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since Thursday. GRRRRRR!!!}}
THE GRIFFON'S TEARS
Chapter 15 ~ "Wedding Day"
"Ah hah!" Legolas said as Alede came in from her early morning rounds at the healer's hall. He was sitting at the desk in her library with one of her mother's leather bound books open in front of him.
"Now I know what you did to me," he said, giving Alede a mock glare of accusation.
"What are you talking about?" she asked as she washed her hands and then came to stand beside him.
Legolas picked up the book and began reading from it. "Weaver of silk, weaver of time . . ."
Alede's hand suddenly slammed down on the page, interrupting him.
"Never," she warned, but there was a small smile on her face, "never read a spell out loud unless you are prepared to cast it."
Legolas looked up at her, his well-shaped mouth curling into a grin.
"It is a Love Spell, Alede."
"I am aware of that," she said evenly, trying to pull the book away from him. Legolas hung onto it.
"Did you cast this spell on me?" he asked, grinning because he knew she had not. He merely wished to tease her.
"No, I did not," she said, finally succeeding in wrestling the book away from him. "I did not have this book when you and I met. Otherwise I might have been tempted."
Legolas stood up, standing so close that Alede had to tip her head back to look in his eyes.
"Are you certain?" he asked in a silky whisper. "Because every time I look at you or sense your nearness, I feel enchanted. You have bewitched me, Alede."
Her eyes went wide and she took in a shaky breath before Legolas' mouth descended on hers. His kiss was full of fire and Alede swayed against him, dropping the book where it fell unnoticed at their feet. His tongue plundered her mouth and his lips caressed hers in a heated dance that made her reel with need.
She had come to realize since their return to Ithilien three weeks ago, that there was far more to an Elvin betrothal than a ceremony and a joining of hearts and minds. Legolas was turning this time into a slow seduction of her senses that left her thrumming with desire. This was a form of foreplay that lasted months, not minutes and Alede was not sure how much longer she could endure the sweet torture.
"You are driving me mad," she whimpered against his mouth as his fingers drifted with feathery lightness beneath her hair, brushing her neck and causing her to tremble.
"Patience, Melui," he said softly, his mouth moving to her ear, nibbling it gently with his lips. "Love is like a precious vine. It must be tended and nurtured. One does not allow it to bear fruit in its first year. The roots must be strong enough . . ."
"First year!?" Alede exclaimed, interrupting him. "Please don't tell me that it will be more than a year before you make love to me! I cannot bear it. This is nearly as bad as when your father told me that betrothals lasted 200 years!"
Legolas snorted against her ear before pulling away and trying to smother his laughter with his hand.
"It is not funny," Alede said sulkily.
"Oh, Alede! It is terribly funny!" he cried clutching his stomach with mirth. "Do not frown at me so, Melui!"
"Humph," she said, bending to pick up the book. "I think that you and your father have the same diabolical sense of humor."
He wiped the corner of his eyes and sat back against the desk, pulling her into the circle of his arms. "It is just that you are so delightful to tease," he said with a grin. "But I have informed Mändel that our wedding day will be the last day of spring, as you requested. So that is only ten months away. Not quite a year," he said with a wink.
"I think you just wish to drive me mad in the mean time, so that I will fall to my knees and beg you," Alede said with a pout.
Legolas' eyes twinkled, but his voice was gentle when he spoke. "While that position does conjure up some intriguing possibilities, I would never wish you to beg for anything."
Alede smiled, knowing that he spoke the truth.
"And I have noticed that you are not so shy about this subject as you once were," Legolas said gently pressing his forehead to hers, a gesture which she found irresistibly charming.
"That is true," Alede whispered, moving slightly so that she could rub the tip of his nose with hers.
"By our wedding night, Alede, you will be filled with confidence and . . ."
"Love," she finished for him.
"Aye. Trust me, Alede . . ."
"I do trust you . . ."
He angled his head, so that their lips met again. Alede sighed into his mouth as she moved closer to him. She had just swept her hands beneath the silken curtain of his hair, when there was a knock at the door.
Legolas reluctantly broke the kiss and called for the servant to enter.
"A messenger has arrived, my Lord, bearing a letter from Prince Franduil in Eryn Lasgallen."
Legolas rose abruptly and took the letter. "Is anything amiss?" he asked sharply.
"Not that I am aware of, my Lord," the servant said quickly. "I can send the messenger to you if you desire. He is having a meal in the Great Hall at the moment."
"Nay," Legolas said, waving the servant away. "I will read the letter and let you know if I desire to speak with him."
He sat down on the divan and tore open the seal. Alede hovered anxiously nearby, watching as the worried lines on Legolas' face relaxed.
"Is everything well?" she asked finally.
He nodded and smiled. "My brother has never sent a messenger before, so I was concerned. He writes to tell me that he is thinking of putting my niece Thrania up for adoption . . ."
Alede laughed, remembering well the precocious little girl who looked so much like Legolas.
"Apparently she has turned into a hellion with her Grandfather not there to spoil her," Legolas continued. "He also writes to ask if Father ever intends to return. He and Elvothien would like to move into the royal apartments if Father means to abdicate his throne."
Alede chuckled again, knowing that there was little chance of that happening.
Legolas shook his head. "I would be delighted to have Father return to the Greenwood, but he has informed me, and apparently Franduil as well, that he will stay here all winter."
"Oh dear. Really?" Alede asked, sinking down onto the divan beside him. "I did not know. His work with Romiël is going well, I believe . . ."
"Humph!" Legolas snorted. "Very well indeed."
Alede started to ask what he meant by that. She still was not sure how Legolas would react to the obvious romance developing between Thranduil and Romiël. Had he noticed it or was he deliberately turning a blind eye to it?
He changed the subject before she could say anything.
"Come, it is nearly midmorning. We are due at the council." He jumped up off of the divan and helped Alede to her feet. "Then after lunch, I would like to show you the new plants we have started for the vineyard, if you wish to see them . . ."
Alede nodded her eagerness. Legolas' kingdom and everything in it had already become very dear to her.
~ ~ ~
Their days fell into an easy routine. Alede divided her time between the healer's hall and Legolas. She found that she had very little time to spend with Radagast and Cyrus, but they seemed to be carrying on their magic well enough without her. Ithilien would vanish from the sight of mortals eventually under their careful magic.
She helped Legolas oversee the planting of 200 delicate little grape plants, cuttings of the few survivors. Legolas fretted over them like a new mother and he and Alede spent many evenings with mud up to their elbows as they carried water from the river to the tiny vines.
She teased him mercilessly about his 'babies' and often they both returned from the vineyard soaked to the skin because the teasing had turned into a dunk in the river.
Gimli returned to his home in the autumn, just as the Culhalla trees were outdoing themselves and turning a brilliant crimson. Both Legolas and Alede were disappointed to see him leave, but knew they would rejoin him.
At midwinter, they traveled to Minas Tirith for the annual celebration. There Alede finally met many of the people she had only heard of in legend; King Elessar and his beautiful queen Arwen and Lord Faramir and Eowyn. Gimli rejoined them as well.
Alede listened in awe as they recounted their deeds in the war of the Ring. She, Arwen and Eowyn also spent many a delightful afternoon telling tales about their youth. Eowyn's adventures could fill a book and of course Arwen was eager to spin yarns about the mischievous doings of her two brothers.
After the new year celebration, Legolas and Gimli reluctantly returned to their kingdoms. Alede however traveled with Eowyn into the lands of the Rohirrim where she was introduced to the formidable King Eomer. She stayed there for over a month treating the usual winter colds and infirmities, but eagerly returned to Ithilien in late winter.
Eryn Culhallas had been transformed by the winter rains becoming a ghostly city of tall gray tree trunks and dark oaks shrouded in mist. But inside the pods and the Great Hall was warmth and merriment and the days passed contentedly.
In the spring, two women arrived from the Greenwood to prepare Alede's wedding clothes. They had been ladies in waiting to Thranduil's queen and Alede found them quite intimidating. Her usual duties became supplanted by fittings. She spent hours standing upon a stool while the two women circled her and stuck pins into bits of gossamer fabric.
Alede found it enormously tedious.
~ ~ ~
"Hurry my Lady," one of the women said as she rushed into the room late in spring. "Take that off and put on your wedding gown."
"But why?" Alede asked, looking up from where she had nearly dozed off. The other ladies maid was pinning a casual gown of so many layers, Alede was certain she would never be able to get out of it.
"The groom comes to inspect the marriage clothes," the woman said as she helped extract Alede from the prickly material.
