Alright everyone...I know...it's sick how often I update! But well...this
story has to come to an end some time..right? Thank you, thank you, thank
you for the incredible reviews!
Casey, lilangel-mellie, mickie, crystal, beliya, dove, strawberryblonde, xiamysticmoon, fraulain snuffles, Desdemona, alina Greenleaf, Donna (thank you), just2spooky, shakiya (of course), lucy, kirjava, Egyptian queen (ha ha), Elf Ears, passion lover (I agree), angel of the stars (oh wow..thank you), Nirselen, da bunny, Rachel, Mystic Elf (you are too kind), syrenwytch (it IS hot in here, ha ha), and EVERYONE else!!!!! You know who you are.
Scene Eleven..girl where is your e-mail address? How can I reply when you do not add it in? Write back this instant!
Mae Noelle...you never write too long. Stop worrying about it and let me read, girl!
I am so glad that my idea of men and their love for Irulan is coming across just as I had hoped it would. And guys...do note hate Eomer. I mean, I love the guy. Actually he is the ideal man, come to think of it. And he does only what he thinks is right for Irulan. Put yourself in his place.
Why am I not killing Haldir? I mean...yes, it's awful that he dies in the movie..but they really won't have too much interaction with him in the rest of the story, will they? It won't make a difference if he dies or not, from that aspect. But...his death might give me the chance of inserting some evil angst...he he he...we'll see, we'll see....As to the rest of the characters...I just realized that I don't have to stick to the story, which means I can kill anyone, right? Alright, women, calm down, calm down! I'm not killing anybody...yet. Not before Helm's Deep anyway. And for those who asked..yes, it mean it is his LAST memory. You don't expect Legolas to live too long after Irulan dies, do you? I mean..it is rather obvious that he will die of grief, the way Arwen does when Aragorn dies. That part is truly inevitable. I thought it was obvious. Damn...have to work on those writing skills some more!
So...enjoy. Shakespearean scene coming up. Let's see if you'll enjoy it.
They stood as a single line for a moment - all horses remaining at the top of the hill, their riders momentarily watching the approach of the wolves of Isengard. Only for a moment, and then the spell broke. Legolas hauled himself on Arod and sat before Gimli. His eyes hastily searched for Irulan, for he suspected very much for her to be there, and indeed, there she was, sitting on Baron and a slight astonishment on her face as the Wargs ran towards them. She glanced back at him then, for an instant her brown eyes meeting his blue and Legolas understood that the last blessed days of their lives were over now - once more they were reminded that they were in the middle of war, in the middle of loss and death. But more than that, with each passing day, the fact that Irulan was destined to fight by his side was becoming harder to bear. He instinctively wished for a means to tie her - to bind her and tuck her away from danger. His wish was not to be granted, of course.
The moment passed and the Rohirrim along with the company of the Fellowship dashed ahead. Irulan drew her staff and once again extended it momentarily. She was not planning to Shift, at least not while she was in this position, riding a horse, but she did not need to. Shifting was a reserved art of fight, only to be used with extreme care, since it bore such a hard price. She was efficient enough with the staff - and hopefully that would suffice today. As a matter of fact, ever since the last incident in Parth Gallen, she kind of feared to Shift. What if she Shifted and the Fever took her instantly? Though she knew as a fact that such as thing was not possible, fear is not a logical thing. The fear of seeing herself like that again.....and of fearing such hate........she snapped out of her mind and concentrated on the present. The present was here, it was now. And it was rushing towards her with imminent speed in the form of beasts.
Irulan docked to the right as an arrow flew by her. And seeing a Warg and its rider approaching from her right towards her, she quickly extended her staff even further and, having approached close enough, swung it out. It cut through the deft skin of the Warg smoothly. It would cut through almost anything in Middle Earth, really. It was made from a very special metal and crafted by herself over a period of three years - almost her entire time with the Druids. It was the custom of the Sisters to craft their own weapons during their training because this was the only way to construct a weapon that fitted perfectly to you and your purposes. Although they would never fight again, the Druids stubbornly preserved both that custom and the special alloy that was sharper and stronger than most metals in Middle Earth - excluding perhaps some special elven or dwarven alloys.
Irulan of course had chosen the staff as her weapon of choice. True, she had become better with the sword, but she had practiced the staff for so long now, it was a part of her. She had tried making two more before this one, but they failed eventually, for it was an intricate work of wheels, locks, wires, beams and screws, inlaid in a manner that would allow the weapon to extend and shrink back instantly with a combination of certain slight movements of the wrist and the hand. Ingmar had been a true master in this art and she had guided Irulan in the making of her personal staff throughout that time. 'Why make this sort of thing and never use it?' Irulan had thought even back then and at this moment, she was more than glad that she had both made it, and later broken her oath not to use it in any form of combat.
The Warg fell, losing its head in a matter of seconds behind her, and another arrow flew by her head. This one she did not even see coming and it only passed by her because she had stopped Baron to look back at the rider of the Warg. She swiftly jumped down and approached him, but he was already on his feet, recovering. Orcs were really not too talented in this sort of combat. Or perhaps they were, but after seeing Uruk-hai they truly seemed to hold no threat to her. She finished him off in a matter of moments and turned around just in time to see Gimli falling off the horse.
And just when she was about to sprint towards him, seeing the Warg approach from a distance and for the first time considering Shifting anyway, the felt a hit on her right side and flew off to land on the ground. Luckily not having hit her head, she stood up to see another Warg and its rider, turning around to run her down now. Irulan slightly placed her feet apart and held her staff, waiting for the coming attack. When it came, she was more than ready for it, and swirling out her staff, once more dealt a lethal blow to its head, but remembered to jump aside so that it would not run right into her. This time the rider was dead before she got to it, smashed underneath the creature.
Irulan killed five Wargs and received almost no injury in total, although one of those creatures DID run into her and she landed on the ground with a very nasty thud, but it was nothing she had not experienced before and nearly nothing as serious as that Fangorn Forest incident.
Then suddenly there were not more Wargs. Considering the fact that she had not Shifted, this was pretty fast. But then.......she had the mot lethal company of warriors around her. She quickly scanned her surroundings and picked out Legolas, collecting his arrows from the fallen bodies. Then she found King Theoden, limping slightly but looking rather well except of that. Gimli was there, panting and walking around, looking himself if everyone was well, and Eomer was still standing. Yet, the loss of the Rohirrim was very high. The Wargs had lived up to their title, indeed.
Suddenly she realized that she had not seen Aragorn and she quickly turned around once more, scanning the field hastily. Aragorn should be easy to pick out amongst the armor of Rohirrim.........and yet........she did not see him. She began to walk towards Gimli, all the while looking and still not seeing Aragorn. That's when she heard Gimli calling for him and realized that Legolas, too, was scanning the crowd to find his friend.
Something evil and dark opened the door to the chamber of her heart and crept in, closing the door behind it. It was here now, with her, in this very room, but she could not see it in the dark. Her heart began to beat frantically and her limbs began to freeze. She turned around again. Then again. And once more. Aragorn was not there! 'No!' she thought. 'No, no, no! He can NOT die. He is here somewhere......you are too anxious to focus.......focus Irulan, focus!' she thought and turned again, slower. Once more. The thing in the chamber of her heart had the foulest smell.
"Aragorn!" Irulan called, unable to hold it back any longer and began to walk along with Gimli, noticing neither him nor where she was going. "Aragorn!" She closed her eyes and halted for a moment. Then she looked up and did what she had feared to do before: very slowly she began to scan the fallen bodies around her. Her heart was literally out of control by this time. Every body was Aragorn. Every face was his face. She closed her eyes and opened them again, and tried again. She failed. And tried again.
