This is the old site.


This is the old website. The new site is
http://www.fellowshipofthefourthage.com/
Watch for updates there. Bookmark the new site.

January 19, 2011

A Bowl of Soup, conclusion

 < Previous    

AelKennyr Rhaino, Carleen Luckstone, Shawn Daysleeper, Lihan Taifun

Olwe moans and slowly curls into a ball, arms wrapped around his stomach, his breath fast and ragged.  Apakenwe also rises from her chair, and hovers next to the fallen king, looking worried.  Elenwe kneels  opposite Estelin, feeling a dread of what is happening.  "Nooo," moans Olwe.  "No. I won't give in. I won't submit."

"Soup would hardly cause so much blood to spill," observes Apakenwe.

"I don't understand," protests Elenwe. "Did he fall and cut himself?"

"Won't give in?" Estelin asks the fallen Teleri Lord, "What do you mean?"

"Tilion....will....come," pants out Olwe.  "The Valar...I AM still a child of Eru."

Elenwe looks from Apakenwe to Estelin.  "What is he talking about?"

"Of course you are a child of Eru," Apakenwe says soothingly.  But what indeed is he talking about, she wonders.  Apakenwe catches Elenwe's eye and shakes her head, wide eyed.

Estelin looks at his sister. "Do you think this is what Earwen meant by the the Voice?"

"I don't see any presence.  But the King is speaking to someone.  SomeTHING."

"I can't imagine food doing this to anyone, Lord Ulmo did not warn of anything like this effect upon the consumption of food," replies Estelin to his sister.

"You ....you...can't .....take that from me," he moans.  His face is flushed and the sleeve of his fabric rips, and  his flesh on his arm slowly opens as though raked by a claw, blood welling and flowing out.

Elenwe gasps as blood spurts from Olwe's arm. Olwe shudders in reaction to the wound and sucks in his breath.  Elenwe remembers she left her cloak in the kitchens. She looks desperately for a cloth to stanch the bleeding.  Elenwe spying a folded cloth on a side table, Elenwe grabs it and tries to wipe Olwe's arm.

Apakenwe asks, "What can we do? If only Este were here, she would know what to do."

Estelin nods to his sister.  He looks down at Olwe and answers, "Earwen did say she feared for her father's life, such was the bleeding. This could be like what she witnessed."

"Eru.....help your child.." moans Olwe, and then cries out in sharp pain as another wound appears.

Apakenwe shudders at the kings words.  SHe looks back at her brother. "Yes, this must be the bleeding Earwen spoke of. How much of this do you think he can survive?"

Estelin looks over Olwe's wounded body. "He must be very strong to survive this, but I can't imagine him taking this for very long."

Elenwe's head jerks up as she realizes what the pair is saying. Apakenwe looks at the king with worried eyes.  "No.  The Elder Children are strong, but even they have limits.   Niether can I imagine him surviving much more."

Estelin shakes his head while helping bind Olwe's wounds. "I can't imagine him surviving this much more either."

Elenwe cries out, "No. You can't mean that." Olwe's bleeding starts to slow down and he takes in a deep breath, moaning softly.

Apakenwe looks to Elenwe.  "You have seen wounds before.  How does the king look, to you?"

"Wounds, yes, but nothing so unexplained as this. I fear greatly for our king," she replies with a sickening feeling in her stomach.

"The Voice," rasps Olwe.

"Voice, my Lord?" askes Elenwe, while at the same time Apakenwe says, "The Voice, tarinya?"

Olwe tries again.  "The Voice....it's real...it's real...It's ...."  Olwe moans and suddenly his body goes slack, and he passes into merciful  unconsciousness.

Elenwe looks at the brother and sister. "We must get him to his bedchamber." Estelin nods.

Apakenwe looks down at the king. "Dare we move him?"

"Please, my lady, my cloak is in the kitchens. Can I beg the use of your cloak to help bind his wounds?"

