Author's note: Thank you to my faithful reviewers!

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Chapter 29 – To Make A Choice

It was evening, and Arwen took her usual evening stroll to the nearby lake. She went there almost every evening and sat for a while in her favourite place, watching the sunset and enjoying the peacefulness of this spot. Even though it was not far from the elven city, in the evening not many people went to the lake, and most evenings she was able to enjoy her beautiful surroundings undisturbed.

But this evening she saw that her favourite spot on the riverbank was already occupied. She recognised the blonde elf even from behind by his clothing, it was Legolas, Thranduil's son. He had pulled up his legs and was resting his chin on his knees, and was staring into the sunset. Arwen was unsure whether he had noticed her arrival or not. The young elf looked lost in thought. Arwen decided to leave quietly, obviously Legolas wanted to be by himself. But he turned, and smiled at her.

Legolas seen the path to the lake earlier, and after he and Haldir had gone their separate ways, he had come down to the lake, needing time to come to term with what had happened earlier. He felt a mixture of guilt and regret towards both Haldir and Estel, and just wanted some time to himself.

The peace and stillness soothed Legolas' confused emotions and aroused body. After a while, he began to relax. He accepted what had happened, and felt that he had learned a few things about himself. He had found that he was not immune to temptation, but also that he loved Estel sufficiently to stop before he truly went too far. He also knew that he was unlikely to ever get himself into a similar situation again. He would recognise the signs of what was happening earlier. Legolas did not blame Haldir, the marchwarden had not known about his relationship and there had been genuine attraction between them. The young archer hoped that he and Haldir could remain friends, and Haldir had indicated that he was willing to accept this as well. Legolas was grateful for that.

Legolas sat quietly for a long time, watching dragonflies and other insects skimming over the water surface. As it grew darker, other inhabitants of the forest appeared. There were some deer that came to drink and a vixen with her cubs appeared out of a den higher up in the sandy bank. The young elf sat so still that the curious cubs came to sniff at him, only to be hauled away by the scruff of their neck by their suspicious mother.

Suddenly he became aware of another's presence. The prince turned and saw Arwen, Estel's foster sister. He smiled at her, captivated for a moment by her beauty.

"Good evening, Legolas. I hope I do not disturb you too much, I can see you were lost in thought.'

"Good evening, Lady Arwen. Yes, I came here to seek some peace and quiet, but this spot is too beautiful to keep it all to myself. Please join me if you feel like doing so."

"I come here often and watch the animals settling in for the night. There is a vixen living nearby and often I can see deer. I like observing their comings and goings."

"I have seen the fox and her cubs. The little ones were curious and sniffed at me. But their mother did not trust me." Both Arwen and Legolas laughed at that observation.

Arwen thought: 'He really is attractive. May be grandmother's idea is not so bad after all.'

Arwen sat down next to Legolas, not too close. She did not want to rush things, they had a lot of time and they needed to get to know each other. "Tell me about yourself, what does a prince do with himself all day? What is life in Lasgalen like?" she asked with a grin.

Legolas looked at her and hesitated. This was actually quite a difficult to answer. He then just ploughed in, trying to describe his everyday life, his duties and responsibilities. Of course he mentioned Estel frequently.

Arwen was surprised that her foster brother and the prince from Mirkwood were such good friends. Friendships between elves and mortals were unusual, but Estel was no ordinary mortal, he had grown up amongst elves and in many ways was more like them than his fellow men.

Arwen liked to listen to Legolas. His voice was melodious, his accent different to that of either elves from Rivendell or Lorien. Whilst he talked, she looked at his face. The setting sun caloured his light hair and fair skin a deep gold. 'It would not be difficult to bond with this one' Arwen thought. She was not strongly attracted to Legolas, but she did not think it would be hard to live with him. She admitted to herself that, as far as attraction was concerned, she had been more taken by Estel, there was something about her foster brother that deeply appealed to her. But if her grandparents and her father decided that she should bond with Legolas, she would not object to it.

Later, Arwen told Legolas much about life in Lorien. They sat until darkness had fallen and Arwen suggested that they went for the evening meal. When they arrived, Elrond, the twins and Estel, as well as everyone else, were already seated.

"Where have you been?" asked Estel, smiling both at Legolas and his sister.

"We sat by the lake and talked." Legolas returned the smile and knew this very moment that his earlier decision had been the right one. He loved Estel, he did not want to lose him.

The evening meal was an animated affair, the conversation flowing easily. Arwen talked at length to the twins whom she had not seen for a while as well. Elrond, Celeborn and Galadriel continued a conversation they had started earlier. Estel joined in the conversation of his brothers and sister. Only Legolas kept relatively quiet. Arwen noticed, and half in jest nudged Estel and asked: "Is he always so quiet?"

