{; uhhhhhh so i’m thinking of making an audiobook series for @victorluvsalice / @thevalicemultiverse ‘s forgotten vows series because i’m an aspiring voice actor, and this series means a lot to me (also because i actually have a good mic to record on SKFJSJDJDJD
Yeyette strained against the rope at her waist, pulling the sledge alongside Twig as he sniffed at the snow. Rather than carry Manette down the mountains, she had opted to have her sit with their belongings on the sled though it had made the weight too burdensome for just the wolf. As an elf, she barely noticed the drag but every once in a while, the vessel would catch and she would have to dislodge it with an extra tug.
It took them two days to reach even ground though they met with slopes as they headed for the capital. Yeyette was still unsure if she would receive welcome there after she had disgraced her family but Legolas had mentioned that her mother was looking for her. Regardless, she could not keep running, not if she wanted to keep her daughter sane. Seeing Legolas so crazed and alone had shaken her and made her fear that she would drive Manette to the very same.
If she was not to be welcomed in the capital, she knew at the very least that her family could not turn away her daughter. She was blood and innocent of any crime. The thought of leaving Manette pained her deeply and a lump formed in her throat as she contemplated truly doing so. She had fought to keep the girl safe for so long, she could not simply abandon her. She tried telling herself that the girl would be well kept and that she could not do as much for her child as her family. No, she would not leave her daughter. She couldn’t. She was all Yeyette had.
As they came upon a cave opening in the base of the mountain, Yeyette looked to the trees not far away. Through the forest was the shortest path to the city gates but it was a gloomy one. As they neared the edge of the mountain, Twig stopped in place sharply and his ears pricked as his hackles raised with unease. Yeyette’s breath caught as she stilled her feet and placed a calming hand on the wolf’s back, quieting his growls before they could fill the air.
Her elvish ears honed in on the faint sound of near silent footsteps. They were the same as her own, lithe and with the grace of her species. Likely, she had stumbled upon Niqeth rangers but an unknown feeling told her otherwise. The unseen presence set within her a storm which made it difficult to even think. She slowly untied the rope from her waist and turned to Manette who watched with concern from the sled.
Yeyette held a finger to her lips and signaled for Manette to remain where she was as she carefully edged towards the other side of the mountain. She kept near to the rocky overhang and peeked around as she held her breath. A tall elf with broad shoulder looked around himself as if sniffing the air, though it seemed he had the same odd sense that she had. It had been so long since she had seen her brother that it was no wonder that they did not know each other’s auras.
“Ciaran,” She stepped out from behind the stone giant, “What are you…Oh, Ciaran.”
She had lost all restraint as she saw the recognition dawn on her brother’s face and she ran forward to wrap her arms around him. When they had been children, they were as close as any siblings and he had been the only to try to keep her from Mirkwood though he knew he had a duty to his kingdom. His strong arms returned her embrace and she was shocked by how burly he had grown.
Yeyette released Ciaran and held him at arm’s length, admiring him as if he was a memory come to life. Why, he was as big as their father and his beard just as thick. Or perhaps it was the spectre of her father come to haunt her. He was too real for that. She confirmed that as she squeezed his arm tightly and struggled to move her lips into words.
“Yeyette, we’ve been looking for you,” His voice was brittle, “For so long. We thought this was just another dead end.”
“We?” She assumed he spoke of whatever party he had recruited for his search but his tone alluded to someone she knew.
“Mother, she is with me, just back at camp,” He explained and now he clutched her shoulders as if she would run away from him, “Where’s, uh…” He looked around and his expression fell, “Ahem, where’s the elfling?”
“How did you–” Yeyette began before furrowing her brow as suspicion rose, “She’s safe, never you worry, but how do you know of her?”
“Your husband,” He answered plainly and yet there was an evasiveness to him, “We know you didn’t just runaway because you were unhappy in your marriage.”
“I was coming home, Ciaran,” She smiled at him as she let her misgivings fade, the nostalgia of her past overtaking her, “If you would have me, that is.”
