Notes:
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own OC's who keep crawling out of my head at an amazing pace. I like them. But I am a sick person, so there's really no accounting for taste.
Sorry about the delay. Real life again. Bastards. Some day I'll win $50 million in the Florida Lottery and then be able to do whatever I want, whenever I want.
And can I just say that I have the BEST reviewers. I like reviewers who ask me questions, who make me think, who point out things I need to address. Of course, I like reviewers who think I'm perfect too, but there's nothing like the feeling of beating your head on your desk when someone points out a plothole someone could drive a semi through. It's a pleasant kind of pain, really it is. Yes, Gimli will be in this eventually. No one else from cannon, though. Some questions answered in this chapter, some in later ones.
I'll tell you a secret. I really don't like writing with canon characters. I actually prefer to write original works. That said, I've had this damned story in my head for months, and I'm completely blocked until I birth it. So here it is. Sorry about the lack of canon characters, but short of Gimli, that isn't going to change.
Recommended reads..Anything by CNell. Just trust me on this. She's great.
The Orc Within the Elf by Jade. Amazing in its originality and its sheer scope, as well as its overwhelming cruelty. Love it.
The Faerie Goblet by Nebride. Love her stuff.
As always, Dark Leaf by Jastaelf, and The Hunting Trip by Ithilien. Anything by Treehugger, but especially In the Hall of the Wood Elf King as well as it's follow up Once Upon a Time in Hollin.
Next chapter will start moving things along at a rapid pace. After all, babies wait for no one and come whenever they want.
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Aragorn watched the elf sleep. It had been easy enough to plead fatigue on Legolas' part and escape the celebration in the lower city. From there it had been a simple matter of riding back to the palace and leading the compliant elf back to her chambers. She obeyed him without question, even when he had laid her on the bed that she avoided at all costs when she was herself.
He smoothed the golden hair from her face in a tender gesture that would have triggered a killing rage at any other time and then said simply, "Sleep". Her surrender to slumber had been immediate. While such obedience would have warmed the cockles of Gilby's heart, it sickened the King and his lip had curled in disgust at what had been done to the elf.
He had then pulled a chair up next to the bed so that he could sit and ponder his next move as the night moved into day.
Legolas furrowed his brow in his sleep. His dreams had led him to happier times spent wandering with Gimli through the forests of Ithilien. But now there was a weight on his stomach, a heavy weight that seemed to bear him down. Perhaps Gimli had shifted in his sleep and ended up leaning against him. He had done that before, and nothing short of physical violence had dislodged the heavy creature. "Stupid dwarf", Legolas grumbled as he put his hand down to push the offending body part from his abdomen and then paused when he found nothing there except his own stomach. His eyes slowly focused and found above them the black and silver canopy.
His breath died in his lungs. ::No. No. Not again.:: His eyes widened in panic as he began to gasp in fear. He writhed against the deep mattress of the featherbed, thrashing frantically to escape the deep cushion he was on before he realized that he was alone in the bed. ::No creature is here to hold me down.:: He then looked wryly down at his stomach. ::Indeed, no one needs to hold me down right now. The little one does that well enough on its own.:: He panted heavily from the exertion before he raised his eyes to the curtain. What would he see on the other side?
With a series of graceless twists and a great thrashing, he finally worked his way to the edge of the bed and then opened the bed curtains. He moved to sit on the edge, his legs dangling in the chill air as he peered around the room
The room was still and he could hear the rasping sounds of his own breath as he tried to calm the beating of his heart. There was no shadow of bars in the window, no lock on the door. His greatest fears had not come to pass. He could feel the tension drain from him, almost as if it were running down his legs to drip off of his feet and onto the cold floor.
He exhaled his terrors into the cold room and watched as his breath frosted, hung before him and then evaporated into the sunlight, taking with it the last of the overwhelming sense of panic. The fears that had overwhelmed him for weeks were gone. Shoulders slumped with relief, he turned to see the man who watched him without a sound.
Aragorn's eyes were weary, as if he had not slept at all the night before. Dark hair fell into his face in a rumpled wave and stubble shadowed his square chin. The grey eyes narrowed as he looked closely at the elf. "Are you. yourself again?" The voice was tired, the words slow.
Legolas thought the question rather odd. "What else would I be?" The ravenous hunger he suddenly felt made his tone sharp.
The man laughed quietly, his question answered with that one sentence. "You would be something like you were yesterday. Do you not remember?" He stretched, the bones in his spine popping.
The elf cocked his head and closed his eyes in thought. "I remember little. I was trapped in my mind, unable to speak, unable to move except as I was directed. Beyond that." His mouth turned down into a horrified expression as he turned wide eyes back to the man in the chair. "You made him stop. I heard you." There was another pause. "Is that what it was like when you were held by Davyn?"
Wincing, Aragorn leaned forward and put his hand out as if to comfortingly pat a knee, but Legolas recoiled away from the touch. After holding his hand out for a moment more, the man drew it back into himself and crossed his arms. "Perhaps. Perhaps more than that. There are no words to explain what I felt." He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward again, this time placing elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands. "Tell me this. Gilby said you would be happy that way. Were you?"
There was a slight hesitation before Legolas spoke. "I don't know. I don't recall feeling much of anything, glad or otherwise. It was as if I were wrapped in cotton and unable to respond to the world. I doubt that I would be happy like that." He paused again before he continued. "So that is what Gilby was up to? How. direct. of him. I didn't expect that." He turned his attention to his hands in his lap.
Aragorn leaned back again. "Yes. Very direct of him. It appears that Gilby has taken into his mind that you are entirely too good for our fair kingdom to simply let go."
The elf looked up again and into the king's eyes. "And you feel?" Legolas was surprised how dry his mouth had become at the question. ::Surely this is something left over from the drug, not from fear of what he will say::
"It matters not what I feel. What is important is doing what is right." Grey eyes met blue and did not waver. "I will not force you to stay. I will not take advantage of you again. And while I am. fond. of your company, I understand that you want nothing to do with me."
Legolas absently brushed a strand of hair from his face. "I'm glad you understand that. While I may be more tolerant of your kind than my father was, the charm that I found in humans has worn very thin. You would not like it if I were forced to stay." He leaned forward and placed his bare feet on the floor, the cold from the stone working its way into his bones and making them ache. He hopped across the freezing floor to the fireplace, burying his feet in the warm rug in front of the hearth. His brow furrowed with puzzlement. Cold had never affected him to that extent before. He shook the stray thought from his mind and then turned back to the man who watched him from next to the bed. "What are you going to do? Remove Gilby?"
"No. I can't remove him. He's entirely too powerful." Aragorn spoke the words he had been thinking to himself all night. "His agents are everywhere, even in your own household, it seems. It will take something less obvious then removing him to have any effect."
"I think that he takes the good of your kingdom too closely to his own heart. I would wonder what he would do if he thinks that you are no longer good for your own realm." The elf had turned to place wood on the fire and did not see the speculative look that passed across the king's face.
"I would not be surprised at all, dear Greenleaf, if that is what he was thinking right now. I would almost be willing to wager on it." The tone was grim.
Legolas turned back, his face drawn into an expression of tight anger. "Don't call me that." He took a deep breath and continued. "What shall we do about this?"
"My apologies. You shall do nothing. You have enough to think of right now." Aragorn looked down, unable to meet Legolas' gaze. "Oh, fear not. I have been caught before in someone's web of deceit and I did not like it one bit. I will not allow that to happen again. I have resources at my disposal as well." The man shifted and looked at the elf who had drawn himself up to stare back at him. "You stand there, so straight and disapproving. I can tell you want to look imposing and grim as only a deadly Elven warrior can, yet you seem to me to be mildly annoyed and somewhat uncomfortable." His voice was gentle as he made his jest.
The elf shook his head sharply. "You forget yourself, King of Gondor, and you forget who I am." His voice seethed with anger. "I am beyond sick of being here. I am beyond sick of your jests and surreptitious glances when you think I am not looking. I am positively ill with doing the best for your beloved kingdom. I cannot bear to be here another moment yet I am bound here, might I add practically immobile with the result of your heinous assaults upon this body that you forced upon me! Of course I'm 'mildly annoyed and uncomfortable' with the very sight of you!" The last sentence was almost shrieked, and a delicate hand moved aimlessly upon the mantel until it encountered a fine, eggshell thin porcelain vase that normally resided on the table filled with flowers from the gardens. The long fingers gripped the vase with a white knuckled grip.
The King stood and yawned deliberately. "I don't think you mean that. I think you've been taken with a woman's vapors, as is common at this time."
There was an almost whistling noise as the vase became airborne at a high rate of speed, and then an almost silent popping sound as it hit the King in the temple and seemed to shatter from within. The pieces held together in their shape for a moment, as if trying through sheer force of will to not break before falling down to the floor in a musical rain of sharp edged snowflakes. The King swayed for a moment, a small trickle of blood slowly making its way down his forehead, and then sat down heavily in his chair. He shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs from his mind, and then blinked and pulled his face into a look of anger. "What was that for?"
