The Quest

The Quest: Chapter 9

           

The battle had been won as Aragorn knelt over Boromir's arrow laden body. Although he knew he was dying, he had much more that he needed to say to his friend. Aragorn tried to comfort his dying friend who was insistent on confessing the evil deeds he had committed. Boromir was relieved to learn that Aragorn had let Frodo go alone to complete the journey to destroy the ring.

"Frodo.. I tried to take the ring from him. Forgive me." He cried as he clung to Aragorn, desperate to say his peace before he slipped away. Each word he spoke caused a great deal of pain, his chest heaving from agony and exhaustion.

"The ring is beyond our reach now." Aragorn revealed as he spoke softly.

"Forgive me. I did not see it. I failed you all." He bellowed. Aragorn shook his head as he leaned forward to comfort him, supporting his head with his hand. 

"No, Boromir, you fought bravely. You have kept your honor." Aragorn replied as he moved to try and remove an arrow from his chest. Tears fell freely from Boromir's eyes as the memory of Alannah's battered body came to the forefront of his mind.

"Leave it!" He begged as Aragorn moved his hand away from the wound, also knowing it was too late to save Boromir from death. "Alannah..." He spoke as he forced his eyes to stay open. "I tried to do something most evil to her....." He stammered as he bore his shame. "After Frodo vanished.. I attacked her, I tried to force myself on her."

Aragorn looked away from Boromir as he heard Legolas approaching quickly, no doubt that he was able to hear what was said with his elf ears. Boromir pulled Aragorn closer to him, urgent that he would hear him. "I left her beside the fallen rubble under her cloak. Please find her, tell her it wasn't me. Beg her forgiveness on my behalf.. and Legolas. Tell him. I did not make her my wife by force. Forgive me."

Legolas stood behind Aragorn, looking at Boromir with sadness and anger as he looked around to determine the direction of the statues. Gimli had already took off running to find her as Boromir revealed the location, refusing to leave her alone and injured amongst the uruk-hai corpses. Legolas bolted behind the dwarf, both in panic and relief that she was alive. They reached the hill covered in rubble from the fallen statues and began their search.

It took only a second for Legolas to spot her as she sat on the nearby stairs, shaking as she pulled the cloak tightly around her body. He quickly ran to kneel beside her and grabbed her in his arms, immediately regretting the forceful contact as she cried out in pain. Legolas gently pulled back from the embrace and lifted her chin to examine the extent of damage inflicted on her face.

His eyes flickered over the bruises and scrapes that were already quickly healing due to her elf blood. Her eyes were rimmed with red from sobbing, causing her green eyes to stand out more so than normal. They stood in silence as Gimli approached, shock and sorrow overcoming him as he saw his injured elf friend.

"Thank you Gimli." Legolas spoke solemnly. "Return to Aragorn, let him know we found her."

Gimli nodded somberly before making his way back to do as Legolas asked as well as assist with Boromir's body. Legolas looked into Alannah's eyes before he cautiously pulled the cloak from around her body, to reveal the abrasions around her neck and her clothes in disarray. The dark bruise of Boromir's hand print on Alannah's breast was still visible, bright blue against her fair skin. Her torso was littered in angry bruises, dark blue and red from the repeated blows she received. He made quick work to tie her tunic quickly, protecting his betrothed's modesty even from himself.

"Your wounds will be healed by morning. We need to leave now meleth nin." He pulled her to a standing position and held her by the shoulders as he walked her back to rejoin Aragorn and Gimli, and to prepare Boromir's body for burial. She couldn't bring herself to speak, not even to Legolas as she felt the memory of the friendship she once had with Boromir fading away, now replaced with the nightmare she just lived through. Her heart broke after seeing how the ring had drove him to madness, a shadow of the noble man he had once been. They arrived to the spot they had previously made camp to see Aragorn leaning over one of the boats. When Aragorn turned to see Alannah and Legolas approaching, a worried gasp escaped him as he walked over to her, checking her face as Legolas had done.