Disclamer: I don't own Legolas but I do own everyone else. Set before the
War of the Ring which is why there aren't many references to LOTR in this
story. Two girls, Leila and Shí disguise themselves as men and join the
army. It's an elvish sort of Mulan with two heroines. Shí/Ahora.
Legolas/Leila. (For once none of the characters are based on me!) The
original version of this story was a swap story between me and my mate Liz.
Ada means father and Nana mother.
The way I'm doing the elves ages is that 500 is the equivalent of a 5 year old so 1500 is a 15 year old. Basically minus the 2 0's and you got the age they look like. And I'm having it that they stop growing at 2000 or 20 so that's why they always look so young. Got it?
To all those who flamed about Éowyn already doing this.she is a human! These are elves. Éowyn fought in one battle, these two fight in lots and train for years. If you notice the whole of the elven army is male so I thought this fitted. Éowyn may do the same but this is set a long time before Return of the King OK? I know Éowyn is a cool character, one of my favourites actually but this is totally different to her. One small note which had been pointed out to me, the reason the girls have joined the army is explained later on because I know it says they wasn't girl power basically but later on it is explained why girl power is so important to them.
Thank you to all those who reviewed and thank you to all those who flamed. I take flames as a persons opinion but as long as not all of my reviews are flames this story will remain up kay? I do have to agree with one piece of constructive criticism/flame, the names are not very elven I know. They would be more elven as I've just found this great name generator site but when I started this story the only names I had were the names on a list my friend Blaze made up for me. Sorry about that, I'll try to make any knew characters names more elven for you. Also the length of hair as I see it is women-really really really long! Men-just below the shoulders and always braided.
Hidden Identity
Chapter Eleven, Speeches
When Tharanduil walked into his eldest sons room he saw a sight that made his heart twist. Pedi was sat on Legolas' lap and he was reading her a book. Leila was lying on the bed laughing as Pedi tried to read some of the words for herself and pronounced probably as p-rob-ab-lie. They looked like a family, a strange one at that.
"Father?" Legolas asked, realising that Tharanduil was there. Pedi looked up from one of the pictures and giggled sweetly.
"I've come to inform you of my decision concerning your...punishment" Tharanduil said to Leila.
"What does concerning mean?" Pedi asked Legolas quietly.
"Shhh, I'll tell you later" Legolas whispered. Tharanduil heard this and had to fight to keep a strait face.
"It has been decided that you will have to publicly say that you are a girl and have been posing as a boy for however long you have been. You will not have any other punishment but it will be up to the people to decide whether they take you back or not" Tharanduil said to Leila who just nodded. Tharanduil left and as he did so he heard Pedi repeat her question.
"What does concerning mean?" Pedi asked again.
"I'm not sure little one, now why don't you go and find Risen and ask her?" Legolas asked, pushing Pedi towards the door. Once she was gone he turned to Leila.
"At least I'm not going to be executed" Leila said, with a slight shrug.
"Yeah" Legolas said, trying to smile but not succeeding very well.
"Ah well, life goes on" Leila muttered, turning her head and burying her face in the pillow as the tears building up in her eyes threatened to spill.
2 Weeks Later,
Leila stood in her room, which was by Legolas' for some reason, smoothing down the dress which she had been ordered to wear when she announced she was a girl. It was quite plain, similar to the ones she wore when she was little, the material was plain cotton and the colour a light blue. Her hair was unbraided so it framed her face making her look even less like 'Sérle' than the dress did. The dress had short sleeves so the muscles she had gained still showed and her shoes were still her warrior boots but that was hidden by the long dress.
"Don't worry about it, they were bound to find out some time" Shí said. She was still in her warrior get up as no one had said anything about her being a girl to any of the royals, only Legolas and Eriaur who were not going to tell. "Most will probably think that your just a bloke in a dress" she said laughing quietly.
"I didn't put the belt on for that reason, I don't want them to see the figure I have" Leila said, pacing in front of her friend. "What if they stop talking to me? What if they chase me out of Mirkwood? What if..."
"What if the sky fell in and crushed us all?" Shí asked sarcastically. "Stop pacing, your making me dizzy!" Shí snapped and Leila stood perfectly still.
"I can't do this, tell them I've died" Leila muttered, pacing again. Shí was about to snap at her when Legolas and Eriaur walked in, followed by Pedi, Risen and Ahora. Legolas and Eriaur stopped and stared at Leila in shock/surprise. "What?"
"You look...different" Legolas said, blushing ever so slightly.
"Yeah, I don't usually wear dresses when I'm fighting evil elves" Leila snapped angrily, her fear getting the better of her.
"Leila, you haven't got a belt on" Risen pointed out. All elven ladies had to wear a belt with their dresses, it was the fashion.
