Fan Fiction ❯ Tên Mûel ❯ The Queen and the boy ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: Tên Mûel
Authors: Makiko Igami (makikoigami@yahoo.de) & My-chan (My-chan@gmx.de)
Archive: http://www.yaoi.rulestheweb.com
http://www.geocities.com/lirimaer8/inde x.html
http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/src.php?auth=58906
http://w ww.geocities.com/alslashfics/
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyi d=1231150
http://www.efanfiction.net/authors.php?no=2916
*is working on sending it to the library of moria*
And any archives of the lists we're on. ^_^
Category: AU, RPG
Rating: this chapter... PG? May go up soon... *is getting poked by My-chan: "NC-17!"* *sweatdrops*
Pairings: Aragorn/Legolas, others as well *glances over to Elladan & Elrohir*
Warnings: Slash, OOC (of Arwen mostly), slavery, angst...
Spoilers: A few... not really as I don't remember much of the book, just that Aragorn became King of Gondor in the end and that Arwen was his Queen.
Summary: After seven years of marriage, the excitement of being together has vanished from Aragorn's and Arwen's marriage... maybe a present might change this.
Disclaimer: You know the deal don't you? J.R.R. Tolkien invented them, and if we owned them, we would be related to him, but since neither I nor My-chan are... we just play around with them, toy with their minds and use them for fun only. <insert evil laughter here>
Notes&Comments: This was written by me and My-chan as a rpg and ever since Pretending And Being, a wild mix of German and English, we have this nearly "exhibitionistic" need for feedback from various places. ^^;; So please be gentle.
Now on to the story itself. I know that this may look like a serious Arwen-bashing story, but please be reassured that we don't mean to cause any harm to anybody who likes her. She is just for causes of story-telling such a bitch here. ^^;
The Sindarin we used (and transformed for ourselves) comes from a little program called Dragon Flame (which I always think that it is this game I don't want to play unless I know I am on my own), but since it didn't have all the words we needed, we had to make them up. If you have any questions feel free to send an email to any of us... and hope that we still know what we wanted to say. ^^;;;;
________________________________________________________________ _______

Legolas didn't wake up. Neither when the Human carried him to his bed nor when he took off his last bit of clothing nor when he finally tugged him into the warming blanket. The Elf had felt so safe in the man's embrace that he allowed himself to fall into a sound and fast sleep, instead of the usual light sleep that he started up from by the most silent sound. It was an even more restful sleep than the night before, and his body really needed it to recover. From the wounds, the pain and the abuse as well.

So when Aragorn turned away from him, the Elf only grabbed the blanket and snuggled in the sheets, almost purring like a little kitten. His relaxed body even managed to zone out the nightmares that had kept hunting the slave since he'd been caught, and let more pleasant dreams come back to his mind.

He was running through the woods of Mirkwood, breaking through the bushes like the wind as fast as an arrow, but yet almost soundless. He could feel the warming light of the sun on his bare skin and smell the sweet scent of the leaves, blossoms and earth. Birds were singing their happiest songs to cherish the beautiful day and little spirits of the wood joined him as he kept running and running, feeling as free as never before....

Then again he was lying in his master's arms, snuggled up to his chest in a tight and warm embrace. They were sitting in front of the fireplace again, on the soft fur, the shadows of the flames wandering over their bodies. The man murmured something about that Legolas was only his, and that nobody else was allowed to touch him.

And somehow this possessiveness made the Elf feel even safer. The Human's voice held so much warmth, tenderness and even love. It was in this dream when Legolas' fear from his master finally disappeared. This man would not hurt him on purpose and would not let anybody else ever do it again.

A small smile graced Legolas' lips in his sleep.

