Aerana continued to walk towards her rooms as her heart grew heavy. She had been with Legolas since they were teenagers, both only a few hundred years old. Now he was gone and she didn't know what to do without him. "Curse Frodo!" she thought, anguish and anger leaking into her thoughts. "Curse that damn ring!"
Closing the door behind her, she felt the tears stream down her face. She did not bother to wipe them, they would end soon enough. "A warrior must always be strong." Her mother had always told her. "Never let your opponents see your weakness."
Loving Legolas had made her grow soft. Aerana shook her head mournfully. Who knew if she was ever going to see him again? Gandalf had told her the Fellowship's fate was uncertain, but she could only hope she was meant to see him again in this life.
As she lay down on her bed she curled into a ball. Again her mind flashed back in time, to when Legolas first "re-met" her.
That was her. Legolas realized as he entered the great hall. Aerana, the elf-woman from the woods. She was even more beautiful dressed in formalwear than she was in her hunting outfit. But she looked so solemn and cross in this setting. In the woods she had looked care-free and mischievous.
"That's her isn't it?" asked Legolas' friend Marothorn. "The girl from the woods?"
Legolas nodded. *She doesn't look happy.*
*Of course she doesn't look happy; she stuck here dressed in these fancy clothes. I can't stand getting dressed up* Marothron sighed in disgust. *And by the looks of it she can't either.*
Legolas smiled at his friend's brazenness. Getting dressed up was an Elvin tradition when there were guests. Neither of the boys had ever gotten used to it. Legolas looked around tried to catch Aerana's eye. It didn't work because she was looking down at her shuffling feet.
"Legolas! Come over here please!" Lady Sharona called softly from across the room. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."
Legolas walked over, keeping hidden the smug grin on his face. *Hello again* he thought to Aerana.
She looked at him blankly and then a spark of recognition flashed in her eyes. *You're the lousy hunter from the woods!*
*Not so lousy anymore thanks to your advice.* Legolas made a slight nod in her direction, and then turned to Lady Sharona. "Yes ma'am?"
"Legolas, this is Lady Lenora, Huntress of the Night, and her young daughter Aerana." Legolas bowed as each name was said. He found it hard to believe that Lenora was even remotely related to the mischievous creature he had met in the woods.
Where Aerana seemed to glow with her personality and vibrancy shining through, Lenora was darkness, still and deadly. Her long black hair and piercing brown eyes were darkness personified. Lenora's features were small, pointed and angled, where Aerana's were gentle. Both had the body of a huntress, but Lenora was a bit older, more mature whereas Aerana had the easiness of youth.
"It is good to meet you both. Your reputations as fabulous huntresses precede you" Legolas said.
"One cannot believe everything one hears." Lenora said in a hoarse deep voice. "But thank you all the same."
"Will you be staying in Copice very long?" Legolas enquired.
"Only as long as it takes to find my Aerana a life-mate." Lenora gestured to her daughter, who quickly looked at the ground. "There are plenty of aristocrats here; hopefully one of them will be able to tame my daughter's wild spirit."
Legolas was shocked. This girl was to be given to whoever was most likely to tame her? How horrible! Speechless, he conveyed his shock to Aerana through thought. His displeasure at seeing the light flicker out of her eyes when her mother mentioned marriage. His hope that she would never be tamed. His desire to see her again in a non-formal setting.
What he said to Lenora was completely the opposite. "Well there are many young men who would be pleased to tame your daughter m'lady. She would be quite a challenge."
Lenora nodded her approval at his statement while Aerana glared at him. *I'll give you a challenge.*
Legolas looked her in the eyes and thought clear as day, *I look forward to it.*
