Life is Too Short

Life is Too Short

Chapter 3 – The New Editor

“Sinda?” the voice asked. I opened my eyes to see the highway in front of me. Turning my head, I found Glen looking at me. I preferred it when he was watching the road, since he was the one driving.

“Yes?” I asked, yawning.

“Are you all right?” he seemed concerned.

“Sure,” I replied. That is if you didn’t consider the fact that I was completely losing my mind. Other than that, I was great.

“Well, it’s noon and you’ve been asleep since we left at 6:00 this morning. You even slept through two gas stops and a couple of rest areas. That seems a bit odd.”

“I think I only slept about an hour last night,” I told him, honestly. I didn’t tell him that it was because I was having incredible, mind-blowing sex with Thranduil, the elf king of Mirkwood. He might have been skeptical. A rush ran through my body just thinking about the previous night and the wonderful pleasures that Thranduil had bestowed upon me.

“Were you up writing all that time?” Glen asked.

I could have just lied, but I didn’t like to do that unless I felt like it. I compromised.

“I was working on a story,” I told him. I had already decided to write about the realistic fantasies I was having while I was still sane enough to do so. That way when they locked me up, the doctors could study my memoirs and possibly they would help some other elf-obsessed person. I guess in that sense, I was telling the truth, since I had been gathering material for the story. Ah, research should always be so fun.

“What’s your story about?” he asked now.

“Hot elves,” I told him, not elaborating. He stared at me for a moment before the rumble strips on the shoulder of the highway reminded him that he should be watching the road. I didn’t blame him for not wanting to stare at the highway. After the first thousand or so miles of it, it became a bit tedious. I thought that the highway department should get smart and write stories on the roads or something. They’d be much easier to watch that way. I pictured the words “Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away” stretching out down the highway…

“Your story is about hot elves?” Glen repeated now. “Christmas elves?”

I looked at him, horrified. The idea of having sex with a Christmas elf was just wrong. Santa would never forgive me.

“No, Glen, elves like those in Lord of the Rings. Hot, good looking elves.” Elves that have had thousands of years to perfect their incredible skills, I thought. I didn’t tell him that.

He nodded and returned his eyes to the road. The man had no idea what I was talking about and it just made me wish all the harder that I were back home. On the other hand, if Haldir was only going to come visit me when I needed him, I’d rather remain where I was.

We stopped to eat breakfast and I listened to the three kids fight all the way through the meal, as usual. When the Princess whined until Glen bought her desert, I got up and went to the restroom for a moment to keep from saying anything. I returned to find the two older kids slapping at each other and arguing loudly, causing many of the other patrons to turn around and watch. I tossed my money down onto the table and controlled the urge to tell everybody that they weren’t mine as I walked outside to wait, embarrassed by their behavior. Glen apologized sheepishly when he found me outside, sending the kids ahead to the van. I watched as the Witch and Dex still shoved each other and argued as they made their way across the parking lot.

“I don’t know what I can do about it,” Glen shrugged. “Kids fight.”

“Well, I don’t know much about kids,” I told him, biting the bullet, “so please take this with a grain of salt. It just seems to me that you worry too much about letting them have what they want. I don’t know if they are playing you and your ex- against each other, but telling them “no” once in a while isn’t going to make them hate you. I read once that kids are happiest and feel safest when they have boundaries. They also need to know that there will be consistent consequences for breaking the rules. I’m not saying that you should become some sort of ultra-strict disciplinarian, but I think you should lay down some basic rules and let them know what the consequences will be if they break them. Then, of course, you need to be ready for them to test you, because they will.”

He nodded. “For somebody that doesn’t know much about kids, you’re probably right.”

“I took several psychology classes, for what they’re worth,” I admitted. “I’ve also seen my friends with their kids and I have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t. Besides, I stayed at a Holiday Inn, once.”

He looked at me, confused for a moment then he laughed, remembering the Holiday Inn commercial. He told me that it was the fighting that bothered him the most, followed closely by the temper tantrums that his younger daughter threw.

