Gimli was finding it hard to stifle his laughter, and really did so only because he didn’t much fancy offending Eleina. The discomfort that Legolas and Eleina felt towards each other, though, manifested itself in such amusing ways.

First, there had been the manner of packing. Eleina hadn’t been certain how much of her wardrobe she should bring, because she didn’t know what sort of wardrobe would be called for. Apparently she had decided not only to go but to be helpful, and had voiced this, though Thranduil had laughed at the idea and she herself didn’t exactly know what ‘being helpful’ would entail. If they were going to be living in the royal palace of Gondor, perhaps she needed some of her finer dresses, but if there weren’t to be any balls or fancy feasts –after all, the city was in shambles—they would simply be taking up space. When she had asked Legolas what he thought, he had stammered out that he didn’t really know anything about ladies’ things but that they would find a way to carry as much as she wanted. It was an illogical thing to suggest, and really Legolas could just have answered that he himself made due with perhaps four different outfits . . . but for sure he didn’t know anything about ladies things. Eleina packed two trunks, decided that was burdensome, repacked everything so that she only had one trunk, then spent the first three hours of the trip apologizing for holding everyone up, as if everyone was in such an excited frenzy to leave home that an hour delay was inexcusable, and by the king’s daughter-in-law no less.

Next there had been the awkward good-byes with Thranduil. Gimli decided the old dwarf (he and Legolas secretly called Legolas’ father such) must really be fonder of Eleina than he let on because he seemed in a far worse mood than usual as he, Eleina, and Legolas exchanged the customary Elven farewell gestures. Thranduil made some crack about how Legolas should take care of Eleina though he hadn’t ever before, which made Eleina and Legolas look at the ground and then in opposite directions in such synchronization that it looked choreographed. Just before the party of Elves departed, Eleina had jumped off her mount and run back to the entrance of the Hall to give Thranduil a tight hug which clearly confused everyone present. The Elven lord disappeared back inside before they were out of view. Eleina apologized for delaying the group another five minutes.

Gimli’s favorite, though, was when the party finally stopped the next morning to break fast with the dwarves that greeted them with some hesitation. Personally, Gimli was glad to have more of his own people present, because unlike the elves, he could not eat and sleep on the back of a horse, though he had managed for a single night. Legolas and Gimli had introduced the two parties to each other, though it would no doubt be some time before elves and dwarves would converse warmly as they had in days long before Legolas had been born.

“We cooked up the last of our eggs, if you lot eat that sort of thing,” a dwarf, Rifedu, offered uncertainly, glancing among his fellow dwarves as though they would cast him out for making such a suggestion.

Trari, an elf, made to explain that they had enough lembas to keep them all content, but behind the huddle of dwarves, the elf caught the tight shake of her head that Eleina gave. Quickly Trari changed his expression, smiling at Rifedu and answering, “That would be pleasant. We also have lembas to share.” He looked among his fellow elves; the dwarves looked among their pack. Legolas and Gimli smiled at each other and Eleina recognized she had just witnessed something legendary.

What had Gimli so amused, though, was that when it came time to sit around the campfire, Legolas seemed confused as to what exactly Eleina could stand. The dwarves had been sitting on the ground or a couple felled logs, but Legolas seemed to think the ground was too hard and the bark of the logs too rough for a dainty little elven maiden such as Eleina.

“If you’ll wait, lady, I’ll find a blanket to drape over—“ he began, but Eleina gave him a strange look before literally sitting where she stood, right on the ground between two dwarves who stared at her with eyes as wide as Legolas’. As if this weren’t enough, though, Gimli saw a moment later, once Legolas had turned away, Eleina reach beneath her skirt with a grimace and pull out a rather sharp-looking rock. Gimli quickly shoved egg into his mouth so his choked laughter would look simply as if he were eating too quickly.

That night Legolas seemed equally unsure whether Eleina could handle sleeping on the ground, but she stretched out on a folded blanket and bundled a cloak to serve as a pillow as easily as the other men. And that’s when Legolas remembered who this girl was that he was married to, or who she had been once upon a time.

Once upon a time, Eleina had been a mischievous little imp who liked to sneak out after dark and sleep next to him on his watch, staring up at the stars while he told her silly old stories he had heard as a child. Once upon a time, they had both spent the night tucked together in a tiny cave as an odd blizzard trapped them behind a wall of snow. Once upon a time she had stubbornly refused to eat for two days until he admitted that she was right and he really had been the one to trap the mice in her room that she had been feeding and keeping as pets for weeks. He told her he had liberated them in the forest. He never had figured out what actually happened to them.

It was a long trek to Gondor, and as the days wore on, the group slipped into a sort of routine. They rose early in the morning before the sun to eat, then utilized all the daylight they could. The going was slowed by the carts of stone tools and small trees and bundles of seeds, but gradually they made progress. At night, they made camp just after sunset, striking up a small fire to cook and see by. The days grew warmer and the nights muggier as they traveled south.

