"Do you mean the fabled King Under the Mountain, father of Thrain,
grandfather of Thorin the Second, surname Oakenshield?" Sir Richard inquired.
Willow pressed the tips of her fingers against her temples and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Yes, that Thror. How do you, I mean, how does it, never mind," Willow glanced back at the ring, and started to reach for
it. "Give it to me."
Emmeth drew back, a glint of fear in his eyes. "Father said never to touch it, and especially never to put it on."
Willow shook her head impatiently. "Which is why you have to give it to me."
The prince shook his head, but noted that golden ring that dangled from
a chain around her neck's letters were glowing. She picked up a tiny
brown wood box overlaid with green inlayed paper that she had brought
with her from the other world and had left on the table.
Emmeth relented finally, even though a strong pull within him ached to
keep it. The tiny ache, which had always been there ever since his
father had left him with it, now had grown into a fierce desire. He
tried to hold out his had with it, but that desire was growing even more
steadily within him. He managed to hold it out, but as Willow held out
the box for him to drop it in, she stared into his eyes, as if trying to
see his thoughts. She couldn't do that, of course, but she noted the
extreme struggle he seemed to be having just letting go of the chain
which held the ring.
Slipping her own ring off its
chain, she slipped it onto her right finger, and gently laid that hand
on his hand that held the chain. Emmeth felt his mind clear a little,
and he released the necklace. It tumbled into the box with a barely
audible clatter, and Willow snapped the lid shut. Instantly, the heavy
feeling of desire and cloudy-mindedness vanished, and they all let out
their breath.
"That has never happened to me before," Emmeth panted. "How?"
Willow shrugged, tucking the box away in a secret hideaway in the
tower, locking it, and hanging the key around her neck. "That box was
designed to keep things like that, very dangerous things, safe from who
may use them. The temptation that that ring was designed with was cut
off because of my box. It was given to me the day I was chosen to be
Elvish-grace, and given this ring," she explained, holding up her right
hand to display her ring.
"You never put that one on, right?" she asked Emmeth warily.
"You never put that one on, right?" she asked Emmeth warily.
"No, I never did. I never felt the need to. How did that ring make me feel like that?" Emmeth demanded.
"It was made to enslave, by Sauron, of Middle-earth. But he was safely
defeated, years ago. He made the One Ring for himself, and it was
destroyed. But we heard that he was gathering the others to himself, the
Dwarf Rings. There are, or were, Seven," she explained, but thought, Ah, the "one to seven" that I read at the palace!
"There
were also the Nine Rings of Men, doomed to die, and the Three Rings of
Elves, under the sky. The Rings of Men made them wraiths, but the Elf
Rings did not effect them the way that they did any of the others. But
the Dwarf Rigs were lost, and the last one we'd heard of was Thrain's.
He'd had it taken from him, and it drove him, well, crazy," Willow
explained.
Emmeth furrowed his brow and picked up the tiny note that had been tied to the arrow. "Who was this from, I wonder?"
Willow took it and examined the handwriting. Her face grew pale, and she took a sharp breath. "It can't be," she whispered.
Emmeth opened his mouth to request a conclusion, but an urgent rap at
the door drew his attention away. "Prince Emmeth, sir, we have received a
summons from our base in Wynnath. They say that there are Shadow there
preparing to do battle."
Emmeth nodded. "I will go, and bring a small group to assist."
"Me too," Willow put in, tucking the note into her belt pocket.
"No, you are not. You are a woman, and it is not safe for you," Sir Richard put in.
"There is something there that I must confirm. Please, I won't get in the way," Willow entreated.
Emmeth sighed. "I suppose. But make haste. We must be there by evening."
Whew! Sorry about not getting that done last week! AWANA is more demanding than I thought! It's lots of fun though, and I love all of the girls in my group! Some of my friends are helping in the same group, and one helps every other week, so I always have someone to make imitate if I don't know what to do :)
Go check out D's new character page for the Christmas Special! I put it up on the character page.
Well, hope you have a fun week!
Be a Friend, not an Enemy,
Willow
Postscript || don't hesitate to ask any questions related to anything in this post!
