Crownless » LotR [2]

Chapter Twenty: Of the Nine

Elle stayed vigil through the long night, until the sun touched the treetops and the air began to warm. There was a thin mist across the forest floor, swirling with the faint breeze.

Blinking sleep out of her eyes, she shook her head, pushing herself to her feet. Biting back a groan, she stretched, gazing around.

The camp had come alive in exception to the hobbits' sleeping bodies, guarded by Boromir leaning against a nearby tree. Eowyn and Faramir had nodded off on each other's shoulders and Gimli was snoring, knocked out beside Pippin's foot.

Padding over to Boromir, Elle gazed over at the gathering group of elves. "So now we start home."

The man followed her gaze, his brown eyes turning wistful. "Home is Gondor. Once this war is over... then I'll really be able to go home."

"We've been on our toes for far too long, haven't we?" Elle sighed at his words. She'd dreamed of finding somewhere to truly call home since joining the fellowship. But things hadn't gone to plan.

The man nodded, glancing back over at her. "What about you, mellon?"

"Me?"

"Will you return with Aragorn to Gondor? Or will you travel elsewhere?"

She furrowed her brow, hesitating for a moment. She couldn't imagine a time when it could be safe enough for them to return to the White City-- they'd been on the run for long enough that the thought had never even entered her mind. "You seem to believe we'll make it all home."

Boromir's brows drew together. "You do not?"

"Theodred didn't."

He grimaced at that, pushing himself up carefully as not to wake the sleeping hobbits. "Elle, you always have hope. Theodred gave his life fighting for the land's freedom. You'll see that his sacrifice does not go in vain, I know that much."

Despite herself, Elle smiled, bumping against the man's shoulder affectionately. "I would go to Gondor. The Shire as well, one day."

He grinned. "Good taste."

"Well, my family would be there," she gazed at the hobbits, Gimli, and the sleeping couple. "I would go wherever you all went. I couldn't imagine anywhere else being home."

"You've come a long way since the beginning," he smiled.

"Haven't we all?"

The man nodded at that. "Fair enough."

"I have a feeling we're not going to be welcomed back to camp with open arms though," she grimaced, glancing back at the elves. "Despite our company."

"Your brother just might kill you."

"We're going to have to tell them," she mumbled, clenching her jaw. To Boromir's tilted brow, she swallowed. "About Mournedhel. Aragorn would want to know, Gandalf. King Thranduil... he didn't take Legolas's death well in the first place. I'm almost afraid of how he'll react."

"He knew though, right? About Mournedhel?"

She nodded, watching the elves thoughtfully. A bit of their conversation slipped back into her memory, then. "Legolas had a sister."

Boromir stared. "What?"

"Thranduil spoke of how Legolas would be in a better place. With his mother and... sister," she furrowed her brows. "His twin, he said. She died as an elfling."

"Did she also...?" He trailed off. But the meaning was obvious.

Elle nodded. "He said so. But it was her only side. Just... darkness."