CHAPTER 6: THE LADY’S MESSAGE

Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling?

The voices of my people who have gone before me?

I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me…

Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,

In Eressëa, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,

Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!

Legolas, in The Return of the King

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All the years of my life, I longed to hear a sound.

I sought it, yet knew not what I sought. I reached for it without knowing where to turn.

Yet…I heard it even before it had sound. I knew it, though it had no name. It touched me, though it was as yet distant.

The music of the Sea played in my heart, though I could not imagine it.

And now that I have heard it…I cannot forget it.

It sings to me. It sings of a land beyond the Sky, of visions too wondrous to be told. It stirs in me a longing for a place I have not yet seen, but already it is the place where I will finally belong.

It haunts me. It haunts me.

Achingly, painfully… it clutches at my being and will not let go. Its power is as strong as the tides.

See it surge! See it sweep me up and toss me on Westerly waves – till I no longer have a hold on all that was firm and familiar to me! Feel it pull at my wandering spirit, hear it beckon to me: Come home.

Come home, ye Wayfaring Eldar. Come home.

Leave the weariness of Arda, and turn your fair face West.

Glide over water, sail over Sea. Stray no longer. Seek the Straight Road… and follow it. For there is a place prepared for you, and it lies in the bowers of Elvenhome, at the end of your Final Journey.

Come home.

Ceaseless are the notes of the Music of the Sea. On and on they play…now fast, now slow… so calm, but so persistent. I can close my ears, but I cannot shut out the Voice of the Sea; it swells to become the Voice of my being. As blood, it flows through my body – and there is nothing, no place, that it does not reach.

It draws me into its powerful grasp. It drowns me. And because I resist - it torments me. It sears through me as a cool fire through veins, as the cut of a keen blade in my heart – and its pain is exquisite.

My arrested breath, my anguished gasps, my pitiful cries… are all mocked.

And for a long, torturous moment…where Time has no passage…I can no longer remember the Land of my birth or my home in the woods of Arda.

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Down below, Aragorn found Legolas and Hamille seated on the mattresses of wooden bunks, talking quietly. The elf prince was holding the hands of his friend in a firm grasp, and both elves looked a little pale. They looked up as the man descended the narrow, winding steps.

“How do you fare, Legolas? Hamille?” Aragorn asked, moving quickly to sit beside his friend.

“He will tell you he is fine, my lord, but that is not to be entirely believed,” Hamille stated before Legolas could speak, earning a disapproving look from the prince. “I felt it very keenly when we first reached the Bay, but now it seems worse for him – perhaps because the Longing has resided longer in him –”

“It comes and goes,” Legolas interjected quickly. “There is nothing to be particularly upset about.”

Hamille shook his head. In his eyes was a faraway look as he spoke softly to his prince. “It is no wonder that the Lady warned you, Bridhon nin, and you spoke truly yourself when you said it was perilous to stir the desire in elves,” he whispered. “I… I did not think it would be this intense. This desire in me… it… it is overwhelming.”

“This is why I did not wish for you to join me, Hamille,” Legolas said, sighing. “Now you know… and I can keep you from it no longer.”

“The more I wish to ignore it, the more I… I ache,” Hamille continued in a distant voice. “And it cannot be easily assuaged.’

Aragorn grimaced at Hamille’s words, for it reminded him of the distress Legolas must bear, and he placed a hand on the elf prince’s shoulder.

“It is only the beginning, mellon nin,” the elf prince said.“You will never be free of it after this.”  

Both elves were silent for a while as they pondered the implications of Legolas’ words. When the elf prince spoke again, there was a clear note of sadness in his tone. “Yours is now the choice, Hamille: to heed the Call, or to stay and resist it, but for how long a time is not for me to know,” he said quietly, and looked up at his friend of old. “I do not know what you will decide to do.”

The other elf shook his head again and gripped Legolas’ hands more firmly. For the first time, he questioned his prince and friend. “What of yourself, Legolas? Never could I have imagined what you were going through, but now that I feel it – I have to ask: what of yourself?”

Well aware that Aragorn was listening to every word, and feeling the man’s hand tense on his shoulder, Legolas looked at the other elf with determination in his blue eyes.

