***Author's Note***
Hey guys, a bit of intimacy in the second half of this chapter. If it makes you uncomfortable, just skip.
The thunder of a crowd's murmur set me on edge as I waited for Dwalin's cue to address them. Legolas and I stood in the dark hallway just inside Erebor's door, and I clutched his hand. He ran his thumb over my knuckles. Neither of us spoke—neither of us needed to.
Dwalin said something, and though I could hear his voice, I didn't listen to the words used. I breathed deeply, trying to calm my heartbeat, trying to steady my emotions. It didn't work. I was scared, I was nervous, and I was on the verge of tears.
Bofur walked in and gave me a nod. It was time.
Legolas leaned down and kissed my cheek. "You can do it," he whispered, and released my hand.
I gave him an unsteady smile, then followed Bofur outside.
Torchlight cast harsh yellow glares across the people's faces. Though young and old, male and female, and Dwarf and Man, they all wore the same expression of thinly-veiled fear. The same fear I felt, and had to do a better job hiding. Taking a deep breath, I began my partially-memorized speech.
"I come before you today, not as a Queen, but as someone you can trust. Someone with a life to lose, a loved one, a future." I stopped, glanced back at Legolas. Holding out my hand to him, I said, "In fact, there's no better time to tell you—I am wedded to Prince Legolas of the Woodland Realm. We are now closely allied with our Elvish neighbors, and while I'm sure it will take time to set aside our grievances, the time has come for that healing process to begin."
Legolas strode forward and took my hand, giving me a supportive smile. Murmurs rippled over the crowd.
I took a deep breath and continued. "Now, more than ever, it's important to halt our petty arguments and identify the real enemy—for there is one who can take what we hold dear and cast it to the wind. Can, and if he is not stopped, will. His name is Sauron."
More murmurs. More disbelief than fear.
"But Mordor is far to the south, you say," I call, cutting off their whispers. "Yes, it is. But Sauron's reach is far. The Ring that—"
My breath caught.
I quickly coughed and resumed."...that empowered him before, has been found. And if he regains that, he can take a new physical form, and his armies will cover Middle Earth. We will be overwhelmed."
Now their expressions betrayed fear. Good. Now they'd listen.
"The hard truth is, most of us will die soon." I bit my lip. I wasn't exempt from this hard truth, and neither was Legolas. I forced myself to continue. "But our deaths don't have to be meaningless. If we stand together, we can sway the tide of battle. We can protect our elders, our children. Give them a future." My throat closed off as I suddenly considered children...Legolas's and mine. What children we might've had.
His hand tightened around mine. "If we stand, we'll win," Legolas called. His smooth tenor was like a balm to my aching heart, and the crowd stilled, all eyes on my husband. He glanced down at me and smiled. "If we win, we come home. And then we do have a future. One that we took back for ourselves. Refused to let the dark lord steal from us."
There. The crowd began to murmur again, but differently. Exchanged nods, mutters of agreement. I gave Legolas a grateful smile.
"So rally with me," I yelled. "Fight—take back your futures! We will conquer Sauron!"
"If this is to end in fire," someone yelled from the back of the crowd, "then we should all burn together!"
"Gather your weapons, your armor," I called to them. "Pack as much food and water as you have, or can carry. We meet with our Elvish allies on the Mirkwood border at daybreak tomorrow."
The crowd began to disperse, and I turned to Legolas. "We need to get ready, too. In fact we should go join your father, be there early and make sure there isn't any rioting between your people and mine."
He smiled and took my hands, winding his fingers into mine. "Eda, love, I wholeheartedly disagree."
I blinked in surprise. "But...I...what?"
Legolas leans in to kiss me, and his warm lips smile against mine. "I'm not leaving this place without putting that bed to its greatest potential...and we're going to need all night for that to happen."
My mature side disapproved. But my newlywed side—a side very much in love with my husband—approved very much. And it was that side of me that put a smile on my face and all but forced my head to nod. "So...early morning tomorrow?"
He led me into the mountain, his long legs setting a pace almost too fast for me to keep up with. "Oh...I expect not too early." He flashed me a smirk over his shoulder.
My cheeks heated, and I couldn't keep a giddy grin off my face. "Weren't you the one all in a hurry this morning?"
