Disclaimer- Refer to Chapter One
Over 300 reviews my wonderful readers! Thank you so much for all of your support. I know I say it all the time, but this story truly would not have developed the way it had or been nearly as good if it weren't for all your support.
*A/N- *Phew* This is one long chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
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An Unexpected Picnic
Legolas quietly approached the elf maiden leaning over a book. Her palms were braced against the table top straddling the open pages. Honey blonde hair secured at the base of her neck spilled over her shoulder, the ends almost skimming the table top. He had found the lady who haunted his paths of sleep and to his chagrin, could not help the fact that his heart rate doubled at the very sight of her. But he attributed the reaction to the strangeness of seeing Valia after his dream just hours ago and not to any symptoms of love, because he was most certainly not in love. The thought almost made him smile sardonically, though he was quick to transform his lips into a beautiful curve as he approached the unsuspecting maiden.
'And what, pray tell, has captured your attention so thoroughly this morning, my lady?' Legolas leaned over Valia's shoulder to peer down at the page, the scent of her skin and hair invading his senses. She smelled exactly like she did in his dream and it momentarily startled Legolas into confusion.
'It is an ancient text recording the attack of Arvernien. Elrond discovered it a few days ago and thought I would be interesting in reading it.'
Valia was ignorant of the struggle raging through Legolas, for which he was grateful, having no idea what he would do if she asked him about his curious behavior. Her words required some sort of response from him and he became aware of his mind fluttering about like a caged bird searching for some kind of adequate reply. 'Lord Elrond was but an elfling when the city was attacked, was he not?'
'Yes,' said Valia, nodding her head and closing the book with gentle care.
'Elros and he were captured by the sons of Feanor in the assault if I remember correctly.'
'Yes, though it would behoove you to not mention those names in his presence.' She turned around to look at Legolas and noticed something in his hands. 'What is the basket for?'
'That is for me to know and you to find out, my lady,' Legolas teased, tapping her nose.
A sly smile crossed Valia's face as she looked at Legolas, and he raised a dark brow in question. Her smile quickly turned to a pout. She enlarged her eyes and began to bat her long lashes, putting her hands behind her back.
Legolas groaned but could not find the willpower to look away. 'Stop that Valia! I can handle such looks from any other maiden, but not from you.' Especially when it reminded him intensely of his dream.
'Does that mean that you will tell me what the basket is for?'
'If you continue to do that I will be unable to deny you anything you want,' the prince declared with exasperation.
'May I look in the basket?' Valia asked sweetly, slowly closing the small gap between her and Legolas. She was so close that Legolas could feel her breath warming his skin and see the small flecks of silver in her deep blue eyes. He swallowed and nodded his head in helpless acquiescence, calming the pounding of his heart that was making it almost impossible for him to hear with the sudden rush of blood.
Valia smiled and eagerly reached for the basket's lid to reveal the mysterious contents, but her hand was snatched from the air by someone and drawn to the elf's side.
'It is very cruel to use your charms to get what you want, aier,' Elrond admonished Valia. 'Particularly when you know that Legolas does not want you to see what is in the basket.'
Valia made a comical scowl as she looked up at Elrond. 'I have no charms that would possibly be able to influence the great prince into doing something he did not want to and besides, he should not be keeping secrets from his friends.'
Elrond chuckled and made a graceful shrug of his shoulders in apology to Legolas. 'I am afraid I can think of no comeback for that.'
Valia gave a small cry of triumph and reached for the basket again. 'I win then, and as victor I wish to see what is in the basket.'
'You shall find out soon enough, impatient one,' Elrond said, grabbing her hand out of the air once again. 'I have come to relieve you of your duties for the day.'
'But why?' Valia asked in puzzlement. All thoughts of mysterious baskets were banished from her mind.
'A certain prince has requested that I let you accompany him to lunch and as I have not been able to visit my books for a few weeks, I thought I would give you the day off so I may spend some time here.'
'This prince that you speak of,' Valia began slowly, 'have you consented to his request of my company?'
'Yes,' nodded Elrond sagaciously.
'What if I do not want to go?' Valia planted a hand on her hip and raised a brow haughtily. Legolas was taken aback by her complete refusal to eat with him until he saw Elrond smile in amusement, his grey eyes twinkling with mirth.
'You have no choice my dear. I am lord of these lands and the elf who has requested your company is a prince. If my memory serves me correctly, you are merely the daughter of one of my advisors and that makes you subject to our every desire.'
'Than I shall be sure to not enjoy myself,' she said dourly, removing her hand from Elrond's and then turning around swiftly to face Legolas.
'Lead on ernil,' she declared. Legolas was alarmed to see that the sour expression on her face did not dissolve into her characteristically placid one, and he quickly glanced at Elrond with a lost look of bewilderment. Suppressing a laugh at the expense of Legolas' ineptness, Elrond gave another shrug of his shoulders and walked away, leaving the elf prince to wade through the murky waters of appeasing a maiden on his own. He stole a peak of the lady standing impatiently in front of him and the glimmer from her hair did not go undetected by his keen eyes. Looking at her openly, he beamed with pleasure when he saw the jewels in her hair.
He reached up to brush his fingers over the cold gems, glittering in the sunlight streaming through the high windows of the library. 'You are wearing it,' he stated with bright eyes and a happy countenance.
'O, yes I am,' replied Valia absently. Her vague remark did nothing to put a damper on Legolas' delight however.
'I am glad,' he declared cheerfully. Taking up her hand, he placed it in the crock of his arm and escorted her out of the room without any protest.
'Where are we going?' Valia asked when they descended the stairs of the palace.
'I do not know. Elrond said that you had a favorite spot you liked to go to not too far from here.' Legolas glanced down at her in question. She nodded her head but made no attempt to respond further. 'Would you like to go there?' Legolas tried again.
Valia sighed. 'It is not that I do not wish to take you there,' she began and trailed off, her brow furrowing in hard concentration.
'But?'
'But the spot is very dear to me,' she finished carefully.
'You do not want me there.' Legolas cut her off before she could continue. He looked away, but not soon enough for Valia to miss the blatant hurt in his fair face.
'No, that is not it. I have only shared my spot with my closest of friends...' That did not come out how she wanted it to and she cringed when she saw Legolas' jaw clench.
'I see,' he said icily.
'No, I do not think you do.'
'Trust me, my lady, I understand the full import of your words quite well,' he growled. 'I obviously thought our friendship meant more than you did.'
Fear began to whisper upsetting thoughts into her ear but she tried not to listen. 'Legolas,' she said softly and placed her free hand on the arm that held her, endeavoring to placate his injured emotions.
'No, I truly do understand.' The strain in his voice was evident and Valia swallowed hard. He dropped her hand unexpectedly and she felt it fall limply to her side, bouncing of her thigh slightly at the impact. 'I am sorry that I have imposed myself upon you so unpleasantly. I bid you good day, my lady,' he said stiffly, making a rigid genuflection in her direction before stalking off.
Valia was too stunned to do anything but stare at his back that was diminishing in size at a rapid rate, leaving her heart crying out in protest. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she felt uneasy about refusing to share her spot with him; she felt guilty for not opening herself up more to him; she felt miserable for pushing him away from her. Enough pain had touched her own life to cause her to not want to inflict torture on another. She clenched and unclenched her fists, wavering between taking the hard path of action and dispelling the hurt her words had caused or stubbornly letting things be.
But did she really have a choice? She could not give him anything more than she already had without compromising her well built walls that protected her from others getting too close. That was not an option for her.
