Chapter 7

The door slid shut behind Tauriel, leaving her alone in the room with Legolas. Wonderful dwarven engineering ensured no one would be able to hear them, not even Kili standing right next to the door at her back.

Legolas turned to face her, leaning against the desk that dominated the center of the room. "For all our extended years, I feel like it has been an Age since I last saw you," he said. "How have the dwarves been treating you?"

"Dwarrow," Tauriel corrected automatically. "Better than I could have hoped." It was the truth, after all. When she'd first entered the Mountain, she'd feared someone would throw her in some dark dungeon as soon as Kili and his brother and uncle were healed. She had been their jailer in Greenwood and had assisted in taking them prisoner in the first place. She'd expected to receive similar treatment and had been surprised when she'd been allowed to roam Erebor's halls unhindered. She didn't bother mentioning the occasional moments of open hostility she still experienced.

"I am glad to hear it," Legolas said. "I have worried about you."

Tauriel repressed a sigh. "I appreciate your concern. As you see, I am well. Now, tell me. Why are you here?" she asked.

Legolas's eyebrows rose. "These dwarves have been rubbing off on you," he said, amusement leaking into his tone. "I've never known you to be this impatient."

"It has been refreshing, being away from court intrigue, Your Highness" she said. She didn't bother mentioning his father and the utter insanity he liked to in flict in his own kingdom for his own amusement.

"Come now, Tauriel. You know you don't have to address me like that, especially when there is no one to hear."

"As I am no longer a part of the Woodland Realm, it is only proper for me to address foreign royalty by their proper titles. Or had you forgotten I'd been banished?"

"That is actually why I'm here," Legolas said. "I told you I had news for you."

Tauriel didn't respond, just stared at him until he shifted a little in his stance. His foot dropped to the floor again and he stood a little straighter. "I've come to tell you your banishment has been lifted."

Tauriel's breath hitched in her throat. Of all she'd expected him to say, this was not it. If anything, she'd thought he'd come to tell her she should do all she could to avoid Greenwood, that his father was still furious with her. Thranduil had seemed rather irritated with her for pointing an arrow at him and ordering him about as she were his sovereign instead of the other way around.

"Lifted?" she asked once she'd found her voice again. "I don't understand."

"There are conditions," Legolas conceded, "but you'll be able to come home, where you belong."

Home. There was that word again. The Greenwood was no longer her home. Could she make it her home again?

Kili's visage flashed through her mind, his dark eyes, perpetually messy hair, and that joyous grin full of life and affection and vitality.

No. Greenwood would never be home.

Still, it may be nice to return to at least gather her few personal belongings, if they were still in her rooms beneath the trees.

"What conditions?" she asked warily.

"Nothing drastic," Legolas said, amusement once again softening his features. "He's not asking you to cut off your ears in penance or anything. You'll only need to swear loyalty to Thranduil and never associate with dwarves ever again."

"Never associate with- Nan aear a geil!" she snapped. "It is demands such as these that continue to keep our peoples from reconciling!"

"Tauriel, please. You must understand. He blames them for your actions during the Battle. Before those dwarves stumbled onto our lands you were unwaveringly loyal to him. That day, at The Battle, you threatened his life, demanded that he send our people to battle, to spill their blood, to end their lives. And for what? The sake of a few dwarves? "

"He banished me before I threatened him," Tauriel reminded Legolas.

"You disobeyed direct orders not to leave our kingdom."

"I left to ascertain the possible threat to our people," she said. "I will not break off my dealings with dwarrow. You may tell your father that."

"This isn't your home," Legolas told her and stood. He walked closer to her, stopping only when he was close enough for her to see the shadows of each of his eyelashes on his pale skin. "You belong in Greenwood, at my side." He reached for her hand.

She stepped back. "No," she said. "I do not belong there." She spun on her heel and left, her heart in such turmoil that she didn't stop to talk to Kili. She strode through the halls until she returned to her rooms, heart in her throat and anguish in her chest. She went inside and paced.

She'd refused Thranduil's offer to return to Greenwood. He would never extend it to her again.

Her old home was forever lost to her.

Kili found her shortly after she'd settled her thoughts enough to sit down. She'd folded her legs under her where she'd stood, tucking her legs into a crossed position and let her hands rest on her knees. She breathed deeply, trying to calm her raging emotions. She thought of peace, of the quiet found in the night amongst the tree canopies with a cloudless sky, trying to imagine it as a reflection of her heart. Legolas's offer was no more than a small cloud obscuring the moon and would blow away quickly with a gentle breeze.

