Hehe! Aren't I the cruellest person ever! Sorry for the cliff-hanger but there's the next chapter and I can only hope I've done the story justice.

Servant Rule Number Twelve:-With your hands, heart and soul, you must serve your lord to whatever end.

Later into the evening, Isil stole away from the feast which by now have become a huge party judging by the antics the elves were getting up to. She exited onto the balcony for fresh air and took the opportunity to see the message the prince have given her.

The ornate handwriting told to venture up the west tower and take a secret passage found by locating a painting of a elleth by the lake.

By pressing the switch on top of the painting it would open to reveal a stairwell.

Follow up it and he'll be waiting.

She looked out over the darkness that covered the palace grounds and frowned as she worked out whether she should leave now or later. She cast a glance back inside the hall but she couldn't see Legolas anywhere. Figuring she might as well make her departure, she headed back inside and told Arkle and Keay who were enjoying the free wine a bit too much that she was leaving.

The last time she looked over her shoulder to see her friends, they were making out in an overly passionate embrace. She wasn't the only one to wake up tomorrow by someone's side judging by Arkle's sudden wooing.

She slipped down the corridors that laid empty, the party fading in the background as she walked further away to the far side of the palace. She found the doorway leading up the west tower and with her heart hammering at the things to come, she began her laborious climb as her mind worked overtime as logic kicked in, telling her to turn and walk away before she got any deeper. Her heart leaped when her eyes fell upon the painting as she walked up the stairs and she stared at it for a long time.

There was no going back once she pressed the switch but if she walked away now, she would have to live with the regret of not doing it.

Numbly, she reached up and located the switch which was a small indentation that she pressed.

The door silently slide inwards and Isil saw the steps illuminated before her by torchlight. Her feet worked before her mind did and she stepped in.

There was no going back as she closed the door behind her and slowly walked up the steps that danced in the flickering torchlight. The stairs lead out into a circular room that held the shape of the tower and in the soft light of the candles, Isil saw a four post bed, draped with ghostly white drapes and ties.

"You came." Whispered a soft voice and Isil turned to the window to locate the source. Legolas stood there as she took him in. By candle light it dawned on her what she was about to do and her heart thudded loudly. She blinked as she took him in, he had unbuttoned his tunic collar sometime ago and in his hand was his circlet of royalty that he absently twirled between his fingers. His eyes glistened like two diamonds in the white light radiated by the candles and Isil truly saw how beautiful he was.

"I...I haven't done this kind of thing before." She whispered foolishly and Legolas rose one eyebrow as he replied, "You mean, I would be your first?"

"No.....no!" Blurted Isil as she felt her cheeks burn horribly, the prince's smile only made the situation worst. "I meant that I can't believe I'm here with you of all people."

"Believe it." He smiled and stepped forward to place the circlet on a nearby table where a glass of Dorwinion stood untouched. "Drink?"

"Don't mind if I do." Isil took the glass from him, he watched her swallow it all in one gulp and came to the accurate conclusion that she was nervous.

She handed him back the empty glass and Legolas put it down, clearly coming to the decision that he will have to woe her into not wanting to leave his arms when the morning comes. And do it slowly.

"What is this room?" Isil asked as she turned around to admire the beautiful furniture and the bed.....that seemed to invite her to test its mattresses.

"I found it when I was a boy, I knew there were many secrets rooms and passages that even my father have forgotten where some of them laid. I come here when I desire peace and privacy." Legolas explained as he watched Isil turned and looked at him, she pointed at the bed, "So naturally you carried a four post bed up the stairs........."

"No, most of the furniture was already here, I think it was my mother's private room as I found much of her sewing here." Legolas indicated to a spindle which looked to be untouched for a long time.

Isil nodded and admired the room again in silence, she didn't hear Legolas walk up behind her till she felt his hands on her shoulders and at his touch, for some strange yet sensual reason, all her worries and troubles concerning this night faded away as he turned her to face him.

He wasn't expecting her lips to claim his but he relented and found himself thinking..... 'so much for slow wooing......'

The room echoed with their every little breathless gasp as they broke from numerous kisses before being swept up in another embrace. Legolas held her tight to him as his fingers expertly loosened the ties of her dress. His heart fluttered when her own fingers were undressing him and slipped the tunic from his body to leave his topless.

He watched her slowly admire his body, wondering what she saw in him that was provoking her lust that he could see in her eyes as she looked upon his face. His eyes fell to her swollen lips from his kisses and claimed them once again, as he pushed her dress from her shoulders where it fell to the floor with a soft thud. She pressed herself against him in a flimsy under dress and undid him when she suckled his ear, causing him to gasp and moan.

He didn't care how fast he was moving now but this maid was undoing him just by him looking upon her. He pulled her onto the bed and lowered himself on top of her, her arms wrapping round his neck as her lips claimed his once more. His hands ran down the side of her body and stopped once he located the hem of her shift.

He slowly drew it upwards, exposing more bare, tantalizing flesh as he went. Her navel, a slight shadowy indent via the candle light caused him to lower his lips and swirl his tongue round the shallow vortex before kissing a cool and tender path to her breasts that jutted away from her provocative body.

The faint rustle of her under dress fluttered away to leave her lying beneath him gloriously bare, he watched her cheeks take on a rosy complexion as he teased her nipples.

"Ai Isil. What have you done to me?" He whispered as the strong waves of yearning lapped over him as her hands wrapped round his neck and she whispered "Kiss me."

Never have Legolas obeyed an order from anyone other than his father but he obeyed right there for a maid who drove him crazy.

Before long he too laid naked in a tight embrace where he couldn't tell where his own limbs ended before Isil's own started. His fingers were entangled in her hair as her own snaked down to his buttocks to pull him closer, not content with the contact of skin she had.

