Blood-Stained
Ch. 3: Journey to Rivendell
The day dawned bright and clear; Luthiena stepped out of her beautifully furnished room - wearing the same dress as the day before - and met Legolas, who was all decked out in his camouflage clothing of green and brown, still artfully inscribed with beautiful leaf patterns here and there. She saw he had strapped to his back a beautifully ornamented bow, and a quiver full of arrows. Two long knives also adorned themselves at his backside, their golden handles sticking up into visibility and for - apparent - easy reach.
"Are you ready, my Lady? I shall show you to the stables, then." Legolas said, taking her arm and leading her through the winding passages of the castle. She was afraid that she would become lost in the immense palace, but the more time she spent here the more she got to know familiar markers, and could probably have done well on her own. She mentioned this to Legolas, and he laughed.
"My mother said the same thing when she arrived here in the palace, but she learned her way around quickly enough. Turned out her visit changed itself into a permanent residence." He said, a smile on his lips. She felt herself blushing again some more, but was interrupted by the appearance of Haldir of Lothlorien and his two soldiers. He bowed to Legolas, and the action was returned.
"What is it, Haldir? Should you not be with your Lady?" Legolas asked, wondering to where the Lady had gotten to since she had arrived at his coronation four days ago now.
"She has permitted us to explore your fine city, sir, but we have taken up to guarding the palace walls. It is what we do best. Speaking of guarding things, yesterday Gollum gave us a chase. He was peering into the castle, looking for something sir." Haldir said, his eyes still scanning the area for the ugly creature. Legolas raised an eyebrow.
"He is still here?" He asked, becoming slightly giddy. That did not make sense; he would have run as soon as he was able, in fear of being kept prisoner again. Haldir shook his head.
"I do not know for sure sire, but he has left the city and was making for the deeper woods when we broke off the pursuit." He informed. The other two elves with him nodded, backing up his story. Legolas nodded, thinking of whether or not to report it to his father.
"Report this to my father, should you come across him. Keep a sharp lookout, for I shall be gone today and perhaps most of the week." Haldir nodded and was off almost immediately, stalking around the palace for anything else that might try to harm members of the Royal family.
"He does love his job, doesn't he?" Luthiena commented, watching the three elves sneaking off through the gardens. Legolas laughed, leading her off through some of the open-air balconies to the stables.
"Yes, yes, he does. You will not mind sharing horse with me, Lady?" He asked, helping her mount the beautiful white horse that had been led in front of the two. Around them, a few other Stewards were preparing to go with him, and they nodded to him as he entered. Luthiena shook her head and nearly squealed when Legolas picked her up with ease and placed her on his horse, getting some odd looks from the other elves in the stables. He ignored them, however, and mounted the packed horse right behind Luthiena, making her blush again.
"Gentlemen, are you ready?" Legolas yelled behind him, and the mounted Stewards shouted back to them their readiness. Legolas took up the reins of his horse, slapping them against the beast's neck. Luthiena found herself grabbing the horse's mane for support as it suddenly went bolting forward, pushing her hair back to the wind. Legolas' shouts were lost to her ears as it rushed past, and the small company bolted from the stables to the path leading from Mirkwood palace and the forest itself.
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Lady Galadriel nearly upset herself as she saw four horses depart from the stables, one with two figures upon it, and watched as they raced down the forest paths out of sight. Thranduil, who had been sitting beside her and had been commenting on the beauty of the castle gardens, suddenly noticed that she was no longer paying attention to him.
"Where does Legolas go in such a hurry?" She asked curiously. Thranduil gestured casually in the way his son had gone, not looking the least worried.
"I have sent him on an errand to see Lord Elrond. The creature, Gollum, has escaped and I wish that he know about it." He informed her, as though she were stupid if she were not able to have the extra information about it.
"Oh dear!" She gasped, thinking of the horrid creature she had the misfortune to see in her long years. It was hardly a meeting of friendly terms, and she had a hard time seeing the hobbit that had once been Gollum inside that frail and very ugly body.
"Never mind that, my dear. Legolas will tell Lord Elrond, and he will set things right. Even if Gollum does return here, and I doubt that he will, we have many guards, including your captain Haldir, who will take care of him should he return and try to make harm of you or I." Thranduil assured her, gently taking up her hand. Galadriel looked at her, to the sudden sensation that ripped through her soft hands at the king's touch. She felt something in her mind growing, but she had not the nerve to tell him to let go. Actually, it was quite nice, the touch of his hands. Age had not roughened them at all, something which had done murder on her husband's hands.