Aragorn woke up and just wanted to get some rest. Somehow he had unlearned to sleep on the bare floor in those seven years when he was King. He groaned tiredly and rolled to his other side, only to discover that this position hurt only more than the one before. With a low growl he sat up and rubbed his aching head. Every bone in his body felt like it had rotated where it sat in his body and some even felt as if they had been moved around in his whole body back to a place close to their origin, but only close. He knew that if he had to fight a sword-fight today he would fail miserably.

He tilted his head, stretched his limbs and heard his joints crack loudly with every movement until he felt like he could dare to stand up. It still hurt and his head was as dizzy as if he had emptied a whole barrel of Gondor's best wine on his own last night, but he knew he had done nothing like this. Maybe it was his dreams that played with his mind, turning everything upside down. Aragorn was just happy that he didn't remember what they were about or else he would feel even dizzier.

He staggered over to his bed, to see if Legolas was still sleeping, which he was. And contrary to all the Elves Aragorn knew, the Woodelf didn't even wake up as he nudged him gently. Frowning the Human leaned down to check the Elf's breathing, but that was deep and even so he decided to let him sleep a little longer as the servants huddled in silently, one after the other. This made Aragorn look up and glare at them, the anger over Legolas' abuse the previous day not forgotten the slightest bit. And with that look he was able to determine who might have been guilty of that and who definitely wasn't. His gaze stopped at the face of the head servant.

Walking over to that man with the silver temples who pretended not to look satisfied as he saw the anger in his King's eyes, Aragorn started to talk very calmly with him. So calmly that any obstinate ambassador would have become very small in front of him. And so did this man.

"I heard that one of your subordinates abused my slave yesterday?" He felt his eye twitch as he heard himself saying "my slave" and tried to tell himself that it was only a façade that he had to keep up in front of those people. It had nothing to do with the fact that he felt a very strong sense of protectiveness towards the Elf, and that he couldn't stand anybody else besides himself touched Legolas and he didn't even really like that.

Ban didn't even try to hide what he did. "I wouldn't say "abused", milord, but he wasn't... obedient, so somebody had to... remind him of his status."

The King's eyes narrowed considerably. "The slave has been given to me, so it is my duty to remind him of anything he needs to be reminded of, don't you think so?"

"Yes, my majesty, but you seemed... distracted at that particular moment."

"Are you trying to say I don't fulfill my duties?"

"Oh no, milord. I know that your Royalty doesn't know how to handle a slave so your majesty would not treat his slave properly."

Aragorn clenched his jaws. If anybody didn't treat Legolas properly, it was this guy.

"So I took the liberty to show his Majesty's slave that not everybody is as... generous as your highness. I hope he didn't disobey your order again?"

Aragorn snorted. "Oh no, he didn't. He never did and I am pretty sure he never will." He didn't say out aloud that he didn't intend to order the Elf around so that he didn't have a chance of disobeying his orders as there would be none.

Ban stared at his king with doubt in his eyes, but said nothing. Somehow he sensed that he had made a grave mistake when he had treated the slave as what he was.

Aragorn lowered his voice once again, so that it was only a barely audible whisper and looked the man in front of him right into the eye. "If any of you touches my Elf again, it will be my personal pleasure to punish whoever it might be, did you understand that?"

Ban gulped. "Y-yes, your royal highness."

"Good. Now get me fresh water for my bath," the King of Gondor ordered and turned to his breakfast table.

"But didn't you already have a bath yesterday?" Ban asked with slight confusion in his tone with that he tried to mask his sudden fear.

Elessar's head whipped around and he was hit by a deathly glare. "I didn't, you fool. It was for my slave! Now go and fulfill my orders, or do you want me to remind you of your status?"

Ban bowed low in sudden penitence and rushed away to do as his master wished while Aragorn dropped a ripe into his mouth. All the while he studiously ignored the little nagging voice in his head that asked him why he was constantly using possessive pronouns when he was talking about Legolas with others.

The servant did hastily as his King had ordered him. He called his subordinates and watched them cleaning the tub and filling it with fresh hot water. Inwardly he groaned. It was more than obvious that fulfilling the Queen's demands didn't get the King's approval and vice versa. He had been used to this before, even though it wasn't as much of a difference as now.