"Please!" she mewed and Legolas's only response was a teasing nibble on her ear lobe.

Eager to make her point known and how desperately she wanted him now within her, she snaked her hand down and held the one thing that stopped Legolas mid-kiss and caused him to buck against her as a moan escaped his lips.

He opened his eyes for Isil to see they were darkened with desire and need and she had little warning before Legolas drove himself home to create a rhythm that was subtle and shallow, accompanied by her breathless pants as her body surged with sensations she never knew existed.

The rhythm deepened as Legolas rose up on his elbows to take her with renewed force that had her repeatedly crying out his name as bliss exploded upon her. He didn't wait for her to recover from a string of orgasmic moments but he carried on, his motions slick and he expertly positioned her so the rhythm he created became a deep, primitive tempo that made Isil remember the day she accidentally intruded upon Legolas with a lady in a position similar to the one she's in now.

"This is what she felt!" her mind cried as somewhere above and within her, Legolas cried her name in manner of exhausted ecstasy before slumping upon her, his forehead rested on her shoulder as their breathing slowed.

She felt him smile as strange as it was, his head still upon her shoulder. She closed her eyes as a smile of her own spread across her face.

Legolas picked up his head to see her smile, "What is provoking such a smile from you?"

"You." She whispered and opened her eyes to see he was grinning, "Good now lets see how much I need to provoke you before you start screaming.........my name that is....." he claimed her once again and this time she was true to his words and thank Valar they were in the furthest recesses of the palace.

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The horn echoed in the forest its deep and resonate note, that caused the birds to waken and take to the wind and the horses to bicker as they knew, now that it was breakfast time. Sure enough, stable hands started distributing feed, attracting pigeons down from the stable rafters, where they perched on the edge of the trough and pecked at the oats along with the horses.

Troops paraded and drilled in the courtyard, overseen by an elf who yelled out orders and corrections to the unlucky individuals who mis-stepped or mis-turned.

The trees that gave privacy to the inhabitants of the palace were bustling with sparrows that noisily chirped and Isil watched as one white breasted bird hopped along the still she sat upon, cocked its head to gaze it bright eyes at her and gave a startled chirp before flying back to the trees.

Isil listened to the chilly wind, fresh with the icy coldness of the lonely mountain whistle against the tower and caress her hair. She closed her eyes and savoured the reviving feel of the sudden artic air and sighed.

She heard a rustle from within the room and opened her eyes to see Legolas sitting opposite her on the wide window still, with the bed sheet tied around his waist. The wind playfully tossed his hair and she watched him peacefully as he tucked the loose strands that danced across his face behind his pointed ears.

There was a moment silence when Isil watched Legolas look down below through the canopy of tree to see the sight of the courtyard then sat back against the cold palace stones and looked at Isil.

He smiled, crossing his arms across his bare chest as he felt Isil's foot playfully nudge his own as she smiled, "Morning."

"What does one say to another after a night like last night?" Legolas replied, he grinned when Isil blushed at the memories that made her right now, avoid staring into his face.

Such things!

Such primitive things!

Such wonderful things!

Such reckless things that will haunt her memories for days to come, enough to make her avoid staring at the prince altogether!

"Look at me." He asked and she did, pushing aside those thoughts as she said, "Last night, there were moments I acted...."

"Passionately?" Legolas suggested, smiling at her embarrassment.

"Yes, passionately at the things I did last night that will shame me for a long time to come." She lowered her head, cheeks burning as she heard Legolas gave a laugh.

"Come now, it wasn't a bad thing! I'm not complaining for one am I? Please don't feel embarrassed. Remember how I acted too? I wouldn't change a thing about last night." He sat there, watching her with a faint smile, she was an excellent student when it came to love-making, whilst other ladies he bedded, laid back and let him take his pleasure that way, Isil actively sought out pleasure for both of them.....hence them getting a bit too frisky at times.

She sported a love bite on her shoulders and his back was streaked with scratches that were inflicted in moments of ecstasy.

A shrill horn blew and Legolas cursed, earning a surprised glance from Isil who rarely heard him do so. He hopped down from the still and leaned out the window to stare at the servant blowing the horn, calling for the prince to return to the palace for he was needed.

"I got to go." He said, hunting round the bedroom for his items of clothes that were tossed around. He retrieved his breeches from across the mirror at a dressing table and found his shirt under the bed along with Isil's dress.

"You haven't seen my belt have you?" he looked at Isil who somehow was already dressed and was finishing braiding her hair.

Her eyes fell onto the bed and he glanced to see his belt. "Of course, how could I forget?" he untied the belt from the headboard rails and with a shake of his head to disband that one memory, he threaded his belt and buckled it.

"There's another secret passage way that will take you to a door embedded in the wall by the servant quarters." Legolas informed Isil and by tapping on a corner stone in a wall with his foot, a door unhinged as if by magic to reveal its secret as he told her other instructions on opening the doors.

He past Isil a candle as she stared down the dark passage way that was lined with steep steps and said, "I will see you soon and I look forward to claiming a kiss."

He kissed her as if to leave a mark to show what she was missing in his absence and though unwilling, Isil smiled and slowly descended down the dark stairwell, responding to his calls of farewells and some other more erotic promises that left her blushing in the dark.

She heard the door close with an echoing thud that rumbled the stones beneath her feet and for a moment she felt claustrophobic.

After a few calming breathes, she hurried down the steps to find the door and listened for any signs of anyone on the other side.

It was silent and she pushed upon the white stone in the wall next to the door to hear it click and the door to silently open ajar. Isil peered out to see an empty corridor and stepped out and hurriedly closed the door and extinguished the candle.

"Isil?" called out Rowan's voice.

Isil turned to see the elleth smiling as she walked up to her, "You're needed to help me with the washing."