***A year later***
Legolas was infuriated. Gollum had escaped. Nothing good could come of this event, the news needed to be reported to Elrond, he would surely pass the news on to Gandalf. T'was no-one better to deliver this news than Legolas himself, he had seen to the guard arrangement of Gollum and therefore some of this fault fell to him, alas, in his eyes it all fell to him.
He entered his chambers, there, on her usual seat near the window sat Loswen. She had taken to the seat over the past year, instead of the usual peaceful and satisfied look, her eyes had taken on a longing look. She looked at the window as if she was on the verge of jumping just to leave the halls, yet she did not seem to realise this.
Such a beautiful elven maid had never graced the world in Legolas' eyes. A strange child, so young, so innocent, so...bewitching. When he had first seen her, lying, almost dead in the snow...hair so silver and pale it was if the snow had washed through it and stripped it and her eyes, the colour of the deeps of Mirkwood, black to a casual observer, but when studied, simply dark green.
Her lips, now reddened by the maids, carried a blue-ish tinge, like she was dead. She appeared dead when she settled down to sleep, Legolas remembered finding her in the snow, he had thought it was a dead person, but no, she was just sleeping. She was no particular beauty, infact, she looked faded and worn. Her features were all slightly too small for her face, her hair hung limply, as if there was no life at all in it.
After Legolas had first met her, he had been enthralled, he had sought all of the information on her available. Celebalph had been her childhood name, given at birth, silver swan, yet her mother had named her, snow maiden. Her hair had lightened, as he had first suspected, and was once the colour of the moon itself, but her loved of the snow had, indeed, caused it to be lightened to an almost white colour.
He approached her, she turned, and looking at him with adoration, the look of longing in her eyes was quickly replaced with joy to see him. Yet he was saddened, he had come here to tell her of the unfortunate news,
"Gollum has escaped, I am to journey to Rivendell to inform Lord Elrond." There, he had said it. The joy was replaced with a mix of emotions; shock, disappointment, sadness, anger, fear and then they all disappeared.
"Very well, Legolas, may I ask of you something?"
Legolas was intrigued, she rarely asked for anything, he would be happy to give her anything, gifts he had given her in the past had been appreciated, but when she did not ask for something she really didn't want anything. He would give her the world.
"Of course," he kissed her cheek gently, "I would give you the world" he whispered into her ear.
Loswen had been going to ask to perhaps go riding, she had learnt of the perils at the borders of her Lord's realm after the visit of the ranger and therefore had put off asking. Curiosity had finally gotten the better of her, she wanted to see more than the woodland realms. She had heard there were places where it snowed all of the year. But now, Legolas himself had presented her with an opportunity, Rivendell was a haven, other elves and many different races frequented it. Perhaps a trip there would stave off some of this longing.
"I would like to see Rivendell, can I come with you?"
Ah, it made sense, the look in her eyes. Legolas finally understood, she wanted to see things, she had never left Mirkwood! This was what was wrong with her, he should have seen it in such a young elf. Legolas had been about her age when he had first felt a longing to see places, to leave Mirkwood. He paused, was this really the safest idea? What if she got hurt? What if something happened with the Orcs? He calmed himself, he was over reacting, it would be fine, he was, after all, a simple messenger.
"Of course, my love," he answered.
***
Legolas was infuriated. Gollum had escaped. Nothing good could come of this event, the news needed to be reported to Elrond, he would surely pass the news on to Gandalf. T'was no-one better to deliver this news than Legolas himself, he had seen to the guard arrangement of Gollum and therefore some of this fault fell to him, alas, in his eyes it all fell to him.
He entered his chambers, there, on her usual seat near the window sat Loswen. She had taken to the seat over the past year, instead of the usual peaceful and satisfied look, her eyes had taken on a longing look. She looked at the window as if she was on the verge of jumping just to leave the halls, yet she did not seem to realise this.
Such a beautiful elven maid had never graced the world in Legolas' eyes. A strange child, so young, so innocent, so...bewitching. When he had first seen her, lying, almost dead in the snow...hair so silver and pale it was if the snow had washed through it and stripped it and her eyes, the colour of the deeps of Mirkwood, black to a casual observer, but when studied, simply dark green.
Her lips, now reddened by the maids, carried a blue-ish tinge, like she was dead. She appeared dead when she settled down to sleep, Legolas remembered finding her in the snow, he had thought it was a dead person, but no, she was just sleeping. She was no particular beauty, infact, she looked faded and worn. Her features were all slightly too small for her face, her hair hung limply, as if there was no life at all in it.
After Legolas had first met her, he had been enthralled, he had sought all of the information on her available. Celebalph had been her childhood name, given at birth, silver swan, yet her mother had named her, snow maiden. Her hair had lightened, as he had first suspected, and was once the colour of the moon itself, but her loved of the snow had, indeed, caused it to be lightened to an almost white colour.
He approached her, she turned, and looking at him with adoration, the look of longing in her eyes was quickly replaced with joy to see him. Yet he was saddened, he had come here to tell her of the unfortunate news,
"Gollum has escaped, I am to journey to Rivendell to inform Lord Elrond." There, he had said it. The joy was replaced with a mix of emotions; shock, disappointment, sadness, anger, fear and then they all disappeared.
"Very well, Legolas, may I ask of you something?"
Legolas was intrigued, she rarely asked for anything, he would be happy to give her anything, gifts he had given her in the past had been appreciated, but when she did not ask for something she really didn't want anything. He would give her the world.
"Of course," he kissed her cheek gently, "I would give you the world" he whispered into her ear.
Loswen had been going to ask to perhaps go riding, she had learnt of the perils at the borders of her Lord's realm after the visit of the ranger and therefore had put off asking. Curiosity had finally gotten the better of her, she wanted to see more than the woodland realms. She had heard there were places where it snowed all of the year. But now, Legolas himself had presented her with an opportunity, Rivendell was a haven, other elves and many different races frequented it. Perhaps a trip there would stave off some of this longing.
"I would like to see Rivendell, can I come with you?"
Ah, it made sense, the look in her eyes. Legolas finally understood, she wanted to see things, she had never left Mirkwood! This was what was wrong with her, he should have seen it in such a young elf. Legolas had been about her age when he had first felt a longing to see places, to leave Mirkwood. He paused, was this really the safest idea? What if she got hurt? What if something happened with the Orcs? He calmed himself, he was over reacting, it would be fine, he was, after all, a simple messenger.
"Of course, my love," he answered.
***