Suddenly Legolas was with her. "Legolas, where is Aragorn? Where is he?!" she said, with an almost pleading voice. He did not answer but held her hand, pulling her along as they began to walk quickly amongst the fallen, his keen elven eyes looking from one to the other, trying to find him. Gimli was close behind her and he was still calling out his name.
They stumbled upon a dying orc. Irulan saw neither him nor his wound. She did not care for what he said, either. Until Legolas slowly fished out Arwen's necklace from his hand, that is. She looked at the elf, who looked at her with a blank and oddly stubborn expression. Legolas moved over to the cliff a few steps away. Irulan leaned down to the orc but he was dead already. "Gimli, what happened?" she asked with urgency. The dwarf looked at her with sorrow for a moment before he mumbled: "Aragorn......fell, Irulan. Off the cliff."
The thing in her chamber grasped her neck with its long and sticky fingers. "NO!" she yelled. Gimli bowed his head. "No!" she said again, and ran up to Legolas, looking over the cliff. A wild river was soaring below them, banging on rocks and crevices. There was no sign of Aragorn. "No," she whispered, and Legolas looked around to her, with such pain in his eyes, that she almost forgot her own. "Legolas.......it can not be," she said, her voice failing her.
Legolas was so stunned, he did not know what to do. Aragorn.......his best friend among men........gone? It seemed impossible. He would surely return. Like the grass returned with the oncoming of spring. Like the streams returned with the leaving of summer. It was only natural for him to find his back to them. The concept of death once more ringed in his mind. And once more, refused to be understood. Legolas slowly enclosed the necklace of Arwen in his hand. No, he would not pray for Aragorn's soul. For the king would return.
Irulan kept looking at him, but Legolas would not answer. He seemed overly disturbed and shocked by the idea. Which only meant that the elf had accepted the death of Aragorn. Aragorn! 'Impossible', she thought. 'Not when we have come this far. Not like this'. And that is how she lost all reason. She suddenly ran back a few steps and turned on her heels. She would jump. If Aragorn had fallen in that river, she would find him. He was alive, she knew it with all her heart, because he could NOT die.
Legolas turned around to look at her and in the blink of an instant realized her intention. He opened up his mouth to protest when Irulan took a first step........and was instantly hauled from the ground and turned upside down. It happened so fast and so unexpected, she actually cried out, thinking it was an orc. And it took her several moments to realize that it was no orc, but Eomer. Several more moments later she also realized that she was ungracefully thrown on his shoulder and carried away from the cliff.
"Eomer! Let me go!" she screamed in protest, but he did not even miss a step. Irulan kicked in protest, but Eomer was well prepared for her struggles and had her legs secured underneath his arms. Irulan felt rage and helplessness rising in her. "NO!" she protested in frustration as the distance between herself and the cliff grew every moment. Suddenly she forgot all about Aragorn and felt a desperate yearning for Legolas and Gimli. No! He could not drag her away from her friends! Irulan knew of course that the bond of the Fellowship had grown drastically on her, and yet, she had never felt it burning in her like this before. It was as if Eomer was dragging her away from her own mother! Irulan struggled again.........and found herself on the floor.
'This is certainly a day of surprises,' she thought absurdly as she rolled on the grass and came to a stop a moment later. She felt her arm lifted and was about to snatch it away when she looked up to see Legolas. And true, she loved Legolas as she had loved no one before, yet at that instant her love for him erupted in her. It felt exactly as if she had found her mother again! She clutched at his arm, letting him lift her up and refused to let go, in case she should be dragged away again.
"You will not touch her again, son of Eomund!" said Legolas in a dangerously cold tone. Irulan finally managed to overcome the absurd fear of losing Legolas or Gimli and softening her grip on his arm, turned around to look. To her utter horror, Eomer actually drew his sword and not in all the long years Irulan had known him, did he look like he did at that moment.
"Only a foe would attack me when my back is turned," he hissed and dashed towards them. Irulan's eyes widened with disbelief and suddenly she forgot all about how this whole thing had come to this point in the first place. She turned to place herself in front of Legolas, knowing that Eomer would only stop at that, but Legolas shoved her away so gently and yet so quickly, she staggered backwards and lost her footing and landed on the ground once more before her mind could register what was happening.
And what was happening was not good, for the elf had his double blades drawn in an instant and parried the sword, then having succeeded in blocking the attack, left his defensive stance and moved in for an attack himself. "Are you mad?!" yelled Irulan and jumped up to her feet, running to the two crazy men. She literally jumped right between their blades, not caring if they would cut her by accident. At this moment, she very much preferred to be cut rather than seeing either one receiving a blow.
"Irulan! Stay out of this!" yelled Eomer and tried to step around her, but she flew into his chest and tried to push him back. He did not even move an inch. Legolas, of course, having seen Irulan in his lethal range, stepped back right away, but did not sheathe his knives. The stunned Rohirrim along with a very anxious Gimli had finally woken up and began running towards them. Irulan thought 'Thank the Heavens!' and found herself sitting on the floor again! 'What in the name of....?' she thought and watched in amazement as the duo resumed their battle. Which continued with Legolas throwing Eomer a good distance and, swirling his blades in his hands, remaining still, waiting for the man to rise to his feet again.
Irulan dashed ahead again, "Legolas! Stop this instant!" she yelled and this time, stepped in front of him, turning her back to Eomer who was already on his feet. The running party of men seemed still too far away.
"Irulan! Step away from him!" she heard Eomer behind her. "The elf will die today!"
"NO! Are you insane! You act like enemies! You are on the same side, here!"
"He will not lay hands on you like that again, Irulan," said Legolas with a low growl and nudging her away once more, swirled his blades to approach.
"Eomer stop! I swear I will lose it and kick you both senseless!" And then it actually occurred to her that she could do that! She stood up and prepared to Shift. The duo moved in closer to each other. 'Don't make me do this!' she thought. 'Don't make me do this you stupid lot!'
"Do not worry, Irulan! I will free you of this creature, this very day!" said Eomer and Irulan let the calmness envelop her instantly. She almost welcomed the metallic taste in her mouth and the growing silence of the void. He fear slowly melted away when she realized that there was nothing to fear in here. In an instant she would Shift and end all this.
Exactly at that moment the running party arrived and flooded in between the crazy duo, forcing them apart and pushing each further back. A part of Irulan yearned to Shift nevertheless, for the pull of it was growing and pulsing in her. Yet another part exhaled with relief and closed her eyes. She let go of the calmness and softly allowed sensations and sounds to return to her.
Legolas let himself be pushed away by the Rohirrim, who actually were not pushing him, but rather blocking his way and slowly advancing on him, making him retreat. Even at this moment, their fear and respect were too great for them to push an Eldar around. He had engaged in a duel with their captain, but that was not an unusual or a low thing to do amongst Rohirrim. It was the legal and honorable way to kill someone, actually.
He felt a pull at his arm and looked down to see Gimli holding on to him as if Legolas was a little child. A sudden urge to laugh almost overcame him, then, but he did not give in to it. His anger was too great at the moment. He stepped back, and continued doing so, then turned around and walked away. The Rohirrim remained behind when they realized that he meant not to insist in his intentions. Gimli, though, hung to him with a force that almost hurt, but Legolas let him be and walked off a little further. Then he remained standing and closed his eyes. A dark pulse was beating within him, and anger rustled the dead and shriveled leaves of his mind. He could almost hear the wind howling in his head, screeching with rage. And yet, he pressed it down, and further down, and yet continued pressing, until the rays of reason once more shone on the territory of his mind. Moments passed. His breathing returned to normal and the tumult in his head slowed down. He opened his eyes and realized that he was still holding his blades. Slowly freeing his arm from Gimli, who let go and stepped back a little, he sheathed them behind his back.
