Lord of the Rings 1. Strangers

**Summary: **Mylla, daughter of Hereward, niece of King Théoden, encounters the four strangers that saved her uncle and came to warn the King of Rohan of the rising threat from the east. One stranger in particular captures her attention as she starts to realize that the world as she knows it, is coming to an end. Mankind must fight for it's existence and in order to defeat themselves, the people of Rohan flee to Helms Deep. But she doesn't only fight for her life but as well to be with the man she has come to love. Also taking care of orphaned baby boy Connyn she becomes the biggest reason for Legolas to fight and shield and it gives him the power to go beyond all he had ever thought himself capable of.

This story follows the movies from the 'exorcism' of King Théoden all the way to the last fight for freedom, the return of the King and beyond.

It's strictly canon with the pairing Legolas/Mylla and mention of Aragorn/Arwen/Éowyn.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lord Of The Rings and my knowledge of the matter is solely based on the movies and google research, so mind that I will probably mess a bit with the original facts of the trilogy..but bare with me here, okay? ;)

I am also just finding my way around with the more elaborate language and it could happen that bits sound weird, please do not hesitate to point out, if that happens.

**Poster: ** i141. / albums / r 6 7 / seeedylittlelady / seposter .jpg

**Mylla: **i141. / albums / r 6 7 / seeedylittlelady / mylla2 .jpg (remove all spaces)

If the Links don't work, they're also to be found on my profile!

"Starry Eyed" is a song by Ellie Goulding which didn't inspire this story, nor is it a songfic, I just liked it for the title. Do not own that song either.

**Note: **Edited to coincide with the movie.

**Starry Eyed**

_**Chapter One**_

_Strangers_

Suddenly he was like before again. I stood behind my cousin, watching my uncle, King Théoden, King of Rohan, my mothers brother, throwing Gríma Wormtongue down the stone stairs to the Golden Hall.

His hair had gotten back to a rich blond again, his eyes were clear blue and they were piercing through the filthy creature, coiling before him, in a defensive posture as if he was begging for mercy, which I personally wouldn't have granted my uncles adviser.

"I've only ever served you, my lord",he tried to win an already lost battle.

"Your witchcraft would have had me crawling on all four like a beast", my uncle retorted and I think I had never seen him as furious.

"Send me not from your side", the pitiful continued, this worm, this snake.

I'd always suspected him – if not solely responsible for my uncles sever change in nature, to at least have deeper – and perhaps dangerous – knowledge of what was causing this change.

My uncle had become old, but not in a natural way, not because he was actually ageing in years and decades time, following the natural order, no, he had aged at impossible and concerning speed to a senile, bitter and ill mantle of a tortured spirit, not much of a man and less of a king.

I could see that he was in pain, that something – or someone – was dulling his senses and filling him with fright and weakness right behind that white foggy mist shadowing his eyes, that I had learned to despise, but neither me nor my cousins Éowyn or Éomer could break through the spell that had seemed to be cast on him.

Not even when his son died, did he show any sort of recognition. Éowyn, who had devoted the time of her days to benefit the Kings betterment, which never occurred, suffered the hardest of us, trying to get through to him but Gríma was never far away and he sickened her with his dark affection, following her around, watching her with the greedy eyes he had usually cast on my uncles thrown.

I despised him, and now, seeing that my uncle had raised his sword to let it crash him, I couldn't get my heart to feel sorry for the broken man. The creature that he was, the snake...he deserved to be smitten to the ground for what he'd done to my uncle and our whole kingdom as I began to realize.

I'd felt all along that Éomer had been right with his accusations towards Wormtongue...but it had gotten him banned from the land of his father, of course by Gríma's orders.

Another thing that nearly broke Éowyn, maybe more than it hurt me, because she was his sister and they had a strong bond of minds and devotion for the king, him having raised them as one of their own. I had only been with them for two years, after my parents had died under mysterious and yet to be known circumstances. Still, I despised it thoroughly to see my cousin hounded from his land even if I hadn't been with them for so long, but that the king, our uncle, would not stop this ridiculous deed crushed us all.

I gasped as the expected hit of blade against skin was hindered by one of the strangers that had come to us, it was the dark-haired one, that always looked so haunted, so sad. He was keeping my uncle from punishing his aggressor and I couldn't understand it for a moment. Especially since them, as Éowyn had told me briefly, standing next to me breathlessly, just minutes before released my uncle from the dark magic that had kept him prisoner of his own mind.

