Concerning Us

Chapter Fifteen: Separately

Legolas, who had already been conscious for a while, sat shirtless nursing his wounds with his back towards Dartha who was still paralyzed. Moments after he groaned out of pain, Dartha choked on her breath and came to life. She looked down at herself to find that her body was still wrapped in webbing. It was after she had struggled to loosen herself that Legolas put down the pieces of ripped cloth he was using to bandage himself and turned to her. His eyes refused to meet hers as he began to unravel her body. When her arms became free, Legolas left her to do the rest on her own. He had turned himself back around as Dartha slipped her lower body out from the constraints and released herself. Once unbound, she noticed that her bag managed to stay with her, "You will heal faster if you drink this," she said reaching inside for her water container. She opened it up to find a reasonable amount of Ent-draught still within and she offered some to Legolas after she had taken some for herself, "It's Ent-draught". Legolas did not turn his body around to face her, "I will not drink. I spared you the weight of Ailin but I will not spare you mine. Let these bandages and scars bring guilt unto you". The princess did not understand what he meant about Ailin, but she did feel the guilt Legolas placed over her and it hurt. She placed her water container down as she willed herself to approach the elf that saved her. Before she was able to reach him on her knees, he had pulled on his shirt and stood to his feet, "We have no food and winter is quickly approaching. Get up, we need to reach Rivendell as soon as possible".

"Legolas..." Dartha called out after him. She knew the prince had every right to be upset but she did not expect to receive the response Legolas gave. "Do not think I have a care for you anymore", Legolas said as he began to walk away from her.  The princess dropped her eyes to the ground as she felt the sting in his words, "Yellow. It's yellow". Regret hung in her eyes as she looked back up to explain, "You asked me the evening we left Harlond for my favorite color". Legolas turned around to glare in disbelief, before walking off even faster. Dartha stood up to follow, she walked a few steps behind him, keeping a reasonable cautious distance. She wanted him to care again because the guilt he was sending her made her feel so unclean. "I can play the harp," she said after thinking for some time. When Legolas said nothing, she met him at his pace only to have him not acknowledge her being beside him. He continued to look straight ahead as he walked, even as Dartha said, "I enjoy sword fighting. I used to spar with my brothers all the time". She looked over to see if Legolas was even slightly interested in what she was saying and saw that he was not.

Dartha wanted some sort of response from him and she continued to press for it with every truth about herself, "When I was an efling I cut my own hair and for the entire year it took for it to grow back everyone called me 'crazy'". A grin tugged on Dartha's face but the prince could not be bothered. Had Legolas not been the one that wanted a chance for them to know each other? "I can belly dance..." she said as she took her elbow to his ribs playfully. The prince's relentless silence provoked Dartha to reveal more and more until she had reached a point of frustration, "I love art and I can sketch anything at all," she raised her voice, "And I can slap you with either hand because I'm ambidextrous!" In anger she had reached her hand up to strike Legolas's face, but he grabbed ahold of her wrist before she could make contact. Her arm was painfully twist behind her back as Legolas looked down his nose at her and said sternly, "We will wed and live our lives separately". He had stressed 'separately' before he released her with a bit of a shove. Dartha held her stretched arm with her other as her breathing caught in her throat, his tone and words hurt her more than the way he bent her arm.

The wind blew cold against them as they walked beside each other in silence. The word 'separate' had been weighing on her heart for a long time. Separate had been their state since the beginning of their journey and Dartha was starting to feel as if it were time to put an end to that. She slipped her hand into her bag and touched the material of her father's map as the wind continued to gust. The thought of revealing the map to Legolas floated in her mind, it had been the only thing that kept her at an advantage and she wasn't sure if she was wanting to lose that leverage. But he had chosen to save her, even after the fact that she had forsaken him. She brought the map out of her bag and held it closed in her hands while she inhaled the chilling breeze. The princess looked over to Legolas and just when she thought she was going to show him, she changed her mind at the last second and started to return the map to her bag. Before the paper was fully slipped inside, the wind tore it from Dartha's hold and took it up into air. The gust pushed it in Legolas's direction and it would've blew passed him if he had not reached out to grab it. When he had a good grasp on it, he turned it over in the wind and looked to see what it was.

