“Maydawn is dead,” the thought had continuously echoed in her head. “Maydawn is dead. Maydawn is dead.” Nime fell to the ground holding her head in her hands as the thought repeated itself over and over. She sat upon the ruins of Ost Barandor. Back in her early stages of her pregnancy, before she ever began to show, when the only people who knew were Maydawn and Rossethor, Nime lost her closest family. “Maydawn is dead.”
She heard the other two who would come up onto the ruins chatter away, until he finally approached Nime. Luc, Luc is the name Nime knew him by. Well, now knew him by. That was a long story. Luc had joined the Dawn in another personality named Xeplemen. He then traveled with Quineven and Nimeway to Rivendell where he met with Cuilelass, who destroyed Xeplemen and brought Luc back into command. Long, confusing story to tell you. Nime knew his secret at that time, she kept the secret as well. For the sake of their old friendship.
Anyways, Nime had many ways to hide her pain to both herself and everyone else. She over worked herself, constantly making new potions and poisons into the night. It was the only way Nime could distract herself from her sorrows.
Sleep wasn’t something Nime paid attention to. She didn’t want to sleep, she always entered a world of her nightmares when she tried. Also eating wasn’t on Nime’s mind for the most part. Though Nime’s depression affected her husband as well. Because she constantly awoke in the night and snuck off, he was awoken as well and left to worry about her.
Nime didn’t know. Nime did not know he sat in the bed when she thought she had left him there asleep. This went on for quite some time, and it truly dragged Nime down each day. The depression consumed Nime at that time. Between the lack of sleep, increase of work, and lack of food, Nime grew unhealthy and weary.
A friendship with Luc began to form to a certain degree, till Nime betrayed his secret. Ross asked her to tell him, not accepting her common excuse of ‘I cannot say.’ Of course, Nime refused to lie to Ross. She told him of Luc’s past, burning down his home as a child, kidnapping and killing people, forming a secondary personality, and losing that personality. Nime even told him about Falarthin hiring Celoneth, a good friend of Nime, to spy on Luc.
A short argument rose between the two, which ended in Ross pushing Nime onto the bed and walking out to find Celo. Nimeway had pleaded him not to, but there was more on his mind at that time. Of course Nime wanted to protect Luc, Nime cares for those who no one else care for. Nime mounted Arieway and rode out quickly to find Luc. The information Nime had told Ross was enough to incriminate Luc, and Nime feared that is what it would do.
She warned Luc of the possible trouble that could rise and advised him to run, which he did. Nime never told him how the others found out, only that they did. And Luc never asked. That’s how Nime lost her finger. Her warning, her telling Luc to run. It was a treasonous act, but Nime didn’t realize that at the time.
When word reached Hardoleth and they pulled Luc back to Dawn Hall, Luc was punished. Not for his past crimes, that isn’t what the Dawn is about. He was punished for running. Hyrien warned Nime ahead of time that Hardoleth had planned to punish Nime. Though Nime of course was prepared to accept the punishment, Ross was not prepared to watch his love be punished. He protected Nime, locking her away and hiding her from Hardoleth. Until he finally released her and Nime went to Dawn Hall. Her punishment was to lose a finger of her choice.
But what Nime did not know is Hardoleth was so close to executing her then and there. Not for her crimes, but for what Rossethor had done. He had threatened Hardoleth and the Dawn, in hopes to protect Nime more. But fortunately, Hardoleth had a hint of morality in him, and spared her life for the mere fact that she was expecting a child.
Still, Nime lost her finger. Which added to her loss of Maydawn. And for a short time, Luc blamed Nime for his loss of finger. He hated the mere sight of her. Though that ended after he found Nime slunk to the ground with tears in her eye. She revealed to him more than she revealed to most people. She revealed her own inner remorse and punishments to herself. A bit of morality came to him, of all people, and they became friends once more. Something about Nime can make it hard for people to hate her. She was naturally a kind spirit and loving person. Even Luc could not continue to hate her.
There was a time Nime had left the Dawn after losing her finger, it wasn’t very long. Nime joined service of Lord Gerwolf in that time, which she became close friends with Lady Addiel in that time. Though she found that when Gerwolf threatened the Dawn, she could not serve him. The Dawn was still her family, and so she returned home to her family.
But Nime still felt the weight of May’s death weigh her down, and she continued on the path of little food and little sleep. What was finally became the last straw for both Nime and Ross’s sleep deprivation was when Ross made a mistake of not trusting Nime. He had come out of Dawn Hall to see Nime sitting with Luc atop of the hill. The two spent a lot of time together, for they saw one another as a sibling that both had lost. Luc became sort of a replacement of Maydawn to Nime. Though Nime never explained this to Ross, who made his own assumptions.
Nime saw Ross rush away from the Dawn Hall, and she chased after him. Though she was not able to see his facial expression, something about the mannerisms Ross had let Nime know he was upset. Her love for him compelled her to chase after him and find out what was wrong, and comfort him. She didn’t know that he was actually upset at her. How could she?
At home, Nime asked him what was wrong, and he became angered at her. His words filled Nime with fear, his accusations, which were indeed false, chewed away at Nime and after he stormed out, Nime’s body could take no more. Her legs folded under her weight and she landed hard onto the ground. No tears came, only blackness. Nime plummeted into a dark abyss of a dreamless night, filled with emptiness and silence.
She probably would have laid there for hours until whenever Ross came back, but luckily he had forgotten to grab something. He walked into the silent house where he had left Nime alone. After making his way to Nime’s office, Ross noticed she had not come out to greet him or at least see him like she always did. He called her name, but no answer. That is when he saw the body lying on the ground of their room, and he surged forward, fear gripping his heart. He ran into the table, nearly knocking it over, and sunk to his knees. Nime didn’t wake.
It was indeed a struggle for Ross to lift Nime off of the floor and carry her to the bed. He pleaded for her to come back, but Nime still did not awake. The only thing Ross could do was go find the only person he could think of to help, which happened to be Neyaa. Terra and Quineven accompanied Neyaa as she came to Nime’s home. All were concerned for the young healer. Even Luc stopped by to see if Nime was alright. Which she was, her body had only shut down to force her to sleep, for she refused to willingly sleep. Too much loss is not good for one, for nightmares haunt the soul and destroy the life. That is what happened to Nime. Between the losses of her childhood and the loss of Maydawn ontop of all of Nime’s guilt, she found that her nights were sleepless. And she found herself plummeting into a black abyss only to awake surrounded by people she cared about, and a Ross who had fallen asleep beside her.
“From childhood's hour I have not been. As others were, I have not seen. As others saw, I could not awaken. My heart to joy at the same tone. And all I loved, I loved alone.” –Edgar Allen Poe