"No my lord, let him go, enough blood has been spilled on his account", the stranger said soothingly and my uncle listened.

"Get out of my way!", Gríma yelled after he'd processed that he was going to live and jumped, pushing people out of his way.

"Hail, Théoden, king!", someone called and the mass of villagers that had come together repeated the cheer.

I tried to get Éowyn's attention but she only had eyes for the stranger, there was no room for relief inside her at this moment, I could tell, it was filled with infatuation for the imposing figure that my uncle had called Aragorn.

The stranger that had just made King Théoden have mercy on this pitiless figure.

The other strangers also didn't seem to be opposing this act of mercy, the white wizard who I concluded to have ultimately lifted the spell from Théoden, looked content, the blonde elf showed no movement of his even features, though his piercing blue eyes stared past the spectators at Gríma, as if he was trying to predict his next move. Only the wild looking dwarf seemed to have liked to see a different outcome of the scene.

My uncle now turned around to face us, I found him acknowledging both Éowyn and me in the crowd but soon after the flicker in his eyes gave away that he had noticed what we'd all wanted him to notice just hours before but that I wanted to keep him from realizing in that moment; the absence of his son.

"Where is Théodred, where is my son?", he asked the question that needed no answer.

For a while no one spoke and it was long enough for him to understand and maybe even recall from his ragged memories of his time in the dark. He stormed off, the white wizard following closely behind him, he walked towards the end of the village, towards the hills where the graves of our family were, where my parents lay.

I felt for him and a new wave of sadness filled my chest, Théodred, his son, my cousin, had been a great man with an even greater heart. We all missed him painfully.

Éowyn sighed heavily beside me, she as I, was still grieving and now it was bitter-sweet that what we'd desired the most, for our uncle to wake up, was causing us worries as well. He now shared our grief.

"I wish I could take that burden off his shoulders", Éowyn said quietly looking at his striding silhouette.

"He is a strong man", I said and took her hand into mine, she was older than me, though lately I had found myself often in the position to console her, to support her, rather than the other way around, "not many would have sustained for an infiltration of the mind such as he endured for so long, he will live through this tragedy"

"I fear, Myllawyn, that tragedy is still upon us", she squeezed my hand and her grave expression hit me when I looked up, "If it's true what Gandalf the White tells us and it seems to be, it coincides with what Éomer suspected"

Her voice broke when she said her brother's name but it lasted only so long, her face lit up again, it was not so much of a smile that crossed her features, she just looked...a lit less troubled and then I felt her pull on my hand.

"Come on, cousin, let us hear for ourselves from the strangers", she said as she followed Aragorn inside, whose eyes she'd appeared to have caught before.

The guards fell behind, resuming their posts outside the Golden Hall and left us with the dwarf, the elf and the man who seemed a bit uneasy.

"Thank you", Éowyn said resolutely, once again taking matters into her own hands, I admired her for that, she was strong, everything she did, she did with poise and integrity, she had the air of her mother, that of a queen, "you must be exhausted from your journey, if you two would follow me"

She gestured towards Aragorn and the dwarf, "we would be glad to arrange for means of rest and spruceness"

"Mylla, would you take our guest to Théodred's room, please?", she nodded to me and then to the blond man, the elf who stood across the way from me.

I nodded and smiled politely at him. He was extraordinary handsome but of a kind of fragile beauty that I had never encountered before in human men. I had never seen an elf before in person but it had only taken me a glance to know that this one wasn't like anything I'd known. His skin resembled the fine porcelain of the villages of Gondor, his eyes were of an intense oceanic blue that seemed to take hold of entire rooms, his golden hair framed his face perfectly, falling softly, like a quiet river onto his broad shoulders. He was dressed in green and brown, he would have blended in perfectly into any wood if it wasn't for those unusual blue eyes and pale skin.

I had to swallow hard before I could ask him to follow me, I had really never seen anything so flawless in my twenty years on Middle Earth.

He followed close behind me to Théodred's former chamber, I knew that with three other visitors, we were running out of space. It pained me to enter my cousins room, memories of him burning up my throat and forcing bitter tears into my eyes, I led the stranger inside.

