A Silver Lining (Lord of the Rings) [Legolas]

XXIV. Out of the Shadows

XXIV. Out of the Shadows

“Your actions have not gone unnoticed, Nim.” I felt a feather-light touch on my hand. “People are still talking about your bravery.” She snorted a laugh. “I wish I was as half as brave as you are.”

I smiled, Halian gasped. She knew I was awake now. I quickly lost the smile, kind of hoping she would believe her eyes played tricks on her.

“You cannot keep up that act, Nim. I saw you smile. Open your eyes.”

The first coherent thought that came to mind was that I was back in my old room in Greenwood. Halian was at my bedside, offering me a warm welcome-back smile. She rubbed my hand for comfort.

“Welcome back,” she murmured. “How are you feeling?”

“Awake.” Halian laughed. “I lost consciousness?”

Halian’s face fell. “You were losing so much blood; I followed the prince all the way to the healers. You left a blood trail on the floor; we were scared that you would bleed dry by the time you got help.” She swallowed. “The healers took hold of you and bandaged your back. They plan to give you remedies so that the wound will not scar nor will the ones on your face from the whip.”

I tenderly touched the thin lines on my face. Struck at a few times with a whip and then nearly cut in half by a sword. What an eventful day I had.

“How long have I been asleep?” I began to sit up slowly.

“Not long, it is morning of the next day. I have been in here watching you since you were brought in here.”

“You watched me sleep?” I asked in mock horror. “You stalk me, Halian.”

She burst into a furious giggle. “I am glad to see your spirit is still intact.”

“What happened after the attack?”

“If you keep asking questions, you will overwhelm her.”

Our heads turned to the entrance to see Legolas had come to visit. I felt my cheeks heat up almost instantly. Halian hid a snicker behind her hand.

“You can tell me what happened, then,” I told him.

“Do you mind, Halian?” Legolas asked her.

“I can handle her questions, though, my prince, honest!” she pleaded.

“I do not think you have slept since she has been in bed. Go rest.”

Between Legolas’ stare and mine, Halian caved in to the pressure. Before she left, she bowed before her prince. I sighed through my nostrils.

“There is so much that I want to say,” he began awkwardly, not meeting my eyes. “I owe you a massive apology, Nimalia, for not believing you. I trusted that you would never do such a harmful thing, but now that I have thought about it, Nikita’s magic had some hold over me. It explains why I did not feel as in love with her as I did with you. What we had was real, what she and I had had been conjured up with her magic.”

“You mean is,” I corrected him.

“I am sorry?”

“You make it sound as though our bond was destroyed, it was not.” I smiled timidly. “We are in the same room and speaking, so I would say we still have a connection.”

“You do not understand how terrible I feel about all of this. It was right in front of us, but you and Halian were the only ones who knew what was true.”