"Most of the time." Estel grinned, and then added," But not always." Again Arwen felt the pull of attraction towards her foster brother. She looked at Legolas. 'He is too serious.'

After the meal, Galadriel suggested to walk over to the Hall, a large pavilion on the ground that the elves from Lorien used for gatherings. Often in the evenings there would be music and dancing.

When they arrived the dancing was already in full swing. Not shy, Arwen asked first her Legolas and then her foster brother for dances. Both agreed, and she was surprised how different it felt to dance with the two of them. Legolas was graceful and agile, following the rhythm of the music with effortless ease. When she put her arms around him, she felt how slender he was and that in term reminded her of his youth. She remembered that she had wanted to ask him whether he had passed his majority, to guess another elf's age within a few hundred years was virtually impossible. They did not speak during the dance, but Legolas' hands felt light and pleasant on her back and waist. He smelled of the woods in spring.

When the dance with Legolas ended, Arwen asked Estel to dance, who readily agreed. Again, Arwen realised that she was attracted to her foster brother. Although of similar height to Legolas, he was much more solidly built and as far as dancing was concerned, was also far less graceful. He danced well enough, but not with the same ease as Legolas. When Arwen put her hands on his shoulders, she could feel his muscles underneath his tunic. She had to fight the temptation to run her hands through his dark, wavy hair, she would have loved to pull some of it straight and watch it spring back into waves and ringlets.

Briefly she wondered if Estel had a lover or if he would consider her even though she was his foster sister. But by the time she had reached these thoughts, the dance had stopped and Estel politely excused himself. The next dance started, it was a slow, sensuous melody and Arwen wondered why Estel had stopped dancing with her. Most males would have appreciated an opportunity to dance a slow dance with her. But much to her surprise, Estel had gone over to Legolas, who had danced the previous dance with a pretty young elf-maiden. She saw Estel say something, and then take Legolas' hand. The Mirkwood elf smiled one of his rare smiles.

And whilst they danced, she saw it all. The way they held each other close, the way Estel buried his head in Legolas hair, their entire body language spoke volumes. She realised that this was not even flirting, but a long- held affection. Arwen wondered how she could have been so blind and miss it – both had talked about each other many times with obvious affection. When the dance ended, Estel kissed Legolas gently on the mouth, only very briefly. The moment passed, unnoticed by most. But Arwen felt a jolt of jealousy shooting through her, she very much wanted to be in Legolas' place. Arwen wondered whether her grandmother knew of this relationship but then concluded that this was almost certainly the case, but Galadriel had chosen to ignore this fact in her plans.

At this moment, Elrohir came up to her. "Whom do you fancy, little sister? The prince or the ranger?" The question had not been meant seriously, Elrohir did not expect an answer.

But Arwen turned to wards her brother. "If you must know, the ranger." Elrohir stared at her. He loved his foster brother, but for his sister to fall in love with him was inconceivable. "What?"

"You heard right, but its seems that both of their hearts are given anyway" There was a slight bitterness in her voice. "Grandmother wants me to wed Legolas, she says it would be a good match."

"Arwen, this cannot be true. Grandmother has known that Estel and Legolas are a couple for many years!"

Arwen looked at her brother seriously. "Grandmother thinks that if Legolas and I marry, the bonds between the different elven realms would be strengthened, which is undoubtedly true."

Elrohir just shook his head. "How could she do this – to you, and to them. They have not had it easy, they deserve some happiness together."

Arwen looked over to where Estel and Legolas were now seated a settee away from the centre of the room. Both of them looked relaxed and happy in each other's company. And all of a sudden she realised that she resented their closeness, their obvious happiness. She wanted to be in Legolas ' place, on Aragorn's side. She felt a fierce resentment of the younger elf, of his beauty and shy smile, but most of all that he so obviously held Estel's heart.

Elrohir watched Arwen. He had always been able to read his sister well, to him it was obvious what was going through her mind.

"It really is Estel, isn't it? I thought you were joking. It would be best to just forget that fancy, you will not part these two, both father and Thranduil have tried for years."

Arwen hardly listen to her brother, she was too busy watching her foster brother and Legolas. They were quietly talking, occasionally touching, but nothing overt or obvious.

"Are they always so discrete? During that dance it was obvious that they are strongly attracted to each other."

Elrohir told his sister about the many years of difficulties their brother and his lover had gone through, and that they were discrete both out of habit but also out of a desire not to make others feel uncomfortable.

Arwen sighed. She would need to speak to her grandmother. Somehow she had the feeling that Galadriel's plan to marry her and Legolas would not work. Besides, after what she had seen, she was not at all certain she still liked the idea. She did not feel like dancing any longer and decided that perhaps an early night might help her to think things through.

TBC. Please review.