A/N: Please review. I need some kind of feed back. I know it seems tame now
but things will be picking up within the next two chapters as time goes by
and they grow up. Now If I ask: Pretty Please With Sugar On Top will you
people Review?!?
Disclaimer: It's all been said before. Tolkien's the genius, I'm just the fanfic writer. Enjoy!
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That night Arwen and I talked long after dinner. She told me of the beauty of Rivendell and I told her of my pranks here. Elladan and Elrohir were off talking about training methods and war somewhere else. So I felt relaxed about being just a girl. For although I am one, I do not always act like one. The archery and tree chases for example but that did not mean that I disliked everything girly. Indeed the only things I did not like was a particularly bright shade of pink and fancy dresses. Arwen was always proper and sometimes I felt like I wasn't behaving properly in comparison to her. But when we talked one on one there were none of these things. We were just friends.
I had lost track of the hour when Lady Celebrian came up to us in the library where we sat before the fire. "I'd hate to interrupt this little gossip session but little elves need their sleep."
"But nana, five more minutes? Please?" Arwen pleaded with the most pitiful look on her face that Lady Celebrian gave in almost immediately.
"Alright my dear ones, five more minutes. And then it is off to bed with both of you." She said as she gave both of us a kiss on the forehead.
"Thank you nana." Arwen cried happily as the Lady headed out the door. Arwen grinned as she turned back to me. "Well, we only have five more minutes here. But do you want to sneak out and meet in my room so we can talk some more?" She asked me and I began to notice a mischievous gleam in her eye. Apparently I was wrong. Arwen didn't always act like a proper lady.
I do believe the gleam in my eye mirrored her own. "When shall I meet you?" When all the plans were made we both decided to go off and find Arwen's mother again. We found all of the adults in the great hall sitting and talking before the great fire that blazed in the fireplace. They immediately fell quiet as soon as they saw us enter. Arwen went around to everybody to say goodnight. I hung back to let her make her rounds. But also because I had no one to say goodnight to except the King. And I had never been that familiar with him. I know that it was through no fault of his. He wanted to be a father to me. It was because of his son. I had wanted to keep as much distance between Legolas and myself as possible. So I had distanced myself from the man before I ever knew him. I knew that this pained him but he could do nothing about it.
As soon as Arwen finished we both walked out of the hall together and proceeded up to our rooms. We came to Arwen's room first and with a knowing glance I bid her goodnight and went into my own room. Enna was there as always. She already had my bed turned down and my night gown waiting. She quickly helped me out of my dress. And I pulled the nightgown over my head.
"Enna?" She was busy re-hanging the gown in the wardrobe and turned to me with a question in her eyes. "Is the blue dress ruined?" I had felt so badly about the dress. I knew Enna had the seamstresses make them especially for me.
"No child. It shouldn't take them long to fix the hem. And with a good wash it will be as good as new." I smiled in relief. As much as I hated fancy dresses I didn't want to ruin them and so hurt Enna's feelings. "Alright now, into bed with you." I scrambled up into the enormous soft bed and wiggled under the covers. "Goodnight Laurel. Pleasant dreams." She wished me as she blew out the last candle and quietly closed the door.
I waited the allotted time and slowly drew back the covers. I slipped off the bed and quickly found my slippers in the wardrobe. Putting them on my feet, I eased open the door a crack and looked into the hall. There was no one there and I could hear no feet approaching. I opened the door fully and made my way towards Arwen room. Knocking on the door softly three times, I waited. Very soon the door opened and Arwen hurried me inside.
We sat on her balcony and continued our talk of Rivendell. She told me of the great Lord Glorfindel who had bravely battled a balrog to save his people only to loose his life. But the Valar blessed him and let him be reincarnated. Now he was counselor to her father Lord Elrond. I told her the tales of these woods. How they had once spanned from the ocean in the west to farther than the eyes could see in the east. We stayed like that for hours. However after a very full day preceded my a not very good night's sleep, I soon crept back to my own room. I wanted to be well rested for my next archery lesson.
