"And if it isn't Queen Milandy of The Mark! As beautiful as the songs say, and as terrifying as the dragonfire in her blood!"

Milandy laughed to herself at Legolas as they crossed paths the next evening. She was returning from Eomer's chambers – having come to terms with the relationship, they had resolved to try and repair their friendship. Milandy, had, in the course of this, discovered Eomer was utterly hopeless at writing affectionate letters. "These read like war orders," she'd laughed, peeking onto his writing desk. "She's a Princess, not a general." Much to Eomer's shock and dismay, she then insisted that she assist in his writing, and once he surpassed his initial embarrassment (which Milandy had felt rather unwarranted, as given the state of undress he'd seen her in previously, she'd assumed they were past the point of any shyness,) Eomer had been grateful – even if he was reluctant in admitting so. Perhaps helping him court his Princess would help clear the bitterness, she thought.

"It seems the Mirkwood Prince is brave to the point of recklessness in his own lands," she replied, a smirk on her face, trying to keep her it as unflirtatious as possible in case someone was watching. "For my King Husband is but a hall away, and by teasing me so, you tempt that dragonfire."

The distance between the two came to a close, Legolas looking around to check for spectators, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to him once he was sure they were alone. "You did something to me last night," he said under his breath.

Smiling, Milandy glanced to him. "Did I?"

"Seeing you dressed in our ways, speaking our tongue, dancing to our music?" His voice lowered to a whisper. "I cannot stop thinking about you."

"Legolas," she laughed, doing her best to keep her voice down. "A few days in your homeland and your caution is to the wind."

He suddenly tugged on her wrist, tilting his head for her to follow, "come with me," he said. Milandy quickly looked around, as though to double check herself, before using her free hand to lift her dress and follow him. At first, their speed was a regular walk, but as Legolas led her down some stairs and through a path into a section of the woods that could have very well been a garden, their pace quickened as though they were in a great rush. Milandy has been correct – it was, indeed, a large garden, although still covered by the Mirkwood treetops, paths lead through the gardens, smaller trees within, flowers in bloom almost everywhere she looked, and benches and small, almost hut-like structures throughout.

He took her deeper and deeper into those gardens to where she could hear the trickle of water, a small stream beneath an arching, stone bridge that seemed much higher than it needed to be. Slowing down, he took her down the banks of the stream and underneath the bridge, where the two were hidden from view, although they had seen no one on their way there.

Now laughing, Milandy took a few steps back once he let go of her hand. "What has gotten into you?" She asked, smiling from ear to ear as she backed herself against the stone wall of the underneath of that bridge, Legolas joining her, leaning with his arms around her, resting on the wall behind her as he smiled at her. For the first time, Milandy took great notice of the height difference between the two as he playfully fenced her to the wall. If anyone else had been doing this, Milandy would have been incredibly intimidated. But with him? It was anything but.

Legolas didn't respond verbally, instead leaning down and kissing her. Gently, at first, but this was a rare moment of privacy for the two, not to mention how rare it was to see Legolas in such a mood, and Milandy wasn't about to let it go to waste. She reached her hands up to his collar, gripping at the folds and pulling him closer, his hands moving from the wall to the sides of her face in reaction, holding it gently as his body pushed itself against hers and their kisses deepened. Milandy's hands grazed down the fabric of his shirt, moving from collar to chest, suddenly gripping at the fabric once more when his hands suddenly dropped to her waste. Without warning, he pulled away from her lips, gently brushing her hair back behind her ear before he began, much to her surprise, to plant kisses on her neck – just below her ear. Milandy gave a sharp inhale, her breath shaking as her heart sped up, her face suddenly hot and her skin tingling. Unable to contain the quiet moan that escaped her throat, she bit her lip, trying to keep her mouth closed to stay quiet.

Hearing this, he moved back to reunite their lips, Milandy reaching to take one side of his face in one hand and brush the fingers of the other through his hair. What she'd intended to be an affectionate gesture was evidentially something that worked differently for Legolas, as he gave a deep sigh - almost a growl - at this and tightened his grip on her waist. Milandy had tried so, so hard to he somewhat courtly with Legolas. She knew that while she had been wild in her youth, Legolas had, as far as she'd been aware, been a man of honour. She wasn't even sure if he'd... well, she tried not to think about it. So Milandy had done her best to not tempt him or lure him as much as she may have wanted to at times. But right now? He could have taken her against that wall if he'd wanted and she wouldn't have complained one bit.

The heat she felt was white-hot now, and when she felt his hands moving up her sides, following the curves of her waist and stopping just below the forbidden spot on her torso where she once wore a bandage, she gave a gasp and it was all she could do to stop herself from begging him. Her fingers glided through his hair once again, desperate to hear him make that sound once again, wanting to melt into him-

"I had expected better."

Milandy gave a short squeal in surprise, Legolas pulling back from her almost instantly as she raised her hands to her chest and straightened her back, the both of them gasping for breath as they faced the voice. Milandy had known who it was the second he had spoken, but still she had hoped she was wrong, and felt herself go into a silent panic when she realised that she had indeed been correct.

