Raven looked away from the King's elaborate burial ceremony to hide her
tears from Legolas, who did not need her sorrow to deal with as well. But
it was not the loss of the King that made her eyes water. She leaned her
head against her love's shoulder and looked back to just in time to see
Aragorn's body lowered into the grave. She caught a glimpse of the dead
king's expression and almost caused her to smile; it was so serene and
splendorous. But any traces of her grin vanished as Arwen's anguished cry
escaped her lips, "Estel, no my Estel!" she fell to her knees and wept
bitterly in the dirt.
Raven closed her eyes and tried to block out the she-elf's weeping, but her pitiful moans could not be ignored. She could take it no longer; this was too miserable. The girl pulled away from Legolas's arms, slipped past the vast circle of mourners, and walked briskly headed for Darin's quarters.
Nearly fifteen minutes passed when a chilled wind brushed against her. She stopped for a fleeting second and listened to the breeze; had it just whispered her name? No, that was foolish. All these negative emotions were getting to her head. In the flickering torchlight, the House of Healing raced up to greet her. She walked quickly across the courtyard and knocked sharply on the door.
Her summon was not answered from within but from behind her, "You best not disturb them milady, they are working very desperately in there," an old woman said sympathetically.
Raven withdrew her fist as if the door had burned her hand, "Do you know if he will be alright?" she did not need to mention Darin's name.
"It is uncertain, milady," she paused for a moment when she saw the elf's muscles tense, "They are trying to save what they can of his arm."
Raven felt as if she could vomit right then and there. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat, nodded curtly to the woman, and rushed out of the courtyard to the dark meadow by the surrounding forest. Grief-stricken tears ran down her cheeks. As if triggered by the presence of her solitude, the wind once again played a voice in her mind.
She stood from her crouching position and glanced about her surroundings when Legolas's voice shouted her name, "Raven!" she strained her eyes to see him, but before they could focus, strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, "I looked everywhere for you. Why did you leave?" she could tell by his voice he was on the verge of tears.
"I couldn't stand all the depression! And Arwen's cries-"
Legolas's lips cut her off, "It's alright, melamin," he stroked her soft hair.
She continued as if his attentions had never been, "I went to Darin because I didn't know where else to go," she sob-hiccupped, "Oh Legolas, they don't know if he'll live!" Raven cried freely and buried her head in his chest.
Her words hit the Prince like a sack of bricks. Though he knew his friend's condition, he had not quite accepted the possibility of loosing Darin until now.
"And it's all my fault."
He felt her grow limp, "Raven?" he looked down to see her face, but the darkness and his shirt hid her features from him. A slight breeze blew from the trees and lifted Raven's waist-length hair up in waves, giving her an ethereal look. She pulled away from him with sorrowful eyes. The wind grew steadily stronger as it lifted dried leaves and swirled them around her. The Prince reached out for her in confusion, but a strong gust hit him full in the face, almost as if great wings had clapped the air at him. Raven took another step back and then he heard it: a sort of whispering coming from the wind and trees . . .
"-and I deserve to die," she was almost to the forest's edge.
"WHAT?" Legolas shouted over the now howling winds, "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?" he demanded, "RAVEN!" his voice was lost in the tumult of air. He ran toward her, but the wind pushed against him, as if it were fighting the Prince, "DON'T GO IN THERE!" he cried desperately and forced himself through the gale and caught her around the waist. The instant he made contact with the girl, the ferocious wind stopped, but the strange whispers lasted a moment longer. He looked down at her tear-stained face; had it been calling her? He swallowed and held her tightly, "What were you saying?"
"It's all my fault," she buried her face in his chest and felt the growing wetness around her eye area on his tunic.
"You don't know what you're saying!"
"I must get away! I don't deserve the air I breathe for putting you in danger," she tried in vain to push him away.
"Be quiet you little fool," he shook her while masking his terror with anger, "Why can you not understand that I could care less if I were in danger? I swore to protect you WITH MY LIFE!" he enunciated the last three words. He could tell she was frightened of him, but he refused to let her go. He placed his fingers under Raven's chin and forced her to look at him, and to her surprise, his eyes were desperate instead of angry, "I love you," he looked at her for a moment longer before placing a crushing kiss on her moist-from-crying-lips. He could almost taste her insecurity and uncertainty, "Don't you know that?" he licked one of her tears from the corner of his mouth and forced himself to ignore his sudden yet expected lust.
"Oh Legolas," she sobbed and gave into his grip; she was too exhausted- mentally and physically- to fight him any longer.
"Yes?" his voice was heartier than usual.
"I . . . Oh, I jus-" she trailed off.
"What is it melamin?" he squeezed her shoulders and was aware of his breath breaking on her cheeks.
"Hold me," she smiled softly when she felt strong arms draw around her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arien leaned as comfortably as she could against the trunk of the shade tree. She had been shifting positions for the past three hours while waiting for Lady Arwen to either stop crying or die of dehydration. Although she had waited in silence for days for the elf's sake, Arien finally could not take the incessant mourning any longer. She stepped from the tree, "Lady Arwen?"
The other barely looked up from her husband's grave.
The exceedingly tall woman approached the Queen clad in black, "You need not mourn the King's death any longer."
Arwen gave her a look of confusion, "What?"
"You seem to have poor insight on the concept of mortality."
The widow furrowed her brow, "I do not understand."
"Exactly. You see, Men are LUCKY because they get to die."
"What do you mean?" her eyes were red and puffy.
"Men are not bound to the world forever. They get to move on in peace rather than holding on for eternity as elves do. Do you not see their gift?" Arien's words grew more confident. "Elves don't appreciate or understand the concept that dying is a gift, but you Arwen, must. Do you not see? You get to move on! It is a blessing, not a curse. Aragorn lived a long, fulfilling life, and it was his time to rest."
Arien continued her speech for several minutes, but Arwen took little comfort. When the other finally took a moment to catch her breath, she jumped on the opportunity, "Arien, call for my children; I shall take leave for Lothlorien immediately," with that, she got to her feet and left the woman without another word.
Arien snorted haughtily as she headed for the tower; it was useless to talk about the positive side of death with elves- even doomed ones, "Stupid ignorant little elves; they don't even understand Ilứvatar's gift to man," she made a scoffing noise, "Well you better get used to it and stop crying over Aragorn, 'cause you'll be joining him soon." She chuckled for a moment and continued in mid-laugh, "Oh I have no pity."
After a few minutes of walking at a brisk pace, she spotted one of the imperial guards, "You there! Go and bring Queen Arwen her children!" she turned quickly and headed in the opposite direction before he could come up with an excuse to avoid this duty; Arwen's misery was so heavy; it was practically contagious, and Arien had not had the chance to see Darin since the night before. When the House of Healing came in sight, she broke into a run and pushed the door open. She smiled hastily at Raven, who was busily applying an herb remedy to his healing chest wounds, "How is he?" she asked with concern.
"Better than yesterday, I'll give him that."
"Can they save his arm?"
"Yes, but he might not be able to fire a bow ever again," the green-clad elf picked up Darin's mutilated arm, "See the stitches? They're not sure if they saved enough muscle in his fingers . . . The warg-" she swallowed and changed the subject, "He was awake this morning! Sorry you missed it. He asked for you, but you couldn't be found. Where were you?" she inquired with a smile.
