LEGOLAS
TITLE:Elenath
AUTHOR:Emily Kinsman
RATING:PG
FEEDBACK: emilyk@apptechnc.net 
DISCLAIMER:The characters from Lord of the Rings, their wonderful 
world, and the Elf-lore are all borrowed from J.R.R. Tolkien. I wish he 
were 
alive to see the LOTR pandamonium! The plotline and all other 
characters are copyright 2002 Emily Kinsman. 'Nuff Said
SUMMARY:I don't want to ruin any surprises, but an Elf-babe is 
abandoned in our world (through a nexus of sorts) to be raised by a 
human 
woman. This is the story of her return to her true home.
FEEDBACK: Please Please, Pretty Please tell me what you think! I'm new 
at this.
ARCHIVE: YES

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30. 
"Excuse me," said Elenath to the maidservant who had just finished placing wine 
goblets onto a large cart that was heavy-laden with food, wine, and pitchers of 
water. 
The Elf turned quickly and dropped immediately into a curtsy. "Your Majesty!" 
"Please," said Elenath, "You needn't curtsy. I've come to ask a favor of you." 
"Anything, Princess. Whatever you need." 
The princess smiled. "Go home to your family and have a nice relaxing night off. I 
will take care of the Council this evening." 
"But Your Majesty, I would be shirking my duty to allow you to do so. The King 
will be angry. This kind of thing just isn't done." 
"It is now, and I will deal with the King." said Elenath with a mischievous smirk. 
"Now go. Enjoy yourself." 
"Yes, Princess," said the Elf with another curtsy. She disappeared quickly down 
the hall, looking back once with a concerned statement on her face. 
***
The council chamber erupted into a panicked uproar when Prince Legolas and 
David came running into the room, dirty, bruised and battered. 
"Mani Marte (What happened)?" demanded the King over the racket. "Have the 
orcs attacked?" 
"No, Father," said Legolas quickly. "Fear not. The orcs have not attacked." He 
calmed the Council as best he could, but refused to say any more on the matter. 
David followed suit, sinking silently into his chair and casting an amused glance 
at Legolas. 
Actually, they fit in quite well with the bedraggled group that gathered that night in 
the Council chambers. It had been a rough day of training and preparation. The 
battle date was only a month away. Estel had a hastily-wrapped blood-soaked 
bandage on his upper arm where one of his fencing students had gotten the best 
of him. Raion's wrist was quite possibly broken. It had been wrapped and 
splinted. Thorondil had had a close encounter with an arrow earlier in the day 
(fortunately not one of Elenath's) and a deep scratch adorned his right cheek.  
"Well," said the king, "It appears that we need to scale back our training a little 
bit, or we will have no warriors left to fight the orcs." 
***
I can do this, thought Elenath, I waited tables all through nursing school. I can 
certainly serve a party of ten. She wheeled the wooden cart carefully down the 
corridor to the room she had been directed to by the chef. 
The door was closed, so she rang the bell. There was a good deal of shuffling 
around inside before the King called out, "Come!" 
The first thing that she noticed upon entering the room was that half of the 
Council members were injured. She had to swallow a gasp when she saw the 
sad state of her husband and David. It looked as if they had been in a barroom 
brawl. The second thing she noticed was that no one looked up at her as she 
came in the door. All the better for her, she decided. 
The Council was in deep discussion already, but she closed her ears to it and 
began to pour the wine, placing a goblet first in front of the King and doing the 
same for each of the Men and Elves gathered there. Elenath was amazed by the 
Council's almost complete disregard of her presence, even as she served them. 
In fact they did not even look at her until she reached Raion who happened to 
look up just as she placed his goblet on the table. He practically leapt from his 
chair in the middle of Thorondil's long commentary about Mirkwood's dismal lack 
of good sword makers. 
"My Lady!" he said, bowing low.  
Suddenly all eyes were on her. Ten chairs were pushed back from the table, and 
ten Council members were bowing to her in varying degrees.  
"Hello," she said cheerfully, just as she had done for four years working at 
Kevin's Kountry Kitchen. "My name is Elenath and I'll be your server this evening. 
We will start the meal with a leafy garden salad and then move onto a wonderful 
roast rabbit and vegetable stew, along with the chef's special garlic herb bread. If 
there is anything extra that I can get for you, please let me know." 
They all just stood and stared at her, wide-eyed for a long moment. Finally David 
stage-whispered, "Elenath! What are you doing?" 
