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 ****************************************************** 33. Elenath and Legolas kept to themselves all that day. Only Raion disturbed them once, asking if they were in need of anything. Elenath requested food and laughed when Kara delivered it. "Apparently Raion thinks you are hiding an entire army in here. He requested enough food to feed one," said the Woman. "So what makes you so special that you're skipping all the hard work today?" Elenath cast a questioning glance at her husband. "You must be sworn to secrecy, Kara," said the Prince, smiling. "You cannot tell anyone until after the banquet tonight." "What banquet?" asked Elenath. "The huge one that the King is planning," replied Kara. "Some kind of celebration. Perhaps the orcs have given up and left our borders?" "I wish that were true, My Lady," said the Prince. "Do I have your word that you will not share our secret?" "Yeah," said Kara. "I promise. I won't tell a soul." Legolas nodded to his wife who grinned at her friend. "You might want to sit down." She pulled up a chair and sat. "Okay. Let me have it. I can handle it." "I'm going to have a baby," said Elenath. Kara shrieked in delight, tackling her friend with an enormous hug, much to the amusement of Legolas. "A baby! Oh Elenath, that's wonderful!" "I wanted to tell you before the announcement was made," she laughed delightedly. "It's a good thing you did! Because I would have looked like a fool hugging you like this with you all in your Princess get-up." *** Mirkwood was delighted with the news that there would be a child born to the royal house. The celebration lasted far into the night, but the next day, it was back to business as usual. Elenath rose early with her husband and prepared for a day of intense training. "I have a lot to learn if I'm going to be any good to this army," she said. "You're doing fine, Melamin. Remember, they cannot harm you. We'll have Thorondil work with you on some attack techniques today." She nodded to him. "Sounds good." She began to pull her hair back into a ponytail, but he stopped her. "Your hair should be left down for battle, Melamin. I have never seen an Elf fight with his hair bound up as you do." "I don't like for it to be in my eyes," she said. "How can you stand it?" They were about to be late, but he motioned for her to sit. "I will show you. Here." Quickly but expertly he combed through her hair with his fingers and pulled the sides back into a loose braid on top of her head. Then kneeling in front of her, he added two more thin braids to each side, tucking them behind her ears. "There. Now you are the most beautiful warrior in Mirkwood." She looked into his eyes and smiled. "And I am at your service, Your Highness." "Is that so?" he asked, a twinkle in his eyes. She nodded and he leaned forward, twining his fingers through her hair, his eyes never leaving hers. "Then I would like a kiss," he said in his most princely voice. "Seasamin (My pleasure)," she whispered before obeying his command, teasing him at first with light kisses until he gently took control, practically taking her breath away. When he finally broke the kiss, he said, "My love, if we were not late for practice, I would ask you to do that again." "You needn't ask." she smiled and pressed her lips to his once more, letting herself be swept into the ecstasy of all that was Legolas: the softness of his skin, his silken hair, the strength of his arms around her, and the scent that was all his own. Even the taste of him thrilled her. Her heart fell as she heard footsteps approaching and felt Legolas pull away from her. "I think we're in trouble," whispered the Prince as he looked up to see Thorondil standing in their doorway. The captain of the Royal Guard stared at them sternly for a moment before allowing a smile to soften his features. "Break it up, you two. The King requests your presence on the practice field. Immediately." 34. "I just remembered something, Legolas," said Elenath as they hurried down the corridor and out into the bright autumn sunlight behind Thorondil. "And what is that, My Love?" "Your father is a stickler for promptness. What do you think he will do to us?" Legolas chuckled. "Throw us in the dungeons, perhaps." The prince grew more serious, however, as they approached the King and heard the angry tone of his voice. "…gate should have been closed long ago. You've no idea what you've done bringing them here!" Elenath looked up to see what was happening and saw Pastor Mike standing there, head down, listening to the King with great respect. Behind him and surrounded by Royal Guards were a woman, a small child, and about ten teenagers sitting on the grass, their postures tall and fearless. They chanted together: "…This I pledge, and I'll take it to my death I'll lay my life down for you and die over again I and I I'm not ashamed of the Most High Even if I die tonight, if I die tonight… "This I pledge, and I'll take it to my death You can bet your life on my words and everything I said You can't take away my love for this sacrifice Even if I die tonight, if I die tonight. "…This I pledge, and I'll take it to my death I'll lay my life down for you and die over again I and I I'm not ashamed of the Most High Even if I die tonight, if I die tonight… "This I pledge, and I'll take it to my death You can bet your life on my words and everything I said You can't take away my love for this sacrifice Even if I die tonight, if I die tonight." [From "The Messenjah" recorded by POD, Lyrics by Sonny Sandoval] The Princess could hardly believe her ears or her eyes. Pastor Mike had brought his new family, plus an assortment of kids from the church youth group, as if this was some kind of field trip. "Your Highness," said Mike, "The gate admits whomever it will. I did not mean for them to come, and am still unsure as to how we all came to be here. One moment we stood in our church praying, and the next we were here, just outside the gates of the palace. Perhaps warriors such as these are needed in Middle Earth?" "Warriors!" exclaimed the King, "You brought a woman… and children! Look at them!" Elenath could take no more. She stepped out from behind Thorondil with a deep curtsy to the King, Legolas by her side. "You called for us, My Lord?" Upon seeing her, the entire group behind Mike tried to get to their feet, smiling and shouting, "Summer? Is that you?" but the guards forced them back down at arrow-point. All except for the four-year- old child, Rebecca, who ran toward the Princess with wild abandon, ignorant of the Elf who stood with his bow fixed on her as she ran. Legolas looked on in horror, addressing the guard angrily. "What is the meaning of this? She is but a child. Drop your weapon!" The guard