CHAPTER 2 Tour of Mirkwood
"If you would follow me please" said Legolas as he led them down a hall. As they were walking Legolas asked, "Where is Evermeet? I've never heard of it." "It's very far away. It took the better part of a year just to reach Rivendell," Yesel replied. "And are all Evermeet elves as skilled as you in archery," he queried. "No, there are many that are superior to me." "Don't let her modesty fool you Legolas. In Evermeet she is as unrivaled as you are here in Mirkwood." "Father, you are too biased to say such things," Yesel said blushing. With that, they arrived at their rooms. "Yesel, would you like a tour of Mirkwood?" "Sure Legolas, that sounds fun." "I'll be by in about an hour." He turned and left. Yesel watched his retreat back down the hall. Her gaze was broken when she heard her father laugh. "Do you fancy Legolas my daughter? He seems taken by you." "Father quit your teasing. He was only being polite to strangers in his land." "Perhaps, but I noticed the young prince did not extend his invitation to me, just to you." Yesel blushed once again. Largolas chuckled at his daughter's discomfort. "Yesel, I haven't seen you blush this much since Eosred kissed you in front of everyone at the summer festival last year." Yesel smiled at her father's teasing. "Have fun on your tour daughter," he said as he kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you this evening. Come to my room when you are ready to go to the feast, and I will escort you to the hall." He went into his room. Yesel went into hers to freshen up a bit.
An hour later, she heard a knock on her door. She opened it to find a smiling Legolas. "Are you ready for your tour," he asked her. "Yes. Let the fun commence," she replied. She grabbed her bow and tied her sword around her waist. As they were walking down the hall Legolas asked her, "are you as good with that sword as you are with your bow?" "I'd rather use the bow, but the sword is useful." "Where did you get it? I've never seen one that looks like that before." It was my teacher Geland's. He bequeathed it to me when he fell in battle." "Is he the one who taught you your archery skills?" "No. He believed in actual hand to hand combat. He did not appreciate the delicacy and finesse needed to be an archer." They had left the palace and were crossing the courtyard. "Would you like to see the waterfall," he asked her. "Yes. I would."
He led her into the forest. "I am greatly impressed with your archery skills Yesel. How did you come to be an archer?" "Well, I was never one for sitting still. I never had the patience to become a scholar, and while I love and respect my father, I never wanted to learn magic. When I was young my father gave me a bow. That was the beginning. I learned from some of the greatest fighters in Evermeet. Luckily I did have some skill, although at first my teacher Silivan thought that I would never become adept at it. I'm afraid I had more fun playing tricks on him than I did in learning. At first that is," she laughed. "What happened to change that?" "One day he told my father about some prank I had played. That night my father had a talk with me. He told me that he had expected better from me, and that maybe he had been mistaken in taking me on his journeys. That was all I needed to hear, because I loved traveling with him. The next day I went to Silivan and the rest of my teachers and apologized for my actions. I told them I wanted to take their instructions seriously from now on. I did and actually became a skilled warrior. Although I never lost my penchant for tricks," she said as she grinned mischievously. He returned her grin with one of his own. "I've been known to pull a few pranks of my own," he told her. He stopped. She looked at him. "Close you eyes and give me your hands" "Why?" "Just do it, please" "Alright" She closed her eyes and held out her hands. He grasped them in his and led her a few paces. He let go of her hands and went behind he. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her a bit. "Now open your eyes," he instructed her. She did and gasped. In front of her was a waterfall. It was about 15 feet from the top to where it landed in a pool. Sunlight broke through the trees and danced over the water which was a beautiful blue green color. The pool was surrounded by the greenest, softest looking moss that she had ever seen. There were several large rocks the jutted out into the pool. Clustered at one end were several bushes filled with pale pink roses. The whole place gave off an air of peaceful serenity. "It's beautiful Legolas," she said turning to face him. He smiled at her delight. "This is my most favorite spot in all of Mirkwood. I enjoy coming here to think and relax." "I can see why. I wish I had my harp with me. This would be a great place to be inspired." "You play the harp?" "A little. My mother taught me. When Gresson and I were children we'd sit for hours at a time and listen to her play. That was the only thing in the world that could get me to sit still for more than 5 minutes." "Who's Gresson?" "My younger brother. Do you have any siblings?" "No. I'm an only child. Do you have any more siblings?" "No. It's just Gresson and me. My parents used to say that they couldn't handle any more children. We didn't make life easy for them." "Is your brother as good as you with a bow?" "No. Gresson's talents lie elsewhere. He's a scholar. When we left, he'd just become involved with the master library. Is the pool deep enough for swimming?" "I think so. I've never gone in before" "Well, there's a first time for everything," she said as she took off her sword and laid her bow on the ground and dived in. She swam around for a bit. "Come on in Legolas. The water is fine." "I don't think so." "I understand if you're scared," she teased him. "I'm not scared. I just don't wish to go swimming right now." "Alright, I'll get out then."
