Luthien Tinuviel by Endaewen

Eyes of Ice

Title: Eyes of Ice
Author: Endaewen
Rating: G
Fandom: The Silmarillion
Disclaimer: All the characters and settings belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and the Tolkien Estates.
Prompt: #52. Ice
Wordcount: 242
Character: Luthien Tinuviel
Summary: Written for the Arda100 LiveJournal community, the Doom'n'Gloom prompt set.
Note: Quotes (in 'bold') are from Of Beren and Luthien from The Silmarillion.

Though her focus was on the dire and desperate situation she found herself in now, there was a tiny corner of Luthien's mind remembering things she had heard in the past. She was facing Morgoth, or Melkor as her mother's tales had named him, the most powerful of the Valar and the leader of those who had set themselves against Manwe and the others in the West. Facing him without any disguise or aid other than her own powers. Those had been stripped from her some time before.

Mother, in her tales of the Valar, always described his eyes as icy, that one stray corner of her mind observed. As one of the Maiar, she would have seen him and known. I never understood until now. It is one thing to hear descriptions, and another to actually see what is described. 'Ice' doesn't even begin to describe his eyes. They are intense, piercing, cold, and yet hot at the same time. Fitting for one who found fascination in the changes of temperature in the extreme.

Few outside of the Ainur had seen the eyes of Melkor and lived to talk about the experience afterwards. And yet, her song was able to fool those terrifying eyes long enough to send their owner into sleep and permit Beren to fulfill their errand and quest. But, she was sure that the freezing gaze of Morgoth would haunt her dreams for a long time to come.