My wonderful reviewers are: Marisa, Memory Bleeds, Shaylee7, and irena

Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything of Tolkein's

Chapter 10

"Gypsy?" he said, rolling the word around his tongue, "I am not familiar with that Westron expression. I am sorry if I sound quite ignorant to you."

I looked at him shocked, "You ignorant?! Never! If anyone should feel that way it should be me. I thought that Elves ate people."

He tossed his head back in laughter again, before falling into the grass. "You amaze me, Endolf Kaan, you really do."

I blushed invisibly as I took in my surroundings. There were no trees in the small field that we lazed on. The brilliant sunlight was our companion and the waves of grass bounced balletically against us; I never knew that such beauty could be found in such a nefarious place.

"Have you been promised yet?"

I looked at him, his eyes not meeting mine, "Y-yes I have."

His face was an empty palette, "Do you love him?"

"I-I," I sighed, "Who am I kidding, no I don't love him. As a friend, yes, but nothing more," I fell back into the grass with him, failing the notice the wave of relief that washed across his face.

"Then why stay with him?" he asked.

"I'm not going to be young forever and I need someone to take care of me. Besides he has good prospects, he wishes to raise a farm."

"Hm..simplicity," he half heartedly said.

"He tries his best," I said back to him, sitting up once again.

"He doesn't try his best for you," he looked at me fondly, "You don't strike me as a simple girl, being a farmers wife would bore you and you'd be left melancholy."

"Well, since you know the answers to everything, what better would you have to offer me?" I raised an eyebrow a bit annoyed by his arrogance.

"I shall tell you," he cooed. "I'd give you half of Mirkwood to rule and the people of our cities would love you and cheer your name as you walked through the streets. If you wished it, I'd build a palace just for you filled with all the riches of the world, every fabric and perfume you can think of, along with servants to do your bidding. You'd be treated as a Princess, even better, a Queen. I would give you only the best and you'd have only the best of me if you wanted it. Anything you desired you could have. Are those prospects good enough for you?"

I looked at him wondering if he was being truthful or being a blatant liar. "Prospects fit for the nobility. Something only fit for fairy tales."

"You'd be surprised," he said, "miraculous things can happen."

I laughed, "You sound like a fairy godmother. Besides the sparkle of my youth has already faded; and I'm a little too old to believe in adages."

"Are you always such a pessimist?" he asked a smirk tugging at his lips.

"No, I'm a realist."

"Touché," he chuckled, his laughter entrancing. "And I was taught that humans were slow."

"I was taught that Elves were arrogant," I retorted, crossing my arms.

"Do you believe everything you're told?"

"I'm starting to," I replied with a quick wit.

A small simper escaped his pink lips, "You simply don't cease to astound me. I find that alluring."

I paused, not a word came from my mouth. It's not everyday that an Elf calls me alluring.

"Ah, I've found it," he coyly said placing a yellow flower daintily in my hair.

"Found what?" I inquired, as he traced my face, blood rushing to my cheeks.

"Your wit is quick, and your tongue is sharp, but you cannot flirt. It is your weakness."

"Maybe so," I jerked my head away from his gentle touch. "Your weaknesses must be greater than mine," I said, knowing he would deny it.

"I agree with you. The vices I have committed are nothing to be proud of." He chuckled lightly, "Morgorth would love to have me as his poster boy: I'm a slave to lust, greed, power and I have a horrible covetousness that spreads through my body like an illness."

I looked down at him, "I'm sure you're not as bad as you say."

"Who's being the optimist now?" he smiled.

I lay back in the grass with him, a smile on my face, "I know you're not as bad as you say, because if you were you'd have killed me by now; and for that I owe you my trust."

"I couldn't kill the first friend I ever had."

I looked over at him serenely, the sun fading into the background, "First friend?"

"Long story. I just knew a lot about you before our first meeting." he stated his voice soothing and calming.

I raised an eyebrow wanting to inquire more, but I left it at that.

"Why do Elves and Humans hate each other so much?" I asked, looking at the twinkling stars caught up in that dark expanse of sky.

"That's one thing that I do not know. A mistake of our forefathers, I suppose."

