Ch. 9

If King Thranduil was ever wrong about something, it was the timing of Legolas' return. It took exactly three months for him to come back, during which the king and Elwena received letters from various places, including Bree, Rivendell, and others. Legolas was becoming quite the globe-trotter.

Finally on a sunny morning, the trumpets sounded once again and this time, it was Legolas' blond hair glowing in the morning light. She rushed down to the palace entrance. But she could not run forward to hug him, for he was surrounded by healers. He caught her eye, mouthed "Sorry" to her and was whisked away to the halls of healing.

She did not see him again until he arrived at her apartment to escort her to dinner. He greeted her parents and chatted with them for a while. As they walked to the hall for the meal, she pulled him into an alcove.

"Hi," she said. Before he could reply, she smacked him. "That's for leaving. This is for coming back." Then she kissed him.

"It's good to see you, too," he said. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." They hugged for a long time, before Legolas finally said, "We're going to be late and suspiciously missed."

"If you insist."

Dinner that night was largely surrounding the topic of Legolas, how many bruises and injuries he came back with (30 stitches, bruised ribs, one broken wrist), and their relationship. Elwena was not used to that much attention, but she supposed if she were to court the prince, she had better get used to it.

That did not mean she would dare give up any alone time the two could steal. Over the next several months, horseback rides, friendly archery contests between the two, walks in gardens and even outside the palace gates were had.

Nolien, for his part, had started seeing a new elleth, Beriel. She was a skilled artist and crafter and deathly afraid of horses. The two had met when a horse had gotten loose near the market. The horse trampled through the artwork Beriel had on display, with Nolien following closely behind in attempt to catch it. Luckily, no one was seriously injured, except when Nolien ran into Beriel, quite literally. The odd meeting had turned into a weird friendship, then a relationship. While Beriel had gotten over her fear of horses, she softened Nolien's sharp and rough edges.

"Let's double date tonight," she told him one day in the stables.

"What?"

"With Legolas and Beriel. We haven't spent much time together lately. This is the perfect chance."

Nolien's face wanted to protest, but he knew better to protest with her. "Uh, okay."

The evening had grown long and shadows cast themselves on the face of the palace. She and Legolas were waiting on Nolien and Beriel. She took Legolas' arm in hers and trotted to the garden. "You look positively radiant tonight," he said, bringing her close.

"You don't look half bad yourself," she said, looking into his eyes. She could have swam in those eyes forever if it were not for a voice that said, "I didn't know it was going to be a staring contest kind of date tonight."

Finally, the other couple came walking through the gardens. After introductions, they headed for the stables. Beriel was still a novice rider, but with Nolien and his friends, she felt safe enough and was willing to brave a new hobby.

They rode until they reached a clearing in the forest where they dismounted.

"Forest games anyone? I had the scouts check for spiders before we came here and they're posted, so we're safe," Elwena said. Legolas and Nolien relaxed and then Nolien tapped his friend's shoulder and said, "Tag! You're it!"

The friends scattered into the trees above the clearing, leaping from one branch to the next almost like performing gymnastics. She climbed a level higher to reach Legolas and tapped his foot just barely out of reach before fleeing through the trees again. Around and around they went tagging each other and quickly running away.

The game only ended when Legolas dropped to the ground in exhaustion, landing on his feet and then rolling into a ball on the ground where he laid out panting. Beriel and Nolien followed suit. Nolien reached over one last time and tapped her on the shoulder, "You're it."

She giggled. "I give in."

The friends gazed at the stars, which for once were clear and seemed to enjoy watching them play.

"Where's Elwena?" Legolas asked, sitting up. A scream was his answer, coming from the south. In a flash, the three elves took off.

She did not stop screaming until she saw Legolas. What had treed her was a lone spider, probably a rogue from the nest that was previously destroyed last week. This spider had not given up its pursuit of her, no matter how hard she kicked and screamed.

Legolas attacked the spider from behind and slayed it with his knives. Elwena's screams fell silent. "Come down Elwena," he called up.

"I can't!" she said, before dropping to her knees in pain and then rolling out of the branches. Legolas caught her with ease and look at the gash in her leg. The spider had managed to get a bite.

"Let's go!" he slung her to his back and the three ran back to their horses.