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#43 – Summer
On Midsummer’s Eve of her twelfth year she placed an oak
leaf under her pillow and laid her head upon it; and when she
awoke—though she could not remember her future husband’s
face—she was smiling.
…
#23 – Honour
She takes her broadsword from its scabbard, lifts the blade and
holds it before her eyes and runs her palm along its length, transported
to some distant battlefield; then she raises it above her head,
spins, and advances—one step, two—cutting to right and
left—executing each move cleanly, with speed and grace—and
Legolas wonders why men claim that a woman’s honour lies
between her legs.
#42 – Strange
He aims for the neck, where he knows their armour is weak, but
the Uruk Hai does not fall; and when the sudden fire tears down
the Deeping Wall he thinks of her, and how he has failed her.
#08 – Doors
There is chaos all around them—Aragorn urges Theoden King
to send the women away; Legolas toils on alone, building the barricade
that might just give her time to escape.
#47 – Water
The victory is hard won, the casualties severe—she breaks
off from tending the wounded to fetch him a basin of water and,
encouraged, he washes the battlegrime from his hands and face.
#09 – Drink
“Game over?” he asks, innocently, setting down his final
tankard—then he meets her eye and his face dimples mischievously.
#01 – Air
A feeling of unease, of imminent danger, comes over him and—as
always when troubled—he goes outside to seek comfort in nature
(though there are no trees in Edoras), and the big wind fills
his lungs and revives his spirit—but she appears beside
him, and takes his breath away.
#24 – Hope
His name—Estel—means ‘hope’, but what
he has to give can never be for her alone; the elf has no great
destiny before him, but would give her all if she would
only ask.
…
#46 – War
He hears the cry of anguish—“Eowyn, Eowyn, how come
you here?”—and he runs to where Eomer rocks her lifeless
body in his arms, and his hope fails.
#35 – Roses
She has lain so many days in the House of Healing—tonight
he brings a flower and leaves it at her bedside.
#48 – Welcome
He rushes in, anxious to see her—“Prince Legolas,”
says Faramir, smiling, “Lady Eowyn has just made me the happiest
man in Middle Earth.”
#34 – Regret
He sees Eomer lead her down the aisle, watches Faramir take her
hand, hears—as though from a great distance—Aragorn
pronounce the words; petals rain down on them; bells peal; and,
as he wishes he had spoken, he hears the gulls cry.
#45 – Ugly
The elf is staring again, thinks Eowyn; and, suddenly feeling
the burden of humanity, she turns away.
…
#36 – Secret
He takes his guilty secret from the night stand and, marvelling
at the skill of the artist who captured her likeness, lies back
with his lady.
…
#40 – Spring
Since the day she fell in love she has avoided him, but he is
building her a garden, and today she has no choice but to speak—she
walks into the courtyard and he is standing, tall and slender,
beneath a canopy of blossom.
…
#03 – Beginning
“Now Legolas must choose a lady,” whispers Elladan,
and Eowyn thinks her heart will break—but then he comes to
her, and shyly holds out his hand, and she takes it, and escapes
her cage forever.
#28 – New
She has no idea why people make such a fuss until her first time
with him: when he enters her, and begins to thrust, she thinks
she understands, and she wants it to last forever; then his strokes
grow harder, and she knows that there is more, and she reaches
for it—reaches for him—and suddenly
hears her own voice, crying out in gratitude.
#22 – Hollow
Spilling himself deep inside her, he buries his face in the curve
of her shoulder: he is home.
#32 – Pretty
A pretty elleth dances in the firelight and Eowyn cannot help
but glance at Legolas—but his eyes are fixed on her,
and he smiles, and whispers, “You look like a flower, melmenya.”
#39 – Solid
“Once an elf gives his heart,” says Legolas, softly,
“he is faithful for eternity.”
…
#18 – Foot
He raises her foot, and gently sucks her toe, and feels the blood
rush to his own core.
#50 - Wood
He pulls her close, and she smiles, murmuring, “My wood elf…”
#30 – Peace
She needs to sleep, he does not—but tonight, as every night,
he will lie with her, cradling her in his arms.
#15 – Flexible
He crouches before her, smiling—she sees the taut curve of
his thigh, and her body quickens, remembering the feel of him
inside her.