I slipped out of Arwen's room not making a sound. I easily made it back to my own room. Flopping down on the bed once more, my mind was in the path of dreams before my head every touched the pillow.
The sun was high when I finally awoke. I darted to a sitting position. I couldn't believe that I had been sleeping this long. Perhaps I should have forgone meeting Arwen last night. But that couldn't be helped now. I quickly threw on a plain dress and made my way down to the hall. I was hoping to escape detection, but alas this was not to be. As soon as I walked through the doorway I was greeted by simultaneous voices a little too cheerfully for my liking.
"Good morning" both saluded me
"Or rather good afternoon my dear Laurel, did you have a pleasant sleep?" Elrohir persisted. I wanted to cut off both their heads and use them for target practice. I turned to a giggling Arwen.
"How do you put up with these two? Surely if I had one brother I would be swiftly driven mad. How can you withstand them?" I cried with exasperation. Arwen was no help. She just shrugged. Grr, I sighed to myself as I plopped down to what was obviously lunch.
"I can see that rising late does not agree with you my dear. But we thought it best to let you get as much sleep as possible." The King said addressing me. He knew I needed it. So I turned a kind smile in his direction.
"I do not object, for obviously I needed it. It was only that which greeted me when I awoke that annoys me." I replied looking pointedly at the twins who of course, had assumed expressions of complete innocence. All the adults started to laugh, I couldn't help but to laugh as well, my face breaking into a grin.
"Alright girl, now go eat your lunch." The King told me with a broad grin on his face. I curtsied and sat down in my seat.
The twins forgave me for missing practice that morning, and said we would start right after lunch. I ate as fast as I could and ran to change into more suitable clothes than this dress. Arwen of course, followed in the dress she had already been wearing. Practice went well. I had hit the target more often than not. And occasionally hit one of the inner circles. Elladan told me that I was one of the fastest learners he had ever seen. I was basking in this for the rest of the day. Yes! I was getting good at something.
After we all had enough of archery for the day. The four of us split up. Lady Celebrian wanted to talk to Arwen. And Elladan and Elrohir wished to explore the town and market. I pointed them in the right direction then I headed in the direction of the library.
This was my favorite of all the rooms in the palace. It was always cozy and welcoming. There were well worn red velvet stuffed chairs pulled close to the fireplace for late night reading. At the far end of the room there were long tables in place for the other children when they sat at lessons. That part of the room was unfamiliar to me. Because I was always taught by Enna in my room. This distinction was only because it was painfully obvious early on that if I was in the library for lessons no one was going to learn anything.
I learned swiftly and so was allowed more hours of freedom each day. And so there were a few precious hours that I did not have to worry about running into any of the other children. Yet during the evening hours I could often be found here reading of the history of the wood and the battles of Beleriand. I was already well studied in Elven lore and fully planned to rival Lord Elrond one day. Even if he lived through most of it.
Today I came to read quietly. Enna would call me in time to get ready for dinner so I took my time perusing the aisles hopefully to find a title I had not read before. I got to the end of the East wall before I noticed that I was not alone. I looked over startled. Legolas was sitting at the table where he was supposed to be finishing his lesson that he missed the other day. Apparently he had been watching me for a long time.
"Looking for something?" It was an innocent enough question. But I guess he couldn't figure out anything else to say either.
"Just for something I have not read before." I answered simply, waiting to gauge his response. Well, it was quite amusing.
He sputtered "You've read all those books?" He asked incredulously and then just stared at me when I nodded my head. "I thought you didn't know how to read." What?!? Enna calls me a little bookworm and he thinks I can't read? However I managed to temper my response. Slightly.
"Of course I can read. You didn't think while you and your friends were here learning your letters that I wasn't up in my room doing the same?" Now the prince started to look sheepish.
"Sorry, but you're always outside before we are. I just assumed that you were never taught." Oh, he was getting me mad.