Much to Gimli’s but much more to Legolas’ surprise, by the end of the first week Eleina not only knew everyone’s names and those of their families, but also the most inane details of their lives. Around Legolas and Gimli she was bashful, uncertain, even klumsy. They could see her riding or walking next to other members of the party, though, and at those times she seemed an entirely different person. Her smiles were genuine and larger than the tiny hesitant grins Legolas ever received as thanks for the lengths he went to in order to make her comfortable. She listened and asked questions and even laughed. It was not uncommon in the evenings for someone, elf or dwarf, to approach Legolas and insist, “You are blessed in your wife. Why, if I could find one such as that . . .” or “my, but your wife there does make marriage a bit more enticing.” The politeness, as aloof as it might be, with which Legolas and Eleina treated each other seemed ordinary to everyone. Legolas thought to himself that perhaps they assumed he and Eleina were being distant so as not to make anyone uncomfortable.

With only a couple days left before they reached Minis Tirith, Gimli decided without Legolas’ input that he was going to claim a bit of Eleina’s time. She was walking towards the back of the line with two dwarven brothers leading horses with packs of seeds, grinning as they regaled her with tales of the pranks they had played in their youth. The stories reminded her so much of herself as a child, and that put her in such a good mood, that she remained smiling when Gimli approached.

“Lady Eleina,” he greeted.

“Master Gimli.”

“It seems I am the only one so far that has not been granted some of your undivided attention.”

“And this saddens you?” she asked, nodding to the brothers and falling into step beside Gimli.

“Well it does, lass. I’m always up for my fair share of good things.”

She laughed lightly at the compliment and asked, “Well, Master Gimli, what would you like to discuss?”

“I have heard it on the wind,” he suggested, “that you come from a land so far north that few from Middle Earth have ever heard of it.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“And what land is that, lass?”

“Well but you probably haven’t heard of it.”

He laughed and insisted, “That’s why I’m asking.”

“Well then, it’s a land of snow and ice, called Norfowk. The legend is that it was actually named so by someone from Middle Earth with an unusually thick accent who was actually calling us “north folk.” But that doesn’t make much sense to me, though, because what did we call ourselves before then? It’s just a legend.”

“It’s not snow and ice all the time, is it?”

“I’m afraid so. Year round except for perhaps three or four weeks in the dead of summer. It’s all evergreen trees and frozen ponds. Well some of the ponds aren’t frozen, or are only frozen part of the year . . . but everything is silver and blue and white. It’s very beautiful.”

“You sound as though you miss it but it sounds terrible to me,” Gimli admitted.

She shrugged, “Sometimes I miss it. A bit. It’s where I was born, and where I was as a youth . . .”

“But you aren’t so old yet,” Gimli pointed out, to which she laughed, “How old do you think I am, master dwarf?”

“Well, don’t you be asking me elf ages because I don’t know how you elves run things. But Legolas is young for an elf, he says, and that you are younger still.”

“I am much younger. I believe he is now . . .” she paused to calculate in her head, even counting on her fingers, before offering, “six-hundred-and-fifty-three? Because he is five-hundred-and-fifty-four years older than me . . . but don’t test me on my math. That has never been my strong point.”

Gimli was already checking her math in his head and suddenly bellowed, “How, then, and when is your birthday, lass? You’ll be a century old, if I’m right.”

“You’re very right,” she nodded. “And my birthday is at the end of this month.”

“I’m sure we’ll have a party worth remembering for you. It’s not every day a person turns one hundred, now, is it?”

“Oh, I hope we don’t,” she gasped. “I didn’t bring any party clothes . . .” After the stress that had ensued with packing, Gimli laughed and was relieved she had meant it as a joke. “But let’s see, what else about Norfowk? It was almost always night, so we had to always have torches on us. Everyone wore necklaces that had pendants of flint on them, and then an iron ring or bracelet. I bet I can get a fire started faster than anyone you’ve ever met. But at night, the stars. Oh, I bet the stars are like nothing you have ever seen before.” He explained to her the Glittering Caves and she nodded, “Probably like that, only bigger. If you went out onto an ice field – you know, with no trees for miles – and just looked all around you . . . it’s like you’re standing in the sky.”

Gimli conceded, “I might visit there, lass, but I don’t know that I could stand the cold. I’m not too fond of snow and the ice, ya see.”

“Well you’re bundled up. So bundled up in furs and skins that you can’t recognize anyone’s faces. Everyone just waddles around like big balls of pelts.” She demonstrated the waddle, which made Gimli laugh. “And you mark who you are on your arm or your back because in the coldest nights you’re too bundled up to even speak.”

