It had been a forbidden love from the very beginning.
For nearly two years, Talion had been courting the Lady Ioreth in secret. Between his duties as a Ranger of the outer boarders and her duties as a noble lady, he was only able to meet her in discreet places. Her place was more in the upper region of Minas Tirith on one side of the city, the area of the aristocratic, just slightly bellow the citadel ruled by the Stuart of Gondor.
In the beginning of their growing relationship, they would meet halfway. Later on, after being sent on long missions by none other than her father, Talion would return and travel straight up the city where Ioreth's mansion resided, finding her balcony where it was facing the vast wilderness spreading from the walls to the mountains past Osgiliath. It would be a difficult climb, as the house sat on the edge of the cliff barely bordering a protruded rock. From many years of expertise, Talion would climb around the cliff with the stealth and grip of a bat.
With his hood up to cloak his features, the Ranger crept into the shadows before coming within view of the familiar white balcony decorated with potted, colorful flowers.
Not too early and not too late.
Swinging over the side of the wall, he climbed up the craggy boulder that served as the cliffside, going up past the ledges of the tall windows, until he finally slipped over the balcony's stone rail, making not a sound save for the quiet flutter of his cloak brushing the stone.
The light from the bedroom inside bathed the floor. Talion stepped back to avoid the light, making no sound, but watched as Ioreth was being fussed over by the old handmaiden Tilda in preparation for bed. He smiled when watching her undo her braid, letting it fall in long dark-brown tresses.
When her nurse finally left, taking away her day clothes and bathing supplies, Ioreth was sitting on a stool facing her mirror, brushing away her long hair which drifted over her shoulder in waves. A candle was lit on the table like a silent watcher in the dark room, touching the young woman's face with its golden glow.
She paused momentarily when seeing a tall, broad figure move silently from the shadows in the mirror's reflection. Her heart skipped a beat, but not from fear, for she memorized the silhouette of her lover. She smiled when he came closer from behind and spoke, "You're back."
"Aye," came a soft reply from the shadows. His hands then touched her shoulders from behind, sliding until the young woman relaxed and closed her eyes at his heated touch, calloused fingers lightly brushing her bare collarbone when the linen of her nightgown began to drift halfway past her freckled shoulders. Then she felt his lips, along with the bristles of his beard, tickle as they trailed along her neck. His hot breath sends tingles across her skin, taking her breath away. His hands glided up from her neck and smoothed downward through her hair in a light but possessive hold, gently pulling as he pressed his lips to her throat, making her mouth part with a soft, breathless gasp.
There was only so much they can restrain, so little they can demonstrate when their desires for each other laid bare…Struggling to breathe normally, Talion gritted his teeth as he pressed closely behind her, wrapping one arm around her hip to hold her close, her skin heating beneath the thin white linen of her nightgown. He barely held back a moan behind her ear when feeling her warm, petite body press and shift against his hidden erection. Hearing her moan softly from this close intimacy only served to increase his arousal, uttering her name, "Ioreth," with a slight rasp to his whispered tenderness while they swayed where they stood in a dizzying motion with only the layers of their clothing separating them. Eru give him strength!
Finally Ioreth twisted around, whispering, "Talion," before their lips met. Talion pulled her closer into a fierce embrace as he kissed her, almost desperately.
One month felt too long.
...
"He suspects us."
When Talion spoke quietly, breaking the peaceful silence in the room, Ioreth shifted her head to look up at him in concern. They were laying together on her large bed, still fully clothed and on top of the covers. The Ranger was holding the young noblewoman in his arms, her head laying comfortably on his chest while he gently rubbed her back to entwine his fingers into her long, dark hair.
"He confronted you?" she asked.
Talion shook his head, frowning to himself as she watched him. "No, but I see the distasteful looks he gives me lately," he murmured. "He's been sending me off on longer missions, father away from the city on the outer borders of Gondor. He mentioned twice that you are being presented with suitors."
Ioreth sighed and laid her head back down on his chest where his heart beat against her ear. "Suitors, admirers, not official arrangements or husband-to-bes."
"So it's true, then," muttered Talion.
"Is that jealousy I hear, my love?" Ioreth teased at the barely concealed strain in her lover's voice.
Talion grunted, but couldn't help a smirk of his own and tightened his hold on her possessively. "Jealousy is but a doubt for one's feelings of commitment," he told her, "or what one desires in their heart but does not have."
"And which do you think you envy, pray tell?"
"The men who have won your father's approval. I hear the names Asgon, son of Argron, and Boromir, son of Denethor. They are the remaining competition for your hand, I hear. They are both lords with their own status." Talion paused. "They are also closer to your age than I."
Ioreth gave a single nod against his chest in thought. "True."
"They have a noble upbringing…."
