~Thuriniel's secret is revealed, and over in Ithilien Lasriel tries to improve her fertility. The result is unexpected.~

~♕~

"I look at you, and I... and I'm home.
Please, I don't want that to go away."

– Dory, Finding Nemo

~♕~

24. A Turning Point

With increased horror, Thuriniel saw Celeborn determinedly start striding towards her despite his wife's attempts to steer him away.

"Why, Nim, mae govannen!" He gave her a warm, friendly smile. "You look well! How did you manage to return from Aman? And how is your dear husband?"

"Mae govannen," she replied automatically but found no words to continue. Her mind was blank.

"Cel, I need you!" Galadriel joined them, taking his arm. "Not here!" she added in a hiss.

Thranduil had caught up with them as well. "Come, let me show you the new bridge while there is still some daylight left. Afterwards we can reminisce about old times in private."

Celeborn had never been a very bright elf, and apparently that had not changed. The not-so-subtle hints were lost on him. "Soon, soon. Let me first hear about Nim and her surprising return. I am intrigued."

Thuriniel finally found her voice. "I will tell you all about it later. It is not, uh..." She glanced around to see if anyone was listening before continuing in a whisper: "Not for everyone to hear."

"Oh?" Celeborn looked confused. "Why?"

"Because there are dwarves here," Thranduil lied in a murmur, making sure none of them heard and took offense.

That seemed to work. "I see." Celeborn wrinkled his nose. "Who invited them? I am not particularly fond of their race, though some of them are sweet talkers." He shot his wife a rather pointed look at the last words.

"They certainly are." She pulled him toward the bridge and Thranduil followed suit.

The rest of the evening went by in anxious anticipation for Thuriniel. She ate dessert but didn't taste it and nervously sipped so much wine the surroundings became fuzzy. In her mind she endlessly pored over what to say. How could she explain? She couldn't lie straight to Celeborn's face, but could she really tell him the truth?

When at last Thranduil invited her and the guests to his pavilion for the private meeting, Thuriniel was so tense her shoulders hurt.

"Well then," said Celeborn expectantly. "I am dying with curiosity. Tell me, where is Amroth?"

"He went to Aman alone," Thuriniel replied, drawing a shaky breath. "I never left."

He raised his eyebrows. "Why not?"

To her huge relief, Galadriel took over. "Because she wanted to stay and raise her daughter."

"Meleth, this is getting confusing. You told me poor little Lasriel had drowned and that Nim and her husband sailed west to be with her again."

She shrugged. "I lied."

His pale cheeks gained color. "You lied?"

"Aye."

"To me? Your own husband?"

"Aye. I did not think you would be able to keep the secret."

"I see." Celeborn's lips grew thin. "I wept for their sake for days! I even named the river after her, and told everyone the tragic tale about their love–"

"I know. I encouraged you to."

"How could you?"

Seeing his hurt look, Thuriniel started to feel a bit sorry for him, but she could understand Galadriel too; Celeborn would have talked had he known the truth. He was too honest for subtlety.

And that meant her secret would soon be out, for there was no way he would be satisfied until he knew everything.

Sure enough, Celeborn sternly demanded: "Tell me the truth."

"I am sorry, Nim," said Galadriel. "I suppose I must."

Thuriniel nodded. There was nothing for it.

"The truth is, I banished Amroth along with Mithrellas."

"Mithrellas? Thranduil's Mithrellas? I thought she was dead."

"She is not," said Thranduil curtly. "She and Amroth were... friendly. Too friendly." He gave him a meaningful look.

As usual, Celeborn didn't catch the undermeaning. "How can anyone be too friendly? Friendship is a good thing."

"They were not friends, Cel," said Galadriel patiently. "They were lovers."

Celeborn stared at her as her words slowly sank in. Then he abruptly sat down, face aghast.

She calmly continued. "I sent them away to seek forgiveness from the Valar, and I sent Nim and Lasriel to Thranduil's realm where they could hide among the raft-elves. Not many knew Amroth had a daughter and I figured with time at least she could come out of hiding and live a normal life without having to bear the shame of what her adar had done. Then, in order to explain why our king suddenly left, I spread that tale you mentioned, about Amroth of Lórien and his beloved Nimrodel. Time passed, and as you know many elves were born in Lothlórien at that time, and as they grew up the tale became legend."

