"Well, shall we continue?"
"Yes!"
A soft chuckle escaped me at the outburst, but I knew no way to make them wait longer so the story could be drawn out. There wasn't really a point to it, either, since they were already poised. "Well—"
"Nana…" the eldest hesitated after interrupting, partially because of the glares sent her way as she delayed the story, partially, perhaps, because she wasn't sure if she really wished to know the answer. "You have told us of Legolas's Ladies. Had Salan no suitors?"
I smiled faintly, closing my eyes as I recalled that point in Salan's life. "Any she-elf had suitors, child."
"But you have not mentioned any," the middle girl protested, twirling a bit of hair around her finger.
"Dear children, you must remember Salan was a servant in the palace. She knew how to be discrete if she chose, a luxury not allowed any member of the royal family most of the time. Besides, though their story runs along the same lines for much of their lives, this is Legolas's story. Salan is important at this time because they were such good friends."
"Were?" the boy asked with a frown. "You mean they aren't always good friends?"
I smiled softly but shook my head, silently reminding them such things are only spoken of in their proper time. "As I was saying, Legolas went to Lady Ellery's room…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Legolas wandered through the halls until he felt able to leave the thought of finding his baby sister in the woods enough so he could speak to Ellery. He followed Salan's advice, and left Ellery's room knowing she had been the start of the rumor, and that she probably would not be staying around for long.
He didn't mind. He sighed as he returned to his room, shaking his head when Harlyn asked with a look if he wanted to go practice archery. He had inspired the love of it in his brother early on, perhaps as early as three years old. Instead he changed quickly, going to Nalinalla's room.
"Wake up, Alina, we need you here."
Her pale skin remained motionless, her breath shallow as her lids didn't flicker. He sighed and sat back in the chair set to the side of the room, letting the shadows cover him, blending them to his mood.
The door opened again and another elf entered the room. She sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing Nalinalla's fine blond hair back from her face so she could wash it with a cool cloth, the water resting on the bed between her knees, the soft smell of herbs filling the room. He recognized the smell, for it had often filled the healing rooms, and his own, on occasion. He could remember hearing soft voices calling him back from the edge of death when he had wandered too far or found too many orcs to fight alone, when he had returned to the palace on the edge of death.
A familiar voice whispered through his head with the words the elf now spoke, calling to his sister as she had called to him. "Hear my voice, come back to the light. Light is where the children of the stars belong. Come back to those who love you." Nalinalla stirred slightly, her eyelids flickering for a minute before she fell silent once more. "Come on, Alina. Your family and friends want you to come back. No one is mad at you for this. Legolas blames himself for not finding you sooner. Come back to the light."
Legolas frowned slightly, hearing his own name included, and as the words sunk in, he sighed softly, knowing it was true though he had tried not to think about it. Salan placed her hand over Nalinalla forehead, repeating her pleas, and he slowly got up, touching her shoulder to tell her he was there, placing his hand next to and partially over hers, joining her as her words evened out to a simple spattering of words as they worked together to try and reach Nalinalla where she wandered.
Her head moved slightly, her eyes opening for a moment before she closed them again. Salan pulled her hand away, moving his at the same time, and bathed Nalinalla's face with the cloth. After a while she passed her hands over the princess's face, smiling. "She has come back, Legolas."
"Are you sure?" he asked softly, seeing no change.
"Yes. She has returned, and shall be sleeping normally in a few days." She turned and kissed his cheek before getting off the bed. "Thank you for your help."
"You've been doing this for a while, haven't you?"
Her eyes darkened as she gathered her herb pouch from where it had fallen to the floor. "I have had success in the past," she admitted softly. "The healers knew what I was doing, she was in no danger."
He held up a hand to silence her rapid words. "I meant only to thank you."
She smiled faintly, nodding her head. She looked up after a while, her smile growing, a teasing glint appearing in her eyes. "Did you speak to Ellery?"
He rolled his eyes and followed her into the hall. "That I did. I do not believe she shall be with us for very much longer."
She stopped and whirled on him, her eyes wide. "You broke her heart?"
At his look she let out a rich laugh, letting it echo down the halls. A healer poked his head out of the door, frowning until he saw who was there. A question lit his eyes, and she nodded slightly. The elf clapped his hands together as a huge smile split his face. The two continued in companionable silence until they had to go their separate ways.
