A Rescue and a Request:
"He has you going with * who? * ," Aragorn cackled while trying to balance himself. He was laughing so hard he had to lower his feet from where he had them perched on the chair across from him. He had obviously become quite comfortable in Thranduil's home in the past two months.
"He does not *have* me going with anybody. Thranduil simply asked if I would be willing to have Tyelka escort me to dinner, because he had asked him if I would be interested. I agreed, and therefore I am going because I want to, not because he *has* me going." I stared at him pointedly, daring him to counter my explanation. He held up his hands, palms up, in surrender.
"Whatever you say. However, in all seriousness, I must ask, have you ever actually met Tyelka?"
"Of course," I replied stubbornly. "I have spoken with him on a few occasions. he is an honorable elf, with a highly coveted position in the guard, mind you." Aragorn nodded, consenting the point.
"Yes, he is both of those things; however, he is also one of the most blasé, lackluster elves I have ever met. Completely not your type. Am I not right, Legolas?" he asked the sullen-looking elf sitting nearby. I raised my eyebrow and waited for his reply. I had a type now? However, the reply did not come. "Legolas?" Aragorn prodded. Legolas's eyes snapped over to our direction.
"Oh, sorry. What was the question?"
"I asked for confirmation that Tyelka, being one of Middle Earth's blandest elves, is not Mara's type." Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow as he turned to me.
"You have a type?"
"My thoughts exactly," I laughed in reply.
"Well, although I am not quite sure about him being your 'type', I can confirm that you would find watching my archery practice for five hours more exciting than his conversational skills," Legolas said, naming something he knew I found extremely dull. "Besides, why must you go with anyone? You never have before." I shrugged.
"I have never been asked before. Why are the two of you making such a big deal out of this, anyway? This dinner will be no different from any other, except that Tyelka will escort me, so perhaps I will not receive as many evil glares from other maidens for giving you an excuse not to dance with them." This prompted another laugh from Aragorn.
"Yes, that would be the exact reason Legolas is making such a big deal out of it. He will not have anyone to shield him from his slightly fanatical followers."
"I am not making a big deal out of anything," Legolas insisted. "I was simply confirming Aragorn's summation of Tyelka's personality, or lack thereof, so that you will be prepared for a rather monotonous evening."
"If that be the case," I said as I stood, "Then I thank you both for your concern, but I must excuse myself now, as I need to go get ready."
"Yes, we must look pretty for Tyelka, mustn't we?" Aragorn said, doing a terrible impression of a lovesick maiden.
"No, I only wish to make myself look presentable for tonight. I think a dress would be preferable to leggings for tonight's more formal occasion, as would be a clean-shaven face," I said, pulling on his beard, which was barely long enough to grab, as I passed his chair.
"Ow!" he said, smacking my hand away. "Most human women find beards quite attractive, you know."
"It is probably more likely that they learn to tolerate them because you men are too lazy to shave on a regular basis," I called over my shoulder as I exited.
A few hours later I was trying to tie off the plait in my hair when there was a knock at my door. I took a deep breath, because although I had played it down to Legolas and Aragorn, I was actually quite nervous about Tyelka escorting me to the dinner. However, there was no need for the nerves just yet, because when I opened the door, it was Legolas standing on the other side.
"Oh, it's you," I said, stepping aside to let him in. He raised both eyebrows as he entered.
"Do not sound so excited to see me, Mara."
"Sorry. I thought you were Tyelka," I replied, huffing in frustration at my hair which would not tie off to stay in the braid I had finally wrestled it into.
"So you *are* looking forward to tonight more than you let on," Legolas said as he took the hair out of my hands and fixed it for me.
"Thanks," I said when he had finished. "And no, I am not looking forward to it so much as wanting to get it over with. I am kind of nervous that I will disappoint Thranduil and Aldeon. They seemed so happy that Tyelka had asked to accompany me to dinner." Legolas settled his hands on my shoulders and smiled at me in the mirror.
"Do not worry about trying to impress Tyelka simply to make Father or Aldeon happy. They are happy when you are, as am I. They would not want you to pretend to like this elf if you truly do not. And I certainly would not," he added, his eyes flashing for a moment as he spoke. "Even if you do like him," he said, and I thought I saw the flash in his eyes again, "You do not have to act any certain way to impress him. He would have to be senseless not to love you for who you are. I would not want you with any elf who would not accept you for who you are." I turned to face him, surprised by his assertion, and he seemed to search my eyes for something for a moment before his search was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Here goes nothing," I said as I let out a deep breath and opened the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~
". . . And so by the time help arrived, I had already killed all twenty orcs," Tyelka explained. I nodded and smiled half-heartedly. I truly thought if I had to listen to one more of his heroic deeds I would scream. I searched the crowd, hoping to find someone to distract his attention so I could slip away for a few moments. Legolas was surrounded by maidens, as usual, so his help was out of the question at the moment. Aldeon was off somewhere with Firine, and Aragorn was engrossed in conversation with Thranduil. Useless, the lot of them. "Maranwe?" Tyelka said.
