Chapter Twenty-Seven

Legolas could not fathom how the King of Gondor had managed to get away from his kingdom long enough to travel to Eryn Lasgalen, let alone find an elf in the forest. It had taken Legolas by surprise to open his eyes and find Aragorn crouched before him. It did not matter how the Man had managed it. He was here, and relief washed over him, for now he had the help he needed to get Caeri to his father's halls, given he had not felt the presence of the "moose" since the night before last. Once in the caverns he had known all his life, they could rest and recover before beginning the journey south to Ithilien.

Aragorn looked at him curiously for a moment, most likely still pondering the presence of Caeri here with him, but that story could be told later. The man glanced over his shoulder, then said without looking at Legolas, "I will get my supplies. And I think I will allow others to address whether or not you are in trouble."

Aragorn stood and walked away, allowing Legolas a clear sight of three horses.  And standing next to Daehul was Gimli.

Legolas mouth went dry. He had not expected either of his friends here, but he should not be surprised. And now he would have to face an irate dwarf — one that he had failed to tell about the elves sailing and that he had neglected to see for almost a year, as well as explain his current state. Gimli would be sure to confront him on all this and more. It would not be pleasant.

But the dwarf just continued to stand there, stroking Daehul's neck absently. He glanced at Legolas once or twice, but would not meet Legolas's gaze.

A stab of fear sent icy tendrils through him as he realized just how his inconsiderate behavior had affected his friend, for nothing else would have stayed the dwarf from his side given Legolas'a condition.

Had he gone too far? Pushed Gimli away and risked his friendship with his selfish behavior? Would anything ever be the same between them again? Legolas closed his eyes and felt them sting with remorse. He was a fool, a complete fool for treating someone so dear to him in such a manner.

He drew in a ragged breath, then opened his eyes, startling when he realized he had not heard Gimli approach, and yet there the dwarf now was, standing before him staring at the toes of his boots. Legolas took another deep breath and focused on the dwarf's face. Even if his friend refused to look at him, he would say what needed to be said.

"My…apologies, Gimli. I should have told you that my people were sailing, and that I planned to come here until they departed. I would have asked you to accompany me, but I felt the need to say goodbye to my home alone. But I should have told you that as well, and I regret that I did not."

Legolas paused and waited for a reaction from the dwarf. He expected the dwarf to deliver a tirade about his foolishness, the idiocy of his actions. Yet, Gimli stood silent, not even looking at him, and that, above all else, stunned and pained Legolas. He had sworn to never hurt his friend like this again, and yet, he had. Yes, he was a great fool.

"Are you not going to yell at me? Tell me how stupid and foolish I was? Berate me for not telling you, nor lecture me about how I should have allowed you to accompany me?"

 Still the dwarf remained silent.

"Will you say nothing of my idiocy?"

Gimli raised his headthen and locked his gaze on Legolas's face, meeting his eyes, and Legolas saw the regret reflected there. "It seems to me, lad, that you already know all those things. I see no need to repeat them."

Gimli hesitated and Legolas could see him struggling with emotion. But the dwarf shook himself and continued, slipping into banter to cover the awkwardness of his deep feelings, though it was obvious to Legolas that the dwarf's heart was not in the jest. "And I'm sure you will not repeat such 'idiocy' as you call it, for fear of my deciding to shave off that precious hair of yours with my ax."

"Indeed," Legolas agreed, but was not willing to let the matter go so easily. Holding the dwarf's gaze with his own, he felt the sting of moisture in his eyes again. "Please forgive me, Gimli. I did not mean to jeopardize our friendship, and I know my actions caused you pain. It will not happen again."

The dwarf eyed him for a long moment, chewing thoughtfully on his bottom lip. "See that it does not."

Legolas closed his eyes in relief and leaned his head back against the tree. A hesitant touch on his harm caused his eyes to crack open. Gimli knelt next him, troubled eyes now fixed on the blood covering the elf's tunic and leggings.

"How much of that is yours, elf?" Gimli asked, his tone revealing the dwarf's anxiety.

Glancing down, Legolas replied, "Most of it, but I will be fine."

Gimli released a heavy sigh and slid his hand down the length of Legolas's arm, grasping his forearm in the grip of a fellow warrior. "Hmm. You better be."

Legolas smiled to himself and returned the pressure on his friend's arm. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes again. With Gimli at his side, even the constant song of the sea drifted into the background.

Aragorn returned with his supplies and reached for Legolas's tunic, but Legolas stayed his hand. "I am fine. The bleeding has stopped, and I am simply tired. Please check on Lancaeriel. I am not sure how badly she is hurt. She took a bad fall on her right hip from a horse several days ago, and those men…" He swallowed bile down at the thought of what those men would have done to her. "They were not kind in their handling of her."

At Aragorn's sharp intake of breath, Legolas met his gaze and shook his head. "No, not that, but she's been beaten."

Aragorn released a sigh and nodded, moving over to Caeri's side to examine her where she lay. Legolas closed his eyes again, and let his friends' comforting presence soothe him as he rocked on the waves of song that drifted on a salty breeze through the trees.  

— o —

Lancaeriel woke to the feel of hands on her body. Panic gripped her, and for a moment she feared they had once again been recaptured by those vile men. But— they had escaped, had they not?

Yet, there were hands on her, and they were not the hands of an elf. Her tunic was pushed up to expose the skin of her back, and Lancaeriel stiffened and the movement ceased, though the hands did not release her tunic.

Her eyes flew open, and she pulled away from whoever was touching her, although her struggle to do so was weak with her lack of strength from their ordeal. As she struggled to scramble back from the hands, her eyes came to rest on a dark haired man beside her, and she screamed, her eyes frantically searching for Lass.

