Once again, thank you for the support people. I was intending to give a
break but the reviews won't let me!!
So many mails confused as to why Legolas is being so nice! Come on people - I have one answer alone: he has admitted to himself that he is IN LOVE. Elf or not, I assume that changes people...A LOT. Besides, I did not want him to be too two-dimensional - always with the same persona and responding to the same impulses in the same ways. I hope to be able to show the characters changing and maturing during this quest, because that's what I assume happened to the fellowship in the original book as well.
Dear Kirjava - "Melloni" means "friends" in Sindarin elvish, which was the elvish widely used then. Another form of it is "mellyrn".
Irulan was looking towards the dense forest as the mist slowly gave way to the bluish light of the morning. It was parting time and they were by the banks of the River Anduin, preparing for a farewell to the elves of Lothlorien. She sighed again and swallowed hard. She hated farewells. Especially when it was to people so dear to her. True, she had been here only for a few days and under the constant shadow of a dangerous mission along with the loss of Gandalf still haunting her; and yet she had felt so.......at home. 'Irulan grow up already! This is what you have been doing for the last five years,' the voice in her head whispered. 'And yet, every time it feels like the very first time,' she thought bitterly.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Without turning around she smiled "Yes Legolas, I will be on your boat," she said, and turned to look at him. "It's not like I have much of an option anyway."
He smiled back at her. "I shall place your bags for you in the boat then," he said, but made no attempt to move away. They remained silent for a while, the company and elves around them moving by, carrying equipment to the boats.
"I will miss Lothlorien," she whispered.
"And Lothlorien will miss you, Irulan," came Haldir's soft voice from nearby. Both turned to see the captain striding elegantly towards them. Irulan beamed instantly. "Captain Haldir! I was hoping to see you one last time," she said with sincere joy.
"I would not let you leave without a farewell," he said then, stopping in front of them and giving Legolas as small bow with his head to which the other replied in the same fashion.
"I also wanted to give you something," said Irulan, and to the surprise of both elves, began digging in the pockets of her outermost tunic. "To remember me by," she said and finally took out a small stone. It was greyish blue, smooth and egg-shaped, with little white veins running through it. She gently placed it into Haldir's hand, who held it up for further inspection.
"It is from Mithlond, the Grey Havens. I took it from the shore of the River Lhûn there," Irulan said and smiled at the astonishment on the elf's face. "I'm afraid your road will lead you there eventually," she said and swallowed again to regain her composure and voice, "you'll throw it back in when you do and think of me," she finished looking down to her boots. A silence followed. Irulan thought about her day at the Grey Havens when she had watched an elven ship leave the gulf to Valinor, never to return again. Standing there as the only human at the misty shore, she had felt like she was the only person left in Middle Earth, like she WAS Middle Earth itself, bidding farewell to the elves. The sadness had tainted her heart for weeks.
Realizing that she had drifted away in her own thoughts, she suddenly looked up and found both elves staring at her with an amazed expression. She slightly cleared her throat, not knowing what else to do and they both came back to life.
"A priceless gift, Irulan," said Haldir, "I thank you. Of course I did not need this to remember you by." Irulan smiled and bowed slightly.
"Besides," the elf added with a lighter tone, "we might yet meet before that."
Irulan laughed softly. "I sure hope so, Haldir."
"Also, as an elf I could never let the kindness of humans exceed ours. I was prepared to give you a gift of departure myself, actually. But I'm afraid it is incomparable with the one you have given me," he said with a grin on his face.
Irulan's eyebrows shot up. "You have a gift for me?" She laughed, unable to do otherwise, and clasped her hands in excitement.
Haldir slowly brought out his hand and revealed a beautiful hairpin. Irulan's mouth dropped open and she slowly took it from his hand with utmost care. It was the most marvelous hairpin she had ever seen, made from a metal that glowed like dull silver and embedded with miniscule and very intricate leaf patterns. "This is........beyond words," she whispered to a very pleased Haldir. "It looks too precious, I could possibly not......"
"Please," said Haldir and gently held up his hand. "I wish you to have it. However......" he said and looked up at her. Irulan halted. "However, I was hoping that you would let me.......braid your hair....in a fashion proper for this jewel," he finished, both surprised at himself and a bit nervous.
Legolas gasped beside her. Irulan had almost forgotten that he was standing next to her. She looked up at him surprised and he seemed both disturbed and offended by the whole thing. If she did not know better, she would say that he looked also angry but certainly there was nothing here for Legolas to be angry about. She glanced back at Haldir who was waiting for an answer.
