Author note: I'm very nervous. I wrote this chapter in two hours, but I've been editing it for a week because I just want it to be perfect. I don't think it ever will be so I'm giving up and posting. I'm trying to put all the stuff I had in my head for this pivotal part of the story into words, whilst keeping it a reasonable length, which isn't easy. I wrote about 12,000 words of stuff that needed saying, but I didn't necessarily know in what order. So the next two chapters will be coming fairly quickly ;) We're now only a few chapters away from the end of Book Two (I can't believe it), and from there just one more book, which I think will be shorter than the other two, to the end :( Plenty still to come though!

Guys I'm blown away by the amount of reviews lately, and how lovely they all are.

Whimsical acumen - thanks for listening (I had no idea you could listen on this site) and for delaying His Dark Materials watching to do so! I also delayed watching it to write the next chapter haha.

To the people wondering what the hell all the Faramir stuff was about, why he felt so drawn to Keren etc. why the prophecy did seem to apply to him as much as to Legolas, you will get answers... eventually.

d'elfe - you raise a really valid point about children keeping Legolas company once Keren is gone, but this topic will also be covered in future. Sadly for this pair of over-thinkers things aren't that simple.

Finally, if you've never seen a willow tree in the snow, google images etc. will provide you with some idea of how frickin beautiful it looks, if you really want to picture their white tree. *Sigh*.

Chapter sixteen - Silver rings

All was still. No wind blew off the mountain, no sound came from the sleeping city, no snow fell from the trees. Keren would always remember feeling as if time itself had frozen. In her childhood her mother had told her the tale of the meeting of Thingol Greycloak, elf-king of old, and Melian the Maiar, who had been held motionless for centuries, enchanted by their own love, whilst the trees grew and the lands changed about them. Later she could not say how long she stood there whilst her mind, the very cells in her body, adjusted to her new reality. To her she could well have stood there as long as Melian had, as she beheld her own elf - grey-eyed and grey-cloaked - and finally understood.

"Oh," she breathed, so lightly she barely heard it herself. But Legolas did. He did not speak, for words seemed harsh in the silence. Together they stood staring, their breath fogging in the cold air the only sign that either lived. With less than ten paces Keren could have been at his side under the tree, but she could not move, though all the world came back to life around her as a wind came and caught in her hair, sending it streaming around her face.

The prophecy flowed through her fully for the first time since hearing it as a child, though there was no crystal clutched to her heart this time. This voice was not in her heart, or her mind, but in the very air around her, in the tiny snowdrifts that eddied around their feet, in the wind through the branches. It whispered all around her, the words overlapping, flowing in and out of each other.

One will be brought… the white tree… a kind and brave… everything… change everything… overcome all… his soul… his soul is waiting… you will know him… waiting for yours… the white tree…

"How could I not have seen it before?" she whispered to herself.

Because you were not yet ready. The voice came together, and spoke from her heart. This love will test you both, and first you needed to be sure, of him and of yourself.

But… Faramir. I was so sure the prophecy was… It felt so real. Keren continued the internal conversation with her guide.

And it was real, daughter. There is much that has not been made clear to you. In time you may learn his part in it all. But now, ask yourself, do you feel such a desire to know anymore?

No, Keren realised. It is Legolas that I love. The past doesn't matter.

She felt the smile in her heart. Then go to him.

And with that Keren felt herself take a step, then another, and slowly the strangeness fell away, and she could move fully. She wanted to run to him, and jump for joy, and laugh, but still she closed the distance between them with even paces, not giving herself away. She was not floating on air with her stomach in anxious knots, as she had previously been both with him and the Steward. No - she felt rooted, grounded, strong.

She took a deep breath and assumed a nonchalant air.

"I've been thinking," she said casually as she reached him beneath the branches. "And I have decided that if you love me, which against all my powers of reason I think you might do, then you must tell me now." She leant back against the trunk, as if she had just commented on the most average of occurrences, taking an odd delight in watching him go still with shock. "For if I am mistaken I will go back inside where it's warm."

She tried not to show her breathlessness, as she fought against bursting with happiness, and she did not give Legolas time to reply.

"But not before saying that I have fallen in love with you," she finished, daring to look him in the eye. She could not read his expression, which made her take another deep breath and allow a stream of consciousness, in her own tongue, to explode out of her.

