O môr henion i dhú
Ely siriar, êl síla
Ai! Aníron Undómiel

Tiro! Êl eria e môr.
I 'lir en ê luitha 'uren.
Ai! Aníron...

--------

From Darkness I understand the night:
dreams flow, a star shines
Ah! I desire Evenstar

Look! A star rises out of the darkness
The Song of the star enchants my heart
Ah! I desire...


Arwen Undómiel looked out onto the starlight landscape of Gondor that reached farther than the eye could see, her pale skin giving off a slight glow of its own, a light that had begun to fade more and more lately. She often came up here when she wanted some peace and quiet from palace life or the times when she and Aragorn would have a tiff, an occurrence which seemed to be happening more frequently in the past few months. Her thoughts drifted down stairs to where her husband was dining with Legolas and Gimli who were staying on a friendly visit, not really wanting to go down and see them. It was not as though she wasn't welcome, but she preferred to spend time alone with Aragorn. She was his wife for goodness sake, it was her right, and besides, he was all that she had left. Her father's words echoed in her mind as he had tried to warn her of the beast that was mortality. But she hadn't listened to him, even cried fake tears to get him to stop talking about it. But of course she had come back and stayed with Aragon realizing only later that what she did may have been folly and that now Aragorn was all she had left in this forsaken land.

And now the true weight of mortality was beginning to pull her down, diminishing her radiance and making her wary of others around her. All the time now she watched other woman suspiciously, a habit that had begun years ago when she had returned and found out that the now Queen of Rohan had been after Aragorn.

"That little whore." Arwen hissed to the night air as a malicious smile passed onto her face.

"Doesn't matter though. I taught you a lesson you'll never forget." She said, fond memories of the screams of Eowyn gliding through her mind. Comforted by that Arwen felt much better and gave a light laugh, deciding that she would indeed join her husband and his friends down stairs.

---

Legolas awoke with a groan, into darkness. His first impression was a pain in the back of his head, not overwhelming, but dull as though it had been there for a while, waiting for him. He also noticed that his wrists and ankles felt cold and heavy, a disconcerting feeling. What had happened? He searched his memory.

The night before... dining with Gimli, Aragorn and Arwen... a little bit too much wine. He remembered with a little embarrassment that he had been flirting with Aragorn rather shamelessly and luckily it had only been the four of them. Aragorn and Gimli hadn't minded, they never had, but Arwen had seemed rather uncomfortable but he had been a bit too tipsy to care.

He remembered making it to his bedroom to sleep and opening the window to let in the cool air and hearing a noise and then... nothing. Where am I? He forced his body to move but the coldness on his wrists and ankles only increased and he realized that he was chained down. He tested the strength of his bonds and found that he would not be able to break them by himself. He was thinking this over when a sound came from afar and a few moments later the sound of a lever turning and the groan of a door. A sharp shaft of light suddenly penetrated the room, making Legolas shut his eyes quickly, catching only the momentary outline of a dark figure. The door shut and the light thankfully disappeared as he heard soft footfalls nearing him though he could make out no more than that. A match was struck and a candle lit and in its small glow he could see the shimmer of pale skin and robes.

"Oh Legolas. Such a pity." Said a voice from the gloom, one he recognized; yet high and thin and so unlike itself that he wondered if he could be mistaken.

"Arwen?" He asked, his own voice sounding strange.

"I honestly don't know what you were thinking. It isn't proper for a man to act in such a manner to another." She said, moving slowly towards his head as she spoke. Legolas looked up trying to bring her face into focus but the candle blocked it from his view. So she had taken offence; well at least she didn't know about everything he and Aragorn had done before they had gotten married. But she went on.

"I thought it might have been the wine, but Aragorn didn't seem to mind so I became curious and I asked him about it. It took a little... persuasion, but he told me everything about the two of you. You certainly are a little slut aren't you?" Legolas balked, they had sworn never to tell her about their relationship.

Sure, he fooled around with a lot of men, and elves, and a dwarf or two, but that wasn't the point, he would never sleep with a married man so he and Aragorn had cut it off a long time ago and remained close friends ever since. She placed the candle down near him.

"No one must touch him but me!" She suddenly screamed.

"Arwen, I ..."

"No one! It was bad enough that I had to bring that whore from Rohan down here!"

"Eowyn? But she never..."

"She would have if she was given the chance! I denied her that!" Her voice cracked this time and she moved to where she was barely illuminated by the glow, wrapping her hands around a wooden handle and giving it a great push. At that he heard gears turning and the chains holding suddenly pulled taut and Legolas realized with horror just what she was going to do to him.

---

Aragorn winced ever so slightly as he sat down in his chair in the Great Hall for breakfast. His head ached unmercifully and he rubbed his tired face, figuring that Arwen must have put something into his drink last night. He didn't remember all that much, but the combination of alcohol and whatever she had given him had really put him off his guard. He saw Gimli enter through the main door, looking as though he had slept like a log, though his face carried a look of worry.

The dwarf sat down next to the King.

"Have you seen Legolas this morning?"

"No. Why?"

