Caranwyn's Tale: In Defence of Middle Earth

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Mustering Courage

 

Both of their parents seemed pleased as they sat at the table later, after they had eaten and cleaned up again.  Their father leaned forward on the table, relaxed, holding a tankard in one hand.

“Well girls, an important day.  Your mother and I are very proud of you both, and it’s been a long time in the coming.  You’ve both trained hard, and I’m sure you’ll do this City, and our people, proud as well.”  Their mother was smiling as well, looking between them both, and she had that same beaming, almost tearful light in her eyes as when she had seen them out of the house that morning, dressed in their full ceremonial equipment.  She had cried then, embracing them both before they made the climb towards the Citadel, and though she was much calmer now, the joy remained.  She didn’t say anything aloud, but the girls both understood now that words of joy had never been their mother’s strong suit.  Their father took a drink from his mug.

“Now, young Captain Caranwyn, I believe you have some very important news to tell us, is that not so?”  Caranwyn looked between her parents for a moment, picking her words, then settled on facing her mother, since their father clearly already knew about her assignment.

“Lord Denethor has tasked me with a special mission, upon swearing me to the position of Captain.”  Here she hesitated, unsure how her mother would react to the details, but pressed on regardless. “He wishes me to lead a small force westward, to entreat with and ensure the safety of the lands behind us.  We’re to maintain ties with the lands we seek to protect from the Enemy.”  Her mother’s expression had changed as she spoke, falling somewhat, into an expression of uncertain surprise.  She blinked a few times quickly, as the information sunk in.

“He’s sending you away from us?  Already?  You’re still so young, I wasn’t…”  She looked down at the table-top, then up again to their father, her eyebrows drawing down.  “You knew of this?  Why didn’t you say anything?”  He winced in return.

“I knew that it was one plan that Lord Denethor was pondering, and I didn’t wish to say anything until it was certain.  By the time it was, it seemed better to me that Caranwyn tell you herself, dear.  Have I acted poorly?”  At his words, their mother dropped her eyes, subdued, and tapped her fingers on the table top.

“No, my love, you are right.  That was well done.”  Caranwyn had to consciously stop biting her lip when her mother looked up to meet her eyes again.  “I’m sorry dear, I didn’t expect that you would be gone from us so soon.  It is very sudden.”  Her eyes shifted to Russellwen.  “How are you feeling about this?”  Caranwyn glanced sideways to see her sister nod slowly.

“I’m a little bit scared, but I’m excited as well.  I know there will be a lot I will miss about our home here, but I’m resolute in my duty; I will not waver, no matter how far we must go.”  Across the table their mother started, putting a hand to her mouth for a moment.

“You are to go as well?  I am losing both of you at once?  I know you’re both grown women now, but…” her fists clenched as she tried to put words to her feelings.  “You’re still my beautiful little girls, and I- I wasn’t expecting this.”  Tears wee brimming in her eyes by the time she got the words out, and their father reached over to embrace her.  He stroked her hair softly with one hand as he spoke.

“Belthrace, my love, it’s alright.”  Caranwyn looked across to her sister, meeting one uncertain gaze with another.  Their parents rarely used each other’s names when talking directly to one another, venturing so far only when they were deeply worried, upset or troubled.  They both seemed to have lost sight of the girls for the moment, however.  Their father’s voice was soft, comforting, but there was a thickness in his words as well, revealing his own deep emotion.  “We both knew the day must come, without the luxury of a sheltered life.  It would not matter how old they grew, they will always be our darling babes, but even the most beautiful of songbirds cannot sing its own song until it has flown far and wide, away from its mother’s nest.”  Their mother had buried her face in his shoulder, but nodded all the same.  She sat straight again, sniffing deeply and attempting to dry her eyes.

“I know, I know, but must it be now?  No, it must, and it does no good to fight it, you are right.”  Wiping at her face once more, she looked back to the girls, waiting across the table, caught somewhere between uncertainty and embarrassment.  She managed a smile.

“I’m sorry girls, truly.  I should be stronger than this.  It is your day, after all.  When—” her voice caught slightly, and she cleared her throat.  “When are you to leave?”