A disparaging laugh suddenly burst from her, seemingly unbidden by her own will. 'What has happened to you Valia?' she whispered to herself in derision. She shut her eyes tightly and inhaled deeply. The cool winds of indifference swept through the plains of her soul and she welcomed the numbing sting that ravaged her, dulling the ache of her bleeding heart. She had been stupid. 'Foolish girl,' she barked at herself. 'Foolish little girl,' her mind mocked her. 'Did you honestly think you could play with fire and not get burned? You have been careless and you have only yourself to blame.' She had let her defenses down, invited someone to take her hand in their own and dare to walk through the wilting gardens of her soul in companionship. The fragrant life had begun to return to her tattered heart, once more blooming sweet and rich under the practiced hands of another elf who brought water and sun to the parched remnants of her former self.
But not anymore. She had hurt him and scared away the only male elf to ever take an interest in her as a friend. She silently cursed the day so long ago that had turned her world upside down. Why had she readily snapped up the opportunity to ride to Lothlorien, so eager to venture out into the world beyond Imladris? Little did she expect to encounter the harsh realities of life that lay beyond the sheltered protection Elrond had created for her, for all elves. She found out soon enough though and with her discovery her life had been forever changed.
Valia began to walk, wandering aimlessly through the palace grounds, paying no heed to where her fickle feet led her. How had she let this happen? Legolas had created terrible decimation to her carefully built walls with the relentlessness of the pounding surf. Gaping cracks began painful apparent to her for the first time. He had almost slipped through those cracks. Almost.
Agitated, Valia combed a shaky hand through her hair until the progress of her fingers was inhibited by the pin. She yanked it out of her hair and glared down at the shiny brilliance in her hand as if it were responsible for every offense that had ever happened in her life. She had to clamp her hand around the pin before her twitching fingers revolted against her better judgment and flung the green and white gems into the farthest bush in throwing distance.
Valia was hurtled into an awareness of her surroundings when she ricocheted into a solid chest, and if it were not for the strong arms that shot out to grasp her firmly, she would have been pitched to the ground in a heap of anger and skirt fabric.
'Valia?' Isondil questioned, shaking her slightly when he saw the dazed curtain veiling her normally clear eyes. 'Are you alright?'
His question was met by a series of hasty blinks which returned the blue eyes to their typical crystalline quality. 'I am fine,' she murmured, rubbing a hand across her eyes and staring up into his face.
Isondil's eyes narrowed into tiny orbs of suspicion as he took in her features. 'What has happened?'
'Nothing.'
'Nothing? You would not have been in the company of Legolas a little while ago, would you?'
'Maybe.'
'What did you do to him?' he asked distrustfully, his tone taking on a decidedly cool chill.
'I did nothing to him,' Valia said crossly.
'Nothing? Nothing you say?' Isondil let go of her and ran his hands through his hair in sudden frustration. 'I am sick of this constant denial! Are we all not grown elves? Why are we playing these petty games? I just passed Legolas awhile ago and he looked to be in a worse shape of nothingness than you are. I will ask you again, what happened?'
'It is none of your business what happened!' declared an indignant Valia.
'There you are seriously mistaken my lady.' Isondil strode towards her, the picture of magnificent fury held in the confines of an elven body that appeared weak next to such passionate rage. He grasped Valia's arm and pulled her close to him. The raw anger that emanated from him made Valia's skin prickle. 'Listen well to my words Lady Valia. Legolas is my closest friend and I will not stand by to watch him hurt by the rock hard heart of a bitter elven maiden! All he ever wanted to do was befriend you and his kind attempts are continually tossed back in his face with sadistic spite by your unfeeling soul. I do not know what it is that keeps him coming back to you, but he does it each and every time, covering up the wounds your rejection cuts through him sharper than any weapon made by elves ever could. Know this; I will not let you continue to torment him thus. He has put more voluntary caring and time into your one sided friendship than he has ever done with any other maiden and if you think that I will let you contemptuously heave his kindhearted attentions to you aside with disdain you are sadly mistaken. Do not think to harm him anymore than you already have or I will have no qualms in releasing my full fury on you.'
Isondil did not know if it was the lack of air burning his lungs with a searing fire or the heart wrenching sobs of Valia that made him stop his zealous diatribe. He looked down at the elven maiden who quivered like a dry leaf in the autumn wind. Tears were streaming down her face and she was trying ineffectually to stifle the sobs that wracked her body.
'Valia.' He spoke her name gently, his tone conveying his sorrow at his wholly inappropriate explosion of blinded wrath. His hand went out to raise Valia's face but she cowered back. Flinching at the terror he had caused in her, he loosened his grip on her and wrapped an arm around her back before she was fast enough to maneuver out of the way. He drew her against his chest with as much tenderness as he was capable of. To his surprise, she collapsed against him, burying her face in his tunic as her hysterical crying convulsed her body. Isondil's brows furrowed and he awkwardly patted her back. 'I am sorry Valia. What I said was entirely rude and untrue.' He sighed when his apology only produced more choking sobs from the she-elf. When she did not stop after a few minutes he began to grow distressed and glanced around furtively to make sure her wails were not attracting spectators.
'Valia,' he whispered, rubbing soothing circles onto her back. 'Valia do not take to heart what I said. I was angry and took it out on you. Forgive me.'
'But it is true,' sniffled Valia, forcibly calming herself down so she could make Isondil understand her words. She buried her face deeper into his tunic, letting shudders pass through her that made her tremble with their strength. She let Isondil's massaging calm her down and leaned away to wipe the tears from her red face.
'Here.' Isondil handed her a handkerchief which she gratefully accepted and dabbed at her eyes that still refused to stop their profuse watering. She handed it back to him with a timid smile that faded from her face like a shadow exposed to the dazzling rays of the sun. 'You must hate me,' he told her.
'No,' she whispered, shaking her head slowly. 'What you say is true. I was telling myself the same thing. I am cruel, hard hearted, and bitter. I know it,' she strangled out, her voice breaking as she gulped down another sob.
'No! Valia, I was distraught at seeing Legolas in such a miserable state and I lashed out at you for that. I was out of line. You are a caring and helpful lady, I see it in you friendship with Silia and the way you assist Lord Elrond in his library. Legolas has been happier than I have seen him in a long time because of you. I do not know what possessed me to say such unfounded things about you. I do not deserve any mercy from you but I beg you to find it in your heart to forgive me. You do not have to answer right away. Take as much time as you need.' The last sentences were uttered hastily and Isondil played with the clasps on his tearstained tunic uncomfortably.
'There is nothing to forgive,' Valia said, placing a hand on his cheek. A bittersweet smile tugged her lips upwards.
'Thank you Valia.'
The two stood together for several moments not saying anything, lost in the welling tiredness that the intense emotions had left in their destructive wake.
'I saw Legolas walk that way,' Isondil offered with a sheepish shrug.
'Thank you Isondil.' Valia placed a comforting hand on his arm and squeezed it gently. 'Do not agonize over your actions. It is what any true friend would have done.' Her hand slipped from him and she had disappeared from sight when he finally looked up.
Valia wandered through the outskirts of the palace gardens. The wind had begun to blow, sending the golden leaves of the trees into a lissome rustling of music that soothed the pulsing ache of Valia's heart. She let the peace of nature comfort her, healing the gapping hole Isondil had ripped through her with his words. Not that she could blame him, he had been absolutely correct in what he said but that did not make it hurt any less. She wondered if everyone came to the same conclusion about her; that she was nothing more than an ice maiden, devoid of any feelings whatsoever.
