"I… should not have mentioned that place."
Tacita once again met Ristiinna. Ris told her of the land of Forochel, cold and bitter yet beautiful and marvelous. As they spoke, Tacita admitted that she came to Bree through Anfalas and Enedwaith, through the wilderness. Tacita was later panicked by the shadow of Mordor, when she tried describing it looming over Gondor. Ris fixed her tea, trying to help her, but unable to understand just how deep the creeping dark shadow was for the Nurnhoth-Numenorean hybrid…
Tacita had told her she simply needed to calm her nerves.
"Do you know what causes it?" Ris asked, "Surely there must be something a healer can do, or if not a healer, a spirit-talker."
Tacita chuckled, and lied. Half way. "Yeah. I have... well, memories. Remember the amnesia? Well, I think I see things from before that. And they're frightening."
The memories were frightening, but there was no amnesia. She remembered every second, only wishing she truly could forget.
"What is this amnesia? I do not know this word."
"Amnesia. I-I said I have no memories before the year I spent in Gondor. It was a blank, remember?" She lied again, covering the terror of her life before Gondor. She lied through her teeth, with a smile.
"I do not remember you telling me this, miss, and I definitely did not know that word. How can you not remember so much?"
"I just woke up. No idea where I was from, who I was. I just woke up in a feild. It was in a war torn area, must have hit my head fleeing from battle. Ithilien and - well, that place, clash frequently. My memories must have been a casualty."
That was the cover story. The cover up story.
Ris offered to show Tacita the library of Bree-town tomorrow, and Tacita decided to retreat to solitude for the night.
"I wish I could do more to thank you for your kindness, Ris."
"Perhaps if we become friends there will be a day when it is your turn to help me." Ris waved her hand dismissively. "There is no gain in counting storms. You count and count and when you are done nothing is changed. You just help those who need help."
"I do thank you, Ris. You're the closest thing to a friend I think I ever found." Tacita felt terrible for lying to her.
Tacita gently took the tea and blew some of the steam away, she looked up to Ris with visible, yet hidden, guilt. "Until tomorrow." Then, she walked away.
She truly felt terrible for lying to her.
