Mary Goes to Mirkwood

Mary Goes to Mirkwood

Chapter 19/?

Warnings: NC-17; Sexual situations and nudity

Disclaimer: Just playing with Tolkien characters, for fun, and not
profit, do not claim to have created them. Thaladir, the king's
seneschal, is our own creation.

Summary: Mal and Mary get reacquainted with the king, his seneschal
and each other. Sheraiah and Legolas confront an unexpected visitor.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Mal ~

I had the most vivid dream that night, of hands caressing my body,
gliding all over me from shoulders to thighs, skilfully avoiding my
most sensitive areas and instead heightening the senses of others,
turning me into a sensitive instrument that unconsciously registered
every touch. I felt silken hair on my skin, then a warm breeze
against my face, and then a soft mouth grazed at my collarbone in a
way that caused a feeling of pleasure so intense that I was roused
from my light sleep.

Chaotic thoughts flew through my head during the seconds it took my
mind to pass from unawareness to a confused, semi-awake state. I
understood immediately that my dream lover was real, but his
identity was obscured to me. This kind of softness I had only
experienced from the young Anarion, my faithful sentinel, but the
gentlemanly guardian elf would never dare to approach me uninvited,
much less sneak into my bed like this.

So was this yet another side of the outwardly reserved but secretly
passionate seneschal? The deftness of the touches my lover bestowed
on me spoke of great skill and vast experience, but Thaladir would
long ago have said something about patience or seemliness, in
accordance with his habit to turn everything into a lesson, or else
pounced on me immediately in an energetic outlet of pent-up libido.

The caresses became more determined now, and when my lover's hot
mouth descended on my left nipple, at the same time as his hand
moved down between my thighs, I did not care about his identity. I
wrapped my right arm around his neck and clutched him tight to my
chest, moaning as his hand found its way between my folds. For the
briefest of times, the cold of a gemstone touched me, and when the
wonders his large thumb worked on my little nub made me cry out in
sudden release I knew who he was. My king.

His eyes glittered in the first morning light, and when he saw the
shadow of astonishment in my expression, despite the satisfaction,
he said with a chuckle: "Have I neglected my concubine lately? I can
see that your training is far from complete if you do not recognize
me."

No, I thought, if this is how you train me I need much more.
Thranduil chuckled again, mirth in his eyes, but did not reply. He
sat up in the bed, but kept a hand on my chest, lazily drawing his ngerngers back and forth over my skin, until I grabbed it and held it
still. I lifted the royal hand to my lips and kissed his palm before
I spoke.

"I am happy that you are back," I whispered.

"You ought to be," the king replied. "You are mine."

Of course, I thought, that's how he sees it. That comment alone
would have been enough to identify the obnoxious, annoying, arrogant
Elvenking. He was all that, and yet he had been so unusually tender
this morning. It was a puzzle to me.

"You came to me," I said hesitantly, "but I thought you wanted to be
with Mary now when you haven't seen her for a long time?"

"I do," he said. "Sleep now. I will see you at breakfast."

With that, the king rose and slipped a thin robe over his shoulders.
I watched him as he tied the sash around his waist, and then as he
opened the door and left the room. The door closed, and I was alone
again.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Mary ~

When I woke up, the king was still beside me in the bed, under the
covers. I was touched. That meant, possibly, that he had spent the
whole night with me there, watching me sleep. Or, it could mean that
he had risen, done any number of activities and then come back when
he felt me waking up. But he had kept his promise to be there.

He was propped up on one elbow, looking down at me when I opened my
eyes. I pounced on him and buried my face in his neck while I threw
my one free leg over him and held on to him as tightly as I could.

"I am never going to let go of you," I spoke against the satiny skin
near his ear after I had rubbed my nose along his chin and kissed
the corner of his noble jaw. "You know that, don't you?"

"How will I care for my kingdom?" His voice was unusually soft and
playful. He rolled me over onto my back and I reveled in the
sensation of being wrapped in his arms.

