"My first kiss," Eden sighed and snuggled into the covers of her bed. It was still dark when she had woken up. She imagined the way it felt again. Alright, so it was a bit brief, but still! Never had any male elf kissed her the way Legolas did last night. But then it all came back to her.
"I actually said thank you!?" she groaned and pounded her head against the pillow. Her head swam with strange thoughts that she had never had before. 'If only that kiss was longer....If only his lips were closer...If only.....'
She sat up in bed. 'What if he was only joking?' her blood boiled at the thought, 'Yes, his brothers were probably watching, trying not to laugh. I mean the last time he got close...he burst out laughing. He knows of my ignorance.'
And of course she knew a few things about that specific subject because she had often overheard her mother and the other ladies talking about it in a hushed whisper that seemed to roll on in her mind even after they had stopped talking. Legolas was much, much (emphasis on much) older than Eden and she knew that he was....well.....a bit more knowledgeable in that area (and indeed he was), whereas she had only received her first kiss last night. This scared her greatly for some reason, for the wisdom of his eyes seemed overbearing at times. And yet there was also a deep sadness to them, as of one who had seen to much death, too much pain.
Weary of thinking, she slid out of bed and called a servant to prepare a bath for her. 'I'm in the palace,' she shrugged as the smell of lavender and chamomile penetrated her senses, 'I might as well enjoy it.' She sank into the steamy bath, her muscles relaxing.
The maid helped dress her and gave her cleaning supplies and sent her off to another day of cleaning. She scrubbed every inch of the rooms she was in, leaving everything clean and shiny and smelling fresh.
"You wouldn't make a bad maid," some of the elves commented while she cleaned. She only answered with a warm smile and a nod of the head, while her thoughts were filled with her hands wringing their elegant necks.
Finally, it was almost night and she decided to do one more room. She knocked three times and waited. The door clicked open and Legolas stood smiling down at her. He moved aside to welcome her in. She blushed slightly and muttered a "hello."
"I am hearing you are quite good at cleaning,"he said sitting down, watching her as she started to clean the door with oils that wiped the dirt away and made it shimmer. "And that you would make quite a good maid." She could not read his expression when she looked back at him.
There he sat, the Prince of Mirkwood, in all his glory. His hair sprawled down his back and around his shoulders as he sat in a rather kingly manner with a goblet of wine in one hand and a blank expression on his face. His eyes fixated on her and nothing else. There was no mistaking that this was a future king. His very look brought all people to their knees and made them feel low and unworthy. He was perfection, a statue of white marble, gold, and saphire. He was beautiful.
'And he gave me my first kiss!' Eden giggled inside.
But to his statement she merely said. "Oh, well I dare hope that such a fate will not come unto me."
"One never knows what fate will come unto them," he said, his eyes still watching her, hawk-like, as if she was prey.
"Even so, I have no desire to become a maid," she said, stiffly.
"Why not?" Legolas asked, a sudden sharpness ringing in his voice.
"Because I do not wish to serve others all my life," she said, scrubbing a spot of dirt that refused to come off the floor. "I do not wish to be spat upon or looked down upon my entire life. And also, I.....scrubbing harder hate.......scrubbing even harder...... cleaning ahh finally."
"Maids are not spat upon or looked down upon," he said, "Maybe it is only you and your family that does so."
She stopped cleaning and looked back at him, a hurt expression on her face. It quickly changed as her eyes narrowed in anger. But inwardly she was smiling. She knew how to make him angry and despite her conciounce's pleas, she decided to play a game.
"I will say nothing for you are the Prince of Mirkwood and your opinions are your own,"she said simply, as if she was bored. "Who am I to say any different...." Oh, this would really make him mad. And it did.
Hawk-eyes narrowed, but never left her. The wine in his goblet swirled dangerously. A deadly silence hung in the air.
'Alright, so he kisses me and now he's acting like he's got a few arrows up his arse,' thought Eden, angrily. 'I really don't understand men. I'm so confused.'
"My opinions are very similar to everyone else's," he said through gritted teeth, his eyes following her as she moved to his armoire.
"I think if I listened to everyone else's opinions of me, I would surely be dead, highness," she sighed. She was getting sick of this.