"Lord Asgon is noble in nothing but only his title and fortune," she replied more bitterly, before shuddering a little. "He's vile and selfish."
"But not Lord Boromir."
"Talion-"
"He's a good lad, not like his father," said Talion, keeping his tone neutral and composed, which he knew that Ioreth knew was just a front to cover his troubled mind. "I met him. He's stubborn and overconfident, but he's decent, loyal, and braver than most young men of his age. He would make a good ruler of Gondor one day. And he has his eyes on you."
Ioreth sat up to look him in the eye with seriousness in her expression. "He's not the one I want, Talion."
Talion gazed at her, his eyes showing the intense pain in his heart. He didn't want to lose her, he loved her so much. He didn't think he would be able to bear it if he lost her any way, even to something as simple as seeing her being set up with another man. But he also knew how fragile their secret was, how quickly everything would fall apart if their courtship was discovered. "If something were to come between us," he whispered, "such as an arranged marriage, I just…."
"'Just' nothing. I will not marry any other unless it is you." Ioreth sighed. "We have kept this courtship quiet for longer than it should have to be. You think I haven't noticed people talking, or my father hinting at things? My nanny endlessly complimenting and suggesting men who had been dubbed 'suitable' in my presence? It has been two years now, and this sneaking around has been stretching thin, weighing down on our lives like chains and keeping us imprisoned. If only it were easier…."
"It's not supposed to be easy, my love," said Talion playfully, reaching up to tuck a hair strand behind her ear before tracing her cheek with his fingers. "Where would the fun be in that?"
"Hm." Ioreth gave him a knowing look. "I probably would have agreed with you a year ago, when I was new to this," she admitted. "Now I'm just worried about what will happen if Father caught us in the act before telling him ourselves. If he suspects us, then I fear he is just waiting the opportunity for us to make a careless mistake and catch us together, proving he was right to suspect us."
She cupped his face, thumb tracing his beard. "I don't want us to be a secret anymore, Talion," Ioreth pleaded. "How can we fight for what we have when no one knows of it yet? I am not ashamed of loving you, and the longer we do hide it, the more it proves my words false."
"Aye," Talion whispered softly, before taking her hand and kissing it. "Although, I fear that your father will not permit us to court any longer, even if I do ask for his permission, let alone tell the truth."
"Then do both," insisted Ioreth, bringing his hand to brush against her lips before leaning closer, "for I will be with you to share my part. We have to try."
Talion observed her, mesmerized by the warm brown in her eyes speckled with amber light and the freckled that crossed her nose bridge, bringing out the flush in her cheeks as their hot breath mingled. His heart pounded as their foreheads pressed and their noses bumps, her chest now molding unto his until he could feel the perks beneath, causing his arousal to grow. "Alright," he breathed, their lips barely touching now. "We….will tell him….together."
"Together…."
Their lips finally met, immediately deepening into a passionate kiss that had Talion pulling Ioreth on top, causing her to gasp when she straddled his hips.
(The next day)
"No, that is not possible! I forbid it!" shouted Hallas, his voice echoing through the manor's halls.
"Father, please-"
"You keep silent!" snarled the older man, jabbing a finger toward Ioreth. "Two years of deception and sneaking under my nose, from you, my own child, my pride and joy?! I thought I raised you better than this, Ioreth. And you, Ranger-no, filth from the slums, how dare you assume that after all you're sneaking around in the night, like the rat from the sewers you are, that you would win my approval to court my only daughter! I should have you demoted here and now for your insolence!"
"Father, stop this!" yelled Ioreth, her eyes brimming with many emotions.
"Hallas, I understand the reasons for your anger," said Talion, who kept his head down in respect before Hallas, keeping his voice steady though it was clear he was tense and nervous, "and have no excuse for my behavior other than to admit the truth that I have kept hidden from the world for too long. I love your daughter. From the moment I laid eyes on her, the moment I heard her voice, she has become the keeper of my heart and soul. I realize that I am not of noble blood, with no title or money to present, but I am a Ranger of Gondor. A soldier of Minas Tirith. I have served the White City for nearly my whole life. I have defended its people countless times from outside threats under your command and that of Lord Denethor, without question or thanks….but now I humbly stand before you, unashamed of the love I bear for your daughter, and would plead for your permission for her….to be my wife."
Hallas looked at him with a stony face, disbelief and disgust reflecting in his eyes. "You admit that that you have nothing to offer her that would benefit her upbringing, and yet you have the gall to ask such a high thing of me, to marry my daughter, no less? You shame yourself, Talion, as a Ranger and as a man. You will not have my blessing, nor my respect. Furthermore, I forbid any more interactions between the both of you."
"Alright, enough!" Having heard enough from the side, Ioreth stepped forward until she was beside Talion, facing her father with a hardened expression of her own that rivaled with his. Hallas stiffened.