He took a deep breath and turned around to look at the party. They had resumed their search for survivors. Eomer was far off, stroking the neck of his horse, his back turned to him. Legolas sighed. It had indeed been foolish for them to engage in something like this, but he felt no regret. Any man with pride would have reacted if his woman was carried off like that. 'His woman?' Legolas halted, stunned. True, what he did was normal for an elf as well as a human, for a man would defend his family and his kin - anything else was unthinkable. But........'HIS woman?!' That certainly sounded wrong. And suddenly he remembered Irulan.
He looked for her and found her talking to King Theoden. Under normal circumstances she should have been calming him down and making explanations, but at the moment their positions seemed to be reversed and Theoden was obviously trying to comfort a very anxious Irulan. The distance and the noises in the battlefield prevented him from hearing.
"Legolas, you are becoming a dwarf day by day!" said Gimli suddenly and chuckled at the confused expression of the elf. "I never thought I would see you acting as you did today, but alas, it seems like finally you have come to your senses!" boomed Gimli and actually laughed.
Legolas shook his head and smiled despite himself. "Gimli, when this ends, I will certainly be elf no longer!" he said with a tinge of bitter amusement.
"Good for you!" yelped Gimli and laughed again. Then his laugh died as he gazed at something behind Legolas and Legolas turned around to see Irulan approaching them. Only she looked extremely furious. Suddenly he wished he had not pushed his anger too far back. It looked like he was going to be very defenseless right when he was supposed to be his strongest - the incoming storm was mighty indeed. He turned around to look at Gimli and the dwarf sighed, saying "Let me handle this."
She arrived by their side and looked like she was about to retrieve her staff and cut them both into half. She gave Legolas an extremely cold look and the elf found rescue in pushing his chin up and hiding behind a blank mask. He kept saying to himself that he did the right thing and alas, it really was true. But the problem was.......Irulan obviously thought otherwise.
Irulan pursed her lips with the effort to shut up. Refusing to talk to him, she turned to Gimli and spoke with a voice that surprised even her with the bleak anger in it: "I will go," she said, and it sounded like velvet swishing over metal, "and do myself a favor and jump off that damn cliff. Don't you DARE stop me!"
Legolas' eyes widened and he swiftly turned to look at Gimli, but Irulan had already moved ahead and she was walking towards the overhang. Gimli motioned him to be quiet and hastily followed Irulan. Legolas strode a small distance behind. "We will not stop you, do not worry, Irulan," he said, panting with the effort to keep up with her long strides. "But I certainly hope that the water is not too cold. If I am to die, I might as well die a little more comfortable!"
At that, Irulan slowed down to look behind. "What are you talking about?" she hissed, but did not stop walking.
"Why, you truly don't think that I will let you jump off there alone now, do you?" he said matter-of-factly.
Irulan stopped a few steps away and looked towards the cliff. She hesitated for a moment. These men were crazy.......what if........"Gimli, stay out of this," she said finally, unable to come up with something better.
"Stay out of this? STAY OUT OF THIS?" He boomed and looked angry for the first time. "Oh no my fair Lady! I am a part of this Fellowship. And so are you! Where you go, we will follow!"
'They dare not!' she thought in amazement. She turned to look at Legolas and he was standing behind Gimli, a very determined look on his face. 'Alright, maybe they dare after all. Damn!'
"I can not swim. Not that it would make a difference with this heavy armor, but.........nevertheless, I am ready, Irulan. Go ahead, jump," he said and held his axe with two hands, as if he meant to go to combat. And he looked very much like he actually meant to do it!
"A member of this Fellowship is down there, and I will find him!" she bolted suddenly, her anger taking a hold on her.
"And who is stopping you?!" boomed Gimli back.
A tense silence stretched during which Irulan turned to look at the cliff again and felt frustration rising in her. These stupid, stupid men! They would jump after her! And most certainly she would only end up killing all of them. "If Aragorn were here now, he would do the same, and you know it," Gimli said suddenly, with a much softer voice. That broke her last damn and she could not help the tears from falling any longer.
"Aragorn," she whispered and felt herself falling over that cliff over and over again. "No.......not him." She felt Gimli holding her arm and Legolas came around to embrace her gently. And though she wanted to push him away, the thought of accepting Aragorn's death dulled that anger for now. "I can not accept it," she said, still crying, "I simply can not. It is beyond me." They stood like that for a long time and hung on to each other. But with Aragorn gone, she felt the Fellowship crumbling in her head. His absence was a throbbing pain. They could never be the same without him. So they stood, trying to find comfort in each other and each one failing badly. Moments became minutes, minutes stretched further and further. His face was before her, floating in her mind and it was torture itself.
Irulan only found the strength to let go when she heard King Theoden's voice nearby, commanding for departure. She broke the touch and went off to the side, sitting on the ground and resting her back to a rock, not wishing to talk to Theoden at that moment. She heard Gimli and Legolas talking with him. They would continue to Helm's Deep. A part of her stubbornly resisted. She would not go! Now that Aragorn was not with them, it was pointless and stupid anyway! She would not leave this spot. She wiped away the tears and tried to take a deep breath. She had to find reason again! Her mind was obviously spinning out of control, here.
A few minutes passed. Suddenly Gimli and Legolas were by her side again. "Irulan.......we must continue," said Legolas softly and knelt beside her.
Gimli put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. "We can not desert them now, Irulan," he said, "Aragorn would wish us to continue. Otherwise, his loss would be in vain."
Irulan nodded softly and slowly stood up. She did not want to think about Aragorn, because a strong side of her simply refused to believe in his death. He was destined to become king! He could not die! 'Have faith,' she told herself silently and actually felt a little better at that idea. 'Have faith in destiny! He can not die for he will become king!' She sighed deeply and decided not to share this idea.......in case they might attempt to chop it down, simply to make her accept reality or something silly like that.
With the pain of Aragorn receding in her and a self-constructed, yet very real hope returning, other things began to blink in her mind once more. She looked up at Legolas with a very bleak look once more. He, of course, knew instantly what she was thinking and halted in his attempt to touch her. "Legolas, if you think I have forgotten your little show today, you are very, very wrong!" she hissed.
For an instant uneasiness washed on his features. But a moment later it was gone and to her surprise, Legolas pushed his chin up and clasped his hands behind his back with a very cool expression on his face. "I did nothing to be ashamed of," he said.
Irulan's mouth dropped open at that. She looked at him with disbelief, but he just stared back with that cold expression. "What?!" she managed finally, "I can't believe you said that!"
"Stop it, Irulan! You know the lad is right!" Gimli intervened from her left.
She stopped walking. "Has everyone gone mad? Are you under some spell that perhaps only affects men?!" she said in disbelief.
"Yes and you certainly don't understand it. It's called 'pride'!" boomed Gimli. Irulan gave him a very sharp look, but to her surprise, Gimli remained unaffected as well. Nobody seemed to take her seriously today. "I mean, that Eomer fellow! How DARE he?! He offended you, Irulan. If Legolas had not intervened, I would have doubted his honor. And then, I would have intervened myself!"
