A.N: Again I must apolgise for my hanus lack of chapters. I have been in a play, and have therefore been learning lines and trying to fit in all my year 13 work rather than writing. But lady muse has visited me once more and I couldn't help writing. I've tried out a new way of writing, I hope it will be sucessful. Please tell me what you think. If you don't like it I may go back to the old style. Thankyou all for being so patient with me. ;0) Princess Joy ;0)
LOTR Fan - Thankyou for you review. It has been greatly appreciated. ;0)
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The moon and stars twinkle down through the trees above Edie and Legolas. They create a pale blue light that washes over Edie's frantic face.
Legolas shakes his head and inwardly sighs. A nightmare. Is that what all her fuss is about?
"Legolas! She put a curse on me!" Edie says again, this time the desperation in her voice comes through a lot more clearly.
"May I ask which old woman you are referring to." Legolas says quietly, and tries to make sense of what Edie is saying.
"The old woman!" Edie says loudly, grabbing a handful of leaves from the forest floor and scrunching them up, as if it's obvious to all and sundry who she is talking about.
"Which? You know that we have come across many."
"The...one...you know!" Edie says, and waves her arms about madly as if trying to describe in the air who the woman is that she's talking about.
"Really. You aren't making very much sense. Calm down and tell me then." Legolas says, glaring at her.
As per usual, Edie thinks, it seems to her that the Elf always has some kind of serious look on his face.
"The one with the...woman...old...M...Lady...Mistress Antigone!" she almost shouts as she remembers the name, making every bird in the trees nearby flee for fear of their lives.
Legolas shakes his head. This only serves to aggravate Edie even more.
"What? Do you think I'm lying, or made this up or something?" Edie asks.
"No. I just know that you're wrong about Mistress Antigone."
"How? How do you know?"
"Because...it's complicated, Princess."
Edie ponders this for a second.
"Well, go on then. It seems to me that we can take the liberty of a few hours to discuss exactly what connection you have to that old woman and her sister."
Legolas sighs again, something that the usually patient Elf has taken to doing quite a lot. He knows that he will have to tell Edie.
"Very well." he says, and adopts the pose of one telling a story to a young child, which is what Edie is compared to him. "It was a long time ago when I met your...old woman, Mistress Antigone, and her sister Eurydice. They are two very old women, very old for two humans, older than one hundred years old."
Edie remembers hearing of half-breeds, humans with Elven blood that have lived for hundreds of years, surpassing the expectations of their peers. Branded as special, often with other Elven traits. Legolas continues on with his story.
"I was walking silently through a forest one day, a long time ago, when I saw a beautiful maiden reading beneath a great tree. She looked so absorbed with her story, so at peace with the world around her. I stood hidden and watched her for some time. After a while she stood up and left the spot. I stood and waited for her, and sure enough the next day she came back to read again. She did this every day, and so I watched her every day. I was quite taken by her. By her human fragility perhaps. I liked to watch her read, different books. I liked the way her eyes lit up when she read an interesting passage, and sometimes, a rare treat, she would laugh, a soft, tinkling laugh at something she found amusing. After a lunar cycle the weather began to turn cold, and she would not come out so often. Selfishly, I was afraid of losing those moments watching her, so I followed her when she left one day. She was almost out of the forest when, in my carelessness, I stepped on a twig and she turned and saw me, hiding in the trees. I let her see me. She seemed quite shocked, but a kind smile played upon her lips and she walked towards me.
'Hello, Sir, can I help you? Have you lost your way in the woods. There is a village quite near. Let me show you.' she said. I let her show me. I didn't know what to say to her. She asked me my name, and I told her. She asked me a good many questions and each one I answered, and when she finally asked me where I was from, I could do nothing but tell her. 'I am from Mirkwood, I am Prince Legolas.' She was surprised, but also curious. She had never seen an Elf before..."
Edie sighs, is this story going anywhere, she thinks, and then she asks Legolas.
Legolas is quite irked that Edie has interrupted him in the story. "Yes it is going somewhere." he says.
Edie shrugs and says, "Go on then, get on with it. This perfect woman is beginning to annoy me."
Legolas quietly clears his throat and continues, "As I was saying, she had never seen an Elf before, so that lead to more questions."
Again, Edie interrrupts. "More? She certainly is nosy. Did you have a relationship with her?" Edie asks, hoping that this little intervention will hurry up Legolas's story.
Legolas looks a little embarrassed, something that Edie has never seen on him before. It doesn't suit him, embarrassment.
"Yes. And out of this relationship she bore a child. Alas, she was already in a marriage union, otherwise I would have asked for her hand myself. Naturally, her husband believed the child to be his. It had no Elfish markings, it looked quite human, but I knew the girl-child was mine. She was called Iphigenaia and I made sure that she could want for nothing. Eventually, when she married, she bore children, two girls, twins, and she called them Antigone and Eurydice, a son and another daughter. So, these old woman, as you call them, are of Elven heritage. Mistress Antigone has not cursed you. She wouldn't."
Edie is taken aback. She now has a new slant on Legolas, this is one that she didn't expect. She thought Legolas was beautiful, but boring. She looks at him for a few moments and then grunts.
"Well..." she says, but cannot think of anything more to say.
