Chapter 5 - I Dare You
The five princes of Mirkwood were sat in a circle in Oroweth's bedroom with their little sister and the two sons of Elrond. Elladan sighed.
"We have been waiting here for half an hour. Is it going to be much longer?"
Nilwethion shrugged, knowing exactly what Elladan meant.
"Shall I go and find him, Oroweth?"
Oroweth nodded, grinning slyly.
"It would probably be best, although I don't know if it will be possible to drag him away from his new lady friend,"
The siblings sniggered as Nilwethion got up, grinning. The prince slipped out of the door, heading for where he suspected Legolas to have gone with Aliela. He was right. Legolas was far too obvious.
"Legolas!" he called, "Have you forgotten your appointment?"
Legolas and Aliela looked up, startled, from where they were sitting kissing. Nilwethion raised an eyebrow.
"Or shall I say I could not find you?" he asked, a slow grin covering his face.
Legolas and Aliela looked at each other, suddenly shy.
"I do not wish to miss the game, but . . ." he looked at the smiling Aliela and bit his lip.
"I understand," smirked Nilwethion, "I shall tell them you are . . .occupied. You can turn up when you feel like it. I shall see you two little lovebirds at breakfast, shall I not?"
He backed out of the small grove quickly as Legolas looked around for something to throw, and then ran of laughing. He entered the palace again, slipping quietly back to Oroweth's room without being noticed.
"So? Where is Legolas?" asked Calensil impatiently. Nilwethion carried on grinning.
"He is, uh, unable to make an appearance," he sniggered, "They were sitting in the grove by the stream where all the couples of Mirkwood go. Ah, so romantic."
The male elves all burst in to laughter, but Calensil sat quietly, jealous of this new Aliela girl. How dare she take her brother away?
"We shall have to start without him then," grinned one of the twins. Calensil was not quite sure which it was, but then to her it did not really matter. The twins joined the circle.
"It seems to us that this game is slightly unfair," commented the other twin, "There are six of you and only two of us, and you know the area for better than us,"
Nilwethion and Thellind flicked a look at each other. These two were clever. Had Lin's ear been sewn back on yet? They certainly hoped so.
"That is why we are instating a set of special rules, and why Calensil and Astaler are not partaking in the game," stated Oroweth, "We have made a promise to our parents to be on our best behaviour at all times . . ."
"We had to do that!" The raven-haired twins grinned like maniacs, much to the surprise of the Mirkwood siblings.
"You did? Well that's one of the rules. We cannot give any dares that can be easily discovered by our parents, understood? That includes no dares for dressing up in any way, no dares to say a particular line to anybody and no dares to do anything stupid in front of the court. Understood?"
The assembled sons all nodded solemnly. Calensil was idly plaiting her hair. She knew the rules, after all. She had also decided not to take part, as it was much more fun to observe. Astaler also had opted not to take part, to make the rules easier for the others, and because he was bullied in to it by Calensil
"Next, rules of play. We each have a number of the dice," he said, holding a small, white dice, most probably 'borrowed' from one of the guards or servants, "When you throw the dice, your dare goes to the person whose number shows. For instance, if I roll a three, and three is Nilwethion's number, I dare Nilwethion. The dares shall be already set to make sure that there is no favouritism or cheating. Astaler and Calensil will be watching to make sure we all play fair. As Legolas is not here, if he does ever arrive, he has to sit and watch."
Around the circle, the sons of Thranduil who were taking part heaved a sigh of relief. It did not go unnoticed by the twins, who raised their eyebrows in a manner very similar to Elrond.
"Are they all the rules?" asked the first twin, most likely Elladan, decided Calensil.
"Yes, they are. Now for the numbering. You, Elrohir, will be number one," began Astaler. Calensil frowned. So it wasn't Elladan. How did Astaler tell them apart if she, Calensil, could not?
"Elladan, you will be number two. Oroweth will be three, Nuryávië will be four, Thellind will be five and Nilwethion will be six. If you roll your own number, roll the dice again. If you roll for somebody who has already taken a dare roll again. There will be only one round. Elrohir, as number one, you will roll first."
The Imladris elf picked up the dice, smirking. His brother, who was sitting next to him, however, seemed to be having a few doubts about the game. It was, however, too late to back out. The only way to avoid a dare was to refuse the one he was given, but he would not do that. That would be to loose face, and pride, to these princes. That was not an option.
