In the Midst of Adversity: Part VII
Author: Maram68
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Legolas tried to find his friends on the field. He saw Aragorn on his horse, next to Eomer and Theoden. Gandalf and Erkenbrand were riding in pursuit of the fleeing orcs and Uruk Hai, hunting them inside the trees.

As he turned to look for Gimli, he was gone, and he caught a glimpse of the young warrior leaning heavily on the dwarf, both entering the tower of the Hornburg.

He took long strides toward the tower, and stopped cold in his tracks as he saw that the room was filled with wounded soldiers, the smell of blood and death thick in the air.

Gimli had led the archer’s captain to a corner, where the soldier sat down on a sack of grain. The dwarf was helping the young man to take his helmet off, which had been dented by the maze-blow received in the battle. Legolas walked over to them, but stopped in mid-stride again. Gimli had managed to take the helmet off, and behind a mass of tangled black hair and sporting a huge bruise to the side of her face, there sat the woman he had been watching at the last dinner in Edoras.

Cyrene smiled thankfully at the dwarf, grimacing a bit because the whole left side of her face hurt from just smiling. Gimli bowed to her and then took her forearm in warrior greeting. “You were a formidable sister in arms, amazon!”

She smiled again, in spite of the pain. “I can say no less about you, Master Dwarf. How did you recognize me for what I am?”

Gimli sat next to her. “We dwarfs may not be prone to singing and tale-telling like the elves are, mistress, but the legends and tales of the amazons are always some of the favorites to be told. I knew the moment I saw the axe and the shield you belong to the daughters of the moon.”

Legolas had approached them, silently, hearing every word exchanged by them. By the Valar, this was an amazon! That would explain the prowess with the weapons and fierce fighting … he had also heard the tales of the amazons, and thought them to be fantasies of the elders. And by all his keen senses, he hadn’t recognized the archer captain as a woman. He didn’t know if he should feel upset or relieved, because as his eyes took in the woman sitting before him, seeing her as the female she was, he recalled the sensation that had coursed through them as their fingers had touched. He had never before felt something like that for a mortal woman.

Cyrene looked up from the dwarf to find the elf staring silently at her. For the very first time in her life, she blushed.

Gimli looked from Legolas to Cyrene and back, and smiled to himself. “Master Legolas, I have forty two orcs to my count. How many have you?”

The elf tore his eyes from Cyrene, and rubbed his neck. “Forty one, Master Gimli. But I concede the victory with joy to you, since I am very relieved to see you well, as well as the captain here.”

Cyrene offered her hand to Legolas in greeting. “Master Legolas, my name is Cyrene, the amazon”

Legolas also reached out to hold her forearm. “I am Legolas of Mirkwood, Mistress Cyrene”. As he gripped gently her forearm, they both felt the tingling again, and let each other arm fall quickly.

“If you excuse me, I would like to see some of the archers who where under my command and might be injured” said Cyrene, standing up. But she didn’t get far. After the adrenaline from the fight had diminished, the full extent of the injury on her head affected her.

Her head was spinning, and she felt nausea rising up her throat. Legolas supported her, swept her in his arms and carried her out of the room. Outside, he knelt next to her and held her head while she retched. Gimli came outside behind them, carrying a wet cloth and some water.

When Cyrene finished retching, Gimli gave her some water to rinse her mouth and washed her face with the cloth, being careful not to apply pressure on the hurt side of her face, that was already turning black and blue.

Cyrene leant back into Legolas. She didn’t care if he touched her or not. She just had to get a grip on herself … and she was so tired…

“You are very kind, my friends … I just need to lay down …”

Legolas exchanged a knowing look with Gimli. “I am very sorry, Mistress Cyrene, but if we let you sleep now, you might never wake up. With head injuries, you shouldn’t sleep,” said Legolas, fighting the urge to smooth her tangled hair away from the pale face.

Gimli nodded. ”We will take care of you, mistress, but you have to fight the sleep, at least for a couple of hours. We will help you stay awake.”

Legolas didn’t let go of Cyrene, and carried her to the campsite Gimli had chosen in a far corner of the fortress. The Rohirrim still regarded them with mistrust and he realized that Cyrene was as much a stranger to the men of Rohan as they were.

………………………………….

Gimli decided to keep Cyrene awake by talking to her and making her talk.

Legolas had enveloped Cyrene in his cloak from Lothlorien, and sat her down leaning on a grain sack near the fire Gimli had provided. She felt uncomfortable, having been held and carried by him. The tall, gentle elf inspired sensations and thoughts in her mind and body she had never felt before. She avoided his eyes and focused on the dwarf.

Gimli sat next to her, and began telling her about the tales he had heard about the amazons.

“Your people were among the first to handle iron and horses, the stories said. They also said you were fierce and formidable in battle. We could see that today ourselves.”

Cyrene was flattered by the admiration shining in the dwarf’s eyes. “I also heard tales of dwarves, men and elves at our campfires and our evening gatherings. Even though we tried as less contact to the outer world as possible after we had to leave our country to men, I must confess I never dreamt of such amazing people being real. “

A soldier approached them. He seemed shy, but stepped into the light of the fire, addressing Cyrene. “Mistress, I was looking for you.”

Cyrene looked into the face of the archer. “Dumetar, you are well! It pleases me to see you. You found me, what can I do for you?” She smiled to Dumetar, even though it clearly hurt, the huge bruise on her face looking hideous in the light of day.

