Legolas did indeed shoot that day. And Irulan was glad that she was not the
only one with her mouth hanging open. All the stories related to the
unbelievable archery and fighting skills of the Mirkwood elves was
obviously true. No wonder they had been successfully resisting the ever
growing orc raids into Mirkwood. Irulan felt the feeling of awe slowly
engulfing her. The awe that one helplessly feels in the face of things that
seem to go beyond possibility. And as she sat there watching, she
remembered another day back from her childhood when she had felt a similar
feeling.
Irulan was only 10, and once again walking through the training grounds of the palace. She could still remember the smell of sweat and dust and rusted metal in the air. Men that seemed like giants in her eyes were everywhere tackling each other, kicking and punching each other, throwing knives and spears at targets. The aura of excitement and war seemed to be hanging in the very air. Irulan liked to come here. She liked to watch the training and to listen to the teachers. The soldiers were used to her. They bowed to her, mimicking serious expressions, or ruffled her hair. Sometimes they even took her on their shoulders and ran around with her.
Irulan's mother and Stampa hated the idea of course, but it was her father that took silent pleasure from the interest of his daughter. He had no son, only three daughters and although he never seemed to regret that, he was still quite happy that at least one of his children was interested to share a part of his life that normally no woman could. Since it would not be proper for him to allow her in, he just pretended not to see her. It was a silent agreement between them. And true, in the upcoming years he would certainly more than regret his actions and curse the day Irulan had walked into the training grounds with his "permission", but that was yet a long way ahead of them.
It seemed to be a day like any other. But who can know what a day is cooking for us before it hits us in the face? Do we not all begin our days with the assumption that they will be no different from all former ones? As a matter of fact, is our whole line of action not based on this very assumption? But there are days that fade into years, and there are other days that divide those blocks of years, that draw a border between someone and the person that same someone will become eventually. Though she had no idea yet, such was the day Irulan walked into the training area once more.
She soon saw that a lot of soldiers had gathered together at a corner of the area and formed a circle around two people. She cut her way through the crowd and stood at the edge of the clearing. One of the two people was an old man. He had long white hair, most of which had fallen out and the rest of which was awkwardly hanging from his scalp in patches. His face seemed bright and alert, and yet his age was obvious from the dense wrinkles around it. He seemed to be very skinny and short. His opponent was a soldier, who seemed to be at least thrice the size of the old man. Irulan watched with interest as the two stared each other in silence. Then the soldier let out a scream and threw himself towards the old man. The other stepped calmly aside, at the same time delivering what seemed to be a very painful kick to the younger man's groins. As the soldier moaned and bent forward in pain, the old man had already moved behind him and this time kicked in his knees. The soldier fell on his knees and ended up on the floor by a final blow on the back of his neck.
All this happened in the blink of an eye. Everyone screamed with excitement and applauded. The old man grinned in pleasure and raised his hands, turning around, calling for silence. That's when he saw Irulan and their eyes locked. He did not seem surprised at all to find a royally dressed little girl among the fiercest men in the kingdom. He slowly bowed down with the upper part of his body, all the time deeply looking into her eyes. Irulan mimicked the bow, never looking away herself. Inside she was all smiles, for she had found something she was not even aware that she had been looking for - a teacher.
And a teacher and dear friend Chemarit became to her. He was the first man ever to treat her like a person - not like a child, nor like a girl, but a person. Although immense abysses like age, gender, culture and background divided them, Chemarit pretended those things never existed from day one, and Irulan was more than happy to go along with that. He saw no reason not to train her like he would train anyone else, or even, like he would train one of his own kind, about whom no one seemed to know much. Irulan only rarely heard him speak about his own people who seemed to be a very curious folk. But he told her once that in his culture women and men were considered equal and that they went to battle side by side. Chemarit never belittled women, nor did he praise them. That kind of distinction was foreign to his mind. That alone opened a whole new world for Irulan.
