The story continues…
The elves had put up camp near the stream after burying the dead bodies of the intruders. The two men that were still alive were kept tied and fully-guarded in the barn. They would be deposited to Gondor the next day for trial.
The elves had just finished their early dinner of mushroom soup that Aislinn had promptly prepared after her kitchen was put back to order. They had also helped clean the terrible mess in the cabin, leaving not a spot of blood or dirt on the floor. Aislinn was very grateful for their thoughtful aid. But, apart from a shy thank-you, she remained silent all day long as she made herself busy to see to the elves' comfort.
She even offered her room to Thranduil for him to spend the night. He had kindly declined, saying that he preferred to sleep outside under the stars.
"Besides, it is time you reclaim your bed," he had added. "My sons had imposed on you long enough."
Aislinn only smiled sadly in reply, strangely hoping that his sons—especially the dark-haired one—would stay in her house, so that she could pamper him, love him and keep him. She knew that the elves planned to depart for Ithilien in the morning. She wished she had the courage to ask Keldarion to stay, but at the same time she had not the will to say goodbye to him. She was so torn she felt like bawling!
Keldarion had quickly detected her strange mood. He had noticed how quiet she became after the long talk with Thranduil. Concerned, he wanted to speak to her in private but the other elves—his nosy brother and equally curious father, in particular—seemed to be underfoot all the time. As most of the elves were now settling down for the night, Keldarion found that this would be the only best time to seek her out and learn what was bothering her.
Keldarion glanced down at his brother who lay sprawled on a blanket next to their father. Assured that Legolas was deeply asleep and that the king was totally engrossed in the book he was reading, the elder prince silently rose from his sleeping pallet.
He had taken not more than two steps when a voice called out, "Going somewhere, Kel?"
Keldarion paused with a cringe. He slowly turned, cursing inwardly at his father's acute senses.
One eyebrow perfectly arched, Thranduil was staring straight at his eldest son, his book already forgotten. "Well? Speak up, son."
Keldarion resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that. Even lying flat on his back with his ankles crossed, his head pillowed only by his pack, his father could still look quite intimidating.
"I'm going to see Aislinn, father."
The king harrumphed, and returned his gaze to the book, a thin volume affair on the subject of ancient Sindarin philosophy that he always brought along with him on his travels. "She might have gone to bed already. You can see her in the morning, don't you think?"
"But I really need to talk to her," Keldarion insisted in a low voice. "She has been so quiet, not like her usual self. I want to know what's wrong."
"She is afraid," Legolas suddenly chose that moment to speak. The other two elves swiveled their heads towards him as the younger prince raised himself on one elbow, yawning widely and rubbing a hand against his droopy eyes.
Keldarion frowned. "What made you say that?"
Stretching languidly, Legolas took his own sweet time to answer. "Because she thinks mortals and immortals don't mix."
Thranduil and Keldarion gaped at him, blinking in astonishment.
"How do you know?" they asked simultaneously.
Legolas shrugged. "Just an intuition. I caught her staring at us several times, as if she could hardly believe that we are all here in her front yard. I noticed that she looked even more distraught when we buried those men behind the barn."
"You mean, she's afraid of us? Is it a delayed traumatic reaction of some kind after she saw us kill those men?" Keldarion shook his head. "But she knows we will never hurt her!"
Thranduil put down the book and stood. He warmly grasped his eldest son's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Kel, I don't think she is afraid of us actually. I believe what your brother meant to say was that she is afraid of hurting you."
Keldarion stared. "Afraid of hurting me?" he muttered in disbelief. "Why?"
Legolas gave his brother a rueful smile as he also got to his feet, swaying slightly as he was still quite drained from the day's excitement.
"Because she sees her life as not so different from those men's," he softly said. "She knows she is not an immortal like you. She knows that you will outlive her. She knows that when the time comes, her death will hurt you."
