AUTHOR'S NOTE: Let me begin by saying how EXTREMELY sorry I am for
this update taking so long. I have been grounded from the internet for
quite a while and therefore could not update. I'm back now, but updates may
be a week or two apart because my Algebra 2 Honors teacher is the devil.
no, I mean it. Anyway, with hours of homework every day plus the work of
filling out an application for a school I want to go to, it is a little
difficult to update as often as I did during the summer but I will try my
best. You are encouraged to send me a nasty email if I take longer than
usual, I assure you that it will speed me up, though not as much as reviews
will (hint hint!), so I am going to let you read the chapter now so maybe
you'll like it enough to review and then that will prompt me to write and
post another chapter and you'll review for that one, then I'll write
another.. See, its like a snowball (or domino, whichever one gives you a
better visual here) effect! So read, review, read, review, read, review...
Stranded:
I do not know exactly when I fell asleep, but I was awakened by water. At first I thought Legolas had splashed me while I slept and I opened my eyes set to kill him, but within seconds I realized it was raining.
"Come on, we need to get inside," he said as he pulled me to my feet. It started to downpour instead of the light rain it had started out as, and Legolas hurriedly led me through the trees to the path.
When we reached the path, I realized we were going the wrong way. I pointed this out to Legolas, but he replied, "We are closer to my home and we need to get out of this as soon as possible. With rain this heavy the path will be flooded soon." I thought that it was as close to my home from where we had been at the stream as it was to the palace, but I had not really been paying attention when he had led the way there, so I said nothing as he grabbed my hand to pull me along faster behind him. By the time we could see the palace in the distance, the mucky water on the path was nearly ankle deep.
"Oh no!" I said as we neared the edge of the clearing. "I forgot my tunic! I cannot go into the palace sopping wet with only a under-tunic and trousers on!" I had rarely been into the palace. Aldeon and I usually met Legolas in the woods or out in the gardens by the palace, and I was kind of nervous. The fact that I was half-dressed was not helping matters any. My under-tunic was soaked and therefore was very. clingy. Legolas stopped and pulled his shirt off. He handed me his thicker tunic after peeling the soaked under-tunic out. He put the under-tunic back on. "You cannot-", I began but Legolas interrupted.
"I live there, Mara, I often wear my under-tunic when we do have any visitors about." I nodded as I put on the tunic over my own and we continued toward the gates. The guards stopped us when we got there but quickly let us through once they recognized Legolas. Like the very few other times I had been into his home, we went around to the side and up some steps to a balcony on the second story. He had an entrance that went directly into his room so he did not have to go through the front door every time he went in or out of the palace. Soon we were in his room and he was rummaging though his drawers trying to find some dry clothes. He pulled out a tunic and pair of trousers for himself, then dug a little deeper before pulling out some more and handing them to me. "They will be way too big for you, but they are the smallest I have, and they have got to be better than freezing in those wet clothes."
"Of course it is; thank you." I changed in the bathing room adjacent to his bedroom. "Do you think the weather will clear up any time soon?" I asked as I reentered his room. He had changed while I was doing the same and was attempting to brush out his hopelessly tangled hair. "Aldeon will wonder where I am if I am very late." Legolas looked at me skeptically and moved to the window, looking out.
"I would not count on the rain stopping any time soon. It looks like one of those that sticks around for quite a while, the kind that makes for the terribly gloomy days. Besides, even if it stopped right now, you would have to practically swim back with the way the path looked. I would not worry about Aldeon. I told him before we left not to expect you back any time soon. I had planned on keeping you away from your chores as long as you would let me, though I had expected to be outside instead of cooped up indoors while it rained. He will know that we would not attempt to get back in this weather."
"I suppose so," I replied. There was a momentary silence that was abruptly interrupted by Legolas's stomach growling loudly. I laughed at his reddened face. "You would not by any chance be hungry, would you?" I teased. He made a face.
