Wow many thanks for the reviews! Cor, onto a real winner here aint I?!
Regarding this chapter, this was written in mind to show the readers that Isil and Legolas have formed a bond, this time round this bond is called friendship and this will build into something stronger and more complex however .so this chapter isn't as sexually tensed as the previous ones as Legolas is exhilarated at his 'freedom'. (I have already written the next few chapters and just started formulating how this whole mess unravels – makes me feel like god!)
I don't owe anything to do with Tolkien, LOTR or Peter Jackson's films.
Servant Rule Number Four:- If ordered, always keep your master's presence quiet.
Isil got a message from the prince, handed to her by Arkle who inquired how the day went after hearing of her victory upon the archery field. She opened it to see the prince's writing stating that she was to meet him in his room at sunrise so he could evade his duties early enough. Also there was a few lines of his thanks for the invitation to attend supper at her family's house. She smiled and locked away the letter in a wooden box that held sentimental items and went excitedly to sleep where she laid in her bed dreaming broken dreams. Morning came not too soon and Isil hurriedly ate her breakfast and packed a few things in her bag and went to meet the prince in his bedroom as he ordered. She paused at his door and frowned, casting a glance at the window to reveal the pale misty morning. The sun has not risen yet, she was too early.
"Come in Isil." Legolas's voice called from the other side of his door with humour. She smiled and opened it to see him leaning in the bay window with his feet up and was wearing a casual outfit of brown breeches, a pale blue shirt and silver tunic with an elven cloak.
"I assumed you would be up too early. And I assumed right." He smiled and lightly hopped down from his perch and walked over to his bed to pick up his bag. "What's the plan for today?" he asked her, looking over at her fidgeting with her fingernails and grinning like a fool.
"First we head to the market and pick up my mother's supplies then we head to my home and.....what?" Isil halted midline and looked at the prince who looked at her wide eyed.
"The market?" he asked with a slightly dubious undertone.
"Yes. Why?" Isil rose one eyebrow as he shook his head, "Nay, I'll be recognised and pandemonium will break out like the last time I was there unattended."
"Live a little will you?" Isil smiled as Legolas crossed his arms and silently watched her, his eyes sparkling with the sense of danger, "You calling me a coward?"
"Have you ever dropped your princely status for the day and got away from it all?"
Isil tilted her head as the prince drummed his fingers on his chin as he tried to recall the last time he did. "Nay, It has been a while especially with all the troubles of the darkness seeping into Mirkwood of late."
"Today you shall be just Legolas." Isil opened his wardrope and rummaged around inside as he smiled, "Just Legolas? I think I will like that."
"Here, change. No one of my status wears shirts and tunics like the ones you're wearing at this moment." She chucked him a black shirt and a simple brown belt. The prince donned the new garments and watched Isil look him over. "You still stand out. Undo your plaits, let you're hair free." He did so, undoing the plaits in his hair that declared him a royal militant. She reached up and pulled his hood down and stood back, "There, you'll do nicely."
She went to the door but Legolas halted her, "We're not going out that way."
Turning she frowned, "Then how do we get out?"
He opened the widow and climbed out onto the ledge that was next to a great tree in the courtyard. He leapt nimbly into the tree branches and turned to see Isil staring at him like he was mad.
"What are you doing?!" she hissed.
"Come on Isil, Live a little!" he called back to her and laughed, the over whelming feeling of freedom exhilarating him.
The feeling of exhilaration remained with him much of the morning as they rode into the town's market square and dismounted their rides. After securing their horses, Isil pushed her way into the densely packed crowds of elves, some selling, some buying, some talking, whilst others were walking.
Legolas searched for Isil, craning his head to try and see her golden halo of hair amongst the sea of heads but he was saved when her hand grasped his and pulled him towards a stall serving hot cups of pungent teas.
"Get one of these down you." Isil handed him a cup and watched him raise it to his lips and took a timid swallow, not sure of what taste to expect. He coughed at the taste explosion in his mouth and only when he regained his breath did he appreciate the taste of the tea.
"Not bad." He replied somewhat hoarsely to Isil who grinned at him. She paid for their teas and taking his hand, she lead him down the string of colourful and vibrant stalls, selling everything from perfumes and rare herbs, linens weaved in Rivendell to fish traded with the fishermen of nearby lakes and juicy tarts baked freshly that morning.
Before long, it was Legolas who pulled on Isil's hand, pulling them from stall to stall as he took in all the exciting things that was starved from him within the palace walls.
They ducked away from elven soldiers who would recognise their prince, like it was a child's game of hide and seek. Legolas watched Isil search through the vegetables, gently squeezing them to test their ripeness and smelling spices for their aromas.