Nodding my head, I had to agree, though I could easily give him a list the size of my arm of other things that bothered me about his kids. One step at a time, though. I told him that I would worry about the overeating as well as the temper tantrums.

“She’s already getting teased at school and if she continues gaining wait like this, it’s going to affect her health. You aren’t doing her any favors letting her form bad eating habits,” I told him.

He glanced at me and I was afraid I’d stepped over the boundary of friendship.

“So how do I get her to stop it?” he asked, curious.

I plodded onwards. “I wouldn’t do it all at once, but for starters, I’d try to get her to eat healthier foods. Give her apple sauce instead of fries, juice or water instead of soda. Don’t reward her with dessert, just let her have a small dessert once a day and make that meal smaller. Her stomach will shrink and she’ll quit craving the junk once it’s out of her system. I had a friend whose son had the exact same problem and that’s what she did for him.”

He asked, “Did it work?”

“Yes, but it didn’t happen overnight. She got him involved in sports, too, and I know that helped a lot.”

Lunch that day was interesting. Wanting to save time, we ate fast food and the Princess wanted a large burger and fries meal. Her dad had her get chicken strips with applesauce instead, with no dessert. She was not a happy camper and Glen almost folded when the little brat threw herself on the ground and started screaming, her face bright red.

“This is why she gets what she wants,” he explained to me, somewhat smugly.

“Which is why she does it,” I replied, then suggested, “Try ignoring her.”

He looked at me like I was crazy and I almost laughed. I should probably start getting used to seeing that look. I stepped over the screaming child and found us a seat as far away from her as possible. Her brother and sister followed me and after a few moments of hesitation, so did her dad. He watched her nervously across the room as she continued to scream and kick her arms and legs. A couple of customers walked around her and Glen started to go get her. I grabbed his arm.

“Give it a minute,” I suggested. Before long, the Princess looked around to find that she had been left alone.

“Don’t look at her,” I told them, biting into my chicken sandwich. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she finally calmed down and eventually began to look embarrassed as people continued to walk around her. Eventually, she came and quietly joined us, grabbing her food and scarfing it down in moments. When she told us she was starving after leaving the restaurant, I handed her an apple from my bag in the van. Glaring at it for a moment, she grabbed it from me and finally ate it.

I drove for a while that afternoon because Glen wanted to sit in the back and watch “The Fellowship of the Rings,” with the kids. Now that the kids had seen it and all seemed to like it, he said that he had to see what it was all about. I think my comments about the hot elves had also aroused his curiosity.

When the movie was over, he took over driving again. The girls had all fallen asleep and Dex was playing his Game Boy so I pulled out my laptop, determined to work on my story now that I had a rare quiet moment. I couldn’t really do any serious writing unless I had complete silence, so I liked to take advantage of it when I got it. No sooner had I begun to type, when Glen started talking.

“So, by hot elves, are you talking about this blonde guy, Legolas?”

My fingers quit moving. “Well, actually, I prefer his father. It’s Haldir that I’m in love with, though.”

“Haldir?” he asked.

“You know, ‘the dwarf breathes so loud we could have shot him in the dark…’ that guy.”

“You like the long hair and pointed ears?” Glen asked, absently running his hand across his closely cropped hair.

“Oh, yeah,” I said. Love running my hands through their hair and love driving them nuts by sucking on the tips of their pointy ears during sex. I didn’t say that, though. I didn’t want to be locked up any sooner than was necessary. I waited and when there was no response, I typed a few more words.

“I don’t remember seeing Legolas’ father,” he stated now. “Which one was he?”

“Uh,” oh, shit, how did I explain that one? I certainly couldn’t admit that I had met him in person last night. “His father is Thranduil, King of Mirkwood, but he’s not in the movie. So, how did you like the movie?” Changing the subject was always a good idea in a case like this.

“It was O.K.” he shrugged. Wrong answer, I thought. Something was definitely wrong with the man. He lost several brownie points with me if he thought the movie was just O.K.