"I don't care about your dumb old kingdom," I explained. "I just
don't ever want to let go of you. So, I'm not." And I did not, for a
while. His lovemaking was just as passionate as ever but sweetly so;
he was more considerate and gentle than I remembered him. And
afterwards, I almost thought I would fall back to sleep. I felt as
if I were floating instead of lying on a bed. And then it hit me.

"I'm starving!"

"You will have to let go of me then," the king pointed out. "That
is, if you want some breakfast."

"There's always a catch to being a human," I said as I reluctantly
unwound my limbs from him. "Isn't there?" The king arose from bed
and dressed himself in a handsome thigh-length robe that was the
color of golden wheat. He picked up both the nightgown and his cloak
that I had discarded on the floor the night before and grinned.

"I do not believe my seneschal would approve of you wearing this to
the breakfast table."

"Well," I replied. "I could always go naked." He shook his head at
my reply, but his eyes remained merry so I think he was amused by a
picture in his mind of what Thaladir's face would look like if I
arrived in the dining-room all glowy and bright in my birthday suit.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Mal ~

I couldn't sleep, of course. For what felt like hours, I tossed and
turned, trying not to think about Mary and the king, and why he was
milder than before, and shouldn't he be angry with her for running
away like that? Instead he was affectionate and wanted to be with
her as much as possible, so why had he even bothered to come to me?
It was pity, of course. He was too noble to toss me aside completely
now when his first choice was back in his bed.

By the time Ithilwen knocked on my door, I had reasoned some more
with myself and decided that I had been unfair to Thranduil. He was
neither timid nor false and it was ho hho had initiated the contract
between us. And he would not make love to me unless it was for his
pleasure also. That he had left so early was perhaps even my fault,
for mentioning Mary, but that didn't make it any easier to know that
he was with her now.

I washed in the basin Anarion brought into my room before he quickly
left, blushing modestly and hardly looking up from fluttering dark
eyelashes. He was so cute I had a hard time keeping from giving him
a peck on the cheek, but I just couldn't do that in Ithilwen's
company and my present state of undress. The elleth knew me well
enough by now not to be shocked, but I felt it would have
embarrassed the young elf, something I didn't want to do.

Ithilwen did my hair and helped me get dressed, again in the cream-
coloured gown that had been Thaladir's choice the day before. Just
as she finished fastening the last hooks and clasps on my back, the
door opened again ahe khe king's seneschal stood at the threshold.
He said nothing, but held his elbow towards me and nodded when I
looked at him quizzically.

"Good morning, Your Excellency," I said and smiled to myself when I
saw the tiny change in his frown I knew my correct address would
cause. "What brings me the honour of your visit?" I took his arm and
he had already led me out of the room, past my smiling door-guard,
before he replied.

"His Majesty desires your company in his private dining chamber, my
lady," Thaladir said, "and it is my duty, as well as my pleasure, to
escort you there."

"That was nice of you." I was delighted that the king wanted me to
come, as I had actually expected him to have breakfast in bed with
Mary, or not at all.

"It is my duty," Thaladir replied gravely, as if the mere thought
that he would do something out of his own wish was improper beyond
belief.

"It was still nice of you," I repeated, patting his arm a
little, "and the king, as I know my way around his halls now." I was
happy to notice that my patting of his arm hadn't caused him to
tense up like he usually did on such occasions. He actually seemed
to be quite satisfied with walking through the hallways with me.

"Indeed," he said, "I find it most agreeable to notice that you seem
to have settled down satisfactorily, and, furthermore, that the
behaviour you currently display in these royal halls is befitting of
your situation." It was probably meant as a compliment to me, but
the way the seneschal pronounced "you" told me that his thoughts
dwelt just as much on someone who's manners so far had not been at
all to his taste. I almost felt a little guilty that I had wanted
Mary to return as soon as possible.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Mary ~

Miriel, it turned out, was waiting just outside the bedchamber door
with a gown for me to wear. I jumped from the bed and threw myself
at her as if she were a long-lost friend. The king went into his own
dressing room to change while she brushed the tangles out of my hair
and fetched a basin and water so I could have a quick sponge bath.
She had just helped me into my dress when he stepped back into the
bedchamber to join us. He looked handsome in his buff-colored
buckskin tunic and skin-tight leggings, but I pulled a pouty face in
his direction.

