Eclipse of Hearts ✔

Epilogue II • Seven years later

Without seeing anything he looked over his shoulder when he heard branches snap. His heart pounded in his throat until he heard the whispering of her wings. 
It had been days ago since she had left him in the woods and just as every time before he had been afraid she wouldn't return. Groping the way he found a tree and helped himself on his feet. He felt a vibrating heat when he turned his face toward her and humbly he bowed his head. "Mistress," he mumbled. 
Instinctively he shrunk  when her fingers fondled his hair. It gave him a deceptive trusted feeling. 
"I have a task for you."
Vaughn felt an almost childish proud in his chest. He wanted to make himself useful. He wanted his mistress to share her sight with him, so that he would be redeemed from the anxious darkness that always accompanied him. Since the moment that cursed elf had stabbed a dagger in his head his world was folded in black. If it had been up to him, he wouldn't have had a world at all. Actually he had embraced his fate, until someone had lifted him up from the ground and took him with her. Later he found out it was Oakenshield's daughter and since that day fear and respect competed in his thoughts. 
"Your wish is my command."
"I think it's about time you will apologize to your sister."
Her voice sounded so cold that his lungs seemed to freeze. Did she want him to visit Aymara? He knew his mistress did not tolerate objection and when he did not obey, he was doomed to die. That was a simple fact. He would never be able to find food, and he did not even know whether there was a village around. He knew nothing, only the things his mistress shared with him. 

He knew how things had changed for his sister the last years. His mistress had shown him, giving him no room to close his eyes. She was one of the dwarfs who lived in the elven city now, last year definitively. Four years she had been close friends with a dwarf who should have been dead. Then their friendship had grown into something more. First they had carefully held hands, his sister unsure because she thought she would fuck things up.  With sweet words - that had made Vaughn feel sick - the dwarf had won her over and in the end they had shared a kiss. First one, later more. 
His mistress wanted him to see everything, ever intimate moment they had, in which his sister shared her bed with a man without her face being drawn by fear. The dwarf had been so patient with her Vaughn doubted he really was a man. Only after two years Aymara dared to reveil her body and since then they could barely stay away from each other. Vaughn envied him, for he really wanted to satisfy his own longings. His mistress would not allow him to be ever with a woman again. He knew she only wanted to torture him, but he believed she was the most powerful creature in Middle Earth and he could think of no one he rather served. 

With help of the sight of his mistress the dwarf entered Chyndall. He had never been here before, although he knew the city thoroughly. His mistress loved to look around and sometimes she shared her view.
The impressions he had to process made him feel dizzy. Although he had lost his own sight, that of his mistress was way over his head. She could look right through walls, nothing escaped her eyes.  There were so many images his head hurt, they fluttered around without having any connection. He looked at the ground and followed the road, that brought him to a house that stood at the edge of the forest. There were more houses like this, with small rectangular windows and dark walls. 
Bofur and Aymara were not the only dwarfs who lived here. Hesitantly more men and women had joined the kingdom when it turned out elves and dwarfs could live together peacefully. 
It had surprised him Aymara wanted to live near Oakenshield, since she had no good memories of the man, but after having lived elsewhere for years, she had returned. Undoubtedly because her lover had in the past a good understanding with Oakenshield from which he wanted to take advantage now. 
Vaughn stopped before the right house. Aymara sat behind the table with a cup of steaming tea in her hands. Bofur sat in front of her, telling a story that made her smile. Vaughn never had seen his sister smile and he stared at her, until he realized he didn't like looking at her. He knocked on the door and the smile disappeared from her face. Right through the door he saw her coming closer. Would he get the chance to say anything? He had often lied to her, and he hope she did not see through. His mistress wouldn't like that. 
When the door was opened and Aymara stared at him, he didn't know what to say. He had not prepared an apology, but he realized now he had only one chance. Her eyes were enormous. Bofur stood up from his chair and walked to them. 
"I... I thought you were dead," she stammered with a pale face. 
Vaughn looked at her pretty face, just as beautiful as it had always been. Automatically his eyes slid down, but as soon as he tried, he got the feeling to choke. His windpipe was squeezed, and the feeling only disappeared when he looked at her face again. His mistress saw everything he was seeing. 
"I can't die without having apologized," he spoke. "I know it won't help you, but I still feel the need to do so. I have never been a brother to you and I never will be." His sight started to blur and he started to panic. "I'm glad you are happy now, Aymara. Ik hope you always will be."
She said nothing. 
All he was seeing, was a veil. He noticed a dwarf who was sleeping two houses further ahead and an elf who passed by, singing. His concentration was gone and he felt dead tired. 
"I want to tell you that you don't have to be afraid  anymore," he said. "You will never see my face again and my mistress - my mistress punishes me for my crimes."
He did not know if he had wanted to say those words himself or that his mistress had laid them in his mouth. He did not notice that he said goodbye and stumbled over the road, to the cave his mistress pointed him too. He walked forward as a tame sheep, ready to be fed and coddled. 
As soon as he got there, his world became dark again. Exhausted he fell on his knees, panting from the strains he couldn't even remember anymore. 
"Well done," sounded the voice of his mistress. 
The words did not reach him. Only her scornful voice, that sounded so much like his own voice - all that years ago - that it made him even more short of breath. 

Note: mistress is meant in the context of a female master, not as a lover. If somebody knows a better word, please tell me. I can imagine it is confusing otherwise. :')

Well, this was the end of Eclipse of Hearts! Thank you for reading. For the ones who gave votes or brightened up my day with comments: I would like to give you a virtual hug! 

If you want to read what Niamh's life is like: I will start her story soon. You can find it on my profile. It's called "Creature of the Night - LOTR". The story will be shorter than the previous ones (40 chapters). Hope to hear from you there! <3