\ 1Title and chapter: The Ties That Bind 1/?

(July 30, 2005)

Author(s): Lynn Smith

Beta(s): Jamie

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: Not mine, all J.R.R's , no money just for fun. Thaladir, however belongs to Mary and Mal and is used with their permission. Many thanks to them. Margret, Mawdelyn and Laquetta was created by Mary.

Warning: none so far.

Pairing/Cast: Legolas/OFC, Thranduil/OFC, Thaladir, Haldir, OFC

Time line: After ROTK, AU

Summary: The Elvenking takes Laquetta and her friends to his realm to learn about elvish life, but she ends up learning more.

Authors' note:

Chapter 1

The hot sun beamed down as sweat trickled from Laquetta's brow while she diligently scrubbed the clothes on the tin scrub board that sat in the large tub in the common laundry yard. She felt sweat dripping from her dusky-skinned thighs under her heavy dress. After standing straight, she looked around and made sure that no one was watching when she finally reached up under her blue dress, which was overlapped with a white linen apron, to brush away the irritating drops that trickled along her hot skin.

As she was pulling her dress down, her friend, Margret, a fellow washerwoman, who lived and worked with Laquetta under the supervision of Mawdelyn, after being recruited to work for the new King in the royal laundry, approached her by the side of the house.

"There you are," she said with relief, "I just heard some exciting news." Her eyes sparkled in a lively fashion. Not waiting for Laquetta to answer, she went on. "I overheard one of the royal servants in a conversation about an exchange being made. There will be elves coming to Gondor to help the White City and any willing men and maidens from Minas Tirith are being offered the chance to stay in Mirkwood for a while to learn how the elves live. Anyone with a skill, like washerwomen, would be welcomed and the new king of Gondor wants us all to learn more from the elves. So what do you think about this good news?"

Laquetta sighed, rolling her eyes. The 'good news' was to move from Minas Tirith, her home, to Mirkwood, formally known as Greenwood the Great. As she considered her answer, she began wringing out the wet clothes, which she threw into a large empty tin tub. They were ready to hang dry on the clothes line. She pursed her lips together before speaking.

She kept to herself that she had already learned about the exchange of elves with any willing citizens of the city. The King of the Greenleaves, Thranduil, had presented the proposition when he came to Gondor for King Aragon's coronation. But she really had not given the offer any more thought after that day. It seemed like it had been a dream, but Margret's words brought it back to her mind.

Legolas, the Elvenking's son, had approached the three women, Laquetta, Margret, and Mawdelyn, during the celebration and had remarked his admiration of their beauty. They belonged to an elite group who is now in service to the new king after being in service to the former Steward of Gondor. He introduced them to his father, who she barely remembered because at the time she was too busy bowing and trying not to stare at the elves. It was only later that she learned about the exchange offer, but she had never felt tempted to leave her home.

Laquetta frowned now at the remembrance. "I don't want to leave my home, if that is what you want to know, and I won't give it any more thought," she said softly. "The answer is no."

"And why not?" Margret asked with a hand on her hips.

Laquetta raised an eyebrow and looked straight into Margret's eyes as she retied the red ribbon that held her curly dark hair away from her face. "Because," she answered, "if I wanted to be a courtesan, which I do not, then I would have put in work at a brothel. I refuse to be one for an Elvenking," she said with distaste.

Margret narrowed her eyes. "It's maidens, not courtesans," she corrected. "Unmarried women or maybe just the ones that don't have children, I think."

Laquetta shrugged. She was no dummy and Margret could cover up courtesan or prostitute with any word that she wanted to. "Call it what you will. It all boils down to the same thing and I know better, besides you know how I feel about such things," she said, turning back to her duties.

"Oh yes, most definitely. Marriage before pleasure," Margret remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Laquetta sighed in exasperation. "I have told you how I was raised, Marriage is honorable and I am not about to lose my honor for what? Ten minutes of feeling good?" She snorted and then went on, "honey, if you are that hot in the britches then you need to jump in a tub of cold water."

"Oh boy," Margret mumbled, misery etched across her face. She looked sorry now that she ever mentioned about the offer, let alone inquired about why Laquetta wouldn't give anymore thought to it. Now here she stood, obviously not happy about having to listen to another lecture about sex and marriage, and not trying very hard to hide her true feelings.

