Once the invitations were all said and done, Anya made her way to the rooms she would be staying in. it was a huge wing, the guest wing, where the king had wanted her to stay but Anya was not satisfied with the beauty and furniture. It was a very enclosed and did not have many windows to show off the outside. Being the girl she was, Anya decided to take action. She would ask around and find a place to stay out in the beautiful city in Mirkwood.
"Brilliant!" she stated, walking out the door and leaving for the city.
Unbeknown to Tatianya, a very angered Elf prince was having an angry conversation with his father.
"How can such a thing be allowed to stay in our domain?" Legolas walked with his father through the palace, trying to wrap his head around what th king was trying to accomplish.
"Oh come now," his father began, "I invited Gandalf's niece to study with us because she is to be his heir. You know in the past we have had some bad encounters and now I want to start off by having good relations with this girl. Therefore we can summon her if we are in need or have a dire situation. There was a time when Gandalf wouldn't help us Elves for anything. We had such a terrible relationship that we could not receive help from those we need. This time will be different. It is a good idea, no?" the King observed his son, he was normally graceful and content, his eyes though were filled with turmoil that the king did not understand. "Gandalf told me she will turn sixteen soon, a good age for marriage. I wonder if there is someone who can tame a being such as she." His hints were not unnoticed by his son.
"I do not care for her in the least, marriage will never be something that will bind either her or me together. Tatianya is a bother and a tease, I will not demote myself to someone of her level."
"You speak too harshly on someone you do not know well, Legolas. You loathed Aragon upon your first few encounters with him and now you are his most loyal companion."
"That is different." Legolas cut him off sharply, realizing his rudeness he bowed his head in apology.
"it is no different, the only difference is she is a girl who will live much longer then the average human. Why not be bound in holy matrimony to an Elf, another being who will live just as long as she will?"
"She will never be tamed, from the stories I have heard she is nothing but a trickster, bent on creating havoc in the middle of peace. Father, I tire if this conversation, may I take my leave?" the king nodded letting Legolas spin on his heels heading toward his rooms. The King laughed silently to himself, the joys of growing up for him were gone but he could still watch his son pretend to be well above his years.
Anya was dying. She was really hungry and pissed, and still in the castle. Aragon had left leaving her to fend for herself and get hopelessly lost in the labyrinth that is Mirkwood Castle. She couldn't even find the exit, she just ended up in one hallway into another, until the sun's light began to hide behind the trees. Anya sighed and plunked herself down against the wall of one of the many hundreds of hallways.
"This is ridiculous." She was annoyed with herself, "I am to be one of the most powerful sorceresses in the land and I can't even find my way out of a Castle. Wonderful, we are all doomed." Her muttering was noticed by an Elf who happened to be taking this certain path to his rooms, "I mean really, why isn't there a map to this place? How do you expect to leave if you can not find your way out?"
"I guess you don't." Anya looked up to see the amused Elf prince Legolas before her. "Why are you always so incompetent?"
"I have nothing to say to you." She got up and walked right passed the Elf,
"Aren't your rooms the other direction?"
"….. shut up, I knew that." She turned and began to walk the other way, the Prince on her heels, "Why did you accept my father's invitation knowing I would be here?"
"I didn't, I thought you would have better things to do than hang around your father all day. I took his invite because I want to learn about fighting. Uncle refuses to teach me claiming it is too dangerous so I will learn from the best."
"Oh? And what type of weaponry are you wanting to learn."
"Why are you so interested?" Anya turned around and bumped into the still moving Legolas, "You have already expressed your desire to stay away from me as a waste your time so much, sire, yet here you are, making conversation with me. I mean, seriously, what is your problem?"
Legolas shrugged, "I like to tease."
Anya turned back around and began to walk until she found the hallway split in two. "You know, for all the hype about you and your grace you really are just an ass. You know this right?"
"Only to you it would seem."
"That is because I do not grovel at your feet like a lost puppy. I truly thought you were a nice guy and then you pull out this ass hole and totally blow my good thoughts about you away." Anya turned left and took a few steps before turning around to see Legolas walking the other way, "and the second I have something to say, you walk away, aren't you nice!"
Legolas glanced over his shoulder, "I am walking the correct direction to your rooms, you will end up outside in the meadow if you continue that direction." Stupidly enough, Legolas had no realization that was Anya's original intention, to go outside, so when he noticed her booking it through the hallway opposite his, he decided to follow. At a graceful walking pace though, there was no way he was going to run unless it was completely necessary.
Being outside in the beautiful meadow was a relief for Tatianya. She would not stay inside long if she could help it and for her, the main reason she even came to live with the Elves was to explore their realm. It was fascinating. Anya kicked off her shoes and ran to a bridge sitting eight feet over a beautiful stream over looking the rest of the realm. She sat, her feet dangling over the edge of the bridge, vaguely aware of the presence sitting next to her.
"Here you are again," she began, her voice lazy with drinking in the sight, "why won't you be gone?"