“Three days.  Lord Boromir plans to depart on a mission of importance, though its purpose is still a secret to me.  He leaves then, and my men and I are to act as his escort until such a time as our ways part, though I don’t’ know when that will be; we make for the Eriador region, but I do not know what Lord Boromir’s final destination will be.”  Here she paused, thinking.  “Father, I have questions that you may be able to answer.  Eriador is in relative safety, as far as we know, and I have been tasked with this to appease the commanders in Denethor’s inner circle who resent or disagree with my attaining this position…” Caranwyn noticed her mother’s changing expression, unsure whether to be offended at the idea, or relieved.  She continued anyway, “but I feel certain there is a greater reason behind what I have been asked to do.  When I asked him, Denethor did not deny it, but said that it would be something I would come to understand in time.  Do you know what he might have meant?”

Their father folded his arms, tapping one finger in thought for a few moments.  His brow furrowed, then brightened again before he spoke.

“I cannot think of anything directly, no, but I suspect that is, in itself something of a hint.  You have been assigned specifically to travel with our steward’s son, as he begins his secret errand, on your way toward the region you’ve actually been sent to.  I expect the young lord Boromir will be pleased of the company, though as beloved by everyone as he is, I’m certain I do not need to warn you to be mindful of yourselves around him.  I’m sure it will not be a problem.”  As his eyes met Caranwyn’s, the eye furthest from his wife winked in a brief flicker and Caranwyn fought down what might have become a blush had she let it.  He continued without a pause.  “Regardless, I suspect he will be willing to talk, at least to some extent, about affairs of the City, of Gondor, and the things that trouble his mind.  You may learn much that is not spoken about openly.  I guess then, that Denethor means for you to learn the true purpose of your mission from his son, as you journey, and before your ways part.  Keep your ears open, and your mind sharp.”  He opened his mouth to speak further, but as he did the distant sound of the eighth bell drifted through the city and he stopped, tapping on the table with an agitated mutter.

“I had hoped to speak to you further about more practical things regarding your journey.  The logistics of it alone is something I suspect you are unprepared for, and that is something I can help you with, but it must wait.  Duty calls your mother and I back for evening shifts and we must both go.  Tomorrow.  Both of you: rise early and come with me to the training yard.  We will talk on the way.”  He stood, coming around the table to kiss each of them gently on the forehead.  “Sleep well when you do, girls.”  Caranwyn wondered if she would begin seeing suggestion and implication in everything her father said now, no matter how innocent the remark, but tried to put the thought from her mind as their mother embraced them, kissing them as well and murmuring that she truly was pleased for them both.

As their parents left and the door closed behind them, silence fell over the house again.  Caranwyn looked across at her sister, running her hands through her hair in a long, drawn-out motion.

“Are we really ready to leave, do you think?”

“I don’t know,” Russellwen shook her head, “But there is only one path now, and we are already upon it.”

“Very true.  It seems that day when you will no longer be able to sleep peacefully in a comfortable bed has arrived at last, dear sister.  What is it you always tell me of a morning when the bed is warm and the morning cold?  Enjoy it while it lasts?”  She raised her eyebrows at her sister with a grin.  “One thing I intend to enjoy before we leave is reliable access to fresh running water.  I intend to bathe tonight, and every night until we leave.  Join me?”  Russellwen grinned with an enthusiastic nod, and they stood from the table, heading for the wash room.

Thoughts of their conversation at supper returned to Caranwyn’s mind as she lay in bed later that evening, stretched out with the covers thrown back, the scents of fresh perspiration and excitement tingling in her nose.  Russellwen lay snuggled in close to her on the small bed, one arm draped around her middle, despite the heightened warmth of their bodies.  She wasn’t falling asleep yet; Caranwyn could feel her eyelid blinking every few moments against her skin.

The prospect of travelling so far away, into uncertain land, still intimidated her, and she doubted that would grow and less over the scarce few days they had left to prepare.  She wondered what it would be like, travelling with the steward’s son.  Both of the sons had already acquitted themselves admirably in combat and command, and were much beloved by the people of the City.  To all accounts they were both shining examples of true Gondorian spirit and pride, but she found herself wondering about Lord Boromir the man, now that she was faced with interacting with him more personally.  He was the more eager and combative of the sons, that much everyone knew; possessed of an admirable tenacity that made him pursue and fight for the things he desired with an unrelenting vigour, until his goals were attained. 

