Chapter 3
She was running through the forest. The branches seemed to almost reach out and try to grab her as she would tear herself free from their grasp. What Ana was running from she did not know but it was apparent that she was not getting very far. It was almost like she was running in place. All of a sudden she heard a voice say,
"You need to run Ana, of the Tarbek, run fast."
Out of no where a shapeless, faceless form came into view. Despite the lack of face and shape she knew exactly who it was and just the thought of it made a chill run up her spine. She shuddered and grew intensely nervous. At this point she began to run backwards trying desperately to get away from the advancing creature. Suddenly her body tensed and she found herself unable to move regardless of her struggling she could not free herself from the grip this monster had on her.
"Let me go!!!" she screamed tears of fear running down her face. "Leave me alone! Why wont you leave me be?!"
"If you tell them they will kill you." The voice said in reply, its icy coolness causing a chill to run up Ana's spine.
Then, just as suddenly as the form appeared it had vanished leaving Ana in mid air. Everything went dark and the only thing that Ana could make out was the white night dress she was wearing. Her mother used to wear one just like it before... just the thought brought tears back to her eyes and she began to weep again. As this happened she began to fall. Ana had no idea what was going on, all she knew was that she was in trouble. She began to grab furiously at her utterly blank surroundings, hoping to grab hold of something that could keep her from falling. Noticing that she was lashing out at nothing but air she began to panic. She could feel her heart beating heavily in her chest and beads of sweat began to slide down her face. Amongst the rushing of air that was all around her ears picked up a faint noise in the distance. As she fell into the darkness faster and faster the noise grew louder until it was almost booming in hear ears.
"If you tell them they will kill you, but it is the only way..."
The voice trailed off again. Now in a complete panic Ana didn't know what to do. Her head was spinning and there was no one to help her. Tears were streaming down her face as she fell downward into the surrounding darkness where her screams were enveloped by the enclosing abyss. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Ana shot up in her bed, cold sweat running down her face and back. Her hair was soaked and she was breathing heavily.
"Damn it! Why won't you leave me alone?" She said to herself as she realized she was not in her room or her bed for that matter.
This did nothing but upset her more, for the last thing she remembered was being out in the woods and a bright pair of deep blue eyes. There was a light coming from a corner of the room. As she slowly turned her head to see where it was coming from she noticed the room she was in was quite decorative.
There is no way this room is a guest room. It is way to fancy. She thought, noticing the large hand carved wooden desk and finely stenciled bordering that encircled the room.
As her eyes continued their search of the room they came across a pair of boots on the ground that did not belong to Ana. Her eyes followed up the boots to a pair of perfectly formed legs in green, skin tight leggings. She swallowed hard as she continued up the legs and to a wonderfully muscular, bare chest where, at the shoulder, met silky golden hair that shimmered in the candle light. Stopping there she realized who it was without even having looked at his face. In a moment of panic a flood of questions entered her mind. Oh my god! How did I end up in his room?! How am I going to get out with him noticing me?! Making her mind fall quiet for a single moment she heard a faint almost purring noise. It was coming from the direction of Legolas's unmoving body. From the chair in the corner where he sat Ana could hear the elf prince lightly snoring. That's right. Elves sleep with their eyes open. How could I have forgotten? As these notions passed through her mind she looked into the elves eye and saw the same blue deepness that she remembered from the woods. He must have seen me fall and come to help me up. I probably passed out and he brought me here so I could rest. But why would he not bring me to the infirmary? Oh no... not him too ...I have to get out of here!
Slowly she eased her body out from under the sheets of the feather soft bed and as quietly as she could began to cross the room to get to the door. Just as Ana made her way across the shadow encased room Legolas stirred and she froze in her tracks. Oh crap. She thought as she watched him change positions uncomfortably in his chair. When his actions ceased Ana slowly made the rest of the way across the room. When she got to the door she glanced back at the chair one last time just to make sure that the elf prince was still sound asleep, only to find that he was no longer in the chair. Franticly she searched the room, her eyes catching the flickers of shadows that were cast by the single candle that was lit in the corner. Suddenly she felt a presence come from behind her and she froze. Legolas had awoken and crept from his chair so quietly and quickly that Ana did not acknowledge his presence until that moment. In a flash of panic her breathing became heavy and her heart started to race.
Sensing her uneasiness Legolas reached out and caressed her arm gently, hoping to let her know that he was not going to hurt her. His touch was soothing and Ana felt relieved. She took one final deep breath and calmed down. As she turned to face him she tried to think of what to say. Not being able to come up with anything when she finally turned all the way around all Ana could do was stare at the floor. Legolas, wanting to know what her story was, reached out his hand and lifted her chin until she was looking him in the eye. "I will not hurt you my lady. I know you must be slightly confused but I will explain everything. Right now I think you should tell me what is going on. I heard you in the forest and I heard you when you awoke earlier. Who is hurting you?"
