An arranged marriage could solve everything: Legolas' post-war melancholy, Lasriel's dream of freedom and a family, her mother's exile, King Thranduil's dark secret. But turning childhood friendship into love is not as easy as they thought - and nei...
~Still no elfling, but Lasriel finds other things to occupy herself with: bricks and chess.~
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
~♕~
"When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming."
– Dory, Finding Nemo
~♕~
20. Routine
"Ha!" Lasriel dropped her queen on a black square. "Checkmate."
"Got me again." Galion didn't look like he minded at all and only calmly began to put his pieces back. "Shall we start over?"
"I can't, I need to make dinner. But I will be back tomorrow." She rose and stretched her aching limbs. She had spent most of the day forming adobe bricks and her back hurted, but in a good way. It made her tired enough to fall asleep fast and not spend the night thinking dark thoughts.
"Alright. See you then."
When she put on her cloak, Lasriel reflected that Galion looked a bit healthier since they began their daily chess games earlier that month. She was fairly certain he still drank, but less now. Having something to occupy himself with had been good for him.
An idea struck her. "Why don't you join me making bricks tomorrow? Or must the storage be manned at all hours?"
"Hm, in the daytime when the foresters are out it's usually nobody who needs me, so I suppose I could put up a note... at least if I wasn't gone for too long. But do you think I would be useful? I have no idea how to make a brick."
"Oh, it's easy. I'll show you."
Pleased with her plan, Lasriel returned home; with an extra couple of hands the bricks she needed would be finished sooner. She longed to be able to start using them and finally build a real house.
Legolas was punctual as usual, and also as usual their conversation at dinner was scarce but polite.
Afterwards they read together in silence for an hour before going out to make themselves ready for bed. Lasriel had finished her woven screens around the bathing area and privy weeks ago, making it less awkward to use them, but if Legolas had noticed the extra comfort he didn't say.
When she returned inside, Lasriel lay awake in bed for a while just in case. Her bed felt big and cold. Lonely. Would this be the night he came back?
She heard Legolas light footsteps as he entered the house and moved about for a bit, and then his door shut.
She sighed and turned over. No bedding that night either, then. But she hadn't really expected it, not anymore; they had not slept together for weeks.
After he plaited her hair the first time, Lasriel had actually looked forward to the next night, curious whether she would enjoy the act again. But an unfortunate circumstance had hindered it: her period. She wasn't surprised when she noticed it had started, and when she told him, neither was Legolas – elves didn't get with child easily so they had not expected it to work already – but she had no idea why he didn't return to her bed after the bleeding was over.