Kili knocked gently on her door before opening it and peering inside. She looked up at him for a moment but then went back to containing her aching heart.

He entered the room and shut the door behind him. Without a word, he ducked into her room briefly and returned with a warm blanket. He draped it around her shoulders and went to her fireplace and its scant embers. He stirred them back to life and added a log, blowing until the glowing coals relit and spread to the new fuel. Then he sat down on the floor next to her and just waited, his eyes staring into the fire as he waited for her to speak to him.

It took time for her to master herself, to gather her thoughts and order them into something she felt she could speak of. In that time, Kili added more wood to the fire before returning to his silent vigil at her side, remaining as still as the rock from which his people were supposedly carved.

"He is wrong," Tauriel finally said once she could trust her breathing and her voice.

"About?" Kili asked quietly.

Tauriel touched the back of his hand where it rested on his own leg. He turned it over and she laced their fingers together. "My place will never be in Greenwood."

He swallowed audibly. "Is it not?" he asked quietly. His voice sounded a bit strangled and nasal as if something blocked proper airflow through his nose and mouth. "You were Captain of the Guard. You had a life, a purpose. You left it all behind to chase after a group of crazy dwarrow."

"Not crazy dwarrow," she said fondly. "Just one insane, handsome, dark-haired archer that needs more looking after than any other I've ever met." She leaned to the side a little until their shoulders bumped before straightening her spine. She lifted her chin resolutely. "I will make a new life here, within the Mountain. I will find more purpose than simple guard duty."

"And what will that be?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I've been a soldier since I was strong enough to draw a bow. I know no other life so I think I will continue with it."

"How can I help?" Kili asked.

She gave him a half-smile. "You can listen to my complaining of boredom when the guard duty gets tedious and not take any of my grumblings to heart."

"I'll take every last little bit of it to heart," he said. "I will listen to every word, every frustration, every complaint. I will do what I can to help you make the life you want."

"And I will be by your side," she said. "Surely there will be duties for us to see to together in the future?"

He reached up and touched the plain bead in her hair. "I will talk to Balin about what you are allowed to help with at this time. You are right though. There will be plenty for us to do in the future that will undoubtedly keep us busy."

"I look forward to it." She said and relaxed against him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and they stared into the fire, breathing in each other's presence and relishing in the support offered and received.

Tauriel did her best to avoid Prince Legolas after their conversation. Considering her duties and her ability to hide in Erebor's royal wing, it didn't take much effort. The only time she found herself practically scrambling to leave without being noticed was during meal times and that was quickly fixed. All she had to do was go directly to the kitchens when they weren't extremely busy and beg something off Bombur who typically smiled and piled a tray of food for her to eat at the small table in his kitchens, muttering something about her needing more meat on her bones or she'd freeze during the winter or be snapped like a twig the first time she got into a fight. She didn't comment, just thanked him and retreated to the little table to eat in peace. Kili found and joined her on the second day she refused to join Erebor's main populace for dinner, laughing lightly and grinning in amusement the entire time.

It wasn't until the final day that Legolas managed to catch her.

It didn't take much. He stayed at the guard station for half a day, waiting for her to either start her shift or end it. If she'd been on her way to start her shift, she would have been able to beg off, saying she'd be late. Unfortunately, he caught her at the end of a shift.

"Tauriel, I would speak to you if you have a moment," he said as soon as she exited the guardhouse and headed towards her rooms.

For Eru's sake, did he never give up?

Resigning herself to an uncomfortable conversation after another dreary day of walking rounds in all but abandoned corridors (her path had been moved deeper into the mountain, near as of yet unopened mines), she nodded and led him away from the common passerby.

"What can I do for you, Prince Legolas?" she asked, linking her hands behind her back and standing straight.

His lips thinned briefly and his brows knit together, rising slightly. She recognized the expression even though few ever saw it and a pang of guilt stabbed at her. It took a lot to hurt Legolas's feelings.

He looked down and to the side as he swallowed and schooled his features back into stoicism. Finally, he looked up but a hint of his sorrow still remained. "I am sorry that the message I was asked to give you on behalf of my father distressed you. It was not my intention."

"And what, exactly, is your intention?" she asked, doing her best to keep the sharp bitterness from her tone. He didn't deserve it and the elf that did would be hard-pressed to ever leave his precious throne ever again.

