Part 66

For a while, they rode on in silence. Aragorn rode before them all, leading them. And with him went Halbarad and the Dunedain, Elladan and Elrohir, Legolas and Gimli. The Elf prince and Dwarf were the last of them,taking up the rear. Aragorn let them walk at a leisurely pace,and Legolas rode upon Arod, his eyes now like the sea being a gray blue color, straying in thought. Gimli did not like the way the Elf held himself. Legolas was quiet and seemingly melancholy. Elladan, who rode just ahead of Legolas, indeed noticed the state of his friend. He frowned to himself but said not a word.

They followed Aragorn faithfully, trusting him to guide them right, for the night was dark and moonless. Legolas was glad,how ever, for the stars that adorned the face of Iluvatar.

He found him self absent mindedly smiling, though none of his companions would notice with the lack of light about them.

" Beledrien,Beledrien, ithil thind a bein." //Beledrien,Beledrien,moon pale and fair.//

A soft,wistful voice suddenly drifted on the air and Legolas was sought to listen. It was Sindarin, the language of his kin. And Legolas then realized it was the voice of Elrohir who sang. He was indeed puzzled by this,the words and the sadness in his dear friend's voice. So he listened on.

" Thind hend gortho nin olor.
Thilivren thir pathro nin gur. "

Legolas was no less than shocked to hear such wistful sadness and pain in his friend's voice. He felt it in every word Elrohir sang. And in Elrohir's voice, he felt his own pain and sadness. The son of Elrond sang of a she- Elf,Legolas realized. But his friend had made no mention of anything of the sort before.

" Nin gwador, lin naeg harno nin ", Elladan lamented. " My brother, thy pain wounds me."

" Why does Elrohir sing this way,Elladan?" Legolas questioned.

And Elladan only turned his head to look over his shoulder at the prince of Mirkwood. The Elf's piercing gray eyes made Legolas shudder.

" For Beledrien ", he uttered sadly. " She was an Elf of
our home, Imladris." Elladan paused for a brief moment.

" She was lost to him. She was taken by grief and sailed
to Valinor ", he said quietly.

Legolas only stared at him with wide, blue eyes. He had had not the faintest idea that Elrohir had fallen in love. And an Elf gone to Valinor because of grief was never a good thing. His heart suddenly filled with empathy and sadness for his close friend. He wanted to go to him and offer Elrohir comfort, but all Legolas could do was let his eyes fall back to the ground in helplessness.

Legolas' head snapped up and he impulsively swerved Arod out of line and rode swiftly up the head of the group,up beside Aragorn. His eyes were solemn as he spoke in a low tone to his best friend.

" Aragorn, your brother stands not well. I rebuke myself for having been blind to his grief before, yet now I sense it heavy upon him. If we do not act, I fear Elrohir shall fall to his own sorrow ", he said darkly.

" Ai, I know of Elrohir's anguish ", Aragorn replied. " I, too, fear for him. It was grief that took the lady he loved. He longs for her, and he wavers in his own mind of whether to remain or leave these shores. It is a choice that lies before all your kin, mellonin. Yet it is not Elrohir's time whether he knows it or not."

Legolas only nodded. But then Aragorn took up speaking again.

" And the same fear that I feel for my brother, so do I feel toward thee, Legolas. Perhaps you know it not, but the same grief that takes Elrohir,takes thee. You have little mentioned your own lady passed, Legolas. But I know of her from the very few times she has been brought it up. Her spirit went on to Mandos, and she sailed not to Valinor."

Legolas was silent, the pain of his loss surfacing anew in his heart. He only stared at Aragorn, the light in his eyes wavering. And the ranger gripped the Elf's arm.

" Do not forsake life because of those gone to death,
Legolas. If indeed she truly loved thee, she would
not want thee to succumb to shadow and meet death
before your time. This I have to say to thee and
Elrohir."

Legolas could only nod and found no words to say.