Jaw set into a firm line, Legolas started gasping in sheer unnamed emotion that swept over him and washed away all reason. "What was that for? Have you no idea what you do?" He gasped, pulling air into burning lungs and then looked at the shards on the ground. Sadness then rose up and tears burned his eyes. "I liked that vase! That was possibly one of my favorite things in this room, and you made me break it!"
Aragorn simply remained silent. That appeared to be the best strategy at this moment. It wasn't every day that he was confronted with an almost incoherent elf with deadly aim and a mantel that still contained several items waiting to take wing and cause him more injury.
"Well! What are you waiting for?" The musical voice was now sharp and shrewish and had the Man strongly reconsidering his strong feelings of attraction for the near murderous creature in front of him. "Clean up the mess you made me make! I certainly can't bend over to get it!" Legolas grabbed a cloak that had been resting across one of the chairs and his shoes. "And don't bleed on anything. I'm going to the stables. Maybe I'll let you live when I come back."
The Man slowly reached down and began to pick up shards. He feared the penalty for disobedience.
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The day had grown progressively colder, low grey clouds rolling in to obscure the sun and block what little warmth it gave. The elf shrugged the heavy wool cloak tighter around his frame as he quickly crossed the courtyard from the stables to the shed in the garden. The wind had picked up as well, cutting like sharp knives through wool and linen and through flesh and bone beneath, even elven flesh and bone.
The elf paused, shivering in the wind to listen to the trees and plants in the gardens but heard nothing but the faintest murmur. The trees had entered their long slumber for the season and the lesser plants had died or retreated beneath the earth to hide from the cruel cold. Winter had come to Minas Tirith in the span of less than a day.
He crossed the garden, his legs moving too quickly to have any real grace as they propelled him to the shelter of the small shed and the warmth that it held. With a final burst of speed, he scurried to the side of the building and through the heavy wooden door, opening it up only wide enough to squeeze through and then closing it behind him again tightly.
The room inside was almost hot in comparison to outside. Legolas was glad of that. He nodded to Arick and then took the cloak off and hung it next to the door. Braziers stood near the wooden bars, still out of reach to the mage within, but close enough to radiate heat into the cell. The thick stone walls with their wooden panels acted as insulators, keeping a majority of the heat inside.
Legolas turned to Arick and then to the cell. He was hesitant to ask the guard to leave the room when it was so cold outside. He settled for standing close to the cell, warming his hands over a brazier, but still far enough that he could not reached. He looked at Davyn who had come to stand on the other side of the bars to watch him with glittering eyes. The mage spoke first.
"I am glad to see you well." The voice seemed almost sincere.
"Indeed?" The elf could hardly keep from laughing in the mage's face. "I would think that it was because of you that I was almost not so well."
Davyn smiled grimly. "I am merely the instrument of someone else's plans, as much as it pains me to admit it. I find it almost humiliating to not be the one who has masterminded the schemes that were set in motion."
"What did he promise you?" Legolas found himself asking the question out of morbid curiosity.
Davyn leaned against the bars nonchalantly. "He promised me that he would bring you here after the child was born so that I could take some of your magic again. I grow weak and he knows this."
"After the child is born?" Legolas knew he sounded confused. "Why wait to collect your reward? That doesn't seem like you at all, Lord Mage."
The mage laughed quietly. "You really aren't the most observant of elves, are you? Look inside yourself and see what I see clearly. The child has taken most of your strength for itself and you have none to share. Did you not wonder why you suddenly feel the cold so sorely when it is not in your nature to feel it?" He paused at Legolas' look of puzzlement and then continued. "I expect you are close to your time now."
The elf froze and then dropped his gaze to his hands, fanned out over the brazier. "Perhaps. I know little enough of such things, but I hope that this will be over soon." He looked sideways at the mage, watching Davyn from the corner of his eye. The coals lit the wrinkled face with a sullen orange glow, making the eye sockets deep and hollowed. Eyes glinted coldly from within the shadows, watching closely, waiting for some reaction, some weakness. Legolas chose to give him nothing for his pains and schooled his face to blankness.
After several minutes of silence, Legolas spoke quietly. "If you have grown weak, will you still be able to break the spell?" This had been a question that been hidden, yet ever present in the back of his mind.
Davyn walked from the bars and indolently draped himself into one of the chairs. "The process of removing the spell will be much simpler than casting it. In fact, a portion of the power that I invested in your binding will return to me in the process, and that makes it to my benefit to cooperate and break the spell."
Legolas felt the corner of his lip twitch upwards. "And of course, it must be to your benefit in some way for you to do anything."
The mage smiled grimly. "But of course." Davyn shrugged. "But unlike most of the others here, I've always been honest about that." He then leaned forward and placed a finger on his chin. "What do you think will happen if you fail to produce the son they want? After all, it is just as likely that you would bear a daughter, and a girl cannot be the heir. You swore, rather specifically if I recall, to bear the heir."
The elf straightened. "The King has already said he will not hold me to that oath." ::He wouldn't have wanted to hold me to that oath after this morning anyway::
"Ah, yes." Davyn examined his nails in the dim light from the brazier. "But wouldn't you hold yourself to that oath? After all, you are a creature of honor." The mage raised his eyes to look intently at Legolas. "Do you think you could endure his hands on you again? His touch, his lovemaking? Does the thought fill you with revulsion? Or does it fill you with something else?" His eyes gleamed in the dark, barely hidden malevolence shining through.
Legolas stiffened and fixed the mage with a steely glare and then turned, grabbed the cloak from the hook on the wall, and fled the building. Davyn chuckled silently to himself, smiled broadly at the silent guard in the corner and then turned his attention back to his book on cheesemaking.
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It was to his own rooms that Legolas fled, looking for some place that he could put his thoughts in order. Emotions that had been previously unknown to him had reared their heads with unnerving frequency now, and they confused him. The rage he had felt earlier had changed into a deep guilt. He should not have overreacted to Aragorn's simple jest.
He could almost feel tears prickling the back of his eyelids as Davyn's words circled in his mind but he could not fathom why they had upset him so. The feeling of confusion mixed with anger, and caused him to feel even more anxiety. He would find peace in his rooms, if not answers to the questions and fears that lurked in his muddled mind.
But peace was not to be found even there. And the empty spot on the mantel was glaringly obvious.
He walked into the inner room to find Valda and a strange woman sitting in the chairs next to the fire, deep in conversation. The woman was older, with long steel gray hair that flowed to the middle of her back even though tied back with a scrap of leather. Her dress was of a simple cut, but of good material and well made. The deep green of the fabric matched her eyes. She looked up when Legolas entered the room and smiled a genuine smile that reached her eyes and warmed them. The thing that stood out about her though, Legolas thought, was her scent. She smelled of herbs and flowers, a clean scent that cut even through the smell smoke from the blazing fire in the hearth.
Disa was in the window seat working on her embroidery. She looked up to momentarily meet Legolas' eyes and then looked down at her work again, a vision of maidenly modesty. Something struck him odd about her behavior but before he could confront her Valda stood, her skirts swishing in the sudden quiet of the room.
Warm hands unclasped the cloak from around his neck and pushed him gently towards the now empty chair. Valda draped the cloak carefully over one arm and smoothed it absently as she spoke. "Legolas, this is Estra." The woman nodded in greeting as she looked closely at the elf. "She will be your midwife." There was a pause. "As well as mine."
Legolas jerked his gaze from the woman in the opposite chair to the one who stood slightly behind him. "But. I thought.." His eyes traveled to where her hand had strayed from the material of the cloak and now rested on her stomach. "I thought you couldn't." He looked up to her face and to the serene expression she wore. "Are you happy?"
The countess smiled. "Yes. Very happy. But also nervous. I'm at the age when I should be having grandchildren, not children." Her eyes crinkled with her smile. "I suspect that your talent for encouraging new life isn't just with plants. We've had a record number of pregnancies in the court this year, if you hadn't noticed."
"Indeed? I hadn't noticed. I suppose it's not in my nature to pay attention to such things." Legolas smiled at her, feeling happy and odd at the same time about her revelation.
Valda leaned closer and spoke quietly. "I told Arnlaug this morning, and I told him what I thought caused this miracle for us. He was already uneasy about what Gilby was proposing and his loyalties will not stray again. I will make sure of that."
Legolas could feel a wave of relief breaking over him. The thought bothered him that one that he had trusted so was working against him. "I am very happy for you both. And I am even happier to hear that." He then turned his attention back to the woman who waited patiently across from him.
"You should have sent for me earlier. Several months ago, in fact." Estra's voice was a pleasant contralto, but there was a core of steel to it. Her eyes glittered as she raised her eyebrows and frowned at Valda.
The countess straightened her shoulders and returned the glare. "There were reasons we could not call you. She has been under my care from the beginning." Legolas turned to find a hand tightly grasping his shoulder.
"Yes. Such tender care you give. You nearly let her starve herself before, and now you let her go off alone and ride." Estra leaned forward and plucked a piece of straw that had somehow worked its way into one of his side braids.