The flood of questions caught her off guard. Tears began to well in her eyes and she knew what she had to do. I have to tell him. There is no other way out and if I am going to die then I might as well get it over with now. Her emotions over took her and the tears poured down her face. Perceiving that this was no simple matter Legolas wrapped his arm around Ana's shoulders and led her over to the bed where they sat down.
"This isn't easy for me to talk about" she managed to squeeze out between sobs. "But I feel I have no other choice than to speak up and face the consequences. Before the War of the Ring, my family and I were part of a gypsy caravan that roamed the plains of middle earth. We worked for King Théoden of Rohan, scouting the plains for orcs and reporting back to him about what we found." This was the first time she had spoken of this incident with any person. Looking at Legolas she noticed the he was listening intently and his bright blue eyes, the flickered in the candle light, held a great deal of concern. Though it was tough she pressed on.
"One day my father and brother had returned from surveying a near by forest while the rest of the group stayed back at camp and prepared dinner." She could feel her hands begin to shake. Legolas also noticed and took her hands in his hoping to comfort her. "When my father and brother returned my father was acting very bazaar and I did not know what was going on, so when he brought my mother into our tent I was eves dropping out side. I over heard my father telling my mother that he had found the one ring." Legolas's eyes widened. He knew of the one ring of which she spoke, in earlier years he had aided in the destruction of it. He continued to listen as she readily poured her heart out to him,
"From that moment on I wanted to see the infamous ring. So that night I laid awake in my bed waiting for everyone to go to sleep. Once they were all tucked in I got up and walked over to the chair where my father had kept his clothes and went through his pockets. I found the ring in one of the pockets of his coat. I looked at it and the mysterious powers of the ring over took me. When I closed my eyes I could see the eye. I could hear him...he was telling me that they were all against me and that I could not allow them to take the ring from me." At this point Ana stopped and closed her eyes in the terrible memory of the life she had before. She put her faced her head toward the ground and when she looked up again her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her entire face glistened in the candle light from the warm tears running down her cheeks. Between sobs she managed to continue with the telling of her story.
"He gave me instructions, a way to keep any of them from getting to ring...He told me to kill all of them and being held by the awesome powers of the ring and the commanding voice of the eye I did it...I killed my family!" Now Ana burst out in tears, she could no longer hold them back and she turned and collapsed onto the bed and cried into the soft feather pillow.
Legolas was in shock. He knew of the terrible powers of the ring and the horrible things it could make someone do. He felt awful for Ana. How could she have lived this long with out telling anyone and with out going mad, he asked himself. Then it hit him. She had been screaming at no one in the palace and in the woods. This must have been killing her...the poor, poor girl but she couldn't help it...it was the ring...she could not have known what it was going to make her do. After arguing with himself over the topic for a while Legolas decided that it would be best if they just kept this between them so she would not have to go through the whole memory of it again. He leaned over Ana and kissed her cheek.
"It is alright my lady, you could not have helped it. The ring is treacherous and will make even the strong willed mind go against the better judgment." She still did not look at him so he rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. Sensing his sympathy toward her, Ana turned her tear streaked face toward his. As Legolas looked into her brilliant green eyes, he saw a hope that was not there before, a trust that was missing but had now been revealed.
"I won't let anything happen to you my lady, never again will the shadows of old darken your spirits...not while I am here." A small smile crossed her lips and she knew that everything would be all right.
Just then there was a knock at the door. They both fell silent and looked in the direction at each other. Who could be here now?! Legolas stood from the bed and went to the door. He cracked it just enough so he could stick his head out into the hallway and converse briefly with the noble who stood just outside the doorway. Ana looked on in curiosity wondering what was going on. For a moment her mind drifted. He actually believes me. Maybe I can trust him. As she forced herself to focus back on reality she saw Legolas close the door and come back over to the bed.
"That was one of my father's magistrates. We are summoned to the Great Hall for an emergency meeting. I suggest you put some clothes on so we can be on our way." Perceiving that this must be a real emergency if she was invited Ana quickly got up and went to her room to get dressed. As she was changing behind the divider in her room a thought crossed her mind. The White City! I pray it is not fallen. Finishing putting on the red flowing gown lent to her by the palace she ran to the door and flung it open to find Legolas there.
"May I escort you my lady?" he asked, holding out his arm.
"You may" Ana replied, placing her arm on his and allowing him to lead the way. I would not have been able to find the place on my own anyway.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: Wow...I know this chapter kind of sucks but I am trying really hard to get this done. It has been brought to my attention that I rush things and I will try to fix that in the future. I hope you enjoyed this one and I will try to update soon...if you didn't please don't kill me...remember this is my first fanfic, so give me the benefit of the doubt. (
She was running through the forest. The branches seemed to almost reach out and try to grab her as she would tear herself free from their grasp. What Ana was running from she did not know but it was apparent that she was not getting very far. It was almost like she was running in place. All of a sudden she heard a voice say,
"You need to run Ana, of the Tarbek, run fast."
