Lurking in the Shadows

Main Characters: Éowyn, Grima
Rating: PG
Pairings: N/A
Genre: Angst
Length: Short story
Summary: He was always there, hidden in the dark places of the castle. His gaze chilled my bones and my whole body tensed. I was so cold. As cold as a worm.

~***~

He watched me. I did not need to turn around to know it; I could feel his very presence everywhere. He was always there, hidden in the dark places of the castle. His gaze chilled my bones and my whole body tensed. I was so cold. As cold as a worm. For Grima, wisely called Wormtongue, was a serpent.

He was the reason I felt even more trapped behind the walls of the gold Méduseld, stuck between my ill uncle and this vile advisor. He looked upon my every step, my every movement, like a spider ready to fall upon its prey. The intensity of his looks scared me and the tiniest of his touches made my heart freeze.

He was the first to see me as a woman and it terrified me. How could such a twisted being understand beauty? How could he see light when he was lurking in the darkness? He was around me for so long that a part of his shadows passed over me and I remembered the bitterness I sensed as my king became slowly senile.

And now, lying on a soft matress in the Houses of Healing I understood. It was nothing. Grima was nothing. Only the mere prequel of what was to come. The Darkness Unescapable. So much pain, so much terror, so many cries... The shield of the maiden had finally broken. I let the despair wash over me in the silence of the room.

It was my turn to lurk in the shadows but I did not care. And as I closed my eyes, I knew I would only welcome more obscurity. I felt so cold. As cold as a worm.

THE END