The Price of Pride
folder
-Multi-Age › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
61
Views:
1,902
Reviews:
53
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
-Multi-Age › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
61
Views:
1,902
Reviews:
53
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 59
A/N: Sorry for the very long delay. I've had a terrible time getting on the server here to add additional chapters. If anyone gets tired of waiting, all the chapters I have written (118 to date) are at http://www.ofelvesandmen.com/StoriesbyAuthor/A/ArielTachna.htm Now on to the chapter.
Elvish translations
Gwador – brother
Hannon chen – thank you
Ion nín – my son
Nach maetolo – you’re welcome
Mae govannen – well met
Meldir – friend
Perian – Halfling (Hobbit)
Tolo – come
Chapter 59
I returned home, to find my balance again and to finish coming to terms with the reality of my foolishness. The Shadow grew stronger in Dol Guldur, and I was rarely away from home. Until 3018 of the Third Age, the beginning of the end. My father sent me to Imladris, for an important council he said.
“If the council is so important,” I asked, “should you not be the one to go, Ada?”
“This is your task, Legolas, the one that Elrond and Galadriel have foreseen for you,” he replied.
As I was leaving, he gave me one final instruction. “Remember, ion nín, that you have a role to play yet in all of this, though it may break your heart once again. Duty is not enough. You must stay true to your heart. Only then is it possito sto succeed.”
I did not understand my father’s words as I led the party of Mirkwood Elves to Imladris, accompanied by Saelbeth and Silinde, two of my father’s most trusted advisors. They would advise me, should I need it, but I was to speak for my father. And by extension, for all of Mirkwood.
We rode hard, for the roads were no longer safe, shortening our journey as much as possible.
The courtyard was empty when we first rode into Imladris. I dismounted and looked around, amazed as always at the beauty of Rivendell. I could hear the trees whispering their welcome. I answered in kind, and pulled a little extra strength from them. I suspected I would need it before the day’s end. I was just about to go in search of a servant when Elrohir’s voice called out to me.
“Mae govannen, Legolas,” he shouted from across the courtyard.
“Mae govannen, gwador,” I replied with a smile. I had not seen the twins since I left Rivendell almost seventy years earlier, and I had missed my friends.
When he reached our side, he greeted my escort as well. “Tolo,” he said to all of us, “let us get you settled. I am sure you will want to bathe and rest before dinner. The council is set for tomorrow, so you have time.”
The others nodded, eager for a chance to wash away the dust of the road. I hung back, waiting to speak to Elrohir alone. When the others were out of earshot, I asked, “’Ro, is Aragorn here?”
“Aye,” he replied, “and Arwen as well. Aragorn arrived a few days ago with a strange company.”
“I need to speak with him. Where would I find him?”
“Legolas,” he cautioned, “he has made his choice.”
“I know that and I do not poach,” I told Elrohir quietly. “But we were friends once. I have not seen him in many years and I would like to know what he has been doing.”
“You will probably find him in the library. I will take your pack to your room,” Elrohir offered.
“Hannon chen, meldir.”
“Nach maetolo,” he replied. I left him there in the courtyard and headed for the library. As predicted, Aragorn was there, sitting comfortably in a chair, book across his knees. As soon as I saw him, I remembered what Arwen had said about his having matured. She was absolutely right. I had known a young man, barely above his majority. The man sitting in front of me now was one fully grown, fully developed. I felt an immediate ache in my heart at having been stupid enough to lose him all those years ago, but I smiled nonetheless, a little surprised to realize that it was not a forced smile. “Mae govannen, Aragorn,” I said into the silence.
His head jerked up as he sought to locate the voice that spoke from the shadows. I stepped forward into the light. “Mae govannen, Legolas,” Aragorn replied, genuine delight on his face as he rose and embraced me. I hesitated for a moment, but I had longed for any touch for such a length of time that even this embrace between friends was a relief. Aragorn pulled back and looked at me. “You have not changed at all.”
“I am an Elf,” I answered with a smile. “You, though, have changed indeed. I hardly recognize you. Where has my Estel disappeared to?” I said it teasingly, but it was perhaps the wrong choice of words.
“I have not been your Estel for many years,” Aragorn replied, a slight chill in his voice.
“Forgive me, Aragorn,” I said quickly. “I did not mean to offend. Tell me what you have been doing. What brings us all to Rivendell?”