I tentatively typed a few words and he didn’t interrupt. Taking a deep breath, I kept going, hoping my luck would hold. I turned my attention back to my current chapter and soon found myself coming across a grammatical problem. Haldir had accused the elleth he was with of being drunk but she reminded him that she could handle her liquor and it was he who was drunk. I wrote the sentence that Haldir would be speaking. “That is right, it is I who have had enough.” It didn’t seem right and I thought about it for a moment. “It is I who has had enough.” I couldn’t remember the rule and neither seemed right. That was pretty sad, since I had been an English major before switching to accounting. Glen was a smart guy. Math was really his thing, but I know he had a pretty good grasp of grammar so I asked him about it.

“I don’t know, but I think it’s ‘I who have had enough’ because you break the sentence down to ‘I have had enough’ and cut the rest out.” That sounded good to me so I started to type.

“Wrong,” Dexter’s head popped up between our seats as he leaned forward. The ten-year-old told me, “You have to break it into three independent clauses.”

“That is right,” he held up a finger, “it is I,” a second finger went up, “who has had enough,” third finger. “Subject is who, so the verb is ‘has’, not ‘have’, but that’s probably way over your head.” He went back to his video game without batting an eye. Glen and I looked at each other.

“He’s probably right,” Glen shrugged. “Has a photographic memory and he knows all the rules.”

I didn’t appreciate the superior tone of the kid’s voice, but on the other hand, I thought that I could use his help. I turned towards the back, “How would you like to edit some of my PG-rated stuff?”

“I’d rather edit R-rated stuff, but I’d look over your PG work if you want,” he said, eyes not leaving his game.

That would be the day I’d let this kid read my R-rated stories. He stopped playing the video game and looked at me.

“What are you writing, anyway?” he asked, curious.

“Lord of the Rings fan fiction,” I told him. His eyes lit up.

“Can I read some now?” he asked.

I pulled up the first chapter that I felt was safe for him to read and passed my laptop back to him. I gave him a brief rundown of the first couple of chapters and what had happened in them, since there was some adult material and he couldn’t read it himself. Somehow, I didn’t think that Glen would approve of his ten-year-old reading the Uruk/elf sex scenes I’d written.

“Can I make notes?” the boy asked.

“Sure,” I told him. “Make comments then highlight them so I can find them easily.”

Within about twenty minutes, he handed me the computer back and I read his comments. The kid was brutal and his comments were scathing, but they were right for the most part and he seemed to like the story. I fixed a few minor grammatical errors and changed some other things. By the end of the day, he’d read the whole story and his suggestions had improved it quite a bit. He was into it now and badly wanted to read the other chapters, so I went through and made PG versions for him which he also edited. He had questions about parts of the story that tied in to “The Two Towers,” and I told him really needed to watch the movie to understand them. He was more than happy to do so and we watched it while Glen kept driving. Dex was spellbound, especially with Helm’s Deep. He had liked the first movie, but he was really excited about “The Two Towers” and I could understand that, since it was my favorite of the three. Normally, I fast forwarded through some of Treebeard’s scenes, because the Ent talked so slowly that it drove me nuts (ha, that’s what did it – I’ll blame it on the Ent). This time I just watched the movie straight through with the kids, who were all riveted to the screen.

When Haldir died, I fought back tears. I knew that he was alive, at least in the fantasy world that I lived in, so it shouldn’t bother me, but it always did. Craig Parker had done a wonderful job on his role. He also looked so much like the real Haldir that it was uncanny, but I suppose that’s where my mind got the picture for my fantasy. That made me wonder where I had concocted the image of Thranduil, but I suppose that I just took a picture of Legolas and filled it out a little, adding an arrogant air.

When we checked into our motel, late that night, I was upset to find that my room would be right next to that of Glen and the kids. If I got a visit from a certain elf, or elves, it was going to be difficult to be quiet, but I didn’t dare let them hear anything. It would be impossible to explain. After what had happened the night before, I had no idea what to expect tonight; maybe nothing. I was fairly certain that I would never see Thranduil again, since he had only been here out of an obligation. The question was would Haldir even show up? It was possible that he had been testing my loyalty the previous night. If so, I had failed miserably and might never see him again. I was concerned about the possibility.

