All the Kings horses

By: Mellamine

Rating: M

I wrote this fiction for a contest on a Legolas fansite at least 6 years ago. I won the contest, but when I reread it more recently I felt it was in need of editing before I shared it on . I fixed it up a bit and I hope you like it. Comments please.

Time frame: Before the forming of the fellowship, Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf all knew each other. Here I have them traveling to visit other rangers…Gandalf has his suspicions about rumors of Mordor reawakening pre Bilbo's birthday so they are out gathering information.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from LOTR; I just borrow them from time to time. Also my Elvish is the best I can figure from my research, if you notice something is not correct, try to remember this is supposed to be fun, I don't have time to translate the entire dictionary, and I do not claim to know Elvish better than anyone else. (Haha, can you tell I've been heckled by a Sindarin VS Grey elf language geek?)

Category: Legolas/new half elf female character love story. If you don't like Mary Jane's you will hate this. LOL Tried to keep it true to the way characters would actually act and things they would actually say, that's important to me. In the fiction we put Legolas in situations we haven't seen him in, and it was hard to know how he would act. I took clues from different scenes in LOTR especially Legolas's Helms Deep fight competition with Gimli to sort of figure out how he would act in less serious situations.

Chapter 1

"Hello Mindallin! Late for work again are ye?" Laughed my friend Hetty, hands on her hips as she watched me sneak in the back door.

I sighed. "One of my mares picked up a stone near the river bed. I couldn't let her walk around like that." I rushed over to the bar. "You don't have more than a handful of customers anyway." I said grabbing my apron and tying it around my waist.

"Are there any stones left down there Mindle? I think you have used that excuse twice this week." Hetty loved to poke fun at the fact that I couldn't seem to be on time for anything. She also didn't understand my passion for my horses, which kept me out in the barn in my spare time. She apparently thought I should be chasing around after the men folk in town like she loved to do.

I tied back some of my dark waist length locks from my face with a barrette, making sure I left enough hair down to cover my ears and began wiping down the counter with a cloth. "I have not. My stallion threw a shoe the other day. That's much different."

Hetty laughed again, "Oh yes I'm sure." Hetty was a cute chubby blonde with rosy cheeks. She loved to laugh and was hardly ever serious. She was fun to be around and it made her a popular bar maid. Even though I was often told I was prettier than most of the local women, I was much more reserved and so Hetty tended to make a lot more tips. Unfortunately for me she also loved to give advice.

"You should wear your hair up. Let people see those ears. Start some rumors!" She said mischievously. I knew she hated that I was taller and thinner than her, but if she only knew how much I envied her. So often I just felt out of place. I really did feel more at ease away from town, alone or with my animals. Its not that I couldn't fit in, I just never found I had the same interests as the other women my age. Sometimes I thought it might be more fun to be her, to be more normal. I certainly wasn't going to tout my differences like she was suggesting.

I smiled and shook my head. "Mage would fire me, AND lock me up and you know that!"

"Aye, I know but it would be funny!"

"What would be funny?" Mage Tole herself bustled into the room. She and her husband Auron owned the inn and tavern. They were also my parents in a way. My mom had passed away when I was six, and the kindly couple had taken me in. She cast an approving look at me. "Mindallin! Glad to see you made it on time lass." Hetty coughed but said nothing and thankfully Mage didn't seem to notice the look I gave her. "Here are the menus for tonight." She said handing us each a scroll that we both promptly stowed in our aprons.

"I was also hoping one of you could stay a bit later tonight. Auron is hosting a few friends around closing. Some type of Ranger business I guess. Ill be busy enough getting their rooms ready and I was hoping one of you ladies would be willing to serve them."

Hetty elbowed me; she probably figured I owed it to her for being late. I shrugged, "Ill stay."

"Thanks Mindle, I have plans."

Mage and I both scowled at her. Some poor chap was going to get more than he bargained for tonight. "Of coarse you do." I moaned. Hetty had about a dozen men courting her at any given time and she was always on the lookout for her next victim. I couldn't say if she really liked any of them. She just liked the attention.

Mage collected a pile of recipes scribbled on various scraps of parchment and went to sit at a corner table. "Always planning meals. What a life." Hetty remarked watching her go. "Its kind of like you and your horses. A one track mind."

I stopped sweeping to give her a dirty look. "Or you and men."

"You should try getting one for yourself one day. You might enjoy it."

"I doubt there will be any leftover." I joked, not concerned with her jibe.

