It was a good feeling.
Especially for Arwen.
Born a princess in all but name and annointed as the Evenstar of her people, she had lived a life of genteel pursuits girdled by the obligations and expectations that came with her rank. She had never chafed at the restrictions imposed by her station, nor had she ever skirted her duties, always comporting herself with serene graciousness while showing the irreverent and mischiveous side of her nature only to those closest to her.
Only once, had the tranquility of her existence been broken. Only once, had she known the meaning of excrutiating pain. The loss of her Naneth had left a deep wound in her gentle spirit and as she had witnessed her Ada's suffering, she had determined that her own heart would never know the loss of a mate. And so she had shied away from such matters, content to bask in the love of her family, not truly feeling the need for anything more.
Until she met Aragorn.
unlike her Ada and brothers, she had not seen the Numenorian fosterling grow up. For she had already departed for her grandparent's realm when the babe arrived to be succored in Imladris. She had only laid eyes upon him when the full-grown Dunadan had gone to seek audience with the Lady of Light, some two decades past.
And for both, it had been love from that very first sight.
Whenever his duties allowed, he had met with her under the canopy of the Golden Wood. And she had often wondered as the years passed, why her grandparents welcomed him so kindly, when the news of his impending arrival always seemed to bring a tinge of such deep sadness to their eyes.
Then came the fatefull night Galadriel asked her to look into the mirror and the Evenstar had seen what would be, should she follow her heart's desire.
Arwen had not railed at the harsh choice she would have to make. She had not ranted against the vagaries of fate. She had simply stepped away from the basin that once more held naugh but clear, cool water and turned her steps to where her grandmother awaited, seated on a stone bench. Gracefully, she had dropped to her knees and laid her head upon Galadriel's lap, crying silently as a luminescent hand gently stroked her sable locks.
But her tears had not been ones of indecision. For her heart remained, as it ever would, true to her love. Rather, they had been tears of regret at the pain she knew she would bring to her family when the defining moment of her destiny finally came to pass.
And so it had. With those words of troth, spoken atop Cerin Amroth.
Her farewell to the Golden Wood had been bittersweet. The parting embraces from her grandparents, poignant. Those first hours of travel, sad. But these things did not crush her, for her oft-gentle disposition concealed a spirit possessed of it's own brand of indomitable strengh. Thus, this daughter of an ancient and powerful line, determined to abandon herself joyfully to the precious freedom afforded by this journey and become simply Arwen, a maiden in love...
Aragorn rode beside the beautiful elleth and wondered, not for the first time, at the twist of fate's fortune that had brought such a priceless gift into his life.
He had first gone to LothLorien, some twenty-years past, to seek council from the Lord and Lady regarding the strange and dark stirrings he had begun to feel coming from the land during his travels as a ranger. It was while there, as he had been enjoying a peacefull walk in the magical forest, that he had heard the sweetest sound ever to grace his ears. Enchanted, he had followed the melody until he came upon a sight that took his breath away.
The Dunadan had thought himself strayed into a dream. For surely, the beautiful elven maiden singing so sweetly under the dappled glow of the wood's golden canopy could be no other than Luthien herself, come back from legend to capture his poor, mortal heart. But then, the maiden had turned, her eyes of brilliant blue meeting his grey ones and in that one linguering gaze, their fate had been sealed.
He had tried valiantly to fight it, knowing that a love between elf and mortal could only end in death for one and an eternity of sadness for the other. But he could not turn from fate's decree.
He had gone to the Lady of Light then, thinking that she would banish him from LothLorien and so force the decision he could not bring himself to make. But Galadriel had only cupped his face in her gentle hands, telling him that all was as it was meant to be and that he would always find welcome in the Golden Wood. Then the powerful Lady of Light had sealed those words with a soft kiss upon his brow.
And so he had returned, as often as his duties allowed, always finding warm welcome within LothLorien's dappled embrace. Until, at last, he and Arwen pledged their love's troth. And now, having taken their leave of the Golden Wood, they were returning to Imladris and to a meeting with his foster-father that the Dunadan could not help but dread. But like his beloved Evenstar, he had determined to put such cares aside and enjoy this brief time of utter freedom during which, he could be just Aragorn, a simple ranger in love...
Erestor, knowing what trials awaited the lovers, had made his own determination that the two should have this respite and so, with Ja-zel's full agreement, the Lyons had purposedly slowed their pace on this journey. They stopped for linguering mid-day breaks and set up their camps before the first blush of evening began to herald the coming of night. Thus, the four companions travelled in leisure, the Lyons unequaled sense of smell always keeping their path away from potential trouble.
And this particular afternoon, one week into their trek, was no different. Arwen had spotted a beautiful little spot beside a bubbling brook and they had decided it was a perfect place to make camp. Erestor and Ja-zel, knowing that no danger lurked, decided to leave the maiden in Aragorn's very capable hands and went to hunt for their own sustenance. After quickly flushing out and disposing of several hares, the Lyons had then come toguether to satisfy a different kind of feral hunger, one they had not indulged in since leaving the Golden Wood.
Though mating in their beastly form limited them exclusively to the dictates of their male and female bodies, such joinings were just as pleasurable and intense. And after the past days of denial, the two gave themselves fully to their primal need, roaring their completion some time later.
They returned to the campsite to find Aragorn and Arwen standing tensely, with swords drawn. Alarmed, the Lyons rippled back into their two-legged forms.
" What is amiss?." Erestor asked, as he and Ja-zel looked around the perimeter of the site.
Both the ranger and the maiden, having grown used to the sight of their friend's nudity after a week's worth of travel, looked back at the Lyons only with concern as they lowered their weapons.
" We heard an incredible roaring and thought you had run afoul of something..." Aragorn's voice trailed off as he noted that the two were uninjured.
" Are you well?. What happened?." Arwen asked, worriedly.
Both her and the Dunadan became perplexed as they observed Erestor's almost comical change of expression. The advisor looked, for all the world, like a naughty elfling just caught with his hands inside a jar of forbidden treats. Ja-zel looked from Arwen and Aragorn back to her mate, then promptly burst out laughing. Erestor scowled at her.
" Since you find this so humorous, you explain it to them." He grumbled.
So she did.
" Oh..." Arwen blushed.
" Oh..." So did Aragorn.
" Oh." Ja-zel echoed, grinning widely.
Then all four companions gave full vent to their mirth..
TBC...