Chapter Thirteen
I lie in bed wishing that Legolas was beside me to make it even warmer. He is keeping patrol through the night. I grab his pillow and hug it, bringing my knees up. I roll over and close my eyes, trying to fall asleep. What would happen if I wasn't born? I ask myself as I feel sleep about to take over.
I look around I see Legolas shooting countless arrows at orcs. "Wynnter call this off at once!" King Thranduil yells. "No." Wynnter sneers. With swift movements Wynnter moves away from King Thranduil. She pulls a dagger out from her waist belt and throws it. It finds its target, Legolas's chest. Legolas grunts and falls to his knees.
"Legolas!" King Thranduil runs over to his son. Legolas coughs up blood and rests his head on his father's chest. "Legolas, you'll be alright!" King Thranduil shouts but Legolas is motionless and pale.
"No!" I scream. "Legolas!"
I bolt upright in bed and Legolas runs into the room, throwing the door open. I burst into tears and he rushes over and pulls me into his arms. I wrap my arms around him and cry into his shoulder. "Was it a premonition?" He asks softly and I shake my head. "I'm here now and I'm not leaving." He whispers and kisses the top of my ear. "Let us both sleep now melamin."
Legolas gets up and takes off his tunic and I stare, still amazed by his amazing physique. "Were you serious back when I had that cut on my hip and you said you'd walk around shirtless if it kept me healthy?" I ask and he turns to me and smiles.
"Of course I was, nothing is more important than my wife." Legolas answers and I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Our kids better be more important! But I know what you're saying." I reply and he crawls into bed with his pants still on. I press my body to his and feel his heart beat quicken for a moment as I place my hand on his chest. I smile knowing that I still do that to him. "Gi melin, Legolas." I whisper and he wraps his arms tightly around me.
"Gi melin, Elora." His kisses the top of my head and I close my eyes as our heat mixes and warms up the once cold bed.
Morning comes and I wake up to a very light snoring. His arms are still wrapped tightly around me. I trace shapes on his chest and wait for him to wake up. I decide to take this moment to watch him sleep, as he probably has with me, many times. He looks so peaceful and careless. He looks as innocent as our children.
He has grown since the day I met him, of course. He seems older but yet remains to hold youth in his face. I have seen him act childish, though it is rare. I do hope that I get to see that side of him more often when this war is over. I want to see him play with our children and he himself be a kid again.
My head pounds in a skull-splitting pain. I press my forehead against his chest.
~Legolas~
I wake up when I feel pressure on my chest. Elora has her forehead pressed against it, her way of waking me up. She's having a premonition. I wrap my arms more securely around her. "Elora, what are you seeing?" I ask trying, in some way, to ease the burden of all the things she could possibly be seeing.
"Thousands upon thousands of soldiers. Corsairs, spiders, Uruk-hai, orcs, goblins, trolls, mûmakils. Wynnter stands above them, they are in Dol Guldor. The boy looks scared, he's chained to her." Elora passes out, I hold her close to me rubbing her arm and leaving kisses along her hairline.
The door opens and Thranduil comes in. "Thranduil, what did I tell you about knocking?" I ask and he looks down.
"I'm sorry ada, I forgot. It won't happen again." He answers, then looks back up at me.
"What is it that you need my little prince?" I ask softly and he turns his gaze to Elora.
"I'm hungry and grandma told me to come get nana because the Iolas and Arlayna are hungry too." Thranduil answers matter-of-factly.
"We will be out in a few minutes, go play for now alright." I reply and he nods and leaves quickly. I shake Elora to see if that will bring her out of the premonition. Her eyes flutter open and she clings to me.
"She's planning to attack, at nightfall. Her targets, my father, your father, my grandfather, Thorin the third, any person with power who stands in her way." Elora says shakily.
"We will send word to Gondor, Dale, Rivendell, and Erebor with haste. Come, we also have hungry mouths to feed." I remind her and she gets up with me. We dress and head out of our room to tend to our children and then to business.
~Elora~
It is now late afternoon and soldiers hurry about the halls, preparing weapons, horses, and saying goodbye to their families. My own husband stands with me at the gates. I have Arlayna and he has Iolas while Thranduil stands in between us. "Ada! I don't want you to go! Please!" Thranduil begs with tears trailing down his cheeks.
"I have to ion nin, to make sure that you and everybody else stay safe." Legolas replies, putting his free hand on top of Thranduil's head.
"You have to be safe too! That way you can keep protecting nana." Thranduil points out and I feel the tears well up.
"Thranduil, you have to protect nana too, while I'm gone."
"Who's going to protect you ada?" Thranduil asks looking up at Legolas, who looks like he's not to cry.
"Annadar will, and so will grandpa Elessar, and uncle Eomer, and the rest of our family." Legolas answers and Thranduil shakes his head.
"Not good enough! Take me with you! I want to protect you ada." Thranduil exclaims and Legolas shakes his head.
