Legolas POV
“Welcome, Legolas Thranduilion,” Lord Celeborn says and opens his arms wide in a welcoming gesture.
I bow to him. “Thank you for welcoming me on such a short notice, Lord Celeborn.”
He places his hand on my upper back, guiding me into the palace. “You are always welcome here. You know that. It is a good thing that my wife saw you coming in time for us to make up your room,” he says with a warm smile.
It took me a little more than a day to arrive in Lothlorien. I traveled as quickly as I could, but Arod has gotten much older and quickly tires out. When I finally reached the borders, the Lorien guard escorted me to Caras Galadhon. I was immediately suspicious because Rumil was in charge of the guard and Haldir, the Marchwarden, was nowhere in sight. I probably should not worry, but I cannot think of any reason as to why he was not there.
Lord Celeborn looks at me. “I will take you to the library. Galadriel wants to speak with you.”
I nod, a brief feeling of dread pushing its way into my heart. I have been so excited and anxious to finally meet Eilonwy that I pushed Galadriel’s warnings to the back of my mind.
“Lead the way,” is the only reply I can think to say.
His smile changes to look more like a smirk, and I wonder if Galadriel has told him more than he needs to know about my sudden idea to visit. “Did you know that we have a new resident here in Lothlorien?”
I shake my head, deciding to play dumb. “I did not.”
Now he wears a full smirk, a sparkle of mischief appearing in his eyes. “Her name is Eilonwy. She has only been in Lothlorien for three days, but she has already managed to wedge herself deep into my wife’s heart,” he says and his smirk melts into a fond, fatherly smile, “Yesterday, she spent the entire afternoon with Eilonwy in the library, and I think they plan on meeting there again today.”
My eyes widen a bit. “I-I… she is not with Galadriel now, is she?”
I had been hoping that I would be able to take a bath and clean up a little bit before meeting her for the first time. I do not wish to look like an orc the very first time I meet my future wife.
He laughs lightly. “She was not earlier,” is all he says.
We finally reach the door to the library, and Lord Celeborn leaves to attend to other things. I stare at the large oak door, my heart thumping anxiously in my chest. Will Galadriel be furious with me? Have I made the right decision in coming here against her warnings?
“Come in, Legolas,” I hear her say from within the room before I even get up the courage to knock.
I sigh in defeat and open the door. Lady Galadriel sits on a small couch, a leather bound book resting in her hands. Her long blonde hair is pulled into a thick braid that drapes over her right shoulder, and her light blue gown sweeps down to the floor, resembling the color of the ocean. Her piercing blue eyes study me carefully, and her lips are pulled into a soft smile.
One of her hands leaves the book, gesturing for me to sit down on the couch across from her. “Welcome, Legolas,” she says kindly.
I cross the room slowly and hesitantly sit down. “Thank you, my lady,” I reply uncertainly.
She closes her book and lays it on the wooden table beside her. Her gaze then focuses back on mine as she folds her hands delicately in her lap. “Your family does not know you are here,” she states rather than asks.
“No, they do not. It was childish of me to leave without telling them, but I knew that they would not allow me to travel here,” I say as I lean back into the cushions on the couch.
She nods her head. “I am not angry with you, Legolas. Yes, I truly did believe that you should have waited until I sent Eilonwy to Mirkwood rather than travelling here, but your presence may be a good thing afterall.”
“I wanted to listen to you, I really did, but I could not wait in Mirkwood, sulking about until she arrived. I know that I must sound absolutely insane, but I have been waiting for her for almost four years. Actually, to be more precise, I have been waiting for her my entire life, even before I knew that I was waiting for herspecifically. I could not wait any longer,” I ramble on, trying to get my point across.
Her smile grows as she listens to my words. “I understand,” she says and lapses into silence for a brief moment. “Eilonwy is truly a wonderful elleth.”