Elrohir rolled a three. Oroweth. He grinned, smugly.
"I dare you, Oroweth, to slip salt in to your fathers wine when we go down for breakfast. Enough so it is un-drinkable. Then, to destroy evidence, you will drink the wine yourself."
"How do I drink an undrinkable wine?" questioned the eldest son
"With difficulty, I believe," smirked Elrohir
Not too difficult, thought Oroweth as he nodded. It was not as if it had never done it before, though the consequences were . . .not nice. This time they would not be discovered.
Next, it was Elladans' turn to roll. It was a one. He shrugged apologetically to his brother, and gave his dare.
"I dare you, Elrohir, to steal our fathers silver circlet."
Elrohir glared at his brother. To do that and not get caught would be difficult indeed, but the circlet could be replaced, and the one he was to steal, well, there could always be the suggestion that it was merely misplaced.
"When do I steal it?" he asked
"Tonight, when Adar takes it off,"
Elrohir nodded, hoping his brother would have a very nasty dare, but not saying anything. Oroweth's roll next.
"One," he said, and rolled again. This time it was a five. Thellind.
"I dare you, Thellind," he began, and then paused, a wicked grin covering his features, "I dare you, Thellind, to go down to the bathing pool, and steal the clothes of at least one person who is swimming, and then to bring them back up here, unnoticed."
Calensil and Astaler sniggered, loudly, happy that they did not have to do any dares. Thellind glared daggers at Oroweth. Oroweth seemed not to notice, too busy being praised by the others at coming up with such a nasty dare. He handed the dice to Nuryávië, who rolled a two.
"I dare you, Elladan, to go for a week without carrying any weapon,"
Elladan gasped, and Elrohir burst out laughing. He applauded the prince, but was then slapped on the shoulder by his brother.
Growling, Elladan removed the long knife from his belt and handed it to his brother, and then removed two daggers from one of his boots, and also handed them to his brother. He glared at Nuryávië.
The dice was passed on, and Thellind rolled a five, his own number. Rolling again, the dice showed two. He sighed, and rolled the dice again. This time it was a six, Nilwethion.
"I dare you, Nilwethion, to go in to the forest tonight, and steal from the spiders a piece of their web."
He sat back, smiling at his brother as his siblings gaped.
"Thellind! Take that back! I have never heard you say anything more dangerous in your life! You could get him killed!"
Thellind flicked a stray strand of hair behind his ear, watching his little brother shake slightly in his green tunic. The prince was staring at a spot in the middle of the circle.
"I was under the impression that he can back down from the game, if he wishes," Thellind grinned, flicking back a few strands of long hair. He sat up strait, and then stared at his brother, waiting for the decision. Nilwethion looked up.
"I will accept the dare," he said, proudly, also sitting up strait, from where he had been lounging happily. This was greeted by more gasps from the Mirkwood elves.
"Nilwethion! Are you out of your mind?" gaped Astaler, "You have seen what the spiders can do!"
"What can they do?" asked one of the twins. Clearly, they had never had any experience with the spiders.
"They kill elves and eat them," said Thellind simply, "They will poison their victims, sending them in to a death like sleep, and then they will eat them."
The twins blinked owlishly at him.
"You are sending your brother in to the heart of their den? Do you wish for him to die?" breathed Elladan, his face as white as the silken sheets he slept in.
"I do not wish him to die, however he seemed to think that he could easily carry out any dare I set him. We shall see how well he does with this," replied Thellind. He passed the dice on to his brother.
"Your turn," muttered Calensil from where she was sitting on Nuryavie's knee.
There was no real need for Nilwethion to roll the dice, as there was only one person left who could be dared. He rolled anyway, and it was five rolls until it landed on the one number left he could use. This dare, however, the players were all tense.
"I dare you, Nuryávië, to eat no meat until the guests from Imladris leave in three months time,"
This cheered the mood. It was not dangerous, nor stupid, just silly. Nuryávië, who loved eating meat, began growling in low tones about revenge. Everybody else just laughed. Calensil stood up.
"Are you going to begin the dares then?" she asked sweetly. Eyes turned to Thellind. His was clearly to be carried out now. He sighed reluctantly and got up.