"I don't see why not," she said softly.
"You can't be serious!" bolted Legolas all of a sudden at Haldir, completely ignoring Irulan.
"Why, I am very serious," said Haldir carefully, clasping his hands behind his back.
"You will braid her HAIR?" the other elf asked with disbelief.
Haldir cast a glance at Irulan and then back at Legolas. "I don't see your braid on it," he said with a cool voice, "so I don't see why I should not."
Legolas clenched his jaws and took a step towards Haldir, but before he could say anything else, Irulan interrupted them: "Will somebody tell me what the heck is going on here?"
Both elves froze and turned to her and both looked away at the same instant. She looked from one to the other and but both refused to meet her eyes. Just at that moment another elf came by and bowed to the trio. "Lady Irulan, Prince Legolas," he said with a velvet voice, "King Celeborn and Lady Galadhriel are awaiting you. They wish to bid you farewell." He bowed again and left as silently as he arrived.
She looked back at the elves but they had not moved a hair. She rolled her eyes and grabbed Legolas' arm. "Haldir, thank you again for this gift. I shall put it on immediately," she said warmly and smiled up to him. "But I think we should not make the Lady wait."
Haldir smiled warmly back at her and bowed again. "I am glad you liked it, Irulan. Namarie," he said and walked away.
Irulan took Legolas' arm and began to walk in the direction the messenger elf had disappeared. Luckily he glided along willingly and neither spoke up again. The fellowship roughly lined up and each received a grey elvish cloak which was both very comfortable and oddly light. A beautiful brooch in the form of a leaf pinned on it just underneath their neck held the nape of the cloak. "Never before have we clad strangers in the garb of our people," said King Celeborn, "May these cloaks help shield you from unfriendly eyes." Irulan had heard about elvish cloaks that blended in with the environment around them, making the wearer almost impossible to see in the wild. She could not imagine how this grey and rough material could do that, but did not question it any further, for Lady Galadhriel was walking down the line, bidding farewell to each of them and handing out presents.
She looked over to Legolas who had left her side and moved further up on the line to her right, but he did not turn back to her and kept staring ahead. For some reason he still seemed a bit upset. Until Galadhriel handed him a bow, that is. Irulan could not help smiling on the expression on his face when he received the elegant weapon. 'Behold, a three thousand years old little boy!' she thought with amusement. Gimli stirred to her right and she looked down at the dwarf. He seemed quite restless and uneasy himself.
"What is it, Gimli?" she whispered. He just shot an eerie look at her and resumed his fidgeting. 'I am sure missing out on a lot of things today,' she thought. But as Galadhriel moved down the line she felt more and more uneasy herself. She had not spoken to the Lady of Lothlorien again after that night. She had thought about that night many times since then - although fleetingly. But as the elf came closer and closer to her, pieces of their conversation began resurfacing and she felt the desperation and shame slowly taking hold of her again. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down.
"And what would a dwarf ask of the elves?" she heard the beautiful voice a moment later beside her. She dared to look sideways and to her utter surprise Gimli made a most flattering compliment about Galadhriel's beauty, saying "Nothing..except to look upon the lady of the Galadhrim one last time. For she is fairer than all the jewels beneath the earth," followed by a mumbling and stammering that sounded like "I could not..possibly...it's ridiculous, really..." Irulan looked at the woman and Galadhriel smiled back at her. She exhaled in relief. Odd, but she feared the other woman to be angry at her and that thought made her more afraid than anything else.
After a few more moments of stammering, throughout which the Lady of the Wood waited with endless patience, Gimli finally found the heart to ask for one hair "from her golden head" as he put it. Irulan bit her lip to keep down the giggle in her throat. 'Elf-witch of terrible power indeed!' she thought, 'Again, that terrible romanticism Chemarit had!' She smiled when the Lady but gave him three and when a very dreamy looking Gimli bowed to her and slowly walked away with his treasure.
She was so caught up with that scene that she slightly flinched when she remembered that it was her turn now. Irulan was the last on the line and she was glad that Gimli had walked away. She looked up to Galadhriel and found her looking back at her, smiling warmly. "My lady," she said softly and was glad that she did not stammer saying it.
"I wish we had more time to spend together, Irulan," Galadhriel said to Irulan's surprise. "Alas, time is working against us," she finished after a short silence.
