A/N: Sorry for the long delay but class has overtaken me and finals are just around the corner, but I decided to work as fast as possible to get this chapter out before

I disappear again into Calculus land. Thank you all for being so supportive, and if I missed any of you that asked to be emailed, I am so sorry. Thanks for all the support and I hope I won't disappoint you in the upcoming chapters, but it might be a while before I update again.

Slight warning for this chapter. There is a non-descriptive rape scene, so just a little heads up for that.

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Joy danced in Melenia's eyes as she watched Legolas' reactions to the chattering maiden. It took all her might to hold in the laugh that threatened to burst from her mouth. She had a plain view of the Prince and the maiden from her perch in one of Mirkwood's many trees. As she looked on with amusement, light fell on her face through the canopy created by the trees, and the fresh smell of foliage tickled her nose. Birds flew from branch to branch, never bothering to look at the odd girl visiting their home. The rustling of the leaves in the wind played a sweet melody. It was a beautiful day; a day that disguised the darkness that crept through the world, but that was all she saw. It was a beautiful day. The only contrast to the light was the darkness that loomed in Legolas' eyes as he continued to walk with the maiden.

Legolas looked down at the creature clinging to his arm. He had to admit that she was a beautiful young maiden, but she offered something he did not want. She offered him a home, a family, and a love, but it was an untrue love. The love she would give him would be empty. It would be nothing more than a void because she did not see beyond his exterior. She did not see the free spirit embedded within him, nor did she see his adventurous streak. Most of all, she was blind to the loving soul that was searching for its other half.

As Legolas continued to walk with her, his soul flew over mountain ranges and through streams. He needed a special spirit to soar with his own, and this spirit would not be easily found. He searched diligently in his earlier years. Faith in true love permeated his very being, but unfortunately love evaded him. Every maiden was just like the one that came before her; she wanted the external Legolas. She would never accept the internal one. That is why he stopped searching so long ago; his soul would not find the one.

"I am sorry beautiful one, what you give I cannot accept," he thought as he looked upon the girl with a saddened expression.

"Is something the matter my lord?" the maiden asked when she noticed the troubled look that had settled on Legolas' features.

"I am saddened by the fact that I have to leave you my lady, but duty is calling my name," he said as sincerely as he could.

"Perhaps we can finish our walk some other time then," she said politely and curtsied before turning and walking away from the Prince.

"Well that was much easier than I thought it would be," he said to himself as soon as the maiden was out of hearing range. He then turned in the other direction and walked toward the part of the forest where the soldiers of Mirkwood held their practice sessions. Melenia watched him walk away, and oddly enough a feeling of frustration began to grow in her chest.

"Now, now Prince Legolas," she said to herself as she climbed down the tree with the stealth of a panther, "you are much too stiff. Let's see if I can get you to loosen up." Once more a mischievous grin spread across her face as she walked in the same direction Legolas had taken moments earlier.

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The light bounced off the blades as they danced their rhythmic dance. Their swift movement could only be described as hypnotic. Their motions were enough to mesmerize Melenia and freeze her in her place. Each time the blades collided the sound lured her, drawing her closer and closer. A swordfight, it was the only thing the princess could not resist. She watched as Legolas defeated his opponent and left the challenge open to any who would dare accept. She looked on from the shadows and saw that none would risk it, but quite frankly, the opportunity was too good to pass up. Legolas would prove to be a formidable opponent.

"Surely someone else must be up for a friendly competition," Legolas called to the soldiers gathered around him.

"I love friendly competition," came a voice that was distinctly female. All turned their heads to see the princess of Aèrogar emerge from the shadows dressed in a short black skirt, a black shirt, and black boots. They looked on with fascination as the oddly dressed princess approached their prince. Legolas was taken aback to say the least. He did not know what was more surprising, the fact that she stood before him ready to accept his challenge or her appearance. There was something very fascinating about the way she looked, the way she carried herself, and the way her weapons looked so natural strapped upon her back.

"The blades or the sword my lord?" Her voice quickly drew Legolas out of his thoughts.

"Are you sure you want to do this?' he asked as one eyebrow shot up.

"Of course I am sure."