"Well we were supposed to go up the tower and watch the sunrise together. But he never showed up. That's very unlike him, even if he did get drunk the night before." Aragorn thought about this.

"Yes that is very odd. Maybe he'll show up soon and we can ask him." Gimli nodded.

"Where's your wife?" He asked, as a formality. Aragorn knew how the dwarf felt about his choice of wife.

"She's up in the aviary attending to her doves. She does so every morning." Aragorn answered and finally convinced Gimli to eat something though once he had started it took awhile before he was finished. About twenty minutes later Arwen entered from a side door, the morning light filtering through the hall accentuating her beauty. She took her seat by her husbands and she gingerly poured herself some tea but as she reached over for the sugar Aragorn noticed a stain of red on her sleeve.

"What is that? It looks like blood."

"Oh, that," She said calmly, "one of my doves had injured itself somehow and I helped to bandage it. Some of the blood must have stained my dress. My doves have a wonderful record, they hardly ever get sick or hurt." She said proudly.

"Have you seen Legolas this morning, my lady? He seems to have gone missing." Gimli asked her. She shook her head lightly.

"Not this morning Gimli. I am sure he will turn up sooner or later." She said with a sweet smile and jovial tone. Aragorn nodded and they ate the rest of the meal chatting about polite nothings until Arwen excused herself and Aragorn and Gimli went their own way together. Hours passed, the sun had rose to its zenith in the sky and had begun its slow downward climb and still with no sign of Legolas his two friends began to get more worried.

"You know," mentioned Aragorn as one or two pieces of information began to form in his mind, "something like this happened the last time Eowyn visited us. We had a little party one night and the next day she couldn't be found. She was gone for the whole day and most of the night until she showed up out of nowhere claiming that she had gotten completely drunk the previous night and had passed for the entire day. I can believe that since I was there and she did get pretty drunk but what's odd is that she left for home that very night, cutting her visit short and after that she stopped writing me like she used to. A few months later I got a letter from Faramir saying that Eowyn had been acting very strange since she got back and refused to let him share a bed with her for a whole month afterwards. Come to think about it, that's the last time that one of Arwen's doves got sick."

"Very, very odd." Remarked the dwarf as they walked slowly through the halls of the palace making their way unconsciously towards the tower.

"Speaking of birds, would you like to go up to the aviary? It has got one of the best views around. Especially at this time of day." Aragorn proposed and Gimli nodded his assent.

---

They reached the top of the tower and Aragorn showed off the amazing vantage point that the high tower provided. An attendant was bustling around seeing to the care of the many birds that resided there.

"How is the Queens wounded dove doing? Any better?" He asked the man who gave him a puzzled look.

"Wounded? None of them are wounded, Sire. I fed them myself this morning."

"I thought my wife attended to the doves this morning."

"No Sire. She told me she had some important business to take care of and wouldn't be able to make it." The two friends looked at either other with a growing feeling of dread; something seriously wasn't right here.

"We have to find my wife." Aragorn urged his senses from his ranger days kicking in and they hurried down the stairs stopping the first servants they saw asking where the Queen was. They did not know and it took several tries before they found someone who said they had seen her heading down towards the prison cells. They quickly followed suit and found the two guards standing up at the top of the stairs instead of down at their posts saying that the Queen had told them to wait up there for her. Heading down the stairs they began to search the rooms and cells but came up with nothing.

"I don't know Aragorn. Maybe we're just being paranoid. Lets go back..."

"Hold on, do you hear that?" Aragorn cut in; sure that he had heard something. He moved to one of the far walls and passed his hand over the stone, feeling a very slight draft coming through and when he placed his ear against it the muffled yells of what sounded like Arwen on the other side. Fearing the worst he tried unsuccessfully to find a lever or handle and had to settle with prying the door open with his sword.

The moment he started the sounds inside ceased for a moment before turning angrier and higher pitched.

Finally between the two of them they pried the door open just enough so that they could pull it the rest of the way.

They hesitated as they sight they saw filled them with horror. Legolas, unconscious, was chained to a table and Arwen was standing over him, her face and hands bloodstained, cutting into him with a knife. Regaining his senses Aragorn moved quickly, rushing in and grabbing Arwen's arms, the knife she held clattering to the floor, a small red pool beginning to collect on the stone.

"I knew you would come to me, not him!" she cried, victorious, snuggling up against her husband's chest affectionately. Greatly disturbed Aragorn indicated that Gimli should find the keys. After searching he found them discarded in a corner and unlocked the bonds that held his friend, pulling the elf off the table as gently as he could which elicited a groan as Legolas came to, cringing as his eyes caught sight of Arwen, though fighting to stay awake despite the searing pain he felt everywhere on his body.

"You have lost elf! Just the way that woman lost! To me! To me!" Arwen jeered at him as she disengaged herself from Aragorn turning a little circle in front of the pair, lost in her joy.

"Mine, mine! All mine!" She raved again and again, her voice becoming higher each time. Legolas folded over and hid his face against the dwarf's chest shaking like mad. Gimli and Aragorn looked on with horror as Arwen danced madly about the small room as the words of Elrond became truth.

Mortality had finally undone the Evenstar.