Disclaimer: I own nothing.
*********Chapter 21***********
Eressa whipped her head back around to Aleka, who just shrugged her shoulders at her.
"What do I do if Legolas tries…anything?" She whispered, dispite the fact that there was no one around to hear.
Aleka contined shrugging her shoulders. "I don't think he'd try anything this early…what he probably wants is for you to give in to him."
Eressa was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. Both girls jumped, and a guard stepped through the door.
The large husky man nodded out the door, motioning for Eressa to follow. Eressa sighed, trying to shake off the sudden nervousness, but then stood up and walked with him out the door.
"Good luck," Aleka whispered helpfully before she left.
Right. Eressa thought grimly. Good luck.
The Eressa and her guard met another guard down the hall, and the two led the girl to the cells. Eressa was so nervous she didn't even think of noting the pathways they took again.
What should I do when I get there? She thought desperately. Should I confront him? Or should I act as if I know nothing at all?
All to soon Eressa found herself at Legolas's door, watching as the guards worked the key into the lock. The door was finally opened with a loud creak and the guards gently thrust her in.
"Mae govannen." Legolas's soft voice rang. The elf was leaned over readjusting one of the planks on his bed. He looked up, his blue eyes friendly. "That means 'welcome' in my language, if you are wondering."
But even as Legolas smiled his face began to fall as soon as he set eyes upon Eressa. She stature was stiff as a board, her fists were clenched, and her eyes were wide, like that of a trapped animal. In fact, she looked very much like the frightened girl that had been given to him two days ago.
"Eressa?" Legolas asked, standing up and moving towards her. "What is wrong?"
Eressa couldn't help herself from jerking away from the elf as his hand came up to touch her face. Of course Legolas noticed. He smiled and stepped back.
"I'm sorry. I know you still feel uncomfortable with a male touching you." He looked back up with concern. "But you look tense. What is troubling you?"
Eressa blinked. "No, it wasn't that." She said, deciding to put on as best an act as she could. "I just…" She noticed the Legolas's hands were wrapped in cloth. "I just saw your hands were bound. What happened?"
Legolas looked at the girl for a moment before answering. Her voice was different—tense—like the rest of her. She didn't sound very truthful. Legolas chose to not let her know this.
"Ah, Eredor and I were assigned with building the new arena today. He was kind enough to give me these so that I would not damage my hands." Legolas explained, gingerly taking off the cloth that was tied round his hands.
"Oh." Eressa said quickly. Too quickly.
"Eressa, what is bothering you?" Legolas asked. "You are tense. I can tell."
"It's nothing. Really." Eressa excused, not sounding confident at all.
Legolas leaned down slightly so that he and Eressa were eye to eye. Eressa looked away, but Legolas moved his head and caught her gaze again, and held it.
"Don't lie to me." He said gently, but it sounded more like a warning. "You are not very good at it."
"I know." Eressa said stubbornly, trying to hold his gaze without revealing any of her complex emotions.
"What is bothering you?" Legolas asked again. Eressa said nothing. "Was it your dream?" He continued.
Eressa looked up. Legolas had just given her the best excuse! But now she would have to devert his attention from the matter quickly so that she would not have to lie again about what the dream contained.
"Yes, it was my dream." She said. "But I'd rather not discuss it. What have you been doing with your bed?"
Legolas paused and looked at his bed. She was changing the subject. "I was going to remove a plank so I could carve it in hopes of you bringing me a carving tool tonight." He said, playing along for a while.
Eressa gasped. "Oh! I forgot them! I was going to bring you some scissors to use, but I forgot them. I'm sorry."
Legolas nodded understandingly and sat on his bed. "It is alright. Now tell me about your dream and why it's been bothering you."
Eressa's face fell. Her ploy hadn't worked. She should've know the elf would be too clever for her to outsmart. "Legolas, my dream was just a nightmare. It was nothing."
Legolas got up and approached her again. "If it was nothing, then why did you awake crying and screaming? If it was nothing, then why has it been bothering you? And if it was nothing, then why do you refuse to tell me about it?"