Any sickened shock Arien had felt when she learned of Darin's disability and was replaced with anger at Arwen, "I was TRYING to make Arwen feel better, but everything I said went in one ear and out the other. I am so officially pissed!"
"Chill, it's not like he died or anything. He'll wake up soon enough. Until then, try not to have any spaz attacks," she saw fresh anger brew in her friend's eyes, "that's MY job," she grinned.
Arien could not help but laugh quietly and a smirk. She glanced down at Darin and gave a mental sigh of relief; he was going to pull through, "Anyway, tell me about Legolas. Is he handling this alright?" she furrowed her brow.
Raven bit her lip, "Well, he," she paused for a moment and looked down, "Seeing Darin awake helped him quite a lot, I think, but losing Aragorn . . ." she griped her elbows, "He acts fine, but I can tell he's upset. Really upset." Arien could have sworn she saw a drop of blood form on her friend's lower lip before her friend continued, "and I don't think I'm helping much. All I seem to do is make him worry. You know, about-" she stopped, not wanting to mention the forces that hunted her, "I'm so afraid that I'm only causing him more pain!" she sat down hurriedly in a chair and put her hand on her forehead.
The dark-haired elf frowned slightly, "You can't honestly believe that."
"Oh yes I can."
"Then you've gone completely mental. He LOVES you. He doesn't care if Roain tries to kill him to get at you. It's not your fault. You had virtually no way to stop or prevent it, so stop beating yourself up over it. Legolas has been around danger all his life; he's used to it, and you better be getting used to it, too. I mean, there's no way around it until someone finally kills the bastard [meaning Raven's pursuer] unless of course if you give yourself up or something," she made the last comment nonchalantly and had meant nothing by it, but the sudden wideness of revelation in Raven's eyes quickly made her wish she could take it back, "Don't even think about it."
"What?" she put her most oblivious face.
"You know what. Don't be stupid, or I'll have to get Legolas to tie you down," she smirked.
Raven smiled politely at the meant-to-be-humorous phrase, but Arien's words, though she may not have meant them to, coincided with her suppressed logic, "Don't worry. I'll leave you alone with Darin; I just want to catch some Z's."
Arien looked down in confusion, "Catch some wha-" she cut herself off, "Oh! You mean get some sleep!"
"Exactly. Good night," she left the room with a smile and slowly walked across the courtyard to her room. When she opened the door, she was not surprised to find Legolas waiting for her, "Hello my good Prince, what can I do for you?" she beamed and stepped behind her changing curtain.
"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to see you," when he saw her hang her light- material dress over the curtain, he felt his ears turn pink, "Oh, I'm sorry Raven, shall wait outside?"
She smirked; she could from the sound of his voice he wished he was on the other side of the curtain with her, "No, it's alright," she emerged wearing a green satin slip. She blinked at the gaping expressions plastered on her love's face, "What is it?" Is my tag showing?" she asked and looked around the small piece of fabric- forgetting they did not HAVE tags in Middle- Earth.
"You are so beautiful . . ."
She shrugged and placed a hand over the concealed scar above her left breast, "Others would agree with you."
Legolas swallowed tightly and rage flashed in his eyes, "I should have killed him when I had the chance," he growled through gritted teeth.
Raven said nothing as she walked passed him and slid into her bed, "There are so many things we wish we could change," she said with a sigh.
"Yes," he sat down next to his love and stroked her left shoulder with his forefinger.
She smiled pleasantly up at him and raised her hand up to caress his cheek, but it never reached its destination.
With lightning fast reflexes, Legolas shot out his hand and caught Raven's wrist inches from his face. His complexion was frighteningly pale and his eyes were the most stern they had ever been as he gripped he end of her glove between his thumb and forefinger.
"Legolas? What are you doing?" she asked fearfully and tried to pull her arm away, but it was no use; he was already pushing the fabric from her forearm.
A solitary silvery scar ran from the inside of her elbow down to her wrist, and as he removed the other glove, its twin appeared. Legolas's words shook, "Raven, why did you not tell me?" he traced the lines with his fingers.
"Because I wanted to forget," she turned her head so could not see her arms.
"Who did this to you? I'll kill them," his voice trembled in anger.
"Too late. My mother's already dead."
"Your MOTHER?" he yelled and gazed into her eyes in utter confusion, "Why?"
Raven shrugged, "She always beat me. Sometimes she used a belt, other times she used a cane, but her favorite was empty bottles," she listed them off with her fingers, "I never told anyone; I thought it was my fault. She said there was something wrong, something horrible different about me, and because of that, I deserved every ounce of pain she caused me. She said no one loved me; no one could love me, everyone but Jason. She didn't know that though, but Jason couldn't tell anyone because he was too afraid of what she would do to him," she paused for a moment and refused to let him see any of her tears fall, "One night, she finally lost control. She came after me with a knife and sliced my arms. Jason finally sucked up the courage to protect me, but all it got him was a dagger in his throat," she closed her lashes to subdue her watering eyes, "I can still hear the coughing sound he made as he choked on his own blood." She stopped again for the same reason, "The next thing I remember was waking up at the hospital and the doctors telling me how lucky I was to be alive over and over. When I asked about my mom, they told me she was dead. The stupid woman had committed suicide. I got sent off to an orphan home and never looked back."
The Prince could barely believe her story; how could a mother possibly hate her child? He wanted to tell her how compassionately sorrowful he felt for her, how much he needed to see her smile again, how deeply he loved her, but since he had no words, he showed her with a lover's kiss. It was not urgent, but chaste and tender. He held on for a few moments before asking, "How old were you when," he nodded to her arms.
"Ten."
Legolas blinked, "Ten as in ten hundred, right?"
"No, just ten. One. Zero."
"But these scars are just a few years old! You could not have been just ten! That would make you-"
Raven swallowed, "Eighteen."
His mouth hung open and he took a few steps back, "EIGHTEEN! YOU'RE ONLY A CHILD! A MERE BABE BY ELFISH STANDARDS! RAVEN I-"
"Do I look like a child?" she demanded and pulled herself out of bed.
He gave her a helpless look, "No, but- Oh why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think it mattered! It's a stupid thing to get so upset about!"
"But, it would be utterly immoral for me to take advantage of you like this!"
"You're not TAKING ADVANTAGE of me! I wouldn't LET you!"
"But I'm 2931 years old! That's," he squeezed his eyes shut for a second and wrung his hand, "almost 163 times your age!"
"Yea, well, I like older guys," she shrugged and smiled prettily.
Legolas starred at her, dumbfounded, but she looked so cute; he could not help but to crack a smile, "That's not the point."
"Then what is the point? I love you. That's the only point you need."
"But you don't know anything about my past," he reached out to touch her but pulled back.
"How many times have I told you I don't care about the past?" she asked in exasperation.
"But-"
"Just shut it. Tell me exactly how you feel about me," she demanded crossly.
"I, I love you," he admitted.
"Then it doesn't matter. That's all I care about. Besides, you couldn't tell how old I was anyway," she smirked.
"Well, I could tell you were younger than me but-" he saw the annoyed look she cast him, "Alright, fine. No, I couldn't."
She grinned, "So there you have it. Problem solved. Can you ignore chivalry just this once?" she flashed him with her green eyes pleadingly.
He sighed and realized that he would be a fool to let her go, "Of course," he said in defeat, "I love you too much not to."
