A/N- oops. I decided that this would make a better ending then that last chapter, so here goes.
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~Chapter Fourteen
I wanted to run away. I could be free. The whole of Middle Earth was laid out before me, and yet I could not leave this city. I wanted to escape. My heart longed to run around the Wood as I did with Legolas before he left. I missed him so much. I wondered what he was doing then, if he was in any danger. A tear slipped down my cheek as I went to my quarters.
Oh, how I missed him.
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I joined Celeborn dining with Théoden and Éowyn the next morning. Celeborn cleared his throat expectantly, looking at the King.
"Niphredil," Théoden said, his hands folded on the table. "We have reached a decision."
Without me? An angry voice flared in my head, but I was careful not to let it show on my face. "You mean, you are letting me go back to Lothlórien…" my voice trailed off. Éowyn blinked and looked at her uncle, a surprised look flitting across her face.
"No," Théoden looked surprised also, but he shook it off and continued. "My son, Théodred, returned from battle in the wee hours of the morning, and it was decided that you and he should marry, for the good of our kingdoms." I looked at my father. He met my gaze. He truly believed that this was for the best. He believed that my feelings for Legolas could be canceled out by some arranged pairing. I would have spat at him had I not been a princess and had Théoden and Éowyn been there to see it.
"Yes," I pushed the word out through gritted teeth. "For the good of the kingdoms."
Right then I felt as if my heart had died and the air had whooshed right out of my lungs. My knees went weak and I grabbed the back of the stone chair so I would not fall.
"Then it is decided," said Théoden. "Théodred and Niphredil will marry. Splendid! He should be at dinner tonight, and you two can meet then. We have plans to make, my friend!" Théoden said happily. I caught a glance from my father as he rose in his chair and went off with the king to make plans.
Éowyn glanced at me sadly as I sat down across from her. "I'm sorry," she said. "This must be so awful for you."
"I tried to tell him, Éowyn," I choked on the words. "But it did not work. He says that he has Seen it, that he knows that I won't be sorry if I marry him." I wiped a tear from my eye and slumped down in my chair. "It didn't work."
Éowyn took my hand from across the table. A slight smile appeared on her face. "Niphredil, have you not forgotten?" she said. "Men are but mortals. You, an Elf, immortal, will most certainly outlive Théodred. So why don't you focus on the bright aspect of it all- you're marriage will be but the blink of an eye to you. Théodred is young, contrary to his father's age, and he is strong and healthy but he only has maybe fifty years if battle does not take his life sooner. I think, when this is all over, you can look back on it and find that it wasn't all bad." Éowyn smiled and rose from the table. My hand slipped out of hers. "Maybe you might even come to love my cousin," she said.
I sighed and smiled slightly, though worries still stabbed me in the deeper regions of my heart.
"I hope so," I said. Éowyn turned and gave me a last reassuring glance before she passed out of the room. I placed my hands on the table and stood. Then flame of the candle on the table wavered and then snuffed out, leaving the room with one blast of fragrance. I went outside and stood on the hill on which the city was set. A throng of horses passed on the plain. The wind carried faint fragrances. I breathed it all in deeply, and then ran around for a bit, my hair blowing in the wind, for it was the last afternoon that I could say that I was a child.