May of 2064 After The Shadow has been Driven from Dol Guldur

Unede stood wordlessly atop a pedestal in an open room. The breeze flowed through the windows and made the silks at her feet dance. She played with the hem nervously and bit her lip. Miriel twisted her curls and delicately pinned a few away from Unede's face, moving to look at her elder cousin from the front after each pin was placed.

"Oh, smile Unede, it is a joyous day, you look as through you are ill. Gods be good, don't drink any wine, I shan't have you tripping on ribbons as you dance." Miriel said as she adjusted another ringlet.

"Maybe wine is what she needs!" Aunt Indis shoved a cup in Unede's hand "This is why we picked the green silks love, to hide the stains of Dorwinion."

Miriel sighed heavily as Unede drank from the cup of liquid courage.

"If you get me drunk enough Miriel, then perhaps I shall go through with this damned tradition and you can dance the Maypole with all the eligible ellon's and -ohf" Miriel snugged her corset tight and gave Unede a smile as she struggled to draw in a breath.

"I should be delighted to, Eru knows I have had to wait long enough." Miriel shot. She continued the adjustments, much to Unede's chagrin.

"In Rivendel when elves are ready to mate, they don't announce it to the world, they have dinner with their families, court quietly, and be done with the deed in a year." Unede protested.

"Can you just be happy." Miriel shrieked "You are the light of our people, you are beloved by all, and you are to be Queen one day. You should be deliriously joyful today, but instead your half drunk and as sad as the King." The room fell quiet and Miriel glared at Unede. Her elder cousin was the picture of beauty, bathed in green silks and soaked in the mornings ocher light, yet her fea seemed stunted by the shadow she had fought.

"Go on." Unede said with a smirk, interested in what her cousin might reveal about the demons she kept hidden inside herself.

"Your just nervous, you hide behind your swords, and your councils, and your battles. You paint all day in a hidden glen, and never spend time in the markets or with your friends. Your blind to how loved you are by our people. We are all so happy for you, and you fear a Maypole, and courtship with Legolas, more than you do a hoard of orc's. You have been head over heels in love him since the day you met, and the whole Kingdom is tired of having to pretend we do not see it!" She raised her voice "Your always preaching about keeping our boarders safe, and trading for our peoples favorite foods, and, and, and, we want to see you happy, we want a wedding, and a great feast, and a fire so big we dance all night in the woods!" She took Unede's chin fiercely in her hands and looked at her with wide desperate eyes. "So you will dance this Maypole, and you will enjoy this courtship, and you will be happy and in love. And Mirkwood will be happy and in love, and finally there will be some light in these damned caves."

Miriel snatched the goblet from Unede's hand and drained of the heady wine. She filled the cup and shoved it into her cousins hands and pointed towards the door. "If you are not the most joyous elleth who is dancing on the end of those ribbons, then I swear I shall never speak to you again." She said curtly, and then whipped out of the dressing room and down the stairs towards the festival.

Unede smiled broadly as she left, her mouth agape and her eyes glittering with delight at her cousins unexpected outburst. She lifted her skirts and stepped off the pedestal, past the great gaping windows and out onto the balcony. Below her lay a bustling city, filled with laughter. It hummed with the sounds of drums and flutes. In the distance she saw a great pyre being built for the evening celebration, and below her the colorful ribbons on the Maypole fluttered in the wind.

Unede watched it and recalled the dances of the previous seasons. Last year she had been so busy planning a siege she had not even joined in the evening fire. Yet every Spring the eligible elves would come and dance for the whole of the realm to see, a sign that they were ready to be as fruitful as the coming harvest for their potential matches. She had always loved the way the bright ribbons twisted and intertwined into one another like the roots of a tree, or the bonds of a marriage. But whenever she thought to dance her nerves got the better of her.

This year had been different though. Since winter a rumor had rippled through the Kingdom that The Prince of Mirkwood and The Princess of the Noldor would both be dancing at the festival. Unede was sure that the people most responsible for this were standing here in the room with her or sitting on the throne and guiding the preparations. Her joy had changed to worry and her worry to anger, and now the day had come, and she could hardly find that happy elf that snuck kisses with the Prince in the hidden glen. She flushed thinking about the taste of Legolas's lips, and the feeling of his hands on her skin.