Chemarit was lethal with the staff and spear and in hand to hand combat. He was a good rider and an average swordsman. However, he never had any experience with archery, and for some odd reason avoided even speaking about it. He claimed that you had to feel the flesh and the agony of your enemy in battle and that he should feel yours. "Archery! Throwing sticks from a distance! Cowardice I tell you Irulan, pure cowardice!" he yelled when she pressed him about it and became somewhat sour. She would press him mainly for the very fact that he would turn sour!
Irulan would discover the real reason behind this despise much later, towards the end of Chemarit's life. He seemed to drink more and more towards his final days, and finally one day when he was as drunk as only a beer barrel could only be, he admitted that with all his skills in the deathly art of combat he had failed to avoid an arrow ending up in his butt. And this arrow had caused him not only immense physical pain, but also spiritual pain for his embarrassment was very deep and the townsfolk, refusing to forget the damn incident, kept reminding him of it ever so often. Actually, it seems this very painful arrow was the reason for a very proud Chemarit to finally admit that the time was ripe for changes - and those changes led him through all Middle Earth and finally to the kingdom of Kanduin. Irulan had laughed till tears ran down her cheeks at the look on Chemarit's face while he confessed her this rather unpleasant story, but then she felt more than shocked when she realized that this was the real reason why women with brains the size of nuts (she was absolutely certain of this part) always had been and forever would be having an excuse to look down on her.
So Chemarit and Irulan walked to the nearby woods every day where his cottage was (he hated the castle and felt uncomfortable in any place from which he could not get out of by the simple motion of stepping out a door) and Chemarit taught her anything there was to be learned about his combat skills. They often talked about fighting, but more often about the world and the people, about relationships between people, and sometimes even about politics. Sometimes when she could not sleep she would walk over with a book under her arm (Chemarit never seemed to sleep anyway) and she would read to him, for he could neither write nor read. Unfortunately he had quite a different taste and preferred the romantic novels which Irulan hated, but it was alright, for she was with a friend and it was nice to read to him with the smell of tobacco in the room and a fire to light up her face.
So it was rather inevitable for Irulan to end up a dashing fighter with the staff and a formidable foe in hand to hand combat, but a lousy archer. As a matter of fact, even to this day she did not know how to properly hold the bow. And to her demise, archery became a popular entertainment among the women in higher circles. Often there were archery contests where women would dress up like a queen and march out with bows and arrows (the sight of which Irulan found rather creepy and absurd) and where every hit received polite applause with whispers about this or that lady's dress or the latest shocking affair in between. Everyone in the kingdom seemed to know that Irulan was completely incapable of the art and even her two sisters would constantly tease her about it. Not that they were good in hitting the target themselves, but the point was that one did not have to be good in it. One had to LOOK good doing it and show up at every contest as glamorous as possible. No need to say that Irulan soon shared her master's despise for archery.
Chemarit was already ancient the day they had first bowed to each other and 7 later - too late for him, he claimed often, but too early for Irulan - he died. Irulan had lost her only friend and support. She was devastated for a long time, during which even those who had severely opposed to her friendship with Chemarit had given her time and space and never complained again about her visits to the forest - which she continued to make every day, no matter what. They had never actually seen a threat in all that training anyway. True, Chemarit looked like a chicken thief (and to Irulan's utter dismay, he actually turned out to be one!) and was probably more than a little crazy, but their perception of the world and the limits of their imagination was too narrow to ever believe that a woman could learn fighting, no matter how hard she tried. Besides, Irulan seemed to have calmed down quite a bit after she met Chemarit. She had stopped running around the castle, pulling wild and highly inappropriate tricks on everyone or worse, running from the castle, off to the city to stay with Harkey or to be found dirty and hungry in an abandoned alley or a farm a few days later. What could be the danger in bashing sticks every now and then anyway? If only Irulan had left it at that... which of course was never to be.