It was not surprising that Valia did not see the prince until she almost stumbled over him. It would have been the second time in one day that she had allowed her musings to cloud her awareness and she wryly scolded herself as she examined Legolas. He was seated on a blanket near one of the smaller ponds on Lord Elrond's property. The basket sat close beside him but she no longer wasted a second thought on its contents.
Legolas' piercing green eyes arrested her attention as he turned his face to her. He seemed to be probing the very depths of her soul with his look and Valia stood helplessly still as he searched for the answer that appeared to elude him. She could make no headway in her examination of him. He wore a guarded expression that covered whatever true emotions were simmering below.
'You have been crying,' he said at last, getting up in distress when he saw the red that lingered in her eyes and nose. 'What has happened?'
His concern was not what she had prepared herself for and it was disconcerting. 'It was nothing,' she lied. 'I was just feeling sorry for myself.'
Legolas tilted his head and studied her once more. Whatever it was he was looking for he must have found because he nodded his head and resumed his former seat on the blanket.
'Do you mind if I join you?' Valia asked uncertainly.
Legolas scooted over in response and Valia settled down next to him in silence. She stole a glance of him but could not tell what he was thinking, whether good or bad. He had his façade of composure on once more, like he did so many times, and Valia was at a loss for words. She plucked at her dress before peering into the sky above her. Clouds had appeared on the horizon, the wind a herald of the imminent storm approaching.
'I am sorry,' Valia said, turning to Legolas. 'I did not mean for my earlier words to sound the way they did. I did not mean to insinuate that you were not an important friend to me. I just...'
Legolas placed a finger over her lips to silence her before she began to babble. Memories of his dream clambered to the forefront of his mind as he felt her soft lips open slightly at his touch. He pushed the dream back, determined to focus on the real maiden in front of him instead of a vision that would never be able to do more than haunt him.
'It was my fault,' he said, trailing his fingers along her jaw line till he cupped her face in his hand, lightly running his thumb over her cheek. 'I have no right to demand you let me into your inner circle of friends.' A wistful look flickered beneath the surface of his eyes and he dropped his hand, his gaze following the action to rest on Valia's closed hand. He gently took it up in his own and coaxed her fingers open to reveal the hairpin resting against her light skin. Removing it from her hand, he held it up so that it shimmered in the sunlight and then rested his hands in his lap with the hairpin held protectively in his palm.
'I do not know why you ever tried to befriend me,' Valia said faintly. She skimmed her fingers over the bright jewels in his hand before looking up at him in question.
'Because I discovered you.'
'What?' she asked in confusion.
'I do not know if I can explain what I mean,' Legolas answered, thinking hard. 'You are like this emerald Valia.' He gestured to the pin in his hands before continuing. 'A gem does not look beautiful in the beginning. It is covered in the dull materials that surround it until someone comes along and digs it out; carefully chipping away at the rocks that hide it. Sometimes a flash of light is mistaken for the real thing, and when all the excess material has been cleaned off, it is discovered that the flash was a mere imitation of the genuine thing.' Legolas moved the pin around in his hand before looking at Valia.
'Other times a gem is overlooked. Others do not recognize the glimmer from the jewel because it is hidden behind too many materials. I have found the sparkle of light that radiates from you while you have gone unnoticed by others. I can see the glittering grow brighter each day as I try to chip away the material you hide behind. One day you will shine forth as you truly are and all shall recognize you for the exquisite treasure that you are.'
'Me? A treasure? A jewel?' Valia openly laughed at the thought. 'I thank you for trying to cheer me up mellonamin but you are mistaken. I am no jewel. I am the drab rock that surrounds the gems. I do not fool myself into believing I possess the beauty you speak of.'
'Everyone has something good about them Valia. There is always some beauty in every being.' Legolas was disturbed by the way she was lambasting herself. Beauty was an inherent quality in all elven kind, fueled by the splendor of their inner light that shown strong through the fiercest of tempests. It was impossible for an elf not to be attractive, especially someone like Valia. Her inner light was alluring. It was bright enough to attract others to her presence, but not so vivid that it repelled with its intensity.
Valia laughed but it sounded cynical, even to her ears. 'Speak for yourself my dear prince.' She patted his hand like a naïve elfling who lived in the dreams of innocence, not yet aware of the truth of the ruthless world around him. 'You know you have innumerable good qualities, and if you forget, elven maidens make sure to remind you daily.'
'O really?' Legolas smiled slyly and leaned back, propping himself up on one elbow. 'Let us make a deal than. You tell me of an attribute that you find attractive in me and in return, I will tell you something that is beautiful about you.'
'I do not know about that,' Valia said uneasily, wrapping her arms around her legs as she drew them up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. She had the feeling that she was being dragged into a situation that could quickly become dangerous. 'Why do I need to tell you your good qualities? You are already well aware of them.'
'Humor me.'
Valia sighed and shifted restlessly, stretching her legs out in front of her. 'Fine.' Had she just agreed to the ridiculous deal? She turned her gaze to meet his, pausing for several moments to contemplate what she should say and coming to no conclusions. 'You go first!' she cried in exasperation.
'Very well, though I did say you were supposed to go first.' Legolas sat up and scooted close to Valia, capturing her chin with his long fingers. Directing her head towards him, he kept a gentle hold on her face so she would not look away. 'I like your eyes. They remind me of the night sky, deep midnight blue flecked with silver light. I need only to look into your eyes to see the splendor of the stars.'
Thankfully he dropped his hand to his side and Valia was able to duck her head to hide the pink that bloomed in her pale cheeks. She cleared her throat and pushed down the tempting urge to spring up from the blanket and flee through the trees to safety. 'I like your accent,' she mumbled, tracing an imaginary pattern onto the skirt of her dress.
'My accent?' asked Legolas. 'You are mistaken my lady. I am not the one with the accent, you are.'
'I am not!' Valia retorted with a prim smile. 'You are in a different realm and until I go visit your father's kingdom I am not the one with the accent; you are.'
'No, you are the one who pronounces words funny.'
'If this is the way you are going to act every time I try to say something nice about you I will simply quit the business altogether,' threatened a frustrated Valia. 'First you make me tell you something nice about you and now you try to deny it.'
'I repent,' Legolas said with a grin, holding up a hand to squelch the flood of reprimands. 'I had never thought that my "accent" would be considered attractive. Tell me, do all elven women find that quality an enticement or just you?'
'I believe it is your turn now.'
'Indeed,' Legolas smirked. Valia nodded and her eyes darted around her surroundings, much to Legolas' amusement, as she looked anywhere but him as he inspected her. He wrapped his hand around the clasp in her hair and with a deft tug, her honey strands were freed from their confinements to come under the subjugation of the rising wind.
'What are you doing?' Valia cried in dismay, collecting her wayward hair with her hands.
'Another one of your many beauties is your hair. It intrigues me,' answered Legolas, disentangling Valia's hold so the wind could play with her golden tresses again. 'It is silky,' he observed, running a hand through her hair and finding that he could not resist the urge to comb it with his fingers. Valia shifted away uncomfortably but he simply followed her movements and settle closer beside her. 'It is a waterfall,' he commented for not the first time.
'I do not know what your fascination is with my hair,' Valia said with a scowl and scooted farther away from him. It did not discourage him though, and to her great dismay he followed after her once again, wrapping a small amount of the blond mass around his finger.
'Why do you never let it down?'
'Because it gets in my way.'
'But it is lovely when it is not pulled back into a clasp.' He sat up on his knees and began twisting more hair, a simple pattern emerging out of the chaos.
'It has a mind of its own when it is not held in place. Believe me, I have tried to leave it down before but it always falls foreword and gets in my way. I cannot constantly be pushing it out of my face while I work.'