"Yes, as a matter of a fact, I am. What do you say to tracking down Mastien and getting something to eat?" I readily agreed. One thing I had leaned in my rare visits to the palace was that a chance to eat anything fixed by Mastien, the palace cook, was never turned down. She always said that everybody, including Legolas, my brother, and I, was too thin and she always made it her personal duty to plump them up a bit.
We headed for the kitchen, and immediately upon reaching our destination we head a disapproving tsk-ing sound.
"Did you two skip lunch again?" Mastien said. "You know, one of these days you will come to me for food and I will not feed you so maybe you will come to meals when you are supposed to."
"No you will not," contradicted Legolas. "You would not pass up an opportunity to put some more food in us and you know it." Mastien raised her eyebrows at him and pushed a plate that he was reaching for out of his reach. "We were at the stream when it started raining and had to get back here and dry off," Legolas explained, sighing as the plate was once more moved out of his reach. Mastien held out the plate to me.
"Guests, especially ladies, are served first," she chided Legolas teasingly. "But that explains why Mara is wearing your clothes." I smiled my thanks and accepted the plate, taking a particularly tasty looking morsel before passing the plate to Legolas. "I suppose you have managed to avoid Marilla since you have returned home," Mastien said lightly. Legolas's expression soured at the name.
"Marilla?" I said. "Who would this be?"
"Ah, Legolas has not told you of his lady love, then?" Mastien said mischievously.
" 'Lady love'?" said Legolas scornfully. "I think not."
"Who is she then?" I pressed. His silence prompted a chuckle from Mastien.
"I am sure if you are here for long, which you surely will be, the way the weather is looking, you will have the pleasure of meeting her yourself," said the mirthful elf. Her prediction soon proved correct.
Legolas and I ate our fill (much to Mastien's chargrin, because she said that we would not eat our dinner) and he suggested that we walk around for a bit, since we could not go outside for obvious reasons. I was constantly asking what all the rooms we passed were for, and Legolas was in the middle of a reply when we head a shrill voice behind us.
"Prince Legolas! You did not tell me that there would be a visitor arriving today!" I heard Legolas groan quietly beside me as we turned to face a very tall thin maiden. I saw her raise her eyebrows at me, not even attempting to hide her disapproval. "Oh," was all she said. She raised her pointy nose a bit higher in the air than it already had been.
"I did not know until today that Maranwe would be here," Legolas replied, then added politely, "Maranwe, this is Marilla, Marilla, this is Maranwe." I smiled at her but she just glanced down her nose at me.
"Why are you wearing those clothes? Trousers? Very unladylike," she said haughtily. Legolas shifted towards me a bit, in a protective manner.
"We were caught out in the storm earlier and her clothes were soaked so I let her borrow some of mine while hers dried," he replied tolerantly.
"Oh, how kind of you," Marilla replied in a sickeningly sweet voice as she turned to Legolas. She batted her eyes at him a bit and tried to step between him and me. I had to keep myself from laughing when neither Legolas nor me would budge to let her in. She stepped back, somewhat embarrassed. "Well I must go; I was on my way to see my father. I will see you at dinner, Legolas", she said, batting her lashes in time with her words. She glanced back down at me before brushing past me and hurrying down the hallway. She turned a corner and the chuckle I had been holding in since she looked down her imperious nose at me busted out.
"She had better not go outside," I told Legolas. He looked puzzled.
"Why not?"
"Because she has her nose stuck up so much I believe she would drown with the way the weather is now," I giggled.
"Yes, she has always been like that. Her father is a high-up in the army, so she lives in the palace. She thinks that everybody is alive to tend to her needs. She only tolerates my father and I because she has the idea that she can someday become princess, or queen, through me." I raised my eyebrows at this and he laughed a little. "What she does not seem to understand is that I can hardly stand to be in the same room with her, much less marry her. I cannot stand how she treats people who she sees as being 'under' her. That was absolutely infuriating, how she talked to you." I shrugged.
