Eternally Bond

Broken Man

26. Broken Man

The Evenstar pendant plunged towards the floor and as it hit the ground shattered into a thousand shards.

Aragorn numbly watched the shards as the glow from them slowly faded and they became dull and still on the cold floor. He hesitated a few seconds before he knelt down and reached out with a trembling hand towards the remains of his Evenstar.

The light of the Evenstar does not wax and wane, Arwen had told him once. Her voice then had been strong and filled with patient love for him. A hope of tomorrow had still burned strong within her, but now that hope lay smashed on the floor before the former ranger.

Though he did not wish to grasp what must be the truth, Aragorn still could not trick his mind. The Evenstar was broken. There was but one reason for it to break, and one alone. What Sauron had showed him within the Palantír had been the simple, painful truth; that Arwen was dead.

Aragorn felt his throat clog up as he tenderly reached for the largest shard among the rest. His hand gently lifted the centerpiece of the former gem and his fingers caressed it as if it was the only thing that remained for him. He feared, in fact, that it was so. And somewhere deep inside his heart, he could feel her absence. He felt alone for the very first time since meeting his beloved all those years ago.

As he sat like that he distantly acknowledged the patter of swift feet coming closer towards him.

"Aragorn!" he heard a voice behind him and without turning he knew it was Legolas who had come found him.

The man closed his eyes tight as he rose from the ground and, with his back still to the elf, clutched the small stone close to his heart.

"Her time is almost at an end..." Legolas breathed and the pain was evident in his low voice.

His words, however, were exactly what the former ranger had expected and feared. Without saying anything, Aragorn turned to face his friend. His eyes met Legolas' for a mere second before the former ranger rushed past the elf with the fear of his heart sounding in the same beat of his feet across the ground.

--

As he hurried through the Houses of Healing once more, Aragorn was barely aware of the healers' silence and gloom. They all kept a respectful distance from the man they one day would call king as he walked past the beds filled with patients who could but offer him looks of condolence.

Without thinking about his path, he found his legs carried him down the corridor towards Éowyn's chamber and as he rounded a corner, time suddenly seemed to slow down.

Everyone in the room turned towards him as he entered the crowd. Tears streamed down some of their faces as they all stepped back to let the man pass through. All of this, Aragorn was unaware of for his eyes had rested on Arwen's still form the second he had entered the chamber.

He felt his heart constrict at her innocent, breathtaking beauty which she preserved even in death. Her skin and full lips were ashen as all of her elven glow seemed gone from her. Her long raven hair stood in stark contrast to the paleness of both her skin and the sheets upon which she rested.

The man released a heavy breath as his feet slowly moved him closer towards the bed. With each step, he felt his heart slow until it came to a halt as he stopped by her side. Éowyn stood from the be and moved aside in silence while tears streamed down her cheek. Faramir gently reached for her and the shield maiden stepped into his waiting arms and sobbed.

Aragorn kneeled down on the ground by the bed and cautiously placed both of his hands on the sheets next to his beloved. He exhaled once more and then placed one of his calloused hands atop of her cold one.