After watching her pay for a few goods, he accumulated confidence to carry out a few transactions of his own, including a tart which looked particularly appetising which he ate with relish.
He watched elves live their lives under the palace of his home, all of them oblivious to his real identity which he kept concealed beneath his hood. Isil lead them to a nearby river which was quiet and free of any living soul, and Legolas threw back his hood and seated himself amongst the wild grass that blew in the wind.
He pulled off his boots and groaned, "There was so much mud there! Someone should clean it all up." He said, regarding the muddy, boggy underfoot of the marketplace.
Isil was lying on her stomach next to him, propped up on her elbows, "The town's council have asked for a small money donation to repair the riverbank which keeps flooding and washing out the market place. It seems your father is a busy man for he hasn't got round to even viewing the petition."
"My father?" he halted in his actions of tugging his left boot off and looked over at Isil. "I wasn't aware he was that busy."
"Maybe you should take on some of his responsibilities. Don't view it as a chore but as a way to improving our lives. There are roads to repair, homes to rebuild from previous floods, a new roof on our town hall would be nice." Isil checked off a few things that needed action on her fingers and watched Legolas bit his lower lip.
"I have been skirting my duties a bit." He came to the conclusion. He sat at the riverside in silence, dangling his feet into the cool water and watching the fish swim up and nibble his toes, prompting a smile. To his right, Isil was lying on her back, dozing in the sun with one foot in the water. She pulled back her hood from her eyes and declared that it was time for them to be on their way.
They rode on the old forest road and took a left down a small track that lead them to Isil's home. In the courtyard was Isil's oldest brother Forwin grooming a horse. He looked up at the arrivals and whooped with glee when he was it was his youngest sister. He wrapped her in his arms as he called out to the rest of the family that Isil was here. In a flurry of movements. Isil's mother, Laurin and father, Hassel greeted their daughter with hugs and kisses and the same was received by her sisters and her youngest brother.
Only after all the chaos of welcoming the absentee of the family was abated did anyone notice that Isil didn't arrive alone. It was Hassel who noticed Legolas first, "Isil, care to introduce me to this gentleman?"
Isil smiled, "Father this is Legolas. Legolas this is Hassel. And my mother, Laurin."
Legolas inclined his head with respect and Laurin blurted, "Legolas? As in Prince Legolas?" she looked at her daughter for confirmation on the stranger's identity and when Isil nodded, she let out a squeak of surprise.
"Well your highness! Your arrival here is most unexpected! If my daughter here had the forethought of warning me of your arrival then I would have been more prepared!" she curtsied deeply, to Legolas's dismay. "Please, I have left my titles and duties behind me at the palace. Just call me Legolas and spare me special attention for it is I who am most humbled to be invited to your daughter's home."
"Legolas, please do come in." Hassel rescued the prince from his wife and clapped an arm around his shoulder and lead him in. he was ushered to the fire place and handed a mug of homebrewed wine.
"It has a bit of a kick." Isil warned him as he sipped it. Half expecting an strong burst as discovered with the tea, he was pleasantly surprised to find it tingled his taste buds and slid like a warm fire down to his stomach.
"You brewed this? I highly recommend this!" Legolas smiled, "I hope I don't trouble you if I ask for more?"
Hassel laughed and handed the bottle to the prince, "feel free my friend."
Legolas poured some more of the wine into both his and Isil's mug and watched Isil as she handed her mother the fresh ingredients they gathered earlier at the market. He heard her state her request to make her famous Medina dumplings and Laurin nodded and beamed at the prospect of serving a royal member of the family in her own household.
He was invited to join in a game that was interrupted by their arrival, Simjac which was a card game where you tried to claim your opponents cards by beating them with higher scoring cards. Legolas proved to be a poor player due to his run of bad luck and ill-ly drawn cards but he laughed and good naturedly accepted his defeat at the hands of the second eldest daughter called Nera.
They were all assigned a task to do regarding dinner and Legolas was assigned to help Laurin with the actual making of the dumplings.
"Now get your fingers in that bowl and give it all a good squeeze." Laurin was instructing him to make breadcrumbs. Isil sat nearby peeling potatoes and watched the prince grimaced at the cool, sticky mixture but he obeyed and rubbed the dough between his fingers till it became flaky bits.
"Now, pour in the herds and the first half of the potatoes. Isil better help you here. The more hands the better!" Laurin indicated to her daughter to get her hands in the bowl too and both of them began giggling as the wet sloppy potatoes slid back out of the bowl. Legolas exhaled with frustration as another wedge of potato fell to the floor and looked up to see Isil with a flour smear across her cheek.
