When Legolas woke up the next morning, he had the feeling that something was going to happen that day. He didn't know why, but he knew it! He jumped out of bed and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. His father was already there eating his. "Eat quickly and get dressed!" he said when he saw Legolas who was still in his nightclothes. "Yes Ada!" said Legolas and rolled his eyes at him.
He got something to eat and ignored the mug of milk his father gave him. "A mug of milk a day makes a great archer!" the king liked to say to his son. Legolas always rolled his eyes at him when he did. He pushed the mug away.
"You have your archery exams soon! You need your vitamins!" his father said and pushed it back to him.
"No," said Legolas pushing it away again "I don't!" His father gave up and just left the mug where it was.
Legolas had his breakfast and then went to brush his hair. He stood in front of his mirror, picked up his comb and started combing. Brushing his hair took him about half an hour. There was a lot of it and after the brushing he had to do the braiding which took another half hour. He had started doing his hair alone about three years ago. Until then he always got his father do it. But after so many years, he decided that Legolas had to learn to do his hair so he taught him how to do it on his own. "In a few years, after some practise, it will take much less time!" Legolas thought as he did one braid.
When he finished, he took off his nightclothes and put on his favourite outfit. He pulled on his boots, took his bow and quiver and left the room, planning to go and practise his target. His father stopped him before he even got to the door of his bedroom.
"Go brush your teeth!" he told him.
"But I have to work on my target!" complained Legolas "It still isn't perfect! I'll never pass my exams like this!"
His dad took the bow away from him. "You're not going anywhere today! You need to stay here!" he said. Legolas put his quiver down and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
"Not in a good mood today My lord?" he heard a voice behind him.
He turned around to see Míreth, one of the servants. "Not really Míreth!"
Legolas answered to her.
"Why would that be?" Míreth asked him.
"Well," Legolas answered "Ada is acting a bit weird today! He didn't let me go to practise my target, which is terrible by the way, and he's all fussy about me looking good!"
"I heard somewhere that the king is expecting newcomers today!" Míreth told him.
"Newcomers? In Mirkwood?" said Legolas surprised "It's been years since someone moved here!"
"I know!" said Míreth "So it must be important! I'm not sure if it's true, but this is what I heard. The king is anxious to see if they will stay and he wants everything to be perfect today!"
"If Ada is so anxious," said Legolas "then it must be important!"
"So, try not to worry him much today!" Míreth advised him.
"You're right Míreth!" Legolas agreed "I'll try to keep out of the way." Míreth smiled at him and walked away. 'And I was thinking of stealing Ada's crown today!' thought Legolas.
He brushed his teeth and went back to his room to practise his target there. He shot three arrows at his father's picture. He was fastening his fourth one when he heard the front door of the palace open. He ran to his window and peered outside. His father was walking across the garden towards a couple. They were both elves, with long red hair and grey eyes. They looked as if they had made a long journey. Legolas couldn't hear what they said, but his father was talking to them and at some point pointed to the palace and later to the house that was next to it. 'That's odd.' thought Legolas 'That house has been empty for years!' he could still remember when the owners left.
They were a couple. But one day, when the husband had gone for a short stroll in the forest he was attacked by a spider. After that, they both left Mirkwood frightened. 'Well what do you expect! Going to the forest armless' Legolas thought. But then, what pulled his gaze him was that his father wasn't wearing his crown! He must have taken it off some time and forgotten to put it back on. Forgetting both Míreth's and his own decision about not getting into anybody's way, he rushed to the throne room to steal the king's crown.
When he got there, he saw the crown sitting on the throne. He looked around to see if anyone was there and took hold of it. He was thinking of putting it on and imitating his dad for fun, but then he thought that someone might come and tell the king that he had taken the crown. So, holding it tightly, he ran out of the throne room and headed towards his hiding spot to hide it there. He was almost there, when, suddenly, he bumped into someone and they both fell to the ground. Legolas rubbed his head and caught the crown which was beginning to roll across the floor.
"Watch it will you?" he told the elf he had bumped into.
"Oh, so now it's my fault!" she complained "I was just looking around, minding my own business, when all of a sudden, you appear out of nowhere and run into me!"
"Hey, it was an accident!" Legolas yelled at her.