"I know," she walked up to him and kissed his cheek playfully. The touch of her lips on his skin tickled so much he could not suppress a quiet laugh before he moved in for a much more intense kiss, which she blocked with her hand, "But of course, seeing as how I'm just a child, I won't let you touch me for at least another hundred years." She burst out laughing at the mortified expression on Legolas's face, "I knew you wouldn't like that one!" she said, still laughing.
"Oh you!" Legolas cried in relief and tackled her playfully onto the bed and planted his lips hungrily on hers, the only place they ever truly fit. When her giggles were finally silenced under the kiss, a new idea grew in the elf's mind as he slipped his hand between the sheets and her satin nightgown, "Take this!" he began ruthlessly tickling her with his clever fingers.
"Legolas," she panted between fits of laughter, "stop it . . . I . . .can't breathe!" tears from giggles streamed down her flushed cheeks.
The Prince laughed charmingly, "Afraid not, melamin," he grinned as he kissed her tears teasingly. Besides, he took pleasure in the way she arched her back beneath him. He looked down into her face and smiled; she looked so . . . happy. After a few more seconds, he decided to release the she- elf and stopped her torture.
Legolas gave Raven a mischievous grin and she gave him a suspicious look, "What?" she raised an eyebrow.
"This!" he held his expression and slammed down another passionate kiss, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She ran her fingers through his golden locks, and shifted positions to put her arm around his back but instead accidentally rolled herself and Legolas off the bed and onto the rug.
"Sorry!" Raven said though giggles.
Legolas, who landed on the bottom, groaned, "Oh, t'was nothing my love," he trailed kissed from her collar bone, up her flawless neck, passed her pointed ear, shifted his body to get a better angle, finished his attentions just below her hairline at the back of her neck and inadvertently received a sharp intake of breath from Raven. He furrowed his brow in confusion, but a knowing grin quickly replaced his perplexed expression. He placed a deeper kiss on the same spot; Raven's response was instantaneous. She gasped in intense pleasure and involuntarily stretched every muscle and arched every joint in her body. He nipped her flesh lightly, sending a paroxysm of bliss down her spine.
She melted in Legolas's arms, "What did you do?" she panted with her eyes closed.
The elf pulled away from her neck, "Everyone has a place on his or her body that, when attended correctly," Legolas rolled over so she was beneath him once again, "can cause a most enjoyable sensation, and it seems I have found yours," he grinned.
"Where did you learn that?" she asked, finally starting to catch her breath.
Once again, all color faded from Legolas's face and he got the look of a child who had just broken his grandmother's antique vase, "Her name was Ellariana."
Raven nodded slowly, "Who's she?" she asked, trying to sound natural.
Legolas swallowed uncomfortably and sat up, "She was . . . my lover."
The she-elf gave a long blink, "Care to elaborate?"
"It was a long time ago . . . almost two thousand years to be exact. Ellariana was," he paused, "the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. We were acquaintances and young, and I was especially foolish. One oddly warm night, when the stars were indescribably brilliant-" he inhaled, "She . . . taught me a few things." He shifted his position out of unease.
"Namely?" she sat up next to him.
Legolas swallowed again, "Things like I just showed you . . . and a lot more . . . I should go-"
"No," Raven caught his arm, "Don't go . . . I don't want you to."
"You're not disgusted with me?"
"No, I told you; the past is the past. I could care less about what you and Ella-whatever-her-name-is did. All I care about is you!" she placed her arms around his neck.
Legolas gazed down into her untainted green oceans, "You really are in love with me . . ."
"Yes!" she said desperately.
"You make me happy, too," he said more to himself.
"And you make ME happy!"
"-and I want to be with you," he delved around in his pocket with success, "forever," he opened his palm, "Will you be my wife?" he clasped her hand.
Raven's mouth gaped at the elegant mithril band; Legolas was proposing, "You have my heart," she said and smiled softly.
"You've always had mine," his heart skipped several beats.
The she-elf was not sure whether to laugh or cry as he slipped the perfect- fitting ring onto her finger, so she did both. She smiled widely as he grinned lovingly down into her orbs and pulled her to him in a fiery kiss. The Prince smoothly scooped her into his arms and twirled about the room- oblivious to the fact that Arien was standing in the doorway, "I love you Raven," said Legolas, "I love you so much!" he was about to press his lips to hers once more, but a quiet 'hthm' caught his attention.
"Um, am I interrupting something?" Arien asked with hints of blush on her cheeks.
"Shall we tell her yet?" asked the Prince with a smile. When she nodded quickly afterward he continued, "Raven and I are going to be married!" he announced with pride.
"Oh Arien, isn't it wonderful?" she held out her hand so her friend could see the ring.
"You're what?" she blinked.
"Getting married," Raven raised her brow slightly.
"Oh right! Congratulations! I knew you had it in you Legolas!" she cried.
The Prince barely hid a smirk; he'd tried to do this nearly half a dozen times before, but a certain woman kept popping up at the most inopportune moments.
"I better have something important to do!" Arien mock demanded with a laugh.
"You know it!" said Raven.
"Any idea when?" asked the woman.
"Legolas?" she looked up at her fiancé.
"Whenever you want, melamin," a smile grew on his bow shaped lips, "I wouldn't care if it were in the dead of winter in a blizzard," he crushed his lips against hers.
"Oh Legolas!" she nuzzled into his chest.
"Uh, guys? I don't mean to be rude, but are you going to be done in a few minutes, or should I go get another room?"
The two elves blushed, " It's alright Arien, I'll leave," he smiled down at Raven and delivered her one last embrace and kiss before exiting.
When the door closed, the she-elf couldn't help a sorrowful sigh; she had to wait until morning to see him again. She scurried under her sheets and sighed, "Oh, how I love him," with a pleasant grin.
Arien smirked and mirrored her friend's actions, "I'll say."
"Amen," Raven closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with blissful thoughts on her mind."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wedding was a beautiful yet simple ceremony, and at some point during the reception, Legolas and Raven slipped away from the crowed area and rushed silently into the forest. The Prince knew of a quiet area where ferns grew thick and sweet . . . where he could be alone with his new bride. When the two elves reached the tree-less glade, they shared an urgently passionate kiss before the warrior lowered his love into the undergrowth. The newlyweds cuddled and teased playfully for what seemed hours on end, but they soon found themselves starring into each others' eyes, "Raven?" Legolas broke the silence with a question he did not need to ask.
"I can't stay the virgin queen forever," she grinned.
The Prince did not need her to set up smoke signals to help interpret her phrase and was already hurriedly undoing the clasps of his tunic, hungrily watching her patiently playing with one of her braids.
When he dropped next to her on the ground, she partially closed her eyes, "Take me, my love," her voice dropped to a seductive purr.
"My pleasure," he grinned and placed a sensuous kiss on her lips and after a few brief seconds, he slipped his hot tongue through the gap and into her saccharine mouth.
Raven did not object to the intrusion, in fact, she quite welcomed it. Although, she was confused as to why his hands stopped running up and down her back, and what the salty taste on her tongue was. She opened her eyes, only to discover Legolas's were closed. Terror pulsed in her veins; it was his blood she tasted. She pulled away from her lover and saw the knife in his back. It had gone through his ribcage and pierced his heart, killing him instantly. Raven shrieked in anguished despair as she wrapped her arms around her husband's dead body, "LEGOLAS! Oh God please no!" she cried hysterically.