"I know, I don't want to" Leila said.
"That dress looks wrong if you don't" Ahora pointed out.
"I don't care" Leila hissed.
"You should wear a belt anyway" Ahora said.
"No" Leila said simply.
"The speech is in an hour" Legolas said, delivering the message they had been ordered to.
"Great, an hour before I die of embarrassment" Leila said sarcastically.
"Leila, do you like my new dress. Legolas gave it to me" Pedi said proudly, stepping forewords.
"It looks lovely Pedi" Leila said, picking her sister up gently. Pedi's old dress had been tattered and dirty by the time she had finished jumping off horses and out of trees. This new one was white but with a green leafy pattern on it. It reached just past her knees and had long sleeves, it had no belt Leila noted. But then again little Pedi had no figure to show off yet with the use of a belt. "Thank you very much my lord" Leila said to Legolas.
"'Twas my pleasure" Legolas said kindly, smiling.
"Leila, can I draw a picture?" Pedi asked suddenly.
"Of course little one, but I don't have anything you can draw with" Leila said.
"Oh" Pedi said sadly.
"I have something she can draw with" Eriaur said quietly. "I could take her if you want?"
"Would you?" Leila asked, gratefully. Leila handed Pedi over when Eriaur nodded and he left, with a quiet Risen following him.
"Leila, that dress looks stupid without a belt so I insist you wear one" Ahora said sharply.
"No, I don't want to wear a belt!" Leila snapped. The argument between the two kept going so Legolas went over to Shí.
"Why won't she wear a belt?" Legolas asked quietly.
"She doesn't like showing off her figure, she never really has although she worse now after all the baggy shirts she's worn" Shí told him.
"So this is pretty normal?" Legolas asked, gesturing to where Ahora was holding the belt and Leila was backing away from her.
"Yep, except in the village she wasn't quite as...disagreeable. She used to give in after 10 minutes, this looks like it'll still be going in an hour" Shí said, motioning to Leila who now had a look of utter disgust on her face. After 20 minutes of this Leila finally gave in and Ahora fixed the belt securely around her shapely waist.
"There, yah happy?" Leila asked angrily.
"Very" Ahora said, walking over to Shí who put her arms protectively around her girlfriends waist. Legolas was openly staring at how the once baggy, now tight dress showed Leila's feminine figure. Leila folded her arms across her cheast and glared at the two of them. The scar on her cheek was the only un-feminine thing about her now, but even that didn't look too bad. Ahora and Shí quietly excused themselves from the room, having caught the look Legolas was giving Leila, who didn't notice.
"So, what are you going to...uh...say in the speech?" Legolas asked, silently cursing himself for choosing such a stupid subject for a conversation.
"Hi, I'm Leila but you knew me as Sérle, I'll be leaving the kingdom now?" Leila said sarcastically, looking up at Legolas.
"They might not want you to leave you know, the men I mean, they might want you to stay" Legolas said quickly.
"It's more likely they'll make me queen" Leila said sarcastically, only Legolas was seriously considering what she'd be like as a queen.
"You've proved to everyone that your as good as any man so they may let you stay" Legolas said quickly.
"May being the important word" Leila muttered. She turned away from Legolas and looked out the window, watching as people gathered for the 'Kings important speech'. "There are going to be so many people there" she whispered. "It would save allot of trouble if just died right now" she said, looking up at the sky.
"No it wouldn't" Legolas said, walking closer to her.
"Oh yes it would" Leila breathed, staring at all the people. "I'm gonna freeze and most likely feint like the girl I really am2 she muttered, turning away from the window as the sight was making her even more nervous than she already was. Legolas gently put his hands on both her shoulders.
"I'll always stand by you no matter what happen" he said sincerely.
"And if I'm chased out by the people?" Leila asked, her eyes challenging him.
"I'll go with you" Legolas said instantly.
"No you will not" Leila snapped. Legolas was about to reply when the door opened and the other three sons of Tharanduil walked in, only slightly surprised to find Legolas so close to Leila. Leila moved away from him and looked at her feet.
"The King awaits you" Tharh(th said quietly.
"Great" Leila muttered, walking towards the door.
"He's in the library" Tharh(th said as she walked past him, slightly unused to the dress.
"It wasn't what it looked like" Legolas said to his brothers.
"Yes it was" the other three said simply. Legolas blushed and looked at his feet.
"It's alright if it was though" Eriaur said. "Her sisters are very sweet indeed" he said, smiling. Legolas now noticed her had paint smudges all over him.
"What happened?" Legolas asked.
"Pedi with paints" Eriaur said simply.
"Right" Legolas muttered.
"We'd better get going, fathers waiting for us too" Harnan said quietly. He had only briefly seen Risen but he thought she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, even though she was a bit younger than him.