"No Thranduil, war is one thing I hope you never have to experience. Your job is to stay here and protect your siblings and mother." Legolas replies and Thranduil cries harder.
"No! Ada! Don't go!" Thranduil sobs into his father's shoulder and the tears finally win, quickly sliding down my cheeks and dripping off my chin. I look to make sure they didn't land on Arlayna's face. "Please take me with you?! Th-that w-way I kn-know you'll come home to-to na..na!" Thranduil sobs and more tears stream down my cheeks.
"Thranduil, please." Legolas pleads, the unshed tears evident in his voice. "Please stay here and show my how brave you are. What are you going to do if an Orc tries to get to your siblings and nana?" Legolas asks and Thranduil sniffs.
"Kill the filth." He answers and Legolas kisses his forehead.
"That's my little prince." Legolas stands up and our eyes lock.
"You die out there and I'll find a way to bring you back and kill you myself twelve times over Greenleaf." I threaten, with a tear-choked voice. He smiles sadly.
"I won't leave you melamin. I'll come home, Aragorn will come home, ada will come home, we'll all come home." Legolas replies and puts his forehead to mine.
"You better. I'm not out there to cover your ass this time." I reply sternly and he tsks at me.
"Swearing isn't lady like." He scolds and a crooked smile finds my lips.
"Whoever said I was lady like?" I ask rhetorically.
"My prince, we are ready to leave." Calaen states and Legolas turns to him and nods. He hands Iolas to me then kisses me, long and lovingly.
"Please come home." I whisper, my lips gently brushing against his.
"I will, I promise. Gi melin, aier." He whispers back using the nickname I haven't heard in a while.
"Gi melin, Lego." I reply and he kisses my one last time then kisses the foreheads of each of our children. He goes up beside his father then mounts Cyran. A soldier blows the horn and the army beings to march. Legolas and his father turn back and give us quick nods before turning away.
"Ada! Annadar! I love you!" Thranduil yells then starts crying again. Once the army has gone through the gates are closed. Of course the full army was split in half, half go, half stay.
"Come Thranduil, let us have something to eat." I say softly and he curls his fingers into my dress as we head in. I look down at my eldest and see tears drip off his face. Instead of going to the dining hall I turn and head to the nursery. I put Iolas and Arlayna in their cribs and then I pick up Thranduil and hold him. He starts sobbing with no sign of stopping any time soon. Not like I expect him to.
I let silent tears roll down my cheeks. I kiss Thranduil's cheek and for the first time ever I feel useless. "Everybody will come home right nana?" Thranduil asks and I answer him the only way I can, the truth.
"I don't know Thranduil."
"But, ada will come home right?" He asks hopefully, looking at me with bright blue eyes. This is what I had hoped I would never have to experience.
How can I tell my son that his father might not come home? How do I tell such an innocent child that he'll lose someone that he loves so much, someone so close to him? What can I tell him? If I tell him his father will come home and he doesn't that'll damage him so much.
"Nana?" Thranduil asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Do you believe your father will come home?" I ask him and he nods. "Then hold onto that hope ion nin." I state and he places his hand on my chest, pressing the necklace, that Lady Galadriel gave me, into my skin.
"This necklace represents the love and hope you hold in your heart. Do not forget it."
I smile thinking about all the times people have told me to hold onto my hope, to hold onto my love. They all said that it was me who kept them going. I wonder if they realize that it was them who kept me going. The faces of my friends flash through my mind. Their smiles.
"You once told me that you were amazed at how I still held so much hope and love within my heart. It's easy. I just hold onto the people who love me and whom I love in return. I have been told that I carry a light in my heart. You're the one who put it there, you are my light, my love, and my hope. Don't you forget that Legolas." I state mentally and it feels like I can feel him smiling.
"Nana, I'm hungry." Thranduil says, drawing me out of my thoughts.
"Alright, you take your sister, they can't stay in their cribs all the time." I point out and pick up Arlayna, handing her to her big brother. "Be careful now." I state as he begins to walk around with her.
"Yes nana. I wouldn't let anything happen to her or Iolas." He replies and my heart warms at his words. I pick up Iolas and we head out to the dining halls, where Queen Arla waits for us. Her and I exchange a knowing glance.
Dinner is silent, except for the occasional question from Thranduil. As we finish up the thought of the oncoming sleepless nights haunts my mind. Ever since that night he slept with me after that horrid nightmare I haven't been able to sleep without him near my side. "Nana. Can I sleep with you tonight, with Arlayna and Iolas?" Thranduil asks and I hold out my hand to him.
"Yes, you can. Goodnight Arla." I state.
"Goodnight grandma." Thranduil says then goes and hugs her.
"Goodnight you two."
Despite having my children with me, I can't fall asleep. It's midnight and I yearn to hear Legolas's voice, to feel his touch on my skin. I didn't realized how attached I am to him until now. How did I become this attached to him? Why did I become so attached to him? Greenleaf, what the hell have you done to me?