Part II ~ The Song of Candria and Legolas
Chapter One
The days passed slowly for Candria. She had regained much of her strength, but the scar in her side remained slightly painful, a hurt that Thranduil knew she would carry for the rest of her life. It was with Candria, that because she gave so much of her own life force to help others, she was more fragile and harder to heal than all the other elves of the realm.
After the attack, Thranduil had cursed his foolish decision to let her travel out of the city and into the dangers of the forest. He had allowed his own pity for her sorrows overcome his judgment, and from thence on, she was commanded to remain within the city walls. She was too great and too valuable to risk.
So it was the she spent many long weeks in the gardens of the palace, the only place she truly enjoyed visiting. There was so much life and growth around her in that place that she felt alive as well. She wandered the paths of the gardens with her head held aloof in deep meditation, wondering about all she had seen and felt in those few days she had been with Legolas.
He was not seen by Candria for many years, perhaps, she thought, it was for the better that they never met again. She slowly began to know and recognize what she felt in her own heart for the elf-Lord, but her mind was terrified to accept it. To love Legolas was to begin a journey that would take years to understand. Those who undertook the burden of love were forever lost upon its tossing seas, bidden to watch the ebb and flow of the waters around them forever in fear of shadows in the deep. Dark times were fast approaching and she was constantly called upon to aid the wounded that were brought back from the forest. There was a great fear growing amongst the elves, a nameless shadow was tightening its grip upon Thranduil's realm. The forest was now known as Taur e-Ndaedelos, "The Forest of Great Fear", and it was discovered that the source of the evil power was residing the tower of Dol Guldur.
Candria had never known love, it was a foreign ideal, it had always been the pursuits of others, never herself. She had always thought she was not made for love, that the love she felt for Middle Earth consumed every corner of her heart. It was only in the years following when she looked into Legolas' eyes that she realized she had never been near the boundaries of her heart, that her love for the earth was a single star in a boundless nighttime sky. She suddenly knew that it was not by loving all that was around her that she would be made whole, it was by wholly loving one man that she would be filled to overflowing.
As the years passed, and summers pressed into endless winters, Candria remained within the castle more and more, walking the halls, secretly desiring and fearing to meet Legolas. Her heart began to consume itself with thoughts of him and she began to worry that she had not seen him for many winters now since their parting. She sat upon her balcony often, staring into the courtyard below and longing to find him amongst the throngs of people as they came hither and thither from the city gates.
Winter was again cloaking the forest in his mantle of barren coldness. The days grew shorter as Candria now stayed completely inside, pausing from her daydreams only long enough to accept luncheon and supper.
So it was, as she was sitting upon her bed watching the first snowfall, she heard a knock at her door. She bid them enter and found a small child standing quietly outside in the hallway. The appearance of the child was not nearly so surprising as what she held next to her chest. There, squeezed between the child's chubby arms, was a bouquet of the most beautiful elanor flowers Candria had ever seen. The girl brought them to the foot of the bed and set them upon the top blankets, curtsied, and left the room, leaving Candria staring in amazement and joy. She reached out to touch the beautiful flowers, their soft golden petals glowing with a dull luster in the light pouring from the window. She sat for a while fingering the small blossoms, smiling for the first time in years at the sight of the delicate flowers from her homeland.
Candria cradled the bouquet, brought it to her boudoir, and picked all of the blossoms off, braiding them into her hair. The elanor flower grew only in the forests of Lorien, and when she was a child, it had been her favorite pastime to fill her hair with the winter 'sun-star' blossoms. As she looked in the mirror at the myriad of gold flecking her hair, she wondered but briefly whom they were from.
Candria pulled on her winter cloak and walked out into the hall, wondering at whom the child was and where she had gone. Candria made her way outside, the soft snowflakes falling upon her skin and the cold air nipping the tips of her ears. She wandered to the gardens, where all the colorful flowers were gone, having been replaced by the silver and white winter flowers of Greenwood. She traced her way along the path, absentmindedly fondling her hair and warming at the sight of the elanor blossoms. She was so lost in thought that she hardly saw the elf-Lord waiting for her under the eaves of one of the garden trellises.
