Thank you for all of your reviews and patience with my slowness in posting. Thanks for not being hasty (Ent humor), and please bear with me in the future, because I have very little time to write because of school, and I don't have another vacation until May. Anyway, thanks to Misty for being a loyal reader and giving me tons of support. Italics signify someone singing, and I apologize in advance for any schmaltzy fluff. I saw the preview for The Two Towers yesterday and let me just say, WOW! Enough of my babbling, on with the story! Please continue to read and review.
Chapter 14. Leaving Isengard
'An Elven-maid there was of old a shining star by day: her mantle white was hemmed with gold, her shoes of silver-grey. A star was bound upon her brows, a light was on her hair as sun upon the golden boughs in Lórien the fair.'
Aníron awoke, to the sound of someone singing. She opened her green eyes, which were the color of a new leaf, and found herself inside a small hut on a soft bed. The flickering light of a fire could be seen on the walls. She slowly rose into a sitting position on the bed, noticing the sharp pain on her lower ribs and looking down to find a linen bandage across her chest once more.
'Her hair was long, her limbs were white, and fair was she and free...' Aníron turned to see Legolas, sitting not far from her bed, facing the fireplace with crossed arms. He was singing the Ballad of Nimrodel, and she could not help but smile. He turned and saw her awake at last, and he ended his song quickly, rising and stepping towards her.
'How do you feel?' He asked in a concerned voice leaning at her bedside, his hand in hers. 'I am tired and sore, but otherwise fine,' she answered, a smile on her lips, 'What happened?' Legolas smiled, but his face grew solemn, 'Saruman saw your weakness and reopened the wound. It was shallow, but you lost a lo of blood and fainted.' He nodded towards the window, 'Aragorn stopped the bleeding, and will want to check up on you.' As if on cue, the ranger walked through the door, and stopped, smiling happily now that his patient was awake.
'You heal quickly, milady,' Aragorn said, checking to see if the wound had sealed again, and bathing the wound one last time with the draught of athelas. The sweet smell filled the room, and Aníron closed her eyes, deeply breathing in the healing aroma. When she opened her eyes, Legolas could see them sparkle like they had in Lórien and he sighed happily that she was alright. Aragorn left the room, chuckling to himself about the strange romances that elves had, closing the door behind him.
'What happened after I fainted?' Aníron asked Legolas quietly. 'Gandalf was furious that Saruman would dare to do such a thing, so he cast off his grey cloak and banished Saruman from the white council. Then Gandalf broke Saruman's staff, and his power disappeared,' Legolas proceeded to explain all that had happened in the past few hours to her. Aníron sat back in awe at the story, 'I wish I could have seen it all, especially Wormtongue throwing the stone down at our company.' Legolas smiled, 'Do you know what the best thing that happened today was?' He asked her with a grin. 'No, please tell me,' she responded looking inquisitive. The elf prince smiled whispering, 'You woke,' in her pointed ear. She looked at him, surprised, but then leaned forward and kissed him gently, her arms wrapped around his neck.
Aníron tried to stand up straight, but the tightly wrapped bandage around her chest permitted it. 'Curse this bandage!' she cried in anger, unwrapping the linen bandage until it was completely off. Legolas watched her unwrap the bandage, not sure what to do. When she had finished, Aníron inspected the place where she had been injured, only to find a thin, white scar. She stood, and stretched her limbs, removing the stiffness from her joints. It seemed to Legolas that she was torturing him purposefully as she stood in front of the fireplace. She was extremely flexible and the sight of her demonstrating this was driving him mad.
Aníron felt Legolas' firm grip grab her from behind, and she turned to face him, so that his arms were now wrapped fully around her slender waist. She gazed up at him innocently, combing her fingers through his long golden hair. Releasing his hold on her waist, he placed his hand under her chin, bringing her face up slightly so that he could clearly see her. Never before had he felt this way, the touch of her skin was enough to drive him to insanity, and her eyes made him want to sing. How he wanted to feel the warm caress of her silken lips, he could not stand it any longer.
