Chapter 3
Keladry arrived at her room a couple hours later. 'Legolas Greenleaf was very kind to me, for all that I slammed into him before even knowing his name.' she thought to her self, as she got ready for bed. She was still exhausted from the ride, and her stomach was filled with butterflies that appeared as she thought of the Meeting tomorrow, the meeting at which she would get to meet King Thranduil and his councilors. Talk about stressful. Legolas had walked her around the paths until she was able to find her own way back. He had also asked her many questions about her self, her family, and her trip. Never once had Gandalf or Legolas's own family come up, she realized as she slipped on her nightgown. Oh well. She needed to get her beauty sleep. The Council was first thing in the morning.

* * *

Keladry waited with Gandalf outside of the Council room. King Thranduil had insisted that they be introduced like all other visitors of the Council's. Keladry's butterflies returned, and she was consistently reaching down to straighten her sapphire dress. All she could do was hope that she looked half the lady she didn't feel, with her hair up in a bun and two strands on either side of her face, framing it.

Tiri had told her that while a list was not available, many of the members of the Council were expected to attend.

"Keladry, it's time." Gandalf's voice was soft, but it was enough to startle her out of her little void.

"Lead the way," Keladry replied as the doors opened in front of them. She followed him into a large reception room that had Elves lined up on both sides, King Thranduil on a dais straight ahead.

"Welcome Gandalf!" King Thranduil boomed as they neared the dais. "I see you have brought your student. Please introduce her so that we may proceed to the antechamber."

"This is Lady Keladry Draug of Lothlorien. She is the blood niece of Galadriel. She will be assisting me on this project." Gandalf presented her.

"It is a great honor to be present in your halls, your Highness." Keladry curtsied, spreading out her skirt as she did so.

"And I'm sure that it took a lot of convincing to have Gandalf bring you along. Welcome to Mirkwood, Lady Keladry," King Thranduil greeted. "It is an honor to have a blood relative of Queen Galadriel's here. Shall we proceed to the antechamber now? My son and select Council members patiently await our arrival."

"But of course," Gandalf agreed. Following Gandalf, Keladry wondered what the prince would look like. After all, Legolas had been enchanting and he had not given a title.

When they had caught up with Thranduil, he spoke directly to Keladry. "The first hour or two will be strictly politics. You and the Prince are welcome to excuse your selves for that time, if you wish."

Keladry glanced at Gandalf, who nodded his consent. "Thank you very much for your offer. I have never liked politics that much, so excusing myself for that time would be very much appreciated, Your Highness." Keladry curtsied again.

They entered a smaller version of the hall they had just left. A dark haired male Elf was talking to a blonde haired Elf, whose back was to Keladry as she was entering the door. The rest of the council members were sitting at a round table in the middle of the room.

"Might I present Gandalf the Grey and his student, Lady Keladry Draug of Lothlorien? They have come to assist us with the problem of the Uruk-hai." King Thranduil took his place at the table as he said this.

Keladry had noticed that at his words, the blonde haired Elf had stiffened.

"Lady Keladry, this is my son Legolas. You may excuse yourself when ever you wish, both of you." King Thranduil motioned towards the door as the blonde Elf turned around and bowed.

Keladry gasped inwardly as she recognized Legolas. "We have met already, Your Highness. And I will be excusing my self now. As I stated before, I have no interest in politics." Keladry excused herself, curtsying to the King and the rest of the Council members before sweeping out the door and across the hall to its exit.

She heard Legolas excusing himself in the same manner and following her. Waiting until she was out of earshot of any one else, she whirled around to face Legolas, who was startled by her abrupt halt.

"Prince Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood. Why didn't you tell me?" she hissed at him. "Really! Normally you tell people that you run into you're a prince!"

"I could say the same for you, Lady Keladry Draug of Lothlorien who is the blood niece of Queen Galadriel! You said you weren't a Lady!" Legolas shot back.

Not being able to think of a reply, Keladry crossed her arms, turned her back and pointedly ignored him. "I see no reason to talk to some one who forgot that to mention he was a prince." Keladry felt a hand on her arm.

"Great, so now you are going to ignore me? I am really glad to see you, even if you lied to me," Legolas told her as he moved to face her. "I will apologize if you will. Then we can ignore all titles."

Keladry bit her bottom lip. He had a point that she lied to him first. "Fine. I'm sorry that I got mad at you for not telling me that you're a prince."

"And?.." Legolas looked at her expectantly.

"And for not telling you that I was a Lady of Lothlorien. There. Now it's your turn," Keladry finished.

"I apologize for the afore stated lie and I humbly except your own apology with much forgiveness." Legolas swept a grand bow for Keladry, over exaggerating it.

"Now what do you want to do?" Keladry asked. "I haven't eaten breakfast yet so let's make sure it includes food!"

"I know of a small section of the gardens that no one uses. It has a very nice mini waterfall. We could have a picnic, of sorts," Legolas suggested.

"That would be wonderful! If you have bathing clothes handy for yourself, we could go swimming, too. What do you think?" Keladry exclaimed. "That really would be fun."

"I have some handy yes. Why don't you go find your clothes while I get mine and we can meet back at the kitchens to pry some food off of the cooks? Sound good to you?" Legolas liked the idea of a swim. He jogged off in the direction of his rooms, after Keladry had started for her's.