She smiled prettily. "Serving your dinner. Now please," she motioned to their 
chairs, "sit down. I know you must all be very hungry. It appears that you have 
had a particularly long day."  
Finally they all sat, casting confused glances at one another as Lord Elrond 
caught Elenath's eye and smiled. "You look absolutely lovely, my dear." 
"Thank you, Grandfather." She returned his smile and noticed that his gaze 
lingered on her eyes a bit longer than necessary. A shadow of question crept into 
his eyes, but he said nothing. 
With a mental shrug, Elenath continued serving the wine, and then set a crisp 
green salad in front of each person. It was going swimmingly well until she 
reached Raion and asked softly, "More wine, My Lord?" 
He stood up quickly. "This is preposterous! My Lady, please. Here, sit down in 
my place. I will call a servant. You are far above this!" 
She looked levelly at him, noting his injury. "You're wounded. I shall have to see 
to that later. Sit down." 
"But-" 
"As your Princess I ask you again. Please sit down." 
He had no choice but to comply. 
As she placed a plate in front of Legolas, he captured her hand and squeezed it 
softly, meeting her eyes and whispering, "You are more beautiful than a 
thousand vibrant autumns. I've missed you, My Love." 
"And I you," she replied softly, kissing his bruised forehead. 
The rest of her serving was done in silence as the Council debated everything 
from strategy to diplomacy with the Eagles when they arrived. She could not help 
but notice her grandfather's gaze meeting her own quite frequently, as if he could 
see something odd about her that the others could not. He always looked in her 
eyes, especially when she came close, into her eyes and through them, as if he 
were peering into her soul. It was a bit unnerving, but she chalked it up to having 
not seen him for more than a moment or two at a time in the past two weeks. 
It seemed hours later when she finally finished tending to everyone's gashes and 
bruises as best she could with her small amount of training Elvish medicine. She 
removed all of the hay from David's short hair with a simple brush-through with 
her fingers. Legolas' was a little bit more difficult. It would require the use of a 
comb, so she gave up and headed toward the door with a curtsy.  
"Wait!" exclaimed Elrond, standing up and interrupting Legolas' dissertation on 
orkish weaponry. "Tula. Come here, Child." 
Everyone fell silent as she made her way to her grandfather who took her chin 
gently in his hand and gazed deeply into her eyes. A smile crept onto his face. 
And then he began to chuckle.  
"What is it, Grandfather?" she asked in a timid voice, for his strange behavior 
was very frightening to her. 
Elrond said nothing to her, but called Legolas to his side. The Prince came 
immediately and stood next to his wife, taking her hand in his. 
"Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood," said Elrond in the most regal voice that he could 
muster through his delighted laughter, "You are going to be a father!" 
31. 
"What?!" Elenath's question echoed through the silent Council chamber. 
"A child grows in your womb," said Lord Elrond. "Early next summer, or perhaps 
in late spring, you will hold a baby in your arms." 
"What?" she whispered as Legolas wrapped his arms around her from behind. 
"You… You can't possibly know that! Not just by looking at me!" 
Elrond looked surprised. "Of course we can tell by looking at you! How else are 
we supposed to tell?" 
"Well, with blood tests," she replied, "and ultra-sounds. And home pregnancy 
tests!" 
"None of which exist here," mentioned David in a rather dazed voice. 
"Are you sure of this, Lord Elrond?" asked the Prince.  
"Honestly, Legolas," laughed Elenath's grandfather, "Are you truly surprised? 
How long has it been since you looked your wife in the eyes?" 
"Far too long," mumbled the Prince, "obviously." 
"I would say… oh, about two weeks!" exclaimed the older Elf. "It is as plain as 
day. See for yourself." 
Legolas turned his trembling wife toward himself gently and looked into her eyes. 
It took only a moment for him to pick out the tell-tale faint blue aura around her 
irises. "It's true," he said, pulling her close and wrapping her in a warm embrace.  
Elenath's mind went numb. Unless Elrond and Legolas were playing some kind 
of sick joke on her, she was pregnant. What rotten timing. What utterly horrible 
ghastly timing. Here she was, expecting to fight a huge battle in one month's 
time. How was she supposed to do that in the throws of morning sickness and 
hormonal imbalances? 
But King Thranduil was jubilant. "This is wonderful news! The first new child in 
Mirkwood in a thousand years aside from our lovely Princess here! Haha!" He 
scooped his daughter-in-law up and spun her around until she could not help but 
laugh with him a little. "Legolas, you are hereby dismissed from this Council until 
further notice! And I do not want to see either one you at weapons training 
tomorrow either! You've weighty matters to ponder, my son!" He set the Princess 
down next to her husband and laughed again, heartily. 
