AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Here is Chapter Six. Each chapter seems to become harder to write because you are playing with so many emotions. I hope everybody likes this one.
PS. Raveyn did not get raped. At all. By anyone. Legolas did not rape her and neither did Aegnir. He was about to but Legolas stopped him. Some of you were confused about this point and I apologize for making it unclear.
Oh and on another note; the webpage thing worked! Thanks to everybody that told me how to do it. : )
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CHAPTER SIX
Narrator's POV
His long strides carried him quickly back to the camping grounds. His eyes quickly scanned the faces surrounding the small fire that had been started. As the dying sun lit the sky in one furious burst of fire, darkness started to slowly slide up from the edges. He found her seated a bit away from the group of elves, staring pensively into the fire, a smile curling her lips. She looked as lovely as ever, long black hair curling in cascades over her back, as the flames brought a subtle glow to her face.
She saw me, and with a small cry jumped up, "Highness," she said her eyes lighting up.
"My lady, if I may have a word in private," She looked at him quizzically before acquiescing and leading him to a small glen, partially hidden by thick trees.
She comfortably arranged herself on a fallen log, her tunic slipping to reveal a creamy pale shoulder. She watched him carefully; his eyes were hard and dark; black stones swept with river water. He really was quite handsome she thought idly.
"Did you play a role in the events of this afternoon." It wasn't a question, it was a demand. His stance was stiff and unyielding.
"My lord?" She said, confusion blatant in her eyes.
"I will ask you once more Cassandra. Did you play a role in the events of this afternoon? If you lie to me…" The threat lay unspoken in the air, like the promise of the executioner's axe.
"My lord you are frightening me. I know not of what you speak!" she held his gaze steadfastly, never wavering in her proclaimed innocence.
He still stared blankly at her, eyes devoid of any emotion; he was cold and alien.
She brought a fluttering hand to her chest, slipping her shirt further down her shoulder, "May I know of what I am accused?" Silence.
She walked over to him, placed her hand on his arm.
"My lord," obtaining no response she continued fervently, "I was with you the entire morning and afternoon! Or have you forgotten?" Her glance grew coy, and suggestion slid unveiled over her words.
She pressed herself softly against the length of his body. "Of what do you suspect me," her voice dipped huskily as she exuded sexuality. Answering desire pooled in his eyes and her heart soared with triumphant exultation. She would trap him yet, and make him forget the gold eyed slut.
Bringing her lips close to his, she shivered closer, and whispered delicately across his lips, "My lord," before she closed the distance between them, bringing his head down to hers.
He hesitated, his lips rested unmoving against hers as she persuasively coaxed; centuries of honing the arts and skills of the bedroom went into dazzling him. She bent that deadly stiletto seduction into making him desire her. Into binding him to her; and like a sorceress she patiently wove. Gently running her hands down his taut arms, she held one of his hands, and running it up the curve of her hip, the smoothness of her waist, she placed it inside her tunic; over the heavy weight of her delicate breast. She looked at him and saw naked desire on his face. He looked beautiful in the liquid moonlight that slid over him like a loving caress. His hand curled over her breast and he ran a thumb across one pebbled nipple. Her indrawn breath, as she purposefully brushed her thigh against his groin, broke his control. He brought them crashing down onto the forest floor, his lips on fire over her neck, as he greedily took what she amply gave. The price she thought, clasping his fair head to her breast, would come later, and as he swept skilled hands over her body and she arched into him, her lips curved victoriously.
The trees loomed silently as her gasps and moans echoed through the night air.
Raveyn's POV
I stayed in the comforting darkness, away from the warmth of the firelight.
I wanted to be cold tonight.
I had been far too lax of late, palace life had made my mind fat and sluggish, glutted with lazy routine. I started drawing slow circles in the dirt as I thought about Cassandra. I didn't doubt that she was partially responsible for Aegnir's actions. I hadn't even considered once, not once that she could be a threat to me. Stupid and foolish.
I would not act so again. I needed to see what she was doing, I needed to get my facts in order and think like Cassandra.