'Braid it then. A few well positioned braids are all that are needed to keep the rest of it out of your face.' He dropped the pin he was still holding into his pocket and began to separate Valia's hair into sections. 'I will show you.'
'I would rather just have my clasp back if you please.'
However he had ignored her request and was actively twisting strands of her hair skillfully into an intricate pattern.
'Legolas, what are you doing?' She reached up and felt her hair only to have it flicked away by a busy Legolas who was becoming engrossed in his work. 'Legolas?'
'Hush, I will be done in a little bit.' He began to entwine tiny braids into his creation of twists, making a pattern of sculpted swirls on the top of Valia's head.
'Do you do this to every maiden you meet?'
'No,' Legolas said innocently. 'Only the ones I like.'
'What?' Valia said with a laugh. 'You mean there are others you are hiding from me?'
'More like I am hiding from them,' he corrected dryly. 'I say hello to a maiden and she constitutes that as a sudden friendship. I have so many of these friends now that I cannot escape them when I walk out in public.'
'Poor Legolas,' said Valia with false sympathy. She snapped a blade of grass off and twirled it in her fingers. 'I truly feel sorry for you. Being liked must be a terrible burden to bear.'
'That is not funny.' Legolas gave the braid in his hand a tug and Valia let out a yelp.
'Hey!' she protested. 'There is no need to get angry.'
'Then do not bait me my dearest Valia for I am capable of easily overpowering you.'
'Are you threatening me?'
'Perhaps.' Legolas smiled down at her as she fidgeted with her skirt. 'Are you uncomfortable?'
'No, but are you almost done?' Valia did not like him touching her hair. It felt too right to her, like her hair was meant to have his fingers tangled amidst it and that was a truly frightening thought.
Legolas gave a final tug on a rebellious twist and sat back to scan his work. Light from the sun was causing her hair to shimmer under the radiant beams of the warm glow and Legolas ran his fingers over the glittering swirls, careful not to disturb the design.
'Are you done now? Can I move?'
'All it needs is this,' Legolas said, pulling out the pin and nestling it in her hair with care. He sat back down beside Valia and smiled at her satisfied. 'That was not so bad was it?'
'Only if it is my turn now,' Valia chirped sweetly.
'What is that supposed to mean?'
'If you get to play with my hair and do something out of the ordinary with it than I get to do the same to yours. You style your hair the same way every day as well.' Valia descended upon him quickly with a pleased smile in her eyes and fingered one of his side braids. 'I think it would look splendid if I can somehow coil your top hair into the shape of a heart, do you not think so?'
'What? You will not touch my hair!' Legolas exclaimed frantically, quickly turning his face to her and backing away.
'Why not?' Valia asked with a grin, getting up on her knees and closing the gap between them.
'Do not touch my hair Valia,' Legolas warned.
'Or what? You would not hurt me.' She reached both her hands out but Legolas grasped them securely and maneuvered them behind her back, holding her as she squirmed.
'Let go of me Legolas!' she implored. Legolas laughed at her and she wiggled harder but to no avail.
'Admit defeat,' he said merrily.
'O no. I am not admitting defeat again. You will not coerce me into sewing anymore of your torn clothes.' She twisted her shoulders around as far as she could without pain shooting up her arms that Legolas held behind her. 'Please let go of me,' she said with a little too much saccharine sweetness.
'I am afraid not,' Legolas said with a grimace, looking down at her with raised brows. 'There is no way you can possibly escape me Valia.'
'That is what you think,' she returned. Suddenly Legolas felt her press against his chest and roll upwards. A soft force was placed against his lips and he felt Valia's soft mouth mold onto his own, tasting a refreshing mint. He released her out of pure shock and she took advantage of his surprise by lunging out of his reach.
'That was not playing fair,' Legolas said darkly.
'Yes it was,' she retorted. 'If I cannot overpower you I might as well use my gender to my advantage.'
'Well I would not suggest you use such methods on everyone or they will begin to think you are doing more than trying to escape,' scowled Legolas.
'I do not think my other acquaintances would pin my hands behind my back and refuse to release me so you need not worry about wrong impressions.' She sat down beside the sullen Prince and placed a hand on his arm. 'Do not be so dreary Legolas. What is in the basket?' she asked, trying to distract him from his brooding thoughts.
'That was supposed to be our lunch.'
'Really?' Valia leaned over him and picked up the basket, depositing it into her lap. Opening the wicker lid she peaked inside. 'I am hungry and I would guess you are too. We might as well eat instead of wasting it.' She pulled out the contents and set them on the blanket. 'Miruvórë and masta? Who have you been talking to? Did Elrond send this?' she asked with narrowed eyes.
'No one,' Legolas said with a genuinely confused look on his face. 'I did not know what you liked so I went to the kitchen and selected my favorite afternoon meal hoping it would be agreeable to you. Why?'
'Never mind.' Valia broke the bread in half and handed the larger piece to Legolas. 'How did you manage to smuggle miruvórë out of the kitchen? It is a preciously guarded commodity in these parts.'
'The same way you so effectively persuaded me to release your arms,' Legolas said with a shrug and uncorked the bottle of rich liquid.
'You did not,' Valia laughed, her lips parted slightly in unbelieving amusement.
'You are not the only one who can use their charms to get what you want. It did not take very much convincing before I had the maid offering me anything I wanted,' he smiled. Valia's eyes widened in astonishment. 'Come Valia, do not pretend to be taken aback. You know very well how convincing a little kiss can be.'
'You seduced her!' exclaimed Valia. She found the idea strangely hilarious and snorted. 'Now who is the one not being fair?' she asked. 'At least I do not go around kissing innocent servants, leaving a wake of lovelorn elves in my trail.'
'You exaggerate,' said Legolas with a wave of his hand. 'She will forget about it by tomorrow no doubt.'
'You just wait,' warned Valia, taking the bottle he offered her and pouring some of the contents into one of the goblets she found in the basket. 'I bet she will mysteriously be the maid cleaning your rooms tomorrow.'
'It would not be the first time such a thing had happened,' laughed Legolas, watching from under his dark lashes as Valia smiled and took a sip of the dark liquid.
'Excellent,' she sighed happily, holding up her cup. The warm sunbeams which made the metal glisten bright abruptly disappeared and Valia stared up into the cloud covered sky. 'The weather does not look too promising,' she remarked.
'Yes, there will be a storm tonight,' Legolas observed, noticing the drop in temperature for the first time now that the heat of the sun was blocked by a wall of ominous clouds.
The two ate in companionable silence, ignoring the dark clouds that continued to roll in, adding to the diminished light of the sun that had begun to dip below the horizon. Both were aware of the tingling in the air, brought to life by the impending gale. Valia's heart began to beat faster with expectancy. She loved watching the raw power of foul weather, but only from the safety a sheltered roof could offer.
'There will be lightening,' Legolas noted, feeling a shudder of anticipation run through him.
'I should go back before this storm rains down its full fury on me,' said Valia with regret. 'Thank you for the picnic Legolas. I had a wonderful time.' Leaning over she placed a kiss on his smooth cheek, a habit she was beginning to enjoy. 'I will see you later,' she said. Licking her lips, she stood up and waved to him as she quickly walked away.
'Namaarie Valia!' He smiled as her head turned around and the glimmer of his pin shinned in her hair.
Neither was aware of two sets of eyes watching their farewell through narrowed lids.
