The Unmaking
The dried sweat of the training ring still clings to his skin, making the sloughing off of his tunic clumsy and embarrassing in a vague sort of way. He does not like the smell of his own sweat; it is too bold, too strong, too…vulgar. He starts to offer a protest, a plea for a moment's wash, but she will not hear of it. The wooden bedframe is only slightly softened with a mattress of eiderdown: it is too often cold for him to consider it more than an object aptly-suited for its purpose.
Their lovemaking is not gentle. They are expected for supper, and even for they, who have already seen an Age pass, time is measured. A snatching of a season here, a stolen moment in the dark, a cautious caress with none but the trees to bear witness. It has been too long since they could touch one another thus with such freedom, and his fingertips swallow her skin greedily. He drinks of her kisses, thinking of the strange, humped animals of the Southern deserts and wishing like them he could hold such nourishment within him through the long drought.
Her enchanting hands are quick to kindle him, and the taut friction of her covered thighs torment him with all she withholds. His release when wrought—at last and too soon—pulses between them, warm and violent as a mortal wound, a dying cry wrenched from his lips.
They are late now. But the disheveled bed has absorbed the languid heat of their bodies, and he cannot summon the wherewithal to shift her comfortable weight from him. For once, she seems content to let him do so. Not often does she allow him to hold her thus, in stillness and quiet. Afraid to move, breathing in her hair, entangled in her limbs, he watches the shadows lengthen against the pale walls of his talan. And he knows himself irrevocably lost.
12. The Unmaking
Author's Notes: Write a story or poem or create artwork that will prove or disprove this statement: Greed is good.
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