Aragorn recounted then the strangest tale I had ever heard, though I have heard one stranger since. He told me first of his time as a Ranger with the Dúnedain of the North. He told me of receiving word from Mithrandir, whom we came to call Gandalf, and how he had planned to meet Gandalf in a small inn in the town of Bree. Gandalf had not come, but Aragorn fourfour Periannath, one of whom had inherited a ring, but not just any ring. The One Ring. He told of hiding from the Nazgûl that found them in Bree. Then, of a journey through the wild to Rivendell. Of a battle with five of the Ringwraiths on Amon Súl. He spoke of the injury that one of the Periannath had sustained and of how he feared to lose the Hobbit to the Shadow. “I searched for athelas, to slow the poison. I was so focused on the search that I did not hear the footsteps that approached. She never tires of it, Legolas, trying to get the better of me.”
He did not say Arwen’s name, but he did not have to. I saw the light in his eyes as he spoke and knew that he could only be referring to her. “She was searching for you?”
“And she found us, with a sword to my throat, just to see me flinch.” I laughed at the embarrassment on Aragorn’s face even as I cringed at the thought that he was the one she was now seeking to best. Always before, it had been me. “When she saw Frodo, she knew, as I did, that he was fading. She had Asfaloth with her. I was going to ride ahead with him, to the banks of the Bruinen where he would be safe, but she would not let me. She insisted that she was the faster rider, that she should take him. I tried to argue, but she would not listen. She took Frodo and rode out of my sight. I have never been so scared, Legolas. The other Hobbits were all in a panic, demanding to know what I thought I was doing. I did nnswenswer them. How could I tell them that I knew exactly what I was doing, even if it was likely to kill me? I was sending the one I loved to face the Nazgûl.”
“Elrohir said she was here. Is she unharmed?” I experienced a moment of panic, and though I knew that Aragorn could not have stopped Arwen if she was determined to do something, a part of me wanted to shake him for letting her go into danger that way. Then I remembered all the conversations she and I had had on that very subject. It was probably just as well that Aragorn had not tried harder to stop her.
Aragorn smiled in response to my question, a huge grin of smug satisfaction. “She outrode them all, Legolas. She drew them all to the Fords of the Bruinen, tempting them into the river, then calling down the waters, washing them away, leaving them unhorsed to slink back to Mordor however they could. I did not see it, of course, having stayed behind with the other Hobbits, but I have heard about it. Endlessly. You know how she is.”
I knew exactly how she was. She had gotten her way and had proven herself up to the task. She would make absolutely sure that no one forgot it for a long time, so that the next time she wanted to do something dangerous she would have proof that she was capable. Oh, yes, I knew exactly how she was. I also knew that she was his as he was hers. I had managed the conversation with some degree of normalcy, but it was getting difficult. I excused myself, expressing a desire for a bath and a rest. Aragorn nodded as I left, returning to his book.
On the way out, I passed a Man I had never seen before. He was dressed well, but his clothes were stained from travel. ‘Another person here for the council,’ I thought, nodding to him as I passed.
Elvish translations
Gwador – brother
Hannon chen – thank you
Ion nín – my son
Nach maetolo – you’re welcome
Mae govannen – well met
Meldir – friend
Perian – Halfling (Hobbit)
Tolo – come
Chapter 59
I returned home, to find my balance again and to finish coming to terms with the reality of my foolishness. The Shadow grew stronger in Dol Guldur, and I was rarely away from home. Until 3018 of the Third Age, the beginning of the end. My father sent me to Imladris, for an important council he said.
“If the council is so important,” I asked, “should you not be the one to go, Ada?”
“This is your task, Legolas, the one that Elrond and Galadriel have foreseen for you,” he replied.
As I was leaving, he gave me one final instruction. “Remember, ion nín, that you have a role to play yet in all of this, though it may break your heart once again. Duty is not enough. You must stay true to your heart. Only then is it possito sto succeed.”
I did not understand my father’s words as I led the party of Mirkwood Elves to Imladris, accompanied by Saelbeth and Silinde, two of my father’s most trusted advisors. They would advise me, should I need it, but I was to speak for my father. And by extension, for all of Mirkwood.
We rode hard, for the roads were no longer safe, shortening our journey as much as possible.
The courtyard was empty when we first rode into Imladris. I dismounted and looked around, amazed as always at the beauty of Rivendell. I could hear the trees whispering their welcome. I answered in kind, and pulled a little extra strength from them. I suspected I would need it before the day’s end. I was just about to go in search of a servant when Elrohir’s voice called out to me.
“Mae govannen, Legolas,” he shouted from across the courtyard.
“Mae govannen, gwador,” I replied with a smile. I had not seen the twins since I left Rivendell almost seventy years earlier, and I had missed my friends.
When he reached our side, he greeted my escort as well. “Tolo,” he said to all of us, “let us get you settled. I am sure you will want to bathe and rest before dinner. The council is set for tomorrow, so you have time.”
The others nodded, eager for a chance to wash away the dust of the road. I hung back, waiting to speak to Elrohir alone. When the others were out of earshot, I asked, “’Ro, is Aragorn here?”