"Inspect them?" Alede asked. "Why would he inspect them?"
"Tis an ancient tradition, my Lady. The groom always inspects the bride's clothing before the wedding."
The whole idea sounded terribly pompous to Alede. "To see if they live up to his expectations?" she asked. She was certain that Thranduil was somehow behind all of this, but it surprised her that Legolas would go along with it.
*Well, there's a good bit of Thranduil in him whether I like it or not.*
Oddly enough, Alede decided that she liked it. When the maid answered her, it took Alede a moment to remember what they had been talking about.
"He inspects them to see that they live up to your expectations, Lady," the maid explained with a slightly scandalized expression, as if Alede were some village urchin in need of instruction. "After all, you will be married for eternity now, so he begins it by seeing that he does you the greatest honor he can."
Alede felt slightly guilty. Here was an ancient and obviously very lovely tradition and she had already made light of it.
"I am sorry," Alede said as they tugged the last bits of the wedding gown into place and swept her hair over her shoulders. "I'm afraid I know little of your marriage customs. I did not mean offence."
The maids were only slightly mollified. Obviously they thought she intended to disgrace their prince. Alede wished that her own ladies maid, Nimhith, were allowed to attend her instead of these haughty Elves from Mirkwood.
They turned her toward the mirror and she forgot her irritation for the moment. The gown was incredibly lovely. Layer upon layer of the sheerest silk draped her. Sewn with pure mithril threads, it glowed like starlight. She knew that it must be worth a fortune and had a difficult time believing it was hers. According to another custom, which she was familiar with, she would wear this gown every year on their anniversary. . . for the rest of eternity.
Unless of course, I am with child, she thought. And then a thrill of excitement went through her. She had always wanted children, but to have Legolas' children. Goose bumps broke out all over her skin and she was positively tingling when the door behind her opened and Legolas walked in.
He was dressed all in pale green like a newly opened leaf and someone had placed a gold circlet on his forehead. Their eyes met in the mirror and the maids immediately pulled back.
Alede wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Was there a formal procedure for this viewing of the wedding clothes? She hoped fervently that she would not disappoint Legolas.
Turning around slowly to face him, she dropped him a graceful curtsy. Legolas returned the courtesy with a nod.
Without saying a word, he walked all around her, examining the gown from all angles. When he came back to face her, his expression was still serious, but there was a delighted twinkle in his eyes.
"Does your gown please you, my Lady?"
"Yes, my Lord. It is very beautiful and of the greatest quality." Alede thought she saw the maids relax out of the corner of her eye. Apparently she'd passed the first test.
"And what of your other clothes? Do they please you?"
"Indeed my Lord, they are all exceedingly lovely. They are a most generous gift and I am pleased beyond words." Now the maids were smiling, as was Legolas, though it was barely noticeable. But Alede was well used to that small cat like curl of his lips that meant he was hiding his amusement. He knew full well that she was being formal only because of the ladies maids' oppressive presence.
The maids stepped forward. "Is there anything else you would like to see, my Lord?"
"Yes. The gown for the wedding night."
Alede looked up in alarm at those words and found herself confronted once again with that feline smile. The two maids hurried her into the other room and began stripping the gown off of her. Alede cringed when they brought out the diaphanous bit of nothing that was to be her nightdress. Legolas had seen her naked before, but not in the presence of others.
She barely had time to feel uncomfortable before they were dragging her out into the main room again and once more Legolas prowled around her.
"Mmm . . ." When he walked behind her he made that sound, soft and low in his throat, she thought her knees might buckle. It was somehow a cross between a tiny moan and a purr. It was a sound that positively made Alede's toes curl.
She was breathing hard by the time he faced her once again and her nipples were pricked tightly against the silky fabric, a fact which, she was sure, was plainly evident to him and everyone else in the room.
"Does it please you, my Lady?" Legolas asked and Alede wondered if he meant the sound he had made or the gown.
Either way, her answer was the same. "Very much so, my Lord."
"Is there anything else you require?"
"No, your Lordship has been most generous."
Legolas really smiled at that and Alede knew he was amused at how well she was playing along with a ritual that she knew nothing about.
"Have you decided which bed is to be our communal bed?" he asked.
"Our . . .?" she shook her head in bewilderment.
"I assumed we would use mine. On the nights that you require privacy, you may have your own room. If that is agreeable to you?"
Alede had forgotten the customs of royalty. Typically the woman slept in her own room except when her husband wished her to be with child. But that was the traditions of human royalty, was it not? She had not thought Elves to be so distant, but perhaps she was mistaken.
"I had hoped." she began but suddenly stopped when she remembered the maids in the room.
With a flick of his wrist, Legolas sent them out.
"You had hoped?" Legolas prompted and he wore a gentle smile.
"I had hoped that we would share a bed each night, as we have from time to time. But I know not your people's customs. My own parents always shared a bed, and I suppose I just assumed." she stumbled to a halt, trying to not let him hear her keen disappointment.
He reached out and cupped the side of her face with his hand, brushing her lip with his thumb in a gesture that had become so dear to her.
"I would hope that we might share a bed each night also. But I realize that on the solstice moon you may not wish for my company, so you will retain your own room if you want it. As for myself, I would wish to share a bed with you every night regardless. But it is up to you."
"Oh . . ." The solstice moon was when Elvin woman bled, on that one night only. Alede had been fortunate enough to inherit that one trait from her Elvin grandmother. Oddly enough she was not ashamed that Legolas had brought it up. This was a subject that she had been instructing young girls in for centuries. Elvin males were not embarrassed about it as human males were.
"I had not realized what you meant," she said with obvious relief. "I would be happy to have your bed as our communal bed," she said to him. "But what about you? Might there be a time when you simply wish to be alone? You are a solitary person at times. I would hope that you would tell me if you wish privacy. I would not be offended."
Legolas appeared to consider her suggestion. "Yes, there may be nights when I wish to invite my mistresses over. There are at least six or seven of them."
He never finished the joke, because Alede made a grab for his ear.
"Careful, Melui," he said as he jumped out of her range. "We'll want everything in working order by next week, and more than just my ears. And now, I had best leave or else that lovely nightdress will need to be re- sewn." He gave her a roguish wink and left the room, leaving Alede in a state of euphoria and panic.
Next week!
~ ~ ~
The weeks before the marriage ceremony went by in a blur for Legolas. His father had summoned tailors for him as well and they were constantly pestering him with fabrics and fittings. Mändel took over the everyday governing and Legolas had never been more grateful for his steward.
Gimli arrived with the golden marriage rings, just when Legolas was beginning to panic. They were breathtakingly beautiful, as he knew they would be, with the Eryn Culhallas oak leaves embossed upon them. He embarrassed the Dwarf by hugging him in the middle of the Great Hall during dinner.
Guests began arriving a few days before the wedding. Another pod had been erected on the other side of Thranduil's, equal in splendor. It was for King Elessar. Aragorn eyed the long stars dubiously when he arrived, but Arwen exclaimed, "How beautiful!" and began climbing them with light steps.
Aragorn gave his wife a dark look and then one to Legolas. The Elf merely laughed and clapped him on the back. "Surely you have not lost your vigor while sitting upon a throne," Legolas teased. "I remember a Ranger who could out climb all of us on the quest."
"Everyone save you," Aragorn replied with a grin before following his wife up into the Culhalla.
The arrival of Elrohir and Elladan late one evening created quite a stir. Legolas experienced a twinge of jealousy when their arrival was announced. Arwen trotted down her long steps quickly, but it was Alede who reached Elrohir first. She flew into his arms with such force that Legolas saw him stagger.
But he heard only joy in her song as she greeted her old friends and knew his jealousy was ridiculous. Going to greet the twins himself, he was engulfed in hugs and slapped upon the back.
"I am so sorry," Elrohir said, after greeting him.
"Sorry?" Legolas queried. "For what?"
"For this burden you bear," Elrohir said solemnly.
"Burden?" Legolas was completely confused.
"Aye," Elrohir answered. "The burden of being stuck with Alede for the rest of your days. Tis a sorry state of affairs . . ."
He jumped quickly as Alede swatted his arm and Legolas laughed.
"I agree," Thranduil said behind them, before throwing a conspiratorial wink at Legolas and stepping forward to greet the sons of Elrond.
~ ~ ~
"I am very proud of you, Son," Thranduil said as he stood in front of Legolas.