She opened her palm to reveal a little round object that looked like a metal medallion on a piece of leather thread. Irulan looked down at it and then back up at Galadhriel. "Wear it," said Galadhriel, gently lowering the necklace down to Irulan's palm. "It shall uncloud your eyes when you lose your vision." Irulan closed her fingers on it, but did not remove her hand. "Thank you my lady," she said, looking directly at the elf now. She wanted to see as much of Galadhriel as possible, for she was afraid that they might never meet again.
"I thought about what you said," Irulan said slowly, "and I think I understand what you mean. Though I still don't know what to do," she finished.
Galadhriel smiled then. "Your heart will find its way, Irulan," she said slowly, "I know it will. You must trust it." Irulan bowed as the Lady left her side.
***
So they took leave of the Lorien elves and slowly began to paddle down the River Anduin. She was sitting between Legolas and Gimli, the dwarf in the front, Legolas in the rear with the paddle. Boromir had Merry and Pippin on his boat while Aragorn was leading the group again with Frodo and Sam as his cargo. For a while they paddled along in silence, each thinking probably back to their short but precious time in the woods. 'Those woods are enchanted for sure,' thought Irulan, 'how can one feel so terrible about leaving them behind after staying only a couple of days?'
"I have taken the worst blow with this parting," Gimli said suddenly, "for I have looked the last on the fairest on this world." Irulan glanced back at Legolas, who smiled back at her.
"Ask him what her gift to him was," she said without a sound, forming the words with her lips.
"What was her gift to you?" asked Legolas softly.
"I asked for a hair from her golden head..she gave me three," he said and sighed deeply.
Irulan glanced back at Legolas and they both grinned at each other.
"Aren't elves beautiful creatures?" Irulan said with a sigh herself, glancing at the dwarf in front of her.
"Fairer than the jewels underneath the earth," he said again, not hearing the teasing in her voice.
She shook her head and looked back at Legolas, who was looking at her with a dreamy expression again. "Indeed," whispered Irulan to herself and turned back to look ahead into the blue waters. Suddenly the word "jewel" brought back the memory of the hairpin in her pocket "Legolas!" she said, and turned around again, "What was that tumult about braiding my hair?" Legolas visibly stiffened but kept looking ahead, avoiding her gaze.
After a long silence during which Irulan refused to look away, he finally sighed and said "Irulan, you do not know the elvish ways. I felt that I should.....protect you."
"Irulan's eyebrows shot up at that. "Protect me?" she said, a little stupefied.
Legolas looked at her then and he seemed at a loss of words of what to say. "Irulan.." he began again after a moment, "it would not be...proper.....for him to braid your hair."
Both Irulan and Gimli were staring at the elf with pure curiosity now. "What are you talking about?" said Irulan finally very slowly.
"Braiding someone's hair is a very...intimate act for the elves," Legolas finally managed and looked away again.
Irulan turned to look at Gimli who was staring back at her with raised eyebrows. She turned back to Legolas and asked "How intimate?"
"If you must know," he shot back, a little angry now, "it is as intimate as kissing."
There was a long silence when the only thing they could hear was the gurgling of water and the soft swishing of the paddle as it was dipping into it.
"And why exactly would you want to protect me from that?" asked Irulan with a low and amused voice.
Legolas' head shot up at that. He had a shocked expression on his face and Irulan could not hold it any longer. She began to laugh. Legolas quickly looked away and resumed his paddling.
"So NOW I see....someone tried to braid Irulan's hair, huh?" the dwarf asked with his abrasive voice.
"Yes," hissed Legolas with a very unpleasant expression. "Haldir," he added a moment later.
"Haldir?" protested Gimli and the rest of the company in the other boats turned around for a moment to take a look at what was going on there.
"Well...if I knew that, I would have asked him earlier for sure," said Irulan, still laughing softly and wiping tears from her eyes.
"You can not let a stranger like that braid your hair, woman!" Gimli said all of a sudden and both Legolas' and Irulan's head snapped around to him. He looked quite serious though. "Legolas!" he continued, "I thought better of you! How could you let him even propose such a thing?"
This time Irulan was the surprised one. She took another look at the dwarf but to her confusion, he looked very serious. She turned around and Legolas looked stunned as well. Only his expression was quickly changing into satisfaction.
"Don't be ridiculous!" said Irulan a little uneasy.
"Ridiculous?!" he replied, again a trifle too loud. "Gather your wits, girl! The lad here did the right thing. Why, I would have given that Haldir a much rougher lesson if I knew!"