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* aier- little one
*ernil- prince
*mellonamin- my friend
*miruvórë- a drink used at festivals in the Valinor
*masta- bread
*Namaarie- farewell
Alright, please, please, please leave an email address with your review so that I can send you a thank you : )
Over 300 reviews my wonderful readers! Thank you so much for all of your support. I know I say it all the time, but this story truly would not have developed the way it had or been nearly as good if it weren't for all your support.
*A/N- *Phew* This is one long chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
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An Unexpected Picnic
Legolas quietly approached the elf maiden leaning over a book. Her palms were braced against the table top straddling the open pages. Honey blonde hair secured at the base of her neck spilled over her shoulder, the ends almost skimming the table top. He had found the lady who haunted his paths of sleep and to his chagrin, could not help the fact that his heart rate doubled at the very sight of her. But he attributed the reaction to the strangeness of seeing Valia after his dream just hours ago and not to any symptoms of love, because he was most certainly not in love. The thought almost made him smile sardonically, though he was quick to transform his lips into a beautiful curve as he approached the unsuspecting maiden.
'And what, pray tell, has captured your attention so thoroughly this morning, my lady?' Legolas leaned over Valia's shoulder to peer down at the page, the scent of her skin and hair invading his senses. She smelled exactly like she did in his dream and it momentarily startled Legolas into confusion.
'It is an ancient text recording the attack of Arvernien. Elrond discovered it a few days ago and thought I would be interesting in reading it.'
Valia was ignorant of the struggle raging through Legolas, for which he was grateful, having no idea what he would do if she asked him about his curious behavior. Her words required some sort of response from him and he became aware of his mind fluttering about like a caged bird searching for some kind of adequate reply. 'Lord Elrond was but an elfling when the city was attacked, was he not?'
'Yes,' said Valia, nodding her head and closing the book with gentle care.
'Elros and he were captured by the sons of Feanor in the assault if I remember correctly.'
'Yes, though it would behoove you to not mention those names in his presence.' She turned around to look at Legolas and noticed something in his hands. 'What is the basket for?'
'That is for me to know and you to find out, my lady,' Legolas teased, tapping her nose.
A sly smile crossed Valia's face as she looked at Legolas, and he raised a dark brow in question. Her smile quickly turned to a pout. She enlarged her eyes and began to bat her long lashes, putting her hands behind her back.
Legolas groaned but could not find the willpower to look away. 'Stop that Valia! I can handle such looks from any other maiden, but not from you.' Especially when it reminded him intensely of his dream.
'Does that mean that you will tell me what the basket is for?'
'If you continue to do that I will be unable to deny you anything you want,' the prince declared with exasperation.
'May I look in the basket?' Valia asked sweetly, slowly closing the small gap between her and Legolas. She was so close that Legolas could feel her breath warming his skin and see the small flecks of silver in her deep blue eyes. He swallowed and nodded his head in helpless acquiescence, calming the pounding of his heart that was making it almost impossible for him to hear with the sudden rush of blood.
Valia smiled and eagerly reached for the basket's lid to reveal the mysterious contents, but her hand was snatched from the air by someone and drawn to the elf's side.
'It is very cruel to use your charms to get what you want, aier,' Elrond admonished Valia. 'Particularly when you know that Legolas does not want you to see what is in the basket.'
Valia made a comical scowl as she looked up at Elrond. 'I have no charms that would possibly be able to influence the great prince into doing something he did not want to and besides, he should not be keeping secrets from his friends.'
Elrond chuckled and made a graceful shrug of his shoulders in apology to Legolas. 'I am afraid I can think of no comeback for that.'
Valia gave a small cry of triumph and reached for the basket again. 'I win then, and as victor I wish to see what is in the basket.'
'You shall find out soon enough, impatient one,' Elrond said, grabbing her hand out of the air once again. 'I have come to relieve you of your duties for the day.'
'But why?' Valia asked in puzzlement. All thoughts of mysterious baskets were banished from her mind.
'A certain prince has requested that I let you accompany him to lunch and as I have not been able to visit my books for a few weeks, I thought I would give you the day off so I may spend some time here.'
'This prince that you speak of,' Valia began slowly, 'have you consented to his request of my company?'
'Yes,' nodded Elrond sagaciously.
'What if I do not want to go?' Valia planted a hand on her hip and raised a brow haughtily. Legolas was taken aback by her complete refusal to eat with him until he saw Elrond smile in amusement, his grey eyes twinkling with mirth.
'You have no choice my dear. I am lord of these lands and the elf who has requested your company is a prince. If my memory serves me correctly, you are merely the daughter of one of my advisors and that makes you subject to our every desire.'
'Than I shall be sure to not enjoy myself,' she said dourly, removing her hand from Elrond's and then turning around swiftly to face Legolas.
'Lead on ernil,' she declared. Legolas was alarmed to see that the sour expression on her face did not dissolve into her characteristically placid one, and he quickly glanced at Elrond with a lost look of bewilderment. Suppressing a laugh at the expense of Legolas' ineptness, Elrond gave another shrug of his shoulders and walked away, leaving the elf prince to wade through the murky waters of appeasing a maiden on his own. He stole a peak of the lady standing impatiently in front of him and the glimmer from her hair did not go undetected by his keen eyes. Looking at her openly, he beamed with pleasure when he saw the jewels in her hair.
He reached up to brush his fingers over the cold gems, glittering in the sunlight streaming through the high windows of the library. 'You are wearing it,' he stated with bright eyes and a happy countenance.
'O, yes I am,' replied Valia absently. Her vague remark did nothing to put a damper on Legolas' delight however.
'I am glad,' he declared cheerfully. Taking up her hand, he placed it in the crock of his arm and escorted her out of the room without any protest.
'Where are we going?' Valia asked when they descended the stairs of the palace.
'I do not know. Elrond said that you had a favorite spot you liked to go to not too far from here.' Legolas glanced down at her in question. She nodded her head but made no attempt to respond further. 'Would you like to go there?' Legolas tried again.
Valia sighed. 'It is not that I do not wish to take you there,' she began and trailed off, her brow furrowing in hard concentration.
'But?'
'But the spot is very dear to me,' she finished carefully.
'You do not want me there.' Legolas cut her off before she could continue. He looked away, but not soon enough for Valia to miss the blatant hurt in his fair face.
'No, that is not it. I have only shared my spot with my closest of friends...' That did not come out how she wanted it to and she cringed when she saw Legolas' jaw clench.
'I see,' he said icily.
'No, I do not think you do.'
'Trust me, my lady, I understand the full import of your words quite well,' he growled. 'I obviously thought our friendship meant more than you did.'
Fear began to whisper upsetting thoughts into her ear but she tried not to listen. 'Legolas,' she said softly and placed her free hand on the arm that held her, endeavoring to placate his injured emotions.
'No, I truly do understand.' The strain in his voice was evident and Valia swallowed hard. He dropped her hand unexpectedly and she felt it fall limply to her side, bouncing of her thigh slightly at the impact. 'I am sorry that I have imposed myself upon you so unpleasantly. I bid you good day, my lady,' he said stiffly, making a rigid genuflection in her direction before stalking off.
Valia was too stunned to do anything but stare at his back that was diminishing in size at a rapid rate, leaving her heart crying out in protest. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she felt uneasy about refusing to share her spot with him; she felt guilty for not opening herself up more to him; she felt miserable for pushing him away from her. Enough pain had touched her own life to cause her to not want to inflict torture on another. She clenched and unclenched her fists, wavering between taking the hard path of action and dispelling the hurt her words had caused or stubbornly letting things be.
But did she really have a choice? She could not give him anything more than she already had without compromising her well built walls that protected her from others getting too close. That was not an option for her.
