Chapter 10
After three days of watching her best friend in a drunken stupor, Laine decided that she had had enough. She could not go on, watching Legolas drink life away just to dull the aching pain in his heart. Despite everything she and Ranien had done, he had refused to come out of his room and only spoke to order the servants to bring him more wine. Even Aragorn, who had known the elf for years, was at a loss for what to do.
With anger, hurt, and the feeling of betrayal in her heart, she stormed into Melian's room that day, ready to kill the treacherous elf-maid.
To her surprise, the door was open, as if waiting for her. Panting because she was so furious at this boldness, Laine stomped in without knocking, but pounded the wall to announce her presence. "Melian! You daughter of a whore!" she screamed in frustration.
The other barely looked up from folding a stack of clothes, but continued, with her back bent and her head turned away from the human girl. At first, she was disconcerted that Melian was showing no emotion at all, but decided that she might as well vent her anger, even if it meant screaming at a blank wall. Slamming the door behind her, Laine continued to scream. "You child of the darkness! Valar damn you. Valar damn you!"
The elf's shoulder heaved as she sighed, but she continued to fold clothes.
"Look at me!" the human cried, grabbing her shoulders. "Look at me, you ungrateful, lying, whore of an elf." She spun her around with all her might, and nearly bodily lifted her. Then, shaking her like a rag doll, she proceeded to rant every curse word that came to her mind at this treacherous elf. "Why? Why did you do this? You fooled me, you fooled Ranien, you even fooled Legolas! You think you are so smart, do you not?" The human had screamed herself into tears, but was not half finished.
"You killed him! You killed him, you know. He is not… right anymore. He is not himself. All he does all day is drink and stay in his room. You killed him! You murderer! You whore! How could you go and kiss Maedhros? How could you betray his trust? How could you betray my trust?I thought you were my friend!" she paused for breath, and panted, tears streaming down her cheeks because she was hurting Melian, and it felt horrible.
It should have felt right. She should have felt right, hurting the little whore who had betrayed their friendship and her best friend's love. It should have even been right to kill her and let her never have eternal life, but hurting her in any way just made Laine feel sicker.
She let go of her shoulders and paced around the room, still bellowing at the top of her lungs, now trying to get the guilt of hurting her friend off of her shoulders as well. "He loved you!" her voice was close to a sob as all her feelings poured forth. Then, more quietly, she turned to Melian. "He loved you, and you betrayed him."
To her surprise, Melian was weeping as well, tear stains lining her beautiful face, and her brilliant blue eyes watery. Laine wanted to shake her again. How could she be weeping at a time like this? The girl wanted to be angry with her, but all she felt for her was a deep sorrow at the depth of her heart.
They stared at each other for a full minute, the silence pressing on.
Finally, Melian broke the silence by swallowing loudly. She must have had a lump the size of Gondor in her throat. "Do you think I do not love him?" she whispered, more tears pouring down her face. Despite all the control of elves, she was weeping. Laine had nothing to say to this. "Did you think I kissed Maedhros to betray him?" When the girl did not speak again, the elf closed her eyes and seemed to compose herself. "Yes, perhaps it is better if you think what you already do."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Laine said through clenched teeth. She was afraid that if she allowed any emotion in her voice, she would burst into tears again and embrace Melian out of sympathy. She did not know why this elf deserved sympathy, but one look at her sad eyes and the sorrow that seemed to hang over her head, and Laine could feel no anger towards her.
"Are you telling me that you loved Legolas?" the human pressed on. "What was your purpose in kissing Maedhros, then? How can I believe that you did not betray him? What do you mean?"
Melian began to shed tears again. "I cannot," she shook her head. "Promise me, Laine, that I will not lose your friendship over this. You must trust me that I love Legolas and that I could not help what I did."
"No," the girl shook her head firmly. "I want to know why you did it."
The servant looked at her with pleading eyes, but she would not relent. Finally, Melian gave a mournful cry at the back of her throat. "I love Legolas!" she cried, the loudest the Laine had ever heard her talk. "I had to do it! King Thranduil would never have approved of our marriage! The prince of Mirkwood deserves someone better than… than… " she nearly spat the next words, "a… kitchen maid." She gazed down dejectedly. "I did it so he would hate me. If he hates me, he cannot love me, and can move on to another elf. I want to see him happy."
"Please," Laine felt a headache coming on. "He was happy with you. Why do you not just explain this to him and this will be all over?"
"Have you understood anything I just said?" Melian said sadly. "He deserves someone better. His father will not approve of a servant girl. He even said so when Legolas mentioned me."
The girl felt like she wanted to faint again, though this time, it was from exasperation. "What if he does not want someone better?"
Melian shook her head. "It is too late now," she gave a rueful smile. "He will move on. But I will love him. I will always love him." The look in her eyes was enough to let the girl see through the three thousand years of her life.
And for the first time ever, Laine realized the beauty and pain of love.
The End
Sequel in The Beauty of Friendship
