For Disclaimer please view chapter 1

Author's note: And so this story comes to an end, but there will be a sequel! I loved writing this! Thank you for reading.

Chapter 39: Bound by Love

The two children played as they rested for a while before reaching the borders of the kingdom of Eryn Lasgalen. Ethaen was chasing Ene and their laughter reminded Aurel of when she was a child and played with her brothers in the same way. Aurel sat with her back to a great tree, which had been kind enough to let her lean up against it. When she had first asked the tree for permission the children had found it strange and had questioned her about it.

"What do you do?" asked Ene, looking at Aurel curiously. Ethaen stood nearby observing the tree.

"I speak to the tree, I wish to lean against it, it would be unfair of me to do so without asking its permission first, do you not think so?"

Ethaen nodded, but Ene still questioned. "But trees cannot speak."

"They most certainly can." Replied Aurel.

"But they have no mouth!" exclaimed Ene.

Aurel only smiled. "That is not of great importance when it comes to speaking."

Ene, curious, walked up to the tree, asking it a question and pressing her ear against the trunk, waited patiently for any sound to arise, but none did. She only looked at Aurel and then became distracted once more. Aurel took the opportunity to close her eyes for a moment, as she was in much need of rest, as it had been some time since she had received any. Everything had happened so quickly, she and Legolas had plighted their troth in Minas Tirith, promised themselves to one another, very much soon afterwards their binding had been complete, but there had been no ceremony and that is why they were headed towards Eryn Lasgalen, to make it a formal event.

Legolas had accompanied Aurel to Rohan, to find the children she had promised to return to, and it was a very complicated procedure to formally take the children away. Both Aurel and Legolas had to promise to allow the children to chose, when the time came, if they would want to remain in an Elven home or return to their place of birth, they had to promise to school them in the ways of both men and Elves, most importantly they had to promise that they would take care of them in an appropriate manner. All this was discussed very much with Eomer, King of Rohan and his sister Eowyn, who had also spent a great deal of time with the children. Eomer-King was still very distrustful of Elves, though he held a great deal of respect for both Legolas and Aurel. He knew that both of them would love the children, but the fact remained that they were Elves and the children were human, and not capable yet of understanding that they would soon age, and that their new guardians would remain as they were. In that respect, Eomer-King was very much worried. This is why careful time was spent in preparing the voyage back to Legolas's home. Legolas had recovered amazingly after being reunited with Aurel; he became the being he was meant to be. But Aurel, having been seriously injured many times during the year long quest, still recovered, and her fighting skills and riding skills suffered for it, as she needed more rest than usual. For this very reason, Aurel was truly tired when they had stopped to let the children rest. She felt no imminent threat in her environment, and allowed herself to close her eyes for only a moment. Legolas had gone to collect wood to make a fire for the children, it was the season of falling leaves now and the air brought a chill with it. When he returned he focused on Aurel, sensing how tired she was.

Ethaen ran up to him, pulling some of the long pieces of wood out of his arm. The boy had not spoken to Legolas yet, for some reason there was fear in him. Legolas understood and did not push him to speak. He had not dealt with many human children and found it disconcerting sometimes how easily it came to Aurel, and how obvious a preference they had to her. Ethaen seemed to want to help Legolas, and it was good way for them to bond, so silently they both set up the campfire; Legolas was impressed, as the boy was only the age of five.

"Did your father teach you how to do this Ethaen?" asked Legolas

Ethaen did not answer, but Ene did. "No, our mother did. We never knew our father, he died."

Legolas felt pity for the children, and also found it strange how easily Ene had spoken of death.

"Is Aurel very tired?" asked Ene.

Legolas looked over to Aurel who had closed her eyes, meaning she was in a healing sleep. "Yes." Concern marked his face.

"She was speaking to the trees before, can you do that…I tried, and heard nothing…I don't see how it can be done, I told Aurel that trees have no mouths, she said it was not important, but I do not see how that cannot be important, since that is where our voice comes from…" She kept rambling on and on.

Legolas had stopped listening to Ene for a while now and thought perhaps of tying something over Ene's mouth to stop her from speaking. He quickly let that idea go. Ene was a very talkative being for Legolas, in fact, she was probably the nosiest human that he had ever encountered, and he had not yet the patience or tolerance for such a thing, Had she been a child from his kingdom he would have simply asked her to quiet down and there would be nothing thought of it, but since she was now his charge and also human, he had to be more sensitive than that.