"Oh forget it, your hopeless. I wonder if all your people are as dull as you are?" She pointed to the back wall were two men sat drinking ales, "I'm going to see about that table."

I rolled my eyes. "You mean all us mutts?" I asked laughing.

She laughed good-naturedly as she walked away.

I was still busy wiping down tables when Auron's friends arrived just about closing time. Hetty met them near the door, since she had been standing there flirting with a patron who was politely trying to depart.

The three men were dressed in traveling cloaks and they stopped just inside the door. She spoke with one and I watched him introduce himself and his friends. I expected her to call me over as we had agreed, but she didn't. Instead she turned and gave me a look I knew all too well. She was in love, again. She gestured that they should follow her and headed past me towards the back of the tavern where Mage was sitting. As she passed I whispered, "I thought you had plans?"

It was then that I saw the reason for her reluctance to leave the party to me. I looked away from Hetty only to accidentally lock eyes with the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. He had to be an elf. I had seen a few on rare instances before, and I recognized the luminous glow of his skin, even in the low tavern light, as he removed his hood. He had long golden hair, pulled back at his temples by tiny neat braids. A very handsome face, and regal bearing. But it was his eyes that stopped my heart from beating. Piercing blue, so deep, full of wisdom and innocence, so much deeper than any humans could be. He graced me with a nod and a small smile. I just stood there until, when his eyes left mine, I came to and realized how I must look and tried to compose myself. My heartbeat still thudded in my chest.

I returned to the bar and tried to look busy. Hetty came back from seating the table, her face as red as mine probably was. She started to pour drinks, acting a little too casual about it, but Mage noticed her and called. "You're off Hetty."

Hetty scowled and untied her apron, tossing it on the counter. "Two ales and a water." Hetty said, casting a glance at the newcomers. "Oh and Mindallin, I saw him first."

I laughed halfheartedly. "Right. Have fun with what's his name."

She looked at me more carefully and apparently didn't like what she saw. "Mindle?" She said her hands on her hips.

Though I would never dream of even trying to have a conversation with the stranger, I couldn't resist heckling Hetty a bit. "All's fair in love and war."

Hetty frowned, turned and headed for the door. "Put up the closed sign would you?" I teased.

.

Mage startled me when she came up behind me. "I'm going to get Auron. Thanks for staying." She hugged me and bustled off to find her husband. My heart thudded as I made my way over to my new table with the drinks. I could see the three men were huddled in conversation; the elf, a dark haired man and an older gray bearded one with a strange hat.

I carefully avoided making eye contact with any of them as I set the drinks down in the center of the table. I wasn't sure who had ordered what specifically but I guessed the water to be the elf's and set them down accordingly.

"Ah some refreshment." The older man said pleasantly. "And what else do we have on the menu for tonight. I'm quite hungry it seems." Now all three men looked at me expectantly, but I was only brave enough to make eye contact with the speaker. He had a friendly demeanor it was easy to like.

"Auron set aside some special dishes for you. He said you were a fan of Mage's stew?"

"He was correct!" The man chuckled as if at a memory. "And some bread perhaps."

I nodded. "Of coarse."

"Bring out that platter I made as well, with the cheese and fruits." Auron had come thru a back door and was shrugging his cloak off, Mage right behind him. "And some wine for the lads Mindle!" He added. I hastily set off after the food as Auron and Mage exchanged pleasantries.

I sliced some bread and laid it in a basket and collected the platter Auron had made before heading back into the main room. Auron was introducing his friends to his wife. "Strider you have heard of. I've told you so many stories about him." I heard him say. "This is Gandalf…a wizard of the Istari. It has been to long Gandalf!"

"So it has!" Agreed the wizard, reaching for cheese off my tray as soon as I set it down. "So it has."

Strider gestured to Legolas. "I know you have not met my friend here, but know that I trust him with my life. What we say here is safe in this group."

Auron nodded to the elf. "I am honored to meet any friend of Striders."

"I am Legolas, of Mirkwood." The elf's voice was smooth, calming. Each word pronounced perfectly.

"Thranduil's domain." Auron said thoughtfully.

"He is my kin."

Gangalf smiled kindly at the elf, "His father." He confirmed.

Auron seemed impressed now. "Indeed. What brings the Prince of Mirkwood out of his domain in these times?"

