The Prince's Visions

Chapter Six

        My mother puts one of her delicate hands over her lips as she laughs heartily. “Oh, ion nin, you are swooning!” she teases me lightly.

        My cheeks burn hotly from their observations, and I cannot help but wonder if I have made a mistake in telling them anything about Eilonwy. It will be hell when they meet her for the first time.  

    “I am not swooning!” I protest, but they all continue to laugh and joke about me, each talking over the other. “And I am not adorable!”

    “I cannot wait until she arrives. You must tell me everything that happens between the two of you,” my sister laughs and leans over to where her lips are at my pointed ear. “You must tell me when you first kiss her!” she whispers to me.

    The burning in my cheeks seems to get hotter as flashes of my visions come to mind. “Listen, everyone calm down, okay? It will be a long while until she comes to Mirkwood anyway, so please save your excitement until then,” I say with an embarrassed scowl.

    As my sister, mother, and brother all conveniently ignore me and continue speaking to one another excitedly, my father addresses me seriously. “Why is Galadriel making Eilonwy stay with her instead of sending her to Mirkwood immediately?”

        My smile fades as I stare into my father’s serious, icy blue eyes. “She said that Eilonwy needs time to adapt to our world,” my fathers eyes become alarmed, “I do not know what that means exactly, but apparently, there is a prophecy that was written about her thousands of years ago.”

        My father stares at me silently, his eyes swimming with sudden realization. “A prophecy,” he whispers thoughtfully.

        A sudden knock on the door quiets us all.

        “Enter,” my father says, his eyes still trained on mine.

        A guard enters the room and bows. “My king, Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian have arrived.”

        My father nods, his gaze finally drifting away from me. “Thank you. I will be there shortly.”

        The guard bows once again and then leaves, and my father stands from the table, eyeing

my untouched breakfast.

        “Everyone, we must leave and greet them at the gates. Legolas, you may stay and eat your breakfast.” I nod and the rest of my family stand from the table and swiftly exit the room.

        So, as my family welcomes Lord Elrond and his wife, I sit and quietly eat my breakfast. My head swims with thousands of thoughts and questions about the mysterious Eilonwy, and once again, I consider traveling to Lothlorien. Maybe I could just go, lie low for a while. Just because I am there in the same realm as her doesn’t mean that I have to speak to her. I could admire her from afar for a while, but is that not what I am already doing, in a way? I frown as I look down at my plate in deep thought. I sound like a lovesick fool. I am a lovesick fool. But I cannot help it! She haunts me. I see her so clearly in my mind everyday. I want her. I need her. My heart is but an empty void without her. Before I started having the visions, I thought my life was complete, but how wrong I was!

        I shake my head. “I cannot travel to Lothlorien,” I continue to chant in my mind, but the desire to meet my beautiful Eilonwy is too much to bear. I cannot sit here and wait in misery for who-knows how long! I slam my fist on the oak table, dishes rattling violently like the thoughts in my head.

        I inhale and exhale slowly, attempting to calm myself. My fingers curl into fists, my knuckles turning white from how hard I dig my fingernails into my palms. I wait a couple of moments before I finally make up my mind on what to do. I push my empty breakfast plate away and stand. Taking one more deep breath, I stride to the door, ready to greet the Lord and Lady of Imladris. Eilonwy. Cool air rushes into the room when I open the door and exit the dining room with a purposeful stride. Wait for me.