After a frenzied day of activity, the royal dressers had been dismissed and Legolas was finally garbed in the finest of silk. A rich cloak of green velvet stitched with Mithril thread swung over one shoulder. The elaborate tunic and leggings hugged him like a second skin. His doeskin boots gleamed in the late evening sun and Thranduil reverently placed a crown of gilt oak and Culhalla leaves upon his brow.
"Thank you, Father," Legolas said as he bowed his head to accept the crown. "I owe much to you. I learned more from you at those days at court than I realized. I know I was not always an eager student . . ."
Thranduil snorted and stepped back to admire the young Elf in front of him. "Eager? I seem to remember many times that I had to track you down in the wood and physically haul your stubborn butt back into the palace."
Legolas burst into laughter. His father rarely spoke so openly.
Thranduil laughed softly as well. "But obviously some of my instruction sunk in. You have a good mind and that is the most important aspect for rule. This is a healthy kingdom and it will become prosperous. I predict a happy future for you and Alede."
"And you are no longer displeased with my choice of wife?" Legolas asked, though he already knew the answer. Alede had gone out of her way to charm Thranduil and she was genuinely fond of him, despite what had happened between them years ago.
Thranduil scowled at him. "I believe you already know the answer to your question. However, if it is so important to you, I will apologize . . ."
Legolas held up a hand to stop his father. "Nay, do not apologize!" he said with a mock look of astonishment. "For if you were to admit that you might have been wrong about something I would probably faint and sink right down into these boots."
"Insolent child!" Thranduil snapped, but Legolas saw the telltale twitch at the corner of the King's mouth. "It seems I have two insolent children. Franduil included a letter to me amongst his gifts for you. It seems that he and Elvothien have moved into my rooms and Thrania has broken the posts off of my bed. Something about her tying a rope to them and swinging . . ."
Thranduil shook his head in mock sadness, though Legolas knew that little Thrania could do no wrong in her grandfather's eyes. And he suspected that the tale was a fabrication of Franduil's anyway. His older brother had enjoyed teasing Thranduil about abdicating the throne and was probably enjoying having Mirkwood to himself.
Thranduil reached out and straightened the cloak on Legolas' shoulder.
"Shall we go down, Son? I believe your bride awaits you."
A jolt of pure excitement and happiness went through Legolas.
"Aye. Immediately."
~ ~ ~
"You look like a queen," Radagast said, snuffling a bit as he held back tears of pride.
Alede gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and surveyed her gown once more in the mirror. She thought that she did indeed look well in it. Excitement had pinkened her cheeks and her green eyes snapped with delight. Nimhith had woven small flowers into her hair and Gimli's pendant and Legolas' locket glistened at her throat.
Radagast reached up to pluck at the shoulders of her gown just a bit.
"It is rather . . . uhm . . . revealing, is it not?" he asked worriedly.
Alede glanced down at the low cut neckline of her gown. For once she could be proud of her generous curves and not try to hide them as she had always done around her prudish father.
"The gown is a traditional style, Father, and I have seen much more immodest ones on human maidens. This is quite lovely."
"Well, yes . . . it is. I just," Radagast paused awkwardly. "I wish that your mother was here to talk to you . . ."
Alede turned at the worried tone in her father's voice. What could possibly be bothering him so on her wedding day?
"What is it?"
"I just . . . ehem! wish that your mother were here to talk to you about tonight."
"Tonight?" Alede was completely baffled. Her mother had known nothing of elvish wedding ceremonies as far as she knew.
"The uhm . . . wedding night."
"Oh!" Realization suddenly dawned on Alede and she had to fight to hide laughter. If her prudish father only knew how eager she was for the wedding night and that she was not nearly as chaste as he thought her to be.
"I never really explained to you about, well . . . what goes on between a husband and a wife . . ."
Alede finally lost her battle and laughed, but she quickly turned it into a cough. "Father, do not distress yourself. Elrond explained all of that when I was quite young."
"He did?" Radagast's eyebrows shot up. "He . . . er . . . I know that you were quite fond of Elrohir. He did not . . . er . . . demonstrate any of it, did he?"
I could only wish, Alede thought hiding both amusement and exasperation. Were all wizards as prudish as her father? For some reason she did not think so. She could not imagine Gandalf being so uptight, but she had never known him well enough.
"Father, Elrohir never compromised my virtue if that is what you are worried about."
Radagast was visibly relieved. "I am glad to hear it. One never knows about these Elves. Shortly after our arrival, I spoke with Legolas and seemed quite surprised by my request."
Alede stopped where she was, one hand upon the door. "Request?" her voice shook with alarm. "What request did you make of Legolas?"
Radagast looked up, obviously surprised by her tone. "Why, to not dishonor you of course."
Alede felt herself go rigid with anger. "Father, you had no right to say that to him! Do you realize the insult of your words? He is an Elvin prince! Nothing he could do would dishonor me!"
Radagast looked troubled. "I did not mean to anger you, daughter, especially tonight. I only did what I thought was best for you."
Alede bit back angry words. The last thing she wanted was to fight with her father right now. The ceremony would begin in only a few moments.
Shaking her head, she opened the door and walked to the steps.
"Do not forget the chest with my wedding chain," she said quietly and then descended the steps.
~ ~ ~
"Can you not see from where you are?" Legolas asked as he took his place at the end of the clearing. Radagast stood quietly beside him, but Aragorn and Gimli crowded upon his heals.
"We only wish to see that you do not escape," Aragorn drawled in that easy voice of his that could hold both laughter and mischief and still sound serious.
"Nay, he will not try to escape," Gimli pronounced wisely. "Alede has got her hooks into him for good this time. My only concern is that he will faint and get dirt on those pretty clothes of his."
"You are both irreverent," Legolas said out of the corner of his mouth as more people took their places. "Had I time, I would teach both of you a lesson on how to treat Elvin royalty."
"He would definitely get his clothes dirty if he did that," Aragorn whispered to Gimli.
Gimli gave a bark of laughter, but Elrohir cut off any comment he would have made.
"Any time you are ready, little brother," he said winking at Aragorn. "I think I can still beat you in a fair fight."
The scathing comments would have continued had not Arwen given both her husband and brother quelling looks from where she sat at the head of one of the tables. She was fully aware of the mischief they could get into.
Elrohir pasted a look of complete seriousness upon his face. In truth he was very honored. Alede had asked him to stand as her witness and he would not spoil her wedding day for anything.
Looking across, he noticed that Legolas had gone completely still as well. As he turned to look at where the young prince's gaze fell, he burst into a proud grin.
~ ~ ~
Alede watched as her father handed Thranduil the wedding chain and then walked off to the clearing where the ceremony would be held. She could not help but give him an angry glace as he left them.
"Alede?" Thranduil's voice was gentle as he spoke her name. "Something is amiss. What is it, child?"
Alede turned to him, barely even noticing his grand clothing or the ornate crown upon his brow.
"I am so angry with my father! He has just told me of something that he said to Legolas months ago and I am furious with him!" She dashed a tear from her cheek. "I love him. I really do. But there are some subjects on which he is a complete buffoon and I am thoroughly ashamed of him." She choked on a sob and tried to turn away from Thranduil, but the King caught her around the shoulders and pulled her gently to his chest.
"There, there," he said softly, gently rubbing her back as her sobs turned into real tears. "None of us chose our parents, Alede, and there are times when all children must be ashamed of them."
Alede sniffled and looked up at him.
"Do you believe that Oropher was an easy father to have?"
For some reason that question struck her as funny. "Nay," she said with a small laugh and a hiccup. "I cannot imagine the warrior king, Oropher to be easy no matter what one's relation to him."
Thranduil chuckled. "Nay, he was not. Come! Dry your tears. What ever your father said to Legolas, I have sensed no ill will toward Radagast in him, so all is well."
"I suppose I have no reason to complain," Alede said while wiping her face with the handkerchief Thranduil handed her. "I am certain that you would have chosen a daughter in law more to your liking."
"Nay," Thranduil said, taking her hand and tucking it securely on his arm. "I am well pleased with Legolas' choice."
And with those astonishing words, he led her to the clearing and Alede's anger fell away like snow in a thaw.
The clearing had been transformed. Where it had been dark and mysterious on the night of their betrothal ceremony, this evening it was filled with torches and bright garlands of flowers. Tables groaned under the weight of a sumptuous feast and flutes played brightly. The people, once foreign and strange to her, were now familiar and dear. She smiled as caught Elrohir's gaze. He was grinning at her as if she were a little sister and she could not help but feel proud of his as well as he stood in magnificent white opposite Legolas.
