Summerland of the Heart

by Elfriend

Post WotR, Legolas is called home to Mirkwood from Gondor by his father. Thranduil has fallen afoul of dark magic left in Dol Guldur. Legolas is imperiled and his friends go to his aid. Also Haldir. OC AU multi crossover Angst MarySue with substance

3. Summerland Chapters 10 to 15

Naeore Laerien (Summerland of the Heart)

Chapter 10:

Errors of Misplaced Chivalry

The camp was as prepared as the other companions could make it. The gear was stowed on the horses, which had been placed together on one side of the fire; all except Arod and Cricket who guarded their masters.

Elessar claimed Meg's attention, introducing her to a horse named Hasufel and asking if she rode with a blanket alone as the elves of Middle Earth preferred, or if she would like the saddle. Apparently the horse had been brought as a spare mount for he was a splendid animal, but he had been carrying the extra baggage. Now his burdens were dispersed amongst the other horses; prepared to go quickly at need.

Meg chose to keep the tack Hasufel carried, though she preferred to ride without. It would be a shame to leave the well-made saddle behind, and time was pressing on. Haldir strapped her satchel to the high cantle and then, glancing at her appraisingly, significantly shortened the stirrup leathers. He had spoken not a word to her all the way back to camp, but it had been a comfortable sort of elvish silence, mostly. Meg was reluctant to admit it, even to herself, but there was something rather nice about the quiet elf seeing to her things for her.

Tearing herself away from the sight, Meghailin strode to where Feia and Legolas lay in deepest slumber. Gimli was there also, looking concerned. "Even with the horses to protect them, I don't much like that they will just be lying here in the middle of a battle."

"They needn't be," Meg answered. "They desperately need rest, but we can put off for a little time when they will get it – not indefinitely, of course; but perhaps long enough."

Kneeling smoothly near her sister and her sister's elven prince, Meg placed a hand on either forehead. Gimli raised a bushy brow and hunkered down to watch. There was not much to see, really. A soft blue glow surrounded her hands for a moment as she worked the Deryni fatigue banishing spell that she had learnt from Kelson's blood brother, the gifted healer Dhugal MacArdry McLain.

The elf's eyes opened instantly blinking once at sight of the armful of woman he had somehow managed to acquire. Feia woke more slowly, but as the blue glow vanished the bright flame of a deep blush replaced it. "Oh, my!" was all that Feia could manage to say as she scrambled away, dislodging the blanket from the half naked Legolas. The sight discomposed Feia further and she stared resolutely at the ground.

Meg had to bite back a laugh. Typically, Feia was less flusterable than this. Meg wondered how long this strange symptom would last in her lovesick patient. "All right, you two, pay attention!" she said briskly to cover the giggle threatening her composure.

"You should both be asleep," Meg continued, "but you are not because in a few minutes we will be entertaining a party of orc, and after that we shall apparently ride at speed in the middle of the night for somewhere called the Limlight Glen Camp. I used a fatigue banishing spell on you both, and you will feel perfectly fit until the exact moment when you do not, at which point you will feel like you have just galloped into a stone wall. I hope that moment will correspond closely with the moment we reach our destination, but I really do not know."

Meg whipped Feia's knife out of the back of her belt and said, "I borrowed this. Thank you." Then she stood and walked quickly away to mask the fact that she was shaking with mirth. A fact which Feia did note, and did not appreciate, though she was close to laughing herself; or perhaps crying, or possibly screaming hysterically, she was unsure.

Feia's voice was tight when she said, "Please, excuse me," to the ground between Gimli and Legolas and hastily retreated, leading Cricket with her to the other side of the fire.

Legolas watched her go with both reluctance and relief. It had felt right and natural to hold her, the mysterious lady of his visions, but he knew naught of her. Naught save her name, at any rate. At least he had that now! And somehow he was alive because of her. And who was that cheeky elf maid? And what was a fatigue banishing spell?

He felt well, so it seemed to be working, whatever it was. Standing, Legolas flexed his muscles and was astonished to feel no residual pain at all. Pain had been a constant companion for these many days and it was a strange feeling, the lack of it. Gimli stood beside him grinning behind his bushy beard with a suspiciously moist twinkle in his eye, "You look fit as ever, Laddie! How do you feel?" the dwarf asked.

Clasping his friend's burly shoulder, he answered, "Well, Gimli! I do not suppose you have an extra shirt and perhaps a spare bow lying about, do you?"

Laughing now, the dwarf said, "I think we can do better than that, my lad!" and he led the way to where Legolas's weapons and gear had been stowed upon Arod. Legolas was pleased to see his Lórien bow, his cloak, and his other belongings had been recovered, for he had never thought to see any of his things again. Elrohir, observing that Legolas was up and moving, gladly supplied him with a spare shirt and tunic.

In moments, Legolas had his sword once more at his side and was strapping his quiver over his cloak. As his fingers slid over the repaired strap he shuddered with the memory of the moment it had been torn from him and of all that had followed after. But then he smiled, looking into the eyes of his loyal friend. Well did he know who was responsible for the fine repair work; and the dwarf had done it believing that the quiver would likely never be needed again. "Thank you, my friend," was all that he said, but much more passed between them as he clasped the dwarf's shoulder once more.

Legolas was sliding the knife that Queen Nenuiel had returned to him into the sheath upon his back when Elessar approached with Lady Feia. Silently, the lady handed him the knife's twin, and in his mind's eye flashed his vision of her, so beautiful like a lady of light and holding this weapon across her knees. He said, "Thank you, my lady," and was surprised at how shaky his voice sounded to his own ears.

Feia was also fully armed now, with a sword, her knife, and a bow. Legolas was reminded that in a very short while they would be called upon to fight. Frowning slightly he was considering how best to protect the ladies when Elessar spoke, placing his hands on the elf's shoulders and looking him in the eye, "It is very good to see you looking so well, my friend! Lady Meghailin says that you and our lady here are fit enough to participate in the little party we will be having shortly, is that so?"

"I am fit enough, Elessar," Legolas replied, "but could the lady not stay with the horses? If she is capable with that bow, she can cover us from there."

Legolas glanced at the lady and was bewildered to see that she held her arms crossed and was splitting a frown between the king and him. Elessar noticed as well, and smiled slightly, "I think you will find that Princess Serafé has very little patience for; what was it, your highness? Errors of misplaced chivalry?" Gimli barked a nervous laugh and Feia's eyes narrowed dangerously. Legolas was quite thoroughly taken aback.

"Hmm, yes," the king continued, "I suggest we all stay out of the lady's way, shall we?"

Rolling her eyes heavenward in a plea for patience, Feia said, "I should be so fortunate."

Where is the woman who blushed at the sight of me without my shirt? Legolas wondered. But there was little time in which to ponder the many mysteries that the lady presented, for Elladan whistled the signal to prepare. Feia had an arrow knocked in short order, not as fast as he, but fast, and she silently raised an eyebrow at him from behind her beaded braids while they took positions around the perimeter of the camp.

Now that they were actually doing something at which she felt proficient, Feia was much more confident. Stay with the horses indeed! If she could go back in time, there would be no stammering and blushing, oh no! If she had it to do over again, she would give this elf her sauciest smile and kiss him full on the mouth! Had she known he was going to behave so protectively, she would have done!

In her dreams, she would have.

But the fantasy was enough to take her halfway through a quiver of arrows with hardly a wasted shot. She was too busy to pay much attention to how the other companions were faring, but she had a suspicion that was not the case for her watchful elf; for she caught glimpses of Legolas, off to her right, keeping one eye on her. That would never do!

Feia would not simply move away from him, for the companions had spaced themselves out around the fire in a rough circle and she had her section to defend. An arrow sped across her view and took out an orc on her left. Very well, fine, she had not seen that one; but still! If it had attacked, she would have killed it…probably.

It was nearing time for blades, and Legolas had cut down the space between them considerably. "What happened to staying out of my way?" Feia muttered to herself, as she slung her bow on her back and unsheathed her blades. She should not have been surprised when the elf looked at her sharply. Elves and their hearing!

Soon enough, however, she was too busy flowing through the forms that had been drilled into her by Giles Durane, the best weapons master in the galaxy, to much care what Legolas saw or heard. Master Durane would have found little enough to complain about in her performance today. Almost without thought she kicked out, crushing the windpipe of one orc, allowing the momentum to carry her longer blade into the armpit of another. Then she whipped around yanking the blade free and used it to block a particularly nasty orc's blade while she put her dagger through its beady eye.

Killing orc was doing wonders for her temper and she was feeling a trifle better disposed toward Legolas and everyone in general. Especially when, a moment later, a half-dozen orc converged on her at once and the elf appeared at her back saying only, "Náim nefelyë." I am behind you.

It was exhilarating to fight as a team with a warrior elf so much more skilled than herself. Orc were aggressive and sly, but not particularly inclined toward working in concert, so Feia and Legolas together made quick work of them. The last orc standing found itself simultaneously impaled in the stomach by Feia's sword and in the throat by one of the elven blades. "I think we killed it," Feia said laughing through her panting breaths, and she was rewarded with the flash of a heart-stopping grin.

Meanwhile, all around the camp the companions were finishing off their share of the orc party. Meghailin was hardly allowed near an orc, for she contended with not one protector, but two! Gimli, it appeared, was taking his gratitude very seriously, and Haldir seemed to be everywhere at once – always between her and danger. Although it was irritating to be thought incapable of defending herself, Meg had to admit she was more effective in the fight as a result. Dropping back behind her champions, she could use her dangerous aim to advantage.

Although the same master had drilled Feia and her, and she was competent with sword and knife, blades were not Meg's weapons of choice. Few enough there were on her home world that could have hit a mark on a moving target more accurately with a bow, however. The elves here might be another matter, but Meg managed to more than hold her own.

She took particular pleasure in putting an arrow through the eye of an orc threatening Haldir. The arrow flashed close enough to Haldir's head that he could feel the breeze of its passing, and it dropped the orc like a stone. Haldir turned around to look at her with his eyes wide. Meg was not sure if he admired her aim, or feared for his life. She only smiled mischievously, deliberately knocking another arrow. Haldir returned to the fray.

If a search was made for the people most efficient at orc killing, those here present would be amongst those first called, and so it was finished quickly enough.

Elladan and Elrohir disappeared through the trees in order to silence any stragglers and attend to the all-important scouting duty, while with a glance in her direction Haldir began retrieving arrows. Meg suspected that Haldir might have followed the sons of Elrond, but was reluctant to stray far from her.

