Rides A Pale Horse

Title: Rides a Pale Horse
Author: Emmess
Rated: NC17
Genre: Romance, Angst, movie verse, to a point.
Summary: The Elves arrive at Helm's Deep


Rides a Pale Horse, Part IV


Haldir swung the door to Amaryn's bedchamber shut with his foot, before setting her down gently on her feet. His arms stayed wrapped around her, her head nestled in the crook of his shoulder.
Breathing deeply of the scent of her, he buried his nose for a moment in the soft halo of her fine golden hair. Taking several deep breaths, he tried to calm his own racing heart, although he could not help the evidence of his desire from rising, hot and aching, between them.

She could feel him pressed against her thigh, burning her skin even through the barriers of his leggings and her dress. A shiver ran through her, and she felt tears threaten her eyes, frightened. Not of Haldir...she did not wish to move from his arms. She did not wish him to ever let go, although she knew such a wish was foolish. He had said that he wanted her...and she knew vaguely of what he spoke. He wanted to do to her what men did to women in the privacy of their beds, but she feared that he would change his mind when he saw her scars. It was that fear that brought the tremor that ran through her and the threat of tears to her eyes.

Haldir felt her arm clutch at his waist even as the other remained pinned between them. Gently, he pulled back from her a bit, far enough to look into her eyes. Seeing the fear and the misting of unshed tears in them, he nearly changed his mind. He wanted, above all else, to cause no further pain for this woman.

"We will not do this if you do not desire it, Amaryn," he whispered, unable to keep the wistful note from his voice.

"Do you desire it, Haldir?" she asked softly, her lower lip quivering as she awaited his answer. She fully expected him to tell her that he had been rash, had spoken too quickly, that he had changed his mind.

"More than I desire to take my next breath, Amaryn," Haldir replied truthfully. "But I will not force you into something you do not want."

"You will not want me once you see me, Haldir..." Amaryn murmured, almost too low for even his extraordinary hearing to register. "But I do want you. I want you so much...I..." And with that, the tears escaped her control, sliding down her cheeks in meandering paths.

"I will always want you, Amaryn. Always," he repeated, drawing her close again, rocking her gently. His heart broke at her fragility, at the raw need in her voice that was overshadowed by the fear that he would reject her because of her scars.

"I fear that you only do this because you pity me, Haldir. I do not want your pity, Haldir, but I will accept it since I cannot ask you for more than that," she whispered against the skin of his throat.

Again he pulled back from her, this time a glint of anger flashing in his gray eyes. "Never think that I pity you, Amaryn. I have no pity for one who needs it not! You are stronger than you give yourself credit for, more beautiful in my eyes than you can imagine. You do not have my pity...but you do have my love."

It was true, he realized. He did love her. Perhaps it was not the earth-shattering love of legend, or the type of love that a true soul mate might bring - the kind that might cause him to fade for the emptiness it left in his heart once it was gone, but love nonetheless. Perhaps not everyone was destined for that type of undying love. He had grown to care deeply for her, and would continue to care for her until she drew her last breath. It might not be a love of the ages, but it was enough, and, he vowed, never would he allow her to know any differently.

Lowering his head, he again kissed her, his lips soft against hers. His tongue, hot and wet, traced over her lips, seeking entrance. When she parted them in surprise, he pushed past her lips and teeth entering her mouth, seeking her tongue with his own. He tasted her fully, delighting in the sweet warmth and texture of her tongue against his, as she lost her nervousness and began to return the kiss.

Not idle, his hands ran themselves up and down her back, following the curve of her spine. Settling on the ties the held her girdle cinched tightly about her waist, he pulled gently on the ends, freeing her from it.

Next his fingers found the ribbons that held her dress closed, loosening them, allowing the neckline of her gown to gape and slip from her shoulders. His heart beat faster as his fingers glided over the silky skin of her shoulders helping it slide off, letting it puddle on the floor about her feet.

She gasped as the cool air hit her skin, realizing that nothing stood between his eyes and her body now, no shield remained to cover her scars. Her healthy arm moved from his waist to her chest, as she broke their kiss, turning her face from him.

"Look at me, Amaryn," he whispered.

She did not answer, but tried to turn herself from him, her injured arm falling limp to her side, afraid for what his eyes would tell her when she looked into them after they saw what her dress had hidden from view.

Taking hold of her shoulders, he again ordered her to look at him, more forcefully this time, a hint of the Captain in his voice. When she obediently turned back, her eyes wide and frightened, he moved aside her arm that covered her chest, deliberately letting his vision drift slowly down her neck to her breasts, and let it linger there, committing each line, each shadow to his memory. Her scars were red, raised...a ropy serpent that snaked its way from her left shoulder diagonally across her chest, ending just beneath her right breast. His eyes saw this...but they also saw the two nearly perfectly round globes of soft white flesh tipped with delicate rose-colored buds that begged for his touch. After a moment or two, they were all he saw.

