Disclaimer: Tolkien owns LOTR and all things Middle Earth, blah blah blah…
Chapter 30 – Behold The Power of Chess
Alania could not recall any time in her entire life that came remotely close to the absolute terror she was feeling now. Her notes had worked and Malficent was coming. Only Gandalf seemed to be able to feel how close he was and it seemed Malficent would come at his leisure. Whether it was to toy with them or because he felt confident that they were surrendering, Alania couldn't guess. She imagined that like Gandalf, Malficent did things in his own good time. Whatever his reasons, the past two days just mounted her fear exponentially.
Elrohir, Elladan, Legolas, Aerdin and Georn had all returned from the front lines, leaving Teleris in charge along with Aerdin's captains. They had spent most of the last two days tending the wounded, seeing to supplies and conferring with Gandalf, Roxy and Alania as to their next course of action. With time in obviously limited supply, the group spent a great deal of their 'free' hours in debate. Their fear and tension did nothing for their morale or agreement with each other. Each felt their ideas were best, and Gandalf spent most of his time in silence watching the group argue.
Two days with no plan and they were all going on little to no sleep. Though the elves did not necessarily need sleep, they were in dire need of rest. Gandalf finally forced them all to call it an early night by proclaiming that he was certain Malficent was not near enough for them to ignore their bodies' needs. As the lot of them climbed to their rooms, Gandalf motioned to Alania. "You are clearly wound up and will not get to sleep for some time. How about that game of chess we should have had a long while ago?" he asked with a gentle smile.
Alania looked at the wizard as though he had just fallen out of tree. His tone of voice was calm and his face showed no sign of worry. "Huh?" she asked not so eloquently.
"You need to get your mind off the problem for a while so that you can rest. Come, let us play." Gandalf extended an arm to her and without thinking Alania shook her head and took his arm letting him lead her to a room where they could play. For the first time in many days, Alania felt a small smile creep up her face. Gandalf always had a purpose and she knew well enough to follow the old wizard's lead.
Legolas watched as Gandalf led his lady out of the room. Though he would have rather had her company, he understood that she needed the distraction. She had seen and experienced more fighting and death than was right these past days. Though she handled herself remarkably, he knew it was weighing on her. It caused him no end of sadness to know he was partially responsible for her sorrow and their situation. Legolas would have given anything to have been able to keep her away from the things she had seen. He knew her strength and knew how well she would handle everything while this war waged, but when it was over she would feel the true impact of it. He had seen it in her before and he vowed to himself to be there for her until she got through it. Knowing she would be with him soon enough, he went up to rest.
Gandalf had been right. Alania needed to find something to get her mind off the situation. After an hour they both stared at the chess board contemplating their next moves. A relatively fast game, it seemed that Gandalf was winning. His king standing alone in a corner and his pieces scattered around the board seemingly attacking her king, Alania was left with a few pawns guarding her king, her queen, a knight and a bishop. She stared at the board feeling that she could still win this game. Methodically calculating the consequences of each possible move and subsequent moves, Alania felt in her gut that there was something she could do to win.
Gandalf stopped looking at board and began to watch Alania. He had purposefully set the game up this way. He had no intention of actually playing a 'real' game, or to win said game. He had systematically situated and manipulated the game to mirror their current situation. Sometimes, in order to find a solution one had to see things from a different perspective. Watching Alania's concentration and thoughtful frown he knew she was beginning to formulate things in her mind. Gandalf smiled to himself. He had known all along that she merely needed a push and some peace to set her thinking in order. Now all he had to do was wait.
All at once it hit Alania. She jumped up, knocking her chair over in the process and screamed out "Checkmate in 6 moves! Holy shit! We're gonna win." With that exclamation she met Gandalf's eyes and in them he saw the fires of victory.
"You sneaky little devil. You knew all along what you were doing with this game, didn't you?" she asked.
Gandalf merely smiled and said "Good night Alania. Go rest. Tomorrow morning you can tell us what we need to do."
Alania took the stairs two at a time as she headed for her rooms. Seeing Legolas in bed resting, she quietly entered and walked to the side of the bed. Looking down at him, Alania grinned widely and gently brushed a lock of hair off his face. Indulging herself, she leaned down and kissed his forehead. Then she whispered to him "I love you my sweet, beautiful elf. And come a few days from now, I promise you Middle Earth will be safe again." She had to repress a giggle when he didn't even move due to his fatigue.
Too excited and edgy to sleep and knowing that she needed to write her ideas down, she sat at the table and wrote for over an hour. Finally exhaustion overcame her and she crawled into bed next to Legolas, snuggling into his warmth when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
*******
A/N: I know this is short, but I wanted to keep the story moving along somewhat. The big climactic battle is coming up in the next chapter (which will probably be a whopper-sized one at that). I just wanted to let you all know that it might take a little while to post it because I want the flavor of it to be just right, and in order to do that I need to get back into Malficent's head. It's not a very pretty place but necessary to get the visuals and mood right. I humbly beg your patience.
A/N 2: In the meantime, if you MUST have something to read by me (which is very flattering by the way) – feel free to peruse my new Legolas fic Masquerade on this site, or hit http://www.bloomingfanfic.net/ and read how I've succumbed to writing an Orlando Bloom fic under the pseudonym Me, Myself and I. Good Lord, I can't tell you how embarrassed I am that I'm writing one of those. sigh
A/N 3: I swear this is the last note for now! LOL Anyway! I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you who review my stories. You guys really are the best. The encouragement I get from you all is just unbelievable and words cannot possibly express how deep my appreciation is to every single one of you. If I could I would just hug you all. =) Now click the button and review some more. Hehehehe.