He knew that his King didn't want to treat his slave like a slave, but who could have thought that he was this protective of him, and this possessive. Plus he almost treated him like a prince or some sort of higher being. Ban snorted. This was another bad news he had to tell his Queen, and most likely she would unload her anger upon him as well.

But this was his duty and he knew better than not to fulfill it. So Ban went to Arwen's chambers to tell her what had happened, only to find them empty and the Queen gone. For a few moments, he only stood there, frowning until he remembered that the lady Undómiel, after she had written her letter, left her chambers to take a walk in the garden. Afterwards she wandered through Minas Tirith, rather aimlessly as it seemed.

But Ban knew very well, that his Queen had had an aim. And she was most likely still there, with her secret lover. The servant didn't know who it was; he just knew that Arwen had someone for the lonely, cold hours. So he just nodded, more to himself, and decided to just wait for his Queen's return to tell her everything. Ban turned around and left Arwen's chambers to continue his daily chores.

Meanwhile in the hayloft of the stables a seemingly teenage boy looked to the ceiling, watching the rays of the sun slowly wandering over it. He lay on his back in the hay, one arm around the beautiful girl which slept peacefully in his arms.

Thousands of emotions wandered over his face as he just stared up and listened to her steady heartbeat and her breath against his neck. He remembered very well when she came to him last night, looking all wrecked up with swollen eyes and damp cheeks. She almost flew into his arms, clinging to him like he was the only thing that prevented her from drowning...

And all just because of him. Rhÿn clenched his jaw. This stupid, ignorant Human. He was the cause of all her heartache. Oh how he hated this stupid king, how he wished he could pay him back all the harm he'd caused his beloved beauty.

It seemed like the sleeping girl in his arms had felt him tensing, and the half-breed cursed himself inwardly for being so careless when she stirred. He didn't want to wake her just yet. It was still early and she had enough time left.

Sun was tickling her nose as she woke up. As well as some straws that were tickling her sides on which she was lying. But Arwen didn't mind much as she felt the warmth radiating from the one next to her. She stirred a little and hugged him closer, snuggling deeper into his embrace.

Something felt wrong though, as if there was something that made him upset - a little flicker in his aura that disturbed the quite stable waves between them. She frowned in her slumber, a tiny little vertical line between her eyebrows showing and slowly blinked her eyes open.

Eyes as blue as the summer sky looked up quite droopily and searched for silver pools. "Man raeg?"

Rhÿn turned his head to look at the other Elf and smiled at her warmly. He raised his right arm to brush a few strands from her face and gently caressed her cheek.

"Al-nad, meleth", he whispered lovingly and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Nothing was wrong as long as Arwen kept coming back to him, and didn't abandon him, like she did with her husband. Which was of course, more than understandable. This Human didn't deserve her, nor did he appreciate her.

Arwen was tempted to smile at her lover as he brushed some wisps out of her face along with a few straws, but it was just enough to soften her frown until the little line disappeared.

She laid her head on his bare chest and listened to his heartbeat, the steady sound that lulled her to sleep last night as well as the now dried tears. She had come down to the stables right after finishing the letter for her twin brothers, but the satisfaction she got from that wasn't enough to wipe away her sadness and anger over her husband, she needed somebody to talk to, somebody who listened to everything she said and understood her only like an Elf could. Rhÿn was young, almost a baby still, but didn't look that much younger than the older woman.

At first it had been an adventure for her, a sudden hot fire that managed to take away her loneliness when her husband was too busy with the matters of Gondor, preferring to sleep than to spend his free time with her. Is it a wonder that she was soon looking for something or somebody new?

