The support I am receiving for this story is incredible. I had NEVER
imagined that it would become like this. Amazing how people like Irulan and
became so used to her, they demand that she won't die. Sigh..she will die,
my friends. I mean, sooner or later. She is mortal, right? Actually when I
started this story, I had a very definite death for her. But as time
passed, new ideas about that matter became to dawn on me. Let's see which
one to apply.
So we are finally in Edoras. Like I have said before, TTT is a little poor in inter-personal relations. Which gives me perfect opportunity to establish the relation between our famous duo. So don't complain about the lack of action these upcoming chapters. As a matter of fact, the heat is boiling up here and I am having a difficult time in inserting the passion into the relationship without messing it up. Besides, once they have a wonderful relationship, Irulan's death will hurt even more! Ha ha..anyway...did I give anything away? I hope not.
It takes the company actually 4 days to get to Helm's Deep (Gandalf arrives on the dawn of the fifth day, does he not?) I may not stick to the timeline too much, I will just go with the story. As a matter of fact, I may not stick with a lot of details. Irulan's introduction to the story should have changed a lot of things in the line of destiny..so...it is only understandable! In the part below I have skipped the whole healing of Theoden thing..I mean not skipped it, but not dwelled on it too much. I don't want to stagnate the story by repeating what everyone already saw in the movie or read already in the book.
I was hoping to say a few personal things but I decided to post this part first and do that in the upcoming chapter. Forgive me my lovely readers - but never forget that you are always on my mind!
I don't know how you guys will like my Eowyn. Just imagine her a lot like Irulan. So much alike in some ways, they are a threat to each other.
"You will stay behind, Irulan," said Aragorn as they dismounted to enter to meet King Theoden.
"What?" she snapped, unable to keep from doing so.
"You are wounded, remain here," he said with concern.
"And forget about Shifting!" mumbled Gimli from below.
"I have no intention of Shifting!" she hissed back. "But if you think that I will sit here and wait, think again!"
"She may accompany us," said Gandalf with a low voice, "but Irulan, remain aside. And I mean it!"
She nodded in agreement. 'I am not stupid, I know I'm no use in this state,' she thought ruefully and pushing her chin up, looked at Aragorn with defiance. He, of course, relented to Gandalf's wish and stepped back. 'Suits you right!' she thought with sick amusement. 'I've had it with them keeping pushing me around like that. Thank the Heavens for Gandalf!' Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli exchanged glances again and then remained silent. She unconsciously moved closer to Gandalf, in case they might snatch her away or something. 'Enough of that 'we will protect you' nonsense! I'm going in,' she thought with dark satisfaction.
And in they went. The guards removed all their weapons on orders of Grima Wormtongue -'I can't believe that creature is still alive and here!' she thought with astonishment- but foolishly decided that Gandalf's staff is not a threat. They should have asked Irulan in that matter. 'That staff is a danger to all life in Middle Earth,' she thought and swallowed softly, remembering the pain it could cause in the hand of a very cruel Gandalf. Gandalf, Legolas and Aragorn entered first and began their walk toward the throne at the end of the room. She followed along with Gimli by her side and then fell even further behind, as the pain in her abdomen grew stronger the longer she remained upright. Finally she ended up leaning on one of the columns that lined the hall, resisting the temptation of gliding down and sitting on the floor.
That's when Grima approached Gandalf. 'He has not changed a bit!' thought Irulan with distaste. 'Well.......maybe grown even uglier'. Grima of course cast a swift glance at her, but failed to recognize her in such a short moment. He was too busy with keeping his end of a verbal duel with Gandalf anyway. Gandalf dismissed him soon enough and continued his approach to Theoden and Irulan could not help to gasp at the king's appearance. Why, Theoden had always been a regal and good looking king. He looked absolutely NOTHING like Irulan remembered he did. He looked almost inhuman. Irulan shuddered suddenly and the world began to swim around her. 'Oh no,' she thought bitterly, 'don't you faint, woman! Not now! Especially in this company!' She gritted her teeth and clutching her abdomen, stood upright by pure stubbornness.
She literally felt something tearing up inside her. 'I think I need another session with Gandalf,' she thought, 'and I mean, fast.' Moments passed during which she simply closed her eyes and tried to resume her integrity again. The riding had not been too kind on her body, either, of course and no matter what, her strength was leaking out of her after the many restless days of pursuit. Next time she looked up, her friends were kicking and punching the guards that Grima had set out on them while Gandalf continued his approach to the creature on the throne. Gimli had Grima nailed down on the floor and their eyes locked for a moment. She could see by his features that he had recognized her finally and he was so surprised by that, he actually remained glued like that for several moments. Meanwhile Aragorn and Legolas were doing a fabulous job, and Gandalf had finally free access to Theoden.
Right at that moment Eowyn came dashing out from somewhere and made to move to the king, but was grabbed by the arm and held back by Aragorn. Against all her pain, Irulan had to smile. Eowyn! The one and only! Always beautiful, always fair. Unlike Irulan, Eowyn really looked royal in every situation and every outfit. She was as naughty and rebellious inside, but it took much longer to see through her disguise. Irulan had always tried to mimic her, but Eowyn was definitely the better actress. And she was the best girl one could have as a friend. She had all the virtues of Eomer, but none of his annoying maturity and common sense. She was loyal, helpful, supportive, brave, true to her word.......the perfect princess in many ways. Irulan many times had wished to contact her.......but of course reaching Eowyn without alarming Eomer, Theoden, Theodred or Grima was not possible. Being the better princess, Eowyn had also unwillingly relented to their wishes to protect her as men should protect women. She had lived a much more secluded life compared to Irulan, whose parents had decided to turn a blind eye to her improper hobbies a long time ago - as long as she did do it in the open, it was alright. But then, Irulan did not have a brother like Eomer, a cousin like Theodred and an admirer like Grima around her. She sighed unconsciously. Indeed, with so many men around her and being the single girl, Eowyn had led a much more secluded life.
