I'm sooo sorry! This is really late in being updated but due to
overwhelming love for this story, I've decided to rewrite the end so
completition may be in a couple of days. I will continue writing and update
as soon as I've finished a new chapter. Keep reviewing! Anna.
Chapter Seven: Eagles and Pigeons
Legolas opened the book up and started reading intently, hoping that his elven hearing would be able to tell him if he was about to walk into anyone before it was too late.
Head bent over the book, Legolas wandered down the corridors and to his way to the library. The prince was on the final pages of "The Eagles" a fascinating story about the famous eagles of the past and present.
"Milord, she ruined a brand new plough!"
Legolas looked up when he heard raised voices. They were coming from the King's study, a room that Estel was rarely seen in. It was more of a couple of bookshelves and desk room.
Opening the door slightly, he looked inside.
Slumped on the floor and weeping softly was the young girl who had been sowing behind him on that gloriously sunny day. Standing above her and with a cane in his hand was the man that Legolas recognized from court as the Minister of Agriculture. He handled the accounts, employing people to work on the farm, totalling how much money was spent and how much they would return in prices.
Estel was slumped at the desk, his head in his hands.
"Yes, so why should she be fired?" Elessar asked.
The Minister sighed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was clearly getting annoyed. "Because she is a sloppy worker and this is not the first time she has broken something" -
"I didn't mean to sir, 'onestly!" the girl sobbed, raising her tear stained face to the King. Then she blushed under his scrutinizing gaze and lowered her head again.
"What did she break before?" the King asked.
"A bucket."
Legolas had to raise the book to cover his mouth as he snorted. A bucket. It only took a couple of hours construction to make a bucket.
The Minister spun around and saw the elf standing in the doorway. "Excuse me," he said sharply. "You may be royalty among elves, but you have no business here." Legolas winced at the sharpness of the question.
"You are here about the plough?" Legolas asked.
"Yes. It has broken since it was pulled free of the mud," the Minister said with a slight twitch of his nose that said that he didn't like Legolas.
"And the girl is related to it.. how?"
"She was using it when it broke."
Legolas sighed and looked down at the girl. "Then you have no case to make." He bent down and helped the girl up with a couple of soothing elvish words. She relaxed and smiled bashfully at him in thanks. "The plough was already broken. I saw it when it was pulled out of the mud. The workmanship in it was sloppy. Tell me, how much did you pay for it?"
"Fifty gold pieces," the Minister said defensively.
"Fifty gold pieces! A piece of driftwood would have made a better plough!" Legolas said scornfully. "The equipment you give the people is cheap and therefore is broken after one use. And then you blame it on the people and fire them for incompetence and charge them the price of a new plough! I am surprise you let this man work for you Es"-
"And what would a Prince of Mirkwood know of this?" the Minister asked with a sly smile.
Legolas coloured slightly but jutted his jaw forward stubbornly (a trait that was passed down from Thranduil, who was notorious for his obstinacy). "I was working with them."
"I'll let you in on a little face about life here in Gondor, dear prince," the man's voice was dripped with sarcasm as he leant forward.
"In Gondor.. How should I put it so you animal loving folk would understand it?" the Minister's eyes flickered down at the book still held by Legolas. And then he smiled nastily.
"In Gondor, eagles mingle with eagles and.. Pigeons mingle with pigeons. You are an eagle and she" he looked at the girl down his nose and with a look of immense dislike. "is a pigeon. While in Gondor do as the Gondorians do. Even this pigeon knows her place. So should you. Do not mess in matters of politics that are beyond the notions of the elves."
The way he said elves insinuated what he thought of the fairer race. The Minister believed that the elves were very wise when it came to the past, but they had no place in the modern world of politics. "Go and sing a song or something."
Legolas' eyes blazed and he was about to lunge forward when Estel coughed politely. "Gentlemen, thank you very much. Legolas, if you could leave please."
