Chapter 35

That night I guided Legolas by the hand into the Hall of Fire and did not surrender my hold on him even as all eyes were turned to us. The orange glow of the flames danced on the walls and blended with the deepening shades of night, and if there was a stumble in the singing at the sight of us, I think I was too nervous to mark it.

As for Legolas, when we had safely made it across the threshold, his eyes sought mine and I strengthened my grasp around his fingers and his smile came weak. But I read in him a timid elation as well and that became what emboldened me to push forward. And across the room, where stood my usual seat, Glorfindel rose and relinquished his own, and I realised as we drew nearer that it was so that Legolas could sit beside me.

Indeed, as we finally reached the other end of the room, Glorfindel's eyes were upon us and though there was humour in them, there was more, too; and even as I held Legolas' hand, my Captain stepped forth and laid his hand on his shoulder.

"Well pleased am I," he said quietly, "to see you thus."

"Thank you, my lord," said Legolas, and his words came in a breathless rush.

Glorfindel chuckled. "You had better inhale now, my prince, or I fear you shall faint."

I gave Legolas' hand a squeeze. "Come," I said, "let us sit."

And so we did, and gradually the tide of curious glances ebbed out and I discovered that I was breathing again. As was Legolas, it seemed.

He turned to me just as I leaned in closer to him and for a first frail moment our intentions collided but then he dipped his head a fraction.

"I admit I am not sure where to look, my lord."

I surveyed the crowd and my eyes fell on Thranduil. His back was turned to us, deliberately or not I did not know, and he appeared to be in conversation with Erestor. They were a good match, I suspected, for little did ever sway my chief advisor and there was a chance that even the capricious moods of the Elf-King could be tempered by him.

With ease, I turned my attention from them and looked again at Legolas.

"Anywhere you like," I told him. "Soon enough the novelty shall wear off and you will be as uninteresting to them as I am now."

To my delight, his lips curved into a smile. "I look forward to it."

Then boldness came upon me and I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you find my company tedious, then?"

His laugh scattered the remaining tension between us.

"Oh, aye," he said. "Devastatingly so. I dared not tell you before, my lord, but now that you yourself willingly raise the subject..." His eyes glittered, blue as the summer night which cradled my house.

I could look nowhere else but into those eyes and the way that happiness flooded them. Yet I did my very best to keep my tone as light – as if we were only playing at a courting-game and my devotion to him was not already laid bare for all to see. But I was inexperienced, I knew, having not ever aimed to tease a lover so and I fear I failed miserably.

"It is now too late," I told him, nonetheless. "Sooner you should have spoken, for now I have led you here by the hand, in front of the eyes of my people and it is me that you are stuck with."

But Legolas took pity on me and his smiled deepened. Then he leaned in even closer and I took his proffered hand in mine and gingerly rubbed my thumb over his knuckles.

"Lead me as you wish," said he, "and I shall follow."

I lifted his hand to my lips, then, and kissed it – like we were alone and this night was only for us. When I looked up, Thranduil's grey eyes locked with mine from across the room and there was a moment of absolute hesitation, but then his nod at me came curt and affirming. And it was only then that I think I finally knew that Legolas' path had truly melted into mine, and with him I would gladly walk forever.

We sat through many songs that night: ballads and lays and even some poetry. I answered the questions Legolas had about them and quietly told him such tales that I thought he might not have heard: of the deeds of the Eldar in Beleriand, of their entanglement with the sons of the House of Hador, and of the Powers that dwell still in the West.

At times he surprised me with his knowledge but it was clear to me that in Thranduil's halls ancient lore was not as well-preserved as it was in Imladris. And yet, as I looked into the eyes of Legolas and saw how they sparkled with youth and the eagerness of learning, I wondered if he one day would come to see me as only a withered lore-master. Especially so if his road would lead him beyond the Mountains and into a future not even I could fathom.

I feared all of that, I knew, as I heard myself speak, and that fear was like a burning trail through my chest. I willed it away, tried to douse the flames of trepidation that licked up my throat with the calming waters of reason. If Legolas' path had indeed blended into mine own, then would not I also be given a say in any matters that were to come? Was it not utterly unlikely that Legolas would simply run off into unknown lands without consulting me?