Eressa said nothing and stared at Legolas. He sounded angry with her. He had never showed emotion to her this way.
"Tell me, Eressa. You are in my care, as well as my cell, and you will do as I say as long as you remain in that way. Tell me!" Legolas said crossly. "That's an order."
Suddenly Eressa did something she never had done and never expected to do before. "You can't tell me what to do! I might be a slave, and I might be a woman, but you can't tell me what to do!"
Legolas took a step back in response to her outburst, and his angry glare disappeared and was replaced with a look of surprise. "Eressa I…"
"You what?" Eressa continued, unable to stop herself. "You don't own me! I belong to me, Legolas, and not anybody else. I'm not yours!"
With that, Eressa finally stopped, and she gasped suddenly as she saw the hurt look form on Legolas's face. He began to turn away from her and she immediately regretted what she had just said in her moment lacking self control.
"Legolas, I didn't mean…" she began, but Legolas interrupted her.
"No, Eressa, you are right. I don't own you." The elf said as he sat on his bed sadly. "I'm sorry for what I said."
"So am I." Eressa said truthfully. "I'm sorry."
Legolas didn't look at her. "I know." He said simply.
He's not going to forgive me…Eressa thought…why did I have to be so stupid and say those things?
"Legolas, I really am sorry. I don't know why I said those things." Eressa pleaded.
Legolas turned his head, a small smile on his face. "I do." He said. "You said those things because inside that's what you've been secretly feeling all your life. Am I right?"
Eressa began to shake her head, but then hesitated. Had she always felt this way? In her heart she knew the answer…she always had.
"Yes." Eressa answered, and she felt as if a great weight was lifted off her shoulders as she said that one word. "That's exactly how I feel. But I didn't mean to say them so cruelly, and especially to you. Will you forgive me Legolas?"
Legolas continued to look at the girl attentively but didn't answer for the moment. Eressa instantly became afraid that she could lose a friend tonight.
"Legolas, please! I really didn't mean to hurt you!" She cried, and she suddenly had a urge to wrap her arms around the elf to comfort him, and herself. She resisted it and stayed where she was.
"I know you didn't." Legolas said when he saw Eressa was becoming upset. "Of course I forgive you."
Eressa smiled, relived. "Thank you."
"Your welcome." Legolas answered. Then he patted the side of the bed, silently asking Eressa to sit next to him.
Eressa suddenly remembered what Aleka had told her, and froze. If she allowed Legolas to get too close he could…
No. No! He wouldn't do anything like that! Eressa said shamfully. But deep in her soul she felt uncertain.
Legolas saw the frightened look that crossed Eressa's face when he motioned for her to sit with him. But the girl was quick to hide it as she slowly approached the bed and sat next to him. He noticed that she was careful to put distance in between them.
She could have just done that to be polite, not to invade my personal space, Legolas thought, but though he didn't know much about adolesent human girls, he knew that the distance was between them for another reason. Eressa was still hiding secrets, and she seemed to be determined to keep them.
"What are you thinking?" He asked casually, trying to dig some sort of clue out of her.
Eressa hestitated at the question, which was the clue Legolas was looking for. She didn't want to tell him. However, the girl thought of a quick and witty excuse.
"Why, can't you tell this time?" She asked, smiling.
I wish I could…Legolas secretly thought. But his answer was different.
"No. Why don't you tell me?"
"I…it isn't important, Legolas." Eressa said, turning away.
Legolas reached to grab her shoulder and turn her back around, but the moment his hand came in contact with her skin she jumped and slid away, her eyes wide.
"What?" He asked innocently.
Eressa sat there with her mouth open for a moment before she thought of something to say. She desperetly wished she was a better liar. "Well…your hands are warm. It startled me."
Legolas looked at his hands. "Are they?"
"Yes!" Eressa said, hoping to change the subject. "Is that another trait common of the elves?"