She remained speechless. 'I must have hit my head,' she thought, 'I am lying somewhere in that battlefield now and dreaming all this.'
"What the hell are you talking about?!" she boomed, "He meant to stop me from jumping!"
"Oh but he did not merely stop you, Irulan. He grabbed you like a sack of potatoes and ran off with you!" He turned to her suddenly, "Did you really expect Legolas and me to remain behind, watching that?"
"Eomer is my friend, Gimli," she said finally with obvious irritation and warning in her tone, "he meant nothing further."
"I suggest you wake up, Irulan!" the dwarf boomed. She glanced at Legolas, but he was walking silently to her right, his face unreadable. Irulan turned to Gimli to reply, but he continued, completely unaffected: "Either accept the truth and act on it, or do not blame others for acting on what is obvious. No man should walk up to you now and drag you away while Legolas is here. Eomer ignored your man on purpose and Legolas reminded him, for all I care. Any man with pride would have done the same thing."
'My man?!' she thought, truly baffled now. 'What the.......' But then she suddenly realized that Gimli was only talking in the terminology of his own culture. "Is that so?" she said with a bitter tone and turned to Legolas, who was still walking in silence. "Would you have acted the same way if it was Aragorn, Legolas?"
Legolas looked up at her with a cold look. "Of course not. Aragorn would never do that to you in the first place. He would stop you, yes, but he would leave you to me. Estel has enough manners to step aside when I am present, and he always has done so." Irulan realized that Legolas was talking about Aragorn as if he was still alive and she felt glad for that. Then she forced herself to remember the stupid conversation at hand. Only........now that she was thinking back......Aragorn had indeed never attempted to 'handle' her while Legolas was around to do it. Yes.......he had dragged her out of Moria once.......but Legolas had not been nearby to do it then.......and afterwards........he had left her with him. Now that she thought about it, Legolas had always been the one to carry her, stop her from fighting or pick her up. 'Men have a secret understanding about possession!' she realized suddenly. 'I belong to Legolas now, is that so?!' she thought with rising fury and dismay.
"Not to mention that Aragorn never had the intentions about you that Eomer has, Irulan," Gimli said suddenly and broke her train of thought.
"That is still no reason to fight like a madman with your own ally!" she shouted finally. "I can understand a kind intervention........." -and she stressed the 'kind' part........although it was a fairly ridiculous idea considering the situation and Eomer- ".......however drawing knives and battling like orcs is certainly not the way to solve things."
"Kind intervention, huh?" said Gimli with impatience. "Let me see.........so Legolas was supposed to run after Eomer while he was carrying you like a dead donkey, but not interfere, mind you, and try to reason with him? Or perhaps beg him to let you go? And I suppose Master Eomer would have come to his senses at that instant and lowered you gently to the ground? Legolas," he said and turned to look at the elf, "why did we never think of that option, lad?"
She was about to say something really ugly but Legolas spoke up with that calm voice again: "Irulan, I did what I deemed was right. If it were to happen again, I would do it again. Master Eomer has to accept the truth about us, even though he may not like it. And although he may be a formidable fighter, he is only a child compared to me. I could have killed him easily, if that had been my intention."
She looked from one to the other, one to her right and the other to her left. They both kept walking as calm and relaxed as if this was a picnic party. 'The sensible one has obviously left the Fellowship!' she thought bitterly. Although, now that she thought about it......Aragorn would have probably done the same thing! Irulan barely kept herself from moaning. 'Why deny it, Irulan.......they make sense,' said that accursed inner voice. As always, it knew exactly when to show up. She shook her head with disagreement and irritation. 'If Eomer had accepted and respected you and Legolas, he would have stopped you, but then stepped back. As a matter of fact, you should be angry at him, for refusing to listen to you and not respecting your choices in life.' Irulan sighed bitterly. 'He did it only to save me,' she protested. 'Grow up, Irulan,' the voice shot back with amusement. 'No doubt that is true, but you see only what you want to see. There is obviously much more to this picture.' Irulan felt anger growing in her again. 'So I am an object now? I BELONG to Legolas, is that so?' The voice laughed softly. 'You might find that annoying at the moment, but you certainly had no problem with that idea when Eomer was carrying you away from him.'
Irulan felt anger and embarrassment mixing in her and hitting her cheeks. They had arrived by their horses that had found each other and had been waiting for their riders. The party of Rohirrim was leaving and galloping to reach the safety of Helm's Deep. She looked back one last time for Aragorn, as if the man might appear suddenly behind the rocks, then sighed and turned to mount Baron. Legolas was standing before her, with Baron's reigns in his hands. His face had softened, but the determination was still obvious.
"Irulan," he said, and hesitated, looking into her eyes, trying to make her understand. She looked still very angry with him. "I know you are angry with me and I know you do not agree. But I would not let him handle you like that. Neither would I let him play with your honor or mine." He stood looking at her and then raised his hand to caress her cheek. Irulan turned away with mild anger. Legolas paused for a moment and pain appeared on his face, but then the moment and the expression was gone and he reached behind him to draw one of his knives. He held it horizontally on the blade and offered it to her.
She looked down at it with surprise and then back up at him. "What are you doing?"
"I told you," he said with a calm voice, "I would prefer you to deal me a stroke rather than for you to shy my touch."
She looked at him with disbelief. "Legolas, you are mad! All of you!" she protested and tried to pass by him to mount Baron, again.
He stopped her again. Irulan looked at the blade in his hand, feeling nervous about its presence alone. Suddenly she thought whether he was actually mad enough to cut himself if she refused to do it. She glanced up at him, but his expression was unreadable once more. He slowly took the blade by the handle and sheathed it. Then he stepped up to her and kissed her softly on the lips. Irulan did not withdraw but stubbornly refused to kiss him back. Legolas broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. "Irulan, forgive me," he pleaded with a whisper. A long moment passed between them. 'Don't you even DARE to consider forgiving him!' a part of her said. 'And let him turn this into something even more terrible than it already is?' she shot back. 'Forgive him and he'll keep on doing it!' it reasoned. 'He'll keep on doing it anyway. I might as well forgive him,' she replied with a tired sigh.
Legolas leaned in carefully and kissed her again, and this time she did respond. He felt the darkness threatening to suffocate him instantly fading away and embraced her tighter, seeking rescue in her kiss. He absolutely could never go on if she would refuse him now, if she would shut him out again. Legolas felt the pain of recent loss and the fear of other upcoming losses stalking him, rounding in on him now like terrible beasts. But they were powerless in the fire of Irulan. As long as she allowed him to remain in this circle, he knew he would be safe.
***
Eomer was watching them from a distance and words could not describe the fury in him. That elf was forcing himself on her! He was threatening her! Legolas had tried to caress her cheek, but Irulan had refused. And what did the elf do? He had very openly refused to let her mount Baron and then even had dared to draw his knife on her! And then he had kissed her, even though Irulan seemed unwilling to do so. And he had forced her to accept his kiss....So this was the true story behind their relationship! Irulan was forced to remain with him because this creature had been threatening her from the beginning. She was obviously too afraid and confused to seek for help. This creature had been forcing himself on his little thorn! He thought back to the night Legolas had approached them by the fire. The way he had encircled her waist as if she belonged to him. The way he had extended his hand and expected her to walk back to him!
Eomer closed his eyes and tried to overcome to urge to ride there this minute and kill Legolas instantly. How dare he! How dare he treat her like this! He swallowed softly and tried to take control of his feelings again. At that moment Eomer swore to himself that no matter what happened, he would not let Irulan lead this life of a slave and prisoner. He looked at Legolas. "I will kill you," he whispered and rode off towards Helm's Deep.