Meg scanned the remaining companions for injury and found only one. Elessar had used his head as a weapon it seemed, and had managed to open a great gash in his forehead. It wasn't terribly deep, but was bleeding profusely. Stepping in front of him, she indicated the wound with a look and he paused in cleaning his weapons to allow her to place her hands upon him. A shiver like icy water passed through him and in seconds the wound was gone.

"My thanks," said the king with a slight bow.

Next, Meghailin checked on her patients who had returned from their own arrow retrieval. "No stone walls yet, I trust?" she asked.

"I feel fine, Meghailin," Feia replied, and Legolas also indicated that he was well. But then he asked quietly, "My lady, how is it that I live?"

At that, the companions halted whatever they were doing in order to attend Meg's reply. Meg tried to make eye contact with Feia, but her sister had become very interested in the ground directly beneath her feet.

Meg sighed, "Oh, very well!" and then answered as best she could. "Prince Legolas, it is true that you were near to death when my sister brought me to aid you. My skill alone would not have sufficed to save you, for healing takes energy from the one to be healed, and you had none to spare. Serafé allowed me to let the healing energy pass through her to you. You used her strength in place of your own to heal, and so you live."

"But my lady," Gimli said, "When our Lady Feia first suggested it, you said it would not work. And yet something made you change your mind; what?"

A quick glance at Feia, continuing to contemplate her boots, offered Meg no guidance as to how she should proceed, and so she went with total honesty. "No, lord Gimli, in nearly every case, attempting such a thing would have meant death for them both. Feia convinced me that this might be one of the rare instances in which it could work."

"Might be?" Legolas grated, "Could!?" his face tightened in a grimace, "Are you saying that you were not sure? That the lady might have died? And you allowed this!?"

"You forget yourself, master elf!" Meg snapped. "It was not your decision to make, nor was it mine. Feia had good reason to believe she would survive the process, and she must have felt it was worth the risk," her tone indicated that Meg was not so sure.

Legolas squatted into a crouch as though falling and scrubbed his hands across his face. He balanced there without turning to where Feia stood at his back, but he directed his words to her, "What good reason could you possibly have, my lady?"

Feia never looked up, but answered, "The only way a person can accept another person's energy in order to heal, is if their lifesongs are in very close harmony. If they are not, the person receiving the healing will pull energy from the other and not be able to use it, and so pull more, and then more. The process cannot be stopped once begun, until either healing or death is achieved." Feia swallowed and continued, "Few people's lifesongs harmonize well enough. Sometimes a parent can offer energy to their child, especially a young child; occasionally a sibling, particularly a twin can do it; and…and concinnati have a fair chance at it, also." With that Feia fell silent again.

Legolas's mind went back to his commune with the tree and the songs that he had heard; the song that was his, and the song that he associated with the lady. "I think I have some understanding of what you mean by lifesongs," he said, "but I know not what a concinnati may be."

At an appealing look from Feia, Meg took up the explanation again, "On our home world, (and at these words, all but Elessar gave a start) we named the person best suited to share our lives, our concinnate. It means, 'harmonious match.' The finding of one's concinnate is a powerful experience and is often accompanied by miraculous or uncanny events." Now Meg was staring at the ground, for she could feel Haldir's gaze boring into her.

"Miraculous events like warning dreams and visions of a concinnate's peril, my lady?" Elessar asked.

Haldir added, "Or learning a person's language from their eyes, perhaps? For I am certain that the lady told me, in her room at the inn on the night that we met, that she did not know elvish."

"Yes," was all Meg could manage, thinking of what Haldir might have said, but had not.

Her room at the inn? Legolas narrowed his eyes at Haldir, and then turned to look at Feia at last. He moved in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. Ducking his head, he forced her to look at him. "And you were sure of this, my lady? That we are…concinnati?"

"I am sure, now," she replied truthfully. "We are alive."

Legolas squeezed her shoulders so hard, Feia was sure she would be marked. The elf's jaw worked silently as he stared at her and then abruptly he strode away into the trees. Feia sighed.

The companions began to politely disperse, but Haldir bent close to Meghailin's ear and said, "One wonders what else might constitute a miraculous or uncanny event, my lady," and he boldly laid his hand upon her, pressing where his ring lay hidden. Then he, too, was striding away, leaving Meg gasping.

"Your pardon, sister, but was Haldir just touching..." gesturing vaguely, Feia tried again. "I mean, there seems to be something – Light! You are really blushing! What is going on between you and that silent elf?"

"Why?" Meg snarled, "Did you not have time to discuss it all at length whilst you were sipping tea together in your room at the inn?"

"I do not recall there being any tea," Feia said, desperately attempting to keep the smile out of her voice.

"Oh, never mind!" Meg moaned, "It is quite impossible to think clearly around that high-handed, overbearing, elf!"

"All I can say," Feia said crisply, "is that I am surrounded by a plague of elves with simply dreadful behavior." And then she added mind to mind, "Tell me!" and she looped her arm with her sister's.

And, at last, Meg did tell. From her dream and her miraculous acquisition of the golden emerald ring to her suspicions in regard to Haldir – she told it all.

Chapter 11:

Burdens of Fate

Elessar debated whether to give Legolas privacy, or to go after him; the former being his preference. And yet, there was little enough time for all that must be done; not the least of which was to see that Legolas was given an opportunity to eat something, for the king doubted whether the elf had taken much in the way of food or drink for some time.

And so, collecting a skin of wine, bread, cheese and fruit for his friend, Elessar followed in the direction the elf had gone.

Legolas had not gone far, but sat still amidst the trees - a shadow hidden by shadow. Even the former Ranger might have missed him, had the elf not addressed him in a soft anxious voice, "You have asked nothing of my errand, Elessar."

The king lowered himself to the ground, wordlessly passing food and drink to Legolas; who accepted it, but sat simply holding it. "The princess was not alone in her dreams of prophecy, my friend," Elessar answered him. "On the night that Lady Feia first perceived your peril, I also dreamed. I dreamed that my father named me traitor and attempted to take my life."

Legolas shuddered, burying his face in the crook of his elbow where it rested upon his knee. The elf's voice was ragged with strain when he finally said, "It was not worth the lady's risk to save me! A, Elbereth! If I can survive this grief, it shall be to become my father's executioner! My people lie under an evil spell, Elessar! They need me! And yet I desperately crave an end. Uva hen amarth úváni onin?" Will this fate not pass from me?

The king had no comfort for the troubled Prince of Eryn Lasgalen save that which the elf had once offered to him. "Your friends are with you, Legolas," Elessar said. Legolas dragged in a breath, sitting up straighter, but he did not speak.

XXX

When Legolas and Elessar rejoined the others, Elladan had returned but Elrohir had not. While waiting, the companions all made ready to depart, eating a quick cold meal and rechecking their gear a final time. Meghailin had taken the opportunity to unpack her green healer's cloak from her satchel, and Haldir wore his own cloak once more.

As Legolas helped Gimli to mount in his accustomed place upon Arod, he heard Feia making much of the lady Meghailin's cloak. The garment was apparently new, and a gift from someone named Kelson. Legolas found himself intent upon the conversation between the two ladies and noted that Haldir also was attending closely. The ladies for their part were oblivious that they had attracted an audience.

"And thanks ever so much for leaving me to deal with his majesty's ire, sister," Meg was saying. "He was quite cross with you for leaving without a proper goodbye!"

"I told Kelson I was called away. He did not much like it, but he always knew that I would leave one day!" Feia exclaimed. "Did he expect me to wait for a formal state feast with endless speeches and interminable formality? Light, what a dreadful nightmare! It was easier to leave quickly and quietly and be done."

"Easier for you, perhaps," Meg chastised gently, as she secured her belongings on Hasufel. "Kelson cares for you, and I thought you cared for him. Would it have killed you to consider his feelings?"

Feia had mounted Cricket and she looked down at Meg from her saddle. She kept her voice pitched low, but not so low that Legolas had to strain to hear; not much anyway. "I considered his feelings last year, his and my own, and I made the best decision for us both. You cannot stand there and tell me that Kelson wishes things were different, because I know that is untrue!"

Legolas noted that Cricket was dancing where she stood, picking up on her mistress's agitation. The subject was obviously more disturbing to the lady than she was letting on.

"That depends upon what you mean by different. I can tell you that Kelson wishes that you would make your home in Gwynedd." Meg swung into her own saddle and thrust a long slender box at Feia, saying, "He bade me bring this to you."

"You're staring, Laddie," Gimli whispered in amusement. With a start, Legolas glanced at the dwarf and then smoothly mounted Arod. Still, he could not keep his eyes from returning to the lady as she opened her gift from King Kelson of Gwynedd – King Kelson of Gwynedd who cared for her.

From the box Feia pulled a crisp parchment sealed in red wax and a knife in a dark red leather sheath. Feia admired the blade first, unsheathing it and appreciating the craftsmanship; expertly testing the balance. Then she studied the design of the hilt and she laughed in delight. Legolas felt his heart lurch painfully at the sound and Arod too began to dance. The elf could easily see the hilt, which was formed in the shape of a golden lion with ruby eyes balanced upon its head and playing with a silver knot-work ball as if it were a ball of yarn and the lion a kitten. Inside the silver ball was a captured moonstone like those the lady wore in her hair. It was cleverly made so that the shape fitted itself well to her slender hand.

Breaking the seal upon the parchment, Feia read quickly - her smile first widening, then softening, then widening again. She looked intently at the knife hilt once more as though searching for something. Finding it, she leaned close to Meg with a laugh, "Araxie added a message for me at the end! She wrote, 'see if you can find my addition to the design.' Look, Meggie, in the lion's ear!"

Meg took the dagger and peered at it curiously, and then she too was giggling in delight at the tiny onyx set into the gold there. "Araxie claims that if it weren't for you and Rothana putting a flea in Kelson's ear, she would have been wed to Cuin of Howicce before the king knew what was good for him. Now the flea shall reside there for all time!" Meg returned the knife, and then asked, "May I know what Kelson had to say?"

Legolas was still trying to sort out what that bit about Araxie and a flea might mean, when the soft smile returned to Feia's face and his stomach clenched. Feia folded the parchment small, tucked it into her belt pouch, and answered, "He said, 'Thank you for standing me on my head, reminding me that a king must also be a man, and a man must sometimes recall what it was to be a lad. I am a better king and a better man for it.' Then he asked me to remember that I have a home in Gwynedd, if ever I should want one."

Feia removed her dagger with its sheath and belt and closed them into the box, and then she replaced them at her waist with the gift of Kelson of Gwynedd. The box went into the top of her saddlebag. Haldir caught Legolas's eye and mimed wiping his brow with his hand. Only then did Legolas realize he was scowling darkly, his eyebrows knitted together and he quickly smoothed his features.