She polished the armoire and then opened it and gasped. Weapons of all sorts seemed to jab out at her, even if they were lying in their own fitted spaces. She looked back at him, hoping he would say that he had already polished them, but she recieved no such comfort.
Instead, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Well? What are you waiting for?"
And then added, "Oh and be careful."
She almost smiled at him until he again added, "I don't want you dropping them."
She glared at the satisfied look on his face and then turned around and took out a knife and started to polish it. She had stopped glaring and her face was now at rest. Glaring is hard work, especially when done for long periods of time. Her face had actually started to hurt after all that glaring. She wondered if his face had hurt too. 'I shall have to do exercises to perfect my glare and to make it stop hurting for when I am with Prince Legolas, it seems inevitable that I will glare at sometime during our meeting,' she thought.
She grabbed a hook-like device and started to clean it. It was very light and dusty and so she sat down on the floor to scrub the grime off of it.
"What is this for?" she asked.
"Many uses for that," he said, "It can be used as a weapon in battle or it can be tied to an arrow and snagged on a tree....or something else... and you can just pull yourself up."
She nodded and finished cleaning it. Then, she saw a sword and picked it up. It was extremely heavy and she groaned as she felt its full weight.
"How do you use this thing in battle?" she asked, finally managing to put it gently in her lap. "So bloody heavy...."
Now came the simple task of unsheathing it.......
"That is a sword given to me by King Aragorn as a gift," said Legolas, starring dreamily out of his window. "I have never used it in battle although I have cut off an orc's head with it. It is not that heavy once you become accustomed to bearing a sword at all times." His head turned to her.
"How charming," she grumbled. She was still struggling with it. Putting his goblet down, he grabbed it from her and unsheathed it with ease.
He smiled as her mouth hung open. Her hair was a mess and falling all around her eyes and she was a bit sweaty from cleaning the whole day and now wrestling with this sword. The front of her dress had come slightly undone and he had a good view at the top of her breasts (A/N: Of course he looked! A male is male, no matter what species). She fanned herself off with the rag and looked up at him, annoyed, as he swung the great sword around as if it was merely a stick.
"Showoff," she muttered, but he stood proud and kingly, studying the sword and suddenly moved the sword towards her. She looked up at him with a look of confusion and doubt and then gasped as he brought the sword to her neck. She tried moving back, but it followed her.
"H-highness...w-what are you doing?" she managed to ask. He said nothing. His eyes were cold, but his face had no expression, except......except.......was that the smallest smile in all of Middle Earth?.
She moved back once more, but the sword still followed her, pressing itself deeper into her skin. No place to move now. Her back was against the wall. The sword felt cool against her skin as he pressed the side against the side of her neck, tracing the jaw line as if he was using a pen to draw her. She gasped as the tip of the sword moved up and down her neck. A shiver ran through her. It felt strange, not bad...but different...kind of nice. But no....she wasn't supposed to like feeling scared...she wasn't supposed to be enjoying this.
"Highness," she said, nervously, "T-this isn't very nice....o-or appropriate." But inside, she knew he would never....he wouldn't think....
She made a sharp intake of breath as the sword pressed deeper still. Her skin felt as if it would surely rupture under the pressure and then suddenly the sword withdrew. She touched the skin there. No blood. In fact, not even a cut or a scrape, the skin was perfectly in tact. She looked up at him.
"Old elvish trick," he said, "Maybe I'll teach you one day." He kneeled down next to her and placed the sword in her lap. Her eyes wide open, her chest rising as she breathed deeply, she looked at him, shocked.
"I can't imagine doing that to anyone," she said, still rubbing her neck. She felt the imprint of the knife and yet there was no physical sign of it ever being on her skin.
"It was used as a way to get information out of people who withheld it without having to leave any physical damage," Legolas explained and then added," The humans have yet to master this trick. They have tried of course, but always end up killing whoever it is they try it on."
"Oh?" she glared at him, "What information did I withhold, highness?"
"You are telling me you did not enjoy it?" his eyebrow raised. 'Shutup shutup SHUTUP!' thought Eden.
"Absolutely not!" she cried and tried standing up, swaying slightly under the swords weight. He stood up with her, towering over her, a mocking smile on his face.
"Why?" she looked up at him, still holding the heavy sword and retorted, "Did you enjoy doing it?"
But she was surprised when he laughed and said, "Maybe."