One could say that Arwen must have endured Estel's absence before they were married for a longer time than just a day and a night, but that was back in Rivendell, where all her friends lived and everyday was something new. Minas Tirith and its surroundings were the same boring places day in and day out and all the men and even women were so lumpish that Arwen sometimes wished she could go back to her home or the Undying Lands, where every Elf in Middle-Earth was heading as she had heard, especially all those snobbish ones from Lothlorien.

Her only diversions were the garden and the horses. She had liked riding for as long as she could remember and she always sought the challenge of taming the wildest horses herself. And that was when she had met Rhÿn for the first time.

It was a very wild horse, hard to catch and even harder to tame, but Arwen wanted to ride it. She barely had it under control as they rushed through the city and out on a deserted street that led away from Minas Tirith. And it was only then that she lost control and was bucked off, the traitorous horse disappearing somewhere out of sight, even for an Elf. Luckily the woman wasn't injured and so she walked around and called out for that horse, searching for it by herself since she had nothing else to do. It was then when she met this half-breed with the long black hair and fascinating silver eyes.

He was standing there calmly, talking to the horse as if he had known it for its whole life and it was nothing of this wild animal anymore, but seemed like the most meekly of all lambs. They had stared at each other for quite some time, glaring at each other as if the both were suspecting the other to hurt the horse until Arwen explained the situation and got back the reins without further apology. She didn't even ask for that guy's name.

But that changed when she was going back to the stables on the next occasion and saw that there was a new groom. A young half-Elf with long black hair and fascinating silver eyes.

"My name is Rhÿn, milady", he spoke up after he let silent reign between them for a few moments. His voice was tender, soft, sharp and deep at the same time. A mix which made most people feel rather uncomfortable around him. Something the half-breed didn't mind. He didn't like the people as well.

Arwen caught herself staring at the young man in front of her and had to force herself to blink to wet her eyes. The sound of those words had set the little hairs on the back of her neck on end and she had to fight to find more words after that.

"I want to ride," she said and let her gaze wander over the groom's lean body, not really noticing how she did so.

Rhÿn's smirk widened when he felt the woman's gaze wander over his body, but he still continued his work until she finally spoke up.

"Don't you think it's a little too late for a ... ride?" he asked and slightly turned his head to glance at her from the corner of his eyes.

Having her eyes firmly glued to his backside, Arwen blushed a shade of red close to crimson as she looked into his face. Which wasn't the best idea either as the enticing silver of his eyes almost made her gasp.

"The sun is still shining outside and I can very well take care of myself," she snapped, more furious of herself than anybody else. "Also, I am the Queen and if I want to ride I can ride whenever I want to."

Rhÿn still looked at her, a glimmer of amusement flashing through his eyes as he watched her pout.

"You sure can, milady", he said reassuringly and the smirk widened on the right side of his mouth, so Arwen could not really see it, but knew it was there.

"I wouldn't want to keep you from riding if you wish to do so", he resumed talking and softly caressed the stallion's nose. "But this wild beauty still needs to be tamed."

He paused for a little while and picked some straw from the red mane.

"May I help you, milady? You surely know that Elf's hands are able to achieve things Human's never could."

Arwen bit her lower lip. This half-breed really had her in that moment. But her pride forbad her to let it show. It didn't matter how much she just wanted to continue this conversation with that guy just to hear his attractive voice.

"No, thank you very much. I can do it on my own," she growled and stalked by that obnoxious man and grabbed the saddle for the horse she wanted to ride. Which was - of course - the red stallion.

"Very well, milady", the half-Elf replied and continued to caress the soft nose of the horse while he watched her walking over to the stand with the saddles and bridles. Like he had thought, Arwen was directly walking towards the equipment for Naur.

Rhÿn only chuckled lowly before he followed the female Elf. When he stood behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, to grab the bridle from her hand. Whispering in her ear he brushed his other hand along her hip: "Let me take care of that, milady."

Then he stepped back, grabbed the saddle and returned to the wild horse without looking at her again.

