We finally made it. After two years we came to see the end of The Return of the princess. It has been such a pleasure to write this story for you. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and read my story. I cannot thank you all enough. Please enjoy this last chapter Xx

/

"Thank you for speaking with Legolas", Calen says the following day, when she approached the queen with the contract that Thranduil had handed her the previous night.

"He is a dear friend of mine and despite everything, he is important to me", Herminia explains when the two elves settle into her room.

"When we were in Valinor you told me that you do not know my son", Calen asks with a curious look.

"I still do not. There is so much more to him than what he showed us over the last year, but I know enough for me to trust him with my life."

"You are wise, my queen."

"Do you have the contract for me to look over?"

"I do. Thranduil handed it to me last night, but I've not had the chance to look over it", Calen explains, handing Herminia the scroll of parchment.

"Is he aware of what you are trying to do?"

"Yes, my queen. I spoke to him and told him that his choice was foolish and after a while he saw sense, agreeing to let you help us."

"Very well", Herminia says, rolling out the contract and looking it over. She does not know all the laws of the elves, but she figured contracts could not be much different from the wizarding world. Sitting here, trying to help find a loophole reminded her of trying to free Buckbeat back in her third year at Hogwarts, bringing a smile to her face.

She scans the three pages of parchment quickly, soaking up every word.

"After my first glance I cannot find a way out, but Lord Elrond had once gifted me with various books when I left Rivendell. I might find something there. The books are very old and there might be something that Luthillien has not thought of yet. I will leave the castle for the day in order to look over the contract. Do you trust me with it?"

"I do, my queen. Thank you for giving us hope", Calen says, standing up and leaving Herminia's room, while Herminia had already started pulling books from the shelves, filling her beaded bag.

"Where do you think you are going?", Aragorn asks her when she leaves the room, stepping into the hallway.

"You should not sneak up on a witch with the abilities of an elf", she huffs, lowering her wand from pointing directly at his face.

"You were not paying attention – otherwise I would have not been able to sneak up on you, Herminia", he laughs, patting her on the shoulder.

"To answer your question – I'm heading out for the day. There is no one scheduled to arrive for today and I have something I need to take care of", she says vaguely.

"Would you care for some company? I have not had a quiet moment these last few days", he says.

"Of course, please join me", she says.

Thankfully they only met Luthien on the way down and Herminia told her where she could find them should she need them and together they rode out of the castle.

"Where are we going, my lady?"

"When we were riding yesterday, we came upon a clearing in the forest over there. It is perfect for what I want to do", she says as they ride past the encampment of the elves of Mirkwood, who looked after them.

"Will you tell me what you need to do or is a secret?", he asks once they get off their horses.

"You must promise to keep it a secret!"

"I will", he says and so Herminia tells him the story of how Legolas had agreed to marry Luthillien.

"I told you to speak to him, Herminia", he says afterwards. He knew most of the story but not about the contract.

"It would not have changed anything between us. He still lied to me and let me to believe there was a future for us, Aragorn. I spoke to Legolas and we have said everything there was needed to be said", she explains while waving him off.

"And you hope to find something in the books Elrond gave to you?"

"I do. There must be something to get him out of it", she sighs, opening her first book.

"I will help you", he says, grabbing a book on Herminia's pile.

"You will?"

"He is my oldest friend, Herminia. And besides – I have nothing else to do", he shrugs with a smile and they both fall into silence, reading every sentence of every book in hopes to find anything on the matter. When the sun begins to sink Aragorn puts his third book down with a huff.

"If it was the old days you could just overrule the contract", he says, not picking up a fourth book, startling Herminia.

"What did you just say?"

"If it was the old days you could overrule the contract?"

"Why is that?"

"Because you are the highest-ranking elf in Middle-Earth and technically, by Manwe sending you here, you are the high queen of all elves standing above Thranduil and Legolas. In the old days you could overrule the contract, just by saying so", he explains to her.

"When did that change?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said in the old days – not anymore?"

"I do not know, my lady. I never thought about it, but everyone always referred to it as the old days. I just assumed it did not apply anymore. You think it is still valid enough for you to overrule the contract?", he asks sitting up straighter.

