National Treasure by Baranduin (G)

[vissy.livejournal.com]

Fandom: LORD OF THE RINGS
Pairing: N/A
Author on LJ: baranduin
Author Website: baranduinfics
Why this must be read: Two archeologists searching for Templar ruins in Scotland find something they did not expect. This is a very pleasing little piece of speculation for anyone who likes to think of LotR as history rather than fantasy.

There was a path up and into the glen, and it was overgrown with pine trees and obscured by fallen rock now covered with moss. But it was a path nonetheless, and they saw that it had been designed carefully at one time so that it clung in a winding fashion to the sides of the steep slope.

The first real hint of something was a statue of the Virgin Mary. That surprised them but did not stop them.

“It looks like a gravestone,” Bri said as she and Ron knelt by the crumbling carving and pulled aside the tenacious green vines that clung to it.

Ron breathed out once, loudly, and then held his breath for a moment as he worked, his fingers dark with rich loam. “There are words here. Can you make them out?”

“No. It’s too worn away. Do you think it’s Mary?”

“Oh, it must be. Look at the sweetness of the expression, the posture.”

“And the sadness. She looks like she’s given everything she has to give ...”

“... and then some,” Ron finished after Bri’s voice trailed off, choked with emotion.

National Treasure