Title: The Quest for Tol-Eressëa. Chapter Fourteen.
Author: Warlady
Fandom: Tolkien Rating: PG-13. ( Just to be sure) Disclaimer: All the characters and situations from the Silmarillion, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring, belongs to Tolkien Estate. Special Warnings: This fanfiction has some of the characteristics of a Mary Sue, if you dislike original female characters in Tolkien fandom, don't read it.
Beta: Mayetra
Archive: Tortured Scribes, Fanfiction.net. Timeline: After the events of Lord of the Ring. Author's Note:This fanfiction is AU, so you may find some situations that don't follow canon. Reviews, commentaries and even flames are greatly appreciated.
When Legolas and Gimli left Lonely Mountain, the Elf sighed. He felt somehow awkward. He didn't regret making love with Hildi. But he had been taught to take responsibility for his own acts. He always thought that his first time would be quite different, and that he would wake up from reverie to find his lover laying at his side, from that day to eternity. Obviously, he didn't expect to be taken by a Dwarven lady, fuck like crazy bunnies, as she herself said, and then courteously be left behind. Legolas felt even more uncomfortable because of Gimli's gaze fixed on him.
"What is it, Gimli?"
"What do you mean, Master Elf?"
"Why are you looking at me like I have grown another head? And do not tell me you are not, because I can feel your eyes piercing holes in me."
Gimli chuckled. "I was just wondering. did your point of view change, now that you have experience in the love-making field?"
"In which sense?" The Elf blushed. Even when he knew that Gimli, and the entire population of Lonely Mountain for that matter, were well aware about his nocturnal activities with Hildi, he still could not get used to the idea.
"You know, your point of view about your brother and Lady Karida?"
Legolas raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why should my regards towards my elder brother's misbehaviour and that Haradrim's lack of decorum have change?"
"But I thought."
"What I did with your cousin, was a kind of ritual. It served her to be ready for her marriage. What my dear brother did was an affront to all our customs. I still cannot put my finger on my Father's reason to threat that mortal like a princess." Legolas' voice was filled with irritation. He still remembered how in the dim light of the chamber and under the spell of the wine and the soft smell of sandalwood, he pretended the female he was loving was Karida. He was not sure that her name had not come along with his cries of relief. But Hildi mentioned nothing, so he was confident.
"She is a princess, you know."
"Maybe to her people, but for me he is nothing but a filthy peasant. How a fragile and well behaved princess could dare to use her fists as she was the lowest whore?"
"I see, you still resent the punch to your noble pride, not to mention your pretty nose."
"Did you have to mention that?"
"You were the one who mentioned it. I still can't understand how she managed to take you by surprise. I mean, you are an Elf, and she is a mortal."
Legolas had asked himself this too. He couldn't even start to comprehend how Karida's fist collided with his face before he had notice. He, Legolas, prince of Mirkwood an experimented hunter, a trained warrior. taken by surprise by a mortal female. "I was distracted," he lied gloomily. He remembered quite well every second of the scene. He touched her and in that moment she squeaked and hit the target. Legolas held the small waist just a second, but his fingertips still felt the warmth of her skin under the garments. When she faced him he battled against his desires to reach for her body and feel that sensation again. He was so confused and full of contradicting feelings. so he did what he considered was the most suitable thing at the moment and started to retort with every offending word that came to his mind.
"You were very rude to her," Gimli stated.
"I know. But she started to scream like crazy. She seemed so upset by my touch, but I only intended to make her mend her mistaken posture. Why she would feel so affronted by my hands on her waist?"
"Master Elf, you may be a wise old creature, but you lack the basics in dealing with females from Men's people. Obviously, since she is your brother's wife, she would expect some respect, and you must ask permission even to touch the hand of an engaged lady."
Legolas bit his lip. Of course he had thought about this. In fact, this was what really made him be so mad. How could she be so silly to love Aglareb? Why did she resent even the slightest, innocent touch from him?
She recoiled at his touch as if Legolas had the plague, but she merrily accepted Thranduil's contact and Gimli's occasional pat on her hand.
"I never heard you asking her permission to touch her hand," said the Elf nonchalantly.