A disparaging laugh suddenly burst from her, seemingly unbidden by her own will. 'What has happened to you Valia?' she whispered to herself in derision. She shut her eyes tightly and inhaled deeply. The cool winds of indifference swept through the plains of her soul and she welcomed the numbing sting that ravaged her, dulling the ache of her bleeding heart. She had been stupid. 'Foolish girl,' she barked at herself. 'Foolish little girl,' her mind mocked her. 'Did you honestly think you could play with fire and not get burned? You have been careless and you have only yourself to blame.' She had let her defenses down, invited someone to take her hand in their own and dare to walk through the wilting gardens of her soul in companionship. The fragrant life had begun to return to her tattered heart, once more blooming sweet and rich under the practiced hands of another elf who brought water and sun to the parched remnants of her former self.
But not anymore. She had hurt him and scared away the only male elf to ever take an interest in her as a friend. She silently cursed the day so long ago that had turned her world upside down. Why had she readily snapped up the opportunity to ride to Lothlorien, so eager to venture out into the world beyond Imladris? Little did she expect to encounter the harsh realities of life that lay beyond the sheltered protection Elrond had created for her, for all elves. She found out soon enough though and with her discovery her life had been forever changed.
Valia began to walk, wandering aimlessly through the palace grounds, paying no heed to where her fickle feet led her. How had she let this happen? Legolas had created terrible decimation to her carefully built walls with the relentlessness of the pounding surf. Gaping cracks began painful apparent to her for the first time. He had almost slipped through those cracks. Almost.
Agitated, Valia combed a shaky hand through her hair until the progress of her fingers was inhibited by the pin. She yanked it out of her hair and glared down at the shiny brilliance in her hand as if it were responsible for every offense that had ever happened in her life. She had to clamp her hand around the pin before her twitching fingers revolted against her better judgment and flung the green and white gems into the farthest bush in throwing distance.
Valia was hurtled into an awareness of her surroundings when she ricocheted into a solid chest, and if it were not for the strong arms that shot out to grasp her firmly, she would have been pitched to the ground in a heap of anger and skirt fabric.
'Valia?' Isondil questioned, shaking her slightly when he saw the dazed curtain veiling her normally clear eyes. 'Are you alright?'
His question was met by a series of hasty blinks which returned the blue eyes to their typical crystalline quality. 'I am fine,' she murmured, rubbing a hand across her eyes and staring up into his face.
Isondil's eyes narrowed into tiny orbs of suspicion as he took in her features. 'What has happened?'
'Nothing.'
'Nothing? You would not have been in the company of Legolas a little while ago, would you?'
'Maybe.'
'What did you do to him?' he asked distrustfully, his tone taking on a decidedly cool chill.
'I did nothing to him,' Valia said crossly.
'Nothing? Nothing you say?' Isondil let go of her and ran his hands through his hair in sudden frustration. 'I am sick of this constant denial! Are we all not grown elves? Why are we playing these petty games? I just passed Legolas awhile ago and he looked to be in a worse shape of nothingness than you are. I will ask you again, what happened?'
'It is none of your business what happened!' declared an indignant Valia.
'There you are seriously mistaken my lady.' Isondil strode towards her, the picture of magnificent fury held in the confines of an elven body that appeared weak next to such passionate rage. He grasped Valia's arm and pulled her close to him. The raw anger that emanated from him made Valia's skin prickle. 'Listen well to my words Lady Valia. Legolas is my closest friend and I will not stand by to watch him hurt by the rock hard heart of a bitter elven maiden! All he ever wanted to do was befriend you and his kind attempts are continually tossed back in his face with sadistic spite by your unfeeling soul. I do not know what it is that keeps him coming back to you, but he does it each and every time, covering up the wounds your rejection cuts through him sharper than any weapon made by elves ever could. Know this; I will not let you continue to torment him thus. He has put more voluntary caring and time into your one sided friendship than he has ever done with any other maiden and if you think that I will let you contemptuously heave his kindhearted attentions to you aside with disdain you are sadly mistaken. Do not think to harm him anymore than you already have or I will have no qualms in releasing my full fury on you.'
Isondil did not know if it was the lack of air burning his lungs with a searing fire or the heart wrenching sobs of Valia that made him stop his zealous diatribe. He looked down at the elven maiden who quivered like a dry leaf in the autumn wind. Tears were streaming down her face and she was trying ineffectually to stifle the sobs that wracked her body.
'Valia.' He spoke her name gently, his tone conveying his sorrow at his wholly inappropriate explosion of blinded wrath. His hand went out to raise Valia's face but she cowered back. Flinching at the terror he had caused in her, he loosened his grip on her and wrapped an arm around her back before she was fast enough to maneuver out of the way. He drew her against his chest with as much tenderness as he was capable of. To his surprise, she collapsed against him, burying her face in his tunic as her hysterical crying convulsed her body. Isondil's brows furrowed and he awkwardly patted her back. 'I am sorry Valia. What I said was entirely rude and untrue.' He sighed when his apology only produced more choking sobs from the she-elf. When she did not stop after a few minutes he began to grow distressed and glanced around furtively to make sure her wails were not attracting spectators.
'Valia,' he whispered, rubbing soothing circles onto her back. 'Valia do not take to heart what I said. I was angry and took it out on you. Forgive me.'
'But it is true,' sniffled Valia, forcibly calming herself down so she could make Isondil understand her words. She buried her face deeper into his tunic, letting shudders pass through her that made her tremble with their strength. She let Isondil's massaging calm her down and leaned away to wipe the tears from her red face.
'Here.' Isondil handed her a handkerchief which she gratefully accepted and dabbed at her eyes that still refused to stop their profuse watering. She handed it back to him with a timid smile that faded from her face like a shadow exposed to the dazzling rays of the sun. 'You must hate me,' he told her.
'No,' she whispered, shaking her head slowly. 'What you say is true. I was telling myself the same thing. I am cruel, hard hearted, and bitter. I know it,' she strangled out, her voice breaking as she gulped down another sob.
'No! Valia, I was distraught at seeing Legolas in such a miserable state and I lashed out at you for that. I was out of line. You are a caring and helpful lady, I see it in you friendship with Silia and the way you assist Lord Elrond in his library. Legolas has been happier than I have seen him in a long time because of you. I do not know what possessed me to say such unfounded things about you. I do not deserve any mercy from you but I beg you to find it in your heart to forgive me. You do not have to answer right away. Take as much time as you need.' The last sentences were uttered hastily and Isondil played with the clasps on his tearstained tunic uncomfortably.
'There is nothing to forgive,' Valia said, placing a hand on his cheek. A bittersweet smile tugged her lips upwards.
'Thank you Valia.'
The two stood together for several moments not saying anything, lost in the welling tiredness that the intense emotions had left in their destructive wake.
'I saw Legolas walk that way,' Isondil offered with a sheepish shrug.
'Thank you Isondil.' Valia placed a comforting hand on his arm and squeezed it gently. 'Do not agonize over your actions. It is what any true friend would have done.' Her hand slipped from him and she had disappeared from sight when he finally looked up.
Valia wandered through the outskirts of the palace gardens. The wind had begun to blow, sending the golden leaves of the trees into a lissome rustling of music that soothed the pulsing ache of Valia's heart. She let the peace of nature comfort her, healing the gapping hole Isondil had ripped through her with his words. Not that she could blame him, he had been absolutely correct in what he said but that did not make it hurt any less. She wondered if everyone came to the same conclusion about her; that she was nothing more than an ice maiden, devoid of any feelings whatsoever.