"Oh God yes," came a voice from the darkness.
"ROAIN!" she screamed and leapt up from the ground, wiping tears from her eyes. She broke into a run, but something sharp pierced her neck. Down, down she fell and landed in a warm puddle of her own blood. She looked up and saw a rush of wings out of the corner of her eye and then . . . darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raven's mouth was open in a horror-struck scream, but no sound left her lips. After several seconds more of terror, she recognized her room in the House of Healing; it had been only a dream, but what a real dream it was. It was then that she realized that she had to leave, for if she stayed-. She shuddered and stopped her train of thought. She smiled softly in defeat as she pulled herself from her bed and stood on her temporarily weakened legs. As the elf stepped out the door into the night sky, she glanced back over her shoulder at Arien, who still slept, "Take care of Darin, okay?"
The girl crossed the courtyard toward the forest beyond, but her eyes caught a glint of metal coming from the doorknob of Legolas's chamber . . . Legolas . . . she looked at the ring on her finger. She could not leave without saying goodbye.
Raven pushed the unlocked door open and crossed the room to her love's side. She smiled at his sleeping form; he looked so handsome and peaceful in his slumber. His lips were slightly parted and tempted her cruelly as she leaned over him.
Legolas woke to Raven's arousing kiss, "Is it morning already, melamin?" he asked and drew his fiancé down beside him. He looked up into her eyes, which disturbed him greatly; she looked absolutely miserable, "What's wrong?" he demanded, immediately alert. A terrible thought crossed his mind, "It's not about our engagement . . . is it?" he asked fearfully.
Raven shook her head with a graceful smile, "Shh," she soothed and caressed his bare chest, "No, of course not."
Legolas sighed with relief, "Then what is troubling you?" When she did not respond he pressed, "Raven?"
Her sobs grew slightly louder and the warrior could feel her trembling against his side. He looked down into her eyes and stroked her cheek lovingly, "It's alright. I'm here. Nothing's going to happen to you."
Raven shifted her body so she could face the elf, "No, not when I'm with you." With that, she unleashed a passion she had not known she could summon and delivered her love the most crushing of kisses. She ran her fingers threw his hair, across his perfectly sculpted chest, down his smooth back, and all the while encouraging her partner with muffled gasps.
It took a few seconds for Legolas to recover from the shock her ardent demands; never had Raven shown so much urgency . . . not that he minded of course. He decided to let her lead this at first and leaned into her sinuous kiss. When her sweet tongue crossed the threshold of his lips into his mouth, he felt himself grow hard, but he did not hate himself or his yearning ache for her; it would be wrong not to feel that way, or at least now that she returned his feelings. He could feel the slight quiver of her fingers as she placed them on his and guided them to the clasp of her tunic. When he did nothing, she lightly bit his lower lip and seductively placed her legs around his. Something went off in Legolas's mind, "Raven!" he pulled away, "What's gotten into you?"
She looked taken aback. "I . . . I thought . . ." she trailed off and remembered her plan
"Why are you being so aggressive? It's not like you. It isn't that I don't, "he thought a moment, "want you; I'm afraid of hurting you. I can't- I WILL NOT! I love you too much."
Raven nodded and grew more relaxed.
"When this is over and Ro-"
The she-elf cut him off with kiss that was little more than a peck on the lips, "I know," she pulled herself up from the Prince's side.
"Don't go," he held out his hand.
"I must," she did not meet his eyes and reached the door.
"Why?"
"There is something that I have to do."
"Stay with me, please."
"I'll always be with you, always," she looked at him once more with those sad eyes before closing the door behind her, "Farewell my love," she whispered to the wind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas was in the courtyard when the sun's first rays peeked over Minas Tirith's roofs. He helped himself to a handsome breakfast with Gimli and told the dwarf of his engagement to Raven.
"I knew you had it in yer lad!" he said heartily over a mug of foaming beer, "She'll make you a fine wife, and Mirk- I mean Eyrn Lasgaelen, a fine queen, too!"
After his morning meal, he went to find his prospective bride. He knocked her door, but no one answered. A quick peek through one of the windows told him the room vacant, so he crossed the courtyard once again to Darin's quarters; Raven and Arien would undoubtedly be there. He pulled the door open, "Hello Arien!" he said with a smile, but a hint of concern crossed his face when the other woman in his life did not run to him with open arms, "Where's Raven?"
"Good morning Legolas. I dunno where she ran off to; she left before I even woke up. Strange though, I'm always the first one out of bed by half and hour at least," she shrugged nonchalantly. "Darin's doing much better this morning," she smiled.
Although he was very much pleased to hear his friend was on the road to recovery, learning that the she-elf in question had not been seen since before sunrise brought a tinge of worry to his heart, "Send for me if he wakes up," he nodded the unconscious elf, "I'm going to look for my betrothed," he said with a smirk headed for the exit.
Arien spoke quickly, "Congratulations on the engagement!" she cried just as the Prince pulled the door shut behind him. She smiled; they were meant for each other.
Legolas searched the inns and asked the random soldier who passed by, but no one had seen any she-elves with flowing silvery blonde hair and emerald eyes. As he came closer and closer to the back of the city, his hopes of finding Raven diminished along with the setting sun, but there was one place he had not searched: the palace! He rushed to the great doors and questioned the guard on duty at the gate, "Excuse me, have you seen any elves pass through here?"
"Not besides you," he grinned.
His heart sank, "How long have you been on duty?"
"It's a twelve hour shift, and I'm almost through with mine," he gave a great yawn.
"Is there ANY way you could have not seen her or she came through a different way?" he asked with a brow furrowed with unease.
"Not unless she can fly. I'm sorry, but if your friend came to the palace after five o'clock in the morning, I'd've known."
Legolas chewed the inside of his cheek and nodded grimly, "Have you seen Lady Arwen at all today? Did she say anything about meeting someone named Raven?"
The guard shook his head apologetically, "The Queen left for Lothlorien yesterday."
His anxiety was displayed clearly on his face, "Thank you," he nodded and headed back to the House of Healing.
Legolas double-checked the inns along his route back to no avail before he reached Darin's quarters and met Gimli in the street, "Hello my friend," he smiled weakly.
"My Legolas, what's got you looking so upset?"
"It's Raven . . . I cannot find her . . . "
"Well, she can't have just disappeared. She's probably with Arien," he put too much emphasis on the 'Ar' in 'Arien'.
"I do hope so, Gimli."
But when they reached the wounded elf's room, Legolas was once again disappointed.
"I'm sorry, but Raven hasn't been in all day," reported Arien, "where could she be?" she folded her arms.
"I, I don't know . . . I remember she said something about something she HAD to do before she left my room but . . ." he clenched his fists and gnawed on his lower lip in desperation.
At that moment, Arien remembered her last private conversation and felt her heart come to a stop. She closed her eyes, "No . . . stupid girl," she said barely above a whisper.
"What?" Legolas looked into her eyes.
"Don't you see? She's afraid of hurting us!" She-"
Legolas did not pay attention to the rest of Arien's words. The instant he pieced the puzzle together, he felt as if his soul had been sucked from his body; Raven was sacrificing herself to Roain to keep him safe. He blacked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To all readers and reviewers: thank you for reading my fic! I hope you're enjoying it so far and look forward to what's on its way!