I took my shower, but no elf showed up to join me. I sat down to work on my story for a while but still nothing. When I looked at the clock and realized that it was after 1:00, I knew that it was doubtful he would appear since he had never shown up that late. My guess was that I was being punished for enjoying myself so much with Thranduil the previous night, which wasn’t fair, since I had been against it from the beginning. I finally crawled onto the bed and fell asleep at once.

It was 2:00 when Haldir woke me from a dead sleep with his caresses. I had never seen him quite like this, either. His breathing was already labored and his kisses demanding as he quickly shed his shirt. I wondered how long he had been there and if I had missed anything.

“I need you right now, Sinda, please,” he begged, unzipping his jeans.

“You have me, Haldir,” I assured him, coming fully awake.

“It is going to be fast this time,” he warned, freeing his erection.

“That’s fine. We can go slow next time,” I assured him, just seconds before he began ramming into me.

He was right, it was very rushed but I was shocked to find that I was so excited by his passion that I came with him, just as hard as he did. It was tremendous. When we both finally grew still, I stroked his hair and asked him what had brought this about.

“I was with somebody else before you, tonight,” he confessed. I shoved him away from me as quickly as if he’d been on fire.

“I pleasured her but I did not join with her. I saved that for you,” he tried to explain.

I stared at him for a moment, unsure how I felt about this revelation. He was excited because he had been with somebody else, and that was upsetting. The fact that he had waited for me was encouraging. I was confused as to how I should feel.

“I had already promised her to be with her tonight, but I told her that it was the last time.”

“Why?” I had to know.

“Because of how I feel about you,” he kissed me, “and because Thranduil has already told me that he plans to be with you when I cannot do so.”

“I see,” I said, my heart beating a little faster at both confessions. “So this way you got to be with somebody else, but were still able to prevent me from doing the same.”

He raised an eyebrow, “That is only partly true. I did prevent you from being with Thranduil, but I was not with the other person because I wanted to be, only because I had made a commitment to do so.”

I couldn’t stay mad at him and I let him pull me against his chest.

“Did you enjoy last night?” he asked, curious. I had planned on downplaying what had happened with Thranduil, but damn it, knowing that Haldir had been with somebody else tonight had hurt me. I wasn’t about to spare his feelings, now.

“It was amazing. Thranduil was everything that you promised he would be,” I said, feeling a slight twinge of guilt at the hurt look that I saw cross his face. I didn’t stop, though. “Anytime you are busy with somebody else, I would be happy to have Thranduil stop by and visit me.”

His eyes looked deep into mine and I almost relented and told him the truth, that I only wanted him. Thranduil did not matter to me, not much.

“If you would be happier with Thranduil…” he started, though it sounded like he had a hard time getting the words out.

“I wouldn’t be, Haldir,” I told him, sighing. “I want you.”

He smiled and started to oblige me, though I had to warn him that we needed to be quiet because Glen and the kids were right next door.

“I think you should have said something earlier, because we were slamming the headboard into the wall,” he pointed out, smiling.

“That wall is O.K.” I told him, pointing at it. “They are on the other side. We just can’t make other loud noises.”

“I cannot scream out your name?” he asked, nuzzling my neck.

“It wouldn’t be advisable,” I told him, running my fingers through his hair.

He suddenly smiled and it was one of those smiles that made me nervous. He was planning something. “I can be quiet, Sinda, but can you?”

He stood and lifted me into his arms and I assumed he was taking me to the shower. Instead, we moved towards the wall that stood between my room and Glen’s.

“Haldir?” I asked warily, wondering what he was doing.

He stood me near the wall and pressed me against it very carefully with his body. Holding my hands above my head with one hand, he proceeded to use the other hand to pleasure me as he kissed and licked my neck and continued down to my breasts. I moaned before I thought to hold it back.

“Shhh, Sinda,” he whispered into my ear before biting the lobe. “Your friend will hear.”