It was not surprising that Valia did not see the prince until she almost stumbled over him. It would have been the second time in one day that she had allowed her musings to cloud her awareness and she wryly scolded herself as she examined Legolas. He was seated on a blanket near one of the smaller ponds on Lord Elrond's property. The basket sat close beside him but she no longer wasted a second thought on its contents.
Legolas' piercing green eyes arrested her attention as he turned his face to her. He seemed to be probing the very depths of her soul with his look and Valia stood helplessly still as he searched for the answer that appeared to elude him. She could make no headway in her examination of him. He wore a guarded expression that covered whatever true emotions were simmering below.
'You have been crying,' he said at last, getting up in distress when he saw the red that lingered in her eyes and nose. 'What has happened?'
His concern was not what she had prepared herself for and it was disconcerting. 'It was nothing,' she lied. 'I was just feeling sorry for myself.'
Legolas tilted his head and studied her once more. Whatever it was he was looking for he must have found because he nodded his head and resumed his former seat on the blanket.
'Do you mind if I join you?' Valia asked uncertainly.
Legolas scooted over in response and Valia settled down next to him in silence. She stole a glance of him but could not tell what he was thinking, whether good or bad. He had his façade of composure on once more, like he did so many times, and Valia was at a loss for words. She plucked at her dress before peering into the sky above her. Clouds had appeared on the horizon, the wind a herald of the imminent storm approaching.
'I am sorry,' Valia said, turning to Legolas. 'I did not mean for my earlier words to sound the way they did. I did not mean to insinuate that you were not an important friend to me. I just...'
Legolas placed a finger over her lips to silence her before she began to babble. Memories of his dream clambered to the forefront of his mind as he felt her soft lips open slightly at his touch. He pushed the dream back, determined to focus on the real maiden in front of him instead of a vision that would never be able to do more than haunt him.
'It was my fault,' he said, trailing his fingers along her jaw line till he cupped her face in his hand, lightly running his thumb over her cheek. 'I have no right to demand you let me into your inner circle of friends.' A wistful look flickered beneath the surface of his eyes and he dropped his hand, his gaze following the action to rest on Valia's closed hand. He gently took it up in his own and coaxed her fingers open to reveal the hairpin resting against her light skin. Removing it from her hand, he held it up so that it shimmered in the sunlight and then rested his hands in his lap with the hairpin held protectively in his palm.
'I do not know why you ever tried to befriend me,' Valia said faintly. She skimmed her fingers over the bright jewels in his hand before looking up at him in question.
'Because I discovered you.'
'What?' she asked in confusion.
'I do not know if I can explain what I mean,' Legolas answered, thinking hard. 'You are like this emerald Valia.' He gestured to the pin in his hands before continuing. 'A gem does not look beautiful in the beginning. It is covered in the dull materials that surround it until someone comes along and digs it out; carefully chipping away at the rocks that hide it. Sometimes a flash of light is mistaken for the real thing, and when all the excess material has been cleaned off, it is discovered that the flash was a mere imitation of the genuine thing.' Legolas moved the pin around in his hand before looking at Valia.
'Other times a gem is overlooked. Others do not recognize the glimmer from the jewel because it is hidden behind too many materials. I have found the sparkle of light that radiates from you while you have gone unnoticed by others. I can see the glittering grow brighter each day as I try to chip away the material you hide behind. One day you will shine forth as you truly are and all shall recognize you for the exquisite treasure that you are.'
'Me? A treasure? A jewel?' Valia openly laughed at the thought. 'I thank you for trying to cheer me up mellonamin but you are mistaken. I am no jewel. I am the drab rock that surrounds the gems. I do not fool myself into believing I possess the beauty you speak of.'
'Everyone has something good about them Valia. There is always some beauty in every being.' Legolas was disturbed by the way she was lambasting herself. Beauty was an inherent quality in all elven kind, fueled by the splendor of their inner light that shown strong through the fiercest of tempests. It was impossible for an elf not to be attractive, especially someone like Valia. Her inner light was alluring. It was bright enough to attract others to her presence, but not so vivid that it repelled with its intensity.
Valia laughed but it sounded cynical, even to her ears. 'Speak for yourself my dear prince.' She patted his hand like a naïve elfling who lived in the dreams of innocence, not yet aware of the truth of the ruthless world around him. 'You know you have innumerable good qualities, and if you forget, elven maidens make sure to remind you daily.'
'O really?' Legolas smiled slyly and leaned back, propping himself up on one elbow. 'Let us make a deal than. You tell me of an attribute that you find attractive in me and in return, I will tell you something that is beautiful about you.'
'I do not know about that,' Valia said uneasily, wrapping her arms around her legs as she drew them up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. She had the feeling that she was being dragged into a situation that could quickly become dangerous. 'Why do I need to tell you your good qualities? You are already well aware of them.'
'Humor me.'
Valia sighed and shifted restlessly, stretching her legs out in front of her. 'Fine.' Had she just agreed to the ridiculous deal? She turned her gaze to meet his, pausing for several moments to contemplate what she should say and coming to no conclusions. 'You go first!' she cried in exasperation.
'Very well, though I did say you were supposed to go first.' Legolas sat up and scooted close to Valia, capturing her chin with his long fingers. Directing her head towards him, he kept a gentle hold on her face so she would not look away. 'I like your eyes. They remind me of the night sky, deep midnight blue flecked with silver light. I need only to look into your eyes to see the splendor of the stars.'
Thankfully he dropped his hand to his side and Valia was able to duck her head to hide the pink that bloomed in her pale cheeks. She cleared her throat and pushed down the tempting urge to spring up from the blanket and flee through the trees to safety. 'I like your accent,' she mumbled, tracing an imaginary pattern onto the skirt of her dress.
'My accent?' asked Legolas. 'You are mistaken my lady. I am not the one with the accent, you are.'
'I am not!' Valia retorted with a prim smile. 'You are in a different realm and until I go visit your father's kingdom I am not the one with the accent; you are.'
'No, you are the one who pronounces words funny.'
'If this is the way you are going to act every time I try to say something nice about you I will simply quit the business altogether,' threatened a frustrated Valia. 'First you make me tell you something nice about you and now you try to deny it.'
'I repent,' Legolas said with a grin, holding up a hand to squelch the flood of reprimands. 'I had never thought that my "accent" would be considered attractive. Tell me, do all elven women find that quality an enticement or just you?'
'I believe it is your turn now.'
'Indeed,' Legolas smirked. Valia nodded and her eyes darted around her surroundings, much to Legolas' amusement, as she looked anywhere but him as he inspected her. He wrapped his hand around the clasp in her hair and with a deft tug, her honey strands were freed from their confinements to come under the subjugation of the rising wind.
'What are you doing?' Valia cried in dismay, collecting her wayward hair with her hands.
'Another one of your many beauties is your hair. It intrigues me,' answered Legolas, disentangling Valia's hold so the wind could play with her golden tresses again. 'It is silky,' he observed, running a hand through her hair and finding that he could not resist the urge to comb it with his fingers. Valia shifted away uncomfortably but he simply followed her movements and settle closer beside her. 'It is a waterfall,' he commented for not the first time.
'I do not know what your fascination is with my hair,' Valia said with a scowl and scooted farther away from him. It did not discourage him though, and to her great dismay he followed after her once again, wrapping a small amount of the blond mass around his finger.
'Why do you never let it down?'
'Because it gets in my way.'
'But it is lovely when it is not pulled back into a clasp.' He sat up on his knees and began twisting more hair, a simple pattern emerging out of the chaos.
'It has a mind of its own when it is not held in place. Believe me, I have tried to leave it down before but it always falls foreword and gets in my way. I cannot constantly be pushing it out of my face while I work.'
