AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, Elvenstar has rescues me from my crazy muses, but a
certain crazy hobbit has now chained me to the keyboard!! Hopefully someone
will release me, because if I am in bad mood as I write, who knows what may
happen. . . we would not want anything bad to happen to Mara or Aldeon. . .
or Legolas, would we? *evil grin*. Anyway, keep that in mind as you enjoy
this latest product of my captivity. Review responses at the end if you
care to read them. By the way, credit for the title goes to my friend Owen,
the newly crowned human thesaurus!
Surrealistically Afraid:
"You are as tense as the bowstring itself," Legolas complained as he was trying to get me to relax at the archery practice field.
"And what else would I be?" I replied, glancing around warily. "I agreed to come out here with you only to find that I am the only female here. You could have warned me. Now they are all staring at me as if I have two heads," I said glancing at the elves across the field.
"No," Legolas objected. "They are looking at you as if they admire you for learning to defend yourself. Which *is* what we are here for, so go ahead and take aim."
"What, no advice first? I have no idea what I am doing! I only know how to hold the stupid thing because I have watched you practice so many times." Legolas sighed and took the bow and an arrow.
"You keep this elbow locked," he said, pointing to his left arm which held the bow. "That will help keep the shot steady. Then you just notch the arrow," he explained as he did so, "aim, and release." The arrow sailed directly to the middle of the target.
"You make it look too easy," I grumbled. "I know there must be more to it than that." I took the bow, locked my elbow, notched the bow, and - that is about as far as I got before I began complaining again. "Legolas, this string is so taut I can hardly move it!"
"I did not think of that," he said with a furrowed brow. "I suppose you cannot use my bow, so until you can get one of your own. . ." he waved over a very young elf, no more than thirty would be my guess, from the sword practice area across the field.
"Kordon, would you mind allowing Maranwe to borrow your bow while you are practicing with your sword?"
"Of course, prince," came his quick reply as he darted back across the field to bring me his bow.
"Thank you very much," I said. "Legolas may as well have a bowstring of solid steel for all I can pull it back." Kordon smiled before returning to his practice.
"Is this one strung with less tension?" I asked, and as I pulled the string, my question was answered in the affirmative.
"He is younger and less experienced," came Legolas's explanation. I took a deep breath, locked my elbow, notched the arrow, took aim, and released. I grinned when my arrow went sailing through the air, only to frown when it went sailing beyond the target.
"What did I do wrong?" I whined.
"You are thinking too much, trying to hard to be 'technically' correct. Stand comfortably, feet further apart," he instructed. "And do not take so long to aim. You end up doubting yourself when you do that. Go with your first instincts." I did exactly as before, with the corrections he had pointed out, and squealed when the arrow imbedded itself in the target. It was a few inches from the mark, but at least I had hit something! "Good!" said Legolas. I shot five more times, and hit the target three, much to my delight, but the time I had dome that many, my shoulders were aching despite the lessened string tension.
"I will never understand how you can practice for hours," I said, reaching up to massage my shoulder as we went to return Kordon's bow.
"Thank you very much for letting me borrow it, however short a time it was," I laughed as I returned it. "I will need quite a bit more practice before I can practice half as long as everyone out here."
"It may not take as long as you think, with Prince Legolas as your teacher," he said, gesturing at Legolas, who had stopped to talk with another elf. "He is the best archer there is. He taught me when I first started."
"Yes, I cannot even remember the last time I saw him miss a mark," I commented. Legolas motioned me over and as we left the field, he laughed softly. "What?" I asked.
"I think Kordon has a crush," he said playfully.
"Nonsense!" I said. "Just because he spoke to me does not mean that he likes me. Besides, he is only an elfling."
"Ah, but elflings can have crushes, I know that from personal experience. And yes, he does like you. Not only because he spoke to you, which is in and of itself surprising, as he hardly ever talks to anyone, but also because he was staring quite blatantly at you." I still looked at Legolas incredulously. "If you still do not believe me, turn and look at him now. I wager he is watching you leave." I turned only to prove him wrong, only to whirl back around with a gasp of laughter.