“I would say so,” I say quietly. The desire to see her floods back into my heart as I think of her beauty and endearing personality. I look at Galadriel once again. “I want to meet her, but I am… afraid. I have longed to gaze upon her in reality for so long, and I love her more than any words could ever describe. But I am afraid that she will not feel the same way about me. I cannot bear to live in a world where I cannot have her as my own,” I admit.
She laughs lightly. “She will fall in love with you, Legolas. Your visions are accurate,” she says with a fond smile.
I feel better when she says that, knowing that Galadriel is the most reliable source for information on the future. I begin to respond to her, but a light round of knocks on the door causes my words to die before they leave my lips.
Galadriel’s eyes sparkle with light as she looks me in the eyes. “Enter,” she says with a wide, excited smile, and I immediately become suspicious of who is at the door.
The large oak door opens slowly and the person comes into view. My eyes widen in surprise, and my heart lurches in my chest. I blink, wondering if the image in front of me is real or just my imagination. She is even more beautiful in reality than in my visions, which I never thought would be possible. The breath is knocked out of my lungs as she tentatively steps into the library, her eyes flitting across the room. When her bright green eyes land on me, they widen in surprise.
“Good afternoon, Eilonwy. I was wondering when you would join us,” Lady Galadriel says with a kind smile as the elleth’s gaze travels to her.
My heart races as Eilonwy looks at me once more, and when our eyes meet, she quickly turns back to look at the Lady of Lorien. “I-I am sorry, my lady. I did not… I-I did not realize…” she stutters out as her eyes flit to meet mine once more.
Lady Galadriel laughs lightly, her eyes shining with undisguised amusement. “It is quite alright, my dear. Please come in. I want to introduce you to someone.” She beckons Eilonwy to come forward.
She slowly makes her way to us, and both Galadriel and I stand. She stops beside Galadriel, her eyes trained on the floor. A warm feeling spreads its way into my veins. She is shy, just like she always is in my visions, and I would not have her any other way.
Galadriel looks at me with warm, happy eyes. “Eilonwy, this is Prince Legolas of Mirkwood,” she says as she pushes her towards me, “And Legolas, this is Lady Eilonwy.”
Eilonwy looks up at me through her long eyelashes, and for a moment I am sure I feel my heart stop beating in my chest as if it is suspended in time, suspended in a world where only she and I exist and nothing else matters. Words cannot describe what I am feeling in this moment. Her eyes stare deeply into mine, and if it was possible, I would freely choose to drown in them and never resurface because there would be no need to. There would be no purpose to my existence if I could not have Eilonwy in my life. And it is strange, for I am almost positive, as I look into her bright green eyes, that I see a spark of recognition in them. She looks at me as if she knows me from somewhere, as if I am someone that is of great importance to her, and the idea sends shocks of joy throughout my veins, leaving me almost certain that I could walk on air if I tried.
After what seems like centuries, my scattered thoughts stitch back together just enough for me to remember how to properly greet a lady. I clear my throat in slight embarrassment and reach out to take her small hand in my own. “It is wonderful to finally meet you, my lady. I have heard much about you,” I say, willing away other words I wish more than anything to profess to her.
I bring her hand up into the air, just barely brushing my lips against her soft, smooth skin. I watch her intently as I kiss her knuckles. Her cheeks flush scarlet as she continues to gaze into my eyes, and I swear that I have never seen such a beautiful and endearing sight in my entire life.
“It is nice to meet you, too,” she says quietly as I release her hand after holding it for a moment longer than was necessary.
We both stand there in silence, but the silence is surprisingly not awkward, for we are both too caught up in our thoughts to really analyze the situation. My gaze travels over her entire figure. Her cheeks are flushed red in the dim light of the room, and her long red hair is pulled into a messy braid that cascades down her shoulder. Instead of a dress, she is clothed in a dark green tunic with a brown belt tied around her waist and brown leggings that further define her slender legs.
Lady Galadriel’s voice snaps us back into reality. “Well then, let us sit down,” she offers, and I look to her and see her failing miserably at hiding her smirk.
