Hey all, Happy Holidays! Hears the next chapter hope you like it...And as always don't forget to let me know what you think!

Special thanks to my betas Kristall and Smile Life Away. They are fabulous!

To my Anonymous reviewer, not to worry this story is completed, just posting as I get it back from my betas. So more to come :)

Chapter 2

Liana woke to a dark room. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, unwilling to conform to the darkness. She found that she was unable to clear her vision, and it was a struggle to keep her eyes open and focused. Her body ached all over, and she shuddered at the thought of moving. She surveyed her surroundings as best as she could she quickly realized that she was in a bed and more to the point a bedroom. From the safer of the covers she saw that he design was elven - delicate in every form. There was an elaborate archway dividing the room and the bathroom and another one to the balcony, vaulted ceilings, soft silk fabrics on the bed, leaf and vine carvings into the bed posts and furniture. She silently took a mental note of the balcony off to the right. It would not be hard to make an escape from there. The room was large, but still in many ways felt like a cage. There were two large wooden chairs in front of the fire and another one next to her bed. Her eyes fell on the flames in the fire place, and the way they made light dance around the room. It was dusk , not quite evening, but the sun had already set for the night leaving long pink and purple fingers of color stretching across the sky.

"Amin lle ier eller." I know you are there she said into the darkness, her voice shaking. Fighting to keep her eyes open, she focused what little eye sight she could onto one of the chairs sitting in front of the fire. A figure stood up and walked towards the foot of the bed. She knew it was him; she could sense that it was the same elf from before -the one from the woods.

"Sut ier lle sina lome?" How are you faring this evening, he asked as he stepped into the light cast by the fire at the foot of her bed.

Blinking her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision, she said nothing in response to his question, and instead only turned her head back towards the balcony, back towards freedom. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she gazed out into the night sky. "You cannot keep me here," she said without looking at the elf.

He moved closer to her, and took a seat in the chair that was just off to the side of the bed. "My lady, we have no intention of keeping you here against your will, you are free to go when you are able. We are not here to harm you." He smiled at her in an attempt to calm her obvious fears.

Liana turned her head, and brought her eyes to meet his in an intense gaze. Was it not your warriors that also attacked me in the woods, further causing harm to me, she thought as her eyes narrowed and her hand crept over to the wound on her side, the wound that caused her the most pain.

"What happened in the woods was not my intention; my men were simply trying to protect me and only acted because they thought my life was in danger. They saw something they were unprepared for and reacted," he said simply, as if reading her mind.

She blinked through her blurred vision, remembering that she was the one that had gotten him on his knees and at sword point. "If you do not intend to keep me here against my will then why is it that you have thought it necessary to drug me? It will not work on me for long, I will overcome it," she said changing the subject back to him.

He leaned forward, bringing his face into view, and as he spoke to her she took in his features. He was dressed in a simple light grey tunic. He had long blond hair that had a single braid down the back and icy blue eyes. For a moment, she thought he might see into her soul if she let him. He reached to take her hand in his, only to have her jerk it away from him rather abruptly.

"Do not touch me." She warned with a low hiss.

Legolas had suspected that she did not like to be touched. When he had walked towards her bed, she had shifted back in the bed slightly, and when he'd sat down next to the bed she'd shifted away from him again. She had done both effortlessly and seemingly without pain that he thought she might be doing it without realizing it. That moving away from people came naturally to her.

"We simply gave you something to ease you and bring you peace; it's meant to keep you relaxed so that you will not do something rash while you heal," he said with a cool and composed face as he sat back in the chair while taking in her appearance.

Now that she appeared to be a mortal she was quite different looking. She had long blond hair that curled at the ends - no longer red and white. Her skin was still a pale color, but he was sure that was from the fever and sweating induced by the Orcs' poison. Her eyes had faded to almost a brown color, and from what he saw, she was every bit a mortal woman.

Liana turned her head towards the door a few moments before there was a light knocking. Legolas acknowledged the knocking as a tall elf walked in. This elf had long black hair with braids from each of his temples wrapping around to one braid down the back. He was in grey robes with elaborate white trim around the arms, and he seemed to flow into the room. She blinked again as her vision started to clear - the heaviness starting to lift. Finally my body is building up immunity to this drug's effect, she thought to herself as he came more into focus. That's when she realized she had seen this elf before. This elf she knew.

"My lord," she said as she tipped her head down. Lord Elrond looked at her for a moment in an attempt to place her face. Liana smiled slightly. She knew when the two of them had met; she had looked much different then.

"My apologies, my lady, but I cannot place your face. Where is it that we have met?"