The horses that they had been riding on earlier suddenly became frenzied, Legolas took notice of this quickly, but even more so did Aurel, who quickly stood and looked out to see what the commotion was about. Ene quieted down, Aurel had told her that Eryn Lasgalen was a place where they had to be very careful for not all evil had yet been purged from the forest. Ethaen stood behind Aurel immediately, holding on to her skirt and covering all but his eyes with it.

"By the Valar, I had heard your binding was complete, but you have produced offspring quickly!" jested Lasneth. He observed the children and their round ears, "They are not Elven! And may I mention that they look nothing like either of you!"

Aurel relaxed, but the children refrained from moving, and Legolas let out a sigh of relief.

"I am glad it is only you, little brother."

Lasneth jumped off his horse and they greeted one another by the clasp on each other's arms and then Aurel approached Lasneth wrapping him in an embrace.

Lasneth gladly welcomed it. "Welcome home sister." He looked at the expression on her face. "You are weary?"

Aurel nodded. "I have not received much rest, save but a minute or so."

"Legolas, you should have commanded her to rest."

Legolas smiled slyly at his brother. "You think I did not?" He held out his hand so that Ene or Ethaen would come to him, but it was only Ene who responded, as she was naturally curious. "Lasneth, I would like to introduce you to Ene, Ene this is my younger brother, Lasneth."

Lasneth bent down a little to greet the little human girl. "Well Met Ene."

Ene blushed. "You are much more pretty than Legolas."

Lasneth laughed. "I think you and I are going to get along very well!" He patted Ene on the head and then looked around for the second child he had seen, he noticed Ethaen peeking from behind Aurel's skirt.

"Ethaen is rather shy. Especially around males." Commented Aurel. "But he will be polite and greet you, will you not Ethaen?" Aurel looked back.

Ethaen looked up at her and nodded slowly. He latched himself off from the back of Aurel's skirt and trailed his hand around to the front of her skirt, latching himself on again, he looked at Lasneth and that was it, he looked away quickly.

"Well met Ethaen." Said Lasneth. "You will like our forests here, perfect for a game of hide and seek. Perhaps you and I shall play one day." Lasneth understood when Ethaen did not respond, and went on speaking to Aurel. "We received the letter you sent, but I did not show it to Ada, I thought it would be great fun for him to see both of you riding in with two human children…"

Legolas paled. "You did not tell him?"

"Calm Legolas. I did not wish to hear him drone. It will be better to surprise him."

"He will not be displeased? I wish not to make him feel ill at ease." Said Aurel.

"Ada is much more understanding than Legolas has obviously led you on to believe." He looked at Ene. "We have not had children in our kingdom for a great deal of time, he will be very content. He will be joyous to see you both. I merely thought the surprise would be better, there is not much other excitement happening at the moment."

"I did not wish for this to be a surprise." Said Legolas.

Aurel placed her hand in his. "Do not worry so. Your father wishes to see you…these children are no nuisance."

Legolas thought of Ene for a moment thinking that she was very much a talkative nuisance.

Aurel being able to hear his thoughts shook her head and tsked. "It will do you well if you would guard your mind from such thoughts, or at least from me hearing them." She let go of his hand. "Lasneth would you be so kind so as to take Ene on your horse?" She smiled kindly. "My husband wishes some peace for a while."

Lasneth nodded and Aurel helped Ene mount his horse.

"There is no need for that…" replied Legolas.

"Let Ene ride with Lasneth, as she had taken a natural liking to him." Said Aurel. "It would ease any discomfort she would have for the moment."

Legolas looked over at his brother and Ene, she had already begun speaking, and Lasneth did not seem to mind in the least.

Aurel effortlessly picked Ethaen up in her arms. "Now hold on tightly, I need to mount my horse." Ethaen nodded as she quickly mounted her horse.

Reluctantly Legolas followed behind the others. After a few hours, both the children had fallen asleep.

"Why the gloomy look on your face?"Aurel asked Legolas, she slowed her horse down to go at the same pace as his.

"I am lonely." A smile crept up on his face. "I have not had much time alone with my wife."

"Soon you will." Replied Aurel happily. "But something else bothers you."

Legolas nodded slowly and looked at the sleeping Ethaen. "Do you think I am fit to be a guardian of two human children?"

