Chapter Seven: The Tournament
The day of the tournament Celebfaer woke up early to watch the sun rise. She was nervous for Legolas and she hoped that he worked out a way to complete his task, because what she had said was true. She put a hand down to her stomach now as she watched the sun rise, wondering what would become of the child. She knew that Elves and Fairies were able to have children because Mildred was proof of this, though he did not know it, but she was still nervous about the child. Which is why she wanted to be among the Elves when she had it. At least they would not frown upon it when it was born and if its birth nearly killed her, the Elves would nurse her until she was back to her original strength. If it was the case then she knew that she could not afford to have the child in the Fairy Realm, because she had too many enemies that would be willing to take advantage of her weakened state and kill the baby or even herself. As much as he said it Legolas could not protect both of them all the time.
But she had a lot more things to do before the child was born and first they had to get through Legolas' challenge. So she stood staring out the window at the nearly born sun for another hour until someone knocked on her door.
"Celebfaer you must come and stand beside me." The Queen said when she walked into her room and Celebfaer nodded.
"Yes mother."
"Celebfaer do not worry. He will accomplish the challenge. He loves you to much not to." Asura said and then she offered her arm to Celebfaer. "I remember your father when he undertook his challenge. He had to ride from one side of the world to the other, with nothing else but his horse and bring me a blue stone from the sea, a black stone from the tallest mountain and a diamond from the Dwarf lords. The day he left I feared for him, but I knew he loved me and it was that love that would return him to me with the stones. And he did one year and a half later." She said smiling at the memory of her husband as Celebfaer linked arms with her then they started to walk down to the archery fields.
"What happened to him?"
"Before we sealed the gate, the humans and orcs attacked us and he rode out to defend the city as is his place. He became surrounded and Sabin tried to cut a path to him, but the creatures overcame him. I was in my rooms when the final blow came and I felt it. The sorrow that came straight after it was so strong that I knew he had died. I wanted to run down to the battlefield, but I had Elysa. She was still very young and it was still my responsibility to rule and we couldn't lose both rulers in the same day. He was given a proper burial and I mourned him for many years. And I still do feel his loss." She said sadly then she smiled at Celebfaer. "But I have faith in your Elf. He will finish this challenge."
"What happened to the stones he recovered for you?" Celebfaer asked.
"The blue and black stones were broken in half then half of one was fused with half the other and made into a pendant. They were the gifts we exchanged on our wedding night." She said then she let go of Celebfaer then pulled out a gold chain from within her robes. The pendent on the end of the gold chain was magnificent. It was half the size of the queen's palm and had the two stones cut roughly in half then fused together. "That way he is always with me. The diamond was crafted into a ear ring and he wore that in his left ear as a symbol of his kingship." She said as she put the pendant back into her robes.
By then they had made it to the archery field and Celebfaer took a breath and she and her mother walked out to sit in the royal chairs that had been brought out for the tournament.
The crowd of people that was there to watch was so large that Celebfaer would have sworn that it was the entire kingdom.
Asura rose then called for quiet. "Bring out the contestants." She said and they walked out as Celebfaer desperately searched the line of people that moved out from the forest. She found him, head bowed as though in shame already and she prayed that he would be able to complete this without killing himself from the shame of it. Mildred walked beside him, proud as he knew he would most probably win this tournament and Celebfaer had to force herself to sit emotionless, forcing the sneer to retreat from her lips.
"The tournament will go for seven days. On the first the archers will show their skills and on the second day they will be put up against different archers to see who has the better skill. Then the unsuccessful of the two will be put into a pool with all the unsuccessful contestants and then on the third day the unsuccessful archers will compete against each other, where the winner will be put back into the competition. The sucessuful archers on the same day will play rounds and the unsuccessful ones will be eliminated." A cheer went up from the crowd that were watching. "The winner shall not only receive 100 gold pieces, but my daughter will give a kiss to the winner also." The Queen said and Celebfaer looked up, shocked that her mother would do such a thing when she was already promised to wed Legolas after the tournament.
"Mother.." Celebfaer started but the Queen raised a hand, silencing her.
