Legolas
The second Eilonwy and Glosseth disappear from the room, my mother turns to look at me with a bright smile.
"Oh, Legolas," she gushes, "She is perfect for you!"
Lady Galadriel and Lady Celebrian both join in on the conversation as they come to stand beside my mother. Standing in the midst of them, I feel like a worm surrounded by hungry chickens.
"Did you see how well she interacted with Estrith? She will make a wonderful mother," Celebrian says cheerily, much to my discomfort.
"I told you both that she was kind and very beautiful," Galadriel says with a broad smile, "She and Legolas will do well together."
My father comes to stand behind my mother, placing his hands on her shoulders tenderly. "Now, now, Nithroel, do not overwhelm our son. He is already blushing. Do not take away anymore of his pride," he says with a deep chuckle, and his joke causes laughter to erupt throughout the room.
I scowl at him irritably.
"Oh, Thranduil," my mother exclaims as she turns to him with shining eyes and an elated smile, "Did you see the way he was looking at her?"
I shift uncomfortably. I did not know that I was so obvious when ogling her. I could not help myself. Eilonwy was radiant to look upon, as she is everyday.
"I did," he says, "But I was more transfixed with the way that she was looking at him."
Lady Celebrian laughs lightly. "I will admit that I, too, noticed that."
"Noticed what?" I ask, only now becoming interested in the conversation.
"Legolas," my father says with a smirk, "You need not worry about winning over the girl. You already have her, I believe."
I shake my head. "And how would you know this? You cannot read her mind," I state, feeling uncomfortable with this whole conversation.
"I can, incase you have forgotten, Legolas," Galadriel says, "But I cannot reveal too much of her thoughts, for that would be improper."
"I cannot believe that she cares for me. We only just met," I say doubtfully.
"We are not saying that she is ready to confess her undying love for you, ion nin," my father says sarcastically, "But it is obvious that she has developed some feelings for you. We have only just met her, after all, so with more time being around her, the more we can understand her."
"Like tonight at dinner," my mother says with a grin, "That is, if Glosseth decides to give her back to us. She may have just found a lifelong friend in Eilonwy."
"Please do not do anything embarrassing," I plead them, but they only laugh.
Aragorn looks at me and smiles. "I like her very much," he says, "She seems to be very wise for her age. She will make a wonderful queen someday."
"It seems that our mothers have been speaking of you a lot lately, so I am aware of your situation," Elrohir says, "Legolas, do you realize how lucky you are? You already know your future bride, and to make it even better, she is beautiful. I think this is entirely unfair. I want to have visions of a gorgeous elleth." He smirks suggestively, and when I glare at him for calling her beautiful, he laughs boyishly.
"You can really be a pig sometimes, you know that?" Elladan says to his twin brother.
Elrohir only shrugs as if it is not the first time he has been called such.
"I will not speak sappily like the ladies," Elladan says with a pointed look toward our mothers and Galadriel, "But I think that the two of you make a great match. I believe, like your father, that she looks at you as more than a friend already. I wish the best for you. Elrohir is right on the fact that you are very lucky."
I nod once, not really sure what to say. I find this entire conversation awkward. I dislike everyone knowing how I feel about Eilonwy, and I am terrified that they will say something horrifyingly embarrassing to her about me. Family and friends are great for things like that.
Celebrian sighs. "If only Arwen could be here right now. Once she is rested and can leave the Houses of Healing, I know that she will love to hear all about Eilonwy and meet her."
"I know that Eilonwy will love that. She told me of how excited she was to meet Arwen," I tell her truthfully.
Lady Celebrian seems to be very pleased by this because she smiles happily. "I will have to inform Arwen. Please excuse me. I need to go check on her and see if she needs anything," she says and walks gracefully from the room.
Aragorn claps me on the shoulder. "Come, Legolas. I want to talk to you," he says, and I follow him from the room.
As we walk together through the castle with no real destination, Aragorn and I talk about an assortment of random things. I ask him where his other children are, and he replies by saying that they refuse to leave their mother's side. We talk about other things, and I wait impatiently for him to tell me the real reason why he wanted to talk with me.
