With a secret mission to marry an elf, Wynne must join Legolas' and Elvenking Thranduil's new quest as a horsekeeper. She begins an adventurous journey, encountering orcs and monsters, friendly uruk-hai, a lady dwarf and many Fellowship heroes - but...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
~ Legolas has bad memories, and later he learns something about himself. ~
39. Knowing One's Heart
With Wynne's hand still in his, Legolas leaned back in the heather, pulling her down with him. They had to keep that annoying distance, of course, but it felt good to have her within an arm's length at least.
He stroked her fingers with his thumb, loving how small her hand was compared to his.
Relaxed and unusually happy, Legolas tuned into all that was alive around him. He listened to the heather, which he always thought of as tiny trees, heard their whispering murmurs from neighbor to neighbor about the joy of blooming and attracting bees, about seeds to come and the future of the saplings.
In patches between the heather, tufts of old grass sighed in languid voices about the relentless drought, their tiredness, and how they looked forward to letting their withering strands droop and allow a new generation to take over.
A young birch nearby lamented the loss of its leaves and worried over the cost to grow new ones. Stelpa, his lovely girl, was the culprit he knew. The tree would become stronger by the effort though, and he told it so, trying to comfort it.
It had been so good to see Stelpa today, to renew their connection and brush out her coat. She reminded him of Arod, the horse Éomer had given him a long time ago. They didn't look much alike – Arod had been white, not chestnut – but they had that same friendly, trusting character and graceful gait. The stallion's death still pained him though he knew the old fellow had lived a full life.
"Tell me about the Fellowship." A gray eye peered at him through the purple blossoms that hid the rest of Wynne's face.
"What about it?"
"Everything. Moria, Mordor, all of it."
Legolas realized he had involuntarily stiffened and willed his thumb to resume its caressing. Everything? He didn't even want to remember everything, let alone talk of it.
He broke eye contact. "That is such a long story; we would be here well into the night!" He tried to sound casual and unconcerned. "I shall tell it another time."
"Alright."
She seemed disappointed but he really couldn't bring himself to dwell on those memories, not now, not in this beautiful place and on his first real day out since the troll fight. He just couldn't.
Fortunately she didn't press the matter. Instead they remained in companionable silence, basking in the pleasant sun, enjoying the afternoon and each other's vicinity. Not until Legolas' ears picked up the sounds of the elves and uruk-hai returning from weapon exercise he reluctantly let go of her hand and eased himself a little further away.
At dinner, he shared a table with Nanna and Goltur. And Thranduil, of course, that ever-present shadow.
He was tired after the long climb back and his side smarted. "When will you take out my stitches?" he asked the healer, scratching the scar. It only made the itch worse.
