The Songs of the Stars by Flora-lass
Fanwork Notes
Written for SWG instadrabbling sessions in Jan/Feb 2025, and for the Orctober prompt 'eyes' (but it isn't about orcs), via Jubilee.
Linna has been in my mind for nearly a year (I'm also visually impaired), and I'm grateful to Chestnut for helping me find her full name, Linnathril ('singing one').
Fanwork Information
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Summary: A meeting between a visually impaired singer and a flute-playing future king. Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Thranduil Major Relationships: Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet, Romance Rating: General Warnings: |
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| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 436 |
| Posted on 11 February 2025 | Updated on 11 February 2025 |
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This fanwork is a work in progress. | |
The Songs of the Stars
Prompt 1 - A Sky Full of Stars
Prompt 2 - 'name, stars, grief, sight'
Read The Songs of the Stars
1. When everyone else had gone, they stood together in silence, neither of them wanting to be first to leave.
‘You have a beautiful voice,’ he said at last.
‘Thank you! And you play beautifully.’
More silence. Linna wasn't usually so tongue-tied, but the sound of his flute was still ringing in her ears. She wanted to suggest that they should play and sing together sometime, just the two of them, but she couldn't quite bring herself to, yet.
‘The stars are bright tonight,’ he tried again, awkwardly.
This is it, she thought. Now I have to tell him.
‘I'm afraid I can't see the stars,’ she admitted.
She heard him gasp. ‘How can that be? I knew there was something different about you, but what - happened? I mean, I'm sorry, but…how can an Elf not see the stars?’
‘I had an accident when I was very young. My eyes were healed, but my sight was never fully restored.’
‘I don't know what to say! I'm so sorry, it must be awful…’ He trailed off, helplessly.
It was no good; she liked him too much to let him struggle on like this.
‘Don't feel bad for me - I'm used to it. I can't see them, but I can hear them!’
If anything, he was even more incredulous. ‘What? How?’
‘They sing to me. It's like a choir - I can tell which stars are visible and how bright they are by their sound. Sometimes they sing solos!’
‘That's amazing! Could you sing me their songs? Or is that private? I'm sorry, I didn't mean…’
She laughed suddenly. ‘Stop saying sorry! I don't share them often, but maybe…if I sang you some, you could try playing them? Or you could accompany me?’
‘I'd like that,’ he said, simply.
‘So would I,’ she smiled.
2. He wandered for a long time that night, reluctant to rest and wishing only to think of her. He marvelled that one who could not see the stars did not seem to feel the grief which he now felt on her behalf. And yet, he slowly realised, what he most remembered about her was her voice - and that required no sight.
She had told him she could hear the stars sing, and had promised to share their songs. Could he somehow play them back to her, in a manner that conveyed their beauty as it appeared to him? If she were so willing to share their sound, he longed to be able to show her how they shone.
He whispered her name, and it almost seemed like an echo of his own.
Linnathril…