The hand on his shoulder tightened, almost painful now. Legolas shrugged it off. "It is my choice to ride, not hers. If you have complaints, you should address them to me. You can rest assured that I am capable of understanding."
The green eyes centered on him and he leaned back under their intensity. "Indeed, I should, shouldn't I? I see now that you are not nearly as empty headed as you look." She leaned back and then smiled, her eyes warming again. "Fine. No more riding until I say so. A fall could be dangerous."
"Arod would never let me fall." Legolas straightened his back in challenge.
"Arod?" Estra looked confused. "Your horse?" She looked at Valda for confirmation and then back down at Legolas. "I'm sure your horse would never let you fall, but accidents can happen. And this close to your time, accidents can be deadly for you and the child. No riding until I say you may." She raised her finger and quelled another objection by simply pointing. "That is not negotiable."
Legolas sighed and then made a gesture of agreement. If he was honest with himself, it was rather uncomfortable to ride now anyway. Mounting and dismounting had brought their own painful challenges, and he could foresee them only getting worse.
Estra nodded sharply. "Good. Also you go nowhere alone now. I don't want your pains starting and you not having someone with you to help."
"Pains?" Legolas raised his eyebrows. That didn't sound good.
The midwife ignored his question and turned to Disa. "Girl, fetch me a basin of water so I may wash my hands." She then turned those piercing eyes back to him, missing the angry look that Disa shot before doing as she was told. "I need to examine you now. I want you to lie down." She stood and gestured to the bed.
He felt his eyes grow wide. "No. Not there. Not on the bed."
Valda's hand was on his shoulder, firmly gripping, trying to comfort but restraining instead. Estra looked at him sharply. "I certainly don't intend to kneel on the floor. And how would you get up again?" There was a touch of humor in her voice.
"With some difficulty, but I do it every morning." His voice was flat and his eyes burned as if with unshed tears.
Estra's face softened with realization. She leaned back and put her hand on his other shoulder. "The bed did not do this to you; it had no hand in this at all. The bed is simply furniture, no more, no less. There is no reason for you to sleep on the floor when you can be comfortable and warm." She moved her hand to his chin. "Come now, listen to me. I know what is best for you at this time. Come lie on the bed and let me see what we have."
He studied her closely and after a long moment nodded. Levering himself from the chair, he followed her to the bed and allowed her to help him lie down. He bit his lip and swallowed a sound of outrage as her warm hands began to press firmly on his stomach, and then pulled down the waist of his leggings to rest below the swell of his stomach. Her touch was unfamiliar and unwelcome.
"Don't wear these anymore." She then pulled the leggings the rest of the way off.
"Why? Because they aren't proper?" Legolas turned his anger into scorn. Better that than the fear that pressed at the edge of his mind as her hands continued to touch him in places that he would have preferred to not even own.
Fingers firmly traced a deep red line where the waist cord had been. "No. Because they hurt you. You're uncomfortable enough as it is. Why add to it?" Estra's hands then lifted the tunic higher to gently squeeze the breasts, ignoring his squeak of distress, and then pulled the tunic back down as Disa returned with a basin and small towel. "More food, more rest, and gentle exercise." This was addressed to Valda, who nodded. "The bed is too soft. Have someone tighten the ropes and put something under the mattress to firm it up. I wouldn't sleep in this either." She sounded like a general commanding an army, issuing her orders and expecting them obeyed without question. The hands then strayed lightly across the golden collar and stone beneath it, but the touch was more curious than invasive.
"Your water, Ma'am." Disa appeared next to the bed with a basin and towel. Legolas noted the proper angle of her head and the curtsey of exact depth. The girl gave the midwife her proper due, but nothing more.
"Thank you, child." Estra patted Disa on the head absently and then began to wash her hands with some fragrant extract she had taken from her pouch. Legolas hid a smirk in his sleeve as Disa fumed silently. It was good that someone else was feeling uncomfortable and marginalized. That it was the girl made it so much more enjoyable.
He was enjoying her discomfiture entirely too much when slender fingers touched a most intimate place and began to work their way inward. Suppressing a yelp, he stiffened and pushed Estra away. "No! Not there!" He found himself on his knees at the head of the bed, panting for breath. "Why must you touch me there?" The words were sobbed out.
The midwife held her hands out in a reassuring gesture. "There is a door inside your body that the child must pass through. I need to see if the door is opening or ready to open yet, or if there are any problems with the door. I apologize; I thought you knew this already." Then the woman turned to glare at Valda. "I assume that this was not a love match and that he was not gentle?"
Legolas answered that question with a strangled laugh.
Estra turned back to him and tried again, her voice smooth and soft. "Tell me, child, how it is with your people. How are the birthings amongst the elves? What should I do to make you more comfortable?"
"I know nothing of such things." He could hear his voice in his own ears, high pitched and strangled. "I am among the last born of my people and know nothing of what you ask. I had no reason to know until now." He choked down a sob and turned his eyes down to the bed. He would not, could not let them see his weakness. "The only way you could make me more comfortable was for this to have never happened, and that I was myself again. This cannot be happening." The last was whispered quietly, but the woman heard it and she furrowed her brow in confusion.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Disa moved to answer it. She placed the basin carefully on the table and then opened the door a crack to see who was there. After a moment she opened it wider to allow the King to enter. His eyes swept the room, taking in the scene. "What has happened?" He whispered the words to Disa, not wanting to attract attention.
The girl looked up and raised her eyebrows at the dark bruise on his forehead and then shrugged her shoulders. "Your lady wife does not like being touched and has made that abundantly clear to the midwife."
The King snorted. "She has made her displeasure abundantly clear to everyone today." He absently rubbed the cut on his brow.
Estra sat quietly on the side of the bed and placed her hands on her laps. "I'm sorry that I frightened you. Forgive me." She folded her hands and then leaned forward. "I want you to trust me now because we won't have time to build any confidence when your pains start."
"Pains?" Legolas echoed her again. "What pains?"
The woman paused and then looked at him closely. "Your labor pains. Surely you know of that, at least. Surely your mother or some female relative told you about such things when your courses started?"
Legolas leaned back into the headboard, even more confused. "Courses? What are courses?"
"Your moon bleedings. Surely you know what moon bleedings are?" Estra was shocked by the blank look on the Elf's face.
Legolas shook his head slowly and started when Valda cleared her throat and spoke in a low voice. "Estra, Legolas will not have any personal knowledge of any of those things, or of any of the women's secrets for that matter. I cannot tell you why, but I can assure you of that."
There was a long silence as Estra looked from the Elf to the countess and then back again. "So the stories are true? The dirty rumors that one dismisses as impossible, that no one would be cruel enough to do such a thing. They are true?"
Valda flushed and looked away, confirming with her lack of confirmation. Legolas remained perched at the headboard, body tight with alarm. His voice was hollow. "There are many types of cruelty, Lady. They take many different forms."
The woman stood and brushed her hands against her dress. Her eyes were no longer warm, but cold as the frozen pond in the garden below. She turned and faced the King in the corner and stalked over to him. He stood tall before her but she was unafraid. Her voice was a low growl, only heard by the two of them and by Disa, who still stood next to the door. "You did this. this horrible thing. and you stand there as if you did nothing?"
The king straightened. "How did you know of this?" Guilt rose up in his eyes to be buried by anger.
She laughed derisively, the merry sound not matching the frost in her eyes. "People are not stupid. There are stories of an elf prince that rode to your palace at midwinter, with eyes the color of the summer sky and hair like golden silk. A week later you marry a previously unknown and unseen elf princess with the same hair and eyes and lock her away. When she finally emerges, she rides the same horse the prince rode and prefers the garb and ways of a man. What would you think people talk about when the nights are long and dark?" She paused for breath and then continued. "I thought it was all bunk, but now I see that it isn't. How could you do such an evil thing?"
There was a small gasp that neither of them heard, even though Disa would later swear that it echoed from the walls. She covered her mouth and turned her eyes to the blonde figure that Valda was helping climb down from the bed. "I am the most unnatural woman you will ever meet." She mouthed the words silently as tears ran down her cheeks. With a choked sob the girl opened the door and ran from the room, her exit unnoticed by all.
Aragorn drew himself up, seeming to wrap his nobility around him like a cloak. He looked down upon Estra with grey eyes that glinted with warning. "I would school my tongue, were I you. It is not your place to reprimand me."
Estra was unimpressed and unmoved. "No, but it is my place to make sure that your lady and child survive the birth. You've made that much harder. I've often said that a male could not withstand the experience of giving birth, but I never wanted the means to prove it." The woman sighed from the bottom of her soul and she seemed to sag, almost as if a great weight had fallen upon her shoulders. "Were I sensible, I would walk from this room right now." She then straightened. "But I am hardly known for my sanity."
"Will they be alright?" The king's voice was soft, as if he were finally realizing the enormity of what loomed ahead of them.
The woman spared him a withering glance. "I don't know. It seems to me that while the body is completely female, the mind is most assuredly not. I can only hope that the body knows what to do in this situation and the mind follows."
