New Dawn Rising

A/N This chapter is told from Raven’s point-of-view.
A/N To Rigan, my avid fan: I am not changing the planned relationship between Legolas and Aurora. You helped to give me an idea on which way to take it. Thank you and I am sorry for the delay. Bit of writer’s block.
Ch. 7 The Storm Undone
Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park
“….I wanna heal, I wanna feel
Like I’m close to something real
I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along
Somewhere I belong…”
I have been called many things in my time. Loud. Opinionated. Demanding. But somehow, I have always been able to maintain my composure in most situation. My luck seemed to run out with that virtue when Aurora collapsed.
Seeing your best friend and mentor lose themselves before you is one reason to lose your patience. Before I could even think, I was ordering everybody out of the room so that I could attend to Aurora. All left, puzzled and confused, save for King Elessar and Legolas. I believe I knew somewhere in my gut that they wouldn’t be too intimidated by a girl barely taller than a Hobbit. Even if said girl is extensively trained in black magic.
Once the door was closed, I turned to where Aurora had fallen. I noticed that Halden had managed to climb up the tree outside of her balcony and was now lifting her up to put her on the bed. Asleep or unconscious where the only times Aurora ever looked like a young princess; innocent, carefree and timeless.
I walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. Her short dark hair was full of leaves and dirt while little scratches from the trees mingled with the other scars on her exposed skin. Even when unconscious, she wore a tled led expression, her defined jaw set at a stubborn angle.
With a wave of my hand, the dirt and blood on her body was gone. Her tattered clothes were replaced by a simple white sleeping gown. Like a mother comforting a scared child, I ran my hand over her face. Once I was satisfied that she was simply resting, I stood up from the bed to face the king and Legolas.
Halden must have left for I didn’t see him in the room. Legolas had come to stand over Aurora, simply watching her. I looked around and saw King Elessar standing near the balcony where Aurora had collapsed. When he turned to look at me, I was finally able to see where Aurora got her stubborn jaw line from.
In a tone commanding attention and obedience, the king called for someone named the King of the Mark. Almost immediately, a tall, sturdy man entered to room. He wore a crimson and gold robe over a beige tunic and black breeches. A gold circlet sat atop his auburn head while hazel eyes looked from the king to me. Almost as if reading the king’s mind, the man began to approach me, his hand on the hilt of his sword.
It suddenly occurred to me that maybe King Elessar might not believe the story I had been telling him. I’ve always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, a quality that has landed me in trouble more times than none. As the strange man began to move closer to me, I lifted up my staff and called on the retreating storm clouds. Instantaneously, the autumn wind began to blow with a vengeance and the sky began to darken with swirling clouds of gray and black.
The man looked at me as if I were something extraordinary and drew his sword. Not the reaction I was hoping for, but better than an actual fight. I looked to the king and saw that Legolas was whispering something in his ear. He then nodded to the man who in turn put his sword d His His eyes stayed on me though, never leaving my sight.
“My friend has informed me that hearing the rest of your tale may be a better course of actihan han running you through with a sword. But the story you weave is one of illusion and enchantment. I am hard-pressed to believe any of the words you say,” the king informed me as he turned back to the window.
I have been known on occasion to lose my temper. Not over little things, like Halden and Aurora, but enough like every other hot-blooded person. The difference with me is that when I lose my temper, it is a force to be reckoned with. Even Aurora, the most hot-headed of us three, will not argue or try to reason with me when I am angered.
That was what happened after the king’s words registered with me. I could tell by his voice he was barely restraining his anger and disbelief. I, however, was not so courteous in curbing my tongue. I moved to stand right in front of the king. I was much shorter than him, but that fact was lost to me as my eyes burned red with anger. “This is that thanks my people and my friends receive for coming to your aid in battle; disbelief and mistrust?” I asked in a low voice, “The story I tell you is nothing short of the truth. The girl laying on that bed is your daughter. What more proof do you want?”
“That is not my daughter. My daughter will be kind, r in in her upbringing and wise. That…” the king stutterfailfailing his arm at Aurora, “…woman is not of my flesh and blood.”