Staying silent as he ravaged my body was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. And when I thought I could take no more, he lifted me onto his very prominent erection and pinned me to the wall with his body. I didn’t see how it was possible to do what he obviously had in mind without slamming against the wall, but I watched, my breathing ragged, to see how he would proceed. My back was flat against the wall and he reached an arm beneath my bottom to support me as he slowly rocked into me. I wanted him to take me hard and fast and this was absolute torture but he knew that. I could tell by the smile on his face. Taking pity on me at last, he reached his free hand down and began to use his fingers on me as he continued his slow thrusts. After an agonizingly long time, my body tensed up and I buried my face in the hollow between his neck and shoulder as the shudders wracked my body. I bit down on his smooth skin, though I hadn’t intended to do it. Even then, I thought that some of my cries escaped. Haldir did better than I had, placing his mouth over mine and groaning softly as he spilled himself into me. I looked into his eyes when we were done and touched my lips to his before kissing his neck where I had left teeth marks. They were not deep and would soon disappear, but I still felt bad about leaving them.

“You did very well, Sinda,” he whispered as he carried me back to the bed for more. “I doubt that your friend heard a thing.”

~~~

Haldir was wrong about Glen not having heard anything. He asked me the next day if I had had another late night because he thought he had heard noises coming from my room in the early morning.

“The people above me were very loud,” I told him. It was true, though they weren’t near as loud as Haldir and I had been.

Glen and I had been friends for years, but now I was getting to know him a lot better, as one did on a trip of this sort. One of the things I was discovering is that while he didn’t seem interested in having a conversation of any depth, he was also bothered by silence. That meant that the minute I started trying to type on my laptop, he’d ask me a question or make a comment. I’d stop writing to answer him and then I’d wait to see if he’d continue the conversation. When I thought it was safe to proceed, I’d type about three words and he’d say something else. Often it wasn’t even directed at me but would simply be a comment that he was making to himself. In fact, he mumbled a lot, so I almost always had to ask him to repeat himself. It was starting to grate on my nerves and it made writing almost impossible. I finally gave up and instead I discussed my plot with Dex, who had some good ideas about how I could continue the story. I traded seats with the Witch for a while so that Dex and I could work on a few things, but I started watching him play his Game Boy and asked him about it. He explained the basics of Pokemon Gold and handed me the Princess’s Game Boy to try. I could see right away how this could become addicting. He explained to me how he could even connect the two Game Boys with a link cable and we could trade Pokemon’s. I started getting into it, while he worked on editing another of my stories.

We watched “Return of the King” that evening and once again, the kids were spellbound. Glen decided that he’d better catch up and asked if I could drive a while the next day while he watched the second movie. That was fine with me. I could work on my plot while they were busy watching the movie. I was relatively sure where I wanted to go with the story now, but I still have some things to figure out. Maybe I could even write a little while I waited for Haldir tonight. I had a sudden thought. So far, I had never let him into the room. He had always found his own way in; probably just by walking through the walls since he was imaginary. I wondered if he would show up if I stayed awake and waited for him. I decided to try it.

I showered immediately that night and sat down at the table to write. I was just getting into the story and when a knock came on the door. Assuming that it was Glen or one of the kids, I opened the door without looking first and was shocked to see Thranduil standing there, a smile on his face. I was even more surprised to see the Witch walk by at that moment. I pulled the king into the room and closed the door.

“Sinda, you do not look happy to see me,” he said wrapping me in a hug and immediately attacking my neck as he edged me towards the bed.

“Actually, I am very happy to see you,” I told him, honestly. “I just wish that the Witch hadn’t also seen you. You might be hard to explain.”

“Why do you need to explain anything?” he asked, undressing me with expert hands.