Chemarit's death was another turning point in Irulan's life. She walked away from the grave a child no more. There were times when her longing to see him again turned into acute pain and made her lock herself up in her room, refusing to eat or sleep. But they never overcame her. Her father decided to send her to one of their castles further in the north with Stampa every summer, so that she could lighten up. And Irulan did lighten up, for as soon as they arrived, she left a protesting Stampa behind and set off on long journeys, seeing the world as she always wished she would. And those secret and solitary adventures stayed with her forever - like the time she had invoked the Red Dragon and had faced his gaze; or times she defended a town against orcs along with the people of Gondor (always in disguise, of course); or when the day she saw the ocean glimmering far over the hills and felt little and indistinctive in a world so big and vast. So she had lost a master, but the whole world became her master now and she was the most curious pupil.
The sound of applause brought her back to reality and she realized that she had missed the last part of the demonstration. "Damn", she thought, "and it happens so rarely!" She joined the applause and stood up when Endor grasped her arm and began to walk away from the crowd. Irulan tried to keep up with him, for she either would do that or end up struggling with everyone else watching and getting herself dirty in the mud. Obviously satisfied with the distance he had put between them and everyone else he turned to look at her. "Irulan! You are avoiding me again".
"You are dangerous when you are smart, Endor" hissed Irulan and rudely drew back her arm.
"Irulan, I need to talk to you" he pleaded "but it seems like I need to have pointed ears to get the privilege!"
Irulan's eyebrows shot up. "Actually, a brain and a heart would suffice. Unfortunately you don't have either" she said slowly. "And don't bother. They would not look half as good on you" she added with some dark satisfaction.
"Irulan why do you humiliate me so, when all I feel for you is....... love and kindness"
Irulan rolled her eyes. "Here it comes again", she thought. She was getting tired of this. It had been repeating itself for too long now. She desperately looked around to find an excuse, but it seems everyone was busy congratulating the elves. No one was even looking at them. "Endor" she began tiredly, "I am growing tired of your persistence. Don't you understand, I do not feel for you. A lot of women do. Why don't you choose another?"- "See, I can be nice", she thought.
Endor waved away all that niceness though. Obviously he was prepared for the same dialog as well. "Listen Irulan, I mean to wed you. And I mean soon".
Irulan was just narrowing her eyes to see what was going on with the elves and the crowd when she felt like being slapped in the face and turned around to face him "What?! In your dreams you mule!"
Endor calmly held his hand up to ward off her insults, "Irulan, I know you will be happy once we have this behind us. You are wild and you have lived a free life, but once you are tamed, you will understand what real happiness is and hopefully also feel grateful for it". Irulan's mouth dropped open. Endor took a little step back when he saw her eyes narrowing. "Now look, do not misbehave again. I said I love you".
"You.. you......... you stupid, selfish, rude, senseless, soulless... you big PIG!" she finished almost screaming now. Endor hastily looked up to see if anyone was paying attention but Irulan did not care. "You dare talk to me like that? Obviously you just want me to get in trouble again for kicking your head back down from the clouds! But you know what, I will grant you that wish you slimy snake!"
She gathered her skirts and was about to take a step closer to smash Endor's beautiful face that seemed to be filled with a mixture of worry and horror now, when she heard a familiar voice behind her "Are you well, princess?" Legolas! "No" she pleaded in her head, "not now... not when I am about to smash this big cockroach!" Nevertheless she halted. Endor was not moving either. She did not hear Legolas approaching but all of a sudden he was beside her, looking at her with a worried look. "What is the matter?" he said more softly and threw a bleak look at Endor.
Irulan released her skirts again. "Nothing, Master Elf. I just feel like I can not stand the STINK.... in this.... garden any longer. I think I will retire" she said.
"Yes indeed, I can smell it too" said Legolas to her utter surprise. He only smiled warmly at her widened eyes. "An elf with a sense of humor! Who'd know!" she thought.
"I'll come with you" Endor added hastily. He took a step towards her but Legolas was between them before either had a chance to see him moving. "I think I will assist the lady" he said to him and if an elf could sound dangerous, this must be certainly it. Both Irulan and Endor unconsciously flinched at his tone.
"I was talking with her before you interrupted us" Endor said slowly after a long pause.
"Very well" said Legolas calmly, "you are done talking now".
