Part Three
Chapter 20
Darkness was becoming a bore. We were once again in Fangorn Forest, riding the horses through the decaying trees towards Isengard. I steered Arod carefully behind Hasufel and Shadowfax, leading the horse around tree roots. Legolas was behind me, one hand resting on my thigh. He kept trying to convince me to let him steer but I refused him. I was worried about his head wound and he was still getting payback for leaving me in the caves.
He suddenly pulled my hair back over my shoulders, tucking it behind my ear. He leaned in close, his breath warm against my skin. I felt the same tingling feeling I always felt when his breath was against my skin.
"The trees are whispering." He murmured against my ear. I tried to listen, trying to decipher the soft voices from the blow of the wind and the rustling of leaves.
"What do they say?" I whispered, turning my head to the side. He rested his chin on my shoulder and leaned in closer to plant a soft kiss on my cheek.
"They speak of the battle, and of the visitors they've had. They also wonder how the wizard, the elf, the man, and the dwarf got so lucky to be traveling with a beautiful woman. They wonder if you are an angel from heaven."
I laughed, feeling completely happy for the first time in awhile. I returned my face forward.
"Are you still trying to get into my good graces Legolas?"
"Only if it's working dúlinn." His other hand came around to rest on my other thigh as well. He fondled them with his thumbs, stopping abruptly, followed by a fit of laughter.
"What is it?"
"The trees wonder if they are to be an audience to the strange ritual of lovemaking." He patted my thighs, still laughing.
"With you? Never."
"I don't think so Adette." I felt his hands leave my thighs and instead began to rub along my ribs carefully. I wondered what he was doing, but realized all too late that he was checking my wound. Once he had found the spot, he tickled me every place except there.
"Legolas. Stop. You'll. Make. Me. Fall. Off. The. Saddle." I gasped, giggling as he continued to tickle me. He laughed along with me, whispering how elves never let their wives fall down.
"What are you laughing about lass?" Gimli asked from behind Aragorn. He turned his head to stare at Legolas and me questioningly. Legolas and I slowly stopped laughing as he stopped tickling me.
"Nothing." We said simultaneously. As Gimli turned back around, we looked at each other and laughed again. He pressed his forehead against mine, mindful of the area near his temple that was scabbing over nicely.
We neared our destination, and I could spy light from the corner of my eye. I pulled back from Legolas's face to look ahead once more. The sound of laughter coming up ahead filled my ears and I knew that we would soon come upon Merry and Pippin. When we finally exited the trees, I saw the two Hobbits sitting on a large rock. They were drinking and smoking from pipes, looking quite pleased.
"Hey!" Pippin called out to us, laughing. He raised his tankard and Merry stood up to greet us.
"Welcome my lords to Isengard!" He called down to us, his arms spread open. I looked around to see that Isengard was flooded with water and with debris. The tall, oddly shaped castle in which Saruman dwelled looked very out of place and dark.
"You young rascals! A merry chase you've led us on, and now we find you feasting and… and smoking." Gimli sounded sorry that he wasn't with them. He eyed them enviously.
"We are sitting on the field of victory, enjoying a few well-earned comforts. The salted pork is particularly good." Pippin answered him, a look of satisfaction on his face. I could tell that he was just a tad bit inebriated.
"Salted pork?" I could just see the saliva rushing into Gimli's mouth as he smiled, probably hoping for a taste.
"Hobbits." Gandalf mumbled, rolling his eyes at the two friends.
"We're under orders from Treebeard, who's taken over management of Isengard." Merry explained, pointing at a large tree that appeared to be standing in the middle of the water. I gaped at it, turning to look back at Legolas quizzically.
"What is that?" I asked quietly.
"An ent, a shepard of the forest." He explained quickly. I steered Arod towards the rock and motioned for Pippin to hop on. He reluctantly set down his tankard and pipe, climbing on behind Legolas. Merry climbed on behind Gandalf atop Shadowfax. We then rode towards Treebeard.
He was an odd looking thing, a tree formed to look like a man almost. He had two, burnt orange colored eyes that poked out on top of a large looking nose. He had what looked like a beard made from moss, and branches created his legs and arms. He towered over us at a great height.