"Didn't it ever occur to you that one learns quicker than many? And have you never been taught that assumptions are usually always false? You don't know me. Don't presume anything about me until you learn the truth." I pulled a mighty tome out of the last bookshelf and turned to go.
"Wait! Don't go. I'm sorry. It's just you always keep to yourself, no one has gotten a chance to get to know you." I looked at him sadly. He just didn't get it did he?
"I keep to myself because nobody wants me around. I would rather be alone that teased and ridiculed every hour of the day. Would you look upon such a life and be envious of it?" Legolas just shook his head. "No, well neither would I, yet I am stuck with it." Finally having enough, I turned my back on the prince and walked to the fire place on the far side of the room.
There was no fire there, the hearth was cool and inviting. I sat down and started to read one of my favorite stories. It was the tale of Luthiel and Beren. I absorbed myself in the love story and totally forgot about Legolas on the other end of the room. That is until aforementioned prince got curious and walked toward the fireplace.
When he glanced around the last bookshelf, he almost turned back. She might get even more angry, and then they'd go back to trading pranks. But he decided to take a chance. "Laurel?" She marked her place in the book and looked up.
"Hmm?" At least that angry look was gone from her eyes, but he couldn't be completely sure.
"Look, I know I don't know you and have acted terrible to you in the past. But do you think we could be friends? I'd like to get to know you. Now that I really think about it, you seem a lot more interesting than the other children."
Laurel was stunned. She had never expected this from the prince. But if he was serious, why not? If this was part of an elaborate trick she would retaliate like he had never seen before. But somehow, looking into his eyes, I think he really means it. Finally she decided to speak. "Are you prepared to deal with the others? As soon it is known that you and I are friends, they will include you in the vendetta against me."
Legolas considered this. It was true, that is what happened to her friend Ivrin. But being a prince, he should be able to get by. "I guess so. I mean right now I don't really like any of them. But is that a yes? We can be friends?"
"Yes, we can be friends. But it will be a while until I can feel that I can trust you." Legolas nodded his head, he was expecting that but this was a start. Really talking to her, she didn't seem as bad as he had thought. But the next surprised him. "Do you want to come with us tomorrow when I go for my archery lessons? We could combine our lessons." His face brightened, he loved archery. But then he remembered that he was grounded until the end of the week.
"I can't, I'm still grounded until the end of the week. And my father says I can't even leave this room until I finish my lessons. The way things are going I'll get out of here in a year." His said ruefully. It wasn't his fault he couldn't get it. He tried, he really did.
"Well, what are you working on?" Laurel asked, maybe she could help.
"I have to figure out particularly heinous sums. I've tried but I don't get it."
"Let me see." Wordless he she followed Legolas back to the table and looked on his papers. Well, this stuff isn't that hard. I did this two months ago. "Do you want me to show you a shortcut?" He nodded eagerly. So I sat and proceeded to explain. After he understood enough to do the rest on his own Laurel decided to do something nice for her new friend. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Legolas looked up and said thank you before I left. I paused to look back and smile. "No problem."
Laurel walked out of the library in search of the King. She found him in his study looking over some letters that were delivered earlier that day. Thankfully no one else was with him. Looking up he greeted me, "Laurel, what can I do for you?" Now Laurel was getting a little nervous, I mean what would he think? But steeling herself she decided to proceed for the sake of friendship.
"Aran nin, {My King} I have an unusual request." That was the understatement of the century. She was asking for the freedom of her archenemy. The King said nothing but looked to me expectantly. I forged on. "I was wondering if you could let Legolas off his punishment early?" The King nearly choked with surprise. Quickly she continued and let the rest out in a rush. "Well, you know how he had offered a truce yesterday. But I was just in the library where he was finishing up his lessons. We talked, at first he made me mad." The King could completely believe that. "But then he apologized and asked if we could be friends." Now that shocked the King, he never thought that his stubborn son would go that far. He was delighted to be sure. But shocked. "He said he knew that he had a biased opinion of me and wanted to get to know me better. I was wondering if we would be allowed to combine our archery practices to see if we really can be friends." Whew, that was done. I can't believe that I can really talk that fast. Now it all depended on the King.
