The SONGS of SPRING

A HEART REMEMBERS

The Sun was hanging low and the sky had turned gold and faint red, Raen sat frozen behind Legolas. They've come to a halt, riding a brown mare they paused just before the narrow wood bridge that leads to the Silvan settlement. It was a hill with a river bending round it, tall and lush trees filled the protruding land, some flowering yellow and red, some had red and white and most had dark green leaves.

From a distance they could hear the sound of strings playing sweetly and many faint voices above the trees. Elves do love to sing and music is always in their hearts.

'This is your promised land!?' Raen gasped with eyes still fixed at the hill-fortress. 'It's beautiful.' And she loosen her arms and hopped down. She thudded loudly, her boots cracking dried leaves and twigs that lay on the forest ground. Legolas climbed down gently, fixing the brindle of his mare.

'Someone told me to live here. Never thought I will.' he said. 'Come, there are plenty to see.'

Raen tugged along, Legolas walked his horse through the wood bridge slowly and carefully as there was no bridgewall to stop them from falling. It would be a terrible fall, thirty feet down and twenty meters across, and the river bed seemed rugged with huge stones. And though the river was noisy, breaking a bone is certain than drowning.

'You elves have very poor safety measures. This bridge is perilous in rainy season.' Raen couldn't help to notice.

'Elves don't make bridges harmful to themselves, melon-thief, watch your steps.'

Raen mused. There were times she thought of nothing but tortures she would do to the elf, pulling his hair one by one was the worst of them all. Now this strange feeling made flashes of red on her cheeks, her heart is skipping a beat and she almost bumbed her head on the horse's hind when Legolas halted to give her a look. She got herself a slap with the tail and she giggled. There is no such thing as stone-heart, for a heart always remember how to love.

It wasn't long until they reached the other side. Legolas left his mare to the first elfguard he met, took Raen's hand and there they walked the narrow path heading to the heart of the hill-forest.

'They're clothed in green!' she said, and she noticed how messy she looked on her old sleeveless clothes and her pants had muck. Surely I needed a bath, she thought, nevertheless she was not feeling little at all. Legolas was with her, holding her hand as if she was his (which is undeniably true), and that gave her confidence beyond compare.

'So they blend well with the trees,' Legolas smiled. More Elves gathered round them, many thudded from above the trees, some jumped out from behind the tree trunks, elfguards and hunters and she-elves in servant dresses. From a distance she heard someone called Legolas' name, proclaiming his arrival to everyone else in the village.

There Raen marvelled at the structures above the trees, houses made of wood painted green and brown they almost look like part of the tree. Long woven bridges connected the houses to one another. One by one Elves descended hanging from a vine, graceful as they swirl down like a falling leaf to the ground. It was a grand system of lever and pulley made by the most skillful hands in Gondor, the dwarves of the south.

'Are we going to climb those houses through a vine?'Raen asked turning her back as she sweeps her surrounding with curious eyes. Legolas pulled her waist close almost pressing her to his chest as he snatched a moving vine, tugged and stepped on the small flat wood that serves as the unusual lift. They were hoisted up, gently.

It was how the Southern elves designed their floating village, high above the trees but not over the treetops, connected with flexing bridges, woven vines for service instead of stairs and house panelled with the hardest wood. And there were elves manning the pulleys, lifters they were called.

'You built this village creatively, I must say. It looks like Lothlorien in the stories I was told.' Raen said stepping into the flatform. Legolas never let go of her hand, he was holding it tight while her other hand held the enchanted staff.

'This village is not entirely above ground, you will see what's below very soon. Come, I know you are starving.'

They climbed a spiral stairs, passed two connecting bridge and into the largets tree-house that perched on the highest tree therein, and it was almost at centerhill, high enough to see the rolling mountains from afar, the river running below and the Sun setting to West. It was a magneficent house with white panelled walls, elves arches on each high open window and a balcony with a low wall crafted with running vines with leaves made of metal. It shined as the Sun wavered gold like that of the keel Minas Tirith had got.

'Ernil Legolas! You have arrived!' An elf welcomed them with a smile. 'Your arrival is timely. Someone have been waiting for you since yesterday.'

'I care less to greet any visitors at the moment Thaliel, I would want something to eat first. Start some fire in the kitchen will you? As I have to show Raen her room for tonight.' His eyes darted to her, almost a glance with a faint smile. Then he pulled her hand to leave.

'But my Lord ---'

'Not now Thaliel.'

'B-but Ernil ---'

'What can be more important than ---' just in time as he turned a tall figure saundered towards them and there came surprise in his grey eyes 'Adar?!'

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Hey, guys. Apologies for the very late update. I'll try to update SoS as often as I could from now on. Hang on for more father and daughter-in-law to be encounters!!! 😂