Arwen stood there like frozen, so stiff all of a sudden that she was shaking violently. The little touches, may they have been as accidentally as they were unintentional, set almost every nerve of her on fire. Her breathing rate sped up and she was almost panting when she finally stalked out towards the horse... and the groom. Her cheeks were aflame as she watched how he saddled and bridled the red stallion, but she said nothing.

The half-breed closed the last buckle of the bridle and whispered something in the horse's ear before he turned around and handed the rein to the Queen.

"To your custody, milady", he said lowly and again this smirk appeared on his features, thus making the dangerous glint in his eyes even more fiery.

As fiercely as Arwen had planned it she wasn't able to grab the reins from that guy's hand because he held on tightly to her hand. And as she was about to spit something out, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. She wasn't quite sure at first but after a while she definitely felt him sucking on her knuckles.

Sky-blue eyes widened in surprise and out of a sudden reflex she slapped him right across the face.

Slowly, Rhÿn looked up, his slightly narrowed cold eyes gleaming dangerously as he looked deep into her eyes. He grabbed her wrist, almost harshly and pulled it up to his face once more. But this time he turned it around and kissed her palm, never breaking the eye contact.

Then he finally let go of Arwen and passed her by, so she could lead the stallion out of the stable. But when he did, he leaned over to the female Elf, brushing her ear with his lips and whispered hoarsely: "Untamed, wild beauty..."

Rhÿn then left the stables to look for his master, to ask him what he should do next since he was done with his work.

Arwen's knees threatened to give in as that guy's lips touched her ear, as she was still too stunned that he dared to kiss both sides of her hand. She needed at least a minute to recover from her initial surprise, clasping the reins firmly.

She then yanked at the leather chords and pulled the horse outside, climbing onto its back and then rushed away, taking out her sudden anger and embarrassment on the poor horse. She urged it on to run faster and faster until she felt like she was faster than the wind. It wasn't a long ride, but it was very grueling and hence satisfying ride. So when she returned to the royal stables, both horse and horsewoman were sweating and exhausted and barely able to walk anymore.

The Elven groom had waited for his Queen to return to the stables and was waiting inside, leaning against the wooden surface of the stallion's stable, arms crossed and one leg bent, the foot resting against the board behind him.

"I've been waiting for you milady. It seems like you highly enjoyed your ride", he greeted her with a calm voice and expressionless face. Only his eyes held the typical glint.

Arwen stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at the groom again, taking in his lazy pose and nearly hissed as she sucked in the breath she was holding.

The woman had almost been able to forget the incidence earlier - especially the tingling feeling in her stomach - but as soon as she saw that guy again her heart sank and started to beat faster than before. Outside she tried to stay calm though.

"I did, thank you very much."

Rhÿn left his place and slowly walked over to the female with elegantly swinging hips. He stopped in front of her and looked into her eyes again for a long moment, before he took the reign from her hand. As he turned away one corner of his lip curled up into the smirk she'd seen before. But it was hardly visible, like it wasn't really there, but she could see it, because she knew what it would look like.

The male Elf led the horse back into his stable and took off the saddle and bridle and put them back into their places, before he returned to Naur, grabbed the comb and curried the wet coat until it was dry.

Standing there like she had grown roots for a while, Arwen shifted from one foot to the other as she slowly felt her strength return. All of a sudden she wondered why Estel had let somebody hire this half-breed with the fascinating silver eyes, the strong arms and the irresistible smirk when he knew that his wife was going to the stables almost every day. Was he trying to tempt her? Or was she just being paranoid?

It didn't matter yet she decided and turned around to return to the castle so she would be back in time for supper.

She had come back to the stables almost every day after that and finally she and Rhÿn stopped flirting and found each other in the hay, rather naked but very satiated. It happened so fast that Arwen almost didn't know what had happened to her. Rhÿn was so different from Estel in so many ways that the Elf woman started to find solace in his arms instead of a quick adventure and she stayed longer with each visit. She liked the half-breed, but she wasn't sure how much. More than a friend or her brothers in any case, but more than Estel? She didn't know... didn't want to either.