Casey, lilangel-mellie, mickie, crystal, beliya, dove, strawberryblonde, xiamysticmoon, fraulain snuffles, Desdemona, alina Greenleaf, Donna (thank you), just2spooky, shakiya (of course), lucy, kirjava, Egyptian queen (ha ha), Elf Ears, passion lover (I agree), angel of the stars (oh wow..thank you), Nirselen, da bunny, Rachel, Mystic Elf (you are too kind), syrenwytch (it IS hot in here, ha ha), and EVERYONE else!!!!! You know who you are.
Scene Eleven..girl where is your e-mail address? How can I reply when you do not add it in? Write back this instant!
Mae Noelle...you never write too long. Stop worrying about it and let me read, girl!
I am so glad that my idea of men and their love for Irulan is coming across just as I had hoped it would. And guys...do note hate Eomer. I mean, I love the guy. Actually he is the ideal man, come to think of it. And he does only what he thinks is right for Irulan. Put yourself in his place.
Why am I not killing Haldir? I mean...yes, it's awful that he dies in the movie..but they really won't have too much interaction with him in the rest of the story, will they? It won't make a difference if he dies or not, from that aspect. But...his death might give me the chance of inserting some evil angst...he he he...we'll see, we'll see....As to the rest of the characters...I just realized that I don't have to stick to the story, which means I can kill anyone, right? Alright, women, calm down, calm down! I'm not killing anybody...yet. Not before Helm's Deep anyway. And for those who asked..yes, it mean it is his LAST memory. You don't expect Legolas to live too long after Irulan dies, do you? I mean..it is rather obvious that he will die of grief, the way Arwen does when Aragorn dies. That part is truly inevitable. I thought it was obvious. Damn...have to work on those writing skills some more!
So...enjoy. Shakespearean scene coming up. Let's see if you'll enjoy it.
They stood as a single line for a moment - all horses remaining at the top of the hill, their riders momentarily watching the approach of the wolves of Isengard. Only for a moment, and then the spell broke. Legolas hauled himself on Arod and sat before Gimli. His eyes hastily searched for Irulan, for he suspected very much for her to be there, and indeed, there she was, sitting on Baron and a slight astonishment on her face as the Wargs ran towards them. She glanced back at him then, for an instant her brown eyes meeting his blue and Legolas understood that the last blessed days of their lives were over now - once more they were reminded that they were in the middle of war, in the middle of loss and death. But more than that, with each passing day, the fact that Irulan was destined to fight by his side was becoming harder to bear. He instinctively wished for a means to tie her - to bind her and tuck her away from danger. His wish was not to be granted, of course.
The moment passed and the Rohirrim along with the company of the Fellowship dashed ahead. Irulan drew her staff and once again extended it momentarily. She was not planning to Shift, at least not while she was in this position, riding a horse, but she did not need to. Shifting was a reserved art of fight, only to be used with extreme care, since it bore such a hard price. She was efficient enough with the staff - and hopefully that would suffice today. As a matter of fact, ever since the last incident in Parth Gallen, she kind of feared to Shift. What if she Shifted and the Fever took her instantly? Though she knew as a fact that such as thing was not possible, fear is not a logical thing. The fear of seeing herself like that again.....and of fearing such hate........she snapped out of her mind and concentrated on the present. The present was here, it was now. And it was rushing towards her with imminent speed in the form of beasts.
Irulan docked to the right as an arrow flew by her. And seeing a Warg and its rider approaching from her right towards her, she quickly extended her staff even further and, having approached close enough, swung it out. It cut through the deft skin of the Warg smoothly. It would cut through almost anything in Middle Earth, really. It was made from a very special metal and crafted by herself over a period of three years - almost her entire time with the Druids. It was the custom of the Sisters to craft their own weapons during their training because this was the only way to construct a weapon that fitted perfectly to you and your purposes. Although they would never fight again, the Druids stubbornly preserved both that custom and the special alloy that was sharper and stronger than most metals in Middle Earth - excluding perhaps some special elven or dwarven alloys.
Irulan of course had chosen the staff as her weapon of choice. True, she had become better with the sword, but she had practiced the staff for so long now, it was a part of her. She had tried making two more before this one, but they failed eventually, for it was an intricate work of wheels, locks, wires, beams and screws, inlaid in a manner that would allow the weapon to extend and shrink back instantly with a combination of certain slight movements of the wrist and the hand. Ingmar had been a true master in this art and she had guided Irulan in the making of her personal staff throughout that time. 'Why make this sort of thing and never use it?' Irulan had thought even back then and at this moment, she was more than glad that she had both made it, and later broken her oath not to use it in any form of combat.
The Warg fell, losing its head in a matter of seconds behind her, and another arrow flew by her head. This one she did not even see coming and it only passed by her because she had stopped Baron to look back at the rider of the Warg. She swiftly jumped down and approached him, but he was already on his feet, recovering. Orcs were really not too talented in this sort of combat. Or perhaps they were, but after seeing Uruk-hai they truly seemed to hold no threat to her. She finished him off in a matter of moments and turned around just in time to see Gimli falling off the horse.
And just when she was about to sprint towards him, seeing the Warg approach from a distance and for the first time considering Shifting anyway, the felt a hit on her right side and flew off to land on the ground. Luckily not having hit her head, she stood up to see another Warg and its rider, turning around to run her down now. Irulan slightly placed her feet apart and held her staff, waiting for the coming attack. When it came, she was more than ready for it, and swirling out her staff, once more dealt a lethal blow to its head, but remembered to jump aside so that it would not run right into her. This time the rider was dead before she got to it, smashed underneath the creature.
Irulan killed five Wargs and received almost no injury in total, although one of those creatures DID run into her and she landed on the ground with a very nasty thud, but it was nothing she had not experienced before and nearly nothing as serious as that Fangorn Forest incident.
Then suddenly there were not more Wargs. Considering the fact that she had not Shifted, this was pretty fast. But then.......she had the mot lethal company of warriors around her. She quickly scanned her surroundings and picked out Legolas, collecting his arrows from the fallen bodies. Then she found King Theoden, limping slightly but looking rather well except of that. Gimli was there, panting and walking around, looking himself if everyone was well, and Eomer was still standing. Yet, the loss of the Rohirrim was very high. The Wargs had lived up to their title, indeed.
Suddenly she realized that she had not seen Aragorn and she quickly turned around once more, scanning the field hastily. Aragorn should be easy to pick out amongst the armor of Rohirrim.........and yet........she did not see him. She began to walk towards Gimli, all the while looking and still not seeing Aragorn. That's when she heard Gimli calling for him and realized that Legolas, too, was scanning the crowd to find his friend.
Something evil and dark opened the door to the chamber of her heart and crept in, closing the door behind it. It was here now, with her, in this very room, but she could not see it in the dark. Her heart began to beat frantically and her limbs began to freeze. She turned around again. Then again. And once more. Aragorn was not there! 'No!' she thought. 'No, no, no! He can NOT die. He is here somewhere......you are too anxious to focus.......focus Irulan, focus!' she thought and turned again, slower. Once more. The thing in the chamber of her heart had the foulest smell.
"Aragorn!" Irulan called, unable to hold it back any longer and began to walk along with Gimli, noticing neither him nor where she was going. "Aragorn!" She closed her eyes and halted for a moment. Then she looked up and did what she had feared to do before: very slowly she began to scan the fallen bodies around her. Her heart was literally out of control by this time. Every body was Aragorn. Every face was his face. She closed her eyes and opened them again, and tried again. She failed. And tried again.