"Oh, I know this is strange, and I know we would have many challenges to face - you're immortal and… and unimpeachably wise and I'm - I'm not, and I feel in some way that I've just been put here in front of you by the Valar for a reason, which is very egotistical of me, after all I'm only a healer and they shouldn't be troubling themselves with me, they need to concentrate on people like the King and Mithrandir and the people that will actually make a difference, but nevertheless Elbereth herself, I think, told me I would find my love - and I do, I do love you - under the white tree, and all those years I stupidly thought it was… well, you know, but it turns out it was - "

Her rambling could not get any further, for he quickly turned, took her in his arms and kissed her. Her eyes opened wide in surprise at the first touch of his lips upon hers, and she made a little sound of shock in the back of her throat. But she immediately surrendered to him, tilting her head back, wrapping her arms around him, feeling the world grow still again.

Oh, this was worth the wait, was her only coherent thought. She let out a small laugh on a breath, and her heart soared when she felt his lips curve upwards into an answering smile as he deepened the kiss, as happy, as elated as she. She wanted him even closer, she could not get close enough, and she was reminded of their first meeting under this very tree, when he had stood so close and been so real, and she had been stupid enough to run away. How long could she have known this bliss for, had she opened her eyes sooner?

He broke the kiss a little earlier than she would have liked.

"I interrupted your sentence," he said, his lips brushing her forehead. She revelled in the feeling of his soft mouth, his breath light and cool on her cold skin.

"Hmm?" She did not open her eyes to see, or lips to speak, for fear of breaking the spell.

"'…but it turns out it was…'" he quoted her words from a moment ago. "Finish it."

It sounded a little like a command, and she opened her eyes to see him looking strange - she could not decide if he was hopeful or fearful.

"But surely you must know now, after that?" she asked him disbelievingly.

He held her gaze. "I must hear you say it. I must be sure," he said breathlessly.

She pulled back slightly and studied his face. He was telling the truth - he was nervous, unsure. But then she had stayed silent until now, had had her own doubts, had not even admitted the truth of how she felt to herself.

Now she would happily tell him what he needed to hear. She relaxed into his arms, leant against his warm chest, spoke the words into his heart.

"It turns out it was… you," she whispered, hardly believing the words herself as she heard them come from her lips, but happy, so, so happy to be saying them.

"You are sure?" He took her chin, tilted her head back gently so he could study her face.

"I have never been so sure of anything," she said, gazing steadily up at him. "And I feel such a fool to only be saying this now, I - I have wasted time by not allowing myself to - "

"Then let us waste no more time!" Legolas interrupted her, smiling, looking ready to laugh with delight, for he had finally seen the look that Aragorn had spoken of in her eyes. "For I love thee, Keren daughter of Maleron, and I have done ere we even left this city."

"Ere we left…?" Keren couldn't fathom it. "But that was…"

"Do you want to know exactly when?" His voice was light, bright, overjoyed. "The night on the balcony of the King's House - I bonded with you then, Keren, my spirit to your spirit. You spoke my tongue yet knew it not. You wore the green gown of Lórien and I saw stars dancing upon your brow. I loved you then, and knew my fate, and it was a joy and an agony to have it revealed. Every day since then has brought me happiness so bittersweet, for I loved you, and yet I was waiting, ever hopeful, that you would recognise the bond in return. And now, I take it, you have?"

She nodded silently, glad to have him give words to what she had experienced.

"But we have spent so much time together since then. It - it's been over a year, and yet you never spoke of it," she wondered. "All those days on the road, in Rohan, the caves. Then you left for your home, with no word of when I would see you again. You could have told me then? Or in Lórien…"

Everything slotted into place. He had come to find her there. She had never fully questioned it. He had been her friend, just her friend. But had not Haldir said, even then…

"I had to wait, don't you see?" He was smiling at her happy perplexity. "I came close to telling you, many times, but think how you would have felt if I had told you before you were ready to hear it. I had to be absolutely sure, for a bonding is so much more than just falling in love. I would not put you through more heartache and confusion - you needed me as a steadfast friend, not as a lover. I could not forsake that. Though believe me I burned inside every time you touched me."

At those words Keren felt a heat of her own flood through her. He had wanted her as much as she had wanted him, and for even longer. They would be lovers, and soon, if she had anything to do with it.

"This is not something to be taken lightly," he went on, "and when I spoke of it to my father he warned me - "

"Your father knows?" she said incredulously.

"Keren, there is so much to tell you. My soul is singing, but I see I must now be calm and tell you all that befell whilst we were apart, or else - "

"Oh, forget about all that for now," she said quickly, "it can wait - just kiss me again."

And even as she was still speaking she pulled him towards her. Standing on her tiptoes she kissed him hard. She was shivering, with cold and excitement, and she experienced the deepest, warmest happiness she had ever known as she felt him wrap his cloak around them both as they kissed, sheltering them as one against the winter chill, beneath the boughs of the willow tree.