And with that thought, Irulan realized that she had almost missed the entire scene between Gandalf and Theoden! 'Irulan! Damn!' she thought and the world swam again. 'Alright....take it easy,' she thought to herself. 'You faint and I swear I'll kick your ass! Everybody is looking forward for something like that in the first place! Aragorn will never let you even walk without holding someone's hand if you do!' But no matter how hard she tried, everything seemed to become blurrier and darker by the moment. She leaned her entire back to the column then and tried to take deep breaths.......in hope that it will stop the darkening. And it did help......a little.
Irulan had no idea how many minutes she remained like that or what was going on outside her. The next thing she heard was Eowyn by her side: "You seem to be hurt........my.......lady," she said, finally deciding that it would be the proper title - even though the woman before her was dressed fairly odd for a lady.
Irulan felt the world swimming drastically when she raised her head, but she could not help smiling nevertheless. "My lady?! Seriously Eowyn, I am anything but that,' she said and even grinned during the process.
Eowyn kept looking at her for a long time and Irulan actually would have laughed if she did not feel so terrible at the moment. "Irulan?" whispered the blonde woman finally, serious doubt in her voice.
"That's 'my lady' to you," she replied.
"Irulan!" Eowyn said with a trembling voice and clutched her shoulder.
"Ouch! Eowyn, keep your paws off of me," she said, laughing, and once again fighting the settling darkness.
Eowyn actually stepped back and brought both her hands up to her mouth, her eyes widened with disbelief and the distinctive light of hope. "Eowyn, don't you dare attack me, because I swear I'll collapse on you," she said and tried to keep her eyes open.
Eowyn, of course, attacked. She dashed ahead and embraced Irulan so hard, it literally knocked the breath out of her and the thing she feared most happened - they both tumbled to the ground, rolling around in the most inappropriate manner. Thankfully everybody had followed the king outside, watching him kicking Grima out of his kingdom. Eowyn was laughing, trying wildly to control herself and even Irulan was giggling, although she had a bad feeling where this was going to. She tried to sit up but failed of course and tilted back until she collapsed again. Another attempt proved that she had absolutely no chance of getting up from the floor by herself.
"Irulan! You evil witch! I knew you would not jump off a cliff without dragging at least Endor with you!" she said with a voice that was very close to a shriek. Her eyes were exactly as Irulan remembered them to be - full with life and excitement. The love for Eowyn bloomed in her. All those years there had been moments she had missed talking to Eowyn while walking in waist-high fields of corn, like missing life itself. She had missed their silly sword-practices in the woods (Eowyn had always been a 'sword- person'), ending mostly with one of the girls kicking the other until she relented (and then maybe some more). She had missed their flights from Eomer, who seemed to have nothing better to do than chasing the girls, and playing some very nasty tricks on him. If nothing else, this quest had re- united her with some of the people she had loved above anything else in her life. It was indeed worth dying for.
"Eowyn, I swear I'll be kicking you once I find the strength to get up," she said, laughing. "And once I can see you again," she added a moment later. Her vision was really darkening now.
At that moment Legolas and Aragorn appeared beside her. "Irulan, we leave you alone for a minute and you roll on floors!" said Aragorn and a very concerned Legolas once more swiftly picked her up. "Irulan, stay with me," he whispered and just the way he said that made Eowyn look up in surprise. She herself was helped up to her feet by Aragorn and only then realized the dashing man in front of her. Well......terrible looking, but dashing nevertheless. Eowyn did not know where to look - at the elf who was clutching at Irulan dearly, or at Aragorn's handsome features. She looked from one to the other and back, until finally Aragorn released her hands (she had not even been aware that he had been still holding them) and spoke up again: "My lady, would you please be kind enough to show a room for Irulan? I'll get Gandalf immediately."
By this time Irulan could only struggle to keep conscious. But she nevertheless saw Eowyn's look at Aragorn and she immediately thought 'I hope I won't forget that part when I wake up.' "Aragorn, she grabbed me and pushed me. I was fine, really. Minding my business and staying out of trouble," she managed to say and Aragorn just gave her one of those looks and walked away. A dazzled Eowyn looked after him, then back at her, then at Legolas, then back at her again.
"My lady?" said Legolas with a tinge of impatience and broke her trance.
"Oh, of course, follow me!" she said and began to run ahead, with Legolas not running, but somehow still keeping perfect pace right behind her.
"Irulan, does it hurt?" said Legolas with an anxious voice.
"You bet it does," she said, clutching her stomach again. "If I die, you must revenge me by kicking Eowyn senseless, Legolas," she said.
He smiled despite himself. "Gandalf will be with us in a moment, my love," he said.
'My love?!!' thought Irulan and she felt like jumping off his lap. Good thing she lacked the energy. Legolas saw her expression though and grinned down at her.
"Very funny indeed!" she shot up and that was the last coherent thing she remembered.
***
"Do not worry my friend, by tomorrow she will be as fine as she ever was."
Legolas swallowed softly and barely fought down the urge to sigh with obvious relief.
"It is earlier than I would expect, really. But," the Wizard said and looked up at Legolas with a twinkle in his eye, "I see a different light in her that was not there before."