"It's sad that hateful grudges aren't forgiven so easily," I sighed.

"I agree," he said, his crystal eyes searching the heavens.

I nodded, no words coming to me at that moment, the silence an elixir.

"Thank you," I breathed.

"For what?" he asked, his eyes finding mine.

I smiled weakly and yawned, "All my life I've been told that your kind was evil. I'm glad I've been proven otherwise. You're a very valiant person in many respects and for that I thank you."

I felt his smile even in the bleak darkness, "Laa, Hannon lle," he whispered in his tongue before I nodded off; and for the first time in a very long while, I felt peace.

The first rays of the sun tickled my cheeks as a sweet calm rushed over me. Such a calm I had never felt before, it was refreshing and simply beautiful. Opening my eyes would've been a sin, for everything was perfect; my senses were my eyes for the moment. I felt a comforting warmth on my torso, in fact I was quite warm in a lot of places: my hands, my back, there was even a warm gentle breeze running over the back of my neck. I committed a sin and opened my eyes to the world, and I then knew what that warmth was; it was him, the Elf, holding me as if to protect me from the cold.

"This is madness," I thought, loving being in his arms, "Oblivious madness."

I smiled lightly as I raised my eyes to the sky, smoke from the villages chimney's raising into the air.

"Home," I whispered aghast. "How could I have forgotten?" I scolded myself for my foolishness once again.

I felt the being by me stir as he sat up and looked at me, "You looked distressed. Are you well?" he asked, concerned.

"I have spent last night with you and I have blatantly forgotten everyone!" I said, rubbing my temples. "I should've been home hours ago."

"E-Endolf," he said, his voice melancholy.

I looked at him apologetically, "I'm sorry, but I have to go. You know that as well as I."

"Will I ever see you again?" he asked his azure eyes intense and adamant.

An odd silence passed between us, "I-I don't know. I just don't" I whispered trying to keep the tears from eyes.

He walked up to me and held both of my hands in his: another striking contrast. "Stay with me, please?" his eyes pleading.

I shook my head uneasily, "No," my voice cracked. I cannot leave my mother and sister, we're always there for one another and betraying them would be a most horrible vice." I sighed, my heart breaking with each breath I took, "I guess this is goodbye then." I said, looking up at him

"Goodbye," he whispered airily, before planting a tender kiss on my lips.

It was a kiss so soft and light yet so yearning and passionate, that the only thing I could do was to return what was given me. If heaven, no, if paradise were truly a place, if all the gods of the Valar and even Illuvatar himself were truly real, and that thin line between hate and love existed, then I would've sworn with confidence and pride that I was deeply enraptured in that perilous garden of desire and confusion.

His arms wrapped around me pulling me to him and just the closeness of his body to mine was intoxicating. There was fire welled up in my belly that I couldn't seem to contain and I was blind and dizzy with desires that I never knew existed. My conscience was thrown into the wind, and my mind and every sane thing that I'd ever thought was now an illustrious inferno of want and folly. An aroused kiss on the nape of my neck, a small sigh of release, and my knees were growing weaker by each tantalizing second.

"Endolf," he whispered celestially in my ear, his voice enchanting me and my mind spinning into a blur.

"Endolf!" I heard a voice that was neither my own or his. Its tone was frantic and I broke out of the trance that I once was in.

I wanted more, my body wanted more, yet the more my name was called the more I realized that my family cherished and needed me. It would be a truly selfish venture to never see or speak to them again.

The Elf seemed to sense my newfound discomfort and his lips parted from mine. I felt his lithe hand caress my cheek and our foreheads touched one another like we were sharing thoughts.

I smiled a solemn smile and when I blinked he was gone: a phantom of the light. I traced my red and bruised lips before finding my way out of the forest.

My betrothed was the first to spot me, "Endolf, good Illuvatar!" he yelled as I literally fell in his arms, my knees weak and my eyes heavy.

"Dation," I whispered, before dozing off into a peaceful trance.

Ah don't think this is anywhere near the end! There is still a lot more to go! Some vital secrets are uncovered in the next chapter! Yay! Reviews make me happy!!!