Dartha had already gone into a panic before Legolas realized what he was holding in his hand. When his brain put all the pieces together, his eyes grew. "When were you planning on sharing this with me?" his asked. His brow was lowered in a frown as he awaited the princess's answer, but when she looked at him with a tight lip, he could not help raising his voice, "It was your plan to out survive me from the beginning!" The map flapped in his hands as he continued to hold it open against the wind, "Without knowing you, I vowed with the fullest of intentions to never trouble you, to provide for you, and to respect you as my bride. I do not understand why it is that you so strongly detest me when all it is that I want to do is take the anguish out of our binding. Because of your stubborn foolishness and vile reproach, this marriage will suffer!" Dartha was ready to answer to him about everything, but when she opened her mouth to speak, Legolas threw the map back at her. "If this marriage is to suffer, I will make sure that you suffer more than I; Ailin gave up and willed himself to die! It was you who killed him," the prince revealed in anger.

Dartha had caught the map and quickly folded it back up  into her bag before she looked at Legolas in her own hurt anger, "No, you ended his life by arrow!" Legolas stared back with dark eyes as he placed his hand over his heart, "I swear on my life that I did not kill him," he said before removing his hand to point into Dartha's face, "I released that arrow so that your conscience would remain clean". His finger was a mere inch from her face as he filled Dartha with fear. She recalled the broken way Ailin had looked at her before he died and something in her heart told her that Legolas was telling her the truth, "Why didn't you tell me?" she had the guilt of forsaking Legolas upon her and now the guilt of Ailin fell unto her thick. Legolas withdrew himself to a distance before saying, "Because the grief of his passing was too fresh and there was a chance you would die from knowing the truth". He watched her wither into herself. Tears filled Dartha's eyes before she willed herself to look up at him, "I messed up terribly, please can we start over?"

Snow began to fall once Rivendell came into sight in the distance. The plea for forgiveness had been turned down by Legolas that the walk since then was in a hostile silence. He had started this journey with Dartha seated on the throne of his mind, but now Thranduil sat comfortably ruling him. With his father in thought, his decision on Dartha appeared to be made; he will go through with the marriage, bring her wealth to Mirkwood, and provide Thranduil with a grandchildren within the first year and will never touch Dartha or have anything to do with her again. He would allow her to live as she pleased though. If she wished to stay in Mirkwood he would let her. If she wanted to return to Harlond he would let her. If she desired to nomad all over Middle Earth he would allow her to do so. Because he intended for their lives to be separate, it really wouldn't matter what she chose to do. He just couldn't accept her anymore. "Rivendell will look beautiful covered in snow", Dartha said interrupting the silence and his thoughts. She looked paler than ever as her gaze remained on the kingdom ahead, "You said Rivendell's lord has the gift of foresight. Would I be able to speak with him?" Legolas was unmoved as he said coldly, "What for? I already know your future". Approaching them were an elf and elleth. They had recognized Legolas from afar and were coming out to meet him, "Greenleaf of Mirkwood!" the elf called out. When he saw Legolas and Dartha's rough appearances he was worried to ask, "What troubles have you gone through to get here?"

A weak smile appeared on Legolas's face as he looked at the elleth before he brought the elf in for a strong hug, "Tales that can be told later, but for now Elladan we need baths, new clothes, food, beds." The elf gave a warm smile as he said, "That can all be provided for you and..." he trailed off as he extended his hand towards the princess. She took his hand carefully and said, "Dartha of Harlond". Elladan looked from her to Legolas ready to ask, but Dartha beat him to it, "I know the wonder in your eyes...I am betrothed to Legolas..." Elladan appeared ecstatic and said something to Legolas in Ka-ilye, a language that they formed together in their youth. In response Legolas said in elvish, "We wed at the end of one year". The elleth only grinned, "Congratulations, but I must ask, what has become of your ring?" The princess dropped her eyes from the beautiful elleth who had addressed her to stare at the snow sprinkled ground in shame, "I lost it along the way..." She was grabbed on the shoulder with an encouraging grip before the elleth assured her that it was not too big of a loss, "Come now, winter is here. Let us go indoors where we have splendor for you two as Rivendell's guests. I'm sure Elladan's father would also want to see you both". Legolas took a step forward to follow her, "I've been wanting to see Lord Elrond for a while already, and though it is unexpected, it is really nice to see you as well Tauriel".