Ruby sat by her window after she changed to her usual clothes and looked at the night sky. She wondered how they might escape, Durin's day was almost upon them. A knock by the door made her look back and call out to the visitor.

"Mîruin. We missed you at the feast." Thranduil entered with a tray of food and a goblet of wine. "I bet you haven't eaten."

"I'm not hungry." She mumbled and looked back out the window. "Since when does the King bring food to his guests? Don't you have servants for that?"

"I do, but I also wanted to talk to you." He placed the tray on her table. "And give you this." He held out a book to her. Standing, she walked over and took it from him. "I found it in the unused section of my library. I do not recognize the language, but I have seen you writing it. It may be a clue to you, if you can read it."

"Maltiid usnutiid do diist." She read. "'A brief history of the first.' The first what?" she looked up at Thranduil.

"Be sure to let me know." He started back out the door as Legolas walked in.

"Mîruin, you door was open, and I brought yo—adar." He stopped in his tracks a similar tray in his hands.

"Good night, ion. Mîruin, I hope you will reconsider my offer. I shall see you in the morning. Enjoy your book." And with that he left. Legolas put the tray next to the other and turned to Ruby, who was leafing through the book in her hands. He stopped in front of her and looked upside down at the book in her hands. A series of small lines littered the pages in what he recognized as the writing she had on some of her parchments, and a small book he suspected was her diary when she stayed here.

"Mîruin." He called. He watched as she twitched, snapping her head to look up at him.

"Legolas. I didn't see you come in." She closed the book, but did not put it down.

"I brought you food." He pointed.

"Oh. Thank you. Will you join me?"

"I ate at the feast."

"No you didn't." She narrowed her eyes at him and poked his stomach. "You're too skinny, you have to eat more."

"I am not skinny." He said, but sat across her and pulled one of the trays towards himself nonetheless. As they ate, Legolas studied Ruby as she looked through the book's pages. Sighing, he plucked it from her hands. At her outburst, he pushed the other tray to her. "Eat. Then you can go back to deciphering this gibberish."

"It's not gibberish to me." She hastily started eating, eager to get her book back.

"You've adopted their table manners as well." Legolas scowled at her full cheeks.

"There, finished, give me my book." She pushed her still full plate away and held out her hand. Instead, Legolas picked up a small loaf of bread and placed it on her palm.

"Eat." He said. Ruby rolled her eyes but started eating like a normal person. He smiled. "What is this book about?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. It says 'A brief history of the first' on the cover."

"The first what?"

"No idea. I suppose I won't be sleeping tonight."

"Mîruin, you need to rest. You're still recovering."

"I need to know about my own race. If there is a book in a language only I can read, then I'm obviously not the only one."

"Then I'll stay up with you. Tomorrow we can search the library for more."

"You don't need to stay up with me, Legolas, I'll probably me muttering all night long, asking questions aloud in a language you don't understand."

"You could teach me. I already know a word."

"Really?" Ruby raised a glass to her lips.

"Draaf." He had to dodge the spray of wine as Ruby spit it out and almost choked on her laughter. "What did I say?"

"You just learned a random word and don't know its meaning?"

"That's the part where you teach me." He wiped the corner of her mouth with his napkin. His fingers lingered a heartbeat longer at her lips, but he forced them away.

"Shit."

"I beg your pardon?" Legolas frowned.

"'Draaf' means 'shit'." She giggled. "Great choice for a first word."

"What's your name in...?"

"I don't know what this language is called." She smiled sadly. "But the word 'ruby' doesn't have a translation, at least not a literal one. The jewel is called a 'Dragon eye'."

"And how do you say that?"

"Dovahmiin."

"Dova—dovaminn?"

"Do-vah-mi-in."

"Dovahmiin. It sounds fierce." He smiled at her laugh, but then his face fell. "I suppose Thorin is much more proficient in this language than I am."

"He's not interested in it." Ruby looked at the fire. "Or in my powers." Legolas watched as a flame detached itself from the fireplace and formed tiny little limbs, a miniature person walking around on the hearth before it jumped back into the larger flames. "I suppose it's for the best. He said he'd help me dig for answers, but his lack of interest...well..."