"I am sorry, what was the question?" I said, embarrassed that I had been caught ignoring him.
"I asked if you would like to walk around the gardens." Oh, no, I groaned inwardly. The flowers would most likely remind him of a time when he had slain a Mumakil single-handedly with naught but a basket of peonies.
"Actually, I am a bit weary; I think I would like to retire early, if you do not mind."
"Of course," he said. "I will walk you to your room." I smiled politely - I did not want to be rude; he was kind, even though his conversational skills did not exist outside the realm of war.
When we reached my room, I turned to Tyelka, trying to make a hasty exit. "Thank you, I had a nice time tonight."
"I am glad you did," he said, suddenly grasping my hand. "I had a wonderful time, I am glad you feel the same. I have wanted to escort you to dinner for a while." Not knowing exactly how to reply to that, I simply smiled and nodded, while trying to slip my hand out of his. He held onto my hand, however, and stepped closer. "I think we have something great, Maranwe," he said, reaching up to touch my face.
"Something great?" I repeated questioningly as I attempted to lean away from his hand, but I was impeded by the wall behind me. The strange look in his eyes was beginning to frighten me.
"Yes, something brilliant. I love you, and if you do not love me already, you will come to, with time," He stated plainly. My eyes widened, and I began to protest, but my reply was silenced by the urgent press of his lips against mine. When I did not respond except by trying to pull away, he pulled back for a moment. "You *will* love me," he insisted, almost as if he was trying to convince himself as much as he was me. His faced loomed before mine before he descended upon my lips again, this time roughly, prying them open and thrusting in his tongue, while I was struggling to get away from his burning lips. I was terrified of what he would do next and trying to breathe when I heard a voice from behind him.
"Step away from her. Now." Finally Tyelka stopped and raised his head. I gasped in the oxygen he had deprived me off for far too long. When I looked over his shoulder and saw Legolas standing there, I sagged with relief; how my trembling legs supported me, I will never know. I could tell that Legolas was barely restraining himself from attacking Tyelka. His jaw was clenched, his hands balled into fists at his sides, and his face flushed, but what really gave him away was the cold, steel blue that had replaced his normally deep sapphire eyes. He kept his gaze steady on Tyelka.
"Prince Legolas, we were only-"
"Do not speak!" Legolas said, stepping closer. "If I ever, ever see you anywhere near Maranwe again, I will personally see you put in the deepest reaches of the dungeons. Permanently. That is, if I decide not to put you in there for what you have already done. Am I understood?" Tyelka glared defiantly, but he was no match for Legolas's icy gaze.
"Yes, my prince." He glanced back at me, with what I could only decipher as an apology in his eyes, but I averted my eyes and he made a hasty retreat down the hall. Just as he disappeared around a corner, my shaky limbs gave way, and Legolas managed to catch me just before I fell, scooping me up with ease and carrying me into my room. I had my arms about his neck and my face buried in his tunic as I began to sob. He sat on the bed and held me close, comforting me as I wept.
"Shh. . . you are safe now, he will never come near you again, never, I swear. He will never hurt you again." He rubbed his hands over my back and through my hair, soothing me until my tears had run dry. We sat in silence for a few moments, my head resting against his shoulder, before he spoke. "I am sorry, Mara. I should have been watching more closely, this never should have happened." I looked up at him, confused.
" 'Watching'?" He nodded sadly.
"I was watching you most of the night, making sure he did nothing foolish, but I turned away to speak to Father for a moment, and when I turned back around, you were gone. I had not expected you to leave so early. By the time I realized you had left, and followed, well. . ."
"Legolas, you cannot blame yourself for what happened. Neither of us could have known that he would do such a thing. You saved me. Do you truly believe you should shoulder the blame for this?" He was silent for a moment before he finally shook his head.
"No, but I still wish I could have somehow prevented it." There was silence for a few more moments, enough time for my mind to drift back to his burning lips, the look in his eyes, and my eyes filled again.