Suddenly Legolas was with her. "Legolas, where is Aragorn? Where is he?!" she said, with an almost pleading voice. He did not answer but held her hand, pulling her along as they began to walk quickly amongst the fallen, his keen elven eyes looking from one to the other, trying to find him. Gimli was close behind her and he was still calling out his name.
They stumbled upon a dying orc. Irulan saw neither him nor his wound. She did not care for what he said, either. Until Legolas slowly fished out Arwen's necklace from his hand, that is. She looked at the elf, who looked at her with a blank and oddly stubborn expression. Legolas moved over to the cliff a few steps away. Irulan leaned down to the orc but he was dead already. "Gimli, what happened?" she asked with urgency. The dwarf looked at her with sorrow for a moment before he mumbled: "Aragorn......fell, Irulan. Off the cliff."
The thing in her chamber grasped her neck with its long and sticky fingers. "NO!" she yelled. Gimli bowed his head. "No!" she said again, and ran up to Legolas, looking over the cliff. A wild river was soaring below them, banging on rocks and crevices. There was no sign of Aragorn. "No," she whispered, and Legolas looked around to her, with such pain in his eyes, that she almost forgot her own. "Legolas.......it can not be," she said, her voice failing her.
Legolas was so stunned, he did not know what to do. Aragorn.......his best friend among men........gone? It seemed impossible. He would surely return. Like the grass returned with the oncoming of spring. Like the streams returned with the leaving of summer. It was only natural for him to find his back to them. The concept of death once more ringed in his mind. And once more, refused to be understood. Legolas slowly enclosed the necklace of Arwen in his hand. No, he would not pray for Aragorn's soul. For the king would return.
Irulan kept looking at him, but Legolas would not answer. He seemed overly disturbed and shocked by the idea. Which only meant that the elf had accepted the death of Aragorn. Aragorn! 'Impossible', she thought. 'Not when we have come this far. Not like this'. And that is how she lost all reason. She suddenly ran back a few steps and turned on her heels. She would jump. If Aragorn had fallen in that river, she would find him. He was alive, she knew it with all her heart, because he could NOT die.
Legolas turned around to look at her and in the blink of an instant realized her intention. He opened up his mouth to protest when Irulan took a first step........and was instantly hauled from the ground and turned upside down. It happened so fast and so unexpected, she actually cried out, thinking it was an orc. And it took her several moments to realize that it was no orc, but Eomer. Several more moments later she also realized that she was ungracefully thrown on his shoulder and carried away from the cliff.
"Eomer! Let me go!" she screamed in protest, but he did not even miss a step. Irulan kicked in protest, but Eomer was well prepared for her struggles and had her legs secured underneath his arms. Irulan felt rage and helplessness rising in her. "NO!" she protested in frustration as the distance between herself and the cliff grew every moment. Suddenly she forgot all about Aragorn and felt a desperate yearning for Legolas and Gimli. No! He could not drag her away from her friends! Irulan knew of course that the bond of the Fellowship had grown drastically on her, and yet, she had never felt it burning in her like this before. It was as if Eomer was dragging her away from her own mother! Irulan struggled again.........and found herself on the floor.
'This is certainly a day of surprises,' she thought absurdly as she rolled on the grass and came to a stop a moment later. She felt her arm lifted and was about to snatch it away when she looked up to see Legolas. And true, she loved Legolas as she had loved no one before, yet at that instant her love for him erupted in her. It felt exactly as if she had found her mother again! She clutched at his arm, letting him lift her up and refused to let go, in case she should be dragged away again.
"You will not touch her again, son of Eomund!" said Legolas in a dangerously cold tone. Irulan finally managed to overcome the absurd fear of losing Legolas or Gimli and softening her grip on his arm, turned around to look. To her utter horror, Eomer actually drew his sword and not in all the long years Irulan had known him, did he look like he did at that moment.
"Only a foe would attack me when my back is turned," he hissed and dashed towards them. Irulan's eyes widened with disbelief and suddenly she forgot all about how this whole thing had come to this point in the first place. She turned to place herself in front of Legolas, knowing that Eomer would only stop at that, but Legolas shoved her away so gently and yet so quickly, she staggered backwards and lost her footing and landed on the ground once more before her mind could register what was happening.
And what was happening was not good, for the elf had his double blades drawn in an instant and parried the sword, then having succeeded in blocking the attack, left his defensive stance and moved in for an attack himself. "Are you mad?!" yelled Irulan and jumped up to her feet, running to the two crazy men. She literally jumped right between their blades, not caring if they would cut her by accident. At this moment, she very much preferred to be cut rather than seeing either one receiving a blow.
"Irulan! Stay out of this!" yelled Eomer and tried to step around her, but she flew into his chest and tried to push him back. He did not even move an inch. Legolas, of course, having seen Irulan in his lethal range, stepped back right away, but did not sheathe his knives. The stunned Rohirrim along with a very anxious Gimli had finally woken up and began running towards them. Irulan thought 'Thank the Heavens!' and found herself sitting on the floor again! 'What in the name of....?' she thought and watched in amazement as the duo resumed their battle. Which continued with Legolas throwing Eomer a good distance and, swirling his blades in his hands, remaining still, waiting for the man to rise to his feet again.
Irulan dashed ahead again, "Legolas! Stop this instant!" she yelled and this time, stepped in front of him, turning her back to Eomer who was already on his feet. The running party of men seemed still too far away.
"Irulan! Step away from him!" she heard Eomer behind her. "The elf will die today!"
"NO! Are you insane! You act like enemies! You are on the same side, here!"
"He will not lay hands on you like that again, Irulan," said Legolas with a low growl and nudging her away once more, swirled his blades to approach.
"Eomer stop! I swear I will lose it and kick you both senseless!" And then it actually occurred to her that she could do that! She stood up and prepared to Shift. The duo moved in closer to each other. 'Don't make me do this!' she thought. 'Don't make me do this you stupid lot!'
"Do not worry, Irulan! I will free you of this creature, this very day!" said Eomer and Irulan let the calmness envelop her instantly. She almost welcomed the metallic taste in her mouth and the growing silence of the void. He fear slowly melted away when she realized that there was nothing to fear in here. In an instant she would Shift and end all this.
Exactly at that moment the running party arrived and flooded in between the crazy duo, forcing them apart and pushing each further back. A part of Irulan yearned to Shift nevertheless, for the pull of it was growing and pulsing in her. Yet another part exhaled with relief and closed her eyes. She let go of the calmness and softly allowed sensations and sounds to return to her.
Legolas let himself be pushed away by the Rohirrim, who actually were not pushing him, but rather blocking his way and slowly advancing on him, making him retreat. Even at this moment, their fear and respect were too great for them to push an Eldar around. He had engaged in a duel with their captain, but that was not an unusual or a low thing to do amongst Rohirrim. It was the legal and honorable way to kill someone, actually.
He felt a pull at his arm and looked down to see Gimli holding on to him as if Legolas was a little child. A sudden urge to laugh almost overcame him, then, but he did not give in to it. His anger was too great at the moment. He stepped back, and continued doing so, then turned around and walked away. The Rohirrim remained behind when they realized that he meant not to insist in his intentions. Gimli, though, hung to him with a force that almost hurt, but Legolas let him be and walked off a little further. Then he remained standing and closed his eyes. A dark pulse was beating within him, and anger rustled the dead and shriveled leaves of his mind. He could almost hear the wind howling in his head, screeching with rage. And yet, he pressed it down, and further down, and yet continued pressing, until the rays of reason once more shone on the territory of his mind. Moments passed. His breathing returned to normal and the tumult in his head slowed down. He opened his eyes and realized that he was still holding his blades. Slowly freeing his arm from Gimli, who let go and stepped back a little, he sheathed them behind his back.