Out of no where a shapeless, faceless form came into view. Despite the lack of face and shape she knew exactly who it was and just the thought of it made a chill run up her spine. She shuddered and grew intensely nervous. At this point she began to run backwards trying desperately to get away from the advancing creature. Suddenly her body tensed and she found herself unable to move regardless of her struggling she could not free herself from the grip this monster had on her.
"Let me go!!!" she screamed tears of fear running down her face. "Leave me alone! Why wont you leave me be?!"
"If you tell them they will kill you." The voice said in reply, its icy coolness causing a chill to run up Ana's spine.
Then, just as suddenly as the form appeared it had vanished leaving Ana in mid air. Everything went dark and the only thing that Ana could make out was the white night dress she was wearing. Her mother used to wear one just like it before... just the thought brought tears back to her eyes and she began to weep again. As this happened she began to fall. Ana had no idea what was going on, all she knew was that she was in trouble. She began to grab furiously at her utterly blank surroundings, hoping to grab hold of something that could keep her from falling. Noticing that she was lashing out at nothing but air she began to panic. She could feel her heart beating heavily in her chest and beads of sweat began to slide down her face. Amongst the rushing of air that was all around her ears picked up a faint noise in the distance. As she fell into the darkness faster and faster the noise grew louder until it was almost booming in hear ears.
"If you tell them they will kill you, but it is the only way..."
The voice trailed off again. Now in a complete panic Ana didn't know what to do. Her head was spinning and there was no one to help her. Tears were streaming down her face as she fell downward into the surrounding darkness where her screams were enveloped by the enclosing abyss. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Ana shot up in her bed, cold sweat running down her face and back. Her hair was soaked and she was breathing heavily.
"Damn it! Why won't you leave me alone?" She said to herself as she realized she was not in her room or her bed for that matter.
This did nothing but upset her more, for the last thing she remembered was being out in the woods and a bright pair of deep blue eyes. There was a light coming from a corner of the room. As she slowly turned her head to see where it was coming from she noticed the room she was in was quite decorative.
There is no way this room is a guest room. It is way to fancy. She thought, noticing the large hand carved wooden desk and finely stenciled bordering that encircled the room.
As her eyes continued their search of the room they came across a pair of boots on the ground that did not belong to Ana. Her eyes followed up the boots to a pair of perfectly formed legs in green, skin tight leggings. She swallowed hard as she continued up the legs and to a wonderfully muscular, bare chest where, at the shoulder, met silky golden hair that shimmered in the candle light. Stopping there she realized who it was without even having looked at his face. In a moment of panic a flood of questions entered her mind. Oh my god! How did I end up in his room?! How am I going to get out with him noticing me?! Making her mind fall quiet for a single moment she heard a faint almost purring noise. It was coming from the direction of Legolas's unmoving body. From the chair in the corner where he sat Ana could hear the elf prince lightly snoring. That's right. Elves sleep with their eyes open. How could I have forgotten? As these notions passed through her mind she looked into the elves eye and saw the same blue deepness that she remembered from the woods. He must have seen me fall and come to help me up. I probably passed out and he brought me here so I could rest. But why would he not bring me to the infirmary? Oh no... not him too ...I have to get out of here!
Slowly she eased her body out from under the sheets of the feather soft bed and as quietly as she could began to cross the room to get to the door. Just as Ana made her way across the shadow encased room Legolas stirred and she froze in her tracks. Oh crap. She thought as she watched him change positions uncomfortably in his chair. When his actions ceased Ana slowly made the rest of the way across the room. When she got to the door she glanced back at the chair one last time just to make sure that the elf prince was still sound asleep, only to find that he was no longer in the chair. Franticly she searched the room, her eyes catching the flickers of shadows that were cast by the single candle that was lit in the corner. Suddenly she felt a presence come from behind her and she froze. Legolas had awoken and crept from his chair so quietly and quickly that Ana did not acknowledge his presence until that moment. In a flash of panic her breathing became heavy and her heart started to race.
Sensing her uneasiness Legolas reached out and caressed her arm gently, hoping to let her know that he was not going to hurt her. His touch was soothing and Ana felt relieved. She took one final deep breath and calmed down. As she turned to face him she tried to think of what to say. Not being able to come up with anything when she finally turned all the way around all Ana could do was stare at the floor. Legolas, wanting to know what her story was, reached out his hand and lifted her chin until she was looking him in the eye. "I will not hurt you my lady. I know you must be slightly confused but I will explain everything. Right now I think you should tell me what is going on. I heard you in the forest and I heard you when you awoke earlier. Who is hurting you?"
