[Fear was a poor motivator; the only responses it drew were rash and childish. Adelaide's request was a kingly one, even if she didn't know it, and the sudden fear it inspired in Galadriel was unworthy of them both. Her tongue was tangled for all the words she wanted to say, for all the excuses that tried to issue forth, but she crushed them before they gained purchase.
She could not read the hearts of these people. It was beyond her.
If she could, if that ability was granted to her once more, she would refrain.]
If that is what you wish, I cannot refuse you.
[Her smile was a little tighter, but she didn't draw away. She would not be hobbled by this limitation and she would not take from Adelaide in any way that she could prevent.
A moment passed in silence and, inevitably, Galadriel knew her touch would become unwelcome. If it had been welcomed at all. With as much grace as Compassion had restored, she gently released Adelaide and sank back in the chair. She had been given so much strength, it was hard to believe it was possible, but she had spent far too much to simply return to herself.
She was no longer in need, but still she longed for company. She could not ask Adelaide to stay, but she could provide knowledge if she did. It was a bold-faced move, unsubtle and desperate, one she would not have made were she speaking to anyone else. What she offered were secrets, unknown to the people of Thedas, to even the man she had exacted her power upon, but she would share them readily with this woman.]
I read the heart of a man.
[His horror, his thoughts, his memories still clung to the edges of her mind. It had been so difficult and muddled, it had taxed her so much, it frustrated her still.]
I would have struck him down, tainted as he was, but he was no enemy. [Despite herself, a thread of bitter rage and old sorrow crept into her voice.] A joke, he claimed. His blood had been poisoned with the darkest song on the whim of another.
[Rage was too much to maintain, however ancient and mild it was, and she closed her eyes as it left her voice.]
I had to know his heart...I had not heard that song since the darkest days, long before the age of men. It was foolish, but I could not let him pass.
I had to know.
[She still lacked the energy to weep for him. She still heard it in the back of her mind. It still terrified her.]
no subject
She could not read the hearts of these people. It was beyond her.
If she could, if that ability was granted to her once more, she would refrain.]
If that is what you wish, I cannot refuse you.
[Her smile was a little tighter, but she didn't draw away. She would not be hobbled by this limitation and she would not take from Adelaide in any way that she could prevent.
A moment passed in silence and, inevitably, Galadriel knew her touch would become unwelcome. If it had been welcomed at all. With as much grace as Compassion had restored, she gently released Adelaide and sank back in the chair. She had been given so much strength, it was hard to believe it was possible, but she had spent far too much to simply return to herself.
She was no longer in need, but still she longed for company. She could not ask Adelaide to stay, but she could provide knowledge if she did. It was a bold-faced move, unsubtle and desperate, one she would not have made were she speaking to anyone else. What she offered were secrets, unknown to the people of Thedas, to even the man she had exacted her power upon, but she would share them readily with this woman.]
I read the heart of a man.
[His horror, his thoughts, his memories still clung to the edges of her mind. It had been so difficult and muddled, it had taxed her so much, it frustrated her still.]
I would have struck him down, tainted as he was, but he was no enemy. [Despite herself, a thread of bitter rage and old sorrow crept into her voice.] A joke, he claimed. His blood had been poisoned with the darkest song on the whim of another.
[Rage was too much to maintain, however ancient and mild it was, and she closed her eyes as it left her voice.]
I had to know his heart...I had not heard that song since the darkest days, long before the age of men. It was foolish, but I could not let him pass.
I had to know.
[She still lacked the energy to weep for him. She still heard it in the back of her mind. It still terrified her.]