~*Chapter Two*~

Arianne woke up in her room still in her dress from last night, it was very early morning, the sun had not risen yet and the sky was still full of stars. Arianne changed out of her formal clothes and into her comfortable tunic, leggings and boots. She grabbed her bow and arrows and long, dangerous blades made especially for her.

She ran down the long stairs of the palace toward the archery field by the lake. Although she saw that it was not unoccupied like she expected. Legolas was practicing his archery with perfect precision. She was not near enough for him to sense her, but she reached for the bow and arrow and aimed for the target splitting his arrow in half. She greeted him with a bow and slight smile, "I would not expect one up so early my lord."

"And neither you my lady, you seemed pretty exaughsted last night," Legolas shot another arrow splitting Arianne's previous one. "Your skill with the bow is quite impressive."

"I've had years of practice, it is not common for women here to learn archery or any sort of weaponry, but my parents and Haldir thought it important to learn the skills of a bow. Father and Haldir taught me weaponry while my mother taught me horseback riding. Arlen was her horse until she gave her to me, and what of the women in your realm my lord?" Arianne shot another arrow at the target.

"The women in Mirkwood have each their own individual skills but few are skilled in combat. Although they are quite skilled in their horseback riding and political negotiations." Legolas shot his arrow to the farthest target and hit it dead center.

"I want to thank you for last night, it has been a long time since I have had someone to talk to, usually I would speak with Lady Galadriel, but she has been busy with other matters concerning the kingdoms safety and such." Arianne went to retrieve the arrows she had shot and placed them back in her quiver.

"Well enough about me, tell me of your adventures in the war of the ring, I'm glad that evil is now destroyed, the fellowship seemed to be successful after all."

"Yes, it was finally destroyed, but it came at a price, many lives were lost in the war, but lasting friendships and alliances were created. And the world of men and elves were united in an alliance that I believe will hold for a long time and the rightful king of Gondor was restored to his throne. There is peace now among the alliance, but I fear that peace will not hold for long. The orcs still are a danger, as are the Uruk Hai. That is what my father sent me here to discuss with Lady Galdriel, the soldiers are patrolling the borders. We believe that the factions are uniting and raiding the countryside, their motives however are unclear. It seems that they are running wild and leaderless but Mirkwood suspects that they are secretly uniting under some unexplained force. " A solemn face came across Legolas.

"I'm sure that Lady Galadriel will give her aid in any way possible." The sun rose rather quickly, the time seemed to pass when she was with Legolas. He seemed wised beyond his years, and the stories of this noble elf seemed to be of no exaggeration.

Haldir was soon spotted walking toward the two elves. "Lady Arianne, Legolas, it is nice to see your skills are still unrivaled in archery. It seems that the student has bested her teacher yet. Legolas, Lady Galadriel requests a meeting with you and the Lorien council now," Arianne acknowledged his leave with a deep nod as he went to meet them.

"It seems that you two are getting along very well, after the meeting Lady Galadriel wants to speak with you about certain matters. It is wonderful to finally see you smile after so long Arianne."

"Well yes, Legolas seems to have that affect on me, I can't explain it, it's the feeling of trust and complete comfort when I am with him."

"I think that my young elleth is finally falling in love."

This comment surprised Arianne, "Love, I know nothing of it Haldir, not in the way you speak of it."

"I apologize for my mistake then."

"Haldir, what do you think of Legolas and I?"

"I believe that you two would make an excellent match, if you didn't have your own reserves about this relationship. But let me say this, it is the first time I have seen you smile in two months, you had such a fire in you, like your mother don't lose that. Now I must return before I am late for the meeting."

"Of course, goodbye Haldir."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Legolas was seated in the throne room along with the other members of the Lorien council, now joined by Haldir who took his seat next to Legolas. Celeborn and Galdariel soon took their seats at the head of the table.

"Lady Galadriel, my father has sent me with news from Mirkwood concerning the rising factions of the orcs, they are being led by the Uruk Hai, if not stopped they will destroy each village in their path to get what they want. We must act quickly if we want to gain the upper hand. From what we know now they are destroying elvan villages along the borders. We are asking for an alliance between our two nations to stop this threat before it presents any more harm."

"What say you my council?"

"We think that although very risky, the prince has a valuable point, he is right, we must fight together and neutralize the threat before it gets serious."

"I agree," Lord Celeborn rose up, "if we do not deal with the threat now they will soon come after Lorien and we all now that we cannot allow that to happen."