But then all else was forgotten as she looked at Legolas. He was more handsome than she had ever seen him and the smile on his face matched her own. His song reached out to her, so full, so vibrant she wondered if all the company could hear it.
Letting go of Thranduil's arm, she reached out as Legolas clasped both of her hands in his.
~ ~ ~
Elvish ceremonies were usually quite simple. There was no one to preside over them as in human marriages. The bride and the groom each had a witness or two to stand up with them. They spoke words of promise to each other, the wedding chain was bound around their hands and then they shared food afterward. In the case of royalty, there was a celebration for the entire kingdom.
Before the ceremony, Alede had carefully memorized vows which she had heard spoken at a human wedding south of the Shire. She had translated them into Quenya and the night before the ceremony had cornered Elrohir and recited the vow to him so that he might check her translation.
Elrohir had dropped to his knee and clasped both hands over his heart and declared, "Alede, my darling! I am enraptured. I am honored! I am . . ."
"An idiot!" Alede had snapped at his foolishness. "Just tell me if I got the Quenya right!"
Elrohir had risen laughing and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "It is beautiful."
But now that the time had come to speak those words to Legolas before all of his people, she suddenly found that her memory had dried up as much as her mouth. She stumbled through what should have been an elegant speech and later the only words she clearly remembered saying were, "I promise to love and cherish you for all of my life and beyond."
But in spite of her ineloquence, Legolas seemed pleased by her words. His song nearly flooded her with his joy. His own words were far more simple and much more beautiful.
"I give you, Alede, my heart, my soul and my very life. Every thought, every breath is yours from now unto eternity."
The tears that had been threatening to spill over Alede's eyes now ran freely down her cheeks. Legolas too had to dash away moisture on his face, but he was smiling as she had never seen him before.
Out of the corner of his eye, Legolas saw his father approaching with the wedding chain, but he was too overwhelmed to care. Leaning forward, he tasted Alede's lips in a soft caress. She returned the kiss happily.
"None of that!" Thranduil snapped, but his voice lacked its usual irritation. Legolas chuckled and pulled back from Alede just enough that his father could wrap the chain about their joined hands.
And then the King was hugging them both and turning them to face Legolas' people. They bowed to the assembly and the enormity of the situation finally sunk in for Legolas.
He was married.
To Alede.
With a cry of joy, he wrapped one arm around her waist, hoisted her off of her feet and spun her around. Alede let out a little cry of delight and his people laughed and cheered.
The dinner was a little awkward with Alede's left hand bound to Legolas' right, but they managed to feed each other little bits of the sumptuous meal, though truly neither of them noticed the food much.
Legolas had an endearing way of pressing his forehead to Alede's and touching the tip of his nose to hers. It tickled slightly, but Alede would not have him stop for anything. Nor did she care about propriety. Elvin people normally did not flaunt their displays of affection, but no one seemed to care on this momentous day.
King Elessar made a short and heartfelt toast. Gimli also gave them quite a speech, made a bit more longwinded perhaps by the vast quantities of ale he had consumed. Thranduil was rolling his eyes by the time the Dwarf lifted his glass to the couple, but said nothing.
Legolas however gave a very gracious and eloquent thank you to everyone there. But once he had finished it, he pulled Alede to her feet and unwound the wedding chain.
"Let the celebration begin!" he cried and a huge shout of approval rose up and bright music started. Legolas took time only to wrap the wedding chain about Alede's waist, where it hung winking in the torchlight, before he swept her out into a rollicking dance.
"I don't know the steps!" she gasped. Elrohir had spent months teaching her the intricate steps of the formal Elvish dances, but Legolas seemed to not be following any of the rules.
"Just go with me," he cried as he swung her out into the circle of people.
Alede gave a girlish squeal, but somehow managed to keep her feet and not step on his. It was less like a dance and more like a frolicking gallop around the meadow and soon both of them were laughing.
They danced until Alede was out of breath and when they stumbled to a stop, Radagast engulfed her in a rib-crushing hug. She had only time to kiss his cheek, her anger forgotten, but then Thranduil politely extricated her from his embrace and pulled her out into one of the formal dances.
Alede rejoiced when the steps were familiar to her and could not help the smile on her face. Though she much preferred Legolas' company, there was something rather grand about dancing with the King of Eryn Lasgalen. She spoiled the grandness though once it was over with by throwing her arms about his neck and hugging him tightly.
"I love you, Father," she said loud enough for several people to hear.
But Thranduil did not seem to mind and as he kissed her forehead, he said quite clearly, "As I love you, daughter. May you both be happy."
Then he handed her back to Legolas who was enormously pleased by the affection he saw between the two. Alede watched Thranduil turn eagerly toward Romiël. Her crippled foot did not allow her to dance, but much later in the evening, Alede was certain that she saw the two of them in each other's arms stepping softly to the music. She could not help but admire them. Romiël had regained much of her ethereal beauty and her slender form was striking in contrast with Thranduil's imposing figure.
The celebration lasted well into the night, but finally Legolas leaped upon one of the tables so that his people might hear him.
"My good folk," he began and the music stopped and everyone turned toward him. "I thank you for your good wishes, your gifts and most especially your good company. I am most honored that you have shared this celebration with us." He paused as his people clapped and cheered.
"I bid you to continue making merry, but my wife and I must beg you to give us leave to retire. Good night and may Ilúvatar bless you as He has blessed me!"
Another cheer went up and then Legolas leaped down, leading Alede from the clearing. Several people called out good wishes for them and a few made teasing remarks.
"Pinch him until he howls, Alede!"
"Try not to shake all the leaves off of your Culhalla tree!"
Legolas ignored the ribald comments with a good natured grin and Alede tried not to be embarrassed, though in truth she was really too happy to care.
But it was Elrohir's comment that earned the son of Elrond a scathing look from Legolas.
"If he disappoints you, Alede," Elrohir shouted, "I'll be waiting, though my heart is broken!"
Alede laughed and waved to Elrohir. But she quickly turned, sensing just a trace of jealousy in her new husband and kissed his cheek, erasing the glower from his fair face.
Legolas chuckled then and hugged her, making a face at Elrohir over the top of her head. He caught Alede's hand and they ran laughing as they made their way in the darkness to Legolas' Culhalla, the crowd forgotten as soon as they reached it. He paused on the steps and Alede caught her breath.
Legolas turned to her and the laughter fled from his face, replaced by a look that made her insides turn to jelly.
"Now, my Lady, allow me to make you mine, as I will become yours."
Alede nodded solemnly and followed him up the long stairs, her feet never seeming to even touch them.
~ ~ ~
A/N: Well, I hope all of you enjoyed the wedding. Join me next week for chapter 16, "Wedding Night". :D
Extra special thanks to Thecla and Nadia for the "ribald" suggestions! lol! I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when they sent me those! :D
*** Original Character List ***
Alede the Green - Witch, healer and wizard. She is daughter of Radagast the Brown. After the death of her mother, she was raised in Rivendell for a while and learned healing skills from Elrond. She also developed a terrible crush on Elrohir, which he has gently teased her about for centuries. She also spent some time learning the wizarding craft at Orthanc under the tutelage of Saruman. Because she felt her healer's calling was more important, and because she considered herself a poor wizardess, Alede never completed her training at Orthanc.
Cyrus the Blue - The forth Maia to be sent to Middle Earth and friend to Radagast the Brown
Lomomir - Brother to King Thranduil of Mirkwood and a healer. He has spent the last many years in Rivendell studying with Alede and reading from Elrond's many books and journals.
Maladok the Red - The fifth Maia sent to Middle Earth. After a disastrous encounter with Saruman, Maladok has become a bit of a "black sheep" in the wizarding world.
Zarraweth - A young human witch with more plans and beauty than is good for her.
Malina - A healer and witch of the Angmar Mountains. She was married to Radagast the Brown and was Alede's mother. She was killed by a mob of religious fanatics who thought her witchcraft had brought plague to a village when instead she had been trying to cure it. Alede was only sixteen when Malina was killed.
Mändel - Legolas' steward. He originally served under Thranduil in Mirkwood in a lesser position.
Galomir - Ithilien's healer.
Girwyn - A general in Legolas' army. He is in charge of Ithilien's security.
Nimhith - A she-Elf of Eryn Culhallas, assigned by Legolas to be Alede's lady's maid.
Romiël - A she-Elf captured 700 years ago by Sauron as her people were making their way to the Gray Havens.
Romion - Romiel's brother and also a captive of Sauron for 700 years.