"Oh my goodness! He *is* staring at me! I cannot believe. . ."
"Cannot believe what? That you have an admirer, young though he may be? You caught the eye of several elves back there, only they were more discreet about it."
"If I caught anybody's eye it was because I am probably the first female they have ever seen come to learn archery."
"Is it so unconceivable to you that male elves may be interested in you?" I had no answer except one that I knew he would not like, so I kept my mouth shut. "You underestimate yourself, Mara. Though you may not realize it, you are very beautiful." I was not quite sure where this was going. I was quite certain it was not a simple compliment. "My fear is that, because you do not realize it, you will end up getting hurt." I halted and turned to him in disbelief.
"Hurt? There is not an elf in Mirkwood, in all of Middle Earth who would hurt me," I said confidently. Whatever had given him such an idea?
"I do not mean physical hurt," he said gravely, his tone matching his expression as he placed a gentle hand where my neck met my shoulder. "Any elf, well-meaning as his intentions may be, could become enthralled by you and possibly court you; however, elves so easily drawn in by beauty are rarely content with one maiden forever. It would break my own heart to see an elf hurt yours." Although I had been aware of his eye color for as long as I could remember, I was suddenly as captivated by their intense sapphire depths as I was his tender, yet compelling, words.
"I doubt my 'beauty' would drive any elf into the state you have described, but even if that were the case, I am not yet ready to give my heart away to any elf, much less one so shallow as you have said." This brought a small smile to his lips.
"You may not think you are ready to give your heart away, but you will never truly know until it hits you. I can only hope that he will be as honorable as you deserve," he said, with what I thought was a hint of sadness in his voice. Overcome by his unexpected display of concern, I reached up, hugging him tightly around his neck and kissing his cheek before pulling back, with my hands resting on his shoulders and his around my waist where he had hugged me in return, and looked at him tenderly.
"Your concern, though probably unwarranted," I said teasingly, "is much appreciated."
"You will always have my concern."
When we reached the palace, the guard informed us that there was a visitor with Thranduil. Curious, we both headed for his throne room. Not wanting to interrupt something important, we stood outside the door a moment to listen. However, we were not as stealthy as we had thought.
"Legolas, Mara, stop eavesdropping and come in here."
"We were not eavesdropping," I explained as we entered, "Only making sure we were not interrupting you."
"Did you not use that last time Lord Elrond was here?" Thranduil asked with amusement.
"It was true then, too," I replied. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the visitor. It was not an elf, but a human, and despite my age of over a hundred, he was the first mortal I had seen. He was tall, nearly as tall as Legolas, with dark wavy hair and quite a bit of facial hair. And rounded ears, no less! As I was trying to keep from gawking, Thranduil spoke.
"This is Aragorn of Rivendell," he said. I was immediately confused. A human from Rivendell? "He is Lord Elrond's foster son," he continued. He went on to explain that he had recently found out his heritage, which was royal, and had been traveling of late. "This is my son, Legolas, and my foster daughter, Maranwe." I smiled inwardly when he introduced me as such.
As we were introduced, the human inclined his head to Legolas, saying, "A pleasure to meet you, Prince Legolas," and to my surprise, stepped forward to kiss my hand. "And yours, Lady Maranwe." I did not respond, but after looking at him, wide-eyed for a moment, glanced at Legolas for help. Legolas smiled warmly and extended his hand to Aragorn.
"Let us dispense of formalities; I am Legolas, this is Mara. If you have no further business with my father for the moment, you should join us for luncheon. We were on our way to the dining hall." He graciously accepted the offer. He and Legolas walked slightly in front of me, which gave me a chance to study Aragorn further. He was not at all what I had thought humans to be like. I had heard terrible things about human men, of how they would lie, cheat, steal, rape, and other unspeakable things, but Aragorn was friendly and courteous, speaking freely with Legolas, while I had thought all humans to be ill-mannered and ignorant. As we began eating, I decided that my idea of men had been wrong, and thought to join in on the conversation, which had turned to recent violent events in Mirkwood.
