Nienna had made an effort to avoid seeing Eylinn over the course of the past week, fearing what she might say or do, instead spending most of her time in her room claiming to be ill. Today however, she decided that she needed answers about Ra’Gru and why he had been there. With that in mind, she went to Eylinn’s room, hoping that she would know more about the orc and his plans.
As she approached the door Nienna’s courage seemed to melt away, but enough was left for her to lightly tap on the door and say, “Eylinn…” just above a whisper.
“Come in!” Eylinn said as she stood to straighten her dress and fix her hair.
Nienna slowly entered the room and began walking across its length as she spoke, “Hello Eylinn, I wanted to talk to you about the conversation you had with Ra'gru. What was ...” She turned to Eylinn, surprised to see her in little better shape than herself, her eyes red and her hair and dress disheveled. “Why do you look so sad, what's wrong?”
Nienna saw Eylinn put on a brave smile even as her eyes showed hurt and sadness, “I.. I’m fine…”
It was obvious to Nienna that she was lying as she pulled a chair from the nearby table to sit next to her. She frowned slightly, “Eylinn, what's wrong? Is it something from last week, something with Freyr?"
Even as she spoke, Nienna saw Eylinn’s facade crumbling to a look of complete sorrow and despair, “He... left. His father came to take him away.”
Nienna wanted to reach out and comfort Eylinn, but hesitated, not wanting to send the wrong message. She frowned and settled for clasping Elyinn’s hands in hers, “I'm so sorry Eylinn. I've seen how Freyr looks at you and acts around you, this isn't his choice."
"He could have still asked me to come with... I would have obeyed..." Eylinn shook her head, the look of sorrow sill present "No... He knew I needed to go elsewhere." She closed her eyes tightly, and a look of anger crossed her face, though Nienna suspected it was at herself more than anything else, “I'm sorry, Nienna. I can't keep up with all this constant mourning over every turn. I'm being selfish."
Nienna still didn’t really understand the culture of the Green Chasm, and the obligation it created. Unsure of how to proceed she sighed, “Eylinn, this is something that you've said you need to do, but he needs to lead his men. He doesn't care any less for you or you for him. And you're not being selfish; you're worried about the man you love, as I'm sure he is worried about you." Nienna hoped she was comforting the older elf, she smiled slightly, “But there's nothing to worry about, you've made it this far haven't you?”
A smile came over Eylinn’s face as she rubbed her thumb over Nienna’s hand, “You're so good to me. Even Alfödr was good to me. You make me feel really lucky, do you know that?"
Nienna blushed almost imperceptibly and pulled her hand back, worried that she was being more than friendly, “Eylinn ... we all care about you, you're our friend, betrothed, future daughter, whatever, no one wants to hurt you or see you sad like this."
Nienna watched as Eylinn wiped a tear from her face and let out a short sob, worried that she had said the wrong thing until Eylinn spoke, “Then I will stop it, right away." Her eyes seemed to have a shine to them as she recovered "You wanted to talk to me about something, you said?"
Nienna smiled, she had almost forgotten what she had come to ask, “Yes, about when Ra'Gru was here. I'm not going to press you if you don't want to talk about it, but why did he come here? Why did he seek you out? And why tell us about Vlad?"
Eylinn sighed, but even as she did so she leaned closer to Nienna and spoke with a quiet voice, “I don't want there to be any big secrets between us, but this is very dangerous information if it gets out, do you understand?" Nienna simply nodded her head. "Ra'Gru somehow wound up in the stockades of my camp in the Wilds. I spoke with him, and asked me to look over his lover and the child." Eylinn frowned. "Then I released him."
Nienna was shocked, her eyes wide with confusion, “But why?”
Eylinn looked away from her, “"I thought he was good. Just stirred wrong, and deceived by the Dark One. That there was still hope. But I learnt my lesson now." She looked back at Nienna. "They're all gone." Nienna watched as Eylinn paused, “"As to why he came here to warn us, I don't know. Another trick, a bribe, maybe just to intimidate me to keep myself within his sphere of interest. I don't really care anymore."
Nienna nodded her head slightly and frowned, “My father thought the same thing.”
Nienna thought about what she had heard, and as much as she wanted to believe otherwise she felt that Eylinn was hiding something. Still, she didn’t want to push the issue, “Ok, I just wanted to make sure everything was ok." She looked up at Eylinn, remembering how she had been acting when they were talking a week ago, "Are you feeling any better now?"
