Here's your extra chapter, as promised. I'll try and get them up as soon
as I can...its summer now so I have time, though whether my internet decides
to work is an entirely different matter. Anyway, hope you enjoy, and sorry
for any spelling mistakes I missed. Istalindar.
The time of mourning lasted thirty days and thirty nights from the time in the funeral. In that time, Legolas returned to Mirkwood to attend the second service for Mairra and Isolde, held by Mairra's family. Despite his words in the library, I did not expect him to return. I had given up hope long ago for him to return me, and I was having a hard time rekindling it, no matter our words and my feelings.
One day, forty days after Bria had lit Isolde's and Mairra's pyre, and thirty days after Legolas had left us, I was trying to teach Bria some of the more traditional dances of Anorondor, but wasn't getting anywhere. She wanted to learn the sword dancing I had learnt from Rion's dancers in the desert.
"How about, you teach me with swords, and I'll learn the traditional ones." She bargained, hands on her hips. I copied her position, staring back at her. She was wearing a full red skirt that rested on her hips and a matching red button down top that barely reached past her ribs, leaving her stomach bare. But it was hot outside, spring turning to summer, so I forgave her. I wasn't dressed all that much more modestly myself, in a full green skirt with a tight white satin bodice.
"Fine." I gave in.
"Swords first." Bria demanded. She tossed one a sword at me. It was one of the eastern scimitars.
"Where did you get that?" I demanded.
"Chian gave it to me." She said with a blush and a small giggle. I raised an eyebrow at me, and she sighed dramatically. "Don't look at me that way, mother!"
"What way?" I said innocently. I nodded to the drummers and the piper who sat, amused, in the corner, and they started the music, a fast twirling music. I started dancing with the sword, and soon noticed that Bria was embellishing it with little tongues of green flame. I rolled my eyes even as I balanced the sword on my head, spinning in circles.
"I hope you're not planning on teaching our daughter how to do that." The voice shocked me out of the reverie I had fallen into when dancing. And I stopped suddenly, the sword falling from my head with a clatter. I swayed dizzily, and two strong hands clamped on my shoulders. "Easy." I focused on a point on the floor until the swaying and spinning stopped, then looked back up at Legolas. He grinned down at me.
"Hello." He said simply. I smiled and hugged him.
"She didn't think you'd come back." Bria said with that knowing smugness most sixteen year olds adopt at some point in their lives. He pulled away and looked down at me.
"Have you so little faith?" he asked.
"You didn't come back last time." I said. I felt guilty for not trusting in him.
"I didn't have a fiancée waiting, now did I?" Bria jumped up to us.
"You finally said yes?" she asked me excitedly. I nodded. She laughed, still bouncing up and down, and clapped her hands excitedly.
"I cant wait!" she half shrieked.
"What for?" Legolas asked, watching her with a smile on his face. It was her smile.
"The wedding of course!" Bria exclaimed, and Legolas groaned and buried his head in my shoulder. I stroked his blonde hair, grinning at Bria.
&
The wedding was huge. Really, really huge. Everyone came, from everywhere. The actual wedding itself took place in some wood a few miles away from the palace, with only the select few there - our family, our friends. The party afterwards...
Bria organised it when I wasn't looking. That was probably why it was as big as it was. The palace guest rooms were crammed with ranking guests, and the kitchens were hot and busy. I ventured in once, and the head cook shoved an apple in my hands and chased me out again. They had no time for an interfering queen.
No matter how much I hedge around talking about it, or refuse to admit it to anyone but myself, but the best thing I did in my life (apart from having Bria) was saying 'I do' at that wedding service. It struck me, all the time I had told Legolas no, saying weddings themselves meant nothing to anyone but priests, that that was hardly a reason not to marry. After all, isn't it a queen's duty to keep people happy? And if the priests were happy, and Legolas was happy, and Anorondor didn't mind me marrying Legolas, why the hell shouldn't I? Bria and Kera laughed at me when I told them this, and called me an idiot for only just working it out. At which point I stopped talking to them for about three days, the first because I was messing around, and the other two because I didn't see them.
