How did it come to this?
Loyal to her family, her lands and her people, Théadain, the illegitimate daughter of Théoden, King of Rohan, has little concern for the world that lies beyond her familiar grasslands. When all that she loves is threatened...
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Chapter 9
"I suppose there is one I know by heart."
A curious pair of grey eyes settled on the young woman as she sat a little straighter on her cushion, noting the way her eyes darted to the elves seated around the fire, as if to check they were not watching her too closely. She had clearly been taken aback by Elrohir's request for a performance, the light flush on her freckled cheeks betraying her nerves. He couldn't ignore the way her ochre eyes met his before flicking back to settle on the flames, a deep breath causing her lithe frame to draw up and then settle comfortably. It was her eyes that had drawn him to sit at her side, the way they always seemed to be searching for something. He had seen the way those bronze pools had searched him for answers earlier, curious yet cautious, as if she were approaching a wild animal that would be spooked if she pressed too far.
She did not look cautious now as her lips parted, her face shifting to an expression of recollection, thoughtful and slightly mournful he thought, as she bean to speak in a gentle, melodic tone.
"Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the bright fire glowing?
Where is the Spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?"
She closed her eyes for a moment; long, dark lashes brushing her high cheekbones as she paused to remember the rest of the verse;
"They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West, behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning, or behold the flowing years of the sea returning?"
The fire crackled as she spoke the last words, drawing her lower lip under her teeth as she stared into the flames, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Théadain?" Legolas' hand on her shoulder stirred her from the trance of the lament, and she sat up, wiping at the single, traitorous tear that had slipped from her eye.
"Forgive me." She laughed in embarrassment at her display of emotion, "My father would recite the lament for me when I was a child, I think it reminded him of my mother." She sniffed a little and smiled into the concerned face of the elf.
"It was beautiful." Elladan murmured, smiling reassuringly at her as she waved her hand dismissively;
"It was too mournful, tell me of something joyful, Elladan." She smiled, drawing her knees up to her chest under her skirt and wrapping her arms around them as the elves responded to her request with a light-hearted tune – again, she did not understand the words, but the smiles on their faces were enough to lift the mood around the fire, if not the one that had settled on her as thoughts of Rohan had returned.
