Chapter Two: Not a Girl, Not yet a Woman
"Tala! Tala get up!" Grian shook the young girl. Her eyes fluttered open.
"What's going on?" she asked, sleep dripping from her voice. Slowly, she sat up in the bed.
"Your birthday, that's what!" Grian said laying Tala's dress out for her. Tala washed her face and brushed her hair. Grian was about to leave her to change, but stopped and turned at the door.
"Oh, and Tala?"
"Yes?" she said, looking up.
"Happy Birthday."Tala smiled, "Thank-you Grian. Good day to you as well." Tala said. With that Grian left, closing the door behind her.
Tala looked down at her clothes and sighed slumping her shoulders at the sight of the deep red wine dress. She winced at the site. Going over to her dresser drawers, she threw on her gray leggings, silver tunic, and laced up her worn, leather boots. She pulled her dark hair back into a solid braid and threw her quiver onto her shoulder. Tala looked at her self in her full length mirror and nodded in satisfaction.
At eighteen years old she may have grown up, but she still hated dresses, loved to fight, and when ever she got nervous, she still hiccupped. She jogged downstairs making slightly more noise than a panther. She walked up to the long dining table and sat down; helping herself to food before even saying good morning.
Galadriel stopped chewing her lembas and glared at Tala. She caught the she-elf's gaze.
"Oh! Good morning Lady Galadriel, good morning Lord Celeborn." She greeted them. But Galadriel still seemed unpleased.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Why are you not wearing the dress I wanted you to? I had Grian go up especially to pick it out for you, your celebration starts this evening Tala, you know this."
"So, I'll wear it tonight, I'm to go hunting today with Legolas and his brothers, you cannot go hunting in a dress." She said, turning back to her food.
"Well then, maybe you should not go hunting at all." Galadriel said.
Tala froze. Not go hunting?
"Why not?" she asked precariously.
"Tala, you are eighteen years of age, you're a young woman, your mind should not be on such things."
"I think…I think I can decide that for myself." She said, taking a chance on what she felt was the truth. The confidence in her voice had surprised her.
I have raised you for the past eighteen years and I will continue to do so, as you will follow the orders given to you in my kingdom." Galadriel said, raising her voice.
Tala's lip quivered. Her eyes brimmed with tears. She threw down her napkin and ran from the table. Bursting into the stables, she mounted her horse and crouched low to his mane. Her heels dug deep into the horses' sides and took off, riding to the outskirts of the Galadhrim as swiftly as was possible. The wind stung at her face and her stomach rose to her throat with every bound and jump. Her tears quickly fell away and by the time she reached the palace sentries who were keeping guard at the base of the tree Legolas was staying in, she showed little sign of crying. She dismounted her horse, and walked up to the stairs leading up the trunk of the tree. The guards quickly stopped her.
"I'm sorry young sir, but you cannot pass with out stating your name and business here with The Prince.", stated the first guard.
Tala stepped back and smirked. Indeed, her face was smudged with dirt and her attire did not suggest a woman.
"I am sorry, but I do believe you are mistaken. My name is Lady Daltalwein. And I am here under request of the Prince himself. He has asked me to go hunting with him today."
They burst out into laughter at her.
"To be sure, The Prince is going hunting today, with his brothers of course, but they need not take a scrawny, human girl. Now, off with you." The second guard scoffed.
In less time than it took them to blink, she had her bow ready with an arrow locked into place. She tightened the string.
"If you doubt my hunting skills, maybe I should prove myself to one of you with the other"-
"Tala!" Legolas called wearily, jogging down the stairway. Within a millisecond, she had her bow aimed at him, but lowered it, when she saw exactly who she was threatening.
She bowed deep and rose.
"Your Highness, would you please be as kind as to tell these guards that I am to accompany you on your venture today?" she requested. Legolas grinned.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said simply, walking past her.
"Excuse me!" her face lost its color and her eyes grew wide. The guards seized her arms and she struggled against them.
"Legolas! Legolas, this is not funny!" she shouted.
"Your highness, what would you have us do with her?"
"Legolas," she growled, "Iire amin"- (when I-)
He turned around and walked back to her, grinning like a cat.
"Come, come. I was only having a bit of fun. Release her." He commanded the guards. She glared at them, and fixed her tunic. Then she glared at Legolas and crossed her arms over her chest.
Tanya nae n'elina..." She said bitterly in Elvish. (That was not funny)
"Yes it was. Now come along, or they'll leave without us." He said turning and walking off.
She jumped onto Snow-Jer and rode around so that she was in front of him and blocking his way.
"We're not going any where until you apologize." She said firmly. Before she could stop him, he'd jumped over her horse, mounted his and was beside her.
"I apologize. Happy Birthday?" he offered. She faced forward and smiled, satisfied. She dug her heels into Snow-Jer's sides again and they took off swiftly, reaching the waters quickly.
About ½ way into the afternoon, they rested by a large pond surrounded and hidden by ancient willow trees as old as the ground itself. Where the pond met cliff, a terribly tall waterfall stood. The elven brothers were all looking at and comparing their kills. Tala crept away unnoticed to a large boulder at the water's edge. She gathered a few pebbles and started skipping stones. Tala froze as she sensed something.
She was suddenly facing the opposite direction, standing upright, and had an arrow in her bow, the tip only an inch from Legolas' nose. She smiled triumphantly, not moving. Their eyes looked up into each other's and now they were both smiling.
"You've been in this position twice today; let's hope you don't go for a third." She said, then lowered her arm and put her arrow back in her quiver. She sat back down, gathering more stones; he followed suit.
