Epic Vol. IV : The Strength of Sauron
Book I : The Road to Gondor
Chapter 12 : The Shadow in Morthond
Lothiriel, daughter of Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth :
'My Swan-knights have returned, Reilah, and I thank you for bringing them my message.
I see from your face that you have more to say to me. What is on your mind?'
You tell Lothiriel of your encounter with the Nazgul in the Blackroot Vale. She is silent for a long time.
When she speaks again, her voice is very quiet, the words not much more than a whisper.
'I remember the heat of summer on the stones of the White City, Reilah. It was late in the month of June,
and my father brought me and my brothers to Minas Tirith with a dozen riders. He did not reveal the purpose of the journey
until we were in the Steward's chamber : I was to marry Boromir, the son of my father's sister.
He was tall, and confident, and a great warrior, and I could tell that he too did not want the match.
'But he was an obedient son, and consented to the betrothal. There would have been a wedding on that warm night of June,
but Boromir had a journey of his own to make, and it was decided the wedding would occur on his return.
'I will bring you a wedding gift,' he said to me before I joined my father and brothers in the courtyard for the return to Dol Amroth.
'I will win this war and bring you the peace you deserve!' he called to me. I never saw him again.'
Lothiriel's eyes are fierce, her mouth a thin line sharp with resolve.
'I did not want to marry him, and he did not want to marry me. But we wanted the same thing.
We wanted peace and happiness for our people,
and we were willing to sacrifice whatever we needed to achieve it for them.
Our enemies have underestimated us. They think we are soft. They think we will give in to despair and give in to grief.
But we will not.
'I spent more time in study than the archivist Pethebir believed.
I know the name of the Great Enemy, the master of the foe you faced in the Blackroot Vale.
I am not afraid to utter his name. He is Sauron, and we will stand against him to the last man, woman, and child.
Gondor is not without strength. We will face the great strength of Sauron and we will defeat him, or we will die.
There are no other choices for us.
'I will call for you, Reilah. Enemies are everywhere, and we have only just begun to fight.'
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