Hello, and welcome to chapter nine of Daughter of Middle Earth - Fellowship of the Ring. Many thanks to the people who have reviewed so far. The comments make me very happy!
This chapter is one of my favorites, so I hope you all enjoy this! Again, I promise that the Legolas pairing will come eventually.
I want to extend my thanks to King Caspian the Seafarer for her amazing Beta job. If it weren't for her, this story would be much more boring. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I look forward to reading your reviews! (hint, hint) ;)
Chapter Nine
Love Grows
Serian couldn't remember a time when she had been happier. Jaris sent word to his family about his proposal and Serian's acceptance. The two of them planned on going back to Bree. Jaris said that he planned to travel to where his family lived, a few weeks before the wedding so that they could meet Serian and she could meet them.
They left Rivendell on a sunny morning about a week after they had received Serian's parents approval. Serian rode Silme the same way she had ridden Swan back home, except she rode Silme with no reins. With their minds connected the way that they were, reins were completely unnecessary. Not to mention the fact that Silme had absolutely refused to allow a bit between her teeth. Silme had about the same build as Swan, but she was taller and her strides were smoother. She was an absolute dream to ride, and Serian hoped that their relationship would continue to grow to the point where they could trust each other completely with everything.
They stopped the first night after a rather long ride. Both Serian and Jaris were tired, as were their horses. The two of them made camp, and settled down on either side of the fire to sleep.
Serian was awakened suddenly around midnight by the loud howl of a wolf. She quickly leapt to her feet. Jaris and the horses were awake already, and Serian quickly retrieved her bow from where she had placed it by her bedroll. Suddenly, the wolves were around them.
The mangy beasts had dirty grey fur and slightly crazed eyes. Serian had the feeling that they had some kind of disease that made them crazy. The leader was the largest of all, and he stood tall while the rest of the wolves crouched, ready to spring. The leader was solid black with grey paws, and the gleam in his eyes looked less crazy, but more wild than any of the others. He was looking directly at Serian, and she had the terrible feeling that he was going to come after her. The black wolf bared his teeth in a horrible grin and released a single, short grunt. It was the signal that the other wolves were waiting for. They leapt forward as a single entity.
Serian was shooting furiously with her bow. She was an excellent shot, and was only able to catch tiny glimpses of Jaris fighting with his sword and Silme driving her sharp hooves into the wolves. Jaris' horse had already bolted into the night, and Serian doubted that they would ever see it again.
Suddenly, as Serian was lining up another shot, she felt needles of hot, sharp pain dig into her back, driving her forward to the ground. She managed to turn her head far enough to see her assailant. It was the huge, black leader and he grinned at her, snorting his foul breath into her face before pulling back and aiming for her neck. Serian closed her eyes, preparing for death, flinching when she felt his hot breath on her neck as he poised to bite down. Suddenly, his head crashed down on her head and she blacked out.
When her eyelids finally fluttered open, she was looking directly up into Jaris' worried eyes. Serian became vaguely aware that Jaris was holding her on his lap.
"Yes, I'm awake," she murmured. She tried momentarily to sit up, but Jaris gently placed his arm over her shoulders.
"Stay down, you're not strong enough yet."
"What happened?" she asked.
"I spotted that wolf on top of you, and I threw my dagger at it just before it could bite you. Silme finished off the rest of the wolves while I got that brute off of you. You were out for about three minutes." He smiled at her tenderly. "How does your back feel?"
"It still hurts, but I'll be fine." Serian's voice was stronger now, and she felt much better than when she had first awakened. "I feel a bit better, but my head still hurts."
"You'd better get some sleep, I'll keep watch."
"We should have thought of that earlier."
Jaris nodded. He hesitated and the two of them locked eyes.
He's going to kiss me! Serian thought. He leaned toward her a moment, Please kiss me, I want to kiss you back.
Instead of kissing her, he carefully laid her on her cloak with her head pillowed on one of Silme's front legs. Jaris moved so that he was sitting near her feet, and wrapped his cloak around himself.
For the next few days, as they continued toward Bree, Jaris and Serian grew closer and closer. There were several times during the nights when Serian had an extreme urge to kiss Jaris, but her parents teachings always caught her before their lips met. It was the night before they got to Bree that Jaris actually said the words 'I love you.' That was when Serian really realized how much she loved him as well. In her mind, the worst thing that could happen would be for something terrible to happen to Jaris.
Unfortunately, that something was about to happen.