"Why, Laquetta," she interrupted, "what do you know about such things? You are only a virgin," she jeered, with her face contorted in a sneer as she spoke.

Laquetta winced as if she had been slapped. If only Margret knew just how much her words hurt she would not say such things. Margret who loved to flirt with men more than she should, was always picking at her for her beliefs about keeping herself pure before she married.

"Leave her be," a stern voice injected. It was Mawdelyn, another friend, and the Royal Chief Washerwoman, who always came to Laquetta's rescue every time Margret felt the need to belittle her opinions, especially about sex before marriage.

"Why?" Margret whined. "I mean come on... the 'virgin goddess' here is so well versed in the marriage versus premarital sex realm that I just have to know more," she continued haughtily.

"Margret, I said leave her be," Mawdelyn demanded.

"But Mawd..."

"Now!" Mawd hissed sharply, "go fetch some more hot water for the wash tubs and be useful for a change; I want to talk to Laquetta alone."

Margret's mouth opened and then closed. She turned and walked away, leaving the two women alone.

Mawdelyn shook her head and then smiled. Her friendly, sparkling green eyes were a welcome sight and Laquetta found herself smiling back. Mawd, that is what they called Mawdelyn for short, was tall. Instead of wearing her hair up or back, as the other washerwomen usually did, she let her shining blond tresses lay loose on her shoulders and down her back, which accented her figure and made her seem truly like a goddess, at least to Laquetta.

There was awkward silence before either spoke. Laquetta turned back to her duties. She had to get the clothes dry, ironed, and returned to her customers by the following morning and then she would start again. That is how she made her living, working as a laundry woman for the royal court. She had been doing this since she was twelve years old, along with her grandmother who taught her everything she knew. Over the years, she managed to save quite a bit of money. She was not poor, thank Eru, but always helped those that were in need and less fortunate then she was.

"Dear Laquetta," Mawd said quietly, "I am sorry about Margret's behavior. She tends to get a little too excited at times."

Laquetta paused what she was doing for a second and then continued. "Don't worry about me," she said. Mawd frowned as if she could hear the hurt in her friend's voice. "What Margret says to me never ceases to amaze me. I am not going to let her get me down because she wants to have fun. I don't care if she does, but I wish that she would leave me out of it," she sighed.

"She means well," Mawd said. "She just has strange ideas about how others should live."

Laquetta nodded her head. "I know," she replied. Another awkward silence, she furrowed her brow and wondered why Mawd had not started working. Finally she had to ask, "Is something wrong?"

The question brought Mawd away from whatever her mind was wrestling with. "Eh...yeah...no," She said, as if distracted. "Um...well...I have someone that would very much like to speak with you," she finally said after stuttering for a few seconds.

Laquetta squinted her eyes, suspicious. "I hope you are not trying to fix me up too..."

"No, no," Mawd said quickly. "Someone just wants to talk to you, that is all."

Suddenly a tall figure gracefully approached to stand beside Mawd. Laquetta looked on in awe at the man...better yet, elf, that stood before her. "You remember King Thranduil, from the Greenleaves realm," Mawd reminded.

"Why, certainly," Laquetta said while bowing before him. He was beyond anything that words could describe. The elvenking was tall, hovering over six feet, with beautiful, silky blond hair and piercing green eyes, and he wore a bronze tunic defining the shape of his muscular chest through the glittering satin fabric.

The elvenking took Laquetta's hand into his and kissed it before speaking, "Lu veren aderthad vin."

"He said, our reunion is a joyous occasion," Mawd interpreted for she knew the language well and once had spent time in Rivendell prior to her husband's death. Laquetta shook silently on the inside for she was nervous before the monarch elf.

"It is an honor to meet you again, likewise," she said.

"Hiril vorn vain nin," he continued.

"My dark fair lady," Mawd interpreted again. It took a moment to sink in that he had given Laquetta a compliment on her features.

"You are too generous with your words," she said bashfully. Laquetta was warily flattered by his kind words as she always believed that she was ordinary looking. At the most, she would admit that she had a nice tone to her smooth ebony skin, instead of being scarred or pitted by pox, and that her long lashes brought out her dark brown eyes, because she had been told that often enough. Her hair, however, was pinned up messily on top of her head. And next to Mawd, she wished she were taller and more statuesque. Not knowing what else to say, she bowed her head again.