“I can resist it,” he said with calm resolution. “I am certain it will get better with time; at least, that is my belief… else, how could the elves at Mithlond and the Grey Havens have withstood it? Many years did they dwell by the Sea.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “It may not grow less, Hamille, but we… we can grow stronger.”

Legolas looked at his kinsman sadly, and with fondness: this was a friend who had grown up with him, who had been his playmate as an elfling, and who had readily come South to Ithilien with him.

“This is my choice, Hamille, but I would never bind you to it,” he stated firmly. “You must do… what you desire.” His voice shook a little as he continued. “Should you decide to sail… should you leave… I will bid you farewell for now, and seek you again in Elvenhome.”

Hamille pursed his lips and looked hard at his prince for some time, aware that the King of Men was also waiting to hear what he would say. “Baw, no,” he said, shaking his head at last. “If you can resist the Call, Bridhon nin, so will I,” he declared. “I will not think about it, and perhaps in time it will leave me.” Despite his brave words, he seemed lost. “Perhaps…”

Legolas drew a deep breath and smiled despite his unease. “It will get better, Hamille, when we leave the Sea,” he said consolingly. “And perhaps then, you can think about it again. You need not commit to anything yet.”

“We will be on our way home tomorrow, Hamille,” Aragorn said quickly, not knowing how else to offer comfort. “I will ask the men to turn the ship around now. It is time to head back to the Bay, if the winds are favorable –”

“Let me do that, Sire, if you please,” Hamille volunteered, standing up. “It will take my mind off the… matter. Please… stay with my prince.”

Aragorn nodded, smiling crookedly. “Please tell them to return with all speed. It has been a good day, and we have seen more than we ever hoped to.”

As Hamille left, Legolas grimaced again, folding his arms across his chest and bending over, his sheet of unbraided gold hair hiding his face from view. Aragorn gripped a slender hand with one of his own, and placed his forehead against the elven shoulder.

“My good Legolas,” he said against the elven material. “I know you will not leave, but you must avoid coming to the Sea again, at least for the next few years, or so help me, Elf, I will tie you –”

“I would like to see you try, Ranger,” Legolas mumbled from behind his curtain of gold, and the two friends chuckled. “I feel adrift on uncertain waters, Estel, though I do not wish to be, but this anchors me,” he said, returning the grasp of Aragorn’s hand. “Ceru u fuio nia anim; do not worry about me. Please, let us talk about something else.”

Before either of them could say anything further, they heard a cough and turned to see Sam at the foot of the winding stairs. The hobbit started to walk slowly toward them, wearing a strangely guilty look on his round face, his little pack clutched tightly to his chest. They had been so preoccupied with the trial of the Sea-longing that they had not heard him descending the steps, and hobbits could move silently when they wished to.

“Beggin’ your pardon, Legolas, Strider,” the hobbit said hesitantly when he reached them. “I… I could not help overhearing a little of your conversation – not the part in Elvish, of course. And not that I was eavesdropping, you understand!” he added quickly, “and Hamille told me up there that you’re feeling rather poorly, Legolas. I got to thinking – seein’ as you are confronted with this… this trouble… I felt… it is time, well, that is, I think I should have done this earlier… and I am sorry I did not, but you know, it means a lot to me, and there did not seem to be any proper reason –”

“Whoa, Sam!” Aragorn interrupted him gently with a raised hand. He exchanged a quick look with Legolas before they both turned back to Sam in curiosity and incomprehension. “What are you talking about, my friend? What is it time for?”

The hobbit turned red and coughed as he shuffled about on his hairy feet. A smile came to Legolas’ lips at their friend’s discomfiture, and he said: “Do have a seat, Sam. Perhaps that will help.” 

The idea seemed to appeal to Sam, but even after the hobbit had seated himself, he still cleared his throat and sniffed and pursed his lips in turn, without any apparent intention to clarify his earlier speech.

Legolas narrowed his eyes and cast Aragorn another quick glance before speaking to Sam. “Sam… when we were still in the City, the day before we set off… it seemed that you wished to speak to me about something, did you not?” he asked. “Is that what you wish to bring up now?”

