Born to Love Again, Again, and Again Part 8

Next, we turned to the southeast to a warmer climate. We sailed down the coast of a country where the people were black. I had never seen such people before. We made several stops to trade and buy supplies. At the village of the Lombodjinee tribe we were invited to attend a festive celebration for the chief's daughter's marriage to the son of the chief of a neighboring village. The alliance would bring peace to the region. The women were beautiful and graceful. They wore large bracelets and earrings of silver and gold.

At the celebration there was much dancing and drumming. We ate and drank. Gimli and Ainslee danced with the natives. Gimli came over to where Legolas and I were sitting and grabbed us pulling us out to the dance area. The natives were bobbing up and down mostly. We started off that way. Then Legolas put my hands up on his shoulders and he put his hands around my waist and whirled me around and around. He was as light as a feather. We laughed so hard and were having so much fun that the natives stopped dancing and started looking at us. Then they began to copy what we were doing. With the fine drink we had been served and all the twirling around, I became so dizzy I fell. Even as nimble as Legolas was, he fell beside me. His body touched mine and it was so hot that I wondered why his clothing was not scorched. He put his hand behind my back and helped me up. His hot hand on my back gave me the same sensation I had in the cave. I felt as though the handprint would be on my body for eternity. I had to tell myself that my attraction for this extraordinary young man were absurd, and that I would soon be getting off the ship and making a life for myself somewhere.

We left the Lombodjinees with a promise to stop again on our return trip. I tried to stay clear of Legolas because I felt my attraction to him would bring me nothing but pain. I kept busy shining everything on the ship until it gleamed. I prepared delicious meals with the fresh fruits and vegetables we had picked up in the village. Legolas and the others complimented me on my cooking skills and talked about how hard I was working. We sailed south until we came to more ice covered islands. Turning and coming back up the coast, we stopped at another village to see tribesmen whom Legolas and Gimli had traded with before. They had jewels called diamonds that looked like ice crystals. This was the first time I had seen such jewels. Legolas and Gimli traded and bought supplies.

Ainslee confided in me that she was falling in love with Gimli. Even though he seemed rough around the edges, he treated her with great respect and kindness. His sense of humor kept us amused, and he told many tales of his kinsmen in Moria. He fashioned a ring for Ainslee with a huge diamond.

We traveled back up the coast and stopped again at the village of the Lombodjinees. While we were there Gimli asked Ainslee to marry him. The tribe had a "holy man" who offered to perform the ceremony, so they decided there was no need to wait. They were married in a large building that was the tribal temple. Afterward there was much singing and dancing. Gimli and Ainslee spent their wedding night aboard ship. Legolas spent the night in the home of the chief, and I stayed in a home of the chief's brother's family. We departed the next afternoon and made our way north again. Gimli and Ainslee prepared a room for themselves in the ship and settled down as a happy married couple.

A week later it was the anniversary of the day the Green Isle was invaded. I was feeling very low. I missed my mother and the children that I had tutored. I missed the fact that I had never had children. Legolas found me looking out at the sea crying. He tenderly put his hand on my shoulder. It was so warm and comforting. He asked me why I was crying. "It was one year ago today that my world as I knew it was destroyed." I told him that I was grieving because I wanted children so badly and had never had any, and that I missed the little ones in Kinndenfarr. He asked me why I had not married after my husband died. I said I never found anyone to measure up to him and I would not settle for second best. At least while I had the children to teach, it filled the void in my heart. Then Legolas said something that shocked me. He said, "You are still of childbearing age. Why do you not seek someone now to father a child for you?"

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