Susan was shocked that a prince could possibly have no say in this type of situation. Did elves treat all strangers like this? Was Thranduil even a kind person? Would she be dumped into a prison? There were a lot of questions that could not be answered in the time being. She was not at all afraid of being taken advantage of, after all, from the days she had been observing the elves at the palace, they were all honorable and proud and would never do anything that could possibly downgrade themselves. Of course, no elf she had seen so far was comparable to Legolas (the twins might be the second bests but still, they were not the Elven prince). As she had imagined, they were quite resistant to touch a female so they called for an elven maiden to tie her up instead. Susan could not turn her head so she did not get a clear vision of how the woman looked, yet she noticed her long curly blonde hair dangling in the wind. Her fellow traveller looked at her intently and his eyes was filled with guilt as if it were his fault that the girl should be maltreated in such a manner. She noticed his concern and mouthed the words, "It's okay." A smile crossed his face and he lit up slightly.

As she walked with much difficulty since her arms were not free, making it hard for her to balance properly, she followed her capturers. After walking for some time, she was handed a piece of silver cloth. The female elf who was in charge of her, used hand gestures to tell her that it was going to be wrapped around her eyes. Susan nodded and stood still for the elf to do the work. She knew perfectly well that walking blindfolded on moss was not at all a good idea nor did she want to go against their will and risk her life. Staying alive would definitely be the better option, so she decided to reach out, whispering, "Hello, I'm Susan Pevensie of Narnia." There was a moment of silence as if her handler had chosen to ignore or had simply left. Suddenly, a charming singsong voice mumbled in return, "You should keep silent or else you're looking for trouble," there was once again a pause, "I'm Luthien by the way." At that, the girl smiled, she had made a friend. Whenever she was slipping, Luthien would give a helping hand and as the road became bumpier and unsteady, she held the Gentle Queen by her arms and guided her along, giving her appropriate instructions to follow.

The road got steeper and steeper by the minute as if they were going up a small hill. The sound of the elf troop walking seemed to have faded. Suddenly, the elf beside her said, "watch out for the steps, we're going up." Susan was surprised that there should be stairs for she did not observe a castle of any kind when she was looking around the woods previously. Obviously, whatever she was walking up was high and tall for it took at least ten minutes before reaching their destination. "I'll untie your ropes now," the elf said, and turned Susan's body so her back faced her. With speed, the tight strings were loosened and Susan massaged her wrist so that blood would circulate. "Could I take these off?" she asked, pointing at the mask covering her eyes. "Of course, let me do that for you," Luthien answered and pulled it off.

Susan gasped at the location before her. It was a room in which every inch of it was made with wood. It had a four poster bed that seemed to have a perfectly cozy mattress covered with a silver bedding. There was a wide window with sheer curtains draping down. "May I?" the Marksmen Queen turned to look at her guide who nodded and so she walked towards the opening to look outside. She was not expecting the view for she was no where near a concrete castle- she was on top of a tree where there were many more boxes like the one she was in. Every tree had at least five and at the bottom of it was where the elves gathered and did their chores, for women were filling up their water jugs at a fountain and children were playing and running around the area. But no men were in sight, only a few elves with bows and quivers stood at a landing at the mid-section of every tree to look out for enemies or unfriendly approaches.

"Is this my room?" Susan asked.

"Of course, any friend of the Prince's is a friend to us," Luthien replied.

"Then why did I have to be tied up and blindfolded?"

"Those are the instructions by the King, he does not want any strangers to come in and out of the area while knowing all the routes around here. He means no offense, just firm security," the elf answered, "Do you want me to bring in any clothes for you? It will be best if you dressed more elfishly so as not to catch too much attention."

Susan blushed and nodded. Luthien continued, "You'll need a gown anyways for tonight's dinner. I'll have the seamstress fix the hem before I send them up to you."

"Thank you very much," the girl said gratefully and the elf left.

"A dinner? Will the king be there?" she thought quietly and proceeded to sit on her bed. It was as soft and bouncy as she had expected that she felt like getting a nap. The long walk had made her legs sore and the dream she had the night before did her no good in restoring her strength or stamina. She laid in her bed with her dirty clothes still on.