"My father's wishes are that I accompany you everywhere. I am to be your guard during your stay."
"Sucks to be you."
"My sentiments exactly." Anya gave him a look, he gaze toward the city.
"you really despise me do you not?"
"I do, in a way. In others, you are different then the other type of people I dislike."
"how so?"
He gave her a long look, as if deciding if she was worthy enough to hear his opinion. When he spoke finally, his words were even and crisp, tangible and it seemed as though Anya could really feel what he felt.
"You look at others as if they are beneath you, but you seem kind and gentle with them anyway. As well as the fact that I have never met a female sorceress before and you are one of a kind in that respect, I do not know what you are capable of, that is frustrating. Normally I am able to sense the abilities any normal being has, even Gandalf, but you are a mystery. I hate mysteries."
"You hate a lot of things."
"….yes, I suppose I do. This of course, begs the question, how did you become a sorceress?"
Anya tilted her head to the side and continued to swing her feet from the balcony, "I used to do this all the time when I was little. My father and I would swing our feet under the bridge near our home. When he and my mother passed, I would sit on any bridge and do this exactly, a stress reliever you could call it. My parents died fighting off a group of Uruk-ai that had come to kill our home. They had come for me seeing as Sarumon knew of my potential as a successor to Gandalf. It makes sense, killing me, if my parents had just let them none of the villagers would have died, nor my parents. I guess it is hard to kill one that is not even out of diapers. Anyway, after hearing my tragic tale, Gandalf took me in as his apprentice. We visited the Shire often. I hid while he went out, I didn't like to be seen.
The there was the test. Gandalf wanted to see the extent of my powers and so he put me through rigorous tasks the involved lots of patience and magic. All of what I learned at the time was through near-death experiences. It's weird, if I want to learn a powerful spell or something, I need to try and kill myself."
"That can not be too hard for someone who is too be a great Mage."
"HAH!" she laughed and turned to look Legolas straight on, "Tell that to me again when YOU accidentally fall out of a tree and into the middle of over 100 very hungry goblins with nothing to protect yourself with."
"It is because you are a girl." He replied, as if it was common knowledge.
"Excuse me?" Tatianya's words were seething.
"Females have far less strength and will power then males. Therefore they are clumsy and come about with the destruction of the world. Well, they will at some point or another. You are reckless and incapable of handling what gift you were given."
"Okay, so you are saying you don't think I should be a sorceress? I am not CAPABLE of IT?!"
Legolas took a moment to ponder her fury and stood, a small, teasing smile gracing his lips. "That is exactly what I am saying." He left then, leaving Anya open mouthed and wide eyed.
"YOU GET BACK HERE YOU ASS HOLE!!!" she screamed and proceeded the chase.
If Anya was thinking properly and not blinded by anger, she would have thought about her getting hopelessly lost, again, if she chased Legolas all around the castle. She could not find him, he probably had gone to sleep within the past hour in which she lost sight of him. Being so incredibly lost, again, Tatianya decided instead of spending th rest of the night attempting to find her rooms, she would just find a comfy wall to sleep against.
Alas, no comfy wall was found so she decided to just sit down and fall asleep against the one she was closet too. Had she thought about it clearly, she would have realized walls are not really for sleeping against so most would not be all that comfortable anyway. Anya could be an idiot some days.
At what appeared to be twilight, a certain Elf walked down a hallway and spotted one beautiful girl sleeping there. Legolas looked around to see if there was anyone who could take her back to her rooms but most had retired to their rooms by then.
So, as silently as possible, Legolas picked up the girl and began the long walk to her quarters. Lord only knows why she is all the way over at the other end of the castle. Were his first thoughts, his second was commenting about how heavy she was. And why was he carrying her? he could have easily woken up an underling to do his bidding, but that would nut have been fair.
Although Legolas had a bitter distaste for the sleeping Anya, it urked him to think of anyone else carrying her around. She was his charge, no matter how much he wished otherwise, and he would make it so she would learn everything she needed to in the swiftest manor so he could get her out of his domain. Opening her door, he slipped in and threw back her sheets with one hand, the other holding a very hard sleeper of a girl. Placing her in the bed, Legolas stifled a yawn and began his walk to his rooms, taking a second to look back at Anya. She was not at all annoying when she slept, she seemed calm and beautiful. He knew a woman that fit his expectations was an Elvish woman, if any at all, and this thing on the bed would wake up to be a roaring beast.
Legolas walked into his rooms, thinking about an arranged marriage his father had set up for him and a potential other. He would meet this lady tomorrow, and he would make his decision. But for now, all he wanted to do was sleep.
DONE!!! Anyway, no lovey dovey yet, I did that stuff in my other stories, rushing into love, and I just want to make this one grow, so, probably not for a little bit yet. Do not FEAR though, there will be hints of things here and there, just for you. And *AHEM* (deep breath) THREE REVIEWS, YAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!! More fun to come,
MOMI