She looked from one man to the other but the process soon became too painful because one was sitting behind her and the other in front of her.
"It was not really his fault, Gimli" said Legolas suddenly, "Maybe my mind would be clouded too if I had received a gift like that from a beautiful woman," he said with a low growl.
"A gift?"
"A very kind and valuable one, at that," said Legolas, now completely caught up in the process of complaining. "It was my belief that we are sharing a much stronger bond as the fellowship, but I don't remember ever receiving a gift. Do you?"
"Neither do I, my friend, neither do I. After going all the things we went through together....one would guess different indeed."
"Very much so. But alas, our princess decides to give one to Haldir. And then agrees for HIM to braid her hair!"
"And she blames YOU for stopping her!"
"Yes, Master Gimli. Exactly."
"Will you two cut the crap?!" Irulan screamed in horror. "It is none of your business to whom I give gifts....much less who braids my hair!"
Gimli turned around to look at her with serious accusation in his face and was about to say something when Aragorn's voice boomed up "What is going on here?" Irulan realized that his boat had moved back and was gliding on their right, keeping their pace. Frodo and Sam had a very confused expression on their faces, looking with unease from one to the other.
"Haldir tried to braid Irulan's hair, here," said Gimli with a voice that said it was all one needed to say about the issue.
"Is that so?" said Aragorn with obvious amusement. Irulan rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead. 'This is too absurd. I am probably still dreaming one of those horrible nightmares in Caras Galadhon,' she thought.
"Is that bad?" said Frodo softly.
"You bet it is, young hobbit!" yelled Gimli, "It means he tried to trick her into a kiss!" Both hobbits gasped in unison and glanced at her.
'I'll be damned!' thought Irulan and resisted the urge to stick out her tongue to them. "It does not!" she protested in despair. "It has nothing to do with kissing. It is just......braiding, nothing more!"
"It is a quite intimate thing to do," said Aragorn, very obviously enjoying the whole show.
"So?" shot back Irulan, feeling herself getting very much annoyed about the publicity now.
"You would let him do that...Lady Irulan?" Sam asked with disbelief.
"I very much would! If our hero here..." she pointed to Legolas with her head, not looking back, "..had not interrupted so rudely."
"I had no idea you meant to kiss Haldir," he said coldly from behind her.
Another gasp from the hobbits. "I did not mean to kiss him, you fool!" she yelped, now her irritation turning into frustration.
"Who is kissing whom?" said Merry from the boat that had moved very close to their left. All three men in that one as well were locked on her. Irulan closed her eyes and tried to calm down.
"Haldir tried to kiss Irulan," said Gimli and all three gasped in unison. "But don't worry, Legolas stopped him."
"Well I can't believe the nerve of that man!" said Boromir very disturbed now. "I mean....Irulan is one of us!"
"Under our very nose, huh? Lucky you were around Legolas," chirped Pippin.
"Lucky for Haldir too!" boomed Gimli, "My interference would not be that kind!"
"Would you like to send emissaries to the Dark Lord himself as well, Gimli?" hissed Irulan, glaring at him dangerously, "for I think if ALL Middle Earth is going to know about it, HE should be informed as well!" Aragorn laughed out at that, but the rest were too caught up chatting to realize. "Enough already!" she screamed and everyone stopped talking. "One more world about this -ONE WORD- and I promise to remind you what a Darma Druid is, for you all have obviously FORGOTTEN!" she yelled and she was very, very serious - damn the ethics and all!
A long silence prevailed during which Irulan closed her eyes and waited for any kind of utterance that even slightly resembled a word. What a perfect excuse that would be! Then she heard a soft whisper and she instantly looked up, ready to ask what the heck that was about, when she saw everyone whispering to each other and softly giggling. 'What the heck?......' she thought and felt her anger giving away to frustration and spite when she slowly realized that she had walked right into their trap. 'Sooooo...the mighty Irulan can be beaten after all...' whispered the sly voice in her head. 'Well who would have thought a company like this would act like.....like...a bunch of children!' she protested silently. 'They are supposed to save the world, not play tricks on me!' she added bitterly.
"Well then," said Aragorn, still with a wide grin, "let us form a single line again. The river is narrowing down ahead." And with that, casting another bemused glance at her, he paddled ahead. Boromir's boat too moved further ahead with Merry and Pippin turning around several times and grinning at her. She hastily took out the hairpin and pinned her hair back so that Legolas can see it on her. He made no other remark or sound, but Irulan could literally FEEL the satisfaction and amusement emanating from him.