Fact: She hated humans
Fact: She wanted Legolas
Fact: Legolas had a very large kingdom
Fact: She had threatened me, several times. And then nearly got me killed. Bitch.
Fact: She was a very angry person. You could see the rage glittering like black diamonds in her eyes, cold and ugly. Something had happened to her. Or she might have been born that way. It was hard to tell.
A jealous woman would not try to destroy the competition unless something bigger was at stake. Something much more lucrative than the heart of a Prince. A woman like Cassandra had men aplenty, but not many of them had a nice throne attached. Mirkwood's realm had expanded considerably after the final battle, and its wealth had correspondingly increased.
While I sat there thinking, I saw Legolas and Cassandra emerge from the woods. They were still in shadow, and I frowned. I hadn't seen them leave. Then the firelight lit around them and I stared in disbelief.
I knew, I knew I knew I knew I just knew just looking at them.
You could tell from the looseness of the limbs, the relaxed lazy posture, the glow in her eyes. Her clothing was loose, and her tunic was practically falling off her shoulder. His clothing was no longer immaculate, and he had leaves in his hair. He looked dirty, for once; ahh the irony.
Bitterness curdled in me, but I couldn't look away.
I couldn't feel anymore, I couldn't hear, all I saw was them in brilliant colors, and all I could think was how I would appear if beside them. A washed out faded grey. A stain. A mistake where the artist's brush had slipped. His masterpiece was the two central figures lit by firelight, like a magnificent painting swept with honey and immortalized.
His friends were slapping him across the back making crude remarks and grinning knowingly, and she sat smugly.
I saw everything with such painful clarity. His eyes caught mine brilliantly, and as he made a motion towards me I quickly left. I couldn't handle it right now.
I told you, you should have listened. Hehehe. You should have listened la da di da di. And now look. Aww your hurt. Poor darling…you didn't see it coming? Hahahaha. Poor foolish stupid girl- run away shadow child, run away and no one will know you came to stay…
I fled into the thick palpable darkness of the forest, and I ran as if my life, my soul depended on it. I ran so fast and so far, that I couldn't even see the firelight anymore. His cloak had dropped a long ways away, and I was heaving in the clothes I had put on.
"WHY!" I screamed as loudly as I could my voice ringing in the air, "WHY COULDN'T HE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!! Why? Whywhywhywhy," I clutched my hair and sank slowly to the ground, rocking back and forth trying to shut everything out. Agony and anger ran like veins through my words. I was in pain again.
"Bloody bastard," I said weakly, "I knew he was trouble I knew it. Blue eyes, blue eyes, why? Shhhhhhhh. No no, mustn't." I started muttering incoherently and laughing; this had to be one of the best days of my life I thought sanely.
I was quiet for a while, and I just lay there sprawled across the feathered leaves.
The stars looked beautiful tonight. Clear and lovely, they sparkled against that lovely pulling black velvet.
A conversation I had had with Leia filtered back to me as I lay there. It had been a day before I was to leave, and we had been joking sarcastically when she interrupted me.
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She put down her cleaning rags and looked at me seriously, one hand on her hip, gray strands escaping from her messy bun.
"Do you love him?" She asked.
I was surprised. I certainly didn't expect her to be so blunt about it and I sputtered, "Love him? Please Leia. It would be impossible to love him."
"You didn't answer my question," and she repeated, "Do you love him?"
She was dead sober, piercing eyes staring at me coolly.
"I don't know."
She laughed hoarsely, "There is no I don't know. Maybe you didn't hear me. I said love, I didn't ask you whether perhaps you fancied grape wine, or strawberry tarts lass."
"What is love Leia? Tell me about this unequivocal love you seem to believe in." I said sarcastically.
She threw her rag down angrily, "You mock me. You think like the rest of them that stupid Leia doesn't know anything. She lost her mind a long time ago, and her whisperings now are those of a mad woman-"
"Now Leia, that's not fair I never said-" She pushed me down onto a cushion.
