Gwaedh [Legolas Love Story] - COMPLETED

XXIV.

Thranduil had intended to leave shortly after they arrived from Ithilien, but with the attack and the life of his son endangered, he decided to stay one more month. In two weeks Legolas recovered, the other three weeks were just precautionary, as Thranduil still couldn't shake the image of his son lying on the ground, his blood on their hands.

Elarinya's bond to Legolas was the best kept secret of Minas Tirith. Legolas had no idea, and their friends would only talk to her about it if they were sure to be alone. If it took four days for Elarinya to visit Legolas, it would take four decades for her to find the right moment to confess to him. She had been giving it much thought, too many sleepless nights, and figured a decision.

Elarinya arrived home from a small hunting job. She opens the door of her house just to find the elven king inside, sitting in a chair, waiting for her with his classical hard gaze. She looks at him and greets in Sindarin "My king," and then places the small coins' bag on a coffer.

He states coldly "You have been avoiding me."

"Perhaps because I know what you will ask and I've been figuring out an answer," she corrects quickly her behaviour "Your highness."

Thranduil angrily waits for her to continue. Had it been any other person provoking him like this, he would have arrested them without a second thought. However he had grown unexplicabily fond of the woman. There is still no answer from her mouth, he insists "So, you already have an answer. Go on."

She looks at him and then looks away "I'm not telling him."

Thranduil furrows his eyebrows, speaks sternly "He has the right to know. You're lying to my son."

"No, I'm just hiding the truth," Thranduil is about to say something but she speaks first "This bond doesn't affect him, does it? No, it only regards me. So it will stay like this. He is too good and kind and respectable, and I know that in the moment I tell him he will guilt himself into returning the bond or- or making me-" she stops her thoughts and sighs "Life expectancy for my kind isn't long, even less being a mercenary. I won't live many more years, at least not an amount that is important to an elf. What are fourty more years to you, after all? One breath? A blink? I will be dead before he ever realizes it. I will maintain and nurture our friendship as it always has been until the day I die, it won't hurt anyone."

It has been decades since Thranduil had felt sorry for anyone, but he does for this woman. Never in a million years would he allow his son to unite with a Silvan elleth, not nearly appropriate for his position, but now here he stands, conflicted as this woman truly loves his son, just as strongly as his wife had loved him. Thranduil's voice is surprisingly gentle "It will hurt you."

"It doesn't matter. As long as he lives."

Her response only warms his heart even more. Thranduil always considered humans to be too proud and greedy, and once a thought got deeply entailed into their minds, one could not scratch it away. Too much like dwarves. This woman still had her own flaws, but was selfless and her bond for his son was so strong, so sacred, that it was enough to keep his son alive. He respected her very much for her sacrifice, for her purely unconditional love.

For a moment, Thranduil wished his own cold nature, acquired with his wife's death, had disappeared long ago, at least in order to reignite his connection with his son. He wished Legolas had opened up about his feelings for this woman. With Tauriel, the subtle hints were there for centuries, but Legolas had never seem happy or free during those years, not like he was with Elarinya. It had become something intense in such a short period.

But his son had loved Tauriel, so he couldn't love again, he could not respond to this woman's feelings. Thranduil was sure she didn't know about this previous relationship, and was too afraid her heart would shatter if he told her. Perhaps this decision was the best for all of them. He raises and speaks "The bond remains a secret as long as you wish, of that I guarantee you. None of your friends will betray you, and neither will I."