"And if not?"
Estra pursed her lips in thought. "If not, we'll have to find another way, won't we?" Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to the king. "Understand this. You may be king of this realm, but there are no kings in the birthing room. Only me, and I will brook no opposition. If you are unable to understand this, I'll leave now and you can find someone else to work with her." She narrowed her eyes at the Elf who now sat on the edge of the bed and watched them both with worried eyes. "I'd get someone quickly though. You don't have long."
"I would never overrule one of my experienced generals on the battlefield. I expect that it is much the same with you." Aragorn shifted and crossed his arms over his chest. "When will the child come, then?"
"Children come when they will. I would never claim to be able to predict exactly when." She paused and rubbed her chin. "I would guess a fortnight. Maybe more, maybe less. Not more than a month, though." She turned back to the king. "I have much work to do. If there is nothing else." She nodded abruptly and strode back to the bed.
Aragorn looked at the three women and shook his head. Valda had draped the small blonde figure in a comforting embrace, smoothing the long hair. The tall woman in green had arranged herself on the other side of the Elf and was speaking softly and moving her hands as though to illustrate a point. It was as if he were no longer present, no longer relevant to their world. His brow furrowed for a moment, and then he shrugged and shook his head. Better to be invisible than to be a target for flying porcelains.
As he left the rooms, a small figure huddled in the hallway outside caught his eye. Disa's long brown hair covered her face as she sat in a corner and wept. He cleared his throat and the girl jumped and brushed her hair from her face, revealing red and swollen eyes. A sob caught in her throat and then she spoke. "Who is the bigger monster here? You for doing this to him or me for wanting him to stay this way even when I knew how miserable he was?"
All Aragorn could do was shake his head. He had no answers.
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Legolas sat in the window and looked out at the night sky. The cold still bothered him but the warm blanket Clotild had wrapped around his shoulders helped. So did the warm brick Lanelese placed at his feet.
They both still puttered around the room, doing nothing, but looking as though they were busy. They were to make sure he was not alone, even though he wished for solitude more than anything at this moment. At least they were a familiar presence and comforting in their own way, he supposed.
He allowed his thoughts to drift back to the afternoon. Estra had left after a long conversation with a promise to return in a few days if she was not summoned first. The basis of their conversation had been more disturbing than comforting, but at least he felt he could trust the woman. He would have to trust someone, and he was finding the women of Gondor much more worthy of that then their male counterparts.
"Tell me anything at all", she'd pleaded, "anything you can recall about your people and birthing. Anything. Any story, any memory."
He'd thought hard and long for her. "Feasting and music" he'd finally said. "After a birth, there was always a celebration." He'd nodded as he looked at her. "I would expect that during the birth there would be music." He'd narrowed his eyes and thought. "Yes, music. I'm sure it would be a very calm and serene occasion, bringing a new life into the world, and there would be music. We're a very musical people, you know." He'd said the last almost as an aside.
He'd been surprised at her raised eyebrows and the sparkle in her eyes, as though she were restraining laughter. "You've raised horses, right?" She waited for his nod and then continued. "Have you seen any of your mares foal before?"
"Of course." No good breeder left his mares to foal alone.
"Good. Now put what you've seen there into mind with your own present anatomy. It's not the same, but similar."
He'd felt his lip curl up in disgust as he recalled the specifics of the last time he'd spent the night watching one of Arod's children being born. He blinked as he remembered. Disgust wasn't the exact word for what he felt. After all, birthing was completely natural and part of life. It just wasn't natural for him, nor did he want it to be normal for him either. He leaned his head against the wall, suppressing a shiver at how cold it was on his back. ::I must remember to control my temper. I might accidentally kill Aragorn with a well thrown plate if I keep that visual in my mind and at this moment, I'm unsure if that would be such a bad thing.::
He was so lost in the rather satisfying visions of hurling abuse, crockery and sharp edged weapons at the king that he did not notice Disa until she'd cleared her throat. She was dressed in a white nightshift with fine woven wool robe belted over top. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her hair fell partially into her face, covering it from the other two maids.
He looked at her with some concern. "Are you alright? What's wrong, Disa?" He leaned forward and brushed her hair from her face so that he could see her more clearly.
The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry. I swear I didn't know." A silent sob shook her shoulders.
Legolas craned his head to look at her more closely. "Sorry for what? What's happened?"
She closed her eyes and turned her head towards the window. With another silent sob, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small glass vial and placed it into his hand, closing his fingers around it as she did so.
He brought his fist back to himself and opened his fingers slowly to see what lay there. He already knew what it was before he had fully opened his hand. His mouth had turned itself into a frown and he heard his voice as if from a distant shore. "Why?"
The girl turned to the main room where Clotild and Lanelese had given up all pretense of doing something besides watching them. Legolas followed her gaze and then waved to them. "Go to bed, Ladies. I'm fine, I'm not alone. Disa is here to keep me company." They both looked unhappy with this but obeyed.
He watched them leave and the door shut behind them. He then turned back to the girl in front of him. "Why?"
The girl looked down to her feet. "He said that if you were controlled and obedient, I could go home to my family. He said it wouldn't hurt you or the child - I would never do that -- but he said that once you were pacified I could go back home." She looked up again and tears shone in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what you really were. I thought you were just a woman unable to accept her lot in life."
"He. Gilby?" Legolas knew his voice was flat and emotionless, and that would probably frighten the child more than she already was.
Disa nodded. "Yes." She sobbed, this time aloud. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. Father said that I should never trust him, that he was a scorpion that would sting any who tried to clutch him to their bosom." The girl stopped and looked up at him. "He knows what you really are, doesn't he?" At Legolas' nod, the girl went pale and spoke in a small voice. "And he doesn't care." She shook her head, bewildered. "How can he not care?"
Legolas spoke quietly as he turned the vial over and over in his fingers. "He does not care because he does not see me as a person. He sees me as I am now as an object who can serve him and the kingdom in a way that he interprets as best. It does not matter what others think, as long as his vision is served." Bitterness seeped from his words as he watched the flames from the fireplace refract in the clear glass.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." The girl's lower lip trembled as new tears threatened to run down her face.
"Few do." Legolas sighed and fingered the collar at his neck, the stone at his throat. "Lanelese and Clotild know, of course. They've been with me since the beginning. Valda was there when this was done to me, as were the councilors. Others may suspect, but few have questioned. I would suppose that they are happy with things as they are and not willing to ask what they would not wish to know the truth of."
The girl nodded slowly. "My father always says, 'Do not ask that of which you really do not want to know the answer'." She wiped tears from her blotchy face. "I will go find Gilby now and tell him that I want nothing further to do with him or his schemes. I'm so sorry."
The Elf held his hand up. "No. Don't go to him. Don't tell him anything." He paused and looked at the ceiling, collecting his thoughts. "I would prefer if he still thought was still using you instead of finding someone else to do his work. We can also keep track of what he has in mind through you." He looked back at the girl with a meaningful gaze.
Disa looked confused and then gasped as she realized what he intended. "You would rather that I keep acting as though I am his agent, but tell you what he tells me."
"Exactly." The girl wasn't as dense as they said, he thought. "Aragorn says he has this under control, but I'm not so sure I trust him at this point, either. I'd rather keep a little control for myself at this time. I've had so little of it recently, after all."
Dimpling prettily, Disa smiled. "I understand. And when Gilby asks of the news from our household, I'll tell him all the featherheaded things he expects to hear from a female, about embroidery and clothes, and the baby." She gasped and put her hands to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."
"I know." Legolas rested a slender hand on his stomach. "I will have to face that reality soon." He paused. "But not today. Today has been bad enough." He looked at the bed and sighed.
"You are tired. You should rest." Disa cocked her head. "Why do you fear the bed?"
He blinked tiredly. "I don't think I fear the bed as much as the memories I associate with it. I was. forced many times in that bed, and I do not like remembering those moments." He twiddled the vial absently in his fingers.
"I understand. My mother felt the same way about her marriage bed for many years." At his sharp gaze, the girl flushed. "She told me before I came here. But she said when her children came it made that which was unendurable better. for their sakes. I think she was trying to comfort me." Disa leaned forward and touched his shoulder. "I'll sleep with you. Nothing will happen while I'm there. I promise."
Legolas could only think how odd it was that he was so much older than this girl, yet she seemed so much adult at that moment. "You would be a good wife to him." The words escaped his lips before he realized it.
"I do not want him." There was no question on who "he" was. "All I have ever wanted was to go home." The girl sighed. "I don't know if that will ever happen now, but I have made my choices. My father says that once you make the choice you know is right, you should never look back."
Legolas nodded. "I would almost think your father has the propensity for wisdom, if not for the way he treats his women." He smiled at the girl's flushed cheeks. "I am tired, and I would like to be warm tonight. I accept your offer, as long as you promise that you do not snore. Aragorn snores like a Balrog in heat." He passed the vial back to her. "Here. Put this somewhere safe. You never know when you might need it."
