Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit, everything belongs to Tolkien, and this story is not for profit.

Chapter 10

And so then there were five of us traveling together: me, Aeiliel, our two stolen horses, and my rescued fox.

The fox took to me right away, wild animal though he was, he seemed to know that I was the one who had rescued him from the fire and had bandaged his destroyed eye. I had intended to leave him behind in the river town where I found him, since it was his home, and I knew better than any how hard it can be to leave your home, but when I set him down in a thicket that looked like it would be particularly comfortable for him, he just left and began trotting behind my horse. And every time I would glance back, he would sit and look very still, but he always seemed to be the same distance away from us so I knew the little devil was following us.

We ignored the fox's pursuit until my horse(which I have mentioned is a very well behaved one, having been trained so rigorously,) suddenly gave a wild cry and reared up throwing me off. I crawled away from my kicking horse, and when I heard Aeiliel laughing I looked and saw why my horse had acted so strangely. Hanging on for dear life to the wild horse was the one eyed fox, whose claws were dug into the horse's bottom; and even though the horse jumped and kicked, for all the world the fox would not let go.

With great patience Aeiliel and I calmed the horse down, and it was clear by this point that the fox was coming with us. Or with me, I should say, because he and Aeiliel took an instant disliking to one another. From that point on we traveled north up the great river, and the fox, who was young and still quite small, wrapped itself around my neck like a fur scarf as I rode. But any time I tried to offer Aeiliel a chance to hold Carotene, which was what I began to call him on account of his orange color, they would both hiss at one another. Yes, both of them.

I am sure that if Aeiliel could have felt the fox wrapped around her neck, all small and soft and occasionally sniffing or licking her face like Carotene did to mine, she would have grown as fond of him as I was. But since they avoided one another she seemed doomed to hate him forever.

What made it worse as well was that he was a much better hunter than she. He was still a wild animal, and would often be gone for hours or even days, but occasionally when he would go off he would drop a rabbit or a squirrel at my feet looking very pleased with himself, and Aeiliel would glare his way since she would try very hard to find something sometimes for us to eat, while I gathered any berries I could find.

Regardless of Aeiliel's feelings about Carotene, his presence had undeniably made me happier, and so our journey ever northward was a just a little better since we had left the town that was on fire.

But aside from the moments with Carotene there were few things that I remembered about this time of our journey. Mainly because, as usual, our happiness did not last very long.

It was late summer when there were a few unexpectedly cold days. Aeiliel and I were Southerners who had been struggling to get used to the colder climates the farther north we traveled, but the cold front was especially brutal to us, and on top of that it rained on these cold days for three days straight. We were miserable, and it was too wet to even light a fire, so it should have been no surprise that a few days later, we both fell very ill.

I had never been so sick before up to that point. I was shivering and sweating all at the same time and could not keep any food down. Aeiliel was the same way.

We tried to keep going on, sick as we were, because the thought of our pursuers was a constant fear in our minds. But one morning when Aeiliel fainted off of her horse I knew we had to stop or it wouldn't matter if the men caught us because we would be dead anyway.

We were very, very ill. We were so sick that for a long time we were unconscious. I could not say if we were unconscious for a week or for a month. But we were so hungry when we recovered that we knew it had at least been a good while, and we knew that however far ahead of the men we had been, we were not so any more.

We remounted our horses and continued our journey, and the going was rough. We were still very weak from our illness, and considerably dizzy.

I do not think we would have survived had it not been for Carotene. Those few things he would occasionally bring us to eat saved us, for had he not brought something I knew there was no way we could have found food for ourselves. And, because my fox had saved our lives, Aeiliel came to despise him even more, as was her way.

But still, we marched on.

…

Never until I stayed in Mirkwood had I truly appreciated how beautiful autumn was.

Maybe it was because there weren't quite as many trees in the south of Gondor. The river country of Pelargir was mostly rolling plains, with just the occasional lone tree silhouetted against the horizon. And it seemed that the real beauty of autumn was in the trees, how they changed from green to the brightest of colors; a display that was much more impressive when there were hundreds of trees packed closely together.

