The morning passed quickly as Mallyra and the rest of the company began to prepare for the long journey ahead of them. Pippin had stayed quiet since Mallyra had told him they couldn't be together, and was beginning to drift in and out of his mind. Merry noticed this as he saddled up his horse, and walked over to his friend's side,
"Are you okay there Pip, you're a little quiet this morning and I keep seeing the way you're looking at Ra. Did something happen last night when you two were gone?" He asked, placing a reassuring hand on Pippin's shoulder. Pippin turned and smiled at his friend, a look of warmth spreading back over his face as he remembered their kiss.
"I.. We kissed." He smirked, but then turned away in embarrassment. Merry's face lit up, and he went to congratulate his friend when Pippin turned back around to interrupt him. "But she said we can't be together." he added, sighing as he said it. The glow on Merry's face faded as he apologetically patted his friend on the shoulder once more.
"Oh.. did she say why?" Merry asked, casting a glance over to where Mallyra stood grooming her horse's mane. Pippin frowned a little,
"Now that I think about it, not really.. she just said it was for my own good." He turned back around and pulled tightly on his horse's bridle before leading it over toward the gates of the village. Merry stood still for a moment and then began to walk over to Mallyra.
"Ra, can I speak to you for a minute?" He asked politely, watching as the mass of waved brown hair was flipped from Mallyra's face as she turned to face him.
"Sure?" She replied, looking up at Merry rather confused. Merry shuffled a bit.
"Why's it for his own good for Pippin to not be with you? What do you know that he can't?" He asked bluntly, watching as Mallyra's face dropped a little.
"I.. er." She stuttered nervously. Merry watched as Ra cast a quick glance toward Lothiri in panic. He screwed up his face in confusion.
"What's Lothiri said?" He asked quietly. Mallyra swallowed a little bit, recalling Lothiri's words from just a few night ago, as well as her warning of Merry's intelligence. She looked around awkwardly trying to find something to say.
"I.. I just needed to tell him something other than the truth." She signed, gritting her teeth in an attempt to hide the fact she was thinking of a way to bluff her way out, "I don't want to be with him, but couldn't bring myself to tell him that." She lied, feeling her gut drop as she said it. How could she do this? Merry was sure to tell Pippin what she'd said and then he'd hate her forever. Or was that the best way to go about avoiding him being hurt? Questions flooded her head, making her feel a little feint. With a shake of her head, she forgot them and silently mounted her horse, completely ignoring Merry's question he'd just asked her. "Just don't tell him.."
Riding her black horse down to gates of the village, Mallyra looked down at the saddlebags full of food and provisions that she'd need on the journey to the Iron Hills. Lothiri had shown her a map the night before, indicatiing how far they had to travel. She hadn't said it at the time, but Mallyra had been scared of the huge amount of ground they had to cover. Time was ticking onward quickly, and she was terrified she wasn't going to make it in time. Her daydream was sliced through by Frodo and Sam pulling their horses alongside hers. Osment gave a sharp snort, before nudging the horse next to him. Mallyra smiled, and then looked across at Sam. He too was distant this morning, but why, Mallyra wasn't sure. Frodo on the other hand, had a wide smile on his face. He enjoyed the fresh air and was eager to get underway. Now everyone had mounted their horse, and were lined in in single file at the village gates, with Aiwendil leading the way.
"It's been a pleasure and an honour housing your party, and I hope you stop by on your return from the far lands." Aethibryn said as he bowed before the elves. The Lord then took one step towards Lothiri, who was riding behind Aiwendil, and held out his hand. Lothiri held out hers too, blushing as the Lord took it and kissed her knuckle gently. "May you have the wind under your wings and fly with speed across the land," he continued, holding the she elf's gaze for a few moments more before backing away and projecting his voice more. "Now go! This earth depends on your speed!" he cheered. "I wish you all the luck in the world!"
And with that, the horses jolted from a slow walk to a fast canter out through the city gates. The parties departure was accompanied by cheers encouragement from the city people. The wind whipped Frodo's hair around as his body moved in time to his horses, him holding on to the bridle as best he could. The fast air made him feel free, like he could almost jump up into the air and fly along with the eagles which soared above them. After having spent most of the night with Aiwendil pondering on what would be a suitable riddle for the dragon Etani, his mind wasn't in the right place to think logically, which welcomed the faster pace of this ebony coloured horse.