"Yes, the numbers of orcs have indeed increased," Legolas was saying. "Not only their numbers have increased, but also their brazenness. Several small bands of them have attacked guards at the border. We have had to nearly double the guard at the southern border to stop them from slipping through to any of the villages. Not very many get through, but when they do, it only results in tragedy." His eyes flickered to me as if in apology for discussing it in front of me, but I knew that Aragorn most likely needed to know this if he was to be traveling again soon. To my surprise, I saw the man catch the look Legolas had sent me and he quickly made a clear attempt to change the subject.
"Well, even for all that, Mirkwood is a beautiful forest; I very much enjoyed the scenery on the way here."
"High praise from one who was raised in the fabled beauty of Rivendell," I said with a tentative smile at the man. When I said that, he turned and smiled at me as if that was what he had been waiting for.
"Rivendell is beautiful, that is true, and to be completely truthful, I did not expect to see much beauty in Mirkwood, but there is something breathtaking about finding something new that is completely different from what you expected." I smiled inwardly at his subtle allegory and began thinking that he could end up being much more than I had bargained for.
A/N: Now for my wonderful reviewers:
The Hobbit Ivy: WHY?! *pulls at chains ineffectively*.
Willow: Brains? Patience? I have brains and patience? *tries to look up aforementioned values(which are totally unknown to her) but is stopped by chains*.
Lauren: You want more? You shall have it!
Elvenrocker: I am trying to keep up with both, but it is rather difficult, especially when I get on a roll with one (namely this one). I will update it soon, I promise!
Green*Eyed*Elf*Goddess: 'Killing you slowly'? Would it not be ironic if that had something to do with the secret.?
Elvenstar: Yay! I'm free! Kind of. Hobbit Ivy's chains kind of put a damper on the whole freedom deal. *pouts*
Coolio02: Thanks!
If I left anyone out, I am SO sorry! If I did, flame me to get my attention, lol. This will probably be the last chapter before my computer is disconnected for the 'big move'. It should get hooked back up pretty fast, but if there is a short lull in updates, that is why. Please review!!
Surrealistically Afraid:
"You are as tense as the bowstring itself," Legolas complained as he was trying to get me to relax at the archery practice field.
"And what else would I be?" I replied, glancing around warily. "I agreed to come out here with you only to find that I am the only female here. You could have warned me. Now they are all staring at me as if I have two heads," I said glancing at the elves across the field.
"No," Legolas objected. "They are looking at you as if they admire you for learning to defend yourself. Which *is* what we are here for, so go ahead and take aim."
"What, no advice first? I have no idea what I am doing! I only know how to hold the stupid thing because I have watched you practice so many times." Legolas sighed and took the bow and an arrow.
"You keep this elbow locked," he said, pointing to his left arm which held the bow. "That will help keep the shot steady. Then you just notch the arrow," he explained as he did so, "aim, and release." The arrow sailed directly to the middle of the target.
"You make it look too easy," I grumbled. "I know there must be more to it than that." I took the bow, locked my elbow, notched the bow, and - that is about as far as I got before I began complaining again. "Legolas, this string is so taut I can hardly move it!"
"I did not think of that," he said with a furrowed brow. "I suppose you cannot use my bow, so until you can get one of your own. . ." he waved over a very young elf, no more than thirty would be my guess, from the sword practice area across the field.
"Kordon, would you mind allowing Maranwe to borrow your bow while you are practicing with your sword?"
"Of course, prince," came his quick reply as he darted back across the field to bring me his bow.
"Thank you very much," I said. "Legolas may as well have a bowstring of solid steel for all I can pull it back." Kordon smiled before returning to his practice.
"Is this one strung with less tension?" I asked, and as I pulled the string, my question was answered in the affirmative.