Aurel thought about it for a moment. She thought of how strange it must be for Legolas, who had not had to deal with children for most of his life, not even of the Elven kind. But, on the other hand, he had a kind and generous heart, and compassion, and the patience to deal with her. So naturally she smiled at her conclusions and nodded in response to Legolas's question. "I have no doubt in your abilities. What better qualities than the ones you already possess does one need? Do not fret over Ethaen, he will kindle to you when he learns to trust you…and Ene, well, you must learn to be patient with her. She is young and new to this world, as you once were. In the end it was I, not you who made the promise to look after them, do not carry that heavy a burden in your mind."

"These children are important to you Melethril. Therefore, they are important to me, and I would not shirk the promise I have also made to Eomer-king and Lady Eowyn."

"You see? There is nothing to worry about."

Lasneth interrupted them both by galloping quickly back towards them. "There is something to worry about. We are being watched, and not by friendly eyes." He got off his horse and carried the now awake Ene in his arms passing her off to Aurel. "Hurry, Aurel, you take the children, Legolas and I shall stay behind…and cause distraction."

Aurel looked at Legolas.

He nodded, "Go…we can take care of ourselves."

She sent him a wave of love mingled with fear and began to gallop away.

"How many?" asked Legolas.

"At least five, and they must be desperate, for spiders do not usually travel in groups." Lasneth pulled an arrow from his quiver and prepared himself to shoot. But moments passed by and no attack came about. They found it strange, until that is, they heard the screams of young children.

Quickly they went to where the screams were coming from. One of the spiders must have knocked the horse that Aurel and the children were on, over, for it lay dead on the forest ground. Ethaen also laid motionless a few paces next to it. Aurel had her sword with her and Ene stood terrified behind her as three spiders were surrounding them. Aurel spotted Lasneth and Legolas and swiftly said, "There are two waiting above you!"

Legolas and Lasneth looked up and two giant shadows seemed to engulf them as the spiders came streaming down the trees.

Meanwhile, the three giant spiders kept getting closer and closer to Aurel and Ene. Ene could not control herself and began to scream endlessly, but it did not fray the nerves of Aurel who kept her concentration on the spider that seemed to be approaching the quickest. She dared to dart forward and try and jab the spider in the middle. At first that spider seemed surprised even scared, but with the two spiders at the sides, its confidence was boosted and it came charging forward again. Ene screamed as she could see the leg of one of the spiders near her face, and in one swift move Aurel turned and cut through the leg. The spider seemed to screech and move backwards, nearly falling over itself. The other two spiders near them took advantage of this. Aurel held her breath, there was no way she could move to defend herself, with Ene behind her, she was left with only waiting for the blows and trying her best to block them. Aid soon came when Legolas and Lasneth managed to rid themselves of the two spiders that had nearly killed them. Very quickly there were arrows flying through the air and more screeches could be heard. Still, it did not stop the spiders that remained.

"Keep aiming for their eyes!" shouted Legolas to Lasneth as they kept shooting at the spiders, but their skin was strong and shielded them well from the arrows.

Aurel quickly told Ene to hide wherever she could find a place and Ene flew quickly, but was stopped when the spider that Aurel had injured confronted her. Ene only screamed as she saw its fangs and almost immediately Aurel ran to Ene and in a bold move rolled herself underneath the body of the spider, piercing it's belly. Aurel again, quickly rolled out from underneath the spider and a great howl was heard as the spider struggled and then fell dead. Very soon after, Legolas and Lasneth were able to defeat the two remaining spiders.

Aurel had to sit herself on the ground to catch her breath. It had been a while since she had to fight like that, and she was covered in a thick, sticky substance that the spider had secreted when Aurel had stabbed it. Sobs could be heard from behind her, and Aurel looked at Ene. Ene was standing near her little brother, crying, for she thought him dead. Very carefully, Aurel stood and went to the motionless Ethaen. It was after Legolas and Lasneth had made sure that there were no more spiders that they joined Aurel and Ene. Ene reached out for Legolas and he quickly wrapped his arms around her, comforting her.

"Make sure that she is not injured." Said Lasneth to Legolas and he crouched down to take a look at Ethaen. Aurel, whose hands were giving a slight tremble, was guiding her hands over Ethaen's small little body. Her eyes were closed and she whispered chants placing her hand on his forehead.

"He is only paralysed, the spider managed to stab him." She lifted his tunic and saw the puncture wound right underneath his rib cage, she gave a hiss. She looked up at Lasneth. "I have not dealt with many spider attacks…the boy is small, the puncture wound is small, but I do not know how deadly the paralysing venom is."

"By Elven standards, he is lucky to still be breathing. If he has survived the initial attack, there is a great chance that he can overcome the venom with proper care." He tried to give Aurel some hope.

"Even at his size?"

