The Black Lady of Mordor Chapter 13

We had been at Edoras for roughly a week, in that time everyone was preparing to depart for Helms Deep the great fortress of Rohan. Theodin, who I came to learn was the red head king I saw my first day had opted to protect his people by hiding away. I had personally liked Aragorn's plan of riding out and meeting Saurmon's army, it was a great tactical plan. With the riders of Rohan they would have been able to defeat the army with ease. Though I came to learn that while elves treated each other equally between man and woman, humans didn't. Women weren't as respected and as far as I could tell you had to be royalty to have any respect. For the girl Eowen was respected and only took orders from her uncle and brother, who were Theodin and Eomer.

I had also noticed that Aragorn was taking up more of a leadership role, as he often butted heads with Theodin about what should and shouldn't be done. I knew he was heir to the throne of Gondor that had been made clear at the Council of Elrond. Though he had never shown any sort of leadership ability till now.

Though I suppose everyone was changing in their own ways. Gandalf was now the white wizard, Aragorn a leader in the making, Legolas had become more at ease with the group entirely, and even befriended Gimli. Boromir, was being a bit more forward about his feelings towards me. He was not plagued by the seductive nature of the ring now that Frodo had gone beyond sight and sound, and the honorable man that he claimed to be was becoming more noticeable.

I walked through the main hall and out the large wooden doors to overlook the town as they prepared for the journey. I wasn't to go with them to Helm's Deep, at least not at first. After talking with Gandalf it had become clear that even with the riders of Rohan more men were needed to win this battle. I was going to Lothlorien to ask Galadriel and Celeborn to aid Rohan in this fight.

Eowen walked up next to me and spoke.

"Do you worry for them?" Her question seemed foolish; of course I worried for the fellowship. I worried about a great many things, primarily which side I would choose, since my talk with Galadriel and Celeborn I had floated along not sure as to whom I sided with. I had not actively sought the ring but I did not seek to push it away either.

"A bit, I have traveled with them for many months now, to have to turn and go a different path is never easy, I worry for their safety."

~~O~~

Legolas was standing in the shadows of the main hall, he had watched Leanien go outside and sighed softly to himself. He had missed her presence when they separated to hunt the Uruk Hai. He had often let his mind drift to the night he had spared with Leanien in Lothlorien…

He had pinned her down.

"What fear is keeping you from speaking to me?" He said to her softly, she had just looked up at him for a long time then said softly.

"I've been foolishly following someone who claimed me as their kin, never questioning it. Never seeking anything but their word and approval." Legolas realized that she was talking about Sauron. Was she afraid he would cast her away if she told him how she had been deceived by Sauron her entire life? "I've pushed everyone who has tried to help me away, even him…"

"Him?" Legolas questioned, letting Leanien up. He sat next to her and listened to her.

"Boromir, he keeps trying to help me. Every time he does though, I just feel weak, I mustn't be weak."

"Accepting help from others isn't weakness. It is trust, you can't survive without it. The greatest warriors have it, and it is what makes them great."

"I cant trust him…" Leanien said, Legolas looked at her with a questioning look. She saw this and continued to speak.

"Every time I am around him, it feels odd. Like I am nervous around him, I only really noticed it in the mines when I was walking with him. I thought at first it might be just because I am not used to being close to people, but when Aragorn helped me from the exit of the mines to here I didn't have that nervous feeling." Legolas gave her a small smile, he knew what was going on now.

"What you are talking about is called love. You don't know how to act around someone, and unless you talk to them about it you will keep feeling that way." Legolas could see Leanien didn't like his answer.

"But it doesn't make sense why I am feeling like this. If I love him would I just be able to say it? I mean he might not even like me let alone love me. How am I supposed to talk about that?" Legolas saw she was looking for answers but he just smiled and said.

"You are frustrated about this. That is how you talk to him about it. Start with something simple, like 'Hello, how are you?' then you just talk. It isn't something you can figure out by others telling you, you have to go through it to understand how to handle things like this." With that Legolas had stood and walked away leaving Leanien to her thoughts.

