Secret Scene #4: See Legolas Run!
In which Legolas shows all of Minas Tirith the real meaning of haste...
Legolas actually heard the shouts from the wall before the heralds blew their trumpets. He was up from the ground in the next instant, then racing to his room to smooth his hair. He hurdled the settee in the common room rather than wait for Frodo and Pippin to move out of his way, and then he was out the door, the hinges rattling as it slammed shut behind him. Pippin jostled Frodo to get to the window in time to see the elf flying down the stone street toward the gate for the lower level.
"Where do you think he's going in such a hurry?" Pippin asked, his eyes still trained on the fleeting figure of their usually laid back elven friend.
"I don't know, Pip," Frodo said, coming up behind him for a look, "but I suppose he needed some flowers for wherever he's going." The prince skidded to a stop in front of a flower cart long enough to point at a cluster of snowy blooms, dig into his pocket and drop some coins into the vendor's hand before he was off again, flowers in hand, running at full tilt down the street and dodging through the crowds.
The herald's trumpets blew again, long clear notes, and this time the hobbits at the window heeded them as well. Gimli came in from the back door, where he had been sitting and smoking and talking with the elf, before the lad jumped up and ran off.
"I think someone must be coming to the city," Frodo decided, "an important someone, if they're blowing the trumpets to signal their arrival."
"Well, from the way our pointy-ear jumped at the sound of them, I'd wager it's a bunch of elves."
Pippin's eyes brightened. "Legolas bought flowers on his way down. Do you think—"
But Pippin was interrupted by the front door swinging open and the return of Sam and Merry from the nearby market. Sam set down a basket so full the bottom looked like it might burst at any moment.
"We were worried something happened!" Merry exclaimed. "Sam here nearly got run over by Legolas running through the marketplace."
Sam adjusted his vest and peered into his basket, patted the top. "Oh, thank goodness," he said, clearly relieved. "The twisty buns from the baker didn't get smushed in the crowd."
"Here now, young hobbits" interrupted Gimli. "There'll be time enough for those later. Let us go down to the lower levels and see what the commotion is all about."
Indeed commotion was the right word for it, for Legolas Thranduilion was not the only one to hear the trumpets. The streets began to hum in expectation as men and women and children left their work and play to wander from their homes and shops toward the lower levels, curious to see what the fuss was about. And the more people who left, the more saw and wondered and left with them, and soon the streets were full. Legolas was not content to slow his speed, however, and as the streets filled, he expertly dodged anyone in his way until he passed through the lower gate and hoisted himself up onto the midwall which ran along the outer edge of the street. Then he picked up his pace, flying along the narrow edge, a feat which would have surely been impossible save for someone of elvish blood and the prince's incomparable grace and athleticism. Oh, what a sight he made! With his large bouquet of white blooms in one hand, sprinting at an inhuman speed along the outer wall high above the heads of the people on the streets, Legolas created almost as much of a stir as the incoming guests to Minas Tirith.
Then he passed the third tower on the wall, which had hid the main gate of Minas Tirith from view and for the first time, Legolas could see the string of riders entering the White City. He skidded to a stop, shaded his fair eyes with this hand from the strong glare of the sun high overhead, and peered at the horses and riders passing into the main entry of the city. Lady Galadriel, Lord Celeborn, Lord Elrond, Lady Arwen, Lord Glorfindel, Lord Erestor, Marchwarden Haldir...his quick eyes followed the line of lords and ladies proudly entering the gate, and Legolas' heart leapt in his chest and then he was off again, racing along the wall, bypassing the third gate with an uncanny leap down to the second level, and he did not stop until he had reached the first level, bypassed every single one of the fine elvish ladies and lords at the front of the queue, until he reached the only one to make his heart seize wildly in his chest.
"Thaliniel!" he cried.
In the next second she had flung herself into his arms, her arms going around his neck, crushing him to her. "I missed you so much," she murmured, her words mixed with joy and tears and relief and the sort of deep, deep gladness which made her chest burn and her breath feel short.
He held her like that gladly for as long as she let him, and when she finally pulled away, his face flushed and he drew a shaky breath which had nothing to do with his long run down from the top of the city.
"You," he said in equal parts wonder and delight. "Look at you, Thaliniel!" He shyly placed both hands on the softly rounded rise of her stomach. "You are beautiful, more beautiful than I remember." Then, not caring the least for propriety, Prince Legolas of the Woodland Realm pulled his wife into a long, unhurried kiss. At one point he remembered the flowers and he picked them up from the street by his feet. He dusted them off. "These are for you...they're a little rough looking now. I—I ran all the way down here."
Thaliniel lifted her eyes to his and took the flowers in hand. "They're perfect," she told him.
Legolas could not help but pull her into his arms for another long kiss, much to the shared delight of all who saw them, and high above the third landing or so, the hobbits and Gimli sighed happily.
"Told you we didn't need to go all the way down," Merry elbowed Pippin. "This is the perfect view."
Author's note: So if you've read my other story, Building Ithilien, then you know this is not the first time I've written a scene involving Legolas running through the streets of Minas Tirith. What would Thranduil say if he knew!? Shocking behavior, Legolas.
But of course, since his time with the Fellowship, Legolas doesn't care much for propriety any more, I suppose. He's hanging out with a dwarf, running around with hobbits, just breaking all the rules now.
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