Lasneth quickly looked to Legolas who was preoccurpied with Ene, and then back at Aurel. "Yes, even at this size."

Legolas, who still had Ene in his arms walked closer to them. Aurel stood to check Ene.

"She has no injuries." Said Legolas.

Aurel breathed a sigh of relief, and then cast her attention on Legolas. "You bleed behind your ear." She gently pulled Ene away from Legolas and placed her near Lasneth.

"It is nothing." Said Legolas.

There was a large gash from the back of Legolas's head to the bottom of his right ear. "This is no small wound…"Aurel checked it. "There is no poison, I will numb the pain and stop the bleeding for now, but it will need to properly seen to when we reach your home."

Legolas placed both his hand on Aurel's face, clearing away some of the thick substance, and making her stare at him. "And you Melethril, you are well?"

She nodded, he sensed the passing fear in her.

"It is over now." He whispered and kissed her on the forehead, she wrapped her arms around him. "We are safe." He tried to send her reassuring thoughts, but she was too tired, she needed to rest. "You were not fit to ride such a long way."

She wanted to protest, but it was the truth, she had never given in before, it was just too much strain on her body. "I will rest when we reach your home and I do not have to worry any longer."

Legolas nodded, and wanted to keep her in his arms, but a warning look from Lasneth reminded him that that would not be wise, more creatures could come. "We must keep moving."

Aurel slowly pulled away and went back to check on Ethaen, lifting him from the ground. "We have only two horses now…" She said looking around.

"I can stay behind." Said Lasneth.

"No." replied Legolas right away.

"I agree, that would not be wise, how much farther is it?" asked Aurel.

"Half a day by horse."

"Ethaen is small…he carries little weight to him, I can carry him and ride with Legolas, if you will take Ene."

Lasneth nodded.

"No, I want to ride with you!" cried Ene.

"We will be right beside you Ene…we need to leave this part of the wood, remember what I told you…"

"No! I want to ride with you."

Aurel looked at Legolas and she handed Ethaen to him and whispered. "What do I do?"

Legolas shook his head.

"We cannot tarry here." Urged Lasneth.

"Ene, you will ride with Lasneth, unless you would like me to leave you here as Spider food, do you understand me?"

Her eyes became wide with fear and Lasneth picked her up. Not another word was heard from her for the rest of the ride to the palace. They arrived at the palaces gates with haste and the gates were immediately opened to let the royal family in. Thranduil at the alert of his guards went quickly to greet them. They were surrounded by many elves, some who were greatly concerned at the state of the two princes, and many other were surprised to see within them the presence of two human children. Thranduil pushed his way through the crowd, telling them to move out of the way and to create some space. When at last he came to them he was surprised at what he saw.

"Hello Ada." Said Legolas noting the surprised look on his face.

Thranduil cast his attention to Aurel, smiled briefly at his remembrance of her and then frowned when he noticed there was a human child in her arms, not only that, Lasneth also held a human child in his arms. Still Thranduil said not a word as his frown deepened, he noticed that all three of the elves looked like they had just been in battle, especially Aurel who from head to toe was covered in a thick substance that Thranduil quickly recognized as Spider blood.

"Ada?" asked Lasneth.

"What is that thing you carry in your arms?" asked Thranduil.

Lasneth looked down at the sleeping child he carried. "This is a human child Ada, not a thing, and her name is Ene. Legolas and Aurel have taken them as their charges…no time to explain now. The little boy is injured, and we are weary for spiders were at our feet."

"Spiders?" exclaimed Thranduil, he stood there, not able to move his legs, so there had been more than one? When he looked over to where his sons had just been there was now only an empty space, and he became one of the many onlookers who were most confused about the state of arrival of both the princes, and the new princess.

---

The healers surrounded Ethaen as they worked diligently around him. Aurel stood nearby with her arms crossed, listening to what they were doing. The situation was now out of her hands, but she still worried that they were not doing enough or that they may need her to lend a helping hand. Legolas who had gone to see that Ene had been properly taken care of now returned to the healing chambers. He entered quietly and looked at Aurel with worried eyes.

"They are doing all they can, there is no point of you standing here keeping watch. I assure you, they are well trained." He placed his hands on her shoulders and stood behind her.

She looked at the healers. "What if they need me and I am not here? What if Ethaen wakes and I am not present, he will be terrified."

"You need rest and my main concern is you now."