“And let you get away with father’s sword,” He glanced down at the coveted weapon with a grin, “Well, do I get to meet my niece then?”
Manette straddled Ciaran as he carried her on his back and she bounced with excitement as he sang a song in a deep voice which reminded Yeyette of their father. Yeyette remained to the rear as she pulled the sledge alongside Twig who had taken almost as fondly to her brother as her daughter. It surprised the princess to see the wolf so friendly and thus it was his next sudden change of mood which had her wary. As they neared a clearing among the tree, the beast began his former growls and tried to break free from the sled as he sniffed furiously at some unsettling scent.
“Oi, what’s with that hound?” Her brother ceased his singing and looked over his shoulder, “I like him but if he’s gone rabid…”
“He’s not rabid,” Yeyette argued and she felt as unnerved as the wolf, “He’s only got a wolf’s keen sense.” Her mouth stiffened as her mistrust was confirmed and she knew who waited just beyond the treeline, “You tricked me, Ciaran.”
“I told you mother was with me,” He shrugged as Manette held onto him cluelessly, “You never asked about anyone else.”
Further discussion was curtailed as Ciaran began to sing again and hop around so that Manettel giggled and they stumbled into camp where a large tent had been erected and several Niqeth guards stood waiting. The sound of the king’s song brought movement from the tent and Queen Thea appeared from behind the flap, her chest rising sharply as she saw Yeyette. Slowly and with an air of numbness, she crossed to her daughter and touched her face softly as her son’s voice finally ceased.
“Yeyette, oh my wonderful daughter, so beautiful,” It was the only time outside her father’s death that Yeyette had seen her mother cry, “I never thought I’d see your face again.”
“Mother, you know that Analee was always the pretty one,” The princess smiled weakly and embraced her mother with a suppressed sob, “I missed you, too.”
“I know, dear,” Thea sniffed and pulled away, her eyes lingering before looking to Ciaran and the pale head peeking out from behind his, “And this must be your daughter.”
“Manette,” Yeyette supplied as the girl shied away, “Come on, Manette, say hello to your grandmother.”
“Grandmother?” The girl’s thick brows crumpled, “That can’t be, she’s a queen.”
“Can’t a woman be both?” Thea challenged as Ciaran set the girl down, “Now step closer and let me get a look at you.”
Yeyette watched as her mother twirled the elfling around and smiled as she felt her soft hair and knelt to tell her how lovely she was. Despite her wariness, Manette chuckled before clinging to her uncle’s leg and trying to hide behind him once more. Yeyette was kept from further enjoying the reunion as the same chill crawled up her spine as only moments before. She looked over reluctantly and saw just outside the tent the very figure she had sensed among the tree.
Thranduil stood with his eyes on the family, his shoulders straight and arms crossed. His blond hair hung down his back as flawlessly as ever and he waited patiently for his introduction. Yeyette sighed and grimaced at her mother and brother but they were too distracted by Manette to care. She detached herself from the others and made her way towards the Mirkwood king with a frown upon her face.
“I told you to stay away,” She sounded as fierce as Twig who was circling the camp with hackles upright, “What do I have to do to live my own life?”
“Is that truly what you want?” He challenged though his voice was not so steely as it had once been, “Tell me, Yeyette, that you never loved me. Tell me and I’ll go. Forever.”
Yeyette remained silent as she looked into his silver-blue eyes and saw in them a vulnerability which had not lain there before. Even in their most intimate moments he had never looked so naked as he did then. She tried to remind herself of why she had fled and the trap he had snagged her in. He had taken her life, her reputation, and her family. Yet, her bitterness was no shield against her own heart.
“I…can’t,” She shook her head and turned away, hiding the single tear which trickled down her nose, “I can’t be with you. You are my husband’s father…and—it would never be allowed. I am disgraced. Scandalized. Worse than that woman who Legolas shamed me with. All that would be laid upon the shoulders of my daughter.”
“Our daughter,” Thranduil corrected and Yeyette heard movement but would not turn around, “Even if we’ll never know, she’s mine. I know it because she is yours.”