Before I saw him, I wasn't sure any more that he was even there, his feet barely made a sound on the wooden floor, almost like he was soaring above the ground.

"Feel free to use the washing room or rest, if you need to", I said, more to myself than to him, I gazed into the room, seeing my cousin reflected everywhere, "but excuse the personal items, this was my cousins room"

"Of course", his voice was low and smooth like velvet, "I feel for you, my greatest regret for your loss"

I felt his eyes on me and imagined their blue but couldn't which made me face him again, I had to know their colour, as misplaced and strange that urge felt.

It was indescribable, how intensely he looked at me, I felt like he was staring right into my soul, though it wasn't uncomfortable, I only felt strangely exposed to him. It took my breath for a while.

He seemed to sense my tension and briefly looked away, only to turn back to smile at me politely but he wasn't looking at me like before, where he had seemed to peel from the layers of my innermost self before, he seemed to now just look at my exterior, blankly and without further interest, like I was just a figure.

That indistinct notion hurt me more than I was able to justify and to explain to myself. It didn't seem rational.

"How did he do it?", I said out of uneasiness and the wish to escape the uncomfortable silence that had laid down upon us, "How did the wizard heal the King?"

"He coursed the evil spirit that inhibited Théoden out", he answered lightly, "As it was a mighty spirit it took a mighty wizard to chase it away"

"Was it really Saruman?", I had to ask, I had to know if Éomer had been right all along, "Will we have to find him?"

"I don't want to trouble you", and there it was again, his glare but different yet again from the one before, now it spoke of urgency, underlining his words, he didn't want to answer me.

"And I need to know", I insisted and tried to throw his look right back at him, I tried to make my eyes seem like stone, unmovable, undistractable, which was hard in the face of his beauty.

He seemed to be deliberating, arguing with himself. When he caught my eye I tried to look as resolved as possible. He then sighed barely audible.

"Gandalf thinks a battle is inevitable", he finally said and then a jolt of pain slashed through his face and he reached for his arm.

I jumped, startled, it had looked like something had hit him but then I realized that he was holding his arm, like it was in pain.

"You're hurt", I said and then hurried to the bath and brought back water and linen to him, who had sat down on the bed.

"It's nothing", he protested, when he saw me with all the things for aid, but the twitch of his mouth didn't fool me.

"Could you please take of your coat?", I asked him, sitting down, too and ignoring his protest but it took another insistent look of mine to make him obey to me.

He reluctantly took of one side of his jacket, revealing an olive under-shirt, then the other side, before he removed the last layer of fabric from his porcelain skin and the sight of his marvellous body rendered me speechless for a second. I got a hold of my wandering mind quickly though, when I saw the deep, dirty cut on his upper arm.

"Nazgûl-blade", he said explanatory and I nodded.

"Hold still, please", I said with wet linen in hand, "this might burn a bit"

When I started to clean out the wound, he flinched only so slightly and didn't make a sound, I felt almost hesitant to touch his skin, it was so fair and delicate, I almost worried I would hurt him, but as smooth as it was to my touch, it was also firm and strong and it took me a while to remove the soil from the wound, it appeared to have gone without cleaning since it had been inflicted, a clear indicator that they'd had a long, troublesome and restless way to Rohan, troublesome indeed, if they'd encountered a Nazgûl.

"Ah", he whispered and pain pulled at his features, I immediately removed my hand.

"Forgive me", I hurried to utter.

"It's alright", he said and smiled again, "I didn't mean to startle you"

And then he took my hand and brought it back up to the cut.

"I was done with cleaning", I informed him and put my hand back down, my skin itched and sizzled where his had touched it and I was trying to stop it from shaking when I took the linen to cover the wound.

Slowly I swathed his arm and tied the dressing so it stayed in place, he stirred a little but it was done. I regarded my work and was content with it, I didn't think the wound would get infected.

"Thank you", he said and drew my attention back to the fact that I was sitting next to an incredibly handsome almost naked elf and the shiver that rocked my body wasn't sure to have gone undetected.

But if he noticed, he was considerate enough not to show it, because he'd resumed to displaying his usual polite smile.

"Would it be blunt to ask for your name?", I almost hadn't caught what he was asking me, as I'd been drawn to the movement of his lips and how it affected his features, so when I did I stared up at him, wondering if I had heard right.