Haldir smiled, knowingly. He had not been overjoyed to hear that some man had gifted lady Meghailin with that beautiful cloak, but the conversation had alleviated any jealousy he might have had for this King of a land called Gwynedd. But his attention was called back to the ladies when Feia said, "I am surprised his grace the Duke of Cassan did not have a parting gift for you, Meg."

"Dhugal has been avoiding me of late," Meg laughed, "I fear he has found my temper less than pleasant since you left. But the clasp is inscribed from him and Kelson both." She blushed prettily, "On behalf of the Healers at the Thuryn School, of course."

"Oh, yes," said Feia forcing a straight face, "of course!" Feia had often wondered if shy Dhugal might have pursued Meg's hand, had Feia been persuaded to marry his liege lord and blood brother, for the duke seemed to admire his fellow healer greatly. They would never know, now. Feia's smile grew from soft, to decidedly warm as she thought of why. "Gwynedd will never be our home, Meghailin," she said firmly, sharing the dazzling smile with her sister.

"No it will not," Meg agreed returning a smile as bright and as beautiful. Then Meg glanced over to where Haldir patiently waited on Hithui. He was watching her, as he always seemed to be. She dropped her eyes hastily, but not before she saw his expression transform from a look of stony jealousy to one of triumph.

Legolas began to breathe again at Feia's pronouncement, but then he roughly reigned in his heart. It would be better for the lady to return to this Gwynedd. Far better that, than for her to trust her heart to him. If there was anything left of Legolas, son of Thranduil when this was over, it would not be fit for this brave and lovely woman.

Just then, Elrohir returned and reported that all was clear. Elessar called upon the companions to depart, setting a brisk pace.

Behind him Gimli said absently, "Laddie, it looks as though someone has cut off some of your hair." Legolas allowed Gimli to guide his hand to the tight braid at the back of his head that had come mostly undone and ended in a rough cut about four inches too soon. Legolas did not understand why, but a knot of cold dread settled into his heart. Suddenly, the pace did not seem brisk enough!

What could Thranduil, the new lord of the Hill of Black Magic want with a lock of his son's hair?

XXX

The king of the woodland elves paced the confines of his new seat: the fortress of Dol Guldur, which had once been the home of the Enemy whilst he was returning to power and had taken the form of the Necromancer.

When Thranduil had come to this place over a year gone, he had come to cleanse it of the evil the Enemy had left behind here, and to reclaim it for the elves. And he had found evil here, but also much power that a person might use if he had the strength of mind to turn it to good.

In the central tower he had found a powerful tool and he had taken it for his own use. It was a beautiful thing; a torque of gold set with three bright gems. Wearing it, Thranduil's elven gift of foresight was enhanced – strengthened. In time, Thranduil had taken to wearing the ornament all the time, for he never knew when an important vision might come to him.

A few weeks after returning to Eryn Lasgalen, on a whim he could not quite follow to its source, Thranduil had gone back to the fortress of Dol Guldur; and while wearing the torque within the tower itself, he was gifted with the strongest Foreseeing of his long life. From it he learned that the elves of Middle Earth were in gravest danger.

Thranduil had seen a woman whose coming would deny the elves their haven; their Summerland. All knew that the time of the elves on Middle Earth had come to an end with the destruction of the One Ring. It was the time of men, now. If the elves did not take the ships to Valinor, they would ultimately diminish and die. But in Thranduil's vision he had seen this woman step out of a gate of light and into the embrace of his own son. And with that he had watched in horror as beginning with Legolas, elves gave up their longing for the sea, turned their back on their destiny, and embraced the fate that would come to them by remaining bound to this land.

Thranduil would not allow this to happen! It was worth any sacrifice to prevent it, even to the sacrifice of his son's life.

The elven king halted his pacing in the center of the tower where the elf maid Nimírië stood silent and compliant awaiting his whim, flanked by two hideous orc. How he detested the creatures! But it was fitting that he, Thranduil, should rule his realm from this place and take as his servants the twisted beings that the Enemy had created and the traitorous Istari, Saruman had further corrupted. It was fitting and just that an elf of great power and authority should turn this evil to some good, for the sake of all the elves of Middle Earth.

Taking a stone dagger from the table at the center of the tower where certain items awaited his use, he addressed Nimírië with regret in his voice, "Your name will be spoken in honor forever in Valinor where our people will sing of this day. Our sacrifice will ensure that this is so!" Nimírië's expression did not alter, even when, with a lightning-quick stroke, Thranduil cut the fair elf's throat; she only made a soft gurgling sigh and crumpled where she stood to lie beside the twelve other bodies littering the floor.

"Drain their blood and dispose of the bodies," Thranduil commanded the orc, who complied readily in anticipation of the way in which the disposition of the bodies might take place.

If the brute's malevolent glee in any way troubled the elven king, he made no sign of it, for he was standing now beside the stone table and considering what it held. Upon the surface there rested an iron bowl, a tiny, stoppered flask containing the blood of his son, and a bit of braid cut from the elven prince's hair.

Thranduil had sent orc in large numbers with instructions to kill his traitorous son, but if they did not succeed, still Legolas would die. For this, Thranduil had spent the lives of thirteen of his people! Legolas's treachery had already cost the elves dearly, but it would cost no more! It would take many days more to prepare the spell that he had found; an evil spell in the Dark Speech. Thranduil was confident that it would succeed. He was confident that he could turn even the foulest work of the Enemy to the good of his people.

Chapter 12:

Concinnati

Through the rest of the night and the next day the companions continued with few short stops. The elves, save Legolas whom Meg forbade to leave the party, dropped back often to scout the back trail and obliterate any trace of their passage.

Late the following night they made a cold camp. They all needed rest, but Meg firmly pressed food upon Feia and Legolas the moment they had dismounted from their horses, and then she ordered them to sleep.

The two huddled in their blankets on opposite sides of the camp as their magically enhanced energy slowly dissipated. Feia felt oddly alone, almost hollow inside without Legolas's presence beside her. How very quickly all can be changed that she should need the presence of a stranger more than a cloak against the cold, more than food or rest – so very strange.

For his part, Legolas's heart assaulted him for so many reasons he hardly knew why he felt bereft.

The companions made ready to leave before the sun was well up in the morning, waking Meg's charges last thing upon departing. Legolas raised himself up on shaking arms only to collapse back into unconsciousness. Feia gave a fitful moan and would not wake at all. Greatly reluctant, Meg used the fatigue banishing spell once more to revive them; cautioning Gimli to keep a hold on Legolas, for she feared the spell's limit would be reached precipitously. As a precaution, Feia rode before Meg upon Hasufel, the larger of their two mounts.

They continued at the same pace, in hopes that they would reach the shelter of the hidden glen well before nightfall. Even with her own warning, it came as a surprise to Meg when just after the sun crested noon Feia gave a tiny sigh and nearly tumbled from Hasufel. It was Legolas, kneeing Arod close, whose attention had not wavered and he gently caught her in his arms easing her back to the saddle where Meg could get a proper hold on her. Then Elessar on huge Roheryn came and scooped his liege lady up to rest against his chest.

Before another hour had passed, Legolas had gone a shade of gray like ashes; swaying dangerously upon Arod's back. The only thing that kept the elf in his seat was the burly arm of the dwarf, tight across his chest.

Fortunately, they reached their destination shortly afterward and Meg was able to place deep healing slumber upon Feia and Legolas. This time, in the safety of the hidden glen, the companions built a comforting fire and settled in to wait for time to complete the healing of their stricken companions.

Meg took the opportunity to explore the lovely little glen. A wide screen of trees split by a well worn path blocked the commodious cave from the rest of the glen, but Meg followed the path and the sound of a waterfall to a small pool which was fed on one side by a hot spring and on the other by the cascading Limlight. A mist of steam rose dreamily over the place where the warm water mingled with the cold. The walls of the glen rose high to either side, tumbles of moss and shrub covered rock, flecked with quartz.

The first stars had appeared above in the twilight sky when Haldir found her, as she ought to have realized he would do. She sat, had she known, upon the same rock where Feia had kept her vigil a few short nights ago; and she breathed deeply the air of Middle Earth. Another world; a world far from Gwynedd and farther still from where Alderaan had been, but a world she had been destined to make her home for all of her life. "It is very beautiful here, my lord, is it not?" she said to the elf, who stood behind her, silent in the shadows.

"Yes, very beautiful," he responded watching the reflected twilight upon her lovely face.

"Uvalyë úmarsí nin anlhaw e uial lirinennen?" Will you not abide here with me and listen to the twilight watersong? Meg asked, the peaceful evening making her fearless.

Haldir sat upon the rock beside her and took her hand in his "Maruvan oialë nalyë pedo," I will abide forever at your word, Haldir said in a low intense voice that set her shivering.

"Are you chilled, my lady?" he asked drawing her hand up to his chest where he could warm it with both his own.

"Nay, my lord," Meg assured him, "Only...will you tell me of your home? Describe to me Caras Galadhon."

"Ah, lady!" Haldir sighed, "No description could match the beauty of the Heart of Elvendom on Middle Earth! The spell of timelessness has been lifted somewhat since our Lady of Light passed into the west, but always the echoes of her footsteps will remain high under the canopy of the Mallorn trees where my people dwell. You will see! It is a place of rest and healing; where even from the depths of grief, the deep strains of elven joy may be heard and experienced.

When the Fellowship accompanying the Ring Bearer passed through the shadows of Moria, believing Mithrandir had gone beyond recall, they sheltered in their sorrow upon the fringes of Lothlorien beside swift Nimrodel. There Legolas felt the magic of our elven home, though never had he visited Lórien before, and he sang for his companions the lay of Nimrodel the fair, for whom the river is called; and so they drew strength to go on. And so, also, my brothers and I were called to assist them.

That is the power of my home, my lady," Haldir finished.

"How ever could you leave such a place?" Meg asked.

Haldir met her eyes and held them. "There came a time when even in Lórien rest and peace were denied me, and I sought tirelessly for the answer to why; to discover what I could possibly require that was not mine in Caras Galadhon. My answer was this," and he pulled from his tunic the sarnnenmír and mithril ring that was her father's. Even though she had known it was there, still, the sight sent a tremor through Meg, and she gasped softly.

"The answer was you, my lady," Haldir continued, removing the ring from the chord at his neck and pressing it into her palm. "And so I left Lothlorien to find you, as I promised I would do."

"But you found my sister instead," Meg replied, "for I feared to trust the message of my heart and to go with her when she left Gwynedd." She reached up with her free hand and brushed his jaw with her fingertips, "I am sorry, my lord."

"You did not come with Lady Feia, but I felt your faith, lady, and it guided me." Haldir grasped her fingers where they rested upon his chin and lifted them to his lips. Meg shivered and her lips parted in an unconscious invitation that Haldir could not deny.