"It could be what we were looking for. Thranduil and Calen did not think of it, as they were the highest-ranking elves of Mirkwood, but my presence changes everything. Of course!", Herminia yelps, leaping up from the floor, stuffing the books back into her bag.

"What is it?"

"That is why Manwe granted me to come back! To undo the wrongs", she says as Aragorn follows her back to the horses.

"You need to speak to Gandalf, he might know if it still applies", he tells her as they ride back to the castle, the night falling upon them.

"It was a very good idea for you to come along with me, Aragorn."

"We could have saved ourselves the time if I would have thought of it sooner."

"You thought of it at all and that is all that matters now."

/

When they arrive back at the castle, they were greeted by Legolas and Herminia felt herself reminded of the previous night, when it was Aragorn waiting outside the halls.

"What happened?", she asks immediately.

"Nothing, my lady. But you must follow me quickly", he says and together they rush back inside the castle. What they see upon entering the room, takes the breath out of both their lungs. Standing there in the middle of the hall were Arwen and Elrond.

"Arwen", Aragorn whispers, making her turn around, a smile spreading on her face. She rushes towards him engulfing him into a tight hug.

"Lord Elrond", Herminia says with a big smile herself, not wanting to disturb Aragorn's and Arwen's moment.

"My queen", he says, bowing low before her, before she throws her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Do not ever call me queen again", she laughs at his uncomfortable, but kind face.

"I heard you faded and returned from Valinor", he says after a few moments.

"I did and I will tell you the entire story over dinner."

"That is something I wish to hear as well, sister", Arwen says, stepping away from her embrace with Aragorn.

"I have missed you", Herminia whispers, stepping closer to the elf who became the sister she never had in either world.

"I am glad, Manwe sent you back to us. It would have brought great sadness to Middle-Earth if we had never seen you again!"

Herminia looks around the hall, seeing all her friends and allies present, noticing that with Lord Elrond and Arwen two other elves arrived. A young elf with long brown hair, holding the hand of a little elven girl, staring at Herminia with big eyes.

"And who might that be", she asks stepping closer to the little girl, not remembering her from her time in Rivendell.

"This is Auroa and her daughter Maripe. They used to live with us in Rivendell but decided to travel to Lothlorien a few years ago as her father lived there. We met her on our way here and when we told them we would be meeting you, little Maripe begged her mother to be able to come with and see the queen", Arwen explains stepping next to her.

"My queen", Auroa says, bowing before her.

"I told her we could not come, but Lady Arwen and Lord Elrond insisted", she tries to apologize, but Herminia waves her hand.

"There is no need to apologize. We are delighted to have you with us tonight", Herminia says, kneeling down before the beautiful elf.

"You are called Maripe?", she asks with a small smile, the elf standing shyly next to her mother and nods quickly.

"Such a beautiful name for a beautiful elf. Do you like it here in Minas Tirith?"

"Yes, Lady Queen. Why is your skin golden?", she asks with a faint voice, her mother looking appalled at her daughter's comment, hoping it did not offend the queen.

"I was blessed when I was born and ever since my skin shimmers golden like the sun", Herminia explains, before the mother could scold her child.

"You look very beautiful", Maripe whispers, stepping a closer to Herminia, letting go of her mother's hand.

"Thank you, Maripe, that is very kind coming from such a beautiful elf."

"Your crown has flowers in it", she comments next, making Herminia smile.

"It has. My mother had it made for me. Do you like flowers?"

"Yes. I also like animals but there is not a lot of animals in Minas Tirith", she says, standing right in front of Herminia.

"Do you mind?", Herminia asks the mother, pointing to the hairband, holding the hair of the young elf together.

"No, your majesty", the mother says, wondering what Herminia wanted to do. Everyone else in the hall was looking on in interest.

"Let us take this out of your beautiful hair", she comments, reaching for the hairband and placing it in her hands for the young elf to see.

"I will show you something very secret now. Not many have seen me doing it", with that she takes out her wand and transfiguring the hairband into a beautiful flower crown, making Maripe gasp.

