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CHAPTER TEN


Lillisandra swallowed nervously as they neared Elrond's house, knowing that soon she would have to face Boromir and tell him she was setting him free when in fact she was setting herself free. Legolas sensed her anxiety and gave her hand a comforting squeeze as well as whispering words of ease in her ear. They neared the entrance and she asked the elves standing there if Boromir had arrived yet, sighing as they answered that he had not. When she turned to Legolas, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked to see the very person she had asked about approaching them, his eyes alight with anger.

She would've removed her hand from the elven prince's, but he held tight to it. "Are you so afraid to tell him about us?" he whispered.

She cast a defiant glance his way. "No, but I do wish to tell him in my own way instead of letting him find out this way."

But she need not have worried as he had seen them holding hands and had stopped a good distance from them to avoid an unpleasant situation from developing. After all, he was in elven country and as much pleasure he would take in pounding the upstart prince into the ground, he knew that it would only reflect badly on his honor if he was to engage in such a childish tantrum. "If I had known that it was customary for elven princes to be so free with another's fiancé, I would've sent another to escort her."

She felt Legolas bristle in anger and let his hand go to lay a calming hand on his chest. "Please, Legolas, wait for me inside."

The look he gave her plainly said he didn't trust Boromir to be alone with her when he was like this, but went inside with Frodo anyway as the hobbit cast a worried glance towards her before disappearing out of her sight.

She walked towards Boromir, and as she looked upon him her heart began to ache from what she was about to do. It was easy enough for her to deny her need for him when he wasn't there, but when he was it was an entirely different matter.

"You didn't seem to be fighting him that much, my lady," he said stiffly, afraid for the first time in his life and trying his best not to show it.

She breathed deeply as looking upon him had begun to melt her resolve quickly, but she struggled to remember why it was she needed to be apart from him. "No, I wasn't, Boromir," she answered.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Please walk with me," she said. "There is much I wish to say to you."

He stiffened against her words. "There is no need for I already have some idea of what you might say."

She herself felt her anger rise. "I have felt us growing apart over the past few days, Boromir," she began. "And I fear that this obsession you have over Frodo's ring is driving a wedge between us."

He genuinely appeared confused. "How so?"

She couldn't have been more shocked. "How so? You're not even the same person I knew before the council. I have seen you change since then, and I do not like what the ring is doing to you."

"I assure you that the ring is doing nothing to me," he said.

"Then you actually believe in your heart that taking the ring and using it is the best answer for Gondor?"

He nodded. "What better way to defeat the enemy than to use his own weapon against him?" he asked, echoing his thoughts to the council to her.

"I can think of plenty," she answered. "They may not be suited to your beliefs, but at least they won't destroy those you know and love. And that's what will happen if you seek to use the ring. It will take what honorable intentions you have and crush them into dust, hurting those you wish to protect and destroying that which you have strived for so long to preserve."

"And how can you be sure of this?" he argued. "What proof do you have that it has the power to corrupt a man's soul?"

"Isildur is a perfect example," she answered. "And if you think that you are strong enough to resist the ring's temptations, then you are even more deluded than I thought."

"As opposed to you, the perfect one whose mate failed to live up to your standards so you found another who was better suited for your purposes?"

His words had cut her deep and she felt their pain deep inside her soul. "Boromir, please. I cannot bear to sit by and see the ring do this to you. I have fought to make you see reason, to see that the real foolishness is to think that you can use the ring against Sauron when it only answers to his command. But you will not listen to me, and I know that if you continue on this path your heart will cease to love me as I already sense it has. I can see it in your thoughts and actions," she argued then took a deep breath. "And if you try and take the ring from Frodo, I will do all I can to keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

"So you would fight against one who's heart you once held dearest to defend the ringbearer?"

"If need be, yes I would. If I cannot get you to see reason with words, then perhaps I can through my actions."

He said nothing for a moment then eventually nodded his head. "Then I suppose it is best that we part ways. But no matter what you may think of me, I still love you even though I am not as perfect as you would like me to be. I am merely human, Lilli. I haven't the strength of elves to endure the pressures of the world. All I know is that my country is in danger, and the only thing I have found so far to fight it is the ring. Maybe it is truly evil and will do as you say, but I will forever think myself a coward if I do not at least try."

As she listened to him, she began to regret her hasty words as she saw the truth of his words, although she protested against his choice of weapon to fight against Mordor. But she held firm to her resolve despite the bitter tears that welled in her eyes when he drew close to kiss her cheek then walked away into the shadows of the night. The tears finally fell from her eyes as the world blurred around her, and she no longer wished for the company of many as she sought solitude in the trees around her, her cries heard by no one but her.



Boromir himself walked through the trees as if in a daze, still not believing that she would forsake him for another when she had told him many times that she loved him and could never leave him. And the thought crossed his mind that maybe the ring had done this after all, that maybe he was to blame as well for allowing himself to be changed so much by it that it drove her from him.

His memories of the times they spent together surfaced and tormented him as he knew that now they would never tease each other again or simply lie in each other's arms. He would never feel the soft pressure of her lips or the brush of her hand against his body, and the thought almost had him ready to turn around and seek her out to try and make her see that they belonged together.

But then a voice whispered in his mind ever so softly, stopping him before he began, saying that she had ended things between them because she was jealous that he had found another way to defend Gondor instead of allowing her to with her ring. She had merely used him to get here then left him as soon as she met another elf that suited her fancy.

He fought against the voice as he had seen the love in her eyes for himself, knew that deep down they still loved each other very much, but the whispers became more insistent as they reminded him of the glory he would be received with when he returned to Minas Tirith with the Ring of the Enemy in his hand. And for awhile he allowed himself to be comforted by the thought, not caring that it came from an evil they were trying to destroy.

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Seems ending things with Boromir has caused more harm than good. But will she find it in her heart to continue things between her and Legolas? Thanks for reading and please review!