“Please, don’t,” Yeyette covered her face as she held back sobs, “I won’t let you hurt her.”
“Did I ever hurt you? Once?” Thranduil wondered as he sounded as if he had been stabbed, “Elvish tradition is the same in Mirkwood as it is here…Marriage is not so strict as that of man. You and Legolas, your marriage was dissolved by rule of law the moment you ran away and the elves of Mirkwood, they’ve seen greater scandal than a princess committing adultery.”
“It’s not enough, Thranduil, it cannot—” Yeyette turned but almost tripped over her own feet as she found Thranduil knelt before her on his knees.
“I’ll give it up. All of it. For you,” He took her hand in his as he stayed on the ground, “The throne, the palace, all of it. I’ll be a pauper for you. I’ll live with you in these Mountains and if you say no, I won’t stop. I can’t stop. Because I love you more than life itself and without you, what more is life than death.”
“Thranduil, I…” She choked on her tears as they fell without restraint, her hand shaking in his as she tried to fight the voice which grew louder in her head.
You love him, it said, don’t be a fool.
Yeyette fell to her knees involuntarily as all strength drained from her body and she collapsed against Thranduil as he wrapped his arms around her gently. She breathed in his scent and it brought her back to all those years ago, when he first laid with her on the forest floor, to the nights she crept away from her husband to be with him, when he sent her secret glances over the table; to those days when she was happy.
“Promise me you’ll protect her,” She pleaded into the shoulder of his robe, her leggings soaked through from the snow, “That’s all I ask.”
“As I will you,” He assured as his fingers brush across her bound curls and his other hand came up to lift her chin, “Until the end of this life and the next.”
“Take us home,” Yeyette whispered as she looked up at Thranduil, her lips hovering close to him, “All I ever wanted was to be home.”
She closed the distance between them and kissed him with all the years they had lost between them. His fervour was even greater as his arms held her tight and he pulled her closer until they toppled and fell into the snow. Neither noticed as they were blanketed in each other’s warmth. Nor did they notice the eyes of a dozen elves as they watched the scene with amusement; the guards with their subtle glances, Ciaran with a devilish smirk, Thea with content, and Manette with the shock of a child. All they knew was they had found each other and they were never letting go.
Yeyette led her husband to the front of the cave in silence, her daughter clinging to her hand as she peeked around at the strange elf. Likely she wondered how these elves with the same icy hair as her own kept finding them and the former princess thanked the fates that the elfling was still too young to arrive at a logical conclusion. Only Twig made noise as they continued on, his nose huffing through the mountain dirt as he sniffed for prey.
Upon coming upon the round stone chamber where they had made camp the previous night, Yeyette asked Manette to fill the pit with sticks as she turned back to Legolas who looked around with his twitching eyes. In Mirkwood, he had never displayed a hint of nerves or fear and now he seemed consumed by it. Though, since his discovery, he had appeared to regain a measure of his former control. His shoulders were no longer so deeply hunched and his head was held higher than before.
“Legolas, are you sure you’re alright?” She asked quietly as she listened to her daughter gathering sticks from the pile.
“Fine,” He insisted and his eyes focused on her, “I’m happy to see you…alive. And the elfling,” His gaze strayed over her shoulder for a moment before flicking back, “She’s beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Yeyette accepted gently, “You will stay for dinner? Then we can, uh, talk.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” He answered and nodded rabidly, “I’ve not had many to break bread with in a rather long time.”
Yeyete could find no response at the grimness of his words and instead, laid a hand lightly upon his shoulder before releasing him and turning to check on Manette. The girl had done as she was told and waited anxiously for her mother as she stared meekly across at Legolas. Yeyette neared and knelt beside the pit and her daughter as she stirred around in her pocket for flint, the elfling hovering closely.
“Look, Manette,” She began softly, “Legolas is an old friend. A good friend who’s been lonely for a very long time,” She struck sparks across the pile of bark, “So you need to be nice to him, alright?”
