A Dying Star (On Hold)

2 - Eldarion Is Gone

Hello again! Remember me? I'm just that person who writes stuff in bold at the top. Don't mind me droning on here!

Anyway, this chapter's from Laurelin's POV so yeah!
Enjoy...

Laurelin stared in shock and horror at the bed where Dari had been sleeping. The sheets were rumpled and the covers were thrown back, as if her brother had flung himself out of bed and rushed out. Laurelin frowned in confusion. Where had he gone? Usually the furthest place Dari went in the night was her room, but nobody had seen him at all and nobody could find him now. It was as if he had just disappeared from Minas Tirith all together.

Behind her, her Naneth was crying. Her father tried his best to comfort her, trying to hide his own grief at the disappearance of his son. She heard a few phrases such as "We'll find him..." and "He can't have gone far..." but she was only half listening if she was honest. She could feel the hot tears on her cheeks and stayed firmly facing away from her parents so that they wouldn't see. She didn't want them to think about her. She wanted them to think about Dari. Where was he? She wondered. What if he's lost, what if he's scared, what if he's... what if he's- No. Dari is alive. You have to believe that. He can't be gone. Not Dari... he was so young... What do you mean WAS? He is alive. Stop saying things like that. Dari is alive. Dari will come back. All will be well.

Unable to bear it any longer, she suddenly turned on her heel, storming from the room, her head ducked low to keep her tear-stained cheeks invisible to the King and Queen. Pushing past them, she ran at full speed down the corridor, tears in full flow now, until she could not run any further and her eyes stung from crying. Sitting underneath a huge tree in one of the palace gardens, she hiccuped down the last of her tears in between desperate gasps for air.

She sat underneath the tree for a long time. Where are you Dari...? She thought. We need you. Now more than ever. Staring into the nothing that life without Dari had opened up before her eyes, she thought. Of her mother. Of her father. Of her friend, Glassîn. And of Dari. And sitting beneath the arching branches, she came to a decision. She would not leave Dari out there alone.

She was going after him. She was coming to find him. To rescue him.

———

That night, Laurelin lay in bed until she was sure that everybody else was sleeping. Then she silently climbed out of bed, and, grabbing the pack she had prepared earlier, she scribbled a quick note telling her parents where she had gone, and apologising for the suddenness of her departure. Then she opened the window, and, taking a moment to let the wind whisper in her ears and stir her hair, she climbed out.

A huge tree grew beside the window of Laurelin's room. By balancing on the windowsill, she could easily swing into its boughs and clamber down to the wet grass below. The night was cold, and Laurelin pulled her cloak tighter around her. Hoisting her pack onto both shoulders, she padded across the garden, taking care to stay in the deep shadows of the towering hedgerows.

Reaching the gate of the garden, Laurelin slipped out and glanced nervously around. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and the blood rushing in her ears. She took a deep, steadying breath and continued, no more than a shadow at the edge of the neatly paved street.

Unfortunately for Laurelin, there was only one exit from the seventh level of the city. The main gate. Cursing under her breath, she crept closer. As she approached the courtyard, she could make out the skeletal silhouette of the White Tree, and, infinitely worse, the helmed shapes of 4 guards standing completely still around it. Laurelin had no idea why they guarded a tree, because she had never asked. Dari had once though, but refused to tell her. She had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't know either, and was pretending that he did.

She shook her head. Don't think about Dari. Concentrate on getting out of the city first. The guards were close now. Approaching on silent feet inherited by her elvish mother, she hid in the darkness just outside the range of the guards' torches. Carefully, she began the tedious task of creeping around the guards until she was as close to the gate as she could get. Placing one foot carefully after another, part-elvish eyesight focused on the grass, she eventually managed to get around the ring of light cast by the four flames.

Laurelin's heart was racing. She was terrified of discovery, of being brought back into the palace and explaining to her father why she was trying to 'escape', as it would seem to him.

Just as she managed to edge her way right up to the gate, her mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of her family that her foot slipped and she nearly fell, catching herself just in time and cursing quietly underneath her breath.

Mentally, she kicked herself as the closest guard's head turned towards her. She could see his eyes,  bright in the moonlight, straining to see in the gloom beyond the torchlight. Picking herself up from the crouch she had dropped into, she tightened her grip on a large rock in her hand.

Slowly, almost reverently, Laurelin ran her fingers over the rough stone in her shaking hand. Breathe. She told herself. Don't forget to breathe.

Slinking back into the darkness created by the stone wall behind her, she watched as the guard, or rather the guard's torch, for the man himself was shadowed by the flames, moved towards her. Her grip tightened on the rock. This is it. Any moment now. The guard was so close that if she had extended her arms, her fingertips would have brushed his silver chainmail. One more step. She thought. Just take one more step.  The guard glanced around. Stepping forward, he moved his torch over the wall, looking for any signs of what had created the noise. It was all Laurelin needed.

Stepping out of the shadows, she clubbed him forcefully over the head with the rock, letting it fall with the man as he crumpled. As he fell, his grip on the torch slipped, and Laurelin only just managed to catch it in time to prevent it falling to the floor and going out. Then, trying her best to assume the posture and gait of the guard on the floor at her feet, she strolled as casually as possible back to the gate. The guards payed her no heed, assuming that she was no more than their companion returning.

Laurelin breathed a sigh of relief as she skirted the campfire, mimicking the actions of the guard earlier by pretending to search the wall beside her. Skirting the courtyard, she eventually made her way to the gate.

And slipped through.

So yeah that's it. I know not much happened and the descriptions weren't that great but anyway, there you have it. Next chapter will be Laurelin's POV too. Please VOTE and comment of you enjoyed! I love all your comments and appreciate all votes!

Until next time...