“Such a daughter that you speak of would be one born into a world of peace and hope. Not one born into an eternal darkness with the weight of her ancestors on her shoulders,” I yelled, my face red with anger, “look at her. She is the daughter of King Elessar and the Lady Arwen Undomiel. She is a child of the Dù
nedain; a warrior and a leader. She may not be the child of this King and Queen, but she is your child nonetheless.”
“Such a child cannot be mine,” he roared, losing the last bit of restraint he had, “I would never abandon one of my own. You and she are imposters. With your magic, I would be quick to believe you are in league with Sauron…”
&#e sle slap that I lashed across his face could be heard throughout the room. In the corner of my eyesaw saw the man pull his sword again. I summoned his sword to me and threw it to the ground. Looking back to the king, I saw he was in shock from the slap.
Using the opportunity to defend myself and Aurora, I moved beside where she lay. “NEVER put my name in the same context as that murderer. The damage he has inflicted in this time and place pales in comparison to the destruction he wreaked in my world. I was orphaned because he saw fit to burn my parents alive for their treason. I suggest you curb your tongue and allow me to explain everything, otherwise you will find yourself on the receiving end of my magic,” I said with heavy breaths.
“Why should I hear you out? You have openly defied your king, an action punishable by death,” King Elessar said in a deathly soft voice. He began to advance on me and I could see from the corner of my left eye that his man was moving in back of me. I drew my staff closer and was ready to defend myself when I heard a rustling sound behind me.
I turned around and saw that Aurora now stood on the opposite side of the bed, albeit a little shaken. It was a sight to see her eyes; they were now the bright blue and silver I had once known. Her forehead was glistening with perspiration and she was looking at her hands in an odd way. Slowly, she lifted her head to meet my gaze and then looked around at the men in the room.
In a commanding voice, she said, “She has not defied her king for you are not her leader. I am. Hurt her in any way and my sword will be at your neck before you can breath.”
I looked from Aurora to the king and immediately saw the relation. Both had their pale eyes trained on me, with an intensity that even I could not match. Their hands both rested on the hilt of their swords and the black eyebrows of both were furrowed in the manner of concentration.
“This is ridiculous,” I said with a sigh, then moved to the other side of the bed to join Aurora, “can you not see how she is your daughter? Perhaps even more than she is the daughter of your wife? Both of you command respect and exude leadership. It’s all in your eyes.”
With a defeated sigh, Aurora sagged te fle floor. I moved to help her up, but Legolas had beaten me to her. Uneasily, almost as if cradling a child, he helped her to stand. I saw the expression on Aurora’s face and realized it immediately; it was the one she wore before building back up her icy walls and drawing farther into herself.
But then she surprised me for the third time that day. Carefully, she walked around the bed and stood in front of her father. It was perhaps the most bittersweet moment I had ever seen. Softly, she lifted her right hand and took the right hand of her father.
“I wear the ring of Bahair. Isildur’s bane. Only his true descendents may wear it. Please do not follow in the footsteps of our forefather and abandon me. I may not be your child. I may not be the daughter you dreamed about,” she said and then placed her father’s hand over his heart, “But inside me beats the heart of the Dú
nedain. The same heart that beats in you. Reckless and spirited. That makes us family. That makes you my father.”
Wordlessly, the king looked at the strange, yet powerful girl that stood be him him. I watched him touch her cheek, almost as if in disbelief of the gift he had been given. Then, he pulled her into a crushing hug. I could not make out who was crying, but I assumed it was both. Feeling the need to give the king, Legolas and Aurora some privacy, I moved to leave.
But the blunt of a sword sticking in my thigh stopped me. I looked up and saw the king’s man watching me with an intensity I had never been privy to be targeted with. Slowly, he removed the sword and with a sly smile, said, “I am É
omer, king of the Mark.”
I suppose he thought that such a title would impress a silly young maiden as myself, and with others it would have. But I was too used to such banter from Halden to bat my eyes, give a smile and saunter away.
I placed my face right up to his, my breath blowing softly on his sun-kissed skin. His amber eyes were rich with humor and lust. Softly, I said, “I am Raven Silvertree, matron of the Order of Shadows. And you look too high for a goal you will not attain.”
With a smirk, I brushed past the handsome youth. Then, realizing the privacy I sought to give Aurora, I turned back and dragged the man towards the door. It must have been quite a sight; a girl no taller than a Hobbit pulling a seasoned warrior around. Perhaps there was something to be had in this new world, after all.