He took a deep breath and turned around to look at the party. They had resumed their search for survivors. Eomer was far off, stroking the neck of his horse, his back turned to him. Legolas sighed. It had indeed been foolish for them to engage in something like this, but he felt no regret. Any man with pride would have reacted if his woman was carried off like that. 'His woman?' Legolas halted, stunned. True, what he did was normal for an elf as well as a human, for a man would defend his family and his kin - anything else was unthinkable. But........'HIS woman?!' That certainly sounded wrong. And suddenly he remembered Irulan.
He looked for her and found her talking to King Theoden. Under normal circumstances she should have been calming him down and making explanations, but at the moment their positions seemed to be reversed and Theoden was obviously trying to comfort a very anxious Irulan. The distance and the noises in the battlefield prevented him from hearing.
"Legolas, you are becoming a dwarf day by day!" said Gimli suddenly and chuckled at the confused expression of the elf. "I never thought I would see you acting as you did today, but alas, it seems like finally you have come to your senses!" boomed Gimli and actually laughed.
Legolas shook his head and smiled despite himself. "Gimli, when this ends, I will certainly be elf no longer!" he said with a tinge of bitter amusement.
"Good for you!" yelped Gimli and laughed again. Then his laugh died as he gazed at something behind Legolas and Legolas turned around to see Irulan approaching them. Only she looked extremely furious. Suddenly he wished he had not pushed his anger too far back. It looked like he was going to be very defenseless right when he was supposed to be his strongest - the incoming storm was mighty indeed. He turned around to look at Gimli and the dwarf sighed, saying "Let me handle this."
She arrived by their side and looked like she was about to retrieve her staff and cut them both into half. She gave Legolas an extremely cold look and the elf found rescue in pushing his chin up and hiding behind a blank mask. He kept saying to himself that he did the right thing and alas, it really was true. But the problem was.......Irulan obviously thought otherwise.
Irulan pursed her lips with the effort to shut up. Refusing to talk to him, she turned to Gimli and spoke with a voice that surprised even her with the bleak anger in it: "I will go," she said, and it sounded like velvet swishing over metal, "and do myself a favor and jump off that damn cliff. Don't you DARE stop me!"
Legolas' eyes widened and he swiftly turned to look at Gimli, but Irulan had already moved ahead and she was walking towards the overhang. Gimli motioned him to be quiet and hastily followed Irulan. Legolas strode a small distance behind. "We will not stop you, do not worry, Irulan," he said, panting with the effort to keep up with her long strides. "But I certainly hope that the water is not too cold. If I am to die, I might as well die a little more comfortable!"
At that, Irulan slowed down to look behind. "What are you talking about?" she hissed, but did not stop walking.
"Why, you truly don't think that I will let you jump off there alone now, do you?" he said matter-of-factly.
Irulan stopped a few steps away and looked towards the cliff. She hesitated for a moment. These men were crazy.......what if........"Gimli, stay out of this," she said finally, unable to come up with something better.
"Stay out of this? STAY OUT OF THIS?" He boomed and looked angry for the first time. "Oh no my fair Lady! I am a part of this Fellowship. And so are you! Where you go, we will follow!"
'They dare not!' she thought in amazement. She turned to look at Legolas and he was standing behind Gimli, a very determined look on his face. 'Alright, maybe they dare after all. Damn!'
"I can not swim. Not that it would make a difference with this heavy armor, but.........nevertheless, I am ready, Irulan. Go ahead, jump," he said and held his axe with two hands, as if he meant to go to combat. And he looked very much like he actually meant to do it!
"A member of this Fellowship is down there, and I will find him!" she bolted suddenly, her anger taking a hold on her.
"And who is stopping you?!" boomed Gimli back.
A tense silence stretched during which Irulan turned to look at the cliff again and felt frustration rising in her. These stupid, stupid men! They would jump after her! And most certainly she would only end up killing all of them. "If Aragorn were here now, he would do the same, and you know it," Gimli said suddenly, with a much softer voice. That broke her last damn and she could not help the tears from falling any longer.
"Aragorn," she whispered and felt herself falling over that cliff over and over again. "No.......not him." She felt Gimli holding her arm and Legolas came around to embrace her gently. And though she wanted to push him away, the thought of accepting Aragorn's death dulled that anger for now. "I can not accept it," she said, still crying, "I simply can not. It is beyond me." They stood like that for a long time and hung on to each other. But with Aragorn gone, she felt the Fellowship crumbling in her head. His absence was a throbbing pain. They could never be the same without him. So they stood, trying to find comfort in each other and each one failing badly. Moments became minutes, minutes stretched further and further. His face was before her, floating in her mind and it was torture itself.
Irulan only found the strength to let go when she heard King Theoden's voice nearby, commanding for departure. She broke the touch and went off to the side, sitting on the ground and resting her back to a rock, not wishing to talk to Theoden at that moment. She heard Gimli and Legolas talking with him. They would continue to Helm's Deep. A part of her stubbornly resisted. She would not go! Now that Aragorn was not with them, it was pointless and stupid anyway! She would not leave this spot. She wiped away the tears and tried to take a deep breath. She had to find reason again! Her mind was obviously spinning out of control, here.
A few minutes passed. Suddenly Gimli and Legolas were by her side again. "Irulan.......we must continue," said Legolas softly and knelt beside her.
Gimli put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. "We can not desert them now, Irulan," he said, "Aragorn would wish us to continue. Otherwise, his loss would be in vain."
Irulan nodded softly and slowly stood up. She did not want to think about Aragorn, because a strong side of her simply refused to believe in his death. He was destined to become king! He could not die! 'Have faith,' she told herself silently and actually felt a little better at that idea. 'Have faith in destiny! He can not die for he will become king!' She sighed deeply and decided not to share this idea.......in case they might attempt to chop it down, simply to make her accept reality or something silly like that.
With the pain of Aragorn receding in her and a self-constructed, yet very real hope returning, other things began to blink in her mind once more. She looked up at Legolas with a very bleak look once more. He, of course, knew instantly what she was thinking and halted in his attempt to touch her. "Legolas, if you think I have forgotten your little show today, you are very, very wrong!" she hissed.
For an instant uneasiness washed on his features. But a moment later it was gone and to her surprise, Legolas pushed his chin up and clasped his hands behind his back with a very cool expression on his face. "I did nothing to be ashamed of," he said.
Irulan's mouth dropped open at that. She looked at him with disbelief, but he just stared back with that cold expression. "What?!" she managed finally, "I can't believe you said that!"
"Stop it, Irulan! You know the lad is right!" Gimli intervened from her left.
She stopped walking. "Has everyone gone mad? Are you under some spell that perhaps only affects men?!" she said in disbelief.
"Yes and you certainly don't understand it. It's called 'pride'!" boomed Gimli. Irulan gave him a very sharp look, but to her surprise, Gimli remained unaffected as well. Nobody seemed to take her seriously today. "I mean, that Eomer fellow! How DARE he?! He offended you, Irulan. If Legolas had not intervened, I would have doubted his honor. And then, I would have intervened myself!"
She remained speechless. 'I must have hit my head,' she thought, 'I am lying somewhere in that battlefield now and dreaming all this.'