"I liked it better when you just had that robe on, showing off your
legs like it did." Miriel made a small sound, like a cross between a
chuckle and a sigh, and her eyes twinkled at me but her facial
features remained otherwise calm. The king shooed her off before she
was finished fastening my gown.

"Are you going to braid my hair, too?" I asked him as his fingers
swiftly attended to my gown closure. I did not mind being alone with
Thranduil as much as I could because I knew it was only for a short
while longer, and then I would have to share him again with the rest
of his kingdom, including Mal. It was going to be hard to leave the
royal bedchamber and face the rest of the household, especially when
he was in such a rare good mood.

The king's large hands were exquisitely gentle while he braided my
hair as well as any elleth could, maybe better. It was hard to tell
with no mirror to see myself with, but I could feel the braids at
either side of my temples and they felt beautiful. And as he
attended to my hair, he told me about the danger I had escaped when
I had flown away to Rivendell.

"Can I tell any of this to Mal?" I asked as we finally headed down
the corridor to his private dining room. "Or does she already know
everything?" The king's face grew still and sober as he thought
about my request.

"You may discuss it with her," he finally replied. "But not over
breakfast. I would prefer not to think about those unpleasant events
while trying to enjoy my meal."

I could not wait to get Mal alone so I could find out what had
happened to Thranduil while I was gone to make him so much more
agreeable and pleasant-tempered. Maybe it was just that the men from
the Long Lake were gone, but I had a feeling there was more than
that to explain his subtly gentler nature and I also had a feeling
that his concubine would know something about it. He was still the
king, but he was a bit tamer around his edges. And it suited him.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Mal ~

Nothing more was said until Thaladir and I reached the king's dining
room. Thranduil and Mary must have just come, as they had not yet
sat. I was pleasantly surprised when the king held out the chair on
his right side for me, while Mary waited for Thaladir to do the same
for her. I was happy to see her but it was quite obvious that the
seneschal was not. He performed his chair duty impeccably, as could
be expected of him, but took great care not to touch her. I felt
sorry for him, but his stiff movements looked so funny I had to
stifle a laugh.

Before I could begin to chat happily with Mary, which I really
longed to do, she did something I would never have thought her
capable of. With a sweet smile, she turned gracefully to the
seneschal and greeted him formally in Sindarin. The fact that she
seemed to honestly try to be nice to Thaladir surprised me more than
the Elvish phrase, even if that was unexpected too, as she had so
far not seemed at all interested in learning the language. If the
seneschal was surprised, he didn't show it. It's true that he didn't
reply at once, but within seconds he nodded to her and pronounced
the reply to the ancient greeting, a beautiful phrase about the
light of the two trees of Valinor that sounded like poetry.

I could almost feel his satisfaction when Mary was lost for words
and had to turn to the king for a translation. With the tiniest hint
of a smirk on his lips, he reached for a piece of bread, but put it
down immediately when she told him that she wanted to take language
lessons. He looked at her with keen interest, as if she had just
turned into a real person instead of a troublesome appendage to his
king, and seemed pleased.

I didn't see his reaction when she went on to ask if he would
perhaps consider teaching her himself, as I had quite enough to do
trying not to choke on the grape I was eating at the moment. Her
innocent question had instantly reminded me of some not so innocent
lessons with Thaladir, when he had me read Sindarin poetry aloud,
while he...

I felt my face become redder than the apples on the table, and
didn't know what to do, but the king helped me out. I gratefully
sipped some water from the glass he handed me, but then almost
choked again when he began grinning like mad. I suddenly realized
that he must know not only what he could have read from my thoughts
just now, but each and every detail of my trysts with his seneschal.
I should have guessed that the faithful elf would report it all to
his lord.

Mary didn't understand, of course, and the king took mercy on me,
telling her that he was pleased with her wish for knowledge. He then
said to Thaladir, in Sindarin, that while he appreciated that his
concubine was satisfied with her advanced lessons, only strictly
formal ones would be required for Mary. I was relieved to hear that,
not because I wanted the seneschal to myself, but because the king
had shown that he had no intent of telling Mary about our less than
seemly relationship.