There was the more subtle rumour behind that though, the whisper and nod that said this facet of him extended to all walks of his life, not just to war and victory at arms.  It was assumed, of course, that in due time he would choose a suitable wife, get an heir, and secure the line of the stewardship, but some said that just prudence was not his strongest virtue.  They said, rather, that when something beautiful caught his eye, and he came to desire it, that he would, as in all things, pursue with determination and confidence until she relented.  None spoke against his courtesy or conduct, certainly, but such was his masterful nature, so they said.  She found herself hoping that the young lord’s mind would be firmly on his own mission, and not wandering thus for as long as they travelled together.

“Caranwyn?”  Her thoughts were interrupted as her Russellwen shifted slightly, moving her head enough to look towards her sister’s eyes.  “I wanted to talk to you about something.  About Celegeth.”  She was immediately more awake, feeling a smirk creep over her face in the darkness.

“Oh?  I was hoping you’d come back to that soon.  Did you actually do it at last?  Tell me everything!”  She giggled quietly, unable to stop her amusement, but Russellwen looked surprised for a moment, blinking several times as a slight blush made its way onto her cheeks.

“Not, not yet, no.  It’s about that.  I’ve been thinking, about, about doing it, you know.  But I’m still nervous.  I—”  She stopped herself, trying to collect her thoughts.  After a moment she moved, trying to sit upright, and they both shifted to accommodate.  Caranwyn propped herself up, leaning against the head of the bed, while Russellwen sat up opposite her, wrapping the disarrayed covers about her shoulders.  She continued, still uncertain.

“I want to, I really do, and I know that Celegeth wouldn’t say no if I offered, but I…” he hesitated, making frustrated motions with her hands.  “I haven’t been able to actually make the invitation, and every time I think about saying it, I just end up getting so, so… so timid.”  She clasped her hands together, then reached out to take her sister’s instead.  “When I’m with you I always feel so much more courageous.  If you were there with me, I know I wouldn’t be too nervous, or afraid.”  Caranwyn raised her eyebrows in the darkness, even though her sister probably couldn’t see the small gesture.

“You want me to be there when you invite him to your bed?”  There was silence for a moment, and Caranwyn wondered whether her voice had sounded incredulous.  It wasn’t a surprise, really, it just felt a bit strange to be asked such a thing.  Russellwen drew one hand away, and she heard the tell-tale sound of her biting at her little finger nail.  It stopped a moment later.

“Um, well.  Rather a bit more than that, I had in mind.”  The remark was followed by a quiet, nervous laugh, but Caranwyn felt her eyebrows draw down slightly.

“What do you need then?  What can I do, Russellwen; don’t worry, just say it.”

“I want… I want you to be with me, when we do.”  She drew a breath, then rushed on.  “I know all about how special and personal it’s all supposed to be, and all of that, but aren’t we already?  I haven’t been able to offer myself to Celegeth yet, I get to nervous, but I know I could talk to him about it if I was making a proposition like this instead, and I know I’d feel better to have you with me when it happened.  It’s always the girls who are all nervous and uncertain, and scared, and I think I’d feel better knowing that he was a little bit uncertain and nervous as well.”  Caranwyn felt the other girl take both of her hands again, holding them tight, though her pace didn’t abate.  She was blushing fiercely now.  “I love him, and I want to be with him.  I enjoy what we do, and I want to feel more of him, but I want to share it with you as well.  Of course I’m not going to ask you to do anything with him yourself, that would be silly, but I don’t want you to feel excluded either, or anything like that.  Celegeth would need to agree to it as well, of course, and he might be uncomfortable with the idea, but I want him to be a bit nervous, as nervous as I am, but not too scared so he won’t do it, and I want him to enjoy it, and well, me, I suppose, but I don’t want him to think that—” Caranwyn leaned forward to hold her sister in a tight hug, kissing her on the neck as she did.

“You’re babbling.”  She murmured into her neck.  Russellwen fell silent, resting her head on the other girl’s shoulder.  Hands reached forward to return the hug, locking around her back and rubbing softly.

“I know.  I just wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.  I feel like, in way, I’m waving it under your nose, that I want to be with someone else, and asking you to stand by and watch.  I mean, that’s exactly what I’m doing.”  Caranwyn nuzzled at her neck, rubbing her nose back and forth with a grin.  After a moment she sat back to look at her sister’s eyes.

