A Rose By Any Other Name

A.N.: This //…….// Means mind spoken. In other words... That trippy thing Galadriel does when she talks in your head.

ACK! I’m SO SORRY this took so long to get out! I hope you guys are still with me! I was gone a week longer than expected… but hey… a good thing is… I have up till chapter 16 typed out now! I just have to switch it from my laptop to my pc. Anyways… Thank you all who have reviewed and who have stuck with me! Keep it up ne?! Much luvs! Enjoy!!!

~~~ A Rose by Any Other Name ~~~
Chapter Thirteen

Ascadholiel was shaken lightly awake in the morning and she awoke with a hiss.

Legolas’ expression turned worried at this and he cupped her cheek with a gentle hand, kneeling where he had just the night before. His voice was gentle but bore clearly the hint of worry he could not keep from it. “Ascadholiel, are you all right?”

Ascadholiel nodded and sat up with a moan as Legolas helped her. She had yet to open her eyes and she lightly placed her left hand over her bandaged wound, the part on her chest a bit sorer than her arm though they were made in the same stroke. “Yeah. It just hurts worse the second day. Wounds will forever have the uncanny ability to succeed in making ones life miserable. Not to mention that I am not one used to sleeping on my back and said wound endeavored and succeeded in forcing me to do just that. Then there’s the painfully obvious fact that I had no one to cuddle with.”

Ascadholiel finally opened her eyes and noticed that Legolas, Aragorn, and Orophin were all staring at her. “Sorry. Gabbing is my minds way of waking up when I didn’t sleep all too well, which isn’t wholly unusual mind. Legolas, please translate that. Orophin still has that blank look on his face.”

Legolas smiled warmly and smoothed her wild hair down with his elegant hands as he did as she asked.

After they had eaten some and climbed back down to the forest floor, Legolas insisting on carrying his bonded again, the girl asked, “Do you think there’s anywhere we might be able to stop and get a bath? I’m pretty certain I can kill flowers simply by the process of walking by if I smell even half as bad as Shaggy does.” She smirked at Aragorn as she used her nickname for him. Then she looked over at Boromir GimlGimli. “And I don’t even want to got here with Boromir and Gimli.” Her smile faded and she shuddered as an oh-so-loathsome voice spoke up.

“Well at least she might have, one, redeeming quality.”

Ascadholiel glared at Haldir as Legolas walked past him with Ascadholiel in his arms, following Rumil, who had waiting for them on the ground. She spat out viciously, “Cram it bleach-blonde, cock-knocker!”

Gimli laughed outright as Haldir seethed. He began walking and passed Legolas, and as he did, spoke in elvish, not knowing that Ascadholiel could as well. “*You should teach your woman her place, son of Thranduil.*”

Legolas and Ascadholiel, as well as Aragorn, tensed at those words, knowing that they were the ones spoken by her father in her world. Had the others known elvish, or knew the memory, they would have done the same. As it was, Aragorn translated for them, knowing they were wondering at their reactions.

Ascadholiel shouted at the blonde March-warden in turn, full anger making her elvish almost perfect, and this time, Legolas approved, and had Ascadholiel not been in his arms, he might have challenged Haldir for her honor. “*And you should learn some manners, you overstuffed pigeon in a peacock wannabe’s club! Geeze! And I thought Boromir’s head was stuck up his ass when we first met! Do you even have a head? Or has it always just been your ass?*”

After translating that as Ascadholiel was speaking it, Aragorn nearly had to hold Gimli up the dwarf was laughing so hard, and even Boromir, knowing that it wasn’t really a slight to him, had to hide his laughter behind his hand.

Haldir’s two brothers held their faces strait, but had a suspicious shake to their shoulders.

Haldir shot them a look, squared his shoulders and held his head high as he walked. So much so in fact, that he didn’t see the tree root, and stumbled, quite un-elf-like.

That was it.

Haldir’s brothers burst out laughing, slapping their knees and leaning on each other. Gimli fell to his knees, holding his stomach and roaring with laughter. Aragorn looked like he was starting to turn blue with the effort of holding his laughter back. The hobbits were laughing, and Boromir no longer tried to hide the fact that he was laughing, his voice ringing out with the others.

Even Legolas, who had buried his face in Ascadholiel’s hair, had shoulders that shook with near silent and barely contained laughter, Ascadholiel the only one to hear it since he was giggling in her ear.

This brought even more joy to the human woman, knowing from that first time she had tried to tickle him that she would love his laughter. She herself was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face from the pain this inflicted on her wounds as well as the laughter itself.

