meisalliam : Your wish is my command!

Aranel of Mirkwood : How the heck Linden knows? Err…I don't know! Do you know?

Fire Breathing Ferret : Where do you think Linden get the costume?

Sailor Elf : O-ho! Your Leggy has a sister, hmm? Nanaylia. Nice name!

szhismine : Okay! Okay! It's Tuesday today so here I am!

LegolasTroyGurl : God, I wished I could meet your brothers! I mean, they are triplets! I'm sucker for twins, you know. And one of them is named Hunter? Cool! Very masculine. (Tell him I said so!)

Someone Reading : Thank you for understanding. (But my grandmother completely does not! She always nags and nags about my single status, urging me to get married as soon as possible, as if getting a husband was as easy as buying fruits from the supermarket…sigh)

Becky Greenleaf : Hello and welcome! You want me to give Thranduil and Linden a chance to dance naked around the statue? We'll see.

Enigma Jade : Here's more Linden for you!

Young Storyteller : You are down with flu? So am I! Ini semua jerebu punya pasal la! My throat hurts, my head hurts. Grrr. (Thankfully, that B-grade movie was not a Malay movie. Speaking of Malay movies, have you watched Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam? I haven't the chance. Was it good?)

################################################

The fire was crackling merrily in the big hearth, providing the only sound for the room.

Linden and the Mirkwood princes were sitting in the parlor of the commander's quarters. Keldarion had just finished telling the elder elf of their adventure the past two nights. And now the two brothers were looking anywhere but at Linden, deeply embarrassed.

With a sigh, Linden stood and poured more tea into Keldarion's empty cup. "Was that why you were looking for the king? You wanted to tell him about the nymph, didn't you?"

Keldarion nodded his thanks. He took a sip before answering. "Yes. We wish father could help us, somehow."

Linden returned to his seat opposite the brothers and shook his head. "I'm afraid he will not completely understand all this, your highness."

The princes were puzzled. "Why did you say that?" Legolas asked.

"Because he is a Sindarin, not a Silvan."

At that, the two brothers exchanged uncomprehending looks.

"I don't get it," Keldarion said. "What does it have to do with anything?"

Linden smiled a knowing smile. "A Sindarin will never experience what we have gone through, my princes. The nymph only comes to visit the Silvan elves, like us."

Legolas raised his hand. "Excuse me? I have a question."

Amused, Linden turned to the younger prince.

"I know that both of us are part Silvan from our mother's side while our father is a full blooded Sindarin, but I don't understand why the nymph chose her victims that way. Why only the Silvans? Why not the Sindarins?"

Linden smiled wider. "There is a reason for that, your highness. But it is a long story."

Keldarion shrugged. "Can you make it longer? I mean, we won't mind staying awake the whole night to hear it."

Chuckling, Linden stood. "I will tell you all of it, your highnesses. But before that, please allow me to accompany you to the dining room. I believe my cooks have dinner already prepared. After we are completely sated, I will tell you everything."

As the brothers followed after him, Linden added under his breath, "This is certainly going to be a long night."

Over an hour later, the three of them were back in the parlor.

Linden added more kindling into the flame, staring into the fiery blaze thoughtfully. "All right, then. Where should I begin?"

"How about from the beginning?" Legolas suggested, sitting at the edge of his seat as he waited impatiently to know the entire truth. "Start talking, Linden. You are making me antsy."

Keldarion frowned at his brother. "Will you calm down? Linden is not going anywhere." Then the elder prince turned to the commander. "If you don't start talking now, I will beat you to a pulp and choke the story out of you, so speak!"

Linden laughed out loud then. He could see how impatient and anxious the princes were to hear his story, but he had deliberately stalled, taking his own sweet time to do so.

"Very well, my princes. I will tell you," Linden responded. "But first, do you know how the nymph got her name?"

Legolas stared back at him. "No. But I'm sure you are going to tell us."

Smiling, Linden continued, "She was called Qestari because of the nature of her appearances. In the ancient tongue of Eldar, Qestari means 'midnight'."

"Ah." Keldarion nodded. "The midnight lady. Figures."

"But why did she choose to come to us at midnight?" Legolas asked.

Linden grew a little sad. "Based on the legend, that was the time when her lover was killed."

Hearing that, the brothers went still, uttering not a word.

"Nobody knows her exact age," Linden said. "But I believe that she is a lot older than all of us. As you have already known, Qestari is playful and mischievous. She basks herself in joy and pleasure, a wild sprite who never knew sorrow of any kind…until the day she fell in love.

"He was not of her kind. In fact, he was an elf—a great Silvan warrior of these woods, thousands of years before your sire's arrival. He was known as a person with a very black past. He never smiled. Joy was an alien word to him. He only knew how to kill in order to survive. Qestari had vowed to change that in him.

"She did everything in her power to see him laugh and smile, to know happiness. And most of all, to teach him about love. She seduced him over and over until he gave in. With her beauty and persistence, it didn't take him long to fall in love with her. But then, when it comes to love, not everything is rosy.

"Someone was jealous of them. A male kin to Qestari did not approve of their relationship, saying that elves and nymphs do not mix. The male nymph challenged the elven warrior into combat, to prove his love to her. Little did the warrior knew, the male nymph was ten times more powerful than he was. The warrior did not survive the battle.