Legolas grinned and kept walking. "We're making good time...and we aren't leaving until tomorrow either way. I plan to make the most of our time together."
I decided not to overthink that and broke into a half-jog. "Then let's hurry up!" We ran, giggled, and failed at being subtle all the way to my bedroom. Legolas all but shoved me inside, followed me in, and shut the door behind him.
* * *
"'Queen under the Mountain'."
The voice startled me out of a deep sleep. The candle was still lit, though considerably melted since when I'd hastily lit it hours ago. On the bed beside me, Legolas lay naked as the day he was born. Though clearly sound asleep, a content smile stretched across his face.
"You must be so proud," the sadistic voice came again. "Convincing hundreds of happy people to give their lives to your war."
I tensed. This...antagonistic voice was coming from outside the room, though I couldn't pinpoint where. Nonetheless, I refused to let it say whatever it wished without confrontation.
Standing, I folded the bedspread over Legolas—all the heat we'd worked into the room had long since given way to the chill of night.
I shivered and grabbed my discarded undergarments. After yanking them on, I tiptoed to my closet in search of my old trousers and shirt. Larika had left them folded neatly right beside the entrance, bless her. I shoved my feet through the pantlegs and my hands through the sleeves, then pulled on some fur boots.
Moving back into the room, I checked on Legolas. He hadn't even stirred. After leaving a kiss on his lips, I slipped from the room, closing the door behind me.
"I await our meeting...'Queen'."
Torchlight bathed the stone walls and floor in a flickering orange glow as I strolled through the halls of Erebor...perhaps for the last time. The sounds of armor and weapons being repaired echoed wildly, as did warbled conversations, and a myriad of footsteps.
I encountered only a few people as I followed my instinct to the lower levels of the mountain. The earth groaned, and a few of the pillars quaked.
I'd reached the bellows.
At the center of the massive room stood a sparkling white cage. And in that cage, with its head fixed in the door, stood my greatest fear.
The dragon's ears twitched, and she shifted, trying to look at me, but unable to move her head. "So you have come." Her gutteral voice sent chills down my spine. "I thought you a coward."
I crossed my arms. Mere weeks ago, I would have run pell-mell to escape this very scene."I am Amariel, Queen Under the Mountain."
"No you aren't." She hissed a laugh. "You may be the queen of the mountain. But I reign beneath the mountain—few dare come this deep into my territory."
Cautiously, I forced myself to step forward. Though only the size of a large horse, the dragon had to hunch to fit in the cage. Because of the awkward positioning of her head, she couldn't even lie down. Strips of lighter-brown scales marred her dark back—which I realized were scars.
A stab of something surprising went through my chest. It was pity. "I have no enmity with you. In fact, seeing you in this state grieves me."
She snorted a stream of sparks. They guttered out on the stone floor. "As if I would believe such blatant lies. A few have come, asking for my allegiance. Some promise freedom. Others, a better version of cruel captivity. I will tell you what I told them." She opened her mouth. Her belly and throat glowed orange. And a river of fire spewed from her mouth, bursting into the bellows.
I staggered back, nearly restraining a gasp, but not quite.
Her fire became staggered, bursting out in time with a wicked laugh. "I am Imrid, daughter of Smaug, and you will never be rid of me."
Fighting tears of terror, I collapsed to my knees, hands braced on the scorching floor. Hear me, Earth. I cannot destroy her. But you may.
Imrid laughed wildly, sparks flying. "So, little queen, you see I truly am Queen Under the Mountain...will you swear fealty to me? I might even let you kiss my claw."
The earth rumbled. Shook.
Swallow her whole. I lifted my darkening eyes to the dragon, and I smirked. "Never."
With a deafening crack, a faultline split the room, passing directly beneath Imrid's cage. She blinked, staring at the line in shock. "What is this? What madness have you committed?"
I stood, shoulders square, and glared at her. "You've grieved my mountain with your foul presence for too long, Imrid." I took a daring step forward. "Swear fealty to your queen. Make the unbreakable vow. And I will release you into my service."
Imrid's belly glowed red, then orange, then yellow—and finally a blinding white. "Never." She inhaled and opened her mouth wide to engulf the room with dragon fire.