"Let the tournament begin." She said and then she came to sit back down next to Celebfaer. "Trust me child." She said and the archers began their warm up shots.
Celebfaer couldn't stand to watch, but after she heard the crowd laughing, she looked up to see Legolas shooting arrows straight into the ground in front of him, wincing every time that he did. She could not bare to see him like that.
"Mother, I beg you let me go to him." She said and Asura looked at her then smiled.
"Celebfaer you will see him tonight at dinner, if he is not so shamed that he will still eat with us." She said and Celebfaer looked away, not being able to bear watching him.
So she closed her eyes and sought out the bundle of thoughts that was Legolas. 'Melamin just remember that I love you and no other. I am sorry that you have to do this.' She sent and his response came quickly.
'I love you also melamin and if this is the way I must prove it to your kin, then so be it.'
The day passed by pretty quickly, but that night Legolas did not come to eat with them. Queen Asura then forbid her from going to see him, by saying that if he was so shamed that he would not sit with them then she could not go to him. So she left the table early and she went to her room then went to sleep, dreading the next day.
On the second day of the tournament, Legolas lost to every archer he was up against. But when the third day came the Queen stood from her seat and the archers put down their bows and looked towards her while the crowd fell silent eager to see what she had to say.
"Legolas, come." She said and he nodded then walked over to where the Queen's royal chairs stood, still carrying his bow, the quiver full of arrows on his back.
When he reached the area in front of them Celebfaer saw that he had not slept much the night before. He bowed low to the queen, kneeling with head down as he addressed her.
"Your majesty." He said and she smiled.
"Legolas, I pray you are well." She said and he nodded. "I issue this challenge to you. You have lost, but now I bid that you win enough to make it to the final."
"But it would be impossible!" Legolas said, looking up at the Queen, shocked.
"That is the challenge." She said and he nodded, then he stood up and strode back to the archery field with a new found confidence.
Celebfaer frowned at her mother. "What do you play at mother?" She asked and Asura smiled in response.
"We shall see if he is truly worthy of your hand." She replied and Celebfaer looked back to the archery field just as Legolas loosed an arrow that hit dead center of the target. A gasp of shock ran through the crowd and Celebfaer smiled.
For the rest of the day, all of Legolas' arrows shot true to their mark, not one of them missing the center of the target. By the end of the day the crowd were all whispering about him, cheering for him when he went up to take his shot. It was at that moment that Celebfaer realized what her mother was doing. She was getting him to win the respect of the people so that when it was announced that Celebfaer was first-daughter Legolas would be accepted because of the respect that the people had for him.
He won everything that day and he was the contestant that went through to play all the people that had won the day before but lost on that day. He would play them the next day and he bet them all as well. On the fifth day he played the losers from the day before and on the sixth day he finally went through to play the best archers in the realm. He did not play Mildred though and in the second last game of the day, Mildred won, which meant that he would proceed to play the winner of the last game of the day on the seventh and final day of the tournament. The last game of the sixth day was Legolas against Fiash. Not surprisingly Legolas won and he was through to the next day where he would face Mildred.
Only then did Celebfaer see the real purpose of the tournament and she did not like it.
So the next day came and Celebfaer rose early and was out at the field before her mother and the crowd. She walked around, looking at the distance of the targets from the shooting spot examining the field and praying that Legolas would win.
But when Legolas came out onto the field he looked angry at something and Celebfaer did not know what, so she sought for his mind. 'Legolas what ails you?'
'Nothing melamin.' He replied. Then the Queen arrived signaling that the day would commence.
And the result was not what Celebfaer had expected. Instead of out shooting Mildred, Legolas aimed away from the target and his arrow always hit the outside of the target, or just missed the target, while Mildred's arrows hit dead center every time.
At the end of the day it was clear that Mildred would win and they were called up to take their last shots. Mildred went first and hit the center once more. The crowd cheered and she saw Mildred say something to Legolas, so quickly he drew an arrow and had loosed it on the target before anyone could blink and it hit the target dead center, splitting Mildred's arrow into three pieces before the split arrow fell out of the target. The cheer for Legolas was louder than that which had occurred for Mildred and Legolas looked back at Mildred who laughed in response.