That was because they spent all their time organising the wedding. The brunt of the organisation happened in those three days, and I swear they bribed the curators not to listen to me at all.
Bria spent hours trying to fix my dress, and made me stand still for an equal amount of time while she 'fixed' it for me. When it was finally finished it was simple but beautiful. Palest ice-blue satin, with a tight satin bodice, and a full skirt caught up in different places. It should have looked a disaster. It didn't. I wore no jewellery and my hair was styled and curled and pulled and fussed, but I refused outright to wear makeup. They ignored me, as Kera and Bria are apt to do, and when I finally appeared at the wedding I felt like a doll.
Aragorn walked me up the aisle, looking all the while very smug. He was dressed in the silver and blue of Gondor, with the winged crown on his head. I had forgone my own crown, settling instead for the circlet that crossed my brow and disappeared into the pile of curled hair on my head. It had taken them ages to weave it into the hairstyle.
Legolas turned to look at me as we walked up, and I suddenly felt shy. Shy, of all things! I'd known him for ninety odd years, and I was shy!
"He's nervous too." Aragorn muttered. I smiled briefly. Good. Damn Legolas for making me feel like this. Legolas was gorgeous, of course, in the Mirkwood dark green, his silver crown resting on his forehead, his pale gold hair shining in the sunlight.
When I joined him before the priest he flashed me a smile before the priest began to drone the service. I swear I am going to invent a new service, one that makes people smile, and one the priest's don't sound so bored saying!
&
After the service we were surrounded by well wishers, not least among was our daughter, clothed in gold and shining like the sun with her rich red hair long and loose around her bare shoulders. I think she gave Legolas his first hug from her, and he looked stunned afterwards. She giggled and ran off again, to talk to Eldarion.
The guests at both the wedding were dressed in a myriad of bright and pale colours. Éowyn in pale green, Arwen in violet, Kera in red, others in every shade of blue, orange, pink, indigo, purple, scarlet, mauve...the party was a living, moving rainbow.
I stood at the banister in one of the upper galleries, having escaped the hustle of the party, as I was apt to do. The dance floor was alive with couple dancing, and I watched in amusement as Lorilei, Éomer's daughter, dressed in pale purple, ran across the dance floor, gracefully weaving through the couples, closely followed by Boromir, Éowyn and Faramir's son, dressed in dark blue. As cousins, they spent much time together, visiting, and once, if rumours were true, running away from their respective homes to spend a week riding and enjoying the wilds before their frantic parents caught up with them.
"What are you thinking?" he asked, his arm snaking around my waist.
"That it is a shame those two are cousins. They'd make a fine match."
"You'd really want Lorilei and Boromir on the throne at Meduseld?" Legolas asked teasingly. I frowned.
"You're right. They'd cause chaos." Legolas laughed, and kissed my shoulder. I turned in to him, rising to kiss him. We stayed like that for a moment, before returning to watch the party.
"Bria and Chian are very close." Legolas observed. I saw them by the window on the far side of the hall: Bria, dressed in gold, standing next to Chian in his customary red and black.
"They love each other. They will be lovers, if they aren't already." I said.
"But-"
"Don't, Legolas. It doesn't matter. If they love each other, I don't mind. Royalty in Anorondor is not exclusive. Princesses may take the nameless as lovers if they wish."
"By order of the Queen?" Legolas teased.
"By order of their hearts." I replied softly. "The queen has nothing to do with it. There is no alliance to be sealed by her marriage that Anorondor hasn't already got." Legolas smiled. He couldn't argue – it was true. Gondor was ruled by my brother. I was married to the Prince of Mirkwood, and a Prince among elves. The king of Rohan was practically my son. My daughter looked as though she would take one of the Haradrim as her lover.
Middle Earth was at peace. There was no one to go against us, our great circle of royalty. There was no one who'd want to. I was married. I was happy, my country was happy, my world was happy. There was nothing else I wanted in all the world. But there was one thing...