"I was healing her," Legolas said and looked down at a sleeping Irulan again, "Her heart was ill, Gandalf."
"Indeed? Well....I must say you have been doing a very good job. Probably better than you think," he said and smiled at Legolas' slight confusion.
A moment of silence settled in. "Irulan has a very precious heart. I would have been disappointed if it had gone out to another," he said slowly.
Just when Legolas was about to ask him what he meant, the door opened and Aragorn and Gimli came in, deep concern written over their faces, and walked up to the bed. "How is she, Gandalf?" said Gimli with a low rumble.
Gandalf smiled with amusement. "She is fine, Gimli. You four seem to have become.......very close," he said with a deft smile and glanced at Legolas. Legolas did not see though; he was looking down at Irulan. Aragorn and Gimli exchanged glances and then glanced away. Aragorn began scratching his chin and shrugged looking off into the distance. "Well......we spent a lot of time together," he said matter-of-factly.
Gandalf chuckled lightly and stood up to leave. "Irulan has a habit of growing on people, very much like vine grows on stone buildings. You feel constricted and itchy at first, but before you know it, you are so used to her, you feel naked and incomplete without her." He looked at the uneasy men again and suppressed another chuckle. "Let us go now.........I wish to accompany Theoden to the grave of his son."
"I wish to remain if you don't need me," said Legolas and they nodded, leaving him alone with Irulan.
***
Irulan opened her eyes and frowned slightly. The first thought that came to her mind was 'I actually passed out!' and she felt like rolling her eyes. Only that was not a good idea at the moment, of course. She was obviously lying on a bed - there was no way she could confuse that pleasant sense of comfort with the hard floor of open nature she had been sleeping on for weeks now. She tried to lift her head. "Lie still, Irulan," whispered Legolas from beside her. She turned to her left and found him lying next to her, above the covers that were drawn up to her waist, propped up on an elbow and looking down at her. He smiled and added, "How are you feeling?"
Irulan closed her eyes and swallowed to overcome the dryness in her throat. "How long?" she managed finally.
"Just a few hours," whispered Legolas. "You must continue resting."
The world began to come back to her, softly and slowly this time. It was warm and pleasantly dark. She was in a small room with a high ceiling, the drapes were drawn but it was obviously nighttime. A door to her right was the only entrance to the room. A few candles were softly burning in the corner of the room and a vague but comforting herbal smell was in the air. Then she realized that she was not in her usual garment any longer. She looked down and saw that she was wearing a pretty white gown in Rohan fashion. The thought of Eowyn came back to her then. She also realized a warmth on her belly and realized that Legolas' hand was lying on it, giving off that comforting warmth again. The pain was almost completely gone; she could only feel the down weighing tiredness now.
"Gandalf was here. He healed you," Legolas said, guessing her line of thought.
"Are you never tired, Legolas?" she whispered, looking away with irritation.
Instead of answering he leaned over and gently kissed her on her jaw line. Irulan immediately tensed, but also instantly remembered their new 'deal' so to say, and forced herself to remain still instead of moving away. Legolas smiled inwardly at her fight. It was a tremendous battle, no doubt, but he gave credit Irulan for trying so hard. He moved to her neck and kissed her again and she tensed even further, but apart from that, remained completely still. He glided down a little and placed another kiss on the artery of her neck, feeling the pulse underneath his lips. A part of him wanted to go on forever and ever, but he would never push Irulan into discomfort - not while he still had sense in him, that is. He treasured her trust more than anything and would not abuse it.....although the temptation was frighteningly strong - even for him.
Irulan, on the other hand, was truly fighting the fiercest battle of her entire life. Fighting orcs was nothing compared to this! She held her breath and pursed her lips with the effort. She tried to imagine herself to be somewhere else, but every kiss just crashed her back into reality. And that funny feeling in her stomach, along with Legolas' hand on her abdomen! She felt a flame spreading on all her body from head to toe and it was burning her up with such intense heat, she was sure she would feel immense pain any moment. However the pain never came and all her awaiting body felt was just the unbelievable pleasure of another kiss. Just when she was about to scream and roll off the bed, certain that there was no way she could control herself any longer, Legolas stopped and moved back up again to look down at her. And the funny part was, she did not know if she felt happy or incredibly sad that he finally stopped. 'Irulan, if you had ANY doubts about your feelings, this should be your answer,' she thought, resisting the urge to bite her lower lip and close her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Legolas asked again and brought up his hand for a moment to caress her cheek.
"Right now?" said Irulan and thereby exhaled for the first time in a long time.
Legolas nodded softly and placed his hand on her stomach again.
"I think I'm burning," she said before she could think. Not that she had a brain left to think any longer. She was absolutely sure that her brain had melted away into a useless heap a long time ago.
A smile spread across Legolas' perfect lips and he stood looking down at her for a long moment. Then he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "How about now?" he whispered once he has resumed his former position again.
"Legolas.......if you don't stop, you will have to call Gandalf back," she said, barely keeping herself from shuddering. Legolas laughed softly at that. 'I should just throw a towel and quit now! There is no way I can keep up my end of this trust deal!' she thought. 'I will die! Survival instinct is certainly stronger than that sort of a promise!'
"What happened to Theoden?" she said finally.
"Gandalf has set him free," Legolas said softly, then a moment later added "Grima is gone," in a more bitter tone.
She looked down at herself again. "Lady Eowyn bathed you and dressed you," he said softly. "She looked very concerned. You are close friends, yes?"