Then the Queen called the two of them to approach her.
"Mildred as the winner of the tournament I give you your gold." She said and a servant brought the bag of gold forward and gave them to Mildred.
He took them but his glace flickered towards Celebfaer as he waited patiently.
"And as promised, my daughter shall give you a kiss." The queen said and Celebfaer looked at her then stood up, not wanting to do it but she knew that she must.
She walked down to where he stood then went to kiss him lightly on the cheek, but he pulled her towards him and kissed her lightly on the mouth. He kissed her as she normally only allowed Legolas to kiss her, and she just closed her eyes and waited for him to release her.
When he finally did, he looked at her, shook his head then walked away as the crowd cheered.
But she would not look at Legolas then. How could she when he had just witnessed another male kiss her in the way only he was allowed? But the Queen spoke and Celebfaer did not even acknowledge her, she just looked blankly at the ground in front of her.
"Legolas has completed his challenge. To loose to his opponent and witness another take that which is rightfully his. He is accepted and will wed my daughter in three days time at the light of the full moon." She said and Celebfaer turned to look at her mother, who merely nodded then walked from the field.
Then Celebfaer turned to look at Legolas.
He smiled at her. "I did it melamin." He said then he came forward and hugged her.
"Legolas Mildred had no right to.." She started but he shook his head, putting a finger to her lips.
"It was part of the conditions of the challenge. I lost my temper at the end there, but the Queen acknowledged that I had lost and though I was shamed to watch another handle you in such a way, I know that I still won. Where you are concerned I will always beat Mildred." He said then he leant down and kissed her.
She enjoyed that kiss a lot more than she had enjoyed Mildred's.
Afterwards Legolas hugged her, putting one hand on her stomach. "In five days we will leave for Eryn Lasgalen and it will be known there that you are with child. My father will give us a welcome worthy of a king." He said and she smiled then kissed him once more.
"And we shall be bonded in the eyes of the fairies also." She replied, then hand in hand they left the field.
The day of the tournament Celebfaer woke up early to watch the sun rise. She was nervous for Legolas and she hoped that he worked out a way to complete his task, because what she had said was true. She put a hand down to her stomach now as she watched the sun rise, wondering what would become of the child. She knew that Elves and Fairies were able to have children because Mildred was proof of this, though he did not know it, but she was still nervous about the child. Which is why she wanted to be among the Elves when she had it. At least they would not frown upon it when it was born and if its birth nearly killed her, the Elves would nurse her until she was back to her original strength. If it was the case then she knew that she could not afford to have the child in the Fairy Realm, because she had too many enemies that would be willing to take advantage of her weakened state and kill the baby or even herself. As much as he said it Legolas could not protect both of them all the time.
But she had a lot more things to do before the child was born and first they had to get through Legolas' challenge. So she stood staring out the window at the nearly born sun for another hour until someone knocked on her door.
"Celebfaer you must come and stand beside me." The Queen said when she walked into her room and Celebfaer nodded.
"Yes mother."
"Celebfaer do not worry. He will accomplish the challenge. He loves you to much not to." Asura said and then she offered her arm to Celebfaer. "I remember your father when he undertook his challenge. He had to ride from one side of the world to the other, with nothing else but his horse and bring me a blue stone from the sea, a black stone from the tallest mountain and a diamond from the Dwarf lords. The day he left I feared for him, but I knew he loved me and it was that love that would return him to me with the stones. And he did one year and a half later." She said smiling at the memory of her husband as Celebfaer linked arms with her then they started to walk down to the archery fields.
"What happened to him?"
"Before we sealed the gate, the humans and orcs attacked us and he rode out to defend the city as is his place. He became surrounded and Sabin tried to cut a path to him, but the creatures overcame him. I was in my rooms when the final blow came and I felt it. The sorrow that came straight after it was so strong that I knew he had died. I wanted to run down to the battlefield, but I had Elysa. She was still very young and it was still my responsibility to rule and we couldn't lose both rulers in the same day. He was given a proper burial and I mourned him for many years. And I still do feel his loss." She said sadly then she smiled at Celebfaer. "But I have faith in your Elf. He will finish this challenge."
