Legolas and Eden walk up to a pile of corpses.
Eden gasps. "Oh my!" she cries. "What.....how......?"
"I do not know what this is," said Legolas, as him and Eden stood in front of the pile. "They sometimes drop in out of now where. All of them are female....and human....and usually have a picture of me in their hands."
"But who are they?" she asked, glancing quickly at him.
"I do not know," he said, "Didn't I just say that? Seriously Eden, pay attention. I have seen them fall. They are alive when they fall. They look like they're thinking "Hey where am I?", that is, before they hit the ground. Only one of them survived.....and tried to kiss me. It was strange."
"What happened to her?" asked Eden.
"She died," Legolas said, "They're all human, remember? They don't live very long."
"Tell me about it," muttered Eden, "This is so sad."
"Don't worry, they all survive now that they have the cushioning of the others to break their fall," Legolas said.
The author suddenly walks in.
"You guys are supposed to be sad and shocked!" she cried. "This is sick! Cushioning!!?!?!"
"Um...," said Legolas, "You're the one writing this. Why don't you make us feel sad and shocked?"
"You're pretty," author starts drooling uncontrollably.
Legolas flips his pantene pro-v hair. "I know," he says cooly.
*End of weirdness*
*BEGINNING OF REAL STORY*
"This is your room," Legolas said as the servants rushed in to prepare the room.
"Thank you," she said, softly. "May I have something to eat? I'm a bit hungry." Legolas nodded.
"Of course," he said. "I will tell the servants to make you something." But right after he said that, the door of her room swung open and revealed a well lit bedroom which was about twice as large as hers. The bed was covered with beautiful Mirkwood fabric with a vine pattern and green velvet drapes. It was huge and inviting. A vanity was placed on the other side of the room. It was made of stone and was painted with different shades of silver and gold. The delicate carvings in the vanity were of the lore of the land and told stories that went all the way around the vanity and slid down its smooth legs. Another door led to the wash room. It was perfection.
She stood in the doorway, before she felt him nudge her inside. She stared in amazement at the room, while Legolas told the servants to make her dinner and they rushed out.
Eden turned to look at him and he held her gaze for a while. She suddenly felt very self-conscious and realized that she was wearing merely a slip over her nightgown. She knew she looked terrible. Her hair was a mess and still damp and she was still deathly pale. He walked up slowly to her and her gaze dropped to the floor.
"I was worried about you today, Eden," he said, his voice so lulling and warm and innocent...and...and...
'Quick Eden, say something!'she screamed at herself.
"Oh, that's nice,"she managed to say. 'Brilliant, just brilliant,' she thought, 'What an intelligent thing to say.'
She thought she had blown it entirely, but he continued. "I ran to the barracks as quickly as I could."
Eden looked up at him, surprised and half smiling. "Why?" She wanted to play with him a bit.
He stayed quiet and then said, "You're trying to play with me." But he smiled when he said it.
Damn
"Only a little," Eden said, grinning. The dinner had come in and a table and two chairs were laid out and the servants rushed out.
"Well, I see that you are alright," he cleared his throat. "I will be going now."
"Unless you want to stay," Eden said, quickly. "Damn you,' her conscience screamed, 'Eden, you don't know how to talk to people, especially to the Prince of Mirkwood, as in the son of Thranduil, as in the man who your father does not particularly enjoy, as in....'
'Ok! I get it!,' Eden sighed inside her head. 'But now if he chooses to stay, I have to entertain him with some fine conversation.'
"Would you like some fruit?" asked Eden. 'What a wonderful conversation starter,' she thought, sarcastically. 'Smooth, Eden, real smooth.'
"No thanks," he smiled. 'Take the damn fruit!' she wanted to scream, but she merely smiled back and looked away shyly.
"Eden," he purred and walked closer to her, their lips almost touching. She could feel the blood in her body start to flow faster and the heat from him seemed to radiate throughout her. "I would like some bread."
Or not.
And then he burst out laughing.
"You really thought I was going to kiss you!" he laughed. Eden's mouth dropped open. She was too shocked to say anything.