The stone floor ripped apart. Imrid roared, fire shooting from her throat. One side of her cage slipped over the edge. Then the other. And she plunged into the bottomless crack, fire soon fading from view.
With a mighty crunch, the floor slammed back together, leaving nothing but a telltale crack down the center.
Energy sapped from my bones, I stumbled, then collapsed to the floor. My skin went cold, and my shallow breaths grew ragged.
"Eda?" Legolas's footsteps rounded the bend and entered the room, padding up behind me. His familiar hands gripped my shoulders. "What's wrong?"
Heavier footsteps followed, and I weakly turned my head to see. Legolas squatted beside me, barefoot and shirtless, wearing only his leggings. Dwalin stood in the doorway, his wide eyes skimming the room. "Durin's beard," he swore under his breath.
"What did you do?" Legolas demanded, bracing an arm around my shoulders. His other hand cradled my cheek.
I met his concerned, but loving gaze with my own. "Take me back to our room?" I asked, my voice embarrassingly thin.
He glanced back at Dwalin, then nodded. "Very well." Looping his arm under my legs also, he lifts me like he did at our wedding. "I'll have you safe from prying eyes in no time."
I laid my head on his shoulder, moving only my eyes to track Dwalin's stunned expression as we passed. His eyebrows are raised so high that half a dozen wrinkles collect around where I imagine his hairline was supposed to be, even creasing some of his tattoos.
Legolas walked in relative silence, only starting to grunt with exhertion halfway up the third set of stairs. Sleepy, and a little bit bored, I trail my fingers around his chest, lining the ripple of his muscles. "I forgot to ask...did you ever find any gold?" I glance up and smirk a little.
He huffed out a laugh. "Not on the surface, no. And I've only gotten a couple of chances to go mining...as soon as this Mordor business is over and done with, I plan to explore, dig, and drill until I hit the motherload."
A full blush came over my face as I floundered for a witty comeback. But I was too stunned at his thorough and all-inclusive innuendo. "I never knew Elves had such dirty minds!" I squeaked.
Legolas blinked and shrugged. "I blame the Dwarves, naturally. Their perversive greed and fixation upon worldly desires have infiltrated my clear Elvish reasoning, down to the very depths of my sexual thought process."
I frowned. "You have a sexual thought process?"
He hesitated. "Okay, not quite that deep, but they've certainly dragged my tasteful sense of delicate innuendos through their mental mud."
"Don't change the subject. I want to hear your sexual thought process."
He was silent for a moment as he rounded a corner, and I didn't miss that he checked all around before speaking. "It's pretty basic actually. Adar always talks about, you know, being sensitive to the mood, making sure your mate is comfortable and relaxed, but...I always kind of forget that stuff in the moment."
I raised an eyebrow, working hard to suppress a giggle. "We've done it twice. You aren't hopeless. And anyway, I didn't ask about your daddy's sexual thought process, I asked about yours."
Legolas's face started to redden. "It's actually pretty basic. Probably quite unoriginal. I wouldn't want to bore you."
Poking his chest, I said, "You wouldn't be boring me, Pointy-Ears, if you weren't beating around the bush."
He blushed more. "If you insist."
I smirked. "Oh, I do."
He took a deep breath, then released it. "All right, I'll tell you, but once we're in our room."
Waiting until we got into the room and shut the door behind us proved a challenge, but I survived. Legolas tenderly sat me on the bed, then knelt and tugged off my boots. I bounced a little with excitement. "Come on, don't keep me waiting!"
Legolas chuckled uncomfortably. "All right. So, right at the beginning I'm thinking, 'We're doing this, I can't believe we're doing this...' etcetera. And then I'm like, 'She wants me to get naked first...is that a good sign? A bad sign? Is she nervous?' And then I feel a little nervous because you might be nervous."
I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. He was being so frank with me, and I found it fascinating to hear his honest thoughts. But also amusing, because underneath that flawless physical surface, Legolas was just as vulnerable and insecure as the next person.
I decided some positive affirmation would go a long way here. "You should never feel nervous, silly...I find you very attractive."
A small grin appeared on his face, and he scooted closer, putting his arms around my waist. With him kneeling upright and me sitting on the bed, we were about the same height. "Well I figured that out when you took your clothes off for me the second time. But thank you for saying it."