His blue eyes burned with desire, and he could see that her eyes shone with the same light. Just as he was about to kiss her once more, a loud knock came at the door, followed by the voices of Merry and Pippin, 'Legolas? Are you in there? Gandalf says that we are going to be leaving soon.' Legolas pulled back, releasing his hold on Aníron's waist, cursing Merry and Pippin under his breath, could he have no privacy? He opened the door to find the two hobbits grinning up at him mischievously, 'How long have you been standing outside the door?' He said in a would be calm tone, but anger steadily rose in his voice.
'We haven't been here for more than ten minutes or so, would you say, Pip?' Merry asked his counterpart grinning and nudging him in the ribs. 'Oh, no, not more than ten minutes,' Pippin answered with a grin to match Merry's. 'What do you say we should do with them, Legolas?' Aníron's voice came from behind the hobbits, startling them, for they had not heard or seen her sneak up behind them. 'That depends,' Legolas answered with a smile, fingering his bow string, 'what would the elves of Lórien do to a pair of renegade orc in their midst?' he looked down cruelly at the terrified hobbits. 'Target practice?' Aníron answered, hope in her voice. 'Why not?' He said, looking up at her with a grin. They both drew their bows, and began to notch arrows to the strings.
In the split second that it took for the arrows to be notched, the hobbits had nearly screamed and took off running towards the area where Gandalf was waiting for them to return. Legolas chuckled; removing the arrow from his bow and placing it safely back in his quiver. Aníron smiled, 'You don't think we have traumatized them for life, do you?' He looked up at her, 'Probably not, they will be spying on people again by tomorrow.' They both burst out in laughter, and they walked across the barren ground to the gates where the Riders of Rohan, Gandalf, Gimli, Aragorn, and two very frightened hobbits were waiting.
Aragorn frowned at them as they mounted and rode up next to him, 'What did you do to them?' he whispered, waiting for the other riders to mount. 'Nothing,' Legolas said innocently and Aragorn glared at him. 'Serves them right for spying,' Aníron said dryly, and then turned Celebfindel to face Pippin, 'Would you like to ride with me Pippin?' she asked sweetly, as if all of his wrongs had been forgotten. The young hobbit edged away from her, 'I think I'll just ride with Strider, if that's alright with you, lady.' She laughed, her laughter ringing like bells in the setting sun.
The company rode along the road back to Edoras quietly. Aníron could almost hear the conversation between Merry and Gandalf, but blocked her ears, not wanting to hear that which they were discussing. Legolas rode beside her; Gimli seated behind him, so they could not speak the words, which they longed to say to each other. The sun set and the cool night breeze passed through the company. Aníron looked up to see the stars rising in the deep blue sky and sighed, 'Oh, Elbereth, mother of the stars, my heart is overflowing, what shall I do? Guide me, please.' The light of Eärendil, the evening star, shone brightly above her and her mind was at ease.
Legolas watched her as she raised her head, her hair glistening in the starlight. His heart skipped a beat as he watched her, and he momentarily forgot he was riding a horse, so light was his mind. A sharp jab in the ribs from Gimli alerted him to the task at hand, and he was shaken out of his fantasies.
They made camp just off the road, close to young trees along the forest's border. Guards were set along the camp's borders, for fear of any passing enemies on the road. Legolas dismounted, finding Aníron standing under a young birch tree, her hand on its white bark. 'Come,' he whispered in her ear, 'Let us finish what we started earlier.' Aníron's eyes shone like the light of the moon as Legolas took her hand and led her a short ways outside of camp. His hand traced her cheek as they faced each other, 'I love you, Aníron.' She replied softly before he silenced her with a kiss, 'And I you, Legolas.'
The elves returned to camp an hour later, so as not to be conspicuous. Just as they settled down to get some rest, a piercing scream echoed through the camp. Legolas leapt up, drawing his bow and Aníron drew her sword, moonlight flashing off of the blade. They ran together in the direction from which the scream came, but they were beat to the tent by Gandalf and Aragorn. Aníron sheathed her sword, and peered over Aragorn's shoulder, gasping in surprise at what she saw. Pippin lay motionless on the ground, a smooth round stone at his side. Gandalf bent down to examine the poor hobbit, passing his hands over his face and brow, until he awoke. 'Forgive me Gandalf!' he cried, grasping the old wizard around the waist, tears flowing down his cheeks.