Estel's reaction surprised Elenath more so than the King's. He approached the 
Princess quietly and knelt before her, resting his hand on her belly, and speaking 
softly to the child within, "Aa elen lumen omentilmo, Aiaer (May a star shine on 
the hour of our meeting, Little One)."  
Elenath looked at him with questions in her eyes and he smiled. "It is an Elvish 
blessing, My Lady. For a safe and joyful birth." Then he stood and looked into her 
eyes as he added, "May the Valar pour an abundance of peace and love into 
your life as you carry this child," and kissed her softly on the forehead. 
The blessing made her feel a little better and she smiled weakly. "Thank you, 
Estel." 
He bowed in response. "An honor to be the first," he said. 
"The first?" she asked. 
"You will receive many such blessings," explained Thranduil. "And you will feel 
their wonderful affects. For a blessing over an unborn child, or over one who is 
with child, is increased one hundred times. Such has always been the way of the 
Elves." 
David approached her next, grinning. "What did I tell you?" he demanded. "That 
note. Remember that note I wrote to you? Now I'm going to have three of you to 
look after! Elenath, I am only one man!" 
The Princess remained alarmingly serious. "And I am only one Elf… with an 
entire Kingdom to look after."  
*** 
Elenath was unsure of exactly how or when she came to be in her own 
chambers. It had all been a blur of happy congratulations and inner turmoil. But 
Legolas had taken her from the pandemonium of the Council chamber as quickly 
as he could, excusing himself from the Council and everything else with his 
father's approval. 
The Princess sat combing through his wet hair now, unsuccessfully trying to give 
voice to her concerns. She had so many questions that she could not decide 
which one of them to ask first. All that came out of her mouth was, "What-? 
When-? How-?" and an occasional, "Oh, my God," or "Jesus help me." 
Finally Legolas turned and grabbed the comb from her hand. "Stop. Stop right 
there." 
She looked at him with wide eyes, her hands trembling. "When…?" 
"Shhh, My Love." He placed a finger over her lips and she stared at him 
helplessly. His black eye had already started to heal, leaving only a puffy 
redness, and his other bruises were all but gone. "Calm yourself. Why do you 
tremble so? Why are your eyes full of fear?" He rested his hand lightly on her 
belly. "This is a gift. A very rare gift among our people. You should be delighted." 
He smiled. "I am." 
In a way, so was she, but the timing was all wrong. She said the first thing that 
came to her mind. "Pregnant women do not fight in wars." 
"Ah," said Legolas, finally understanding his wife's distress. "Melamin, you have 
much to learn about Elves. You are right. Pregnant women do not fight in wars. 
But pregnant Elves do, if they and their husbands wish." 
"But… how could I? How could I risk an innocent child's life? And what if I get 
sick? I've had friends who got pregnant and they were so sick they could hardly 
hold their heads up, let alone ride a horse or swing a sword." 
"Human friends?" asked the Elf. 
She nodded. 
He smiled at her. "You have much to learn about Elves. And I think that you will 
be quite pleased with what I have to say." 
32. 
Elenath smiled at her husband. "So tell me then, Great Prince of Mirkwood, all 
about Elves." 
"Well," he said, "For one thing they do not get sick when they are pregnant. And 
for another, pregnant Elves are the most thoroughly blessed individuals in all of 
Middle Earth." 
"What do you mean?" 
Legolas pulled her near and gazed deeply into her eyes. "May you be filled with 
peace and joy at the thought of bearing our child." Then he kissed her forehead 
softly. 
She felt the worry lift from her shoulders like a heavy weight and let a smile touch 
her lips briefly. 
"There," he said, "Did you feel that?" 
She nodded. 
"You will receive hundreds of such blessings. You will not be sick, tired, or in any 
way inconvenienced. In fact, there is an even better benefit to this. A great 
benefit. The timing of this pregnancy could not have been any better." 
"What do you mean?" she asked as he drew the dagger from her boot. 
"Do you trust me?" 
She nodded. "I would worry if I did not, my husband. Wouldn't you?" 
He smiled and stood up, moving away from her, tossing the dagger in the air and 
catching it a couple of times. "Hold still. Don't move." 
Elenath watched him with wide eyes as he drew the dagger back and aimed it 
directly at her. "Legolas…?" 