Keldarion stood still, completely stunned. He knew that the issue of her mortality would rise again eventually, but to hear his brother speak of Aislinn's death was already giving him pain beyond compare.
Squaring his shoulders, Keldarion finally said, "I must speak to her."
Then he spun and strode towards the cabin without another backward glance. With a shrug, Legolas stifled another yawn and made a move to follow his brother. Thranduil quickly grabbed the back of his youngest son's shirt.
"Oh, no, you don't!" he admonished, yanking Legolas backwards. "Leave them be."
"Aw, father," Legolas whined and plopped back onto his sleeping pallet. "Kel might need some help convincing Aislinn to come with us."
"What your brother really needs is some privacy with that woman." Thranduil settled himself on his own blanket. He picked up his book and resumed reading. "In fact, you need to get a lot of rest for yourself so that you can stand on your feet when you face your beautiful-but-mad-as-a-hornet wife."
Legolas groaned and buried his face under his arms. "Ai. Valar save me from overwrought females."
Thranduil just laughed at that before he glanced at the cabin. Keldarion had just disappeared through the doorway.
A small lantern was burning bright on the table as Keldarion cut through the kitchen. He could smell the scent of the leftover mushroom soup coming from the covered pot nearby. Amazingly, his stomach instantly rumbled with hunger. He had finished three bowls of Aislinn's delicious soup that evening. Yet, his tummy still asked for more. Aislinn was a wonderful cook, he had to admit. And that was one of the many reasons he loved her so much.
Yes, indeed. He truly loved her, he knew it now. A mortal or not, she was his soul mate. It was a fact that he couldn't deny. He longed for her touch and desired her smile. He couldn't get enough of her laughter, and he yearned to kiss away her tears. He wanted to spend his life with her. He wanted to make her his wife. He wanted her to give birth to his children. He wanted to see her mature and grow old.
But do you want to watch her die?
Keldarion paused when the cruel thought came to his mind.
Can you bear it? When she fights for her dying breath, do you think you can sit there by her side and hold her hand, knowing that she will leave you forever?
He briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
She won't die, he vowed. If that is how our story ends, then by the Valar I will rewrite it!
Keldarion continued walking towards Aislinn's bedroom. He placed the flat of his palm against the door, and cocked his ears to detect any sound from within, but all he heard was silence. Praying for courage, he gently pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The first thing he noticed was that the window was wide opened, and a night breeze was blowing through the curtains. Then he saw the slender shape of Aislinn's body lying in a protective curl on the bed, facing away from him. She might have sensed his presence, for she immediately sat up and turned to stare back at him, her eyes brimming and her lips trembling.
"Keldarion?"
His heart dropped at Aislinn's timid voice. He rushed to the bed and sat down next to her, touching her wet cheeks. "You are still awake. And you've been crying. Why are you so sad, my love?"
She promptly burst into sobs. Keldarion gathered her into his arms. As he crooned tender words, he rocked her gently, lovingly stroking her hair. When her sobs receded, he tilted her chin and gaze into her eyes.
"Now, are you going to tell me what have made you so sad?"
Pulling away, Aislinn gulped down another fresh burst of tears before she could speak. "I…I know you are leaving tomorrow."
Keldarion nodded. "That is true. And that's why I'm here. I plan to tell you that I want you to come with me. With us."
A tear rolled down her cheek as Aislinn looked away from his intense gaze. "I knew you would say so. But I'm very sorry, Kel. I…I cannot come with you."
He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look straight at him. "But why? You know we love each other. And you also know we belong together."
"Well, that's the problem!" Aislinn sobbed. "We don't belong together, Keldarion. You're an elf. I'm a woman, a mortal. I will die in the next fifty years or so while you'll stay strong and beautiful and alive! Oh, how I wished I could come with you, Kel, but I just can't. It won't be fair to you. I can't have you crying and grieving over me when I'm dead. So we need to stop this relationship before it could go any further. The hurt you're having now is a lot less than what you will get in the future."
