Disclaimer: The One Ring doesn't belong to me, just Sauron. Just kidding! I did this to see if you all were paying attention! ^_~

Elenya by Shelly

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


Boromir knelt down and laid the back of his hand to her forehead, cursing when he felt the heat radiating from her body. "She's too weak to continue," he called out. "The arrow's poison is coursing through her even now. And we cannot carry her for the rest of the journey."

"Then we must make something to carry her in," Aragorn replied as he leaned down to check her fever himself, his face grim. "We must return to the city as soon as possible. Night will be upon us soon." He disappeared for a short time, leaving Legolas to watch the area around them. When he returned he set two thick, sturdy branches on the ground and removed his cloak to stretch it on the ground, laying each of the branches on the edges and rolling them a short ways inside to fashion a crude stretcher. "Boromir, set her on here and let's lift her a bit to see if it will hold."

The stretcher held her weight and they resumed their journey with a little more speed than before, eventually hearing other elven scouts take up the watch as they passed. Legolas rejoined the two men and walked so he was at her side, reaching out to touch her pale skin as he became worried over her condition. Boromir was worried as well at the pallor of her face. "Aragorn, isn't there anything you can do now for her? Maybe her ring would heal her."

"You put that ring on her finger and you'll have orcs by the hundreds surrounding Lorien by morning," he called over his shoulder.

As darkness fell upon them, they reached the safety of Caras Galadon and carried her to her pavilion where a tray waited with the things Aragorn would need to properly take care of her. They managed to wake her long enough for her to take the antidote as the ranger unbound the cloth that held her wound closed, cleaning and dressing it with clean bandages. Soon he was finished and sighed with relief as he saw her color improve now that the poison no longer attacked her system. But he still remained by her side even after Boromir had left.

Legolas laid a hand on his shoulder. "You should rest, my friend."

He seemed weary beyond his years as he rubbed his face with his hands. "I am afraid I cannot," he answered. "This is a result of my stupidity. I almost got her killed today because I didn't think!"

"What would have been stupid was to let her go out there by herself without any protection," he replied. "As it was, you were there to protect her. You cannot expect her to just not continue living her life because of this burden she bears, and I imagine that she would tell you the same."

"You know I would," her voice whispered.

A relieved smile spread across the ranger's face, and he leaned forward to kiss her forehead as tears of happiness ran down his cheeks. "I'm sorry," he whispered then sat back down as she held his hand in one of hers, the other brushing away the tears and dirt that seemed to be his constant companion.

"It is not your fault," she said as she managed a weak smile. "Now go do as Legolas asked and get some rest or you'll have to answer to me as soon as I can walk."

He laughed. "At once, my lady," he replied then left after placing a quick kiss on the back of her hand.

Legolas claimed the vacant seat as he laid his hand on her cheek, smiling when he felt her temperature had cooled so that it was back to normal. "I am glad that you are improving."

"Aragorn has a wonderous ability to heal," she whispered then touched his face as she looked into his eyes. "Please come lay beside me."

He eased down beside her and gathered her in his arms to hold her close as it suddenly came to him how narrowly he had come to losing her today. He had known why Aragorn had wanted Lillisandra to accompany him this morning, had known that it was because Boromir wished to speak with her. Part of him had wanted to see how their meeting would turn out while the other part of him wanted to give them their privacy and now he was glad that he had followed at a discreet distance. At first he had been consumed with anger as he saw them together on the flet, but his anger had faded once he realized that Boromir had let her go after all, turning to happiness when he saw she seemed to be at peace for perhaps the first time in her life.

Then he had seen her fall to the ground and his heart had all but stopped beating as he feared the worst. He had seen the orcs approaching and began picking them off one by one, pleased that Aragorn had also thought to bring his bow. Never had he felt such fear in all his life as he feared that their time together had been cut short before it ever began.

Taking note of his silence, she looked into his eyes and saw his attention drawn inward, soon realizing that he was remembering what had happened earlier. She touched his face again and saw his thoughts return to the present. "I sense you are afraid," she said.

He took her hand in his and held it close to his heart. "I almost lost you today," he answered.

"Do you believe I would die so easily?" she asked, feeling his heartbeat against the palm of her hand. "There is nothing that can take me away from you as I love you too much to let death come between us."

He was silent a moment as he had stopped breathing in order to be sure he had heard her correctly. "Say it again," he breathed.

She smiled. "I love you," she whispered as she moved her hand behind his neck to pull him closer to brush her lips across his. "And I am sorry that it has taken me so long to realize it as I can be a bit stubborn at times."

He laughed in reply then joined their lips together once more, teasing them with soft kisses as he knew she was still weak from the poison and didn't want to push her too far just yet. Hearing someone enter, he looked up to see the strange elven female he had seen last night standing in the opening of the pavilion.

Elenya found herself blushing at intruding on such an intimate moment between them. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized.

"Not at all," he replied. "I am sure Lilli would be happy to see you."

Elenya came over to Lillisandra's side, smiling and gathering her hand in hers. "I am glad to see you are recovering well," she said. "And I must say that I approve of your newfound love with the prince."

"I suppose you're going to say that you knew it was there all along," Lillisandra pointed out drily.

"Maybe," the other elf replied, smiling brightly. "But I actually came here to let you know that if you want to heal yourself a bit faster then you could use your ring to do so."

Lillisandra seemed a bit skeptical. "Won't that cause a bit of a disruption?" she asked.

"I'll try to keep it as quiet as possible," she replied with a wink for Legolas.

The elven princess sighed then took the ring from around her neck to slide it slowly upon her finger, her eyes closing as she felt Elenya's presence deep within her, healing her wound and wiping away all traces of exhaustion. It was akin to feeling a lover's touch from the inside, making her head spin from the euphoria of light that coursed throughout her body.

Legolas watched in fascination as Elenya's physical form transformed into the light of a thousand rainbows that shone underneath Lillisandra's skin, was even more transfixed as the light moved from her to him. Then it was his turn to feel the power of the ring as the same light flowed throughout his body, bringing them closer together than they both thought possible.

As wonderful as the power felt, she fought to keep from being consumed by it for to do so was just as dangerous. She pulled the ring from her finger, opening her eyes and seeing Legolas' own gaze of amazement upon her. "I believe that I never want to go through that again," he breathed as he shook off Elenya's effect on him.

"Why not?" she asked.

"It felt as if she was exploring everything about me," he answered.

She smiled. "It was just her way of getting to know you. Believe me, I went through the same thing when Galadriel awakened the ring's fourth stone." Then she yawned as sleep came to claim her. Legolas pulled her close against him and kissed her softly, whispering words of love that she still heard even in her dreams.

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Awww! Aren't they sweet? But nothing compares to Boromir, right? Hee-hee! Just thought I'd get a rise out of all the Legolas fans out there. Next chapter: Lilli is reunited with a special friend who mourns the loss of Gandalf, and Boromir does something he never thought he'd do. Thanks for reading and please review!