Irulan nodded. "Ever since childhood. Her and Eomer have been close friends of mine." Then a silence settled in and Irulan looked up to see him looking down at her with that blue fire in his eyes again. He remained still and expressionless other than that. Irulan looked away and decided to change the subject instead of going through the difficult process of explaining. "I can't believe I'm wearing a gown after such a long time. It feels better than I remember it to be, actually."
"It looks wonderful on you," he whispered back, still that blue fire in his eyes. 'Damn! I had no idea elves were this jealous!' she thought ruefully. Suddenly she felt a very slight tenseness emanating from him. Legolas looked alert for a moment and then smiled down at her, "Somebody is coming," he said. He moved as if to get up, but Irulan placed her hand on his, and stopped him. Legolas looked back in surprise.
"Don't," she said. And a moment later she added: "Stay." His confusion deepened even more and so did Irulan's. 'Why the heck should he stay?!' she thought suddenly. 'This is highly inappropriate. He should get up!' But then another thought invaded her: 'Why not? It is not a secret any longer. Nor is it something to be ashamed of, is it?' Suddenly she felt bad for Legolas and ashamed of the way she treated him. He had remained by her side for hours -not to mention devoted to her for weeks now- and she had constantly slapped his hand away in a metaphorical sense. She had pushed him away and pretended like nothing was going on between them when others were around. 'Why do you try proving to others that nothing is happening - at the cost of pushing him down?' she thought and wondered why this has never occurred to her before. 'Irulan, you REALLY need to wake up!' she thought.
Legolas was still looking at her with confusion. "I have nothing to hide," she said finally and managed a warm smile. He looked at her with a blank expression that slowly changed into astonishment and adoration and she felt him relaxing and resuming his former position. His smile was so warm, it was a true sight to see - it spoke books. They both looked up to the door and a moment later Eowyn walked in with a large bowl full of water in her hands.
She looked up and suddenly such surprise washed over her face, Irulan felt like giggling. Eowyn's eyes widened considerably and she froze at the threshold, everything else forgotten. She looked at Irulan, then at Legolas, then at Legolas' hand on her stomach, then back at Irulan. 'Not princess-like at all!' thought Irulan with open amusement and grinned. "Come in, Eowyn," she said with a normal tone, although it took a lot of effort to do so.
Eowyn did not move for another moment, and then suddenly broke the gaze and hastily walked in, closing the door behind her. She walked up to the bed, still quite nervous and placed the bowl on the ground. Then she stood up and remained like that, obviously unsure what to do next. Irulan decided to have mercy on her and turned to look up at Legolas who was grinning back at her. He immediately got up and gracefully stepped away from the bed. "I should go now," he said with a warm but regal tone. He turned to Eowyn who was still staring at him with a persistence that bordered on rudeness, and bowed his head lightly, saying "Lady Eowyn," his eyes never leaving hers. Then he cast a last look at Irulan and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Eowyn looked after him until he was gone a good time, and then very slowly turned to Irulan who was grinning back at her. "Eowyn, did nobody teach you that staring is rude?" she managed finally, unable to hold it in any longer.
Eowyn's mouth dropped open and her eyes grew even bigger. "Irulan!" she stammered and stopped. She looked back at the door and then back at her. "What are you doing, you witch?"
"I am trying to recover from what YOU did to me actually, Eowyn."
"Stop it!" hissed Eowyn and actually hit her shoulder, not caring whether it hurt or not. Eowyn was like that. "I meant with HIM!"
Irulan looked at the door as if she had no idea what Eowyn was talking about. "Oh.......you mean Legolas," she said finally, even managing to look a little confused saying it.
Eowyn pursed her lips and sitting on the bed, smacked her again in the shoulder, this time harder. "Irulan, he is an.......an.......ELF," she whispered and glanced back at the door as if Legolas could hear her even now.
Irulan suddenly sat up on her elbows and stammered "What? Are you.......serious?!" with horror.
Eowyn's eyes narrowed immensely and Irulan collapsed softly back, laughing out loud now. "Eowyn, please don't hit me! It HURTS, woman!"
The other woman just shook her head in silence and immersed the cloth wrapped around her arm into the bowl of water. "You have A LOT of explaining to do!" she hissed and began to wipe Irulan's arms and face softly. "I saw the way he is looking at you, so spare me the 'I don't know what you mean' part, Irulan. And," she said and a sly smile spread across her lips, "I also saw the way you are looking at him." Her eyebrows shot up.
Irulan sighed. "Well then you saw everything there is to see. You don't need my explanation any longer." Eowyn hit her shoulder again and it DID hurt. "I'll kill you! And this time they will have a body to believe it!"
"I like him," said Irulan finally, knowing Eowyn would never let go. When Eowyn did not look away for a whole minute, she added "a lot."
"Irulan, you can't be serious!"
Irulan sighed and looked away. She knew that this would raise a of lot eyebrows, not to mention open resentment in both human and elven circles; but being far away from a social life for so long now, she had forgotten how difficult it was to explain herself to others. She felt that irritation creeping back to her - the irritation she had felt for certain explanations in her life as a princess. Like the matter of Chemarit. Or why she had never liked Endor. Eowyn was truly extraordinary, but she was still a human princess. And was spared the chance to go through the experiences Irulan had gone through. Besides, she had probably never even met an elf before and had no idea what gorgeous creatures they were.
"I am very serious, Eowyn," she said finally in a low voice. "Legolas is an amazing person. I should be honored that he is even interested in me."