"He is younger and less experienced," came Legolas's explanation. I took a deep breath, locked my elbow, notched the arrow, took aim, and released. I grinned when my arrow went sailing through the air, only to frown when it went sailing beyond the target.
"What did I do wrong?" I whined.
"You are thinking too much, trying to hard to be 'technically' correct. Stand comfortably, feet further apart," he instructed. "And do not take so long to aim. You end up doubting yourself when you do that. Go with your first instincts." I did exactly as before, with the corrections he had pointed out, and squealed when the arrow imbedded itself in the target. It was a few inches from the mark, but at least I had hit something! "Good!" said Legolas. I shot five more times, and hit the target three, much to my delight, but the time I had dome that many, my shoulders were aching despite the lessened string tension.
"I will never understand how you can practice for hours," I said, reaching up to massage my shoulder as we went to return Kordon's bow.
"Thank you very much for letting me borrow it, however short a time it was," I laughed as I returned it. "I will need quite a bit more practice before I can practice half as long as everyone out here."
"It may not take as long as you think, with Prince Legolas as your teacher," he said, gesturing at Legolas, who had stopped to talk with another elf. "He is the best archer there is. He taught me when I first started."
"Yes, I cannot even remember the last time I saw him miss a mark," I commented. Legolas motioned me over and as we left the field, he laughed softly. "What?" I asked.
"I think Kordon has a crush," he said playfully.
"Nonsense!" I said. "Just because he spoke to me does not mean that he likes me. Besides, he is only an elfling."
"Ah, but elflings can have crushes, I know that from personal experience. And yes, he does like you. Not only because he spoke to you, which is in and of itself surprising, as he hardly ever talks to anyone, but also because he was staring quite blatantly at you." I still looked at Legolas incredulously. "If you still do not believe me, turn and look at him now. I wager he is watching you leave." I turned only to prove him wrong, only to whirl back around with a gasp of laughter.
"Oh my goodness! He *is* staring at me! I cannot believe. . ."
"Cannot believe what? That you have an admirer, young though he may be? You caught the eye of several elves back there, only they were more discreet about it."
"If I caught anybody's eye it was because I am probably the first female they have ever seen come to learn archery."
"Is it so unconceivable to you that male elves may be interested in you?" I had no answer except one that I knew he would not like, so I kept my mouth shut. "You underestimate yourself, Mara. Though you may not realize it, you are very beautiful." I was not quite sure where this was going. I was quite certain it was not a simple compliment. "My fear is that, because you do not realize it, you will end up getting hurt." I halted and turned to him in disbelief.
"Hurt? There is not an elf in Mirkwood, in all of Middle Earth who would hurt me," I said confidently. Whatever had given him such an idea?
"I do not mean physical hurt," he said gravely, his tone matching his expression as he placed a gentle hand where my neck met my shoulder. "Any elf, well-meaning as his intentions may be, could become enthralled by you and possibly court you; however, elves so easily drawn in by beauty are rarely content with one maiden forever. It would break my own heart to see an elf hurt yours." Although I had been aware of his eye color for as long as I could remember, I was suddenly as captivated by their intense sapphire depths as I was his tender, yet compelling, words.
"I doubt my 'beauty' would drive any elf into the state you have described, but even if that were the case, I am not yet ready to give my heart away to any elf, much less one so shallow as you have said." This brought a small smile to his lips.
"You may not think you are ready to give your heart away, but you will never truly know until it hits you. I can only hope that he will be as honorable as you deserve," he said, with what I thought was a hint of sadness in his voice. Overcome by his unexpected display of concern, I reached up, hugging him tightly around his neck and kissing his cheek before pulling back, with my hands resting on his shoulders and his around my waist where he had hugged me in return, and looked at him tenderly.
"Your concern, though probably unwarranted," I said teasingly, "is much appreciated."
"You will always have my concern."
When we reached the palace, the guard informed us that there was a visitor with Thranduil. Curious, we both headed for his throne room. Not wanting to interrupt something important, we stood outside the door a moment to listen. However, we were not as stealthy as we had thought.