"My dear, where is your husband on this fine day? Why has he not come with you?" Thranduil said, rapidly changing subject. Galadriel felt her voice catch in her throat, but managed to eke out words.
"He refuses to leave his room. I fear that he wishes to return home even more than I do. This place is beautiful Thranduil, I am very impressed with what you have done with it." She smiled, suddenly noticing how close the king was to her. He smiled at her, taking up her hand and very unexpectedly kissing the back of it. She blinked and felt a blush coming on, but held it back for fear of embarrassing herself. Thranduil smiled at her, giving her a smile she had never seen before; the likes of it made her shiver, and not in an unpleasant way.
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"They chassssed me, masssster...." Gollum pleaded with the elf standing in the corner of the room, his hands behind his back and his face hidden in shadows. "Chasssssed me away from the palassssse.." He said worriedly, wondering if his master would punish him for not completing his mission. Instead, the elf simply asked him if he had learned anything new.
"Legolasss...and Lady have gone to Rivendell...telling of Gollum's esssscape. King by himsssself." Gollum said smartly, hoping this would make up for his blunder. His master turned around, and the happy glint in his eyes told him that he had most definitely made it up to his master.
"Good work, Gollum. Now, fetch me the commander of my armies; I wish to speak with him." The elf dismissed the horrid creature, and Gollum hopped off to find the dark, twisted elf that his master had spoken of.
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"Do you enjoy the view, my Lady?" Legolas asked his passenger, nearly whispering the words directly into her ear. Luthiena nearly gasped when he did this, but she nodded anyways.
"Yes, it is quite beautiful. Dare I ask when we will get to Rivendell?" She asked, turning slightly in the saddle to face Legolas, who had his eyes trained on the landscape around him. He chuckled, sparing a few seconds to look at her.
"Eager? Ah yes, we shall be there in another few hours time, if all goes correctly." Legolas informed her, snapping the reins of his horse and forcing it to go faster. It showed no signs of tiring out, and Luthiena found this most intriguing. Then, most suddenly, she heard something. Legolas seemed not to notice, and she thought that perhaps it was her mind playing tricks on her.
It came again; the sound of harsh footsteps and of wild screams, unlike anything she had heard before. This time, Legolas stopped his horse and gestured for the other three travelling with them to do the same. All four horses came to a dead standstill, and even the beasts themselves seemed to know that something was amiss; they pawed at the ground and snorted, their own ears twitching back and forth.
"My Lord.." One of the Stewards said nervously, looking around him with worried eyes. Legolas scanned the area around them; they were in a clearing, so if anything attacked they would at least see what it was before it came upon them. Luthiena felt her heart beating faster and her temperature rising, and it made her very uncomfortable.
"Legolas, what is it..?" Luthiena said, in her fear forgetting the honorary title that went with his rank. He seemed not to notice; rather, his eyes were closed and he looked as though he were concentrating on the sound. There was a rustling, and the beasts stepped out into the clearing, growling at them.
"Orcs." Legolas said disgustedly, grabbing the reins of the horse. There were startled gasps from his Stewards, but he ignored them. There looked to be a hundred of the beasts or more, but he kept cool. Already, a plan was forming itself in his brain.
"Luthiena, can you ride a horse?" Legolas asked her seriously, and she nodded. He pushed the reins into her hands and grabbed his bow, and she caught onto his idea. "We are going to ride straight forward, and I am going to clear a path through these beasts. Be careful, and keep riding as fast as you can." Legolas shouted to his other Stewards, and they nodded to him. He nudged Luthiena and she slapped the reins against the horse's back, sending the beast rocketing towards the slowly forming ring of Orcs. Arrow after arrow sizzled the air past Luthiena's ear, and she forced her eyes to stay open as they rode ever closer to the Orcs, some of them felled by Legolas' bow. The beasts screamed and tried to lash out at her, but they did not get close thanks to the Prince seated behind her. She did not know if any of the other elves behind them got out, but once they were in the fray of Orcs - in increasing numbers, she noticed - her brain seemed to abandon her, and her body's fear took over her. She urged the beast to go faster, faster than it seemed to be able to go, and for some reason not one Orc touched her fair body.
