Laurie listened quietly as Pio spoke, her blue eyes growing large as the tale ended.
The stories of the hidden city of Gondolin and legendary Teleri made the young woman feel small and very insignificant. Their tales ran on and ended with her, Laurie, a humble and inconsequential child of Rohan. The weight of what Pio was telling her took Laurie’s breath away and her eyes lowered to her hands clasped limply on the white dress. The sacking of Gondolin, Pio reveling in the embrace of the Sea, the smell and sound of salt water calling, and a choice. A choice that lay before her. The young lady clad simply in white felt lost, helpless, and innocent. Her thoughts whirled and grasped onto the memory of Pio’s words. Laurie remembered the Tower Hills, “You can climb them and look on the distant seas.” A great desire arose in her to travel to the Hills, and she knew now what force had guided her travels; at the same moment, Laurie saw the green lands, the air fragrant and sweet from the long grass and the humble people of her land, her home. She was torn in two directions, between two strong desires. Eyes closed, she sat for a long while before summoning up her courage and finding words to speak.
“Pio, you spoke of the time you spent with the Teleri, whom you now say are my kin,” Laurie’s voice rose from incredulity. She continued in a lower tone: “You did not stay with them but returned to this land. A choice you too must have faced, the beauty and peace of the Blessed Land you had; what caused you to return?”
|