"What happened to the stones he recovered for you?" Celebfaer asked.
"The blue and black stones were broken in half then half of one was fused with half the other and made into a pendant. They were the gifts we exchanged on our wedding night." She said then she let go of Celebfaer then pulled out a gold chain from within her robes. The pendent on the end of the gold chain was magnificent. It was half the size of the queen's palm and had the two stones cut roughly in half then fused together. "That way he is always with me. The diamond was crafted into a ear ring and he wore that in his left ear as a symbol of his kingship." She said as she put the pendant back into her robes.
By then they had made it to the archery field and Celebfaer took a breath and she and her mother walked out to sit in the royal chairs that had been brought out for the tournament.
The crowd of people that was there to watch was so large that Celebfaer would have sworn that it was the entire kingdom.
Asura rose then called for quiet. "Bring out the contestants." She said and they walked out as Celebfaer desperately searched the line of people that moved out from the forest. She found him, head bowed as though in shame already and she prayed that he would be able to complete this without killing himself from the shame of it. Mildred walked beside him, proud as he knew he would most probably win this tournament and Celebfaer had to force herself to sit emotionless, forcing the sneer to retreat from her lips.
"The tournament will go for seven days. On the first the archers will show their skills and on the second day they will be put up against different archers to see who has the better skill. Then the unsuccessful of the two will be put into a pool with all the unsuccessful contestants and then on the third day the unsuccessful archers will compete against each other, where the winner will be put back into the competition. The sucessuful archers on the same day will play rounds and the unsuccessful ones will be eliminated." A cheer went up from the crowd that were watching. "The winner shall not only receive 100 gold pieces, but my daughter will give a kiss to the winner also." The Queen said and Celebfaer looked up, shocked that her mother would do such a thing when she was already promised to wed Legolas after the tournament.
"Mother.." Celebfaer started but the Queen raised a hand, silencing her.
"Let the tournament begin." She said and then she came to sit back down next to Celebfaer. "Trust me child." She said and the archers began their warm up shots.
Celebfaer couldn't stand to watch, but after she heard the crowd laughing, she looked up to see Legolas shooting arrows straight into the ground in front of him, wincing every time that he did. She could not bare to see him like that.
"Mother, I beg you let me go to him." She said and Asura looked at her then smiled.
"Celebfaer you will see him tonight at dinner, if he is not so shamed that he will still eat with us." She said and Celebfaer looked away, not being able to bear watching him.
So she closed her eyes and sought out the bundle of thoughts that was Legolas. 'Melamin just remember that I love you and no other. I am sorry that you have to do this.' She sent and his response came quickly.
'I love you also melamin and if this is the way I must prove it to your kin, then so be it.'
The day passed by pretty quickly, but that night Legolas did not come to eat with them. Queen Asura then forbid her from going to see him, by saying that if he was so shamed that he would not sit with them then she could not go to him. So she left the table early and she went to her room then went to sleep, dreading the next day.
On the second day of the tournament, Legolas lost to every archer he was up against. But when the third day came the Queen stood from her seat and the archers put down their bows and looked towards her while the crowd fell silent eager to see what she had to say.
"Legolas, come." She said and he nodded then walked over to where the Queen's royal chairs stood, still carrying his bow, the quiver full of arrows on his back.
When he reached the area in front of them Celebfaer saw that he had not slept much the night before. He bowed low to the queen, kneeling with head down as he addressed her.
"Your majesty." He said and she smiled.
"Legolas, I pray you are well." She said and he nodded. "I issue this challenge to you. You have lost, but now I bid that you win enough to make it to the final."
"But it would be impossible!" Legolas said, looking up at the Queen, shocked.
"That is the challenge." She said and he nodded, then he stood up and strode back to the archery field with a new found confidence.
Celebfaer frowned at her mother. "What do you play at mother?" She asked and Asura smiled in response.