"SIT. Shutup and listen for once in your life. Listen to an old woman's whisperings."
I stared at her, she was practically burning.
"You want to know what love is? Love is everything. Love is pain, pleasure, death, life. Love can lift you up so high you can't see the ground; your so high that you could reach out and touch the stars." Her eyes glistened with remembrance.
"Love can bring you hurt so deep that any pain you think you've felt before will be feather soft in comparison ; it leaves you writhing in an agony of the mind and body so complete you feel as if your skin has been stripped off, leaving you defenseless against the stinging burn of whipping winds," she spat.
She was gesticulating wildly; it was almost as if life had been blown into a wax doll, transforming it into a person with passions and desires; a person with memories which time could not dull…
"That sounds so appealing Leia, really that does I can't wait till it happens to me. Particularly that bit about being flayed; it had such romantic appeal," I said cynically.
She smiled at me, "Ahh yes. It hurts. Never be mistaken about that. Anybody that tells you different hasn't been in love. Really in love. But my dear, for all that love torments, it brings a satisfaction and peace that you can feel in your bones. When you find it, you will feel as if you have been on wandering on the earth's surface for ages, and you have finally come home." She murmured the last word, pain bright in her eyes.
"Love brings pleasure so sweet you want to die from happiness. It is more than a meeting of souls; it is a searing of two spirits. The completion of a masterpiece that bears a simple signature: fate." She was quiet then, and stared off into the distance for a while. Now and then she would smile, but mostly her face remained blank. It was only in those once dull eyes that you could see emotions light. I watched and knew that she was opening memories she had long forgotten about. I crept away, her words still sounding in my ears.
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How right you were old one. How right you were. But you never told me what to do if you found home, and the person who opened the door was holding someone else.
What then old woman?
I sighed. What then indeed.
I was quiet. My tears had dried, and the sounds of the night wrapped around me slowly. The mist crept in silent over the damp earth. Crickets could be heard some way off, and the solitary whoo of an owl as it flew overhead.
Getting up, I brushed myself off, and looked back the way I came. I could do this, and I would be damned before I let any man rake me over hell. I would take him with me first.
Ice burning hotter than fire swept through my veins and I chilled. I looked up at the full shining moon.
It really was a glorious night.
Legolas POV
I barely had time to reflect the pain and betrayal in her eyes before she quickly turned and ran. I stepped forward and Cassandra clasped my arm.
"Majesty, my tent is slightly more comfortable. A bit chilly perhaps but heat really shouldn't be a problem," she said smiling surely.
I stared at her and felt nothing. Nothing at all. What I had done came crashing back to me and I cursed my stupidity. Why? Why why why? Had it been so long that I had to fall into the first pair of white arms that stretched out? She had been so convincing, and it had all seemed so simple. So simple until I saw her. I had seen the pain mixed with fire in those wide eyed wells of gold. She had had such a tumultuous day, and I callously and inconsiderately threw this dalliance in her face. It wasn't until I saw her that full force of what I had done hit me.
You had no understanding. You owed nothing to her. She is a servant highness, and you have given her respect, which she has consistently thrown back at you.
But I did owe her. Somehow unmistakably, there had been something that I had forced into the open that day in my chambers . That all consuming lust, not merely to slake a thirst, but to consume the other individual whole until they were a part you, and you they.
I turned to Cassandra.
"Cassandra…my lady. It was a mistake. I know not what to say save that it was a mistake. My humblest apologies. I have dishonored you." I brought my heels together and bowed low.
Her eyes widened in shock and she let her breath out in a hiss, as her nails dug into my arm sharply, "A mistake." Something dark flitted through that luxurious lavender before slipping away.
"Highness," She said forcefully on a rush of air, "There is no need for apologies. We are consenting adults not children," She paused and gave a brief smile, "If you will excuse my highness, I am a trifle tired, and wish to retire."
I gave a brief nod, regret heavy in my heart for having wounded her.
