The Princes Shadow

Chapter 18

Emerin POV~

After the King's sons funeral, Legolas and I went inside.

"You seem troubled," Legolas sat down beside me in the great hall,

"There are a lot of things to be troubled about right now." I was exhausted,

"You seem awfully tired," I don't know how Legolas can always see right through me,

"I'm fine-" I tried,

"Don't lie. Emerin, you haven't rested properly in weeks." the look of concern on his face was priceless,

"Neither have you," I answered weakly, too tired to argue. Legolas could see this,

"Here," He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me towards him. When our shoulders were touching, I couldn't stop my head from falling down to lean on his shoulder. My eyes fluttered close, and the last thing I heard was Legolas chuckling, and the last thing I felt was his head leaning on top of mine...

~Flashback~

I hadn't slept in nearly three weeks. Since the day I was officially Prince Legolas' secret guard. As I fought my eyelids to stop them from drooping, I replayed what King Thranduil had told me before I started the job,

"Keep an eye on him at all times. At night, rest, but do not fall into too deep asleep that you won't notice anything out of the ordinary if it happens. You will need your rest if something does."

I know that I needed to rest, but I was too terrified of falling into a deep sleep. I could try to sleep with my eyes open, which is what elves do when traveling long distances, but it wouldn't do me any good. Fine! I thought to myself. I deserved a little rest. I allowed my eyes to close, and I drifted off into sleep. 

...

Around two or three hours later, I woke up to hear Legolas stirring in his sleep. I opened my eyes, and carefully crept towards him. His long blonde hair surrounded his pale face, which seemed paler than usual, now that I looked closer. I noticed tears in the corners of his eyes. Why was he crying? He then started to mumble, "Naneth?"

He must have been having a dream about his late mother. I felt a pang of sadness, for I understood how he felt. I too would often get dreams of my parents. I leaned over, stretching out my arm towards him. I delicately stroked his hair, and then moved my small hand towards his face. As my skin came to contact with his, I slightly flinched. I stroked his forehead a few times, which seemed to be burning up a little. Elves don't get sick, so it must've been the dream. As I continued to try and comfort the sleeping prince, I noticed that his breathing was no longer a fast and shallow, but slow and calm. His eyes slightly fluttered open. I didn't have enough time to move, so I tried to stay as still as possible. He seemed to think that he was still in a dream, which was good. As I went to slowly pull away my hand, he grabbed it with his own, "Please... stay. Let this dream stay, for all my others have been plagued with sadness and anger." His voice was soft and smooth. I decided to play the part of being in his dream, and sat down beside him. His hand relaxed, as he continued to hold mine. His eyes looked deep into my own. I felt as if I was falling into them. I leaned down towards him, taking my other hand to drift above his eyelids, lightly closing them. I then whispered into his ear,

"Sleep, and I will keep the plagued dreams away, my prince..."

Legolas POV~

I was having another dream about my naneth. She was lying dead, her limp body pale, almost grey. I was kneeling down beside her, crying, and chocking out the word, "Naneth!" as I clutched her cold hand. As I was sniffling, I felt a could touch on my forehead. Slowly, my eyes fluttered open, but I knew I was still asleep, for before me was a beautiful, pale elleth. Her hand was on my forehead, stroking it, as if calm me down. She must've been an angel. Her skin seemed almost white in the moonlight, her hair rolling down her shoulders, and stopping at her waist. Her soft expression, made my heart skip a beat. Her eyes of honey pierced into mine. She slowly began to withdraw her hand. A newfound panic overcame me, as I frantically grabbed her hand. Scared of the dreams that would chase after me if she left, "Please... stay. Let this dream stay, for all my others have been plagued with sadness and anger." I whispered, desperate for this elleth to stay by my side. My eyes lingered on her lips, that seemed to be the color of roses, but so much more appealing. She sat down beside me, her hand still in mine. My fears disappeared, and all of my thoughts melted away. As I continued to look into her eyes, I felt a faint recognition. I had seen those eyes before, but I could not place when or where. She began to lean towards me, making my heart beat pick up speed. She lifted her other hand and put them over my eyes, lightly closing them with her fingertips. I felt her get closer to me, and soon enough, I felt her breath near my ear. She whispered into my ear,

"Sleep, and I will keep the plagued dreams away, my prince..."  I felt myself drifting out of this dream and into the next. As I was about to drift off into this next dream, a memory crossed my mind. It was one of the feasts that my father was holding. I was sitting at the table, when I noticed the elleth from my last dream was also here. The memory faded away quickly, and as the next dream came, a single word - a single name - lingered in my mind. Emerin.

~End of Flashback~

Emerin POV~

I opened my eyes, feeling well rested, to see Legolas waking up as well. I had to guess that I had only been asleep for an hour or so. I looked at Legolas and smiled at him, "I love you." I said quietly.

Legolas POV~

"I love you,"

Emerin caught me oof guard. I felt my face heat up. Before I could respond, Emerin leaned in towards me, and planted a soft kiss on my lips. Her lips only remained there for a moment, until she lightly pulled away. The feeling, however, lingered. I was about to pull her into another kiss, when the doors opened, with Gandalf, Theoden, and a two small children rushing in.

..........................................

I know, a LOT of fluff. I liked it though :). Tell me if you guys want to see more of Legolas and  Emerins memories. Don't forget to VOTE, comment, and follow. Also, I wanted to let you guys now that I edited the prologue a bit, so when the Hobbit starts, she had been guarding Legolas for 370 years. She started off when she was 320 years old. Right now she is 690 years old. Just wanting to clear everything up. Also in this story, Legolas is only 63 years older than her. His age was never specified, only that he is 600+. Thank you guys so much!

-Jackie