Chapter 14

Estel woke up in the middle of the night. It was very dark, only a few small pieces of wood were still glowing. When he tried to identify what had woken him, he realised that the culprit was his stomach. The only thing he had had to eat since the last day's breakfast had been a few berries, and now he was very hungry. He remembered having seen the clay jars on the shelf.

Carefully, Estel disentangled himself from Legolas. The young elf had turned to his side, facing him, and their legs had intertwined. Legolas mumbled something unintelligible, and turned onto his back. He did not wake up. Estel thought that he must have been even more exhausted than had been obvious during the previous evening.

As quietly as possible, Estel made his way to the small fire. Once he had left the warm covers and Legolas' embrace, he shivered in the cool night air. He quickly restocked the fire and then used a burning branch as a torch to investigate the clay jars on the shelf. To his delight he found dried grapes, dried berries and well-wrapped lembas bread. Without hesitation, he ate a handful of the dried fruit and a whole lembas bread. This was an indulgence, he had always been told that lembas was for emergencies only – it was not an item of food that elves ate for everyday sustenance; it was reserved for travelling and then only eaten in small quantities. Estel had never eaten an entire square before.

"Can I have one, too?" Estel turned to see that Legolas had now woken and had pushed himself into a halfway sitting position. Estel smiled. "Of course. And some berries and dried grapes." He collected the food and returned with it to their bed. He handed the food to Legolas and then slipped back underneath the covers. The fire played on Legolas' regular features and once again Estel was fascinated by the way the dark lashes framed the deep blue eyes. He could not stop himself from gently touching Legolas' face.

"Does your arm feel better?"

"Much. I can move my arm again, and the swelling has gone down a lot … and it hardly hurts any longer." Legolas ate another mouthful of berries. Estel looked at the bite, it had indeed almost disappeared, there was still some redness, but all the infection had gone.

"I am glad to see that. This looked quite bad yesterday evening."

"As I said, I think it was the worst bite I have had so far."

"I am so sorry, Legolas."

"Do not start again, Estel. We all make mistakes. Come here." Legolas had finished his food, and pulled Estel close. They held each other for a long time.

Finally Estel moved. "Legolas? Why do you not want to make love with me? I know you desire me. Is it because I am mortal?"

"Oh Estel! No, that is not the reason at all. I do find you attractive, you know that. But you are very young still, I do not want you to leave here and regret what we have done. I want you to be sure … and also …" Legolas' voice trailed of.

"And also?"

"It will be my first time, too. I … I want to be sure that it is really me you desire not just the way I look or a passing fancy of your growing body. I have been looked at with desire many times, and I need to be certain that this is different."

"You are not?" Estel sounded slightly hurt.

"Yes, … no… oh, I just don't know…" Legolas' insecurity was almost tangible. In the flickering firelight, their eyes locked for a long time. And suddenly, despite his youth and inexperience, Estel understood. He remembered some of the things that Legolas had told him, and realised how hard it had to be for Legolas to trust anyone to get close to him. Making love required the ultimate trust and they had not known each other for that long.

"Legolas? I understand …"

He very gently kissed the elf on the mouth. The kiss lingered, and became passionate. Soon all serious thoughts were forgotten when hands and mouths became busy giving and receiving pleasure.

-o-o-o-

Some time later, the grey light of dawn filtered through the narrow cave entrance. Neither Estel nor Legolas had slept anymore, sated and spent they had dozed in each other's arms.

"Estel?"

"Mmh …"

"I think we ought to get up. We need to tidy up and restock the kindling and fire, and … well, I also think we may need to rinse these covers … We have got a long way ahead today still, and we should really aim to be home tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest."

Estel groaned, but swung his legs out of the bed. Unfortunately, Legolas was right. The young man checked his clothes – they were dry now, but filthy and torn. With a sigh, he put them on. After a quick wash, he ran his hands through his tangled hair. There was nothing he could do with it as it was, so he quickly tied it into a loose plait in the neck, and fastened the ends with a small strip of leather.

Legolas also stepped into his clothes, and quickly rebraided his hair. Without the use of a comb or brush, his light hair was tangled, but since it was shorter and straighter than Estel's, it did not look quite as untidy.

Then they cleaned up as best as they could, made sure there was kindling for the next travellers, and left.

Outside, the sun was rising and the first rays were filtering through the green roof of the trees. It would be another warm day.

Legolas set a fast pace, but this time he made sure they stopped at regular intervals. At midday, they stopped in a grove of wild apple trees and filled their stomachs with the tangy fruit. They also took some apples with them for later in the day. Legolas declared that they had made good time and could slow down a bit.

Estel used that opportunity to slip his hand into Legolas'. They walked in companionable silence for most of the afternoon. When the sun began to set, Legolas said: "Estel, we promised to return within a week. The week ends tomorrow. We are not far from Lasgalen; we could push on and arrive in a few hours' time. But we could also stay in the woods for another night, and return tomorrow. No evil will befall as here, we are well within my people's protection now."

Estel looked at Legolas. "I would like to have another night with you alone. We may never have the chance again." There was a deep sadness in his voice.

Legolas gently cupped Estel's face with his hands. "We will see each other again. I promise you. Be true to your name, Estel." They stood facing each other a long moment and then embraced.

They made camp in a hollow underneath some mighty old oak trees. Although it was a summer night, Estel was shivering in the cool night air; their blanket had been lost along with their pack. Legolas lit a small fire and they lay down next to it. Legolas held Estel tightly, and the young man soon dropped off to sleep.

It had been a long day after a night with not much sleep, and Estel was tired. His last thought before he dozed off was how pleasant it was to feel Legolas' slow breathing against his own body, and he wished fervently that their return to Lasgalen would not be the end of their relationship.

-o-o-o-

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