“Thankyou.  Does that answer anything?  We’re sisters after all; we’ve said before that it doesn’t count, and I know I meant it.  I’m glad that you want to go after a boy, since that’s what you want, and I like Celegeth, and I know he’ll be good for you.  We have all grown up together, you know.”  Here she tried and failed to suppress a small giggle.  “Besides, Celegeth is so sure of himself; if anything will make him blush and stammer, ever, it will be this.  I wouldn’t miss that for anything.”  Across from here, Russellwen let out a held breath, sagging slightly.

‘I love’ she traced a symbol of affection on Caranwyn’s leg as she made the sound.  Caranwyn responded in kind, leaning in close again to add a kiss to her own murmur.  She sat back, raising one hand to bit a knuckle, thinking.

“Although, this does bring up another issue, I suppose.”  She stretched, arms above her head, flexing and clenching her fingers as she uncrossed her legs, letting them hang slightly off either side of the narrow bed.  Leaning back against the head of the bed, and the wall behind, she cushioned her head with her hands and wriggled slightly, getting more comfortable.  A thought whispered across her mind that the position was terribly indecent for a woman, chased by the comeback that it would be, if she weren’t in the dark, in her own bedroom, with a lover.  It made her smile. 

“I find myself wondering just how much you want to tell young Celegeth.”  Her own shifting had spurred Russellwen into repositioning as well, and the other girl turned to lie on her side, resting her head against Caranwyn’s thigh.  One hand half-hugged her leg while the other struggled to find a comfortable spot, settling at last as she wrapped it around behind her sister, to draw lazy, indecipherable patters on the small of her back with one finger.

“That’s a good question,” she responded eventually.  “He knows that we’re very close, so I guess we don’t need to explain anything really, if he understands that I simply need your support.”  She paused, rubbing her cheek against Caranwyn’s thigh with an affectionate hum.  “But I do want him to know everything.  I don’t want to have to hide anything from him.  It’s difficult.  I want him to know, but I don’t want to give him too much to deal with at once.  What we do might disgust him, for all I know.”  Caranwyn shivered as her sister sighed, the warm breath tingling across her skin. She did her best to keep her mind on the topic, and not think about the other things Russellwen had been doing from a similar position earlier.  It proved difficult.

“I guess we can’t know until we can see how he reacts.  Here’s something then: see how he reacts when you ask him about it.  If he seems alright with having me there, for your benefit, then we’ll decide more from there, and just go bit by bit.”  She pulled her legs in again, enough to bring them back onto the bed fully, then reached out a hand to grab at the nearest corner of the blanket, pulling it up until it covered her lower half, and came up to her sister’s ears.  Russellwen laughed quietly, making an exaggerated motion of snuggling in closer.

“That’s a good plan.  You make good plans.”  Caranwyn felt her breath catch as the other girl accompanied her words by turning her head to place a firm kiss at the spot just above the beginning of her pubic hair.  It had remained a rather modest forest, even now, and the kiss was teasingly near to places where it would be appreciated even more.  She must have felt her squirm at the attention, because next came the sensation of her features brushing against the hair, and then delicate kisses, starting high and changing sides as they trailed down the lines between the tops of her thighs and her groin.  She heard herself gasp and twitched at the teasing.  The feeling of the other girl’s lips, so close and yet miles away, was the most excruciating torture.  She groaned aloud as the sensation stopped.  Looking down, she met Russellwen’s eyes, dancing with glee as she looked up.  

“I take it from that you want more?”  Caranwyn nodded, barely daring to move save a slight pressing of her groin upwards.  To her dismay, the other girl demurred, propping herself up with one arm and beginning to run soft finger-tips over her instead as she smiled.  They traced, whisper light, above her groin, hemming the line of her pubic hair before separating to follow the lines of her kisses before.  Caranwyn moaned at the deliberately teasing attention, her arousal quick to rise again from their exertions earlier.  She was torn between wishing it would never stop, and the urge to beg for more direct attention.

Russellwen began to run the backs of her fingernails up the inside of her thighs, towards her heat, but they stopped short and began the journey again.  The sensation sent a shiver through her body and her legs trembled, but the other girl didn’t relent.

“Hurry, please.”  Caranwyn gasped.  Her hands pressed down onto the bed either side of her as she fought to support herself under the assault, but her sister gave only a broad smile, showing her teeth.