Meg met him halfway, and his lips, so warm in the chill of evening pressed hers in the softest caress. "Nalyë sí navedui," you are here at last, Haldir breathed against her mouth.

They sat silent together for a pleasant hour in the gathering night, each reveling in the presence of the other. Then Meg unclasped the chain about her neck and said, "Would you have your ring back again, my lord?"

"Nay, lady, I would ask you to hold it for me awhile longer," taking the chain from her he also took back her father's ring and slipped it on the chain also. Then he reached around her and refastened the chain. "Hold them both, if you will, until the right time."

XXX

Late in the morning, first Feia and then Legolas woke long enough to eat a hearty meal. Legolas ate so well, in fact, that Gimli accused the elf of having too long associated with hobbits. Lady Meghailin laughingly assured them that Legolas would require meals as large for the next days in order to regain his accustomed level of vigor.

Both of Meg's charges returned almost immediately to sleep, and stayed that way until the smells of supper cooking woke them at dusk. The warm thick stew Gimli had prepared was enough to leave all the companions in a state of sated somnolence, and it speeded the recovering elf and woman back to a sleep that lasted through the night.

During the long hours that Feia and Legolas spent in healing slumber, Elessar, Haldir, and the sons of Elrond all took it in turn to search for signs of pursuit. The former ranger and the elves always returned having found no indication that they had not successfully slipped the web which Thranduil had spun to keep Legolas from gaining his freedom.

Haldir was thoughtful and courteous with Meg, asking after her comfort and anticipating her needs, but he did not seek to be alone with her again. If any of the companions suspected that anything was between them, they most likely believed it to be gratitude for what she had done for Legolas.

The gratitude of the rest of the companions kept them at a respectful distance, almost as if she were a visiting queen who did not speak their language. There was much bowing and 'my-ladying' but little conversation. Meg found the long vigil somewhat lonely, but she held her hour with Haldir as a lovely secret that brought a warm glow and a smile to her lips at odd moments. Occasionally Haldir would catch her in one of those moments and he would share the smile with her. She appreciated his care of her honor, but she wished they could be free to talk together. There was so much to share.

But Haldir was well over 3,000 years old. He had learned the lessons of patience well, and however much he craved to know her, he was aware that they had all the time they could ever need. Meg was much newer to immortality, and also battled the tendency toward impatience from her mother's human blood, but Haldir somehow managed to communicate his calm surety through his every glance, and she was at peace…for now.

The following morning Feia woke feeling refreshed and well. Legolas also seemed well enough to be getting on with, and after sharing with the companions all that he knew of the peril of the woodland elves, he was anxious to do just that. But Meg insisted that they wait through another day and night before attempting to travel. Several idle hours passed, at which Legolas chafed visibly, so that Meg eventually conceded that the elf could manage a turn at scouting. He and Haldir set out together in the early afternoon.

Feia was in high good humor and suggested that just because they were on an adventure with a band of unwashed heroes was no reason not to have a bath when there was an opportunity. Meg's sister had never been one to complain at hardship, but Feia was the first to admit that she preferred luxury when she could get it. In the same way, though Feia was always the first to dispense with dresses when it seemed prudent, she would also be the first to engage a seamstress when next they returned to civilization.

Though it was Feia's idea, Meg thought wistfully of the hot spring and crisp cool waterfall awaiting them and so she was less than a half-step behind her sister when Feia told the companions still in camp, "If you do not mind, my lords, Meghailin and I request that you give us the privacy of the pool until we return."

A chorus of "Of course, my lady," and, "It shall be as you say," followed them down the sheltered path to the water.

It was an enjoyable interlude for Feia and Meg, who had missed one another's company in the past weeks. It was the first opportunity for them to have any significant amount of time, uninterrupted by fighting, fleeing or sleep, away from their male companions. They kept their talk to simple topics by unspoken accord, for the newness and uncertainty of their situation did not bear dwelling upon.

At one point, however, Feia did allow, "It is terrifying, Meggie, to belong to someone so utterly and know him not at all." And when disrobing for her bath revealed that Meg now wore both her father's ring and Haldir's, she acknowledged Feia's silent query with only a gentle smile and a deep blush.

After relaxing in the hot spring for their bath, Meg, whose elven blood permitted her to tolerate the cold somewhat better than Feia, decided to enjoy a refreshing rinse under the cascade. Feia laid out their garments on the large flat rock and pulled herself up upon it as well, busying herself in the late afternoon sun with a bit of toweling to dry her long hair.

All in all, it was pleasant to forget that tomorrow would bring more hard travel, very likely more danger, and who knew what from their two elven concinnati.

XXX

Haldir was encouraged that Legolas showed every sign of having made a full recovery from his ordeal, but he was troubled by the unguarded grief and anxiety that he could read in his friend's expression when the elf prince did not know that he was observed. It was true that Legolas tended to be more expressive than the average elf, though assuredly not by human standards, but his emotions were raw, ragged and closer than ever to the surface.

He would not pry, for it was not the elven way, but Haldir wondered at the weight of hopelessness that seemed to bear down upon the woodland elf. Never had he seen Legolas give in to despair, even during the long black night of Helm's Deep. And with the beacon of hope that flared brightly in Haldir's heart at the mere thought of his own lady, he wondered even more that Legolas could not find cause to be glad in the presence of Lady Feia who clearly loved him.

The elves found no sign that orc had discovered their trail and so they returned to the hidden glen in the light of late afternoon. Legolas suggested a circuit within the walls of the glen, largely because he wished to postpone the moment when he must return to the camp and the troubling woman who waited there. Haldir agreed, for he would not consider any measure too much care when it came to the safety of his lady.

And so, rather than returning to the cave, Legolas scrambled nimbly up the rocky wall to their left from whence the Limlight tumbled, while Haldir disappeared into the trees heading for the escarpment on the opposite side of the glen.

Legolas was deeply preoccupied in his mind, attending to the subtleties of the environment around him, searching for anything that might indicate trouble only by ingrained habit. And he had the confidence of an elf that habit alone would suffice. Yet perhaps, had his thoughts not been so widely scattered, he might have turned back at once at the sound of singing drifting up to him with the sound of the cascading water. Powerfully did he wish that he had, when he broke through the concealing leaves which had blocked his view of the pool below, for what he saw was in no way designed to bring him ease.

At his feet, Legolas was dimly aware of movement, and it was from thence that a sweet contralto voice was raised in song, but his eyes locked all unwillingly upon the lady sprawled out on a large flat rock in the sun. Feia lay with her head toward him, her unbound hair spread in the warming rays to dry. Still damp from her bath she had donned only a white linen shift, which clung becomingly. Her legs, appearing far longer than they aught, were drawn up with one knee crossed over the other so that she could bounce her foot in gentle rhythm. And then she also sang, adding her pleasant soprano in harmony woven with the elf maiden's song.

For the longest time there was no thought of propriety – no shame at observing unbidden the lady in her privacy. There was no thought at all! Legolas listened to the sweet music that lacked the etheric perfection of elven song, but somehow bespelled him the more for it – rising from a place of passion that had long been channeled into sorrow by his people. He watched in fascination as the lady combed her fingers slowly through her drying hair, rich and dark, and shimmering with copper and bronze in the sunlight.

A sharp pain recalled Legolas to himself as a slender branch he held back with his hand snapped in his grip. He had been holding his breath, but he expelled it with a hiss and when air rushed in again, it came shallow.

He should turn around and go, and yet it took all of the self-control that Legolas could summon not to dive from his perch into the pool below in order to reach this woman, Feia, with her enticing song, her haunting face, her bravery, and her faith. It would be so easy to lose himself in her! Lose himself and forget these past days; forget the future with its omens of woe.

With a groan Legolas sat back on his heels. He burned with self-loathing and more. He had naught to offer the lady save grief! To spare her that, he could endure much. He could and he would!

XXX

As Haldir climbed the outer ring of tumbled rock above the pool, he had no doubt from whom the beckoning song came. As it rose to meet him, he quite deliberately quickened his pace, for he greatly desired to observe his lady as she sang. It never occurred to him what else Meghailin might be doing at the pool. Not until he came to an overlook with a clear view of the falls, and then it was far too late.

Meg stood with her back to the embankment where he stood. The dark water covered her nearly to her shoulders, but her arms were lifted over her head while her fingers worked her hair, darkened to deepest gold, under the tumbling spray. Haldir did not lack for imagination and he felt control of it slide completely away along with his patience. He must make this lady his wife!

It would be the work of a moment to climb down to her, and Haldir had made the decision to do just that when Meg tossed a smile over her shoulder toward the shore. And then a second voice rose and joined with Meghailin's in song. Haldir froze. Lady Feia shared the privacy of the pool with his lady.

It was unchivalrous and certainly unwise of Haldir to observe his lady in this way without her knowledge, but Haldir would not violate Lady Feia's privacy; not even accidentally if he could help it. As he turned to go, he raked a last possessive glance over his bereth, his lady wife, promising himself that soon it would be possible to call her that in truth.

But at the last moment before disappearing down the glen, Haldir spied another movement at the crest of the falls. He locked eyes with Legolas for the briefest moment. Rarely had he seen a look so tormented, or one so determined on an elven face before. Legolas acknowledged him with the barest nod, and then cast a glance toward Princess Serafé as if assuring himself that Haldir's view of her was indeed obstructed. Haldir might have been insulted had he not also automatically checked Legolas's line of sight to his own lady.

And then the elven prince was gone. Haldir took his example and melted into the trees.

Chapter 13:

A note to those just tuning in: This story was starting to take form a very long time ago and at the time Feia came into being there was no information from George Lucas on how Princess Leia came to be raised by Bail Organa in the Star Wars universe. I made up my own version and for the purposes of this tale I am sticking to mine with apologies all around.

A Melancholy Tale

As afternoon became evening, Meghailin left Feia meditating beside the pool upon her rock perch. Meg was preoccupied as she made her way back toward the camp, remembering the moments she had experienced there with Haldir two nights gone. And so she almost walked into Legolas who stood in the path, seemingly quite lost in his own mind.

He looked dreadful, Meg thought, as if he were losing a war and he carried grievous injuries upon his heart. Unconsciously, the elf worried at the palm of his hand with his thumb. Seeing this, Meg tsked briskly and snatched up the wounded hand in both of hers, saying, "Let us attempt to get through a full day without my having to do this, shall we, my lord?" Cool energy tingled across Legolas's palm, and she released it whole and healed.

"Thank you, my lady," Legolas said, but still he seemed to be somewhere else entirely, and Meg did not have to guess to know one direction his thoughts might be taking. "Prince Legolas, it may interest you to know that my father had a foreseeing regarding Feia and her concinnate on the night he named her elf friend."