"Will you come with me? I may need some extra arms carrying the clothes," he said. Astaler nodded and followed his little brother out of the room. As they exited the great halls by the servants' route, Thellind turned to his brother.
"I wonder who will be there. I hope it is not old Silnan. He would report it strait to Adar, and then we will be roasted alive over a slow fire, or drowned in a cooking pot, maybe,"
Astaler laughed, as they crept in to the bushed by the side of the pool.
"It seems you are in luck, little brother," he whispered, "There are only two people in there, and I doubt they will go running to Adar or Elrond."
"Who is it?" whispered Thellind back, rising above the 'little brother'. Astaler looked back at him, grinning wildly.
"'Tis Legolas and his lovebird!"
Thellind peeked through the branches and could barely hold his laughter. This was going to be so simple! He watched the couple splash about a little bit, playing catch in the water and kissing every so often.
"They only met yesterday. They look as if they have known each other for a life time!" muttered the prince as he located their clothes, lying very close to them. He reached out and pulled one item of clothing in to the shrubbery where they were hiding, handing it to Astaler.
"Jealous?"
"I think not," growled Thellind. He did feel slightly jealous, however, as he watched the happy pair kissing in the middle of the water, and then ducking underneath the surface.
Taking the opportunity he grabbed a large handful of the clothes and dragged them back, leaving only Aliela's cloak still not in his clutches. As the couple surfaced the two hidden brothers stayed stock still until they were sure neither of the elves splashing around in the water were paying attention, and then he grasped the cloak.
Stifling sniggers, the two princes ran back to Oroweth's room where the others were waiting and dumped their prize on the floor.
"Who was it?" cried Calensil.
"Guess," sniggered Thellind. He held up an ornate leather belt with a fancy dagger sheath on it, silver ivy leaves entwined around the top and winding down the sides. There was only one sheath like it in the kingdom.
"Not . . . not Legolas?"
Thellind bowed gracefully to Nilwethion.
"He was not the only one brother. Observe the pink dress,"
"Ah, the two lovebirds?" guessed Elladan.
"They didn't even realise we were there. Either we have become extremely quiet or they were very unobservant," laughed Astaler
"Or perhaps they were being observant. Perhaps they were only observing each other," said Calensil. The males around her laughed, but did not notice she was being sour.
"Perhaps, baby sister. Seven kisses, I counted, and they only met yesterday."
The twins collapsed in to hysterics at the thought of the two finding their clothes gone, and the expressions on their faces. How long would they be stuck in the pool before somebody else came? Not too long, but long enough, hopefully.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In the pool, Legolas and Aliela did have eyes only for each other, as Calensil had guessed. They had been swimming for about two hours, uninterrupted, splashing and playing in the water.
At last, Legolas look up at the sun to check the time.
"'Tis breakfast time, I guess. We ought to be going before we are missed."
He drew Aliela towards him for one last kiss, and then they swam to the side of the pool where they had left their belongings. Their clothes were no longer there.
"Legolas, we did leave everything here, did we not?" questioned the elven maid, worried.
"Aye, that we did. By the bushes. Why?"
She turned to look at him.
"They are no longer there!"
Legolas looked, and indeed, there was no sign that there had ever been any clothes there at all. The prince gasped.
"Ai Valar!" he moaned, "Our clothes!"
Aliela slipped back in to the water, not wanting to get cold. She swam in to the centre of the pool.
"How long until somebody comes?" she pleaded. Legolas shook his head.
"Of that I have no notion. It could be minutes or it could be hours."
They had no choice but to wait in the pool until somebody came. Suddenly they were in no mood for swimming and wanted nothing more than to get out of the pool, warm and relaxing as it was. Time passed slowly, until they heard giggling in the trees and voices approached.
"He is such a wonderful dancer!" a female voice. Most likely one who had been at the feast the previous night, if dancing was the subject.
"I do not doubt you loved the wine as well," another female.
"Well of course. It was the Dorwinion stuff," the first voice again.
"I wish I had won!" A third, younger voice piped up. Ah, so that's what they were talking about. The first speaker must be the one who had danced with Nilwethion at the feast, and these were her friends. The three women entered the pool and stopped as they saw Legolas and Aliela in the pool. Legolas' guess was correct. The three servants stood for a moment, and then smiled.