He sat thinking for a bit. Then he made up his mind. "You know that I have always wished that you two would get along." Than a thought came to him. "He did not ask you to do this did he?" His eyes narrowing, he didn't think so, but he better check just to make sure. Laurel shook her head.
"No, your majesty, he doesn't even know that I'm asking." Thinking for a second more, he relented.
"Alright child, you may practice archery together. Starting tomorrow. You go tell Legolas." Laurelin beamed up at the King.
"Hannon le, hir nin." She said and practically ran out of the room.
When she got back to the library Legolas was nearly done. Laurel didn't want to tell him just yet, so she just sat down at the table. She started looking over his shoulder to see how he was doing. Legolas finished the last problem with a flourish and turned to address Laurel. Unfortunately he did not realize that she was standing so close and his forehead connected with her chin.
"Ouch!" They cried simultaneously, both reaching to cover their respective hurts. Laurel and Legolas turned towards each other and again said as one, "I'm sorry." They just looked at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing. This time they took turns in speaking.
"How's your head?" Laurel inquired. He still had his hands over his head.
"It's okay I think." Legolas replied gingerly exploring the affronted forehead. "How is your chin?"
"It hurts. You really do have a hard head."
"I'm sorry. Maybe Lord Elrond can fix you some of his famous tea." Legolas suggested with an evil little gleam in his eye.
"No thank you. I've heard all I want to about his tea. I never want to experience for myself. Besides my chin isn't hurting so much anymore. Before our collision what were you going to say?"
"Oh, that. I was going to ask you to check these sums for me. I want to make sure that I had gotten them right." Legolas replied as he pushed his little stack of papers in front of me. I nodded my assent and looked them over.
"They look fine to me. Oh, I can back here to give you some good news. Your father had agreed to let us practice archery together starting tomorrow. You're off being grounded." I waited and got no response. Legolas was just looking at me stunned. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. "Look, I just asked your father and he said yes. Now I have to get dressed for dinner, I'll see you later." I walked out of the library leaving a very confused prince watching my retreat.
Disclaimer: It's all been said before. Tolkien's the genius, I'm just the fanfic writer. Enjoy!
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That night Arwen and I talked long after dinner. She told me of the beauty of Rivendell and I told her of my pranks here. Elladan and Elrohir were off talking about training methods and war somewhere else. So I felt relaxed about being just a girl. For although I am one, I do not always act like one. The archery and tree chases for example but that did not mean that I disliked everything girly. Indeed the only things I did not like was a particularly bright shade of pink and fancy dresses. Arwen was always proper and sometimes I felt like I wasn't behaving properly in comparison to her. But when we talked one on one there were none of these things. We were just friends.
I had lost track of the hour when Lady Celebrian came up to us in the library where we sat before the fire. "I'd hate to interrupt this little gossip session but little elves need their sleep."
"But nana, five more minutes? Please?" Arwen pleaded with the most pitiful look on her face that Lady Celebrian gave in almost immediately.
"Alright my dear ones, five more minutes. And then it is off to bed with both of you." She said as she gave both of us a kiss on the forehead.
"Thank you nana." Arwen cried happily as the Lady headed out the door. Arwen grinned as she turned back to me. "Well, we only have five more minutes here. But do you want to sneak out and meet in my room so we can talk some more?" She asked me and I began to notice a mischievous gleam in her eye. Apparently I was wrong. Arwen didn't always act like a proper lady.
I do believe the gleam in my eye mirrored her own. "When shall I meet you?" When all the plans were made we both decided to go off and find Arwen's mother again. We found all of the adults in the great hall sitting and talking before the great fire that blazed in the fireplace. They immediately fell quiet as soon as they saw us enter. Arwen went around to everybody to say goodnight. I hung back to let her make her rounds. But also because I had no one to say goodnight to except the King. And I had never been that familiar with him. I know that it was through no fault of his. He wanted to be a father to me. It was because of his son. I had wanted to keep as much distance between Legolas and myself as possible. So I had distanced myself from the man before I ever knew him. I knew that this pained him but he could do nothing about it.