"I will not hold back."

"Nor will I," she replied as a small smirk spread over her lips. Legolas surveyed her intently. Her challenge and her attitude triggered something within the prince. The gears in in his mind began turning as he began to circle the princess as a predator would circle his prey. An idea dawned on him as completed his second circle around her.

"If you are so intent on this my lady, then I propose a battle to the end?" A spark ignited in his eyes as the words flowed from his mouth.

"To the end? Please elaborate for me your highness because I do not understand what you mean."

"It simply means we fight until one of has run out of self defense methods. Simply put, when one of us becomes incapacitated." There was a brief silence in the clearing as Melenia pondered over his words. Her answer came out easily when her eyes met the Legolas' haughty gaze. She would not be intimidated.

"I accept the terms," came the firm response. "Draw your weapon." At the same moment they both unsheathed their swords and lunged at each other. The elves that were gathered around them looked on with wonder as they watched the frail looking young woman return their prince's unwavering attacks with equal strength and precision. She was proving to be a fierce warrior.

They fought for some time, neither one of them holding the upper hand in the battle. As much as Melenia enjoyed a good fight, she was starting to lose interest quickly. The prince was a good opponent just as she had expected him to be; yet there was something lacking. His moves were all together highly predictable; it felt as if he was holding back.

"I thought you said you were not going to hold back my lord," she said tauntingly as she easily parried his onslaught.

"What makes you think I am?" he asked in return as he delivered a swift blow to her stomach with his knee.

"That is more like it," she said with a bit of satisfaction in her voice. She then dropped her sword to the ground and drew her double blades. She spun them around herself before launching a swift attack upon Legolas. He actually had to scamper to defend himself. "I told you I would not hold back," she added with a smirk.

"If that is the way the lady wants it, who am I to deny her wishes." with that he dropped his sword as well and drew his blades. "I have always liked them better than my sword,' he thought to himself as he began his real attack on the princess.

The sound of metal striking metal increased greatly as they both fought fervently. Yet it still seemed to another standstill. Legolas was persistent and Melenia was unyielding; they simply voided each other's actions. At one point, the fact that he was fighting a woman who happened to be a royal guest slowly slipped out of his mind. The true warrior embedded deep within Legolas slowly but surely emerged. He no longer held anything back. He dealt her deadly blows that would have put any orc or other vile creature permanently out of service.

Melenia finally began to feel the shift that had occurred within the prince. His blows became rougher and more vicious. Quite frankly she was having a hard time keeping up with him. All her attempts to trigger an anger reaction within herself continued to fail miserably. She could not use the one emotion that propelled beyond her limitations. She began to get tired, and her grip on her blades began to loosen. Resolve started to drain out of her slowly. Legolas looked into her eyes at that moment and saw weakness for the very first time. He would end the battle. He used one blade to take a slicing shot at her stomach and the other one went to her face. This unexpected tactic confused Melenia for a brief moment, and that moment was all he needed. He kicked one blade out of her hand. As she looked on in disbelief as her blade fell to the ground, she felt the handle of his blade make contact with her stomach. She bowled over to protect her stomach from any further attacks only to feel him ripping her other knife out of her hand. This caused her to increase her grip on her sides. For the very first time in the battle Melenia felt fear.

The blow she expected did not come, instead she felt his hand work its way into the hair on the back of her head. A shiver racked her body, and she immediately stiffened. He pulled her head up. She heard him drop one blade to the ground as the other came to her neck. She could feel his chest heaving up and down against her back.

"Does the lady surrender?" Legolas whispered into her ear.

"No," came her firm reply. Legolas was quiet for a moment as he processed her defiant response.

"No, my lady?" he whispered into her other ear. Melenia opened her mouth to answer him, but the words were caught in her throat as she felt Legolas unweave his hand from her hair and bring it around her waist instead. She had only been held this way once before, and as she stood there and felt his grip tighten around her, the memory came back all too clearly.

"Let me go," she finally managed to get out.

"Not until you answer my question," Legolas whispered once more with a hint of deviousness in his voice. He could feel her fidget in his arms. Her growing discomfort was apparent. The more she tried to get herself out of his grip the more he held on.