Returning his gaze to meet her eyes once more, he bent, plundering her mouth, allowing her to feel his complete desire for her in his roughly plunging tongue and in his hard heat as he rubbed himself wantonly against her thigh. Let her feel his mounting need in his fingers that slid up her waist to cup her breasts, in his thumbs that stroked her nipples, hardening them further than they already were from the chill air.

She felt his desire and responded instantly, forgetting her scars, forgetting her worries, forgetting her timidity, her own hand running itself over his shoulder, feeling the hard muscles work in his arm as his hand fondled her body. With reckless abandon, her fingers pulled his cape free of his shoulder, sending down it to join her gown on the floor. Eagerly her fingers next attacked the clasps of his jerkin, wanting desperately to feel his skin instead of the soft, pale green fabric.

She moaned in frustration when her fingers failed to easily free him from his tunic. Smiling even as his continued to kiss her, his hands left her breasts for a moment, making short work of the clasps the held his tunic closed. He shrugged it from his shoulders, not caring where it fell. Smashing her to his chest, he delighted in the feel of her breasts against his skin, his tongue once again seeking hers in an erotic dance.

His erection strained at the fabric of his leggings, seeking to free itself from the confines of the material. Kicking off his boots he gave it its freedom, unlacing his leggings and wriggling out of them without ever breaking the connection between his lips and hers.

Moaning into her mouth as his hot flesh connected with the soft skin of her belly, he at last broke his kiss, resting his chin on the top of her head, taking in a long, shuddering breath. "I do not wish to rush this, Amaryn...I wish to make this right for you."

"Whatever you do will be right, Haldir," she whispered, her healthy hand stoking the silken skin of his back, laying her head on his shoulder.

He replied by laying a trail of soft wet kisses down the side of her jaw, nuzzling and nipping gently at the delicate skin of her neck until he arrived at the juncture of her throat and shoulder. There he paused, his lips sucking warmth to the surface of her skin, marking her as his.

Sliding down the small of her back, his hands cupped her rounded bottom, squeezing the soft flesh in the palms of his hands. Delighted at her reaction as she moaned and thrust herself backward into his hands, he shivered as her hand mimicked his by rubbing itself lightly over his own firmly muscled cheeks, gasping as one of her slender fingers dipped between the cleft.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he bent to lift her into his arms, carrying her to lay her gently on the bed.

Straddling her, to her eyes he seemed godlike, perfect in form and beauty. Her eyes slid over his sculpted form, her fingers, barely touching his skin, following her line of sight until they reached his member, standing stiff against his chiseled abdomen from its nest of silver curls. Hesitantly, she ran a single finger along his length, marveling at the velvety feel of the skin, coming away wet from the drops of moisture that clung to its tip.

It was nearly enough to undo him. A strangled half-growl in his throat, he descended on her, his lips following the path her scar cut, laying down kiss upon kiss until they found themselves at her right breast, drawing her aching nipple into his warm mouth.

He moved a knee to lay between her thighs, separating them and giving him access to her secrets. As he suckled at her breast, rolling her nipple with his tongue, his hand slid between her wet folds, searching for, and finding the tiny nub that lay hidden there.

She moaned and began to writhe as his callused thumb gently rubbed her, sending sensations unlike any she had ever felt before, coursing through her. Slowly, his lips moving from one breast to the other, his finger moving faster between her legs, she felt an incredible bloom of fire ignite in her belly, moving swiftly to envelope her entire being in a maelstrom of ecstasy.

As her back arched and his name fled her lips, he quickly positioned himself and, in a single fluid motion, sheathed himself fully in her channel, breaking through her maidenhead. Forcing himself to remain motionless, he bent to cover her mouth with his as she descended from her apex to feel the pain the loss of her innocence had necessitated.

"I am sorry, little one...it could not be avoided. It will not hurt the next time, my love," he whispered, true regret for the pain he had caused in his voice.

"I love you, Haldir..." she whispered back, straining her neck forward to kiss him. "Worry not...what you have given me was well worth any small discomfort."

Still holding himself in check, his thumb again found her nub, gently teasing it, until she once more began to moan her pleasure. Only then did he allow himself to begin to move within her, matching his strokes to the rhythm of his hand, bringing her with him as found his release, calling her name, filling her with his seed and himself with a joy greater than he had ever imagined possible.

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Anor had risen halfway to its height before Haldir cracked open his eyes. Turning his head, he smiled at the woman who lay curled in his arms...his wife.

"Amaryn," he whispered, brushing his lips against her forehead. "Amaryn, wake...the day has already begun."

Murmuring, she instead snuggled closer, causing the smile on his face to widen. "Lazy this morning, are we? I, too, would be content to lie here the rest of the day, but there will be some who look for us..."