"We are terribly sorry your majesty, my lady, we did not mean to intrude. Shall we come back later?"
"No, wait a moment," cried Legolas as the three servants turned to go, giggling. They turned around again to look at the prince.
"Uh, it seems our clothes have gone missing, my ladies. I don't suppose we could, uh, borrow your cloaks to get back to the halls could we?"
The three maids began to laugh at the unfortunate couple. Two of them, the young one and Nilwethion's partner, Aelin, took off their cloaks to give to the two in the water, now at the side of the pool. As Aelin held hers out to Legolas, the last of the trio screamed, pointed to the other side of the pool and ran. Dropping their cloaks in surprise, the other two looked up as Legolas and Aliela turned around.
At the other side of the pool was a small band of orcs, aiming their bows. Aelin and her young friends turned and ran, screaming, following their friends. Arrows thudded in to the trees and the surface of the water, the two maidens only just escaping the fatal shots.
Trapped in the water, for they could not get out or they would be shot for sure, Legolas and Aliela ducked underneath the surface and held their breath for as long as they could, swimming to the bottom where the orcs could not see them. They were in trouble. Big trouble.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I just have to point out that NOT ALL THE IDEAS FOR THE DARES WERE MINE. My point is made. One of my friends helped me, because I could only think of three or four.
FIREANGEL ~~ I suppose your right, as always. Calensil WAS really mean, but admit it, she was funny. I'm glad you love the fic.
IMBEFANIEL ~~ We would all have joined in, most likely. It did sound fun though, didn't it? I don't think the end of this chapter was very fun for Legolas or Aliela though, somehow.
ELFAER GILIELL ~~ Thank you SO much for not flaming me, even though you know what she becomes when Legolas has to go.
ASH ~~ You may have loved the end of THAT chapter, but do you love the end of THIS chapter?
ORODRUIN ~~ Are you still sure you wanted to see the dares? Mind you, I suppose they do make up a large chunk of the story.
**EMQU gives out choc 'n' cherry cookies to all her reviewers**
Thanks for reviewing. Thanks very much. Thank you again. Love you all.
The five princes of Mirkwood were sat in a circle in Oroweth's bedroom with their little sister and the two sons of Elrond. Elladan sighed.
"We have been waiting here for half an hour. Is it going to be much longer?"
Nilwethion shrugged, knowing exactly what Elladan meant.
"Shall I go and find him, Oroweth?"
Oroweth nodded, grinning slyly.
"It would probably be best, although I don't know if it will be possible to drag him away from his new lady friend,"
The siblings sniggered as Nilwethion got up, grinning. The prince slipped out of the door, heading for where he suspected Legolas to have gone with Aliela. He was right. Legolas was far too obvious.
"Legolas!" he called, "Have you forgotten your appointment?"
Legolas and Aliela looked up, startled, from where they were sitting kissing. Nilwethion raised an eyebrow.
"Or shall I say I could not find you?" he asked, a slow grin covering his face.
Legolas and Aliela looked at each other, suddenly shy.
"I do not wish to miss the game, but . . ." he looked at the smiling Aliela and bit his lip.
"I understand," smirked Nilwethion, "I shall tell them you are . . .occupied. You can turn up when you feel like it. I shall see you two little lovebirds at breakfast, shall I not?"
He backed out of the small grove quickly as Legolas looked around for something to throw, and then ran of laughing. He entered the palace again, slipping quietly back to Oroweth's room without being noticed.
"So? Where is Legolas?" asked Calensil impatiently. Nilwethion carried on grinning.
"He is, uh, unable to make an appearance," he sniggered, "They were sitting in the grove by the stream where all the couples of Mirkwood go. Ah, so romantic."
The male elves all burst in to laughter, but Calensil sat quietly, jealous of this new Aliela girl. How dare she take her brother away?
"We shall have to start without him then," grinned one of the twins. Calensil was not quite sure which it was, but then to her it did not really matter. The twins joined the circle.
"It seems to us that this game is slightly unfair," commented the other twin, "There are six of you and only two of us, and you know the area for better than us,"
Nilwethion and Thellind flicked a look at each other. These two were clever. Had Lin's ear been sewn back on yet? They certainly hoped so.
