| Subject: Aralias |
Author:
Faeirex
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Date Posted: 14:59:08 06/27/02 Thu
She slammed the door shut angrily, turning to confront the intruder with a storm of vituperation. Why now?
“Faeirex, will you just calm down and listen to me?”
She opened her mouth to reply, thought better of it, and sat down on her bed. For some reason, he always brought out the worst in her.
“What are you doing here?”
“You know full well what I’m doing here. I’m here to make sure you carry out your tasks like you’re supposed to, because right now it looks as if you’re not going to.”
She looked down, unable to meet his eyes. “I’ll do it. Eventually. Just give me a little time.”
“Time for what? Two weeks you were in the palace without even attempting to speak with Aragorn. Even when you did, you said nothing. We've been waiting two months.”
“I needed to prepare myself.”
“And now you’re prepared enough. It has to be now, or it will be too late.”
He held out the box he had been carrying to her. Sullenly, she opened it, shaking out the folds of the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was a rich blue colour, an exact match for the deep, starlit shade of her eyes. The tone she knew would set off her hair and skin to perfection. The tracery of embroidering on the bodice was done in finest mithril thread. A cluster of gemstones decorated the neckline at its lowest point, where they would lie snugly between her breasts. And just from the touch of it, she could tell it would cling to her body like a second skin, impossibly light, and flowing like water. A tiara fell into her lap. When she picked it up, it winked back at her with the same priceless glimmer. Faeirex touched the teardrop sapphire that would catch the light from the exact centre of her brow, ran a wondering finger along the intricate silvery loops that would hold her hair from her face, letting its coils fall down her back in a shimmering curtain.
With a sudden movement, she cast the trinket on to the floor. It rolled briefly, before falling onto the stone with a hollow clatter.
“I don’t need this. I didn’t need any of the others either. What were you thinking- that you could buy my obedience?”
“No! But I had to do something. It’s important that the people here respect you, and you weren’t making any effort to make them. This was the only way I could think of to help.” He smiled briefly. “I still know your size. They fit you perfectly. And I’ve saved the best one until last. It’s for tonight. I want you to dazzle them as if you were Varda herself. You’re even more beautiful than before, you know. Why won’t you use your looks to your advantage occasionally? I was just trying to give you a push in the right direction.”
“Well I didn’t want it. I don’t want any help from you. I’m not like you, Aralias. I can’t just use people the way you can. They’re not just there to be manipulated for my own purposes.”
“They’re mortal, Fae. They’re beneath us!”
Gods, she hated his arrogant attitude.
“They’re still people! How many times have you spoken to a human in your life? They have thoughts and feelings just like us. And maybe you could kill them, but I can’t.”
“You did it before.”
“And don’t think I haven’t regretted it ever since. Do you think I could go through it all again without it destroying me?”
“You have to. And you’re right. I could kill them. But I’m not Chosen. You are.” And the old jealousy in his voice was still here. Anger at her for being chosen for a task that he felt he was better suited for.
“And you’ve never really got over that, have you? Never forgiven me for being picked instead of you. Do you think I wouldn’t turn everything over to you if I had a choice?”
“Well you don’t have a choice. We’ve been through this before. Don’t forget that my father is dead because of you. The least you can do is see things through, so that I’ll know he didn’t die in vain.”
All colour faded from her cheeks. Aralias knew her weak spots, and he was using them cruelly against her to bully her into doing his bidding. And it was working.
“What right do you have to tell me what to do? We agreed to go our separate ways eight millennia ago, or had you forgotten that? What I do is no longer your concern!”
He stood up, towering over her. “I have every right Faeirex. It seems I’m not the only person to have forgotten things over the years. However much time has passed, I am still your brother!”
Tears entered her voice as she rose and screamed at him. “You haven’t even spoken to me for five thousand years! You went off and left me to face them alone! Don’t try to call yourself my brother!”
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