Legolas looked at her briefly from his hands and then nodded his head. Her reaction to his touch was unusual, but her excuse was true. He needed to know for sure if it was he who was the thing that had the girl so stressed.
"Eressa?" He asked slyly.
"Yes?" Came the soft answer, and the elf looked up at Eressa. The cool blue of his eyes were now gone, and replaced with a flame of desire. He reached for her.
Eressa pushed herself away agains the stone wall with a cry and flung up an arm to defend herself, but the elf was too fast. He caught it in his hand and held it there with an iron grip. Instictively her other hand flew up but Legolas caught this one too. She was trapped.
Scared to death, Eressa flailed and fought as hard as she could, but to no avail. The elf's grip didn't falter one bit. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth to scream then realized that Legolas hadn't moved since he had captured her. Opening her eyes she saw the elf staring at her with serious concern on his face. The flame was gone.
Legolas looked at her one last moment before suddenly letting her go.
"Why are you afraid of me?" He asked immediately.
"I'm not!" Eressa blurted out. "I just…why did you do that!" She said, becoming angry. It was a trick. He hadn't tried to hurt her at all. It was all a trick!
"I needed to be sure you feared me before I accused you of it." Legolas answered. "And now I am."
"You are sure of nothing!" Eressa said despretly. "I acted the same as any girl would."
"True, you might be right." Legolas said. "But…" He suddenly reached for her again, and this time Eressa was able to get away. She scrambled off the bed and ran to the other side of the small cell.
Legolas paused and sat cross-legged in the center of his bed as he watched the girl try and take cover in the corner before she figured out that it was another trick.
"You stop that right now!" She said angrily. "It is not funny!"
"I do not think that it is." Legolas answered. "Eressa, please. Tell me what is going on. Is it the dream? You awoke so frightened and ever since then you've been terrified of me. Tell me so I do not have to continue to force the truth out of you."
Eressa glared at him for a minute but then gave up. She would tell him enough to satisfy him, nothing else.
"No. The dream had nothing to do with you." She lied. "I woke screaming because I dreamt of Sauron."
Legolas sat up abrubtly. "Sauron? What happened?"
"He spoke to me…" Eressa began, trying to remember what she had tried so hard to forget. "He said that I would love him…as I love myself."
Legolas pondered this for a bit. He too had had nightmares in which the Dark Lord spoke to him. He didn't blame Eressa for being frightened.
"But then why the fear of me?" He asked.
Eressa tried to think of one last excuse. But then she countered Legolas's question with on of her own. "Legolas, first tell me this: Did you lie when we first met and you said you weren't interested in me?"
The look on the elf's face was one of shock and bewilderment. It would have been amusing to Eressa to see if she hadn't been so serious.
"You mean to ask: Do I want you?" He confirmed.
Eressa nodded her head, eager to get an answer. It wouldn't come in the way she expected.
Suddenly Legolas began to laugh. "No…no…Eressa." He said between breaths. "My interest in you has only been in friendship. What gave you this idea?"
Eressa sighed. "My friend Aleka. She is extremely interested in you…" At this Legolas raised an eyebrow, but Eressa continued. "…and I, and she wanted to know about everything, so I told her, somehow she convinced me that…that you didn't take me like you were supposed to the first night because you wanted to…seduce me slowly."
Eressa finished with another, more relieved sigh. It actually felt good to tell the truth. Still, her untold part of her dream floated in her thoughts. But she wouldn't tell Legolas about that. It was far too embarrassing.
Meanwhile, Legolas couldn't believe what Eressa was telling him. "And this Aleka is a friend of yours?"
"Yes."
"And she told you that I was seducing you?" Legolas said this with a great amount of humor in his voice.
"Yes."
"And you believed her?"
Eressa rolled her eyes. "Yes! I was a fool. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," Legolas giggled. "It was an…an honest…mistake." He couldn't take it any longer, and burst into laughter. He tried his best to muffle his sounds with his hand.
"I don't find it that funny." Eressa said flatly. "Nor what you did to me. You scared me. I thought you would…" Her voice trailed off.