So many mails confused as to why Legolas is being so nice! Come on people - I have one answer alone: he has admitted to himself that he is IN LOVE. Elf or not, I assume that changes people...A LOT. Besides, I did not want him to be too two-dimensional - always with the same persona and responding to the same impulses in the same ways. I hope to be able to show the characters changing and maturing during this quest, because that's what I assume happened to the fellowship in the original book as well.
Dear Kirjava - "Melloni" means "friends" in Sindarin elvish, which was the elvish widely used then. Another form of it is "mellyrn".
Irulan was looking towards the dense forest as the mist slowly gave way to the bluish light of the morning. It was parting time and they were by the banks of the River Anduin, preparing for a farewell to the elves of Lothlorien. She sighed again and swallowed hard. She hated farewells. Especially when it was to people so dear to her. True, she had been here only for a few days and under the constant shadow of a dangerous mission along with the loss of Gandalf still haunting her; and yet she had felt so.......at home. 'Irulan grow up already! This is what you have been doing for the last five years,' the voice in her head whispered. 'And yet, every time it feels like the very first time,' she thought bitterly.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Without turning around she smiled "Yes Legolas, I will be on your boat," she said, and turned to look at him. "It's not like I have much of an option anyway."
He smiled back at her. "I shall place your bags for you in the boat then," he said, but made no attempt to move away. They remained silent for a while, the company and elves around them moving by, carrying equipment to the boats.
"I will miss Lothlorien," she whispered.
"And Lothlorien will miss you, Irulan," came Haldir's soft voice from nearby. Both turned to see the captain striding elegantly towards them. Irulan beamed instantly. "Captain Haldir! I was hoping to see you one last time," she said with sincere joy.
"I would not let you leave without a farewell," he said then, stopping in front of them and giving Legolas as small bow with his head to which the other replied in the same fashion.
"I also wanted to give you something," said Irulan, and to the surprise of both elves, began digging in the pockets of her outermost tunic. "To remember me by," she said and finally took out a small stone. It was greyish blue, smooth and egg-shaped, with little white veins running through it. She gently placed it into Haldir's hand, who held it up for further inspection.
"It is from Mithlond, the Grey Havens. I took it from the shore of the River Lhûn there," Irulan said and smiled at the astonishment on the elf's face. "I'm afraid your road will lead you there eventually," she said and swallowed again to regain her composure and voice, "you'll throw it back in when you do and think of me," she finished looking down to her boots. A silence followed. Irulan thought about her day at the Grey Havens when she had watched an elven ship leave the gulf to Valinor, never to return again. Standing there as the only human at the misty shore, she had felt like she was the only person left in Middle Earth, like she WAS Middle Earth itself, bidding farewell to the elves. The sadness had tainted her heart for weeks.
Realizing that she had drifted away in her own thoughts, she suddenly looked up and found both elves staring at her with an amazed expression. She slightly cleared her throat, not knowing what else to do and they both came back to life.
"A priceless gift, Irulan," said Haldir, "I thank you. Of course I did not need this to remember you by." Irulan smiled and bowed slightly.
"Besides," the elf added with a lighter tone, "we might yet meet before that."
Irulan laughed softly. "I sure hope so, Haldir."
"Also, as an elf I could never let the kindness of humans exceed ours. I was prepared to give you a gift of departure myself, actually. But I'm afraid it is incomparable with the one you have given me," he said with a grin on his face.
Irulan's eyebrows shot up. "You have a gift for me?" She laughed, unable to do otherwise, and clasped her hands in excitement.
Haldir slowly brought out his hand and revealed a beautiful hairpin. Irulan's mouth dropped open and she slowly took it from his hand with utmost care. It was the most marvelous hairpin she had ever seen, made from a metal that glowed like dull silver and embedded with miniscule and very intricate leaf patterns. "This is........beyond words," she whispered to a very pleased Haldir. "It looks too precious, I could possibly not......"
"Please," said Haldir and gently held up his hand. "I wish you to have it. However......" he said and looked up at her. Irulan halted. "However, I was hoping that you would let me.......braid your hair....in a fashion proper for this jewel," he finished, both surprised at himself and a bit nervous.
Legolas gasped beside her. Irulan had almost forgotten that he was standing next to her. She looked up at him surprised and he seemed both disturbed and offended by the whole thing. If she did not know better, she would say that he looked also angry but certainly there was nothing here for Legolas to be angry about. She glanced back at Haldir who was waiting for an answer.
