Waking up was always hard. He had to restore a good mood and a smile, learn to laugh and joke again, but above all, every morning, he had to find the strength to pretend.
She didn't even want to scream. The words of the woman she had seen born echoed in her mind, spinning and colliding with her thoughts. Only the once comforting emptiness accompanied these words.
Her hair dripping, she pulled her head out of the water and sat on the bank until a thin smile appeared on her lips. Her dark thoughts didn't go away, they never went away, but she felt her demons take a step back. She told herself that, despite everything, she stood on the side of the world that they had left.
She returned to the camp and rekindled the fire which was beginning to die out. Elwen had never known how to cook despite all her years of working as a servant, waitress, and maid. But she still had an hour to wait, so she began to skin the rabbits.
As she stalked the poor beasts, a pair of hands took the knife from her. She looked up at Elladan, who looked fake and panicked.
- "I thought you would never get up!" She said slowly.
- Little fool! Massacre two beautiful rabbits like that! »
She smiled and turned to the second elf who was waking up.
- "Hello Lacardo {Lazy Elf}!" she squealed.
"Hello Lumnanis {Tyrannical Elf}…" he yawned despite a small smile stretching across his lips.
They quickly ate what was left of the shredded rabbits and put their things away. Elrohir went for the horses and returned with only two animals.
- "I think that Lumnanis had tied his horse badly…"
Elwen decomposed, her horse wasn't elven, no chance of recalling him. The previous one had died in an orc attack a few weeks earlier and she had been forced to buy one from a village of Men. The beast had been sulky and unkind and had looked for every possible way to escape. She swore In Westron, gritting her teeth.
- "Normally the elves and their horses are Inseparable, Lumnanis… Said Elrohir with a mocking smile.
- You know very well that animals don't like me… I never learned to talk to them like you do. And stop calling me that, I'm not tyrannical, she answered with exasperation. She didn't add that she could be much worse than tyrannical.
- Tyrannical? Oh no ! added Elladan, turning to his brother with a mocking smile.
Without glancing at him, she walked over to Elrohir's horse and, with a smirk, she leaped onto it.
- "I thought we had to leave as soon as possible…
- If you think I'm going to let myself go, you're seriously mistaken…, Elrohir told him with a raised eyebrow.
As she threw the horse Into a gallop, shaking with a giggle, she felt she had been wrong. Although her life had been unhappy before, although she regretted so many things, this life was the one she had dreamed of for ages.
Feeling her hair that she hadn't had time to braid shaken by the wind, tasting the laughter echoing through her whole being, and waking up next to her two best and only friends, she knew that nothing could make her happier. . Above all, she knew that she had never been so happy.
Immersed in her thoughts, she did not hear Elrohir's whistle in the distance. Immediately, the horse reared up, knocking down his rIder, before turning back towards his master. She cursed as she got up, still In shock from the fall. She was not good with animals.
Still, on the ground, she straightened up on her elbows when she heard the sound of hooves.
- "I thought an elf always landed on his feet." Elrohir told him with a sneer, his brother tried to hide the smile that spread across his face.
He reached out his hand and pulled her behind him. Elwen wrapped her arms around him and pinched him, whispering:
- "Take this smile away from me or I'm the one doing it…"
He looked terrified and smiled at her. He followed his brother who had started to follow their path.
- "We have an appointment with someone In two weeks, we have to get going so as not to be late… He declared before setting off at a gallop.
- With whom? Elwen asked, frowning.
They had always been all three, just all three, and no one had ever joined them. She was afraid that her friends would abandon her, and she was scared of not being able to stay with them. For as long as she could remember, Elwen had always been afraid of the unknown and above all, of being alone again. Because she knew that this Was how It would end anyway.
But what made her feel even more terrified was that this nameless person didn't recognize her. She was known to many parts of Middle-earth. "It was a long time ago" whispered a reassuring voice in his mind. But Ilestelwen would never be safe from someone making a connection between her and the Others.
Her question went unanswered, she didn't know If they just hadn't heard or If they chose to keep quiet.
They rode all day long, only stopping to give the horses a breather and eat a little. The day turned out to be monotonous and almost boring but, without knowing why, the twins were in an excellent mood.