"Legolas, I have the privilege to do as you mentioned, because of my condition. I am a friend to her. Your father, on the other hand, accepted her as his daughter, so he can indulge a fatherly treatment with her. But, since you never chilled your suspicion around her, then it would be supposed that you don't want to become her friend nor her brother."
"What do you mean? I never did anything to be treated like a stranger. Indeed, becoming her friend is not my primary concern, but we are going to travel with her through half Middle Earth. So, I am expecting a little more interaction with her. Not much, of course, but it is impossible to keep myself isolated from her all the time."
"Then you better start behaving politely towards her, because I don't want to see my two best friends at each other's throats. She could give you a black eye to fit the crooked nose though."
"My nose is not crooked!" Legolas sourly replied.
Gimli just chuckled, his friend's nose had mended perfectly and in fact was not crooked, thanks to the magical Elven medicine, but the Dwarf loved to tease Legolas about it.
The Elf grunted an intelligible curse in Elven and tried to lead the conversation to other topic. "Anyway. I noticed something strange last night. Your cousin was using a kind of perfume." Legolas had been mulling on it for long and could not stop asking himself about it.
"Oh, that lovely scent that Karida uses herself. Sandalwood oil, I think it's called. It's part of the ritual, the most expensive part of it. Our females use it to perfume themselves before the final ritual. I cannot figure it out why the people of the lake seems to think a single little bottle worth a good pound of gold."
"A pound of gold?"
"Yes, paid for the future husbands. I imagine it's because that special oil comes directly from Harad. It seems the trees that produces the oil don't grow well in these lands. Though, as I can tell you for personal experience, the lovely aroma can make a male grow weak in the knees."
*****
They camped that night. Theext morning, they would reach the borders of Mirkwood, and from there a four day journey awaited them.
Legolas was eating a piece of lembas, watching the fire intently. "Gimli, I know maybe it is not a polite question, but, I want to know. Are you married?"
The Dwarf had been smoking. He blew a stream of smoke and sighed. "I was once. But she died. Eri was her name, a name that brings to my mind memories of joy and pain. I still mourn for her death and the death of the child that she was carrying. It's been ten years since that, and I still can't forget it."
"I am sorry. Do you plan to marry again?"
"Well, we were a strange couple. She took me as her only husband, going against all our customs. But, I am not an average Dwarf, neither was she. She was strong, yet she lacked some of the impertinence that is considered a good quality for a female of my race. Though I loved her even more for that. I know there are not many like her, and I desire not to take another wife if I have to share her with other of my fellows."
"For a Dwarf, you think so much like an Elf."
"Say that again and I will forget you are my friend," grunted Gimli, playfully caressing the sharpened blade of his axe.
Legolas took the first guard. He used his time to watch the stars and analyse his feelings. Not even the loud snores from Gimli could distract him from his thoughts. His feelings for Hildi were quite clear. She was his friend, nothing more; even after their little. or not so little affair, he could not feel about her anything more than friendship. But he felt confused about his feelings towards Karida. Why in the first place had he pretended he was making love to her? At the beginning he blamed the beverage Hildi used to intoxicate him. He knew very well that damned wine was not strong enough to inebriate him, but it had made him feel his mind clouded with desire.
He never tasted pleasures from the flesh before, and his first time with the she-Dwarf had been a totally wonderful experience. Though the images from that moments were a chaos; a disorder of real visions of Hildi, mixed with his own assumptions of how Karida would look, feel and sound in his arms, under him, atop him, her legs entangled with his.
"Damned Haradrim!" he muttered. Why, of all the females in the world, did she have to be the one who made his body feel afire? It was just lust, pure and sinful lust, he decided. Perhaps it was the mere fact that she was his brother's wife. Legolas always envied Aglareb, not only his charm with females, but his skills in diplomacy and leadership.
His older brother was educated to be king, and he had a natural gift for words and manners. He used these abilities to lure the females, enchant them, and finally dishonour them. None of them loved him after that. but this lady, this mortal one, loved him truly, despite his obvious escape, despite the words about Aglareb's misbehaviour.