“I don’t really, but it’s still awkward,” I said, caring less by the minute as he worked his magic on me. I had been looking forward to a night with Haldir, but after about five minutes with Thranduil, I was thinking only of him. It bothered me to know that the reason he was here was obviously because Haldir was otherwise occupied, but if that were the case, I would enjoy my time with Thranduil without concerning myself about the Marchwarden’s feelings. I was a little nervous about being with him alone, but I thought that I could handle it. He seemed to read my mind because he smiled and whispered into my ear, “Are you not afraid, Sinda? You do not have your bodyguard present tonight.”

“Do I look worried?” I asked.

“Not yet,” he said, pulling out a length of elven rope. I raised an eyebrow but refused to let my fear show.

It was a long and eventful night. I have to say that without Haldir around to inhibit the king’s actions, he became very creative. The ropes were just the beginning and I have to admit that while I was a little scared when he tied my wrists and took me roughly, at the same time, it was quite exciting. I was even more scared with what he did next. He gagged me first, and I didn’t think that that was a good sign. He wasn’t taking me against my will, but he also would not be giving me much of a chance to protest. I saw him get a vial of oil out and throw a wicked grin my way. My eyes grew big but as my wrists were still bound, there wasn’t much I could do as he flipped me onto my stomach. I tried to roll back over until he placed his knees over my legs to hold me down. I felt something press against the wrong opening and I tensed up, wondering if I had gotten myself in way over my head. He leaned over me and spoke soothing words into my ears as he reached a hand between my legs and pleasured me, bringing me close to completion. Then the finger reappeared where I didn’t want it, once more. This time, he continued to kiss my neck and whisper words in Elvish into my ear as he penetrated the opening with an oil slicked finger. It didn’t hurt, but it was uncomfortable and he promised me that it would feel better if I relaxed. I tried to do so and by the time he went to breach the opening with his member, I wanted him badly.

“Are you ready for me, Sinda?” he asked. I nodded, giving permission. I still couldn’t believe that I was allowing this and was glad that it was just a figment of my warped mind and not real life. Because he pleasured me with his hand at the same time, it was easier to relax and let it happen. It was very uncomfortable at first and I almost changed my mind, but soon I relaxed again and began to enjoy it. The Elvish words he was speaking into my ear made it even better and when he groaned and emptied himself into me, I came with him. We moved immediately to the shower and continued our marathon love-making session. I never knew what to expect with Thranduil, and it was fun but it was also very tiring. As had happened on our previous time together, he completely wore me out until I had nothing left to give him. I finally had to beg him to stop in the early hours of the morning.

“I’m sorry,” I told him, kissing him. “I can’t take any more.”

He nodded and actually lay down next to me on the bed, holding me. That was a surprise because so far I had not seen much romance from him, only sex. I had assumed that he would either leave immediately when I told him that I was tired or ignore my words and keep going.

“I want to come back soon, Sinda,” he told me, gently biting down on my lower lip.

I nodded and smiled at him. “Not too soon, though, because I need to rest after you leave me.”

He smiled at me and kissed me again. “You will have to make a choice, eventually. It will not continue this way forever.”

That got my attention. “What do you mean?”

“For now I am satisfied with visiting you when Haldir is otherwise occupied, but I will not do that forever. You will have to decide which of us you want.”

If I had been told that about six hours earlier, I would have said that there was no decision to make, that it was Haldir I wanted. Now, I had to admit that Thranduil was growing on me, just as Haldir had predicted. It also bothered me to know that Haldir was once again with somebody else. I felt like an afterthought to him, yet Thranduil didn’t seem to have a problem being here for me. Being king, he had to have a busy schedule, yet he was able to make time for me. This was going to require some thought. Again, I wondered if he had read my mind, because he brought up that very issue.

“Are you willing to settle for having Haldir once every week or two, when he’s not busy with somebody else?” he asked as he ran a hand down my arm.

“Don’t tell me you aren’t equally busy,” I said, having heard of his reputation already.

“I am busy if I choose to be,” he told me. “It will not last forever, but while we are together, I would be faithful as long as you can keep up with me.”

“And if I can’t keep up with you?” I asked, knowing that I could not.

“Then I will be forced to fill in those times with others. I have great needs,” he told me. He didn’t need to; I had already witnessed it.

“So how would this be different than what Haldir is doing?” I asked.

“Because you will never know when Haldir is going to want you and when he is going to be occupied. With me, the decision will be completely up to you.”