As soon as Arwen finished we both walked out of the hall together and proceeded up to our rooms. We came to Arwen's room first and with a knowing glance I bid her goodnight and went into my own room. Enna was there as always. She already had my bed turned down and my night gown waiting. She quickly helped me out of my dress. And I pulled the nightgown over my head.
"Enna?" She was busy re-hanging the gown in the wardrobe and turned to me with a question in her eyes. "Is the blue dress ruined?" I had felt so badly about the dress. I knew Enna had the seamstresses make them especially for me.
"No child. It shouldn't take them long to fix the hem. And with a good wash it will be as good as new." I smiled in relief. As much as I hated fancy dresses I didn't want to ruin them and so hurt Enna's feelings. "Alright now, into bed with you." I scrambled up into the enormous soft bed and wiggled under the covers. "Goodnight Laurel. Pleasant dreams." She wished me as she blew out the last candle and quietly closed the door.
I waited the allotted time and slowly drew back the covers. I slipped off the bed and quickly found my slippers in the wardrobe. Putting them on my feet, I eased open the door a crack and looked into the hall. There was no one there and I could hear no feet approaching. I opened the door fully and made my way towards Arwen room. Knocking on the door softly three times, I waited. Very soon the door opened and Arwen hurried me inside.
We sat on her balcony and continued our talk of Rivendell. She told me of the great Lord Glorfindel who had bravely battled a balrog to save his people only to loose his life. But the Valar blessed him and let him be reincarnated. Now he was counselor to her father Lord Elrond. I told her the tales of these woods. How they had once spanned from the ocean in the west to farther than the eyes could see in the east. We stayed like that for hours. However after a very full day preceded my a not very good night's sleep, I soon crept back to my own room. I wanted to be well rested for my next archery lesson.
I slipped out of Arwen's room not making a sound. I easily made it back to my own room. Flopping down on the bed once more, my mind was in the path of dreams before my head every touched the pillow.
The sun was high when I finally awoke. I darted to a sitting position. I couldn't believe that I had been sleeping this long. Perhaps I should have forgone meeting Arwen last night. But that couldn't be helped now. I quickly threw on a plain dress and made my way down to the hall. I was hoping to escape detection, but alas this was not to be. As soon as I walked through the doorway I was greeted by simultaneous voices a little too cheerfully for my liking.
"Good morning" both saluded me
"Or rather good afternoon my dear Laurel, did you have a pleasant sleep?" Elrohir persisted. I wanted to cut off both their heads and use them for target practice. I turned to a giggling Arwen.
"How do you put up with these two? Surely if I had one brother I would be swiftly driven mad. How can you withstand them?" I cried with exasperation. Arwen was no help. She just shrugged. Grr, I sighed to myself as I plopped down to what was obviously lunch.
"I can see that rising late does not agree with you my dear. But we thought it best to let you get as much sleep as possible." The King said addressing me. He knew I needed it. So I turned a kind smile in his direction.
"I do not object, for obviously I needed it. It was only that which greeted me when I awoke that annoys me." I replied looking pointedly at the twins who of course, had assumed expressions of complete innocence. All the adults started to laugh, I couldn't help but to laugh as well, my face breaking into a grin.
"Alright girl, now go eat your lunch." The King told me with a broad grin on his face. I curtsied and sat down in my seat.
The twins forgave me for missing practice that morning, and said we would start right after lunch. I ate as fast as I could and ran to change into more suitable clothes than this dress. Arwen of course, followed in the dress she had already been wearing. Practice went well. I had hit the target more often than not. And occasionally hit one of the inner circles. Elladan told me that I was one of the fastest learners he had ever seen. I was basking in this for the rest of the day. Yes! I was getting good at something.
After we all had enough of archery for the day. The four of us split up. Lady Celebrian wanted to talk to Arwen. And Elladan and Elrohir wished to explore the town and market. I pointed them in the right direction then I headed in the direction of the library.