DeathnDestructionSkeksis, uhhh. . . . I have no name, ElvenStar5, I will try to read your fic, but my mom will not let me access FF.net with our computer because she thinks it will kill it. In fact, I have to depend on a friend to update my chapters, but I will do what I can!
Raven closed her eyes and tried to block out the she-elf's weeping, but her pitiful moans could not be ignored. She could take it no longer; this was too miserable. The girl pulled away from Legolas's arms, slipped past the vast circle of mourners, and walked briskly headed for Darin's quarters.
Nearly fifteen minutes passed when a chilled wind brushed against her. She stopped for a fleeting second and listened to the breeze; had it just whispered her name? No, that was foolish. All these negative emotions were getting to her head. In the flickering torchlight, the House of Healing raced up to greet her. She walked quickly across the courtyard and knocked sharply on the door.
Her summon was not answered from within but from behind her, "You best not disturb them milady, they are working very desperately in there," an old woman said sympathetically.
Raven withdrew her fist as if the door had burned her hand, "Do you know if he will be alright?" she did not need to mention Darin's name.
"It is uncertain, milady," she paused for a moment when she saw the elf's muscles tense, "They are trying to save what they can of his arm."
Raven felt as if she could vomit right then and there. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat, nodded curtly to the woman, and rushed out of the courtyard to the dark meadow by the surrounding forest. Grief-stricken tears ran down her cheeks. As if triggered by the presence of her solitude, the wind once again played a voice in her mind.
She stood from her crouching position and glanced about her surroundings when Legolas's voice shouted her name, "Raven!" she strained her eyes to see him, but before they could focus, strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, "I looked everywhere for you. Why did you leave?" she could tell by his voice he was on the verge of tears.
"I couldn't stand all the depression! And Arwen's cries-"
Legolas's lips cut her off, "It's alright, melamin," he stroked her soft hair.
She continued as if his attentions had never been, "I went to Darin because I didn't know where else to go," she sob-hiccupped, "Oh Legolas, they don't know if he'll live!" Raven cried freely and buried her head in his chest.
Her words hit the Prince like a sack of bricks. Though he knew his friend's condition, he had not quite accepted the possibility of loosing Darin until now.
"And it's all my fault."
He felt her grow limp, "Raven?" he looked down to see her face, but the darkness and his shirt hid her features from him. A slight breeze blew from the trees and lifted Raven's waist-length hair up in waves, giving her an ethereal look. She pulled away from him with sorrowful eyes. The wind grew steadily stronger as it lifted dried leaves and swirled them around her. The Prince reached out for her in confusion, but a strong gust hit him full in the face, almost as if great wings had clapped the air at him. Raven took another step back and then he heard it: a sort of whispering coming from the wind and trees . . .
"-and I deserve to die," she was almost to the forest's edge.
"WHAT?" Legolas shouted over the now howling winds, "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?" he demanded, "RAVEN!" his voice was lost in the tumult of air. He ran toward her, but the wind pushed against him, as if it were fighting the Prince, "DON'T GO IN THERE!" he cried desperately and forced himself through the gale and caught her around the waist. The instant he made contact with the girl, the ferocious wind stopped, but the strange whispers lasted a moment longer. He looked down at her tear-stained face; had it been calling her? He swallowed and held her tightly, "What were you saying?"
"It's all my fault," she buried her face in his chest and felt the growing wetness around her eye area on his tunic.
"You don't know what you're saying!"
"I must get away! I don't deserve the air I breathe for putting you in danger," she tried in vain to push him away.
"Be quiet you little fool," he shook her while masking his terror with anger, "Why can you not understand that I could care less if I were in danger? I swore to protect you WITH MY LIFE!" he enunciated the last three words. He could tell she was frightened of him, but he refused to let her go. He placed his fingers under Raven's chin and forced her to look at him, and to her surprise, his eyes were desperate instead of angry, "I love you," he looked at her for a moment longer before placing a crushing kiss on her moist-from-crying-lips. He could almost taste her insecurity and uncertainty, "Don't you know that?" he licked one of her tears from the corner of his mouth and forced himself to ignore his sudden yet expected lust.
"Oh Legolas," she sobbed and gave into his grip; she was too exhausted- mentally and physically- to fight him any longer.
"Yes?" his voice was heartier than usual.
"I . . . Oh, I jus-" she trailed off.
"What is it melamin?" he squeezed her shoulders and was aware of his breath breaking on her cheeks.
"Hold me," she smiled softly when she felt strong arms draw around her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arien leaned as comfortably as she could against the trunk of the shade tree. She had been shifting positions for the past three hours while waiting for Lady Arwen to either stop crying or die of dehydration. Although she had waited in silence for days for the elf's sake, Arien finally could not take the incessant mourning any longer. She stepped from the tree, "Lady Arwen?"
The other barely looked up from her husband's grave.
The exceedingly tall woman approached the Queen clad in black, "You need not mourn the King's death any longer."
Arwen gave her a look of confusion, "What?"
"You seem to have poor insight on the concept of mortality."
The widow furrowed her brow, "I do not understand."
"Exactly. You see, Men are LUCKY because they get to die."
"What do you mean?" her eyes were red and puffy.
"Men are not bound to the world forever. They get to move on in peace rather than holding on for eternity as elves do. Do you not see their gift?" Arien's words grew more confident. "Elves don't appreciate or understand the concept that dying is a gift, but you Arwen, must. Do you not see? You get to move on! It is a blessing, not a curse. Aragorn lived a long, fulfilling life, and it was his time to rest."
Arien continued her speech for several minutes, but Arwen took little comfort. When the other finally took a moment to catch her breath, she jumped on the opportunity, "Arien, call for my children; I shall take leave for Lothlorien immediately," with that, she got to her feet and left the woman without another word.
Arien snorted haughtily as she headed for the tower; it was useless to talk about the positive side of death with elves- even doomed ones, "Stupid ignorant little elves; they don't even understand Ilứvatar's gift to man," she made a scoffing noise, "Well you better get used to it and stop crying over Aragorn, 'cause you'll be joining him soon." She chuckled for a moment and continued in mid-laugh, "Oh I have no pity."
After a few minutes of walking at a brisk pace, she spotted one of the imperial guards, "You there! Go and bring Queen Arwen her children!" she turned quickly and headed in the opposite direction before he could come up with an excuse to avoid this duty; Arwen's misery was so heavy; it was practically contagious, and Arien had not had the chance to see Darin since the night before. When the House of Healing came in sight, she broke into a run and pushed the door open. She smiled hastily at Raven, who was busily applying an herb remedy to his healing chest wounds, "How is he?" she asked with concern.
"Better than yesterday, I'll give him that."
"Can they save his arm?"
"Yes, but he might not be able to fire a bow ever again," the green-clad elf picked up Darin's mutilated arm, "See the stitches? They're not sure if they saved enough muscle in his fingers . . . The warg-" she swallowed and changed the subject, "He was awake this morning! Sorry you missed it. He asked for you, but you couldn't be found. Where were you?" she inquired with a smile.
Any sickened shock Arien had felt when she learned of Darin's disability and was replaced with anger at Arwen, "I was TRYING to make Arwen feel better, but everything I said went in one ear and out the other. I am so officially pissed!"