"I would like to know if I have lost my dearest friend," he said quietly. "If you wish to stay with the dwarves, I understand. I will respect your wishes. Perhaps someday you will be welcomed home without conditions needing to be met. Until that day, know that I still value your friendship."

All the anger and frustration at Legolas mostly died away. "You once said that if there was no place for me, you would not return to the Woodland realm," she reminded him, giving voice to the only bit of hurt to which she could still cling.

He ducked his head further but lifted his eyes. "I returned in hopes of persuading my father to lift your banishment. If his stubbornness continues, I will do as I said and leave to find my own path."

"We do not care for change, do we?" she asked. "For all our people ridicule the dwarrow for being unchanging and stone-like, we are far more set in our ways."

"It is a difficult thing," Legolas conceded as he straightened a little and sighed. "After living a certain way for so long, it is hard to accept our way of thinking might be wrong. But you." He smiled at her but there was still sadness in his eyes. "You have embraced change and continue to embrace it every day you stay amongst these dwarrow. They are lucky to have you among them."

"I'm afraid most would disagree with you," she said smiling a little in return.

"If you ever find yourself in need of something unchanging, send word and I will come."

"Thank you, mellon nin," Tauriel said.

Legolas's smile widened into something almost unseemly for an elf. He tipped his head, eyes closing briefly as he schooled his features back into something less exuberant. "I will continue to join envoys from home," he told her. "I hope to see you often, but now, I must go. They're already waiting for me at the gates."

"Then go," Tauriel said. "Harthon gerithach raid gelin a melthin."

Legolas nodded and turned to leave the mountain. Tauriel watched him for a moment, feeling lighter than she had since the night Kili had braided the plain beads in her hair.

Snow started falling less than a month after the delegation from Greenwood. It melted within a few days, leaving muddy roads outside Erebor and all through Dale. Tauriel soon found herself with new duties. After all, the main entrance wasn't going to keep itself free of mud and grime tracked in on the boots of all the people entering Erebor, let alone the carts and animals. Still, it was a change from the lonely silent passages she normally patrolled and it wouldn't last forever. She didn't complain though it was grunt work that would fall to someone else once the final caravans arrived. Besides, it kept her near the outdoors, and the fresh air that reached her was revitalizing to say the least.

She patrolled back and forth near the gates with the large shovel provided for her. She scraped any mud tracked into the mountain and added it to the carts sitting just out of the way of traffic flow. More often than not, the slick, slimy grime ended up coating her boots and legs. If she got too close to a passing cart, it often flicked onto the rest of her, even onto her face. She didn't bother wiping it off every time it happened. She'd just scrape her skin raw.

After a few weeks, more snow fell and it stayed cold enough that it didn't melt, instead freezing and leaving deep furrows in the roads from wheels, feet, and hooves. Her duties shifted again and she helped to clear snow so rams pulling special sledges could help level the ground between Erebor and Dale. The task took days as they combatted snowstorms and the limitations of the ponies and rams ability to work in harsh conditions.

Finally, she and the team of dwarrow she worked with returned to Erebor, filthy and exhausted. She greeted Kili on his way to another meeting (and his blinding grin helped warm her from the inside even if Thorin's raised eyebrow at her and Kili made her feel a bit uncomfortable) and headed off to take a bath, reveling in the heat after so many days spent freezing in the gently falling snow. Once she was clean and reasonably warmed, she headed to the markets, hoping against hope that there was a cobbler that would help her with a new pair of boots. The ones she'd been wearing had come from her when she'd left Greenwood. Even then they'd been getting old. Her latest foray into the miserable weather and harsh landscape had finally broken through them. She needed them repaired or replaced.

She'd been in the markets, wandering her way through in search of a likely stall when a distant commotion caught her attention. She did her best to ignore it but it kept moving her way. Finally, it rounded the corner just behind her and she turned to make sure she wasn't in the way of some event she didn't know about.

A distraught dwarrowdam rounded the corner, going to everyone, begging for help. The dwarrow around her listened to what she said and shook their heads sadly. A few patted the dam's shoulder before heading off in various directions. As she neared, Tauriel heard what she was saying.

"Please. Have you seen my girl? She's only ten. Brown hair, brown eyes. Her beard hasn't started coming in yet. She was wearing a purple dress with a blue sash. Have you seen her?"

Tauriel stepped up to the dam. "Do you need help finding her?" she asked gently.

The dam paused at first, looking up the two feet to Tauriel's face. "You'd help?" she asked. Her tone was incredulous but not accusing.