“We found your shield and axe, Mistress ... We thought the worst! Milord Eomer is looking for you.” And having said this, Dumetar lay shield and axe to Cyrene's feet.

“Be so kind and tell the Marshall I am well, but cannot come to see him right now. Thank you for your worries, my friend.” And she sat up, reaching for the archer’s hand. She fought the dizziness that came over her, as she gripped the man’s forearm, and waited until he was gone to let herself fall heavily into the soft cocoon of Legolas’ cloak. She was very pale, and swallowed hard to fight the nausea.

Gimli wiped again gently her brow with the wet cloth, and Legolas gave her a cup of fresh water, which she drank very slowly.

“You tend to overexert yourself, Mistress Cyrene, you are wounded.” Said Legolas softly.

“I am a grown amazon, Master Elf. I thank you for your care but I won’t take reprimands as if I were a naughty child.” After those words had left her mouth, Cyrene regretted being harsh to the gentle being. This wasn’t how she usually treated people around her. She felt confused and her head throbbing grew worse. She closed her eyes and swallowed again, before apologizing. “Forgive me, Master Legolas. I didn’t intend to be unthankful towards my comrades in arms. I don’t do my upbringing and people any justice. ”

Legolas was upset. She could be friendly to everybody and even pushed herself beyond her own physical well being to comfort those around her. But she snapped at him and his concern for her. She must really dislike him. He felt almost insulted at her behavior. And at the same time, he felt drawn to this strange female. It must be the aftermath of the battle; he really must be out of his mind.

Gimli witnessed the exchange between both and could hardly hide his amusement. It would take an amazon to make an elf uncomfortable and uneasy, while the elf provoked in the young woman emotions she clearly couldn’t handle. His wry sense of humor soared about the infinite possibilities for these two beings to relate to another. This was going to be very entertaining.

“Tell me, Mistress Cyrene, where does your people live now?” the dwarf asked, to keep on the conversation interrupted by the Rohirrim archer.

“The amazons live on an island, a secret island protected by riffs and mist. My people just want to preserve its way of life, away from mankind and the outside world. It is a beautiful island with olive-bushes and low hills, the sand on the beaches is almost white, the ocean is the deepest blue you could imagine... you may sit in front of the ocean and marvel at it’s size and beauty, life providing depths that may also tale your own life if you dare it’s dangers ... “

Cyrene’s eyes were lost in the distance, as if she was seeing everything before her. She felt the longing for her home and the sorrow of knowing that she didn’t belong anywhere else but there deep in her heart. But she had to fulfill her duty, and she had to live with the knowledge that she would never again set foot on Artemis Island. Never. One tear slid from her wide-open eyes as she came back to reality. Neither Legolas nor Gimli said anything.

“Mistress Cyrene, are there no men on your island?” asked Legolas, trying to change Cyrene’s thoughts’ path. The hurt he had heard and seen in her voice and eyes were enough to tell him that she missed her people and felt herself as a stranger on Middle Earth.

Cyrene looked to the elf. She knew where the question was leading, as she had answered that question many times before to the few that had actually dared to ask it. She knew about the horrendous tales told among men about amazons.

She sighed: “No, Master Legolas, there are no men living among the amazons. Our law forbids it.” She didn’t explain further, she wanted to see if the elf dared to ask what he wanted to know.

Since the elf didn’t dare, Gimli asked. “Then how do you err…well … keep your race alive?”

“When our sisters reach their womanhood, they are sent to the outside world to mate. They might go to the outside world as often as they wish.”

“What happens to the male children born from this ... “mating”?” Legolas knew that men didn’t give to the physical bonding the importance elves did, but the sole word “mating” brought the sexual act to the level of animal reproduction. He felt repulsed, but that feeling didn’t tamper his attraction to Cyrene. The contradiction made him feels upset with him.

“Male children are brought up in the outside world.... There is a village where....” started the amazon, but was interrupted by the outraged elf: ”So those children are punished to grow up in exile only because they are male?”

Cyrene was angry. Here she was, trying to explain to this creature the rules of the amazons and he dared to judge them without listening? This was too much to bear! “If the males turn out to be as stubborn and obnoxious as you, Master Legolas, then it’s for the best that they don’t bother the rest of the population on the island!” She had sat up and was glaring furiously at Legolas.

Gimli felt almost like laughing. Where was the reserved, quiet Legolas he had known from their journey out from Rivendell? And what did happen to the friendly and soft-spoken amazon they had met the night before?

The elf fought the urge to grab the woman and pull her to him. Instead he sneered, “So the amazons just use the males for reproduction and pleasure, showing no respect what so ever for their wishes or feelings and then dispose of them?”

Cyrene’s eyes were slits flashing in anger, “Men just use women the same way, so why wouldn’t we? And how does the high and mighty elf dare to judge others? I thought that elves, especially male elves were creatures made up in tales to scare little babies!”

At this point Gimli knew the discussion might get out of control, so he just added, joking, “Which babies? Male or female?”

For a moment, amber and blue eyes were locked in silent battle, and Cyrene gave in to the relief of laughing. Slowly, she started to giggle and as the laughter reached her eyes, Legolas felt like laughing too. It was silly, but with the laughter that bubbled in the three friends at the campfire, tension seemed to float away into the sunlight streaming into the fortress bay.


| Part VIII |
| Index |