There, Meg thought, now I have his undivided attention! Legolas looked at her, in fact, with a most disconcerting intensity. And so she continued quickly, "The foreseeing came in two parts. The first was true enough, I think, for my father said that if Feia had not been named elf friend, her concinnate would die before ever they met. I cannot speak for the king, of course, but I believe that Serafé being an elf friend convinced him to trust my sister, accept her oath, and allow her to travel with him as he set out to find you."

Meg paused, for she was not entirely sure how much to tell the elf, who continued to stare at her as if he were attempting to pull thoughts from her mind with his gaze alone. Very well, he clearly wanted to know and she would give him the whole of it! Perhaps something would bear fruit in that heart of his, maybe even before it was too late!

"The second part of the foreseeing was this," she continued. "Feia and her concinnate must hold to their faith, else she will be doomed to repeat her mother's sorrow."

Legolas had to work moisture back into his mouth before he could speak, "And what was her mother's sorrow?" he asked softly. He was positive he did not want the answer to this question, but just as sure that he needed to know it.

"Padme Endari Naberrie was Queen Amidala of Naboo when she met her concinnate, Anakin Skywalker." Meg began, "She was only fourteen at the time and he ten, and so they had no way of knowing what their future together would be, but they were drawn to one another as friends even then.

On the eve of what was to become known as the Clone Wars, Padme's term as queen had ended and she served Naboo as ambassador to the Interplanetary Senate. She was a fierce advocate for freedom and a target for certain factions who thought she would serve their purposes better dead. Anakin was a Jedi Knight in training by that time, and along with his Jedi Master, he was assigned the duty of protecting her. And so the two were reunited and fought side by side. They also came to know one another as concinnati and were secretly wed.

But Anakin lost his faith in love, and he sought to protect Padme by turning from his love for her, and so his greatest strength became his weakness – a weakness that the evil soon-to-be Emperor exploited. In a very short time, little remained of what had once been a fine man and a powerful Jedi. By the time Padme realized she carried Anakin's twin babes, he had already begun to be known as Darth Vader, a name which carried fear with it wherever it was spoken; for he was responsible, on behalf of his master, for the death and torment of countless people.

Feia's mother married Bail Riatt Organa and became Queen of Alderaan, for she considered Anakin to be dead. Bail was a good and kind friend to her as well as an ally. Bail raised Serafé's elder sister, Leia, as his own; but Leia's twin, Luke was sent away in secret in order to protect him from the Emperor who would seek to use him if ever his paternity was suspected. He was raised far from his mother, not knowing until he was grown that he had a sister or that his father was, in fact, alive and the dreaded right hand of the Emperor himself.

Padme tried to continue her good work, but her faith was failing as Darth Vader's depredations became ever greater. She came to care for her husband and she bore Bail two children whom she loved, but loving the children who remained to her only reminded her of the son who was denied that love." Meg always found Padme's story incredibly sad, and so she was struggling to maintain a steady voice as she finished, "When Feia and her twin were only three years old, and Leia and hers were five, Padme died. She just died – because she didn't want to be alive anymore."

Many of the things that the lady had said made very little sense to Legolas, but he was moved by the sad tale and he sensed that there was more, "And what became of Anakin…of Darth Vader?" he asked.

"Luke Skywalker became a Jedi, like his father," Meg answered, "When it was revealed to him that the father he had never known was really Darth Vader it was almost the end of him. But Luke kept his faith! He believed that there was still good within the man who was his father - that somewhere trapped inside this agent of evil, Anakin Skywalker still lived. And so Luke faced them, Darth Vader and the Emperor, though he knew that the Emperor would kill him without a qualm. And the Emperor tried! But Luke's faith reawakened Anakin's heart and he saved his son's life; killing the Emperor, and himself in the process." Meg hugged herself for comfort as she completed the tale.

"And this is the fate which your father foresaw for Feia?" Legolas nearly spat, "How can you bear to look at me, my lady, knowing what I will do to her?"

"Not what you will do, my lord!" Meg was deeply frustrated. Is this the message that Legolas would take away from Padme's tragedy - confirmation that he was right to resist his connection with the woman's daughter? Meg must make this stubborn elf see reason!

"If you keep your faith, this fate shall pass Feia by! If Anakin had kept his faith as Luke did, Padme and Anakin would still be happily wed. Of course we would have to do without Feia, then, for she would not exist. But I pray that you take my meaning in this!"

"I shall think on all that you have said, my lady," Legolas said humbly, and bowed to her. Then he left her there, becoming invisible amidst the trees between one breath and another.

Meg sighed heavily, staring at the place where Legolas had disappeared. Had he understood? She could only hope. "A melancholy tale, my lady, and a melancholy expression," Haldir appeared from the trees at the other side of the trail.

"His mind and heart are in great conflict; I do not know if he is capable of hearing you," he continued, lifting his hands to her face and smoothing her forehead with his thumbs where it was drawn with concern.

Meg leaned into Haldir, accepting his touch and the comfort his presence brought. She was suddenly very tired. Everything was new and strange so that sometimes Meg felt she must be dreaming, but this elf was solid and real. Sensing her mood, Haldir drew her into his arms, with her head resting upon his chest.

To Meg's surprise, tears came unbidden to her eyes. It was a welcome release, just letting them come. When Haldir set her away from him and saw her lashes heavy and wet, and observed the silent tears on her pale cheeks, he kissed them away with his lips as light upon her skin as the flutter of butterfly wings – a fluttering which repeated itself against the cage of her ribs where her heart dwelled, and again in the place where her stomach had once been, but seemed to have abandoned.

Meg intercepted those gentle lips with her own and kissed him softly. But sooner than she would have liked, Haldir broke their kiss. Setting her away from him, he said, "Precious little patience have I, bereth nin. We will be wed at Rivendell!"

At that his lady laughed a rippling laugh, and Haldir started in surprise. "Normally," she said, "a lady prefers to be asked about such things, my lord." Then she lifted her hands to frame his face, and added, "But under the circumstances, I am willing to let your presumption pass."

XXX

Legolas stayed amongst the trees for some time, attempting to locate his center – his peace, but without success. And as he wandered the tiny glen he eventually lost the battle he had not known he waged with his treacherous feet and found that they had carried him all unwillingly to the shadows in sight of his lady where she sat in silent meditation.

Serafé was also having difficulty finding her center; her meditation interrupted by troubling thoughts and fresh and frightening emotions. Eventually, she had to give in and admit it was useless, drawing up her legs and hugging her boots. She pressed her aching eyes into the soft fabric of her leggings.

When Legolas came and stood before her, he gently touched her hand. To gain her attention, he told himself. When she startled, it felt only natural to take that hand in his. Surprisingly, the act calmed them both, as if the lack of connection between them alone had been what prevented them from finding the peace that they each sought.

"I have been remiss, my lady," Legolas said in his low soft voice, "For I have not yet thanked you for saving my life. Still, I cannot be glad that you should choose to risk yourself on my behalf."

"And I never considered it a choice, my lord," Feia responded simply. "I do not choose to breathe in and out."

The response surprised him, and the surprise was followed immediately by a deluge of emotions that made sitting down imperative. And so he found himself beside her. He was confused, overwhelmed, worried. He was humbled. Raising her hand to his lips he kissed the back of her fingers fervently, and then he flattened her hand between his two, not allowing himself to analyze why he could not let her go.

They sat that way in silence for several moments before Legolas said with some heat, "I am in every way undeserving, my lady!"

Feia looked hard at Legolas, and she saw the pain clearly. He believed his words to be true! "My lord," she said carefully, "I cannot think that is so, though it matters not! I belong to you." Legolas stiffened at this, but still she added, "It simply is."

He searched her eyes for any sign of doubt, and found none. And then, just like breathing in and out, Legolas reached for her and tenderly brushed her cheek with his fingertips. Feia turned her face into his palm and closed her eyes, her lips parting on an almost imperceptible sigh.

Quickly, before he gained control of the impulse, Legolas dipped his head, touching her lips with his. "Lisse," he whispered. Sweet

Opening her eyes, Feia found him watching her. He had not moved at all, his lips hovering by hers, his eyes filling her vision. She held her breath, afraid to move; afraid he would leave her. Legolas saw the fear, but did not understand it, only sensing that he was responsible. He greatly desired to sooth that fear away, and so he kissed her again – soft and brief.

Feia gasped in the air that she had been missing against his mouth, tasting his breath, and then she kissed him in return.

His two hands cupped her face and Legolas slid them back into her hair drawing her deeper into the kiss. But then he felt the lady tremble – this precious woman! She was vulnerable to him. He had no choice. He must protect her from the dark fate looming before him.

And thus far he was failing miserably.

Legolas broke the kiss with startling abruptness, saying, "This must not be!" He was standing now and Feia stared up at him in alarm.

"Legolas!" she began on a shaky breath, but he interrupted her.

"No!" His voice was rough, "This must not be!" and he left her there, not seeing her hand raised in silent entreaty or her mouth open on words that would not come. He left her hugging her knees in the deepening evening, to cry alone by the darkened pool and he did not look back.

XXX

When Legolas at last returned to the camp, the lady was there, but she carefully avoided his eyes. She sat in the firelight with Lady Meghailin's head resting in her lap while she braided beads into the elf maiden's hair. Feia's two beaded braids were back in place, falling over her eye and down to her waist, the rest of her hair was piled atop her head out of her way.

The others acknowledged Legolas's return with muted greetings, for his expression did not invite lighthearted banter. Elrohir offered him a plate of food which he took with a polite, hannon le," thank you, but held without touching, while he crouched in the circle of firelight.

Gimli attempted to break the odd silence by asking, "My ladies, since making your acquaintance we have been focused on other matters and so we know little of you or of where you come from. I note that you wear your hair similarly adorned. Do the ornaments have some meaning?"

"They do, good Lord Gimli," Meg responded, observing that Feia seemed disinclined to speak. Her braids finished, Meg sat up fingering the beads. "They are called the Queues Connate and represent our family and our station. On Alderaan, everyone; elf or human, male or female, wore them. Most of us wear them still."

Haldir, who sat beside her, though carefully not touching her, asked, "And what do your beads indicate, my lady?"

Meg smiled at the caressing tone in which he habitually spoke the possessive honorific. Then she responded, "This queue," and she held up the braid closest to her face, indicates my family. The amethyst represents my mother's house, McKiernan. That is also my house, for Alderaani females take their mother's name while male children take their father's. You can tell it is my house because it is the topmost and the bottommost bead. The blue sarnnenmír stones represent my father's house Celduinsén.