"Ah...there is no need to be bashful. For the words that I speak are true of you," Thranduil replied, not taking his gaze away from Laquetta. She was surprised to hear him speak Westron and grateful that he could, it was much better to be able to understand him. After a moment, Laquetta realized that he was still holding her hand, so she slowly slid hers from under his large one.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked, almost forgetting her manners.

"No thank you. I will be leaving shortly. I wanted to know your answer concerning my offer. I already have Margret and Mawdelyn's answers, in which I am glad that they have agreed," he said, while squinting his eyes into the distance.

Laquetta inhaled and then exhaled aloud, and then turned to resume her task. "Yes, I heard of the offer and you have to understand that I am not familiar with your customs. I have my beliefs and I don't know if I could do that...maiden thing," she said, although she sounded unsure even to her own ears. She glanced at the king again.

Thranduil's eyes met Laquetta's and a slow smile crept from the corners of his mouth and spread over his handsome face. "They said that it would be hard to convince you, but you know they will not leave without you." A pause. "I know of the work that you do," he continued, "and it is my concern to make sure that you live in comfort."

After breaking the stare and returning her attention to the laundry tub, Laquetta informed the king that she was comfortable with her living situation and that she managed to save up quite a bit in her life time. Of course, he found this amusing.

"Ah," he chuckled. "And how long do you think that your life savings will last?" She said nothing as he spoke but she was only pretending to work now. "With me at least you will have plenty and not have to worry about scraping for a living. Let alone doing other peoples' laundry to earn your keep while you dwell within my halls," he said smoothly.

Now he was sounding like Margret, and Laquetta wondered if her big-mouthed friend and Thranduil had been talking behind her back, and if so what had they been saying. She wondered just how much the elvenking knew about her. Did he know that she was a virgin? She stood up straight and turned around to see him smiling.

Without meaning to, Laquetta smiled slightly in return and then frowned. What he said about life savings and how long would it last really made her think. Will it be enough for years to come? If she was to have children would it be enough for them and her grandchildren? She was always looking ahead into the future.

She pondered deeply for a few seconds. "Excuse me, my lord, but I was told differently. I was told that I was being sent to Mirkwood to do laundry."

Upon hearing this tidbit of news, Thranduil laughed and then shook his head. "You are mistaken, the visit is to learn more about each other's ways and no one would be force to labor for food," he explained further, and then apologized for the mixed message.

"I see," Laquetta said curtly, feeling indignation at her friend's ill attempt to be the bearer of good news. She made a mental note to deal with Margret and her scheming nature. She cleared her throat. "My lord, how are we to make a living if we do not work?" She asked skeptical about the whole exchange thing, "and if I decide to go, what task would be lined up for me?"

Thranduil studied her before answering her questions. She appeared to be suspicious about learning each other's ways. "Do not fear. Everything will be explained upon your arrival. Everything is well taken care of. You will earn your keep, but like I said, you will not be forced to labor. What task you receive is solely up to you. If you are not satisfied with the one that is given, then you can request for another field of work where you are most comfortable with," he said, and then, "Will that suffice?"

"Oh," Laquetta stammered, trying to find the right words. "I suppose that will suffice, my lord," she shrugged. There was a moment of silence, the only thing that could be heard was the chirping of birds.

"Laquetta?" Margret said breaking the silence. She had not heard her friend return and wondered how long she had been standing there, listening to the conversation, after being told to go back inside the house.

"If you have come to badger me and mock me..."

"No. You seem to be thinking deeply about some thing," Margret said. "I did not come to mock you."

Laquetta put a hand to her temple where a pain suddenly crept in and she began to rub it. "I am sorry," she replied wearily.

"Here," Thranduil offered, moving toward her. He positioned himself in back of her and began to rub her temple. It felt good as his hands made circular motions. She felt a tingling sensation from the crown of her head and felt instantly well enough to sing out loud, but refrained. "Maybe you should give it a try for at least a month and if you do not like it then you can always return home," he advised.

He kept massaging Laquetta's head until all of her pent-up tension finally relaxed. "Ah...much better," he said resting his hands on her shoulders. She turned to look at him. "When do we leave?" She asked, as a squeal from Margret was heard. Now she was curious about learning the ways of the elves and also about Mirkwood.