"You've got a lot to learn about men, my lady," and he turned towards the door and left, still laughing.
Eden stood there, confused. Her mouth was still open. Finally she managed to say something:
"What the....," and she screamed the last word so loud that many of the people living in that hall peered through their doors to see what was going on. She finally calmed down, stuffed her face with food and called for the servants who helped her get ready for bed.
"I am leaving tomorrow," she said aloud and went to sleep, making a mental note to wake up extra early.
&&&&&
Stretching out on her bed and yawning, she woke before the sun had risen over the trees. She quickly got herself ready, still in her night wear (she decided she would change at home) and turned to run to the stables.
And ran flat into somebody much taller. "Hey watch where you're.....oh," she said, realizing who it was.
"Still early, Lady Eden," Legolas smiled, coldly, "Perhaps you should get back to bed." His eyes traveled south. " I see you are in your night wear. How inappropriate. I'm sure it is alright to go about like this at your own home, but this is the palace. You should uphold some kind of social etiquette here." Eden's eyes turned into narrow slits as she glared at him with all her might.
"Well, I won't be here for long, so fret not," she said and tried to walk past him, but he blocked her.
"I thought I made it clear that you were to stay here," he said harshly. Suddenly, she was the one who got very close to him. He did not stop her for he was too surprised and to tell you the truth, dear reader, she was quite surprised herself.
"I thought you made it clear you didn't want me............. to stay," her lips almost touching his (getting annoying, huh?) and then she pushed him away and walked down the hallway. The Prince of Mirkwood had not been that stunned for a long time.
She smiled at herself. 'Oh Eden, you cunning girl, you,' she thought to herself as she brushed Summo, 'Who would ever think that having a human trait could be an advantage!?'
But she quickly rethought that as a gloved hand captured her wrist.
"Why are you up so early highness?" she asked, trying to pull away.
"I'm always up this early," Legolas said in a cruel voice, "It's a habit." He pulled her along, back to the palace.
The stable boys stared at them as Legolas practically dragged Eden out of the stable.
"Stop!" she cried (very loudly), "I don't want to stay here!" She was starting to actually unwind her wrist from his grip when he grabbed her by the waist and slung her over his shoulder. There was no point in struggling now.
"Do you think you're being funny?" she spat, "Are your brothers watching this?"
"Watch your words, Lady Eden," said Legolas, "You might just get dropped on the head."
"If you dropped me, could I crawl away to my horse?" she asked.
"No, you'd still go back to your room," he laughed.
"Think you're being funny, do you?" she cried. She was so unhappy and angry. First, he made her feel like a complete fool and now....well before that as well, he was making her feel like a child.
When he got to her door, he opened it and walked inside and put her down on the bed. He had hoped to leave without her catching him locking her door, but she was unusually fast when she wanted to be and she dashed past him. He grabbed her nightgown and dragged her back.
Now he'd done it.
She turned around and kicked him in a place where it was particularly painful for a male, no matter what species, to be kicked in. He gasped and grabbed at her again, but she dodged him and ran out the door.
Legolas, however, had been in battle many times and could take the pain much better than most males. This did not mean that he did not feel anything, but simply that he felt less pain and could recover quicker. He leapt up with the agility of a cat and moved swiftly out the door and after Eden who had gotten closer to the stables. He caught up with her quickly and grabbed her back. So maybe she could take care of herself.....sort of.
"That was a very disgusting, vile, and not to mention unfair, thing to do," he said through gritted teeth.
"Aww," smiled Eden, "Would you like me to do it again?" She wasn't afraid of him!
"No I would not like you to do it again!" he said, his eyes changing to a particularly icy shade of blue. Alright, now she was afraid. He looked as if he was out to murder.
"Tsk tsk tsk," said Eden, her voice hiding her fear, "You know, if you let me go home, I wouldn't be bothering you this much."
He snarled and pulled her back into her room, shutting the door behind him.
"You are going to behave," he warned.