#02 – Apples
“Wait, melmenya,” he cries, springing over the crooked
fence; and—with a smile more like a hobbit’s than an
elf’s—he plucks a rosy apple, and hands it to her, with
a flourish.
#04 – Bugs
He, thinks Eowyn, watching Legolas settle on the ground, is never
troubled by the crawling, flying, stinging things that plague
the rest of us—just as eight long spider legs ripple over
her shoulder, and she throws up her arms and dances wildly, to
the sound of elven laughter.
#05 – Coffee
The merchant called it ‘coffee’; Eowyn, lying open-eyed,
watching her elf pass the night in reverie, calls it disgusting.
#27 – Metal
His knives sing as he draws them, the blades flash—and Eowyn,
watching him practice, melts.
…
#13 – Fall
“Since the Elvenlord’s lady came to live in the Forest,”
says one of the men, “the leaves do not fall.”
#14 – Fire
She shivers—for winter draws near, and elves do not light
fires for warmth, (only for light and cheer)—but Legolas
brings her a lambswool mantle, and warms her in his arms.
#49 – Winter
The chill air makes her eyes bright and her nose pink—she
blows on her fingers and, laughing, Legolas scoops her into his
arms.
#38 – Snow
He hides behind a tree; she searches—“Legolas?”;
he leaps out, throws, and learns several human words that are
new to him.
#25 – Light
He runs ahead, she trudges behind: “Will it ever thaw?”
she grumbles.
#41 – Stable
They quarrelled over a trifle—he said words he now regrets—he
hurries to where he knows she will have taken refuge, grooming
her beloved horses.
#17 – Food
Lembas is a hallowed thing, the preserve of ellith and, in ancient
times, the gift of Queens—and she has tried to learn, but
she cannot make it.
…
#21 – Head
He is quick in battle, slow in the Council Chamber—when he
hesitates, carefully weighing the reasons for and against, her
brisk human mind sometimes takes him by surprise.
#10 – Duty
Men held her in check with talk of duty; her elf, though he fears
for her safety no less than they, understands her need to act.
…
#33 – Rain
She blunders along, her clothes sticking, cold and clammy, the
damp cloth tearing, the leather chafing, water trickling down
her scalp and dripping from her nose; beside her, Legolas runs
with effortless grace, smiling at the rain.
#29 – Old
When he tells her his age—two thousand, nine hundred and
thirty seven years—their life together seems a sad jest;
but he says, “I am still your Legolas,” and, though
her tears flow, her heart knows it to be true.
#19 – Grave
Her mother lies at Edoras, beside her father, with their ancestors;
his mother lies in Mirkwood, alone amongst the living.
#44 – Taboo
Tacitly, they have agreed never to mention her mortality; but—since
it is seldom far from their thoughts—it is seldom absent
from their conversations.
#07 – Despair
If he allows himself to imagine it—her eyes closing, her
spirit departing, her empty body growing cold—he feels his
own life ebb within him and he knows, then, what it will be like
to fade.
…
#31 – Poison
The healer plunges the mithril tube into her breast and administers
his decoction, and Legolas wonders how a second poison can possibly
revive her; but he holds her close, and prays, and suddenly—“LEGOLAS!”—she
breathes again.
#12 – End
She has been granted immortality; he wonders whether she will
be permitted to sail West with him.
…
#16 – Flying
“Melmenya!” he cries and, grasping her waist, he lifts
her high, and whirls her round, and she stretches out her arms,
like bird’s wings, laughing.
#26 – Lost
He dashes through the trees, bow in hand, his elven senses straining—she
has wandered, and there are orcs nearby—and he almost weeps
when he hears a twig snap beneath two little feet.
#20 – Green
They ride through the Forest—two strangers in green and brown.
#37 – Snakes
Her scream almost stops his heart but he runs to her side and,
with elven hands and voice, charms the creature that humans seem
instinctively to fear.
…
#11 – Earth
Reverently, they lay him in his earthen bed, scatter his body
with flowers, and cover him over; then Legolas wraps his arm about
her shoulders and, weeping softly, they walk away.
…
#06 – Dark
“Take my hand,” he says, “I can see the way.”
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