"Ioreth, step away from him now and keep out of this!" he ordered. Ioreth shook her head stubbornly.
"I will not," she said boldly, though Talion could feel that she trembled with nervousness on the inside, "for I have held my tongue long enough to hear everything before my future is decided for me, and wish to speak for myself in your presence, and for once in your life, you will listen! Father, whether by your approval or not, this is the man I wish to be my husband!"
"Enough of this-"
"I love him, Father!" Ioreth cried out, cutting the older man off sharply. "There is no person in Middle-earth I love more than him, nor anyone I would rather devote my life to, from the moment he first came into my life two years ago."
"Two years ago you had barely come of age," Hallas said with gritted teeth, his face red with anger. "What do you know of 'love,' child? For all your wisdom and practicality, you have become foolish and reckless. You have not the experience to judge your own feelings when duty must be your necessity. It is not just riches I care for in whom you be with, it is your security and honor, as well as those of my grandchildren. I know more of his past than you realize and it shows no promise to his character." Talion and Ioreth tensed at the honesty in Hallas' voice, unnerved by his dark expression. "You go with this man, Ioreth, these hopes you have in him will be in vain and I will not allow it."
"Ioreth knows everything about my past," said Talion, his own steely gaze matching with Hallas'. "Whatever you know about me, she knows. It is true than I am not without many flaws, nor many regrets from my youth, but everything I did has made into who I am today. It has led me to your daughter, and because of her, my life has changed for the better."
"But by going with you, her life will change for the worse, and that does not need to happen! I stand by my decision. Without my blessing, there will be no marriage, nor will there be any more courting."
"Father!"
"Hallas, listen-"
"Get out of my house, Ranger, and back to your post! Do not come near my daughter again, or there will be consequences!"
.
.
.
What they had done next had been considered pure madness on their part.
In the dead of night, with very few belongings and and the cowl of her cloak hiding her face, Talion and Ioreth climbed from the balcony of Ioreth's room and had fled from the manor.
And here they stood, in the room of an Inn Talion often rented during his stay in the city, a tavern full of people echoing below the thin wooden floorboards they stood on.
Though he had worked hard over the years as both a man and a Ranger of Gondor to earn it, Talion did not care much for his honor and reputation compared to Ioreth's, who was still very young for a Dunedain and had much to live for. For this reason, despite the temptation, he gave her the to option to change her mind. To go home before her father found out that she had run away in the night, before it would be too late to turn back and resume her old life…but Ioreth's resolve had never been so strong.
She had never been more certain of the choice she was making, despite the risks.
"I am yours, Talion," she told him quietly, cupping his face between her hands as he gazed down at her. "Forever."
Talion continued to gaze down into her eyes, lost in their warmth and strength. Never in his entire life had someone looked at him with such affection, such want. Never in his life did he love someone as he loved Ioreth right then and there. And always would.
Holding her in his arms, the Ranger found his face had been slowly leaning down until his lips brushed hers, soft as petals against his bearded. Before they would kiss, breath mingling together as their forehead touched, he whispered, "Ioreth…I am nothing without you. I have not much to offer but a promise: to love, cherish, and protect you until the end of my days." His hand lifted and brushed her cheek lovingly. "You have my heart, Ioreth…and I am forever yours." He paused, his breath wavering in nervous hesitation before he managed, "Will you marry me?"
Cheeks glowing pink with happiness, Ioreth smiled against his lips, eyes sparkling with they met his. "Yes," she whispered. Seeing the wonder grow on Talion's face, she giggled. "Yes, I will! I will!"
Overwhelmed with happiness, Talion gathered her closer in his arms and kissed her feverishly.
.
.
.
Later that same night, Talion and Ioreth eloped.
BOO! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!:)
I want to apologize for taking so long to update (a whole year…Ugh, I suck!) Alongside getting a job and working on a few other stories, including the non-fanfiction ones I want to publish, I have been distracted and constantly hit with writer's block…but I have been looking forward to updating this chapter for a long time, once I've gotten it right. It's definitely much shorter than I would have liked, but I decided the next half will be another interlude.
This was based off of some online research I did of Talion and Ioreth's background, saying that Ioreth ran away and married Talion at the age of nineteen, not long before a certain bad event that ended up condemning them to the Black Gate:(
It makes me so happy to still be getting follows, favorites, and reviews for this story.
'Middle-earth: Shadow of War', the sequel, came out on October 10:) I'm both really excited and nervous to know what happens next to Talion and Celebrimbor on that adventure.
I can't promise quick updates, but I'm definitely not giving up on this story, especially with the sequel out. It's being written for fun, after all. I might even re-edit all the chapters at some point.
Feel free to tell me what you think:) Thanks for all the support!