"I don't see why not," she said softly.
"You can't be serious!" bolted Legolas all of a sudden at Haldir, completely ignoring Irulan.
"Why, I am very serious," said Haldir carefully, clasping his hands behind his back.
"You will braid her HAIR?" the other elf asked with disbelief.
Haldir cast a glance at Irulan and then back at Legolas. "I don't see your braid on it," he said with a cool voice, "so I don't see why I should not."
Legolas clenched his jaws and took a step towards Haldir, but before he could say anything else, Irulan interrupted them: "Will somebody tell me what the heck is going on here?"
Both elves froze and turned to her and both looked away at the same instant. She looked from one to the other and but both refused to meet her eyes. Just at that moment another elf came by and bowed to the trio. "Lady Irulan, Prince Legolas," he said with a velvet voice, "King Celeborn and Lady Galadhriel are awaiting you. They wish to bid you farewell." He bowed again and left as silently as he arrived.
She looked back at the elves but they had not moved a hair. She rolled her eyes and grabbed Legolas' arm. "Haldir, thank you again for this gift. I shall put it on immediately," she said warmly and smiled up to him. "But I think we should not make the Lady wait."
Haldir smiled warmly back at her and bowed again. "I am glad you liked it, Irulan. Namarie," he said and walked away.
Irulan took Legolas' arm and began to walk in the direction the messenger elf had disappeared. Luckily he glided along willingly and neither spoke up again. The fellowship roughly lined up and each received a grey elvish cloak which was both very comfortable and oddly light. A beautiful brooch in the form of a leaf pinned on it just underneath their neck held the nape of the cloak. "Never before have we clad strangers in the garb of our people," said King Celeborn, "May these cloaks help shield you from unfriendly eyes." Irulan had heard about elvish cloaks that blended in with the environment around them, making the wearer almost impossible to see in the wild. She could not imagine how this grey and rough material could do that, but did not question it any further, for Lady Galadhriel was walking down the line, bidding farewell to each of them and handing out presents.
She looked over to Legolas who had left her side and moved further up on the line to her right, but he did not turn back to her and kept staring ahead. For some reason he still seemed a bit upset. Until Galadhriel handed him a bow, that is. Irulan could not help smiling on the expression on his face when he received the elegant weapon. 'Behold, a three thousand years old little boy!' she thought with amusement. Gimli stirred to her right and she looked down at the dwarf. He seemed quite restless and uneasy himself.
"What is it, Gimli?" she whispered. He just shot an eerie look at her and resumed his fidgeting. 'I am sure missing out on a lot of things today,' she thought. But as Galadhriel moved down the line she felt more and more uneasy herself. She had not spoken to the Lady of Lothlorien again after that night. She had thought about that night many times since then - although fleetingly. But as the elf came closer and closer to her, pieces of their conversation began resurfacing and she felt the desperation and shame slowly taking hold of her again. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down.
"And what would a dwarf ask of the elves?" she heard the beautiful voice a moment later beside her. She dared to look sideways and to her utter surprise Gimli made a most flattering compliment about Galadhriel's beauty, saying "Nothing..except to look upon the lady of the Galadhrim one last time. For she is fairer than all the jewels beneath the earth," followed by a mumbling and stammering that sounded like "I could not..possibly...it's ridiculous, really..." Irulan looked at the woman and Galadhriel smiled back at her. She exhaled in relief. Odd, but she feared the other woman to be angry at her and that thought made her more afraid than anything else.
After a few more moments of stammering, throughout which the Lady of the Wood waited with endless patience, Gimli finally found the heart to ask for one hair "from her golden head" as he put it. Irulan bit her lip to keep down the giggle in her throat. 'Elf-witch of terrible power indeed!' she thought, 'Again, that terrible romanticism Chemarit had!' She smiled when the Lady but gave him three and when a very dreamy looking Gimli bowed to her and slowly walked away with his treasure.
She was so caught up with that scene that she slightly flinched when she remembered that it was her turn now. Irulan was the last on the line and she was glad that Gimli had walked away. She looked up to Galadhriel and found her looking back at her, smiling warmly. "My lady," she said softly and was glad that she did not stammer saying it.
"I wish we had more time to spend together, Irulan," Galadhriel said to Irulan's surprise. "Alas, time is working against us," she finished after a short silence.