The heartbeat under her elegantly pointed ear was still steady beating life into that gorgeous body, and made her finally smile.

Rhÿn smiled warmly at the girl in his arms when her lips curled up into a light smile.

"Finally... meleth... It feels good to see you smile again", he whispered huskily and titled her head to kiss her lips tenderly. It had been a while since he last saw this beautiful woman with an even more beautiful smile on her features. Most of the time she'd been brooding, making the soft skin on her forehead frown.

The last two days had been the worst though. She had given a slave to her husband, so he didn't have to be alone and got help to relax after a hard day of work. But it backfired badly since the King didn't approve of slavery, and he even yelled at his wife, for giving him one as a present.

Whether he wanted or not, Rhÿn had to agree that a slave wasn't the best present for a wedding day, but that still wasn't a reason to yell at Arwen. Not if he really loved her. And the half-breed sincerely doubted that this Human still loved her. Maybe he never did.

The black-haired boy lay back into the hay after he broke the kiss. His eyes narrowed at the thought and he glared at the ceiling. This stupid Human didn't deserve her, but Rhÿn didn't dare to speak out his thoughts, since he didn't want to make her even more upset.

The kiss left Arwen slightly out of breath and she looked down at her lover, eyebrows drawing together as she noticed him glaring at the ceiling. Something was upsetting him and she didn't know what, she didn't dare to hope that it had something to do with her problems. It probably was the pregnant mare that was giving him sleepless nights as she was going to fowl any time now.

The women shifted a little bit so that she was now hovering over him and glared down mockingly. "Something IS wrong, don't deny it!"

Rhÿn blinked when suddenly Arwen's face filled his view and blocked the sight on the ceiling he'd been staring at. He looked into her dark blue eyes, slightly frowning, before he tore his gaze away and looked to the side.

"There is always something wrong, meleth. I'm not denying anything."

The woman's eyebrow twitched slightly as if she wanted to frown. "What is it then?"

The half-breed sighed slightly, and smiled as he turned his face back to his lover. Gentle fingers ran over her face and stroked another strand away, caressing the soft skin.

"It shall not bother you, meleth", he answered lowly. Normally Rhÿn was a very direct speaking person, so whenever he talked like this, it was very clear that he just didn't want to talk about it.

Arwen stared down, starting to frown. Just this sentence alone meant it was something serious. And if it was something serious, Rhÿn would neglect his duties. Not so much than anybody would notice at first, but Estel would see it after a few days.

"It is already bothering me, mîr." She said and caressed his cheek. "Please, share your thoughts with me."

The male Elf sighed again at the touch on his cheek and looked into her eyes again, clearly seeing her need to know what was going on inside him there.

He ground his teeth for a moment, not wanting to make Arwen any more upset, but on the other hand, he couldn't make it much worse, so he might as well tell her.

"Your husband is making me angry," he hissed and stared back at the ceiling, not wanting to hit her with his deadly glare. "The way he treats you is just wrong." He clenched his fists and his glare intensified.

"He doesn't deserve you", he added lowly.

The woman's eyes widened for a moment and then softened. Of course he would feel like this, she was loading the burden of all her concern and frustration about her husband on him. Sooner or he would start to feel like this towards Estel. The problem was though she didn't really know anymore how she stood between both men.

She tried to choose her words carefully. "Estel was different when he wasn't King. This burden for so many people is starting to overpower him..." Her thumb moved tenderly along his cheekbone. "He doesn't know how to relax... All he sees is his work..."

Rhÿn grabbed her wrist to stop the motion of her hand and looked at her thoughtfully, frowning slightly.