"It seems that I have found the lady's weak spot." Melenia could almost feel his mischievous smile against her ear. "You do not enjoy being touched or held."

"My lord if you knew what was good for you, you would let me go," she said after realizing that his grip was just too strong for her to loosen.

"Let you go now? But I am finally starting to enjoy myself," came his answer. Those words rang in her ears over and over again until they hit the breaking point within her. Legolas was no longer Legolas, the Elven prince who was only doing this to toy with her as much as she had toyed with him. No, he was now someone else, from a land far away. He was the reincarnation of a memory buried deep within the core of the earth. Legolas had again succeeded in reminding the princess of things she wished had never happened.

"I do not know the meaning of the word surrender, my lord," she said softly. He could feel her body relax in his arms.

"The Ice Princess has given up the battle?" Legolas questioned once more. If he could only see her face then, at that moment, he would understand what he had done. For a brief sliver of time Melenia's mask cracked. All those around them saw the pure anguish that slowly ate away at her core manifest itself on her face. She shut her eyes tightly as she flew over the seas of time…

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The laughter of the young princess resounded through the royal stables as she led her horse to his stall. She had just completed one of her favorite parts of the day, her riding lessons.

"Today was a fun day wasn't it Skip?" she asked her horse as merriment danced in her eyes. The horse nuzzled her face as she proceeded to brush him after his day's worth of work. Life was certainly picture perfect for the blossoming princess, but not all things retain their beauty, as Melenia would soon find out.

"Goodbye Skip, have a nice night. I must go to the schoolmaster now. I am afraid I am late once again," she yelled back to her horse as she ran out of the stable. She turned her head around in time only to see the person before she ran into him.

"Where is the fire my lady?" he asked with a smirk. As he helped her up he took in her appearance. For the past year or so he had been keeping a close tab on the princess as she grew into womanhood. She was becoming very beautiful and… desirable. He should have stopped himself from having such thoughts about one so young and innocent, but he could not. It could have been his frustration and anger with himself, his loneliness, or the fact that he was a slightly intoxicated that led to him to do what he did next, but the reason behind it still remains clouded in mystery.

"I am very late for my lessons once more my lord. I am so sorry for my clumsiness," her voice snapped him out of his thoughts for but a moment. "So if you will excuse me, I must get going," she continued.

"Why the hurry my lady? You have all the time in the world," he said with a malicious grin on his face and an emotion in his eyes that Melenia had never seen before.

"But I really do not, so…" her voice trailed off as she tried to go around him and reach the stable door, but she fell short as his arm encircled her waist and brought her back in front of him.

"Surely you must have some time to spare for me Princess?" A fire ignited in his eyes as he spoke.

"No my lord, I do not," she said firmly as she tried to escape his strong grip. His actions were truly beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Well then you will make time," he said roughly as he unexpectedly picked her up and heaved her over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she screamed and kicked ferociously, "put me down!!" she continued.

"I am afraid I cannot do that!" he said as he took her deeper into the stable and headed for an empty stall.

"As your princess, I order you to put me down now!"

"As you wish," he said as he plopped her down on some clean hay.

"What do you want from me?" she asked although she was beginning to understand exactly what his intentions were.

"I only want to spend some quality time with you my lady," he said with a smirk.

"I will not allow this!"

"No one said that you must allow it." She opened her mouth to scream but he was too quick for her. Within the blink of an eye he had her mouth gagged.

What exactly happened after that she couldn't fully recall because she chose not to do so. How much time had elapsed? She did not know, for her mind had gone blank. Her memory picked up again at the point where he tells her of his new nickname for her. She does not remember why her decided to call her the Ice Princess, but the name stuck. The name traveled as a whisper through the palace, the land, and even other kingdoms…

Oh how she despised that day…the day the Ice Princess was born.

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Melenia opened her eyes once more to a hazy world. Elves were all around her looking on with curiosity. Sweat fell off her brow and the world began to spin. The dagger that was at her neck was no longer there, but she could feel him holding her closely. His unwavering grip and his imposing figure loomed over her like a shadow. The world spun even faster until it became a blur. Legolas barely had time to react as she fainted in his arms.