Her eyes met his for a moment and then drew away as she moved back to the armoire after polishing the sword. Her back was still to him as she felt fingers moving ever so gently up the back of her dress. Then hands drew her hair aside and she felt hot breath on her exposed neck.
'Dangerous,' her mind whispered. 'Do you not remember what your mother told you? He is dangerous!'
*You are now entering the Twilight zone.....ok not really its just a Flashback...but be prepared!....for....something....*
The sun poured into her room as Eden kicked her brother Herund in the stomach.
"Oh! Mother!" cried Herund, "Eden kicked me! I'm telling mother, Eden! MOTHER!"
Mithnaial Goldenlight rushed into the room with a furious look her face. Picking her son up off the floor, she ushered him out of the room and closed the door, turning angry eyes to Eden.
Eden took a deep breath. "Mother I can explain! I kicked him because I was looking at myself in the mirror and then he said that I was ugly and I know he is right but it still isn't nice to say it and so I told him to be quiet and he didn't and then he said no and then I said-"
"Enough!" her mother screamed. "I am sick of this arrogance of yours!"
"Arrogance?" said Eden, shocked.
*Wait....heh sorry! Wrong flashback....*turns time machine again* alright here we go....*
"Eden, my darling," said Mithnaial Goldenlight holding her daughter as she cried in her arms. "Do not be frightened of such things. We are elves and we have an eternity to marry. We only introduced you to Geruir to see if one day you will like each other. Nothing more! There now, do not cry."
"Marriage," scoffed Eden, wiping the tears away, "Who wants it anyways? I have enough boys in my life. Why have one more?"
"Oh, silly girl," her mother laughed, "You will understand someday. But for now, let me tell you something. I think you are old enough. Marriage not only depends on love, but on status as well. You cannot marry anyone below you. You can only marry one with equal or higher status."
"Why, mother?" asked Eden.
"Why, child," her mother smiled. "What strange questions you ask." But her mother went on.
"Eden, there are those, however, that are of equal and higher ranks that you cannot wed either," she said. Eden nodded in understanding, but was utterly confused.
"There are treasures that seem to be in the very palm of your hand, but they are indeed dangerous and wish to destroy you," her mother said, her face growing serious. "You must never let our rivals win your heart. You must never let them near you. It will be a grave thing. They will try and capture your heart and they will use disgusting techniques to do so, but do not let them sway you, my child, for they only seek your humiliation and the destruction of all that you know and love." Eden looked on with fear in her eyes. These did not sound at all like elves to her, but orcs. Was her mother truly talking about elves?
"I am of course speaking primarily of the king's family," Mithnaial said, "Oh, they will try and shame you just like they shamed the Cinderwood clan. That poor girl...."
*********End of Flashback*************
She was older now. She now knew what could shame a lady. She now knew why Cireda Cinderwood was "shamed." She now knew why Cireda was the butt of almost all jokes. She was gone now. Her family had sailed away into the Grey havens with her family. Eden did not want to be the next Cireda.
Tender, warm lips pressed themselves against her neck.
They will try and shame you.....
Eden breathed in deeply. 'No,' she thought. 'Legolas would never..'
They will try and capture your heart and they will use disgusting techniques to do so
'I have to get out of here,' her mind swam, 'I have to leave. I have finished his room. I have to- I need to leave.' A fear in her heart rose that she had not felt since that night with her mother. She felt his hands snake around her waist as his nose traced her ear.
disgusting techniques
She suddenly drew away from him, picking up her cleaning supplies. Tears were in her eyes, but when he moved to comfort her, his eyes showing so much emotion and love that she wanted to fly into his arms and stay there forever, but she drew away again.
"You wish my defeat," she whispered, "Yet I will give you no such victory." She shut the door behind her and walked swiftly down the hall to the next room. He did not come after her.
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A/N: this is obviously not the end or else my story would have then had no point either than to torture and make poor fan girls cry (that's only ONE of my hobbies). There is more. I'm just saying this from experience because whenever something bad happens in one of my stories, a lot of people scream "don't end it yet!" Paranoia, I suppose. lol. A lot of fan fic authors traumatize my poor readers. But fret not! I take pity on you all because I am also a fan fic reader and I just seem to choose all the stories that never get updated.