THE GRIFFON'S TEARS
Chapter 15 ~ "Wedding Day"
"Ah hah!" Legolas said as Alede came in from her early morning rounds at the healer's hall. He was sitting at the desk in her library with one of her mother's leather bound books open in front of him.
"Now I know what you did to me," he said, giving Alede a mock glare of accusation.
"What are you talking about?" she asked as she washed her hands and then came to stand beside him.
Legolas picked up the book and began reading from it. "Weaver of silk, weaver of time . . ."
Alede's hand suddenly slammed down on the page, interrupting him.
"Never," she warned, but there was a small smile on her face, "never read a spell out loud unless you are prepared to cast it."
Legolas looked up at her, his well-shaped mouth curling into a grin.
"It is a Love Spell, Alede."
"I am aware of that," she said evenly, trying to pull the book away from him. Legolas hung onto it.
"Did you cast this spell on me?" he asked, grinning because he knew she had not. He merely wished to tease her.
"No, I did not," she said, finally succeeding in wrestling the book away from him. "I did not have this book when you and I met. Otherwise I might have been tempted."
Legolas stood up, standing so close that Alede had to tip her head back to look in his eyes.
"Are you certain?" he asked in a silky whisper. "Because every time I look at you or sense your nearness, I feel enchanted. You have bewitched me, Alede."
Her eyes went wide and she took in a shaky breath before Legolas' mouth descended on hers. His kiss was full of fire and Alede swayed against him, dropping the book where it fell unnoticed at their feet. His tongue plundered her mouth and his lips caressed hers in a heated dance that made her reel with need.
She had come to realize since their return to Ithilien three weeks ago, that there was far more to an Elvin betrothal than a ceremony and a joining of hearts and minds. Legolas was turning this time into a slow seduction of her senses that left her thrumming with desire. This was a form of foreplay that lasted months, not minutes and Alede was not sure how much longer she could endure the sweet torture.
"You are driving me mad," she whimpered against his mouth as his fingers drifted with feathery lightness beneath her hair, brushing her neck and causing her to tremble.
"Patience, Melui," he said softly, his mouth moving to her ear, nibbling it gently with his lips. "Love is like a precious vine. It must be tended and nurtured. One does not allow it to bear fruit in its first year. The roots must be strong enough . . ."
"First year!?" Alede exclaimed, interrupting him. "Please don't tell me that it will be more than a year before you make love to me! I cannot bear it. This is nearly as bad as when your father told me that betrothals lasted 200 years!"
Legolas snorted against her ear before pulling away and trying to smother his laughter with his hand.
"It is not funny," Alede said sulkily.
"Oh, Alede! It is terribly funny!" he cried clutching his stomach with mirth. "Do not frown at me so, Melui!"
"Humph," she said, bending to pick up the book. "I think that you and your father have the same diabolical sense of humor."
He wiped the corner of his eyes and sat back against the desk, pulling her into the circle of his arms. "It is just that you are so delightful to tease," he said with a grin. "But I have informed Mändel that our wedding day will be the last day of spring, as you requested. So that is only ten months away. Not quite a year," he said with a wink.
"I think you just wish to drive me mad in the mean time, so that I will fall to my knees and beg you," Alede said with a pout.
Legolas' eyes twinkled, but his voice was gentle when he spoke. "While that position does conjure up some intriguing possibilities, I would never wish you to beg for anything."
Alede smiled, knowing that he spoke the truth.
"And I have noticed that you are not so shy about this subject as you once were," Legolas said gently pressing his forehead to hers, a gesture which she found irresistibly charming.
"That is true," Alede whispered, moving slightly so that she could rub the tip of his nose with hers.
"By our wedding night, Alede, you will be filled with confidence and . . ."
"Love," she finished for him.
"Aye. Trust me, Alede . . ."
"I do trust you . . ."
He angled his head, so that their lips met again. Alede sighed into his mouth as she moved closer to him. She had just swept her hands beneath the silken curtain of his hair, when there was a knock at the door.
Legolas reluctantly broke the kiss and called for the servant to enter.
"A messenger has arrived, my Lord, bearing a letter from Prince Franduil in Eryn Lasgallen."
Legolas rose abruptly and took the letter. "Is anything amiss?" he asked sharply.
"Not that I am aware of, my Lord," the servant said quickly. "I can send the messenger to you if you desire. He is having a meal in the Great Hall at the moment."
"Nay," Legolas said, waving the servant away. "I will read the letter and let you know if I desire to speak with him."
He sat down on the divan and tore open the seal. Alede hovered anxiously nearby, watching as the worried lines on Legolas' face relaxed.
"Is everything well?" she asked finally.
He nodded and smiled. "My brother has never sent a messenger before, so I was concerned. He writes to tell me that he is thinking of putting my niece Thrania up for adoption . . ."
Alede laughed, remembering well the precocious little girl who looked so much like Legolas.
"Apparently she has turned into a hellion with her Grandfather not there to spoil her," Legolas continued. "He also writes to ask if Father ever intends to return. He and Elvothien would like to move into the royal apartments if Father means to abdicate his throne."
Alede chuckled again, knowing that there was little chance of that happening.
Legolas shook his head. "I would be delighted to have Father return to the Greenwood, but he has informed me, and apparently Franduil as well, that he will stay here all winter."
"Oh dear. Really?" Alede asked, sinking down onto the divan beside him. "I did not know. His work with Romiël is going well, I believe . . ."
"Humph!" Legolas snorted. "Very well indeed."
Alede started to ask what he meant by that. She still was not sure how Legolas would react to the obvious romance developing between Thranduil and Romiël. Had he noticed it or was he deliberately turning a blind eye to it?
He changed the subject before she could say anything.
"Come, it is nearly midmorning. We are due at the council." He jumped up off of the divan and helped Alede to her feet. "Then after lunch, I would like to show you the new plants we have started for the vineyard, if you wish to see them . . ."
Alede nodded her eagerness. Legolas' kingdom and everything in it had already become very dear to her.
~ ~ ~
Their days fell into an easy routine. Alede divided her time between the healer's hall and Legolas. She found that she had very little time to spend with Radagast and Cyrus, but they seemed to be carrying on their magic well enough without her. Ithilien would vanish from the sight of mortals eventually under their careful magic.
She helped Legolas oversee the planting of 200 delicate little grape plants, cuttings of the few survivors. Legolas fretted over them like a new mother and he and Alede spent many evenings with mud up to their elbows as they carried water from the river to the tiny vines.
She teased him mercilessly about his 'babies' and often they both returned from the vineyard soaked to the skin because the teasing had turned into a dunk in the river.
Gimli returned to his home in the autumn, just as the Culhalla trees were outdoing themselves and turning a brilliant crimson. Both Legolas and Alede were disappointed to see him leave, but knew they would rejoin him.
At midwinter, they traveled to Minas Tirith for the annual celebration. There Alede finally met many of the people she had only heard of in legend; King Elessar and his beautiful queen Arwen and Lord Faramir and Eowyn. Gimli rejoined them as well.
Alede listened in awe as they recounted their deeds in the war of the Ring. She, Arwen and Eowyn also spent many a delightful afternoon telling tales about their youth. Eowyn's adventures could fill a book and of course Arwen was eager to spin yarns about the mischievous doings of her two brothers.
After the new year celebration, Legolas and Gimli reluctantly returned to their kingdoms. Alede however traveled with Eowyn into the lands of the Rohirrim where she was introduced to the formidable King Eomer. She stayed there for over a month treating the usual winter colds and infirmities, but eagerly returned to Ithilien in late winter.
Eryn Culhallas had been transformed by the winter rains becoming a ghostly city of tall gray tree trunks and dark oaks shrouded in mist. But inside the pods and the Great Hall was warmth and merriment and the days passed contentedly.
In the spring, two women arrived from the Greenwood to prepare Alede's wedding clothes. They had been ladies in waiting to Thranduil's queen and Alede found them quite intimidating. Her usual duties became supplanted by fittings. She spent hours standing upon a stool while the two women circled her and stuck pins into bits of gossamer fabric.
Alede found it enormously tedious.
~ ~ ~
"Hurry my Lady," one of the women said as she rushed into the room late in spring. "Take that off and put on your wedding gown."
"But why?" Alede asked, looking up from where she had nearly dozed off. The other ladies maid was pinning a casual gown of so many layers, Alede was certain she would never be able to get out of it.
"The groom comes to inspect the marriage clothes," the woman said as she helped extract Alede from the prickly material.
