The Eastern Woman

The flood of time

"I told you one day. I can go against my own oaths, if I want." were the words of the King, once he entered by force into Monrose house.

Thranduil could hardly believe he was there with her. After thirty years, thirty, painful years of separation.

"It's the worst thing you could do! You shouldn't go against your promise." Roswehn answered. She couldn't look at him.  To be watched by Thranduil, was definitely an effort that her coronaries could not bear.

"You're right. But too many things have happened in the last few days. Facts...that pushed me here." replied the Elf.

"The Roswehn you loved is gone ... now, all that remains is a shadow of me." the old woman said, covering her mouth with her shawl.

"I feared too much for your life. A woman called Goneril came here, I know. Did you talk to her?" Thranduil wanted to know.

"Yes. An outcast, a poor lost soul. She was here, in fact. She knows about our son." Roswehn answered.

"Unfortunately the secret has been revealed." said the King.

"Amon ... I told you not to trust him, I told you he was a traitor ..." the woman complained. "... I hope he didn't tell about Haldir to other people."

The Elf looked around. Compared to his palace, villa Monrose looked like a shack. How could Roswehn live there?

"By now the existence of all of us is in danger, not only that of Haldir. Sauron has awakened, the Ring is in the hands of a small creature who cannot keep it for long."

"A Hobbit?" asked Roswehn. "Bilbo !!"

"Not him. His nephew. You were right to have suspicions on those little people, they were hiding the Ring. The whole Earth is under attack. We can only hope in Men. Théoden and his army left for Gondor. A great battle will be fought there. Other armies of orcs are marching towards my kingdom, and towards the Lothlórien. " replied Thranduil.

"Goneril informed me, before leaving my house. She wanted to kill me, it's true. But then she stopped, the magic of you Elves protected me." Roswehn said, holding the evenstar in her fingers. "You had the right idea when you left me this jewel."

"The girl is daughter of Théoden." said Thranduil. "A lost daughter who reappeared after decades, who got lost on the path of evil. A princess without a crown who lives like a soldier. This world is truly incredible: so many stories, lives, destinies..."

"And people who shouldn't have met anymore. I still ask you why you're here. To observe the wrinkled face of an old lady?" asked Roswehn.

"I saw you in my mind, I imagined you torn to pieces by that criminal. I couldn't stay in Greenwood after hearing about her escape from my prisons. Haldir freed her. She promised to give you his message." revealed Thranduil.

"I know you forbade him to visit me. I understand it, and I understand your desperation." Roswehn answered. "But Thranduil...you made a mistake...you pushed him to hate you ..."

"To cross alone the forest is too risky now. Especially for him. But I knew he would have found a way to disobey me. He's stubborn like you."  said the King.

Roswehn smiled under the shawl.  "I know. My dear, rebellious son. Thranduil, your fears have no sense. You fear for my safety ... but I will die, you know. If not killed by someone, I will die because of old age or because of some bad disease that could hit me tomorrow. Elrond said that the evenstar would have contrasted the flood of time, but it cannot contain it. I'll soon leave for the Valinor of mortals ... that great mystery that there is beyond  the dark. Why do you care about me, then? "