"My lord, Mirkwood will do whatever to protect our realms, but my father has another theory, that the orcs are searching for something, their attacks on the villages are not random as they usually are. We must find this item that they are searching for before they do. There is a new leader rising and we must approach this quickly."

Lady Galadriel now spoke, "Legolas is right, but the path ahead presents much danger, especially for two, one of them struggling to find out the truth while risking to be lost forever. The road ahead is filled with many challenges, simple things are not what they appear to be, trust your instincts for some that is the only thing you can count on."

The council now left the room, Celeborn, Legolas, Galadriel, and Haldir were now left alone. Celeborn was first to break the short silence, "Haldir you will assemble the army, we do not have very many men Legolas, but their skill makes up for their small numbers, after Haldir will lead them to Mirkwood, while you will ride with our swiftest messenger to Gondor. This is a matter that concerns all of Middle Earth and we must work together to deal with this new evil."

With this Legolas, Celeborn, and Haldir left the room, Lady Galadriel stayed behind. "Arianne, come out of the passage way, I know you are here," Arianne soon revealed herself, Lady Galadriel smiled, "You know what you have to do now my young elleth, I would not ask you this if you were not needed, you know that this is very dangerous and I do not have to tell you that, do not fear, I sense that you will be all right, you are strong and can fight through the challenges that lay ahead of you."

"I hope that I am not out of line, but I have thought much about my mother's recent death and well I would like to know what mission it was you sent her away on? I do not blame you, that is the furthest thing from my mind, but it is a question of what happened to her the day she died. She is my own mother and I know so little about her life as a messenger."

"All you need to know is that she was protecting the elves, and many more lives, she knew the risks Arianne, but your mother's death was not in vain, she succeeded, she protected the ones she loved."

"Yes but at what cost, I understand what I must do, thank you my lady, I know that you are very wise and I thank you for taking this time with me." Arianne bowed and began to leave. "Arianne, your mother was a noble woman, you have nothing to fear, you were her daughter, and for that she knew you both had a special bond and a special trust. She knew that whatever she did she could always come to you and you would understand." After a slight pause Arianne left the room. She ran down the hall and slowed near the end leaning against a pillar clutching her necklace. Ever since her mother's death it seemed to give her great comfort.

Arianne made her way to the stables, she could see that she was not alone. She made her way towards Arlen and stroked her mane while in return she nudge her with her nose. Legolas was stocking up on his weapons and such, "My lady, what are you doing here?"

"Need you ask questions you already know the answers to my lord."

"Stubborn elleth." Arianne only smiled at this.

"You know that I am the Queen's messenger, and besides someone has to watch out and make sure you don't get yourself into any trouble, we can't have our own Prince of Mirkwood straying too far now can we." Arianne grinned she then mounted on her horse then Legolas did the same.

"We must hurry my lady, time is short," with that remark the two rode off galloping, Arianne's cloak flowing behind her, Legolas riding right next to her.

The two rode for hours until it was mid-afternoon. They rested by a small stream, they ate as the horses drank. There was a cooling breeze that blew through the trees.

"It's so peaceful, it's almost unreal, you would never know of the harsh reality that is beyond these woods." Arianne got up and walked over to some nearby trees.

"I know exactly what you mean, just finding peaceful comfort in the woods, nature, listening to the trees talk, the wind blowing, and just to lay on the grass and watch the clouds in the sky."

"Seems like I'm talking to an expert." Arianne sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I have to admit, you are not what I expected at all." turning her head to look into his eyes.

"May I ask my lady, what did you expect?"

"Certainly not this," she whispered as he leaned in to kiss her softly. Though the smile faded as he stood up and looked around, "what's wrong?"

"Do you sense that?" Arianne stood up and looked around.

"Yes, the trees are talking, they are filled with fright, the air has thickened, something is coming."

"Hurry, we do not have much time, are there any faster ways to Gondor?"

"We can cut through the forest and to the plains, but that would leave us wide open toward attacks."

"We must take that chance." The two elves mounted on their horses and began riding with tremendous speed.

Author's Note: Hey everyone I hope you like this second chapter. LIke I said please review I would really appreciate it if you can get some of your friends to review! But hey I hope that you like this chapter and I'll be up with the third chapter soon. Sorry about hte little cliffhanger but hey that's what you get for not reviewing. So if you want to find out what happens next REVIEW! Thank you.

Until Next Chapter,

~Lady Elizabeth