Thaladir replied that he would of course teach her, and soon the
conversation turned to Rivendell and what she had seen there. She
told me a lot about what the landscape looked like, and how
beautiful Rivendell Elr Elrond's halls were, but I was most of all
interested in its inhabitants. I wanted to hear everything about
Elrond and his handsome sons, and the calm and mysterious Erestor,
but most of all I wanted her to tell me about Glorfindel.

I felt it wouldn't be polite to show such interest in elves I'd
never seen, so while hoping to be alone with her soon, I satisfied
myself with what she told me about Sheraiah. I was surprised to hear
that a third mortal was visiting Middle Earth, but it made me happy
to hear how close she seemed to be to Legolas. Thranduil's fine son
deserved some quality time with a woman!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Mary ~

We actually beat Mal and Thaladir to the small dining room, but just
barely. I asked the king to let me sit next to the seneschal, who
seemed unusually stiff and formal when he approached the table. I
was feeling kindly towards him, after my little talk with Thranduil,
and I was determined to change the grouchy old elf's mind about me.

The king seated Mal and then himself beside her, so I stood across
from them at the table and waited for Thaladir, as a proper lady
should, to hold the back of my chair as I seated myself genteelly.
Once everyone was seated, I turned to him and smiled politely at him
without looking directly, and therefore rudely, into his stony
face.

"Silo i galad Nimloth na rád lin," I said. {May the light of
Telperion shine upon your path} Glorcheniel had taught that to me
when I had asked her to help me with a polite Elvish greeting to use
in Rivendell. I could tell Thaladir was not prepared to hear me
speak to him in Sindarin, at least not first thing in the morning.
After a moment's pause he nodded his head in my direction.

"A togo i galad Glorlinn i thail lín," he replied. I had no idea
what he said. Usually the response was brief, but polite, "A na rad
lin" {And on your path, too.} Mal looked at the seneschal as if he
had just spoken a bit of love poetry to me. But I looked at the
king, completely bewildered, and he leaned forward.

"Thaladir has wished for the light of Laurelin to guide your feet,"
he said quietly. His eyes were shining into mine, however, so I
could tell he was pleased with me for being nice to his seneschal,
for a change. I thanked him mentally. Then I made a snap decision
with fingers crossed that I would not live to regret it.

"Your Excellency," I addressed Thaladir. "Will you be so kind as to
direct me towards the best Elvish language instructor in Mirkwood? I
think I would be of much more use to His Majesty if I don't have to
have someone following me around all the time to translate every
single thing for me. Don't you think so, too?"

The seneschal actually appeared pleased with my request. But, before
he could answer I added, "I would love to be able to speak as well
as Mal does. Do you give language lessons, your excellency?"

Mal started choking and her face grew an alarming red. I was alarmed
at least, but the king casually offered her a drink from her water
glass, and then he gave her and Thaladir the oddest grin I had ever
seen, something between a leer and an amused smirk. Mal turned even
more red. I have no idea what the seneschal thought, but I was
convinced I was missing out on a really good joke.

"Is it wrong," I asked the king, "to ask for language lessons? Did I
say something stupid again? Should I have worded it differently?" He
insisted there was nothing wrong in my request and added how pleased
he was that I had made it. He said something to Thaladir in Elvish.

"I am somewhat surprised at this unexpected request, my lady," said
the seneschal to me. "However, as it pleases His Majesty, I will
take it upon myself to personally see to the expansion of your
knowledge." I thanked him and hoped the king was proud of me.

Mal calmed down quickly. And then it occurred to me what was going
on. She was jealous because I had so obviously made the king happy
by asking Thaladir for Elvish lessons. She knew it would make me
closer to him, and his seneschal, and that was probably a bitter
pill for her to swallow. But she had spent all these past weeks
alone with Thranduil, while I had pined away in misery away off in
Rivendell, so I was the one who should be feeling jealous.

Now I was even more anxious to be alone with her, partly because I
did not want either of us to feel jealous anymore. But it was time
to be seriously polite as I worked my way into the good graces of
the king's loyal seneschal by showing how ladylike I could behave at
the table. After spending some time with the elves of Rivendell, and
actually paying attention to their social behavior, I felt like a
more polished member of a royal household. But, I needed to try out
my new manners in front of my harshest critic before I was truly
sure.