Eowyn looked back at her with a mixture of amazement and disbelief. A moment later she began to wipe Irulan's face again. "I bet he is old," she mumbled finally.
"Not really..........only around three thousand years."
Everyone in the Hall of the king heard Eowyn shriek.
So we are finally in Edoras. Like I have said before, TTT is a little poor in inter-personal relations. Which gives me perfect opportunity to establish the relation between our famous duo. So don't complain about the lack of action these upcoming chapters. As a matter of fact, the heat is boiling up here and I am having a difficult time in inserting the passion into the relationship without messing it up. Besides, once they have a wonderful relationship, Irulan's death will hurt even more! Ha ha..anyway...did I give anything away? I hope not.
It takes the company actually 4 days to get to Helm's Deep (Gandalf arrives on the dawn of the fifth day, does he not?) I may not stick to the timeline too much, I will just go with the story. As a matter of fact, I may not stick with a lot of details. Irulan's introduction to the story should have changed a lot of things in the line of destiny..so...it is only understandable! In the part below I have skipped the whole healing of Theoden thing..I mean not skipped it, but not dwelled on it too much. I don't want to stagnate the story by repeating what everyone already saw in the movie or read already in the book.
I was hoping to say a few personal things but I decided to post this part first and do that in the upcoming chapter. Forgive me my lovely readers - but never forget that you are always on my mind!
I don't know how you guys will like my Eowyn. Just imagine her a lot like Irulan. So much alike in some ways, they are a threat to each other.
"You will stay behind, Irulan," said Aragorn as they dismounted to enter to meet King Theoden.
"What?" she snapped, unable to keep from doing so.
"You are wounded, remain here," he said with concern.
"And forget about Shifting!" mumbled Gimli from below.
"I have no intention of Shifting!" she hissed back. "But if you think that I will sit here and wait, think again!"
"She may accompany us," said Gandalf with a low voice, "but Irulan, remain aside. And I mean it!"
She nodded in agreement. 'I am not stupid, I know I'm no use in this state,' she thought ruefully and pushing her chin up, looked at Aragorn with defiance. He, of course, relented to Gandalf's wish and stepped back. 'Suits you right!' she thought with sick amusement. 'I've had it with them keeping pushing me around like that. Thank the Heavens for Gandalf!' Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli exchanged glances again and then remained silent. She unconsciously moved closer to Gandalf, in case they might snatch her away or something. 'Enough of that 'we will protect you' nonsense! I'm going in,' she thought with dark satisfaction.
And in they went. The guards removed all their weapons on orders of Grima Wormtongue -'I can't believe that creature is still alive and here!' she thought with astonishment- but foolishly decided that Gandalf's staff is not a threat. They should have asked Irulan in that matter. 'That staff is a danger to all life in Middle Earth,' she thought and swallowed softly, remembering the pain it could cause in the hand of a very cruel Gandalf. Gandalf, Legolas and Aragorn entered first and began their walk toward the throne at the end of the room. She followed along with Gimli by her side and then fell even further behind, as the pain in her abdomen grew stronger the longer she remained upright. Finally she ended up leaning on one of the columns that lined the hall, resisting the temptation of gliding down and sitting on the floor.
That's when Grima approached Gandalf. 'He has not changed a bit!' thought Irulan with distaste. 'Well.......maybe grown even uglier'. Grima of course cast a swift glance at her, but failed to recognize her in such a short moment. He was too busy with keeping his end of a verbal duel with Gandalf anyway. Gandalf dismissed him soon enough and continued his approach to Theoden and Irulan could not help to gasp at the king's appearance. Why, Theoden had always been a regal and good looking king. He looked absolutely NOTHING like Irulan remembered he did. He looked almost inhuman. Irulan shuddered suddenly and the world began to swim around her. 'Oh no,' she thought bitterly, 'don't you faint, woman! Not now! Especially in this company!' She gritted her teeth and clutching her abdomen, stood upright by pure stubbornness.
She literally felt something tearing up inside her. 'I think I need another session with Gandalf,' she thought, 'and I mean, fast.' Moments passed during which she simply closed her eyes and tried to resume her integrity again. The riding had not been too kind on her body, either, of course and no matter what, her strength was leaking out of her after the many restless days of pursuit. Next time she looked up, her friends were kicking and punching the guards that Grima had set out on them while Gandalf continued his approach to the creature on the throne. Gimli had Grima nailed down on the floor and their eyes locked for a moment. She could see by his features that he had recognized her finally and he was so surprised by that, he actually remained glued like that for several moments. Meanwhile Aragorn and Legolas were doing a fabulous job, and Gandalf had finally free access to Theoden.
Right at that moment Eowyn came dashing out from somewhere and made to move to the king, but was grabbed by the arm and held back by Aragorn. Against all her pain, Irulan had to smile. Eowyn! The one and only! Always beautiful, always fair. Unlike Irulan, Eowyn really looked royal in every situation and every outfit. She was as naughty and rebellious inside, but it took much longer to see through her disguise. Irulan had always tried to mimic her, but Eowyn was definitely the better actress. And she was the best girl one could have as a friend. She had all the virtues of Eomer, but none of his annoying maturity and common sense. She was loyal, helpful, supportive, brave, true to her word.......the perfect princess in many ways. Irulan many times had wished to contact her.......but of course reaching Eowyn without alarming Eomer, Theoden, Theodred or Grima was not possible. Being the better princess, Eowyn had also unwillingly relented to their wishes to protect her as men should protect women. She had lived a much more secluded life compared to Irulan, whose parents had decided to turn a blind eye to her improper hobbies a long time ago - as long as she did do it in the open, it was alright. But then, Irulan did not have a brother like Eomer, a cousin like Theodred and an admirer like Grima around her. She sighed unconsciously. Indeed, with so many men around her and being the single girl, Eowyn had led a much more secluded life.