"His eyes were burning, Legolas, I was afraid before he ever touched me. He said that he loved me, that I would come to love him with time. Then. . . I could not get away. His lips seemed to burn me, and his - his tongue was so forceful, and I could not breathe, but I could not get away." Legolas wiped the tears that had spilled over and took me into his arms again.
"Do not speak of it, it is over. Here," he said, reaching for a nightgown on a nearby chair and handing it to me, "Change into this. You need some sleep." He turned away as I obediently changed. He made sure I was in bed and I realized he was preparing to leave.
"Wait!" I cried out suddenly. He turned and I blushed, embarrassed that I was scared. I think that it was more the fact that my nerves were standing on end than fear, but either way I did not want him to leave, and he saw this without me having to say as much. He smiled, showing that he understood, and took off all but his undertunic and leggings before playfully shoving me over on the bed and climbing in.
"Go to sleep now, you are safe," he said. We had been lying there for a few moments when I spoke again.
"Legolas?"
"Hmm?"
"Could you please not demote Tyelka for what happened tonight?"
Legolas looked down at me with nothing short of astonishment.
"Demoting him was the least of what I was going to do to him. Why
would you ask such a thing?"
"He has worked hard for centuries for his rank in the guard. One night
of thoughtlessness should not be enough to ruin that."
"When the thoughtlessness concerns your well-being, it does!" Legolas
exclaimed.
"I am not harmed, only shaken," I pointed out. "Please, Legolas.
Punish him if you must, but do not take away what he has worked so
hard for." Legolas looked at me grimly for a moment before sighing.
"Fine. But he does have some boring hours to come - I think he will be
assigned as the night watchmen at the palace gate for a while." I
smiled in thanks - and also at the thought of one of the highest
ranked officers in the army receiving orders for the most boring shift
at the most boring place in all of Mirkwood. I soon dropped off into
what I thought would be peaceful dreams.
I was wrong.
A/N: I just want to thank everybody for reviewing, including my anonymous flamer. While some people get upset about flames, I just cracked up when I read this one! All I can say is whoever it was, your descriptive talent would be put to better use in a fanfic than flames. To everyone else, thank you so much for putting up with the delays in updates as I have been moving and have been offline for a while. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you have any ideas or anything, do not hesitate to tell me, my muses might appreciate the help! Please review!
"He has you going with * who? * ," Aragorn cackled while trying to balance himself. He was laughing so hard he had to lower his feet from where he had them perched on the chair across from him. He had obviously become quite comfortable in Thranduil's home in the past two months.
"He does not *have* me going with anybody. Thranduil simply asked if I would be willing to have Tyelka escort me to dinner, because he had asked him if I would be interested. I agreed, and therefore I am going because I want to, not because he *has* me going." I stared at him pointedly, daring him to counter my explanation. He held up his hands, palms up, in surrender.
"Whatever you say. However, in all seriousness, I must ask, have you ever actually met Tyelka?"
"Of course," I replied stubbornly. "I have spoken with him on a few occasions. he is an honorable elf, with a highly coveted position in the guard, mind you." Aragorn nodded, consenting the point.
"Yes, he is both of those things; however, he is also one of the most blasé, lackluster elves I have ever met. Completely not your type. Am I not right, Legolas?" he asked the sullen-looking elf sitting nearby. I raised my eyebrow and waited for his reply. I had a type now? However, the reply did not come. "Legolas?" Aragorn prodded. Legolas's eyes snapped over to our direction.
"Oh, sorry. What was the question?"
"I asked for confirmation that Tyelka, being one of Middle Earth's blandest elves, is not Mara's type." Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow as he turned to me.
"You have a type?"
"My thoughts exactly," I laughed in reply.
"Well, although I am not quite sure about him being your 'type', I can confirm that you would find watching my archery practice for five hours more exciting than his conversational skills," Legolas said, naming something he knew I found extremely dull. "Besides, why must you go with anyone? You never have before." I shrugged.
"I have never been asked before. Why are the two of you making such a big deal out of this, anyway? This dinner will be no different from any other, except that Tyelka will escort me, so perhaps I will not receive as many evil glares from other maidens for giving you an excuse not to dance with them." This prompted another laugh from Aragorn.
"Yes, that would be the exact reason Legolas is making such a big deal out of it. He will not have anyone to shield him from his slightly fanatical followers."
"I am not making a big deal out of anything," Legolas insisted. "I was simply confirming Aragorn's summation of Tyelka's personality, or lack thereof, so that you will be prepared for a rather monotonous evening."