Serafé's moonstones represent her house, Naberrie, the carnelian beads are for her father's house, Organa," Meg continued, and then she bravely added, "Were either of us to wed, we would braid two beads from our husband's house into the queue, one just under the topmost bead and one just over the bottommost."

At this Feia's face went still and a hot flush stained her cheeks. She stared at her hands, attempting to disguise the reaction, but Legolas was unable to keep himself from observing her closely and he was aware. He ached – loathing himself for his weakness; for he knew that he was hurting her and yet he knew not how to stop, save by removing himself from her presence. This he could not do until they reached Rivendell.

Not noticing, or perhaps ignoring the undercurrents of tension, Meg continued, "Both of our second queues name us Chosen. The Chosen are those from whom the new king or queen is selected, the rest of the Chosen become the privy council when the heir takes the throne. The Chosen are raised together, and trained together. When we were originally named Chosen, our braids were all of carnelian to show that we served Feia's father, King Bail. But when Feia was named First among the Chosen, and heir to the throne, she interspersed the carnelian beads with mithril beads. As Second among the Chosen, I interspersed the carnelian with both moonstone and mithril. The other Chosen wove moonstones in amongst the carnelian.

Had Feia taken the throne, all the carnelian in our braids would have been replaced with moonstone save Feia's which would have been all of mithril."

Legolas had to ask, "And why did Princess Feia not take the throne?"

Feia answered him in a toneless voice, "While Meg and I, with most of the other Chosen were away from Alderaan receiving training on a world called Earth, the Emperor's minion, Darth Vader, intercepted my elder sister, Leia whilst she was on a mission of great importance to the Rebellion. He tortured her in order to ascertain the location of the hidden base of the Rebel Alliance. But Leia would not break! And so, in an attempt to blackmail her into revealing the information, Darth Vader moved the Death Star into range of Alderaan. The Death Star was a weapon more horrible than you can know!"

Feia paused, considering how best to explain, and then she said, "Imagine, my lord, shooting a flaming arrow into a pile of dried leaves doused with oil. A single bolt shot from the Death Star would have a similar effect on an entire world. Almost three and a half million of my people died without warning in the time it would take for you to knock an arrow and draw. A heartbeat – less! Alderaan no longer exists. I am queen of nothing, my lord," unbidden came the memory of waking with the horrible knowledge that in that instant, countless lives had simply ceased to be. Feia's defenses were fragile with Legolas here, and it took a far greater effort than usual to relegate the memory to the past where it belonged.

As the shadow passed across his lady's lovely face, Legolas longed to comfort her, heartily wishing he had not asked the painful question. Would his every action, every decision, cause her nothing but more pain?

"But that was long ago," Feia continued briskly, "Fortunately, Leia understood that she could not save Alderaan whether she disclosed the whereabouts of the Rebel base or no, for the emperor's quarrel with my father was old; and so she lied to them. Her twin, my elder brother Luke along with Leia's concinnate, Captain Han Solo, and their companions came for her, and together they escaped with the stolen schematics of the Death Star. A weakness in the weapon's defenses was found and Luke, Leia, Han and the Rebels destroyed it so that no other planet would suffer the fate of Alderaan.

We surviving Alderaani, for several thousand were off-planet at the time of the attack, became a rallying point for the Rebellion. I was encouraged by some to declare myself queen in exile, but I refused. I believed my duty was to find places of safety for the remnants of my people where they could begin new lives. Meghailin and the other Chosen agreed with me. Had we tried to create a new Alderaan, we greatly feared that the emperor would actively set upon a course of genocide. As it was, he was killing or imprisoning us wherever and whenever we were found.

But now, Alderaani dwell in Federation territory, in Gwynedd and Naboo – and I must add Middle Earth, for here we are. We never knew it was all part of a grand scheme to bring immortality to the mortal races of the universe until we were well into it. I must say that it is a relief to know that the Powers That Be are nearly finished with us, for it has been a long and trying road."

"I'm sorry, my lady," Gimli said, perplexed, "but grand scheme to do what? Who or what are the Powers That Be?"

Feia was spared from answering by Elessar, who considerately took up the narrative, sharing with their companions the knowledge he had gained during their rapport. When he was finished, the circle around the fire was silent for a time, each pondering for himself all that he had heard.

At last, Elrohir ventured, "My ladies, we have been hard pressed these last days and this talk has given us all much to think on. Tomorrow we will travel speedily toward my father's house, for the woodland elves await our aid. Now is the time to renew our spirits in the company of friends. Earlier, whilst you partook of the privacy of the pool, we did hear afar off the sound of your fair singing. And also, I do note, Lady Meghailin carries with her an instrument of music. Will you not consent to entertain us with a song?"

With the encouragement of all the companions, Meg unpacked her gitar and set about tuning it, but she said, "We shall sing for you, my lords, only if Prince Legolas will eat the meal he has been staring at this hour past; for we are agreed, he and I, that I shall not be required to use my healing skills upon him for at least a full day."

With a fair amount of good grace, Legolas ate, even managing to flash Meg a quick grin for her cheek. And so, Meg filled the hour before the companions took to their blankets with songs they had found in their travels. The elves seemed particularly taken with a song about the oceans of Earth, which rolled like waves, and Feia saw Elrohir attempting to commit it to memory. Gimli laughed heartily at a darkly humorous song that Meg had learnt from a gambler called 'Down at the Bottom of a Well.'

Feia did not join in as she usually might, for her heart was not in it. This was especially true when Meg chose to sing a lovely romantic ballad composed by a fellow cadet at the academy. But Feia noticed that Haldir's eyes were riveted upon Meg and his expression was anything but elvish. Surely the other companions were only being polite by ignoring that which was there for all to see. Haldir and Meg were in love.

When Feia and Meg lay out their bedrolls next to one another later that evening, Feia queried her friend softly. Soon their male companions were privy to a wholly female squeal of delight when Feia cried, "Oh, Meg!" and threw her arms around her sister. Over Meg's shoulder, Feia's eyes sought Haldir who was observing them with amusement and he accepted Feia's beaming approval with a small smile and a nod.

But as Feia released her sister and leaned back again, she saw Legolas watching her and the smile froze and then slid away. She squeezed Meg's hand a final time and bid her sister goodnight, turning her back on the elven prince whose gaze she could still feel upon her.

Legolas saw the unabashed joy fade from his lady's face and he wanted to weep. A month gone he would have wooed this woman with sweet words, courted her with a will, and wed her with promises of forever. But now he was the doomed son of a mad king, and the lady could not be his. Stealing away from the camp, Legolas spent the night at the opening of the hidden path into the glen. He could not have her, but he could protect her. That much he could do.

Chapter 14:

Storm

Some days later, the companions passed within a day's ride of the woods of Lothlorien and Haldir said, "I shall go aside and alert the elves at Caras Galadhon of what transpires with our Mirkwood kin, for they will wish to bolster us with what aid they may. I will meet you again along the road."

And to Meg, Haldir spoke quietly, "I would that I could bring you with me, my lady, but I will not have your first experience of Lórien fraught with haste and peril." When Meghailin smiled her understanding, Haldir kissed her fingers quite possessively there in front of all the companions, and if any had a doubt as to the status of their relationship it was, by this act, thoroughly dispelled.

Meg blushed brightly in both pleasure and irritation at Gimli's happy grin when the dwarf addressed Haldir saying, "Have no fear for the safety of your lady, friend Haldir, for I shall guard her more closely than my life." She didn't even have the heart to be angry when Haldir accepted Gimli's vow, with a solemn nod, on her behalf.

After that the companions traveled uneventfully until one day when the sky threatened imminent storms. Elladan returned from their back trail at a gallop with the grim news that orc had managed to stumble upon their trail and followed not very far behind. Meg exclaimed in concern that Haldir would also be following, but Legolas said, "Haldir will see the signs; he will be well. They do not follow Haldir." And then Legolas, his voice shaking with fervency, addressed the king saying, "Elessar, I beg you, take the ladies and return to Gondor."

Lady Serafé's eyes flashed much like the approaching lightning and Cricket danced and whickered fretfully. Feia could not remember ever feeling so furious or so helpless. She wanted to scream at Legolas; she wanted to wrap her arms around him and cry at the ringing hopelessness in his voice. But she had not been trained to be a queen in vain.

Mastering herself was an effort, but when Feia spoke, she said only, "I realize you desire to protect us, my lord, but we are unaccustomed to being told to come and go at another's will. Have we acquitted ourselves so poorly on this journey that you believe we are a danger to ourselves or to your mission?"

Legolas could not look at her – he could not answer her, but his heart was in his voice when he entreated the king, "Elessar!"

The king considered carefully before he responded, "I told you, Legolas that your friends would stand with you. I believe both the ladies have proven themselves to be your friends. My liege lady makes a telling point, as well – she is a skilled fighter and Lady Meghailin has a deadly aim and a healing touch. These skills are an asset to us. We would do better were we to remain all together rather than dividing our forces."

Thunder rolled and Legolas snapped on a wave of anger at his friend, "Queen Arwen is also my friend, and she is skilled with a sword and a bow; but your lady is not at risk here!"

The king well knew the stress under which Legolas labored, and so he controlled the ire which rose up in response to the elf's words, saying, "Even though I might wish it so, I have not the authority to keep the queen from danger should she choose it; Arwen has been making that sort of decision for herself since long before I was born. But my lady wife carries our child and neither of us would choose to risk our babe."

At this news of their sister's joy, Elladan grinned broadly and Elrohir barked a joyous laugh. Gimli gave a whoop of celebration. Legolas pressed the heels of his hands hard to his eyes and said, "I am taken by madness!" Then he coaxed Arod close and touched the kings arm, "Please, forgive me Elessar!"

"There is nothing to forgive, Legolas." The king allowed, grasping the elf's hand and his shoulder, adding quietly, "You were right, my lady is not at risk here," and he nodded in Feia's direction.

The king was watching Feia still, when Legolas responded very softly, "I have no claim on the lady." Elessar could hear in his friend's voice and see in the lady's expression that Legolas could as easily have said, "I am not an elf," for it was equally a lie.

Then brightening somewhat, Legolas said, "Your news is glad indeed, my friend. Edhellensén ná andave naharma únótimë nálme úli!" Elven children are greatly to be treasured, for they are so rare!

Rain began to descend in great splattering drops and Feia said, "It is indeed a delight to hear such tidings, but I hasten to recall us to our immediate concern. If this rain should persist, we will be unable to outrun our pursuers for fear of foundering the horses. Will we flee, or seek a place to stand?"

