Regretful

The young woman walked the cold, dark hall alone. Sleep eluded her; it had escaped her ever since she had arrived in what they called The Golden Hall. Nothing about her new home sparkled or looked like gold. It only looked dark during the day and terrifying during the night as the winds blew through the long hall waving ancient tapestries. She wondered what ghost or demon she might encounter around the next corner and openly welcomed it.

She longed for her home, her family and friends. She was not learning the language as quickly as she wished; only the king spoke in the Common Tongue around her. There was no way that she would be prepared for a wedding if it was in Rohirric. That thought made her heart heavy. He had taken her away from her home after promising to love and cherish her as long as he lived. She was definitely not cherished by her husband and love, like sleep, kept eluding her.

In Dol Amroth he seemed so perfect, so loving. She believed in his words then; but once in his homeland his mood changed and all thought of his foreign queen disappeared; as did he every night. After she had finished walking around the hall she would return to bed and wait. Wait for his return, usually after the bells tolled three she would hear the door open and close, hear him prepare for bed and feel the bed sink under his weight. She always pretended to be asleep, but it did not matter he never even bothered to speak to her when he knew she was awake.

This night would be different; there would be no young bride in the king’s bed when he returned in the early morning. Not that he would be concerned or disturbed to find the bed empty; he did not concern himself with her. She concealed herself behind one of the thick tapestries and waited. Finally she heard him pass her and enter the chamber. How she wished that he would be alarmed, at least show some emotion for her, but all she heard was the door opening again and his bare feet run quickly down the hall.

Had her not being in their bed alarmed him? She did not believe that but she was intrigued about why he left. Was it that he forgot some trinket that he wished to give to the Rohirric woman he bedded nightly? Yes, she knew about her; Edoras was much too small for word not to reach her ears of her husband’s infidelity. She heard voices coming down the hallway toward the chamber; she remained still.

The voices were those of her husband and his friend Gamling and they were talking about her! The king was feigning concern that she was not in her bed while his friend pretended to listen. Once they went away she would come out of hiding and find another spot. But to her chagrin the voices were not moving away.

Listening to their words she laughed to herself when the king mentioned sending his men to look for her. "That was melodramatic", she thought. "He does not care where I am but he must feign it I guess." Her thoughts were calm, yet she grew nervous. She heard Gamling say “yes my king.” And he was gone. Inside the chamber she heard her husband talking to himself, or maybe it was to someone?

“Loti where are you? Where would you go?”

“I would go home to my father and brothers and be forever free,” she said to herself.

She heard him moving things in the room, look through the closets. I am not there she laughed to herself. Then things began to break and thud to the floor, it seemed like the whole bedroom was being ripped to pieces! A little over dramatic she thought as she heard glass crash. Again he spoke to himself.

“I knew this would happen. I knew it!” She heard books falling to the floor and papers swooshing in the air. “Where ARE YOU?”

Should she let him continue and get some enjoyment and excitement in the hall or should she end it by walking into the room. There were a few valuable pieces she hoped had not been broken but if they had survived his first tantrum she wondered how much longer they would stay intact? She decided to walk into the room.


THE END