The Price of Pride

Chapter 2

I returned to Imladris as my father’s emissary, eager to see my friends again, to see Imladris again. Eager to escape the shadow that had begun to encroach on my home. Elrond was there to greet me this time, as was befitting an emissary of the King. We said all the right words, went through all the formalities. Then, Elrond offered to show me to my rooms. As if he needed to. I knew Imladris almost as well as I knew the telain of the Mirkwood. I consented, nonetheless, for I felt in his gaze that he wanted to speak to me in private.

We walked through the halls of Imladris in companionable silence. I waited for Elrond to speak, knowing he would do so only when he was ready. We reached the doors to my rooms before he finally turned to me. “You will not recognize my daughter when you see her,” he told me in a solemn voice. “Be her friend, Legolas, but do not lose your heart to her. She would never intentionally hurt anyone, but she is not for you.”

Before I could reply, Elrond turned and walked away. I was surprised at the time. I was almost 650 years old, 500 years past my majority, and I had never lost my heart to anyone. I had taken the occasional lover – what Elf my age had not – but those affairs had always been about passion, never about love. Then I wondered why Elrond was warning me. Arwen had not yet reached her majority. Surely he couldn’t think I would take advantage of an elfling. ‘But he has the gift of Foresight,’ I told myself. ‘Perhaps he has seen her future and warns everyone away.’ To this day, I do not know exactly what Elrond had seen or what prompted him to make his warning. I promised myself that I would heed his advice, even as I told myself it was needlessly given. I bathed and changed, returning to the Halls of Fire for the banquet that would be served in my honor. That was when I saw her, truly saw her for the first time. Elrond’s advice never stood a chance against the beauty before me. My breath caught in my throat. My heart turned over in my chest, and I was lost. In that moment, I would have done anything she requested of me, made any sacrifice just to see her smile at me.

“Legolas,” she cried, delight in her voice as she flew across the room, throwing herself in my arms. “You are back.”

I closed my arms around her lithe form, staring down at the delicate features, the dark eyes, silky skin, red lips curved up in a smile. The press of her body, fully clothed, against mine was more arousing than any intimate touch from any lover I had ever known. I could feel a stirring in my loins so I drew back, not wanting her to realize what I was feeling.

“Let me look at you,” I said, using that as an excuse. Arwen stepped back and smiled, twirling around so I could see all of her. I’d left her an elfling. Though she still had a few weeks to go before she reached her majority, I saw a fully-grown Elf standing before me. My eyes drank in the sight of her. She wore a gown of red crushed velvet that hugged her curves in all the right places, accentuating the tuck of her waist, the flare of her hips, the swell of her breasts. Her dark hair flowed down her back, unbound, unbraided, a child’s hairstyle. It should have been a reminder to me of her age, her status as a minor still. Instead, I imagined that hair spread out over my pillow, loosened from its braids for a lover, even a mate. Fortunately for my sanity, Elladan and Elrohir chose that moment to interrupt, teasing Arwen about showing off, making her turn on them and stick her tongue out. Though the sight of that pink tongue between ruby lips sent another shot of arousal through me, the look on her face, and on the faces of the twins, brought me back to my surroundings and the reality of the situation. It reminded me as well of Elrond’s warning.

Could I have done what he asked of me if I had tried harder then, when my heart was mostly still mine, and only my passion was engaged? Could I have avoided temptation and thus heartbreak? I ask myself those questions every year on her birthday. I have been asking for 3000 years, but I still have no answer to those questions. I asked one other question for many years. Did I wish I had not fallen in love with her? To that question I have an answer. No, I do not wish it, for she brought much joy into my life along with the heartbreak. There are many things I would change in my life, but falling in love with Arwen is not one of them.