He turned his back to Endor, completely ignoring him then, "Princess Irulan, will you let me escort you back to the castle?" Irulan quickly recovered from the shock. "I would be forever in your debt Master Greenleaf" she said warmly. "If the hero in that stupid story was anything like this" she thought, all of a sudden remembering the handsome prince that had killed the evil dragon (hmm. sounds awfully familiar to SOMEONE I know, she blistered) and saved the day, "I would not mind the least being the little stupid impressed princess!" And that meant a lot, actually.
*** "I feel like you are becoming more and more often my rescuer, Prince Legolas" she said after a while. They were walking towards the castle but slowly, for none wished to get there too soon.
"Legolas" he said dreamily.
"Pardon me?"
"Please call me just Legolas" he said looking at her.
"Well I......... I should not" she said a bit disturbed.
"Why not? It is my wish."
"All right then......... Legolas" she said and it felt all wrong. She felt very uncomfortable saying it, oddly exposed, and could not pinpoint exactly why that was. "Thank you for all your support until now" she said, "I am truly grateful".
"No need. I must admit that I enjoy 'rescuing' you from Lord Endor more than anything. I would not mind at all if it happened again".
Irulan laughed with him. "I know! He is so persistent!"
Legolas became very serious all of a sudden "So am I, Irulan" he said. Then added with a lighter tone "And something tells me that I would be the one to outlive Lord Endor in this matter of stubbornness".
"Well, if you can outlive a block of stone, Legolas, I think you might be right" Irulan said.
They both laughed at that. Then a silence followed and Irulan felt like she should say something but the silence became longer and longer and she dared not say anything to break it. And oddly, it felt comfortable to be silent around Legolas. She felt the comforting blanket of silence envelope her and the need to speak, explain, persuade, lie, confess and express leave her. She felt unbelievably lucky to have such a creature being with her in the first place right here and right now. He was like an inspiration, like a divine gift. And he was like no man she had known. Actually, completely unlike the men around her, he was smooth, kind and intelligent and most important of all, she felt no judgment from him. True, he did not know who she was in reality, and Irulan could not believe that an elf (much less an elf prince) would ever find such qualities in a woman attractive, but she had been fairly stupid around him and he did not seem to be taken aback by that. So they walked together for quite a long time, finally ending up in the castle because there was nowhere left to go. After Legolas had left her, Irulan began walking to her room and somewhere along the way a sudden thought began to ring in her head. "Wait, did he just call me Irulan?"
Irulan was only 10, and once again walking through the training grounds of the palace. She could still remember the smell of sweat and dust and rusted metal in the air. Men that seemed like giants in her eyes were everywhere tackling each other, kicking and punching each other, throwing knives and spears at targets. The aura of excitement and war seemed to be hanging in the very air. Irulan liked to come here. She liked to watch the training and to listen to the teachers. The soldiers were used to her. They bowed to her, mimicking serious expressions, or ruffled her hair. Sometimes they even took her on their shoulders and ran around with her.
Irulan's mother and Stampa hated the idea of course, but it was her father that took silent pleasure from the interest of his daughter. He had no son, only three daughters and although he never seemed to regret that, he was still quite happy that at least one of his children was interested to share a part of his life that normally no woman could. Since it would not be proper for him to allow her in, he just pretended not to see her. It was a silent agreement between them. And true, in the upcoming years he would certainly more than regret his actions and curse the day Irulan had walked into the training grounds with his "permission", but that was yet a long way ahead of them.
It seemed to be a day like any other. But who can know what a day is cooking for us before it hits us in the face? Do we not all begin our days with the assumption that they will be no different from all former ones? As a matter of fact, is our whole line of action not based on this very assumption? But there are days that fade into years, and there are other days that divide those blocks of years, that draw a border between someone and the person that same someone will become eventually. Though she had no idea yet, such was the day Irulan walked into the training area once more.