Estel did not share the Minister's views at all but he could see the anger in his friend's body language and did not wish the man to be on the receiving end of an angry elf. It was something to be reckoned with.
Legolas looked at his friend, disappointment and disgust in his eyes. "I thought you would have stuck up for me Estel," he hissed in low elvish.
Estel look hurt at his friend's comment and frowned. "Legolas, nin mellon"- but he was cut off.
"How can you live in such a capitalist society?!" Legolas hissed, still in elvish and stalked out of the room leaving a smirking Minister.
Elessar groaned and glared at the triumphant man. "Begone!" he cried. "I will deal with you later."
The smug look left his face as the Minister bowed and left the room.
"Girl," his voice softened. "Come and tell me what really happened.."
~
Legolas stormed outside, his footsteps seemed louder than normal to his acute elven hearing, but they only made a dull thud to mortal ears.
He walked into the garden and let the cool breeze surround him. It was late morning and the sun had been lazy in rising. It was a clear day with the sun shining and the clouds drifting slothfully across the sky. It had cooled down since the sunniest day that autumn gave that year and there was a fresh wind.
The breeze did nothing to cool his temper and he stormed through the garden and angrily climbed a tree to stare out across the horizon. Why was he in Gondor anyway?
It had just been to be there for the party. But now the party was over and he had the excuse to return home or to again wander.
"Legolas, if you continue this habit of yours then you will one day wake up with a pair of wings," a voice chuckled below him. "I also seem to be in the same position as a couple of days previous, and therefore I have a weird sense of déjà vu which is most annoying."
Legolas looked down and sighed. "Eldarion, I am not in the mood today."
"Not in the mood?" Eldarion said with a mock-pout. "Then dear prince, when will you be in the mood?"
Legolas jumped down from the tree sprightly and stared into the man's eyes. "I do not know," he replied bluntly and started to walk away.
"Legolas where are you going?" Eldarion asked.
"Whither the wind takes me," Legolas said and opened the gate leading out of the garden.
"Legolas?" Eldarion stopped and stared at the retreating figure of his love.
"Legolas!" he cried and started running after the elf. "What about last night? Was that nothing."
Legolas turned around, a sad smile on his noble features and it seemed to Eldarion that the wood-elf's pensive blue eyes age immensely. "Eldarion, it was nothing more than an infatuation. Brief and pleasant." He turned around again and carried on striding towards the stable.
Eldarion gave out a strange sound that was half a whimper, half a cry of despair. "Why are you lying to me?"
"It is to make you stop following me," Legolas said without looking behind him. "Eldarion you cannot love me. Twill never work out. I am an elf, you are a man, we come from two entirely different worlds. I am bound to nothing but the vague and uncertain future I may have on the throne of Greenwood, you are bound to your fate as a King. I am the leaf caught in the wind, I go where it takes me. You are the tree from which the leaf is blown, never able to move" -
"Unless I was an Ent!" Eldarion added.
"Yes, unless you were an Ent," Legolas sighed. "I am the" -
"Please stop with the similes," the man groaned.
"I will as long as you see the point!"
Legolas turned around a final time and when Eldarion stood in front of him, reached out a hand and cupped the prince's cheek.
Eldarion quickly squeezed the hand tightly against his smooth cheek and then removing it, kissed it. "Legolas please. It may be brief, but please, let me love you for more than one night. We are meant to be together. You are the other half of me. You don't know how happy you make me feel."
Legolas had calmed down slightly and now he looked the prince with remorse for his harsh words. "I do know," he said leaning in to rest his forehead against Eldarion's.
They stared into each other's eyes and a silent message was passed between the two of them. For as long or short a time we have, we will remain together, Legolas silently told Eldarion.
The man nodded in reply and kissed the elf's nose. "Thank you for giving me another chance," Eldarion whispered after they kissed again.
Legolas looked at the man with great love. "Thank you for forgiving my attempts to push you away."