I then turned and followed the footsteps into the forest. From the indentations on the floor, Raveyn had been running, and haphazardly at that. I trailed swiftly, opening my senses to the night. I finally saw her. She was standing on a tree stump staring at the moon. Her arms were folded behind her back, and her stance was proud.
"Highness." Her tone was curt and clipped, and she didn't turn to acknowledge me.
I was at a loss for words.
"Don't tell me, its cold and you are afraid I might catch a fever?" She laughed shortly in a voice devoid of humor, "your concern for my well being warms the cockles of my heart. Truly it does. Now leave." She still hadn't turned in my direction and my anger rose.
"You forget yourself," I said in a tone that had brought warriors to heel.
She gave a little laugh and turned to look at me, cat eyes bright with viciousness. She cocked her head to the side and looked at me speculatively, "That seems to happen so often around you, " jumping off she landed softly on the ground, and said obsequiously, "A thousand pardons highness. Your humble servant begs your forgiveness." Every word dripped acid, and mockery.
It might amuse her to play her little games with those pawns that she could easily bat around like a cat with mice, but not with me. Never with me.
"You. Forget. Yourself." I punctuated each word keeping a sharp reign on my temper.
I had come to actually apologize and the wench was treating me like a commoner.
"I have outstayed my welcome. I will leave you to quiet contemplation then," she said as she brushed past me, "goodness knows you need it. The forest floor must have been quite hard. You really should have taken a-"
Twisting, I grabbed her arm roughly and snapped her back. She stumbled a little as she jerked backwards, and I pushed her up against the tree.
"Never forget that I am the master here. I give you more freedom then I allow anyone else, I allow you privileges, rights. Elves pay me more courtesy than you do. Cease your tongue woman, I tell you this once only." Our eyes locked, and my grip around her wrists held her securely.
She looked at me glitteringly and said, "Or what?"
The challenge was blatant; glaring.
My grip tightened around her wrists and I held her chin sharply between my fingers.
"That vicious harpy tongue of yours will get you into trouble some day."
"Oh la! Someday is so far away, and here I was thinking judgment would be passed within the hour," her voice was steady and sardonic; I released her in frustration. Or what?
I stepped away. And then I folded my arms and smiled at her, "You are jealous."
Raveyn's POV
My mouth nearly dropped to the floor.
"Jealous? HAH! Of what? Frankly majesty I don't give a damn what wax you happen to dip your wick in. That is a matter best confined to you and your numerous consorts."
"You're slipping. Anger does that. Whenever you're upset the coarseness of your language greatly increases."
The coarseness of my language?
"Majesty, knowing your talent for observation it might have slipped your mind that I am from the coarse or common people. Coarseness is in my blood. I regret that it so offends you," I said as steadily as I could. How did we move on to talking about me?
"Oh it doesn't offend me in the slightest. It's rather attractive in its own way. So deliciously different. Please continue, it's a delight to hear."
He was mocking me.
"Oh my vicious harpy tongue doesn't wound your delicate sensibilities anymore?" I said waspishly.
"Not coming from such an enticing package. You blush beautifully." He sat down and stared at me, a condescending smile teasing out his full lips.
Enticing package? What was I, dinner?
"No. Dessert, simple unadorned delicious dessert."
I started and stared at him suspiciously, the smirk still playing on his lips.
I tried to rein in my anger again, "Oh now I am dessert, so what was she, the main dish? What a bill of fare highness! Let us hope other realms are as accommodating of your rapacious apetite," I bit off the last word, hands on hips frowning furiously.
He looked at me curiously, "Jealousy becomes you."
"I. Am. Not. Jealous," I seethed through clenched teeth.
"Of course you aren't," he said soothingly as if speaking to a bloody child.
I stared at him for a while, calming myself in the chilled night air. He thought he knew me. He thought he could get a handle on me, manipulate me and control me. Well, well well. He may have been alive for much longer than me, but I was of the fairer sex; I had been born manipulative.
My lips curled haughtily, and throwing my head back I ran dry hands over my hips. Sucking air in on hiss, I let laughter spill from my throat.