These thoughts brought me to silence and these questions I pondered as the hymn to Elbereth filled the Hall and the moonlight fell in soft waves over the grass. When the song was over, Legolas shifted in his chair and I roused myself, casting off my worries in a deliberate effort to focus on the joy that I also felt.

"My lord…" Half a blue-grey glance skidded his father's way but Thranduil was making ready to retire and paid no attention to us.

"I would..." he licked his lips, "if it is not altogether unseemly..."

At his words, it was as if my stomach turned over in a wave of slow warmth. If any traces of my previous ponderings had lingered in my mind they were obliterated by the suggestion that I perceived in his words. In that moment I saw only the promise that was being hinted at by him.

"I think," I suggested, slowly, "that what you are saying is that you wish to speak in private?"

"Aye," he said, with a faint smile, "I would, my lord."

Then I rose, and Legolas with me, and I knew the floor came to meet my feet as we left but I felt it not. It is entirely possible that I wished my family a good night but too soft was Legolas' hand as it brushed mine that I could well have said anything but. As soon as we had passed out of sight and were headed for the gardens, I caught that hand in mine and pulled him against me.

We came to a stop under an archway and a honeysuckle overrun by flowers of flaming orange and red. There I kissed him. The sudden silence embraced us and he let go of my hand so that he might twine his arms around my waist instead. I tilted his head back and parted his lips with mine and starlight glimmered at the edge of my vision. He was warm and pliant as his tongue came questing, and it slid against mine somewhere in that sweet-scented night.

For a long time we lingered, with the kiss on the edge of ending, ere I finally slipped my fingers under his chin to catch his eye. He was his own light, steeped in silver, and I traced his cheekbone.

"I am not your lord, Legolas," I whispered, for a new type of longing had woken in me and I sought now to break down any remaining barriers between us.

His gaze flickered down to my breast. "I know."

So I bowed my head and placed another kiss on his lips. Still almost touching him, I said, "And so?"

He did not reply at once but he tightened his hold on me before he pressed his mouth to mine. When also this kiss had reached an end, he glanced up at me and there came the faintest touch of colour to his cheeks.

"Elrond," he murmured.

"Aye," I whispered, and I ran my fingers through his golden hair like sunlight filtered through the sedge. "Come with me?" I asked him. "For I do not desire to sleep alone any longer."

"Never again," said he.

My chambers were set in such a direction that my windows faced no others and only my own private gardens lay beyond my balcony. A narrow flight of stairs led up to it from the lower gardens and the pale stone steps were worn smooth with history. Up them I guided Legolas before me and he turned a smile over his shoulder as my hands landed on his waist.

"Anyone will think I have had too much wine," he informed me. "And that you are afraid I shall trip over my own feet."

"Have you ever done so?"

"Tripped over my feet? Not since I was little."

"Then," I gave him a small push, "there is precedence."

He laughed at that and covered my hands with his own. When we had safely reached my balcony and stood upon the landing, I gently turned him around to face me. In the moonlight, he was a thousand shades of silver and pale gold.

"No one can see us from here," I said, even as I fingered the collar of his fine tunic. "Unless they have sneaked unbidden inside my gardens."

"Is that so?" An entirely new gleam came into his eye and it sent a sharp twang through my entire body.

"That is so," I said, but I lost a breath.

He only looked at me. I found his waist again with my hands and tried to steady myself.

"In the Elder Days," I began, with a voice that could have been stronger, "this was what truly sealed a union among the elves…"

His eyes, so clear, were fixed on mine.

"It is different now," I finished.

The smooth wool, almost silken to the touch, was warming under my hands at his waist. With my thumb, I rubbed a small circle into the fabric. I had held him before and seen him yearn for more of what I had the courage to give him, but never had we come together completely and this night I wanted it.

"To give of the body," he said softly, "is pleasurable. But to give of the heart and soul at the same time..." Again, his gaze fell to my chest. "I imagine that is something else entirely..."

He looked up at me again and the starlight was in his eyes. "I think it is not so different nowadays. Not truly," he said.

I let my hands wander, up his back and over his shoulder blades. His hair brushed over my skin. He stepped in closer and his hands came then into my hair and their press to my neck was tentative as he brought me in for another kiss. At the very base of my spine it felt as though warm waters were spilling in to flood me, and I wanted the entire sea.

TBC