"Irulan! Wake up Irulan!" The darkness seemed to stretch for a moment, and
then fade... like ink spotted with water, lighter spots began to appear in
the black background.
"I think she is coming around" she heard a voice say..... "Eprim" she thought. But neither the name nor the voice had any meaning to her...... they seemed to hang in the darkness for a while longer. Then she began to feel the throbbing pain, like the buzz of bees, getting louder as the darkness was fading into light. "Eprim" she thought again...... and remembered.
Irulan opened her eyes. "Irulan! Oh I have been so worried....." Eprim's voice boomed from nearby, and then she added hastily ".....princess". The world swam back into focus and after swinging back and forth a couple of times, stayed where it was. Eprim was leaning above her, a very worried expression on her face. Irulan tried to turn her head and winced with the pain. "You hit your head" Eprim said.
The buzzing of the pain was very loud now. And so were all voices. She wished Eprim would move back a bit. "Wh-what happened?" Irulan managed to say.
"You fell from the pole..... Gabrim hit you".
Oh yes! The mud-pole game! That accursed ox of a Gabrim! And then a lightning hit her. Her eyes widened with terror and not caring about the pain, she jerked her head towards Eprim "I saw elves!" she said and grasped Eprim's hand. She was hoping for a confused look on her friend's face, a "What are you talking about?", but Eprim looked very much aware of what she was talking about. Irulan's heart missed a beat. Eprim opened her mouth to answer but another voice spoke up.
"Yes, we are here, princess" She saw Legolas' face swimming into her view then. He was standing behind Eprim, it seemed. Eprim hastily stood up, looking relieved all of a sudden, squeezed her friend's hand and then disappeared from her view. Legolas gracefully sat on the edge of the bed and continued looking at her. Irulan felt the surreal becoming real and panic setting in. She tried to sit up, not caring about the pain in her body and her head, but Legolas placed a hand on her chest and gently forced her down. "You should not get up yet, Irulan" he said softly. She obeyed him merely because she failed to get up anyway.
Legolas was looking at her intently. He then brought his hand up and gently removed a lock of hair from Irulan's face. Irulan felt her heart making another leap and closed her eyes. "I must apologize" she heard him saying, "I believe I was the reason you lost the game today". She exhaled slowly. Maybe it was time to introduce the monster. "It was not a game" she said slowly. "I was trying to kick his a.....- kick him" she finished.
"Why?" he said after a while.
"Because" she began.... and then thought about how she could explain an elf how insult, rage, anger, madness, vengeance could spring from the most mindless conversations and take over the mind and the spirit in the blink of an eye. "Because he infuriated me for reasons that are too stupid to explain and I felt like hurting him. We do that.... we humans, I mean".
Legolas said nothing but took her hand in his. She opened her eyes then and looked at him. A part of her wanted to roughly take her hand back and another part just wanted him to hold it like that forever. "Why are you here?" she asked.
"It is a long story, really. But I wish to tell you when you feel better" said Legolas.
"I must get up" she said and tried again. This time, seeing that she would not be deterred, he helped her up. She realized that his clothes were embedded in mud then.
"Oh dear!" She gasped "your clothes!"
He looked down and chuckled. "Yes, it is a first, I must say. But the others look worse, believe me" he grinned.
The others! Irulan felt horrible. She opened her mouth but Legolas put up his hand to stop her "Please, no apologies necessary. Clothes are not worth talking about".
He leaned over then. His face looked so close and the closer it was, the more beautiful it seemed to be. She slowly tugged at her hand but he would not let go. "You are worried" he said, "but worry not, for we will not say a word".
Irulan looked up in surprise. 'Could it be possible', she thought, 'that elves are angels? That I am sitting in the same room with this magical creature? I have lived with them for 20 years now, so close to them, and yet never knew how overwhelming they are. How could I be so unaware of something so close?'
There was a tap on the door and Irulan did not know whether she should rejoice or cry. Harkey's head popped in. "Are you all right Irulan? I mean..... princess?" he said.
"Yes" said Irulan, "I am okay. And we should get back to the castle now, I think". She tugged at her hand again and this time Legolas let go of it. And once again, she could not decide whether she should be happy or sad about it. "I am so confused! Why is he always turning up and confusing me?"
She realized that she was dressed in the gown she was wearing when she left the castle for the wedding. Feeling uncomfortable as ever in those long things, she had changed as soon as she arrived. Thankfully, because otherwise she would have to go to the castle in a muddy boy's outfit. Indeed! Eprim must have washed the rest of her roughly, too. She could feel little pieces of dried mud all over her body and in her hair, but at least from a distance she did not look like the pig she probably did a short while ago. She slowly stood up.
"I should really apologize to Gabrim" she said. "Not that he didn't deserve the beating!" she added hastily, "but as the stronger and more mature one, it seems to be my duty". Legolas grinned and offered his arm and she relaxed and leaned into him while the both walked out.