“I don’t know…” The tracing of her fingernails changed from their straight lines to weaving trials, taking twice as long as before to reach her groin.  “Are you going to mess the bed if I do?”  Caranwyn felt her fingers clawing at the bed as they clenched and released in time with the other girl’s actions.  She was already aware of the familiar wet sensation burning up from her core, demanding attention.

“Light, if you keep on like that?”  She swallowed then gasped another breath.  Her heart had sped to a race already, in anticipation.  “Please, just…” she groaned as Russellwen’s caresses were joined by soft kisses against the tender skin of her thighs, adding to the rippling sensation that passed through her body with each set of teasing strokes.

“Come down here and we might get a little further, hmm?”  The fingernails brushed up over the tops of her thighs and then around her hips, sending a shiver through her that made her who body squirm and writhe.  Russellwen tugged slightly and Caranwyn let herself slip downwards to lie on the bed properly. Her sister was above her, eyes alight with her own arousal now.  Their cheeks brushed as they found a comfortable position, but Russellwen wasn’t ready to relent just yet.  As they moved she supported her own weight on her hands, shifting with Caranwyn to always keep their groins tauntingly apart, save for the lightest of brushes.  She could feel her sister’s need as well, feel the warmth radiating from her body, smell the intoxicating scent of their intermingled arousal.  It was maddening.  She reached up, wrapping her arms about the other girl and letting her fingers clutch and drag at her back.  The sensitive skin of their breasts brushed back and forth with their motions, but light and fleeting; it made her crave a fiercer touch.  Her skin tingled, sweating now.  Russellwen was stroking at her, fingers coursing over her skin, always close, but never over her most sensitive places. 

Their cheeks brushed again and Caranwyn turned her head to catch her sister’s lips, managing to catch her in a kiss.  The tiny victory sent thrill jolting through her body and she clung to the feel and taste of it as Russellwen gave a surprised moan, her limbs weakening for a moment.  The hand exploring her body rose up to draw a line down between her breasts and over her middle, to stop and circle just above her groin.

‘Want?’ Russellwen breathed the sound as a question, though Caranwyn was already nodding.

‘Want. Want!’  She already felt too far gone to speak clearly.  Her sister disappeared from her sight, sliding down and curling up beneath the cover, dragging both her hands down Caranwyn’s body as she descended.  There were hands on her thighs again, but this time they gripped firmly, holding her still with a promise of what was to come.  She felt something brushing delicately through the soft hair at her groin, achingly slow, and her body went almost still with a trembling tension.  Her sister’s cheek brushed against her thigh, then hot breath caressing her desperate sex.  A gentle brush on the other thigh, another hot breath passing over her.

“Russellwen!  Please!  I can’t take it—”  She cut off as a sudden explosion of pleasure wracked her, hot lips and tongue assaulting her most sensitive place in a rush.  Her back arched and she cried out, wordless, fingernails digging and clawing at the bed as the wound up pressure crashed through her with long pent-up force.  She bucked, gasping for air, her body rigid with the power of her sudden climax.  All of her muscles clenched tight again and again as it ravaged her.  She collapsed down onto the bed again moments later, heaving rough breaths amidst further twitches and spasms as the swiftly fading ripples of pleasure assailed her.  The cover was pulled back as she lay panting, and Russellwen looked up at her from between her legs.

“Already?  That was quick.”  Caranwyn found herself wanting to laugh at the comment.  She gulped air, but it was several breaths before she was able to speak again.

“What do you mean ‘Already’?  Finally, more like.  That was…”  She pushed herself up, then got to her knees on the bed, hands on her hips as she regained her breath.  Collecting herself, she wiped one hand over her brow and then through her hair.  “Well, short, and rough, I guess, but oh…  It was…” Words failed her and instead she held out her arms, inviting.  Russellwen obliged, scrambling up to embrace her.  With a savage chuckle, Caranwyn pounced forward with her sister, pinning her back to the bed with her own body.  They shared a kiss, and then several more.  When she came up for air again, Caranwyn fixed the other girl with a determined grin, even though they were both somewhat out of breath still.

“I don’t care if it takes all night, sister dearest, since I can’t describe it, I’m going to have to show you exactly what that felt like.”  Russellwen hummed an eager sigh, then stole another kiss.

“I begin to think we shouldn’t have bothered bathing at all.”

“Perhaps, but then, there’s tomorrow for that.”  They lost themselves in another long kiss before Caranwyn set to work.

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