“Of course, Mama,” She replied and looked again at the slender blond elf as he examined the handle of his bow, “Why is he all the way up here?”
“He is hiding…like us,” The pit caught and Yeyette turned fully to her daughter, keeping level with her, “There is much I need to tell you but I can’t. Not yet. I know it’s been hard coming here and leaving all that we had but we had to. To stay safe. Do you understand?”
“But you will tell me? One day?” The girl’s golden eyes glowed with curiosity.
“I promise, Manette,” Yeyette clutched her daughter’s arms and held her firmly, “All that I do is to protect you. I love you more than anything, all I ask is that you trust me.”
“I love you too, Mama,” Manette echoed as she lifted her arms and slung her arms around her mother’s shoulders, drawing her into a warm embrace, “I trust you.”
The meal between the three elves was wholly uneventful. Manette managed a few shy words to Legolas, her curiosity growing over the evening, and Yeyette sat anxiously as she chewed on her lembas. At last, the little girl was overcome by the fatigue of the day and fell asleep under her mother’s cloak, just beside the low-burning pit. At the realization, husband and wife looked to each other in recognition.
“Why are you here?” Legolas asked through the dim.
“The same as you, to get away,” Yeyette replied as she examined her hand, “But I know how to survive here. Legolas,” She looked up pleadingly, “You cannot stay here.”
“Or I’ll go mad?” He finished precariously, “I know. I can feel it. The cold and the mountains…it gets inside of you.”
“So, I don’t have to fight to get you out?” She stared at him worriedly.
“Not this time,” He ascended and looked around the cave, “If you hadn’t found me today, well, I fear I wouldn’t last many more.”
“How did you even get here?” She wondered aloud.
“I went first to the capital to see your mother and tell her you were gone…and I thought maybe you’d be there too,” He shrugged and sighed, “After, I didn’t know where to go and I found my way here. I knew my father could never find me here…if he ever thought to come looking.”
Yeyette was tempted to reveal how Thranduil had found her but swallowed back the urge, instead clearing her throat.
“I was scared, Legolas,” She admitted as she looked over at the slumbering Manette, “For her. I didn’t want her to grow up with you hating her because of my mistake. I couldn’t do that to her, I know how cruel that pain can be.”
“I never questioned why you went,” Yeyette glanced back to Legolas as he watched her daughter and she saw in him a shadow of the past. In the hours since they had met, she had noticed how he slowly reverted to who he had been before, “You had every right. I accepted my mistake long ago, Yeyette. What I did to you…I never gave you a chance, so why should I expect you to?”
“What happened then, it’s all behind us now, Legolas,” She spoke as tears pricked at her eyes, “Forgive yourself as I have forgiven you.”
“I am trying,” He gritted out as his pale irises searched the shadows, “I will but I need to get out of here first. And you should, too. You can’t raise--” His voice caught as his gaze returned to Manette, “Your daughter here. She deserves more than this…your mother, you could go to her. When I spoke to her, she was desperate and--”
“I have disgraced her and all my kin,” Yeyette argued glumly, “Maybe when Manette is older but I don’t want her to have to deal with that yet. Knowing everything.”
“She will have to, one day,” Legolas’ words were suggestive but not overbearing, “But it is not my place to make that decision.”
“What about you? Where will you go?” Yeyette asked, changing the subject before her tears fell.
“I don’t know but I know where I won’t go,” He almost smiled despite the still air and Yeyette’s lips twitched.
“Rivendell,” She breathed as the thought came to her, “My sister, Analee, she’s there. And Elrond, he’s never one to turn away an elf.”
“Hmm, perhaps,” His eyes narrowed as he thought, “My father…”
“Won’t look there and besides Elrond’s never been very fond of him,” Yeyette tilted her head, “We knew that even in the Frost Meadows.”
“I’ll…think about it,” He accepted and rubbed his forehead, “But you think about what I said. About leaving.”
“I will,” The former princess allowed and looked away.
“Anyhow, I should sleep if I am to leave,” Legolas announced as she heard the shifting of dirt, “I’ll be gone before she wakes, don’t you worry. Just…give her this.”