"We shall see if he is truly worthy of your hand." She replied and Celebfaer looked back to the archery field just as Legolas loosed an arrow that hit dead center of the target. A gasp of shock ran through the crowd and Celebfaer smiled.
For the rest of the day, all of Legolas' arrows shot true to their mark, not one of them missing the center of the target. By the end of the day the crowd were all whispering about him, cheering for him when he went up to take his shot. It was at that moment that Celebfaer realized what her mother was doing. She was getting him to win the respect of the people so that when it was announced that Celebfaer was first-daughter Legolas would be accepted because of the respect that the people had for him.
He won everything that day and he was the contestant that went through to play all the people that had won the day before but lost on that day. He would play them the next day and he bet them all as well. On the fifth day he played the losers from the day before and on the sixth day he finally went through to play the best archers in the realm. He did not play Mildred though and in the second last game of the day, Mildred won, which meant that he would proceed to play the winner of the last game of the day on the seventh and final day of the tournament. The last game of the sixth day was Legolas against Fiash. Not surprisingly Legolas won and he was through to the next day where he would face Mildred.
Only then did Celebfaer see the real purpose of the tournament and she did not like it.
So the next day came and Celebfaer rose early and was out at the field before her mother and the crowd. She walked around, looking at the distance of the targets from the shooting spot examining the field and praying that Legolas would win.
But when Legolas came out onto the field he looked angry at something and Celebfaer did not know what, so she sought for his mind. 'Legolas what ails you?'
'Nothing melamin.' He replied. Then the Queen arrived signaling that the day would commence.
And the result was not what Celebfaer had expected. Instead of out shooting Mildred, Legolas aimed away from the target and his arrow always hit the outside of the target, or just missed the target, while Mildred's arrows hit dead center every time.
At the end of the day it was clear that Mildred would win and they were called up to take their last shots. Mildred went first and hit the center once more. The crowd cheered and she saw Mildred say something to Legolas, so quickly he drew an arrow and had loosed it on the target before anyone could blink and it hit the target dead center, splitting Mildred's arrow into three pieces before the split arrow fell out of the target. The cheer for Legolas was louder than that which had occurred for Mildred and Legolas looked back at Mildred who laughed in response.
Then the Queen called the two of them to approach her.
"Mildred as the winner of the tournament I give you your gold." She said and a servant brought the bag of gold forward and gave them to Mildred.
He took them but his glace flickered towards Celebfaer as he waited patiently.
"And as promised, my daughter shall give you a kiss." The queen said and Celebfaer looked at her then stood up, not wanting to do it but she knew that she must.
She walked down to where he stood then went to kiss him lightly on the cheek, but he pulled her towards him and kissed her lightly on the mouth. He kissed her as she normally only allowed Legolas to kiss her, and she just closed her eyes and waited for him to release her.
When he finally did, he looked at her, shook his head then walked away as the crowd cheered.
But she would not look at Legolas then. How could she when he had just witnessed another male kiss her in the way only he was allowed? But the Queen spoke and Celebfaer did not even acknowledge her, she just looked blankly at the ground in front of her.
"Legolas has completed his challenge. To loose to his opponent and witness another take that which is rightfully his. He is accepted and will wed my daughter in three days time at the light of the full moon." She said and Celebfaer turned to look at her mother, who merely nodded then walked from the field.
Then Celebfaer turned to look at Legolas.
He smiled at her. "I did it melamin." He said then he came forward and hugged her.
"Legolas Mildred had no right to.." She started but he shook his head, putting a finger to her lips.
"It was part of the conditions of the challenge. I lost my temper at the end there, but the Queen acknowledged that I had lost and though I was shamed to watch another handle you in such a way, I know that I still won. Where you are concerned I will always beat Mildred." He said then he leant down and kissed her.
She enjoyed that kiss a lot more than she had enjoyed Mildred's.
Afterwards Legolas hugged her, putting one hand on her stomach. "In five days we will leave for Eryn Lasgalen and it will be known there that you are with child. My father will give us a welcome worthy of a king." He said and she smiled then kissed him once more.
"And we shall be bonded in the eyes of the fairies also." She replied, then hand in hand they left the field.