"I think you're fascinating." Legolas took her hand. She turned back to him and squeezed his fingers.

"Thank you, fahdon."

"What's that?"

"Friend."

The Elf prince tried very hard not to let his disappointment show. He was sure his smile was obviously strained and fake, but he kept it on his face.

"Well then, fahdon." He tried out the new word. "You have some reading to do, and I am a very curious Ellon." He handed her the book and she took it, standing and walking to sit by her window. Throwing her previously unfinished book to the blond Ellon, she settled in her spot and they both submerged themselves in the unread pages.

Legolas had his legs stretched out in front of him, his feet by the fire. His eyes snapped from the book in his hands to the window every time Ruby mumbled aloud in her strange language. She was curled up on a larger cushion on the windowsill, her nose buried in that book. Her deep chestnut eyes were glowing red with enthusiasm, her face a mixture of eagerness and confusion. Her hair was no longer in a braid, she had brushed it out and redone Thorin's small braid behind her ear. The bead rested a bit lower than her breast on her light blue shirt, rising and falling with her breathing. Legolas pried his eyes from the two round mounds and trailed his sight over her slim waist, encased in that ever-present corset-armour of hers. Her supple hips were resting on a cushion, fleshy thighs wrapped in thick worn leather, tucked inside knee high boots, her small feet crossed at the ankles. He made a note to gift her with new boots, hers had definitely seen better days. After a few moments, she blinked and looked up at him.

"You're staring." She said.

"I'm sorry." The Ellon hadn't even realized it. He quickly bent his head down and pretended to read. He heard Mîruin sigh but did not look up again. He had promised he would try to be happy for her. They were very good friends before anything else, but was it so wrong of him to want something more? Apparently so. When his adar had approached him with his plan, Legolas was offended at the idea of a political marriage to his friend. Sure, they had flirted, but it was nothing more than a game to them. Teasing touches had been exchanged, intimate words were spoken, but they had never even kissed. Legolas wondered what her lips would feel like. Shaking his head, he focused on the book in front of him.

What was it that Thorin had that he did not have? They had known each other for centuries, and she had met Thorin not one year past. The Dwarf had a lost status, a lost kingdom, and a lost people. The Ellyn were at peace, despite the spiders in the forest, but they were protected in Thranduil's realm. Legolas had the right to the crown, but it was not something that would come so soon, he still had many centuries of princely comfort. He could offer her luxury, protection and knowledge. Nothing she could find in the wild with dwarves.

Legolas shifted in his seat. He was becoming increasingly annoyed with his thoughts. In the end he just wanted Mîruin to be happy. And if Thorin could keep her happy, then he would accept their relationship, albeit grudgingly. And if the Dwarf so much as looked at her in a wrong way, he would hunt him down and skin him alive.

Ruby closed the book after the last page had been read. Looking over the notes she had taken, she sighed. There was still much to learn, questions filled her head, but now she knew where to find answers. She was not entirely happy with her findings, and she had lost a whole night of sleep. The rays of the sun were peeking over the horizon and into her room.

"Did you finish the book?" the Ellon asked, looking expectantly at the notes she had in her hand. He couldn't decipher the chicken scratch that was her language.

"I did." She looked over her notes. Legolas put the still unread book down and waited for her to continue. "There's a lot of detail, but apparently, there's this...'Alduin', who is also called the World Eater, the Nordic God of Destruction, and the first-born of Akatosh. My first thought was to see if he's still alive and track him down, but he is missing, but may return in the future to fulfil his destiny as the World-Eater. So, I'm not so eager to meet him." She shook her head. "There is no mention of his race, only of wars and battles he started against the other races, which are so many!" she ran her finger down the list. "There are four kinds of humans, Redguard, Breton, Imperial and Nord, some races that resemble animals like the Khajiit, who look like cats and the Argonians, some kind of lizard-folk. Orcs are also mentioned, though they are called Orsimer."

"Is there any mention of Elves?" He asked.

"Yes, actually, there are four, no, five races of Elves." She looked at her notes. "Well, four."

"Which is it?" Legolas raised an eyebrow.