Legolas envied this. He wanted someone like her, someone who would love him like this, beyond all the boundaries. Through his entire life, he never knew somebody who could fill such expectations. Of course, even under his brother's shadow, Legolas managed to get in touch with many respectable she- Elves, all of them beautiful, all of them sweet and enchanting. Every one was a promise of pleasure for the spirit as well as for the body. But he always found a way to break the bond with them as soon as the relationship turned into something serious. Why? He could not explain this. In the beginning, he even thought probably he was more inclined in another direction of gender liking. To his relief, this proved to be false. Then, why?
'They were all sweetness and grace. Elegant, noble, beautiful, obedient. Karida must be a princess, but she will never be like them. I cannot picture her sewing tapestries or composing verses for her beloved. Nay, anytime I see her, I find her hands more proper to hold a bow, a sword or the bridles of a horse. Her body is small, but far from delicate, it is strong. It is like she has never had servants before. She dresses and bathes without assistance, she talks the same to males and females. How is it that she managed to intrude in my thoughts even when I was making love to another female?' He snorted and punched the ground in frustration.
Legolas sighed, the scent that Hildi used to seduce him could be blamed. but he knew it was just lying to himself to assume it. As soon as he started to use his imagination to see Karida's face in Hildi's round features everything was so easy, natural and even more exciting. 'Damn Karida, damn the minute she entered in our lives!'
*****
Gimli started his guard.
Legolas had been awake for long time and quickly slipped into reverie.
The Dwarf looked his companion calm posture and sighed. He could not get used to seeing him in that state, his eyes open, fixed in the stars above them. How could someone rest like that? He threw some logs onto the fire and in minutes, the flames were dancing high. Slowly he withdrew his pipe from his coat and filled it with tobacco, then lit it and started to smoke.
'So, my dear Legolas, your have special feelings towards our little Princess,' he said inwardly. 'I knew something odd was happening to you, though never imagined it could be this. Not that she is not worthy of your admiration, of course, even I could not escape her special charm. It's so weird that you express your love threatening her. But, of course, you Elves are peculiar people.' He blew some smoke and smiled.
Gimli was thankful his cousin was so confident with him. It had been like that since they were just children, learning the arts of metal and stone. Honesty was their language, and they had shared the most private secrets of their hearts since their youth.
Hildi's words echoed inside his mind, "Karida is a lucky girl." Those words held no resent or envy, only sincerity. She even gave him a special gift for the female she considered the owner of Legolas' heart. Gimli took from one of his pockets a pair of silver rings, each one had a glittering diamond. "Let these be their engagement rings, for a time when they decide to settle down with a deeper commitment," she said to Gimli. For Hildi considered Karida's name coming from Legolas' lips at his completion meant he loved her truly.
Gimli held a secret from Hildi, for the first time. Karida was Legolas' brother's wife, and the woman proved to be deep in love with Aglareb. But Gimli could not say this aloud for he promised to Legolas to keep this secret. To people of Lonely Mountain, the girl that the Gimli and Legolas was going to escort to the Grey Havens was Thranduil's real daughter, and her name was unspoken. He decided not to break his promise and let Hildi think as she believed.
'I will give these rings to her and they will be her engagement ring with Prince Aglareb. Poor Legolas, now I know why he is so bitter about this situation,' Gimli said to himself and put the rings in his pocket again. He shared Hildi's opinion, lust about someone could make people think about the object of desire in moments of intimacy. Though uttering a name was something quite different, it could mean nothing but true love.
Gimli sighed and refilled his pipe, lit it again and inhaled deeply. He felt worried about Legolas, and almost pitied him for such bad luck. The Dwarf was not blind as to not notice how the she-Elves looked at Legolas. Through their travel with the Fellowship, he observed his friend's effect on females. From Imladris to Lóthlorien and back to Eryn Lasgalen, it was the same, nervous giggles, blushes and batting eyelashes . But Legolas seemed oblivious to them. Back to the time of their travel, Gimli was suspicious the Elf was not so inclined towards females, maybe he was one of those persons that preferred the same gender. Gimli even had a couple of friends that had such inclinations, and felt that the chance of Legolas being so, was not so awkward.
