The Unexpected | LotR Fanfiction

Chapter 47

"We're leaving in a week," I said, watching Sunngifu carefully. "All I know is that the group is separating. Legolas is going to Mirkwood and taking me with him. I don't know where the others are going." Although I'm sure I know where. Gondor, the white city.

"We have work to do then." Sunngifu shifted on the couch, her outstretched feet propped up on a pillow. Pregnancy made her feet swell, she claimed elevating them helped.

"What work...?" I asked apprehensively. Despite only knowing her an extremely short while, I liked her. She had a strong will that could knock anything or anyone down. It terrified me.

Her hand fished out her knife, which she always kept sheathed at her waist. She handed it out to me. Naturally, I cringed. And tugged at my sleeves.

Sighing, she stuck the blade in the table, groaning at the strain as she did so.

I close the book I had been reading, deciding to it finish later before sleep. The musty library around us wasn't as big as Mirkwood's, but to my standards (a measly bookshelf) it was still giant. At the center of the book world sat a couple chairs and a couch, encircling a small table. Obviously, Sunngifu had taken the couch for herself, sprawling her pregnant body out. It was a wonder the old fortress had a library at all, although most of the books were on warfare and food conservation.

"Those scars that you always hide, who caused them?"

I started at the question, an unwelcome panic starting to rise. I pushed it down, all the while tugging at my sleeves once more. "Saruman."

She nodded, not seeming to be surprised. "When I was a child, I got bit by a rabid dog. The wound was so severe I almost lost my foot." She pulled up the pant leg on her left leg, revealing a grotesque collection of white scars.

"For the longest time afterward, I was terrified of all dogs. But..." She gulped, and I could hear the sudden strain in her voice. "There was a man, his name Sormer, who cared for those around him. He saw my fear of dogs and brought me to his home. He had a beast of his own, his name Dane. I was terrified and demanded to leave. He let me, but he was persistent. There wasn't a time when he didn't have Dane."

Sunngifu played with the sparkling ring on her finger. "He taught me not to be afraid of an object or animal, but to be afraid of the thing and motive behind it."

"An object or person is not dangerous, it is the intent behind it that is. The dog who bit me was rabid and was not properly cared for, but Dane was raised to be kind."

She motioned to the shining knife on the table. "That blade has many purposes, but it's the person behind it that you should worry about. If you're wielding the blade, it will only do your will."

I leaned forward, outstretching my arm to the knife as I saw the truth in her words. I hesitated.

She's right, I know she is. But every time I saw a knife, Saruman's humming tortured my ears. Every time the blade glinted in the light, my scars itched. I can't do it.

I withdrew, trying not to cringe as Sunngifu sighed. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I did the only thing that would distract her. Even if it was unfair. "Is the man with the dog the father of your baby?"

She nodded, teeth clenched.

"His name is Sormer?"

A terse nod again

"He was a soldier," she whispered. Was.

We sat in sorrowed silence. I was tempted to leave my guilt behind to go search for a book about the strange mirror in my boot. But I couldn't help but to stay.