"Please," Thuriniel begged Celeborn. "Do not tell anyone. Lasriel is recently married to Thranduil's son and he does not know the truth yet."

"Oh, so your daughter is lying to her husband too? Nimrodel, I did not believe this of you! You always struck me as an honest elleth."

"I am," she managed, shame welling up.

"It is my fault," said Thranduil. "I couldn't bear to tell Legolas what his naneth did. That was why I said she died. I did not want to hurt him. Is that so bad?"

"Well, I suppose... Oh, I don't know. Everything is so complicated." Celeborn rubbed his temples, mussing up the braids. "I thought something like this was not even possible! Elves only love once."

Thranduil met Thuriniel's gaze briefly, then looked down. "Maybe it is different if you got married without love in the first place."

Galadriel looked thoughtful. "I think it might be."

Not long afterwards Galadriel and Celeborn left together with their entourage, but judging by his dark face as they sailed back down the river, it would probably take a while until he forgave his wife.

"I dearly hope he will keep the secret," Thuriniel said when Thranduil and she were alone in his pavilion again.

"Do not worry. After so long, everyone believes the false version. He will have no reason to talk about this."

"I hope you are right. But he did not seem happy. Do you think he will scold Galadriel?"

Thranduil smiled. "Probably not. She is not an elleth you fight with if it can be avoided."

"True." Thuriniel chuckled, feeling part of the tension leave her.

"I do not think they are very close," said Thranduil, taking a seat. "Maybe their marriage was arranged as well."

"Could be." She sat beside him. "Poor them. In my romantic books, the heroine is often unhappily married but then the hero comes along and sets her free. But those are human books, of course. They can marry many times."

"Much is easier for mortals," said Thranduil glumly.

Silence fell. Thuriniel thought about how things would have been if she were a human woman. Then she could have ended her marriage with Amroth and allowed him to live happily ever after with Mithrellas. And as for herself... she could remarry too. Be with the one she loved.

She had hoped friendship would be enough, but it really wasn't. She wanted more.

Thranduil looked unusually downcast and she instinctively knew his thoughts had gone on a similar route. If only she were able to make him happy. To make them both happy. If only things were different...

"I wonder who made the rules," she said. "Who decided that an elf who has a loveless marriage, full of quarrels and fights, cannot end it and marry their true love instead? Would such a thing hurt anyone?"

"Good question. And also, the one who made that rule failed to determine exactly what counts as 'marrying' another. Would, for example, a hug count?"

"As marriage?" She shook her head. "Nay."

"A kiss, then?"

She hesitated. "Nay, I would not say kissing makes you married to someone..."

"Hm."

She moved a fraction closer. "What are you thinking?"

He met her gaze, eyes dark in the weak light of the pavilion. "That the rules are unfair. I have tried to quench my feelings but I cannot. My heart knows the truth. And... the more I think about it, the more right those emotions feel. I never loved Mithrellas. You never loved Amroth. If... if then love should grow between us... how can it be wrong?"

Her breath hitched. "You are right. It should not be wrong."

"We cannot divorce our spouses despite their betrayal, but we can bend the rules. Seek what happiness there is to get under the circumstances." He took her hand and stroked it softly. "Gi melin."

He loved her.

"Gi melin," she returned, her throat thick with how much she meant it. She loved him more than she would have thought possible.

"Then... Nimrodel, may I kiss you?"

~♕~

Legolas whistled to himself while he put on his clothes. A letter from Aragorn had arrived from the city yesterday, saying his request had been granted by several of the lords at the recent meeting. Money was on the way, a generous amount that would cover both the living expenses of the colony for the next year, pest treatments and the cost of bringing down more saplings from Lothlórien, and maybe even enable them to build fences against grazing animals.

In addition, Aragorn's missive contained a brief message from Gimli who said he would soon be finished in Minas Tirith and able to begin draining the area like he promised, turning the wetlands fertile and dry, suitable for trees. It would be great to have his friend near again.

For the first time in weeks, Legolas felt a bit hopeful for the future. It seemed things were finally turning to the better – at least with the forest. His marriage was, of course, still bad; Lasriel had given him the silent treatment since the visit to Minas Tirith and spent every evening with her nose deep in a book. It was not fair; he had just wanted to protect her, but from the way she acted one might believe he had offended her terribly.