Then, Lass was by her side, pulling her against his chest, whispering soothing words against her hair. "It is alright, Caeri. Have no fear. You are safe."

Lancaeriel felt skeptical, but allowed herself to relax against Lass. She kept wary eyes on the human kneeling a few feet from her, and as her breathing steadied, she found the strength to ask, "Have we been recaptured?"

The man smiled and shook his head. Lancaeriel frowned at him, but felt Lass's chuckle.

"No," Lass assured her, using the common speech. "We are among friends."

Lancaeriel looked skeptically at the dirty human smiling at her. "Your friends should wash more frequently," she told Lass in Sindarin, but the man's laughter told her he understood every word she had said.

Lass chuckled as well as he eased her into a more comfortable sitting position, pulling back from the embrace and leaning against the tree himself.

"In the past, I have told him that many times. In recent years, his wife has made sure he is sufficiently clean. But it would seem being in the wild again has only encouraged him to neglect himself once more."

Lancaeriel lips twitched at that. Lass it was turning out had a sense of humor that she found she enjoyed.  

He continued, addressing the Man with a slight frown on his face. "What are you doing here, Estel? By Elbereth, how did you find me?"

The Man shook his head and chuckled some more. "We are here, elf, to save your hide from your own stupidity."

It was at this point that Lancaeriel noticed a dwarf moving over from behind the tree to stand next to the Man. His hard eyes were cold upon her, studying her with a calculation she decided she did not like. She remained quiet, having only heard tales of dwarves nad never having encountered one. And yet his presence seemed significant somehow.

But her body was weary and her head ached. She could make no sense of why these two strangers had come in search of Lass. So instead of thinking, she listened as the Man continued his explanation and ignored the eyes of the dwarf which still pierced her.  

"As to how we found you, we had some help. Some very interesting help, my friend. Do you wish to tell me why Olrendis would be helping you?"

Lancaeriel gasped. The legend? Raini? Could they be one and the same? She turned curious eyes to Lass and waited with the others for him to explain.

"If the lady will permit you, Estel, please continue evaluating her injuries while I tell you the tale."

The Man called Estel looked at Lancaeriel in question before moving towards her. "I am a healer, my lady, and he," Estel pointed at Lass, "will not let me look to his wounds before I see to your own. I promise I will preserve your modesty at all costs."

She regarded him for a moment, then looked into his honest blue-grey eyes. There was something unique about this man, and she could not help but trust him. She nodded, "I thank you for your help, but I hold no title, sir. Please just call me Lancaeriel."

Estel smiled and moved forward. "A beautiful name. It suits you well," he told her, then helped her sit in a position so he could look at her lower back and hip.

Lass must have told him about her fall.  Her face and head hurt more at the moment, but she hissed as he lightly pressed against what she could only presume was a large bruise. After several minutes, he proclaimed he did not think anything was broken and moved on to look at her face and head, studying her eyes and feeling the bones in her face.

As Estel worked, Lass told them of Raini, from his first encounter with the child, to their capture, escape and the fight. He left out nothing, and neither man nor dwarf interrupted the tale.

Then Lass began to tell them about his last encounter with Raini, or as she had suspected, Rainiriel, a legend of the forest.

"Before my eyes she transformed into a lady of great beauty, and it became clear to me that she was much older and wiser than I could fathom. She told me she was Rainiriel. When I confessed my confusion as to why she was helping me given the tales, she told me I was the last of her line…of both lines. It would seem my father descends from her first love, and she herself is my mother's great grandmother. I am the last of both lines in this world. The legend is true."

All three listeners sat blinking as Lass told them of his lineage. Lancaeriel could not help but speak up. "I knew you were special, Lass, but I assumed you were simply of one of the noble houses. But to be related to Rainiriel? That is truly amazing."

Estel looked sharply at Lass. "She does not know who you are?" he asked. Lass shook his head, a dark and somewhat guilty look entering his eyes.

Lancaeriel wondered why he had never told her his real name. She had meant to ask, but had not had the chance. "What is it you hide from me?" she asked. She felt curious now. He had withheld his identity for a reason, but with the men dead, there was no cause not to be forthcoming that she could see.

Lass took a deep breath, then met her eyes. His whole demeanor changed as his chin lifted. "My grandfather was Oropher. I am Legolas, son of Thranduil… my lady." He said the last with a small quirk to his lips and watched her to see her reaction.

Lancaeriel could only stare. She felt frozen in place and her pounding head did not help. She gaped at the prince before her eyes strayed to the man and dwarf. As if in a dream, her weary mind muddled over the significance of their presence and the man's claims of being there to save the prince.

In a moment of clarity, it made sense, and she brought a hand to her head as she closed her eyes. She had heard of these three. They had been part of the Fellowship that had guarded the Halfling who had defeated the evil and restored peace to their world.

She sighed, feeling overwhelmed. Without a thought to what she was saying, she blurted out, "I just spent a week being rescued by a Prince of the realm, and now my wounds are being treated by the King of Gondor who came with Lord Gimli to find you?"

 Her voice was rushed, yet deceptively calm. That surprised her. She opened her eyes to find Prince Legolas grinning at her.

"Aye."

Lancaeriel took another deep breath and closed her eyes again. But then she cracked one open enough to glare just a bit. Prince or no, she felt annoyed.

"Remind me when I have the strength that I need smack you!"

Behind King Elessar, she heard the dwarf begin to chuckle, then his gruff voice saying, "I like her."

She smiled.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: Thanks for reading. The story is winding down, but there are still a few loose threads to weave into the story. I hope to have them posted soon.