Yeyette looked over as Legolas neared her silently, his hand rifling below his cloak as he stopped before her. He pulled forth a ring of silver so bright it was nearly white and held it out to her as he bent slightly. A large sapphire was set perfectly into the band, framed by pale diamonds, and Sindarin etchings marked the inside of the ring.
“It was my mother’s. It is the only thing I still have of her,” He explained and Yeyette took it with a whispered thank you, “I want Manette to have it. Even if she isn’t mine, it is hers.”
“Legolas, I…” Yeyette tried not to choke on the rising tears as she slowly stood, “Good luck. I hope you find something better. That one day you find what you deserve.”
“You, too, Yeyette,” He smiled for an instant before his lips fell once more, “And her. I know you will take care of her. You done her well so far.”
Yeyette could not sleep and when Legolas rose to creep out silently in the morning, she did not even pretend to close her eyes. He gave a last brief look over his shoulder before he disappeared towards the mountain face and she wriggled closer to her slumbering daughter. Manette’s breathing was steady, underlined by soft snoring, and her mother laid restless in the lull.
She could not help but relive her conversation with Legolas. He seemed to have accepted that their marriage was over and that Manette was far beyond him. She had seen the regret and love in his eyes even though he had only just met the elfling. Yeyette wondered if perhaps she should have stayed and let him a least try to be a father. But then what of Thranduil? She could never truly believe that he would have just stepped aside and the rivalry between him and his son would merely end.
Yet she had kept the girl from so much and it was all dawning on her so suddenly. She had not even let her meet the rest of her family or to know her homeland. She had instead hidden her in the forest and then swept her away to the frigid mountains to hide like a troll. Would Yeyette ever let go of her daughter? Ever allow her to go out in the world and know who she truly was? Every day she waited to do so made the thought more terrifying and she knew, deep down, that the longer she held off, the less likely she would carry through on it.
The girl stirred as the light of dawn shone dully through the mountain tunnel, leaking in from a distant rocky pass. The dim grey was contrast enough to the pitch black that Yeyette could tell it was time to rise. Yawning as she sat up, she touched Manette’s shoulder lightly until she rolled onto her back and looked up to her mother with sleepy eyes. She smiled as she sat up and looked around, her face dropping with question.
“Where’s Legolas?” She asked as she searched the cavern.
“Sweetie, he had to leave,” Yeyette replied gently as she brushed the hair away from her daughter’s forehead with a single finger, “He wanted to stay but…he could not.”
“Oh,” Manette frowned as she looked at her hands glumly, “I liked him. Even though he was quiet.”
“He liked you too,” Yeyette assured her daughter and reached into her tunic, “So much that he left a gift for you.”
She offered the silver ring to her daughter in the dull glow of the embers of the dwindling fire pit and the girl took it with wonder in her eyes. “For me?” She asked as she slipped the band onto her finger though it hung much to loosely to stay for long.
“For you,” Yeyette smiled despite herself; the little girl was easy to please but that was partly her mother’s fault, “We’ll put it on a necklace and hang it on your neck until it fits, how about that?”
“I can keep it?” She asked brightly, “But what if I lose it?”
“I trust you, Manette,” Yeyette took the ring and pulled forth a strip of hide from her bag which would have been used for her hair, “Here.”
She slipped the ring onto the dried sinew and placed it around her daughter’s neck, tying it at the ends so that it rested upon her clavicle. She released it and the little girl brought her fingers up to caress the silver band with pride and joy.
“Make sure you tuck it under your tunic, though,” Yeyette ordered her as she slowly rose to her feet with a groan, “You don’t want to lose it in the snow.”
“The snow?” The girl asked with confusion, again looking around wondrously.
“Yes, we’re leaving after breakfast,” Yeyette explained as she began to search her bag and Twig appeared from one of the tunnels having returned from a nightly hunt, “You make sure to get that beast ready while I pack up. We’re going home. To our true home. It’s not so far away.”
