Star-Crossed

Chapter 27

Mahal I love elves she thought to herself. She picked the tray up and set it gently on the surface of the water, it floated, of course, it was wood. Beuren took a small vile off of the tray, again wetting her hair, she massaged the foaming soap into her scalp. Washing it out, she smiled at the strong scent of lavender.

She sat lazily in the pool for a long while after words. Beuren slowly raised her gaze upward. The stars they were significantly brighter here. A smile tried to pull at the corners of her lips, but as soon as she fully turned her gaze towards the sky, images raced through her mind. Thorin, how utterly furious he was, how he’d told her to leave, the pure venom in his voice. She looked once again at the water, there she saw him again. Pushing the water away from her, she watched as the reflections disappeared with the swirling water.

She leaned back, covering her mouth with her hand to silence her weeping. It took longer than it ever had to calm herself down. But, then, it was the first time she’d let her mind wander like that in many months. It was then, that very second that she vowed never again to stare at the stars, from that day forward she simply went as Beuren. The only person who seemed to remember her as Elendil was Thorin Oakensheild, and Gandalf of course, he wouldn’t take her just as Beuren.

Six years later…

“It has been a long time brother; she has probably long forgotten us now.” Fili said, strapping his boots on while his brother stared out the window, frowning.

“I know, but, she did say she’d come back. You were there, you remember.” Kili replied, tightening his belt.

“Kili, it’s been six years. And let us not forget why she left.”

“Because our uncle is an ass.”

“What was that?” Thorin asked from the doorway.

“Nothing.” Kili mumbled, pulling at the top of his boot. Thorin turned and started back down the hall.

“Hurry up!” Thorin barked.

“Besides, she’s probably married with ten little ones of her own running around by now. She always did like kids.” Kili’s jaw dropped. He reached for his brother’s arm, but only caught his sleeve.

“I-I-It… it…” Fili looked out the window. His eyes widened, no…just, no.

“I-It’s…”

“Beuren.” Kili whispered. “She’s here. I told you!” Kili whisper yelled.

“I say we take off training.” Fili said.

“Look she’s going into the woods!” Kili added. They looked at each other, smiled then took off down the hall.

“Took you lon…” They ran past their uncle leaving him to dive out of the way. “OI! Where are you going?!”

“Be back by supper!” Kili yelled. They bounded down the stairs. Once they reached the main level of the mountain they raced towards the forest. But when they reached the tree line there was no sight of her, a note, however, had been left.

Fili and Kili

Forgive me, I could not stay. It would bring too much danger too close to you for my comfort. Do not worry though, the enemy does not know I am here, they think me off in the Misty Mountains. Though, I fear that illusion will soon fade. They are getting closer.  Any who, on a lighter note, I hope you boys are doing well. I brought gifts. Look for the fallen tree in the widest clearing. They are in the trunk of the tree, can’t miss them. Send your mother my love. I hope to see you soon, though do not count on it.

B

The boys frowned. They’d just seen her, where could she have run off to? With a shrug Fili started forward, ducking into the forest. It took them a while, there were several large clearances along the way, but only two with a fallen tree. There they found their gifts.

For Fili, a collection of throwing knives wrapped in a thin layer of brown cloth. He took each one out, examining it expertly. Beuren had taught him to throw knives; he had gotten quite good at it. With her gone, he now lacked the proper teacher; he would have to take up where he left off, which wasn’t too bad. The hilts were all clearly made of some sort of bone. They had been left in the sun to whiten he guessed. The blade of each knife was decorated, engraved with different runes, at the very bottom of the hilt was a little star, he smiled and gently ran his thumb over the mark.

As for Kili, he was left with an even more glorious weapon. A bow. It was thin, clearly handmade. Several arrows had been carved out of a pale wood of which Kili could not name. Stone arrow heads and the soft eagle feathers at the end gave the arrows a sort of vicious look. The bow however was smooth as bone, and etched with different symbols and words he was unable to understand. They were beautiful at that, but his most favorite was the simple little star. He rested his thumb over top of it when he shot, gave him a bit of luck he always joked.

The brother’s examined their weapons, both awestruck by their simplicity yet respected their lethality. Fili wanted to see if Kili could shoot the bow, though he also wanted a turn. There was no one in Ered Luin that could match the level of skill Beuren had with a bow. Her legacy lived on in everyone’s mind, and now, Kili would be her prodigy.

Fili carved out a target in the trunk of a tree with a blunt knife he had on his belt. With a nod Kili took aim. The eldest brother stepped back behind him, assuring his safety. With a deep breath-just like he’d seen Beuren do on many occasions-he let the arrow loose. His arm jerked sideways to avoid the arrow from touching it, though that only worsened his aim. It hit a rock shattering into splinters.

Young Kili winced, and then glanced back at his brother who was stifling a laugh. Kili strung another bow, stiffly taking aim. He let the arrow fly, it stuck in the wood… well in the tree five yards behind the target… but it was progress, sort of. He sighed and looked down at the bow. Kili let his mind wander to his aunt Beuren, what did she do that he wasn’t? He stood with his feet apart correctly. He aimed with both eyes opened. He even turned his torso the correct way. What was he not doing correctly? Then he heard it, a voice, her voice, in his head. Bend your arm, it said, the sound barely over a whisper. He smiled and drew another arrow, this time bending his elbow a bit. He glared down the arrow shaft, aligning it with the middle of the target, and then with a deep breath, let the arrow go. It hit the target, bull’s-eye.

Above Beuren smiled. During her long years away from the dwarves, she had been traveling with her father, Arador. They had settled their differences over Vanya’s headstone and set out from Imladris. They had recently split and he was waiting for her in Bree. But for now, she smiled as her nephews celebrated Kili’s newest achievement. Hopefully he would be much like his older brother and be able to teach himself, though, there always was a slight chance he wouldn’t be able to do so.

Thorin however was not impressed. After much ‘discussing’ (or yelling and arguing) with his sister, Dis, he finally accepted the fact that his dwarven nephew thought he was an elf. But more importantly, that Beuren was still alive and well. With a small nod, he left for his own home, his chest felt like it had caved in, he wished she’d come back. But an order is an order, and he had to stick by it as King.