Be My Voice in This Present Darkness (Legolas x OC)

XXXVIII

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✦ BE MY VOICE IN THIS PRESENT DARKNESS ✦


﹙ chapter thirty-eight ﹚


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❛ My voice drowned out in the thunder ❜

『 ▶ august  (Taylor Swift) 』

That was it.

Vana walked back down, barely aware of her surroundings any more. Her cuts and bruises ached, but she hardly cared any more. Her hands gripped the horse's bridle far harder than necessary. The horse didn't even need led; Vana needed the support. It seemed like her only support right then.

Mordor was quiet as she walked through it. She left the horse in the stable with some hay. The orcs and labourers were all gone, and the place was a wreck. She walked back into the palace and found the throne room. Lómion still lay on the floor, and Vana averted her eyes as she saw his corpse. Already his face had taken on a deathly pallor.

She saw Sauron's throne standing in the middle of the room, where he had sat not hours ago. Her own stood next to it.

"So, I'm the queen of Mordor," she said aloud. "The king is dead and I have taken over the lands, for he had no heir to continue his evil work." She sat in her throne. "Well, I say let this place rot! I have no wish to be here any more. Everything is dead."

Everyone was dead. Vana didn't want to go and look in the 'healing' rooms, where she knew she would find more death. She was the only living thing in the entire palace.

She heard a scratch and looked to the end of the room. A tiny black cat sat there, scratching furiously at the door.

Vana got down and went over to it. It was so small, it couldn't have been more than a few weeks old. She scooped it up with one hand. "Hello, little one," she whispered. "How did you get in here?"

It just looked up at her with its big green eyes. Vana yawned. "Well, you can stay with me for now, I suppose. You're doing no harm to anyone."

She took it upstairs with her while she tried to find a bedroom. She went into the first one she found and lay down on the bed without even looking where she was going. She cuddled the kitten close to her, making sure not to bend her wrist while doing so, and was asleep within seconds.

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Vana didn't know where she was when she woke up, all she saw were the black decorations. She shivered as she sat up in the bed, her hair, which had been plaited, now undone and sticking every which way. She had no idea what time it was or why there was a black kitten sleeping next to her (having been resting against her face while she slept, she had offset it when she sat up and it was stirring in its sleep). It didn't even wake up when she got off the bed. What a sleepy little baby.

She left the little pile of fluff to continue its slumber while she explored the room. It was familiar for some reason.

She opened drawers, pulled out clothes, and examined the drapes. It was clear someone had lived in this room. It was soon obvious who had: Sauron. These were his belongings, his clothes, his tools. Vana pushed aside all her conflicted feelings to the back of her mind. It was just his room. It was just a room that he happened to use. Just a room.