"Take you against your will?" Legolas finished. His face became serious. "Eressa, I would never, ever touch you if you didn't want me too. Unless of course I needed to find out anything else from you." He jested. "Is there anything else you need to reveal to me?"
Eressa was careful to not answer too quickly this time. "No." She said calmly.
Legolas nodded his head. "Good. I am tired. Shall we sleep?" He asked. "You are free to sleep on the floor now, the water has drained out." He said, stamping his foot into the now dry dirt.
"Yes. I am tired also. Let us sleep." Eressa said with a smile. She was glad that she at least had told Legolas some of the things that had been bothering her. It was much better than living in fear all the time. She thanked the elf kindly as he handed her his blanket. Spreading it out on the floor, she laid down on it. Legolas was busy trying in vain to find a comfortable position on the bed.
"Goodnight Legolas." She said softly, knowing the elf could hear her.
Legolas finally gave up and laid flatly on his back. "Goodnight Eressa." He replied with a smile. He turned away, but then turned back again. "Eressa?"
"Yes?"
"I'm glad you told me what was wrong."
Eressa forced a smile. She just wanted to forget about his matter and move on. "So am I. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Eressa turned over on her side, facing away from the elf. He hoped tonight she wouldn't have another dream.
********Personal thingy**********
AN: Yes, I know, the chapters are shorter and all…sorry! This one is longer…I hope.
breeNbloom: Holy moly you wrote a lot of reviews…thanks! I'm glad you like golf…me, I never tried it, so I wouldn't know if it's fun or not. Good job getting good grades in school! We haven't even started giving quizzes yet at my school, but I do have math homework. Ugh.
Glad you like my 18th chapter! I'm also glad you thought that Sauron was scary. I was aiming for that really hard.
Yay! You got The Two Towers DVD! I rented it from Blockbuster the first week it was out, but I haven't been back since since school started.
Yeah, you're right, that elevator thing with the cow would probably work. We have an elevator to! *bangs head* Why didn't I think of that?
Thanks again, Bree! Bye!
doll: Why am I cruel? *is confused* Why am I cruel? *hops to work* I'm updating, I'm updating! Thanks for the compliments! I hoped you liked this chapter! Bye, and thanks again!
Anolinde: Oh, ok. Computers are screwy.
Yep! Cliff hangers! I like them, except when I really really want to know the ending or what comes next and all that stuff. Thanks a bunch!
Ayriel Greenleaf: Hi! I'm very glad you enjoyed my story and eagerly await more! I hoped you liked this chapter! Thank you!
Whitecoyote: I updated! *points at computer* See!? Okay, graphic but you liked it. I'm getting a lot of support on my love scenes. I wanna write more. Yay!
Oh, too bad you haven't gotten to see Pirates again. But good news: It comes out on DVD on December 2! Ain't that soon? I can't wait!!! Next chapter is in the making! Thank you very much!
The Noble Platypus: Hey! You feeling suspense really makes me happy! As you read here, you saw what Eressa has done so far…but later….hum….
I try to make the chapters longer but then I write a really good cliffhanger and I want to keep it there instead of scrapping it and writing more! I'm sorry it's so short! I'm trying to get to the actual story part of the uh…story as fast as I can!
You ask a lot of questions! I want to answer them, but I can't, otherwise I'd ruin the suspense for you! Sorry! But I'll tell you this much. Aleka (Eressa's friend) isn't gonna blab to anybody. But she's gonna become very helpful later on in the story. You'll see why then.
Thanks for all your compliments, Platy! I wuv you! Bye now!
Samwise the Strong: Smack Leggy game? I like the sound of that! *smacks Leggy on the bum*
Leggy: *jumps up twenty feet in the air* AHHH!! Rape! Rape! Rape!
Roseblade: *grins evily* I wish!