Mal asked about our trip from Rivendell. She was most curious about
every step the king had made, less curious about me, but still she
seemed happy to see me back safe and unharmed. The king did not give
out any details about his encounter with the twins and I was
certainly not going to say anything bad about them in front of
anybody, so neither one of us discussed the swordplay.

I told Mal how nice it was to fly above the Misty Mountains and
Mirkwood forest. Her eyes seemed to become transfixed on some far
distant point as, I suppose, she imagined what the waterfalls of
Rivendell look like from up above as I described them.

She was full of questions, then, about the Last Homely House. And
Legolas and Sheraiah, especially, who she was excited to hear about.
And the doings of Elladan and Elrohir and their father, Lord Elrond.
When I mentioned Erestor and Glorfindel, her face grew wistful and
her eyes withdrawn. The king looked at her intently and I could tell
he was thinking about making her happy. I shut up about the subject
and busied myself with my breakfast and my manners. I was not going
to say another word about my adventures with the Rivendell elves
until I was alone with Mal.

"In the Last Homely House," I informed the table, "they serve coffee
with breakfast, did you know that?"

"Elrond runs a hostelry for wayfaring travellers," replied Thranduil
with a hint of a sneer. "What he chooses to serve at his table is of
no concern to me. Mortals and half-elves may depend on stimulants to
remain alert; full elves have no such weaknesses."

"But, still," I answered. "Coffee with breakfast is so civilized, I
think." I could sense that the seneschal beside me was simmering
with disapproval over my complaint. "But I would rather go without
than go back there," I added and remained silent for the rest of the
meal.

After breakfast was over, an elf messenger appeared in the doorway.
He stood at silent bright-eyed attention while Thaladir folded his
napkin, placed it carefully on the table, and then went over to the
door to speak to him. Then the seneschal returned to the king and
spoke into his ear. Thranduil stood, smiled at both of us, and
excused himself from the table, and without further explanation he
and the other elves departed into the hallways; Mal and I were
finally alone.

"Alright," I said to her. "What have you done to my king while I was
gone? He seems almost relaxed, if that's possible." But Mal did not
want to talk about Thranduil. She never had known why I had left
Mirkwood and she was not going to be budged into discussing any
other topic until I explained to her what happened.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Mal ~

When Mary and I were finally alone, she began questioning me about
the king and what I had done to him while she was away. I wanted to
say that much less had happened between us in the way of bed
activity than what could have during all that time, but no matter
how happy I was to see her, I didn't feel like sharing such intimate
details. I wanted to hear more about Glorfindel and the other
Rivendell elves, but first of all I wanted to know why on earth she
had decided to leave the king in the middle of an official meal. It
could hardly have been the spur of a moment and I was more than a
little hurt that she hadn't talked to me about her situation if she
felt so bad about being here. And I also wanted to make sure she had
come back of her own will.

She served me the most fantastic tale about a conspiracy between
Helca and the pig-like merchant that had been visiting for the trade
negotiations, and while I believed none of them of any good, it
seemed far-fetched that they would want Mary to leave the king. I
could understand if Helca was jealous, as there seemed to have been
some hot feelings between her and Thranduil in the past, and the pig-
like Renk seemed to want to eat each and every female alive, so I
could imagine he desired Mary. But to want it enough to risk the
king's fury?

Mary tried to explain something about the king screaming at Renk
through her, and Helca sending malevolent messages to the Town
Master by tossing her hair, and other things that didn't make much
sense to me, but that had apparently compelled Mary to run off with
Legolas. Ah, and yes, it had been partly Thaladir's fault too, she
said, as he had been paying more attention to me than to her.

That last thing was true, of course, and I had a very vivid memory
of the seneschal's naughty games during the meal. I had been truly
embarrassed at the time, but what worried me now was the thought
that he could have been neglecting some odd duty. The poor elf must
be absolutely stricken with guilt if the king had so much as
indicated that he had done something wrong. It made me feel guilty
too, but I did my best not to show that to Mary. Instead I asked for
more details.