I turned to go back for the stew, as curious as I was I didn't want to stand around and make it obvious that I was listening in. A Prince too. Why did it make perfect sense that the one man who would catch my eye would be a handsome elven Prince. It was rare enough to get to see an elf at all. I smiled, laughing inside at the irony of it all.

I finished serving the meal, refilled the drinks, this time with wine, and went about cleaning up. Making sure to keep my mind only on my work. Before long Mage dismissed me, we said our goodnights and I slipped out the back door.

The next afternoon all thoughts of the night before were pushed aside as I tended the vegetables behind the Inn. There had been little rain and the leafy plants were beginning to look wilted and sick despite my daily trips back and forth to the well, I looked at the bucket and sighed.

Hoof beats snapped me out of my despair and I looked up from my crouched position to see a lone rider galloping along the road on a fancy gray stallion. He slowed as he neared the barn and I recognized him immediately. The elf prince.

I couldn't help but stair at the pair as they passed the garden. The elf sat perfectly in the saddle, his face relaxed, his long cloak flowing over the horse's back. His horse pranced and snorted, white mane and tail flying everywhere. I had seen such a horse once before. I also realized the horse had not been in the barn this morning when I tended the others.

Perhaps the Prince had not stayed the night as I had assumed.

I stood as he got to me and bowed slightly out of courtesy and received a regal nod in reward. I was watching them ride away to the barn entrance when I saw the elf glance back, a curious and almost disturbed expression on his face.

I turned back to my work, I wasn't sure what I had done to earn that look, but I was sure staring at his backside wasn't going to help. I was feeling hot and tired and I still had many things to do before helping to serve dinner at the Inn. I grabbed the bucket and leaned down to open the small garden gate and when I looked back up the elf stood before me, his cloak on his arm. I gasped surprised, embarrassing myself, and started hoping I didn't have dirt smeared on my face or clothes. Especially since everything about his appearance was, well, perfect.

"There is no need," He said in his smooth soft voice, looking down at my bucket. "I feel a change in the weather."

I ripped my eyes away from his face and looked at the cloudless sky with doubt. When I looked back he smiled at me and my heart skipped a few beats.

"If the lady will not take my council, perhaps she would allow my aid."

I set the bucket down wordlessly and he smiled again. "I am Legolas Greenleaf." He said extending his arm to me. "I do not believe we were introduced properly."

"Mindallin Tole." I managed to get out, extending my arm but not sure what I was supposed to do. He hesitated and seemed slightly taken aback by my name as if he had been expecting another. He wrapped his hand around my arm just under my elbow, so my hand was in the same spot on his arm and I followed suit. An Elvish handshake perhaps, but his hand on my sleeve made me tingle all over. He looked at me seriously for a moment as if trying to look thru me.

"I feel you are known to me, though we have never met." He said quietly. "Have you traveled to the great forests?"

"I have never left this town my lord." I replied.

He released my arm looking disappointed. He bowed his head to me again. "I am mistaken then, good day Lady."

Before I could return any pleasantries he was gone.

I made a point to get to work early, just to set Hetty straight that it was, in fact possible. As luck would have it I beat her. It was no surprise that she wanted to talk about the elf to me since she had left shortly after he arrived.

"What did he talk about? What was he like?" She asked me excitedly as she scrubbed a large pot.

I shook my head, more annoyed than I wanted to let on. "He didn't say much to anyone last night." I said grabbing a towel. "And I wasn't exactly listening in." I had no intention of telling her about this afternoon in the garden.

She sighed in disappointment.

"Ok, I know his name is Legolas and he is from Mirkwood." I blurted out to try to appease her.

"That's it?" She wasn't any happier.

I shrugged, "You told me to stay away from him didn't you?"

"Even you must think he's a looker and make no mistake." She said dramatically, while handing me the pot to dry.

I paused and couldn't help but picture the elf's face. "He is…I cant find the word. Beautiful doesn't sound right, but that's what he is." I snapped out of it and found Hetty staring at me, her eyes narrowed.

"Well I never thought I would here that from you." She laughed. "Doesn't matter anyway, Mage would stew us for talking like this."

I smiled. "Most definitely."

I agreed that Hetty could wait on our guests should they come to dinner tonight and she wasn't disappointed when they arrived just before closing time again. What did surprise her was, when upon entering, Legolas nodded to me and greeted me as "Lady Mindallin."

For once I was glad I had a rowdy table across the room and I set out to speak with the men about our closing time.