"Legolas, Mara, stop eavesdropping and come in here."
"We were not eavesdropping," I explained as we entered, "Only making sure we were not interrupting you."
"Did you not use that last time Lord Elrond was here?" Thranduil asked with amusement.
"It was true then, too," I replied. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the visitor. It was not an elf, but a human, and despite my age of over a hundred, he was the first mortal I had seen. He was tall, nearly as tall as Legolas, with dark wavy hair and quite a bit of facial hair. And rounded ears, no less! As I was trying to keep from gawking, Thranduil spoke.
"This is Aragorn of Rivendell," he said. I was immediately confused. A human from Rivendell? "He is Lord Elrond's foster son," he continued. He went on to explain that he had recently found out his heritage, which was royal, and had been traveling of late. "This is my son, Legolas, and my foster daughter, Maranwe." I smiled inwardly when he introduced me as such.
As we were introduced, the human inclined his head to Legolas, saying, "A pleasure to meet you, Prince Legolas," and to my surprise, stepped forward to kiss my hand. "And yours, Lady Maranwe." I did not respond, but after looking at him, wide-eyed for a moment, glanced at Legolas for help. Legolas smiled warmly and extended his hand to Aragorn.
"Let us dispense of formalities; I am Legolas, this is Mara. If you have no further business with my father for the moment, you should join us for luncheon. We were on our way to the dining hall." He graciously accepted the offer. He and Legolas walked slightly in front of me, which gave me a chance to study Aragorn further. He was not at all what I had thought humans to be like. I had heard terrible things about human men, of how they would lie, cheat, steal, rape, and other unspeakable things, but Aragorn was friendly and courteous, speaking freely with Legolas, while I had thought all humans to be ill-mannered and ignorant. As we began eating, I decided that my idea of men had been wrong, and thought to join in on the conversation, which had turned to recent violent events in Mirkwood.
"Yes, the numbers of orcs have indeed increased," Legolas was saying. "Not only their numbers have increased, but also their brazenness. Several small bands of them have attacked guards at the border. We have had to nearly double the guard at the southern border to stop them from slipping through to any of the villages. Not very many get through, but when they do, it only results in tragedy." His eyes flickered to me as if in apology for discussing it in front of me, but I knew that Aragorn most likely needed to know this if he was to be traveling again soon. To my surprise, I saw the man catch the look Legolas had sent me and he quickly made a clear attempt to change the subject.
"Well, even for all that, Mirkwood is a beautiful forest; I very much enjoyed the scenery on the way here."
"High praise from one who was raised in the fabled beauty of Rivendell," I said with a tentative smile at the man. When I said that, he turned and smiled at me as if that was what he had been waiting for.
"Rivendell is beautiful, that is true, and to be completely truthful, I did not expect to see much beauty in Mirkwood, but there is something breathtaking about finding something new that is completely different from what you expected." I smiled inwardly at his subtle allegory and began thinking that he could end up being much more than I had bargained for.
A/N: Now for my wonderful reviewers:
The Hobbit Ivy: WHY?! *pulls at chains ineffectively*.
Willow: Brains? Patience? I have brains and patience? *tries to look up aforementioned values(which are totally unknown to her) but is stopped by chains*.
Lauren: You want more? You shall have it!
Elvenrocker: I am trying to keep up with both, but it is rather difficult, especially when I get on a roll with one (namely this one). I will update it soon, I promise!
Green*Eyed*Elf*Goddess: 'Killing you slowly'? Would it not be ironic if that had something to do with the secret.?
Elvenstar: Yay! I'm free! Kind of. Hobbit Ivy's chains kind of put a damper on the whole freedom deal. *pouts*
Coolio02: Thanks!
If I left anyone out, I am SO sorry! If I did, flame me to get my attention, lol. This will probably be the last chapter before my computer is disconnected for the 'big move'. It should get hooked back up pretty fast, but if there is a short lull in updates, that is why. Please review!!