"Get some rest, you need it." Legolas says, and goes back to looking at the fire. Edie lies back down again, she can feel her heart beating in her chest, and the cold wrapping itself around her. She pulls her cloak tighter around herself and tries to sleep.
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LOTR Fan - Thankyou for you review. It has been greatly appreciated. ;0)
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The moon and stars twinkle down through the trees above Edie and Legolas. They create a pale blue light that washes over Edie's frantic face.
Legolas shakes his head and inwardly sighs. A nightmare. Is that what all her fuss is about?
"Legolas! She put a curse on me!" Edie says again, this time the desperation in her voice comes through a lot more clearly.
"May I ask which old woman you are referring to." Legolas says quietly, and tries to make sense of what Edie is saying.
"The old woman!" Edie says loudly, grabbing a handful of leaves from the forest floor and scrunching them up, as if it's obvious to all and sundry who she is talking about.
"Which? You know that we have come across many."
"The...one...you know!" Edie says, and waves her arms about madly as if trying to describe in the air who the woman is that she's talking about.
"Really. You aren't making very much sense. Calm down and tell me then." Legolas says, glaring at her.
As per usual, Edie thinks, it seems to her that the Elf always has some kind of serious look on his face.
"The one with the...woman...old...M...Lady...Mistress Antigone!" she almost shouts as she remembers the name, making every bird in the trees nearby flee for fear of their lives.
Legolas shakes his head. This only serves to aggravate Edie even more.
"What? Do you think I'm lying, or made this up or something?" Edie asks.
"No. I just know that you're wrong about Mistress Antigone."
"How? How do you know?"
"Because...it's complicated, Princess."
Edie ponders this for a second.
"Well, go on then. It seems to me that we can take the liberty of a few hours to discuss exactly what connection you have to that old woman and her sister."
Legolas sighs again, something that the usually patient Elf has taken to doing quite a lot. He knows that he will have to tell Edie.
"Very well." he says, and adopts the pose of one telling a story to a young child, which is what Edie is compared to him. "It was a long time ago when I met your...old woman, Mistress Antigone, and her sister Eurydice. They are two very old women, very old for two humans, older than one hundred years old."
Edie remembers hearing of half-breeds, humans with Elven blood that have lived for hundreds of years, surpassing the expectations of their peers. Branded as special, often with other Elven traits. Legolas continues on with his story.
"I was walking silently through a forest one day, a long time ago, when I saw a beautiful maiden reading beneath a great tree. She looked so absorbed with her story, so at peace with the world around her. I stood hidden and watched her for some time. After a while she stood up and left the spot. I stood and waited for her, and sure enough the next day she came back to read again. She did this every day, and so I watched her every day. I was quite taken by her. By her human fragility perhaps. I liked to watch her read, different books. I liked the way her eyes lit up when she read an interesting passage, and sometimes, a rare treat, she would laugh, a soft, tinkling laugh at something she found amusing. After a lunar cycle the weather began to turn cold, and she would not come out so often. Selfishly, I was afraid of losing those moments watching her, so I followed her when she left one day. She was almost out of the forest when, in my carelessness, I stepped on a twig and she turned and saw me, hiding in the trees. I let her see me. She seemed quite shocked, but a kind smile played upon her lips and she walked towards me.
'Hello, Sir, can I help you? Have you lost your way in the woods. There is a village quite near. Let me show you.' she said. I let her show me. I didn't know what to say to her. She asked me my name, and I told her. She asked me a good many questions and each one I answered, and when she finally asked me where I was from, I could do nothing but tell her. 'I am from Mirkwood, I am Prince Legolas.' She was surprised, but also curious. She had never seen an Elf before..."
Edie sighs, is this story going anywhere, she thinks, and then she asks Legolas.
Legolas is quite irked that Edie has interrupted him in the story. "Yes it is going somewhere." he says.
Edie shrugs and says, "Go on then, get on with it. This perfect woman is beginning to annoy me."
Legolas quietly clears his throat and continues, "As I was saying, she had never seen an Elf before, so that lead to more questions."
Again, Edie interrrupts. "More? She certainly is nosy. Did you have a relationship with her?" Edie asks, hoping that this little intervention will hurry up Legolas's story.
Legolas looks a little embarrassed, something that Edie has never seen on him before. It doesn't suit him, embarrassment.
"Yes. And out of this relationship she bore a child. Alas, she was already in a marriage union, otherwise I would have asked for her hand myself. Naturally, her husband believed the child to be his. It had no Elfish markings, it looked quite human, but I knew the girl-child was mine. She was called Iphigenaia and I made sure that she could want for nothing. Eventually, when she married, she bore children, two girls, twins, and she called them Antigone and Eurydice, a son and another daughter. So, these old woman, as you call them, are of Elven heritage. Mistress Antigone has not cursed you. She wouldn't."
Edie is taken aback. She now has a new slant on Legolas, this is one that she didn't expect. She thought Legolas was beautiful, but boring. She looks at him for a few moments and then grunts.
"Well..." she says, but cannot think of anything more to say.
"Get some rest, you need it." Legolas says, and goes back to looking at the fire. Edie lies back down again, she can feel her heart beating in her chest, and the cold wrapping itself around her. She pulls her cloak tighter around herself and tries to sleep.
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