I, who had previously always previously always preferred Summer and Winter-definitive seasons where one needn't wonder if it was going to be a cool day, or a hot day, or an in-between day as one often had to during spring or autumn-, actually fond myself mourning the end of autumn. The new winter cold was chilling me, and the gentle sprinkling of snow made me miss the fall that had passed so quickly.

I said as much to the King as we were taking a stroll through the woods together one evening.

He startled me by giving a short little laugh. His laugh always surprised me, it was so rare and unexpected; it was so strange to see his stern face transform into a happier younger elf, which seemed to happen when he smiled.

"Why do you laugh at me?" I asked, a little annoyed.

"I do not laugh at you, lady, but at myself. I used to feel much the same when I first came to Mirkwood so long ago. I remember when I came with my father to the forest, it was like no place I had ever seen. I found beauty in places I had never before looked when I came. And, similar to you, I found fall in Mirkwood to be a breathtaking sight." His eyes grew cold for a moment and he added, "Of course, the forest has changed much since those quiet times, and evil has found its way in."

Then he looked back down to me at his side and smirked.

"But even so, I think you will find winter in Mirkwood to be very beautiful, as well. Perhaps even as beautiful as autumn. In fact, the longer you stay here, I think you will come to love many things you did not think you would love when you first arrived."

"Yes," I agreed quietly, "indeed I already have."

He turned to look at me sharply when I said these words, and his eyes locked with mine for one tense moment. It almost seemed to me that he was gazing at my face with hope, as if trying to figure out if I had meant what I had just said, and if what I had said meant what he hoped I meant.

But after a moment I became uncomfortable and a little sad, knowing that even if we both felt the same way about each other, that it could never be-because of my cousin, his son, because of the simple fact that he was a proud old elven king and I was a young human from Southern Gondor.

So I smiled, laughed a little awkwardly, and said, "I hope I will even be strong enough to see winter in Mirkwood. We don't have this kind of cold in the South; I might be spending a lot of my time indoors."

He laughed with me. He had laughed so much tonight. I wish he would always be so happy, I thought to myself.

"I agree that it can be very hard to get used to the cold when you first arrive. But at least you needn't worry about having to trudge through snow all winter long."

I turned to him sharply, "What do you mean?"

He said, "Look for yourself." He pointed to a spot a few feet away.

It had started to snow. And about ten feet in front of us, there was a narrow little section where the snow was falling through the trees, and making a little dusting pile of snow on the ground, but the snow was not falling all around it- just in the one spot. Just like in the autumn when the sun was shining in the forest, the leaves of the thick canopy at the top of Mirkwood blocked out much of the light, so the light would only stream through in a few places.

The King explained what I was thinking, "The branches at the top of the forest, although leafless in the winter, hold up most of the snow that falls. Not much of it makes it to the ground, as you can see. So it's not bothersome like it is in many places."

I looked around and saw that he was right; there were only a few places where the snow was breaking though the trees. There would never be a blanket of snow on the floor of Mirkwood. There would not be enough to make a snow goblin or have a fight with the snow.

I didn't say anything for a minute; I was too upset to speak.

He seemed to suddenly realize that I was upset, and he suddenly demanded, "You are unhappy. Why?"

I told him how it had never snowed in Southern Gondor, how I had only seen snow once and that was when I came through the White Mountains with Aeiliel, and I was too weak and hurried to enjoy it. I had hoped to one day see a lot of snow, and have the chance to appreciate it.

He was silent for a while after I had spoken. But then he just pulled me forward and we continued to walk on.

After a half hour he said, "It's a nuisance anyway, snow. When there is a lot of it."

"No it isn't." I said, stubbornly(although I really did not know what I was talking about).

"Tell me about this Aeiliel. " The King said.

I realized that aside from my inquiries about her when I had first arrived, I had not spoken about her anymore to anyone else, and had unexpectedly just done so a moment ago. It was just too painful for me to speak about her. I wondered if he had heard the sorrow in my voice. But I realized that I did want to speak about her after all, so as we walked back to his halls I told the king about the only kind of sister that I had ever had.