"He died at midnight with the full moon as witness, her name the last word he uttered. Qestari was very devastated. But as a joyful sprite, she was not allowed to grief. So she made another vow. She would seduce and entice every Silvan lad that caught her fancy so she could never forget the good times she had had with her warrior, her only true lover. She would never stop loving him. And to show it, to these Silvan lads she would pour all her love and devotion…even if it was for just one night."

As he finished, Linden turned to face the Mirkwood princes. They were staring back at him, looking slightly entranced with the story. Ever the tender hearted, Legolas even had tears in his eyes. "Wow," he breathed out softly.

Keldarion looked at his brother and chuckled. "Are you going to cry, little brother? Aw. So sweet. Here. Lean on my shoulder."

"Buzz off!" Legolas pushed Keldaron away as he hastily wiped his tears.

Laughing, Keldarion flung an arm around his brother's shoulders and held him close. "I love you too, brat."

Shaking his head at the brothers' antics, Linden walked closer. "Would you like to spend the night here, your highnesses? I'm willing to stay up to watch over the both of you."

Keldarion frowned slightly. "Do you think she will come disturb us again tonight?"

 "We will see," came Linden's short reply, keeping one more information from them. He didn't tell them that the nymph visited her chosen Silvan lads only once in their life.

I will them later, he thought in amusement. Let them sweat for a while.

As the commander turned to get his servants, Legolas suddenly called out, "You don't have to prepare the chambers for us, Linden. This room is appropriate enough."

Linden paused. "But there is no proper bed in here."

"The couch will do," Keldarion said, shoving his brother off the said couch and stretched fully onto his back.

"Hey!" Legolas complained as his rump hit the floor. "That is mine!"

"Sorry, imp," Keldarion replied with a grin. "Not anymore."

Before Legolas could leap and pummel Keldarion, Linden quickly intervened. "I'll prepare sleeping pallets for you, your highness. You will be comfortable even when lying on the floor."

"Thank you, Linden," Legolas responded, still glaring at his brother.

"My pleasure, your highness." Linden turned once more towards the door but, again, he was distracted. And this time, by Keldarion's voice.

"Uh…Linden, can I ask you a question?" the elder prince asked, carefully watching the commander's face. "Did Qestari ever come to you?"

To the princes' absolute shock, Linden's face turned bright red. The commander looked as if he wished to be somewhere else right then.

"She did, didn't she?" Legolas got very excited. He rushed to get to Linden's side. "What did you do? Ran around naked in the garden like Keldarion? Or did she take you for a swim like she did with me? What did you do, Linden? Come, tell me!"

Instead of answering, the commander snapped, "I'll get you the blasted blankets…your highness!" With that, he turned and fled.

Legolas stared dumbstruck at the empty doorway. "Did that just happen?" he muttered, turning to his brother, wide eyed. "Linden just ran. He actually, truly ran!"

Keldarion was laughing uncontrollably on the couch. "What say you if we find out what the nymph did to him?"

Legolas grinned wider, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Yes. Let's grill him for answers!"

#######################################################

Linden peered around the door, and released a heavy sigh of relief. The two Mirkwood princes had already fallen asleep. Finally.

The commander tip-toed into the parlor and silently approached the sleeping brothers. Keldarion lay sprawled on the long couch, lightly snoring, while Legolas lay face down on the thick fur spread on the floor right next to the couch. The elder prince had his hand firmly entwined in his younger brother's long hair, whether to assure himself that Legolas would stay where he was, or maybe he was attempting to wrench the hair off his brother's scalp. Having known the princes since they were mere babies, Linden was sure that that gesture might mean both.

Smiling, Linden picked up the blankets the servants had provided and spread over both princes to their chins. Legolas stirred slightly and mumbled something, but he immediately drifted back into a deep sleep. Keldarion meanwhile had a peculiar smile on his face, and Linden would pay anything to know what the elder prince was dreaming of.

Feeling slightly guilty for leaving the brothers so abruptly before, Linden resisted the urge to kiss them both on their heads. He didn't want to disturb their peaceful slumber, or rather, he didn't want them to wake up and start interrogating him about his experience with the nymph. Oh, no. That would not do. They must not know. Knowing these two, they would laugh about it from here to Valinor!

So Linden had taken the coward way out. He had avoided the parlor the whole night, ordering the servants instead to provide the brothers with a set of chess board to keep them occupied. From the way the chess pieces lay scattered all over the floor, Linden understood that the game had not gone well…on Legolas' behalf, at least. Ever impatient and brash, Legolas always lost to his smart and logical elder brother. In the end, the two princes would try to defeat each other using brawn instead of brain, wrestling each other like crazy. Tired and contented at last, they now slept like the dead.

Linden shook his head as he picked up the scattered rooks and knights and placed them back inside their box. Then he poked at the fire in the hearth, adding more kindling into the flame before he settled himself in a chair near the couch.

It was already midnight, and he believed his wait would not be a long one. That was why he was not overly surprise when the door that led to the balcony slowly opened a while later.

Turning his gaze from the fire, Linden watched silently as an incredibly lovely lady dressed completely in white glided in from outside. Her silver hair fell in a riot of curls about her shoulders. There was a benevolent smile on her cherry red lips, and her big blue eyes were twinkling merrily as she gazed back at him.

"My darling Linden," she said softly in that musical voice of hers.

TBC…