Almarëa

At the Reach of my Hand

She blinked a couple of times, waking up with a start. She had not even realized it when she had started to fall asleep, and she forced her eyes to stay open, jumping slightly as she sat up on the couch. It took her a moment to remember where she was, feeling slightly disoriented. She noticed that she had been lying down on the comfortable couch on the Crown Prince's chambers and a pillow had been placed under her head as well as a soft blanket covering her body.

She let her eyes travel across the room. Legolas was nowhere to be seen. The slightly orange shade of the light that fought to filter through the closed heavy curtains told her that it was late afternoon. The sun was barely starting to set in the horizon. She had slept a couple of hours, but not many.

A peaceful silence embraced the elegant chambers, caressing her skin with its calming presence, her hair falling over her shoulders completely still at the nonexistent wind. Arahaelon lay unmoving on the large bed placed in the center of the room. He had not moved an inch since the last time she had seen him. He looked far too pale, eyes closed in his sleep, the slow and steady rise and fall of his chest the only sign that he was still alive. His handsome face was still flushed indicating that the he still suffered from a fever, but to her greatest relief it seemed to have lowered a little.

Tadion sat completely still on a cushioned chair that had been pulled close to the bed. The Prince's head was thrown back in what seemed to be a very uncomfortable way, golden hair falling unceremoniously over his shoulders in disarray of loose silken strands, clear blue eyes glazed in elven sleep. She rose from the couch as silently as she could, taking the soft blanket with her and placing it over Tadion as carefully as possible, the latter not even stirring at the touch. He must have been exhausted too.

For the first time she let her eyes really explore the room, taking in every single detail of it. Everything inside the room seemed to be in perfect order, every single item neatly placed on its right spot. There was a small wooden table with some cushioned chairs in one corner of the room, and she immediately knew from where Tadion had gotten his chair.

The elegant emerald green robes the Crown Prince had worn for the winters solstice celebration were thrown over the back of one of the chairs, where no one had yet come to pick them up. A bunch of unwrapped presents rested over the polished wood surface, their silver and golden ribbons glowing dimly in the faint light. She was painfully reminded that the spectacular celebration had only taken place the night before. It seemed so far away now, so impossible to believe.

She absently walked across he room, not knowing what else to do, trying to be as silent as possible as to not wake up either of her brothers. Both the heavy curtains and the soft covers of the bed where in a dark shade of blue, giving the room an even more serene environment. There was a large wooden bookshelf against one of the walls, but she was not interested in exploring it. She already knew that she would not be able to read any of the books she found in there. Instead, she made her way to the beautifully crafted wooden desk.

There were some pieces of paper spread over its surface, all of them blank, and an exquisite quill lay neatly placed close to one edge of the desk, appearing to be untouched, not a trace of ink visible on it. Her eyes danced over the many tiny flasks of dark ink, the cut crystal of the flasks seeming to sparkle as the light touched them, glittering in silvers and white against the deep black of the ink on their insides.

She let the tip of her fingers fall lightly over the disarray of blank papers, moving them around absently over the polished wood surface. They made a muted sound as they shifted under her light touch, paper brushing against paper. She stopped, her attention suddenly caught by a specific piece of paper. Only one corner of it was visible underneath the other papers on top of it, suddenly coming into view when she had moved the others. A faint dark line was visible in that tiny corner of the paper, the rest of it still buried under the pile of blank ones.