Forgotten Vows XXI
Chapter 21: Home [Finale]
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.