"Or what?" she teased. 'Eden stop, 'her conscience begged her, but she was too far in. She had made her point quite clear and backing down now would make her weak.
But he said nothing and continued to glare fiercely. "For you see, highness," continued Eden, "I was under the impression that with the way that you're treating me, you wanted me gone." 'What has he to say to that?'wondered Eden.
But he surprised her by answering softly, " I would never let one of my own people die if I had a chance to stop it."
"I see," said Eden. She was treading on dangerous waters, but she did not care. "Well, I suppose that would put a damper on how much support you get." She was laughing inside now. For some reason, this was all hilarious to her. Was she actually talking like to the Prince and future King of Mirkwood? Surely, this wasn't real.
"Mind your place, Eden," he glared.
"And where is that?" she smiled.
"Below me," he said. Eden burst out laughing. "Good, now say that really fast and lets see what interesting phrase we can come up with." (A/N: no really, try it!)
"Eden..," he hissed.
"Why won't you let me go home?" she stalked over to him. "Why? You know now that I obviously CAN take care of myself and that if I run into any trouble I'll just come back."
"No," he said and turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Pleeeeaaaaasseeee??" she cried, "I am so bored!"
"Good," Legolas smiled, pulling her hands of his arm, "Then you will accompany me to the archery grounds." He chuckled as she let out a tortured groan and sank onto a chair.
"I'll tell the servants to get you ready," he said and walked out the door. Eden ran to window, opened it, and screamed as loud as she could. Oh, she was so furious.
'Great!' she thought, 'Yet another way for Prince Legolas to prove how great he is and to make me look like a fool.'
She was about to lean against the window when suddenly the servants grabbed her and practically pulled her clothes off and put riding clothes on her. When they shuffled out of the room, she stood in front of the mirror dazed. 'Well that was fast,' she thought.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Somehow, they had managed to wash her face and make her hair look nice. She was too plain, too thin, and not tall enough. That was what she saw in the mirror usually, but this time, she seemed to glow.
She was escorted to the archery range by one of the servants. Legolas and six other male elves stood chatting quietly. He starred at her as she walked into the clearing. She had, despite the angry looks of the servants, pulled off her pony tail and let her hair hang free. It blew gently in the wind........right into her mouth. "Pfew!" she spat using her fingers to gently pull out little hairs out of her mouth.
"It's about time," one of the elves said, glaring at her and then eyeing her when she looked away.
Legolas shot the first arrow and made it directly on the target. The rest did the same or close to it.
Eden merely stood across from her target with a quiver of arrows propped in front of her and playing with the bow whose top rested in her hands and the bottom was digging itself into the ground. She was completely spaced out. 'Pretty trees,' she thought, 'I wonder if....'
But her thoughts were interrupted when Legolas poked at her gently.
"Eden, wake up," he said and the rest of the elves laughed.
"What?" she asked, annoyed that he interrupted her thought process.
"Aren't you going to shoot any arrows?" he asked. Everyone was staring at her.
"I'm not very good," she said, quietly, looking away.
"Well that's a given," she heard one of the elves say and the rest all laughed. Legolas held a smug smile on his face.
She wanted to scream. 'He actually thinks I care that they don't like me!' she thought, 'Well, I'll show him.'
"Well go on," the harassing elf said, "We haven't got all day."
"In case you have forgotten, we're elves," she reminded him, "We have eternity."
"Well, at least some of us do," the elf was a male and had long blonde hair and blue eyes like that of all the elves in that clearing at the moment, but he was still very handsome. His cheek bones rose very sharply on his handsome face and his lips were full and pouty, his eyes like blue crystal (A/N: does that even exist? oh well the image is really pretty). He did not look a bit like Legolas, but was still handsome, but then again aren't they all? Anyways....
Eden dropped her bow and marched up to him. "What exactly do you mean by that?" but he merely laughed. She wanted to kick him where she kicked Legolas not too long ago, but Legolas, sensing her anger and motions, pulled her back and said, "We should get back to what we were doing in the first place, watching you shoot an arrow."
