Lord of the Rings Fanfic- The Tale of Evelyn

Hope and Love

"Come follow me," Lady Galadriel said, her voice barely above whisper.

Sensing no apparent danger, I took a deep breath and delved into the darkness...

***

At first, I saw nothing. The only thing that I was conscious of was Lady Galadriel walking beside me, her light footsteps making no sound against the forest floor. Then, a bright orb of light danced across my vision, spreading patches of molten silver flitting across the ground. It was then that I felt nervous, even a bit frightened. While it was true that a warrior's heart was supposed to be as hard and impenetrable to fear as possible, the mere prospect of seeing nothing in the sheen of darkness before me, yet seeing everything in the light was enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck prickle with discomfort.

Shivering despite the usual warmth of Lothlórien, I halted as I felt a presence that I hadn't felt for years- a presence that I had once loved and a presence that had destroyed everything that was dear to me. Clenching my fists as the torrent of memories crashed into my mind, I drew the dagger that I had hidden in my braid and brandished it while getting into a defensive stance.

"Show yourself," I hissed, my voice laced with venom.

At that moment, a blinding flash of golden light streaked across the forest, revealing Lady Galadriel, who had a slight frown on her usual delicate features.

"Evelyn, stop," she said, her voice ringing through my ears. Despite myself, I slowly lowered the tip of my dagger until it pointed unthreateningly at the ground. "Don't hurt yourself, Genaveire," Lady Galadriel continued in a softer tone.

Wincing as I heard my name being uttered from Lady Galadriel's lips, I looked up sharply and said in a low voice, "That is not my name anymore."

"No, it is your name, the name that you were born with and the name that will stay with you to the end of all things," Lady Galadriel whispered, her voice as soothing as a mother's kiss.

"That name doesn't belong to me anymore, it is the name of a foolish princess who died because she made the mistake of loving," I snarled, my voice cutting through the air like a steel knife.

"Genaveire, there is still love, still good in this world," Lady Galadriel said, "you just need to look around you."

"Where was the world when I needed it? Where was love? Where was the world when my family were killed? Where were they when my people were killed? And love. Love is just a figment of our imagination. It is not real and goodness had long since passed from these lands," I declared, my voice echoing through the woods.

"If goodness had truly passed, then why are you trying to save Middle Earth?" Lady Galadriel asked, her voice holding intangible curiosity.

Stuttering incoherently, while trying to find a suitable excuse, I finally deflected the question by muttering something else. However, I knew deep inside that as much as I told myself that this trip was just for vengeance, there was another reason, a reason that I could not fathom just yet.

After a brief moment of silence, Lady Galadriel whispered, her voice catching in the breeze, "You are allowed to forgive yourself and move on."

"No," I cried out venomously, my body suddenly consumed in white hot anger, "it is that accursed Aeduinn that is supposed to be begging for forgiveness. He was the one who destroyed everything I loved and cared about. He....

Lady Galadriel interrupted me gently, "You are close to the truth now. You are not angry at Aeduinn, but yourself."

"You don't know anything," I said spitefully.

"I know enough that you blame yourself for training him, for not killing him when you first met him. I know that you are blaming yourself for taking an interest to Legolas, and that you are afraid of loving him because you don't want to be hurt again; that you don't want to have your heart torn to pieces and then mended in a crooked way."

I opened my mouth to deliver a stinging retort, but I couldn't. Everything that she said was right and that was the end of it.

Sighing as I felt the truth hit me, I turned my back to Lady Galadriel before saying coldly, "If you want to mess with another person's life, fine, but don't go poking into something that doesn't concern you."

With that, I rushed out of the forest, while taking a glance at my right index finger which had a silver band encircled around it that shone with the glowing emblem of an eagle- a constant reminder of the fact that Princess Genaveire was well and truly dead.

***

Thank you for waiting for two long months, my fabulous readers! I apologize for the inconvenience I caused by prolonging the wait (I had a writer's block) and for the short chapter. I will try to make it longer next time. Also, stay tuned for the next update which will probably fall on next week on Sunday or the week after that. Please vote and comment!