Eylinn responded differently than Nienna expected, offering a playful smile, “Believe it or not, I always end up surviving when I definitely shouldn't. How are you faring through all this?"
Nienna smiled, glad to hear that Eylinn was feeling better, “I'm ok, it's not as bad as I thought at first anyway. I was speaking with my mother, my coronation will be soon, I hope you'll be able to come." Nienna thought for a second, "It should be fun, a break from all of this worry and darkness anyway."
Eylinn smiled when she heard that, "Wouldn't miss it for the world. And with a little luck, I'll be there when you are crowned queen too."
Nienna grinned, almost laughing when she heard that, “Excellent, though I think it is more likely that I'll be there for you. Lady General, leader of the armies of Agorath, Queen of Galadriel." Nienna began laughing playfully as she expanded Eylinn’s titles.
Eylinn clenched her teeth together however, “And the charm of a grey stone.”
As someone who knew the real Eylinn, this caused Nienna to laugh even more, “"Except for when you want to be charming. People follow you for a reason Eylinn, you're a leader."
Eylinn shook her head as Nienna spoke, “You can lead an army to the end of the continent, place them in perfect lines, counter charges, teach them tactics, and still fail in everything else. I don't go well with the company of Lords. Armas was a man to be a proper king, and his daughter will be one too. I swear it will be so." Eylinn gave Nienna a serene smile, placing her hand on her cheek. "I know it."
Nienna blushed as Eylinn’s had touched her face, “Thank you Eylinn, your support means a lot.”
Eylinn responded warmly, "No more than yours for me. I want you to feel good, Happy. You've started to become really important to me."
Nienna grinned, even as she looked down slightly, breaking eye contact, “You... you're important to me too. I've never been able to talk to my friends before, not like this I mean."
To Nienna’s surprise Eylinns face filled with concern, “Did you get to sleep that night? Clear your thoughts?"
Nienna silently cursed herself as she began playing with the ends of her hair, "Oh, um, yeah, I … everything was okay. My stomach just wasn't feeling well when I left dinner, I'm fine."
Eylinn didn’t accept that answer however and moved her hand under Nienna’s chin and raised her head until their eyes met. Her eyes were still filled with apparent concern.
Nienna couldn’t hold maintain eye contact with her, not now, not when they were talking about what had happened that night, “Eylinn, I’m ok”
The concern didn’t leave Eylinn’s eyes for one second as she pressed Nienna, “You can talk to me, you know that, right?"
Nienna screamed in her head, hoping the older girl would stop, looking for a way to avoid talking about what had happened, and more importantly what she thought about it. She couldn’t handle it right now. As her eyes began to water with the threat of tears Nienna nodded, “Of course, I know that Eylinn, we're friends"
Nienna’s hopes were dashed as Eylinn continued her questioning, “"Then what's the matter? It's clearly not allergies, you were fine just a minute ago. Did I say something wrong?"
Resigned to her fate, Nienna shook her head tried to answer with a little more honesty, "It's nothing, really I'm fine." As she spoke she felt the tears welling in her eyes and wiped them clear. "It's just that I care about you Eylinn, I don't want anything to happen."
Eylinn reached out and embraced Nienna, and said “Just tell me,” destroying her guard.
Nienna returned the embrace and put her head on Eylinn’s shoulder, “Eylinn ... I ... I think I love you." Even as the words left her mouth Nienna wished she could pull them back in. “But I don’t want to lose you, and that’s not how you feel” Worried, Nienna began rambling, not sure what else to do, “We're friends, that's fine, I like being your friend...”
Eylinn stood up and reached her hand out to Nienna without saying a word. Nienna’s rambling died down as she hesitantly offered her hand to the older elf, who then lead them over to the bedside and signaled for Nienna to sit down next to her. Nienna sat down, wondering what was going to happen next, how Eylinn would possibly respond.
Eylinn surprised her and said, "You'll never lose me." She leaned over to Nienna and kissed her on the cheek "I'm sorry I put you in this situation."
Nienna was in awe of what was happening, but quickly came to her sense, “No, no, it's my fault, you didn't do anything, it was me."
Eylinn began speaking again, quieting her before another rant could start, "I'll be your friend for as long as I may live. At least, that's how I feel it, as long as you want me as one."
Nienna was ecstatic to hear her say that, only seconds earlier sure that she had just ruined everything, "Of course! I'm sorry I keep making this so akward, I want to be your friend too."
Eylinn’s face filled with sorrow, causing Nienna’s to mirror it, wondering what she would say. “But I don't know if it will be for much longer."