"Myllawyn, daughter of Hereward", I said, "but I'm mostly called Mylla"

"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Mylla", he said and I felt a strange sensation hearing him say my name, "I am Legolas, son of Thandruil"

"It's nice to make your acquaintance, too, Legolas", I responded, feeling his name cross my lips.

_Legolas._ The name that would haunt my dreams for evermore.

**Note:** Updates make come slow on this one, maybe I won't continue at all, if I don't feel like enough people care to read it, as I have two other stories that need updates but...well, I couldn't help but throw this out there...if you guys like it and I get at least five reviews, I'll work to update.

So tell me what you think, do you like Mylla?

Thank you :)


	2. Running

**Note: **You asked for it, you'll get it, chapter two...

BE WARNED: I'll be slow on updates, I working at a daycare from 9-5 atm and the little lovely monsters really get me tired, so I'll only be able to write on weekends and as I have two other stories to continue..well, you get the pictures.

Remember when the muse is triggered with many encouraging and constructive reviews, writing is goes so much faster ;-P

[Forgive me if I make some timeline-mistakes, I'm only recalling this from seeing the movie when we rented it two weeks ago...so it will most likely be flawed in continuity concerning the movie but I hope you can look past that.

If it annoys you too much, please point it out and I will try to adjust.

Thank you!]

EDITED to coincide with the movieverse-timeline!

_**Chapter Two**_

_Running_

I left the elf to himself short after. His presence irritated me. I didn't want to risk becoming infatuated with him, I saw Éowyn acting beside herself when with Aragorn after just the short moments of having laid eyes on him, I did not need this kind of distraction, not if we were really going into a war.

Still, I couldn't help but be distracted from the beautiful stranger with his warm smile, I'd never been this close to a man before that I found attractive, given that, I thought I'd done surprisingly well. For all I knew I could have fallen to my knees, begging him to let me give him my hand in marriage. I did not, which was certainly a good thing.

When I came through the Great Hall, Éowyn and Aragorn were talking quietly, she didn't seem to mind the diversion and it wasn't long until Gandalf and my uncle returned, with two children who looked battered and exhausted. They had apparently come from a village that had been burned down by wild men, causing Théoden to consider for the whole of Edoras to run to Helms Deep as we had already suspected. He would be telling us the next day at noon.

The walk would cost us at least one and a half days, so we should all be well rested.

Gandalf did not seem to agree with the plan of action, he wanted us to stay and fight but Théoden firmly made his point; "I don't want to risk open war"

"Open war is upon you, whether you want to risk it or not", Gandalf said but it didn't do any good, my uncle was too stubborn to let the wizard advise him, understandable after what had happened with Wormtongue.

So then, we were all waiting, walking around the halls, trying to make sense of everything.

I was getting more and more concerned when the sun went down and I found myself pacing across the backside terrace, glancing into the valley anxiously as if every minute there could come an army of orcs or wild people to kill us all.

Éowyn wasn't talking much, she was busy thinking about the stranger and worrying like me. Normally I would have gone to her, to talk and try to cope with what was ahead of us but tonight I couldn't, I didn't like how her eyes glistened in the face of terror, she seemed to like the idea of going to war, not liking the prospect of extinction but liking the thrill. Peaceful and reasonable Éowyn liked to fight with swords and blades and she did so more ruthless and more skilful than the most men I knew. But that wasn't _my_ nature. I would fight to protect those I love but I wouldn't go to war for the sake of amusement.

"Milady", the sudden sound made me jump and I turned to see who spoke to me.

"Legolas", he stood before me in his under-shirt and pants, no shoes on, the hair that had been braided before fell loosely over his shoulders and into his face. I gasped at the sight.

"I couldn't help but notice your uneasiness", he smiled wryly, "You've been passing my window all the while"

"Forgive me", I apologized for disturbing his rest sheepishly, "I don't seem to find peace tonight"

"Few of us do", he stated and looked at me for a moment, "You haven't seen much evil in your life, have you?"

The question surprised me for no concrete reason, "Ah...no, I don't think I did, not more evil than Gríma at least"

He let out a short, brittle laugh that sounded sweet and true, I liked the sound of it.

"Why do you ask?", I wanted to know.

"I wanted to confirm my initial idea of you", he answered as lightly as ever.