Gandalf ushered everyone out of the small tent so that he could speak privately to the traumatized hobbit. Aragorn's eyes kept darting to the tent, and Aníron was concerned for Pippin's safety. 'I only wish we had not hassled him so,' she whispered to Legolas, who wrapped his arms about her waist, whispering soft comforts in her ear. Gandalf emerged from the tent a short time later, and was immediately spoken to by Aragorn, 'How is the hobbit, Pippin?' Gandalf replied with a small smile, 'I think all will be well now. He was not held long, and hobbits have amazing recovery skills. The memory of the horror will wear off soon enough.' Aníron breathed a soft sigh of relief, praising Ilúvatar for the sturdiness of hobbits.
'Aragorn, will you take the Orthanc stone and guard it?' Gandalf asked the ranger at his side, and a light came into Aragorn's eyes that Aníron had never seen before. The weatherworn ranger had an air of kingliness about him as he held out his hands. 'I will take the stone, for assuredly this is the palantír of Orthanc, set there by the kings of Gondor. My hour draws near.' Gandalf handed Aragorn the stone, bowing to him to the surprise of many. Aragorn took the stone, placing it inside of his cloak.
Suddenly, a shadow passed over the company, blocking the light of the stars and the moon. A deadly cold came over the camp, and the men were set upon by a nameless fear, only Legolas, Aníron, Aragorn, and Gandalf were left untouched. It circled the company once and then sped northward, the stars fainting before it. 'Nazgûl! The messenger of Mordor! Nazgûl have crossed the river!' Gandalf cried, 'Ride, ride! Do not wait for the dawn, ride now!' With that, Gandalf called Shadowfax, picking up Pippin and placing the hobbit before him on the great horse. 'Away Shadowfax!' he called, and the horse streaked across the plains like a silver wind.
Aragorn went to fetch Merry and Gimli, leaving Legolas and Aníron alone in the fading darkness. 'What shall we do now, for I fear that the coming battles will be the end of my life, should I choose to fight them,' Aníron said quietly, still gazing in the direction that Gandalf had rode off. Legolas' eyes grew wide at this proclamation, and he could not fight the terror growing in his heart. Could Aníron see into the future, as Galadriel could? These thoughts ran through his mind, and he came to a conclusion rather quickly given the choices his heart was offering.
He turned Aníron to face him, and looked into her eyes, locking them with a serious gaze. 'Aníron, promise me that you will not endanger yourself,' he stroked her face lovingly, brushing a strand of star-bright hair from her cheek, tucking it behind her pointed ear. 'Promise me that you will stay in Rohan. I cannot bear even the thought of losing you, it would kill me to know that you died when death could have been prevented.' Tears were now welling in Legolas' eyes, though they already streaked Aníron's cheeks. 'Legolas, I could not bear to be far from your side. Death in your arms would mean more to me than living for all eternity without you.'
The elf-prince took Aníron by the shoulders, shaking her slightly, 'Please, love, do not follow me to battle. Your people need you, do not put yourself in the hands of death simply for me. I am not worth dieing for. Please, Aníron, stay in Rohan. I promise to come for you after the battle is won or lost. I will come for you.' 'I do not wish to part from your side, but I will do as you say,' Aníron whispered, her voice choked with emotion. With that, Aníron threw herself into Legolas' arms, weeping into his shoulder her arms around his neck. Legolas stroked her long hair and kissed her brow, trying to comfort her, oblivious to the tears running down his face as well.
Aragorn came soon after, Gimli and Merry behind him. They were surprised to find the two elves already mounted on their horses, packed for the journey back to Edoras. Aragorn mounted Hasufel, placing Merry before him on the horse. Gimli mounted behind Aníron on Celebfindel, and the company rode off into the night wordlessly, troubles on every one of their minds.