This was my favorite of all the rooms in the palace. It was always cozy and welcoming. There were well worn red velvet stuffed chairs pulled close to the fireplace for late night reading. At the far end of the room there were long tables in place for the other children when they sat at lessons. That part of the room was unfamiliar to me. Because I was always taught by Enna in my room. This distinction was only because it was painfully obvious early on that if I was in the library for lessons no one was going to learn anything.
I learned swiftly and so was allowed more hours of freedom each day. And so there were a few precious hours that I did not have to worry about running into any of the other children. Yet during the evening hours I could often be found here reading of the history of the wood and the battles of Beleriand. I was already well studied in Elven lore and fully planned to rival Lord Elrond one day. Even if he lived through most of it.
Today I came to read quietly. Enna would call me in time to get ready for dinner so I took my time perusing the aisles hopefully to find a title I had not read before. I got to the end of the East wall before I noticed that I was not alone. I looked over startled. Legolas was sitting at the table where he was supposed to be finishing his lesson that he missed the other day. Apparently he had been watching me for a long time.
"Looking for something?" It was an innocent enough question. But I guess he couldn't figure out anything else to say either.
"Just for something I have not read before." I answered simply, waiting to gauge his response. Well, it was quite amusing.
He sputtered "You've read all those books?" He asked incredulously and then just stared at me when I nodded my head. "I thought you didn't know how to read." What?!? Enna calls me a little bookworm and he thinks I can't read? However I managed to temper my response. Slightly.
"Of course I can read. You didn't think while you and your friends were here learning your letters that I wasn't up in my room doing the same?" Now the prince started to look sheepish.
"Sorry, but you're always outside before we are. I just assumed that you were never taught." Oh, he was getting me mad.
"Didn't it ever occur to you that one learns quicker than many? And have you never been taught that assumptions are usually always false? You don't know me. Don't presume anything about me until you learn the truth." I pulled a mighty tome out of the last bookshelf and turned to go.
"Wait! Don't go. I'm sorry. It's just you always keep to yourself, no one has gotten a chance to get to know you." I looked at him sadly. He just didn't get it did he?
"I keep to myself because nobody wants me around. I would rather be alone that teased and ridiculed every hour of the day. Would you look upon such a life and be envious of it?" Legolas just shook his head. "No, well neither would I, yet I am stuck with it." Finally having enough, I turned my back on the prince and walked to the fire place on the far side of the room.
There was no fire there, the hearth was cool and inviting. I sat down and started to read one of my favorite stories. It was the tale of Luthiel and Beren. I absorbed myself in the love story and totally forgot about Legolas on the other end of the room. That is until aforementioned prince got curious and walked toward the fireplace.
When he glanced around the last bookshelf, he almost turned back. She might get even more angry, and then they'd go back to trading pranks. But he decided to take a chance. "Laurel?" She marked her place in the book and looked up.
"Hmm?" At least that angry look was gone from her eyes, but he couldn't be completely sure.
"Look, I know I don't know you and have acted terrible to you in the past. But do you think we could be friends? I'd like to get to know you. Now that I really think about it, you seem a lot more interesting than the other children."
Laurel was stunned. She had never expected this from the prince. But if he was serious, why not? If this was part of an elaborate trick she would retaliate like he had never seen before. But somehow, looking into his eyes, I think he really means it. Finally she decided to speak. "Are you prepared to deal with the others? As soon it is known that you and I are friends, they will include you in the vendetta against me."
Legolas considered this. It was true, that is what happened to her friend Ivrin. But being a prince, he should be able to get by. "I guess so. I mean right now I don't really like any of them. But is that a yes? We can be friends?"
"Yes, we can be friends. But it will be a while until I can feel that I can trust you." Legolas nodded his head, he was expecting that but this was a start. Really talking to her, she didn't seem as bad as he had thought. But the next surprised him. "Do you want to come with us tomorrow when I go for my archery lessons? We could combine our lessons." His face brightened, he loved archery. But then he remembered that he was grounded until the end of the week.