"You had an initial idea of me? When was that?", I asked before I could stop myself, I was too curious, as always.

My question seemed to make him feel uncomfortable, he stuttered ever so slightly, shrugging in an awkward fashion when he spoke again.

"Just, when I saw you for the first time", he tried very hard to sound untrodden, "my first impression of you was that you were...innocent"

I felt his eyes on me and it appeared for a moment like he attempted to go on, to tell me something more, something bigger but my senses must have tricked me, he remained silent after a brief moment of hesitation that one wouldn't have caught who hadn't fixed him so fiercely.

I had the strangest thought that he was going to court on me but after all, he barely even knew me, he couldn't have deeper interest in my person, not in times like these. He seemed to be a warrior, not an elf looking for a bride, I told myself firmly.

Yet, the image tickled me in places I had never felt much before..._me, his bride_.

Still, even if we weren't in for a war...why would he pick me? I was not extraordinary, merely a princess of Rohan, a human, vulnerable and fragile.

Not strong and beautiful and immortal as the elves, not worthy of such a superior creatures affection. I was barely even a woman to start with, still just a girl in many ways. So why would an elf see anything more in me? He thought I was innocent. He'd expressed that and it was the truth. He didn't mean anything more by it and he wasn't going to say anything else in order to clear up my confusion. I was sure.

And I was right.

He soon after retreated with a short goodnight and left me in the darkness, his hushed and mumbled 'goodnight' left me puzzled still. He'd looked exposed, he'd seemed to feel found out. Though he wasn't. Was he?

I couldn't possibly be right with my dizzy, mislead inkling that he was going to tell me I had woken his interest. That was not at all plausible.

I was well aware...but the seed of suspicion was planted in me, a suspicion that filled me with dazzled thoughts and romantic fantasies that I was ashamed of as they played inside my mind, yet I wasn't capable of stopping them. And I I had to be honest, beneath my rationality who advised me otherwise, I wasn't willing to.

I returned to my room, changed and lay down. I kept distorting my sheets, kicking and turning in bed, the exceptional strong and new feelings, that had seemed to bloom out of nowhere, my issues with said feelings and the fear of an inevitable battle and horror mingled into a blur of concern in my had that had me wide awake.

When I finally found sleep it was _his_ voice that haunted me, he said 'innocent', he said 'so young' and it sounded like he wasn't talking to me but to himself, like I was invading his thoughts. He seemed to be arguing, like he was telling himself that he shouldn't risk to develop feelings for me.

It didn't make sense, during the dream I felt sneaky, like I had trespassed his innermost thought, though that was a pointless assumption because only wizards were capable of such things.

Nevertheless, when morning came I was everything but rested.

The first thing I did after I finished washing and dressing, was going down to the lower part of Edoras to see the only thing that could ease my mind, and that was Connyn, the son of our guard Rhedry Dúnadan, he was ten months old, nothing more than a toddler but he had captured my heart right when I first saw him.

His mother had died in childbirth and from then on, I spend almost every day taking care of him when his father was on duty. The boy had no other family and I knew Rhedry was glad to have me to assist him with the education of the child.

Of course, at first he had protested for a princess to take care of a simple soldiers son but I was quick to distort those worries. I loved the child and having him around made me happy like few other things.

Though Rhedry wasn't around the Golden Hall today, I decided to pay him a visit, maybe he could eat in peace if he would let me watch Connyn.

I hadn't stepped fully out of the house when I heard the voices from the town, people were talking, some were starting to gather their belongings, it looked as though word had gotten out about my uncle's plans of evacuation. The seemed to already know what the decision would be, if I was honest, so did I but I wasn't sure how my sentiments towards running away were.

Rhedry's house was not more than a shed and the door was open as usual, when he was in and as I'd suspected, Connyn sat on a fur on the wooden floor, playing with sticks while his father prepared their food.

I knocked politely and waited for him to notice me.

"Milady", he said surprised when he did and bowed his head, "It's good to see your uncles betterment"

"Oh, you have seen him already?", I asked and entered the parlour.

"Just yesterday, when he threw this ghastly figure from our grounds", he answered lightly, only to bite his tongue a second later as he remembered how that scene had continued...with my uncle realizing that his only son had died.

I nodded quietly to ease his worries that he had insulted me or my family in some way.