And with that thought, Irulan realized that she had almost missed the entire scene between Gandalf and Theoden! 'Irulan! Damn!' she thought and the world swam again. 'Alright....take it easy,' she thought to herself. 'You faint and I swear I'll kick your ass! Everybody is looking forward for something like that in the first place! Aragorn will never let you even walk without holding someone's hand if you do!' But no matter how hard she tried, everything seemed to become blurrier and darker by the moment. She leaned her entire back to the column then and tried to take deep breaths.......in hope that it will stop the darkening. And it did help......a little.
Irulan had no idea how many minutes she remained like that or what was going on outside her. The next thing she heard was Eowyn by her side: "You seem to be hurt........my.......lady," she said, finally deciding that it would be the proper title - even though the woman before her was dressed fairly odd for a lady.
Irulan felt the world swimming drastically when she raised her head, but she could not help smiling nevertheless. "My lady?! Seriously Eowyn, I am anything but that,' she said and even grinned during the process.
Eowyn kept looking at her for a long time and Irulan actually would have laughed if she did not feel so terrible at the moment. "Irulan?" whispered the blonde woman finally, serious doubt in her voice.
"That's 'my lady' to you," she replied.
"Irulan!" Eowyn said with a trembling voice and clutched her shoulder.
"Ouch! Eowyn, keep your paws off of me," she said, laughing, and once again fighting the settling darkness.
Eowyn actually stepped back and brought both her hands up to her mouth, her eyes widened with disbelief and the distinctive light of hope. "Eowyn, don't you dare attack me, because I swear I'll collapse on you," she said and tried to keep her eyes open.
Eowyn, of course, attacked. She dashed ahead and embraced Irulan so hard, it literally knocked the breath out of her and the thing she feared most happened - they both tumbled to the ground, rolling around in the most inappropriate manner. Thankfully everybody had followed the king outside, watching him kicking Grima out of his kingdom. Eowyn was laughing, trying wildly to control herself and even Irulan was giggling, although she had a bad feeling where this was going to. She tried to sit up but failed of course and tilted back until she collapsed again. Another attempt proved that she had absolutely no chance of getting up from the floor by herself.
"Irulan! You evil witch! I knew you would not jump off a cliff without dragging at least Endor with you!" she said with a voice that was very close to a shriek. Her eyes were exactly as Irulan remembered them to be - full with life and excitement. The love for Eowyn bloomed in her. All those years there had been moments she had missed talking to Eowyn while walking in waist-high fields of corn, like missing life itself. She had missed their silly sword-practices in the woods (Eowyn had always been a 'sword- person'), ending mostly with one of the girls kicking the other until she relented (and then maybe some more). She had missed their flights from Eomer, who seemed to have nothing better to do than chasing the girls, and playing some very nasty tricks on him. If nothing else, this quest had re- united her with some of the people she had loved above anything else in her life. It was indeed worth dying for.
"Eowyn, I swear I'll be kicking you once I find the strength to get up," she said, laughing. "And once I can see you again," she added a moment later. Her vision was really darkening now.
At that moment Legolas and Aragorn appeared beside her. "Irulan, we leave you alone for a minute and you roll on floors!" said Aragorn and a very concerned Legolas once more swiftly picked her up. "Irulan, stay with me," he whispered and just the way he said that made Eowyn look up in surprise. She herself was helped up to her feet by Aragorn and only then realized the dashing man in front of her. Well......terrible looking, but dashing nevertheless. Eowyn did not know where to look - at the elf who was clutching at Irulan dearly, or at Aragorn's handsome features. She looked from one to the other and back, until finally Aragorn released her hands (she had not even been aware that he had been still holding them) and spoke up again: "My lady, would you please be kind enough to show a room for Irulan? I'll get Gandalf immediately."
By this time Irulan could only struggle to keep conscious. But she nevertheless saw Eowyn's look at Aragorn and she immediately thought 'I hope I won't forget that part when I wake up.' "Aragorn, she grabbed me and pushed me. I was fine, really. Minding my business and staying out of trouble," she managed to say and Aragorn just gave her one of those looks and walked away. A dazzled Eowyn looked after him, then back at her, then at Legolas, then back at her again.
"My lady?" said Legolas with a tinge of impatience and broke her trance.
"Oh, of course, follow me!" she said and began to run ahead, with Legolas not running, but somehow still keeping perfect pace right behind her.
"Irulan, does it hurt?" said Legolas with an anxious voice.
"You bet it does," she said, clutching her stomach again. "If I die, you must revenge me by kicking Eowyn senseless, Legolas," she said.
He smiled despite himself. "Gandalf will be with us in a moment, my love," he said.
'My love?!!' thought Irulan and she felt like jumping off his lap. Good thing she lacked the energy. Legolas saw her expression though and grinned down at her.
"Very funny indeed!" she shot up and that was the last coherent thing she remembered.
***
"Do not worry my friend, by tomorrow she will be as fine as she ever was."
Legolas swallowed softly and barely fought down the urge to sigh with obvious relief.
"It is earlier than I would expect, really. But," the Wizard said and looked up at Legolas with a twinkle in his eye, "I see a different light in her that was not there before."
"I was healing her," Legolas said and looked down at a sleeping Irulan again, "Her heart was ill, Gandalf."