"It was not that bad. What do I care if she thinks I am below her? That's just her opinion." Legolas smiled again and slung his arm about my shoulders in a friendly way.
"Right, and I do not think you are below anybody. Anyway, like I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, this room on the left is used for storing different types of weaponry, and this one on the right is.."
A/N: Ok, I only have one request.. PLEASE review!!
Stranded:
I do not know exactly when I fell asleep, but I was awakened by water. At first I thought Legolas had splashed me while I slept and I opened my eyes set to kill him, but within seconds I realized it was raining.
"Come on, we need to get inside," he said as he pulled me to my feet. It started to downpour instead of the light rain it had started out as, and Legolas hurriedly led me through the trees to the path.
When we reached the path, I realized we were going the wrong way. I pointed this out to Legolas, but he replied, "We are closer to my home and we need to get out of this as soon as possible. With rain this heavy the path will be flooded soon." I thought that it was as close to my home from where we had been at the stream as it was to the palace, but I had not really been paying attention when he had led the way there, so I said nothing as he grabbed my hand to pull me along faster behind him. By the time we could see the palace in the distance, the mucky water on the path was nearly ankle deep.
"Oh no!" I said as we neared the edge of the clearing. "I forgot my tunic! I cannot go into the palace sopping wet with only a under-tunic and trousers on!" I had rarely been into the palace. Aldeon and I usually met Legolas in the woods or out in the gardens by the palace, and I was kind of nervous. The fact that I was half-dressed was not helping matters any. My under-tunic was soaked and therefore was very. clingy. Legolas stopped and pulled his shirt off. He handed me his thicker tunic after peeling the soaked under-tunic out. He put the under-tunic back on. "You cannot-", I began but Legolas interrupted.
"I live there, Mara, I often wear my under-tunic when we do have any visitors about." I nodded as I put on the tunic over my own and we continued toward the gates. The guards stopped us when we got there but quickly let us through once they recognized Legolas. Like the very few other times I had been into his home, we went around to the side and up some steps to a balcony on the second story. He had an entrance that went directly into his room so he did not have to go through the front door every time he went in or out of the palace. Soon we were in his room and he was rummaging though his drawers trying to find some dry clothes. He pulled out a tunic and pair of trousers for himself, then dug a little deeper before pulling out some more and handing them to me. "They will be way too big for you, but they are the smallest I have, and they have got to be better than freezing in those wet clothes."
"Of course it is; thank you." I changed in the bathing room adjacent to his bedroom. "Do you think the weather will clear up any time soon?" I asked as I reentered his room. He had changed while I was doing the same and was attempting to brush out his hopelessly tangled hair. "Aldeon will wonder where I am if I am very late." Legolas looked at me skeptically and moved to the window, looking out.
"I would not count on the rain stopping any time soon. It looks like one of those that sticks around for quite a while, the kind that makes for the terribly gloomy days. Besides, even if it stopped right now, you would have to practically swim back with the way the path looked. I would not worry about Aldeon. I told him before we left not to expect you back any time soon. I had planned on keeping you away from your chores as long as you would let me, though I had expected to be outside instead of cooped up indoors while it rained. He will know that we would not attempt to get back in this weather."
"I suppose so," I replied. There was a momentary silence that was abruptly interrupted by Legolas's stomach growling loudly. I laughed at his reddened face. "You would not by any chance be hungry, would you?" I teased. He made a face.
"Yes, as a matter of a fact, I am. What do you say to tracking down Mastien and getting something to eat?" I readily agreed. One thing I had leaned in my rare visits to the palace was that a chance to eat anything fixed by Mastien, the palace cook, was never turned down. She always said that everybody, including Legolas, my brother, and I, was too thin and she always made it her personal duty to plump them up a bit.
We headed for the kitchen, and immediately upon reaching our destination we head a disapproving tsk-ing sound.