"Inspect them?" Alede asked. "Why would he inspect them?"
"Tis an ancient tradition, my Lady. The groom always inspects the bride's clothing before the wedding."
The whole idea sounded terribly pompous to Alede. "To see if they live up to his expectations?" she asked. She was certain that Thranduil was somehow behind all of this, but it surprised her that Legolas would go along with it.
*Well, there's a good bit of Thranduil in him whether I like it or not.*
Oddly enough, Alede decided that she liked it. When the maid answered her, it took Alede a moment to remember what they had been talking about.
"He inspects them to see that they live up to your expectations, Lady," the maid explained with a slightly scandalized expression, as if Alede were some village urchin in need of instruction. "After all, you will be married for eternity now, so he begins it by seeing that he does you the greatest honor he can."
Alede felt slightly guilty. Here was an ancient and obviously very lovely tradition and she had already made light of it.
"I am sorry," Alede said as they tugged the last bits of the wedding gown into place and swept her hair over her shoulders. "I'm afraid I know little of your marriage customs. I did not mean offence."
The maids were only slightly mollified. Obviously they thought she intended to disgrace their prince. Alede wished that her own ladies maid, Nimhith, were allowed to attend her instead of these haughty Elves from Mirkwood.
They turned her toward the mirror and she forgot her irritation for the moment. The gown was incredibly lovely. Layer upon layer of the sheerest silk draped her. Sewn with pure mithril threads, it glowed like starlight. She knew that it must be worth a fortune and had a difficult time believing it was hers. According to another custom, which she was familiar with, she would wear this gown every year on their anniversary. . . for the rest of eternity.
Unless of course, I am with child, she thought. And then a thrill of excitement went through her. She had always wanted children, but to have Legolas' children. Goose bumps broke out all over her skin and she was positively tingling when the door behind her opened and Legolas walked in.
He was dressed all in pale green like a newly opened leaf and someone had placed a gold circlet on his forehead. Their eyes met in the mirror and the maids immediately pulled back.
Alede wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Was there a formal procedure for this viewing of the wedding clothes? She hoped fervently that she would not disappoint Legolas.
Turning around slowly to face him, she dropped him a graceful curtsy. Legolas returned the courtesy with a nod.
Without saying a word, he walked all around her, examining the gown from all angles. When he came back to face her, his expression was still serious, but there was a delighted twinkle in his eyes.
"Does your gown please you, my Lady?"
"Yes, my Lord. It is very beautiful and of the greatest quality." Alede thought she saw the maids relax out of the corner of her eye. Apparently she'd passed the first test.
"And what of your other clothes? Do they please you?"
"Indeed my Lord, they are all exceedingly lovely. They are a most generous gift and I am pleased beyond words." Now the maids were smiling, as was Legolas, though it was barely noticeable. But Alede was well used to that small cat like curl of his lips that meant he was hiding his amusement. He knew full well that she was being formal only because of the ladies maids' oppressive presence.
The maids stepped forward. "Is there anything else you would like to see, my Lord?"
"Yes. The gown for the wedding night."
Alede looked up in alarm at those words and found herself confronted once again with that feline smile. The two maids hurried her into the other room and began stripping the gown off of her. Alede cringed when they brought out the diaphanous bit of nothing that was to be her nightdress. Legolas had seen her naked before, but not in the presence of others.
She barely had time to feel uncomfortable before they were dragging her out into the main room again and once more Legolas prowled around her.
"Mmm . . ." When he walked behind her he made that sound, soft and low in his throat, she thought her knees might buckle. It was somehow a cross between a tiny moan and a purr. It was a sound that positively made Alede's toes curl.
She was breathing hard by the time he faced her once again and her nipples were pricked tightly against the silky fabric, a fact which, she was sure, was plainly evident to him and everyone else in the room.
"Does it please you, my Lady?" Legolas asked and Alede wondered if he meant the sound he had made or the gown.
Either way, her answer was the same. "Very much so, my Lord."
"Is there anything else you require?"
"No, your Lordship has been most generous."
Legolas really smiled at that and Alede knew he was amused at how well she was playing along with a ritual that she knew nothing about.
"Have you decided which bed is to be our communal bed?" he asked.
"Our . . .?" she shook her head in bewilderment.
"I assumed we would use mine. On the nights that you require privacy, you may have your own room. If that is agreeable to you?"
Alede had forgotten the customs of royalty. Typically the woman slept in her own room except when her husband wished her to be with child. But that was the traditions of human royalty, was it not? She had not thought Elves to be so distant, but perhaps she was mistaken.
"I had hoped." she began but suddenly stopped when she remembered the maids in the room.
With a flick of his wrist, Legolas sent them out.
"You had hoped?" Legolas prompted and he wore a gentle smile.
"I had hoped that we would share a bed each night, as we have from time to time. But I know not your people's customs. My own parents always shared a bed, and I suppose I just assumed." she stumbled to a halt, trying to not let him hear her keen disappointment.
He reached out and cupped the side of her face with his hand, brushing her lip with his thumb in a gesture that had become so dear to her.
"I would hope that we might share a bed each night also. But I realize that on the solstice moon you may not wish for my company, so you will retain your own room if you want it. As for myself, I would wish to share a bed with you every night regardless. But it is up to you."
"Oh . . ." The solstice moon was when Elvin woman bled, on that one night only. Alede had been fortunate enough to inherit that one trait from her Elvin grandmother. Oddly enough she was not ashamed that Legolas had brought it up. This was a subject that she had been instructing young girls in for centuries. Elvin males were not embarrassed about it as human males were.
"I had not realized what you meant," she said with obvious relief. "I would be happy to have your bed as our communal bed," she said to him. "But what about you? Might there be a time when you simply wish to be alone? You are a solitary person at times. I would hope that you would tell me if you wish privacy. I would not be offended."
Legolas appeared to consider her suggestion. "Yes, there may be nights when I wish to invite my mistresses over. There are at least six or seven of them."
He never finished the joke, because Alede made a grab for his ear.
"Careful, Melui," he said as he jumped out of her range. "We'll want everything in working order by next week, and more than just my ears. And now, I had best leave or else that lovely nightdress will need to be re- sewn." He gave her a roguish wink and left the room, leaving Alede in a state of euphoria and panic.
Next week!
~ ~ ~
The weeks before the marriage ceremony went by in a blur for Legolas. His father had summoned tailors for him as well and they were constantly pestering him with fabrics and fittings. Mändel took over the everyday governing and Legolas had never been more grateful for his steward.
Gimli arrived with the golden marriage rings, just when Legolas was beginning to panic. They were breathtakingly beautiful, as he knew they would be, with the Eryn Culhallas oak leaves embossed upon them. He embarrassed the Dwarf by hugging him in the middle of the Great Hall during dinner.
Guests began arriving a few days before the wedding. Another pod had been erected on the other side of Thranduil's, equal in splendor. It was for King Elessar. Aragorn eyed the long stars dubiously when he arrived, but Arwen exclaimed, "How beautiful!" and began climbing them with light steps.
Aragorn gave his wife a dark look and then one to Legolas. The Elf merely laughed and clapped him on the back. "Surely you have not lost your vigor while sitting upon a throne," Legolas teased. "I remember a Ranger who could out climb all of us on the quest."
"Everyone save you," Aragorn replied with a grin before following his wife up into the Culhalla.
The arrival of Elrohir and Elladan late one evening created quite a stir. Legolas experienced a twinge of jealousy when their arrival was announced. Arwen trotted down her long steps quickly, but it was Alede who reached Elrohir first. She flew into his arms with such force that Legolas saw him stagger.
But he heard only joy in her song as she greeted her old friends and knew his jealousy was ridiculous. Going to greet the twins himself, he was engulfed in hugs and slapped upon the back.
"I am so sorry," Elrohir said, after greeting him.
"Sorry?" Legolas queried. "For what?"
"For this burden you bear," Elrohir said solemnly.
"Burden?" Legolas was completely confused.
"Aye," Elrohir answered. "The burden of being stuck with Alede for the rest of your days. Tis a sorry state of affairs . . ."
He jumped quickly as Alede swatted his arm and Legolas laughed.
"I agree," Thranduil said behind them, before throwing a conspiratorial wink at Legolas and stepping forward to greet the sons of Elrond.
~ ~ ~
"I am very proud of you, Son," Thranduil said as he stood in front of Legolas.