Father,

I write with joy to tell you that the day I longed for has now brought its blessings to me. It would be my honour to present my betrothed to you - as well as it being your wish, as you have previously informed me, for her to stay awhile within the palace, it is also mine.

I have told her of our customs and your requests - everything is being followed to the letter in order to please you, my beloved father and king. You will not find her lacking in love or respect for you, and she is eager to meet you.

Legolas had nearly put eager to befriend you, but that was perhaps overdoing it a little - he had to tread carefully. He went on, keeping the tone flowery and respectful.

We are both willing to adhere to the twelve months that must pass before we wed, as is elvish custom, and Keren has been informed of your instructions that she must follow in order to gain your permission to marry. I trust her readiness to face this task without knowing the nature of it will already endear her to you.

He frowned - it was still unclear as to what Thranduil would ask of her, and he knew his father would wait until an opportune moment to present it. Legolas had warned her as best he could, and told her to try to not be too offended or frightened by the idea. She had been, of course, but she would not let him or his father know that.

Keren looked over his shoulder as he composed his message. Images filled her head of her lying in a dungeon somewhere, after being forced to enter Mordor, now empty save for wandering creatures of darkness, having to steal some legendary jewel from an abandoned fortress - Legolas had told her of Thranduil's treasure hoard and eternal greed - but she knew she was being foolish. Such things belonged to the distant past. But… even the Lord Elrond would not permit Elessar to marry the Lady Arwen until he had won the crown. What Thranduil could be cooking up for her she dreaded to think, but she was fairly sure it would not be to re-unite two ancient kingdoms. Something a little more within her skill remit would be nice. And surely it was just a formality anyway, a joke, a token?

But then, this was only the fourth time in the written histories of Middle Earth that an elf and a human wished to wed.

Her head swam whenever she thought too hard about it, which was often. She did not want to be a rarity for folk to gossip over. And yet she was so happy she had not noticed that she was already becoming exactly that.

They had tried for a few days to keep the recent development in their relationship a secret, but neither could hide the joy on their faces in company for long. Legolas had told Aragorn first, whilst Keren had confided in Palen, who was, to Keren's confusion and mild disappointment, not at all surprised. Palen thought her little sister had had an oddness surrounding her since before she even went away, and whilst she would never have imagined this outcome, she had known that it was never Keren's destiny to be ordinary. Not since all that business with Faramir, not since Mithrandir had watched her so closely.

The betrothal was a simple private exchange of rings a week after the snow came, for neither questioned the desire to be wed as soon as possible, and both had carried the rings long. Keren could have kicked herself for being so slow as to realise what the Lady's gift had been for, and she had shed tears of joy and laughter when she thought of the generosity, and the sheer nerve, of Galadriel. It had been right under her very nose all this time, much like the true subject of the prophecy.

Word spread as folk saw them together, openly wearing their betrothal rings - the elf with his plain band of beaten silver, and the girl with her delicate circlet of small white and clear gems. People gawped and pointed and stared, but very few were hostile. Most were overjoyed for Keren. It was a wonder, they said, to have two of the immortal folk wedding mortals of Gondor almost in the same year. An elven Queen and a Númenórean King, a Sindar Prince and a… a, well… a healer. It brought a touch of reality, they conceded, and they had heard tell she was a very good healer, so that was something.

But for all the gossip in the city, Keren had yet to inform her father. She felt terrible about it, and lived in fear that he would hear before she told him, yet how could she break the news? Her beloved, the person she was choosing to devote herself to, was an elf. Although he was not a Lórien elf, so maybe he would be lenient…

Don't fool yourself, she thought every time her mind leant towards the subject. He will be broken. I just don't know what to do. She could not hide it from him forever.

She sighed as Legolas finished his message to his own father, whom she imagined would be just as ill-pleased at the news.

As I am fortunate enough to have His Majesty the Elfstone as a dear friend, we wish to hold a betrothal feast within his house. The Tower of the Guard is my beloved's home and it is fitting to celebrate our betrothal here - I am sure you would agree that even our customs dictate as such. It would make me happiest above all if you would join us. As Keren and myself have lost our mothers we would both be touched if our fathers could meet on this joyous occasion. I beg you to send a message back speedily with your answer.

With love and due respect on this, the thirtieth day of Winter,

Greenleaf

"He will not come, of course," Legolas said. "He will insist the feast will be in his court, and your family will have to trek to the Greenwood."

"But you had to ask at least," Keren insisted, whilst not being at all sure that her family would be able or willing to make the journey. Palen would not wish to bring Little Dan, nor to leave him. And as for her father going to stay with elves - it was more likely Gimli would shave his beard off.

