A/N: I know I'm a terrible person and didn't update yesterday. I had a New Year's party and there was just no time at all. So I'll probably post two chapters today to make up for it. By the way HAPPY NEW YEAR! I just wanted to thank all my readers for the amazing response to this story! I love reading all your reviews.
XxLostInTheMusicxX: Yeah I think Aragorn would be a great marriage counselor!
Arwalls: No I'm not Nicholas Sparks but I wish! Thanks for the review!
anonymouse: Thanks, I am really trying to go away from everything's perfect in Elven marriages because I think Elves have the same emotions as humans and therefore can make the same mistakes.
Kaia: I'm not really sure that Gimli's counseling would work out lol
Erik'sAngelOfMusic17: Thanks for the review!
Chapter 10
Iasbelin did not attend the funeral of the King's son. She had seen her own child buried and could not bare to watch another parents bury their child. Instead she stayed in bed most of the day. The night before had been an emotional drain and she did not wish to move after her confession to Legolas. He had not come back to his room the night before so she happily took his bed as her own. The maids and servants simply worked around her when they came to clean the room. In the early afternoon she decided that she was hungry and ventured out into the main part of the castle to see if she could find food. Iasbelin still wore her traveling gown from Rivendell. She came to the great hall and saw Aragorn, Gimli, Gandalf, and Legolas discussing something with the King and Eowyn. She saw two small children eating bowls of soup at a table separate from where he friends sat.
"They had no warning. They were unarmed. Now the wildmen are moving through the Westfold, burning as they go. Rick, cot and tree." Eowyn said in a concerned voice
"Where's mama?" The little girl asked Eowyn. Iasbelin decided to walk into the room at the little girl's question. The people in the room hardly noticed her as she sat down next to Aragorn.
"Shh" Eowyn soothed as she rubbed the little girl's shoulders.
"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash. All the more potent for he is driven now by fear of Sauron. Ride out and meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children." Gandalf explained as he steeped forward to the King, "You must fight."
"You have two thousand good men riding north as we speak. Éomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king." Aragorn told the King. A servant stepped forward with a bowl in her hand and gave it to Iasbelin. She had not eaten in some time and was very hungry. She thanked the servant and returned her attention to the conversation. She could feel Legolas' eyes on her but she choose to ignore him for the time being.
"They will be three hundred leagues from here by now. Éomer cannot help us. I know what it is that you want of me. But I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war." The King responded. Gimli took a large bite of his bread and watched the exchange between the two men. Iasbelin silently spooned her soup and ate the contents quickly. She did not wish to get involved in the conversation.
"Open war is upon you. Whether you risk it or not." Aragorn told the King as he smoked his pipe.
"When last I looked, Théoden, not Aragorn, was king of Rohan." The King snapped. Gimli choose this time to take a large gulp of his ale and let a huge belch out. Iasbelin looked at him with amused eyes.
"Then what is the King's decision?" Gandalf inquired. Iasbelin looked from Gandalf to Theoden and back to Gandalf.
"We make for Helm's Deep." The King announced. Gandalf seemed to be very disturbed by this because at the King's word he turned in his heel and stormed out of the great hall. Aragorn left his seat at the table and followed the grumpy wizard. Gimli sat contently at the table and finished his meal. Legolas stayed in the exact same position of leaning against the support beam that Iasbelin had found him in.
Gimli seemed amused by the Elf who sat across from him at the table. He had taken the opportunity at the end of Aragorn's and the King's conversation to notice the Elf who had sat next to Aragorn.
'Why had she sat next to Aragorn and why was she here?' Gimli thought
He noticed a ring on one of her fingers, a ring that he was sure he had seen before. She looked very familiar to the Dwarf but he could not place where she had seen her. He looked at Legolas who was staring at the Elf's back and suddenly realized where she was from.
"Well why didn't you introduce me to your wife, Legolas?" Gimli bellowed. Iasbelin looked up from her meal and turned to her husband waiting for a response.
"Gimli, son of Gloin this is Iasbelin of the Woodland Realm." Legolas told his friend with little emotion.
"Great to meet ya lassie! I cannot believe that Legolas would ever marry someone so pretty." Gimli smirked. Legolas scowled at his comment and turned to walk back to his room.
"It is a pleasure, Master Dwarf. Please excuse my husband's behavior he appears to be in a rather bitter mood." Iasbelin said pleasantly
"Don't you worry,lassie, I am used to it." Gimli said
"Now, if you will excuse me I need to speak with him." Iasbelin bowed to the Dwarf and followed Legolas out of the room. She quickly caught up with him and pulled him into a vacant room to speak with him.
"Do you need something?" Legolas asked averting his eyes away from her.
"To know what will happen." Iasbelin responded
"You will ride back to Rivendell and I will go with Aragorn to Helm's Deep to defend Rohan's people." Legolas stated
"There is nothing left for me in Rivendell. Arwen and the rest of my friends have left. That place holds far too many bad memories for me. I will never return there. I will ride to Helm's Deep with you." Iasbelin challenged
"I do not want you to go. The road is long and difficult and you are very weak." Legolas told her.
"I will go with you, my husband." Iasbelin responded
"No, you are not."
"Why?" Iasbelin inquired
"Because if you were to die I could not bear it." Legolas told her truthfully
"So instead you would send me to a cage and let me wither away and die?" Iasbelin asked
"You will not die. You will never die." Legolas said
"I am dying, Legolas." Iasbelin said bluntly
"No, you are not dying."
"The years have caught up with me, my love. I fear that I am losing the will to carry on in this world." Iasbelin whispered. She put her hand on Legolas' face and hoped that he wouldn't pull away. She hoped that she could fix their marriage before her time ended.
"Then sail to the Undying Lands." Legolas told her. He grabbed her hand off his face an held it close to himself.
"I do not feel the pull of the sea." She said
"Why do you lose the will to live?" He asked
"What is there here for me? I cannot share my life with a child, most of the Elves are leaving, my marriage is broken, and I cannot help in this War. No Elven marriage is as mine is. I am the only wife with an unhappy marriage." Iasbelin told him
"You have me, Iasbelin. No matter what you think I am not going away any time soon. I made a promise to you when I married you and I intend to keep that promise. I know things are very difficult right now but I promise that it will get better." Legolas said. Iasbelin looked lovingly at her husband and wondered how she could still have him even after everything she had done to him.
"Let me come with you. If you wish to protect me then let me not be out of your sight." She offered
"You do not leave my side or my sight." Legolas concluded. Iasbelin smiled with victory and pressed a small kiss to his lips. Legolas did not respond and instead walked out of the room they were speaking in leaving Iasbelin alone. She sighed and walked back to the great hall of the castle. She found Eowyn looking at an old chest. She pulled a sword from the chest and unsheathed it. Iasbelin had always wished that she could defend herself as many others in Middle Earth had learned to do. She resented that her father never bothered to teach her.
Iasbelin was pulled out of her thoughts when blade hit blade. She looked up to find that Aragorn had locked swords with Eowyn.
"You have some skill with a blade." Aragorn said as he released Eowyn. She re-shethed her blade and out it back into the chest.
"Women of this country learned long ago. Those without swords may still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain." Eowyn stated.
"What do you fear, my lady?" Aragorn asked
"A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire." A cage, that is exactly what Isabelin had told Legolas that she feared.
"You are a daughter of kings, a shield maiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate." Aragorn bowed to Eowyn and retreated from the direction he came from.
A/N: I had such a difficult time writing this chapter! I don't know why. What do you guys think of the chapter lengths? I can change them if they are too short. Please leave a review and tell me what you think!