A sudden knock at the door woke her up and she immediately ran to open it. The otherworldliness face of the elf maiden greeted her. "Here are your clothes, since you are of royalty, according to the prince, they are either silver or white. I'll place it on the bed for you." After she was done, she said, "I'll leave you to change and when the time comes, I'll come and fetch you to dine, alright?" When Susan had nodded and expressed her thanks, she left.

The materials of the clothes were comparatively lighter and sheerer than the velvet and thick fabrics back in Gondor. There were no corsets and the Gentle Queen was ecstatic about this change for she hated restricting her breath just to look a bit more voluptuous than she already was. She preferred elegance over glamour and those elven clothing satisfied her just that. Initially, she was scared that the dresses would be too long for her height, but they hit her feet at the perfect place, just long enough to lie slightly on the floor. She chose one with a simple form that accentuated her thin waist and had a lot of lace detailing which made it more complexed than it actually was.

After a few hours of waiting, Luthien finally came to fetch her and adviced her to take a cloak with her. Susan was glad that she had listened, for the sheer material of the clothes would probably fail to seal the chilly weather off. When they reached the ground, everything seemed so magical, for even though the tall trees obscured the view of the night sky, the stairways were all lit with small lanterns which shimmered beautifully like sparkling diamonds.

"The scene is really breathtaking," Susan commented frankly.

"Truly, it is. I don't think I'll ever leave Mirkwood." The elven lady replied, "By the way, I am one of the female soldiers here. I have waited for a thousand years for this chance. Ever since King Aragorn had demolished the law of banning female from the courts, we get to involve ourselves in politics."

"Good for you," Susan said, "Back in Narnia, we were lucky for female had always shared equal rights as men do."

"You must tell me more about you when you are free,"Luthien said with a smile.

"No problem."

After walking for quite some time, they finally came to a cave.

"Where are we going?" The girl asked curiously, she had never expected elves would live underground.

"This is where you will dine. This was built by the dwarves long ago. The royalty of Mirkwood all live here rather than up the trees. Since you'll be having your meal with them, you'll have to come here."

There were two guards at the entrance of the cave and after the maiden had talked with them in their own language, one of them left. Soon enough, he came back and nodded to Luthien.

"I have escorted you so far but you will have to walk in yourself, Galdien here will bring you to the feasting hall. If you need me to guide you back to the treehouse, just have a messenger send for me."

"Thank you very much but I don't think I should bother you any longer. I believe I will go back to my chamber on my own, good night."

Luthien nodded and left while Susan followed the soldier inside. Inside the caves were more caves and if she had entered all by herself, she would definitely be lost in a matter of seconds. Caves were within caves and so it was hard to decipher the functions of each as there were no labeling or maps. It was like a never-ending maze that Susan gave up looking around and only concentrated on following Galdien. Soon, they reached a door that was deep within the cavern. He knocked at it and when someone on the other side knocked back, he opened the heavy door with one forceful push. "My lady," he said and stretched out his hand to direct her to enter. She gave a nod of thanks and went in.

There at the end of the dining table was a handsome man with the face of a thirty-five-year-old. He had piercing green eyes and golden hair. He wore a silven crown that had delicate carvings, so immediately, Susan knew he was the King of Mirkwood himself, Thranduil.

"You must be Queen Susan of Narnia, I've heard a lot about you," he said in a solemn voice with a ghost of a smile.

Sorry for the late update but hope it satisfied you anyways! Lately, things are a little bit busy around here so I could not update on time! I would like to clarify, before anyone asked that some names were adapted from other characters of Tolkien's characters from other books, other than Meron, Tocatar, Melwen and Galdien, the names of characters you find unfamiliar would probably be of Tolkien's own creation. Update will posted as usual!

Reply to the Cretin: Thank you very much for the kind words and encouragement! I am thankful that you always seem to comment in detail about how I write, it makes it easier to know what aspects I have to improve! I'm sorry about the question you raised but I don't think I'm really that familiar with Chinese history but I could tell you that Tang dynasty was probably the most spectacular among all periods since the country was more economically boosted and traded with a lot of merchants from other regions thus blended in a lot of cultures. I am sorry if this small piece of information did not help but history is definitely not my strength among all the subjects. Once again, good luck with everything!