A Dying Star (On Hold)

1 - They Came In The Night

Hi! So this is my second FanFiction after "When Two Worlds Divide": please check that out if you enjoy this story, they're both LOTR fanfics! So anyway, the first chapter's from Eldarion's POV and just sets up the scene, most of them will be from Laurelin's. Eldarion's POV is quite simple because he's only about 4-5.

Just for clarification,
Laurelin is Eldarion's older sister, but Eldarion would still be King because he's a boy, and that's how it works in Gondor.

Also please don't be confused: Dari is Eldarion's nickname, they are the same person. His pet name is Tinu (little star). Also Laurelin's nickname is Eli, but only Eldarion calls her that! Ok, so without further ado,
Enjoy...

Dark. Everything in Dari's room was dark when he awoke. His little chest heaved up and down and his breath came in sharp gasps as he recalled he dream he had been having. No. Not again. Please not again. Stop it! He thought as his young mind played the same image over and over in his head. The memory of Alicia's sneering face looming over him, taunting him.

"Scared, little Prince? But I thought royalty were never afraid. Royalty are brave, and strong. But you're not. Stand up and face me, Princeling. Your Ada would be so disappointed if he saw you now." The way she spat the word royalty, and the word Ada, made Eldarion think of the time a fly had flown into his mouth when he was halfway through talking and he had had to try to spit it out and carry on his sentence at the same time. It was as if the words were poison that she had to spit out before it killed her. Dari wished the poison would kill her. Her and her little group of 'followers' as Eli called them. And then he could go off and live his normal life like he had before he had started school.

Alicia was a girl a few years older than Dari, in a different class at his school. She bullied him constantly. She was sour-faced, as if she was constantly sucking a lemon, Dari thought, and her face seemed frozen into a constant sneer. Laurelin had once told him it was because the wind had changed direction whilst she was sneering, and now her face was stuck like that. It had made him giggle, and even now a smile played across his faces at the thought of his sister. Eli was always there for him, and she always would be. Eli always made the bullies go away and leave him alone. Dari sighed and snuggled back against the pillows. Alicia was scared of Eli, and Eli was always there to protect him.

Except last time, she wasn't. Daris breathing sped up again, his heart pounding. Last time, Eli hadn't come to school, Dari didn't know why, and Alicia had come up to him and... don't think about it. He told himself. Just forget it ever happened. Tell Eli in the morning and it'll be ok. Dari never told his parents about Alicia and her friends. They were always busy with counsel meetings, and besides, it would only prove what Alicia had said.
"Run to Daddy, Eldarion." She taunted him. "Run home and cry to him, coward." Dari was determined to prove that he wasn't a coward. He wasn't. So he never told the King or Queen. Only Eli knew. And she had promised that she wouldn't tell either. Content again, Dari lay back against the pillows.

He was about to go to sleep when he heard a noise outside his door. Not a loud noise, the kind that monsters and dragons make, it was the kind of noise that reminded Dari of a mouse, scratching against the door. It was as if somebody was trying to walk along the carpet outside very quietly, running their fingers over the doors. Not sure what to do, and afraid all over again, Dari called into the dark. "E-Eli?" No reply. "Eli? Is that you?" Still no answer. And then the door handle turned, very slowly, and with only a faint squeak. The door swung open, slowly, as if waiting for just the right moment to reveal the figure standing in the doorway. The figure looked like a man, but not one that Eldarion recognised. The man's coppery hair hung blankly about his face, a sallow face with sunken eyes that made Dari think of a skull. His mouth was a thin line and he glared at Dari through bloodshot eyes. Coward. Alicia's Boise murmured in his head. No. He thought back. "Who are you?" He spoke bravely, lifting his chin to glare defiantly at the figure in the door. "Show yourself!" Obediently, the figure produces a torch, and lit it. The flickering light on his face only emphasised his worn features and he smiled a thin, watery smile at the little boy in front of him.

"Hello, Eldarion. Come with me. Come here child. It's alright." Dari wasn't sure, but the man's voice was calm and gentle, so Dari swung his legs reluctantly out of the warm bed and crossed the floor in bare feet to where the man was. "Good boy. Now follow me." The man headed for the exit of the building.
"W-wait for me!" Dari cried, running to keep up on his shorter legs. "Are we going outside? Wait! I need to get dressed!" Darting back into his room, Dari quickly changed into outdoor clothes: a tunic, leggings, boots and a coat. Then he sped back to where the man waited for him, frowning. Glancing up apologetically, Dari continued to follow the stranger out into the cold night air.

He immediately began to shiver. It was cold outside, and snow lay thick on the ground. The stranger patted a horse tied up outside. Dari started at seeing the animal so close to his home. "You're not allowed horses on the seventh level!" He exclaimed, more excitedly than anything. He looked at the man again. "Who are you?" He asked in awe.

"Brinthol." The man replied. His once calm voice was now gruff and inpatient. It scared Dari that the friendly man had suddenly turned so harsh. Brinthol suddenly strife over to him and lifted Dari up onto the horse before mounting up after him.

"Wait!" Dari practically screamed in protest. "You can't do this! I'm supposed to be in bed! I mean, thanks for showing me the horse and everything, but I really have to go now!" He was near panicking by now, attempting to scramble off the horse. He felt more than saw the man behind him sigh.
"I really didn't want to do this..." he said resignedly. And then a damp cloth was over Dari's nose and mouth cutting off his air, forcing him to breathe through it.

Dari's vision swam. He heard Brinthol laugh cruelly behind him as his eyelids shut and consciousness disappeared.

———

When he awoke, Dari's head hurt. It pounded worse than any headache he had ever had before, and he screwed his eyes up against the bright light which was making it worse. When he opened them again, the light didn't seem so bright, and he was able to look around. Squirming, he found that his hands were tightly bound in front of him. His fingers felt all fuzzy from blood loss, like when he and Eli had been playing at capturing each other and she had accidentally tied his wrists together too tightly so he couldn't feel them anymore. But Eli wasn't here to come and untie the rope this time. Instead, face illuminated eerily by the flickering firelight in the centre of the clearing he was lying in, waste person Dari least expected or wanted to see.

Alicia.

So yeah! Bit of an unexpected twist at the end there: even I didn't expect it, it just appeared there on the page in front of me!

Anyway, what did you think? Please comment and VOTE to let me know if you enjoyed! Thanks! Also I've got two stories going at the same time so I might be a bit slow updating! Sorry!