30 Minutes Later,
"Elves of Mirkwood. Today we celebrate the victory that happened two weeks ago. The warriors and archers all fought valiantly, as did those in the palace. You all know that the one to which most credit went to was a Warrior named Sérle, injured in a mission but during the battle managed to save Prince Eriaur's life (a few times) but I'm afraid I have some bad new about 'Sérle'" King Tharanduil said loudly so all the elves in the courtyard could hear.
"He's not dead is he?" Dallas asked quietly.
"No, he is not dead. He has kept a secret from us for the past few years, a grievous and punishable secret. Sérle is not whom he seemed to be, he was...a girl" Tharanduil watched the surprise on everyone's faces, but none more so than the faces of the warriors. He gestured behind him and Leila slowly walked forewords, aware of everyone's gazes resting on her. "This is Leila, also known to all of us as Sérle" Tharanduil said, stepping back so that the people could see Leila better.
"It's true!" Dalamar shouted. Leila flinched and looked at the ground. "What do you have to say for yourself you little snake!?!" Dalamar demanded angrily. Leila faced him, showing no fear and took a deep breath before she began speaking.
"It is true. I am a girl and I pretended to be a boy to join the warriors. I do not regret my actions, my only regret is not telling you sooner. I did it to prove my family wrong, my elder brother was also a warrior but the rest of us were not good enough to be anything other than farmers, especially me and my sisters. I joined the Warriors under my brothers name to prove them wrong and I have, only now they are dead along with all the other people from my village. You can banish me from Mirkwood if you like, you can throw rotten vegetables at me but I will not mind as I have proved, to myself and my sisters that it's not just men that can fight and be heroes, it's women as well" Leila was quite obviously coming up with this on the spot but, even though she had been afraid in her bedroom, now that she was facing the people she wasn't afraid at all. Everyone was speechless until someone moved forewords. It was Dagon and Dallas. Leila was slightly afraid of what they would do so she was extremely surprised to find herself suddenly pulled into two bone crushing hugs.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us" Dallas said at last, a smile plastered on his face. People began shouting different opinions. Not surprisingly the women were extremely pleased by this piece of knew but most of the men were not.
"Quiet!" Dagon shouted, raising his hands to call for peoples attention. "My name is Dagon and I fought alongside Sérle...Leila for the past two years and she has proven herself more than once, in more ways than one" Dallas nodded his head in agreement. "She has saved countless lives, put up with unbearable pain, she's even fought with a broken leg! She caught one of the enemy for interrogation, she's been in more near death situations than should be possible for just 2 years, she even saved Prince Eriaur's life!" Some of the other warriors were nodding their heads in agreement, remembering all the things Leila had done fore them. The people who were still disagreeing were the Lords and high stationed elves.
"Leila has shown to us warriors incredible bravery, which seems to run in the family" Dallas muttered the last comment, looking in Pedi's direction. "In all the battles I've seen her in she has always won against her opponent easily, usually sustaining quite a few nasty injuries" Dallas said, putting his arm around Leila's shoulders. Dagon did the same on the other side. "We stand by Leila" he said finally and Dagon voiced his agreement. The other warriors cheered but the Lords still looked displeased.
"Well we tried" Dagon said sadly, it was really down to the lords whether Leila stayed or went. Leila smiled at both of them until she felt a small tug on her dress. She looked down to see Pedi covered from top to toe in different colours of paint.
"What happened to your new dress?" Leila asked, bending down to pick Pedi up, aware of the fact that everyone was still looking at her.
"It got dirty" Pedi said simply.
"I can see that. Now what do you want?" Leila asked kindly.
"Can I talk to the people?" Pedi asked.
"To say what?" Leila asked. Dallas and Dagon still had an arm around her shoulder each and Pedi nervously fiddled with the cuff of Dagon's shirt.
"That you nice" Pedi said innocently.
"Anything else?" Leila asked.
"Um..."
"There's something else you want to say so what is it?"
"That the Prince likes you" Pedi mumbled quickly. Dagon and Dallas looked at each other in slight surprise. Did the child mean what they thought she meant?
"He's my friend, I know that..." Leila started.
"But he want's to be more than friends. Ahora and Shí told me so" Pedi said, looking her big sister in the eyes.
"Well they were lying because he certainly does not want that, now go and find your sister" Leila said, stiffening a bit. Once she placed Pedi on the groaned Pedi skipped off to where Risen was stood with Ahora and Shí. Leila looked at the crowd and saw that some of the hard faces had softened while Pedi had been there. King Tharanduil stepped forewords and immediately all gazes rested on him.
"You have heard what Leila has to say and what two of her fellow warriors had to say so what do you believe should happen to her?" Tharanduil asked loudly. People started mumbling between themselves.