She soon saw that a lot of soldiers had gathered together at a corner of the area and formed a circle around two people. She cut her way through the crowd and stood at the edge of the clearing. One of the two people was an old man. He had long white hair, most of which had fallen out and the rest of which was awkwardly hanging from his scalp in patches. His face seemed bright and alert, and yet his age was obvious from the dense wrinkles around it. He seemed to be very skinny and short. His opponent was a soldier, who seemed to be at least thrice the size of the old man. Irulan watched with interest as the two stared each other in silence. Then the soldier let out a scream and threw himself towards the old man. The other stepped calmly aside, at the same time delivering what seemed to be a very painful kick to the younger man's groins. As the soldier moaned and bent forward in pain, the old man had already moved behind him and this time kicked in his knees. The soldier fell on his knees and ended up on the floor by a final blow on the back of his neck.
All this happened in the blink of an eye. Everyone screamed with excitement and applauded. The old man grinned in pleasure and raised his hands, turning around, calling for silence. That's when he saw Irulan and their eyes locked. He did not seem surprised at all to find a royally dressed little girl among the fiercest men in the kingdom. He slowly bowed down with the upper part of his body, all the time deeply looking into her eyes. Irulan mimicked the bow, never looking away herself. Inside she was all smiles, for she had found something she was not even aware that she had been looking for - a teacher.
And a teacher and dear friend Chemarit became to her. He was the first man ever to treat her like a person - not like a child, nor like a girl, but a person. Although immense abysses like age, gender, culture and background divided them, Chemarit pretended those things never existed from day one, and Irulan was more than happy to go along with that. He saw no reason not to train her like he would train anyone else, or even, like he would train one of his own kind, about whom no one seemed to know much. Irulan only rarely heard him speak about his own people who seemed to be a very curious folk. But he told her once that in his culture women and men were considered equal and that they went to battle side by side. Chemarit never belittled women, nor did he praise them. That kind of distinction was foreign to his mind. That alone opened a whole new world for Irulan.
Chemarit was lethal with the staff and spear and in hand to hand combat. He was a good rider and an average swordsman. However, he never had any experience with archery, and for some odd reason avoided even speaking about it. He claimed that you had to feel the flesh and the agony of your enemy in battle and that he should feel yours. "Archery! Throwing sticks from a distance! Cowardice I tell you Irulan, pure cowardice!" he yelled when she pressed him about it and became somewhat sour. She would press him mainly for the very fact that he would turn sour!
Irulan would discover the real reason behind this despise much later, towards the end of Chemarit's life. He seemed to drink more and more towards his final days, and finally one day when he was as drunk as only a beer barrel could only be, he admitted that with all his skills in the deathly art of combat he had failed to avoid an arrow ending up in his butt. And this arrow had caused him not only immense physical pain, but also spiritual pain for his embarrassment was very deep and the townsfolk, refusing to forget the damn incident, kept reminding him of it ever so often. Actually, it seems this very painful arrow was the reason for a very proud Chemarit to finally admit that the time was ripe for changes - and those changes led him through all Middle Earth and finally to the kingdom of Kanduin. Irulan had laughed till tears ran down her cheeks at the look on Chemarit's face while he confessed her this rather unpleasant story, but then she felt more than shocked when she realized that this was the real reason why women with brains the size of nuts (she was absolutely certain of this part) always had been and forever would be having an excuse to look down on her.
So Chemarit and Irulan walked to the nearby woods every day where his cottage was (he hated the castle and felt uncomfortable in any place from which he could not get out of by the simple motion of stepping out a door) and Chemarit taught her anything there was to be learned about his combat skills. They often talked about fighting, but more often about the world and the people, about relationships between people, and sometimes even about politics. Sometimes when she could not sleep she would walk over with a book under her arm (Chemarit never seemed to sleep anyway) and she would read to him, for he could neither write nor read. Unfortunately he had quite a different taste and preferred the romantic novels which Irulan hated, but it was alright, for she was with a friend and it was nice to read to him with the smell of tobacco in the room and a fire to light up her face.
So it was rather inevitable for Irulan to end up a dashing fighter with the staff and a formidable foe in hand to hand combat, but a lousy archer. As a matter of fact, even to this day she did not know how to properly hold the bow. And to her demise, archery became a popular entertainment among the women in higher circles. Often there were archery contests where women would dress up like a queen and march out with bows and arrows (the sight of which Irulan found rather creepy and absurd) and where every hit received polite applause with whispers about this or that lady's dress or the latest shocking affair in between. Everyone in the kingdom seemed to know that Irulan was completely incapable of the art and even her two sisters would constantly tease her about it. Not that they were good in hitting the target themselves, but the point was that one did not have to be good in it. One had to LOOK good doing it and show up at every contest as glamorous as possible. No need to say that Irulan soon shared her master's despise for archery.
