Lost Wanderers (Halbrand / Rings of Powers)

15 - What Lies in the Shadows

There was just darkness and the pain stabbing her like fire that she couldn't escape.
Time lost meaningless until something changed. The fire was extinguished and her body struggled to recover.
She couldn't know how much time passed when the fog in her mind started to vanish.
Nothing had a meaning, not a name, not a memory.

Then she recalled little things of what happened. She felt she should be dead, but she didn't feel painless enough to call it death.
Breathing wasn't comfortable, her heart was hammering in her chest.
No, she wasn't dead, but she couldn't tell where she was.
When her eyes opened weakly she saw light, then shadows started to take shape around her.
She was lying on her back, no more broken.
She was in a warm room.

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty" a voice said next to her.
For a moment she believed she was lost in a dream.
A shadow moved to stare down at her, a warm touch holding her numb hand.
She blinked until she saw a face in that shadow and ot squeezed her heart.
"Griff?" she was surprised by her own voice, but the joy blossoming in her gave her enough strength to speak "Is that really you?".
Her older brother grinned "Yes, little sister. We were worried sick for you".
Another man stepped in her view.
"Never do that to us again, Lou" Rhys sat by her bed and pulled her into a careful hug, joined by Griff.
Luthien started to remember how to cry, but spotting some armed guards by the door made her uncomfortable.
"I don't understand. Why have I been taken as a prisoner?" she asked feebly.
Griff let her go to follow her gaze.
"Just a misunderstanding" he said quickly, then ordered the guards to leave.
"I thought I was going to die" she recalled "I fell...".
"Shh" Griff said closing his eyes "Don't break our heart again. We saved you just in time. I've never run nor riden that fast in my whole life. The elvish cures barely snatched you from the claws of death".
Luthien felt her heart sinking "Elvish cures?".
"Don't worry about that now. You just need to rest" Rhys handed her a cup "We'll be still here when you wake up. And we will talk. But now take some sleep".
Luthien knew that whatever was in the cup would knock her unconscious again. And although she didn't want to sleep because she wanted to understand what happened, she wasn't strong enough to reject the liquid that was poured on her lips.

When she woke up, it was darker.
Her brothers were still there as they promised, but another man joined them.
Isildur was another man she didn't expect to see again.
She sat up and he pulled her into an awkward hug.
"Are we in Pelargir?" she asked, expecting to see more familiar faces visiting her, but the sad look on her brothers's faces killed her hope.
"No, we are far from home" Griff sighed heavily and sat by her side "We need to talk to you about something that might make you upset".
She shuddered "Are we prisoners of the elves?".
"There are no prisoners here" he said nervously "The elves are our allies".
Luthien froze, floods of words needed to leave her lips, but she felt speechless. She needed to warn them.
"We need to talk about you and the one you were traveling with".
"Halbrand?" she asked, wondering why he didn't dare to say his name.
Weren't they fighting all on the same side?
Luthien feared she was going to regret waking up at all.
"The creature you are travelling with..." Griff looked around to seek some support, but the other two men were petrified by the tension that gathered in the room. Griff had no choice but to cross again his sister's waiting eyes "He is Sauron".
Luthien held her breath, then she felt the need to laugh, but just a scoff left her parted lips.
"Sorry, what? Halbrand?" she snapped, looking around, hoping it was just a joke. They all knew him. That situation was just absurd.
"I was incredulous too. But why would the elves lie to us?" Rhys intervened, trying to grab her hand, but she avoided his touch, rejecting the truth they wanted her to believe.
"Listen, he told me what the elves are planning" she hissed in a conspiratorial way to Griff "They want to rule Middle Earth. We are trying to stop them".
He held her gaze and slowly shook his head "It's Sauron who wants to conquer Middle Earth".
"Sauron was defeated" she recalled harshly "He's gone. Surely he's not a vulnerable man...".
Her confidence cracked like thin ice on a cold lake. Because deep inside, she knew it could explain so many things she had always been too afraid to doubt. Because she preferred to blindly trust Halbrand, rather than questioning how he faced the orcs and killed Adar on his own, how a simple man could fascinate all nations of dwarves and men alike, with promises of power.
That power that she was meant to despise.
Her mind struggled to prevent that drop of doubt from sinking in. Because she knew that she would never be able to forgive herself nor to trust anyone again.
"Sauron can disguise himself. He chose to hide disguised as a wanderer man" Rhys said rigidly.
"No. I can't believe it" she snapped, desperately trying not to drown in that nightmare "I've been travelling with him for months now. I saw what he's fighting for".
"For creating rings of power to offer to people and dwarves power and wealth. And then he will control all those rings" Griff concluded for her.
She tried to breathe through the anger and the sorrow that filled her heart "No. It can't be".
Her brother hugged her but it wasn't enough to comfort her "I'm sorry, Lou. He lied to all of us. If even elves couldn't recognize him, we can't expect you to see through his disguise".
She shivered and freed herself "Is that why I'm taken captive? Because you think I'm a slave of Sauron?".
"We feared he bewitched you. How can we know what he did to you, to your mind, to make you follow him?" Rhys leaned to see her better on her face.
She glared at him "I followed him on my free will. He saved my life, I owed him".
"Do you still owe him, even if he's Sauron?" Isildur asker shyly.
"You have nothing to be ashamed, Lou" Griff intervened "You come home. Nobody will blame you. We missed you. But you are safe. We'll take care of you. This is all that matters".
Luthien looked down, even crying and sobbing seemed a luxury. The sorrow was strangling her slowly and she didn't know how to handle it.
Because a betrayal like that was just too much for her.
The silence was becoming heavy, but none of the men dared to break it, keeping their heads down like sharing the same burden, the guilt of having fallen for the same mistake.
"No. If it's true, he will seek you" she realized, after trying to see things as they claimed they were.
Griff pulled her closer "We won't let him hurt you".
"And you think you can stop him?" she snapped at him.
"Lou, you are not her" Rhys said strongly "You have no responsibilities. We think that he got attached to you as a way to revenge the one who defeated him".
She frowned, rejecting the idea "It doesn't make a sense. If I were Sauron and I met someone called Luthien, I'd just torture her to death. Halbrand..." she choked on his name "He never disrespected me. He took care of me in all these months".
The men seemed speechless and again silence heavied on them.
"Who are we to guess how Sauron would act?" Griff said weakly "Enough letting dark talks in his room. You are safe here with us, Lou. Forget the wars out there until you are fully recovered".
She clenched her jaw and struggled to breathe properly.
All the adventures and the beautiful memories she had collected in the last months were now stained.
She wished to talk to Halbrand, to hear what he said about it all.
But she wasn't sure she could fully trust him again.
Although she gave him all her heart and her soul.