"Did you two skip lunch again?" Mastien said. "You know, one of these days you will come to me for food and I will not feed you so maybe you will come to meals when you are supposed to."
"No you will not," contradicted Legolas. "You would not pass up an opportunity to put some more food in us and you know it." Mastien raised her eyebrows at him and pushed a plate that he was reaching for out of his reach. "We were at the stream when it started raining and had to get back here and dry off," Legolas explained, sighing as the plate was once more moved out of his reach. Mastien held out the plate to me.
"Guests, especially ladies, are served first," she chided Legolas teasingly. "But that explains why Mara is wearing your clothes." I smiled my thanks and accepted the plate, taking a particularly tasty looking morsel before passing the plate to Legolas. "I suppose you have managed to avoid Marilla since you have returned home," Mastien said lightly. Legolas's expression soured at the name.
"Marilla?" I said. "Who would this be?"
"Ah, Legolas has not told you of his lady love, then?" Mastien said mischievously.
" 'Lady love'?" said Legolas scornfully. "I think not."
"Who is she then?" I pressed. His silence prompted a chuckle from Mastien.
"I am sure if you are here for long, which you surely will be, the way the weather is looking, you will have the pleasure of meeting her yourself," said the mirthful elf. Her prediction soon proved correct.
Legolas and I ate our fill (much to Mastien's chargrin, because she said that we would not eat our dinner) and he suggested that we walk around for a bit, since we could not go outside for obvious reasons. I was constantly asking what all the rooms we passed were for, and Legolas was in the middle of a reply when we head a shrill voice behind us.
"Prince Legolas! You did not tell me that there would be a visitor arriving today!" I heard Legolas groan quietly beside me as we turned to face a very tall thin maiden. I saw her raise her eyebrows at me, not even attempting to hide her disapproval. "Oh," was all she said. She raised her pointy nose a bit higher in the air than it already had been.
"I did not know until today that Maranwe would be here," Legolas replied, then added politely, "Maranwe, this is Marilla, Marilla, this is Maranwe." I smiled at her but she just glanced down her nose at me.
"Why are you wearing those clothes? Trousers? Very unladylike," she said haughtily. Legolas shifted towards me a bit, in a protective manner.
"We were caught out in the storm earlier and her clothes were soaked so I let her borrow some of mine while hers dried," he replied tolerantly.
"Oh, how kind of you," Marilla replied in a sickeningly sweet voice as she turned to Legolas. She batted her eyes at him a bit and tried to step between him and me. I had to keep myself from laughing when neither Legolas nor me would budge to let her in. She stepped back, somewhat embarrassed. "Well I must go; I was on my way to see my father. I will see you at dinner, Legolas", she said, batting her lashes in time with her words. She glanced back down at me before brushing past me and hurrying down the hallway. She turned a corner and the chuckle I had been holding in since she looked down her imperious nose at me busted out.
"She had better not go outside," I told Legolas. He looked puzzled.
"Why not?"
"Because she has her nose stuck up so much I believe she would drown with the way the weather is now," I giggled.
"Yes, she has always been like that. Her father is a high-up in the army, so she lives in the palace. She thinks that everybody is alive to tend to her needs. She only tolerates my father and I because she has the idea that she can someday become princess, or queen, through me." I raised my eyebrows at this and he laughed a little. "What she does not seem to understand is that I can hardly stand to be in the same room with her, much less marry her. I cannot stand how she treats people who she sees as being 'under' her. That was absolutely infuriating, how she talked to you." I shrugged.
"It was not that bad. What do I care if she thinks I am below her? That's just her opinion." Legolas smiled again and slung his arm about my shoulders in a friendly way.
"Right, and I do not think you are below anybody. Anyway, like I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, this room on the left is used for storing different types of weaponry, and this one on the right is.."
A/N: Ok, I only have one request.. PLEASE review!!