"Oh, certainly!"  She shrugs off her cloak, and hands it to Elenwe. "Anything that might help the king, Elenwe"

"You're most gracious," she replies, draping the cloak over Olwe's arm.
Estelin spoke while the swordmaiden tried to bind the kings. wounds. Estelin, too, offers his cloak, saying, "Please take my cloak as well, if it will help." He turnes to Apakenwe.  "As you said, my sister, I think we should consult with Este in this matter." Elenwe watches in dismay as the lovely white cloak quickly turns red.

Apakenwe looks meaningfully at her brother.  "Yes, this is no ordinary wound."

 "Or perhaps I could convince her to come." Estelin whispers to his sister, "Do you think we have seen enough? Perhaps we should return..."

Olwe's face eases into one of repose, the years melting from his face, and his breathing eases a little.

Apakenwe whispers back. "I would very much want to know what is in his mind, but it is forbidden."

Estelin nods to his sister whispering "Yes it is forbidden."

Elenwe continues using the cloaks to bind Olwe's bleeding arm.

 "Would she come, do you think?  That would be good, if she would.  Perhaps she would see things we do not."

Estelin whispers "I do not know for sure: I could send a message to her."
Olwe gives a small moan in his sleep, for it is sleep now.  The color in his cheeks rise, and his brow breaks out into a line of sweat.

"Please, help me turn him over if we cannot move him."  Elenwe rolls up Estelin's cloak to cradle Olwe's head.

Apakenwe nods and asks,"Alright.  How do we do that?"

Elenwe grasps Olwe's shoulder. "Help me ease him onto his back."

Estelin helps Elenwe turn Olwe over onto his back.  Elenwe smoothes her king's hair and moves the cloak to cushion his head.  Elenwe remembers the deck of the swan ship, another time she bent over her king as he lay unconscious. She feels utterly helpless.

Apakenwe whispers, "Irmo send you good dreams, tarinya."

Estelin looks down at the sleeping king and back up to the swordmaiden.  "Elenwe, I think he needs companionship most of all at this point, he must not give in to this... Voice."

Olwe stirs, restlessly and moans in his dreams, his lips moving. Looking at him, she answers, "I will stay by his side, Estelin." She looks down at the sleeping lord's face. "Rest now, my Lord," she whispers, sitting beside the sleeping form.

"Dream well, then.  Dream of the Valar," whispers Apakenwe.

"I cannot feel..." whispers Olwe in his sleep..."the Valar. They do not speak to me."

Elenwe glances up at the brother and sister and back down. "He is dreaming,"

"No," he continues murmuring in his restless sleep, moving, shifting and wincing in pain. "You can still their voice to me, but you can't take me from...." his voice reduces to a mumble.

Estelin looks at Olwe with a strange look, then to his sister. Whispering, he tells her, "We need Este."

  "We do.  And soon."
 
Born not of Alqualonde, nor in the Shinging Lands Elenwe looks at Apakenwe and Estelin. "Perhaps you can find others about who can help give aid?'

 "So....lost," murmers Olwe, and he falls, restlessly, into a deep sleep.
Estelin looks upon Elenwe and a faint smile appears on his lips. "I do know someone. I will try to contact her."

"Is there another Teleri newly arrived to Alqualonde, then?"

Estelin turns back to Apakenwe whispering, "We will have to get her here somehow."

"Music and light have no limits.  Let Estelin do what he plans to do," Apakenwe replies mysteriously. "Help will come."  She hopes the confidence in her voice will be warranted.

"I will stay here with the King, then, until you bring this other Teleri."

"Nole has been helping tend the king, too.  You and he can take turns."

"Yes, he has been most faithful."

Estelin stands and  bows to his king. He leaves the room to see to his task at hand.  Apakenwe stands up quietly, and looks around the room.  No wash water here in the reception room.  "Elenwe, I will go down to the kitchen, and get some water to clean up this blood.  It is terrible, seeing him lying in the puddle, all a mess."

"Yes, thank you. There should be cloths about we can use."

Moving quietly, to not disturb the sleeping king, she leaves on her errand.
Elenwe rests her chin in her hand as she watches the sleeping king. In his dreams, Olwe is once more in the cave, staring into the pit, defying the Voice.

> Next Olwë    > Next Irmo