"That is why we are instating a set of special rules, and why Calensil and Astaler are not partaking in the game," stated Oroweth, "We have made a promise to our parents to be on our best behaviour at all times . . ."
"We had to do that!" The raven-haired twins grinned like maniacs, much to the surprise of the Mirkwood siblings.
"You did? Well that's one of the rules. We cannot give any dares that can be easily discovered by our parents, understood? That includes no dares for dressing up in any way, no dares to say a particular line to anybody and no dares to do anything stupid in front of the court. Understood?"
The assembled sons all nodded solemnly. Calensil was idly plaiting her hair. She knew the rules, after all. She had also decided not to take part, as it was much more fun to observe. Astaler also had opted not to take part, to make the rules easier for the others, and because he was bullied in to it by Calensil
"Next, rules of play. We each have a number of the dice," he said, holding a small, white dice, most probably 'borrowed' from one of the guards or servants, "When you throw the dice, your dare goes to the person whose number shows. For instance, if I roll a three, and three is Nilwethion's number, I dare Nilwethion. The dares shall be already set to make sure that there is no favouritism or cheating. Astaler and Calensil will be watching to make sure we all play fair. As Legolas is not here, if he does ever arrive, he has to sit and watch."
Around the circle, the sons of Thranduil who were taking part heaved a sigh of relief. It did not go unnoticed by the twins, who raised their eyebrows in a manner very similar to Elrond.
"Are they all the rules?" asked the first twin, most likely Elladan, decided Calensil.
"Yes, they are. Now for the numbering. You, Elrohir, will be number one," began Astaler. Calensil frowned. So it wasn't Elladan. How did Astaler tell them apart if she, Calensil, could not?
"Elladan, you will be number two. Oroweth will be three, Nuryávië will be four, Thellind will be five and Nilwethion will be six. If you roll your own number, roll the dice again. If you roll for somebody who has already taken a dare roll again. There will be only one round. Elrohir, as number one, you will roll first."
The Imladris elf picked up the dice, smirking. His brother, who was sitting next to him, however, seemed to be having a few doubts about the game. It was, however, too late to back out. The only way to avoid a dare was to refuse the one he was given, but he would not do that. That would be to loose face, and pride, to these princes. That was not an option.
Elrohir rolled a three. Oroweth. He grinned, smugly.
"I dare you, Oroweth, to slip salt in to your fathers wine when we go down for breakfast. Enough so it is un-drinkable. Then, to destroy evidence, you will drink the wine yourself."
"How do I drink an undrinkable wine?" questioned the eldest son
"With difficulty, I believe," smirked Elrohir
Not too difficult, thought Oroweth as he nodded. It was not as if it had never done it before, though the consequences were . . .not nice. This time they would not be discovered.
Next, it was Elladans' turn to roll. It was a one. He shrugged apologetically to his brother, and gave his dare.
"I dare you, Elrohir, to steal our fathers silver circlet."
Elrohir glared at his brother. To do that and not get caught would be difficult indeed, but the circlet could be replaced, and the one he was to steal, well, there could always be the suggestion that it was merely misplaced.
"When do I steal it?" he asked
"Tonight, when Adar takes it off,"
Elrohir nodded, hoping his brother would have a very nasty dare, but not saying anything. Oroweth's roll next.
"One," he said, and rolled again. This time it was a five. Thellind.
"I dare you, Thellind," he began, and then paused, a wicked grin covering his features, "I dare you, Thellind, to go down to the bathing pool, and steal the clothes of at least one person who is swimming, and then to bring them back up here, unnoticed."
Calensil and Astaler sniggered, loudly, happy that they did not have to do any dares. Thellind glared daggers at Oroweth. Oroweth seemed not to notice, too busy being praised by the others at coming up with such a nasty dare. He handed the dice to Nuryávië, who rolled a two.
"I dare you, Elladan, to go for a week without carrying any weapon,"
Elladan gasped, and Elrohir burst out laughing. He applauded the prince, but was then slapped on the shoulder by his brother.
Growling, Elladan removed the long knife from his belt and handed it to his brother, and then removed two daggers from one of his boots, and also handed them to his brother. He glared at Nuryávië.
The dice was passed on, and Thellind rolled a five, his own number. Rolling again, the dice showed two. He sighed, and rolled the dice again. This time it was a six, Nilwethion.
