Untold Stories (the Sequel to Forbidden Love)

At the Crowning of the King

Thalia's POV
78 Years After the Battle of the Five Armies

After many days of dark clouds the sun finally decided to shine today. It fell upon the white stone walls making them seem even more beautiful. Everyone was seated on the huge balcony outside the palace. I was seated with my children, Artemis and Thranduil. Legolas was in the front row, a space reserved specially for the members of the Fellowship of the Ring. I looked sideways to where Artemis was. She wasn't smiling, her shoulders were slumped and her eyes were red and puffy. Poor thing. A few days ago Legolas had explained the terrible news from the battle of Helm's Deep. Haldir had died there. Artemis was taking it extremely hard but I did know how close they had been. There was nothing that I could say to console her; only time could heal this particular wound.

The crown was placed on the King's head and everyone stood out of respect. Being quite tall, this gave me a better look at Aragorn, the newly crowned king of Gondor. I had only met him once but I knew that he would be a kind and wise leader. I was filled with a new hope, maybe now the kingdoms of men could sustain peace across Middle-earth. Aragorn walked down to where the Fellowship was. I couldn't hear what was being said but suddenly everyone began to kneel so I followed suit. The only people left standing were four hobbits. Even Aragorn had bowed before them.

After the formal ceremonies I went to find Legolas. He was deep in conversation with his friends from his journey and it made me feel sad that he had to leave them behind. He spotted me and waved me over.
"Thalia, I'd love for you to meet my friend Gimli."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir,"
"Is this the lovely lady you've been telling me about? She is even more beautiful in person. And so polite too. No one ever calls a dwarf sir." His reply caused my entire face to go red.
"Gimli is going to join us on the ship to Valinor," Legolas informed me.
"Really? You must be the first dwarf to do that," I commented. Gimli nodded intently.
"It would be my honour to accompany the elves to the Undying Lands." I decided that I liked him.

Legolas wanted to say a proper goodbye to King Aragorn before we left since we would not be returning. As was to be expected, he was surrounded by a lot of people. I told Legolas to go ahead and I would wait here. Aragorn paid Legolas special attention as they had become very good friends over the past year. The crowd dispersed somewhat and Aragorn was able to notice me standing quietly. He nodded politely and smiled. I stood there awkwardly until I remembered my manners and curtsied respectfully. I knew that we had met once but that was so long ago, surely he didn't remember me? I didn't get a chance to do anything else as Legolas returned and suggested that we go find Artemis who was with our children.

As we boarded one of the last ships to leave Middle-earth I turned around and silently said farewell. After everything that had occurred during the last few years you wouldn't expect it to look so calm and serene. It was saddening to leave everything here behind but there was something that I could take with me no matter where I was. I could take the memories of all the adventures and good times, as well as the bad that I had made here. It was a satisfying thought, to think that I had made a mark, even a tiny one, on a world that was so much bigger than just one elf.