Putting the pieces together, Liana figured out she must be in Rivendell, she had been here before. A small part of her began to relax. Even though she did not trust the elves, she knew, for now, that she was safe.

"My lord, I apologize. It has been many years since we last met; it was a different time then."

Legolas watched as her demeanor changed. Something about seeing Lord Elrond had changed her; she wasn't distant and distracted. She did not shy away from his presence as much, and the fear she held in her eyes seemed to diminish.

Lord Elrond stared at her for a bit. "I am sorry but I still cannot place where I would have met you," he said in response a puzzled look on his face.

Liana smiled. "It is all right; it was many years ago and only in passing as you were leaving my masters. At the time," she added, "My master and I came to Rivendell for a council meeting long ago." She shyly smiled at him waiting for him to connect the dots.

"Who is your master?" he questioned, still confused on what council meeting she was speaking of. Council meetings were often held in secret and those that were not at them rarely new of them.

"Saruman." Liana let her eyes shift back into their amber color with the hope that he might recognize her by them. She took a chance saying that name here in Rivendell where the fellowship had been formed. She knew Saruman was no friend of the elves after he'd turned, and even though he was long dead many of the elves still refused to speak his name.

Legolas gripped the edge of his chair causing his knuckles to turn white. He shifted uncomfortably while Lord Elrond clearly became lost in his thoughts as he was trying to place her eyes. Legolas took a deep breath trying to calm himself. So many had fallen because of that wizard, and he couldn't help but feel anger rise within him.

Legolas was the first to speak, adjusting in his chair he leaned in. "Because of Saruman, thousands of innocent people lost their lives meaninglessly. Because of him the tides were turned against us. I saw families suffer and lost friends very dear to me because of him. How could you allow yourself to be in his company?" His words trailed off as he tried to calm the anger bubbling inside. He thought it best to leave before he berated her any further about her master's betrayal. Lifting himself out of the chair, he made his way towards the door.

Legolas made it half way when he was suddenly and quite unexpectedly brought down hard to the floor. Liana had his body pinned underneath hers as she bore her teeth at him growling. Legolas suddenly wondered if this was what prey felt like. He took note that somewhere between the bed and the floor she has shifted into her other form and was now looking quite different and not nearly as defenseless and scared.

Now she was angry.

Lord Elrond stood off the side, not wanting to provoke either one into doing something stupid. Liana had Legolas pinned underneath her with a clawed hand around his neck. Legolas had managed to pull a hidden dagger out instinctively before she pinned him to the floor, and it was resting loosely against her throat. Liana noted that wherever he had concealed this blade was unnoticeable and well hidden. She had failed to see it earlier. Had she seen it before, it would have been the first thing she went for as she brought him to the floor.

"Listen to me elf, and listen well." Liana began - bringing her face just inches from his. "Do not think you are the only one that lost people you cared for at the hands of that wizard. I owed a debt to him, to which I held true. Nothing more. I left his services after I paid off my debt and before the evil of Sauron took him." Legolas looked up at her. He had never before been caught off guard and put into such a compromised position, and he was completely at a loss for words. He knew if he said anything she disliked things might not end well for either of them, she was in a position to do a great deal of damage to him.

He noticed she was breathing heavy, and in her eyes there was anger, so much burning anger, and sorrow. Though she hid it well. He could see she was lonely and hurting, but it was hidden behind the anger - the anger he had brought out. There was also pain. Although she showed no signs of it in her face, he knew that the act of over powering him and shifting forms must have been incredibly painful and she was doing everything in her power to not show it and to hold her form.

He shifted underneath her causing her to tighten her grip on him, which in return made him angle his blade differently in an attempt to remind her that it was there. Unfazed by his blade, she brought her face down lower to his.

"Do not think you are the only one still hurting, elf." This action caused the edge of Legolas's blade to slightly slide through the skin of her neck.

Liana could feel the warmth of blood as it trickled down her neck. She could see it in his eyes. He was regretting pulling his weapon and causing further harm to her. She could read in his eyes that there was something about him - something that almost calmed her. She thought if she stared into his eyes long enough he might be able to calm the anger swirling around within her, and maybe even calm her fears. His icy blue eyes told her everything about him. He was a warrior and perfectly capable of becoming violent if need, every move he made was calm and calculated one. But his eyes also told her he had a genital sole and would not cause her harm on purpose. For a split second she let her guard down. Pain washed over her, bringing her back into reality, and her body soon gave into it.

Liana fell motionless onto Legolas's chest, and once again shifted back into the mortal form.

Hope y'all enjoyed it...let me know what you think so far... :)... Happy Holidays!

Namárië, Hantanyel órenyallo