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Post by Alatariel on Jun 28, 2005 22:41:00 GMT
"It is a fine country. I am intrigued by its landscapes and beauty." Alatariel smiled. Not because she was being happy or polite, but because she was pleased with her own genius. Maybe this would not be as difficult as she first thought.
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Post by Alcorad on Jun 29, 2005 2:02:49 GMT
Doren paused staring out at the lake. He skipped a rock once more. This time it merely sunk into the water.
"I hope it remains like this. I have feared the enemies on my doorstep but after the council in Annuminas I have wondered if my own fears have made me my own worst enemy. A nightmare of epic proportions that has haunted me for many days now but the leaders of other realms constantly contradict my paranoia. I know you are a stranger and we have not even told each other our names but I need somebody to talk to. Somebody who lies outside of the greater affairs of Middle Earth. Sometimes being King of Arnor even under the rule of Lord Aragorn is so stressful that I wish I could just push all of my doubts away and hand them to someone else, leaving my troubles behind... until they find their way back to me. Do you think it is wrong that I wish someone else King when I was given the honor?"
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Post by Alatariel on Jun 29, 2005 2:22:08 GMT
Alatariel raised a brow as she pondered the King's words. It was not a question that she had ever been faced with before. "No, I don't suppose it is wrong to feel that way...merely wrong to act upon those feelings when your duty is set before you." The elven maid glanced down at the ground, thinking over her own words. Where had they come from?
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Post by Alcorad on Jun 29, 2005 2:28:16 GMT
"I know. Even though I have constantly been counciled against my fears something still feels amiss. I don't want to be right! I know I am though... I'm sorry... I don't mean to trouble you, it's just that I have not been able to sleep or even spend a waking moment in peace with myself." Doren sighed and wiped the sweat that had formed on his brow. "Pardon me. I forgot my manners. My name is Doren. What is yours?" Doren began to laugh at this very random question. Here he had told her nearly everything about himself, and things that he would not tell his own people. The fact that she was an outsider just made him confortable with her.
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Post by Alatariel on Jun 29, 2005 2:41:43 GMT
Alatariel listened as he spoke, attempting to keep a smile from forming upon her features. For here, next to him, sat one of the very fears and evils that he spoke of. And yet he was completely oblivious. Then the dreaded question was asked. Was this her opportunity to step into that role? It appeared so. "My name is E'vesash Tasolda."
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Post by Alcorad on Jun 29, 2005 2:44:25 GMT
Doren smiled nodded to her. He picked up one more rock and skipped it against the water. Two splashes.
"You really are a good listener, E'vesash Tasolda. I am not often priviledged to talk with friends like this. It is good to have a willing ear."
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Post by Alatariel on Jun 29, 2005 2:52:37 GMT
Alatariel smiled and gave a single nod of acknowledgement. "Thank you...I am glad I could be of service to you." She tucked a strand of hair behind her upswept ear...remembering it to be one of her sister's habits.
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Post by Alcorad on Jun 29, 2005 2:56:49 GMT
Doren sat silently for a moment pondering on topics to further the conversation. He had braved something that had troubled him for many days but he remembered one more thing he had never discussed... not with anyone. Perhaps he could find understanding in E'vesash. Yes... he would ask her something that to others seemed a simple enough question but to him it was something that touched deeper wounds. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
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Post by Alatariel on Jun 29, 2005 3:06:13 GMT
Alatariel glanced up and thought quickly of her next words...though she spoke them somberly. "Yes, I have a sister. She travelled long ago into the undying lands." She paused and looked over in his direction curiously. "Why do you ask?"
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Post by Alcorad on Jun 29, 2005 3:11:11 GMT
"I had an older brother. His name was Talegron. When I was old enough to carry a sword I went with my brother and father into the northern woods to hunt the wild orcs that roamed there. We were doing well. They didn't pose much of a threat. The sun was setting behind the trees when we heard loud blood curling cries. We followed them only to find Hill Trolls that had wondered away from the Ettenmoors. We managed to fend them off but not before they took my brother's life. He was my best friend."
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Post by Alatariel on Jun 29, 2005 12:52:24 GMT
"I'm...sorry." Alatariel said, not quite sure what else she could have spoken in response to his tale. "It is always hard to lose someone that you hold dear." She reached her hand down, sifting it slowly through the soft sand.
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Post by Alcorad on Jun 29, 2005 16:34:59 GMT
Doren nodded looking towards her hand and then out towards the lake. Sometimes he wished that everything around him would just dissapear if only for one moment and he could feel true solitude and peace. Now he felt he had the closest thing to that. The soft call of the gulls, the water quietly crepping up the shores and rolling back into the lake. This woman next to him that he had now told something that he wouldn't even tell himself for many years. Nothing mattered. No wars, no councils, and no Darkness... or so he beleived. He did not know that the queen and Dark Mistress of Mordor sat next to him guised as her twin sister. He did not know any of that. Perhaps it would be better though if he stayed oblivious of her true identity for if he knew he would be driven to the breaking point.
Doren felt the water come towards him and he playfully splashed it back towards the lake. He leaned back in the sand watching a small crab crall past him, stopping to examine the fine grains of quartz every so often. He wondered though what her own sister's name was. It was ironic in ways that this small crabs curiosity was much like his own and with every answer this woman gave him he wanted to know more, just as with everything the crab found in those endless grains of sand he wanted to search further until at last he found what he was looking for. "What is your sister's name?"
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Post by Linnar Ironaxe on Jun 29, 2005 21:56:05 GMT
A messenger of Rohan walked to Doren and bowed low. He handed a letter to Doren-
The corrination of Megloren Istdale will take place tommorrow in Edoras. We hope you will come, as many other leaders are welcome. It would truely be pleasure if you came.
-Eomund II
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Post by Alatariel on Jun 29, 2005 23:03:06 GMT
Alatariel sighed and looked out across the water for the uncountable time. She was growing weary of questions...but anyone who did not know better would think she was simply sighing out of memory for her 'lost sister.' "Her name? She was called Alatariel." She said simply, but with a twinge of acted sorrow.
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Post by Alcorad on Jun 29, 2005 23:06:52 GMT
"I see... I am sorry for your loss." He took consideration to what she had said. "She was called Alatariel." That told him enough. He realized that he had told her of his brother's death but he did not know if she was ready to do the same for him.
Doren heard a voice behind him and acknowledged Rohan's messenger. Doren took the letter and read it nodding. He dismissed the guard and layed back putting his hands to his face. The water creeped up to his feet gently touching the bottom. Even whne Doren saught solitude he could not escape the duties of being King. He both cherished the responsibility and dreaded it.
Doren looked to the woman sitting beside him and sighed. "I am invited to a corronation of the new queen of Rohan, Megloren Istdale. I don't quite trust her. Something just seemed amiss at the council. She has influence over it's king and I wonder if her influence has lead to the corronation. I would wish for someone else to take leadership of Rohan because through this corronation I know I shall lose alliance with the Riddermark. What would you do in such a situation?"
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