~~O~~

Presently Legolas wondered if Leanien had spoken to Boromir yet, or if she was still scared. He sighed, he would not lie to himself, he cared for Leanien. He wanted to see her smile, though he knew that for the present time, he was not the one who could make her smile. All he could do was stand by and watch as the elven woman slowly built up the courage to talk to the man she had unintentionally fallen in love with.

"Yer sulking again." Gimli said to Legolas who hadn't noticed the dwarf approach. Legolas gave his friend a smile and said.

"And you are drunk again."

~~O~~

Boromir thought it curious that since they arrived at Edoras a week ago Leanien still tended his wounds. Granted they were pretty much healed now with the herbs she had been using. Though it was odd to him as to why she continued to tend to them instead of passing the task off to some healer to deal with. He didn't complain about it, he enjoyed the fact that Leanien would be close. He had been thinking for the past two days now how to keep Leanien close. His wounds were closed up and all that was left was a sore spot and fresh scars.

He hadn't expected Leanien to visit him that day to check on his wounds, though there she was kneeling in front of him while he sat on the edge of his bed. She had removed the stitches and wiped clean the scared flesh. She put slight pressure on each scar as if checking to make sure he wasn't going to start bleeding again.

"Leanien, I was wanting to ask you something." Boromir said cautiously, Leanien looked him in the eyes, she was nervous about something. Why was she nervous?

"I need to talk to you about something too." She said then as she sat on her feet and looked at him waiting for him to ask his question.

"Well, I was just wondering, but why have you tended to my wounds this past week? There are healers here in Edoras, it just seems, odd that you have still tended to my wounds though you dislike my company." Boromir hoped that she wouldn't turn snide now, though the look on her face told him that his question touched onto her topic she wanted to discuss.

~~O~~

Bloody Nazgul in a Dress! How was I supposed to answer that? I had wanted to try and talk to him about how I felt. Legolas had said that what I felt towards Boromir was love. When Boromir was near death he had said he loved me. It should have made this talk easier but it didn't. I was so unsure how to go about telling him my feelings. I had never talked to anyone about the way I felt before. The Nazgul weren't the ones to talk of such things, they lived to serve Sauron. I had never talked to Sauron about such things either; he had always been so focused on his goals that I didn't bother him with anything.

"Um…Well you see…That's what. What I mean is that you…I…" By the creators I wasn't doing a good job of talking to him. He just looked at me confused and expectant. I tended his wounds because I cared for him. And I liked how his chest looked. Why couldn't I put that into words? I fidgeted with one of the bandages unsure what to do now.

"Leani…" He had started to talk but I had made up my mind at the same time then. I sat up and pressed my lips to his, I didn't see his expression for I had my eyes closed. I waited for him to push me away and chastise me with words of disgust. Though he didn't, after a moment he recovered from his shock and kissed me back, his hand on the back of my head as he told me everything I needed to know about his feelings in that kiss.

When the kiss broke he looked at me with a passion I had never seen before. His hand rested on the nape of my neck as we sat silent for a moment just looking at each other. He spoke first, the sound that shattered the silence we shared was phenomenal.

"Does this mean you share my feelings?" He had put the question in such a way that I could say what I had been wanting to in one word.

"Yes" I said with a sigh, he smiled at this, and perhaps I did too for he pulled me to him and kissed me again. This kiss held more passion than the first, our dominate personalities clashing as our lips fought a battle that words could not.

He pulled me up so I sat on the bed next to him as his hands roamed across my shoulders and down my back. I felt him tug at the stings that held the dress I wore on me, I cared not. I had denied even to myself this truth that I loved this man. I was ready to allow myself to be loved in return.

*O.o yeah, don't blame me for this development, Leanien isn't listening to me anymore. Next chapter has a possible lemon waiting…. It depends if I can get this character under control or not lol. Please review, because it would make me happy, and I would wright more for you lovely readers.*