Stage Two
(( OOC: And yes, it's another storypost. Thus the LJ-cut. I'm merciful that way. ))
She'd visited in person, this time. Her many children were capable of many things, but this was something she had to handle herself. The current residents of this Edoras inn were vigilant guardians, true...but vigilance cannot last forever, and even the most determined watchers could not detect every tiny creature creeping in or out of the building.
And after all, the queen of spiders could make herself as large -- or as small -- as she wished.
Ungoliant stood now in the child's room, in her human form, slim and proud and clad only in a grey shroud of close-spun cobwebs that rippled behind her in an unfelt breeze. The child...the girl who should have been her daughter by her once-betrothed. Not whelped by that wanton blonde savage.
She tapped her lip with one elegantly manicured nail, considering. Though she intended to terrorize Boromir's family to regain control of Boromir himself, her gift to Haldir and Faramir had been...unsubtle, if effective. She would not stoop to using the same tactics twice. This required a more delicate touch. The child would not be harmed...but she could be used to lever a shattering blow against her family's confidence in their ability to keep her safe.
The spider queen told herself that this decision had nothing to do with the fact that she did not wish to damage this child who might yet someday be hers.. Then she wryly shook her head at her own attempt to lie to herself.
Conceding to this one small brief weakness, she glided to the bedside, leaned over, and placed a single soft kiss on the sleeping girl's forehead. She stood back to admire her handiwork: a single scarlet lipsticked mark on the child's brow, an unmistakable message that Eomer's daughter wasn't safe from Ungoliant. Even in her own bed, in a secure place patrolled by her heavily-armed loved ones.
There were, after all, many ways to terrorize.
Ungoliant smiled, then tilted her head to listen. Footsteps...somebody was making the rounds, checking the sleepers. Perfect. She tucked a stuffed pony under Alcawyn's curled arm and was gone.
(( OOC: Anyone who wants to come in at this point may... ))
She'd visited in person, this time. Her many children were capable of many things, but this was something she had to handle herself. The current residents of this Edoras inn were vigilant guardians, true...but vigilance cannot last forever, and even the most determined watchers could not detect every tiny creature creeping in or out of the building.
And after all, the queen of spiders could make herself as large -- or as small -- as she wished.
Ungoliant stood now in the child's room, in her human form, slim and proud and clad only in a grey shroud of close-spun cobwebs that rippled behind her in an unfelt breeze. The child...the girl who should have been her daughter by her once-betrothed. Not whelped by that wanton blonde savage.
She tapped her lip with one elegantly manicured nail, considering. Though she intended to terrorize Boromir's family to regain control of Boromir himself, her gift to Haldir and Faramir had been...unsubtle, if effective. She would not stoop to using the same tactics twice. This required a more delicate touch. The child would not be harmed...but she could be used to lever a shattering blow against her family's confidence in their ability to keep her safe.
The spider queen told herself that this decision had nothing to do with the fact that she did not wish to damage this child who might yet someday be hers.. Then she wryly shook her head at her own attempt to lie to herself.
Conceding to this one small brief weakness, she glided to the bedside, leaned over, and placed a single soft kiss on the sleeping girl's forehead. She stood back to admire her handiwork: a single scarlet lipsticked mark on the child's brow, an unmistakable message that Eomer's daughter wasn't safe from Ungoliant. Even in her own bed, in a secure place patrolled by her heavily-armed loved ones.
There were, after all, many ways to terrorize.
Ungoliant smiled, then tilted her head to listen. Footsteps...somebody was making the rounds, checking the sleepers. Perfect. She tucked a stuffed pony under Alcawyn's curled arm and was gone.
(( OOC: Anyone who wants to come in at this point may... ))