After all...what did he expect? He spent days at a time away, leaving her alone in the tower while he persued his own interests. Hadn't it been about him all along? Was he truely incapable of changing? He suspected that was it from the start. And what had come after had been no suprise.

He thought to himself that this may truely be the only selfless act he had preformed since he knew her, yet the taste was bitter in his mouth. She would be free now to find a new lover. She no longer wanted him as she did...of that he was certain. A thought he found hard to bear...simply because it was his own ego that was bruised. She wanted the other, the one who spent night upon night with her in the tavern. Perhaps he could grant her happiness where he had failed.

Bitterness and resentment rose within him again and he swallowed it hard as he turned from the bed they had shared.

"He best treat you well Melar..." He muttered to himself, "I would hate to have to kill him."

Saying this brought him no comfort. He knew right well he would not return to tel'Ruid again. There was a war being fought elsewhere, and he was needed.

He closed the door to the tower behind him and turned to look out over the bay. With a grunt he through the key as far as he could out into the water. That done he turned and slipped off into the shadows of the evening.

• A returning Ithilwen 05:28:55 pm, 1/29/2 (0)