"Legolas?" He turned to me, his blue eyes shining.
"I'm going to have your child."
END
The time of mourning lasted thirty days and thirty nights from the time in the funeral. In that time, Legolas returned to Mirkwood to attend the second service for Mairra and Isolde, held by Mairra's family. Despite his words in the library, I did not expect him to return. I had given up hope long ago for him to return me, and I was having a hard time rekindling it, no matter our words and my feelings.
One day, forty days after Bria had lit Isolde's and Mairra's pyre, and thirty days after Legolas had left us, I was trying to teach Bria some of the more traditional dances of Anorondor, but wasn't getting anywhere. She wanted to learn the sword dancing I had learnt from Rion's dancers in the desert.
"How about, you teach me with swords, and I'll learn the traditional ones." She bargained, hands on her hips. I copied her position, staring back at her. She was wearing a full red skirt that rested on her hips and a matching red button down top that barely reached past her ribs, leaving her stomach bare. But it was hot outside, spring turning to summer, so I forgave her. I wasn't dressed all that much more modestly myself, in a full green skirt with a tight white satin bodice.
"Fine." I gave in.
"Swords first." Bria demanded. She tossed one a sword at me. It was one of the eastern scimitars.
"Where did you get that?" I demanded.
"Chian gave it to me." She said with a blush and a small giggle. I raised an eyebrow at me, and she sighed dramatically. "Don't look at me that way, mother!"
"What way?" I said innocently. I nodded to the drummers and the piper who sat, amused, in the corner, and they started the music, a fast twirling music. I started dancing with the sword, and soon noticed that Bria was embellishing it with little tongues of green flame. I rolled my eyes even as I balanced the sword on my head, spinning in circles.
"I hope you're not planning on teaching our daughter how to do that." The voice shocked me out of the reverie I had fallen into when dancing. And I stopped suddenly, the sword falling from my head with a clatter. I swayed dizzily, and two strong hands clamped on my shoulders. "Easy." I focused on a point on the floor until the swaying and spinning stopped, then looked back up at Legolas. He grinned down at me.
"Hello." He said simply. I smiled and hugged him.
"She didn't think you'd come back." Bria said with that knowing smugness most sixteen year olds adopt at some point in their lives. He pulled away and looked down at me.
"Have you so little faith?" he asked.
"You didn't come back last time." I said. I felt guilty for not trusting in him.
"I didn't have a fiancée waiting, now did I?" Bria jumped up to us.
"You finally said yes?" she asked me excitedly. I nodded. She laughed, still bouncing up and down, and clapped her hands excitedly.
"I cant wait!" she half shrieked.
"What for?" Legolas asked, watching her with a smile on his face. It was her smile.
"The wedding of course!" Bria exclaimed, and Legolas groaned and buried his head in my shoulder. I stroked his blonde hair, grinning at Bria.
&
The wedding was huge. Really, really huge. Everyone came, from everywhere. The actual wedding itself took place in some wood a few miles away from the palace, with only the select few there - our family, our friends. The party afterwards...
Bria organised it when I wasn't looking. That was probably why it was as big as it was. The palace guest rooms were crammed with ranking guests, and the kitchens were hot and busy. I ventured in once, and the head cook shoved an apple in my hands and chased me out again. They had no time for an interfering queen.
No matter how much I hedge around talking about it, or refuse to admit it to anyone but myself, but the best thing I did in my life (apart from having Bria) was saying 'I do' at that wedding service. It struck me, all the time I had told Legolas no, saying weddings themselves meant nothing to anyone but priests, that that was hardly a reason not to marry. After all, isn't it a queen's duty to keep people happy? And if the priests were happy, and Legolas was happy, and Anorondor didn't mind me marrying Legolas, why the hell shouldn't I? Bria and Kera laughed at me when I told them this, and called me an idiot for only just working it out. At which point I stopped talking to them for about three days, the first because I was messing around, and the other two because I didn't see them.
