A/N: Wow twentieth chapter! Thanks so much for reading!
Calie: That is what reading is meant to do! Let you live the life of someone else for a while. I'm glad my story helped.
20JenWinchester12: You'll get there just keep writing!
lortjesusfreak: I love Eowyn she is the best!
delenawolves: Yeah that chapter did have a lot of Eowyn. Hopefully you will like this chapter!
Chapter 20
"Frodo had passed beyond my sight. The darkness is deepening." Gandalf said to his companions in the great hall of Minas Tirith.
"If Sauron had the Ring we would know it." Aragorn replied.
"It is only a matter of time. He has suffered defeat, yes. But behind the walls of Mordor our enemy is regrouping." Gandalf warned. Legolas looked intently at his friends who stood before him in the great hall.
"Let him stay there! Let him rot! Why should we care." Gimli huffed from his chair.
"Because ten thousand Orcs now stand between Frodo and Mount Doom. I've sent him to his death." Gandalf pondered. Aragorn turned to him quickly.
"No, there is still hope for Frodo he needs time and safe passage across the plains of Gorgoth. That we can give him." Aragorn said. Gimli looked at Aragorn skeptically.
"How?" He asked.
"Draw out Sauron's armies. Empty his lands. Then we gather our full strength and march on the Black Gate." Aragorn proposed. Gimli chocked on the pipe he was smoking.
"We cannot achieve victory through strength of arms." Eomer warned.
"Not for ourselves. But we can give Frodo his chance if we keep Sauron's eye fixed on us. Keep him blind to all else that moves." Aragorn explained. Legolas looked up at Aragorn and stared at him.
"A diversion." Legolas concluded.
"Certainty of death, small chance of success. What are we waiting for?" Gimli said sarcastically.
"Sauron will expect the trap. He will not accept the bait." Gandalf warned.
"Oh, I think he will." Aragorn said as he got an idea.
"When do we ride?" Eomer asked the future King.
"Two days. It is a nine day march to the gate of Mordor." Aragorn replied. Eomer nodded and retreated from the room to go see Eowyn. Legolas looked up and was worried. He had sent for Iasbelin a day ago and it was a three day ride from Dunharrow to Minad Tirith at least. He feared that he would not be able to see her before he left for Mordor.
Legolas ran from the room and turned the corners of Minas Tirith until he found the place where him, Aragorn and Gimli had been given a place to sleep. He grabbed a paper and quill from Aragorn's bag and quickly sat down to write a note to his wife. Once he had finished writing it he sealed it with Mirkwood's royal seal and signed her name on the front. He looked at it and sighed. This would be the last words of his that his wife would ever read. He was sure that he would not come back alive from this battle for it was a sacrifice and not a normal battle.
Legolas thought back to when he had first met Iasbelin and how they had been at odds with each other for a very long time until they both realized they loved each other. He remembered being scolded by his father for sneaking off with her during dull diplomatic dinners before they were engaged, which had caused quite the scandal. He remembered her face when he had proposed to her in the woods that evening under the stars and how they shared the most passionate kiss of their entire time together that night. He saw her face clearly in his mind, the way she looked on their wedding day, the blush on her face on their wedding night, and her glow the next morning. He remembered every caress and kiss they shared. He fought to suppress the memory of the night he had come back from his tour of duty with the guard and how she had completely avoided any mention of their stillborn child. He remembered making love to her that night with so much passion but she did not return it. The past three years they had been distant and cold to each other. He wished now that he had forgotten her mistakes long ago and embraced her more often. Now he was going to die and she would only have this letter he held in his hands to console her. She would have to return to Mirkwood and be known as the widowed princess, and when his father sailed the throne would be given to her because their was no other heir. He wished he could see her face one last time before he died. He wished he could kiss her soft, full lips one more time. Legolas felt the tears welling up in his eyes and he blinked to keep them from falling. He loved her more than anything in all of Arda and he was determined to come back to her. He wanted to raise Osric together and see him grow and have children of his own. He wished he could be there for his wedding, and the birth of his children but he could not.
Legolas decided that he should stop dwelling on the past and make ready for his departure. He rose from the chair he had been writing in and went to find Eowyn. She was feeling better now after her injuries from the recent battle. He knew she was deeply saddened by the death of Theoden and that she was hurt by Aragorn's denial. Legolas found her room and knocked on the door.
"Enter." Eowyn said softly from the other side of the door. Legolas pushed the door open and walked into her room. She was sitting in a chair by the window watching the day turn into twilight. She turned and saw the Elf enter. She rose from her chair and went to greet him. "Master Legolas."
"My lady." Legolas bowed to the woman who had killed the Witch King. "I have come to ask a favor of you."
"Of course." Eowyn answered. Legolas pulled the letter from his tunic and handed it to Eowyn who accepted it.
"I ride to Mordor with Aragorn and I fear I will not see Iasbelin before I leave. I would ask of you to give this to her on my behalf." Legolas explained.
"She will not make it in time?" Eowyn asked. She knew that Iasbelin rode from Dunharrow which was a three day ride. Legolas shook his head.
"No, we leave in two days time at dawn. She will make it here with the other women late during that day at the earliest." Legolas sighed.
"I will give this to her along with your love, Master Elf." Eowyn consented.
"Will you watch over her?" Legolas asked.
"She will not leave my care." Eowyn responded.