obeyed at once as Elenath scooped the child up lovingly into her arms, hugging her tight as she turned back to the King, saying again, "You sent for us, Your Highness?" "Yes, I sent for you!" he said, "You were late! I-" He looked at her eyes suddenly and remembering the child that she carried within, began to chuckle. "Oh never mind. You're here now. That is the important thing. But about these so-called warriors-" "They ARE warriors," said Elenath, turning to look at the group gathered there. They were "her" kids. They did not give the impression of being typical church youth group material but rather looked as if they belonged at a Rave. The color of choice for their clothing was mostly black. Three or four of them had wildly colored hair. Two of the boys had dreadlocks and a couple sported tattoos, not to mention multiple piercings. These were the kids she had taken under her wing, teaching them to look past the many mistakes made by the Church over the years to the awesome Truths of the Bible. She had encouraged their questions and listened with an open mind to their doubts until they began to blossom into nothing less than an army of God. Bending to no authority but that of Christ, they brought the light of His love into some of the darkest places on earth, and they did it fearlessly, without judging, condemning, or degrading anyone. The Holy Spirit had given many of them gifts of prophesy, wisdom, and healing, and she'd never heard anyone pray like these kids did. They were a force to be reckoned with. Elenath looked back at the King and continued, "I know that they may look different, King Thranduil, but please believe me. They are warriors." The kids looked at her with hope etched in their faces as they chanted "…even if I die tonight if I die tonight…" and she realized they really did think they were about to die. They were showing extraordinary courage and the King did not even realize it. Thranduil gazed at Elenath with a look that said he did not understand and she grew frustrated. Noticing her distress, Legolas came to his wife's aid. "Father, they are Princess Elenath's friends. Must they be kept at arrow-point? I beg of you, at least attempt to make them feel like guests instead of prisoners." He nodded, motioning the guards to stand at ease. "That will do," he said firmly as the group cautiously stood to their feet, "Welcome to Mirkwood…. Now, Mike, Please tell me exactly how you all came to be here and then I will have our servants show you to a place where you can rest if you so wish." Mike visibly relaxed and began the tale of how he had come to be in Mirkwood with his wife and her small child, and ten crazy teenagers. 35. "It was really quite surprising," said Pastor Mike to the King and Legolas who had moved to stand by his father, "I still do not understand how we came to be here. I had gathered my congregation together to say farewell because I planned to travel to Andotempla tomorrow. Of course, I could not tell them this. I simply told them I was going to return home to my family and that was good enough for them." He told the King how the Princess had been the teenagers' advisor, friend, and confidante before her disappearance and how they had bitterly mourned her loss. Then he paused and turned toward the group who had gathered around Elenath and stood all trying to hug her at once, tears streaming down their faces. He pointed out Marcus, one of the young Men, to the King. Marcus stood talking to the princess earnestly as the others listened intently. His hair was a mess of dreadlocks; he had a black trinity symbol tattooed on his forearm and a silver stud in his nose. "That one who speaks to Elenath now has the gift of knowledge," said Pastor Mike. "He can see things that most of us cannot see, and simply knows things without being told. He led the group that you see there up to my wife and me after the meeting and said, 'You are going away to find Summer, aren't you? I know that she is alive. God has revealed it to me.' Well, I couldn't say anything without speaking a lie, so I remained silent. The young man just nodded, as if he understood my dilemma, and told me that the ten of them had decided to come with me." "And you just allowed them to?" asked the King. "Not exactly," said Mike. "Actually, I told them that would be impossible. It was too dangerous. I asked them to pray for me instead, and to pray for Summer – or Elenath as you know her here. Susan, the one over there with the purple hair, prayed that God would keep Summer safe and send whatever help that Summer needed right away. It was then that the world began to spin around us. A few moments later, we found ourselves here in Mirkwood." "You did not come through Andotempla?" asked Legolas. "No. I guess not." Elenath approached them, then with Marcus by her side and the rest of the crew behind her just as the King said in Elvish, "This is a dangerous time in Mirkwood, Mike. My Kingdom is surrounded by orcs, and that is why we train so seriously for battle. Time grows short." Legolas came up beside his wife and drew her near with one arm. "What's he saying?" asked Susan, leaning toward the Princess and eying the Prince suspiciously. Legolas smiled and began to translate for them, word-for-word. The King continued. "For your service to my son and to the princess by following her so bravely into the unknown, you deserve the greatest honors and feasts that Mirkwood has to offer. Unfortunately we haven't the luxury of time to give them at this point. Please forgive me this exclusion of protocol." "Of course," said Mike, bowing. "As for these… children, Mike, I do not know what to say. I only hope that they can care for themselves because we haven't the people to spare to make them feel truly welcome here." He shook his head. "Even the Princess trains for battle." Mike laughed. "Nothing strange about that. She is Elenath, after all." The King remained serious. "Yes. But she is also pregnant." An uproar came from the teenagers then. "What is all this princess stuff?" asked Susan. "Do I have this right? Are you a princess? And who the hell are YOU?" she asked Legolas, pointing a finger at him. "You come over here and grab her like she's your property or somethin'. Somebody needs to clue us in here. And Good God Almighty!" She turned to Elenath and grabbed her shoulders, "You're pregnant? Girl, I don't see no wedding band on your finger. After all the times you told us-" "Whoa! Hold up!" said Elenath, holding her hands up in the air, "Just hang on a minute. I know you've got a lot of questions, but let's not start throwing accusations around." She looked at Legolas and then back to the teens. "This is my husband Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood, and yes, I am pregnant with his child."