"I dare you, Nilwethion, to go in to the forest tonight, and steal from the spiders a piece of their web."
He sat back, smiling at his brother as his siblings gaped.
"Thellind! Take that back! I have never heard you say anything more dangerous in your life! You could get him killed!"
Thellind flicked a stray strand of hair behind his ear, watching his little brother shake slightly in his green tunic. The prince was staring at a spot in the middle of the circle.
"I was under the impression that he can back down from the game, if he wishes," Thellind grinned, flicking back a few strands of long hair. He sat up strait, and then stared at his brother, waiting for the decision. Nilwethion looked up.
"I will accept the dare," he said, proudly, also sitting up strait, from where he had been lounging happily. This was greeted by more gasps from the Mirkwood elves.
"Nilwethion! Are you out of your mind?" gaped Astaler, "You have seen what the spiders can do!"
"What can they do?" asked one of the twins. Clearly, they had never had any experience with the spiders.
"They kill elves and eat them," said Thellind simply, "They will poison their victims, sending them in to a death like sleep, and then they will eat them."
The twins blinked owlishly at him.
"You are sending your brother in to the heart of their den? Do you wish for him to die?" breathed Elladan, his face as white as the silken sheets he slept in.
"I do not wish him to die, however he seemed to think that he could easily carry out any dare I set him. We shall see how well he does with this," replied Thellind. He passed the dice on to his brother.
"Your turn," muttered Calensil from where she was sitting on Nuryavie's knee.
There was no real need for Nilwethion to roll the dice, as there was only one person left who could be dared. He rolled anyway, and it was five rolls until it landed on the one number left he could use. This dare, however, the players were all tense.
"I dare you, Nuryávië, to eat no meat until the guests from Imladris leave in three months time,"
This cheered the mood. It was not dangerous, nor stupid, just silly. Nuryávië, who loved eating meat, began growling in low tones about revenge. Everybody else just laughed. Calensil stood up.
"Are you going to begin the dares then?" she asked sweetly. Eyes turned to Thellind. His was clearly to be carried out now. He sighed reluctantly and got up.
"Will you come with me? I may need some extra arms carrying the clothes," he said. Astaler nodded and followed his little brother out of the room. As they exited the great halls by the servants' route, Thellind turned to his brother.
"I wonder who will be there. I hope it is not old Silnan. He would report it strait to Adar, and then we will be roasted alive over a slow fire, or drowned in a cooking pot, maybe,"
Astaler laughed, as they crept in to the bushed by the side of the pool.
"It seems you are in luck, little brother," he whispered, "There are only two people in there, and I doubt they will go running to Adar or Elrond."
"Who is it?" whispered Thellind back, rising above the 'little brother'. Astaler looked back at him, grinning wildly.
"'Tis Legolas and his lovebird!"
Thellind peeked through the branches and could barely hold his laughter. This was going to be so simple! He watched the couple splash about a little bit, playing catch in the water and kissing every so often.
"They only met yesterday. They look as if they have known each other for a life time!" muttered the prince as he located their clothes, lying very close to them. He reached out and pulled one item of clothing in to the shrubbery where they were hiding, handing it to Astaler.
"Jealous?"
"I think not," growled Thellind. He did feel slightly jealous, however, as he watched the happy pair kissing in the middle of the water, and then ducking underneath the surface.
Taking the opportunity he grabbed a large handful of the clothes and dragged them back, leaving only Aliela's cloak still not in his clutches. As the couple surfaced the two hidden brothers stayed stock still until they were sure neither of the elves splashing around in the water were paying attention, and then he grasped the cloak.
Stifling sniggers, the two princes ran back to Oroweth's room where the others were waiting and dumped their prize on the floor.
"Who was it?" cried Calensil.
"Guess," sniggered Thellind. He held up an ornate leather belt with a fancy dagger sheath on it, silver ivy leaves entwined around the top and winding down the sides. There was only one sheath like it in the kingdom.
"Not . . . not Legolas?"
Thellind bowed gracefully to Nilwethion.
"He was not the only one brother. Observe the pink dress,"
"Ah, the two lovebirds?" guessed Elladan.