"Young master Gandalf, I'm glad you've come. Wood and water, stock and stone I can master, but there's a wizard to manage here, locked in his tower." Treebeard motion to the castle.
"Then let's just have his head and be done with it." Gimli grumbled.
"No," Gandalf shook his head, "he has no power anymore."
"The filth of Saruman is washing away. Trees will come back to live here." Treebeard seemed happy with this notion of peace. I was glad that some of Middle Earth was beginning to return to normal.
Suddenly, I heard a splash and saw Pippin trudging through the water towards something. He waded through the water, stopping to pick something up. When his hands returned to the surface, he held a black, circular object.
"Bless my bark!" Treebeard cried in surprise, taking a half step back.
"Peregrin Took, I'll take that my lad." Gandalf had nudged Shadowfax close to the Hobbit, and held out his hands. I saw the look of reluctance on Pippin's face as he handed over the object. Gandalf wrapped it quickly in his robes, hiding it from our eyes.
Èowyn took a dress from her wardrobe and held it against me. She cocked her head to the side, looking me up and down. She finally smiled widely at me and stepped back.
"This will look lovely on you Adette."
"Why am I dressing up again?" I asked tiredly, slowly taking off my tunic. I threw it on the floor and continued to take off the sheath that held my dagger, setting it gently on the floor. As I went to take off my leggings, Èowyn laughed.
"What is it?" I asked, looking myself over.
"You treat your weapon better than you do your clothes." She said through her laughter, slowly pulling the dress over my head. She smoothed it down, ridding it of creases and wrinkles. "And now for your hair."
"What about it?" My hands flew protectively to my scalp and I raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and guided me to her bed. I sat down and she kneeled in front of me, separating my hair into two sections. She began to braid the first section swiftly, loosening it just a bit to give it a messy look.
"Tonight should be fun Adette." She said softly, tying the end of the first braid with a ribbon. She then moved onto the other section of hair, moving as quickly as she had before. It was surprising how fast she could braid it with the length of my hair.
"I shall drink until I drown." I told her as she tied the other braid with a ribbon.
"Then be prepared to be challenged by the men. They love to challenge everyone to drinking contests." She got up off of the floor, smoothing out her own dress. "There."
"Thank you." I quickly rushed to where my dagger laid, and tied it around my ankle. It was hidden beneath the dress so Èowyn did not argue. Once we were ready we made our way to the dining hall. The men were already there, toasting the dead. I had been told that the women were not allowed in until after that. We waited outside, bored.
"You should be in there Adette. You fought." Èowyn said suddenly. "I wish I could have."
"Why didn't you?"
"My uncle. He won't let me fight, because he fears for me." She said sadly, nodding towards Théoden. He slowly lowered his goblet from his lips, and Èowyn whispered that the toast was over.
I made my way over to Legolas, who met me halfway. His hands went to my waist and wrapped slowly around it, looking me over. He was dressed in a beautiful tunic of pure white, making his blue eyes stand out perfectly. His long hair was pushed over his shoulders, the two sections pulled back as always. He smiled down at me.
"We match." He said, fingering a braid.
"So we do."
"Come, Gimli has a table for us." He said excitedly, grabbing my hand. He practically dragged me over to where Gimli was standing, a table filled with tankards before him. He grinned at us as we joined him.
"Is the lass playing along?" He asked, nodding towards me.
"She is." Legolas led me around the table and we stood in front of Gimli and Gamling, who I had learned became friends. "It is Adette and I versus you and Gamling."
"That seems unfair lad, two men against an elf and his wife." Gimli knew just how to press my buttons. I raised an eyebrow and lifted a tankard, one hand resting on the top of the table. Gimli reached for one as well.
"Is that so? Bottoms up Gimli." Without another word, I lifted the tankard to my lips and tilted my head back. I drank deeply without stopping to even taste the alcohol. My tankard was empty in seconds, and I slammed it down on the table. Legolas looked on proudly, as if he were my teacher.
Many drinks later, Gimli, Gamling, and I were beginning to get heavily inebriated. Legolas just stood, shaking his head at our silly behavior. Gimli laughed heartily as he reached for another tankard.