Haldir didn’t even turn or acknowledge them, his ego obviously stopped flat into the ground. He shot his younger brothers a look that quelled most of their laughter, and then stalked off with as much dignity as he could muster.

Orophin and Rumil followed after him, Rumil signaling the fellowship to follow. Soon enough they were all well on their way to Caras Galahdon, the laughter that morning, only a brief reprieve, most of them once again oppressed by weariness and a heaviness to their hearts.

They didn’t even get to stop for their baths. Ascadholiel expected Haldir’s hurt ego to be the instigator of this decision. Not many words were said the whole day, Ascadholiel and Legolas even cutting short their normal lessons in elvish.

Finally, shortly after nightfall, they were lead into the city of Caras Galahdon where the only light was an almost unearthly light that seemed to come from the trees themselves as it cast a silver glow over everything.

Ascadholiel, though sufficiently awed, would have been more so under different circumstances. Orophin and Rumil whispered their goodbyes to Legolas and his wife, leaving them with the promise to try to visit them later.

Haldir continued on in silence, still obviously fuming. Ascadholiel was not impressed by him. He was too much of a biased hothead in her opinion.

They were lead up a huge staircase that wrapped around on of the equally huge trees. About halfway up, Ascadholiel patted Legolas lightly on the shoulder. “Legolas, if this Lord and Lady are as great as you say, then I would prefer to walk the rest of the way and respect them by meeting them on my own two feet.

Legolas nodded and gently set her down, keeping his arm around her waist to steady her. “I can see that the wound still pains you, and your weariness grows, placing a shadow even my own heart as I ache for you and with you. I will help you the whole way.”

Ascadholiel smiled and responded to the last. “I would not have it any other way my love. You can help me any time you’d like. I appreciate it.”

Legolas smiled back at her and they walked on in silence. At the top of the stairs, outside of what looked like a glowing palace in the trees, Haldir stopped them and walked over to the right to stand by the foot of another, much shorter, set of stairs.

They all waited and a few moments later, a regal, beautiful pair of elves walked down the stairs, seeming to float instead. They held hand and both seemed to glow, but none as brightly as the white-clad female, her golden hair flowing long.

Now, Ascadholiel was in full awe. As she made eyes contact with the woman, she heard a deep female voice inside her mind. //Welcome home Ascadholiel. Long have I awaited your arrival. We will talk later.//

Then the male elf, Lord Celeborn she was guessing, was speaking. “The enemy knows you have entered here. What hope you had in secrecy is now gone.” Aragorn almost looked stricken at this, but the elf Lord was going on calmly. “Eight there are of the fellowship, yet nine there were set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak with him. I can no longer see him from afar.”

Ascadholiel felt a pang in her chest that she knew was felt by the others as well. It was the ellenath (she-elf), Lady Galadriel, who spoke next, aloud for the first time. “Gandalf the gray did not pass the borders of this land. He has fallen into shadow.”

At this, Celeborn turned his head to her, a look of shock on his regal face.

Legolas spoke up, sorrow and self–anger in his voice, and his fair face once again showing some of his grief. “He was taken by both shadow and flame.”

Looks of tamed horror showed on both the Lord and Lady’s faces, as well as any of the other elves who heard.

Legolas went on. “A balrog of Morgoth. For we went needlessly into the net of Moria.”

Galadriel smiled gently at him, recovering quite quickly as if nothing had shown on her face but her normal mysterious smile. “Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life.” She turned her eyes to Gimli, the dwarf looking about ready to eat himself with grief and guilt. “Do not let the emptiness of Khazadum fill your heart Gimli, son of Gloin, for the world has grown full of peril, and in every land, hope is now mingled with grief.”

Her eyes turned pointedly to Boromir as she said this, the man looking like he was ready to face down the balrog again rather than be here.

Celeborn spoke again. “What now becomes of this fellowship? Without Gandalf, all hope is lost.” His eyes then turned to Ascadholiel, who was standing in the back at Legolas’ side. “Who then also is this young woman with you, who also now bares the weight of this quest?”

Legolas spoke up again, his arm tightening around Ascadholiel’s waist and his other hand seeking and finding hers. “She is Ascadholiel, my bonded. My wife.”

Ascadholiel silently bowed her head to the two elven rulers, her left hand placed over her heart, since her right was obviously injured, and still in Legolas’ hand, and then swept her left hand out in the way of the elves as Legolas had taught her.

Celeborn smiled at this. “Mea govannen Ascadholiel. Well met indeed, Princess of Mirkwood.”