"Aragorn, I am quite positive that you did not ask me to speak with you about the weather of all things," I say to him eventually with an amused smile. Aragorn has never been the best at getting straight to the point, so I usually have to pry information from him.
He smiles softly. "You know me too well," he says and then sighs quietly, "You may be angry with me for this, but before I escorted Eilonwy into the room earlier, I asked her what she thought of you."
My eyes widen in surprise. Anxiousness pulses through my veins. What did she tell him?
"I am not angry, only surprised," I answer slowly, "Well... what did she say?"
"I am not sure if she completely understood my question, honestly. I asked her what she thought of you, and she replied by saying that you are very kind and noble," he says and smirks, "Her cheeks turned as red as her hair." He chuckles deeply.
A newfound confidence blooms in my chest. She did not admit to caring for me, which is completely understandable, but she complimented me. Knowing that she thinks such things about me causes a nervous energy to surge through my blood.
"She has a habit of blushing," I respond with a grin as I think of how beautiful she looks when her cheeks turn rosy, "She blushes at least once every day when she's in my presence."
Aragorn laughs lightly. "That is a good sign, mellon nin. Pretty soon I will be able to witness the marriage of my best friend," he says and glances at me.
"Well, it will not be too soon. I may be in love with her, but she barely knows me. I plan to change that factor, of course."
"Hmm," he responds and begins to chuckle once again, "At least you have the support of your family and friends. I was not so lucky as to have support in the very beginning as you are, but they all eventually came around once they realized how happy both Arwen and I were."
"I always supported you both," I say, "That is why I am happy that you support me. If you did not like Eilonwy, I would be very upset. Your feelings toward her would not change my own in any way, but it is good to know that I have your approval."
"Well, I am glad that you have her. I was terrified at first that your father would arrange a marriage for you. I know that you would be miserable in such a situation," he says.
"You are correct. I would have agreed to it if I was not already in love with Eilonwy in order to make my father happy, but I would be downhearted."
"Well, it seems that Eilonwy is a blessing," Aragorn says with a smile.
I smile as I remember how beautiful she looked a few days ago when we were in Lothlorien and I had pulled her into the water of the spring with me. The sun had been shining down on her, the water droplets covering her shimmering in the light. Her green eyes had looked into mine so deeply as if she was looking into my soul. When I had touched the soft skin of her jaw, the look in her eyes pulled me in. I came very close to losing my resolve and kissing her, but I knew that I could not kiss her because it would scare her away.
"Yes," I reply and look at Aragorn with a fond smile, "Eilonwy truly is a blessing."
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That evening when everyone is sitting in the dining hall to eat, I find myself waiting anxiously for Eilonwy to arrive. The hall is crowded with people, and the royals sit at the head of the long table that stretches throughout the room.
"Legolas," my mother whispers from beside me, "Have you still been having visions even though Eilonwy is in Middle Earth now?"
"Not one night has gone by without one," I reply.
She nods slowly. "You seem happier now that she is here," she observes, "You will never understand how happy I am for you."
I look at her. "I am afraid that my visions will not come true, Naneth. Lady Galadriel always says that the future is never certain. What if my visions come true only if Eilonwy falls in love with me? What if it is only up to her decision?"
My mother sighs. "Your visions are accurate. How many times do you need to hear it? Have faith in your foresight, ion nin. She cares for you. There is no question about that. I could see it in her eyes."
I begin to answer her, but I am interrupted by the sound of laughter. My gaze leaves my naneth and travels to Eilonwy and Glosseth. Glosseth has her arm linked with Eilonwy's as she guides her over to the table. Both of their cheeks are flushed from laughing, and many heads turn to look at them as they approach the head of the table.
Glosseth's eyes travel to the empty seat beside me, and she grins. "Eilonwy, sit beside Legolas. I will sit in front of you."
Eilonwy's eyes meet mine for a moment, and she smiles shyly at me. "Okay," she replies, and she begins to walk around to my side of the table. I stand and pull out her chair for her and as she sits down, she brushes against me slightly, and the feeling leaves me breathless. I sit down beside her once again, not bothering to hide the fact that I am staring at her. Her hair is draped over her left shoulder, giving me a perfect view of her beautiful facial features since I am sitting on her right.
