Disclaimer: DO I LOOK LIKE TOLKIEN!!!???
*************Chapter 55******************
Legolas's mouth dropped wide open, the bread he held in his now-healed hand dropped to the floor.
"You're—you're lying." He accused softly.
Maryn blinked. It was the first time Legolas had accused her of anything, save the fact that she was in love with him. She frowned.
"No, Legolas. I know Eressa is pregnant, believe me, I'm in the same situation!" She retorted, gesturing to her own swollen abdomen. "I can't believe you didn't know it already." She added this last sentence just for spite, something she often didn't catch herself doing.
"But how?" Legolas half-wittedly asked her, and then shook his head. "Don't answer that."
"Well, we all know how." Maryn said with a knowing smile.
Legolas shot her a cold but amused glance. "Are you serious? Eressa's going to have a child?"
Maryn nodded. "Yes…your child, Legolas."
Legolas's mouth didn't close. He stared at Maryn through that thin sheet of blue ice that was his eyes. Then a slow hand went up to his brow, and he flopped back onto his straw mattress like a piece of fish, and just as cold and clammy. He muttered something miserably in Elvish.
Maryn frowned again. "Legolas? I though you would be happy to hear the news."
Legolas didn't answer. "I should have known it…all those days she complained she was feeling sick…" He muttered to himself.
"Legolas?" Maryn called again. "Are you not happy? You're going to be a father."
Legolas removed his hand from his forehead and looked at her. "No I'm not. This child born will not be my child. It will just be another possession of yours, and your husband's."
"Legolas, I don't suppose…"
"Maryn, you don't understand." Legolas pressed. "Even if my child is born healthy, I'm not going to raise it. I'm a slave. Eressa's a slave. My child will be a slave."
Maryn grasped what the elf was trying to tell her and looked down at the ground, her mood dampened. "There are some things that cannot be helped, Legolas. I can only assure you that your child will be raised properly in captivity."
Legolas hissed at her last word. "Maryn…no." He said. The small statement was all his desperation rolled into a single effort.
He took a deep breath. "Maryn, I won't allow my child to be brought up as a slave. I won't."
"Legolas, you cannot help that."
"You don't understand, Maryn!" Legolas said, his loud words becoming a movement and flinging his body up again. "I would rather see my child dead than to have them suffer the torment that I have."
Maryn gasped. "You're serious." She said as the breath from her gasp escaped her.
"I am." Legolas said. "But Maryn, you can help me…"
Maryn heard his words and immediately decided that leaving the room was better than to listen to the rest of what Legolas had to say. She stood up.
"No." She stated sternly. "Legolas, I can't help you any longer. I came down here to tell you the news and now I have and I'll be going now. Goodbye, Legolas."
Maryn turned and began to walk away, but she had barely lifted her feet before the elf's mouth uttered a few words.
"Maryn, don't walk away." Legolas's voice had suddenly become smaller. Smaller, but stronger. The words of his sentence held her to her spot like the weight of chain around her feet.
Maryn heard Legolas's feet brush agains the stone floor of the room. She could see in the flickering shadows on the walls that he was moving, getting up off his bed. He was approaching her.
She spun around, right into the elf's chest. A small squeal escaped from between her lips, and she stepped back as quickly as her pregnant body would let her. She hadn't expected him to be so close to her.
"Maryn, you love me, do you not?" Legolas said to her, though she was trying not to listen. "If you do, you must help me."
"Legolas, no."
"Maryn…"
Maryn shook her head vigorously. "Don't." She interrupted. "Don't even try to phase me. I've already done enough to aid you…I've betrayed my husband, Legolas."
Legolas's calm expression molded into a dark, unpleasant frown. "I understand your reasoning, Maryn. But I have to ask you a few last favors. Will you listen to them?"
Maryn stared at the elf who seemed to hover above her, like an angel from heaven. His eyes that were so like the rigid ices of winter melted away to small pools of dark blue, begging her to answer positively.
She knew she couldn't say no. But she didn't say it with words. He saw it in her eyes as soon as she realized it, and a smile graced his face.
"Thank you." He said as she frowned in defeat.
Her expression didn't change as he explained his plan to her.
**************
That night, Eressa had a dream. It was not a nightmare, but it was not pleasant either. If she had been asked by anybody, Aleka perhaps, about how she felt about the dream, she would have no answer worth giving.
She dreamt that she wasn't a servant anymore. But she wasn't free either. She lived here, in this very house, only she was the Lady and Legolas was the Lord of it all. They had luxurious rooms full of crystal and gold, kitchens full of the finest food prepared by many servants, and gardens that stretched on into the horizon. There was no arena attached to their home like it was in the real world.
But she had no children. Eressa remembered in the dream that she walked out into the garden and saw a tiny gravesite, but she couldn't get close enough to read the name that had been delicately carved into the marble. She awoke and immediately got out of bed, heading for the servant's bathroom.