The whole story sounded most of all like a bad excuse to me, but it
would explain why the king wasn't mad with her and I didn't dare to
discard it altogether. Until she said that Erestor, the sensible
Rivendell elf, had told her that I was a bridge. Not only was it an
outrageous thing to say as such, but an elf I had never seen
couldn't possibly know anything at all about me. I was almost sure
now that she wasn't telling the truth, but somehow testing me. I
told her I wanted her to repeat all of it again, but that I still
wouldn't believe it until I had heard it from the king himself.

Mary went on about the bridge thing and how the king had somehow
made her valuable to men and that would be why Renk wanted to steal
her, and though it all sounded crazy I became more and more confused
as she repeated her tale. I realized that this was all real to her,
so what if it was indeed true that the king had sent her away to
protect her?

Thinking of it made me unsure of my own situation. Did the king not
want to protect me? Or had it not been necessary, as I was of no
value to the conspirators, bridge or not? Was I then valuable to him?

I had thought life in Mirkwood would be easier with Mary around, but
that was apparently not the case. She had literally given me a bad
headache and I didn't even care about Glorfindel anymore. I only
wanted to see Thranduil, to receive some answers and to be reassured
of his affection.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Mary ~

It was Helca and Renk, I told Mal, who were responsible for me
leaving Mirkwood. An alliance, according to Thranduil, that was both
unlikely and hastily built. An unfortunate convergence of a too
clever-minded, and overly prideful, elleth with a dull-witted boor
who was too easily manipulated. They had double-teamed me. Helca's
plan was to drive me away with the Long Lake men. What plans Renk
may have had for me once I had made my way to Esgaroth, I could only
shudder to think. And I would have thought it was my own idea.

The idea was to make me so miserable that I would choose to leave
Mirkwood with the pleasant Master Darek, who had no part in the
plotting, but was conveniently sympathetic enough to the plight of a
mortal maid in the clutches of the dark-hearted Elfking to have
offered me assistance in my eventual removal from Thranduil's realm.
And both the swinish wine merchant and the icy elleth were convinced
they could persuade me to leave the king. Once I had reached
Esgaroth, Renk would offer to see to my welfare, being the most well
off of the three. At least that seemed to be the plan.

The king explained that, during the dance, Helca had arranged for
the wine merchant to partner with me in order to flush out the truth
about my abilities. It was Thranduil's ire channeled through me that
had taken the piggish fool aback on the dance floor, but, instead of
frightening him, it had only confirmed that what Helca had promised
him was true. And made me even more valuable in his greedy mind.

I had asked the king what he had done to them. Cut off their heads?
Fed them to the spiders? Thrown them into the dungeons? Mal shook
her head as I recounted this part of my conversation with Thranduil.
She knew that Helca was still a member of the royal house and that
Renk had departed from Mirkwood with his head attached.

"If I am truly the vengeful, villainous king that those outside of
my realm insist that I am," I told her the king had replied, "then I
could have done any number of terrible things to punish both of
them. However, what would it profit me to lose her valuable services
in my treasure house? And deprive my subjects of their regular wine
allotment?" Mal was just as speechless as I had been when he had
said that to me, so we both just stared at each other for a moment,
and sighed.

"But what did Helca have to do with your bizarre behavior at the
lunch table?" Mal did not understand how elves could use humans to
send messages or gather information, and I was not so sure myself
about how it worked. But I knew what the method was the day I left
Mirkwood.

"She used her hair, to provoke me, and make me feel uncomfortable,"
I explained. "Apparently there has to be touching involved, and eye
contact helps to..." I paused as I searched for the proper
term, "intensify it, somehow. Like with Renk. But she couldn't catch
my eye. It wouldn't have worked very well at the lunch table except
that Master Darek touched me, and looked right at me. That was all
she needed because the minds of mortal men are the most easily
manipulated." Mal was appropriately horrified but skeptical
nevertheless. Not to mention a little confused.

"You're a bridge, too, Mal." I said. "All mortals are, to some
extent. That is what Erestor told me."

