CarleyAnne
Mist obscures Elenwe's vision as she tries to see where she is. The air is cold as she spies a thin, frayed blanket. The pitiful covering is little comfort in this environment, and she can see the small form shivering underneath it in the dark. Who is this? The mist is thinning, but she still cannot be sure where she is.
The dark corner seems somehow familiar, though. She peers closer.
Suddenly an angry voice jars her ears. "Elenwe! Elenwe!"
Elenwe jumps and stares at the door. The voice belongs to a large woman who enters the small chamber. She stomps across the room and snatches the blanket off the slight figure. Grabbing the sleeper's arm, the woman roars, "Elenwe, ye dinna put things away properly, as I told ye! Stupid girl!"
Suddenly the scene is all too clear.
Elenwe beholds the cruel woman who had made her a virtual slave. The frightened figure grimacing in pain from the rough grasp is... herself.
She is dreaming. And she is desperate to awaken.
"Ye be the stupidest lass I ever did see! Why cannae ye remember how ye must do things?" The woman raises her hand to strike.
Elenwe awakens with a sharp cry. For a moment she gazes around wildly, not knowing from whence the blow is coming. Slowly, she realizes that, rather than the dark corner and pitiful blanket, she is in a clean, comfortable chamber, a soft, white blanket covering her.
She is in Alqualonde.
It was only a dream. The breath she was holding is slowly expelled as she waits for the trembling to stop. Elenwe cannot put the dream out of her mind. She hasn't thought of that distant land for some time now. Olwe's gentle prodding about the burden she tried to hide must have brought on the dream.
She makes her way to the waterfall and sinks down where she had sat with Olwe and Nole the day Olwe had gently urged her to share her pain. Arms clasped around her legs, chin on her knees, she watches the water tumbling down on the rocks. Once again, the rythm of the water calms her anxious heart. Elenwe allows her mind to drift from memory to memory, like a butterfly flitting from flower to flower. She skirts the troubling memories, ones like those from her dream.
She recalled the day she met Nole, and Fehmeyter. The day her new life started. Elenwe frowned. Fehmeyter had been so kind, so patient in her instruction to Elenwe. It was to Feymeyter that Elenwe owed a portion of skills as a swordmaiden. Elenwe had thought of Feymeyter as an older sister. But she had left.
Why?
Their king's illness eclipsed all other memories of that time. A pang of sadness fills Elenwe a sense of abandonment. Had Apakinwe abandoned her, too? No one really knew when she had left, nor where she was going.
"It's as if all those I love eventually abandon me," Elenwe whispers as a lump threatens to lodge in her throat. "My parents felt they had to leave me, to abandon me. That old woman always told me it was because they didn't love me. Could I be so horrible, that I drive others away?" Resting her head on her knees, she closes her eyes. "What if everyone here abandons me?"
The gentle faces of Olwe and Nole rise before her mind's eye.What if they abandoned her, too? "What if I am truly unloved?" she whispers. "What then?" Hugging her knees tightly, Elenwe releases the tears, deep sorrowful sobs wracking her body. The mournful cries are swallowed up the in cascading waterfall.
The dark corner seems somehow familiar, though. She peers closer.
Suddenly an angry voice jars her ears. "Elenwe! Elenwe!"
Elenwe jumps and stares at the door. The voice belongs to a large woman who enters the small chamber. She stomps across the room and snatches the blanket off the slight figure. Grabbing the sleeper's arm, the woman roars, "Elenwe, ye dinna put things away properly, as I told ye! Stupid girl!"
Suddenly the scene is all too clear.
Elenwe beholds the cruel woman who had made her a virtual slave. The frightened figure grimacing in pain from the rough grasp is... herself.
She is dreaming. And she is desperate to awaken.
"Ye be the stupidest lass I ever did see! Why cannae ye remember how ye must do things?" The woman raises her hand to strike.
Elenwe awakens with a sharp cry. For a moment she gazes around wildly, not knowing from whence the blow is coming. Slowly, she realizes that, rather than the dark corner and pitiful blanket, she is in a clean, comfortable chamber, a soft, white blanket covering her.
She is in Alqualonde.
It was only a dream. The breath she was holding is slowly expelled as she waits for the trembling to stop. Elenwe cannot put the dream out of her mind. She hasn't thought of that distant land for some time now. Olwe's gentle prodding about the burden she tried to hide must have brought on the dream.
 |
| Nolë, Elenwë and Olwë |
She makes her way to the waterfall and sinks down where she had sat with Olwe and Nole the day Olwe had gently urged her to share her pain. Arms clasped around her legs, chin on her knees, she watches the water tumbling down on the rocks. Once again, the rythm of the water calms her anxious heart. Elenwe allows her mind to drift from memory to memory, like a butterfly flitting from flower to flower. She skirts the troubling memories, ones like those from her dream.
She recalled the day she met Nole, and Fehmeyter. The day her new life started. Elenwe frowned. Fehmeyter had been so kind, so patient in her instruction to Elenwe. It was to Feymeyter that Elenwe owed a portion of skills as a swordmaiden. Elenwe had thought of Feymeyter as an older sister. But she had left.
Why?
Their king's illness eclipsed all other memories of that time. A pang of sadness fills Elenwe a sense of abandonment. Had Apakinwe abandoned her, too? No one really knew when she had left, nor where she was going.
 |
| Elenwë, the Swordmaiden |
The gentle faces of Olwe and Nole rise before her mind's eye.What if they abandoned her, too? "What if I am truly unloved?" she whispers. "What then?" Hugging her knees tightly, Elenwe releases the tears, deep sorrowful sobs wracking her body. The mournful cries are swallowed up the in cascading waterfall.