"Why do you keep protecting him?" he asked with confusion in his voice. "After all this pain he caused you...." His eyes widened a bit. "You still love him, don't you?" His voice was merely a whisper and he looked away again, since he was pretty sure of the answer and didn't want to see it in her eyes. Maybe he could pretend it wasn't there if he didn't see it.

Arwen sighed. "Of course I do. He's my husband and we are bonded until we die." She saw the pain washing over his face. He was so young... and naïve sometimes that Arwen almost felt like his mother.

Almost.

But then there was this pain in her chest when she saw the pain she had caused, pain she had only felt when Estel had wanted her to leave Middle-Earth for her own sake.

"Mîr... Rhÿn..." she started, but didn't know what to say else.

"I have to get back to the stables", he said with an icy voice, and sat up, causing her to fall in the hay. With rather harsh and fast movements he reached out for his clothes and put them on, soft leather pants and light cloth covering his slender figure.

Then he stood there, black strands covering his eyes as he looked through the cracks between the boards into the rising sun. Silver eyes narrowed slightly at the unusual dark orange color, but a few moments later Rhÿn blinked and turned around to grab the ladder leading to the ground.

"You know where to find me", he murmured before he was gone.

After Arwen had recovered from her shock and the rather harsh landing on her bum she grabbed the blanket and held it to her chest, before she reached out and called for Rhÿn. But he was already too far away.

So she sighed and curled up into a ball for some time. She was wondering why she drove every man away that was precious to her. First her father as she didn't want to go to the Undying Lands, then Estel, though she blamed his work for the state of their relationship and now Rhÿn with one unlucky sentence. She sincerely started to wonder if she was that stupid and everything was her fault.

But she chose to push this thought aside as she sat up and retrieved her clothes. Another boring day was about to start and she still had to find her.... belt! She looked around frantically, but found it nowhere. Almost starting to panic she climbed down the ladder and searched for Rhÿn to ask him if he had seen it.

Rhÿn heard Arwen approaching as he stood in the chamber with the food sacks and mixed the special food for the pregnant mare. Without turning around or even looking at her, he extended his hand and pointed towards the door where her belt hung over the handle.

"Seems it fell down on our way up to the hayloft," he murmured and continued his work.

Arwen's gaze followed the extended arm and there she saw it. She walked over and picked up the silvery rope, putting it around her waist again. Her hands worked slowly as she wound the rope around her waist twice and then made a quite complicated Elven knot to hold it back together. She knew she smelled of horses and hay but she could always say that she wanted to witness the birth of the new horse and spent the night in the stables because of that. That Rhÿn was keeping her company was a whole other story.

The memory of his hot and sweet kisses all over her, his calloused but tender hands touching her body in the most intimate places hit her quite suddenly and she felt sorry for hurting him. She knew she had to make it up somehow.

Silently she approached the working man and reached out to touch his shoulders. But then he moved to a stand all of a sudden and was out of her reach before she could recover from her sudden surprise. She stared at his back for quite some time as he fed the pregnant mare and then turned on her heels and walked back out of the stables towards the castle again.

Rhÿn of course, had heard Arwen approaching him from behind, but he didn't want to be touched by her right now. He knew that she still loved Elessar, but still it hurt something inside him. His heart in the first place, but also his pride.

He enjoyed being with the female Elf, but he didn't want to be used as a toy, or some sort of soul garbage can. So when she almost touched him, he stood up and almost flew from her. When he finally stood in front of the mare he listened to every move Arwen made and finally almost sighed with relief when she left the stables.

He just hoped she wasn't upset with him too now, like she was with Aragorn. Rhÿn just needed to calm down, clear his mind. The half-breed stared at the point she'd been standing at and hoped she would return at night.

To be continued...
______________________________________________________ _________________

My-chan: Now um... some of you might change their minds now, about liking or disliking Arwen...? The other point is... do you like Rhÿn? *chews her fingernails nervously* Do you? I hope you do cuz he'll be there for the rest of the story... and his part will... get bigger... a little...