She opened her palm to reveal a little round object that looked like a metal medallion on a piece of leather thread. Irulan looked down at it and then back up at Galadhriel. "Wear it," said Galadhriel, gently lowering the necklace down to Irulan's palm. "It shall uncloud your eyes when you lose your vision." Irulan closed her fingers on it, but did not remove her hand. "Thank you my lady," she said, looking directly at the elf now. She wanted to see as much of Galadhriel as possible, for she was afraid that they might never meet again.
"I thought about what you said," Irulan said slowly, "and I think I understand what you mean. Though I still don't know what to do," she finished.
Galadhriel smiled then. "Your heart will find its way, Irulan," she said slowly, "I know it will. You must trust it." Irulan bowed as the Lady left her side.
***
So they took leave of the Lorien elves and slowly began to paddle down the River Anduin. She was sitting between Legolas and Gimli, the dwarf in the front, Legolas in the rear with the paddle. Boromir had Merry and Pippin on his boat while Aragorn was leading the group again with Frodo and Sam as his cargo. For a while they paddled along in silence, each thinking probably back to their short but precious time in the woods. 'Those woods are enchanted for sure,' thought Irulan, 'how can one feel so terrible about leaving them behind after staying only a couple of days?'
"I have taken the worst blow with this parting," Gimli said suddenly, "for I have looked the last on the fairest on this world." Irulan glanced back at Legolas, who smiled back at her.
"Ask him what her gift to him was," she said without a sound, forming the words with her lips.
"What was her gift to you?" asked Legolas softly.
"I asked for a hair from her golden head..she gave me three," he said and sighed deeply.
Irulan glanced back at Legolas and they both grinned at each other.
"Aren't elves beautiful creatures?" Irulan said with a sigh herself, glancing at the dwarf in front of her.
"Fairer than the jewels underneath the earth," he said again, not hearing the teasing in her voice.
She shook her head and looked back at Legolas, who was looking at her with a dreamy expression again. "Indeed," whispered Irulan to herself and turned back to look ahead into the blue waters. Suddenly the word "jewel" brought back the memory of the hairpin in her pocket "Legolas!" she said, and turned around again, "What was that tumult about braiding my hair?" Legolas visibly stiffened but kept looking ahead, avoiding her gaze.
After a long silence during which Irulan refused to look away, he finally sighed and said "Irulan, you do not know the elvish ways. I felt that I should.....protect you."
"Irulan's eyebrows shot up at that. "Protect me?" she said, a little stupefied.
Legolas looked at her then and he seemed at a loss of words of what to say. "Irulan.." he began again after a moment, "it would not be...proper.....for him to braid your hair."
Both Irulan and Gimli were staring at the elf with pure curiosity now. "What are you talking about?" said Irulan finally very slowly.
"Braiding someone's hair is a very...intimate act for the elves," Legolas finally managed and looked away again.
Irulan turned to look at Gimli who was staring back at her with raised eyebrows. She turned back to Legolas and asked "How intimate?"
"If you must know," he shot back, a little angry now, "it is as intimate as kissing."
There was a long silence when the only thing they could hear was the gurgling of water and the soft swishing of the paddle as it was dipping into it.
"And why exactly would you want to protect me from that?" asked Irulan with a low and amused voice.
Legolas' head shot up at that. He had a shocked expression on his face and Irulan could not hold it any longer. She began to laugh. Legolas quickly looked away and resumed his paddling.
"So NOW I see....someone tried to braid Irulan's hair, huh?" the dwarf asked with his abrasive voice.
"Yes," hissed Legolas with a very unpleasant expression. "Haldir," he added a moment later.
"Haldir?" protested Gimli and the rest of the company in the other boats turned around for a moment to take a look at what was going on there.
"Well...if I knew that, I would have asked him earlier for sure," said Irulan, still laughing softly and wiping tears from her eyes.
"You can not let a stranger like that braid your hair, woman!" Gimli said all of a sudden and both Legolas' and Irulan's head snapped around to him. He looked quite serious though. "Legolas!" he continued, "I thought better of you! How could you let him even propose such a thing?"
This time Irulan was the surprised one. She took another look at the dwarf but to her confusion, he looked very serious. She turned around and Legolas looked stunned as well. Only his expression was quickly changing into satisfaction.
"Don't be ridiculous!" said Irulan a little uneasy.
"Ridiculous?!" he replied, again a trifle too loud. "Gather your wits, girl! The lad here did the right thing. Why, I would have given that Haldir a much rougher lesson if I knew!"
She looked from one man to the other but the process soon became too painful because one was sitting behind her and the other in front of her.