"We should stand," called Haldir, his approach having been muffled by the growing noise of the wind and rain. He was drenched, for he had ridden far on the crest of the storm. Meghailin breathed a sigh of relief at sight of him and when he reached her side, he took her hand and squeezed it briefly. "It is one company, and we have been proven against such already. My brother Rúmil leads a band of elves to harry any further pursuit."

"Legolas?" Elessar said, ceding leadership to the elven prince.

"We stand," said the elf.

XXX

It was late afternoon, but dark as a starless night, when they engaged the enemy at the place that they had chosen not far from the banks of the great river Anduin. The wind howled and rain fell in sheets. Visibility was dreadful and lightning descended almost continuously making the brief moments without it all the more blind. It was bitingly cold and the companion's cloaks hung sodden and nearly useless over their drenched clothing.

The orc hung together only loosely, veering off to run and regroup, or to flee at their whim. Feia found herself pursuing, with Elessar and Elladan, a handful of orc that had fled the field. Elladan was afoot while Elessar and Feia rode, but the footing was treacherous for the elf and the horses. When Feia had run down a pair of orc and dispatched them, she found she had become separated from the others and she guided Cricket in a circle, seeking her companions, but saw no sign of them in the torrential rain.

With care, she guided Cricket in the direction from which she believed they had come, but she had been turned around in the storm. When Cricket foundered, Feia thought the mare had stumbled into a hole, but almost immediately she realized that the ground was giving way beneath them faster than the horse could gain her footing.

With a suddenness that took her breath, both she and the horse were down and still sliding – no, falling! Feia felt a painful blow to her thigh. The jolt pushed her into something solid and she grabbed it and held on for all she was worth, wrenching her shoulders badly. Then it was over.

Feia clung to a rock, jutting from an almost vertical bank of some kind. Feeling about with her feet she found another rock to help support her weight and tried to get her bearings. At last she happened to be looking below her when lightning lit the sky nearly as bright as noon and in that moment she saw the rushing Anduin far below. There was no sign of Cricket, and she felt a sharp pang of grief for her faithful horse.

It took little time for Feia to realize she was trapped where she was, with no way to climb either up or down, and so she concentrated on easing her cramped and frozen limbs one by one and prayed that the rain would leave some trace of her passing for her companions to find.

XXX

When Elessar returned to the camp without Feia, Meg was concerned, for she had seen them ride out together. When she asked the king where her sister had gone, he said that Elladan had seen the direction in which Feia had been headed and had gone to find her.

But Elladan returned alone, having discovered no trace of the lady anywhere.

Legolas also had seen Feia ride out with the king and the elf and when he saw them both talking animatedly with Meg, he hurried over in time to hear the elf maiden cry, "I will not leave her!"

The other companions had gathered in as well and Haldir said, "My lady, we must find a dry place to shelter. We will be little good to Lady Feia or to anyone if we are all lost out in this tempest."

Haldir was right, this Legolas knew, for the wind howled in ever worsening gusts so that they were hard pressed to simply stand erect, and their shouted words were torn from their lips. Even the elves had difficulty understanding one another. The elf maid stood defiantly with her hands on her hips, but she was shivering. Haldir began to briskly rubbing her upper arms.

Then Legolas saw Elessar watching him. It might be that this was Legolas's quest, but if he made a choice with his heart in this, the king would not let him get away with it.

"The foothills lie under an hour's ride to the west and south," Legolas said at last, "There they are riddled with caves which Gimli knows well. He will find shelter for you," the elf paused, looking at Meg, a promise in his eyes, "The lady and I will meet you before you reach the Gap."

"Legolas…!" Elessar began, but the elf only looked at him with a flat unblinking stare and the king gave over with a nod.

Elladan showed Legolas where he had lost sight of Feia and offered to assist the prince in his search, but Legolas would not risk any save himself in this. Meg protested that she should remain also, in the event that Feia might require healing, but Haldir would hear none of it. Meg soon found that attempting to overrule him was much like attempting to stop a boulder in an avalanche.

While the other companions turned toward the promise of the sheltering caves, Legolas packed spare blankets in his leather scrip and set out with Arod into the storm.

XXX

The biting wind beat relentlessly at Feia as she hung precariously over the rushing water below. She was cold; so cold she could hardly locate her numbed limbs, but the longing to sleep was the worst peril, for it crept in upon her stealthily. Feia had jerked to awareness just in time to save herself from plummeting to her death more times than she cared to contemplate.

At some point, in her sluggish thoughts an idea formed; a way out came to her. Feia still carried an active gate cube in her pouch; she could open a portal here and now, and step off this embankment onto a warm, dry, completely solid floor in Gwynedd. She could ensure that she lived through this night.

It was a challenge in defiance of death to loose her grip with one arm and seek in her pouch for the cube. Her fingers felt overlarge – clumsy, as she fumbled at the purse's ties. When she had it open it was impossible to find what her questing fingers sought, and so she fisted the contents and pulled it all out. Something fluttered away on the wind, but she ignored it, and in the hopes that her final active cube was in her hand she moved her fist under where her other hand clung and somehow managed the incantation.

The shimmering gate opened in the air, to hover out over the treacherous drop. Feia thought she could summon enough energy to fling herself out and through it, and yet she hesitated.

In her mind Feia heard the voice of the Guild Motivator Nillin, "Choices, Serafé, you must have choices, for that is the heart of freedom."

But every choice has a consequence. Yes, choices are the heart of freedom, but taking responsibility for the consequences of those choices; that is freedom's price. What would the consequence be if Feia left Middle Earth this night? Her companions would, in all likelihood, think her dead. No, not Meg! Feia's sister would try her gate cube. She would seek Feia in Gwynedd and bring her back. Eventually she would.

Feia had chosen to make Middle Earth her home. She had made a commitment to the king of Gondor; sworn an oath. And what might become of Legolas if Feia were to disappear from the planet…for a day? Forever? Uncle Celduin had said that they must both keep their faith. The thought of being separated from her concinnate, possibly for all time, was more chilling than the frigid driving rain. Feia would keep her faith!

Numb with cold, sick with exhaustion, aching all over, Feia took the handful of coins and gate cubes, used and in use, and flung them with all her strength through the open portal. The light seemed to shrink in upon itself and then it was gone, leaving her blind in the pitch black night. That was when the rock upon which her boots were braced gave way beneath her.

For a moment, Feia's feet swung and it required almost everything she had left just to hold on with her arms. Her heart beat frantically and she gasped for breath, half drowning in the deluge of water. Finally, Feia managed to drag in enough air, once, twice. And then the rock upon which she hung shifted suddenly. It was also coming loose.

XXX

Employing every tracking skill he had, pushing his elven senses to the limit, Legolas combed the area around where Feia had last been seen. He wanted nothing more than to run through the storm shouting his lady's name at the top of his voice, but instead, with painstaking slowness, he made an ever-widening spiral from his starting point, hugging the ground and leading Arod. The earth was not giving up many secrets tonight.

At long last, a hoof print, a single shallow print of a horse of Cricket's size and weight, filled with water gave him a direction. The corpses of two orc confirmed it was the right one. But from thence, where?

Legolas made another slow spiral from this point, through trees and brush, pelted by rain and buffeted by wind. And then he saw a bright glow, as if the moon had fallen through the dense clouds and plunged to the earth. A beacon for him to follow? A miracle of the Valar?

Praying that it was so, Legolas followed the glow with all the speed he could manage in the treacherous gale. When he saw the fresh earth of the disintegrated bank, his heart began to hammer painfully in his chest. The light shone up over the edge, bold and clear, but Legolas could not safely approach the precipice. He scrambled back from the crumbling earth, searching for an anchor, and found it in the form of a deeply embedded boulder where the ground still held true.

Dispensing with his quiver and bow, his sword and his cloak, Legolas was as prepared as he could be. Hithlain rope from his pack made a safe road for the elf. He did not hesitate, but hastened to the very edge, peering down into the gloom where the sheet of light shimmered in the air; and he saw her in its glow. He saw her where she clung, so high above the Anduin below them and he watched as she tossed small objects from her hand out into space, where they disappeared into the light. And then the light was gone.

Legolas squeezed his eyes shut to speed the return of his night vision. He did not wait for it, but began his descent at once, for he had fixed his lady's location, and he could find her blind.

When the elf reached Feia's side he was only just in time to see the rock she clung to slide from the earth. He caught her one-armed as she fell and held her tight against his body while he steadied them. Feia flung her arms around his middle and froze so that she would not unsettle them further. The woman keeps her good sense, praise Elbereth.

"Are you injured?" Legolas shouted above the raging wind. "Can you climb onto my back?"

Feia was frozen and her limbs felt weak and shaky, but she yelled back, "I will try!" Legolas strained, lifting her as she attempted to reach his shoulders, eventually she hung on his back with her arms about his neck. "Hold on!" Legolas called, "If you feel your grip sliding yell, 'stop!' Are you ready?"

"Noro!" Go! Feia responded and Legolas began to climb steadily upward. Feia gritted her teeth and held on, her position pressed her face tight against the side of Legolas's neck and she closed her eyes, trying to imagine that there was no deadly drop beneath them.

When they reached the top of the embankment, Legolas instructed, "Try to climb up my back and take hold of the rope. Keep going until you reach the boulder where it is tied. Do not let go of the rope!"

Feia remembered a tumbling act that she had once seen on Coruscant. The women had used their larger male partners as ladders and platforms for any number of amazing feats. If Feia placed her feet carefully and shifted her weight slowly, she knew it could be done. On the other hand, those tumblers had not been half frozen, hanging off the side of a cliff in the driving rain and wind.

Slowly, ever so slowly and carefully, Feia guided her left foot to Legolas's hip with her left hand. Then she clung around his neck with that arm while using her right hand to guide her right foot to his other hip. She reached up to the rope with her right hand and pulled while pushing with her feet. When she was almost standing, she reached for the rope above the precipice with her other hand and pulled again, slowly lifting a knee to the elf's shoulder. The other knee followed, and then one foot, and then the other and she was over.

Feia had a hold of the rope, but her strength seemed to have evaporated. She knew that she must clear the way for Legolas, but she could not seem to rise and walk – and so she crawled. One painful inch at a time she crept toward the boulder. Then Legolas was at her side, gripping the rope above her hands with one hand and half dragging her along with an arm around her waist. When they reached the boulder, they collapsed against it together.

Trembling violently in aftershock, Feia buried her face in Legolas's tunic, her hands fisted in the fabric. The elf, for his part, clung to her as if he could not hold her tightly enough. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and squeezed shut his eyes, murmuring words of comfort that the storm stole away.

Chapter 15:

Refuge

Gradually Feia recovered sufficiently to recall that she was freezing. The only part of her that retained any heat at all was her face, framed as it was on one side by Legolas's long fingers and pressed against his heart on the other. She shifted enough to peer up at him through her bedraggled hair. He was watching her.

