The Exile's Daughter

Before the Morning

It would have to do, I decided. Scribbling the name on the front, I sealed it with a tallow candle sputtering on the windowsill.

Someone else opened the door to the hut. I jumped at the noise, relaxing when I saw who stood before me. "I did not mean to startle you." Aragorn said, with a slight bow of his head.

I shook my own head with a slight smile, tucking parchment and pencil into my cloak. "I chose this place to reflect awhile."

"May we reflect in companionship?"

"Sit."

We sat in silence for what seemed like a long while but could well have been little more than a minute. "I kept back two horses." Aragorn said eventually.

"Horses the women needed?" I said.

"No. There were more than enough. The remaining are for you and I."

"Me?"

Aragorn sighed, sitting up straighter. "The protector of men, and the heir of Gondor. We must be visible in this fight. Whatever happens, the deeds that we shall do shall be the matter of song until the last days of Arda."

I looked at him in surprise to hear the quoted words. They were first spoken by my grandfather, Fëanor, in great wroth and foolishness. In Aragorn's familiar voice, however, I could not think of any phrase more fitting.

"You are wasted as a ranger, mellon nin."

Aragorn chuckled sadly. "It will serve me well in the years to come, if I live to see another sunset. Perhaps one day I will teach my sons the lore my foster father taught me."

"What about your daughters?"

Aragorn's eyes smiled at the thought. I imagined how they might look, little dark-haired maids, with their father's grey eyes and Arwen's infallible beauty. "Them too."

"I should spend time with Legolas." I said after a moment. "After all, who knows..."

"Don't think it." Aragorn smiled. "We are needed, you and I and him, in the years to come. You saw it."

"Not all I see will come to pass."

"Some will." Aragorn lent his head against the wall of the hut. "Some things are set in stone. If we do not believe that, how can we carry on?"

"Hope, even in the face of death." I mused. "I suppose that is what we must have now."

Aragorn smiled and stretched. "I have a wish to see the stars. Eärendil should shine upon us when we ride out before dawn."

"Someone is watching out for us. Even if he and the treasure he carries are far out of our reach."

"Do you wish for it sometimes?" Aragorn asked quietly. I stood, coming out of my reverie.

"What good would a silmaril do the Dúnedain? My forefathers cannot help us and nor can yours. We must solve this ourselves, Aragorn. It is the only way either of us will have what we desire."

"I think your desires are far more precious than family heirlooms." Aragorn raised a teasing eyebrow and I smiled half-heartedly.

"You can say no different of yours. Tell me, why is it that you want this throne thing?"

He laughed softly and turned to leave, his long strides carrying him across the hut in a second. Just as he was about to open the door, however, an idea struck me.

"Aragorn?"

He turned around and nodded, though I knew his mind was far away, in a fairer time than this. I hesitated slightly but I took the parchment from my cloak once more. "I have something I must give you."