Shadow of the West

[Imladris]

Arshalous felt her insides grow numb as she rode beside her aunt. What did the King want with her? As one of the most reclusive of the nobility, she had rarely been summoned. Why now?

She remembered Lady Hababa's words concerning civil war...the thought was disconcerting and certainly had not crossed her mind. Though civil war was not desirable in the least, Arshalous wondered if it would really actually happen. Korak was a fool...and she deemed him a coward in some respects and he probably would shy away from a war as an untrained horse shys away from the clash of swords against shields.

But deeming that he was pig headed enough to go to war over it...wouldn't it be better to have the war over quickly than having Korak's folly sow seeds of quarrles that would bloom forth in civil war, or even war with a foreign country? She scratched her head and put away such thoughts. The present was yet pleasant and there was no need to trouble about thoughts of war until such time as was necessary.

However, she could not stop thinking about Korak. His mother remembered with fondness when he was a loving lad. Arshalous herself wondered what had happened to that lad -- he had probably shrivelled up and died. She remembered vaguely when he had pulled her hair and had broken her favourite ring when she was young...it had been the day his father had died. She remembered that day very vaguely. She remembered that he had been sad...and that she had been trying to cheer her up...she wondered if teasing counted as cheering up. It wasn't her fault that Korak was fun to tease, she thought resentfully...And then his anger had exploded like new wine in an old skin...and he had hurt her. It was only later that she had found out about her uncle's death...had she apologized? She didn't remember.