She tilted her head up to smile at him, even as he dipped his down to claim her lips. "Good morn, Captain."

"Good morn, my love."

"Must we really move? I've no wish to leave your arms."

Haldir chuckled, saying, "Do you really wish for my brothers to burst into this room, as I am certain they shall, thinking that perhaps we had both met with misfortune, and find you in such a state? I certainly do not mind feasting my eyes on your body, but I must insist that I be the only one allowed to do so." His hand moved to cup a breast, illustrating his point.

She giggled, blushing and burying her face in his chest. "No, I suppose that would not do at all! Still, it would be nice to lie here a while longer..."

His hand left her breast, a bit reluctantly, to squeeze her as his other arm wrapped around her. Holding her close he whispered, "There is something else I wish to do today." He pulled back, looking her in the eyes. "My love, in my heart and to my people we are now wed. You are my wife...I am your husband. And yet I understand that your people have need for a ceremony of another sort, where words are said that bind the couple together. I will not deprive you of this. I will ask King Elessar to say these words for us, this very day."

"Your wife? I am your...wife?" Amaryn repeated, a look of surprise and wonder creeping into her eyes, along with the beginnings of tears.

"Do you not wish it so?" Haldir asked, suddenly worried that he might have overstepped his bounds by not making everything clear to her the night before.

"There is nothing I would wish other than to be your wife, Haldir...but are you certain it is what you wish?"

"If I did not, I never would have made love to you. I knew full well the permanency of a bond such an act would create, and entered willingly into it. I love you, Amaryn, I told you this last night. I wish us to be wed. We are to my people, and soon we will be to yours, as well."

Her only reply was to wrap her healthy arm around his waist, bury her face in his chest, and weep with joy.

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"And so we have gained a sister," Rumil said to Haldir, knowing at first glance exactly where his brother had spent the night and how he had filled his time.

Haldir nodded, his arm around Amaryn's waist as the quartet met in the hall. True to Haldir's prediction, Orophin and Rumil were just about to burst into Amaryn's chambers when the door had opened and the couple had walked out into the hallway.

Orophin smiled broadly. He put both hands on Amaryn's shoulders, placing a chaste kiss first on one cheek, then the other, and again on her forehead. "Welcome, little sister. We have much hope for Haldir now. He not be grumpy all time any more."

Amaryn laughed as Orophin stepped aside and Rumil took his place. The youngest brother also placed kisses on her cheeks and brow, speaking softly in his own language.

"He says he welcomes you to our family, Amaryn, and that should I give you trouble, he would gladly beat me senseless."

Overcome by her emotions, Amaryn cried and laughed at the same time, finding herself immediately enveloped in Haldir's strong arms. Over Amaryn's head, he asked his brothers to stand witness to the ceremony he hoped King Elessar would agree to perform.

Smiling and nodding, they led the way down the white marble staircase, in search of the new King.

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The summer sun shone brightly on the day Haldir sat Amaryn on her pale gray mare to begin the long trek to Lothlorien. He looked up at her, his heart filled with happiness at the change in her. No longer did a shadow of melancholia cling to her, no longer did she seek to hide her damaged hand, or feel compelled to trace her scars with the other. Instead she smiled often, her happiness giving her an unmistakable glow, laughing easily, talkative and animated, and a true joy to both himself and his brothers.

Setting off, leaving the spiraling city of Minas Tirith behind along with their friends, both old and new, they took with them a wealth of memories locked within their hearts, protected, sheltered, and kept alive by their love.

Haldir would not hazard a guess at how long it would take them to reach Lothlorien, for he would not push Amaryn beyond her limits. He knew that, for all her laughter and smiles, she still felt pain, as Orophin had predicted she would, and he would not stand for it to be exacerbated by long hours in the saddle.

Each afternoon they made camp early, sharing a meal between the four of them. Two fires were lit as darkness fell, however, a fair distance from each other, for Orophin and Rumil knew that the couple desired and required privacy at night, and the two brothers had insisted upon it.

Try as they might, Haldir and Amaryn were not always as restrained and quiet as they would have hoped to be. Quite often the two brothers, lying at their fire though a goodly distance apart from the Elf and his wife, would exchange bemused glances, rolling their eyes and chuckling at the passionate noises that floated over to them on the warm night breeze.

Without fail the following morning, one or the other would tease Haldir in their own language until the Elf's ears would burn a bright red. Never did they let Amaryn know what they had overheard, having no wish to embarrass their new sister, but they did not hesitate to rake Haldir over the coals with their knowledge of his exploits.

The moon had turned its full face on them twice before they sighted their beloved homeland far in the distance. Unconsciously they spurred their mounts on a bit faster, the woods of Lothlorien beckoning to the three Elves like a mother's arms to wayward sons.

They were home, and so, Amaryn knew as she looked up into the beaming face of her husband, was she.

TBC...