"If that be the case," I said as I stood, "Then I thank you both for your concern, but I must excuse myself now, as I need to go get ready."
"Yes, we must look pretty for Tyelka, mustn't we?" Aragorn said, doing a terrible impression of a lovesick maiden.
"No, I only wish to make myself look presentable for tonight. I think a dress would be preferable to leggings for tonight's more formal occasion, as would be a clean-shaven face," I said, pulling on his beard, which was barely long enough to grab, as I passed his chair.
"Ow!" he said, smacking my hand away. "Most human women find beards quite attractive, you know."
"It is probably more likely that they learn to tolerate them because you men are too lazy to shave on a regular basis," I called over my shoulder as I exited.
A few hours later I was trying to tie off the plait in my hair when there was a knock at my door. I took a deep breath, because although I had played it down to Legolas and Aragorn, I was actually quite nervous about Tyelka escorting me to the dinner. However, there was no need for the nerves just yet, because when I opened the door, it was Legolas standing on the other side.
"Oh, it's you," I said, stepping aside to let him in. He raised both eyebrows as he entered.
"Do not sound so excited to see me, Mara."
"Sorry. I thought you were Tyelka," I replied, huffing in frustration at my hair which would not tie off to stay in the braid I had finally wrestled it into.
"So you *are* looking forward to tonight more than you let on," Legolas said as he took the hair out of my hands and fixed it for me.
"Thanks," I said when he had finished. "And no, I am not looking forward to it so much as wanting to get it over with. I am kind of nervous that I will disappoint Thranduil and Aldeon. They seemed so happy that Tyelka had asked to accompany me to dinner." Legolas settled his hands on my shoulders and smiled at me in the mirror.
"Do not worry about trying to impress Tyelka simply to make Father or Aldeon happy. They are happy when you are, as am I. They would not want you to pretend to like this elf if you truly do not. And I certainly would not," he added, his eyes flashing for a moment as he spoke. "Even if you do like him," he said, and I thought I saw the flash in his eyes again, "You do not have to act any certain way to impress him. He would have to be senseless not to love you for who you are. I would not want you with any elf who would not accept you for who you are." I turned to face him, surprised by his assertion, and he seemed to search my eyes for something for a moment before his search was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Here goes nothing," I said as I let out a deep breath and opened the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~
". . . And so by the time help arrived, I had already killed all twenty orcs," Tyelka explained. I nodded and smiled half-heartedly. I truly thought if I had to listen to one more of his heroic deeds I would scream. I searched the crowd, hoping to find someone to distract his attention so I could slip away for a few moments. Legolas was surrounded by maidens, as usual, so his help was out of the question at the moment. Aldeon was off somewhere with Firine, and Aragorn was engrossed in conversation with Thranduil. Useless, the lot of them. "Maranwe?" Tyelka said.
"I am sorry, what was the question?" I said, embarrassed that I had been caught ignoring him.
"I asked if you would like to walk around the gardens." Oh, no, I groaned inwardly. The flowers would most likely remind him of a time when he had slain a Mumakil single-handedly with naught but a basket of peonies.
"Actually, I am a bit weary; I think I would like to retire early, if you do not mind."
"Of course," he said. "I will walk you to your room." I smiled politely - I did not want to be rude; he was kind, even though his conversational skills did not exist outside the realm of war.
When we reached my room, I turned to Tyelka, trying to make a hasty exit. "Thank you, I had a nice time tonight."
"I am glad you did," he said, suddenly grasping my hand. "I had a wonderful time, I am glad you feel the same. I have wanted to escort you to dinner for a while." Not knowing exactly how to reply to that, I simply smiled and nodded, while trying to slip my hand out of his. He held onto my hand, however, and stepped closer. "I think we have something great, Maranwe," he said, reaching up to touch my face.
"Something great?" I repeated questioningly as I attempted to lean away from his hand, but I was impeded by the wall behind me. The strange look in his eyes was beginning to frighten me.
"Yes, something brilliant. I love you, and if you do not love me already, you will come to, with time," He stated plainly. My eyes widened, and I began to protest, but my reply was silenced by the urgent press of his lips against mine. When I did not respond except by trying to pull away, he pulled back for a moment. "You *will* love me," he insisted, almost as if he was trying to convince himself as much as he was me. His faced loomed before mine before he descended upon my lips again, this time roughly, prying them open and thrusting in his tongue, while I was struggling to get away from his burning lips. I was terrified of what he would do next and trying to breathe when I heard a voice from behind him.