She wasn't sick. She just felt that she needed to wash her hands and face. It was silly, wanting to do such a thing in the middle of the night, but the urge was so strong she couldn't resist it.
There was a barrel full of clean water in the servant's bathroom that they could use for their own purposes. Eressa quickly plunged her hands into the cool liquid, feeling relief as the water softly slipped between her fingers. She snatched a nearby towel, not caring if it was soiled or clean, and scrubbed her hands clean of the imaginary filth she was convinced had grown on her during the night.
After she had satisfied herself, she stared into the rippling water of the barrel, her long hair trickling out from behind her ears and touching the surface of the water. She took a deep breath, and plunged her face in.
She surfaced a few seconds later, smiling. She didn't understand why she felt happy at that moment. Perhaps it was the news she had received? There was a baby growing inside her now, and although she was afraid as ever what would happen when the baby was born, she was glad for it. Having a child made her feel like she had a purpose in life.
Eressa wiped the dripping water away from her eyes. She turned around and looked in the one chipped mirror that was propped against the wall of the bathroom. The water had soaked her long tresses, and they in turn were seeping water onto her nightgown, her chest visible through the thin material.
She remembered one of the first nights she spent with Legolas. The first night he had held her in his arms and comforted her. Words could not describe how much she wanted him then. Her muscles seemed to ache for him. Her lips were sore from not feeling his kisses, her eyes tired from not looking at him.
"Legolas…I miss you so much." She whispered to him. She knew it was silly, but she hoped that he could hear those few words and answer, even if the message was short.
She waited. There was no sound from the darkness.
Eressa blinked and shook her head. She was acting like a child, and she was about to have one. She quickly rushed out of the bathroom and down the hall back to her chamber.
As her footsteps echoed among the glorious marble pillars and stone, she thought she hear a deep whisper. She paused, eager to hear whatever voice had spoken to her. But the voice ended as abruptly as her steps did.
Frowning and grasping her growing belly, Eressa stepped back into her bedroom. Glancing across the small space she saw Aleka not-so-elegantly sprawled across her bedsheets, her mouth open.
Eressa smiled and got back into bed. She blinked her eyes once…twice…three times…and then fell fast asleep.
She didn't hear the words still echoing in the hall: …And I miss you, beloved.
************
Legolas awoke the next morning with nearly half his body hanging off his straw mattress. He pushed himself up and flopped back down, his face in the pillow. He came to realize he had become quite lazy.
He turned onto his back. Lifting his right hand, he examined the muscles and the tendons that moved under his pale skin. He turned his palm towards him and gazed at the dark pink, moon-shaped scar that circled his wrist. He examined the scar on his other wrist as well. He knew that he would probably carry these scars for the rest of his life.
His head turned towards the door. He had thought many times of simply walking out of here, but he knew that as soon as he stepped out that door he would be lost in yet another unfamiliar maze of stone. It was best that Maryn help him get out. Even so, he couldn't resist the urge to get up, walk to the door, and grasp the doorknob.
Legolas grinned. It wasn't much of a power, being able to hold a simple doorknob, but he still found pride in it. He let the doorknob go and walked back to the bed.
Legolas closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He found that most of his days were better spent sleeping, saving his energy. But this time his slumber was cut short by his thoughts of Eressa.
Legolas was still having trouble grasping the fact that in a very short time—because a few months wasn't a long time for elves—he was going to be a father. The thought made him want to frown, but a smile appeared on his face instead. He closed his eyes once more and pondered the thought.
The child would come much faster than any normal elven child. Human pregnancies were apparently much shorter than elven ones. Eressa would be ready to give birth in five months, Maryn had said. Legolas tried to imagine Eressa, her belly swollen and her skin flush with life.
She looked so beautiful. He wished he could see her now. He wished so hard, he almost began to think that his wish would come true, and she would be here, next to him, and that he could kiss her and hold her the way he had wanted to, to make up for the month they had been apart.
Legolas closed his eyes tightly. How could this have happened to him? He'd never been gripped by any force so powerful as this one. His love for Eressa was like a two-ton weight on his back, but at the same time it made his heart and spirit soar. He exhaled, and he heard his breath echo in the corners of the room. Opening his eyes, Legolas looked up at the candle chandelier above him. He watched the flickers and shadows of light swim around him…and about Eressa and his unborn child.
Legolas looked away and closed his eyes once more. They would be together soon.
**************Personal thing*****************
I know it's short, but It's all I could punch out this week, which is pretty good, considering I had a Psychology test to study for, the state singing competition to study for, and I missed some school due the fact that I was invited to sing at my sister's middle school. Alright, I know you've had enough of my excuses! Sorry! The next chapter will come in about a week! I still love you all!