"Don't move," he said with a grin. 
Had her husband gone crazy? Had she gone crazy? She forced herself to stay 
still as he let fly and watched in terror as the knife somersaulted through the air 
toward her. It would hit her dead center, just above where she knew the child 
rested in her womb. Still, she did not move. She closed her eyes and braced 
herself for the pain she knew was coming. 
*Clink!*  
Elenath knew that was the sound of the dagger hitting the stone wall behind her 
and she let out her breath and opened her eyes, glaring at Legolas. "You! You 
tried to kill me!" 
He sat down next to her and took her into his arms again. "And you would have 
let me?" 
"Well, I-" she turned around and saw the knife, behind her and to the right. "What 
happened? It was coming right at me!" 
"The best benefit of all in such a time as this. You're pregnant," he replied. "There 
are very few weapons in all of Middle Earth that could harm you. One of them is 
at your side." 
"Where are the others?" 
Legolas thought for a moment. "Some have been lost. At one time an axe and a 
spear existed, I believe. Now only my father's knives, Lady Galadriel's arrows 
and Lord Elrond's sword remain. These all, except for your sword, were made by 
the Elven artisans of old who infused them with the power to penetrate anything, 
living or not." 
"Why would they have made such weapons?" she asked, horrified. 
"Dragons. They were made to fight the dragons." 
"Dragons?" she asked, the fear evident in her voice. 
"Do not worry, My Love. The very few that remain never come into Mirkwood. 
They know better." 
She shook her head. "Elves, orcs, dragons, talking eagles, trees that sing…. I 
made up my mind long ago that I am not dreaming, but sometimes I still 
wonder." 
"Melamin," said the prince softly, "Are you not beginning to remember this place, 
your people… me?" 
She rose to her knees and kissed him softly until he became pliable enough 
beneath her touch that she was able to easily push him over. His soft protest 
when she broke the kiss brought a smile to her face. The fact that the angelic 
being in her arms loved her, desired her, and needed her was still difficult for her 
believe. Happily resting her head on his chest and listening to the steady beating 
of his heart, her own seemed to fall into rhythm with it. "My heart remembers you 
completely. My mind remembers more day by day. Please be patient with me, 
My Prince."  
"I am pleased that you follow your heart, Amaelamin (my beloved), instead of 
your mind. If I could not hold you as I am doing now; if I could not touch you and 
taste of your sweet lips; I fear that I would be consumed by sorrow." 
She sighed, pushing the tears that threatened to rise back down again. "And I 
almost have been consumed by it these past two weeks, Legolas. Why have you 
avoided me so? Have I done something to offend you?" 
"No," he whispered. "You did nothing wrong."  
"Then why?" 
"Because my thoughts have been bent on keeping you safe, Elenath. I have 
been doing everything in my power to prepare for this battle because I will not 
allow anything to take you from me ever again." His arms tightened around her. "I 
am sorry that I brought sadness to your heart, and even more sorry that I did not 
realize what I was doing. David set me straight this afternoon." 
"Is that what happened to the two of you?" she asked. 
He chuckled. "Yes. But we worked out our differences." Growing serious again, 
he said, "Elenath, I never meant to hurt you. I swear I would never do so 
intentionally." 
"I know this in my mind, but heart is not so easily convinced. Please do not 
deprive me of your attention again, Legolas. I doubt that I could bear it." 
"Amin hiraetha," he whispered, his finger lightly tracing the gold-dusted skin 
above the gentle curve of her gown's neckline. "I am sorry. Let me make it up to 
you." His blue eyes caught hers and drew her in to a place where she felt 
altogether beautiful, whole, and loved. "Amin mela lle (I love you.)." 
It was an offer she could not refuse, and she gave herself completely to his 
gentle caresses and loving kisses.  
When morning came, she found herself still wrapped in his arms, his warm 
breath caressing the back of her neck. She could not hold back her happy tears 
then, thanking God in her heart for his abundant blessings. She could not help 
but remember the words that Jesus had spoken to her as they stood by the 
heavenly city: "The Prince of Mirkwood was made for you, and you for him. You 
are a perfect match." What had she done to deserve such a perfect blessing? 
Who was she to deserve such love? 
A still small voice whispered to her heart, "You are my beloved child." 
Jesus had said that he would always be with her, and now she knew that he was, 
though she could not see him. Her heart whispered in reply, "And I will follow 
wherever you lead if only you stay by my side."