The flood of questions caught her off guard. Tears began to well in her eyes and she knew what she had to do. I have to tell him. There is no other way out and if I am going to die then I might as well get it over with now. Her emotions over took her and the tears poured down her face. Perceiving that this was no simple matter Legolas wrapped his arm around Ana's shoulders and led her over to the bed where they sat down.
"This isn't easy for me to talk about" she managed to squeeze out between sobs. "But I feel I have no other choice than to speak up and face the consequences. Before the War of the Ring, my family and I were part of a gypsy caravan that roamed the plains of middle earth. We worked for King Théoden of Rohan, scouting the plains for orcs and reporting back to him about what we found." This was the first time she had spoken of this incident with any person. Looking at Legolas she noticed the he was listening intently and his bright blue eyes, the flickered in the candle light, held a great deal of concern. Though it was tough she pressed on.
"One day my father and brother had returned from surveying a near by forest while the rest of the group stayed back at camp and prepared dinner." She could feel her hands begin to shake. Legolas also noticed and took her hands in his hoping to comfort her. "When my father and brother returned my father was acting very bazaar and I did not know what was going on, so when he brought my mother into our tent I was eves dropping out side. I over heard my father telling my mother that he had found the one ring." Legolas's eyes widened. He knew of the one ring of which she spoke, in earlier years he had aided in the destruction of it. He continued to listen as she readily poured her heart out to him,
"From that moment on I wanted to see the infamous ring. So that night I laid awake in my bed waiting for everyone to go to sleep. Once they were all tucked in I got up and walked over to the chair where my father had kept his clothes and went through his pockets. I found the ring in one of the pockets of his coat. I looked at it and the mysterious powers of the ring over took me. When I closed my eyes I could see the eye. I could hear him...he was telling me that they were all against me and that I could not allow them to take the ring from me." At this point Ana stopped and closed her eyes in the terrible memory of the life she had before. She put her faced her head toward the ground and when she looked up again her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her entire face glistened in the candle light from the warm tears running down her cheeks. Between sobs she managed to continue with the telling of her story.
"He gave me instructions, a way to keep any of them from getting to ring...He told me to kill all of them and being held by the awesome powers of the ring and the commanding voice of the eye I did it...I killed my family!" Now Ana burst out in tears, she could no longer hold them back and she turned and collapsed onto the bed and cried into the soft feather pillow.
Legolas was in shock. He knew of the terrible powers of the ring and the horrible things it could make someone do. He felt awful for Ana. How could she have lived this long with out telling anyone and with out going mad, he asked himself. Then it hit him. She had been screaming at no one in the palace and in the woods. This must have been killing her...the poor, poor girl but she couldn't help it...it was the ring...she could not have known what it was going to make her do. After arguing with himself over the topic for a while Legolas decided that it would be best if they just kept this between them so she would not have to go through the whole memory of it again. He leaned over Ana and kissed her cheek.
"It is alright my lady, you could not have helped it. The ring is treacherous and will make even the strong willed mind go against the better judgment." She still did not look at him so he rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. Sensing his sympathy toward her, Ana turned her tear streaked face toward his. As Legolas looked into her brilliant green eyes, he saw a hope that was not there before, a trust that was missing but had now been revealed.
"I won't let anything happen to you my lady, never again will the shadows of old darken your spirits...not while I am here." A small smile crossed her lips and she knew that everything would be all right.
Just then there was a knock at the door. They both fell silent and looked in the direction at each other. Who could be here now?! Legolas stood from the bed and went to the door. He cracked it just enough so he could stick his head out into the hallway and converse briefly with the noble who stood just outside the doorway. Ana looked on in curiosity wondering what was going on. For a moment her mind drifted. He actually believes me. Maybe I can trust him. As she forced herself to focus back on reality she saw Legolas close the door and come back over to the bed.
"That was one of my father's magistrates. We are summoned to the Great Hall for an emergency meeting. I suggest you put some clothes on so we can be on our way." Perceiving that this must be a real emergency if she was invited Ana quickly got up and went to her room to get dressed. As she was changing behind the divider in her room a thought crossed her mind. The White City! I pray it is not fallen. Finishing putting on the red flowing gown lent to her by the palace she ran to the door and flung it open to find Legolas there.
"May I escort you my lady?" he asked, holding out his arm.
"You may" Ana replied, placing her arm on his and allowing him to lead the way. I would not have been able to find the place on my own anyway.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: Wow...I know this chapter kind of sucks but I am trying really hard to get this done. It has been brought to my attention that I rush things and I will try to fix that in the future. I hope you enjoyed this one and I will try to update soon...if you didn't please don't kill me...remember this is my first fanfic, so give me the benefit of the doubt. (