"Candria." She could not mistake the voice, her heart leapt and a smile she could not hide spread across her face as she turned around to face Legolas. He was standing alone, wearing a silver and blue winter cloak that wrapped around his body and fell lightly to the snowy ground, the hem barely kissing the soft winter snow. They both stood transfixed, looking at each other, longing to take a step, but not wanting to be the first to do so.
"Where were you?" Was all she thought to say. He motioned for her to come sit with him under the eaves and without hesitating she did so. They sat a little ways apart from one another, never removing their eyes from each other.
"I was traveling. I wandered many desolate and many beautiful lands, my road determined only by the direction of my feet." He continued to stare at her, his eyes moving from hers and watching as her tresses caught in the winter breezes.
"Were you searching for something?" She tentatively asked, trying not to appear interested in his long absence.
"Yes, something that had eluded me. My paths took me even unto Lorien, where I met your fair Queen Galadriel. It was she who bid me leave to take her beautiful elanor flowers, for they grow only in her forest and I much desired to see your face wreathed in their delicate light." Candria blushed deeply and looked to the side of the trellis, noticing that the snow had begun to fall steadily on the ground.
"I thought of you often Candria, and though I could not say it before, I feel I have the courage to say it now…I love you." It was in this moment that all of her fear and doubt rushed back into her heart, if only for a moment. She loved him too, with every fiber of her being, with every beat of her heart. But just as she was about to say so, the responsibility to her people stopped her. She suddenly wished she were not sitting so close to him, where she could smell the new earth and snow mixed with the crystal water of rushing rivers upon his skin. Candria stood up to leave, when she found that he had grasped her hand, his eyes full of surprise and confusion.
"Do not leave Candria, for I could not bear to see you walk away, nor to hear you tell me to leave again. If I have spoken wrongly and have offended or been mistaken in my judgment please do not hold my intentions as brash or dishonorable. I have simply spoken the words of my heart, and though you do not love me in return, I beg that you will not let this ruin our friendship." She looked down at her wrist that he was still grasping and laughed.
"Do not love you? How can my façade have fooled you? I have loved you more and more with each passing year, every day I spent without looking upon you was a day that I spent in sadness. I love you will all my heart; thoughts of you have filled it to brimming, and now to overflowing." He released her hand and stood up beside her. Each was looking into the other's eyes; their breathing had now become quickened. Legolas moved so close to Candria that their bodies brushed together, his breath kissing her skin as he reached down and picked up her hand.
The lace glove was shining in the sunlight, Candria's fair skin glowing through. Legolas pulled at the fingertips of the glove, letting it slip slowly off her elbow, forearm, palm, fingers. The glove fell to the ground as he let it slide from his hand onto the milky snow. He touched his fingertips to hers; a feeling of lightening and passion flowed through their bodies at the joining of their skin. Legolas bent down and kissed the back of her hand, sending a shiver through Candria's body as she reached up with her other hand to touch his hair. He released her hand and she pulled off her other glove, letting it fall to the ground as well.
Candria reached up to his face, tracing the lines of his cheeks, from his ears to his chin with the tips of her fingers. Legolas leaned forward, each moment passing as slowly as an eternity, and touched his lips to hers.
Candria felt herself move her body against his, as she dared not part from the kiss. He tasted of sweet wines and honey, of the blossoms of flowers and the water from springs. She drank in all of his lips, daring to part only to breath for a moment, then pressing her lips to his again, releasing her desires and passions. He wrapped his arms about her, bringing his cloak to envelop them both, the warmth of their bodies blocking the winter wind.
As they parted, Legolas smiled at Candria, her face glowing with radiant happiness, her cheeks now a rosy hue. He was blushing as well, his ruddy complexion reddened by the warmth of her embrace. No words needed be said, there was nothing that their eyes were not saying to each other as they walked side by side out of the garden. Legolas' cloak was still draped about Candria, and she could smell the light scent of the mellyrn trees that still hung about the fringes.
Legolas touched her as though she was something rare and precious, as delicate as a glass figurine, and as beautiful as the blossom of a flower. He wrapped his arm about her shoulder, sheltering her from the winter wind and snow as they slowly made their way to the castle halls. Candria felt safe and warm, and she knew that in this moment, she was the most blessed of all elfin women to ever walk in Middle Earth.