…

Although Carfon's daughter was very young, and had previously not been allowed to sit at the high table with himself and the king and the rest of their kin because of her youth, I believe the king had told Carfon to bring his daughter to dinner at our table because we had become such good friends.

Being able to chat with Esteldes did make dinner even more agreeable. Now that I was not quite so nervous, dinner became quite an enjoyable routine.

Galessel would dress me up before dinner, and I would usually see an elf that I knew and we would walk to dinner together. We would arrive, and I would see whatever wonderful and different decoration the dining hall was decorated with that night.

I would chat with the other elves at the king's table as we waited for our food, Esteldes and I would laugh and play with our food and swap samples when no one else was looking. Every so often when the king wasn't discussing political matters he would turn to me and say something that usually would make me blush, and, as always now, he would call for me to play something for them all on my harp at the end of the feast, and he would look and listen with such interest and intensity that I imagined he had to be just pretending.

Dinner had been particularly pleasant these last few nights, because Coruven had been nowhere to be seen.

I did not remark upon his absence, and no one else volunteered the information, so I did not say anything. But on the fifth night my curiosity got the better of me and I turned to the king and asked him, "Where is your son?'

"He is out in the forest." The King said casually, taking a sip of his wine.

"Ah," I said, picking up my own glass and swirling the deep red wine around in the cup.

When the king said this, one of the elves at the table jerked up. I recognized him as an older ellon named Ellis. He was a Silvan elf and an important advisor to the king.

He was often grumpy and harsh, which I suspected was one of the reasons my king liked him so much, but even so, and much like the king, he secretly had a heart of gold. He was very honest, and one of the few people, like myself, who was not afraid to tell the King what they were really thinking.

It seemed that I had brought up some old argument; because Ellis started grumbling and the King shot him a glare that said don't you start.

I, for one, was too curious to care about the King's wishes, so I asked Ellis what was the matter.

That was all the invitation Ellis needed to slam his fork down and say loudly, "The prince has no business wandering around the forest. It's an evil place and no one who goes outside of our borders is up to any good."

All previous conversations had stopped when Ellis said this, but the noise in the hall did not, because after he spoke I could see several elves nodding assent, and mumbling to one another what seemed to be agreements with Ellis.

"Come, Ellis, must we quarrel at dinner when we have so much to be thankful for?" said Carfon, who always tried to lighten the mood and please the king.

"No, no," said King Thranduil, "If Ellis has an issue let him speak. After all, it doesn't matter. No matter what he says I am not going to forbid my son his to go off as he wishes."

"That boy is a trouble maker and will be poisoned by the evil of the forest!" Ellis said ignoring the King.

Padhrion, who was sitting at the King's table this night, agreed. "Ellis speaks the truth, your highness. Coruven is a prince, he should be studying and training, or visiting our fellow kinsmen in Rivendell or Lorien, as the prince Legolas is so wisely doing. He should not be exploring a place of such evil."

But the King was stubborn as ever, and would not listen. "I am not going to forbid him to go off if he wishes. He is fully-grown now and may do as he pleases. He has already studied quite a bit, and as for his training, is he not almost as good with a bow as prince Legolas?"

No one had an argument for that.

"And anyway", the King said raising his glass, "We don't know that he's wandering around in Mirkwood outside our borders. He may be in the Laketown, or north of the forest. For mercy's sake, he could be visiting his brother in Lorien. We don't know, and it' s not our business. And this dinner is over!"

And the tall king stood up and quickly strolled out of the room, his long robe swishing behind him.

…..

As Galessel helped me unbraid my long braid for bed that night and brush out my hair, I told her about what had happened at dinner.

She frowned, and I learned from her what I had suspected at dinner. That almost all the elves in Mirkwood agreed with Ellis that Coruven was up to no good.

Galessel and Esteldes were the only ones who knew of my dislike for the King's younger son, and I told her that I didn't care if he was in Mordor playing dice with the Dark Lord himself, as long as he wasn't sitting at dinner across from me.