Having hidden it for so long, it hardly felt right announcing their intentions to court to the realm all at once. But it was the way things were done, and she had seen many an ellon a bundle of nerves before he took up the ribbons, and she had watched many an elleth's aunt slip her another glass of wine to calm her. Unede finished her cup and took a last look at the festival below. Then she turned and smiled at her family.

"I'm sorry. Miriel is right." She said to them "I am ready."

"Oh we had all heard you would be here!" A pair of arms and splash of dark hair were suddenly flung around Unede as she made her way into the gaggle of Ladies all preparing for the dance. Unede was stunned for a moment, until she was met with the bright green eyes of her healer. "Oh, Unede, we are so excited, and grateful and oh how my tongue has caught my words." The healer giggled and brought Unede once more into her embrace.

"Honestly, I would not be here without you." Unede said kissing the elleths cheek. "I am in your debt."

"Oh hush, say nothing of it, I do my job and I do it well-" Elenwe started.

"Oh your so full of yourself" another elleth sighed, taking Elenwe's hand and giving it a squeeze.

And suddenly Unede was surrounded by joy, her limbs tingled with it, and a smile crossed her lips. She watched the other elves hug, and laugh, and jest together, and knew that every decision she had made had given these people hope and happiness and life.

"Come on, were lining up." The healer clasped her hand and led her through the clamor to the road where the men had already gathered. Half of them looked as pale as she was this morning. Many of them had not found mates yet, and some were standing with their beloveds whispering in anxious excitement. "I will see you in the circle Unede" And Elenwe was gone as quickly as she appeared.

In the line of dark haired Ellons it was easy to find the fair Legolas. He stood with his back to her, speaking animatedly with a group of other eager boys. But as she watched they paired off one by one, and soon Legolas stood alone. She made her way towards him through the crowd, and when she finally neared him and he turned around, his eyes became as bright as the light of a thousand stars. He lifted her from the ground and spun her around and took her in to a tight embrace. She lay her hands on his chest, and they watched each other, alone for a moment in the bustle of the crowd.

"Are you as nervous as I am?" He said with a grin.

"Yes, but I think all the wine helped." she winked.

And before they knew it, they drums began and they took hands, the line skipped forward to the tune of fiddles and lutes, and the claps of a thousand, thousand elves.

Their ribbons twisted and twined together as group danced around the great pole in a stream of silks and colors. There was laughing as they switched partners and, changed directions, and leaped and skipped in a mess of happiness. Unede felt the world fall away, as her life became a whirl of rainbow above her, and she felt the weight of the shadow lift and become bound in the ribbons. For a moment she was free of her burdens, and the joy of the spring and summer filled her with its energy. Finally, when the last turn had been made, the ribbons were set about the pole in a great pattern of color, and the music lulled and the crowd clapped and cheered in a roar of voices.

The King, in his booming voice, declared that the merriment would begin, and so there under the sun of the spring afternoon the pair feasted with their friends and family. Danced together, played the spring games, and of course, slipped away for a few quiet moments alone when they could find them.

The party had continued as the dusk came onto the great glade, and Legolas took Unede's hand during a lull in conversation and pulled her away to a quiet garden. The music was faint, and the smell of the evening flowers filled the air as they walked down the stone path hand in hand.

"I understand that it is the tradition of the Noldor for our families to meet should there be a betrothal, and that they must approve of our courtship and then we are to exchange rings." Legolas said smiling at her in the twilight.

Unede nodded quietly in the dusk.

They turned the corner and found, standing among the trees, their families. The King, Uncle Olwe, Aunt Indis, her cousins Meriel and Ingwe. And joining them were Legolas's own cousins and aunts and uncles, all there whispering and giggling with excitement to one another.

"I have arranged this as is the custom." Legolas smiled, and extended his hand presenting their loved ones to her. A blush came to her face, but she could not hide her smile over the whole affair.