The other two elves immediately stood up. They DID look horrible. The brown mud had covered all of their clothes from the waist down and it had dried, making them look even more comical. The expression on their faces was equally odd. They seemed to be terrified by their condition and very obviously embarrassed. They were holding their capes folded over their arms. At least those would cover most of the view when they got to the castle. Not that anyone would dare to ask elves questions about their appearance but they would certainly ask her if she walked in with them without their capes on.
"Princess Irulan" said the shorter one with blonde hair, "you really frightened us. Are you well now?"
"Yes, yes...... Master..."
"Bern. This is Athalos". The other elf nodded.
"Yes Master Bern. Actually I owe all of you an apology. I can only hope that you will not judge my entire race until eternity by taking me as an example".
Athalos chuckled, "Don't worry princess; we came to an agreement that this chapter of human oddity can be left out of the history books".
"Glad to hear it" said a voice. Gabrim! She tried not to, but blistered anyway. "The rest of us are not like......HER".
Irulan pressed her lips into a thin line. She could literally feel the blood pumping into her head now. "Shut up Irulan. Do not give in to the temptation. Show him that you are able to control your anger" she thought.
"Gabrim!" -'Okay now, maybe that tone of voice was a bit too harsh. After all, the elves literally flinched' she thought. "Gabrim" she tried again and it did indeed come out softer (more like an iron club hid under velvet) "Even though you hit a woman -a WOMAN- with ALL your strength -which is not much, I have to say, but enough to cause damage- and made her fall from a high pole that happened to be standing in a pool of mud -HEAD-DOWN I have to remind you- without any thought about what would become of her if she ended up crippled or distorted or, let's face it, DEAD......"
"This is just getting better and better!" Gabrim interrupted her. "A woman indeed! I saw no woman! I saw a beast with a lethal weapon threatening my very life!"
"I came here to apologize you fool!" she screamed, unable to restrain herself any longer.
"So have I!" he thundered back at her.
There was a silence. Legolas could not hold it anymore. He began to laugh. Softly at first but then it caught up and the other two elves began to chuckle as well. And then they were laughing freely, as was everyone else in the room. Only Irulan and Gabrim looked pissed and embarrassed beyond words.
"I will kill him" she thought. "For making elves - ELVES - laugh at me! Now I can never rule a kingdom. No one will ever fear me again!" (The upcoming years would prove that this was the understatement of all times) Then she just sighed and headed for the door. "All right now... I really don't think it was that funny... I am in agony here gentlemen!........... why.. I can't believe this is the elvish kindness all Middle Earth speaks of!............."
Three muddy elves and a wincing princess in a fabulous gown slowly walked up the main street towards the castle. All along the way people turned to look at the red face of the princess and at the carefree laughter of elves - both of which were quite rare sights. Will wonders never cease?
"I think she is coming around" she heard a voice say..... "Eprim" she thought. But neither the name nor the voice had any meaning to her...... they seemed to hang in the darkness for a while longer. Then she began to feel the throbbing pain, like the buzz of bees, getting louder as the darkness was fading into light. "Eprim" she thought again...... and remembered.
Irulan opened her eyes. "Irulan! Oh I have been so worried....." Eprim's voice boomed from nearby, and then she added hastily ".....princess". The world swam back into focus and after swinging back and forth a couple of times, stayed where it was. Eprim was leaning above her, a very worried expression on her face. Irulan tried to turn her head and winced with the pain. "You hit your head" Eprim said.
The buzzing of the pain was very loud now. And so were all voices. She wished Eprim would move back a bit. "Wh-what happened?" Irulan managed to say.
"You fell from the pole..... Gabrim hit you".
Oh yes! The mud-pole game! That accursed ox of a Gabrim! And then a lightning hit her. Her eyes widened with terror and not caring about the pain, she jerked her head towards Eprim "I saw elves!" she said and grasped Eprim's hand. She was hoping for a confused look on her friend's face, a "What are you talking about?", but Eprim looked very much aware of what she was talking about. Irulan's heart missed a beat. Eprim opened her mouth to answer but another voice spoke up.
"Yes, we are here, princess" She saw Legolas' face swimming into her view then. He was standing behind Eprim, it seemed. Eprim hastily stood up, looking relieved all of a sudden, squeezed her friend's hand and then disappeared from her view. Legolas gracefully sat on the edge of the bed and continued looking at her. Irulan felt the surreal becoming real and panic setting in. She tried to sit up, not caring about the pain in her body and her head, but Legolas placed a hand on her chest and gently forced her down. "You should not get up yet, Irulan" he said softly. She obeyed him merely because she failed to get up anyway.
Legolas was looking at her intently. He then brought his hand up and gently removed a lock of hair from Irulan's face. Irulan felt her heart making another leap and closed her eyes. "I must apologize" she heard him saying, "I believe I was the reason you lost the game today". She exhaled slowly. Maybe it was time to introduce the monster. "It was not a game" she said slowly. "I was trying to kick his a.....- kick him" she finished.
"Why?" he said after a while.
"Because" she began.... and then thought about how she could explain an elf how insult, rage, anger, madness, vengeance could spring from the most mindless conversations and take over the mind and the spirit in the blink of an eye. "Because he infuriated me for reasons that are too stupid to explain and I felt like hurting him. We do that.... we humans, I mean".
