations was less joyful and more serious than usual.

The night they spent together on the eve of this important council was both the culmination of their passion and their sadness. As Alcara made her way to her room just after midnight, she heard a couple whispering below: leaning over the railing, she saw the silhouettes of Arwen and Strider, standing opposite each other. Arwen seemed to be giving him an object, probably a jewel, which undoubtedly contained magical powers specific to elves. She wished she could cast a spell on Legolas too but reassured herself that he possessed natural abilities far above the average of other warriors. Then she felt a presence behind her and recognised the scent of fir trees and freshly cut grass. Legolas wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lightly on the neck.

"Stay with me tonight," Alcara begged.

"I'll stay all night," Legolas replied simply, running light kisses through his hair.

The next morning, she awoke before dawn. Elrond's council was due to take place in the morning. The pale autumn light was just beginning to dawn. Legolas, lying naked on his stomach beside her, looked like an ancient god sent from heaven. Even in his sleep, he looked like a painting. And she wondered how he could, in the long course of his life, have desired her, without name or origin, and what the meaning of it all was.

Without daring to move for fear of waking him, she looked around her room, still half in darkness. Then she spotted the Autumn Flowers on her dressing table.

Had she been dreaming? Now there were only buds in the vase. But the flowers had opened, and some of them had started to blossom?

Perhaps it was a property of these flowers, in this elven environment full of ancient magic.

Then she remembered why she had woken up: an unpleasant nightmare had been tormenting her. A city made entirely of wood, its walls burning; rows of wounded and dead in a huge gallery of stone columns; an ancestral crypt whose statues watched her by torchlight...

She had no doubt that these dreams revealed her fears of an imminent war. But they were so tangible and so precise... did she, like Boromir, have a message to understand and see them as premonitory dreams?

Legolas opened his eyes and brushed aside her concerns, drawing her to him immediately, as if there was no need to waste time, and the two of them rolled up under the sheets.

Everyone was keen to follow Elrond's council, even from a distance, and groups gathered around the hall, as if to listen to what was being said. But Elvish guards made sure that no-one got through the door. To wait, the delegations gathered to talk. Only three Hobbits remained close to the door, frequently pushed away by the guards, but they managed to slip through several times.