"Legolas!!" She shouted, finally feeling her body running out of energy. She felt like she was going to faint; she knew not how many miles they had already ran, and she did not care. She simply let the reins slip from her hands, and dropped her head to her chest, and fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.
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It was evening when Luthiena opened her eyes again, and she found herself looking up into the beautiful evening stars. Sitting up, she noticed she was lying on a blanket that was supposedly packed in the horses' saddle bags when they left. She found Legolas sitting by a small fire, sitting and thinking. When he saw that she had awakened, he came to her side and looked down on her.
"Are you alright? You fainted after we cleared the Orcs." Legolas asked her, worry lines creasing his face. He was becoming increasingly aware that this girl was something more than just a girl who happened to be lost in Mirkwood, and he had a strange feeling that his feelings for her were developing, but perhaps in the wrong way for this occasion.
"Yes, yes. I'm fine now, but rather hungry.." She said, hoping that he would have something to eat for her. He smiled, helping her hold the bowl while she practically inhaled the small amount of food that he had prepared for her ahead of time. While she was eating, she noticed that it seemed that Legolas and her were the only ones in the camp.
"Legolas, where are the others that came with us?" She asked, putting down her bowl. The Prince's eyes almost immediately became bleak and sorrow-filled, and she knew that something terrible had happened.
"I do not know if they lived or died through the Orc attack. I have not seen one since the Orcs fled, but I have seen one of the horses....with no rider, and torn saddle bags." Legolas said soberly, wishing he had thought ahead and brought more soldiers instead of diplomats. He should have known that the fringes of Mirkwood would have been watched. He should have known...Legolas turned and stared at Luthiena, closing his eyes moments afterwards in what looked like pain. It was because of her. He chided himself, wondering if the others he had travelled with made it out alive.
"We may find them yet, Legolas." Luthiena assured him. Legolas simply humphed and turned the opposite way from her. He didn't feel like speaking to her; she had already gotten the slip on him and distracted him once, and it had probably cost innocent elven lives. He would make sure it didn't happen again.
Behind them several miles there was a small party of Orcs; in the middle stood Gollum, and he gave them orders on what to do.
"Capture the female, and do not harm her, for she issss the masssster's daughter." He warned, echoing his master's own words to him. "Leave the Princeeee." The captain of the ugly creatures nodded and gestured to some of his fellows, who immediately spread the word of the next attack. Their first try had not gone so well, and many were angry that a mere two elves on horseback could have escaped them. More words were exchanged, and then the creatures lay down to sleep, preparing for their attack the next morning.
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"My Lord, you have been so very kind to me and my husband on our stay here, but I fear that the time has come to leave. We have already stayed longer than planned, and I fear that Lothlorien cannot govern itself." The Lady Galadriel spoke softly to the king, who considered her words. It was evening, and the two were once more out on a walk, enjoying then night sky, and once more Celeborn refused to join them. Galadriel feared that he would break something if he did not leave soon, and she had never seen him so grumpy, irritable and basically off his solar plexus before. She turned her head when Thranduil stopped beside her. She looked at him, his face half shadowed in the darkness.
She felt it before she saw it. He came in closer to her, bringing himself into that intimate zone that almost immediately made her feel uncomfortable. He smiled at her, bringing his hand to her chin and stroking it gently.
"If you mean to go then, my Lady..." He said softly. Galadriel gasped, and was nearly overwhelmed when she felt a familiar softness touch her lips. This time, however, it was not the intimate kiss of her husband, but rather that of a rival king. She flushed and moved backwards a bit, but it was too late. The King of Mirkwood brought his hand to her back, pressing her against him gently. She could do nothing, lest it draw more attention to them - if anyone happened to be watching. It was over then, moments later, and the king smiled at her as if nothing had happened, though his eyes told her a different story.
"Farewell then, my Lady." He said softly, turning heel and heading out away from the castle more. She watched as he walked among the flowers and trees, his blonde hair shining in the moonlight, his lips whistling a soft tune.
She sighed, before turning back to the castle, her skirts waving behind her. She could not, however, help herself when she looked back just once, only to see nothing but the pruned foliage behind her.