Legolas said nothing but took her hand in his. She opened her eyes then and looked at him. A part of her wanted to roughly take her hand back and another part just wanted him to hold it like that forever. "Why are you here?" she asked.
"It is a long story, really. But I wish to tell you when you feel better" said Legolas.
"I must get up" she said and tried again. This time, seeing that she would not be deterred, he helped her up. She realized that his clothes were embedded in mud then.
"Oh dear!" She gasped "your clothes!"
He looked down and chuckled. "Yes, it is a first, I must say. But the others look worse, believe me" he grinned.
The others! Irulan felt horrible. She opened her mouth but Legolas put up his hand to stop her "Please, no apologies necessary. Clothes are not worth talking about".
He leaned over then. His face looked so close and the closer it was, the more beautiful it seemed to be. She slowly tugged at her hand but he would not let go. "You are worried" he said, "but worry not, for we will not say a word".
Irulan looked up in surprise. 'Could it be possible', she thought, 'that elves are angels? That I am sitting in the same room with this magical creature? I have lived with them for 20 years now, so close to them, and yet never knew how overwhelming they are. How could I be so unaware of something so close?'
There was a tap on the door and Irulan did not know whether she should rejoice or cry. Harkey's head popped in. "Are you all right Irulan? I mean..... princess?" he said.
"Yes" said Irulan, "I am okay. And we should get back to the castle now, I think". She tugged at her hand again and this time Legolas let go of it. And once again, she could not decide whether she should be happy or sad about it. "I am so confused! Why is he always turning up and confusing me?"
She realized that she was dressed in the gown she was wearing when she left the castle for the wedding. Feeling uncomfortable as ever in those long things, she had changed as soon as she arrived. Thankfully, because otherwise she would have to go to the castle in a muddy boy's outfit. Indeed! Eprim must have washed the rest of her roughly, too. She could feel little pieces of dried mud all over her body and in her hair, but at least from a distance she did not look like the pig she probably did a short while ago. She slowly stood up.
"I should really apologize to Gabrim" she said. "Not that he didn't deserve the beating!" she added hastily, "but as the stronger and more mature one, it seems to be my duty". Legolas grinned and offered his arm and she relaxed and leaned into him while the both walked out.
The other two elves immediately stood up. They DID look horrible. The brown mud had covered all of their clothes from the waist down and it had dried, making them look even more comical. The expression on their faces was equally odd. They seemed to be terrified by their condition and very obviously embarrassed. They were holding their capes folded over their arms. At least those would cover most of the view when they got to the castle. Not that anyone would dare to ask elves questions about their appearance but they would certainly ask her if she walked in with them without their capes on.
"Princess Irulan" said the shorter one with blonde hair, "you really frightened us. Are you well now?"
"Yes, yes...... Master..."
"Bern. This is Athalos". The other elf nodded.
"Yes Master Bern. Actually I owe all of you an apology. I can only hope that you will not judge my entire race until eternity by taking me as an example".
Athalos chuckled, "Don't worry princess; we came to an agreement that this chapter of human oddity can be left out of the history books".
"Glad to hear it" said a voice. Gabrim! She tried not to, but blistered anyway. "The rest of us are not like......HER".
Irulan pressed her lips into a thin line. She could literally feel the blood pumping into her head now. "Shut up Irulan. Do not give in to the temptation. Show him that you are able to control your anger" she thought.
"Gabrim!" -'Okay now, maybe that tone of voice was a bit too harsh. After all, the elves literally flinched' she thought. "Gabrim" she tried again and it did indeed come out softer (more like an iron club hid under velvet) "Even though you hit a woman -a WOMAN- with ALL your strength -which is not much, I have to say, but enough to cause damage- and made her fall from a high pole that happened to be standing in a pool of mud -HEAD-DOWN I have to remind you- without any thought about what would become of her if she ended up crippled or distorted or, let's face it, DEAD......"
"This is just getting better and better!" Gabrim interrupted her. "A woman indeed! I saw no woman! I saw a beast with a lethal weapon threatening my very life!"
"I came here to apologize you fool!" she screamed, unable to restrain herself any longer.
"So have I!" he thundered back at her.
There was a silence. Legolas could not hold it anymore. He began to laugh. Softly at first but then it caught up and the other two elves began to chuckle as well. And then they were laughing freely, as was everyone else in the room. Only Irulan and Gabrim looked pissed and embarrassed beyond words.
"I will kill him" she thought. "For making elves - ELVES - laugh at me! Now I can never rule a kingdom. No one will ever fear me again!" (The upcoming years would prove that this was the understatement of all times) Then she just sighed and headed for the door. "All right now... I really don't think it was that funny... I am in agony here gentlemen!........... why.. I can't believe this is the elvish kindness all Middle Earth speaks of!............."
Three muddy elves and a wincing princess in a fabulous gown slowly walked up the main street towards the castle. All along the way people turned to look at the red face of the princess and at the carefree laughter of elves - both of which were quite rare sights. Will wonders never cease?