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own OC's who keep crawling out of my head at an amazing pace. I like them. But I am a sick person, so there's really no accounting for taste.
Sorry about the delay. Real life again. Bastards. Some day I'll win $50 million in the Florida Lottery and then be able to do whatever I want, whenever I want.
And can I just say that I have the BEST reviewers. I like reviewers who ask me questions, who make me think, who point out things I need to address. Of course, I like reviewers who think I'm perfect too, but there's nothing like the feeling of beating your head on your desk when someone points out a plothole someone could drive a semi through. It's a pleasant kind of pain, really it is. Yes, Gimli will be in this eventually. No one else from cannon, though. Some questions answered in this chapter, some in later ones.
I'll tell you a secret. I really don't like writing with canon characters. I actually prefer to write original works. That said, I've had this damned story in my head for months, and I'm completely blocked until I birth it. So here it is. Sorry about the lack of canon characters, but short of Gimli, that isn't going to change.
Recommended reads..Anything by CNell. Just trust me on this. She's great.
The Orc Within the Elf by Jade. Amazing in its originality and its sheer scope, as well as its overwhelming cruelty. Love it.
The Faerie Goblet by Nebride. Love her stuff.
As always, Dark Leaf by Jastaelf, and The Hunting Trip by Ithilien. Anything by Treehugger, but especially In the Hall of the Wood Elf King as well as it's follow up Once Upon a Time in Hollin.
Next chapter will start moving things along at a rapid pace. After all, babies wait for no one and come whenever they want.
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Aragorn watched the elf sleep. It had been easy enough to plead fatigue on Legolas' part and escape the celebration in the lower city. From there it had been a simple matter of riding back to the palace and leading the compliant elf back to her chambers. She obeyed him without question, even when he had laid her on the bed that she avoided at all costs when she was herself.
He smoothed the golden hair from her face in a tender gesture that would have triggered a killing rage at any other time and then said simply, "Sleep". Her surrender to slumber had been immediate. While such obedience would have warmed the cockles of Gilby's heart, it sickened the King and his lip had curled in disgust at what had been done to the elf.
He had then pulled a chair up next to the bed so that he could sit and ponder his next move as the night moved into day.
Legolas furrowed his brow in his sleep. His dreams had led him to happier times spent wandering with Gimli through the forests of Ithilien. But now there was a weight on his stomach, a heavy weight that seemed to bear him down. Perhaps Gimli had shifted in his sleep and ended up leaning against him. He had done that before, and nothing short of physical violence had dislodged the heavy creature. "Stupid dwarf", Legolas grumbled as he put his hand down to push the offending body part from his abdomen and then paused when he found nothing there except his own stomach. His eyes slowly focused and found above them the black and silver canopy.
His breath died in his lungs. ::No. No. Not again.:: His eyes widened in panic as he began to gasp in fear. He writhed against the deep mattress of the featherbed, thrashing frantically to escape the deep cushion he was on before he realized that he was alone in the bed. ::No creature is here to hold me down.:: He then looked wryly down at his stomach. ::Indeed, no one needs to hold me down right now. The little one does that well enough on its own.:: He panted heavily from the exertion before he raised his eyes to the curtain. What would he see on the other side?
With a series of graceless twists and a great thrashing, he finally worked his way to the edge of the bed and then opened the bed curtains. He moved to sit on the edge, his legs dangling in the chill air as he peered around the room
The room was still and he could hear the rasping sounds of his own breath as he tried to calm the beating of his heart. There was no shadow of bars in the window, no lock on the door. His greatest fears had not come to pass. He could feel the tension drain from him, almost as if it were running down his legs to drip off of his feet and onto the cold floor.
He exhaled his terrors into the cold room and watched as his breath frosted, hung before him and then evaporated into the sunlight, taking with it the last of the overwhelming sense of panic. The fears that had overwhelmed him for weeks were gone. Shoulders slumped with relief, he turned to see the man who watched him without a sound.
Aragorn's eyes were weary, as if he had not slept at all the night before. Dark hair fell into his face in a rumpled wave and stubble shadowed his square chin. The grey eyes narrowed as he looked closely at the elf. "Are you. yourself again?" The voice was tired, the words slow.
Legolas thought the question rather odd. "What else would I be?" The ravenous hunger he suddenly felt made his tone sharp.
The man laughed quietly, his question answered with that one sentence. "You would be something like you were yesterday. Do you not remember?" He stretched, the bones in his spine popping.
The elf cocked his head and closed his eyes in thought. "I remember little. I was trapped in my mind, unable to speak, unable to move except as I was directed. Beyond that." His mouth turned down into a horrified expression as he turned wide eyes back to the man in the chair. "You made him stop. I heard you." There was another pause. "Is that what it was like when you were held by Davyn?"
Wincing, Aragorn leaned forward and put his hand out as if to comfortingly pat a knee, but Legolas recoiled away from the touch. After holding his hand out for a moment more, the man drew it back into himself and crossed his arms. "Perhaps. Perhaps more than that. There are no words to explain what I felt." He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward again, this time placing elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands. "Tell me this. Gilby said you would be happy that way. Were you?"
There was a slight hesitation before Legolas spoke. "I don't know. I don't recall feeling much of anything, glad or otherwise. It was as if I were wrapped in cotton and unable to respond to the world. I doubt that I would be happy like that." He paused again before he continued. "So that is what Gilby was up to? How. direct. of him. I didn't expect that." He turned his attention to his hands in his lap.
Aragorn leaned back again. "Yes. Very direct of him. It appears that Gilby has taken into his mind that you are entirely too good for our fair kingdom to simply let go."
The elf looked up again and into the king's eyes. "And you feel?" Legolas was surprised how dry his mouth had become at the question. ::Surely this is something left over from the drug, not from fear of what he will say::
"It matters not what I feel. What is important is doing what is right." Grey eyes met blue and did not waver. "I will not force you to stay. I will not take advantage of you again. And while I am. fond. of your company, I understand that you want nothing to do with me."
Legolas absently brushed a strand of hair from his face. "I'm glad you understand that. While I may be more tolerant of your kind than my father was, the charm that I found in humans has worn very thin. You would not like it if I were forced to stay." He leaned forward and placed his bare feet on the floor, the cold from the stone working its way into his bones and making them ache. He hopped across the freezing floor to the fireplace, burying his feet in the warm rug in front of the hearth. His brow furrowed with puzzlement. Cold had never affected him to that extent before. He shook the stray thought from his mind and then turned back to the man who watched him from next to the bed. "What are you going to do? Remove Gilby?"
"No. I can't remove him. He's entirely too powerful." Aragorn spoke the words he had been thinking to himself all night. "His agents are everywhere, even in your own household, it seems. It will take something less obvious then removing him to have any effect."
"I think that he takes the good of your kingdom too closely to his own heart. I would wonder what he would do if he thinks that you are no longer good for your own realm." The elf had turned to place wood on the fire and did not see the speculative look that passed across the king's face.
"I would not be surprised at all, dear Greenleaf, if that is what he was thinking right now. I would almost be willing to wager on it." The tone was grim.
Legolas turned back, his face drawn into an expression of tight anger. "Don't call me that." He took a deep breath and continued. "What shall we do about this?"
"My apologies. You shall do nothing. You have enough to think of right now." Aragorn looked down, unable to meet Legolas' gaze. "Oh, fear not. I have been caught before in someone's web of deceit and I did not like it one bit. I will not allow that to happen again. I have resources at my disposal as well." The man shifted and looked at the elf who had drawn himself up to stare back at him. "You stand there, so straight and disapproving. I can tell you want to look imposing and grim as only a deadly Elven warrior can, yet you seem to me to be mildly annoyed and somewhat uncomfortable." His voice was gentle as he made his jest.
The elf shook his head sharply. "You forget yourself, King of Gondor, and you forget who I am." His voice seethed with anger. "I am beyond sick of being here. I am beyond sick of your jests and surreptitious glances when you think I am not looking. I am positively ill with doing the best for your beloved kingdom. I cannot bear to be here another moment yet I am bound here, might I add practically immobile with the result of your heinous assaults upon this body that you forced upon me! Of course I'm 'mildly annoyed and uncomfortable' with the very sight of you!" The last sentence was almost shrieked, and a delicate hand moved aimlessly upon the mantel until it encountered a fine, eggshell thin porcelain vase that normally resided on the table filled with flowers from the gardens. The long fingers gripped the vase with a white knuckled grip.
The King stood and yawned deliberately. "I don't think you mean that. I think you've been taken with a woman's vapors, as is common at this time."
There was an almost whistling noise as the vase became airborne at a high rate of speed, and then an almost silent popping sound as it hit the King in the temple and seemed to shatter from within. The pieces held together in their shape for a moment, as if trying through sheer force of will to not break before falling down to the floor in a musical rain of sharp edged snowflakes. The King swayed for a moment, a small trickle of blood slowly making its way down his forehead, and then sat down heavily in his chair. He shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs from his mind, and then blinked and pulled his face into a look of anger. "What was that for?"