After a frenzied day of activity, the royal dressers had been dismissed and Legolas was finally garbed in the finest of silk. A rich cloak of green velvet stitched with Mithril thread swung over one shoulder. The elaborate tunic and leggings hugged him like a second skin. His doeskin boots gleamed in the late evening sun and Thranduil reverently placed a crown of gilt oak and Culhalla leaves upon his brow.
"Thank you, Father," Legolas said as he bowed his head to accept the crown. "I owe much to you. I learned more from you at those days at court than I realized. I know I was not always an eager student . . ."
Thranduil snorted and stepped back to admire the young Elf in front of him. "Eager? I seem to remember many times that I had to track you down in the wood and physically haul your stubborn butt back into the palace."
Legolas burst into laughter. His father rarely spoke so openly.
Thranduil laughed softly as well. "But obviously some of my instruction sunk in. You have a good mind and that is the most important aspect for rule. This is a healthy kingdom and it will become prosperous. I predict a happy future for you and Alede."
"And you are no longer displeased with my choice of wife?" Legolas asked, though he already knew the answer. Alede had gone out of her way to charm Thranduil and she was genuinely fond of him, despite what had happened between them years ago.
Thranduil scowled at him. "I believe you already know the answer to your question. However, if it is so important to you, I will apologize . . ."
Legolas held up a hand to stop his father. "Nay, do not apologize!" he said with a mock look of astonishment. "For if you were to admit that you might have been wrong about something I would probably faint and sink right down into these boots."
"Insolent child!" Thranduil snapped, but Legolas saw the telltale twitch at the corner of the King's mouth. "It seems I have two insolent children. Franduil included a letter to me amongst his gifts for you. It seems that he and Elvothien have moved into my rooms and Thrania has broken the posts off of my bed. Something about her tying a rope to them and swinging . . ."
Thranduil shook his head in mock sadness, though Legolas knew that little Thrania could do no wrong in her grandfather's eyes. And he suspected that the tale was a fabrication of Franduil's anyway. His older brother had enjoyed teasing Thranduil about abdicating the throne and was probably enjoying having Mirkwood to himself.
Thranduil reached out and straightened the cloak on Legolas' shoulder.
"Shall we go down, Son? I believe your bride awaits you."
A jolt of pure excitement and happiness went through Legolas.
"Aye. Immediately."
~ ~ ~
"You look like a queen," Radagast said, snuffling a bit as he held back tears of pride.
Alede gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and surveyed her gown once more in the mirror. She thought that she did indeed look well in it. Excitement had pinkened her cheeks and her green eyes snapped with delight. Nimhith had woven small flowers into her hair and Gimli's pendant and Legolas' locket glistened at her throat.
Radagast reached up to pluck at the shoulders of her gown just a bit.
"It is rather . . . uhm . . . revealing, is it not?" he asked worriedly.
Alede glanced down at the low cut neckline of her gown. For once she could be proud of her generous curves and not try to hide them as she had always done around her prudish father.
"The gown is a traditional style, Father, and I have seen much more immodest ones on human maidens. This is quite lovely."
"Well, yes . . . it is. I just," Radagast paused awkwardly. "I wish that your mother was here to talk to you . . ."
Alede turned at the worried tone in her father's voice. What could possibly be bothering him so on her wedding day?
"What is it?"
"I just . . . ehem! wish that your mother were here to talk to you about tonight."
"Tonight?" Alede was completely baffled. Her mother had known nothing of elvish wedding ceremonies as far as she knew.
"The uhm . . . wedding night."
"Oh!" Realization suddenly dawned on Alede and she had to fight to hide laughter. If her prudish father only knew how eager she was for the wedding night and that she was not nearly as chaste as he thought her to be.
"I never really explained to you about, well . . . what goes on between a husband and a wife . . ."
Alede finally lost her battle and laughed, but she quickly turned it into a cough. "Father, do not distress yourself. Elrond explained all of that when I was quite young."
"He did?" Radagast's eyebrows shot up. "He . . . er . . . I know that you were quite fond of Elrohir. He did not . . . er . . . demonstrate any of it, did he?"
I could only wish, Alede thought hiding both amusement and exasperation. Were all wizards as prudish as her father? For some reason she did not think so. She could not imagine Gandalf being so uptight, but she had never known him well enough.
"Father, Elrohir never compromised my virtue if that is what you are worried about."
Radagast was visibly relieved. "I am glad to hear it. One never knows about these Elves. Shortly after our arrival, I spoke with Legolas and seemed quite surprised by my request."
Alede stopped where she was, one hand upon the door. "Request?" her voice shook with alarm. "What request did you make of Legolas?"
Radagast looked up, obviously surprised by her tone. "Why, to not dishonor you of course."
Alede felt herself go rigid with anger. "Father, you had no right to say that to him! Do you realize the insult of your words? He is an Elvin prince! Nothing he could do would dishonor me!"
Radagast looked troubled. "I did not mean to anger you, daughter, especially tonight. I only did what I thought was best for you."
Alede bit back angry words. The last thing she wanted was to fight with her father right now. The ceremony would begin in only a few moments.
Shaking her head, she opened the door and walked to the steps.
"Do not forget the chest with my wedding chain," she said quietly and then descended the steps.
~ ~ ~
"Can you not see from where you are?" Legolas asked as he took his place at the end of the clearing. Radagast stood quietly beside him, but Aragorn and Gimli crowded upon his heals.
"We only wish to see that you do not escape," Aragorn drawled in that easy voice of his that could hold both laughter and mischief and still sound serious.
"Nay, he will not try to escape," Gimli pronounced wisely. "Alede has got her hooks into him for good this time. My only concern is that he will faint and get dirt on those pretty clothes of his."
"You are both irreverent," Legolas said out of the corner of his mouth as more people took their places. "Had I time, I would teach both of you a lesson on how to treat Elvin royalty."
"He would definitely get his clothes dirty if he did that," Aragorn whispered to Gimli.
Gimli gave a bark of laughter, but Elrohir cut off any comment he would have made.
"Any time you are ready, little brother," he said winking at Aragorn. "I think I can still beat you in a fair fight."
The scathing comments would have continued had not Arwen given both her husband and brother quelling looks from where she sat at the head of one of the tables. She was fully aware of the mischief they could get into.
Elrohir pasted a look of complete seriousness upon his face. In truth he was very honored. Alede had asked him to stand as her witness and he would not spoil her wedding day for anything.
Looking across, he noticed that Legolas had gone completely still as well. As he turned to look at where the young prince's gaze fell, he burst into a proud grin.
~ ~ ~
Alede watched as her father handed Thranduil the wedding chain and then walked off to the clearing where the ceremony would be held. She could not help but give him an angry glace as he left them.
"Alede?" Thranduil's voice was gentle as he spoke her name. "Something is amiss. What is it, child?"
Alede turned to him, barely even noticing his grand clothing or the ornate crown upon his brow.
"I am so angry with my father! He has just told me of something that he said to Legolas months ago and I am furious with him!" She dashed a tear from her cheek. "I love him. I really do. But there are some subjects on which he is a complete buffoon and I am thoroughly ashamed of him." She choked on a sob and tried to turn away from Thranduil, but the King caught her around the shoulders and pulled her gently to his chest.
"There, there," he said softly, gently rubbing her back as her sobs turned into real tears. "None of us chose our parents, Alede, and there are times when all children must be ashamed of them."
Alede sniffled and looked up at him.
"Do you believe that Oropher was an easy father to have?"
For some reason that question struck her as funny. "Nay," she said with a small laugh and a hiccup. "I cannot imagine the warrior king, Oropher to be easy no matter what one's relation to him."
Thranduil chuckled. "Nay, he was not. Come! Dry your tears. What ever your father said to Legolas, I have sensed no ill will toward Radagast in him, so all is well."
"I suppose I have no reason to complain," Alede said while wiping her face with the handkerchief Thranduil handed her. "I am certain that you would have chosen a daughter in law more to your liking."
"Nay," Thranduil said, taking her hand and tucking it securely on his arm. "I am well pleased with Legolas' choice."
And with those astonishing words, he led her to the clearing and Alede's anger fell away like snow in a thaw.
The clearing had been transformed. Where it had been dark and mysterious on the night of their betrothal ceremony, this evening it was filled with torches and bright garlands of flowers. Tables groaned under the weight of a sumptuous feast and flutes played brightly. The people, once foreign and strange to her, were now familiar and dear. She smiled as caught Elrohir's gaze. He was grinning at her as if she were a little sister and she could not help but feel proud of his as well as he stood in magnificent white opposite Legolas.