"Of course," Tauriel said. "Have you notified the Guard yet?"

The dam shook her head. "They'll not bother with the likes of me," she protested.

"I'm a member of the guard and I will help," Tauriel said. "What is your name and what is hers?"

"My name is Yovea and my daughter is Yvelarn."

"Come with me Madam Yovea. We'll find Captain Dwalin and ask him for assistance."

"The Captain? There's no use trying to bother the likes of him, Mistress Elf. Such high folk never bother with the likes of me and mine."

"We shall see," Tauriel said and led the way quickly to the nearest guardhouse. There, she asked for Captain Dwalin's current assignment and learned he was guarding King Thorin, as usual. They were due in the throne room for public audiences.

Tauriel didn't give Yovea a chance to object, just lead the way to the throne room and passed all the currently waiting petitioners. They received plenty of glares and grumbling but Tauriel ignored each and every one of them. When she finally reached the dais, she caught Dwalin's eye and he stepped down, away from the thrones after nodding at another guard stationed nearby to take his place.

"What is it?" he asked as he looked up at Tauriel.

"This is Madam Yovea," Tauriel said quietly. "Her daughter Yvelarn has gone missing. May I have permission to organize a search party with all guard members currently not strictly required at their current duties?"

"Permission granted." Dwalin looked back at Thorin. The king nodded once and Dwalin turned back to Tauriel and Yovea. "Follow me. We'll head to the guardhouse and deploy searchers. Madam Yovea, have you anything of your child's? Something personal that would smell like them?"

"I can get some of her bedding easily enough," the dam said. "What good will that do?"

"We have scent hounds that can follow her trail," he said. "When did you last see your daughter?"

"This morning. We went to the markets. She must have wandered off while I talked to the baker on Copper Row. I've been searching ever since but no one's seen her."

"Describe her," Dwalin ordered as he lengthened his stride. Yovea did, telling of a dwarfling, no more than twelve years old with bright, golden-brown hair, brown eyes with flecks of emerald, a smattering of freckles, and a sturdy build that would stand no taller than Dwalin's thigh. She'd been wearing her favorite red frock with the brown sash.

Tauriel listened as they hurtled into the guardhouse. Dwalin called for all available guards as well as two scent hounds and their handlers. Yovea disappeared as the guard gathered and returned with a well-loved blanket before leading the guard, dogs, handlers, Dwalin, and Tauriel to the last place she'd seen her daughter. Dwalin sent most of the guard in every direction with Yvelarn's description, going to every dwarf and dam they ran into to ask about the dwarfling. Tauriel stayed with Dwalin, awaiting orders.

Dwalin called the scent hounds forward. Their handlers gave commands and the dogs sniffed the blanket Yovea held. They circled, noses to the ground. One, a small dog that only reached partway up Tauriel's shin, paused at one point, sniffing the same spot repeatedly. Finally, its fawn and white tail wagged and they started dragging against their leash.

"Pepper's found something," the handler said.

"Let her off-leash," Dwalin ordered.

"Sorry Captain. She'll outrun us if I do and we'll lose her and risk losing the dwarfling's scent."

"I'll keep up and leave markers," Tauriel said and drew a knife. She scratched a quick mark in the dirt, marks she'd learned by listening in on new recruit's training when she'd been filling out paperwork on an arrest. "Let her loose."

The handler glared at Tauriel, a protest on the tip of his tongue.

"Do it," Dwalin snarled, "before the trail goes any colder."

The little dog Pepper strained at her leash, her fawn-colored ears trying to stand erect even as they flopped forward. She sniffed the ground again and whined. Grumbling, her handler let her off the leash. "On your head be it," he growled.

Pepper took off through the market, nose to the ground, and running at almost a dead sprint. Tauriel took off after her, weaving between dwarrow. Any time they turned a corner, she scratched a mark on a pole or into the stone at her feet with her knife, eyes never leaving the white-tipped fawn tail wagging close to the ground.

Pepper led her on a merry chase through the markets before weaving under the fabric of a stall. Tauriel followed, scratching another mark on one side of the stall and then on the other as she broke free, ignoring the indignant shouts of the cooper who owned it. Once beyond the market, Pepper dashed unhindered down the wide, main passage, heading steadily for the atrium.