Though he discovered it was not like that, when one morning in Lothlórien, Legolas did everything but beg him to share a walk in the woods. Gimli was a little uncomfortable but he had nothing to be afraid of, after all, he carried his axe everywhere. If the Elf tried a funny movement, he would be sure to make clear his own point of view on the subject. He sighed in relief when Legolas confessed to him, after a long inquiry on his part, that he didn't want to share more walks with the Marchwardens. It seemed that one specific male Marchwarden had insinuated to the Prince in a "very bold, disrespectful and uncanny way", those were Legolas precise words. Gimli chuckled inwardly at this memory.
It looked then, that the Elf had not find a proper candidate to be his mate. until now. Unfortunately, the female was not only a Man's daughter, but also a Haradrim and already taken. It existed, too, the fact that her husband was Legolas' brother. "What a mess," whispered Gimli. He wished the circumstances were different, even desired that Aglareb reject to properly wed Karida and send her back to Middle Earth. The latter sounded very possible, due the Elf's reputation. It would mean Karida's heart would be broken, something that Gimli found unbearable to consider. But if such a thing happened, he will be sure to convince Legolas to take her as wife. The Dwarf would convince Karida as well, not easy task but it worth a try. And, about Aglareb, well, he only would jump in the next ship to Tol-Eresëa and will take the first chance to put the dishonest Elf out of his misery with his axe.
'Oh, sounds like a good plan to me. I accept that Elves woulds do it a difficult way, those affected and touchy people! But for a Dwarf, ah, the swift, easy and direct way is better. Maybe the bards would not chant about it for thousands of years. But who wants to have songs in your honour when your bones are lying peacefully in the bowels of earth?' Gimli sucked on his pipe once again and blew some smoke rings.
The Dwarf looked at Legolas again, and a wide grin appeared on his bearded face. 'Don't worry, lad, there is still a chance. You just wait, if everything goes as I think, you will have your beloved one at your side. Besides, I would hate looking one of these fine rings on the finger of your brother, he doesn't deserve it, as he doesn't deserve Karida.'
TBC
Author: Warlady
Fandom: Tolkien Rating: PG-13. ( Just to be sure) Disclaimer: All the characters and situations from the Silmarillion, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring, belongs to Tolkien Estate. Special Warnings: This fanfiction has some of the characteristics of a Mary Sue, if you dislike original female characters in Tolkien fandom, don't read it.
Beta: Mayetra
Archive: Tortured Scribes, Fanfiction.net. Timeline: After the events of Lord of the Ring. Author's Note:This fanfiction is AU, so you may find some situations that don't follow canon. Reviews, commentaries and even flames are greatly appreciated.
When Legolas and Gimli left Lonely Mountain, the Elf sighed. He felt somehow awkward. He didn't regret making love with Hildi. But he had been taught to take responsibility for his own acts. He always thought that his first time would be quite different, and that he would wake up from reverie to find his lover laying at his side, from that day to eternity. Obviously, he didn't expect to be taken by a Dwarven lady, fuck like crazy bunnies, as she herself said, and then courteously be left behind. Legolas felt even more uncomfortable because of Gimli's gaze fixed on him.
"What is it, Gimli?"
"What do you mean, Master Elf?"
"Why are you looking at me like I have grown another head? And do not tell me you are not, because I can feel your eyes piercing holes in me."
Gimli chuckled. "I was just wondering. did your point of view change, now that you have experience in the love-making field?"
"In which sense?" The Elf blushed. Even when he knew that Gimli, and the entire population of Lonely Mountain for that matter, were well aware about his nocturnal activities with Hildi, he still could not get used to the idea.
"You know, your point of view about your brother and Lady Karida?"
Legolas raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why should my regards towards my elder brother's misbehaviour and that Haradrim's lack of decorum have change?"
"But I thought."
"What I did with your cousin, was a kind of ritual. It served her to be ready for her marriage. What my dear brother did was an affront to all our customs. I still cannot put my finger on my Father's reason to threat that mortal like a princess." Legolas' voice was filled with irritation. He still remembered how in the dim light of the chamber and under the spell of the wine and the soft smell of sandalwood, he pretended the female he was loving was Karida. He was not sure that her name had not come along with his cries of relief. But Hildi mentioned nothing, so he was confident.