Neither of them brave enough to say so much as a word, Thranduil looked between the two and although he didn't exactly look mad, his expression was enough to send a cold, sharp fear into her.

–-

Thranduil had led the two back to his Throne, the both of them following without a word, Milandy afraid of both the Woodland King and of how his son would react. Milandy did not know much of Thranduil, but she knew how Legolas idolised his father. With stern and angry words, Thranduil had ordered everyone out of the throne room, giving no explanation and allowing the three to be alone. Milandy, at least, could thank him for that.

"I welcome you into our lands," he began, pacing across the floor, his hands behind his back, his tone more telling than his expression, "house you, feed you and treat you as an honoured guest, and this is how you repay me?" He stopped, looking to Milandy, his gaze sending a fright into her core. "By creating scandal with my son?"

Milandy couldn't bring herself to speak and averted her eyes downward. After a moment of her silence, Legolas spoke. "Father, we have been dishonest with you, but there is much for us to discuss and-"

"It would seem that way," he interrupted, his voice so cold that Milandy felt as though she might shatter into a thousand pieces. "Dishonesty does not even begin to cover it. To catch you in such an act is one thing, but committing adultery with the Queen of the Mark?" He asked before looking to Milandy. "With the Prince of the Woodland Realm?" He shook his head, turning his back to the two. "For the first time in a thousand years, words escape me."

"My Lord," Milandy finally spoke, "King Eomer and I-"

"You would do best not to speak," Thranduil snapped, turning his head to shoot a red, hot glare at her as though he were angered by her mere presence. "You have betrayed my hospitality. I can only imagine what the King should say if he is to find out."

"He knows," Legolas spoke, his voice raising a little to match his father's, although not to outdo him. "They are not in love. He courts another."

"And what do men know of love?" Thranduil asked, his face in a sneer as he approached his son, bitterness in his voice. "They are fickle creatures. Slaves to their mortality, panicked and selfish as their time shortens. They waste their years on their own self serving desires."

"You are wrong, Father." Legolas argued, the volume of his voice causing Milandy's eyes to widen. Did he just say Thranduil was wrong? "The mortality of men gives them cause to strive for truth and purpose, to change and seek growth. Milandy was not as she is now when we met. She was selfish and full of greed, and lived a life of deceit and mistrust. But no longer does she desire only to serve herself. She has grown, and learned and become whom she wishes to be." He held his father's gaze, his face full of determination where Milandy would have shrunk and withered in fear. "She rides with King Eomer to Dale to seek permission for annulment from her kin. She would forgo a life as Queen in the name of others."

Thranduil's eyes thinned following this, studying his son's expression as Milandy stood there in complete awe that Legolas had... argued with him. He was his son, granted, but she know how dearly he held him, how he respected him, and did not think he would ever...

Suddenly, Thranduil's expression changed, his eyes widening as though he had learned of a great secret, stepping back, his fist enclosed and against his chest almost as if he had been wounded. "You..." he began, "you have pledged yourself to her, haven't you?" His voice was littered with notes of anger, even disgust at the mere concept, and Milandy wished that she could be anywhere else but in that room.

"And why would I not?" Legolas asked. "We are in love." A small smirk appeared on his face and he glanced to Milandy. If he had been hoping for her to be impressed, however, he would find disappointment, for Milandy was so mortified by all this that she looked as though she were a frightened deer.

"My son..." Thranduil growled, shaking his head, "pledged to a mortal?" He sneered as this, a disgusted expression following. "You are the pride of the Woodland Realm and you have wasted yourself on a mortal? On one who will wither and die before you, who will never be able to join you in the West?"

For the first time since they had entered the room, Legolas looked slightly uncomfortable. "Perhaps I do not wish to sail," he announced after a moment. "Perhaps I wish I remain in these lands."

At this, Milandy could have sworn Thranduil looked hurt for a moment, and wondered what weight saying this carried in their culture. The moment was short lived, however, as Thranduil soon turned his back and proceeded up the small staircase to his throne. "Get out," he ordered, his voice blunt.

Legolas slowly moved to Milandy's side, taking her hand and giving a gentle squeeze of support as they both continued to watch Thranduil make his ascension. "Father, please, let us talk-"

"You have done enough of that," Thranduil hissed over the top of his son's plea for discussion. "And now I must carry the burden of the conflict that you have so recklessly forced upon me." He stopped just before his throne, still not turning to even look at the two. "Go. Now."

Legolas tugged on her hand gently, and without another word, Milandy followed him away. She did not know Thranduil even an iota compared to his son, and she did not have to.

I'm alive! Sorry that I've been AWOL, I've had a lot happening in my meatspace life, including moving, writing a book and working on some music stuff. Just, you know, normal every day things I guess. Just kidding - I'm not complaining.

We'll be hitting Dale soon, I promise! And I'm really excited about writing Dale because there's so little on it and I can go wild with the artistic license thing. Oh yes, I have some excellent plans. Love you guys, thanks for sticking around.