The Eastern Woman

Truth

"She is Elrond's daughter."  Goneril immediately said, as soon as she saw the elf woman lying on the elegant sofa covered in green velvet.

"Yes. Lady Arwen".  Hammon confirmed.  "She is dying."

"I thought she had gone to Valinor with the rest of her people."  she said.  "She has stayed here for Aragorn, probably."

"That's right. Elrond has gone in search of the ranger, he brought with him a sword, reforged by the fragments of Narsil, Isildur's blade. He said he would have persuaded Aragorn to take command of the armies. He and his daughter believe in the final victory. Poor fools. "  explained Hammon.

"It is not such an improbable hypothesis. I come from the realm of Thranduil. The Elves suffered a parallel attack, and they resisted. With my help and that of a Dragon ..." Goneril said.

"A ... a ... Dragon ?!"  asked the captain.

"Yeah, Hammon: in the last few hours I've seen things I still can't believe. Everything is possible, even ... that in the end Sauron will be defeated."  sighed the warrior.  "Of course, Aragorn will have to use all his strength to kick the Dark One in his hell ... or his beautiful Arwen will vanish." 

She approached the Elf girl, who was lying with her eyes and lips closed.  Goneril had the disturbing feeling that the elf woman was evanescent.  She didn't look alive .  She looked like a wraith, like that Nazgûl.

"Anyway ..." Hammon continued.  "... Elrond's daughter told me something before she closed her eyes. She asked me about you. She asked me to describe you to her."

Goneril turned to look at him.

"... she told me that, in her opinion, I would be ... errr ..." the captain stammered.

"In love with me?"  the woman asked.  A sarcastic smile appeared on her pretty face.  "Hammon ... what's the matter with you? What kind of talk is it? There's someone in front of you who could have decided about your life and your death up until a few months ago. I would have sacrificed your existence and Degarre's one without hesitation.  Just to get what I wanted. You were nothing but rats to me. "

Hammon nodded.  "Oh, I know it well. And that's what I told Arwen too. No, I could never love you, Goneril. I can't love someone who enjoys seeing the suffering of others, who considers others less than nothing."  Slowly, he got closer to her.  "... a woman who dishonor herself every day."

Goneril raised an eyebrow.  "So will you explain me why the words of this Elf affected you?"

"Because I admit that a part of me suffers at the idea of ​​never seeing you again. After your departure, I felt guilty. I thought about the day you introduced yourself to General Mainard, ten years ago: you were very young, alone, and you didn't have nothing but a heavy, half-rusty sword. We all made fun of you, we isolated you. I should have talked to you, then, to understand why a girl was dedicating herself to war, to an infamous life. I didn't ask you anything, none of us did. But I think ... well, I now think that maybe you needed to talk to someone, you needed a confidant, a friend ... And then ... you became our General, and no one dared get close to you anymore. But I realized that you weren't happy. I understood it, and I never helped you."  Hammon shook his head.  "No, I don't love you ... but I can't help wondering how you would have been, if someone had given you a hand one day and helped you. You are a very beautiful, intelligent woman. It is painful to see  what you are now ... and imagine what you could have been."

Goneril listened to Hammon's tirade without flinching.  Then she replied: "I'm starting to believe that Elrond offered you wine before he left. Tell the truth ... did you have a drink eh? You talk like a drunkard."