~
Thanks to my anonymous reviewers. You're great! If you have email addresses, please leave them, because I would love to thank you personally for your support.
; )
~
Chapter Seven: Eagles and Pigeons
Legolas opened the book up and started reading intently, hoping that his elven hearing would be able to tell him if he was about to walk into anyone before it was too late.
Head bent over the book, Legolas wandered down the corridors and to his way to the library. The prince was on the final pages of "The Eagles" a fascinating story about the famous eagles of the past and present.
"Milord, she ruined a brand new plough!"
Legolas looked up when he heard raised voices. They were coming from the King's study, a room that Estel was rarely seen in. It was more of a couple of bookshelves and desk room.
Opening the door slightly, he looked inside.
Slumped on the floor and weeping softly was the young girl who had been sowing behind him on that gloriously sunny day. Standing above her and with a cane in his hand was the man that Legolas recognized from court as the Minister of Agriculture. He handled the accounts, employing people to work on the farm, totalling how much money was spent and how much they would return in prices.
Estel was slumped at the desk, his head in his hands.
"Yes, so why should she be fired?" Elessar asked.
The Minister sighed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was clearly getting annoyed. "Because she is a sloppy worker and this is not the first time she has broken something" -
"I didn't mean to sir, 'onestly!" the girl sobbed, raising her tear stained face to the King. Then she blushed under his scrutinizing gaze and lowered her head again.
"What did she break before?" the King asked.
"A bucket."
Legolas had to raise the book to cover his mouth as he snorted. A bucket. It only took a couple of hours construction to make a bucket.
The Minister spun around and saw the elf standing in the doorway. "Excuse me," he said sharply. "You may be royalty among elves, but you have no business here." Legolas winced at the sharpness of the question.
"You are here about the plough?" Legolas asked.
"Yes. It has broken since it was pulled free of the mud," the Minister said with a slight twitch of his nose that said that he didn't like Legolas.
"And the girl is related to it.. how?"
"She was using it when it broke."
Legolas sighed and looked down at the girl. "Then you have no case to make." He bent down and helped the girl up with a couple of soothing elvish words. She relaxed and smiled bashfully at him in thanks. "The plough was already broken. I saw it when it was pulled out of the mud. The workmanship in it was sloppy. Tell me, how much did you pay for it?"
"Fifty gold pieces," the Minister said defensively.
"Fifty gold pieces! A piece of driftwood would have made a better plough!" Legolas said scornfully. "The equipment you give the people is cheap and therefore is broken after one use. And then you blame it on the people and fire them for incompetence and charge them the price of a new plough! I am surprise you let this man work for you Es"-
"And what would a Prince of Mirkwood know of this?" the Minister asked with a sly smile.
Legolas coloured slightly but jutted his jaw forward stubbornly (a trait that was passed down from Thranduil, who was notorious for his obstinacy). "I was working with them."
"I'll let you in on a little face about life here in Gondor, dear prince," the man's voice was dripped with sarcasm as he leant forward.
"In Gondor.. How should I put it so you animal loving folk would understand it?" the Minister's eyes flickered down at the book still held by Legolas. And then he smiled nastily.
"In Gondor, eagles mingle with eagles and.. Pigeons mingle with pigeons. You are an eagle and she" he looked at the girl down his nose and with a look of immense dislike. "is a pigeon. While in Gondor do as the Gondorians do. Even this pigeon knows her place. So should you. Do not mess in matters of politics that are beyond the notions of the elves."
The way he said elves insinuated what he thought of the fairer race. The Minister believed that the elves were very wise when it came to the past, but they had no place in the modern world of politics. "Go and sing a song or something."
Legolas' eyes blazed and he was about to lunge forward when Estel coughed politely. "Gentlemen, thank you very much. Legolas, if you could leave please."
Estel did not share the Minister's views at all but he could see the anger in his friend's body language and did not wish the man to be on the receiving end of an angry elf. It was something to be reckoned with.