"Yeah sure!" the elf yelled at him "So you don't look where you go!"
"I do! But I don't expect to find a bunch of red hair around the corner!"
"So now it's my hair's fault?" the elf yelled shoving a tuft of her red hair in his face.
"Yeah because Mirkwood elves have blond hair and not your stupid red colour."
"My hair's colour is great!"
"No it's not, it's stupid!"
"Ugh, don't you have any manors?"
"Not in front of you!"
"Then you don't! Boys are supposed to be kind with ladies!"
"Oh sorry princess!" said Legolas sarcastically.
"Hey, don't tease me!" the elf said "I'll punch your face!"
"Try!" Legolas told her.
Unfortunately for him, the girl was serious about her threat and she leaped towards him about to punch him. He tried to fight back. In a few seconds they were both lying on the floor trying to hit each other and screaming. Legolas was pulling her hair, which made her scream even louder. She started pulling his too, and even pulled some out. Legolas was about to do the same to hers, when Argalad, another servant, ran into the corridor, where they were fighting, and pulled the girl away from Legolas.
"What's going on here?!" he said angrily. The girl pulled her sleeve up and put he hair back into place. Legolas got up and did the same to his hair. The few hairs the girl had pulled out were still in her hand. "This stupid girl attacked me!" Legolas told Argalad fastening his belt again. Argalad looked at the girl and at the scratch on her arm.
"And you fought back I guess." he said shooting a suspicious look to Legolas.
"Only because I had to!" Legolas protested.
"You were scared, admit it!" the girl teased him.
"Why would I be scared of a stupid and crazy girl?" Legolas teased her and poked his tongue out at her. She leaped to hit him again, but Argalad grabbed her from around the waist to stop her. Legolas poked his tongue out again. As Argalad tried to prevent any further violence, he saw the king's crown that was on the floor. "What is that doing there?" he asked. Legolas tried to think of something so that he wouldn't get the blame. "She took it!" he said pointing at the girl. She tried to free herself from Argalad but failed to. "I didn't!" she yelled "He did!" Argalad seemed to have gotten tired of them arguing. "My Lord Legolas, I will have to tell your father how you tried to steal the crown to prank him!" he told Legolas. "And you," he said turning towards the girl "go find your parents!" After saying that, he left, taking the crown with him.
"Wow, you are a way bigger looser than I thought you were! You can't even steal a crown without getting in trouble!" the girl told Legolas when he had disappeared. Legolas thought of hitting her again, but she ran off giggling. 'Stupid girl!' he thought picking up the blond hairs which she had let fall out of her hand.
It wasn't long until Legolas' father appeared. He was with the elf couple which he had seen outside the window. He had been showing them around Mirkwood. "Ah Legolas," he said when he saw him "I would like to introduce you to Groveren and his wife, Menel."
"You must be his majesty's son." said Menel to Legolas.
"Oh yes, he is!" his father said.
"How old is he?" Menel asked him.
"One thousand!" Legolas answered proudly.
"Just a hundred years younger than our elfling! How wonderful!" Menel said happily.
"Yes, wonderful indeed!" the king agreed "Groveren and Menel are our new neighbours," he told Legolas "They are moving into the house next door."
"Yes, us and our child!" said Groveren.
"Where is she by the way?" the king asked them.
"I don't know!" Menel said. She looked around. "I can't see anywhere!" she finally said "She must be wandering around somewhere."
"Why don't we continue looking around?" said the king. They were about to continue, when the door of a room opened and out came the girl Legolas had encountered. "Oh, there you are!" said Menel when she saw her. The girl ran to her and Menel put an arm around her shoulders. "Tauriel, this is Thranduil, the king of Mirkwood, and his son, the prince Legolas!" she told the girl "And this is our daughter Tauriel!" she told Legolas and his father. Both Legolas and Tauriel froze. They were going to be next door neighbours! But they couldn't even last two minutes in the same room! And that was proved again, after some seconds Tauriel looked as if she wanted to kill him. "I'm sure you're going to be great friends!" Menel said smiling at the two children. Legolas faked a smile. He had a feeling that his perfect life was about to end!
Uh oh, Legolas isn't very happy! But see, this chapter is longer than the last one. Review, I'd love to see what you think of the story so far ;)