Not two days had passed before it was announced through the halls and then through the village that Nalinalla had recovered, the result being a large feast to which everyone was invited, once the princess had gained strength enough to enjoy the dances.
Legolas simply shook his head when he saw Harlyn charming another she-elf, a slight smile touching his lips as he recalled doing the same.
"Wishing for the good old days?" a teasing voice asked from beside him as a wine goblet was placed in his hand.
He lifted the drink in a silent toast to her before drinking of the wine. "Not hardly. I was thinking what an odd thing it seems now, that I believed myself an adult when I behaved so."
"And they were to call you a child, with such behavior?"
He chuckled softly, watching the dancing elves. "I suppose not, but still, an adult I certainly wasn't. I saw without wisdom."
"As many do, even when considered an adult."
"And some don't, even when children," he added softly, looking down at her. "You never behaved so foolishly."
"Who says?" she asked dryly. "After all, it is much easier to be discrete when you are not a prince…"
His horrified look melted away as she laughed. He closed his eyes. "You were just joking, weren't you?"
She smiled faintly, hearing the partially sincere hint to his question, though he tried to hide it with certainty, and simply watched the dancers as he watched her. When she spoke her voice was without any hint to her true experiences or emotions on that matter. She could block herself with the best of them from even the most knowing and observant of eyes. "I often learned from your mistakes. A wise elf may be called a coward for letting others go first, but he is never called a fool."
"I do not believe any could call you a coward."
"I do," she answered at once. "Or had you not noticed I have refused to wander in the dark woods alone?"
"That is not cowardice, but wisdom."
"Then you call yourself a fool for going alone?"
He grimaced. "I have been in the healing rooms frequently enough for my life to be a worthy statement of my stupidity."
"Of your courage," she protested softly. "And your skill. I am not your equal with the bow. It would need to be close combat for me to get out of the scrapes you have been in, and without the advantage of fighting from a safe distance until the arrows ran out, I would not be here, had I dared venture where you so lightly walked."
He laughed softly, the sound coaxing her head up to view his face. "It seems I envy you your wisdom and your caution, while you envy me my foolish courage."
"All things are best when handled in moderation. We have failed to rub off on each other enough to make it to the best of what we could be."
"Ah, but if we had, we would no longer be ourselves," he smiled at her, lifting his goblet.
She lifted her glass in an 'I'll drink to that' fashion, one brow quirked as they finished their wine, leaving the vessels on the table behind them.
"Care to dance, my friend? It seems my policy of keeping my sheets cool has rid me of any Ladies to dance with."
"Then you would settle for a mere wood-elf, my lord?" she teased back.
He sobered at once, a frown on his brow even as he took the hand she had placed in his. "You have never and will never be a mere wood-elf, Salan." That night they danced together, trading off as their families wished, and enjoying themselves quite thoroughly, as good friends tend to do when they are together.
But as the years passed, Thranduil became concerned his eldest son would never marry. Harlyn was already a proud father of a five year old little she-elf, and Nalinalla had attracted many suitors to the palace. Legolas, though, remained unmarried, and seemingly uninterested.
No matter how often Legolas pointed out that not only would he live virtually forever, but Thranduil himself had been older than Legolas was before he married, still Thranduil refused to listen, encouraging him again and again to find a bride.
"Sour once more?" Salan asked, coming upon him where he glared at the arrows he had put in the center of the target.
"He grows more persistent every century. At this rate, he will wear out my ears before I am three thousand."
"You are merely five hundred years away from that."
He growled softly, releasing another arrow. "Don't remind me. He refuses to remember I am nearly half the age he was when he married."
"He sees Gallanya and whishes for more grandchildren, but from the son who will one day be king."
Legolas shook his head. "It is doubtful I will ever be king. The shadow grows stronger, Salan, I know you have felt it, probably stronger than have I. The elves begin to pass, not only from Mirkwood but the other realms as well. I do not feel I shall reach my three thousandth year where there is yet a trace of us on this earth."
She shivered and drew her cloak about her as if the snow were making her cold. Both knew it wasn't the snow. "Do not speak of such. I am not ready to leave this Earth behind."