"I was thinking…of returning to tell Galadriel I loved her." He said slowly, taking a gulp from the tankard. I laughed, nearly falling over from the shaking in my shoulders from laughing so hard. "She did give me," he counted in his mind, "three of her hairs."
"Only because you asked." I gasped, still laughing. I chugged another drink, and Legolas took the tankard from my unsteady hand. He laughed at me. When Gamling fell over moments later I laughed again. "We're winning."
"Over my…body dead." Gimli hiccupped. Before the tankard could reach his lips he fell backwards onto the floor. I leaned over the table and saw him lying there, his foot twitching. He would have a headache in the morning.
"I think it's time for you to go to bed." Legolas decided as I stumbled away from the table. He stood close behind me, laughing as I made my way to the archway. When I nearly fell flat on my face, he set a hand on the small of my back to lead me.
"Legolas, you know what?" I asked him merrily, unsteadily walking away from him as we walked down the hall. I felt dizzy and nearly fell backwards like Gimli, but Legolas's arms looped beneath my armpits, my back bending dangerously close to the floor.
"Whoa, careful." He warned, helping me back up. "Now what is it?"
"I think we beat Gimli and…that other…fellow." I nearly fell back once again, but this time Legolas just swept me up into his arms and began carrying me. "Why do you carry me?"
"Because I can dúlinn." He smiled down at me, leaning forward to kiss my forehead. He carried me the whole way to our room and laid me down on the bed. "Don't fall asleep yet."
"I'm not tired." I insisted, slowly sitting up. I watched as Legolas undid my braids gently, careful so as not to tug my hair or tangle it. He did it slowly, combing his fingers through my hair once it was loose. He then stood me up on my feet.
"Can you stand by yourself?" He asked in an amused tone, holding my arms to steady me.
"Of course I can Leggy."
He merely laughed and carefully pulled the dress up over my head. He did it with such tenderness, helping me to lift my arms so that he could slip it over my head, that I hardly noticed it at all.
"Now I'm tired." I yawned, nearly falling again but of course he was there to catch me around the middle, and carry me to one side of the bed. He slid me beneath the covers naked, and quickly discarded of his own clothes. When he was naked too he got in bed on the other side, snuggling up against me. One hand stroked up and down my hip repeatedly, while the other came around my front to hold me. "Legolas?"
"What is it dúlinn?" He asked, kissing my neck.
"I'm like a baby aren't I?"
"Right now, yes, but you're my baby." He said lovingly, nuzzling my neck with his face. He stopped stroking my hip and wrapped both arms around me, laying his head upon my hair.
"Because we can't have one?" I asked in a small voice. He raised his head at my words, looking me square in the eye. He smiled sadly and kissed my forehead again before laying his head back down with a sigh.
"Yes dúlinn, because we can't have one."
"Legolas?"
"Yes?"
"Will you sing me to sleep? My stomach feels like there's a war going on in there." I moaned, and Legolas kissed my cheek softly.
"Of course Adette.
I could be a lover like that,
just give me all the things that you want now,
tell me the best thing I can do.
You say you got a lot of good reasons,
I know I told a lot of good lies now,
I could lose everything for you.
So if you fall asleep and gotta wake up,
say that it's so,
I'll be the one to tear you away from here.
Everywhere you go I'll come running,
everywhere you go I will bring you round,
everywhere you go I will come to you,
but I won't bring you down.
Fly a little take a long drive,
we can be whatever we want now,
won't be the same here without you.
So if you've gotta leave a little later,
stay here awhile,
I could take all these fears away from you.
All the tears you cry as the miles roll by,
I'll be reaching out to hold you,
there is nothing else that I won't do for you,
I could take all these fears away from you.
Everywhere you go,
I will come to you,
but I won't bring you down."
When he finished I turned in his embrace to face him. He moved his face closer to mine and captured my lips. I moved a hand up to caress his cheek as we kissed, our tongues mingling gently, tasting one another. Soon, I yawned into his mouth and he laughed.
"Sleep dúlinn." He whispered, pulling me closer. I watched him staring intently at me, studying my every breath and my every movement. Slowly my eyes drooped closed, but still felt him watching me until I fell asleep in his arms.