Chapter One
The days passed slowly for Candria. She had regained much of her strength, but the scar in her side remained slightly painful, a hurt that Thranduil knew she would carry for the rest of her life. It was with Candria, that because she gave so much of her own life force to help others, she was more fragile and harder to heal than all the other elves of the realm.
After the attack, Thranduil had cursed his foolish decision to let her travel out of the city and into the dangers of the forest. He had allowed his own pity for her sorrows overcome his judgment, and from thence on, she was commanded to remain within the city walls. She was too great and too valuable to risk.
So it was the she spent many long weeks in the gardens of the palace, the only place she truly enjoyed visiting. There was so much life and growth around her in that place that she felt alive as well. She wandered the paths of the gardens with her head held aloof in deep meditation, wondering about all she had seen and felt in those few days she had been with Legolas.
He was not seen by Candria for many years, perhaps, she thought, it was for the better that they never met again. She slowly began to know and recognize what she felt in her own heart for the elf-Lord, but her mind was terrified to accept it. To love Legolas was to begin a journey that would take years to understand. Those who undertook the burden of love were forever lost upon its tossing seas, bidden to watch the ebb and flow of the waters around them forever in fear of shadows in the deep. Dark times were fast approaching and she was constantly called upon to aid the wounded that were brought back from the forest. There was a great fear growing amongst the elves, a nameless shadow was tightening its grip upon Thranduil's realm. The forest was now known as Taur e-Ndaedelos, "The Forest of Great Fear", and it was discovered that the source of the evil power was residing the tower of Dol Guldur.
Candria had never known love, it was a foreign ideal, it had always been the pursuits of others, never herself. She had always thought she was not made for love, that the love she felt for Middle Earth consumed every corner of her heart. It was only in the years following when she looked into Legolas' eyes that she realized she had never been near the boundaries of her heart, that her love for the earth was a single star in a boundless nighttime sky. She suddenly knew that it was not by loving all that was around her that she would be made whole, it was by wholly loving one man that she would be filled to overflowing.
As the years passed, and summers pressed into endless winters, Candria remained within the castle more and more, walking the halls, secretly desiring and fearing to meet Legolas. Her heart began to consume itself with thoughts of him and she began to worry that she had not seen him for many winters now since their parting. She sat upon her balcony often, staring into the courtyard below and longing to find him amongst the throngs of people as they came hither and thither from the city gates.
Winter was again cloaking the forest in his mantle of barren coldness. The days grew shorter as Candria now stayed completely inside, pausing from her daydreams only long enough to accept luncheon and supper.
So it was, as she was sitting upon her bed watching the first snowfall, she heard a knock at her door. She bid them enter and found a small child standing quietly outside in the hallway. The appearance of the child was not nearly so surprising as what she held next to her chest. There, squeezed between the child's chubby arms, was a bouquet of the most beautiful elanor flowers Candria had ever seen. The girl brought them to the foot of the bed and set them upon the top blankets, curtsied, and left the room, leaving Candria staring in amazement and joy. She reached out to touch the beautiful flowers, their soft golden petals glowing with a dull luster in the light pouring from the window. She sat for a while fingering the small blossoms, smiling for the first time in years at the sight of the delicate flowers from her homeland.
Candria cradled the bouquet, brought it to her boudoir, and picked all of the blossoms off, braiding them into her hair. The elanor flower grew only in the forests of Lorien, and when she was a child, it had been her favorite pastime to fill her hair with the winter 'sun-star' blossoms. As she looked in the mirror at the myriad of gold flecking her hair, she wondered but briefly whom they were from.
Candria pulled on her winter cloak and walked out into the hall, wondering at whom the child was and where she had gone. Candria made her way outside, the soft snowflakes falling upon her skin and the cold air nipping the tips of her ears. She wandered to the gardens, where all the colorful flowers were gone, having been replaced by the silver and white winter flowers of Greenwood. She traced her way along the path, absentmindedly fondling her hair and warming at the sight of the elanor blossoms. She was so lost in thought that she hardly saw the elf-Lord waiting for her under the eaves of one of the garden trellises.