"She is a princess, you know."
"Maybe to her people, but for me he is nothing but a filthy peasant. How a fragile and well behaved princess could dare to use her fists as she was the lowest whore?"
"I see, you still resent the punch to your noble pride, not to mention your pretty nose."
"Did you have to mention that?"
"You were the one who mentioned it. I still can't understand how she managed to take you by surprise. I mean, you are an Elf, and she is a mortal."
Legolas had asked himself this too. He couldn't even start to comprehend how Karida's fist collided with his face before he had notice. He, Legolas, prince of Mirkwood an experimented hunter, a trained warrior. taken by surprise by a mortal female. "I was distracted," he lied gloomily. He remembered quite well every second of the scene. He touched her and in that moment she squeaked and hit the target. Legolas held the small waist just a second, but his fingertips still felt the warmth of her skin under the garments. When she faced him he battled against his desires to reach for her body and feel that sensation again. He was so confused and full of contradicting feelings. so he did what he considered was the most suitable thing at the moment and started to retort with every offending word that came to his mind.
"You were very rude to her," Gimli stated.
"I know. But she started to scream like crazy. She seemed so upset by my touch, but I only intended to make her mend her mistaken posture. Why she would feel so affronted by my hands on her waist?"
"Master Elf, you may be a wise old creature, but you lack the basics in dealing with females from Men's people. Obviously, since she is your brother's wife, she would expect some respect, and you must ask permission even to touch the hand of an engaged lady."
Legolas bit his lip. Of course he had thought about this. In fact, this was what really made him be so mad. How could she be so silly to love Aglareb? Why did she resent even the slightest, innocent touch from him?
She recoiled at his touch as if Legolas had the plague, but she merrily accepted Thranduil's contact and Gimli's occasional pat on her hand.
"I never heard you asking her permission to touch her hand," said the Elf nonchalantly.
"Legolas, I have the privilege to do as you mentioned, because of my condition. I am a friend to her. Your father, on the other hand, accepted her as his daughter, so he can indulge a fatherly treatment with her. But, since you never chilled your suspicion around her, then it would be supposed that you don't want to become her friend nor her brother."
"What do you mean? I never did anything to be treated like a stranger. Indeed, becoming her friend is not my primary concern, but we are going to travel with her through half Middle Earth. So, I am expecting a little more interaction with her. Not much, of course, but it is impossible to keep myself isolated from her all the time."
"Then you better start behaving politely towards her, because I don't want to see my two best friends at each other's throats. She could give you a black eye to fit the crooked nose though."
"My nose is not crooked!" Legolas sourly replied.
Gimli just chuckled, his friend's nose had mended perfectly and in fact was not crooked, thanks to the magical Elven medicine, but the Dwarf loved to tease Legolas about it.
The Elf grunted an intelligible curse in Elven and tried to lead the conversation to other topic. "Anyway. I noticed something strange last night. Your cousin was using a kind of perfume." Legolas had been mulling on it for long and could not stop asking himself about it.
"Oh, that lovely scent that Karida uses herself. Sandalwood oil, I think it's called. It's part of the ritual, the most expensive part of it. Our females use it to perfume themselves before the final ritual. I cannot figure it out why the people of the lake seems to think a single little bottle worth a good pound of gold."
"A pound of gold?"
"Yes, paid for the future husbands. I imagine it's because that special oil comes directly from Harad. It seems the trees that produces the oil don't grow well in these lands. Though, as I can tell you for personal experience, the lovely aroma can make a male grow weak in the knees."
*****
They camped that night. Theext morning, they would reach the borders of Mirkwood, and from there a four day journey awaited them.
Legolas was eating a piece of lembas, watching the fire intently. "Gimli, I know maybe it is not a polite question, but, I want to know. Are you married?"
The Dwarf had been smoking. He blew a stream of smoke and sighed. "I was once. But she died. Eri was her name, a name that brings to my mind memories of joy and pain. I still mourn for her death and the death of the child that she was carrying. It's been ten years since that, and I still can't forget it."