She turned to face him, she placed her hands on his face and turned it softly to check the cut he had received on the back of his head and neck had been tended to. "It is nearly healed." She brushed her hands over the tiny scar line and then she let her arms fall free, she felt the tiredness take a hold of her. She placed her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his body. "I am very tired. But I am also very worried."

Legolas kissed her forehead. "I know Melethril, just let your mind rest for a little while."

"And Ene? Where is she?"

"Sleeping…Lasneth has placed her in a chamber of her own and has agreed to stay with her until she wakes, and he has promised to alert us when she does. Do not worry, all is taken care of, and we will not be too far away if we are needed, come…"

She nodded in defeat; she would be of no use if she was weary. She let Legolas lead her out of the healing chambers, only to be faced with a very red-faced Thranduil.

"Human children? Here?" he asked.

Legolas sighed. "May we speak of this at a later time. Aurel needs to rest."

Thranduil eyed Aurel. "No. We will speak of this now." He looked at his son, giving him a stern look, and began to walk past them; he stopped momentarily when he noticed they were not following him. "Follow me." And then he continued his walk.

Aurel somehow seemed unmoved by Thranduil's obvious disdain for the children and followed him, while Legolas seemed more restless and reluctant to hear anything that his father wanted to say to him. The three of them entered a very large room, which was dark at first, until the lamps were lit, and then Aurel noticed that it was a library, full of books, more than the library in Imladris. Thranduil kept his hands behind his back as he paced back and forth in front of the pair and then he stopped and looked at Aurel.

"I remember you now."

Aurel smiled faintly, wishing she could go.

"I remember that you were not allowed to attend the spring festivities."

Aurel searched her memories and remembered what he was speaking of, and nodded. "Yes, I believe that is my first memory of you, though I am sure you knew me when I was even younger than that."

"You are sure. Yet I cannot remember." He replied quickly.

Legolas grew impatient. "Ada, have you brought us here for reminiscing?"

Thranduil ignored his son and continued speaking to Aurel. "You look nothing like your mother…and little of your father do I see in your face, although your composure and speech are very similar to his." He stood face to face with her now, looking into her eyes. "Your sister and brothers, how do they fare?"

"Very well my Lord, my sister has just married."

"So I heard, and to a mortal, no less." His tone began to sound condescending.

"To the King of Gondor." She said defensively.

"And is he not a mortal?"

"He is, my lord."

"Then what does his title matter?"

Aurel bit her tongue; she knew he was testing her.

"How your father allowed that, is beyond my comprehension."

"We are allowed to marry whom we want." Aurel immediately regretted replying so rashly and Thranduil took the opportunity to remind her of it.

"Why should you be allowed to marry my son, a prince…of noble blood? You do not hold a title of his stature."

Aurel smiled. "I love him. And we are already married; there is nothing you could do or say about that. As you can see,I do not need a title."

"You are arrogant!" boasted Thranduil.

"Ada!" exclaimed Legolas.

"I must be arrogant in your presence, you would not accept anyone weaker, is that not so?" She held her head up.

Thranduil stared at her in surprise.

"As you so kindly reminded me, I hold not title of princess, but I can certainly carry myself, and do not think for one minute that I am the least bit intimidated by you."

"Nor would I have expected you to be, you are your father's daughter." Thranduil smiled. "So Legolas, why should she be allowed to marry you?"

"Ada, I really do not think this is appropriate."

"Answer my question."

"I love her." replied Legolas.

"Good, that is all I needed to hear." He took his soon up in an embrace, finally welcoming him home. He looked over to Aurel, "I fully expect you to live up to the responsibilities of being a princess of Eryn Lasgalen."

"I will." Responded Aurel nodding.

"Welcome home daughter." said Thranduil giving a bow of the head.

"Thank you." She replied, but before anything more could be said, Thranduil's facial expression changed again as if he had just remembered something.

"Now what is the meaning of human children in my home?"

"Our home Ada." Said Legolas.

Thranduil looked at his son, his face softened.

"We sent a letter explaining everything, but Lasneth decided that it would be humorous to surprise you." Said Legolas

"As you can see, I find no humour in this."

"They were children who lost their parents, and I could not bear to leave them behind." Said Aurel.

"You could not bear it? Then why not bring all the orphaned children here?" He replied in jest. "Human children belong to human guardians, certainly not Elves and certainly not you two!"

Legolas got a bit closer to his father, pleading with his eyes ever so slightly. "They are very important to Aurel, perhaps when we have all had time to settle down I can recount the story to you Ada, but Aurel needs to rest, and whether you like it or not, those children are now under our care and I expect you to treat them civil." Still he did not find understanding in his father's eyes, so he added one more thing. "Ada, they are terrorized enough after what has happened in the forest."