"Thank you, my lady. You look tired. I will let you retire now." Legolas said as he backed out of the room. Eowyn stood there with the letter in her hand and examined it closely. The script was all Elvish so she could not read it but it looked carefully printed and done with love.
Two days came and passed quickly. On the eighteenth of March the army departed from the white city at dawn. There was no sign of the women who had been left at Dunharrow so many of the men had to leave to their deaths without seeing their wives. Legolas was among these men who did not see their wives. He and many other men had to walk to their deaths without seeing their wives one last time.
"You will come back laddie. You will see her again. You promised her." Gimli said from the back to the horse.
"I fear my song is ending, Gimli. Her's will continue to play with Osric's but Arda has no need for mine any longer." Legolas answered.
"Don't be so pessimistic." Aragorn interjected as he rode up next to Legolas and Gimli. "You will return to her. I promised her that I would bring you back safely before we departed from Rivendell."
"I do hope that promise rings true." Legolas replied.
Iasbelin and Osric reached the White City on the dawn of the fourth day of their journey from Dunharrow. The women were excited to see their husbands again and Iasbelin was no exception. They rode to the gates and waited for entry. The gates opened and they were allowed entrance into the great city of Gondor. The women rode through the solemn streets and made their way to the castle that stood in the center of the city. The devastation of the battle was still evident and bodies still littered the streets from where they had been slain. Iasbelin wondered if Eowyn was among those who had been slain. They entered the castle and were immediately directed to the stables to dismount their horses and give them rest for the night.
"We are going to see Legolas now." Iasbelin told Osric. He smiled up at her and said nothing. The small company of women walked into the main castle and up a few flights of stairs. Just as they were about the enter the great hall they were stopped by a woman in a white dress. They all recognized her as Eowyn and bowed to her.
"Eowyn! My friend. I feared for your safety." Iasbelin said as soon as she saw her. Eowyn looked at her and then back to the rest of the women behind Iasbelin. Eowyn looked disturbed and sorrowful.
"If your husbands were not slain in the battle they now ride to Mordor to aid the Ring bearer in the final leg of his journey. They left yesterday morning at dawn." Eowyn said with grief in her eyes. She watched the women's faces fall and tears well up in their eyes. She hated having to bear this news someone had to. Iasbelin looked at her with a grief stricken face. "The hall of healing has a list of the dead. You may go there to find if your husband rides."
The women turned around and made there way to the hall of healing with hast. They wanted so badly to know if their husband's lived. Iasbelin stayed behind with Osric and looked into her friend's eyes.
"Legolas." Was all she said.
"He lives and rides with his friends to Mordor. He asked me to give you this." Eowyn handed Iasbelin the letter that Legolas had given her. Iasbelin looked down at her name written in Elvish script on the paper in Legolas' neat handwriting.
"Is there a room where I can retire?" Iasbelin asked. Eowyn stepped aside and gestured for the Elf to follow her. Eowyn showed her to a room that was not far from where her's was. Iasbelin thanked Eowyn and followed Osric into the room. Osric awed at the beauty of the pure white chamber. He jumped on the large four post bed and lied down on his back. Iasbelin smiled through her tears at the young child. She went out onto the balcony and broke the seal on the piece of paper. She read the carefully written Elvish.
My dearest wife,
By the time your eye's look upon this writing I will be on the road to Mordor with Aragorn. I know you always told me to follow him to the end of the earth but this time I wish I could have stayed behind. I know that you will not make it to the city in time to see me before we leave. I wanted to tell you how much I love you before I died. We ride to draw the Orcs from Mordor and assist Frodo in destroying the Ring. We are horribly out numbered and all of the men who ride have accepted this as a sacrificial mission for the greater good.
Over the past three years I have been cold and unfair to you and I apologize for that. I wish I had put aside my feelings and loved you how I should have. As I write this I long for your gentle arms around me and your soft lips upon mine. I think back to the last kiss we shared and I feel vacant. I always want one more from you and I shall never have enough. You are the light that always shines in my darkness and I would be lost without you. I married you so long ago yet I still feel as if we are young lovers again enjoying ourselves at my father's summer home in Mirkwood shortly after our wedding. I will miss your voice and your eyes. The way you smile and laugh shall forever be engraved in my heart.
I know I always promised that I would return for you and Osric but this time I fear I will not. You do not know how much this pains me to write but I must. When they bring my body back please be strong and escort it back to my father's home. Do not give up on hope or give into depression for I will be with you again at the end of days and our love shall not have skipped a beat. No matter what you think you have done to me no matter how terrible you think it is it will never stop me from loving you.
Tell Osric of the man you loved. Tell him how much he loved you and him. Make sure he knows of our love and how it will transcend death. Iasbelin, I love you with every fiber of my being and every breath that I take. This is my final good-bye to you, my wife, my life. It was an honor to be married to an Elf such as you. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined you would love me back. Remember all the times we shared together. Remember our first kiss, our engagement, our wedding, our wedding night, and most of all remember the love I bear for you. Be strong for Osric and my father. You are so strong and I know you will take whatever comes upon you. I wish you the best in life and I shall see you when the sun rises no more and the stars cease to exist.
May the Grace of the Valar protect you.
All the love on Arda and the universe,
-Legolas Greenleaf
Iasbelin looked up from the letter and let the tears fall freely from her eyes.
A/N: I hope you liked it! Please leave a review!