Chemarit was already ancient the day they had first bowed to each other and 7 later - too late for him, he claimed often, but too early for Irulan - he died. Irulan had lost her only friend and support. She was devastated for a long time, during which even those who had severely opposed to her friendship with Chemarit had given her time and space and never complained again about her visits to the forest - which she continued to make every day, no matter what. They had never actually seen a threat in all that training anyway. True, Chemarit looked like a chicken thief (and to Irulan's utter dismay, he actually turned out to be one!) and was probably more than a little crazy, but their perception of the world and the limits of their imagination was too narrow to ever believe that a woman could learn fighting, no matter how hard she tried. Besides, Irulan seemed to have calmed down quite a bit after she met Chemarit. She had stopped running around the castle, pulling wild and highly inappropriate tricks on everyone or worse, running from the castle, off to the city to stay with Harkey or to be found dirty and hungry in an abandoned alley or a farm a few days later. What could be the danger in bashing sticks every now and then anyway? If only Irulan had left it at that... which of course was never to be.
Chemarit's death was another turning point in Irulan's life. She walked away from the grave a child no more. There were times when her longing to see him again turned into acute pain and made her lock herself up in her room, refusing to eat or sleep. But they never overcame her. Her father decided to send her to one of their castles further in the north with Stampa every summer, so that she could lighten up. And Irulan did lighten up, for as soon as they arrived, she left a protesting Stampa behind and set off on long journeys, seeing the world as she always wished she would. And those secret and solitary adventures stayed with her forever - like the time she had invoked the Red Dragon and had faced his gaze; or times she defended a town against orcs along with the people of Gondor (always in disguise, of course); or when the day she saw the ocean glimmering far over the hills and felt little and indistinctive in a world so big and vast. So she had lost a master, but the whole world became her master now and she was the most curious pupil.
The sound of applause brought her back to reality and she realized that she had missed the last part of the demonstration. "Damn", she thought, "and it happens so rarely!" She joined the applause and stood up when Endor grasped her arm and began to walk away from the crowd. Irulan tried to keep up with him, for she either would do that or end up struggling with everyone else watching and getting herself dirty in the mud. Obviously satisfied with the distance he had put between them and everyone else he turned to look at her. "Irulan! You are avoiding me again".
"You are dangerous when you are smart, Endor" hissed Irulan and rudely drew back her arm.
"Irulan, I need to talk to you" he pleaded "but it seems like I need to have pointed ears to get the privilege!"
Irulan's eyebrows shot up. "Actually, a brain and a heart would suffice. Unfortunately you don't have either" she said slowly. "And don't bother. They would not look half as good on you" she added with some dark satisfaction.
"Irulan why do you humiliate me so, when all I feel for you is....... love and kindness"
Irulan rolled her eyes. "Here it comes again", she thought. She was getting tired of this. It had been repeating itself for too long now. She desperately looked around to find an excuse, but it seems everyone was busy congratulating the elves. No one was even looking at them. "Endor" she began tiredly, "I am growing tired of your persistence. Don't you understand, I do not feel for you. A lot of women do. Why don't you choose another?"- "See, I can be nice", she thought.
Endor waved away all that niceness though. Obviously he was prepared for the same dialog as well. "Listen Irulan, I mean to wed you. And I mean soon".
Irulan was just narrowing her eyes to see what was going on with the elves and the crowd when she felt like being slapped in the face and turned around to face him "What?! In your dreams you mule!"
Endor calmly held his hand up to ward off her insults, "Irulan, I know you will be happy once we have this behind us. You are wild and you have lived a free life, but once you are tamed, you will understand what real happiness is and hopefully also feel grateful for it". Irulan's mouth dropped open. Endor took a little step back when he saw her eyes narrowing. "Now look, do not misbehave again. I said I love you".