“And if I decide that I want to be with you every night, you would not ever be with another as long as we are together?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” he said. We both smiled because we knew it would never happen and he was simply playing a game with me. I couldn’t possibly spend every night making love to him and still carry on a normal life. His offer was meant to make him look more generous than Haldir, though it all boiled down to the same thing.

“How long do you think we would be together?” I asked him as I tried to ignore the way his hands were now moving up and down my back, sending chills down my spine.

“Honestly, I do not know,” he admitted. “It could be six months and it could be ten years. It would be until either you or I decide we wish to move on.”

“In other words, it would be until you get bored with me,” I corrected him. If I chose him, I could not imagine ever wanting to move on.

“Perhaps. It is also possible that you will meet a human that you will want to settle down with and have children.”

I almost laughed at that one, after the last several days I’d spent with Glen and his kids. No, my fantasy world was much better than that.

“One more question,” I said, growing drowsy again despite what his hands were doing to my body.

“Yes?” he asked, brushing the hair out of my eyes as he waited.

“Why?”

“You are fun and I know that I will enjoy being with you for a while,” he told me.

“But Haldir wants to be with me because of the way he feels about me,” I told him.

“Is that what he said? Then why is he not here tonight?” the king asked. When he saw the look on my face, he hugged me to his chest. “I am sorry, Sinda, but if Haldir gave you the impression that he is in love with you, he has misled you, though I am sure that it was not intentional. Elves do not fall in love with humans, as a rule, because it would eventually mean their own death.”

“He told me that. He said that he has feelings for me though he cannot love me as deeply as I love him,” I admitted.

“What does that mean, Sinda?” he asked me, gently. “I care for you, too. There is no difference between Haldir and myself on that issue. Do not let yourself count too highly on him being in love with you and please do not base your decision on that. Sleep now and I will be with you again, soon.”

His kiss was the last thing I remembered, once again.

I know that I was quiet the next day because I had a lot on my mind. I offered to drive so that Glen could watch the Two Towers and Return of the King and I was glad that they were engrossed in the movie, because I needed the time to think upon Thranduil’s words. This was all so overwhelming. Once again I wondered why, if it was my fantasy, I didn’t have more control over it. Why couldn’t I just have one elf and live happily ever after? Instead, I was supposed to pick one of the two elves, neither of whom loved me. I was to choose one and then either way I would have a part time relationship with somebody who would also be with others. Is this what I wanted? I mean, these were elves, after all, but was it worth it? Yes it was and I knew it. I would choose one but for the first time, I wasn’t completely sure which one it would be. I would have to talk to Haldir before I could make a decision and I hoped that I didn’t need to decide too soon.

When we stopped for dinner that night, I was happy to see that Glen was standing firm with the Princess. The poor fat kid thought that she was going to starve to death. At least she didn’t throw a fit this time when her dad picked out something healthy for her to eat, though she whined all the way through the meal and gulped her dessert down in about three bites. The Witch was also in for a surprise when she ordered the sirloin steak and her dad told her to pick something else. She looked at him, stunned.

“You haven’t eaten a whole meal, yet,” he told her. Pick something that you can finish and don’t plan on dessert unless you get something small.”

She looked like he had just told her that she’d have to go to work in the coal mines to support them all. Grabbing the dessert menu, she looked it over, mumbling under her breath and throwing up her hands in frustration. She must not have seen anything very good because she ended up ordering a bowl of soup and some bread, which I suspected was meant to represent prison food. I’ll bet if they had listed gruel on the menu, she would have ordered it. The Witch ate about half of her soup and when she tried to order dessert, her dad stopped her. She pouted in an overly dramatic fashion and glared at me but I didn’t care. Of course she retaliated by knocking my entire iced tea into my lap. I would have given her the benefit of the doubt and assumed that it had been an accident, except for the look on her face. I’ve never wanted to smack someone so badly in my entire life but I didn’t allow myself to dwell on it because I had more important things to think about. Once again, I wondered how long it would be until I was forced to make a decision.

~To be continued~