With a secret mission to marry an elf, Wynne must join Legolas' and Elvenking Thranduil's new quest as a horsekeeper. She begins an adventurous journey, encountering orcs and monsters, friendly uruk-hai, a lady dwarf and many Fellowship heroes - but...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
~ Wynne meets the elves she's supposed to marry but they don't seem very nice... ~
2. Meeting the Elvenking
Wynne spotted the group of elves at a long distance. They had built a simple camp just offshore of the Anduin river and seemed to be waiting for her, lined up as they were in a semicircle.
Almost despite herself she relaxed her seat, causing her gray mare to slow her pace and nervously toss her head. Vatna was sensitive to her rider's emotions.
All the way here Wynne had tried and failed to think of ways to escape this trap. Should she run away somewhere and hide until the elves got tired of waiting? But ten mearas weren't exactly inconspicuous and she could never abandon them. Should she try to fail on purpose? Just ride with the elves as their groom and never act out Mother's instructions? But then she would have to face her wrath on her return and that was even more intimidating than marrying an elf.
No, she simply had no choice. Her mother had willed this, and when she willed something it happened. Wynne must make the elves like her, somehow; there was no other option.
One did not oppose Mother.
Reluctantly she nudged Vatna to step into the cool water. The river was shallow here, with large stones peeking up at intervals, so the horses could wade over easily.
At the other side she got a closer look at the waiting elves and the sight made her almost ashamed that she had doubted Mother's description of their beauty, and instead mentally compared them to the ugly men at the marketplace. They were tall and looked strong but there ended all likeness with them. These males were indeed beautiful, strikingly handsome in a knee weakening way.
Two of them were dark, with brown skin and raven black hair, one was a redhead and the final two were blond. All five had flawless faces; no wrinkles, no scars, no birth marks anywhere to be seen, and their waist long hair had intricate braiding on the sides of their heads. Unlike Wynne's tousled, brown tresses, not a single strand of their hair seemed to be misplaced.
Even their clothes were beautiful, spotlessly clean despite having camped out of doors. Feeling conscious, she glanced at her wrinkled tunic, her hose with grass stains on the knees and her leather boots covered in mud and horse dung.
Oh well, if Mother was right, she wouldn't need clean clothes or smooth hair, all it would take was some nudity.
Thinking about undressing in front of the elves made her cringe with embarrassment but she knew she had to at least try if she would ever succeed in getting one into her bed.
"Greetings, human, I am King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm, and you must be the representative of the House Örn. I had imagined you somewhat older... and male." The blond elf that had spoken looked down his nose at her, which must have been hard considering she was still on horseback.