"Majesty. Highness. Gracious one," I paused slightly for effect before continuing, "You mean nothing to me, and I mean that with all due respect." I stayed still as I spoke.
"You mistake base lust for love?" I laughed again, ridicule lighting in my voice. "Majesty, a woman would have to be dead not to want to share your bed. And you highness, are so skilled in that particular arena," every word, every syllable I inflected with as much scorn as I could.
"Jealous highness? Please. You were a passing, and I mean this with all due respect, fancy. Nothing more, nothing less." And then brushing my hair back with a careless sweep of my hand, "You see? I can be courteous," and then I turned smartly and walked away. I walked away from that beautiful, fair haired elf sitting on that log, with such blue eyes. He didn't come after me. And I kept walking.
Narrator's POV
She stood and paced in her tent, light steps angry and quick.
"I had him" she said seethingly, "I had him right here," and her fist slammed into her open palm.
Nobody had ever walked away from her. Ever. And all it had taken was one look at that paltry insubstantial mousy mass. It was a pity Legolas had killed Aegnir; she would have liked to show that stinking carcass what she thought of his failure.
Her hands clenched clawlike as she nearly screamed in frustration. One little girl; what was so difficult about bringing one little human girl to heel. And now Legolas was suspicious.
She stopped and brought her hands to her sides, and forcing her harsh breathing under control.
At least He wouldn't fail her. He had as much invested in this as her. Ambition and greed were such powerful motivations she thought, stroking the white fur of her coverlet.
And the irony would be that Legolas would destroy her himself. She changed into her night gown and slipped into bed; her thoughts slipping into erotic fantasies concerning a chained and powerless Prince of Mirkwood.
Slow success was such a powerful aphrodisiac.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
I know I know I know. This was a very emotional very dramatic chapter. I sent it to my beta readers so many bloody times asking them desperately if it was too much. I was so unsure. My biggest concern is to maintain a realistic atmosphere. If the story doesn't then basically I have failed in creating a convincing plot characters, whatever. So I made this chapter as realistic as I possibly could. About Legolas sleeping with Cassandra. I thought he would. He had had a turbulent day, and the combination of violence and aggression mixed in with blatant sex would have been potent enough for anyone. And besides Cassandra is beautiful. And about Raveyn's whole flashback on the scene with Leia. I don't know if you guys will hate it or not, but that was one of my personal favorite scenes, with Leia at her peak. She was radiant. And Raveyn isn't superwoman, she had to have some sort of lapse/breakdown. But she picks herself up. And for those of you concerned; do not worry. This is not going to be an easy romance. They will have problems. And they cant seem to have a decent conversation without sniping at each other, but that's what makes them them. I am going to make them have sort of semi nice conv. Next chapter. Maybe, maybe not. Haven't written it yet so I don't know how it will work out. To the readers. Every single one of you is fantastic, and ALL of your reviews are immensely heartening. I thank you. Any concerns, any questions, ANYTHING please feel free to ask. I will answer.
Carrie of Pirate Swoop – What do you want her name to sound like? That is one of the reasons I like Raveyn so much, there are so many ways to make it sound, and each one is beautiful. Take your pick!
Trini – I am ducking my head in shame. It was a huge my bad on my part. I know I should have brought him up earlier I just forgot. Sincerest apologies, and I will try not to make it happen again. Thanks for the review.
Bitchy little pixy – If your worried about them having a quick easy romance put your fears at rest. They will not. Yes they already have strong feelings for each other, but whoever said that was enough? Hehe, don't worry.
Carol- Please if you have any questions just totally feel free to ask. I will answer all of them. Thank you for reviewing.
Stefynae – That was the longest review I have ever received and the most informative. I told all my friends, that was awesome thanks. Your right, I shouldn't use it. Thank you for pointing that out. If you see anything else totally let me know. And thank you for your review it was beautiful. You review every chapter and I just wanted to say thanks.
TO all the other faithful reviewers. You are so great. I repeat myself again, but I cannot say it enough: Thank you.