"Chill, it's not like he died or anything. He'll wake up soon enough. Until then, try not to have any spaz attacks," she saw fresh anger brew in her friend's eyes, "that's MY job," she grinned.
Arien could not help but laugh quietly and a smirk. She glanced down at Darin and gave a mental sigh of relief; he was going to pull through, "Anyway, tell me about Legolas. Is he handling this alright?" she furrowed her brow.
Raven bit her lip, "Well, he," she paused for a moment and looked down, "Seeing Darin awake helped him quite a lot, I think, but losing Aragorn . . ." she griped her elbows, "He acts fine, but I can tell he's upset. Really upset." Arien could have sworn she saw a drop of blood form on her friend's lower lip before her friend continued, "and I don't think I'm helping much. All I seem to do is make him worry. You know, about-" she stopped, not wanting to mention the forces that hunted her, "I'm so afraid that I'm only causing him more pain!" she sat down hurriedly in a chair and put her hand on her forehead.
The dark-haired elf frowned slightly, "You can't honestly believe that."
"Oh yes I can."
"Then you've gone completely mental. He LOVES you. He doesn't care if Roain tries to kill him to get at you. It's not your fault. You had virtually no way to stop or prevent it, so stop beating yourself up over it. Legolas has been around danger all his life; he's used to it, and you better be getting used to it, too. I mean, there's no way around it until someone finally kills the bastard [meaning Raven's pursuer] unless of course if you give yourself up or something," she made the last comment nonchalantly and had meant nothing by it, but the sudden wideness of revelation in Raven's eyes quickly made her wish she could take it back, "Don't even think about it."
"What?" she put her most oblivious face.
"You know what. Don't be stupid, or I'll have to get Legolas to tie you down," she smirked.
Raven smiled politely at the meant-to-be-humorous phrase, but Arien's words, though she may not have meant them to, coincided with her suppressed logic, "Don't worry. I'll leave you alone with Darin; I just want to catch some Z's."
Arien looked down in confusion, "Catch some wha-" she cut herself off, "Oh! You mean get some sleep!"
"Exactly. Good night," she left the room with a smile and slowly walked across the courtyard to her room. When she opened the door, she was not surprised to find Legolas waiting for her, "Hello my good Prince, what can I do for you?" she beamed and stepped behind her changing curtain.
"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to see you," when he saw her hang her light- material dress over the curtain, he felt his ears turn pink, "Oh, I'm sorry Raven, shall wait outside?"
She smirked; she could from the sound of his voice he wished he was on the other side of the curtain with her, "No, it's alright," she emerged wearing a green satin slip. She blinked at the gaping expressions plastered on her love's face, "What is it?" Is my tag showing?" she asked and looked around the small piece of fabric- forgetting they did not HAVE tags in Middle- Earth.
"You are so beautiful . . ."
She shrugged and placed a hand over the concealed scar above her left breast, "Others would agree with you."
Legolas swallowed tightly and rage flashed in his eyes, "I should have killed him when I had the chance," he growled through gritted teeth.
Raven said nothing as she walked passed him and slid into her bed, "There are so many things we wish we could change," she said with a sigh.
"Yes," he sat down next to his love and stroked her left shoulder with his forefinger.
She smiled pleasantly up at him and raised her hand up to caress his cheek, but it never reached its destination.
With lightning fast reflexes, Legolas shot out his hand and caught Raven's wrist inches from his face. His complexion was frighteningly pale and his eyes were the most stern they had ever been as he gripped he end of her glove between his thumb and forefinger.
"Legolas? What are you doing?" she asked fearfully and tried to pull her arm away, but it was no use; he was already pushing the fabric from her forearm.
A solitary silvery scar ran from the inside of her elbow down to her wrist, and as he removed the other glove, its twin appeared. Legolas's words shook, "Raven, why did you not tell me?" he traced the lines with his fingers.
"Because I wanted to forget," she turned her head so could not see her arms.
"Who did this to you? I'll kill them," his voice trembled in anger.
"Too late. My mother's already dead."
"Your MOTHER?" he yelled and gazed into her eyes in utter confusion, "Why?"
Raven shrugged, "She always beat me. Sometimes she used a belt, other times she used a cane, but her favorite was empty bottles," she listed them off with her fingers, "I never told anyone; I thought it was my fault. She said there was something wrong, something horrible different about me, and because of that, I deserved every ounce of pain she caused me. She said no one loved me; no one could love me, everyone but Jason. She didn't know that though, but Jason couldn't tell anyone because he was too afraid of what she would do to him," she paused for a moment and refused to let him see any of her tears fall, "One night, she finally lost control. She came after me with a knife and sliced my arms. Jason finally sucked up the courage to protect me, but all it got him was a dagger in his throat," she closed her lashes to subdue her watering eyes, "I can still hear the coughing sound he made as he choked on his own blood." She stopped again for the same reason, "The next thing I remember was waking up at the hospital and the doctors telling me how lucky I was to be alive over and over. When I asked about my mom, they told me she was dead. The stupid woman had committed suicide. I got sent off to an orphan home and never looked back."
The Prince could barely believe her story; how could a mother possibly hate her child? He wanted to tell her how compassionately sorrowful he felt for her, how much he needed to see her smile again, how deeply he loved her, but since he had no words, he showed her with a lover's kiss. It was not urgent, but chaste and tender. He held on for a few moments before asking, "How old were you when," he nodded to her arms.
"Ten."
Legolas blinked, "Ten as in ten hundred, right?"
"No, just ten. One. Zero."
"But these scars are just a few years old! You could not have been just ten! That would make you-"
Raven swallowed, "Eighteen."
His mouth hung open and he took a few steps back, "EIGHTEEN! YOU'RE ONLY A CHILD! A MERE BABE BY ELFISH STANDARDS! RAVEN I-"
"Do I look like a child?" she demanded and pulled herself out of bed.
He gave her a helpless look, "No, but- Oh why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think it mattered! It's a stupid thing to get so upset about!"
"But, it would be utterly immoral for me to take advantage of you like this!"
"You're not TAKING ADVANTAGE of me! I wouldn't LET you!"
"But I'm 2931 years old! That's," he squeezed his eyes shut for a second and wrung his hand, "almost 163 times your age!"
"Yea, well, I like older guys," she shrugged and smiled prettily.
Legolas starred at her, dumbfounded, but she looked so cute; he could not help but to crack a smile, "That's not the point."
"Then what is the point? I love you. That's the only point you need."
"But you don't know anything about my past," he reached out to touch her but pulled back.
"How many times have I told you I don't care about the past?" she asked in exasperation.
"But-"
"Just shut it. Tell me exactly how you feel about me," she demanded crossly.
"I, I love you," he admitted.
"Then it doesn't matter. That's all I care about. Besides, you couldn't tell how old I was anyway," she smirked.
"Well, I could tell you were younger than me but-" he saw the annoyed look she cast him, "Alright, fine. No, I couldn't."
She grinned, "So there you have it. Problem solved. Can you ignore chivalry just this once?" she flashed him with her green eyes pleadingly.
He sighed and realized that he would be a fool to let her go, "Of course," he said in defeat, "I love you too much not to."
"I know," she walked up to him and kissed his cheek playfully. The touch of her lips on his skin tickled so much he could not suppress a quiet laugh before he moved in for a much more intense kiss, which she blocked with her hand, "But of course, seeing as how I'm just a child, I won't let you touch me for at least another hundred years." She burst out laughing at the mortified expression on Legolas's face, "I knew you wouldn't like that one!" she said, still laughing.