Nienna gasped and pulled Eylinn into a hug, her head once again resting on the elf’s shoulder, “Please, please don't say that. You’re going to be fine, whatever you face, you’ll be fine … you have to be.”
Eylinn lowered her voice, her speech was hoarse, “I want to be honest with you. I don't want to keep any big secrets from you...” She paused for a moment, “I wan't someone to talk to..."
Nienna didn’t know what exactly was coming, but she was afraid to hear it all the same, still, she had to be there for her friend, “You can talk to me Eylinn”
There was no ceremony, Eylinn simply said, “I'm dying..."
Nienna refused to believe her, she shook her head, “No... we have priests... the order of the light, they have potions and magic. You'll be fine.”
Eylinn’s voice didn’t waver as she responded, “No, Nienna, priests can't cure this. I am dying.”
Nienna couldn’t control her emotions anymore, she knew she should be the one comforting Eylinn, but she couldn’t help herself. Tears rolled down her face, “Why?”
She chuckled, but anyone could see that there wasn’t any joy in the room at this point, “Yes, I’ve asked myself the same thing many times.”
Nienna couldn’t accept it, “Isn’t there anything we can do?” she said as tears continued rolling down her face onto Eylinn’s dress.
“I’m sorry…” Eylinn rubbed her hand over Nienna’s back, trying to comfort her.
Nienna pulled Eylinn even close, her voice shaky as she tried to stop the tears, “By the light, how are you so calm?”
Eylinn took Nienna’s face in her hands and looked into her eyes; Nienna could see that she had been crying this whole time as well, “I’m really not.”
Nienna frowned as a thought dawned upon her, “Does… does Fryer know?” Eylinn could only nod as fresh tears weld up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry Eylinn.”
“Tell me what I can do. I needed to tell you this, but now I need to know, what do you need?"
Nienna was shocked to hear her say that, how could she be worrying about her when she was the one dying. “No, this is about you, I’m not the one …” Her voice caught in her throat, she couldn’t bring herself to say the word.
Eylinn was adamant, “No. This is as much my fault. If there’s anything I can do, then tell me.”
It was then that Nienna realized what she was talking about. She couldn’t think about that now, “This isn’t your fault, that’s not fair to you. I can’t…” Nienna swallowed, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I can’t ask that, not like this, not now.”
Eylinn had a sad smile on her face, “Then I failed again. I can’t comfort anyone.” She brushed a stray red hair from Nienna’s face, allowing her to look upon it unrestricted.
Nienna frowned, sad that her friend felt this way, “No, don’t say that. I should be comforting you, I’m sorry.”
Nienna just finished apologizing when the blonde elf leaned in and gave her a short kiss then pulled her in for a hug, “There, now we’re even.”
Nienna grinned, momentarily forgetting the pain, and hugged her friend tightly, “Good.”
When Nienna finally said goodbye to Eylinn she quickly slipped out of the room, her eyes still red from the tears. She couldn’t let anything happen to her, she couldn’t let her die. She wiped her eyes as she walked towards the kitchens, hoping that no one would see her as she went. When she entered the kitchen she found just who she was looking for, her uncle Elrohir Oronar, champion of Coamenel.
Doing her best to keep her voice calm and steady she spoke, “Hello uncle, how are you doing today?”
Elrohir looked up from his stew, “Nien, good to see you finally out of your room, feeling better?”
She smiled and hugged him before answering, “Yes, I’m feeling better. There is something I have to talk with you about.”
When Elrohir had looked at her he could tell something was wrong almost immediately, his time as a ranger had led to him picking up on even the smallest of details, and try as she might she couldn’t hide her feelings from him. “What is wrong Nien? You’ve been crying.”
Nienna, smiled slightly, she should have known he would be able to tell, “It doesn’t matter, what does is that you are going on the quest to infiltrate Vlad’s castle correct.” Her uncle only nodded in response, his face very serious. “Good, there is something I need you to do when you’re there.”
Elrohir nodded, “Nienna… what is this all about, you need to be honest with me.”
Nienna continued speaking her voice almost completely devoid of emotion, “When you go there you have one mission, protect Eylinn, no matter what, and make sure the she takes whatever cure it is that you find there. You’re not to discuss this with anyone.”
Elrohir nodded, while he didn’t understand exactly why, he realized that this was important to Nienna and that was enough for him.
Nienna rose from her seat and began exiting the room without a word. Just as she reached the door she turned around, “Thank you Uncle, we have to save her.” With that she left and Elrohir returned to his stew.