"Indeed? Well....I must say you have been doing a very good job. Probably better than you think," he said and smiled at Legolas' slight confusion.
A moment of silence settled in. "Irulan has a very precious heart. I would have been disappointed if it had gone out to another," he said slowly.
Just when Legolas was about to ask him what he meant, the door opened and Aragorn and Gimli came in, deep concern written over their faces, and walked up to the bed. "How is she, Gandalf?" said Gimli with a low rumble.
Gandalf smiled with amusement. "She is fine, Gimli. You four seem to have become.......very close," he said with a deft smile and glanced at Legolas. Legolas did not see though; he was looking down at Irulan. Aragorn and Gimli exchanged glances and then glanced away. Aragorn began scratching his chin and shrugged looking off into the distance. "Well......we spent a lot of time together," he said matter-of-factly.
Gandalf chuckled lightly and stood up to leave. "Irulan has a habit of growing on people, very much like vine grows on stone buildings. You feel constricted and itchy at first, but before you know it, you are so used to her, you feel naked and incomplete without her." He looked at the uneasy men again and suppressed another chuckle. "Let us go now.........I wish to accompany Theoden to the grave of his son."
"I wish to remain if you don't need me," said Legolas and they nodded, leaving him alone with Irulan.
***
Irulan opened her eyes and frowned slightly. The first thought that came to her mind was 'I actually passed out!' and she felt like rolling her eyes. Only that was not a good idea at the moment, of course. She was obviously lying on a bed - there was no way she could confuse that pleasant sense of comfort with the hard floor of open nature she had been sleeping on for weeks now. She tried to lift her head. "Lie still, Irulan," whispered Legolas from beside her. She turned to her left and found him lying next to her, above the covers that were drawn up to her waist, propped up on an elbow and looking down at her. He smiled and added, "How are you feeling?"
Irulan closed her eyes and swallowed to overcome the dryness in her throat. "How long?" she managed finally.
"Just a few hours," whispered Legolas. "You must continue resting."
The world began to come back to her, softly and slowly this time. It was warm and pleasantly dark. She was in a small room with a high ceiling, the drapes were drawn but it was obviously nighttime. A door to her right was the only entrance to the room. A few candles were softly burning in the corner of the room and a vague but comforting herbal smell was in the air. Then she realized that she was not in her usual garment any longer. She looked down and saw that she was wearing a pretty white gown in Rohan fashion. The thought of Eowyn came back to her then. She also realized a warmth on her belly and realized that Legolas' hand was lying on it, giving off that comforting warmth again. The pain was almost completely gone; she could only feel the down weighing tiredness now.
"Gandalf was here. He healed you," Legolas said, guessing her line of thought.
"Are you never tired, Legolas?" she whispered, looking away with irritation.
Instead of answering he leaned over and gently kissed her on her jaw line. Irulan immediately tensed, but also instantly remembered their new 'deal' so to say, and forced herself to remain still instead of moving away. Legolas smiled inwardly at her fight. It was a tremendous battle, no doubt, but he gave credit Irulan for trying so hard. He moved to her neck and kissed her again and she tensed even further, but apart from that, remained completely still. He glided down a little and placed another kiss on the artery of her neck, feeling the pulse underneath his lips. A part of him wanted to go on forever and ever, but he would never push Irulan into discomfort - not while he still had sense in him, that is. He treasured her trust more than anything and would not abuse it.....although the temptation was frighteningly strong - even for him.
Irulan, on the other hand, was truly fighting the fiercest battle of her entire life. Fighting orcs was nothing compared to this! She held her breath and pursed her lips with the effort. She tried to imagine herself to be somewhere else, but every kiss just crashed her back into reality. And that funny feeling in her stomach, along with Legolas' hand on her abdomen! She felt a flame spreading on all her body from head to toe and it was burning her up with such intense heat, she was sure she would feel immense pain any moment. However the pain never came and all her awaiting body felt was just the unbelievable pleasure of another kiss. Just when she was about to scream and roll off the bed, certain that there was no way she could control herself any longer, Legolas stopped and moved back up again to look down at her. And the funny part was, she did not know if she felt happy or incredibly sad that he finally stopped. 'Irulan, if you had ANY doubts about your feelings, this should be your answer,' she thought, resisting the urge to bite her lower lip and close her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Legolas asked again and brought up his hand for a moment to caress her cheek.
"Right now?" said Irulan and thereby exhaled for the first time in a long time.
Legolas nodded softly and placed his hand on her stomach again.
"I think I'm burning," she said before she could think. Not that she had a brain left to think any longer. She was absolutely sure that her brain had melted away into a useless heap a long time ago.
A smile spread across Legolas' perfect lips and he stood looking down at her for a long moment. Then he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "How about now?" he whispered once he has resumed his former position again.
"Legolas.......if you don't stop, you will have to call Gandalf back," she said, barely keeping herself from shuddering. Legolas laughed softly at that. 'I should just throw a towel and quit now! There is no way I can keep up my end of this trust deal!' she thought. 'I will die! Survival instinct is certainly stronger than that sort of a promise!'
"What happened to Theoden?" she said finally.
"Gandalf has set him free," Legolas said softly, then a moment later added "Grima is gone," in a more bitter tone.
She looked down at herself again. "Lady Eowyn bathed you and dressed you," he said softly. "She looked very concerned. You are close friends, yes?"
Irulan nodded. "Ever since childhood. Her and Eomer have been close friends of mine." Then a silence settled in and Irulan looked up to see him looking down at her with that blue fire in his eyes again. He remained still and expressionless other than that. Irulan looked away and decided to change the subject instead of going through the difficult process of explaining. "I can't believe I'm wearing a gown after such a long time. It feels better than I remember it to be, actually."