That was because they spent all their time organising the wedding. The brunt of the organisation happened in those three days, and I swear they bribed the curators not to listen to me at all.
Bria spent hours trying to fix my dress, and made me stand still for an equal amount of time while she 'fixed' it for me. When it was finally finished it was simple but beautiful. Palest ice-blue satin, with a tight satin bodice, and a full skirt caught up in different places. It should have looked a disaster. It didn't. I wore no jewellery and my hair was styled and curled and pulled and fussed, but I refused outright to wear makeup. They ignored me, as Kera and Bria are apt to do, and when I finally appeared at the wedding I felt like a doll.
Aragorn walked me up the aisle, looking all the while very smug. He was dressed in the silver and blue of Gondor, with the winged crown on his head. I had forgone my own crown, settling instead for the circlet that crossed my brow and disappeared into the pile of curled hair on my head. It had taken them ages to weave it into the hairstyle.
Legolas turned to look at me as we walked up, and I suddenly felt shy. Shy, of all things! I'd known him for ninety odd years, and I was shy!
"He's nervous too." Aragorn muttered. I smiled briefly. Good. Damn Legolas for making me feel like this. Legolas was gorgeous, of course, in the Mirkwood dark green, his silver crown resting on his forehead, his pale gold hair shining in the sunlight.
When I joined him before the priest he flashed me a smile before the priest began to drone the service. I swear I am going to invent a new service, one that makes people smile, and one the priest's don't sound so bored saying!
&
After the service we were surrounded by well wishers, not least among was our daughter, clothed in gold and shining like the sun with her rich red hair long and loose around her bare shoulders. I think she gave Legolas his first hug from her, and he looked stunned afterwards. She giggled and ran off again, to talk to Eldarion.
The guests at both the wedding were dressed in a myriad of bright and pale colours. Éowyn in pale green, Arwen in violet, Kera in red, others in every shade of blue, orange, pink, indigo, purple, scarlet, mauve...the party was a living, moving rainbow.
I stood at the banister in one of the upper galleries, having escaped the hustle of the party, as I was apt to do. The dance floor was alive with couple dancing, and I watched in amusement as Lorilei, Éomer's daughter, dressed in pale purple, ran across the dance floor, gracefully weaving through the couples, closely followed by Boromir, Éowyn and Faramir's son, dressed in dark blue. As cousins, they spent much time together, visiting, and once, if rumours were true, running away from their respective homes to spend a week riding and enjoying the wilds before their frantic parents caught up with them.
"What are you thinking?" he asked, his arm snaking around my waist.
"That it is a shame those two are cousins. They'd make a fine match."
"You'd really want Lorilei and Boromir on the throne at Meduseld?" Legolas asked teasingly. I frowned.
"You're right. They'd cause chaos." Legolas laughed, and kissed my shoulder. I turned in to him, rising to kiss him. We stayed like that for a moment, before returning to watch the party.
"Bria and Chian are very close." Legolas observed. I saw them by the window on the far side of the hall: Bria, dressed in gold, standing next to Chian in his customary red and black.
"They love each other. They will be lovers, if they aren't already." I said.
"But-"
"Don't, Legolas. It doesn't matter. If they love each other, I don't mind. Royalty in Anorondor is not exclusive. Princesses may take the nameless as lovers if they wish."
"By order of the Queen?" Legolas teased.
"By order of their hearts." I replied softly. "The queen has nothing to do with it. There is no alliance to be sealed by her marriage that Anorondor hasn't already got." Legolas smiled. He couldn't argue – it was true. Gondor was ruled by my brother. I was married to the Prince of Mirkwood, and a Prince among elves. The king of Rohan was practically my son. My daughter looked as though she would take one of the Haradrim as her lover.
Middle Earth was at peace. There was no one to go against us, our great circle of royalty. There was no one who'd want to. I was married. I was happy, my country was happy, my world was happy. There was nothing else I wanted in all the world. But there was one thing...
"Legolas?" He turned to me, his blue eyes shining.
"I'm going to have your child."
END