"Honestly, why do you insist upon trying to sneak up on me when you know I can sense you coming?" she asked, skipping a stone. He picked up a stone and threw it three times farther than she had.
"Because one day I'll catch you off guard and you'll be the one with the arrow head in their face." He said, raising an eyebrow.
"Testy over the human girl being as quick as you, aren't we?."
"More or less annoyed." he chuckled.
"Well it's your own fault." She stated simply, launching another rock into the pool of water.
"Me! What've I done?" he said, innocently.
"You taught me everything, oh wise one." she smirked. He smiled dryly; he loved it when she was cocky. Hated it when she was talking to him like that, but he loved it all the same.
"I do love it when you mock me." He said, the sarcasm all in his words.
"Hey! Long Legs! Tala got more rabbits than you by a quarter of a score and one more deer as well!" called one of his brothers.
"You did not!" he protested, his head wiping around to glare at her in disbelief. She shrugged her shoulders. He immediately sprang up and they sprinted towards the camp.
That evening she sat studying a map of the Misty Mountains, Fanghorn, and Rohan. Something kept pulling her to the heart of Rohan. The candle that produced the only light in the room flickered and she whipped around in her chair to see Legolas walk in. She was in his chamber after all. He had been down on the forest floor, eating a fire cooked meal with his brothers. Tala was in no mood to go back to face Galadriel that night, but she knew her birthday celebration was in only two hours. She would have to go, Legolas would make her.
"Mani naa lle umien?" he asked, walking towards her. (What are you doing?)
"Oh, nothing." She said casually, picking up the map that had fallen to the floor. He looked at it. She noticed he was no longer in his hunting attire, but wore dark silver robes for her gala that night.
"The Misty Mountains? I've been there before, beautiful place. Harsh weather for human skin, though." He said looking down at her warmly. She did her best to smile back. When they said things like that they had no idea how much it hurt. He pulled up a chair beside her and sat.
"Tala," he said softly, "I know you do not wish to go home, but you cannot stay here forever. My brothers and I came all this way strictly for your birthday. Tomorrow, we leave for Mirkwood. Besides, Galadriel does not mean you to be melancholy. She only wishes for your acceptance in the immortal world. By being a daughter of man you've endangered yourself enough, but by acting with your heart, you've" he searched for the right words, "…disrupted our pattern of life, to say the very least," he said with a soft chuckle and a smile. She gave a small laugh, soon followed by a sad smile.
"I wish I could change, I wish I were not a mortal, but an elf, like you and your brothers. But even if I were an elf, I'm afraid I wouldn't make a very good one. I act too free, I scold myself for it often, but yet nothing is corrected. Is it wrong to be one's self, if one's self isn't right?" she asked suddenly.
He cupped her cheek, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth over her skin. She felt a spark shoot up her spine.
"Daltalawein, you are a mortal girl, and we all love you just the way you are. You cannot change what has befallen you, but you can decide what to do with the time given unto you. Now come or we shall miss your entire celebration." He said, taking her hand and leading her down where their horses waited.
Whence they got there, she hugged the four elves and thanked them for a wonderful day, then sprinted all the way up to her room, where her maidens helped her with her dress, slippers and hair. She looked up and was amused by what she saw. She looked pleasing. Her red wine top was velvet, as was the rest of the dress, and the material just above her chest pooled down a little. The bell sleeves flowed down her arms with grace. The skirt of the dress was in an elegant princess style. Grian stepped in front of her, completing the ensemble with a beautiful, elven crafted crown. Perhaps she was growing up.
She sat on her windowsill that evening, staring out into the forest. She stared out and looked on longingly upon the Misty Mountains. The last bit of light of the day cast over those peaks made her heart ache even more. She did not belong in the elven world and that feeling was growing stronger with every passing day. That night, at her celebration, she'd been granted one wish, as a gift, from King Celeborn. Immediately she'd known what she'd wanted, but was unsuccessful in verbalizing it. Now, thinking back to that wish, a tear rolled down her cheek. The shed tear reminded her of the evening's previous events. How Legolas had reminded her that she held some worth in this world. How she'd enjoyed dancing at her celebration, how a dress had actually been manageable. She chuckled at the thought. Her wish, her only wish, was to travel to the Rohirrim, to meet others like herself. Other humans.
Her fingers slid over the silver necklace Legolas had given to her when she was only an infant. The chain was thin and silver itself, on it hung a simple elven letter "D", decorated by silver vines wrapping around the initial. Tiny leaves and flowers spurred off of the vines. It had hung rather loose as a child but fit her better now. Small though it was, it was among her most sacred possessions. Seldom had she been seen without it. The necklace itself was said to hold some sort of natural power, though this had never been tested.
But the necklace only served as a reminder of the confusing feelings she'd been getting. She was looking at Legolas, as more than a child would now. And she couldn't shake the thoughts she'd been having of him. When she saw him smile, her breath caught in her throat, when he looked at her in certain ways, she wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch him. Whether or not these feelings were wrong didn't bother her so much as the distraction. And God forbid something should happen between them. Hell would rise up. It was mad; he was an elf, a prince at that. She was a lowly little mortal, who was only good for getting in the way. She wasn't royalty, she wasn't even of his race, she was an orphaned human who knew nothing of her past and cowardly feared her future.
Daltalawein sighed, tucked the chain back under her night shirt and left her window. She lifted the covers of her bed, climbed in, and then blew out the candle on her night stand. Quickly afterwards she was asleep.