Jaw set into a firm line, Legolas started gasping in sheer unnamed emotion that swept over him and washed away all reason. "What was that for? Have you no idea what you do?" He gasped, pulling air into burning lungs and then looked at the shards on the ground. Sadness then rose up and tears burned his eyes. "I liked that vase! That was possibly one of my favorite things in this room, and you made me break it!"
Aragorn simply remained silent. That appeared to be the best strategy at this moment. It wasn't every day that he was confronted with an almost incoherent elf with deadly aim and a mantel that still contained several items waiting to take wing and cause him more injury.
"Well! What are you waiting for?" The musical voice was now sharp and shrewish and had the Man strongly reconsidering his strong feelings of attraction for the near murderous creature in front of him. "Clean up the mess you made me make! I certainly can't bend over to get it!" Legolas grabbed a cloak that had been resting across one of the chairs and his shoes. "And don't bleed on anything. I'm going to the stables. Maybe I'll let you live when I come back."
The Man slowly reached down and began to pick up shards. He feared the penalty for disobedience.
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The day had grown progressively colder, low grey clouds rolling in to obscure the sun and block what little warmth it gave. The elf shrugged the heavy wool cloak tighter around his frame as he quickly crossed the courtyard from the stables to the shed in the garden. The wind had picked up as well, cutting like sharp knives through wool and linen and through flesh and bone beneath, even elven flesh and bone.
The elf paused, shivering in the wind to listen to the trees and plants in the gardens but heard nothing but the faintest murmur. The trees had entered their long slumber for the season and the lesser plants had died or retreated beneath the earth to hide from the cruel cold. Winter had come to Minas Tirith in the span of less than a day.
He crossed the garden, his legs moving too quickly to have any real grace as they propelled him to the shelter of the small shed and the warmth that it held. With a final burst of speed, he scurried to the side of the building and through the heavy wooden door, opening it up only wide enough to squeeze through and then closing it behind him again tightly.
The room inside was almost hot in comparison to outside. Legolas was glad of that. He nodded to Arick and then took the cloak off and hung it next to the door. Braziers stood near the wooden bars, still out of reach to the mage within, but close enough to radiate heat into the cell. The thick stone walls with their wooden panels acted as insulators, keeping a majority of the heat inside.
Legolas turned to Arick and then to the cell. He was hesitant to ask the guard to leave the room when it was so cold outside. He settled for standing close to the cell, warming his hands over a brazier, but still far enough that he could not reached. He looked at Davyn who had come to stand on the other side of the bars to watch him with glittering eyes. The mage spoke first.
"I am glad to see you well." The voice seemed almost sincere.
"Indeed?" The elf could hardly keep from laughing in the mage's face. "I would think that it was because of you that I was almost not so well."
Davyn smiled grimly. "I am merely the instrument of someone else's plans, as much as it pains me to admit it. I find it almost humiliating to not be the one who has masterminded the schemes that were set in motion."
"What did he promise you?" Legolas found himself asking the question out of morbid curiosity.
Davyn leaned against the bars nonchalantly. "He promised me that he would bring you here after the child was born so that I could take some of your magic again. I grow weak and he knows this."
"After the child is born?" Legolas knew he sounded confused. "Why wait to collect your reward? That doesn't seem like you at all, Lord Mage."
The mage laughed quietly. "You really aren't the most observant of elves, are you? Look inside yourself and see what I see clearly. The child has taken most of your strength for itself and you have none to share. Did you not wonder why you suddenly feel the cold so sorely when it is not in your nature to feel it?" He paused at Legolas' look of puzzlement and then continued. "I expect you are close to your time now."
The elf froze and then dropped his gaze to his hands, fanned out over the brazier. "Perhaps. I know little enough of such things, but I hope that this will be over soon." He looked sideways at the mage, watching Davyn from the corner of his eye. The coals lit the wrinkled face with a sullen orange glow, making the eye sockets deep and hollowed. Eyes glinted coldly from within the shadows, watching closely, waiting for some reaction, some weakness. Legolas chose to give him nothing for his pains and schooled his face to blankness.
After several minutes of silence, Legolas spoke quietly. "If you have grown weak, will you still be able to break the spell?" This had been a question that been hidden, yet ever present in the back of his mind.
Davyn walked from the bars and indolently draped himself into one of the chairs. "The process of removing the spell will be much simpler than casting it. In fact, a portion of the power that I invested in your binding will return to me in the process, and that makes it to my benefit to cooperate and break the spell."
Legolas felt the corner of his lip twitch upwards. "And of course, it must be to your benefit in some way for you to do anything."
The mage smiled grimly. "But of course." Davyn shrugged. "But unlike most of the others here, I've always been honest about that." He then leaned forward and placed a finger on his chin. "What do you think will happen if you fail to produce the son they want? After all, it is just as likely that you would bear a daughter, and a girl cannot be the heir. You swore, rather specifically if I recall, to bear the heir."
The elf straightened. "The King has already said he will not hold me to that oath." ::He wouldn't have wanted to hold me to that oath after this morning anyway::
"Ah, yes." Davyn examined his nails in the dim light from the brazier. "But wouldn't you hold yourself to that oath? After all, you are a creature of honor." The mage raised his eyes to look intently at Legolas. "Do you think you could endure his hands on you again? His touch, his lovemaking? Does the thought fill you with revulsion? Or does it fill you with something else?" His eyes gleamed in the dark, barely hidden malevolence shining through.
Legolas stiffened and fixed the mage with a steely glare and then turned, grabbed the cloak from the hook on the wall, and fled the building. Davyn chuckled silently to himself, smiled broadly at the silent guard in the corner and then turned his attention back to his book on cheesemaking.
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It was to his own rooms that Legolas fled, looking for some place that he could put his thoughts in order. Emotions that had been previously unknown to him had reared their heads with unnerving frequency now, and they confused him. The rage he had felt earlier had changed into a deep guilt. He should not have overreacted to Aragorn's simple jest.
He could almost feel tears prickling the back of his eyelids as Davyn's words circled in his mind but he could not fathom why they had upset him so. The feeling of confusion mixed with anger, and caused him to feel even more anxiety. He would find peace in his rooms, if not answers to the questions and fears that lurked in his muddled mind.
But peace was not to be found even there. And the empty spot on the mantel was glaringly obvious.
He walked into the inner room to find Valda and a strange woman sitting in the chairs next to the fire, deep in conversation. The woman was older, with long steel gray hair that flowed to the middle of her back even though tied back with a scrap of leather. Her dress was of a simple cut, but of good material and well made. The deep green of the fabric matched her eyes. She looked up when Legolas entered the room and smiled a genuine smile that reached her eyes and warmed them. The thing that stood out about her though, Legolas thought, was her scent. She smelled of herbs and flowers, a clean scent that cut even through the smell smoke from the blazing fire in the hearth.
Disa was in the window seat working on her embroidery. She looked up to momentarily meet Legolas' eyes and then looked down at her work again, a vision of maidenly modesty. Something struck him odd about her behavior but before he could confront her Valda stood, her skirts swishing in the sudden quiet of the room.
Warm hands unclasped the cloak from around his neck and pushed him gently towards the now empty chair. Valda draped the cloak carefully over one arm and smoothed it absently as she spoke. "Legolas, this is Estra." The woman nodded in greeting as she looked closely at the elf. "She will be your midwife." There was a pause. "As well as mine."
Legolas jerked his gaze from the woman in the opposite chair to the one who stood slightly behind him. "But. I thought.." His eyes traveled to where her hand had strayed from the material of the cloak and now rested on her stomach. "I thought you couldn't." He looked up to her face and to the serene expression she wore. "Are you happy?"
The countess smiled. "Yes. Very happy. But also nervous. I'm at the age when I should be having grandchildren, not children." Her eyes crinkled with her smile. "I suspect that your talent for encouraging new life isn't just with plants. We've had a record number of pregnancies in the court this year, if you hadn't noticed."
"Indeed? I hadn't noticed. I suppose it's not in my nature to pay attention to such things." Legolas smiled at her, feeling happy and odd at the same time about her revelation.
Valda leaned closer and spoke quietly. "I told Arnlaug this morning, and I told him what I thought caused this miracle for us. He was already uneasy about what Gilby was proposing and his loyalties will not stray again. I will make sure of that."
Legolas could feel a wave of relief breaking over him. The thought bothered him that one that he had trusted so was working against him. "I am very happy for you both. And I am even happier to hear that." He then turned his attention back to the woman who waited patiently across from him.
"You should have sent for me earlier. Several months ago, in fact." Estra's voice was a pleasant contralto, but there was a core of steel to it. Her eyes glittered as she raised her eyebrows and frowned at Valda.
The countess straightened her shoulders and returned the glare. "There were reasons we could not call you. She has been under my care from the beginning." Legolas turned to find a hand tightly grasping his shoulder.
"Yes. Such tender care you give. You nearly let her starve herself before, and now you let her go off alone and ride." Estra leaned forward and plucked a piece of straw that had somehow worked its way into one of his side braids.