"You shall have your own crown, Maripe", she smiles, putting it on top of her hair.

"Mother!", the girl shouts excitedly at her mother, who had tears forming in her eyes.

"Do you see? The queen made this for me, mother! Specially for me! It's so pretty", she gushes.

"It is beautiful. You must thank the queen!"

"Thank you!", Maripe cries, throwing her arms around Herminia, who hugs the young elf in return.

"Are you hungry? You must stay for dinner", Herminia asks once she releases the girl, looking at Auroa.

"We could not! We have imposed enough as it is", Auroa says.

"I will have none of it, you will have dinner with us", Herminia decides and Maripe nods her head excitedly, as Herminia leads her up to a chair, near her own.

"You were not lying when you said she is everything Middle-Earth could have asked for", Thranduil says to Calen as they take their seats next to Luthillien and Legolas, who looks at Herminia with adoration in his eyes.

"She is a natural leader, my love", she replies.

/

Dinner was a loud affair and it reminded Herminia of her times spent at the Burrow. Maripe warmed up to the older people around the table and asked direct questions to Gimli who spluttered out answers being caught off guard, making his companions laugh. She showed everyone who wanted to see it her flower crown, it being her proudest possession.

"You will make a great mother one day", Arwen says from next to her.

"Yes. One day", Herminia answers wistfully, her eyes involuntarily wandering to find Legolas.

"We should go for a walk after dinner, my lady. Long it has been since we walked together", Arwen suggest, giving Herminia a look she knew all too well.

"Would you not rather spend your time with Aragorn?"

"We have all the time, but there are some things I wish to speak to you about."

After dinner Herminia and Arwen excused themselves from the table, while Luthien and the Hobbits took to playing with Maripe, who thought that the Hobbit feet were most hilarious. They walked through the courtyard, finding a stone bench to sit down.

"What happened to you when you were with the fellowship?"

"What could you mean?"

"You look happy, yet your eyes hold sadness", Arwen says.

"I was foolish, Arwen", she whispers, tears glistening in her eyes, relieved to be able to talk to Arwen, the only one where she didn't have to hide her feelings or pretend to be strong.

"I fell in love with him. It was so easy to fall in love with him, why is it so hard to forget? Why can I not fall out of love with him, Arwen?", she breaks down crying.

"Tell me everything!", Arwen says, putting her arm around Herminia, stroking her hair while she tells her everything that happened.

"I forgave him, but I do not know if I could ever trust him again", Herminia ends her story with.

"You cannot build rebuild the trust that was broken, Herminia. You can however build new trust. If you forgave him, you need to take the chance and find out if what you had during the war is something you could have again. You do not need to make a commitment now. Learn more about him and build up trust on something new, trust you make into something worthwhile. Your heart is conflicted. It is still pained from what he has done, but it also holds love for him. You need to give it time and everything will become clear again!"

"I am so glad you did not leave Middle-Earth", Herminia says with a laugh, wiping away her tears.

"I will always be there if you need me, Herminia."

"Thank you, Arwen. We must head back inside, Aragorn is probably worrying", she says, offering Arwen her arm and together they head back inside. Herminia feels as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

/

"Lord Elrond! Master Gandalf!", Herminia calls out the following day, spotting them in the library of the castle.

"Your grace", they both say with a smile.

"Are you alone?", she asks, taking out her wand, checking for any other beings in the room.

"I believe we are; can we help you?"

"I hope you can. Aragorn told me something the other day. He said that in the old days a king or queen was able to overturn bindings and contracts of those below her rank", she explains, earning herself a knowing look from both of them.

"Aragorn is right. A king or queen used this if one of their own had entered an agreement the king or queen did not like", Elrond says.

"Does this rule still apply to this day?"

"It most probably would, Herminia. Laws and rules in the old days in Middle-Earth were never written down, but everyone lived by them. Over time some laws and rules were not followed, and soon they were forgotten. But no elf has ever claimed a law to not be law anymore. It was simply never spoken of again. Why would you need to know that?"

"I am looking into something for a friend", she says, though they both know who she is asking for.