As soon as the lady exhibited signs of revival, Legolas said, "We are not yet out of this, my lady," Easing away from her, the elf re-armed himself, reclaimed his rope, and then helped the lady to her feet. He wrapped the Lórien cloak about her; for, sodden as it was, it would yet afford her some warmth.

Then Legolas marked, flattened to the boulder by the wind, a much-folded square of parchment with a red wax seal. Surely it was the letter his lady had received from Kelson of Gwynedd. Stooping, he retrieved the missive thoughtfully and slid it under the flap of his scrip before setting Feia upon Arod's broad back. Then he pulled himself onto the animal behind her and they set out as speedily as he could manage in the storm.

Legolas knew of no sanctuary save the caves toward which he had directed their friends, but he was worried for his lady who looked to have reached the end of her not inconsiderable endurance. She drowsed in her seat before him, seeming half in a dream and Legolas was disturbed at how she trembled from cold and fatigue. He must reach the caves without delay.

With an enormous amount of good fortune, they would discover signs of the others to follow. If they were able rejoin their friends then Lady Meghailin could aid her sister. And perhaps, if there was fuel dry enough to burn, there might also be the blessing of a fire.

In this, however, luck was not with them, for the elf detected no evidence of their companions.

At the first cave that appeared of a size to shelter in, Legolas halted, and assisted Feia to dismount. This sufficed to waken her from her somnolent state, so that when he lifted her into his arms in order to convey her to the safety of the cave, she protested saying, "My lord, I am uninjured. I can walk."

When he did not respond and only held her the tighter to his chest Feia queried, "Legolas?" But still he did not put her down, nor did he speak. How could he explain that he could as easily have torn out his own heart as let her go?

Stooping to peer in at the small cave entrance, Legolas attempted to see that it was clear of animals inside, though he did not sense any danger from within. As he paused the lady in his arms cupped her palm in front of her and a sphere of amber light appeared over it. Then she made a shooing motion and it scooted away from her and into the cave.

"You are a witch!" Legolas exclaimed in surprise.

Feia laughed, though the usually ringing sound of her mirth was fragile and shaky with cold. Her teeth persisted in knocking together as she answered, "Nay, my lord, it is not magic. You could do the same if instructed in the way it is done, as I was. Someday I will show you." And then she mused, "I wonder what color yours will be? Green? Blue like Meg's?"

The glowing sphere revealed a chamber with a depth of perhaps two spans. At its widest it was no more than Legolas's height. At its highest point it was just tall enough for Feia to stand upright. It was unoccupied.

After setting Feia gently on the cavern floor, Legolas disappeared into the rain, returning quickly with his scrip, from which he produced a blanket. He pressed it into her hands saying, "You must remove your wet clothing, my lady." Then he went back out again, presumably to care for Arod, but also to grant her privacy.

It was a difficult business unlacing the bodice of her long over-tunic. Feia's fingers felt ungainly! But at last she managed it. Then she yanked off her sodden boots and peeled off her leggings, causing her battered body, particularly her bruised thigh, to protest the ill treatment. Leaving her shirt and underclothing, she wrapped the blanket around her and awkwardly spread her other wet things out flat along the rock wall.

When Legolas returned he cast a brief glance at the clothing she had lain out and then turned abruptly away, busying himself with their gear. "What of you, my lord?" Feia asked. "Even an elf must feel the effects of this cold!"

Legolas stooped to the scrip and removed a second blanket, his expression oddly troubled, "Yes, I must also get dry," he whispered. Then he crouched with his back to her facing the cave's mouth and began unlacing his garments. Feia turned politely toward the rear of the cave.

At length the elf's low voice murmured, "My lady?" For some reason Feia felt breathless when she responded, "Yes?"

Wrapped now in his blanket, the elf came and knelt at her side, touching her face, and then her hand where it clutched her blanket closed – gauging how cold she was. Reaching behind him to the scrip, he retrieved the third blanket he had brought and shook it out.

"My lady," Legolas began again, focusing on the cave floor, "I have to get you warm." Then he looked up steadily into her eyes and said, "We must get warm, Feia."

Feia searched his face until understanding came, at which point she managed a small nod. Reaching out toward the hovering handfire, the lady closed her fingers. As the light gradually died, Legolas lay himself down beside her, drawing her near and arranging the third blanket over them

"I think it will be silver," Feia said into the darkness.

"What will be silver, my lady?" Legolas asked as he started to rub warmth into her arms with his hands. His voice was low and soft and very rough.

"Your hand-fire," the lady answered softly, "When you have seen how, I think your hand-fire will be silver."

Legolas did not respond, but moved his hands along her back. Feia's hands were trapped between the two of them, and she slid them up to his shoulders. Finally she whispered, shakily, "You came for me."

His hand was on her thigh now, briskly rubbing up and down and Feia hissed a breath in pain. Legolas froze, "I thought you were uninjured," he accused. But already he was accessing his healing gift, minimal as it was, and circulation quickened in her bruised muscles.

"I think Cricket kicked me," she said, her voice unable to disguise her grief at the loss of her horse. "As we fell…she saved my life. I am sure I was in free-fall when it happened, and she pushed me back against the embankment where I grabbed onto the rocks." Feia trailed off, thinking about how close she had come to death this night.

Legolas was thinking much the same thing, and just like that the pieces started to click into place in his mind. He recalled the parchment bearing the seal of the king of Gwynedd. The lady had come by magic from another world, and had returned there by magic to fetch Lady Meghailin to aid him.

Feia felt Legolas stiffen against her and draw slightly away. "The light!" he said gruffly. "The light that drew me to you was a magic doorway to Gwynedd! You could have saved yourself, but you closed it!" Legolas was breathing hard; he was shocked, confused…furious! Why? Why had she not used the gate? She had been a breath away from death. If he had been one minute longer in reaching her…one second longer! "Why, my lady?" he rasped, gripping her upper arm and giving her a shake, "Tell me why!"

Feia sighed. She would tell him, but she did not think that he would understand. "I was given four gateway cubes by a sorcerer who was disposed toward assisting me. Meg carries one; the cube I used tonight was my last. I opened the gate in order to save myself, yes, but then I began thinking about choices and responsibility, freedom and consequences; I started thinking about faith. I was free to choose to use the Gate to ensure that I lived, but the act would have consequences for which I would be responsible.

"I have made a commitment to make Middle Earth my home. I have sworn an oath to the king of Gondor. I have found my concinnate. Had I left Middle Earth via a gate this night, the act would have been a denial of faith. I do not know what the consequences may have been had I left. In the moment after I made the choice to close the gate, I feared the consequence of that choice would be death. I was prepared to accept that. But you came for me. I am alive."

Legolas's response, forced between clenched teeth, sounded tormented, "By a heartbeat! By a breath, you live! You could not have known I was there, or that I was coming. It was a reckless choice, lady!"

"I do not see it so."

Then something else leapt into Legolas's anguished mind and he muttered, "Edainriel nae Fennas – Tarcaita aberethië tarcaita!"

Lady of the Gates? Feia wondered at this form of address briefly and then her back stiffened and her voice went stony, "I have never lied to you, my lord, and I am most certainly not married."

Legolas ignored her words. "Would you deny the elves Valinor, my lady?" He asked briskly.

Was the elf losing his mind? "I have neither the power nor the desire to deny the elves anything, my lord!" and then she paused and said quietly, "I think perhaps the Powers That Be hope the elves will not choose Valinor, but they are advocates of freedom. They would never take that choice away." It was so strange, lying here in the darkness wrapped in Legolas's arms, discussing the choices of the elves!

Legolas seemed to be thinking very fast. "My father said that I would join myself to a woman who would deny the elves Valinor. In his ranting he said, 'Edainriel nae fennas – Tarcaita aberethië tarcaita.' He must have meant you. 'Liar and wife of one who lies!' He meant both of us!"

"I do not mean to offend, my lord, or to cause you more grief, but your father tortured you; he tried to kill you!" Feia said, "He is gone mad, surely!" and then she added, "And unless I missed something important, which I doubt, I am not your wife."

With a suddenness that stopped her heart, Legolas drew her tight against him until his mouth was just beside her ear, "And how long do you imagine I will wait to make you my wife, Orenya?" My heart? his deep voice crooned. "Would you not have me for your husband? Would you stop me?"

Feia found that she could make no response to that and later, with the wind wailing and the rain pounding outside of their sheltering cave Feia became Legolas's wife. She did not try to stop him. In fact, she made not the slightest protest.

XXX

By dawn the terrible tempest was spent and all was quiet outside of their shelter. Legolas reclined with his back against his leather scrip, lost in thought and mindlessly running his fingers through his lady's tangled hair. Feia slept with her head resting on his stomach, one arm wrapped around his waist, her pale shoulder peeking out of the blankets. She was a mess. She was so beautiful. She was his wife.

Legolas tried not to consider how much he would come to regret the weakness that had made that possible. She was his. He loved her.

He would bring her only grief.

Legolas curled an arm around his lady, unconsciously trying to protect her. But he could never protect her from himself.

It was a measure of his turmoil – his inner disquiet, that Legolas neither sensed nor heard any warning of someone approaching until he caught his name whispered on a breath. He turned toward the sound calmly, for only another elf could have approached so closely, however preoccupied Legolas might be.

Elrohir crouched at the cave's opening, politely addressing the air several handspans above Legolas's head. In quick succession, using a scout's silent communication, he tapped his arm with a finger thrice and then he pointed. Briefly he locked eyes with the elven prince, who nodded once; and then he was gone as silently as he had come.

Laying his fingers lightly on Feia's cheek, Legolas said, "Wake, my lady." As she stirred he leaned down and kissed her brow murmuring, "Wake, Orenya."

Feia woke, but she only raised herself up far enough to settle against his shoulder and nuzzle his neck with her nose. Legolas wrapped his arms more tightly around her, and said, "Our companion's camp lies about three leagues to the south and west."

Feia tilted her head back to look at him in some surprise. "I know you have not been scouting, my lord," she said quizzically, "for I would remember it, had you left me."

"It was Elrohir who did the scouting, not I." Legolas answered.

But still, Feia thought, had Legolas heard Elrohir approach, he would have met the other elf outside of the cave. And had Legolas stirred from her side, she would have known. Unless Legolas had not heard the other elf approaching!

To Legolas's surprise, Feia giggled. "You are much distracted, edhel nin," my elf, she teased, "to have allowed Lord Elrohir to sneak up on you, thus!"

There was really nothing for it but to silence the saucy woman's mirth against his mouth; and so it was some time later that the two made ready to rendezvous with the friends who awaited them.