The dwarf had arrived with a few companions from Erebor at a fortuitous time, to begin the plans for rebuilding the gates and walls of the city in earnest. Only two days after the betrothal Legolas's friend had appeared on the road from the north, and was able to share in his joy when he reached the house of the King. The brusque, hardy dwarf had looked at Keren with misty eyes that threatened to leak tears, and hugged her fiercely.

"Ah, I knew it, I knew it, though who could have ever foretold it?" he said, sniffing. "All the blessings of the dwarves upon you." And he bowed low. "Although you have the biggest blessing of all already." He nodded to Legolas.

She smiled in return, agreeing wholeheartedly, and thanking him for his obvious delight at the happy news.

"He's competitive though, mind, watch out for that," he whispered in her ear as he drew away. "And a sore loser, takes it terribly."

"I will be careful not to challenge him to anything too rash," she replied, looking Legolas right in the eye and smiling, knowing he had heard the dwarf's remark. "I do not like losing either."

Legolas raised an eyebrow. Future challenge, whatever it was, accepted.

The spring came, and despite living in a cloud of bliss, Keren's work at the Houses continued, and she still bedded down there each night, whilst Legolas dwelt in the King's House. His visits to Ithilien began again in April, and one day he galloped out before dawn on Arod, but this time he took Keren with him rather than his friends. Now all was as it should be she was deliriously happy to discover that he was in fact building a home for the two of them.

They spent a happy day, beginning at Cormallen, stopping off at the old oak tree, before wandering north-east through the forest to Henneth Annûn. Legolas had used it as a base for his expeditions a few times previously, but Keren had never seen the sacred, forbidden pool, nor the waterfall that fell in a sheet, hiding the secret cave behind.

"My father's palace is full of caves and rivers, so I feel at home here." He had to shout a little over the roaring of the falling water, whilst he helped her navigate the slippery path. "Aragorn has gifted it to me to use as accommodation whilst I build, as long as I keep up its defence."

Hand in hand they came to the cave mouth and ducked behind the waterfall. Keren jumped as a figure materialised from the dark wall towards the rear, although Legolas had told her that it was still under guard by the rangers of Ithilien. Now there were only ever one or two lonely watchmen, unlike in days of war.

The guard nodded at him in recognition - Aragorn had given Legolas and his people indefinite leave to enter the once sacred space, though, under the old rule of the Stewards, death had been the penalty for even accidentally stumbling across the pool where the river gathered beneath the waterfall. It had now been over two years since the downfall of Sauron, and slowly the defence of Ithilien was lessening, the people of Gondor were beginning to breathe easy, and it was being accepted that peace and plenty were really here to stay. Once Legolas's colony was established the Gondorian defence in this part of Ithilien would end completely. The guard took up his place at the back of the cave again, hidden in shadow.

"We will stay here until darkness comes, for you must not miss the sight of the sunset blazing through the water." He nodded at the cascading foam falling from high above. "And then I thought we could ride back slowly by night to Cormallen, and sleep there under the stars, before heading back to Minas Tirith tomorrow." He looked over at her, radiating happiness. "One day this will be our home, and you will come to know the lands about here as well as you know the Houses of Healing."

Keren smiled, but did feel a little pang of guilt. When she left for Legolas's kingdom in the north, she knew there would be no returning to the Houses this time. She would miss her home, her work, her life there, but the Warden must be told, and soon.

"Have you had word back from your father?" She wanted confirmation of their plans, though she knew the distance made for a long wait to receive a reply.

"Well, that is something we need to discuss." He pulled a piece of parchment from his pack and handed it to her. "This came yesterday."

Keren had to concentrate hard to read the wispy, graceful handwriting.

Greenleaf,

Come home at the earliest opportunity. Bring the girl with you. You will be pleased to hear I am preparing a betrothal feast here for your return, so there will be no need for me to attend the celebrations you are planning.

Signed on this, the third day of Stirring, by

your father, King of the Elves of the Northern Wood of Green Leaves

P.S. As you will be travelling together with no companions I am sure I do not need to remind you of the marriage laws of our people, which you must insist she also follows.

P.P.S. As her people will, I'm sure, be celebrating at your own feast, I see no reason to invite them here.

Keren had opened her mouth in disbelief at its rudeness.

"What does he mean, 'which you must insist she follows'?" she asked. "Does he think I will not respect his wishes?"