But then all else was forgotten as she looked at Legolas. He was more handsome than she had ever seen him and the smile on his face matched her own. His song reached out to her, so full, so vibrant she wondered if all the company could hear it.
Letting go of Thranduil's arm, she reached out as Legolas clasped both of her hands in his.
~ ~ ~
Elvish ceremonies were usually quite simple. There was no one to preside over them as in human marriages. The bride and the groom each had a witness or two to stand up with them. They spoke words of promise to each other, the wedding chain was bound around their hands and then they shared food afterward. In the case of royalty, there was a celebration for the entire kingdom.
Before the ceremony, Alede had carefully memorized vows which she had heard spoken at a human wedding south of the Shire. She had translated them into Quenya and the night before the ceremony had cornered Elrohir and recited the vow to him so that he might check her translation.
Elrohir had dropped to his knee and clasped both hands over his heart and declared, "Alede, my darling! I am enraptured. I am honored! I am . . ."
"An idiot!" Alede had snapped at his foolishness. "Just tell me if I got the Quenya right!"
Elrohir had risen laughing and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "It is beautiful."
But now that the time had come to speak those words to Legolas before all of his people, she suddenly found that her memory had dried up as much as her mouth. She stumbled through what should have been an elegant speech and later the only words she clearly remembered saying were, "I promise to love and cherish you for all of my life and beyond."
But in spite of her ineloquence, Legolas seemed pleased by her words. His song nearly flooded her with his joy. His own words were far more simple and much more beautiful.
"I give you, Alede, my heart, my soul and my very life. Every thought, every breath is yours from now unto eternity."
The tears that had been threatening to spill over Alede's eyes now ran freely down her cheeks. Legolas too had to dash away moisture on his face, but he was smiling as she had never seen him before.
Out of the corner of his eye, Legolas saw his father approaching with the wedding chain, but he was too overwhelmed to care. Leaning forward, he tasted Alede's lips in a soft caress. She returned the kiss happily.
"None of that!" Thranduil snapped, but his voice lacked its usual irritation. Legolas chuckled and pulled back from Alede just enough that his father could wrap the chain about their joined hands.
And then the King was hugging them both and turning them to face Legolas' people. They bowed to the assembly and the enormity of the situation finally sunk in for Legolas.
He was married.
To Alede.
With a cry of joy, he wrapped one arm around her waist, hoisted her off of her feet and spun her around. Alede let out a little cry of delight and his people laughed and cheered.
The dinner was a little awkward with Alede's left hand bound to Legolas' right, but they managed to feed each other little bits of the sumptuous meal, though truly neither of them noticed the food much.
Legolas had an endearing way of pressing his forehead to Alede's and touching the tip of his nose to hers. It tickled slightly, but Alede would not have him stop for anything. Nor did she care about propriety. Elvin people normally did not flaunt their displays of affection, but no one seemed to care on this momentous day.
King Elessar made a short and heartfelt toast. Gimli also gave them quite a speech, made a bit more longwinded perhaps by the vast quantities of ale he had consumed. Thranduil was rolling his eyes by the time the Dwarf lifted his glass to the couple, but said nothing.
Legolas however gave a very gracious and eloquent thank you to everyone there. But once he had finished it, he pulled Alede to her feet and unwound the wedding chain.
"Let the celebration begin!" he cried and a huge shout of approval rose up and bright music started. Legolas took time only to wrap the wedding chain about Alede's waist, where it hung winking in the torchlight, before he swept her out into a rollicking dance.
"I don't know the steps!" she gasped. Elrohir had spent months teaching her the intricate steps of the formal Elvish dances, but Legolas seemed to not be following any of the rules.
"Just go with me," he cried as he swung her out into the circle of people.
Alede gave a girlish squeal, but somehow managed to keep her feet and not step on his. It was less like a dance and more like a frolicking gallop around the meadow and soon both of them were laughing.
They danced until Alede was out of breath and when they stumbled to a stop, Radagast engulfed her in a rib-crushing hug. She had only time to kiss his cheek, her anger forgotten, but then Thranduil politely extricated her from his embrace and pulled her out into one of the formal dances.
Alede rejoiced when the steps were familiar to her and could not help the smile on her face. Though she much preferred Legolas' company, there was something rather grand about dancing with the King of Eryn Lasgalen. She spoiled the grandness though once it was over with by throwing her arms about his neck and hugging him tightly.
"I love you, Father," she said loud enough for several people to hear.
But Thranduil did not seem to mind and as he kissed her forehead, he said quite clearly, "As I love you, daughter. May you both be happy."
Then he handed her back to Legolas who was enormously pleased by the affection he saw between the two. Alede watched Thranduil turn eagerly toward Romiël. Her crippled foot did not allow her to dance, but much later in the evening, Alede was certain that she saw the two of them in each other's arms stepping softly to the music. She could not help but admire them. Romiël had regained much of her ethereal beauty and her slender form was striking in contrast with Thranduil's imposing figure.
The celebration lasted well into the night, but finally Legolas leaped upon one of the tables so that his people might hear him.
"My good folk," he began and the music stopped and everyone turned toward him. "I thank you for your good wishes, your gifts and most especially your good company. I am most honored that you have shared this celebration with us." He paused as his people clapped and cheered.
"I bid you to continue making merry, but my wife and I must beg you to give us leave to retire. Good night and may Ilúvatar bless you as He has blessed me!"
Another cheer went up and then Legolas leaped down, leading Alede from the clearing. Several people called out good wishes for them and a few made teasing remarks.
"Pinch him until he howls, Alede!"
"Try not to shake all the leaves off of your Culhalla tree!"
Legolas ignored the ribald comments with a good natured grin and Alede tried not to be embarrassed, though in truth she was really too happy to care.
But it was Elrohir's comment that earned the son of Elrond a scathing look from Legolas.
"If he disappoints you, Alede," Elrohir shouted, "I'll be waiting, though my heart is broken!"
Alede laughed and waved to Elrohir. But she quickly turned, sensing just a trace of jealousy in her new husband and kissed his cheek, erasing the glower from his fair face.
Legolas chuckled then and hugged her, making a face at Elrohir over the top of her head. He caught Alede's hand and they ran laughing as they made their way in the darkness to Legolas' Culhalla, the crowd forgotten as soon as they reached it. He paused on the steps and Alede caught her breath.
Legolas turned to her and the laughter fled from his face, replaced by a look that made her insides turn to jelly.
"Now, my Lady, allow me to make you mine, as I will become yours."
Alede nodded solemnly and followed him up the long stairs, her feet never seeming to even touch them.
~ ~ ~
A/N: Well, I hope all of you enjoyed the wedding. Join me next week for chapter 16, "Wedding Night". :D
Extra special thanks to Thecla and Nadia for the "ribald" suggestions! lol! I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when they sent me those! :D
*** Original Character List ***
Alede the Green - Witch, healer and wizard. She is daughter of Radagast the Brown. After the death of her mother, she was raised in Rivendell for a while and learned healing skills from Elrond. She also developed a terrible crush on Elrohir, which he has gently teased her about for centuries. She also spent some time learning the wizarding craft at Orthanc under the tutelage of Saruman. Because she felt her healer's calling was more important, and because she considered herself a poor wizardess, Alede never completed her training at Orthanc.
Cyrus the Blue - The forth Maia to be sent to Middle Earth and friend to Radagast the Brown
Lomomir - Brother to King Thranduil of Mirkwood and a healer. He has spent the last many years in Rivendell studying with Alede and reading from Elrond's many books and journals.
Maladok the Red - The fifth Maia sent to Middle Earth. After a disastrous encounter with Saruman, Maladok has become a bit of a "black sheep" in the wizarding world.
Zarraweth - A young human witch with more plans and beauty than is good for her.
Malina - A healer and witch of the Angmar Mountains. She was married to Radagast the Brown and was Alede's mother. She was killed by a mob of religious fanatics who thought her witchcraft had brought plague to a village when instead she had been trying to cure it. Alede was only sixteen when Malina was killed.
Mändel - Legolas' steward. He originally served under Thranduil in Mirkwood in a lesser position.
Galomir - Ithilien's healer.
Girwyn - A general in Legolas' army. He is in charge of Ithilien's security.
Nimhith - A she-Elf of Eryn Culhallas, assigned by Legolas to be Alede's lady's maid.
Romiël - A she-Elf captured 700 years ago by Sauron as her people were making their way to the Gray Havens.
Romion - Romiel's brother and also a captive of Sauron for 700 years.