"Oh you!" Legolas cried in relief and tackled her playfully onto the bed and planted his lips hungrily on hers, the only place they ever truly fit. When her giggles were finally silenced under the kiss, a new idea grew in the elf's mind as he slipped his hand between the sheets and her satin nightgown, "Take this!" he began ruthlessly tickling her with his clever fingers.
"Legolas," she panted between fits of laughter, "stop it . . . I . . .can't breathe!" tears from giggles streamed down her flushed cheeks.
The Prince laughed charmingly, "Afraid not, melamin," he grinned as he kissed her tears teasingly. Besides, he took pleasure in the way she arched her back beneath him. He looked down into her face and smiled; she looked so . . . happy. After a few more seconds, he decided to release the she- elf and stopped her torture.
Legolas gave Raven a mischievous grin and she gave him a suspicious look, "What?" she raised an eyebrow.
"This!" he held his expression and slammed down another passionate kiss, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She ran her fingers through his golden locks, and shifted positions to put her arm around his back but instead accidentally rolled herself and Legolas off the bed and onto the rug.
"Sorry!" Raven said though giggles.
Legolas, who landed on the bottom, groaned, "Oh, t'was nothing my love," he trailed kissed from her collar bone, up her flawless neck, passed her pointed ear, shifted his body to get a better angle, finished his attentions just below her hairline at the back of her neck and inadvertently received a sharp intake of breath from Raven. He furrowed his brow in confusion, but a knowing grin quickly replaced his perplexed expression. He placed a deeper kiss on the same spot; Raven's response was instantaneous. She gasped in intense pleasure and involuntarily stretched every muscle and arched every joint in her body. He nipped her flesh lightly, sending a paroxysm of bliss down her spine.
She melted in Legolas's arms, "What did you do?" she panted with her eyes closed.
The elf pulled away from her neck, "Everyone has a place on his or her body that, when attended correctly," Legolas rolled over so she was beneath him once again, "can cause a most enjoyable sensation, and it seems I have found yours," he grinned.
"Where did you learn that?" she asked, finally starting to catch her breath.
Once again, all color faded from Legolas's face and he got the look of a child who had just broken his grandmother's antique vase, "Her name was Ellariana."
Raven nodded slowly, "Who's she?" she asked, trying to sound natural.
Legolas swallowed uncomfortably and sat up, "She was . . . my lover."
The she-elf gave a long blink, "Care to elaborate?"
"It was a long time ago . . . almost two thousand years to be exact. Ellariana was," he paused, "the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. We were acquaintances and young, and I was especially foolish. One oddly warm night, when the stars were indescribably brilliant-" he inhaled, "She . . . taught me a few things." He shifted his position out of unease.
"Namely?" she sat up next to him.
Legolas swallowed again, "Things like I just showed you . . . and a lot more . . . I should go-"
"No," Raven caught his arm, "Don't go . . . I don't want you to."
"You're not disgusted with me?"
"No, I told you; the past is the past. I could care less about what you and Ella-whatever-her-name-is did. All I care about is you!" she placed her arms around his neck.
Legolas gazed down into her untainted green oceans, "You really are in love with me . . ."
"Yes!" she said desperately.
"You make me happy, too," he said more to himself.
"And you make ME happy!"
"-and I want to be with you," he delved around in his pocket with success, "forever," he opened his palm, "Will you be my wife?" he clasped her hand.
Raven's mouth gaped at the elegant mithril band; Legolas was proposing, "You have my heart," she said and smiled softly.
"You've always had mine," his heart skipped several beats.
The she-elf was not sure whether to laugh or cry as he slipped the perfect- fitting ring onto her finger, so she did both. She smiled widely as he grinned lovingly down into her orbs and pulled her to him in a fiery kiss. The Prince smoothly scooped her into his arms and twirled about the room- oblivious to the fact that Arien was standing in the doorway, "I love you Raven," said Legolas, "I love you so much!" he was about to press his lips to hers once more, but a quiet 'hthm' caught his attention.
"Um, am I interrupting something?" Arien asked with hints of blush on her cheeks.
"Shall we tell her yet?" asked the Prince with a smile. When she nodded quickly afterward he continued, "Raven and I are going to be married!" he announced with pride.
"Oh Arien, isn't it wonderful?" she held out her hand so her friend could see the ring.
"You're what?" she blinked.
"Getting married," Raven raised her brow slightly.
"Oh right! Congratulations! I knew you had it in you Legolas!" she cried.
The Prince barely hid a smirk; he'd tried to do this nearly half a dozen times before, but a certain woman kept popping up at the most inopportune moments.
"I better have something important to do!" Arien mock demanded with a laugh.
"You know it!" said Raven.
"Any idea when?" asked the woman.
"Legolas?" she looked up at her fiancé.
"Whenever you want, melamin," a smile grew on his bow shaped lips, "I wouldn't care if it were in the dead of winter in a blizzard," he crushed his lips against hers.
"Oh Legolas!" she nuzzled into his chest.
"Uh, guys? I don't mean to be rude, but are you going to be done in a few minutes, or should I go get another room?"
The two elves blushed, " It's alright Arien, I'll leave," he smiled down at Raven and delivered her one last embrace and kiss before exiting.
When the door closed, the she-elf couldn't help a sorrowful sigh; she had to wait until morning to see him again. She scurried under her sheets and sighed, "Oh, how I love him," with a pleasant grin.
Arien smirked and mirrored her friend's actions, "I'll say."
"Amen," Raven closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with blissful thoughts on her mind."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wedding was a beautiful yet simple ceremony, and at some point during the reception, Legolas and Raven slipped away from the crowed area and rushed silently into the forest. The Prince knew of a quiet area where ferns grew thick and sweet . . . where he could be alone with his new bride. When the two elves reached the tree-less glade, they shared an urgently passionate kiss before the warrior lowered his love into the undergrowth. The newlyweds cuddled and teased playfully for what seemed hours on end, but they soon found themselves starring into each others' eyes, "Raven?" Legolas broke the silence with a question he did not need to ask.
"I can't stay the virgin queen forever," she grinned.
The Prince did not need her to set up smoke signals to help interpret her phrase and was already hurriedly undoing the clasps of his tunic, hungrily watching her patiently playing with one of her braids.
When he dropped next to her on the ground, she partially closed her eyes, "Take me, my love," her voice dropped to a seductive purr.
"My pleasure," he grinned and placed a sensuous kiss on her lips and after a few brief seconds, he slipped his hot tongue through the gap and into her saccharine mouth.
Raven did not object to the intrusion, in fact, she quite welcomed it. Although, she was confused as to why his hands stopped running up and down her back, and what the salty taste on her tongue was. She opened her eyes, only to discover Legolas's were closed. Terror pulsed in her veins; it was his blood she tasted. She pulled away from her lover and saw the knife in his back. It had gone through his ribcage and pierced his heart, killing him instantly. Raven shrieked in anguished despair as she wrapped her arms around her husband's dead body, "LEGOLAS! Oh God please no!" she cried hysterically.
"Oh God yes," came a voice from the darkness.