The hand on his shoulder tightened, almost painful now. Legolas shrugged it off. "It is my choice to ride, not hers. If you have complaints, you should address them to me. You can rest assured that I am capable of understanding."
The green eyes centered on him and he leaned back under their intensity. "Indeed, I should, shouldn't I? I see now that you are not nearly as empty headed as you look." She leaned back and then smiled, her eyes warming again. "Fine. No more riding until I say so. A fall could be dangerous."
"Arod would never let me fall." Legolas straightened his back in challenge.
"Arod?" Estra looked confused. "Your horse?" She looked at Valda for confirmation and then back down at Legolas. "I'm sure your horse would never let you fall, but accidents can happen. And this close to your time, accidents can be deadly for you and the child. No riding until I say you may." She raised her finger and quelled another objection by simply pointing. "That is not negotiable."
Legolas sighed and then made a gesture of agreement. If he was honest with himself, it was rather uncomfortable to ride now anyway. Mounting and dismounting had brought their own painful challenges, and he could foresee them only getting worse.
Estra nodded sharply. "Good. Also you go nowhere alone now. I don't want your pains starting and you not having someone with you to help."
"Pains?" Legolas raised his eyebrows. That didn't sound good.
The midwife ignored his question and turned to Disa. "Girl, fetch me a basin of water so I may wash my hands." She then turned those piercing eyes back to him, missing the angry look that Disa shot before doing as she was told. "I need to examine you now. I want you to lie down." She stood and gestured to the bed.
He felt his eyes grow wide. "No. Not there. Not on the bed."
Valda's hand was on his shoulder, firmly gripping, trying to comfort but restraining instead. Estra looked at him sharply. "I certainly don't intend to kneel on the floor. And how would you get up again?" There was a touch of humor in her voice.
"With some difficulty, but I do it every morning." His voice was flat and his eyes burned as if with unshed tears.
Estra's face softened with realization. She leaned back and put her hand on his other shoulder. "The bed did not do this to you; it had no hand in this at all. The bed is simply furniture, no more, no less. There is no reason for you to sleep on the floor when you can be comfortable and warm." She moved her hand to his chin. "Come now, listen to me. I know what is best for you at this time. Come lie on the bed and let me see what we have."
He studied her closely and after a long moment nodded. Levering himself from the chair, he followed her to the bed and allowed her to help him lie down. He bit his lip and swallowed a sound of outrage as her warm hands began to press firmly on his stomach, and then pulled down the waist of his leggings to rest below the swell of his stomach. Her touch was unfamiliar and unwelcome.
"Don't wear these anymore." She then pulled the leggings the rest of the way off.
"Why? Because they aren't proper?" Legolas turned his anger into scorn. Better that than the fear that pressed at the edge of his mind as her hands continued to touch him in places that he would have preferred to not even own.
Fingers firmly traced a deep red line where the waist cord had been. "No. Because they hurt you. You're uncomfortable enough as it is. Why add to it?" Estra's hands then lifted the tunic higher to gently squeeze the breasts, ignoring his squeak of distress, and then pulled the tunic back down as Disa returned with a basin and small towel. "More food, more rest, and gentle exercise." This was addressed to Valda, who nodded. "The bed is too soft. Have someone tighten the ropes and put something under the mattress to firm it up. I wouldn't sleep in this either." She sounded like a general commanding an army, issuing her orders and expecting them obeyed without question. The hands then strayed lightly across the golden collar and stone beneath it, but the touch was more curious than invasive.
"Your water, Ma'am." Disa appeared next to the bed with a basin and towel. Legolas noted the proper angle of her head and the curtsey of exact depth. The girl gave the midwife her proper due, but nothing more.
"Thank you, child." Estra patted Disa on the head absently and then began to wash her hands with some fragrant extract she had taken from her pouch. Legolas hid a smirk in his sleeve as Disa fumed silently. It was good that someone else was feeling uncomfortable and marginalized. That it was the girl made it so much more enjoyable.
He was enjoying her discomfiture entirely too much when slender fingers touched a most intimate place and began to work their way inward. Suppressing a yelp, he stiffened and pushed Estra away. "No! Not there!" He found himself on his knees at the head of the bed, panting for breath. "Why must you touch me there?" The words were sobbed out.
The midwife held her hands out in a reassuring gesture. "There is a door inside your body that the child must pass through. I need to see if the door is opening or ready to open yet, or if there are any problems with the door. I apologize; I thought you knew this already." Then the woman turned to glare at Valda. "I assume that this was not a love match and that he was not gentle?"
Legolas answered that question with a strangled laugh.
Estra turned back to him and tried again, her voice smooth and soft. "Tell me, child, how it is with your people. How are the birthings amongst the elves? What should I do to make you more comfortable?"
"I know nothing of such things." He could hear his voice in his own ears, high pitched and strangled. "I am among the last born of my people and know nothing of what you ask. I had no reason to know until now." He choked down a sob and turned his eyes down to the bed. He would not, could not let them see his weakness. "The only way you could make me more comfortable was for this to have never happened, and that I was myself again. This cannot be happening." The last was whispered quietly, but the woman heard it and she furrowed her brow in confusion.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Disa moved to answer it. She placed the basin carefully on the table and then opened the door a crack to see who was there. After a moment she opened it wider to allow the King to enter. His eyes swept the room, taking in the scene. "What has happened?" He whispered the words to Disa, not wanting to attract attention.
The girl looked up and raised her eyebrows at the dark bruise on his forehead and then shrugged her shoulders. "Your lady wife does not like being touched and has made that abundantly clear to the midwife."
The King snorted. "She has made her displeasure abundantly clear to everyone today." He absently rubbed the cut on his brow.
Estra sat quietly on the side of the bed and placed her hands on her laps. "I'm sorry that I frightened you. Forgive me." She folded her hands and then leaned forward. "I want you to trust me now because we won't have time to build any confidence when your pains start."
"Pains?" Legolas echoed her again. "What pains?"
The woman paused and then looked at him closely. "Your labor pains. Surely you know of that, at least. Surely your mother or some female relative told you about such things when your courses started?"
Legolas leaned back into the headboard, even more confused. "Courses? What are courses?"
"Your moon bleedings. Surely you know what moon bleedings are?" Estra was shocked by the blank look on the Elf's face.
Legolas shook his head slowly and started when Valda cleared her throat and spoke in a low voice. "Estra, Legolas will not have any personal knowledge of any of those things, or of any of the women's secrets for that matter. I cannot tell you why, but I can assure you of that."
There was a long silence as Estra looked from the Elf to the countess and then back again. "So the stories are true? The dirty rumors that one dismisses as impossible, that no one would be cruel enough to do such a thing. They are true?"
Valda flushed and looked away, confirming with her lack of confirmation. Legolas remained perched at the headboard, body tight with alarm. His voice was hollow. "There are many types of cruelty, Lady. They take many different forms."
The woman stood and brushed her hands against her dress. Her eyes were no longer warm, but cold as the frozen pond in the garden below. She turned and faced the King in the corner and stalked over to him. He stood tall before her but she was unafraid. Her voice was a low growl, only heard by the two of them and by Disa, who still stood next to the door. "You did this. this horrible thing. and you stand there as if you did nothing?"
The king straightened. "How did you know of this?" Guilt rose up in his eyes to be buried by anger.
She laughed derisively, the merry sound not matching the frost in her eyes. "People are not stupid. There are stories of an elf prince that rode to your palace at midwinter, with eyes the color of the summer sky and hair like golden silk. A week later you marry a previously unknown and unseen elf princess with the same hair and eyes and lock her away. When she finally emerges, she rides the same horse the prince rode and prefers the garb and ways of a man. What would you think people talk about when the nights are long and dark?" She paused for breath and then continued. "I thought it was all bunk, but now I see that it isn't. How could you do such an evil thing?"
There was a small gasp that neither of them heard, even though Disa would later swear that it echoed from the walls. She covered her mouth and turned her eyes to the blonde figure that Valda was helping climb down from the bed. "I am the most unnatural woman you will ever meet." She mouthed the words silently as tears ran down her cheeks. With a choked sob the girl opened the door and ran from the room, her exit unnoticed by all.
Aragorn drew himself up, seeming to wrap his nobility around him like a cloak. He looked down upon Estra with grey eyes that glinted with warning. "I would school my tongue, were I you. It is not your place to reprimand me."
Estra was unimpressed and unmoved. "No, but it is my place to make sure that your lady and child survive the birth. You've made that much harder. I've often said that a male could not withstand the experience of giving birth, but I never wanted the means to prove it." The woman sighed from the bottom of her soul and she seemed to sag, almost as if a great weight had fallen upon her shoulders. "Were I sensible, I would walk from this room right now." She then straightened. "But I am hardly known for my sanity."
"Will they be alright?" The king's voice was soft, as if he were finally realizing the enormity of what loomed ahead of them.
The woman spared him a withering glance. "I don't know. It seems to me that while the body is completely female, the mind is most assuredly not. I can only hope that the body knows what to do in this situation and the mind follows."