Leggy: *shudders*
You: *laughs*
Ok, maybe that didn't go over so well either…oh well. *pokes you* There. Your turn. *sets sights on Leggy*
Leggy: *eyes widen* Run away! *begins to run away*
Roseblade: *catches Leggy and ties him to a chair*
Leggy: *yells* HELP!! SOMEBODY!! ANYBO—
Roseblade: *duck tapes his mouth* There. *pokes him while he wriggles* Your turn!!
Yay! I'm lots of fun!! Hooray! Thanks, your lots of fun too! Even more, cuz you're the one who thought of this game! Thanks you! Bye now!
XxDarkgoddessxX: Hey 6th person! Yes, we could go on forever, couldn't we? We could, cuz you review almost every chapter anyways, and I have a lot to write yet in the story, so I'm betting we could do it!! Wanna try?
This is the shortest review you've ever written me, I think!! Only two lines! I'm disappointed in you! Just kidding!
Hey, um….I got some further questions about Inuyasha…could you answer them if you know them? I know I must be getting annoying but I really really really want to know these things and none of the websites I visited went into much detail. Kay. Here goes:
a) Does Sesshumaru have one arm? I remember that Naraku gave him a demon arm to use once. And if he does, how did he lose it?
b) You said that Rin and Sesshumaru 'grow together'exactly how and why? It must have something to do with him bringing her back to live with his sword, but that's all I know!
c) What's the chick with the giant boomarang's name?
Thanks for everything! I promise I won't bother you anymore about this! Thanks again! Bye now!
itaridle-elenastar: Thanks a bunch! Yeah, Eressa want's to not believe her friend, but now she's all paranoid because that little voice of her head is going "What if?" Well, I don't know if Legolas couldn't possibly do anything stupid. The way I see it is that elves are near perfect, but not perfect. There'd be no story if Legolas was perfect. Thanks again!
Starknight: Yah, Yah! Like skip every gym class so you can take it with me! Or maybe you (or me) can go to guidance and get our classes switched! It was so much more fun with you!
About the big long paragraph that involved being graphic and Schindler's List: Explain symbolize. What should I symbolize?? *is confused* I don't get all that Honors Composition stuff!
Glad you liked how I'm shaping the character of Eressa! How'd you like her in this chapter?
It's ok your slow at reviewing, as long as you review! I forgive you! Bye Louis, and hopefully I'll see you again at school! And thanks!
Nikki: Wow, ok. You just started school early. You know what, I'm gonna be seventeen when I graduate from highschool (I'm a young'un!), so we have a little in common! Other than thinking Legolas is hot and steamy and all!
I'll probably never get the guts to move out when I have to go to college! I love my parents!
You betcha, I love long reviews, so go on ahead!
Thanks a lot, Nikki! And I can never hear that too much, your right! Bye!
Ral: Oh, thanks! Legolas esta suave? Is that how you say it? Kay. Thanks for saying you love my story, that means a lot to me! And I'll probably get a little more graphic with the love scenes, but not too much cuz my friend Louis will beat me (hehe, Hi Louis) and my little eleven year old sister reads this story too and I wouldn't want to scar her. Thanks for your suggestions though! Bye!
Chandra: Well, you're here right now! Too bad your computer isn't working very well! You do know that you have to have a signed in pen name to have a favorites list, don't you?
Ohmigosh…my bird is over the hill! LOL. Pixie always wants to eat whatever you're eating or drinking. One time he drank some of my dad's beer, and another time he fell in a tall glass reaching for the water at the bottom and I freaked out and dumped all the water out on the table and then went to the sink and got him out. He also has a tendency to fly straight into the water when you do the dishes! Silly bird…
Yeah, highschool is really confusing…I learned that my freshman year. But listen to all the adults that tell you it will be the best time of your life—it sure is for me! You just gotta get over the different classes and make new friends. Then it's fun!
Oh, I wish I could learn elvish! I can't find any good websites that are complete and there's no way I'd be able to memorize it all!
Yeah, I think a lot of stuff is funny when it really isn't. Like when I hit my hand on something really hard in the middle of class and it hurts like hell and I just burst out laughing! Yeah I'm weird. Thanks! Bye now!