"Eilonwy and I had so much fun today," Glosseth says to my mother cheerily.
"You did not drag her into any trouble, I hope?" Naneth questions with a smile.
Glosseth turns to Eilonwy and grins mischievously at her. "We had to hide from a few persistent suitors, but other than lacking a bit of social grace, no, I did not drag her into any trouble," she says, and both she and Eilonwy burst into laughter.
My mother raises an eyebrow at them both. "Suitors? How horrible," she says sarcastically and begins to laugh, "I wish I could have been with you two. I am sure it was amusing."
"You should join us next time," Eilonwy says with a grin.
"I may just take you up on that offer," Naneth replies, smiling at her.
"Legolas," Eilonwy addresses me, and I turn to look at her, "You should also join us one day. We had a lot of fun, and I highly enjoyed being able to see different parts of the castle and the city." Her smile is entrancing.
"I would love to join you," I reply, glancing at my sister as I emphasize the word 'you'. My sister smirks slightly.
"Did Glosseth show you the gardens?" I continue.
She shakes her head. "No, that is one place we did not get to see."
"Would you like me to escort you there tomorrow?" I ask her, hoping desperately that she will accept my offer.
She pauses for a moment, a small smile pulling at her lips. "Yes, I would love that," she replies softly.
"Lady Eilonwy," Estrith says innocently from her seat beside her father, "Will you play dolls with me after we eat? You promised."
Eilonwy laughs melodically. "And I intend to uphold that promise, Estrith. I will play dolls with you," she says with a grin.
Estrith's eyes are wide with happiness and excitement. She giggles cutely, melting my heart. I think of Estrith as my own daughter because of the bond I hold with her. Seeing Eilonwy and Aragorn's daughter get along so well warms my heart, and I can easily see that not only will Eilonwy make a wonderful, loving wife but also an amazing mother.
Aragorn looks down at his daughter with a sparkle of mirth in his eyes. "You have to eat all of the vegetables on your plate before you go play," he reminds her as he always does, but she ignores him.
The little princess of Gondor looks around at all of the people sitting at the table with her arms folded across her chest and a cute grin on her lips. Lord Elrond chuckles at the expression on his granddaughter's face.
"I have not seen her this excited since our last visit when she put pink bows in Legolas's hair to make him, as she said, 'even prettier,'" Lord Elrond says, causing laughter to erupt from everyone at the table.
I sigh and place my head in my hands. Could this get any worse? Eilonwy surely isn't going to find me attractive when such embarrassing stories keep resurfacing. She is going to think of me as some sort of buffoon. I only let Estrith put bows in my hair in order to make her happy.
Elrohir has tears in his eyes from laughing so hard when I finally pick my head up and look around the table. Even Elladan is shaking with laughter, something I haven't seen him do since before Hithaeriel's death. I find myself staring at him in shock, wondering what could have brought upon such a change in him so quickly.
"Estrith, before we play with your dolls, I think we should put bows in Legolas's hair," Eilonwy says from beside me, and despite my embarrassment, my heart soars in my chest upon hearing her sweet laughter, "That is something that I would love to see." She looks at me with an amused grin, trying to control her laughter.
Estrith's eyes widen at the new idea. "Yes!" she exclaims, and dread pulses through my veins, "Oh, Legolas, we will make you look so pretty!" Unlike the others at the table who are just teasing, Estrith is completely serious and doesn't understand their jesting.
"That is a great idea," my father says to Estrith and chuckles deeply, "Eilonwy will help you pick out the finest bows to make my son look as pretty as possible."
Eilonwy bursts into laughter all over again, and her laughter is infectious.
"I have always wanted a sister," Glosseth says and snickers.
The night is filled with laughter and sharing of stories. For the first time in my life, I feel complete, and it is all because I have Eilonwy sitting beside me.
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Ion nin- my son
Mellon nin- my friend
Naneth- mother
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! Please comment! See y'all next chapter!
Love,
Josie <3