My Warriors, My Beloveds

Chapter 5: Painful Truths

Silvan Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood: 28th of March, 2969
Sometime after Midnight

Harry was getting changed into his nightclothes when someone began frantically pounding on the door to their room.

He exchanged a look with his friend as a feminine voice called, “Thorongil! Thorongil! I must speak with you! Harry cannot stay here!”

“Thenidiel?” Thorongil guessed helplessly.

Harry went to open the door to see the dark-haired Elf.

“Why cannot I stay here?” Harry asked with a small smile. “Is there something wrong with the rooms?”

“No! Not the rooms. Just those who provide them!” the Elf snarled.

“What has King Thranduil done now?” Harry joked.

Thenidiel shot the other Elf a helpless look.

“Thorongil,” the Elf murmured sadly. “Harry must return with you to Rohan.”
The Man gave her a look.

“He did not dare?” he questioned Thenidiel angrily.

“He dared,” she whispered weakly in the face of his rage.

“We are leaving immediately. Wake the men. I cannot…we must leave now,” Thorongil ordered.

“I am so sorry,” Thenidiel apologized to Harry. “You would have made a good prince.”

She left the room quickly to wake the other men in the adjacent rooms.

“What is she sorry about? What is going on, Thorongil?” Harry questioned his friend crossly. “What has happened? Who has dared?”

“I saw you in the clearing before, kissing him,” the Man whispered sadly, changing the subject. “I knew he was charming, but I selfishly hoped that you would…I should not have been so selfish.”

“You are not making any sense,” Harry cried helplessly.

“I confess, I asked Thenidiel to spy upon Legolas for me whenever she had the chance. I needed to be sure he was true before I could leave you here alone,” Thorongil admitted as he approached his love.

“No,” Harry whispered. “He promised! He just promised. Not…he would not! You are lying!”
Harry turned away from him angrily.

“You know I would not lie about this,” Thorongil argued. “I only wish for your happiness. Despite my selfish wish that you find it with me, I would not sabotage your chance for immortality with someone who loves you.”

The dark-haired Elf broke down crying in Thorongil’s arms.

“What…what did I do wrong? I promised him my decision at dawn. He pledged his fidelity if I should stay! I…I allowed him my first kiss! He promised! He promised he would change his ways! He…he promised me the world,” Harry finished on a sob. “I should not feel so very betrayed. I knew. I knew what he was like and trusted him anyway. This is my fault.”

“No!” Thorongil countered. “You did nothing wrong. Nothing! You are perfect; he is the fool. If I was in his position, I would never have dared look upon another.”

Harry did not respond to his friend’s passionate declaration.

Thorongil just smiled sadly at his silence.

“We shall depart for Rohan as early as possible. Before the first light of dawn,” he stated.

“But…I promised him my decision at dawn,” Harry responded weakly.

“He will have your decision when he finds you gone,” Thorongil growled angrily. “It is more than he deserves! I should run him through with my sword.”

Harry straightened, wiping the tears from his beautiful emerald eyes.

“You are right,” he responded. “It is more than he deserves. I wish to never set eyes upon the Prince of Mirkwood again. But I will not forget either. Let this be a lesson for the future.”

“You are allowed to feel hurt,” Thorongil whispered softly in a delicately pointed ear as he hugged his love tighter.

“I am not some maiden to weep helplessly at my partner’s infidelity,” Harry snarled, breaking the embrace. “I will move on from this easily. I barely know him.”

“You cannot blame yourself. He is handsome and charming, and his attention was flattering,” Thorongil stated, reminding Harry of the words he himself had spoken just yesterday morning.

“And I should not have let that flattery get him anywhere,” Harry countered. “But better now, I suppose, than later. For I truly was going to stay in Mirkwood to give him a chance. Perhaps this is a sign from the Valar that they did not approve of my decision,” Harry pondered, quickly gathering his belongings.

Thorongil watched him sadly for another moment, then left the room to make sure the men were getting ready to depart.

He knew Harry would need some time alone to deal with this.

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“Ready to go?” Thorongil whispered as Harry watched the men mount their horses.

“I wish I could bid the king farewell. We were beginning to get along,” Harry said with a sad smile.

“He will understand,” Glorfindel assured from behind them, startling the two.

“Glorfindel,” Harry stated sadly. “I am sorry to disappoint you so. I know you wished for me to remain in Mirkwood.”

“You have done nothing wrong. Legolas was not as true as I thought, and I have given you ill advice. For that, I apologize,” Glorfindel stated sorrowfully.

“You need not apologize. He disappointed us both,” Harry remarked almost casually as he turned to his horse. “You only proposed what you thought was best.”

“May your ways be green and golden,” Glorfindel bid as Harry and Thoringel mounted their own stallions. “Perhaps you shall visit me in Rivendell one day?”

“Perhaps,” the dark-haired Elf allowed with a small smile. “Fair winds, Glorfindel.”

With that, Harry began to head away from the castle. The Men looked to Thorongil for direction, and he told them to go on ahead while he said his own farewells to the elf-lord.

“May thy paths be green and the breeze on thy back,” Glorfindel stated. “Take care of him, Estel, and do visit Lord Elrond soon.”

“Do not worry about Harry. He is a survivor,” Aragorn replied. “Until next we meet, Glorfindel.”
Glorfindel stood there watching until Aragorn’s form disappeared amid the trees.