"Nor I," he agreed, looking out at the bare trees of the forest. "Yet the time draws near."
"And what of the shadow? Will we leave the world to suffer without the light of the stars?"
He sighed and looked at her, seeing the strength she had in her wisdom, in the courage she denied having which shown in her eyes. "The children of the stars will leave this world in the hands of men, who will eventually destroy all we hold dear. The shadow is not the only thing we would flee from."
"Why should we who are most capable to fight flee from that which no one not of our people can truly understand? Those who have not had the time we have to study the world, to blend our lives and souls to the land until this Middle-Earth is part of what and who we are cannot begin to understand the importance of the light to the world. The world of men has already failed, the line of kings broken. You know this."
"And how do you?"
"Walls have ears," she muttered, "and when they're elfin they hear very well."
He smiled faintly at her defiance. "We yet have time, my friend. Let us enjoy it and leave such troubles for those who have more wisdom than do we."
"You say that as an excuse not to increase your own wisdom." Salan accused, frowning at the target.
"Do I?" he asked, suddenly fierce, pulling her eyes back to his. "Do you think I do not see the terror in the guards' eyes when they go outside the safety of the light? That I do not feel the pull the sea has begun to produce in our people? That I have not noticed the forest grows darker year by year?" His icy words melted away like frost held before a flame. "I have noticed, I have felt, and I have seen. The time of the elves is ending. Our people begin to leave these shores. Who will be left when we are gone? Who will fight the shadow? Men? Dwarves? Those half-lings Gandalf is so fond of?" He shook his head. "I cannot see what lies ahead. Is it little wonder I choose once in a while to remain a prince instead of trying to think like a king?"
She sighed softly and closed her eyes before placing her hand on his arm, stopping his shot. "You were born to be many things, Legolas. An archer and a warrior you have already become. A King you nearly are, though you have not a people to rule."
"What is a King without people?"
She smiled faintly. "Happy, I imagine."
He smiled slightly at her words, at the image of a crowned king chatting gaily with himself as he poured himself some wine. "Or out of his mind."
"Perhaps. When the time is right," she nodded her head, "you will be a great king. And before that, I think you shall have a great obstacle to overcome, for that is the making of all great stories, and you know someday nana will tell your story to your children, and the children of others."
He shuddered theatrically. "By the stars I hope not."
She laughed softly and ran her fingers along the line of his favorite bow, tracing the silver leaf design. "A bow is not a weapon, Legolas, it is a tool, made of wood, nothing more. Words have no meaning, they are merely letters grouped together. But when one with power, strength and wisdom picks up either, others take notice. With one, it is for but a second before death takes them. With the other, they stay with the ones who hear them for the rest of time. Choose your tools wisely, wherever your path may lead you."
Her words stayed with him for may years, and he often wondered how she had gotten to be so wise when she spent most of her time either alone or with him. One day it struck him that some of his wisest moments had happened when he was alone, when he had nothing but his thoughts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well, I believe that shall have to be the end for tonight."
"Nana! You can't stop now! It's almost to the good part!"
I stared at him for a moment, one brow arched and the other drawn in a frown. He blushed and looked down before his sisters could berate him. With belabored sighs they all got up, kissed my cheek and said their good nights, leaving just as their mother opened the door to get them.
"You know, you could spend time with your husband rather than chasing them off to bed," I murmured when they had left.
She smiled at my words, a teasing glint shining in her eyes along with a peaceful contentment that could only come from love. "You have kept them so late, nana, I have already spent time with my husband." Her smile broadened at my blink, and she skipped lightly from the room, eternally as youthful as her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note: All right, don't hate me. I only read sokochan's review before writing this. As a result, though I did go back and alter nana's intro a bit, I already had Salan's lack of noticeable suitors solved before I found out you guys wanted them. If you all really don't like that, let me know, and I'll see if I can work some in sometime, but I have an idea which doesn't really add any male elves in Salan's life that way.
Thanks to everyone who e-mailed or reviewed, and a few in particular, like Kaylee, my constant reviewer, and superchick, who probably gave me the best review anyone could dare hope for. Thanks!
Sort of to Kaylee, but let me know what the rest of you think… I'm considering writing up a sort of side story about Harlyn. You'll learn more about him later in this fic, but would anyone out there be interested in the full and true story?