'Braid it then. A few well positioned braids are all that are needed to keep the rest of it out of your face.' He dropped the pin he was still holding into his pocket and began to separate Valia's hair into sections. 'I will show you.'
'I would rather just have my clasp back if you please.'
However he had ignored her request and was actively twisting strands of her hair skillfully into an intricate pattern.
'Legolas, what are you doing?' She reached up and felt her hair only to have it flicked away by a busy Legolas who was becoming engrossed in his work. 'Legolas?'
'Hush, I will be done in a little bit.' He began to entwine tiny braids into his creation of twists, making a pattern of sculpted swirls on the top of Valia's head.
'Do you do this to every maiden you meet?'
'No,' Legolas said innocently. 'Only the ones I like.'
'What?' Valia said with a laugh. 'You mean there are others you are hiding from me?'
'More like I am hiding from them,' he corrected dryly. 'I say hello to a maiden and she constitutes that as a sudden friendship. I have so many of these friends now that I cannot escape them when I walk out in public.'
'Poor Legolas,' said Valia with false sympathy. She snapped a blade of grass off and twirled it in her fingers. 'I truly feel sorry for you. Being liked must be a terrible burden to bear.'
'That is not funny.' Legolas gave the braid in his hand a tug and Valia let out a yelp.
'Hey!' she protested. 'There is no need to get angry.'
'Then do not bait me my dearest Valia for I am capable of easily overpowering you.'
'Are you threatening me?'
'Perhaps.' Legolas smiled down at her as she fidgeted with her skirt. 'Are you uncomfortable?'
'No, but are you almost done?' Valia did not like him touching her hair. It felt too right to her, like her hair was meant to have his fingers tangled amidst it and that was a truly frightening thought.
Legolas gave a final tug on a rebellious twist and sat back to scan his work. Light from the sun was causing her hair to shimmer under the radiant beams of the warm glow and Legolas ran his fingers over the glittering swirls, careful not to disturb the design.
'Are you done now? Can I move?'
'All it needs is this,' Legolas said, pulling out the pin and nestling it in her hair with care. He sat back down beside Valia and smiled at her satisfied. 'That was not so bad was it?'
'Only if it is my turn now,' Valia chirped sweetly.
'What is that supposed to mean?'
'If you get to play with my hair and do something out of the ordinary with it than I get to do the same to yours. You style your hair the same way every day as well.' Valia descended upon him quickly with a pleased smile in her eyes and fingered one of his side braids. 'I think it would look splendid if I can somehow coil your top hair into the shape of a heart, do you not think so?'
'What? You will not touch my hair!' Legolas exclaimed frantically, quickly turning his face to her and backing away.
'Why not?' Valia asked with a grin, getting up on her knees and closing the gap between them.
'Do not touch my hair Valia,' Legolas warned.
'Or what? You would not hurt me.' She reached both her hands out but Legolas grasped them securely and maneuvered them behind her back, holding her as she squirmed.
'Let go of me Legolas!' she implored. Legolas laughed at her and she wiggled harder but to no avail.
'Admit defeat,' he said merrily.
'O no. I am not admitting defeat again. You will not coerce me into sewing anymore of your torn clothes.' She twisted her shoulders around as far as she could without pain shooting up her arms that Legolas held behind her. 'Please let go of me,' she said with a little too much saccharine sweetness.
'I am afraid not,' Legolas said with a grimace, looking down at her with raised brows. 'There is no way you can possibly escape me Valia.'
'That is what you think,' she returned. Suddenly Legolas felt her press against his chest and roll upwards. A soft force was placed against his lips and he felt Valia's soft mouth mold onto his own, tasting a refreshing mint. He released her out of pure shock and she took advantage of his surprise by lunging out of his reach.
'That was not playing fair,' Legolas said darkly.
'Yes it was,' she retorted. 'If I cannot overpower you I might as well use my gender to my advantage.'
'Well I would not suggest you use such methods on everyone or they will begin to think you are doing more than trying to escape,' scowled Legolas.
'I do not think my other acquaintances would pin my hands behind my back and refuse to release me so you need not worry about wrong impressions.' She sat down beside the sullen Prince and placed a hand on his arm. 'Do not be so dreary Legolas. What is in the basket?' she asked, trying to distract him from his brooding thoughts.
'That was supposed to be our lunch.'
'Really?' Valia leaned over him and picked up the basket, depositing it into her lap. Opening the wicker lid she peaked inside. 'I am hungry and I would guess you are too. We might as well eat instead of wasting it.' She pulled out the contents and set them on the blanket. 'Miruvórë and masta? Who have you been talking to? Did Elrond send this?' she asked with narrowed eyes.
'No one,' Legolas said with a genuinely confused look on his face. 'I did not know what you liked so I went to the kitchen and selected my favorite afternoon meal hoping it would be agreeable to you. Why?'
'Never mind.' Valia broke the bread in half and handed the larger piece to Legolas. 'How did you manage to smuggle miruvórë out of the kitchen? It is a preciously guarded commodity in these parts.'
'The same way you so effectively persuaded me to release your arms,' Legolas said with a shrug and uncorked the bottle of rich liquid.
'You did not,' Valia laughed, her lips parted slightly in unbelieving amusement.
'You are not the only one who can use their charms to get what you want. It did not take very much convincing before I had the maid offering me anything I wanted,' he smiled. Valia's eyes widened in astonishment. 'Come Valia, do not pretend to be taken aback. You know very well how convincing a little kiss can be.'
'You seduced her!' exclaimed Valia. She found the idea strangely hilarious and snorted. 'Now who is the one not being fair?' she asked. 'At least I do not go around kissing innocent servants, leaving a wake of lovelorn elves in my trail.'
'You exaggerate,' said Legolas with a wave of his hand. 'She will forget about it by tomorrow no doubt.'
'You just wait,' warned Valia, taking the bottle he offered her and pouring some of the contents into one of the goblets she found in the basket. 'I bet she will mysteriously be the maid cleaning your rooms tomorrow.'
'It would not be the first time such a thing had happened,' laughed Legolas, watching from under his dark lashes as Valia smiled and took a sip of the dark liquid.
'Excellent,' she sighed happily, holding up her cup. The warm sunbeams which made the metal glisten bright abruptly disappeared and Valia stared up into the cloud covered sky. 'The weather does not look too promising,' she remarked.
'Yes, there will be a storm tonight,' Legolas observed, noticing the drop in temperature for the first time now that the heat of the sun was blocked by a wall of ominous clouds.
The two ate in companionable silence, ignoring the dark clouds that continued to roll in, adding to the diminished light of the sun that had begun to dip below the horizon. Both were aware of the tingling in the air, brought to life by the impending gale. Valia's heart began to beat faster with expectancy. She loved watching the raw power of foul weather, but only from the safety a sheltered roof could offer.
'There will be lightening,' Legolas noted, feeling a shudder of anticipation run through him.
'I should go back before this storm rains down its full fury on me,' said Valia with regret. 'Thank you for the picnic Legolas. I had a wonderful time.' Leaning over she placed a kiss on his smooth cheek, a habit she was beginning to enjoy. 'I will see you later,' she said. Licking her lips, she stood up and waved to him as she quickly walked away.
'Namaarie Valia!' He smiled as her head turned around and the glimmer of his pin shinned in her hair.
Neither was aware of two sets of eyes watching their farewell through narrowed lids.
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* aier- little one
*ernil- prince
*mellonamin- my friend
*miruvórë- a drink used at festivals in the Valinor
*masta- bread
*Namaarie- farewell
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