Chapter 16: The high king of the Elves

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It would take 3 days for them to prepare an army to go to the Black gates. In the second day Niphredil had sat in her room, reading a book when her maid knocked at the door and came inside. "my Lady, Mithrandir had asked for your presence in the main hall." She said. She had gotten very fond of Niphredil in the past days. The thought of Niphredil's leaving made her sad.

Niphredil closed her book and put it on a table and stood. "thank you. I will go now." She said and left the room and headed for the hall. As she reached there she saw two Elves there with their horses, greeting with Legolas and Finrod. Aragorn, Gandalf, and Gimli were there too.

"Elladan! Elrohir!" Called Niphredil and Elrond's sons turned to her and their faces lighted up. "Niphredil!" said the twins together and Niphredil ran to their open arms, happy to see her cousins. She hugged them in turn.

"what are you doing here?" asked Niphredil both happy and surprised. "we are here to report to the king." Said Elrohir.

"it's better we go inside." said Gandalf and all of them went inside.

When they all gathered, Elladan began to speak. "We are here as errands of all three realms. As you know Mirkwood and Dwarves of Erebor were in war with the great force of Gundabad. Lorien had gone to help Mirkwood and Lord Celeborn himself was leading the army." At this part he turned to Niphredil and Finrod who were looking with worried eyes. "don't be worry. Grandfather is well. He is a great warrior, blessed with the power of the Elves of the first age."

Niphredil and Finrod sighed in relief. "I should have stayed in Lorien. I have failed him." said Finrod sadly.

"Your presence was more needed in Dol-Amroth. They would have fallen without you. Don't blame yourself." said Gandalf. "go on Elladan."

"when the command of the king reached Imladris we went to help them quickly. We succeeded to defeat the host of Gundabad and clear the north from the foul of the Orcs. No danger will come from the north. With the wisdom of the three lords of the Elves and the valiance of Elves and the dwarves, our casualties were not so much. The joint force of the Elves is now cleaning the forest and open their way to Dol Goldor. Lady Galadriel insists to destroy the old fortress." said Elladan.

"that's great! No news was better than this at this time. Hail to the Dwarves and the Elves and to the brave Lady Galadriel." Said Gimli Happily and clapped his hands.

Gandalf nodded. "I was always afraid of the force of the north attacking us from behind. Now we can only focus on Mordor." Said Gandalf happily.

Legolas put his hands on Elladan and Elrohir's shoulder. "you have done a great job. I don't know how to thank you." he said proudly. Elladan put his hand on Legolas' shoulder as well. "we did what we had to do many years ago. We needed a push and you gave it to us." Said Elladan.

"We also had brought these for you, Niphredil." said Elrohir and pulled out an ebony wooden box from the bag he had brought with himself and hold it in front of Niphredil. "Grandmother said that you've left this in Lorien." Said Elrohir.

Niphredil took the box. A Niphredil flower had been carved on the lid. She opened the lid and her eyes softened at the sight in front of her eyes and a smile formed on her lips.

"the king must have his banner to fully reclaim his right." Said Gandalf with a smile and everyone turned to him with a questioning look on their faces. He looked at Niphredil as if he knew the content of the box. Niphredil nodded her head and turned the box to Legolas so he could see inside of it.

Everyone came closer to see the content. There, in the black velvet, had laid a white cloth. "when we were in Lothlorien I asked you if you like to have a banner of yours. You said what is your favorite one looks like. One which represents our connection Valinor and our will to return to there beside our greatest hope. I sewed it for you." said Niphredil softly.

Legolas took the cloth in his hands and opened the folds. A wind blew from the deep and tall windows of the hall and moved the flag like it had missed doing so. The afternoon sun crept into the room and its beams fell on the banner. The silver and golden trees of Valinor, tangled in each other, began to shine and the star of Eärendil gleamed proudly on top of them. The great signs of the elves.

Something stirred in the heart of the Elves who were in the hall. A feeling of pride and a missing home filled their hearts. A pride of great things their ancestors had done in the past, all of their efforts in Middle-Earth. The memory of the glory of their lost realms in Beleriand, long ago when the world was young. Hithlum, Doriath, Gondolin, Nargothrond.

In their heart, they knew that their time had been over. but the missing part in their hearts had been found by having a king once again.

"the banner of the high king of the Elves of Middle-Earth." Said Niphredil softly. Legolas peered into her eyes for a second. Niphredil nodded reassuringly and stepped back.

"Hail King Legolas." Said Gandalf and the four Elves knelt in front of Legolas. Legolas looked at them shocked. He went to them and took their hands. "Please stood, you won't bow to me." he said and helped them to stand again. He looked into their eyes. "I may be your king, but I don't want my friends and those who have fought with me to kneel in front of me ever. I owe you all, for I accepted this duty with your support." he said.

"Elladan! Elrohir!" said Legolas toward the twins. "I want you two to do me a favor. I want you to come with us and be on my side when I want to talk to Sauron."

Elladan's and Elrohir's eyes widened with shock. "Lady Galadriel said that you have a great task to do. So it's true. We will stand by your side till the end, my Lord." said Elrohir.

"Finrod, Please keep this flag with yourself until the time come." said Legolas and handed the box to Finrod who took it like it was the most precious thing in the world.

Gimli clapped his hands. "well, now that everything settled let's go and find some food. It was a long and hard day. Repairing the main gate isn't easy at all and I'm sure these two boys are tired and I want to hear more about the war of the north. Come." said Gimli and walked toward the door followed by the others. When they were close to the door Legolas grabbed a hold of Niphredil's arm and stopped her. He waited until everyone left the hall and then pulled Niphredil close and kissed her deeply.

"thank you, Niphredil." said Legolas after they pulled away. "this is all because of you. If it wasn't because of you I would never accept this title. You gave me courage."

Niphredil smiled and put her hand on his heart. "it's all because of this pure and brave heart of yours. you would do the same even if I wasn't with you. I'm proud of you and love you so much." said Niphredil lovingly.

Something glinted in Legolas' eye and he closed the gap between them and kissed her once more. Deeper and more passionate this time. "I love you too, Niphredil." said Legolas.

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