“Yes,” the hobbit responded immediately, as if glad for the opening Legolas had provided to get a load off his chest. “Aye, Legolas, I did. I do. And now that I have seen this… this affliction on you…”

But then Sam paused again, a reluctant look on his face, and his hands went to his pack, rubbing the fabric as if he was lovingly caressing its contents. After studying him for a moment, Aragorn cleared his throat and began to rise from his seat.

“Perhaps I should leave –” he began.

“No, no, Strider, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t hear this as well,” Sam said quickly, and Aragorn sat down again.

Still, the hobbit fidgeted, and Man and Elf waited patiently for him to continue.

“The Lady sent a message,” the hobbit said at last, releasing a long breath.

Of all the statements Sam could have made, this declaration ranked among the most unexpected, and the most startling, to Aragorn and Legolas.

When Legolas had found his tongue, he asked as evenly as he could: “I beg your pardon, Sam? Did you just say ‘the Lady sent a message’?”

“That’s what I said,” Sam replied, “leastways, that’s what it seemed to me.”

“Do you mean – Lady Galadriel?” Aragorn asked, incredulous.

Brown curls bobbed in a nod. “I would have told you earlier, Legolas,” the hobbit said apologetically, “except… I wasn’t sure, but now… you have this yearning for the Sea and you’re all unwell and –”

“Sam,” Legolas halted him, “if you are referring to the message she sent me in warning about hearing the gulls – that was a long time ago, my friend. Why do you raise the matter now?”

“No, no, Legolas,” the hobbit protested, shaking his head and patting his pack. “Not that message! This is a different one.”

Man and Elf drew in deep breaths and exchanged a quick glance again.

“Then you have sufficiently baffled us, my dear Master Gamgee,” Aragorn declared, “The Lady sailed over a decade ago, and unless she returned, or you paid her a visit, neither of which are, to my knowledge, the least bit likely, we are now properly mystified as to how a message from her is possible. And unless we learn your full tale soon, I’m afraid we shall continue to sit here and grow more befuddled by the minute.”

A smile tugged at Legolas’ lips at Aragorn’s words, but he was more curious and bewildered than amused by now, and he pressed Sam to tell them what he truly meant.

The hobbit sighed. “The beginning is a good place to start,” he murmured, nodding as if to himself. “Well, the beginning was a month ago – before we came to Minas Tirith, after your invitation was delivered, Strider.”

Aragorn nodded. “What happened then?”

“Well…” Sam said, scratching his nose. “I – er – I had a dream. About the Lady.”

Two pairs of eyes went wide.

“The Lady came to you in a dream?” Legolas asked. 

Sam nodded, noting the looks of surprise on the faces of his companions.

“She was, you know, as beautiful as ever, all white and shining-like, just glowing, and there was this… this smile on her face, kind of sad, but wise, like always,” the hobbit said, his features softening and his eyes glazing over in wistful recollection. “I… I don’t think I’ve seen her beautifuler,” he added for emphasis. “All dream-like…” he continued thoughtfully before he started and said more pertly, “well, ‘cept it was a dream, if you know what I mean.”

Aragorn and Legolas nodded to show the hobbit they did know what he meant, but they were silently anxious for him to say more about the message the Lady had sent.

“She hailed me and spoke to me,” Sam said as if he had read their minds. “It seemed like she was at some distance and couldn’t get any closer – like there was a… a barrier or somethin’. But still – I could see her and hear her – and feel her.” The hobbit shuddered a little as he added: “She looked straight into me with those keen eyes of hers – even from where she stood – just like in the Golden Woods that time, she did – and then she gave me the strangest instruction.”

Man and Elf sat on the edge of their seats in anticipation while Sam’s eyes widened and said:  “Now this is the part I find oddest of all, because I didn’t see any reason for it at the time…”  As he spoke, he undid the flap of his canvas pack and reached in. “She told me, Legolas… she told me to make sure you got this…”

Aragorn and Legolas watched the hobbit’s plump brown hand reach into his pack and retrieve something slowly.

When the hand re-emerged, Man and Elf received their second huge surprise of the afternoon, and they were stunned into silence.

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If there are errors in the Elvish used here, please feel free to point them out to me. Thank you.