Downfall

He thought that he could outrun the storm and return to the ships before the wave fell. The captain warned him - We cannot wait for stragglers - but how could he leave Lissuin behind? One last time, he had to try to persuade her.

And this time, he succeeded - even his wilful young wife was daunted. "Our pride has cost us," she admitted.

They foundered the horses trying to reach Andunié in time; for nothing. Now they huddle in the lee of the city wall. Water falls from the black sky, rises up from the black sea, blows sideways on the wind. From under her cloak she watches him. "I cost you a chance to live. I am sorry."

He is past sorrow, past anger. He feels only regret that the two of them will never see the shores of Middle-Earth. "We are still voyaging together," he tells her, and it is true. Together they will discover what - if anything - lies beyond the wave.

The roar is so loud it is past hearing - not a noise, but a blow. They do not look up, but cling to one another and hope not to be sundered.

[a double drabble for Arquen, who wanted tales of the downfall of Numernor]