"What the hell are you talking about?!" she boomed, "He meant to stop me from jumping!"
"Oh but he did not merely stop you, Irulan. He grabbed you like a sack of potatoes and ran off with you!" He turned to her suddenly, "Did you really expect Legolas and me to remain behind, watching that?"
"Eomer is my friend, Gimli," she said finally with obvious irritation and warning in her tone, "he meant nothing further."
"I suggest you wake up, Irulan!" the dwarf boomed. She glanced at Legolas, but he was walking silently to her right, his face unreadable. Irulan turned to Gimli to reply, but he continued, completely unaffected: "Either accept the truth and act on it, or do not blame others for acting on what is obvious. No man should walk up to you now and drag you away while Legolas is here. Eomer ignored your man on purpose and Legolas reminded him, for all I care. Any man with pride would have done the same thing."
'My man?!' she thought, truly baffled now. 'What the.......' But then she suddenly realized that Gimli was only talking in the terminology of his own culture. "Is that so?" she said with a bitter tone and turned to Legolas, who was still walking in silence. "Would you have acted the same way if it was Aragorn, Legolas?"
Legolas looked up at her with a cold look. "Of course not. Aragorn would never do that to you in the first place. He would stop you, yes, but he would leave you to me. Estel has enough manners to step aside when I am present, and he always has done so." Irulan realized that Legolas was talking about Aragorn as if he was still alive and she felt glad for that. Then she forced herself to remember the stupid conversation at hand. Only........now that she was thinking back......Aragorn had indeed never attempted to 'handle' her while Legolas was around to do it. Yes.......he had dragged her out of Moria once.......but Legolas had not been nearby to do it then.......and afterwards........he had left her with him. Now that she thought about it, Legolas had always been the one to carry her, stop her from fighting or pick her up. 'Men have a secret understanding about possession!' she realized suddenly. 'I belong to Legolas now, is that so?!' she thought with rising fury and dismay.
"Not to mention that Aragorn never had the intentions about you that Eomer has, Irulan," Gimli said suddenly and broke her train of thought.
"That is still no reason to fight like a madman with your own ally!" she shouted finally. "I can understand a kind intervention........." -and she stressed the 'kind' part........although it was a fairly ridiculous idea considering the situation and Eomer- ".......however drawing knives and battling like orcs is certainly not the way to solve things."
"Kind intervention, huh?" said Gimli with impatience. "Let me see.........so Legolas was supposed to run after Eomer while he was carrying you like a dead donkey, but not interfere, mind you, and try to reason with him? Or perhaps beg him to let you go? And I suppose Master Eomer would have come to his senses at that instant and lowered you gently to the ground? Legolas," he said and turned to look at the elf, "why did we never think of that option, lad?"
She was about to say something really ugly but Legolas spoke up with that calm voice again: "Irulan, I did what I deemed was right. If it were to happen again, I would do it again. Master Eomer has to accept the truth about us, even though he may not like it. And although he may be a formidable fighter, he is only a child compared to me. I could have killed him easily, if that had been my intention."
She looked from one to the other, one to her right and the other to her left. They both kept walking as calm and relaxed as if this was a picnic party. 'The sensible one has obviously left the Fellowship!' she thought bitterly. Although, now that she thought about it......Aragorn would have probably done the same thing! Irulan barely kept herself from moaning. 'Why deny it, Irulan.......they make sense,' said that accursed inner voice. As always, it knew exactly when to show up. She shook her head with disagreement and irritation. 'If Eomer had accepted and respected you and Legolas, he would have stopped you, but then stepped back. As a matter of fact, you should be angry at him, for refusing to listen to you and not respecting your choices in life.' Irulan sighed bitterly. 'He did it only to save me,' she protested. 'Grow up, Irulan,' the voice shot back with amusement. 'No doubt that is true, but you see only what you want to see. There is obviously much more to this picture.' Irulan felt anger growing in her again. 'So I am an object now? I BELONG to Legolas, is that so?' The voice laughed softly. 'You might find that annoying at the moment, but you certainly had no problem with that idea when Eomer was carrying you away from him.'
Irulan felt anger and embarrassment mixing in her and hitting her cheeks. They had arrived by their horses that had found each other and had been waiting for their riders. The party of Rohirrim was leaving and galloping to reach the safety of Helm's Deep. She looked back one last time for Aragorn, as if the man might appear suddenly behind the rocks, then sighed and turned to mount Baron. Legolas was standing before her, with Baron's reigns in his hands. His face had softened, but the determination was still obvious.
"Irulan," he said, and hesitated, looking into her eyes, trying to make her understand. She looked still very angry with him. "I know you are angry with me and I know you do not agree. But I would not let him handle you like that. Neither would I let him play with your honor or mine." He stood looking at her and then raised his hand to caress her cheek. Irulan turned away with mild anger. Legolas paused for a moment and pain appeared on his face, but then the moment and the expression was gone and he reached behind him to draw one of his knives. He held it horizontally on the blade and offered it to her.
She looked down at it with surprise and then back up at him. "What are you doing?"
"I told you," he said with a calm voice, "I would prefer you to deal me a stroke rather than for you to shy my touch."
She looked at him with disbelief. "Legolas, you are mad! All of you!" she protested and tried to pass by him to mount Baron, again.
He stopped her again. Irulan looked at the blade in his hand, feeling nervous about its presence alone. Suddenly she thought whether he was actually mad enough to cut himself if she refused to do it. She glanced up at him, but his expression was unreadable once more. He slowly took the blade by the handle and sheathed it. Then he stepped up to her and kissed her softly on the lips. Irulan did not withdraw but stubbornly refused to kiss him back. Legolas broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. "Irulan, forgive me," he pleaded with a whisper. A long moment passed between them. 'Don't you even DARE to consider forgiving him!' a part of her said. 'And let him turn this into something even more terrible than it already is?' she shot back. 'Forgive him and he'll keep on doing it!' it reasoned. 'He'll keep on doing it anyway. I might as well forgive him,' she replied with a tired sigh.
Legolas leaned in carefully and kissed her again, and this time she did respond. He felt the darkness threatening to suffocate him instantly fading away and embraced her tighter, seeking rescue in her kiss. He absolutely could never go on if she would refuse him now, if she would shut him out again. Legolas felt the pain of recent loss and the fear of other upcoming losses stalking him, rounding in on him now like terrible beasts. But they were powerless in the fire of Irulan. As long as she allowed him to remain in this circle, he knew he would be safe.
***
Eomer was watching them from a distance and words could not describe the fury in him. That elf was forcing himself on her! He was threatening her! Legolas had tried to caress her cheek, but Irulan had refused. And what did the elf do? He had very openly refused to let her mount Baron and then even had dared to draw his knife on her! And then he had kissed her, even though Irulan seemed unwilling to do so. And he had forced her to accept his kiss....So this was the true story behind their relationship! Irulan was forced to remain with him because this creature had been threatening her from the beginning. She was obviously too afraid and confused to seek for help. This creature had been forcing himself on his little thorn! He thought back to the night Legolas had approached them by the fire. The way he had encircled her waist as if she belonged to him. The way he had extended his hand and expected her to walk back to him!
Eomer closed his eyes and tried to overcome to urge to ride there this minute and kill Legolas instantly. How dare he! How dare he treat her like this! He swallowed softly and tried to take control of his feelings again. At that moment Eomer swore to himself that no matter what happened, he would not let Irulan lead this life of a slave and prisoner. He looked at Legolas. "I will kill you," he whispered and rode off towards Helm's Deep.