"you got something...." He reached up and tried to wipe it away but then realised that because his hands were already messy, he was making it worse. Hassel snickered at the state his daughter was in, who was curious as to why her father was laughing, Isil looked into the saucepan lid to see she now had a white flour moustache courteous of the prince.
Legolas was too busy chuckling at her to stop her from wiping her hand across his jaw, smearing dough across his face. They both stared at each other in stunned silence then burst out laughing at the current state of each other.
"Look at the state of you!" Laurin exclaimed when she came back from getting some butter and milk from the storehouse. But they were too busy laughing to really care. Laurin gave her husband a swipe across his arm and scolded him for not stopping the two of them making a mess but he only laughed harder and soothed his wife with a kiss in her cheek.
She sent them both out to the well to clean up and when they came back in, she started cooking the dumplings, firstly by dropping the little balls into a pan of boiling water. Then they were placed in a pot with the stew which was left to cook for a while, whilst the three daughters of Hassel laid the table with the whitest line cloth and the best cutlery for the royal visitor, who sat by the fire with Hassel, Forwin and the youngest son Aryin talking of welfares and the recent appearances of dark creatures.
They were called to the table in a chorus of pans lids being smashed together and Legolas was instructed to sit at the head of the table where he'll have first servings of the huge pot of Medina dumplings that was placed in front of him along with bread and a pitcher of wine.
"Help yourself!" Laurin beamed at the prince who looked hungrily at the dumplings half submerged in lovely thick brown sauce. He reached over and using the big spoon, served himself a plateful and politely waited until everyone else had their dinner before them. He forked a dumpling and slowly ate it, aware that Isil's family has halted eating and were looking upon him, expecting his verdict.
"This......" he said, between mouthfuls. "Gets a royal stamp of approval!"
Laurin grinned and her daughters laughed, "I knew it!" Hassel smiled at his wife's moment of glory as the prince grinned and carried on eating his dinner with relish.
"Anymore?" Isil indicated to the bowl where a few lonely dumplings sat swimming in gravy, Legolas shook his head and patted his stomach with content, "I'm very satisfied thank you."
She smiled and turned away with her arms laden with dirty crockery. Realising that he wasn't being polite, he stood up and picked up the remaining dishes and took them to the sink by the window where Isil and her two sisters were washing, drying and putting things away. He went to pick up a towel to dry a few dishes when Isil's hand stopped him, "We must head back, the sun is setting."
He glanced out the window to see a red sky above the trees and knew she was right. People would start getting worried if he wasn't back soon.
"Father, we must be off before we're missed." Isil turned to Hassel who rose from his seat by the fire with Laurin. He smiled and nodded, "It's a pleasure to see you my darling daughter. And you too Legolas, please don't hesitate visiting in the near future." Hassel hugged Isil then in turn, shook Legolas hand. He smiled and turned to pick up a bottle and handed it to the prince who took the gift with some bewilderment.
"Some of my brew for you." Hassel smile and the prince beamed, he thanked him and gratefully thanked Laurin for the dinner and headed to the door where Isil was readying her cloak and saddle bags.
The family saw them off in the yard and as Isil was about to mount her horse, her mother came up to her, a frown upon her lips. "Remember your vow Isil. You cannot afford to get close to the prince."
"We're friends." She replied, but her mother shook her head, "I'm not easily fooled by his eyes my love. Beware."
Isil frowned, she watched her mother resume her place by her father and wave at the prince who was already upon his horse. She mounted her ride and took up her reigns, waving her last farewells to her family with a somewhat troubled heart, she and Legolas took off for the palace.
The ride back was somewhat quite as Isil stared ahead at the empty road, her mind whirling with her mother's words of warning and the vow she made as a maid of the palace. She looked over to her left to see the prince was looking at her and snapped her attention back to the road, all too aware that the prince could sense some thing was amiss.
He went to open his mouth but the sudden arrival of palace guards ahead of them diverted his attention especially when he saw the leader approach them with a worried face. "We've been looking for you my lord."
"My sincere apologies but I thought I left a note explaining that I was taking a trip down to the market to see for myself the complaints being made of its current state." Legola smoothly lied and Isil rose one eyebrow as the guard bowed and informed his prince that he hadn't received such a note.
"Very well, lead us home." Legolas urged his horse to trot on, as the guards clustered around him to form a protective barrier till they reached the palace yard. He dismounted and turned to Isil, "Thank you."
She smiled but a call from Rowan who stood on the steps caught her attention and she was forced to leave the prince and head up to the elleth who asked, "Where were you today?"
"I had to assist the prince on one of his visits to the town." Isil explained, Rowan nodded and smiled, clearly believing her and gestured to the door, "Tea's waiting for you."