She started to swim over to the shore when she suddenly went under the water. She came back up sputtering. "Help me Legolas. Something has a hold of my leg." She went back under. Legolas dropped his bow on the ground and dived in. He swam over to the last place he had seen her and ducked under the water. He couldn't see her. He came back up and was going to dive back down when he heard laughter. He turned towards it and saw her standing on the shore. She had her hands on her hips and was laughing at him. "How'd you get there? I thought you were drowning." "I swam under you before you dived under the first time." "How could you do that to me?" "It got you in the water didn't it," she said smugly. He laughed. "Will you help me out?" "Sure." She walked over and gave him her hand. He pulled her back into the water. She came up laughing. She swam over to the shore and climbed out again. "Shall we go on my lady?" "Ok."
They left the waterfall and climbed the bank beside it. About 150 feet from the top of the waterfall they came upon a bridge. "This is the only way across the river without swimming," he told her. "What's on the other side?" "Evil. There are giant spiders, and I've heard that orcs live over there." "Do they ever come over on this side?" "Not that I can remember. We tend to leave one another alone." "Are you ready to head back to the palace? We've been gone for a few hours now. We should have enough time to get back and get ready for the feast tonight." They headed back towards the palace. On the way they passed a circle of violets, each of which was about 5 times the normal size of a violet. She knelt down to smell them. She blushed a little when she saw Legolas looking at her. "I love violets. They're my favorite flower. I've never seen violets of this size before. Who grew them?" "No one grew them. They've always been there." He helped her up. "Thank you" The continued back to the palace.
In the courtyard they saw two elves practicing with swords. "Do you want to take a turn Yesel? I'd like to see what you can do with that sword," Legolas said. She nodded. "Alaingath, Nomlas which one of you would like to take on our visitor." "Not just one, both of them," she said confidently. They looked at her. She smiled back at them innocently. Legolas gestured to them and said, "The lady must know what she's doing. Go ahead." She withdrew her sword and waited for their attack. Alaingath charged right in. Yesel easily sidestepped him and brought her sword up under his and sent it flying. Legolas laughed at the look of surprise that was on his face. Nomlas took his time and advanced slowly. He feinted to one side and when she made to go that way he quickly brought his sword up, and was met by Yesel's sword. Legolas whistled softly. He hadn't thought that anyone could move that fast or be that graceful with a sword. He and Alaingath watched as Yesel and Nomlas exchanged thrusts. Legolas got the impression that she could end it at any time she wanted to and was just giving Nomlas practice. She met his eyes and grinned, and before anyone knew anything she had disarmed Nomlas, and was holding his sword in her other hand. Legolas clapped his hands. Yesel held his sword back out to him. He took it with a bow and said, "Thank you my Lady. I enjoyed that, I have not seen a better swordsman and I have seen Aragorn fight. You rival his skill." He bowed and then him and Alaingath left. "That was indeed impressive, and Nomlas was right. You do rival Aragorn, and he is the best I've ever seen with a sword." He laughed. "Let's go inside." He escorted her to her room. "Thank you for the tour and a wonderful afternoon," she told him. "I'll see you tonight at the feast." She gave him a little kiss on the check and went into her room. Legolas smiled and started to go to his own room, then stopped and headed back outside.
Yesel took a bath and had just finished dressing when she heard a knock on her door. She answered it expecting her father, but instead saw a small child. The girl smiled, and held out a box. "For you Lady," she said. Yesel took the box and said, "Who's it from?" "Prince Legolas," came the response. The girl dropped a curtsy and left. Bemused, she closed the door and crossed to the bed. She sat down and opened the box. She removed a wreath of violets and a note that read, "Lovely flowers for a lovely lady. I enjoyed the afternoon too." Yesel laughed softly. She took the wreath and went over to the mirror. She brushed out her long hair and placed the wreath on her head. She gave herself a final once over then left her room and went to her father's room.