The party carried on at this pace for 3 weeks or so, cover a vast amount of grasslands and in that time, and were now trailing up the slope of a mountain. Each day consisted of the same routine: get up and eat, ride for half the day, stop and rest, carry on riding, stop for the night.This was, as Aiwendil had pointed out, the most effective way of covering ground in the quickest way. Each day also consisted of Mallyra and Pippin spoke less and less, this, Mallyra put down to Merry telling Pippin what she'd said. They had only just reached a suitable point to rest, when Mallyra felt her horse stumble and fall underneath her. In horror, she jumped from the saddle, only rolling over twice before stopping and rushing to the side of her horse. He lay on his side, his head resting on the ground.
"What's wrong boy?" Mallyra asked, running her hands along his body in an attempt to find the source of the problem. With a slight wince, Mallyra realised the problem when she saw a sharp stone lodged deep in the side of the young stallions foreleg. The rest of her company had gathered around now, in an attempt to see why they had stopped. Lothiri crouched down next to Mallyra and attempted to look at the wound. Mallyra turned to her quickly, looking hopefully up to her.
"you can heal it right? Elves are good healers, I've heard people say that before." she said desperately. Lothiri went to speak, but Sam interrupted her.
"I know how to heal it, don't you worry!" he said softly, stepping forwards a little. Lothiri glanced across at Sam in relief, who was in turn looking back at her. Mallyra starred hard at the both of them, especially Sam. Did he know something she didn't?
They spent the night under the shelter of the rim of a cave, with Mallyra bathing Osment's wound in cool water in an attempt to ease the pain which he'd felt when Sam had removed the stone. The wound was deep, but the blood flow had slowed to just a trickle due to a herb which Sam had found. However, in her gut Mallyra knew a lame horse wasn't able to canter or even walk the distance they needed to after just one night of healing. Tears welled in the corner of her eyes at the thought of having to leave her horse behind, as he'd been her new source of company when Pippin had started to drift away from her.
"please be okay.." she stuttered, looking up at her horse. The black horse whinnied softly, nuzzling her arm and swishing his long white tail in her direction. The hobbit smiled a little, rubbing his muzzle gently, before bandaging up his leg in some cloth which she'd cut from one of her sleeves. Afterwards, Mallyra sat with her back against the mouth of the cave, attempting to drift into an uneasy sleep. To her surprise, she watched as Pippin walked away from the others, who were all sat around a campfire. He'd brought her some food, and stood nervously next to her for a moment, before sitting down next to her and handing her the plate.
"Thanks.." Mallyra said softly, trying not to look at him, but failing. She glanced up at him, and her heart sank. Pippin seemed to have changed, his green eyes had lost their sparkle, and he wasn't really smiling. She went to speak, but Pippin beat her to it.
"I miss you.. so much. I'm sorry I shut myself off from you, but I just couldn't deal with the pain of having to look at you everyday knowing I was never going to be with you and that you had lied to me about having feelings for me.." he said, a slight rasp in his throat as tears choked him a little. Mallyra was speechless looking back at him, she herself feeling tears run down her cheeks.
"I never lied about my feelings for you Pippin, but it's better for us not to express our feelings just yet. Trust me, I have a good reason to say these words. If I didn't, I'd be with you." she said softly, watching as Pippin looked down at the floor. She went to speak again, but was stopped as Pippin flung his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. Mallyra hugged him back, pulling him close to her. what made her jump was Pippin whispering in her ear,
"Please can we still be friends? I don't want to lose you for good.." he said as he let her go and sat back. Mallyra nodded, a large smile forming on her lips as she wiped away a tear.
"I promise Pip, I'll never leave you" she laughed a little. In that instant, Osment began to whinny furiously, attempting to get back on his feet. Mallyra rushed to his side in an attempt to calm to spooked horse.
"What's spooked him?!" Pippin asked, standing back as the horse still struggled to get up. However, Pippin's questioned wasn't answered by Mallyra, but by a low, throaty growl coming from deep inside the cave.
Hey guys! sorry this one took so long to update, but I've not had much time recently. However, as I've finished with exams I now have time to carry on updating asap so that's good news! Exams went well.. (I rly hope) and I've got my prom tomorrow which should be eventful .-. AAANNNYWAYS, I hope you enjoy the chapter, please feel free to vote/comment if you like it, I hope you do! Hope you're all well and are happy too, have a good day c: E xx