She laughs as he lifts her and draws her close, spinning her twice round before her feet so much as graze the floor. She rests her head against the side of his, cheek to cheek, and the edge of her smile presses against his. She has not been so enthralled, so utterly delighted by simple touch, since they were first wed. His words hold infinitely more weight than Thranduil's or Legolas's.

To hear him declare the end of the war was to know it ended thus.

"They can be vicious, can they not? They nearly slew me when last I arrived here. It was a near thing but, fortunately, Haldir was by my side."

It was an admission of some great weight. It had been a very long time since anything had come close to taking her life, or at least as close as those demons had, and to keep it from him would be a terrible thing.

"I do not wear a scar and even I am startled by that."