"A bridge." Her voice was flat, doubtful as she repeated it. "I can
never tell when you are lying," she added. "And I think I need to
hear this from Thranduil before I believe it."

"Well, he is the one who told me that it wasn't my fault I was
acting so crazy that day," I said in my defense. "He was being
distracted by apple prices and do you know what else he said?" Mal
shrugged and I continued. "He said that if his seneschal had been
paying less attention to his concubine's table manners, and more to
mine, the whole thing could have been avoided. He said Thaladir felt
so guilty that he offered to resign, again."

"You are giving me a headache," said Mal. "Now tell me again what
the king said, exactly." Before I could begin, she added "And what
did Helca promise Renk was true about yout out there on the dance
floor?" And so I tried to report just what Thranduil had told me,
without personal embellishments or editorial opinions. Being a
bridge is no big deal, I continued, but the king had somehow fine-
tuned us, both her and me, and imbued us with a fragment of his own
power in the process.

"Fine-tuned? Imbued?" She sounded even less convinced.

"Imbued," I repeated, not quite sure if that was the precise word he
had used as I was so distracted at the time by him braiding my
hair. "Impressed?" I said aloud. "Imprinted? It was one of
those "im" words. And it makes us valuable to men to be fine-tuned
like that. Very rare."

"Valuable in what way?" Mal sounded even more suspicious now.

"You know what?" I replied. "Thranduil didn't say, but I can guess,
can't you?" I did not wait for her reply but forged ahead in my tale
of how the king had decided that the only way to keep the annual
price negotiations on track with the Long Lake men, and my sanity
intact, was to send me away with Legolas and then come for me when
the men had left Mirkwood.

"You are saying that it was Thranduil's idea to send you away? You
didn't run off on him?" I could tell that Mal was struggling to
understand a situation that I just barely understood myself. I
showed her how when the king stood and touched my shoulder, at the
lunch table that day, he also broke whatever fragile connection
Helca had established, and I was free to leave.

"He didn't want me to leave. But he didn't try to stop me either." I
explained how he helped me, sort of, to make the decision to leave
with Legolas for my own sanity's sake. He told me he knew I would be
safe amongst the elves of Imladris, because he was going to be right
there with me, keeping an eye on them. At least I did not have to
convince Mal that Thranduil was a mind-reader; she knew that from
personal experience.

"Okay," she said. "Start over again, from the beginning."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~ Sheraiah ~

Legolas and I had spent the morning lounging around in my bed, among
other, more physical activities. We had missed breakfast completely,
aside from my nibbling on some seedcakes Duiniel had left in my room
in case I got hungry. Teasing me by claiming that I had to be part
hobbit to be stashing food in my room, Legolas hweetweet-talked the
cooks into putting together a picnic lunch for us and we set out
into the gardens. We ate our lunch by a spring with waters so clear
that the sandy bottom was as visible as if we were seeing it through
glass before wandering back to the kitchens to return the basket and
dishes.

After that, we visited the stables, deciding to go riding once we
got there. Legolas insisted on riding double with me, knowing that I
had done little riding in my lifetime. Our path took us to the river
and along it a ways. We let the horse graze, taking advantage of the
solitude of the area we were in to indulge in some spirited
lovemaking. Legolas went for a swim afterwards, but the water was
far too cold for me to attempt it, so I watched him from the
riverbank and enjoyed the view.

We made our way back to the House, Legolas insisting that we be on
time for the evening meal. As we entered the stable yard, I noticed
a small donkey in a stall that had been unoccupied when we had left.
It struck me as odd to see a donkey in Rivendell for some reason and
I commented on it to Legolas.

"More than elves are welcome here," he replied, dismounting
gracefully and reaching up to lift me down. "It likely belongs to a
trader. Lord Elrond's folk do trade with the other races of Arda."

We walked to the House at a leisurely pace. Dinner wouldn't be for
at least a couple of hours, so I had plenty of time to get ready. As
we passed through the large courtyard in front of the entrance
nearest to my room, a booming voice called out.

"There you are, you skinny excuse for a prince! They told me you
were visiting." A fiery-haired dwarf crossed the courtyard towards
us and Legolas' face lit up.

"Gimli!"

t b c

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