"I am sorry. Do you plan to marry again?"
"Well, we were a strange couple. She took me as her only husband, going against all our customs. But, I am not an average Dwarf, neither was she. She was strong, yet she lacked some of the impertinence that is considered a good quality for a female of my race. Though I loved her even more for that. I know there are not many like her, and I desire not to take another wife if I have to share her with other of my fellows."
"For a Dwarf, you think so much like an Elf."
"Say that again and I will forget you are my friend," grunted Gimli, playfully caressing the sharpened blade of his axe.
Legolas took the first guard. He used his time to watch the stars and analyse his feelings. Not even the loud snores from Gimli could distract him from his thoughts. His feelings for Hildi were quite clear. She was his friend, nothing more; even after their little. or not so little affair, he could not feel about her anything more than friendship. But he felt confused about his feelings towards Karida. Why in the first place had he pretended he was making love to her? At the beginning he blamed the beverage Hildi used to intoxicate him. He knew very well that damned wine was not strong enough to inebriate him, but it had made him feel his mind clouded with desire.
He never tasted pleasures from the flesh before, and his first time with the she-Dwarf had been a totally wonderful experience. Though the images from that moments were a chaos; a disorder of real visions of Hildi, mixed with his own assumptions of how Karida would look, feel and sound in his arms, under him, atop him, her legs entangled with his.
"Damned Haradrim!" he muttered. Why, of all the females in the world, did she have to be the one who made his body feel afire? It was just lust, pure and sinful lust, he decided. Perhaps it was the mere fact that she was his brother's wife. Legolas always envied Aglareb, not only his charm with females, but his skills in diplomacy and leadership.
His older brother was educated to be king, and he had a natural gift for words and manners. He used these abilities to lure the females, enchant them, and finally dishonour them. None of them loved him after that. but this lady, this mortal one, loved him truly, despite his obvious escape, despite the words about Aglareb's misbehaviour.
Legolas envied this. He wanted someone like her, someone who would love him like this, beyond all the boundaries. Through his entire life, he never knew somebody who could fill such expectations. Of course, even under his brother's shadow, Legolas managed to get in touch with many respectable she- Elves, all of them beautiful, all of them sweet and enchanting. Every one was a promise of pleasure for the spirit as well as for the body. But he always found a way to break the bond with them as soon as the relationship turned into something serious. Why? He could not explain this. In the beginning, he even thought probably he was more inclined in another direction of gender liking. To his relief, this proved to be false. Then, why?
'They were all sweetness and grace. Elegant, noble, beautiful, obedient. Karida must be a princess, but she will never be like them. I cannot picture her sewing tapestries or composing verses for her beloved. Nay, anytime I see her, I find her hands more proper to hold a bow, a sword or the bridles of a horse. Her body is small, but far from delicate, it is strong. It is like she has never had servants before. She dresses and bathes without assistance, she talks the same to males and females. How is it that she managed to intrude in my thoughts even when I was making love to another female?' He snorted and punched the ground in frustration.
Legolas sighed, the scent that Hildi used to seduce him could be blamed. but he knew it was just lying to himself to assume it. As soon as he started to use his imagination to see Karida's face in Hildi's round features everything was so easy, natural and even more exciting. 'Damn Karida, damn the minute she entered in our lives!'
*****
Gimli started his guard.
Legolas had been awake for long time and quickly slipped into reverie.
The Dwarf looked his companion calm posture and sighed. He could not get used to seeing him in that state, his eyes open, fixed in the stars above them. How could someone rest like that? He threw some logs onto the fire and in minutes, the flames were dancing high. Slowly he withdrew his pipe from his coat and filled it with tobacco, then lit it and started to smoke.
'So, my dear Legolas, your have special feelings towards our little Princess,' he said inwardly. 'I knew something odd was happening to you, though never imagined it could be this. Not that she is not worthy of your admiration, of course, even I could not escape her special charm. It's so weird that you express your love threatening her. But, of course, you Elves are peculiar people.' He blew some smoke and smiled.
