There Will Your Heart Be Also by Zdenka

Chapter 1

Some of the others complained about living on shipboard when they thought his father could not hear, but Isildur much preferred it. Here they could shake off the fear that weighed on them: of the King's blasphemous armada even now gathering strength, of the dark temple in Armenelos, of what orders Ar-Pharazôn might give his soldiers if something should recall his unwanted kinsmen to his mind. Here in the harbor of Rómenna, they were free. At utmost need, they could slip from land, spreading their ships' sails like white-winged birds, and fly to a safer refuge.

Isildur tilted his head back to see the banner that fluttered atop the mast, marked with a star. It was a sign to the Faithful that one of the precious seeing stones was kept on board. They held only seven, distributed among the ships in their small fleet. But his own ship held something more precious still. Leaving the deck, he made his way to the cabin where their treasure was kept. Isildur felt a sense of calm and peace wash over him, as always when he came here. No lamp was lit in the cabin, but the White Tree shone faintly with its own light. He bent his head in reverence.

The tree's slender trunk rose upward, its roots contained in a large pot. Here the last scion of Nimloth the Fair grew in safety, but confined. Isildur wondered if the tree could sense the strangeness of its resting-place, floating on the bosom of the sea. It was a temporary measure, until a day of greater safety. Isildur felt a sudden restlessness sweep over him. For now, their strength was not enough, and their hope lay in concealment. But someday, he vowed, the house of Elendil would plant that tree in solid earth again, never to be shaken.