A new dawn broke and the atmosphere was uncomfortable and tense. I had not gone after Idril after the kiss and she would not even look at me. The others had all noticed something was wrong but none of them knew exactly why. Aragorn tried to question me but I snapped back at him not wanting to admit how terribly I had behaved the night before.
We walked in silence to where the horses still stood at the edge of the forrest. "It is time to call upon an old friend." Gandalf said breaking the silence. He let out a piercing sharp whistle. For a few seconds it was silent then we could hear the thundering of hooves approaching. A white horse appeared on the horizon galloping towards us at full speed. It was the most graceful, beautiful horse on middle earth.
"It's one of the Mearas!" I said. Gandalf smiled.
"His name is Shadofax the king of all the horses and he is a very dear friend." he said stroking the horse as it halted in front of him. I turned away from Gandalf to get my horse ready for the journey ahead and turned to look Idril straight in the eyes. She scowled at me and looked away. I do not think I had ever felt that guilty or confused in my long life.
"Gimli let me help you." I heard Aragorn say.
"Nobody helps a dwarf! I can get in to the saddle on my own!"
I turned around in dismay to see Gimli struggling to get on to Aragorn's horse.
Idril mounted the horse, still avoiding eye contact with me. I searched her face waiting for a sign that she was ready to forgive me.
"Legolas get on the horse we are losing time the longer we stand around!" said Gimli abruptly.
I mounted the horse watching Idril's muscles tense as I sat in the saddle with her. She let out a little noise of frustration and leaned further forward in the saddle. We set off at a fast gallop across the plains of Rohan, faster than I had ever ridden but I could not enjoy it. The tension between us was unbearable so I leaned in closer to her and whispered, "Forgive me Idril".
"Why should I? You lead me to think...I'm not sure what you lead me to think but you humiliated me!" she hissed back.
"I didn't intend to humiliate you. I can't really explain why I did what I did last night."
"Well it doesn't change the fact that you did it and now you won't explain yourself. Just because you want to pretend nothings happened it doesn't mean I'm going to!"
"I have to." I said sadly.
"Fine do that. Oh and don't bother talking to me about anything else either!"
We rode the rest of the way in silence. How could I explain the restrictions of my immortality and the pain that it entails to her? I doubt at that moment she would of let me even try.