Chapter 13: Everything as planned

The midday sun was shining down on the small group of hunters. They had been riding at full speed almost all forenoon and now their horses were exhausted. The beautiful sight of the Nîn-in-Eilph falls had passed them by almost unnoticed. Selina had frowned in disappointment and sworn to herself silently to come back, after the battle was fought and explore this beautiful part of Middle-Earth more closely.

Now their horses had slowed down considerably and traipsed over the plains of Endewaith, worn out by the long and fast ride. The company was following the trail Tulrah's army had left behind. He was surely not worrying about anybody pursuing him or in other words - he didn't care if anybody did. His army had made a huge path where heavy feet had trampled over the grass, clearly visible for the five hunters. It was a trail of destruction that parted the green sea before them.

Selina turned her head to gaze at her companions. Gimli was looking gruff and bad moody, riding next to a silent and equally ill-humoured Aragorn. Gandalf followed closely behind, his eyes fixed on a far away point in the distance, his forehead in a frown. She raised an eyebrow and decided, against her better judgement, to turn around and ride up to them. Three bad moody men, were at least better company than a silent and pensive looking elf.

"Selina?", Gandalf said, surprised to see her leave her post, "Did you discover anything?"

"Yes, I did. I discovered even though I like the strong silent type, this elf's silence is too much for me. Six whole hours! I just couldn't take it anymore!", she said exasperatedly.

The wizard and Aragorn chuckled in amusement and even Gimli joined in.

"They tend to get this way when they are worried about something or want to sort through their feelings. You must consider that they have a very long life span, so six hours of brooding are like ten minutes for us. It is something you can overcome by simply telling them. They are not aware of it and don't do it out of bad intentions. ", Aragorn explained to her.

"You seem to know elfish nature very well..............", Selina said interestedly.

"Yes, I do. I grew up amongst the elven kind.", he answered with a nostalgic expression on his face.

"I don't want to offend Legolas in anyway. Is there anything I should know?", she asked curiously.

"Well, usually it is very difficult to offend an elf. They are by nature very patient and forgiving, but you must know that they are rather.........", he seemed to be looking for the right word, "reserved. Winning their friendship or even their love is not an easy task."

"And Master Aragorn must know! After all he is married to Lord Elrond's daughter Arwen.", Gimli added in.

"Yes, I was lucky and one day, after I admired her many years from a distance, she gave her heart to me.", the man said and a soft expression washed over his face.

Had he just said years? Selina cringed inwardly, not wanting to wait for so long for any kind of response from Legolas. Despite her dismay she smiled at Aragorn and nodded, having to acknowledge that his tale was truly unique and sweet. "But, pray explain tell me how come that Gimli befriended our silent warrior?", she said with mirth dancing in her eyes.

"That is a riddle still unsolved!", Gandalf winked at her.

"Our friendship is based on mutual respect, something you three have obviously not heard of yet.", the dwarf muttered gruffly.

Selina let out a rich laugh. For the first time in days her heart felt a little bit lighter. She rode over to Gimli and touched his shoulder in an affectionate gesture. "Thank you for giving to me the gift of laughter, my friend! I thought I lost it in the last days!", she said good-naturedly.

He mumbled something in his beard that sounded like "you are welcome" and evaded to look her in the eye. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he was being a bit shy.

Selina looked ahead at Legolas who was riding a good twenty meters in front of them. The soft breeze blew back his long golden hair over his broad shoulders. He had a regal air about him, sitting proudly on his horse with his bow and quiver over his shoulder. Then suddenly the elf turned around and caught her eye. An unspoken question shone in his gaze that was fixed on her for a long moment before he concentrated again on the path that lay ahead of them.

Aragorn noticed their brief exchange and threw Gimli and Gandalf an astonished glance. The dwarf shrugged his shoulders, while the wizard had an amused smile on his face. What was going on between Selina and Legolas? Could it be that they had developed feelings for each other that went beyond friendship? Curiosity nagged at him.

"You and Legolas seem to have gotten quite close.", Aragorn stated after a while, determined to find out more about this situation.

"Do you think so?", she said trying hard to sound casually.

"Yes, he usually doesn't open up to other people so quickly. You must have something to you that interests him greatly.", came the answer.

"Aye, Master Aragorn, only the Valar know how bored he is by the vain and dull chatter of those she-elf back in Mirkwood.", the dwarf said. "How many times have I heard him complain that they lacked passion and this inner fire he is looking for in a woman." Gimli looked pointedly at the young Selvadage'tok, who tried hard to appear totally uninterested in the conversation. "It is highly unfortunate that we don't know anybody who fits this description, isn't it?", the dwarf added in an afterthought. Aragorn let out a soft chuckle and even Gandalf smirked a bit.

Anybody who knew the young Selvadage'tok woman would have expected her to explode with anger at that comment, but instead she stayed eerily calm. To Selina this presented a very good opportunity. Her mind was still set on the task of winning Legolas's heart and she usually knew very well how to get her will. She grinned. A man's attention can be won by three things. First of all: ignore them. With men it is always the same - they only want what they can't have or at least what they can't have easily. Secondly: give them a smidgeon of hope, something to hold on to. Not too much and not too little! A brief smile, a deep look in his eyes, a seemingly accidental touch... And thirdly if anything else fails - make them jealous! If they see that their pray has been spotted by other hunters, they will make hurry to claim it themselves.

Selina knew very well that Legolas's keen senses had enabled him to follow their whole conversation. The fact that he had turned around and looked at her was proof enough. She hoped that he was still all ears.

In the sweetest voice she could muster she said "Well, Master Gimli...", she bent down and was now on eye level with him, "Who said I was interested in the elf? After all what does he have to offer besides his fair features? Perhaps I have already lost my heart to someone who is smaller, but far more nobler than he is!"

The dwarf blushed fervently, while the other two grinned even wider, if that was even humanly possible. The best part of it was that her plan had worked! It took Legolas less than three seconds to turn his horse around and ride up to them. She pretended not to notice and continued to chat merrily with Gimli.

"Aragorn, maybe we should rest for a little! If we wear out our horses too much, they won't carry us very far!", the elf said with a concerned frown on his face, casting jealous sideway glances at Selina and Gimli. "You are right my friend!", Aragorn said, still smiling from cheek to cheek.

~

The hawk was flying in circles over their heads. A Selvadage'tok woman, a human, an Istari, a dwarf and an elf. This was the group of warriors he had been sent out to spy on. It had been so easy, like catching a worm after a day of rain. His master would be pleased. The hawk let out a shrill cry and took off in the direction of Gondor.