"They didn't even realise we were there. Either we have become extremely quiet or they were very unobservant," laughed Astaler
"Or perhaps they were being observant. Perhaps they were only observing each other," said Calensil. The males around her laughed, but did not notice she was being sour.
"Perhaps, baby sister. Seven kisses, I counted, and they only met yesterday."
The twins collapsed in to hysterics at the thought of the two finding their clothes gone, and the expressions on their faces. How long would they be stuck in the pool before somebody else came? Not too long, but long enough, hopefully.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In the pool, Legolas and Aliela did have eyes only for each other, as Calensil had guessed. They had been swimming for about two hours, uninterrupted, splashing and playing in the water.
At last, Legolas look up at the sun to check the time.
"'Tis breakfast time, I guess. We ought to be going before we are missed."
He drew Aliela towards him for one last kiss, and then they swam to the side of the pool where they had left their belongings. Their clothes were no longer there.
"Legolas, we did leave everything here, did we not?" questioned the elven maid, worried.
"Aye, that we did. By the bushes. Why?"
She turned to look at him.
"They are no longer there!"
Legolas looked, and indeed, there was no sign that there had ever been any clothes there at all. The prince gasped.
"Ai Valar!" he moaned, "Our clothes!"
Aliela slipped back in to the water, not wanting to get cold. She swam in to the centre of the pool.
"How long until somebody comes?" she pleaded. Legolas shook his head.
"Of that I have no notion. It could be minutes or it could be hours."
They had no choice but to wait in the pool until somebody came. Suddenly they were in no mood for swimming and wanted nothing more than to get out of the pool, warm and relaxing as it was. Time passed slowly, until they heard giggling in the trees and voices approached.
"He is such a wonderful dancer!" a female voice. Most likely one who had been at the feast the previous night, if dancing was the subject.
"I do not doubt you loved the wine as well," another female.
"Well of course. It was the Dorwinion stuff," the first voice again.
"I wish I had won!" A third, younger voice piped up. Ah, so that's what they were talking about. The first speaker must be the one who had danced with Nilwethion at the feast, and these were her friends. The three women entered the pool and stopped as they saw Legolas and Aliela in the pool. Legolas' guess was correct. The three servants stood for a moment, and then smiled.
"We are terribly sorry your majesty, my lady, we did not mean to intrude. Shall we come back later?"
"No, wait a moment," cried Legolas as the three servants turned to go, giggling. They turned around again to look at the prince.
"Uh, it seems our clothes have gone missing, my ladies. I don't suppose we could, uh, borrow your cloaks to get back to the halls could we?"
The three maids began to laugh at the unfortunate couple. Two of them, the young one and Nilwethion's partner, Aelin, took off their cloaks to give to the two in the water, now at the side of the pool. As Aelin held hers out to Legolas, the last of the trio screamed, pointed to the other side of the pool and ran. Dropping their cloaks in surprise, the other two looked up as Legolas and Aliela turned around.
At the other side of the pool was a small band of orcs, aiming their bows. Aelin and her young friends turned and ran, screaming, following their friends. Arrows thudded in to the trees and the surface of the water, the two maidens only just escaping the fatal shots.
Trapped in the water, for they could not get out or they would be shot for sure, Legolas and Aliela ducked underneath the surface and held their breath for as long as they could, swimming to the bottom where the orcs could not see them. They were in trouble. Big trouble.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I just have to point out that NOT ALL THE IDEAS FOR THE DARES WERE MINE. My point is made. One of my friends helped me, because I could only think of three or four.
FIREANGEL ~~ I suppose your right, as always. Calensil WAS really mean, but admit it, she was funny. I'm glad you love the fic.
IMBEFANIEL ~~ We would all have joined in, most likely. It did sound fun though, didn't it? I don't think the end of this chapter was very fun for Legolas or Aliela though, somehow.
ELFAER GILIELL ~~ Thank you SO much for not flaming me, even though you know what she becomes when Legolas has to go.
ASH ~~ You may have loved the end of THAT chapter, but do you love the end of THIS chapter?
ORODRUIN ~~ Are you still sure you wanted to see the dares? Mind you, I suppose they do make up a large chunk of the story.
**EMQU gives out choc 'n' cherry cookies to all her reviewers**
Thanks for reviewing. Thanks very much. Thank you again. Love you all.