"Step away from her. Now." Finally Tyelka stopped and raised his head. I gasped in the oxygen he had deprived me off for far too long. When I looked over his shoulder and saw Legolas standing there, I sagged with relief; how my trembling legs supported me, I will never know. I could tell that Legolas was barely restraining himself from attacking Tyelka. His jaw was clenched, his hands balled into fists at his sides, and his face flushed, but what really gave him away was the cold, steel blue that had replaced his normally deep sapphire eyes. He kept his gaze steady on Tyelka.
"Prince Legolas, we were only-"
"Do not speak!" Legolas said, stepping closer. "If I ever, ever see you anywhere near Maranwe again, I will personally see you put in the deepest reaches of the dungeons. Permanently. That is, if I decide not to put you in there for what you have already done. Am I understood?" Tyelka glared defiantly, but he was no match for Legolas's icy gaze.
"Yes, my prince." He glanced back at me, with what I could only decipher as an apology in his eyes, but I averted my eyes and he made a hasty retreat down the hall. Just as he disappeared around a corner, my shaky limbs gave way, and Legolas managed to catch me just before I fell, scooping me up with ease and carrying me into my room. I had my arms about his neck and my face buried in his tunic as I began to sob. He sat on the bed and held me close, comforting me as I wept.
"Shh. . . you are safe now, he will never come near you again, never, I swear. He will never hurt you again." He rubbed his hands over my back and through my hair, soothing me until my tears had run dry. We sat in silence for a few moments, my head resting against his shoulder, before he spoke. "I am sorry, Mara. I should have been watching more closely, this never should have happened." I looked up at him, confused.
" 'Watching'?" He nodded sadly.
"I was watching you most of the night, making sure he did nothing foolish, but I turned away to speak to Father for a moment, and when I turned back around, you were gone. I had not expected you to leave so early. By the time I realized you had left, and followed, well. . ."
"Legolas, you cannot blame yourself for what happened. Neither of us could have known that he would do such a thing. You saved me. Do you truly believe you should shoulder the blame for this?" He was silent for a moment before he finally shook his head.
"No, but I still wish I could have somehow prevented it." There was silence for a few more moments, enough time for my mind to drift back to his burning lips, the look in his eyes, and my eyes filled again.
"His eyes were burning, Legolas, I was afraid before he ever touched me. He said that he loved me, that I would come to love him with time. Then. . . I could not get away. His lips seemed to burn me, and his - his tongue was so forceful, and I could not breathe, but I could not get away." Legolas wiped the tears that had spilled over and took me into his arms again.
"Do not speak of it, it is over. Here," he said, reaching for a nightgown on a nearby chair and handing it to me, "Change into this. You need some sleep." He turned away as I obediently changed. He made sure I was in bed and I realized he was preparing to leave.
"Wait!" I cried out suddenly. He turned and I blushed, embarrassed that I was scared. I think that it was more the fact that my nerves were standing on end than fear, but either way I did not want him to leave, and he saw this without me having to say as much. He smiled, showing that he understood, and took off all but his undertunic and leggings before playfully shoving me over on the bed and climbing in.
"Go to sleep now, you are safe," he said. We had been lying there for a few moments when I spoke again.
"Legolas?"
"Hmm?"
"Could you please not demote Tyelka for what happened tonight?"
Legolas looked down at me with nothing short of astonishment.
"Demoting him was the least of what I was going to do to him. Why
would you ask such a thing?"
"He has worked hard for centuries for his rank in the guard. One night
of thoughtlessness should not be enough to ruin that."
"When the thoughtlessness concerns your well-being, it does!" Legolas
exclaimed.
"I am not harmed, only shaken," I pointed out. "Please, Legolas.
Punish him if you must, but do not take away what he has worked so
hard for." Legolas looked at me grimly for a moment before sighing.
"Fine. But he does have some boring hours to come - I think he will be
assigned as the night watchmen at the palace gate for a while." I
smiled in thanks - and also at the thought of one of the highest
ranked officers in the army receiving orders for the most boring shift
at the most boring place in all of Mirkwood. I soon dropped off into
what I thought would be peaceful dreams.
I was wrong.
A/N: I just want to thank everybody for reviewing, including my anonymous flamer. While some people get upset about flames, I just cracked up when I read this one! All I can say is whoever it was, your descriptive talent would be put to better use in a fanfic than flames. To everyone else, thank you so much for putting up with the delays in updates as I have been moving and have been offline for a while. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you have any ideas or anything, do not hesitate to tell me, my muses might appreciate the help! Please review!