"It was not really his fault, Gimli" said Legolas suddenly, "Maybe my mind would be clouded too if I had received a gift like that from a beautiful woman," he said with a low growl.
"A gift?"
"A very kind and valuable one, at that," said Legolas, now completely caught up in the process of complaining. "It was my belief that we are sharing a much stronger bond as the fellowship, but I don't remember ever receiving a gift. Do you?"
"Neither do I, my friend, neither do I. After going all the things we went through together....one would guess different indeed."
"Very much so. But alas, our princess decides to give one to Haldir. And then agrees for HIM to braid her hair!"
"And she blames YOU for stopping her!"
"Yes, Master Gimli. Exactly."
"Will you two cut the crap?!" Irulan screamed in horror. "It is none of your business to whom I give gifts....much less who braids my hair!"
Gimli turned around to look at her with serious accusation in his face and was about to say something when Aragorn's voice boomed up "What is going on here?" Irulan realized that his boat had moved back and was gliding on their right, keeping their pace. Frodo and Sam had a very confused expression on their faces, looking with unease from one to the other.
"Haldir tried to braid Irulan's hair, here," said Gimli with a voice that said it was all one needed to say about the issue.
"Is that so?" said Aragorn with obvious amusement. Irulan rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead. 'This is too absurd. I am probably still dreaming one of those horrible nightmares in Caras Galadhon,' she thought.
"Is that bad?" said Frodo softly.
"You bet it is, young hobbit!" yelled Gimli, "It means he tried to trick her into a kiss!" Both hobbits gasped in unison and glanced at her.
'I'll be damned!' thought Irulan and resisted the urge to stick out her tongue to them. "It does not!" she protested in despair. "It has nothing to do with kissing. It is just......braiding, nothing more!"
"It is a quite intimate thing to do," said Aragorn, very obviously enjoying the whole show.
"So?" shot back Irulan, feeling herself getting very much annoyed about the publicity now.
"You would let him do that...Lady Irulan?" Sam asked with disbelief.
"I very much would! If our hero here..." she pointed to Legolas with her head, not looking back, "..had not interrupted so rudely."
"I had no idea you meant to kiss Haldir," he said coldly from behind her.
Another gasp from the hobbits. "I did not mean to kiss him, you fool!" she yelped, now her irritation turning into frustration.
"Who is kissing whom?" said Merry from the boat that had moved very close to their left. All three men in that one as well were locked on her. Irulan closed her eyes and tried to calm down.
"Haldir tried to kiss Irulan," said Gimli and all three gasped in unison. "But don't worry, Legolas stopped him."
"Well I can't believe the nerve of that man!" said Boromir very disturbed now. "I mean....Irulan is one of us!"
"Under our very nose, huh? Lucky you were around Legolas," chirped Pippin.
"Lucky for Haldir too!" boomed Gimli, "My interference would not be that kind!"
"Would you like to send emissaries to the Dark Lord himself as well, Gimli?" hissed Irulan, glaring at him dangerously, "for I think if ALL Middle Earth is going to know about it, HE should be informed as well!" Aragorn laughed out at that, but the rest were too caught up chatting to realize. "Enough already!" she screamed and everyone stopped talking. "One more world about this -ONE WORD- and I promise to remind you what a Darma Druid is, for you all have obviously FORGOTTEN!" she yelled and she was very, very serious - damn the ethics and all!
A long silence prevailed during which Irulan closed her eyes and waited for any kind of utterance that even slightly resembled a word. What a perfect excuse that would be! Then she heard a soft whisper and she instantly looked up, ready to ask what the heck that was about, when she saw everyone whispering to each other and softly giggling. 'What the heck?......' she thought and felt her anger giving away to frustration and spite when she slowly realized that she had walked right into their trap. 'Sooooo...the mighty Irulan can be beaten after all...' whispered the sly voice in her head. 'Well who would have thought a company like this would act like.....like...a bunch of children!' she protested silently. 'They are supposed to save the world, not play tricks on me!' she added bitterly.
"Well then," said Aragorn, still with a wide grin, "let us form a single line again. The river is narrowing down ahead." And with that, casting another bemused glance at her, he paddled ahead. Boromir's boat too moved further ahead with Merry and Pippin turning around several times and grinning at her. She hastily took out the hairpin and pinned her hair back so that Legolas can see it on her. He made no other remark or sound, but Irulan could literally FEEL the satisfaction and amusement emanating from him.