Keldarion cupped her cheek and turned her face towards him.
"But if I leave you here, I'll spend the rest of my miserable long life mourning over losing you," he softly said, his eyes suspiciously bright and misty.
"You will find someone else—"
"I will NOT find anyone else!" Keldarion almost shouted. "I have spent three thousand years of living to find the perfect person for me and I just found her. And that is you. There will be no one else for me, Aislinn. Only you."
The young woman shook her head in despair. "And when I die, what then? If the love you have for me is as strong as I have for you, you will be so hurt and devastated. I know I won't survive if you're dead."
Smiling tenderly, the elf leaned down to brush his lips against hers.
"You will not die. I'll see to it," he whispered.
"What?" Aislinn was perplexed. "Haven't you heard what I've been saying? Or are you really daft? I'm a mortal, Keldarion. I will die."
With a soft chuckle, he kissed her forehead. "Then I will rewrite the story," he said, repeating out loud his earlier thought.
Aislinn stared at him as if he had gone mad. "What on earth are you talking about? What story?"
"Look, my love, it's like reading a new book. That is how our relationship really is," he explained with a grin. "You won't know the ending until you start reading from the beginning, chapter by chapter. You think our story would end when you die, Aislinn, but I think differently. We should at least try and see how our relationship goes, day after day. If we want a good ending, then we'll get a good ending. But if we find the plot of our life not to our taste, we can always rewrite that 'story'."
Aislinn was blinking, her mouth hanging open. "Such fancy…err…thoughts, Kel. What kind of a philosophy was that?"
He broke up laughing. "Legolas' kind. My brother can be quite smart when he put his mind to it. Those were his words, actually. I was repeating them for our benefit."
Looking down at their joined hands on her lap, Aislinn bit her lips as she pondered. "But I don't think our life will be as simple as that, Kel. There is still the subject of my mortality that we have to consider. No matter how you take the situation, you cannot deny the fact that I will die eventually."
"Aislinn, look at me," he gently ordered. She raised her gaze and met his eyes, seeing great love and determination in those deep blue orbs.
"I won't loose you," he said. "I will not let you die, this I swear on my own very life."
She opened her mouth to speak but he quickly interrupted, "Hush. I'm not finished."
Bringing their joined hands to his lips, he continued, "I cannot live without you, Aislinn. And I will not sail to Valinor by myself. I will take you there, where we can live happily ever after. No death, no pain, no sorrow. Forever."
"Valinor?" Aislinn's eyes widened. "It sounds like a place of fantasy. Where is it? Or rather, what is it?"
"Valinor is the place of the Valar across the sea, a kind of everlasting heaven for all elves. It can only be reached by ship, through a path of straight road that is kept open to us."
"If it is a heaven for elves, then a mere mortal like me is surely not welcomed," she pointed out, even though a spurt of hope was slowly budding in her heart.
"Ah, but there is an exception." Keldarion smiled, his eyes twinkling. "There were several situations when we let a few mortals on board the ships bound for Valinor. Have you heard of Frodo, the hobbit that destroyed the evil Ring during the War? He was on the same ship that carried the famous Lady Galadriel of Lorien. For his courageous deed and sacrifices, Galadriel was greatly honored to have him along."
"Obviously, he deserved such a wondrous place. I heard that he bravely put himself in the line of fire to save Middle-earth." Aislinn looked dejected. "But look at me! I'm just a simple woman. I never did anything to deserve Valinor. I am not as worthy enough as Frodo was."
"That's not true!" Keldarion claimed as he grabbed her shoulders once more and almost shook her in his exasperation. "You freed me from your father's camp, remember? You saved me from a situation a lot worst than death! And you were only a little girl at that time, but already so brave and kind. If that does not make you worthy enough for Valinor, then I don't know what is."