Legolas looked at his friend, disappointment and disgust in his eyes. "I thought you would have stuck up for me Estel," he hissed in low elvish.
Estel look hurt at his friend's comment and frowned. "Legolas, nin mellon"- but he was cut off.
"How can you live in such a capitalist society?!" Legolas hissed, still in elvish and stalked out of the room leaving a smirking Minister.
Elessar groaned and glared at the triumphant man. "Begone!" he cried. "I will deal with you later."
The smug look left his face as the Minister bowed and left the room.
"Girl," his voice softened. "Come and tell me what really happened.."
~
Legolas stormed outside, his footsteps seemed louder than normal to his acute elven hearing, but they only made a dull thud to mortal ears.
He walked into the garden and let the cool breeze surround him. It was late morning and the sun had been lazy in rising. It was a clear day with the sun shining and the clouds drifting slothfully across the sky. It had cooled down since the sunniest day that autumn gave that year and there was a fresh wind.
The breeze did nothing to cool his temper and he stormed through the garden and angrily climbed a tree to stare out across the horizon. Why was he in Gondor anyway?
It had just been to be there for the party. But now the party was over and he had the excuse to return home or to again wander.
"Legolas, if you continue this habit of yours then you will one day wake up with a pair of wings," a voice chuckled below him. "I also seem to be in the same position as a couple of days previous, and therefore I have a weird sense of déjà vu which is most annoying."
Legolas looked down and sighed. "Eldarion, I am not in the mood today."
"Not in the mood?" Eldarion said with a mock-pout. "Then dear prince, when will you be in the mood?"
Legolas jumped down from the tree sprightly and stared into the man's eyes. "I do not know," he replied bluntly and started to walk away.
"Legolas where are you going?" Eldarion asked.
"Whither the wind takes me," Legolas said and opened the gate leading out of the garden.
"Legolas?" Eldarion stopped and stared at the retreating figure of his love.
"Legolas!" he cried and started running after the elf. "What about last night? Was that nothing."
Legolas turned around, a sad smile on his noble features and it seemed to Eldarion that the wood-elf's pensive blue eyes age immensely. "Eldarion, it was nothing more than an infatuation. Brief and pleasant." He turned around again and carried on striding towards the stable.
Eldarion gave out a strange sound that was half a whimper, half a cry of despair. "Why are you lying to me?"
"It is to make you stop following me," Legolas said without looking behind him. "Eldarion you cannot love me. Twill never work out. I am an elf, you are a man, we come from two entirely different worlds. I am bound to nothing but the vague and uncertain future I may have on the throne of Greenwood, you are bound to your fate as a King. I am the leaf caught in the wind, I go where it takes me. You are the tree from which the leaf is blown, never able to move" -
"Unless I was an Ent!" Eldarion added.
"Yes, unless you were an Ent," Legolas sighed. "I am the" -
"Please stop with the similes," the man groaned.
"I will as long as you see the point!"
Legolas turned around a final time and when Eldarion stood in front of him, reached out a hand and cupped the prince's cheek.
Eldarion quickly squeezed the hand tightly against his smooth cheek and then removing it, kissed it. "Legolas please. It may be brief, but please, let me love you for more than one night. We are meant to be together. You are the other half of me. You don't know how happy you make me feel."
Legolas had calmed down slightly and now he looked the prince with remorse for his harsh words. "I do know," he said leaning in to rest his forehead against Eldarion's.
They stared into each other's eyes and a silent message was passed between the two of them. For as long or short a time we have, we will remain together, Legolas silently told Eldarion.
The man nodded in reply and kissed the elf's nose. "Thank you for giving me another chance," Eldarion whispered after they kissed again.
Legolas looked at the man with great love. "Thank you for forgiving my attempts to push you away."
~
Thanks to my anonymous reviewers. You're great! If you have email addresses, please leave them, because I would love to thank you personally for your support.
; )
~