"ROAIN!" she screamed and leapt up from the ground, wiping tears from her eyes. She broke into a run, but something sharp pierced her neck. Down, down she fell and landed in a warm puddle of her own blood. She looked up and saw a rush of wings out of the corner of her eye and then . . . darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raven's mouth was open in a horror-struck scream, but no sound left her lips. After several seconds more of terror, she recognized her room in the House of Healing; it had been only a dream, but what a real dream it was. It was then that she realized that she had to leave, for if she stayed-. She shuddered and stopped her train of thought. She smiled softly in defeat as she pulled herself from her bed and stood on her temporarily weakened legs. As the elf stepped out the door into the night sky, she glanced back over her shoulder at Arien, who still slept, "Take care of Darin, okay?"
The girl crossed the courtyard toward the forest beyond, but her eyes caught a glint of metal coming from the doorknob of Legolas's chamber . . . Legolas . . . she looked at the ring on her finger. She could not leave without saying goodbye.
Raven pushed the unlocked door open and crossed the room to her love's side. She smiled at his sleeping form; he looked so handsome and peaceful in his slumber. His lips were slightly parted and tempted her cruelly as she leaned over him.
Legolas woke to Raven's arousing kiss, "Is it morning already, melamin?" he asked and drew his fiancé down beside him. He looked up into her eyes, which disturbed him greatly; she looked absolutely miserable, "What's wrong?" he demanded, immediately alert. A terrible thought crossed his mind, "It's not about our engagement . . . is it?" he asked fearfully.
Raven shook her head with a graceful smile, "Shh," she soothed and caressed his bare chest, "No, of course not."
Legolas sighed with relief, "Then what is troubling you?" When she did not respond he pressed, "Raven?"
Her sobs grew slightly louder and the warrior could feel her trembling against his side. He looked down into her eyes and stroked her cheek lovingly, "It's alright. I'm here. Nothing's going to happen to you."
Raven shifted her body so she could face the elf, "No, not when I'm with you." With that, she unleashed a passion she had not known she could summon and delivered her love the most crushing of kisses. She ran her fingers threw his hair, across his perfectly sculpted chest, down his smooth back, and all the while encouraging her partner with muffled gasps.
It took a few seconds for Legolas to recover from the shock her ardent demands; never had Raven shown so much urgency . . . not that he minded of course. He decided to let her lead this at first and leaned into her sinuous kiss. When her sweet tongue crossed the threshold of his lips into his mouth, he felt himself grow hard, but he did not hate himself or his yearning ache for her; it would be wrong not to feel that way, or at least now that she returned his feelings. He could feel the slight quiver of her fingers as she placed them on his and guided them to the clasp of her tunic. When he did nothing, she lightly bit his lower lip and seductively placed her legs around his. Something went off in Legolas's mind, "Raven!" he pulled away, "What's gotten into you?"
She looked taken aback. "I . . . I thought . . ." she trailed off and remembered her plan
"Why are you being so aggressive? It's not like you. It isn't that I don't, "he thought a moment, "want you; I'm afraid of hurting you. I can't- I WILL NOT! I love you too much."
Raven nodded and grew more relaxed.
"When this is over and Ro-"
The she-elf cut him off with kiss that was little more than a peck on the lips, "I know," she pulled herself up from the Prince's side.
"Don't go," he held out his hand.
"I must," she did not meet his eyes and reached the door.
"Why?"
"There is something that I have to do."
"Stay with me, please."
"I'll always be with you, always," she looked at him once more with those sad eyes before closing the door behind her, "Farewell my love," she whispered to the wind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas was in the courtyard when the sun's first rays peeked over Minas Tirith's roofs. He helped himself to a handsome breakfast with Gimli and told the dwarf of his engagement to Raven.
"I knew you had it in yer lad!" he said heartily over a mug of foaming beer, "She'll make you a fine wife, and Mirk- I mean Eyrn Lasgaelen, a fine queen, too!"
After his morning meal, he went to find his prospective bride. He knocked her door, but no one answered. A quick peek through one of the windows told him the room vacant, so he crossed the courtyard once again to Darin's quarters; Raven and Arien would undoubtedly be there. He pulled the door open, "Hello Arien!" he said with a smile, but a hint of concern crossed his face when the other woman in his life did not run to him with open arms, "Where's Raven?"
"Good morning Legolas. I dunno where she ran off to; she left before I even woke up. Strange though, I'm always the first one out of bed by half and hour at least," she shrugged nonchalantly. "Darin's doing much better this morning," she smiled.
Although he was very much pleased to hear his friend was on the road to recovery, learning that the she-elf in question had not been seen since before sunrise brought a tinge of worry to his heart, "Send for me if he wakes up," he nodded the unconscious elf, "I'm going to look for my betrothed," he said with a smirk headed for the exit.
Arien spoke quickly, "Congratulations on the engagement!" she cried just as the Prince pulled the door shut behind him. She smiled; they were meant for each other.
Legolas searched the inns and asked the random soldier who passed by, but no one had seen any she-elves with flowing silvery blonde hair and emerald eyes. As he came closer and closer to the back of the city, his hopes of finding Raven diminished along with the setting sun, but there was one place he had not searched: the palace! He rushed to the great doors and questioned the guard on duty at the gate, "Excuse me, have you seen any elves pass through here?"
"Not besides you," he grinned.
His heart sank, "How long have you been on duty?"
"It's a twelve hour shift, and I'm almost through with mine," he gave a great yawn.
"Is there ANY way you could have not seen her or she came through a different way?" he asked with a brow furrowed with unease.
"Not unless she can fly. I'm sorry, but if your friend came to the palace after five o'clock in the morning, I'd've known."
Legolas chewed the inside of his cheek and nodded grimly, "Have you seen Lady Arwen at all today? Did she say anything about meeting someone named Raven?"
The guard shook his head apologetically, "The Queen left for Lothlorien yesterday."
His anxiety was displayed clearly on his face, "Thank you," he nodded and headed back to the House of Healing.
Legolas double-checked the inns along his route back to no avail before he reached Darin's quarters and met Gimli in the street, "Hello my friend," he smiled weakly.
"My Legolas, what's got you looking so upset?"
"It's Raven . . . I cannot find her . . . "
"Well, she can't have just disappeared. She's probably with Arien," he put too much emphasis on the 'Ar' in 'Arien'.
"I do hope so, Gimli."
But when they reached the wounded elf's room, Legolas was once again disappointed.
"I'm sorry, but Raven hasn't been in all day," reported Arien, "where could she be?" she folded her arms.
"I, I don't know . . . I remember she said something about something she HAD to do before she left my room but . . ." he clenched his fists and gnawed on his lower lip in desperation.
At that moment, Arien remembered her last private conversation and felt her heart come to a stop. She closed her eyes, "No . . . stupid girl," she said barely above a whisper.
"What?" Legolas looked into her eyes.
"Don't you see? She's afraid of hurting us!" She-"
Legolas did not pay attention to the rest of Arien's words. The instant he pieced the puzzle together, he felt as if his soul had been sucked from his body; Raven was sacrificing herself to Roain to keep him safe. He blacked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To all readers and reviewers: thank you for reading my fic! I hope you're enjoying it so far and look forward to what's on its way!
DeathnDestructionSkeksis, uhhh. . . . I have no name, ElvenStar5, I will try to read your fic, but my mom will not let me access FF.net with our computer because she thinks it will kill it. In fact, I have to depend on a friend to update my chapters, but I will do what I can!