“Aye,” he replied, “and Arwen as well. Aragorn arrived a few days ago with a strange company.”
“I need to speak with him. Where would I find him?”
“Legolas,” he cautioned, “he has made his choice.”
“I know that and I do not poach,” I told Elrohir quietly. “But we were friends once. I have not seen him in many years and I would like to know what he has been doing.”
“You will probably find him in the library. I will take your pack to your room,” Elrohir offered.
“Hannon chen, meldir.”
“Nach maetolo,” he replied. I left him there in the courtyard and headed for the library. As predicted, Aragorn was there, sitting comfortably in a chair, book across his knees. As soon as I saw him, I remembered what Arwen had said about his having matured. She was absolutely right. I had known a young man, barely above his majority. The man sitting in front of me now was one fully grown, fully developed. I felt an immediate ache in my heart at having been stupid enough to lose him all those years ago, but I smiled nonetheless, a little surprised to realize that it was not a forced smile. “Mae govannen, Aragorn,” I said into the silence.
His head jerked up as he sought to locate the voice that spoke from the shadows. I stepped forward into the light. “Mae govannen, Legolas,” Aragorn replied, genuine delight on his face as he rose and embraced me. I hesitated for a moment, but I had longed for any touch for such a length of time that even this embrace between friends was a relief. Aragorn pulled back and looked at me. “You have not changed at all.”
“I am an Elf,” I answered with a smile. “You, though, have changed indeed. I hardly recognize you. Where has my Estel disappeared to?” I said it teasingly, but it was perhaps the wrong choice of words.
“I have not been your Estel for many years,” Aragorn replied, a slight chill in his voice.
“Forgive me, Aragorn,” I said quickly. “I did not mean to offend. Tell me what you have been doing. What brings us all to Rivendell?”
Aragorn recounted then the strangest tale I had ever heard, though I have heard one stranger since. He told me first of his time as a Ranger with the Dúnedain of the North. He told me of receiving word from Mithrandir, whom we came to call Gandalf, and how he had planned to meet Gandalf in a small inn in the town of Bree. Gandalf had not come, but Aragorn fourfour Periannath, one of whom had inherited a ring, but not just any ring. The One Ring. He told of hiding from the Nazgûl that found them in Bree. Then, of a journey through the wild to Rivendell. Of a battle with five of the Ringwraiths on Amon Súl. He spoke of the injury that one of the Periannath had sustained and of how he feared to lose the Hobbit to the Shadow. “I searched for athelas, to slow the poison. I was so focused on the search that I did not hear the footsteps that approached. She never tires of it, Legolas, trying to get the better of me.”
He did not say Arwen’s name, but he did not have to. I saw the light in his eyes as he spoke and knew that he could only be referring to her. “She was searching for you?”
“And she found us, with a sword to my throat, just to see me flinch.” I laughed at the embarrassment on Aragorn’s face even as I cringed at the thought that he was the one she was now seeking to best. Always before, it had been me. “When she saw Frodo, she knew, as I did, that he was fading. She had Asfaloth with her. I was going to ride ahead with him, to the banks of the Bruinen where he would be safe, but she would not let me. She insisted that she was the faster rider, that she should take him. I tried to argue, but she would not listen. She took Frodo and rode out of my sight. I have never been so scared, Legolas. The other Hobbits were all in a panic, demanding to know what I thought I was doing. I did nnswenswer them. How could I tell them that I knew exactly what I was doing, even if it was likely to kill me? I was sending the one I loved to face the Nazgûl.”
“Elrohir said she was here. Is she unharmed?” I experienced a moment of panic, and though I knew that Aragorn could not have stopped Arwen if she was determined to do something, a part of me wanted to shake him for letting her go into danger that way. Then I remembered all the conversations she and I had had on that very subject. It was probably just as well that Aragorn had not tried harder to stop her.
Aragorn smiled in response to my question, a huge grin of smug satisfaction. “She outrode them all, Legolas. She drew them all to the Fords of the Bruinen, tempting them into the river, then calling down the waters, washing them away, leaving them unhorsed to slink back to Mordor however they could. I did not see it, of course, having stayed behind with the other Hobbits, but I have heard about it. Endlessly. You know how she is.”
I knew exactly how she was. She had gotten her way and had proven herself up to the task. She would make absolutely sure that no one forgot it for a long time, so that the next time she wanted to do something dangerous she would have proof that she was capable. Oh, yes, I knew exactly how she was. I also knew that she was his as he was hers. I had managed the conversation with some degree of normalcy, but it was getting difficult. I excused myself, expressing a desire for a bath and a rest. Aragorn nodded as I left, returning to his book.
On the way out, I passed a Man I had never seen before. He was dressed well, but his clothes were stained from travel. ‘Another person here for the council,’ I thought, nodding to him as I passed.