Leaning forward, I left a brief kiss on his lips. "Would you get me a nightgown? I think Larika had a couple made for me while I was in Mirkwood."
Legolas nodded and stood. His long legs took him across the room to the closet. While he searched for the garment, I pulled off my outer garments and dropped them on the floor beside the bed, where I'm slightly less likely to trip over them. Ahh...the perks of being Queen. If I were any less mature, I would say the Mountain was my laundry basket.
Legolas returned, wearing a victorious grin, pretending to hold up a nightgown that isn't there for my inspection. "I like it when you wear this one."
I raised an eyebrow. "You like it when I wear nothing?"
He grinned and nodded. "Precicely." Pretending to fold it over his arm, he walks over to me. "May I help you into your sleepwear, Your Majesty?"
My cheeks warmed and I looked up at him. Placing a hand on his chest, I said, "Legolas, I really shouldn't...erm...bond with you, again tonight." I give him an apologetic grimace. "I'm going to be squirming around in the saddle tomorrow already."
"Shh..." Legolas cradled my face with his two hands, looking down at me with an emphatic affection. "I know, melleth. I just...let me rest with you, without clothes, one more time?" He blinked and looked away, a telltale shine underlining his bright eyes. "We're going to war, there'll be no privacy, no doors to close or moments to steal...and no guarentee that either of us will come back."
My chest tightened with premature grief, and I squeezed my eyes shut. We could deny it, avoid thinking about it, or attack the situation, as if we could control our own fate. But there was no way around the uncertainty clouding our future. Fear of death. Fear of leaving the other. Fear of being left.
It hurt, like my blood had frozen in my veins.
Struggling not to cry, I gave Legolas a strained smile. "If you don't mind, good sir, it would seem I require assistance donning my nightgown of nothingness."
He laughed, a gust of an emotional exhale. Ever so reverently, he removed my undergarments, his striking, red-rimmed eyes missing not a detail. After dropping them on my pile of discarded clothes, he hastily swiped at his eyes and pretended to unfold the air-robe. "Lift your arms melleth, there are no buttons on this one."
Grasping at the opportunity to regain the playful mood, I arched an eyebrow. "Who's to say there're no buttons?"
"Well look for yourself. Do you see any buttons?" He smirked.
I crossed my arms, perfectly aware of how it changed my shape. "No. Not exactly."
Legolas's eyes flicked to my chest, and his throat twitched. "Please?"
Not having the heart to say no, I obliged, straightening my arms over my head.
He took his time looking me up and down before drawing the air-robe down over my head and onto my body. That done, he rested his hands on my hips and met my gaze. "Back to the earlier topic..."
I cringed. "Which one?"
A smile, weighed by melancholy, lifted his lips. "My sexual thought process. I found my place."
"Would that be when I get naked, by any chance?"
His smile widened. "Look at you, finishing my sentences." He gave me a brief kiss, then reached around me to arrange the blanket for my arrival in the bed. "You see, that's when I start telling my head to shut up so I can admire you without a cacophony of mental voices telling my subconscious exactly how much I love you."
I let him guide me to the bed, and he tucked the blankets around me. "And then?" I prodded.
Legolas walked around to the other side of the bed, paused to ditch his trousers, and crawled in beside me. "Well, and then I do everything in my power to show you how much I love you."
Smiling, I scooted closer to him. "Well, this isn't news to me."
He wrapped his arms around me. "Good. I would be disappointed if it were." After giving my neck a warm kiss, he said, "Go to sleep Eda. No matter what happens, remember that I love you."
I burrowed into the pillows and his chest, getting comfortable in my cocoon. "And I you, Legolas," I whispered.
As I drifted off to sleep, my mind barely registered that he wasn't snuggling in the way I was. He didn't plan to sleep. "More than anything," he whispered, a haunting echo to my fuzzy mind. "More than life itself."
***Author's Note Again!***
Life has been bonkers to me lately. Great things are happening, shoddy things are happening, and for the last, like, two months I've been going sixty almost nonstop. BUT...I haven't forgotten you. And it's still my goal to finish TSW this year.
Thanks for taking the journey with me. Don't forget to vote/comment!