"And if not?"
Estra pursed her lips in thought. "If not, we'll have to find another way, won't we?" Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to the king. "Understand this. You may be king of this realm, but there are no kings in the birthing room. Only me, and I will brook no opposition. If you are unable to understand this, I'll leave now and you can find someone else to work with her." She narrowed her eyes at the Elf who now sat on the edge of the bed and watched them both with worried eyes. "I'd get someone quickly though. You don't have long."
"I would never overrule one of my experienced generals on the battlefield. I expect that it is much the same with you." Aragorn shifted and crossed his arms over his chest. "When will the child come, then?"
"Children come when they will. I would never claim to be able to predict exactly when." She paused and rubbed her chin. "I would guess a fortnight. Maybe more, maybe less. Not more than a month, though." She turned back to the king. "I have much work to do. If there is nothing else." She nodded abruptly and strode back to the bed.
Aragorn looked at the three women and shook his head. Valda had draped the small blonde figure in a comforting embrace, smoothing the long hair. The tall woman in green had arranged herself on the other side of the Elf and was speaking softly and moving her hands as though to illustrate a point. It was as if he were no longer present, no longer relevant to their world. His brow furrowed for a moment, and then he shrugged and shook his head. Better to be invisible than to be a target for flying porcelains.
As he left the rooms, a small figure huddled in the hallway outside caught his eye. Disa's long brown hair covered her face as she sat in a corner and wept. He cleared his throat and the girl jumped and brushed her hair from her face, revealing red and swollen eyes. A sob caught in her throat and then she spoke. "Who is the bigger monster here? You for doing this to him or me for wanting him to stay this way even when I knew how miserable he was?"
All Aragorn could do was shake his head. He had no answers.
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Legolas sat in the window and looked out at the night sky. The cold still bothered him but the warm blanket Clotild had wrapped around his shoulders helped. So did the warm brick Lanelese placed at his feet.
They both still puttered around the room, doing nothing, but looking as though they were busy. They were to make sure he was not alone, even though he wished for solitude more than anything at this moment. At least they were a familiar presence and comforting in their own way, he supposed.
He allowed his thoughts to drift back to the afternoon. Estra had left after a long conversation with a promise to return in a few days if she was not summoned first. The basis of their conversation had been more disturbing than comforting, but at least he felt he could trust the woman. He would have to trust someone, and he was finding the women of Gondor much more worthy of that then their male counterparts.
"Tell me anything at all", she'd pleaded, "anything you can recall about your people and birthing. Anything. Any story, any memory."
He'd thought hard and long for her. "Feasting and music" he'd finally said. "After a birth, there was always a celebration." He'd nodded as he looked at her. "I would expect that during the birth there would be music." He'd narrowed his eyes and thought. "Yes, music. I'm sure it would be a very calm and serene occasion, bringing a new life into the world, and there would be music. We're a very musical people, you know." He'd said the last almost as an aside.
He'd been surprised at her raised eyebrows and the sparkle in her eyes, as though she were restraining laughter. "You've raised horses, right?" She waited for his nod and then continued. "Have you seen any of your mares foal before?"
"Of course." No good breeder left his mares to foal alone.
"Good. Now put what you've seen there into mind with your own present anatomy. It's not the same, but similar."
He'd felt his lip curl up in disgust as he recalled the specifics of the last time he'd spent the night watching one of Arod's children being born. He blinked as he remembered. Disgust wasn't the exact word for what he felt. After all, birthing was completely natural and part of life. It just wasn't natural for him, nor did he want it to be normal for him either. He leaned his head against the wall, suppressing a shiver at how cold it was on his back. ::I must remember to control my temper. I might accidentally kill Aragorn with a well thrown plate if I keep that visual in my mind and at this moment, I'm unsure if that would be such a bad thing.::
He was so lost in the rather satisfying visions of hurling abuse, crockery and sharp edged weapons at the king that he did not notice Disa until she'd cleared her throat. She was dressed in a white nightshift with fine woven wool robe belted over top. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her hair fell partially into her face, covering it from the other two maids.
He looked at her with some concern. "Are you alright? What's wrong, Disa?" He leaned forward and brushed her hair from her face so that he could see her more clearly.
The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry. I swear I didn't know." A silent sob shook her shoulders.
Legolas craned his head to look at her more closely. "Sorry for what? What's happened?"
She closed her eyes and turned her head towards the window. With another silent sob, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small glass vial and placed it into his hand, closing his fingers around it as she did so.
He brought his fist back to himself and opened his fingers slowly to see what lay there. He already knew what it was before he had fully opened his hand. His mouth had turned itself into a frown and he heard his voice as if from a distant shore. "Why?"
The girl turned to the main room where Clotild and Lanelese had given up all pretense of doing something besides watching them. Legolas followed her gaze and then waved to them. "Go to bed, Ladies. I'm fine, I'm not alone. Disa is here to keep me company." They both looked unhappy with this but obeyed.
He watched them leave and the door shut behind them. He then turned back to the girl in front of him. "Why?"
The girl looked down to her feet. "He said that if you were controlled and obedient, I could go home to my family. He said it wouldn't hurt you or the child - I would never do that -- but he said that once you were pacified I could go back home." She looked up again and tears shone in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what you really were. I thought you were just a woman unable to accept her lot in life."
"He. Gilby?" Legolas knew his voice was flat and emotionless, and that would probably frighten the child more than she already was.
Disa nodded. "Yes." She sobbed, this time aloud. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. Father said that I should never trust him, that he was a scorpion that would sting any who tried to clutch him to their bosom." The girl stopped and looked up at him. "He knows what you really are, doesn't he?" At Legolas' nod, the girl went pale and spoke in a small voice. "And he doesn't care." She shook her head, bewildered. "How can he not care?"
Legolas spoke quietly as he turned the vial over and over in his fingers. "He does not care because he does not see me as a person. He sees me as I am now as an object who can serve him and the kingdom in a way that he interprets as best. It does not matter what others think, as long as his vision is served." Bitterness seeped from his words as he watched the flames from the fireplace refract in the clear glass.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." The girl's lower lip trembled as new tears threatened to run down her face.
"Few do." Legolas sighed and fingered the collar at his neck, the stone at his throat. "Lanelese and Clotild know, of course. They've been with me since the beginning. Valda was there when this was done to me, as were the councilors. Others may suspect, but few have questioned. I would suppose that they are happy with things as they are and not willing to ask what they would not wish to know the truth of."
The girl nodded slowly. "My father always says, 'Do not ask that of which you really do not want to know the answer'." She wiped tears from her blotchy face. "I will go find Gilby now and tell him that I want nothing further to do with him or his schemes. I'm so sorry."
The Elf held his hand up. "No. Don't go to him. Don't tell him anything." He paused and looked at the ceiling, collecting his thoughts. "I would prefer if he still thought was still using you instead of finding someone else to do his work. We can also keep track of what he has in mind through you." He looked back at the girl with a meaningful gaze.
Disa looked confused and then gasped as she realized what he intended. "You would rather that I keep acting as though I am his agent, but tell you what he tells me."
"Exactly." The girl wasn't as dense as they said, he thought. "Aragorn says he has this under control, but I'm not so sure I trust him at this point, either. I'd rather keep a little control for myself at this time. I've had so little of it recently, after all."
Dimpling prettily, Disa smiled. "I understand. And when Gilby asks of the news from our household, I'll tell him all the featherheaded things he expects to hear from a female, about embroidery and clothes, and the baby." She gasped and put her hands to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."
"I know." Legolas rested a slender hand on his stomach. "I will have to face that reality soon." He paused. "But not today. Today has been bad enough." He looked at the bed and sighed.
"You are tired. You should rest." Disa cocked her head. "Why do you fear the bed?"
He blinked tiredly. "I don't think I fear the bed as much as the memories I associate with it. I was. forced many times in that bed, and I do not like remembering those moments." He twiddled the vial absently in his fingers.
"I understand. My mother felt the same way about her marriage bed for many years." At his sharp gaze, the girl flushed. "She told me before I came here. But she said when her children came it made that which was unendurable better. for their sakes. I think she was trying to comfort me." Disa leaned forward and touched his shoulder. "I'll sleep with you. Nothing will happen while I'm there. I promise."
Legolas could only think how odd it was that he was so much older than this girl, yet she seemed so much adult at that moment. "You would be a good wife to him." The words escaped his lips before he realized it.
"I do not want him." There was no question on who "he" was. "All I have ever wanted was to go home." The girl sighed. "I don't know if that will ever happen now, but I have made my choices. My father says that once you make the choice you know is right, you should never look back."
Legolas nodded. "I would almost think your father has the propensity for wisdom, if not for the way he treats his women." He smiled at the girl's flushed cheeks. "I am tired, and I would like to be warm tonight. I accept your offer, as long as you promise that you do not snore. Aragorn snores like a Balrog in heat." He passed the vial back to her. "Here. Put this somewhere safe. You never know when you might need it."