The old ways

After some hours the group of Rohan riders and the four members of the fellowship rode towards Isengard. Gimli was glad that he was sitting behind Legolas. This way he was able to register any tremor or shudder in the elf’s form, and thus had the chance to calm him whenever there was the need.


Haldir watched as Eowyn rolled the parchment on her lap and started to write a short notice on his condition and that she would try and bring him to Edoras as soon as possible. When she had finished, she rolled it up and gave it to Marna to seal it and take it to the messenger who was to leave for Edoras next morning. She wished she could have told Haldir, that the note was being send this very day, but they all knew that it made more sense and was far less risky to leave at dawn the next day.
Haldir smiled gratefully at her and sighed with relief when he laid his head back down onto the pillow. He had been holding his head up for most of the time without really noticing it and the pain had become unbearable by now.
Eowyn saw Haldir wince slightly as he lowered his head again and she decided it would be a good time to distract him from his perils and lighten his mood a bit.
“Tell me Haldir, you really are married to Legolas? With an actual celebration and everything?”
“Yes, it is called bonded among my people, but you would call it a wedding. I must have shocked you, my Lady by telling it to you. For I have heard that mankind is objecting relationships as ours. I am sorry if I have caused you distress.”
“You are right, though I can not speak for all of mankind. Here in Rohan it is, well, not common so to say. But I thought about you and Legolas. How can we judge a relationship like yours. For it is obviously as important and valued like any other relationship between a man and a woman. So, no you have caused me no distress. On the contrary, I would love to hear more about you and Legolas. I have only known Legolas for a very short while, but I found he was very kind and I liked him a lot.”
Haldir’s had brightened as he answered her “If it pleases you, I would tell you some more about us.”
“Please do so. For how long have bee been married?”
“For over 1500 years.”
“Oh my, that is a long time. You love him very much don’t you?”
“Yes, even though there were some times where I thought that I didn’t. Not enough anyway.”
“Don’t tell you two had a fight.” Eowyn pretended to look shocked.
Haldir gave a small chuckle “Believe me you can have a lot of fights in so many years. But we weren’t together all the time.”
“Why? What did separate you?”
“We did , my Lady. We had known each other for many, many years before we got bonded. We lived together quite happily for a while after our marriage, but then came a time where we had more and more disagreements. Legolas was very young when I met and fell in love with him. I am much older than he is, so at first I thought that it was a problem resulting from the age difference. Then again, Legolas is a crown prince and sometimes he behaved as such. Obnoxious, a little bit selfish and he was used to getting his way. I on the other hand sometimes tried to order him around so naturally those situation ended up in a fight. After about 500 years it got very bad indeed and in the end, he threw his ring at me and left. That was the time that I thought I didn’t really loved him. You see, I didn’t even try to hold him back.”
“I am sorry, for you two. You said he threw his ring at you? What ring?”
“I had adopted the idea of mankind of giving my beloved a wedding band on our wedding day. It was his ring he threw down on the ground to my feet.”
Eowyn suddenly blushed furiously and quickly withdrew something from her pouch that was hanging down from her belt. “Oh Haldir, I am sorry. I completely forgot about this,” she held the Mithril chain with the two rings out to him “I found these on you when we had to disrobe you. The chain is broken, but I think that doesn’t really matter, does it?”
Haldir looked at the rings and tears welled up in his eyes. “I was sure that they were lost in battle. I didn’t have the heart to throw them away and kept them. When Legolas came to Lothlorien on his way here, I didn’t think of returning it to him, I was to occupied with making up for the lost time with him. But when I had decided to lead our troops here, I took them with me. I wanted to give him his ring back, if he still wants it after the battle with a more enchanting atmosphere, but alas that did not happen.”
“I am sure you will have this opportunity soon. It sounds though as if you two have overcome your differences and are happy again.”
“Yes, we have. The years apart have changed both of us. He has grown more mature and I have tried to understand his motives. I hope we have the chance of making our marriage work. When the war is over and Middle earth has found peace again.” Haldir’s looked tired and he smiled at Eowyn. “You look tired my Lord Haldir. Maybe it was time you took a rest. I will look after you, while you rest and if you are hungry later on I can always try and get some more of the delicious porridge.” She smiled sheepishly and carefully drew the covers up over Haldir’s back.