Hetty didn't say a word to me for a while after that. She kept trying to engage the visitors in frivolous conversation instead. Finally Mage had to take her aside and ask her to serve quietly. I stole several glances at the table myself, and once I caught the elf looking at me with that curious confused expression again. It was rather unnerving and I could only assume he might in fact suspect my mixed heritage.

"Be a good Lass and bring us more ale!" The rowdy table had finished eating but still had made no move to clear out.

I sighed. "I think you have had enough Tarvish." The man was a regular, and he regularly drank too much and had to be escorted out by Auron himself. I went over and started collecting their plates and glasses. "Well then." He said patting his lap, "Come and sit for a spell, it wont take long." He and his friends laughed suggestively.

That's when things turned into a blur. As I turned away from the men, I made eye contact with Hetty and she took off to get Auron. Then I felt a hand grab at my bottom, and I was pulled back towards the table by my own skirt. A flurry of motion happened around me then. I saw in slow motion Auron come through the back door, Mage scowled and grabbed a big wooden ladle and then a blur of movement to my left, followed by a thud, and then silence. I was free and I turned around to see what had happened. Right there, his handsome features marred by anger, stooped Legolas. He loomed above Tarvish pinning him with steely eyes. His voice was still smooth and calm, but louder and foreboding when he said, "If you ever touch her again, I will gut you where you sit." His hand firmly held the hilt of a scimitar, the scimitar that had apparently plunged though the sleeve of my assailant's jacket and into the table, pinning him in place, the blade millimeters from his arm.

Legolas pulled the blade from the table, giving a last warning look at the men, and stalked away, exiting the Inn altogether.

The room fell completely silent again. Mage and Auron, Hetty behind him, were frozen. Legolas's friend Aragorn, half out of his seat, slowly lowered himself back down. Only Gandalf sat calmly smoking his pipe, an amused expression on his face.

Auron ushered the shocked locals out, despite their drunken apologies, and closed the door hard behind them. Then he looked up at me. "You ok Mindle?"

I think that was the moment I started breathing again. It wasn't that unusual for traveling customers to get out of line after a few meads, but for the most part it was pretty safe at the Inn because Auron's mysterious reputation was known throughout the small town. Tarvish was just a bad egg that kept coming back, though he had never before gotten as brave as he had tonight.

Auron looked to Gandalf. "You must thank your friend for me."

The wizard puffed smoke above the table and chuckled. "Of coarse, of coarse."

Mage and Hetty cornered me behind the bar as I removed my apron. Mage was quiet, just watching me get ready to leave. Hetty started giggling and said, "He saved ya! I wish I had taken Tarvish's table now!" We had actually been taking turns when he came in lately, and ironically it had been Hetty's turn, but she also wanted a turn waiting on Auron's friends so I had stepped in for her.

Mage scowled at the girl. "Hetty, are ya a few drinks short in yer barrel?"

I agreed with Mage. "It was embarrassing to say the least."

Hetty shook her head disagreeing, "Now you have a reason to talk to him."

I said nothing, and I think that made both women more suspicious.

"No one will be talking with that him if their smart, your both knowing elf men cant be trusted." Mage admonished.

Hetty laughed. "I do hope your right!"

Mage shooed her off. "Go see if our friends need anything else, you're still on duty."

She then hugged me and asked again if I was ok, and I really was. It had all happened so fast I never thought I was in danger.

I headed to the door and Mage followed. "Don't let him fool ya with his fair face, elves can cast terrible spells on women they want." She said in my ear. "And keep your hair down."

I shrugged her hands off my shoulders. "We don't even know each other, so don't worry, and there's no way he wants me. "

She looked skeptical. "I don't know, I noticed him noticing you."

I sighed. "I think he knows, he just seems curious to me."

Mage smiled at me, "I'm sure he does, you're a sight prettier than most mere mortals love."

I rolled my eyes and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight mum." I had not walked two steps outside the building when a flash of lightning lit up the town, startling me. Before I could walk another step the rain came, hard rain, the kind that soaks through your layers of clothes in seconds. I stopped and smiled to myself thinking about Legolas's prediction. I lifted my face and let the water hit me for a few moments. Some of the lights in the nearby buildings came on despite the late hour and I heard a few doors creak open, it hadn't rained in so long and many of the farmers would be celebrating tomorrow. Then as I turned to head towards the barn, I saw him. Standing in the darkness, looking non the worse for the weather stood Legolas. He looked up at the sky and back at me and smiled.

Then he turned and disappeared into the darkness.