Monopoly & Memories

[Elessar]

[Hello there! This post is intended to be one day part of a series recounting Elessar's memories of his youth and therefore is not open. Thank you and I hope you enjoy reading!]





"I told yeh I would win Elessar. Yeh knaw what that maens." Mary smirked triumphantly as she waggled the little silver sword in the disgruntled Elf's direction. "I toald yeh teh sword always wins!"

"The sword always wins because you always cheat! You cheated the last time we played if I recall correctly." Elessar shook his head as he leaned back and stretched his arms above his head. "What is it you want this time? It better not involve food and a Frisbee like before! Armandeus has still never fully forgiven me for that one..."

"Hmmm. . . What do I want? Mmmm. . . . ." Honey bright eyes were fixed upon the Elf as he tossed the little silver bow back down on the game board and stood. "Hmmm.. There is one theing yeh haev nevre tald meh about."

"I have not told you many things." A smile twitched upon Elessar's lips as he moved around the bar and reached for the coffee pot. "What is it you suddenly wish to know?"

There were things he had not told her? The nerve! Could he feel the honey daggers that were currently glaring at his turned back? Although that did give her an idea. . . . . . "I want to know how it is yeh came tah beh with blue hair. It is nae a normal colour for an Elf. "

Elessar froze with his refilled coffee cup in hand before slowly turning around to face the pint sized woman. "In all the years you've known me you choose to ask that now?" Cool blue-gray eyes regarded the woman before the elf finally nodded. "Fair enough, but do not expect this to be a pleasant tale." With that said Elessar took his coffee cup and rounded the bar again to settle on the stool he'd previously vacated. "Now, where to begin. . ."



"I was given no time to mourn. . . No time to comprehend. . No time to even think before I was being drug away from Cristiel and out into the dark." Here Elessar paused for a moment and swallowed before continuing. "The world outside the healing hut had descended into chaos; there were shouts from every which direction as the humans issued threats of vengeance amid the cries of sorrow and through it all the village Eldar's called for peace. It was like drowning in a sea of sound and I would have been swept away in it all if it hadn't been for Adan's and Glandur's strong arms pulling me away.

"Where they took me I honestly cannot recall. Exhaustion had seeped into my bones, sapping my strength. Adan had taken hold of one side of me while Glandur the other and between them I was drug off through the forest. To me the trip seemed to have taken hours; I had gone numb inside and out, unwilling to fight, nor do anything beyond letting my head hang as I stared at her blood which still covered my hands.

"At long last they drug me into a clearing and forced my head up so I would see the village Eldar's, my father among them, standing in a half circle before us. Beyond them stood a misshapen black stump of a tree that had been long since dead. It was hulking in the crackling, weak light of the fire and for the first time since I was taken I felt afraid." Elessar paused again, and reached for his near forgotten coffee cup. The bitter liquid had gone cold while he was talking but he drank it anyway. When he had drank his fill he lowered the cup and stared off into the dark liquid. "The details of what happened next I shall not share suffice to say it was a trial of my sins and in the end, due in part to my father's standing as a member of the Eldarship they decided my fate would be exile rather than death.

"A fire burned in my faer for I knew I deserved death for what I had done. The details of how no longer mattered, for I and I alone had committed the sin of taking another's life and I should have went to my fate for it! Instead I was stripped of my clothing, which I had not before noticed were covered in blood, and watched as they were cast into the fire. As they caught flame and began to melt away so did my will to fight. I did not resist as I was drug past the fire pit towards the stump, there was simply no point in it. There I was gagged and bound front first to the stump with wide leather strips that were next to impossible to break. They pulled them tight to the point my nose was crushed tightly against the wood and the sharp bite of the bark scraped roughly over my skin. Once they were more than suffice that I could not move, let alone escape, they beat and kicked and released their anger in more humiliating ways than I care to recount.

"This went on for the remainder of the night for I remember seeing the light of the sun filter its way into the clearing before I finally lost consciousness. I awoke to stiff muscles, aches of fresh bruises, and to the realization that I was still not alone. They converged upon either side of me, all except my father, who I could not see bound as I was. He stood behind me, for being my father, he alone was tasked in the duty of marking me forever an exile. I could feel his strong hands in my hair, pulling and twisting as he undid the braids I had earned with my bow. When at last they were done he stepped back and the Eldar's on either side of me began to chant. It was a deep, condemning sound that continued as my father hefted a large wooden bucket filled near the brim and threw the contents on me. The stain had been heated over the fire previously and it burned where it came in contact with my skin. I remember screaming through the gag, struggling to escape the pain. They hit me again then. Over and over the blows came from both directions until long last I stopped my efforts and passed out once more."

"When I finally woke again I was free from the tree and upon the ground and my hair had forever been stained blue. The color would never wash out, never fade, and even when my hair was cut it would simply re-grow as if it was the natural color. The next evening I was escorted to the edge of the forest and left. I have not returned to my village since."

"I heard many years later the humans finally overran the village during the war. Nobody survived that I know of."