Ascadholiel’s head shot up at this, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. “Princess?! But I’m not…”

Galadriel held her hand up and Ascadholiel shut her jaw with a snap. The Lady of Light spoke with a smile both in her voice as well as on her face. “Are you not bonded forever to Legolas? Is he not your husband and the mate of both your body and soul? Have you both not given each other your hearts of your own free will?”

Ascadholiel nodded and blushed, smiling slightly as she felt Legolas’ hand tighten around hers.

Galadriel went on. “Then, as he is the son of King Thranduil, and the prince of his father’s kingdom, you are his princess, and so have the honor and rights of that title.”

Ascadholiel blinked as she took that in. Then she calmly said, “Oh.” She blinked calmly a few more times, then whirled around suddenly and whopped Legolas hard in the chest with her good hand, crying out, “You didn’t tell me that!” Then she turned, smiling to the smirking, if not a little stunned Lord and Lady. “Forgive my suddenness my , my, my Lady. My husband seems to have neglected to inform me of this fact of his, and now consequently, my status. I’m sure that once my shock of this has warn off, I will feel very embarrassed at having beaned my bonded in the chest that hard, which I’m sure hurt just a bit since my good hand is now killing me.” She said with a big grin. Then she took a deep breath again, glad that even though she’d just effectively slapped him, he hadn’t released his hold on her. “Wow.”

The Lord and Lady smiled, and Galadriel turned once again to the more pressing subject. “The quest now stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains, while the company is true. Go now and rest, for you are weary with sorrow, and much toil.”

And so the company turned and followed another elf down the stairs. Galadriel’s voice called out, “Prince Legolas, Princess Ascadholiel, you stay.” And so they did. They turned and watched Celeborn and Haldir walk up the stairs that Galadriel and Celeborn had come down before, Haldir giving his report to his lord.

Galadriel motioned the elf and human to follow her and lead them over some walkways and bridges to another flet, which Ascadholiel discovered was a healer’s talan.

On the way Ascadholiel had calmed down enough to lean over and ask Legolas quietly. “I’m sorry if I hurt you before. I was just so shocked. Will you forgive me my love?”

Legolas picked up her hand and kissed it gently. “There is nothing to forgive, lirimaer. I should have told you. You have the right to be upset that I kept something like this from you, but let us talk about this later, when we are both rested.”

Ascadholiel nodded and walked into the flet after Galadriel. The Lady showed Ascadholiel to a place to lie down as another elf walked in. “Ascadholiel, this is one of our head healers, Celegirin. Celegirin, Princess Ascadholiel requires your more refined attentions. Treat her gently, as she has been through much in such a short time.”

It seems that she shared a private thought with the healer, to which the elf nodded.

Ascadholiel watched the elven healer for a moment as he silently gathered supplies, making a note of the similarities of all the elves she had seen and Legolas, deciding what were traits that all elves had, or what was simply Legolas. She turned her head then to look at Legolas, only to find Galadriel motioning him out of the talan.

The ellenath spoke gently, but firmly as always. “*Come Legolas Thranduilion (son of Thranduil). We have much to discuss and may do so while Celegirin is seeing to your lady.*”

Legolas nodded and followed her out without a backwards glance at his wife, knowing that she was in good hands.

Ascadholiel felt no jealousy. She knew without a doubt that Legolas would always be faithful to her. She simply was dying with curiosity about what they were going to discuss, feeling that after all Legolas had said to her, that secrets should not be kept between one another.

The healer called her attention back to him and she waded patiently through the endless stream of seemingly odd questions. The first cry she gave though, when Celegirin prodded at the wrong place by her wounds, brought Legolas to her side in the blink of an eye, Galadriel following at a more sedate pace.

Galadriel’s deep voice sounded gently as she knelt on the other side of the bed and looked at Legolas across the wounded human. “Remember what we have spoken of, Prince of Mirkwood, and think on it well.”

Legolas nodded, his hand smoothing Ascadholiel’s hair back from her face over and over. “I will Lady.”

Galadriel looked back at Ascadholiel then and placed her own hand on the young woman’s brow. She spoke in elvish, her voice seeming to cast a spell. “*Sleep now Ascadholiel, and know that you are safe.*”

And with no more than that, Ascadholiel’s eyes fluttered shut and she fell headfirst into a deep, peaceful sleep, full of dreams of happiness, peace, and all-encompassing joy and love.

**********

A.N.: So how did you like the chapter? There’s going to be some respite for the fellowship for a time of course. But then again… there is a prissy march-warden to think of. How will the other elves accept her? After all, they know full well what Legolas’ and Ascadholiel’s love will mean for the prince of Mirkwood. Damn… my mind just went blank again. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Keep up the feedback! Namaarie!

~Celesta Hellewise Harman