Chapter 30 – Behold The Power of Chess
Alania could not recall any time in her entire life that came remotely close to the absolute terror she was feeling now. Her notes had worked and Malficent was coming. Only Gandalf seemed to be able to feel how close he was and it seemed Malficent would come at his leisure. Whether it was to toy with them or because he felt confident that they were surrendering, Alania couldn't guess. She imagined that like Gandalf, Malficent did things in his own good time. Whatever his reasons, the past two days just mounted her fear exponentially.
Elrohir, Elladan, Legolas, Aerdin and Georn had all returned from the front lines, leaving Teleris in charge along with Aerdin's captains. They had spent most of the last two days tending the wounded, seeing to supplies and conferring with Gandalf, Roxy and Alania as to their next course of action. With time in obviously limited supply, the group spent a great deal of their 'free' hours in debate. Their fear and tension did nothing for their morale or agreement with each other. Each felt their ideas were best, and Gandalf spent most of his time in silence watching the group argue.
Two days with no plan and they were all going on little to no sleep. Though the elves did not necessarily need sleep, they were in dire need of rest. Gandalf finally forced them all to call it an early night by proclaiming that he was certain Malficent was not near enough for them to ignore their bodies' needs. As the lot of them climbed to their rooms, Gandalf motioned to Alania. "You are clearly wound up and will not get to sleep for some time. How about that game of chess we should have had a long while ago?" he asked with a gentle smile.
Alania looked at the wizard as though he had just fallen out of tree. His tone of voice was calm and his face showed no sign of worry. "Huh?" she asked not so eloquently.
"You need to get your mind off the problem for a while so that you can rest. Come, let us play." Gandalf extended an arm to her and without thinking Alania shook her head and took his arm letting him lead her to a room where they could play. For the first time in many days, Alania felt a small smile creep up her face. Gandalf always had a purpose and she knew well enough to follow the old wizard's lead.
Legolas watched as Gandalf led his lady out of the room. Though he would have rather had her company, he understood that she needed the distraction. She had seen and experienced more fighting and death than was right these past days. Though she handled herself remarkably, he knew it was weighing on her. It caused him no end of sadness to know he was partially responsible for her sorrow and their situation. Legolas would have given anything to have been able to keep her away from the things she had seen. He knew her strength and knew how well she would handle everything while this war waged, but when it was over she would feel the true impact of it. He had seen it in her before and he vowed to himself to be there for her until she got through it. Knowing she would be with him soon enough, he went up to rest.
Gandalf had been right. Alania needed to find something to get her mind off the situation. After an hour they both stared at the chess board contemplating their next moves. A relatively fast game, it seemed that Gandalf was winning. His king standing alone in a corner and his pieces scattered around the board seemingly attacking her king, Alania was left with a few pawns guarding her king, her queen, a knight and a bishop. She stared at the board feeling that she could still win this game. Methodically calculating the consequences of each possible move and subsequent moves, Alania felt in her gut that there was something she could do to win.
Gandalf stopped looking at board and began to watch Alania. He had purposefully set the game up this way. He had no intention of actually playing a 'real' game, or to win said game. He had systematically situated and manipulated the game to mirror their current situation. Sometimes, in order to find a solution one had to see things from a different perspective. Watching Alania's concentration and thoughtful frown he knew she was beginning to formulate things in her mind. Gandalf smiled to himself. He had known all along that she merely needed a push and some peace to set her thinking in order. Now all he had to do was wait.
All at once it hit Alania. She jumped up, knocking her chair over in the process and screamed out "Checkmate in 6 moves! Holy shit! We're gonna win." With that exclamation she met Gandalf's eyes and in them he saw the fires of victory.
"You sneaky little devil. You knew all along what you were doing with this game, didn't you?" she asked.
Gandalf merely smiled and said "Good night Alania. Go rest. Tomorrow morning you can tell us what we need to do."
Alania took the stairs two at a time as she headed for her rooms. Seeing Legolas in bed resting, she quietly entered and walked to the side of the bed. Looking down at him, Alania grinned widely and gently brushed a lock of hair off his face. Indulging herself, she leaned down and kissed his forehead. Then she whispered to him "I love you my sweet, beautiful elf. And come a few days from now, I promise you Middle Earth will be safe again." She had to repress a giggle when he didn't even move due to his fatigue.
Too excited and edgy to sleep and knowing that she needed to write her ideas down, she sat at the table and wrote for over an hour. Finally exhaustion overcame her and she crawled into bed next to Legolas, snuggling into his warmth when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
*******
A/N: I know this is short, but I wanted to keep the story moving along somewhat. The big climactic battle is coming up in the next chapter (which will probably be a whopper-sized one at that). I just wanted to let you all know that it might take a little while to post it because I want the flavor of it to be just right, and in order to do that I need to get back into Malficent's head. It's not a very pretty place but necessary to get the visuals and mood right. I humbly beg your patience.
A/N 2: In the meantime, if you MUST have something to read by me (which is very flattering by the way) – feel free to peruse my new Legolas fic Masquerade on this site, or hit http://www.bloomingfanfic.net/ and read how I've succumbed to writing an Orlando Bloom fic under the pseudonym Me, Myself and I. Good Lord, I can't tell you how embarrassed I am that I'm writing one of those. sigh
A/N 3: I swear this is the last note for now! LOL Anyway! I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you who review my stories. You guys really are the best. The encouragement I get from you all is just unbelievable and words cannot possibly express how deep my appreciation is to every single one of you. If I could I would just hug you all. =) Now click the button and review some more. Hehehehe.