"It's a little more delicate than that, my love," he explained. "Though there is great ceremony around elven marriage, remember the actual act of marriage is…" and here he tailed off, looking over to the back of the cave where the guard sat, before brushing her hair off her shoulder, his hand lingering, lightly stroking the side of her neck. "Well, the marriage is the act of love itself, a private matter between the two betrothed. My father is simply concerned we will marry in secret before his conditions are met, somewhere along the road north."

"He has a point," she muttered under her breath. Spending time alone with Legolas without wanting more from him was becoming increasingly difficult. She was both highly anticipating and slightly dreading the night that would come after this famed sunset he had mentioned, for it would be the first night they had spent alone together. What would it bring? Certainly not what she hoped, not if they were planning to avoid the wrath of Thranduil.

Legolas looked at her inquisitively, innocently, although he knew full well what she meant.

"Must we really wait a year?" Keren said, as she had said many times before. "Could we not just pretend nothing has happened between us when we see your father?"

He chuckled. "He would be able to tell, as would all my people. A strange skill of ours." He shot another glance towards the guard, then gave her a look, before standing. "Come. We have a while until sunset after all."

Keren followed him, curious and excited, for he had looked at her in the way she liked best - as if he wanted to give in to his desires too. Often he had looked at her like that, and every time she felt her breathing grew shallow, though nothing ever happened.

"Where are we going?" she whispered.

"I feel this conversation needs some privacy," he murmured in her ear as they walked away.

His warm hand grasped hers, fingers intertwining softly, and together they walked down to the side of the pool, well out of earshot and eye-line from the cave. When she slipped he caught her round the middle and held her firmly to him, twisting her round to face him.

"I know it is a long wait," he said. "Do not think it is easy for me either. But I promise you, my love, the night we are wed we will come here, where none shall disturb us - let them have their parties and their invocations and their rings beforehand, the moment that matters will be here. And once we are alone…" - he leant against a smooth rock, turning her away from him so she could see what he was describing in her mind's-eye, but still holding her close, leaning her against him, his voice low and seductive in her ear - "…we will bathe there in the waters of the pool, beneath the falls, and some of my kisses will fall where I have not yet dared to touch you. Then I will carry you up to the cave, where there will no longer be any guards to bother us, and I will lay you down, and we will be wed - fully, truly, so that none can part us. We will make up for all the times we will have been denied each other. I have pictured it every time I have been here, so I promise you… it will be worth the wait."

Her breath caught in her throat so that she could barely get her next words out. She could picture it all too - some of the pictures in her head she felt would stay with her forever.

"But I want to do all that now, I want you so much," she gabbled. Never had she said the like to anyone before, but she did not blush or even feel the need to. There were no hidden feelings between them, not any more.

"And I you," he breathed before he turned her face to his and kissed her hard, then broke away. "And I you. But if we break the conditions then we risk being shunned by all my kind, for going against a king. The colony - our future - it would not happen."

"But I would live anywhere with you," she said desperately.

"We may not be able to," he said simply, and Keren tried not to let the disappointment show in her eyes as she felt all the tension leave her body.

"But now we have our answer from my father we can finally hold our betrothal feast with those we love here, and once that is done we can journey north," he said, trying to cheer her up, before he remembered something quite significant. "But of course, that means telling your father."

She sighed.

"It's too late for that," she said quietly. "He already knows."

She sat beside him on the rock.

"And he is not happy?" Legolas asked, concerned.

"I was going to tell you, I promise. I - I just could not find the right moment. Everything we do together is so full of happiness, I could not bring myself to poison it with my troubles."

"But your troubles are my troubles too." Legolas hugged her close. "I am here to help you through them."

Keren felt the tears come then, for it was all too late.

"It was weeks ago," she told him, her head on his shoulder. "He came to find me at the Houses, asking if the rumours he had heard were true. The worst part was the shame I felt for being too afraid to speak to him of it beforehand. He shouted at me in front of a crowd, called me a coward, and I deserved it. He called me… a traitor." The tears fell quickly, each one a regret of how she had dealt with everything. She still had a lot of work to do on herself it seemed. "I - everything was going so well between us since I returned - he was more gentle, kinder, I was warmer towards him, less afraid. We were beginning to enjoy each other's company. I did not want to ruin it, so I hid our news from him for too long, and this is the one thing he cannot forgive. He - he hates elves Legolas, all of you, curses the day your race was even created. In his mind elves killed my mother."

"So, he will not accept our marriage?" Legolas asked, stunned.

"It's worse than that," she said quietly. "He asked if I would give you up, and I explained that I could not do that, even if I wanted to. And I will never want to. So he… he said if I married you I…"

Legolas gave her time to gather herself, for sadness had taken speech from her. After a little while she lifted her eyes to his, and he heard her whisper words he would never forget.

"I would be dead to him."