"It looks wonderful on you," he whispered back, still that blue fire in his eyes. 'Damn! I had no idea elves were this jealous!' she thought ruefully. Suddenly she felt a very slight tenseness emanating from him. Legolas looked alert for a moment and then smiled down at her, "Somebody is coming," he said. He moved as if to get up, but Irulan placed her hand on his, and stopped him. Legolas looked back in surprise.
"Don't," she said. And a moment later she added: "Stay." His confusion deepened even more and so did Irulan's. 'Why the heck should he stay?!' she thought suddenly. 'This is highly inappropriate. He should get up!' But then another thought invaded her: 'Why not? It is not a secret any longer. Nor is it something to be ashamed of, is it?' Suddenly she felt bad for Legolas and ashamed of the way she treated him. He had remained by her side for hours -not to mention devoted to her for weeks now- and she had constantly slapped his hand away in a metaphorical sense. She had pushed him away and pretended like nothing was going on between them when others were around. 'Why do you try proving to others that nothing is happening - at the cost of pushing him down?' she thought and wondered why this has never occurred to her before. 'Irulan, you REALLY need to wake up!' she thought.
Legolas was still looking at her with confusion. "I have nothing to hide," she said finally and managed a warm smile. He looked at her with a blank expression that slowly changed into astonishment and adoration and she felt him relaxing and resuming his former position. His smile was so warm, it was a true sight to see - it spoke books. They both looked up to the door and a moment later Eowyn walked in with a large bowl full of water in her hands.
She looked up and suddenly such surprise washed over her face, Irulan felt like giggling. Eowyn's eyes widened considerably and she froze at the threshold, everything else forgotten. She looked at Irulan, then at Legolas, then at Legolas' hand on her stomach, then back at Irulan. 'Not princess-like at all!' thought Irulan with open amusement and grinned. "Come in, Eowyn," she said with a normal tone, although it took a lot of effort to do so.
Eowyn did not move for another moment, and then suddenly broke the gaze and hastily walked in, closing the door behind her. She walked up to the bed, still quite nervous and placed the bowl on the ground. Then she stood up and remained like that, obviously unsure what to do next. Irulan decided to have mercy on her and turned to look up at Legolas who was grinning back at her. He immediately got up and gracefully stepped away from the bed. "I should go now," he said with a warm but regal tone. He turned to Eowyn who was still staring at him with a persistence that bordered on rudeness, and bowed his head lightly, saying "Lady Eowyn," his eyes never leaving hers. Then he cast a last look at Irulan and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Eowyn looked after him until he was gone a good time, and then very slowly turned to Irulan who was grinning back at her. "Eowyn, did nobody teach you that staring is rude?" she managed finally, unable to hold it in any longer.
Eowyn's mouth dropped open and her eyes grew even bigger. "Irulan!" she stammered and stopped. She looked back at the door and then back at her. "What are you doing, you witch?"
"I am trying to recover from what YOU did to me actually, Eowyn."
"Stop it!" hissed Eowyn and actually hit her shoulder, not caring whether it hurt or not. Eowyn was like that. "I meant with HIM!"
Irulan looked at the door as if she had no idea what Eowyn was talking about. "Oh.......you mean Legolas," she said finally, even managing to look a little confused saying it.
Eowyn pursed her lips and sitting on the bed, smacked her again in the shoulder, this time harder. "Irulan, he is an.......an.......ELF," she whispered and glanced back at the door as if Legolas could hear her even now.
Irulan suddenly sat up on her elbows and stammered "What? Are you.......serious?!" with horror.
Eowyn's eyes narrowed immensely and Irulan collapsed softly back, laughing out loud now. "Eowyn, please don't hit me! It HURTS, woman!"
The other woman just shook her head in silence and immersed the cloth wrapped around her arm into the bowl of water. "You have A LOT of explaining to do!" she hissed and began to wipe Irulan's arms and face softly. "I saw the way he is looking at you, so spare me the 'I don't know what you mean' part, Irulan. And," she said and a sly smile spread across her lips, "I also saw the way you are looking at him." Her eyebrows shot up.
Irulan sighed. "Well then you saw everything there is to see. You don't need my explanation any longer." Eowyn hit her shoulder again and it DID hurt. "I'll kill you! And this time they will have a body to believe it!"
"I like him," said Irulan finally, knowing Eowyn would never let go. When Eowyn did not look away for a whole minute, she added "a lot."
"Irulan, you can't be serious!"
Irulan sighed and looked away. She knew that this would raise a of lot eyebrows, not to mention open resentment in both human and elven circles; but being far away from a social life for so long now, she had forgotten how difficult it was to explain herself to others. She felt that irritation creeping back to her - the irritation she had felt for certain explanations in her life as a princess. Like the matter of Chemarit. Or why she had never liked Endor. Eowyn was truly extraordinary, but she was still a human princess. And was spared the chance to go through the experiences Irulan had gone through. Besides, she had probably never even met an elf before and had no idea what gorgeous creatures they were.
"I am very serious, Eowyn," she said finally in a low voice. "Legolas is an amazing person. I should be honored that he is even interested in me."
Eowyn looked back at her with a mixture of amazement and disbelief. A moment later she began to wipe Irulan's face again. "I bet he is old," she mumbled finally.
"Not really..........only around three thousand years."
Everyone in the Hall of the king heard Eowyn shriek.