"You have given me all the answers I needed, and I thank you for that, but I must take my leave", she bids them goodbye and rushes out of the room with as much grace as she could offer.

/

"Luthien, you must help me with something", she says, spotting the elf standing next to Haldir in the streets of Minas Tirith, helping the people to decorate the streets.

"My queen", Haldir greets her with a bow of his head.

"Luthien, now please", she urges the other elf, who bids goodbye to Haldir and follows Herminia up the street to the courtyard.

"What is it? Has something happened?"

"Yes and no. I need you to head down to the encampment of the elves of Mirkwood and bring Thranduil, Calen and Luthillien. If Legolas is there you need to bring him as well."

"I will leave now", Luthien says with a nod, walking down the streets swiftly.

"Herminia, would you like to go for a walk?", Frodo asks, with Sam following behind him.

"Not this time, I'm afraid. I have important business to attend to, but I will be glad to accompany you on a walk tomorrow, Master Frodo", she says with a smile and they wave her off as she heads back into the castle.

"Aragorn, a word please", she says stepping into the hall, seeing it bustling with people.

"My lady?"

"I would like to request the hall for a private meeting. If you would grant me my request it would be best if the hall was empty. You are welcome to stay, but everyone else would be excluded from the meeting", she asks in hopes that Aragorn would agree.

"I shall grant your request and have someone take care of clearing the halls. I take it you found the solution to our little problem?"

"I did."

"Excellent."

Soon the hall was cleared and the only two left were Aragorn and Herminia, standing next to his throne, when Luthien entered with the elves that Herminia had requested. Calen was casting a hopeful glance towards Herminia, but her expression stayed impassive.

"Thank you for joining me", Herminia says, staying next to the throne, while Aragorn walks to the back with Luthien, staying in the shadows.

"My queen, what is the nature of this meeting?", Thranduil asks with a worried look on his face.

"I asked you to come here as I have a few questions for Luthillien", she speaks with a hard glance towards the elf in question, who looks up as her name is being spoken.

"Step forward and greet the queen", Thranduil whispers angrily at her and she obeys his order reluctantly.

"You are to be married to Legolas Greenleaf and I wish to know, why you agreed to marry him", Herminia asks, looking down at the elf.

"His father asked us and we both agreed."

"I do not think you understood my question, Luthillien. Why did you agree? Do you love him? Do you hope to love him some day?"

"I like him enough and I hope to love him some day", Luthillien says with a voice void of any emotion.

"I shall advise you not to lie to me, Luthillien", Herminia says with a stern voice.

"I did not."

"Do not take me for a fool!"

"I do not love him, and I do not think I ever will", she almost barks out, making Thranduil wince at her tone and her words.

"I ask you again. Why did you agree to marry him?"

"Because I want to be his queen. I want to be a queen. It does not matter to whom I am married to, as long as I will be queen", she admits through gritted teeth, making Herminia wonder how an elf so beautiful can be so ugly.

"Queen Calen approached me and told me that Legolas does not wish to be wed to you", Herminia says and Luthillien shoots Legolas and Calen a dark look.

"We signed a binding contract to ensure this marriage will be held", Luthillien replies.

"Would you be willing to annul the contract?"

"No", Luthillien says with a smirk. "There is nothing you can do to make me change my mind."

"Please bring forward your contract", Herminia says, stepping down a few steps.

"I do not have it with me."

"I told you to not take me for a fool. I do not believe that you would leave such important parchments down at your tent."

"Here", Luthillien grumbles, pulling out her version of the contract, stepping up the steps for Herminia to see.

"You have made sure that Legolas would never be able to get out of the contract, Luthillien. Though you missed something", Herminia says, pulling out the contract that Calen had handed to her.

"What would that be?"

"Me."

"What do you mean?"

"By the laws of the old days I, Herminia of Valinor, daughter to Ingwe, Highking of all elves, hereby annul the agreement between Luthillien of Mirkwood and Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood", Herminia says and with a wave of her wand the two contracts burst in blue flames, burning until the ash falls on the steps.

"You cannot do this", Luthillien almost screams.