"I can't, I'm still grounded until the end of the week. And my father says I can't even leave this room until I finish my lessons. The way things are going I'll get out of here in a year." His said ruefully. It wasn't his fault he couldn't get it. He tried, he really did.
"Well, what are you working on?" Laurel asked, maybe she could help.
"I have to figure out particularly heinous sums. I've tried but I don't get it."
"Let me see." Wordless he she followed Legolas back to the table and looked on his papers. Well, this stuff isn't that hard. I did this two months ago. "Do you want me to show you a shortcut?" He nodded eagerly. So I sat and proceeded to explain. After he understood enough to do the rest on his own Laurel decided to do something nice for her new friend. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Legolas looked up and said thank you before I left. I paused to look back and smile. "No problem."
Laurel walked out of the library in search of the King. She found him in his study looking over some letters that were delivered earlier that day. Thankfully no one else was with him. Looking up he greeted me, "Laurel, what can I do for you?" Now Laurel was getting a little nervous, I mean what would he think? But steeling herself she decided to proceed for the sake of friendship.
"Aran nin, {My King} I have an unusual request." That was the understatement of the century. She was asking for the freedom of her archenemy. The King said nothing but looked to me expectantly. I forged on. "I was wondering if you could let Legolas off his punishment early?" The King nearly choked with surprise. Quickly she continued and let the rest out in a rush. "Well, you know how he had offered a truce yesterday. But I was just in the library where he was finishing up his lessons. We talked, at first he made me mad." The King could completely believe that. "But then he apologized and asked if we could be friends." Now that shocked the King, he never thought that his stubborn son would go that far. He was delighted to be sure. But shocked. "He said he knew that he had a biased opinion of me and wanted to get to know me better. I was wondering if we would be allowed to combine our archery practices to see if we really can be friends." Whew, that was done. I can't believe that I can really talk that fast. Now it all depended on the King.
He sat thinking for a bit. Then he made up his mind. "You know that I have always wished that you two would get along." Than a thought came to him. "He did not ask you to do this did he?" His eyes narrowing, he didn't think so, but he better check just to make sure. Laurel shook her head.
"No, your majesty, he doesn't even know that I'm asking." Thinking for a second more, he relented.
"Alright child, you may practice archery together. Starting tomorrow. You go tell Legolas." Laurelin beamed up at the King.
"Hannon le, hir nin." She said and practically ran out of the room.
When she got back to the library Legolas was nearly done. Laurel didn't want to tell him just yet, so she just sat down at the table. She started looking over his shoulder to see how he was doing. Legolas finished the last problem with a flourish and turned to address Laurel. Unfortunately he did not realize that she was standing so close and his forehead connected with her chin.
"Ouch!" They cried simultaneously, both reaching to cover their respective hurts. Laurel and Legolas turned towards each other and again said as one, "I'm sorry." They just looked at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing. This time they took turns in speaking.
"How's your head?" Laurel inquired. He still had his hands over his head.
"It's okay I think." Legolas replied gingerly exploring the affronted forehead. "How is your chin?"
"It hurts. You really do have a hard head."
"I'm sorry. Maybe Lord Elrond can fix you some of his famous tea." Legolas suggested with an evil little gleam in his eye.
"No thank you. I've heard all I want to about his tea. I never want to experience for myself. Besides my chin isn't hurting so much anymore. Before our collision what were you going to say?"
"Oh, that. I was going to ask you to check these sums for me. I want to make sure that I had gotten them right." Legolas replied as he pushed his little stack of papers in front of me. I nodded my assent and looked them over.
"They look fine to me. Oh, I can back here to give you some good news. Your father had agreed to let us practice archery together starting tomorrow. You're off being grounded." I waited and got no response. Legolas was just looking at me stunned. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. "Look, I just asked your father and he said yes. Now I have to get dressed for dinner, I'll see you later." I walked out of the library leaving a very confused prince watching my retreat.