Galessel didn't find my remark funny. "You may think that now, my lady, but it would probably be better for us all if he were sitting at dinner every night where he should be."

I didn't say anything, and I didn't need to, because at that moment there was a knock on the door.

Galessel went to open it, and bowed her head very low when she saw that it was the king there.

He raised her up and asked her to excuse us for a moment.

He was dressed warmly, and had on shorter leather boots that looked very durable, and a long winter cape. He was holding what might be another coat in his hands.

I flushed a deep red when I realized that my hair was down and I had on only my nightgown. But I knew I was being silly, the King had seen me in this exact attire before.

But I did sense now that it was not the same. This time he seemed to be consciously trying very hard to not stare at my thinly covered body and my wild dark hair.

He cleared his throat loudly.

"If you are not too tired, my lady Laurwen, I was wondering if you would accompany me on a walk."

"A walk? In this weather?" Ever since we had spoke about the weather a week ago on our walk when it started snowing, it had not stopped snowing since. And even though, as the King had said it would, it had not covered the ground in snow, it was now even colder out.

"Don't worry. When you said the other day that your Southern blood may not be acclimated yet to the colder climate, I decided that you might be right, and I had this made for you."

He waved me to come forward and reached out and handed me the thing in his hands.

It was indeed a coat, and the most beautiful one I had ever seen. It was very long, and would probably reach down to my ankles when it was on. It was made out of velvet but its color was gold-the same color of my eyes. Beautiful white fur made up the cuffs where the wrists were and also the border around the neck, and all along the bottom edge of the coat.

"It's the most beautiful piece of clothing I have ever seen." I told him honestly.

The King smirked down at me-he knew it was beautiful and that I would love it. But he still looked pleased all the same.

"Here," he said taking it from me and holding it out, "why don't you put it on."

Now it was my turn to clear my throat as I turned around and he came up close behind me.

I couldn't hear him breathe, either because elves breathe very quietly or because he was holding it in like I was, but I could smell the spicy and clean smell he had, and his body was very warm behind me.

He held it out and I slipped one arm through and then the other. It fit snugly to not let any of the cold in, and I could see that it was coated with fir on the inside as well. When my arms were though he turned me around and buttoned it up for me. The buttons only went down to my waist so that my legs would be warm but the movement would not be confined.

When he was done buttoning the coat. He put his hands on my shoulders gently for a moment and looked at me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I had just thought that the coat would make you eyes look even more golden than usual. I was right."

He sighed, and let me go.

"Put your shoes on, and I will be waiting for you outside of the doors to the halls." He said as he walked out.

…

It was very dark out when I went outside. My boots crunched as I purposefully walked over some of the small piles of snow as I looked for the King.

He was a little ways away, leaning against one of the trees and staring up at the hidden sky.

He took my arm as I came near and led me away from the trees.

"Where are we going?" I said, a little nervous to be leaving his warm halls on a night so cold.

"Don't worry, I think you will enjoy this."

We came after a few minutes to a large tree covered with branches.

He took one easy step with his long legs and got up to the lowest branch then offered me his hands.

"You can't mean for us to climb this thing." I said disbelievingly.

"Of course I mean for you to climb this thing. What did you think, I just climbed up this branch for fun?" He said.

"Don't be anxious," he said after I kept staring up for a moment, "I chose this tree because I knew that there were several branches and it will be easy for you to climb it. "

I was glad Aeiliel wasn't hear at this moment, because if she had known that I was afraid of heights she would have shown me no mercy and made fun of me so much to pay me back for teasing her for being afraid of ghosts. Of course, I could have pointed out to her that being afraid of heights was a perfectly rational fear, because when you are somewhere high you can fall and break your neck, and ghosts are not even real, but Aeiliel wasn't here to tease me into facing my fears, it was just the king and I.

The king was still waiting, and holding his hand out, but I still could not take it.

Instead, to my horrific embarrassment, I could feel my eyes starting to water. I quickly wiped my tears away with my hand but I was horribly afraid he was going to make me climb this tree and I was terrified of doing so.

