The Wind Fell Silent

7. Eyes Turned Up

Third Person

The room that Arenna was given was, true to the style of Rivendell, beautiful. However, upon her arrival she paid no attention to the open terrace, or the white flowing curtains, or the intricate silver design on the wall. All Renn had the energy to do was collapse on the ridiculously comfortable bed and fall into a deep sleep. But her sleep was not peaceful, she had one of her all-too-familiar nightmares, or as she called them, memories, for much her past was filled with many terrors.

Renn's Point of View

My dreams were tortured, as they often had been. I woke crying, drenched in sweat. It had been thirty-three years, and still I was haunted by the memory of that accursed day. The blood splattered forest floor, the cries of my little brother, and the absence of the wind.

I laid in bed for a moment, breathing heavily, trying to calm my racing heart. Eventually, I calmed myself down, and decided it was time to get up. The nightmares had become more frequent since Dishna's departure, and I wondered if she was getting them too.

By the looks of the sun, which was visible through the balcony, it was late afternoon, nearly evening; dinner would be held soon. I really didn't feel like getting out of bed, but the thought of food drove me to pull back the fluffy blankets and slide my legs onto the floor. I was reminded of my idiotic stumble, when my ankle started to protest the weight that I burdened it with. Though it was sore, I could now walk on it, "Must not have twisted it too badly." I thought to myself as I limped towards the bathroom, wiping the tears from my face shakily. I ran myself a hot bath in the bathtub, if that in fact is what one would call it. It was really more of a pool, positioned in the middle of the bathroom. It was large enough for a full-grown elf to paddle around in it, but for one as small as I, it may as well have been a lake. I stripped out of my dirty clothes and left them in my room to be washed, before submerging myself in the clear blue water.

Once clean, I wrapped myself in a towel and went to find something to wear. My traveling clothes had already been taken to be washed, so I went to my bag to get my change of clothes, only to find that they had been taken as well. This annoyed me, but I had to admit that they could use a good cleaning too. I went to the wardrobe, and found dresses that would fit an elfperfectly, but were far too large for me. I started to panic when I saw a pile of clothes laid out on the bed, all my size. I was at first relieved to find that I indeed had clothes, but groaned when I learned that they were all dresses. Women in Valitura did not wear dresses, we wore clothes similar to those that the men wore, tailored for a female body. I found the entire notion of dresses peculiar, and did not understand why someone would wear clothes that only encumbered them.

There were three dresses for me to choose from, all different colors and styles. In the end, I chose the green dress because it was the only one that would cover my entire back, I thought it best to conceal my insignaterra for the time being. There had been no discussion about my "spritely abilities" since the day with the leaf, it had become something that everyone was painfully aware of, but thought it far too awkward to discuss; I thought that flaunting the sign of the Kemen'lios would only make the group wary of me. I struggled with it for fifteen minutes before I figured out how to put it on. I was not pleased about having to wear the dress, to say the least. I peered into the full length mirror, making sure that "The Mark of Yavanna" as it was called in the days of old when sprites still roamed Middle Earth, was well hidden. The dress clung to my body a little too tightly for my liking, but I had nothing else to wear, and I was starving. I, true to habit, left my hair down, having long since given up trying to braid my wild hair, it was thick, wavy, unruly and was impossible to work with. With one last displeased sigh in the mirror, I limped from my room in search of the others. The dress was long and had a flowing bottom, making walking difficult. I kept tripping and stumbling, my hurt ankle did nothing to aid my already graceless bearing.