Thranduil eyed his son and sighed. "Very well, go, indeed I had not noticed before how weary you both look."

"Thank you." Said Aurel bowing her head.

Very quickly Legolas placed his hand on the small of Aurel's back as if leading her out of library.

"That did not go as badly as I had imagined." Said Aurel smiling to herself.

Legolas smiled as well, "I imagined much worse…he has quite a temper."

"Not like my father's."

"What? Lord Elrond?" He shook his head. "I refuse to believe that. He has never shown any lack of control when it comes to emotions, especially anger."

"Not to the public, but to his family, many times. Ask Estel, he will tell you."

After walking through a long darkened hallway, a bit of light suddenly appeared and Legolas stopped in front a couple of very fine polished stone doors, with intricate carvings in the shapes of leaves sculpted into them.

Although Aurel was tired she did not fail to notice them and their beauty. "These carvings are amazing, there is great skill in them."

"Yes." Was all that Legolas said looking at the small leaves.

"And, why have we stopped here?"

"Well…" Legolas turned the handle of the one of the doors, it opened inward, but inside was dark, as the library had been at first. "This is our room."

Aurel frowned. "It is dark, I do not like it."

Legolas gave a chuckle. "Silly thing, I may be more accustomed to the dark, but I still prefer the sunlight to darkness…" He quickly walked over to the other side of the room, while Aurel still stood outside the doors. She heard the pulling of long curtains and then beams of light trickled across a beautiful yet simple bedchamber.

Aurel smiled and looked around the room, but still did not enter. Mostly everything was made of stone, but it was furnished with pale colours of green, gold and red, and the windows were especially large, she wondered how sunlight streamed in this room but not the others.

"You can come in."

"How is there sunlight here?"

"You must be very tired to not have noticed that we walked for quite a bit before reaching this chamber, this chamber is part of the original palace first built in Eryn Lasgalen, before shadow entered the wood, before there was a need to hide in the mountains." He looked out the windows. "This room was my parents room before I was born, it was their room when they were first married, and it has not changed much…" He walked over to Aurel and pulled her gently inside of the room. "My mother refused to change any of it, she knew that one day the evil would be purged and she would return here. This was her favourite room."

She had never heard him speak of his mother; she wondered where his mother was, "Legolas. I am touched. But I am sure your father would want…"

"My father was the one who said we should have it, he gave me the only two keys that allow you to enter into this room. Do you like it?"

She looked around the room once more and smiled. "I love it. It is perfect. More than I could have ever hoped for."

"Of course I can have more things brought in here, to make it feel more like a home for you."

"A home?"

"I know this place can be a bit cold compared to Imladris."

She placed her arms around him and closed her eyes; she was at peace. "My home is wherever you are. I would not have you change a thing, you are all I need."

"I am glad to hear that." He pulled her away slightly and eyed her, "But you also need rest."

She laughed. "Then shall we?" she said making a gesture for them to both go lie on the bed.

Legolas looked at the bed hesitantly, "You realize that this will be the first time we sleep in the same bed as husband and wife don't you?"

"Nothing to be nervous about, we have done this plenty of times before." Replied Aurel confidently.

He smiled at her and instantly swept her off her feet, she nestled her head between his neck and his shoulder. He walked her over to the bed and gently laid her down and then quite literally crawled over her to get to the other side where he could lie down. Aurel rolled onto her side and curled up against him. Legolas breathed in deeply, he thought of the feeling he was experiencing, so this was what it was like to be completely at peace, he savoured every moment.

Before he completely fell into a restful sleep, Aurel suddenly sat half way up. "When will we have a proper binding ceremony here?"

"I thought you were tired."

"I am, but the thought of all the preparation needed for it…"

"It can wait, after all, we are already married."

She lay back down. "Yes, but your family and your people would like to see a proper binding ceremony would they not? To show them of our commitment to one another and to them…?"

"And they will, in good time…" He turned so that he could face her, "We fought a war together and spilt blood for one another, and with one another." He traced the small scars on her neck. "We have a bond that none can break."

She took a deep breath in and whispered. "We are bound by blood and bond then." She said as she started to fall into a restful sleep. Legolas continued to caress her face.

He looked at her as she left for the dream world, not wanting to fall asleep himself in fear that all the happiness and peace would disappear, "Yes Melethril, but by much more than that…. we are bound by love."

The end

There will be a sequel to this story, look out for it in a couple of months!

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