Gimli was thankful his cousin was so confident with him. It had been like that since they were just children, learning the arts of metal and stone. Honesty was their language, and they had shared the most private secrets of their hearts since their youth.
Hildi's words echoed inside his mind, "Karida is a lucky girl." Those words held no resent or envy, only sincerity. She even gave him a special gift for the female she considered the owner of Legolas' heart. Gimli took from one of his pockets a pair of silver rings, each one had a glittering diamond. "Let these be their engagement rings, for a time when they decide to settle down with a deeper commitment," she said to Gimli. For Hildi considered Karida's name coming from Legolas' lips at his completion meant he loved her truly.
Gimli held a secret from Hildi, for the first time. Karida was Legolas' brother's wife, and the woman proved to be deep in love with Aglareb. But Gimli could not say this aloud for he promised to Legolas to keep this secret. To people of Lonely Mountain, the girl that the Gimli and Legolas was going to escort to the Grey Havens was Thranduil's real daughter, and her name was unspoken. He decided not to break his promise and let Hildi think as she believed.
'I will give these rings to her and they will be her engagement ring with Prince Aglareb. Poor Legolas, now I know why he is so bitter about this situation,' Gimli said to himself and put the rings in his pocket again. He shared Hildi's opinion, lust about someone could make people think about the object of desire in moments of intimacy. Though uttering a name was something quite different, it could mean nothing but true love.
Gimli sighed and refilled his pipe, lit it again and inhaled deeply. He felt worried about Legolas, and almost pitied him for such bad luck. The Dwarf was not blind as to not notice how the she-Elves looked at Legolas. Through their travel with the Fellowship, he observed his friend's effect on females. From Imladris to Lóthlorien and back to Eryn Lasgalen, it was the same, nervous giggles, blushes and batting eyelashes . But Legolas seemed oblivious to them. Back to the time of their travel, Gimli was suspicious the Elf was not so inclined towards females, maybe he was one of those persons that preferred the same gender. Gimli even had a couple of friends that had such inclinations, and felt that the chance of Legolas being so, was not so awkward.
Though he discovered it was not like that, when one morning in Lothlórien, Legolas did everything but beg him to share a walk in the woods. Gimli was a little uncomfortable but he had nothing to be afraid of, after all, he carried his axe everywhere. If the Elf tried a funny movement, he would be sure to make clear his own point of view on the subject. He sighed in relief when Legolas confessed to him, after a long inquiry on his part, that he didn't want to share more walks with the Marchwardens. It seemed that one specific male Marchwarden had insinuated to the Prince in a "very bold, disrespectful and uncanny way", those were Legolas precise words. Gimli chuckled inwardly at this memory.
It looked then, that the Elf had not find a proper candidate to be his mate. until now. Unfortunately, the female was not only a Man's daughter, but also a Haradrim and already taken. It existed, too, the fact that her husband was Legolas' brother. "What a mess," whispered Gimli. He wished the circumstances were different, even desired that Aglareb reject to properly wed Karida and send her back to Middle Earth. The latter sounded very possible, due the Elf's reputation. It would mean Karida's heart would be broken, something that Gimli found unbearable to consider. But if such a thing happened, he will be sure to convince Legolas to take her as wife. The Dwarf would convince Karida as well, not easy task but it worth a try. And, about Aglareb, well, he only would jump in the next ship to Tol-Eresëa and will take the first chance to put the dishonest Elf out of his misery with his axe.
'Oh, sounds like a good plan to me. I accept that Elves woulds do it a difficult way, those affected and touchy people! But for a Dwarf, ah, the swift, easy and direct way is better. Maybe the bards would not chant about it for thousands of years. But who wants to have songs in your honour when your bones are lying peacefully in the bowels of earth?' Gimli sucked on his pipe once again and blew some smoke rings.
The Dwarf looked at Legolas again, and a wide grin appeared on his bearded face. 'Don't worry, lad, there is still a chance. You just wait, if everything goes as I think, you will have your beloved one at your side. Besides, I would hate looking one of these fine rings on the finger of your brother, he doesn't deserve it, as he doesn't deserve Karida.'
TBC