He took a deep breath for composure and cupped her cheeks. "Look, Aislinn. The truth is, I jeopardized three things when I came here. Firstly, I jeopardized my brother's life. This mission I took was quite dangerous because I fully didn't know the outcome. Those men who wronged me all those years ago—including your father—were exceptional warriors themselves. The odds against me and Legolas may not be that high, but anything could happen. I might have caused my little brother getting killed. Heck! He almost got killed by that blasted snare! He trailed after me without anybody's consent in the first place, the silly brat. Remind me to kick him later. He has been such a real pain in the butt."
Aislinn broke into a smile for the first time after hearing that.
"Now, secondly, I jeopardized my sanity. Even if I had succeeded in killing your father, I know I can't live with myself knowing that I had killed the father of the person I love. I would go mad with regret and remorse and Valar knows what else. My vengeance may be completed, but my conscience will scream with foul.
"And lastly, I jeopardized my heart. I realize now that I began to fall in love with you a long time ago. My feelings for you grow stronger no matter how hard I try to deny them. The more I see you, Aislinn, the more difficult for me to leave and forget you. I know I might end up heartbroken in the end, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. So please don't tell me that those three things I've jeopardized by coming here are for nothing. Come with me, Aislinn. Be my wife."
Tears were running down her face, but Aslinn was smiling widely. "Are you, by any chance, proposing to me?"
Keldarion rakishly arched an eyebrow. "What? Do you want me on my knees while doing this? Fine. I'll get on my knees."
He rose from the bed and smoothly knelt on one knee on the floor, holding her hand to his heart. "Aislinn, my dear beloved, will you be my wife, my soul mate, for ever and eternity?"
Chuckling through her tears, she bent forward and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I guess I have to marry you now that you've asked me so charmingly."
"Is that a yes?"
"Hmm." Aislinn mockingly pondered, gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Actually, I'm not really sure…"
"Then let me help you make up your mind!" Keldarion abruptly grabbed her around the waist and pushed her into the bed, laughing out loud as she shrieked in surprise. Then their voices died down as they started kissing, passionately and ardently. Sighing and moaning with pleasure, Keldarion had his hands buried in her long golden hair, while her hands roamed all over his back.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of someone's coughing, breaking through the spell. The two lovers sprang apart and hastily looked around.
There, at the opened window, Legolas had his head poked inside and was staring at them with a silly grin on his face. "Uh…Kel, aren't you done yet?"
Aislinn blushed as red as a ripe tomato, while Keldarion jumped off the bed and leaped towards the window with a curse. Legolas instantly took off for the stream, laughing gaily like a loon.
Climbing over the windowsill, Keldarion then went in hot pursuit of his brother with a loud roar, "GET BACK HERE, YOU STUPID IMPUDENT BRAT!"
Laughing herself, Aislinn ran out of her bedroom and out the cabin, following the sound of Keldarion's expletives and Legolas' wild laughter. A moment later, she heard a loud splash and more curses. Reaching the stream, she saw that the brothers were now grappling about in the water like a pair of drunken orcs.
Aislinn turned when she sensed someone coming to stand next to her. It was Thranduil, and he was shaking his head at the sight of his wrestling sons in the stream.
"My lord? Are they always like this?"
Thranduil faced her and broke into a benign smile. "They are even worse at home."
"Really? Well, I guess I need to see for myself to believe that."
He looked at her straight in the eye. "You will come with us tomorrow."
It was not a question, but more of a statement that sounded quite like an order.
A smile blossomed on her lips as she turned to watch the laughing brothers who were now walking out of the water. "Yes, my lord. I will."
Thranduil nodded. He tried to keep a stern expression as he stared at his two very wet sons, but failed. "You won't regret it, Aislinn. You bring joy to Kel's life. And when Kel is happy, I'm happy. And when I'm happy, so is everyone else. Trust me, you don't want to be anywhere around me when I'm unhappy."
Thranduil winked teasingly on that last sentence. Then, as he placed an arm around her slender shoulders, he added, "And Aislinn, welcome to the family."
TBC…