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Legolas pulled out and rolled off his lover.

“Well,” Rhovanion commented. “That was less inspired that usual.”

“I…should not have done this,” Legolas whispered. “Perhaps it is best you leave now.”

“Oh, and a shorter afterglow than usual, too,” Rhovanion mocked as he rose from the bed and gathered his clothes. “The Bearer has you wrapped around his finger already. I shudder to think what you will be like once he gives you children.”

“He has not made his decision yet,” Legolas stated as his lover got dressed. “Do not come to my rooms again, Rhovanion.”

“Well is that not sweet?” the Elf muttered as he slammed the door.

Legolas sighed, looking upon the seed staining the bedcovers. It was the evidence of his shame.

He needed to go into the forest to think.

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“You are a fool,” Glorfindel stated flatly.

Legolas dropped down from his perch in the tree.

“An utter fool,” the elf-lord snarled. “How could you do this? It is a betrayal of everything we stand for. The king may stand by as you ruin the name of Elves, but I cannot watch you destroy thousands of years of honor for the sake of your libido!”

The prince stared at the other blonde, shocked.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“You dare promise Harry your fidelity and then proceed to your rooms to lay with another? And expect to get away with it?” Glorfindel accused with a glare.

All the blood in drained from Legolas’s face.

“How did you know of…” the prince faltered for words.

“Of your indiscretion? Of your betrayal?” Glorfindel asked. “The entire castle knows! You kissed your naked lover with an open door not long after you promised another your devotion! Did you expect no one to notice in a castle full of nosy servants?”

“Then Harry…” Legolas began.

“Harry is gone,” Glorfindel stated flatly.

The prince looked at him blankly.

“It is not even dawn,” Legolas replied. “He promised me his answer at dawn.”

“His answer is his absence. He fled the castle in shame,” Glorfindel responded furiously. “Estel gathered the men as soon as he heard, and they rode out as soon as possible.”
Legolas closed his eyes against the angry words leveled against him by the elf-lord.

“Perhaps he would not have stayed, anyway,” Legolas whispered. “He had not made his decision yet.”

“If you believe that, you are an even bigger fool than I thought,” Glorfindel spat. “Harry was going to stay. His decision was made as soon as your lips touched his. He was going to give you a chance. And you destroyed his trust in you. Promising fidelity with one breath and using your next to bed another. You were scared of being committed to him for the rest of your lives. I congratulate you. You have no need to worry now. You may continue your meaningless philandering without recourse.”

The prince turned his back against Glorfindel’s accusations.

“Well. Are you not going to go after him to at least apologize?” the elf-lord demanded. “You owe him at least that.”

“Is there any use? I am sure Estel has already comforted him,” the prince whispered bitterly.

“You have the nerve to deny him comfort when you placed him in this situation?” Glorfindel questioned. “I am disgusted that I ever supported you in your weak attempts to court him. You never did look upon him as a being worthy of respect, if you could so soon break your word to him after making it.”

“I LOVE HIM!” Legolas yelled, then stopped dead.

“By the Valars, I love him,” the prince whispered sadly to himself. “And your predictions were right, Glorfindel. I fought against my feelings, and pushed him away. I shall regret it for the rest of eternity.”

“Cease your dramatics,” Glorfindel orders. “Why have you acted thus?”

“I did not want to admit I loved him,” Legolas stated. “I have never felt so strongly before. There has never been meaning attached to sex for me. But just a kiss from him nearly brought me to my knees in adoration. It was too much. He was too much.”

“You did not wish to confront your stronger emotions, so you indulged your weak lust with another,” Glorfindel reasoned. “You believe your pledge did not begin until he told you of his decision to stay? You honored the letter of your promise, not the spirit. You should have known better, Legolas.”

“I did know better,” Legolas admitted. “I did not care. I wanted one last night with another to prove to myself that I…that I had not changed so much. That he had not ruined me for another the minute his lips touched mine. But I was wrong. Rhovanion meant nothing, and I regretted it as soon as it was over.”

“Then more fool you. You should be telling Harry this, not I. But it is not yet too late. His is a forgiving soul, and you may still ride after him,” Glorfindel stated sadly, knowing the prince’s stubborness would not allow him to beg for forgiveness.

“No,” Legolas shook his head. “I do not deserve him.”

“That is one thing we agree on, at least,” Glorfindel acknowledged. “But as Lord Elrond Saw, you are the only suitable Elf. Your actions have condemned him to death. He will live the life of a mortal at Estel’s side. Whether in love or friendship, I do not know.”

Legolas stared at him, shocked.

“I…did not realize,” the prince whispered softly.

“You did not think,” Glorfindel claimed. “And now your pride stands in the way of his forgiveness.”

“Estel would never let me dare even look upon him after what I have done,” Legolas claimed.

“So that means you will not even try?” the elf-lord questioned wryly.

The prince did not answer as he walked deeper into the forest, away from Glorfindel and his difficult questions.

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Author’s Note: All right, so this is a really short chapter, but give me a break – it’s the second one today! I just needed Harry to find out about Legolas’s betrayal and Legolas to be put in his place by Glorfindel before moving onto the next part of the plot. The next chapter is going to be action-packed, so let’s get the emotions out of the way now, no?