In the main room he found Lasriel by the stove, holding her book in one hand while stirring something nasty-smelling with the other. She didn't even look up as he entered.

Normally he would have ignored her right back, but now that he was in such a good mood it occurred to him it was time to make up with her. He might never get her to look at him with admiration like before, not now when she had seen so many attractive human men, but perhaps they could be friends. Or at least not enemies.

"What are you doing?" he asked, joining her and trying to regard the boiling mess with interest.

"Cooking."

"Breakfast?" The thought made bile rise in his throat.

Her lips twitched like she fought not to laugh. "Of course not. This is a fertility potion."

"A what-potion?"

She sighed, turning to face him at last. "It's a recipe from this anatomy book. There is a chapter about infertility and I decided to try some of the methods."

"Infertility? But it has only been a couple of months... isn't that a bit extreme?"

"I just want to speed things up." Lasriel poured the smelly mess into a cup and patted the book. "There is lots of great information here, such as what time of the month to do it, and what to do afterwards." She took a mouthful of the decoction and swallowed it with a grimace. "Ugh. Disgusting."

Curious despite himself, Legolas glanced at the upturned page, trying not to be embarrassed about the drawing of what he assumed were female genitalia. "What time of the month is good?"

"Well, this time, actually; now and a few days onward. That is why I made the potion, to improve the chance it catches."

Her words made a warmth spread through his body. "Now?"

"Aye, now."

"Then... Do you need me at home a while longer? I am in no particular hurry for work." The warmth had reached his face now and he hoped his expectant blush wasn't showing. "It's raining anyway, so."

"Sure, why not." She finished the drink and went into her room, unlacing her dress as she went.

Legolas followed her in an awkward walk, trying to hide how very eager a certain body part of his was. Under the cover of her comforter he quickly removed his hose.

When he lay over her, he paused to admire her face and bright eyes. Somehow she looked more attractive than usual. Then he pushed inside her and forgot to think at all for a while.

Afterwards, Lasriel crawled on top of the bed and lay back with a pillow under her bottom and legs in the air.

Legolas paused in the middle of getting dressed, unable to hold back a chuckle. "You look ridiculous."

She gave him an angry glare. "According to the book, it will increase the chance it catches."

"Really?" He noticed she only wore her thin, long undershirt, leaving a lot of her shapely legs exposed. He took a step closer, feeling a new wave of desire slowly build. "And this really works?"

"Of course. It makes more of the... you know, seeds... stay. To do their work."

"I see. Hm. I wonder..." Toying with the hem of her undershirt, he realized he had never seen what she looked like under it. He resisted a sudden urge to pull it off her. "What if we tried doing it like this? Wouldn't that make them all stay?"

"You mean..."

"If you aren't too tired, of course."

She swallowed. "I'm not tired, nay. It is morning."

"Right." His heart was beginning to beat faster. He touched her long shirt. "May I...?"

Her color heightened interestingly. "Go ahead."

Sliding it up until her lower half was bare, he wondered why he had never asked her to undress before. The next time he surely would; the sight of her naked body before him was... appealing.

"I'm ready when you are," she said a bit breathlessly.

~♕~

Lasriel held her breath at how good it felt when their bodies became one. Legolas was looking at her intensely – at her nudity – but it wasn't embarrassing or awkward. His eyes were large and dark with lust. He wanted her.

His obvious desire increased her own, and the different position was exciting. Not only that, it felt better; in the novel angle Legolas pushed an unknown, sweet spot within her, igniting that rare, elusive itch.

When it was over for the second time, he grinned almost boyishly. "I think I like your book. Let me know if you need me again later."

She couldn't resist that smile. "I will."

When he had gone to work, she fished out her other book from its hiding place under the mattress. She had still not translated it from Haradrim, but like Galion had said, the pictures were educational. One of them featured a couple in almost exactly the same position she had been in with Legolas just now. Interesting!

As soon as she had time she would focus on translating this, she decided. Maybe she could even find out how to scratch that elusive, pleasurable itch...

But work first, then pleasure. It was time to start the last batch of bricks, and then she could finally build a real house.

A/N:

As the chapter title says, we have reached a turning point. From here on, things will improve for both our couples. :)

Translation: Gi melin = I love you