"You're leaving me too, aren't you?" Elarinya queried to Legolas when she saw him saddling his horse.
He smirked. "Gimli."
"Ah," she said, understanding his meaning.
"You will be taken care of though," he said, nodding to look behind her.
She turned to see Éomer over her shoulder, discussing something with a soldier.
"You're being ridiculous," she scoffed, her eyes trained on him again only to detect a note of protectiveness and jealousy in his gaze.
"Legolas?" she asked, startled.
"You seem different," he noticed.
Ela gave him a confused expression, to which he said, "Happy maybe…Infatuated?"
She closed her eyes, willing her cheeks not to redden but probably did anyway.
"I will see you on the battlefield."
She opened her eyes suddenly, turning her chin up and seeing his usual appearance.
"Yes, see you," she smiled, watching him lead his horse away.
When he was out of view, she wondered what she would do without her friends for a moment before turning her head to watch Éomer still talking. She could feel her mouth lifting at the corners, seeing his fierceness and passion exuding in a simple conversation with another man and how he probably wasn't even aware of it.
A long while later, the soldier was dismissed and the king's nephew looked to his side and saw Elarinya looking his way. He didn't show any emotion as she held his gaze and as she walked up to where he was standing.
She was right beside him, examining his garb and then the ground below, when she finally spoke up.
"I was upset with you earlier, overhearing your speech to Éowyn. I was set on giving you a piece of my mind when I saw one of my most respected kin coming out of your uncle's tent…
"I think the things you said to your sister were misguided," she continued softly, "I think you want to protect her from the world, but she has seen the world through your and your uncle's eyes, and in those coming home; she knows of war though she has not encountered it for herself."
"I still don't want her on the battlefield," he uttered quietly, peering down at the person in front of him, "She is my only family; if I departed this place, she would be here to look after it."
Ela didn't know what to say, although a pained look crossed her face as a silence descended on them.
"I wonder if I would feel the same way if I had a sister," she mused before changing the subject: "Are you afraid?"
"I don't have time to be afraid," Éomer answered immediately and stiffly.
She took a moment to let that sink in, reaching for his hand in the midst. He jumped in his skin at the sudden contact but did not pull away as she kept caressing his palm, urging him to think about her question without saying a word.
"I'm afraid for my men," he said with a hint of sadness after really contemplating all the events that occurred and were about to occur, "They honestly have no obligation being here and yet here they are, waiting for an inevitable death when they have wives and children to look after…"
"You seem to think a lot about your people," the half-elf said after a pause.
He smiled wryly as he squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes. "I suppose I do."
She met his gaze and even brought her free hand up to touch the side of his face.
"You are full of surprises," she whispered almost inaudibly, allowing her fingers to gently trace his lips.
Elarinya was full of surprises too, he thought, studying her every movement without giving too much of his own. When he dipped his head down towards her, she raised herself to meet him halfway, engaging in a sweet embrace neither of them thought possible.
Her head was spinning as they separated and she tried to find consciousness as fast as possible. Not fast enough though as she heard the following words through a tunnel:
"Spend the night with me."
She opened her eyes to see Éomer looking at her steadily.
"What is it?" she asked, balking under his scrutiny.
"Are you sure?" he replied.
Her eyes widened slightly when she understood she was the one who invited him to stay with her. But she wasn't about to back down.
She nodded.
She was sure.
~*Ick, I missed last month. But this is where I got to stop writing the last time, and I realized it would have been a good stopping point instead of missing posting in September...Ah well. So yeah, there will be a short break time for me as I re-group and get ready for the next part of this story. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. I'm honestly not too sure what to think of it now.
Thank you for all the kind words in the reviews so far, and thank you to the silent readers as well I guess. It's been interesting to see the stats haha. Have a great few months you guys!