"I can and I did. You are a disgrace to our kind. I order for you to sail to the Undying Lands. You will be escorted to the boat and there will be no return for you", Herminia says with finality.

"King Thranduil, you agreed to this!", Luthillien begs him.

"That was before I knew what you were", he says.

"Haldir is waiting outside these doors to escort you back to the encampment. You will not leave the encampment under any circumstances, I made sure of it. After the festivities Haldir and Luthien will escort you to the boat taking you to the Undying Lands. This decision is final", Herminia says, dismissing Luthillien, who is struggling against being taken out the hall by Thranduil himself.

"Thank you, my queen", Calen says, stepping towards Herminia.

"You are most welcome, Calen. This is the best for our kind. We are entering a new era and there is no place for an elf filled with so much hatred and greed.

"We will forever be in your debt", she says bowing low, before leaving the hall.

Herminia steps down the stairs to Legolas who had been quiet this entire time.

"You are free at last, my friend", she says, looking into his face.

"I cannot thank you enough", he whispers pulling her into his arms.

"There is no need to thank me, Legolas. Friends help each other out."

"I am honored to call you my friend, Herminia."

/

"Did you hear it, Gandalf?", Merry asks that night, while they all sat down after dinner.

"Hear what?"

"Legolas is not marrying Luthillien anymore", Merry says with delight.

"I never really liked her", Pip chimes in.

"Well, we can be glad the queen was able to help him", Gandalf says.

"Does that mean that Herminia and Legolas will get married now?", Pip asks, deep in thought.

"I do not think so, she is a stubborn one", Gimli says, sitting down next to them, ale in his hand.

"That she is, Master Dwarf, that she is", Gandalf chuckles to himself, taking a breath from his pipe.

"Scary and stubborn with a magic wand, he'd be better off staying as far away from her as possible", Gimli laughs.

"There is nothing in your way now", Arwen comments to Herminia.

"I thought you said I shall give it time?"

"I did, though he is sitting all by himself since his parents went to talk to Gandalf, Lord Elrond and some of the dwarfs that arrived today. You could go talk to him, as I also told you, you need to get to know him again. You could start today." Luthien and Eowyn agree with nods.

"What could go wrong, Herminia?", Luthien asks with an innocent smile on her face.

"I shall go over, but only for it to get me away from your meddling grasps", Herminia huffs, leaving the three behind, taking a deep breath.

"May I sit?"

"Always", Legolas says, scooting over on the bench he occupied alone.

"How are you faring, now that you are free again?"

"I am relieved and worried", he admits, looking at his hands.

"Why worried?"

"Because I do not know what to do now."

"Do you not wish to go back to Mirkwood with your parents?"

"No. I never enjoyed being in one place", he explains, thinking back to his days travelling Middle-Earth with Aragorn.

"You could come with me", Herminia blurts out, surprising herself and Legolas.

"I – what?"

"I planned to travel Middle-Earth after the crowning of Aragorn. Gandalf agreed to journey with me for some parts of my travels, but he will not be able to be there for everything. I would enjoy your company, if you would be willing to come with me", she says with a shrug, trying to play it down.

"Yes", he rushes out as the last words leave her mouth.

"I will gladly accompany you on your travels. I will show you every last corner of Middle-Earth."

"I would like that very much", Herminia says, turning to look at him, breath caught in her throat, staring into his eyes.

"I will kiss you now", Legolas whispers, closing the distance between them, taking her face into her hands.

It is not a heated kiss, but it holds so many emotions that Herminia does not want it to end.

"I will not betray your trust again", Legolas says when they finally do break their kiss. Both of them unaware that all of their friends are staring at them out of the corner of their eyes.

"I shall hold you to that promise, Legolas", she smiles back at him and it was then she knew that her love for him would never waver. Her mother was right. Legolas was her once in a lifetime kind of love and Herminia could not wait to explore the rest of their lives together.

"The queen! Our son is in love with queen?", Thranduil asks his wife at loss for words.

"Of course, you would not have noticed. It has always been her from the moment he laid eyes on her. Fate is a magical thing", she whispers back, looking over to her only son, holding Herminia's hand with a content smile on his face. All was good.