At first his face sort of scrunched up with irritation but then his eyes became very soft and he said quietly, "Laurwen, I promise as long as you're with me, I'm not going to let anything hurt you. I won't let you fall."

So of course I had to take his hand after that.

He pulled me up to the branch and we slowly made it up the tree. He occasionally would climb a branch first and then pull me up, or if the situation called for it, he would put his long hands on my waist and lift me up to a branch and then follow me up.

A few times near the top I almost gave up.

We came to a spot where the only branch near was very high above the one we were standing on, and it was very narrow too, and I knew he was about to climb up there and then pull me up.

But the branch was so far away that I doubted that he could safely pull me up, so I made the mistake of looking down and seeing how far the fall would be if I fell.

After that I demanded we go back down.

We argued for a minute like we often did, but when I saw he wasn't going to take me back down, and that he was serious about making me go up, I became upset and I could feel the tears coming up again. It may seem childish, but I'm sure most people who are afraid of heights would understand exactly how I felt. As an elf, I am sure he had no idea. But when the king saw that I was very afraid he tried to convince me that I would be alright, but by now I was crying in earnest.

I was sobbing and since I had already abandoned my dignity when I started crying, there was nothing to keep me from doing anything else embarrassing, so I threw my arms around him and closed my eyes and sobbed into his broad chest-begging him to not make me go any higher.

He put his arms around me as well, holding me close and telling me that it would be alright, that he wasn't going to let me fall, whispering my name. He even kissed the top of my cold hair once.

He put his arms even tighter around me then and told me after a few moments to open my eyes.

When I opened them I saw that we were on the branch that I had been afraid to be pulled up to.

I looked up at him in wonder with my tear-stained face and watery eyes, and I realized that of course he could have easily jumped up there holding me and I not even felt us move. He was an elf. He could have probably jumped the branches of this tree in half a minute and made it to the top. He could have done it carrying me the whole way too, but he hadn't, probably because he didn't want to make me feel uncomfortable or hold me when he didn't know if I wanted him to or not.

I wrapped my arms even tighter around him, and so he carried me up the rest of the way, and true to his word, did not let me fall.

I had my eyes closed when he carried me up, but after a few moments he set me down on my feet.

He turned me around in front of him, but he still kept a very tight grip on my waist, covering it with his hands.

I gasped when he told me to open my eyes.

For miles and miles, as far as I could see, snow.

Snow everywhere.

I actually laughed I was so happy, but I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, embarrassed.

The king nearly stopped my heart when he took my hand off my mouth, kissed my palm, and then covered it with his own and held me even tighter, so tight I thought he might break me.

"The branches catch almost all of the snow," he said, "and it just stays here until spring when it melts as water down the trees to the forest floor."

"It's beautiful." I said.

I looked around and he showed me things. The snow had stopped falling for a moment and he showed me all the stars. And far, far off into the distance he showed me the lonely mountain, where he said a terrible dragon had been sleeping for hundreds of years. I thought he might have been teasing me.

He also showed me, a few feet higher, at very top of the tree, where a group of flowers were growing.

The King told me he did not know what they were called, because few people had ever climbed this high during the winter. These flowers, he told me, only grew at the very tops of these trees, and only in the snowy weather.

I told him that was a shame, because they were the most beautiful flowers I had every seen. It was unpleasant that one would have to come so high to see them.

They looked very much like white roses, except sprinkled all over the petals were little dots of the colors blue and purple.

"Thank you." I told him, turning my head up and around to look at his.

"It was my pleasure." He said. "I just wanted to you see the snow, since you seemed to desire it so much. And I wanted you to imagine if this were all on the ground, and try to understand what a nuisance it would really be."

I laughed. "Don't try to ruin this for me. It's beautiful. Can we come up again some times?"

"As often as you like. If you trust my hands to carry you."

In answer, I took one of his palms and kissed them, as he had just done to me.

….

I woke up late the next chilly morning, and was not at all surprised to see beside my bed, a crystal bowl filled with snow, and on top of the snow, three of the snow flowers, all white and blue and purple.