Thorodriel

Chapter 16 - Trapped in Darkness

Thorodriel: Chapter 16

It was not until their feet were on dry ground that Aeweneth realised Frodo was still watching her. As they headed for the entrance to Moria, she felt his eyes following her every move. When she turned to catch him, he didn't even look away in embarrassment, he just shot her a puzzled glance and continued. It was Sam, however, who asked the question that had been on their minds.

The young hobbit had just relieved Bill of his duties when he sat on the water bank and surprised them all with his observations.

"Why do you fear the mines, m'lady?"

His blunt question took her by surprise, and she found herself lost for words. Even Legolas, from his fair distance at the front of the group, looked up having heard the remark. Aeweneth thought for a moment before answering.

"The caves run deep...too deep." She said, before falling back on something she heard Gandalf say long ago, "it is said that the dwarves delved too greedily. They awoke something in the dark."

Frodo and Sam looked at her in fear. Across the lake, you could hear the gentle splashes of Merry and Pippin taking turns to toss rocks into the open water. Aside from the wizard's mutterings, it was the only sound echoing through the stony hollow. Sam, however, was not fooled.

"Pardon m'lady, but that's why Gandalf is afraid. Why do you fear the mines?"

She caught Legolas' eye from across the bay. Even Aragorn looked up from his conversation with Pippin to give her a cautious glance.

"Is it the dark?" Frodo piped up, breaking the silence. At her shocked expression, he had the mind to look guilty. "I saw you on Caradhras. It's the dark isn't it?"

The young elf sighed in resignation, realising that she had not masked her flaws as much as she had hoped. Sitting in the doorway to her nightmares, it dawned on her that the hobbits could never fully trust her if she kept such a problem to herself. She refused to let her fears hold her back, but learnt long ago that sharing them could save you in the long run.

"Sadly not my friend. I admit you are on the right lines but...if only it were so simple."

"So what is it then?" Sam pushed on.

Automatically, she almost gave them the brush off - a fabricated answer just to stop them from asking questions. But the look on Frodo's face caused her to pause. In his eyes, she saw his burden. The ring, whispering to him unknowingly and causing him doubt. She couldn't let him lose his trust in her.

"It is time." Aragorn's soft voice echoed through her mind. She looked up to see his watchful gaze. Her apprentice, once so young and carefree, was now scarred and hardened with purpose. She nodded and looked back towards her audience, who were eagerly awaiting a response. Aeweneth took a deep breath and began. The story, once so hard to voice, now poured from her like an unbridled river.

"When I was a child, I always hated crowds. If a large gathering ever came to Rivendell, you would always find me at the furthest point from it- normally sat upon a rooftop or hiding in the tree branches."

She heard a soft laugh from Legolas in the distance, remembering her quiet childhood.

"Most people assumed I was shy - that I just didn't like the hustle and bustle - but amil always knew. I don't know how. I never explicitly told her, but somehow she knew...she was like that, I suppose. She and ada tried to teach me themselves for a while, but I think they knew from an early age that they needed my grandmother's help. Ada wanted to wait, to see if I could grow into it and learn to control it on my own, but I was desperate. I wanted to learn how to shut out the voices; to be able to walk into a room without feeling the weight of middle earth crushing my skull; to stand with my siblings and not feel like I was having to scream over their roaring thoughts crashing over me. So amil agreed and, a few guards in tow, we set off for Lothlorian. I was so small; I didn't even have my own horse... I just sat alongside her and held on tight."