Oh how she wanted to wrap her fingers around that beautiful royal neck of his and squeeze. 'He did this on purpose, of course, to make me look like an idiot,' she thought angrily.
She felt miserable. It was bad enough she had to be around these people at the festivities, but to actually spend long periods of time with them was torture.
She stared at the arrow in her hand. 'Come on Eden, you have seen your brothers do this millions of time,' she urged herself on.
"What are you going to do?" laughed the mean elf, "throw it?" The rest burst out laughing, as usual.
She strung it and pulled back.
"Miss!" they all yelled as she let it go. It sailed past the target and they all laughed cruelly. Even Legolas was chuckling a bit.
The mean elf began clapping rhythmically and slowly approached her.
"Very well done, Lady Goldenlight," he pulled her to him, his breath on her face. "What else can you do?"
She almost didn't feel her nails collide with his face as she took a swipe and ran off into the woods, shedding her jacket on the forest floor (A/N: don't you hate it when that happens in movies? Poor jacket! But its ok! One of the servants picks it up later..on the with the story). She ran until she was sure no one was following and then looked down at her hands.
'What have I done?' she whispered as she saw blood and skin under her fingernails. Her eyes filled with tears and she ran to find a creek, trying to clean the filth. She felt sick to her stomach and almost had to swallow the rising vomit in her throat. She crawled next to a tree and cried, her knees drawn up and her arms hugging herself.
She hadn't meant to do it. She only meant to slap him, but instead her anger got the best of her. How did she always manage to make her situations go from bad to worse?
Sure the cruel elf was being mean, but he wouldn't have done anything. He was harmless, right? But instead she was so fully taken by her emotions that she let herself get angry.
A wave of nausea poured over her. Elves did not do this to their own kind, but another species did......
'A weakness,' she thought as she cried. 'My weakness. He knew about it. He knew he could make my emotions get the best of me. It was too easy for him. He could probably smell the blood of that one ancestor running in me. I shouldn't have done it still......But they were being so mean, so cruel. Why? For no reason and it hurt.....'
"Eden," she heard Legolas's voice say as he stepped into the clearing.
"Please go away, highness," she whispered.
"Do you know what you did?" he asked, angrily, his eyes flashing.
"I don't want to know," she said, her voice still barely above a whisper, and tried to move away from him, but he caught her wrist and pulled her up onto her feet.
"Why did you do it Eden?" he asked, his expression serious and yearning for an answer.
"I thought he was going to hurt me so I...I...," she couldn't finish. Another tear ran down her cheek.
"I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you," he said. "Did you not believe me?"
"And what reason have you given me to trust you?" she asked, getting angry, "You did nothing when he grabbed me. You would not have dared do anything."
"If I thought for a second that Talad would have hurt you, I would have been quick to action," he assured her.
"You did not think his advance on me was threatening?"she demanded.
"No, I don't think it was," he glared.
"Well, I felt threatened," she said softly," And I have a right to protect myself."
"No doubt you do, but," to Legolas's surprise, she interrupted him.
"Please leave me alone, my lord," she said, turning around to hide her tears. "Please." He turned her around and she thought he would surely start to yell at her, but he did not.
He could not. She looked so pitiful and upset, he hadn't the heart to yell at her. It was almost heart-breaking.
He drew her to him and her head rested on his chest and she cried softly into him, feeling like an idiot for crying in front of him. His arms enveloped her and she felt a sense of comfort.
Meanwhile, while she was this close to him, she took the time to study the situation. He smelled like spice and the forest and his warmth radiated to her. His hands gently stroked her back and hair. Hmmm...wasn't she upset about something? Oh yes.....
"Do not cry," he purred. "Everything will be alright. You are safe. You are with me."
And for a second, a split second, she liked him very much.
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Well? What did everyone think? *crickets chirping* alrighty then, moving on..... It is longer than most of the other ones. I would really appreciate more reviews on this story. They are not necessary but they are quite an inspiration. *wink wink* *nudge nudge*
Also, I need some advice. I've been thinking of doing a Legolas POV. Should I or is the mystery of not knowing better?