We sat in silence for a little while and I watched Connyn on the floor, the boy hadn't seen me yet.

"He missed you", Rhedry finally said when he followed my glance, "Connyn, look who's here"

The little boy tried to see past the table that hid me from his sight and seemed puzzled that he had been addressed. I took a couple steps towards him and then his face lit up to that beautiful three-toothed grin. Dark curls framed his pretty little face and his cheeks had a rich blush as he brought up his sturdy arms, a plea for me to lift him up.

I did so without hesitation, loving the feel of the baby in my arms and if you'd seen us from afar, you would have thought he was mine. Just when you came closer you saw that my complexion was a little darker, his hair more auburn than mine, his curls more defined and his eyes less of an almond-shape.

He chuckled and grabbed the skin of my neck into his little hands and squeezed them together, he was grabbing everything all the time, but this was different, this was him greeting me, showing me that he knew who I was.

"I missed you too", I cooed and placed him on my hips, "yes, I did"

"Is it true that we're leaving for Helms Deep?", Rhedry asked me after a while that I'd been singing to the child.

"I don't know yet", I answered him truthfully.

"If we do, would you take Connyn for the way? I don't know who else to trust him with, I know it's a lot to ask, Milady, but.."

"Of course, good Rhedry, of course I will take him", I nodded forcefully, "It would be my pleasure"

I had just left Rhedry when I heard Gamling, my uncle's right hand, declare that the decision had been made, we would all run to Helm's Deep and as I made my way back to the Halls, Gandalf and Aragorn passed me. The wizard seemed strain and I looked after him for a while, until he disappeared into the stables.

Not long after that, we started moving, Rhedry had brought Connyn over and I saddled one of the horses to follow my cousin to the middle of the track.

Éowyn seemed distracted.

"It will be fine", I said, to ease her worries but it took her a while to even acknowledge that I had spoken.

"Lord Aragorn called me a shield maiden of Rohan", she finally said.

"He could tell by your anticipation for the battle", I half-joked, because that was most likely.

"He saw me practice with my sword", she answered.

"You brought your sword?", I asked startled, "What for? _We_ are not going to fight"

She left that uncommented and kept riding and after a while we found ourselves near Aragorn and Gimli, the sturdy dwarf.

He was quickly engaged in a conversation with Éowyn about dwarf-women and that it was a wide spread myth that there weren't any dwarf women, I saw Aragorn mouth "It's the beards" to Éowyn and they all laughed.

I could tell from the look of her face that she was as lost in infatuation as I was.

We had left the shelter of our homes for several hours already when I had the chance of catching a glimpse of Legolas. I wouldn't have admitted to myself that my turning and observing had been for him and not primarily to look out for the people we were leading but when I caught his eye, his look sent a flash down my spine. Like the first time, he seemed to glance right down to my soul.

And then he noticed the child in my arms and seemed surprised but he looked away too quickly to even try to explain. And then he let himself fall back, picking up the bearded dwarf at the end of the procession and keeping his sight on the group.

I scolded myself internally for being so distracted by him, distracted from my duty, to lead and to keep an eye out for everyone when I had only eyes for him.

It was a bad time for romance now, especially when there was no hope for my feelings to be returned, it was a waste of time and attention that could become fatal.

But as much as I tried to, I could only peel him away from my mind so much that I could ride forward and secure the child that I kept clutching with one arm while holding the rein with the others.

And so I was fleeing, from my irresponsibility and growing attachment to the mysterious elf and, as the all the others surrounding me, from a vague but taunting threat.

Little did I know as the horse carried me and Connyn over the realms of Rohan with steady rocking rhythm, that this thread was very much concrete and already plotting to attack the running people of Rohan.

**Sooo, I know, the romance comes quick in this one but I found that in the movies, especially with Éowyn's feelings for Aragorn, romantic feelings come up fairly quickly and for me it also needs to happen fast to fit right into the story arc as I have planned it.**

**Still, I'm used to giving romance more time and room to grow, so it might feel rushed to you (as it feels a tad bit rushed to me – but it has to be this early) and again, if it annoys you or you really feel like you can share some advise on how to make the fast romance seem more legit and natural, do tell.**

**I'm thankful for any advise and opinion. :)**


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Lord of the Rings, Adventure, Romance