“What sort of houses do you live in to survive such miserable cold?”

“Some people have cabins made of felled pine trees, which are cozy. Others live in underground stone caverns that were built thousands of years ago, before the ground was so frozen.”

“Which did you live in?”

“Oh, I lived in the great ice palace near the northern border. Imagine, a grand palace made completely of ice! Hallways and arched ceilings and great columns, all chiseled with intricate designs, only one had to be careful not to get a torch too close to the walls, you know. The ceilings were all high enough that torches wouldn’t produce enough heat to reach them. You had to stay pretty bundled up, even inside, but without the wind it’s not so bad.”

“You lived in the palace? Were you elven royalty then even before—“

“Oh, no. My father was the head commander of the standing army and was always out at forts, so my aunt and I lived in the palace.”

“What made you leave this icicle if you were so fond of it? Legolas said you were in Mirkwood as a child.”

“Yes. My aunt was getting married and moving and didn’t want to be dragging along her niece to – well, I can’t blame her for it, you know. So she took me to my mother’s brother in Mirkwood to live for a while.”

“And you returned to your home?”

“Father returned to the palace after the war ended and called for me back.”

“And then?”

Eleina knew what he was asking, which meant he either hadn’t asked his own friend or else Legolas simply hadn’t answered. She gave him a sideways look that made Gimli worried he had asked something he shouldn’t, and possibly seriously offended her.

“Then we went to war again. The palace had to be evacuated and Father wanted me somewhere safe and being taken care of. My uncle Nereglin wasn’t in Mirkwood anymore – he’s gone to Imladris, and Caralora and her husband are in Lothlorien, but Thranduil and my father were friends when they were younger. Thranduil insisted I could come stay in Mirkwood, and then suggested Legolas and I marry.”

“It was Lord Thranduil’s idea, eh?”

“Surprising, isn’t it? It’s typical of Thranduil to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong, but to arrange a marriage isn’t really like him . . . but anyways, Legolas didn’t object, so the marriage took place. A few months later, he was off to Imladris and I’m sure you were there from then on out.”

There was a delay before Gimli nodded because he had caught her word choice: Legolas didn’t object, so the marriage took place. She had said nothing of her own feelings on the matter, but Gimli wisely kept his curiosity to himself. He couldn’t help but feel her words meant something, and simultaneously things were now becoming clearer and yet more confusing. It had been an arranged marriage – that explained the awkwardness, as did that Legolas had left so soon after they married, and that they had not seen each other in so long even before the marriage. It was surprising that Legolas had not objected, and perhaps Eleina had, but then she also hadn’t said that Legolas was thrilled by the idea. She didn’t seem one to misuse words. He wondered, if he asked Legolas about it, how his friend would phrase the arrangement.

Gimli in general did not like mysteries, and he did not appreciate that Legolas had never told him something so significant as a wife. There was something exciting about this mystery, though, and furthermore, it was clear that these two needed help. Perhaps figuring things out would shed light on how exactly he could help his friend, because certainly Legolas had not been the same from the moment they stepped foot back in the forests of Mirkwood.

“So you have family still in Rivendell and Lothlorien,” Gimli said after a few minutes of ponderous silence. “Have you visited either one of them?”

She shook her head, “No. Though I’ve heard both are lovely.” Gimli thought of the Lady of Lothlorien and smiled as his cheeks reddened beneath his grisly beard. “I was going to visit Lothlorien but when word came about my father . . . I cancelled my trip. It was probably best I not be out wandering around Middle Earth during a war anyways.”

“What about your father?”

She frowned, “He was killed in battle, in December.”

“I’m sorry for it, lass,” Gimli frowned, too. He wasn’t sure what he had thought the news would be; he should have kept his mouth shut.

“Thank you,” she nodded, giving him a forced smile. “It’s not as though it wasn’t expected. I don’t think Legolas knows of it yet . . . but warriors do tend to die, don’t they? Norfowk is at peace again now, thanks to his death, so at least it wasn’t in vain, and he has been reunited with my mother in the Halls of Mandos. She died when I was born.”

“Lass, it’s a lot of sorrow you’ve seen for one so young.”

She laughed at that, “Yes, I suppose, but there are many good times in between, as I’m sure there will be for us in Minis Tirith, yes? I’m excited to be with Arwen again and Aragorn –though I suppose he’s King Elessar now, is he?”

“You know Aragorn, do ya?”

“Know him! Why, I saved his life one time, though I doubt he’ll tell it that way.”

“And how is that?” Gimli asked with a roar of laughter.

“Well you see, he and Legolas have been friends Aragorn’s whole life, and they used to go off hunting together, sometimes hunting the giant spiders in Mirkwood . . .”

Legolas saw Gimli and Eleina walking beside each other, laughing as she told some animated story, and a stab of envy shot through his chest.