"Candria." She could not mistake the voice, her heart leapt and a smile she could not hide spread across her face as she turned around to face Legolas. He was standing alone, wearing a silver and blue winter cloak that wrapped around his body and fell lightly to the snowy ground, the hem barely kissing the soft winter snow. They both stood transfixed, looking at each other, longing to take a step, but not wanting to be the first to do so.
"Where were you?" Was all she thought to say. He motioned for her to come sit with him under the eaves and without hesitating she did so. They sat a little ways apart from one another, never removing their eyes from each other.
"I was traveling. I wandered many desolate and many beautiful lands, my road determined only by the direction of my feet." He continued to stare at her, his eyes moving from hers and watching as her tresses caught in the winter breezes.
"Were you searching for something?" She tentatively asked, trying not to appear interested in his long absence.
"Yes, something that had eluded me. My paths took me even unto Lorien, where I met your fair Queen Galadriel. It was she who bid me leave to take her beautiful elanor flowers, for they grow only in her forest and I much desired to see your face wreathed in their delicate light." Candria blushed deeply and looked to the side of the trellis, noticing that the snow had begun to fall steadily on the ground.
"I thought of you often Candria, and though I could not say it before, I feel I have the courage to say it now…I love you." It was in this moment that all of her fear and doubt rushed back into her heart, if only for a moment. She loved him too, with every fiber of her being, with every beat of her heart. But just as she was about to say so, the responsibility to her people stopped her. She suddenly wished she were not sitting so close to him, where she could smell the new earth and snow mixed with the crystal water of rushing rivers upon his skin. Candria stood up to leave, when she found that he had grasped her hand, his eyes full of surprise and confusion.
"Do not leave Candria, for I could not bear to see you walk away, nor to hear you tell me to leave again. If I have spoken wrongly and have offended or been mistaken in my judgment please do not hold my intentions as brash or dishonorable. I have simply spoken the words of my heart, and though you do not love me in return, I beg that you will not let this ruin our friendship." She looked down at her wrist that he was still grasping and laughed.
"Do not love you? How can my façade have fooled you? I have loved you more and more with each passing year, every day I spent without looking upon you was a day that I spent in sadness. I love you will all my heart; thoughts of you have filled it to brimming, and now to overflowing." He released her hand and stood up beside her. Each was looking into the other's eyes; their breathing had now become quickened. Legolas moved so close to Candria that their bodies brushed together, his breath kissing her skin as he reached down and picked up her hand.
The lace glove was shining in the sunlight, Candria's fair skin glowing through. Legolas pulled at the fingertips of the glove, letting it slip slowly off her elbow, forearm, palm, fingers. The glove fell to the ground as he let it slide from his hand onto the milky snow. He touched his fingertips to hers; a feeling of lightening and passion flowed through their bodies at the joining of their skin. Legolas bent down and kissed the back of her hand, sending a shiver through Candria's body as she reached up with her other hand to touch his hair. He released her hand and she pulled off her other glove, letting it fall to the ground as well.
Candria reached up to his face, tracing the lines of his cheeks, from his ears to his chin with the tips of her fingers. Legolas leaned forward, each moment passing as slowly as an eternity, and touched his lips to hers.
Candria felt herself move her body against his, as she dared not part from the kiss. He tasted of sweet wines and honey, of the blossoms of flowers and the water from springs. She drank in all of his lips, daring to part only to breath for a moment, then pressing her lips to his again, releasing her desires and passions. He wrapped his arms about her, bringing his cloak to envelop them both, the warmth of their bodies blocking the winter wind.
As they parted, Legolas smiled at Candria, her face glowing with radiant happiness, her cheeks now a rosy hue. He was blushing as well, his ruddy complexion reddened by the warmth of her embrace. No words needed be said, there was nothing that their eyes were not saying to each other as they walked side by side out of the garden. Legolas' cloak was still draped about Candria, and she could smell the light scent of the mellyrn trees that still hung about the fringes.
Legolas touched her as though she was something rare and precious, as delicate as a glass figurine, and as beautiful as the blossom of a flower. He wrapped his arm about her shoulder, sheltering her from the winter wind and snow as they slowly made their way to the castle halls. Candria felt safe and warm, and she knew that in this moment, she was the most blessed of all elfin women to ever walk in Middle Earth.