Desert Stars

He had been too long among strangers, Aragorn thought, refusing a turn at the water pipe. Even kindly strangers. “I know the dreams of the shiska, they do not favor me.” He rose, sighing inwardly as he made a deep, smiling obeisance. “I bid you goodnight.”

Even the stars ingniting in the vast canvas above these crossroads were unfamiliar. Always apart … Aragorn loosed the sigh he had withheld as he wandered back to his solitary bedroll.

A shadow detached itself from the oasis rocks.

“Legolas! What … how …”

“The stars spoke to me of your heart, mellon nin.”