Dodging carts, mules, rams, and dwarrow, Tauriel raced on behind the dog. She didn't pause as they left through Erebor's main gates. Once out on the main road, Pepper stopped and sniffed deeply at the ground. She snuffled about, working back and forth, searching. Finally, she barked and took off again, off the side of the road and up the side of the mountain. The ground worsened, mud flicking up beneath the dog's paws and making the way treacherous for Tauriel. A cold wind blew across the mountainside. When the sun set that night, temperatures would drop and the mud would freeze. From the look of the horizon, snow would follow.

Tauriel raced harder, bounding from rocks and over little streams of runoff from snow melting higher on the mountain.

They followed what appeared to be little more than a game trail as it tracked higher along the mountain, running along a spur towards Dale. Had the little dwarfling really come this far? Why had they come outside the mountain in the first place?

Pepper paused and Tauriel caught up to her. The dog's ears flicked forward, once again looking as if Pepper were trying to make them stand straight instead of flopping over. Tauriel waited, not wanting to disturb the dog. As she held still, a sound drew her attention. At the same time, Pepper trotted off the pain path and around a rock outcrop. There, sheltered from the wind, a little dwarfling huddled, sniffling quietly into the skirt of her red dress. Mud smeared her hands and face and more splattered her heavy boots and the hem of her dress. Her beard hadn't come in yet but her golden brown hair hung well past her shoulders and in her face.

Pepper stopped next to the girl and whined, stood straight with her tail stiff, and pawed at the ground.

"Easy Pepper," Tauriel said and bent to put a hand on the dog's back. Pepper glanced back at Tauriel before looking back at the object of her search and whining again.

"Yvelarn?" Tauriel asked.

The dwarfling pulled her face out of her skirts and looked over at Tauriel. "Who are you?" she asked, sniffling.

"My name is Tauriel and this is Pepper," she said and shifted a little closer, moving slowly and broadcasting her movements to not scare the girl. "Your mother is worried about you. She asked us to find you."

"Is she mad?" Yvelarn asked quietly.

"She's scared," Tauriel hedged. "Are you all right?"

Yvelarn nodded. "I lost her in the market crowds. I couldn't find her." She climbed to her feet, heedless of the mud coating the seat of her skirts. "Can you help me find her?"

Tauriel nodded and held out a hand, ignoring the mud on the dwarfling's palms. She must have tripped a time or two, considering the mess and how it smeared up her forearms. "We'll lead you home. Why are you outside the mountain?"

"Mum wanted to go to Dale today. When I couldn't find her in the market I thought she may have left without me."

"Why didn't you follow the road?" Tauriel asked as they started working their way back down the muddy path.

"There was a bunch of elves by the front gate," Yvelarn whispered. "They stared at me as I came outside. I was scared and so I took the path to get away."

The latest shipment of lumber from The Greenwood Tauriel realized. Dwarrow preferred building with stone but even they needed at least temporary support structures in their mines and with all the reconstruction inside the mountain, more and more wood was used for things like building scaffolding and propping up old stonework until more permanent repairs were made. To a dwarf-child the woodworkers from the forest would seem intimidating, Tauriel supposed. Their great longbows and the heavy axes they carried often startled young elflings too.

Yvelarn slowed the further they went down the path. After a while, Tauriel bent and offered to carry the girl. Pepper trotted along beside them, chasing after small game as they went. She brought back a rabbit at one point, tail happily wagging as she handed her catch to Tauriel.

Finally, they reentered the mountain. Kili, pacing near the front gate saw them first. His entire posture relaxed as a grin crept over his face when he saw them. He joined them, greeting Tauriel with a smile and introducing himself to a very tired Yvelarn. The girl smiled sleepily at him and turned her face back into Tauriel's shoulder.

"Sleep, Little One," Kili murmured and rubbed the girl's back briefly. "You're in safe hands."

Yovea screamed when she saw her daughter in Tauriel's arms, collapsing as tears streamed down her face.

"She's all right," Tauriel soothed. "Just tired. She'd made it almost the entire way to Dale on a side path along the mountain's ridges before she stopped to take a break." She carefully handed the sleeping dwarfling to her mother.

"Thank you, Your Ladyship. Thank you." Yovea sobbed and smoothed her daughter's hair away from her face.

Straightening, Tauriel glanced around. Pepper's handler was reattaching the leash to her collar. He glanced up and gave Tauriel a small nod of respect. Dwalin, standing nearby, appraised Tauriel, his eyebrows drawn together as he thought something over. What that something was, she didn't know and wasn't sure she wanted to.

Translations:
Nan Aear a Geil - By the Sea and Stars
Mellon nin - My friend
Harthon gerithach raid gelin a melthin - I hope you will have green and golden paths