"You.. you......... you stupid, selfish, rude, senseless, soulless... you big PIG!" she finished almost screaming now. Endor hastily looked up to see if anyone was paying attention but Irulan did not care. "You dare talk to me like that? Obviously you just want me to get in trouble again for kicking your head back down from the clouds! But you know what, I will grant you that wish you slimy snake!"
She gathered her skirts and was about to take a step closer to smash Endor's beautiful face that seemed to be filled with a mixture of worry and horror now, when she heard a familiar voice behind her "Are you well, princess?" Legolas! "No" she pleaded in her head, "not now... not when I am about to smash this big cockroach!" Nevertheless she halted. Endor was not moving either. She did not hear Legolas approaching but all of a sudden he was beside her, looking at her with a worried look. "What is the matter?" he said more softly and threw a bleak look at Endor.
Irulan released her skirts again. "Nothing, Master Elf. I just feel like I can not stand the STINK.... in this.... garden any longer. I think I will retire" she said.
"Yes indeed, I can smell it too" said Legolas to her utter surprise. He only smiled warmly at her widened eyes. "An elf with a sense of humor! Who'd know!" she thought.
"I'll come with you" Endor added hastily. He took a step towards her but Legolas was between them before either had a chance to see him moving. "I think I will assist the lady" he said to him and if an elf could sound dangerous, this must be certainly it. Both Irulan and Endor unconsciously flinched at his tone.
"I was talking with her before you interrupted us" Endor said slowly after a long pause.
"Very well" said Legolas calmly, "you are done talking now".
He turned his back to Endor, completely ignoring him then, "Princess Irulan, will you let me escort you back to the castle?" Irulan quickly recovered from the shock. "I would be forever in your debt Master Greenleaf" she said warmly. "If the hero in that stupid story was anything like this" she thought, all of a sudden remembering the handsome prince that had killed the evil dragon (hmm. sounds awfully familiar to SOMEONE I know, she blistered) and saved the day, "I would not mind the least being the little stupid impressed princess!" And that meant a lot, actually.
*** "I feel like you are becoming more and more often my rescuer, Prince Legolas" she said after a while. They were walking towards the castle but slowly, for none wished to get there too soon.
"Legolas" he said dreamily.
"Pardon me?"
"Please call me just Legolas" he said looking at her.
"Well I......... I should not" she said a bit disturbed.
"Why not? It is my wish."
"All right then......... Legolas" she said and it felt all wrong. She felt very uncomfortable saying it, oddly exposed, and could not pinpoint exactly why that was. "Thank you for all your support until now" she said, "I am truly grateful".
"No need. I must admit that I enjoy 'rescuing' you from Lord Endor more than anything. I would not mind at all if it happened again".
Irulan laughed with him. "I know! He is so persistent!"
Legolas became very serious all of a sudden "So am I, Irulan" he said. Then added with a lighter tone "And something tells me that I would be the one to outlive Lord Endor in this matter of stubbornness".
"Well, if you can outlive a block of stone, Legolas, I think you might be right" Irulan said.
They both laughed at that. Then a silence followed and Irulan felt like she should say something but the silence became longer and longer and she dared not say anything to break it. And oddly, it felt comfortable to be silent around Legolas. She felt the comforting blanket of silence envelope her and the need to speak, explain, persuade, lie, confess and express leave her. She felt unbelievably lucky to have such a creature being with her in the first place right here and right now. He was like an inspiration, like a divine gift. And he was like no man she had known. Actually, completely unlike the men around her, he was smooth, kind and intelligent and most important of all, she felt no judgment from him. True, he did not know who she was in reality, and Irulan could not believe that an elf (much less an elf prince) would ever find such qualities in a woman attractive, but she had been fairly stupid around him and he did not seem to be taken aback by that. So they walked together for quite a long time, finally ending up in the castle because there was nowhere left to go. After Legolas had left her, Irulan began walking to her room and somewhere along the way a sudden thought began to ring in her head. "Wait, did he just call me Irulan?"