"Well. There are the High Elves, called Altmer, the Wood Elves, called Bosmer, the Dark Elves, called Dunmer and Snow Elves, called Falmer. But..."

"What?"

"There's a mention of Dwemer. The race's name is translated as Deep Elves, but as far as I understand, they're Dwarves."

"That seems too complicated. Is that book even talking about Middle Earth?"

"I don't know. If anything, this raised even more questions."

They were interrupted by a guard knocking urgently on the door.

"Lady Mîruin? Is Prince Legolas with you?" they rose in alarm. Ruby opened the door to see a commotion outside. Guards were running everywhere, the Dwarves had escaped. They dashed past the guard into the hallway, hastily running to the wine cellar, where the Dwarves had last been seen.

"Where is the keeper of the keys?" Tauriel was asking as they entered the wine cellar. Ruby saw Bilbo fall down a trapdoor they used to send empty barrels back to Lake-Town. The three stood flabbergasted for a moment, then turned, dashing through the hallways to the back entrance, leading to a waterfall. They saw the Dwarves in the empty barrels, floating away. Ruby could not contain a burst of laughter. Legolas glared at her.

"Holo in ennon!" he shouted at the guard, who sounded an alarm through a horn. Ruby ripped it from his hand and threw it down the waterfall. Before Legolas could grab her, she sprinted away along the shore of the river after the Dwarves. She cursed lowly as she saw Orcs attacking the gates, and started killing Orcs as soon as she was near enough.

"Kili!" she heard Fili call and looked over to the gate lever, where he was lying with an Orc arrow in his right thigh.

"No." She whispered. A flash of red caught her attention as Tauriel started shooting the Orcs around her adopted nephew. The Orc leader ordered his minions to concentrate the attack on her, but with the help of Ruby, they held their ground long enough to see Legolas coming with a group of guards to their aid. They ran along the shore, Orcs and Elves mingled and fought each other, as the Dwarves struggled with the current. Ruby pulled strong streams of water up from the river to knock down the Orcs who dared come close to the Dwarves. She scowled at Legolas as he balanced his feet on Dwalin's and Dori's heads, but he was at an advantage point to protect them, so she kept quiet, raising a watery wall of protection around him. His arrows left the circle, but the Orcs' couldn't pierce it.

After a while, he jumped to the shore, Orc-surfing on the slippery stones, then jumping across the rivers to the other side, using the Dwarves' heads as stepping stones. Ruby suspected he was doing that on purpose. She saw him quickly dispatch the remaining Orcs, but an especially large one raised a sword behind him. Ruby aimed a knife, but was surprised as an axe was hurled into the Orc. She looked back at Thorin, who was scowling and gasping for air, and sent him a nod of thanks.

"Tauriel, Dartho! Ú-no hono. Ho hebo cuin." Legolas was saying to Tauriel as she held a dagger to an Orc's throat. They watched from a distance as the surviving part of the Orc pack ran after the Dwarves, but the current was too strong and they quickly gained distance. Ruby sprinted after them, but Legolas grabbed her arm.

"Let go." She yanked at her arm, but his grip tightened.

"You're not going after them." He lowered his head to her level, much like his father had done to Thorin.

"Legolas, let go of my arm." Her eyes sparked and a deep red started to take over the familiar chestnuts.

"You're foolish to think you can take on a whole Orc pack by yourself and catch up to those Dwarves against the speed of that current."

"Legolas, you're hurting me." Ruby's voice was very quiet, the deep tone indicating her anger. Legolas straightened up and loosened his grip, but not enough to let her escape him. He dragged her along the Ellyth back to the palace, until her struggling was too much for his patience. He knelt down and put his shoulder to her stomach, hoisting her up and hugging her kicking legs against his chest. He knew she still had access to her knives, but he trusted her not to stab him in the back. Her voice rose, a string of foreign words leaving her mouth. The only one he understood was 'draaf' and he was sure none of the others were any kinder.

Translations:

Maltiid usnutiid do diist. - A brief history of the first.

draaf - shit

fahdon - friend

Holo in ennon! - Close the gate!

Dartho! Ú-no hono. Ho hebo cuin. - Wait! Not him. Keep him alive.