The Odyssey of the daughter of the forest

Chapter 26 : The Enemy's Eye

Even if she was sleeping, she could feel the warmth of the fire in the middle of the room, where she had spend the night. The evening before, Eowyn had asked her if she wanted to sleep in the great hall with her, and she had immediately accepted, rather than sleeping in another room, among men she did not know. She could not have sleep with so many unknown people around her, in particular after the big feast they had had, where alcohol had been well poured. So the red-hair elf had slept in the throne  room, wilderness at that time, with the young rohirrim, still sleeping on the other side of the fireplace.

She turned, and the blanket that covered her slipped a little, but she did not get it back up, because she almost did not feel it. She was not entirely conscious. The elf was still prisonner of sleep. And she was not going to complain : she had spent too many sleepness nights in the quest, not to enjoy this one. And, this time, Gimli was not on the other side of the fire, breaking the silence with his noisy snores.

Someone entered the room, someone who was very light, or very discreet. Or perhaps both. He walked into the hall, and Tauriel heard him revive the embers. Then, the person came closer to her and got up the blanket on her shoulders, before letting on it a phantom touch. The hand was leaving when Tauriel caught it with alacrity. This hand was warm and soft, and a thumb brushed her palm.

''Sleep, Tauriel'', whispered a voice she could recognized among hundreds. ''It is still night. Sleep...''

Slowly, she let the hand go, and burrowed her hand under the blanket. Yet, Legolas did not leave immediately. He leaned and laid a kiss on her forehead, pushing back carefully her red-hair behind her ear. Did he think she was sleeping ? Without a doubt.

He finally stepped back, and walked toward the gate that led to the blacony of the room. When she heard the sound of the gate, she opened her eyes, and saw the svelte figure of the blond elf leaving without noise the place, like a shadow. But for her, he was not a shadow, but a true light shining in the dark night.

**********

When she woke up the second time, she immediately knew she would not sleep again. So, throwing swiflty a look at Eowyn who was still sleeping, she pushed the blanket that covered her, and sat. She made her braids, then stood up, stretching out in silence. The elf put her boots on, took her cloak and walked to the gate that led outside. Without making any noise, she went out, befire closing the door behind her. She did not take her dagguers, for the first time since at least a hundred year.

The wind instantly met her skin as she leant against the wood of the gate, watching the landscape in front of her. Rohan plains were standing in the darkness of the night, the sun still hiding for some hours again. The view remembered her the ones she had seen, ten years before, as she was travelling until the lower nooks of Middle Earth. A nostalgic smile reached her lips.

Sighing of well-being, she let her gaze divert on the left, and then, she saw him. Covered with the same cloak than her, that came from Lothlorien, he was looking the Rohan lands in front of him, unmoving in the night.

As quiet as possible, she came closer to him, by her elvish gait. Her feet just gazed the ground, so she quivered when his voice broke the silence.

''The stars you like so much are veiled, Tauriel ''.

Surprised, she looked up, and indeed, saw they were vanishing under a thick and dark grey mist. Only the moonlight was passing through these clouds, that obviously came from east, from their enemy. She could still remember the clear nights, in Mirkwood, when she was a child, and when the stars were well visible. She hoped that, one day, the stars will shine again, free in the sky of Middle Earth.