Eilonwy refuses her request. “Actually, my lady, supper will be starting soon, and I would like to wash up before I go to the dining hall,” she says and laughs quietly, looking down at her clothes, “I need to dress in a more appropriate manner.”
I am startled by the effect her voice has on me. It lures me in, capturing my interest to where I would be able to listen to her forever and never grow bored, even if she was speaking about something as simple as the weather.
Lady Galadriel’s smile drops ever-so-slightly, and I wonder if she feels as disappointed as I do. “Of course,” she replies, “We will see you at supper, then.”
Eilonwy stands there for a moment, studying Galadriel in a manner that causes me to believe that she feels guilty for asking to leave so abruptly. After a moment of hesitation, she drops into a small curtsey. “I will be back tomorrow, my lady.”
She then turns to me, and her eyes meet mine once again. Their green depths lure me in, leaving a strange connection between us as if something, some unseen force, is trying to pull us closer to one another. The energy between us is so present that my entire body feels as if it is buzzing and tingling, and my thoughts are scattered once again. Never in my life has a person had such a devastatingly delicious control over me.
Everyone speaks of how it feels to be around someone you love, the sparks you feel and the happiness. I always thought they were exaggerating and that no such feelings were actually possible since I had never felt them before. But now I finally understand. I finally understand that true love does exist. It is what keeps this world and beyond it thriving. Seeing Eilonwy for the first time finally allows me to see that there is no point to existence without her by my side. Looking into her innocent green eyes, my entire world stops. The pain I have felt in the past, and the pain I will surely feel in the future does not matter any more. It dissolves as I look into the eyes of the one I love. And it is so strange. I do not even know her except for the things I learned of her from my visions, yet that does not stop my soul from desperately clinging to her. It does not stop fate from bringing the two of us together at last and intertwining our hearts and souls in a way that I never thought possible. And from the way that she looks at me, I know Eilonwy must feel it, too.
“I-,” she says and stops for a moment, as if trying to assemble her thoughts, “It was a pleasure meeting you, my prince.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you as well, my lady,” I reply almost immediately. An immense pleasure. “I hope to become better acquainted with you in the future,” I say and wince internally at how stupid that sounds. ‘Better acquainted’ is definitely an understatement.
A smile pulls at her lips as a small blush rises on her cheeks again. “I hope so, as well,” she admits.
The wooden clock that sits above the fireplace in the library chimes, and Eilonwy quickly looks at it. “Well, I must be going,” she says with another small curtsey and turns, heading for the door.
I turn to look at Galadriel once Eilonwy leaves the room. I watch as she sits back down on the small couch she was sitting on when I first entered the library. Her piercing gaze is fixed on me. “I think that went well,” she says as a light laugh escapes her lips, “Eilonwy is very shy, as you have noticed, but I have never seen her have quite so much trouble forming coherent sentences with others as she did around you.” She laughs again, her eyes shining in the dim light of the library.
I sit down on the couch across from her once again as a wide, possibly goofy, smile makes its way to my lips. “Really?” I question, not bothering to hide the true curiosity and excitement in my voice.
She nods and places her hand over her mouth as she continues to laugh. “Legolas, this reminds me of when my daughter fell in love with Elrond,” she says honestly, “I had forgotten how it feels to watch young love blossom.”
I laugh as I see this uncharacteristically giddy side of the usually very serious Galadriel for the first time. Her behavior reminds me much of my mother whenever I would speak of my visions to her. She always looked so happy and so proud, as if she had been waiting all the long years of my adulthood for me to find an elleth I wanted to marry.
“Thank you for not being angry with me, my lady. I believe I made the right decision in coming here,” I say to her.
She studies me for a moment, her smile still present.
“Legolas, I believe you did.”
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A/N: Yay! They finally met! I really hope y’all enjoyed this! I rewrote this chapter a million times trying to get it just right. Please tell me what you think, and I am always open to hearing creative ideas for my story. <3
See y’all next chapter where we will check back in with Eilonwy and see what’s going on in her head… or heart. ;D
With love,
Josie :)