"I say we let her stay" some one called.
"She's got to go!" another person shouted.
"She shouldn't be forced to do anything!"
"I think she should stay a warrior!"
"Silence! Who says send her away?" Tharanduil asked. A third of the people put there hands up. "Who says let her stay and be a warrior?" All the warriors and people she had fought with put their hands up, including the four Princes. "Who says let her stay but not be a warrior?" The rest of the crowd put their hands up but some just didn't vote. The majority of votes went to remain a warrior amazingly. "So be it. Leila shall remain a warrior. Return to your business" Tharanduil ordered. The lords grumbled but did as he said. Leila was very pale and looked liker she was in shock, she had not expected it to turn out like that! She looked from Dagon to Dallas and promptly feinted, just being caught by the two surprised warriors.
A/N The next chapters called 'Pedi Was Right', wonder what that could mean?
The way I'm doing the elves ages is that 500 is the equivalent of a 5 year old so 1500 is a 15 year old. Basically minus the 2 0's and you got the age they look like. And I'm having it that they stop growing at 2000 or 20 so that's why they always look so young. Got it?
To all those who flamed about Éowyn already doing this.she is a human! These are elves. Éowyn fought in one battle, these two fight in lots and train for years. If you notice the whole of the elven army is male so I thought this fitted. Éowyn may do the same but this is set a long time before Return of the King OK? I know Éowyn is a cool character, one of my favourites actually but this is totally different to her. One small note which had been pointed out to me, the reason the girls have joined the army is explained later on because I know it says they wasn't girl power basically but later on it is explained why girl power is so important to them.
Thank you to all those who reviewed and thank you to all those who flamed. I take flames as a persons opinion but as long as not all of my reviews are flames this story will remain up kay? I do have to agree with one piece of constructive criticism/flame, the names are not very elven I know. They would be more elven as I've just found this great name generator site but when I started this story the only names I had were the names on a list my friend Blaze made up for me. Sorry about that, I'll try to make any knew characters names more elven for you. Also the length of hair as I see it is women-really really really long! Men-just below the shoulders and always braided.
Hidden Identity
Chapter Eleven, Speeches
When Tharanduil walked into his eldest sons room he saw a sight that made his heart twist. Pedi was sat on Legolas' lap and he was reading her a book. Leila was lying on the bed laughing as Pedi tried to read some of the words for herself and pronounced probably as p-rob-ab-lie. They looked like a family, a strange one at that.
"Father?" Legolas asked, realising that Tharanduil was there. Pedi looked up from one of the pictures and giggled sweetly.
"I've come to inform you of my decision concerning your...punishment" Tharanduil said to Leila.
"What does concerning mean?" Pedi asked Legolas quietly.
"Shhh, I'll tell you later" Legolas whispered. Tharanduil heard this and had to fight to keep a strait face.
"It has been decided that you will have to publicly say that you are a girl and have been posing as a boy for however long you have been. You will not have any other punishment but it will be up to the people to decide whether they take you back or not" Tharanduil said to Leila who just nodded. Tharanduil left and as he did so he heard Pedi repeat her question.
"What does concerning mean?" Pedi asked again.
"I'm not sure little one, now why don't you go and find Risen and ask her?" Legolas asked, pushing Pedi towards the door. Once she was gone he turned to Leila.
"At least I'm not going to be executed" Leila said, with a slight shrug.
"Yeah" Legolas said, trying to smile but not succeeding very well.
"Ah well, life goes on" Leila muttered, turning her head and burying her face in the pillow as the tears building up in her eyes threatened to spill.
2 Weeks Later,
Leila stood in her room, which was by Legolas' for some reason, smoothing down the dress which she had been ordered to wear when she announced she was a girl. It was quite plain, similar to the ones she wore when she was little, the material was plain cotton and the colour a light blue. Her hair was unbraided so it framed her face making her look even less like 'Sérle' than the dress did. The dress had short sleeves so the muscles she had gained still showed and her shoes were still her warrior boots but that was hidden by the long dress.
"Don't worry about it, they were bound to find out some time" Shí said. She was still in her warrior get up as no one had said anything about her being a girl to any of the royals, only Legolas and Eriaur who were not going to tell. "Most will probably think that your just a bloke in a dress" she said laughing quietly.
"I didn't put the belt on for that reason, I don't want them to see the figure I have" Leila said, pacing in front of her friend. "What if they stop talking to me? What if they chase me out of Mirkwood? What if..."
"What if the sky fell in and crushed us all?" Shí asked sarcastically. "Stop pacing, your making me dizzy!" Shí snapped and Leila stood perfectly still.
"I can't do this, tell them I've died" Leila muttered, pacing again. Shí was about to snap at her when Legolas and Eriaur walked in, followed by Pedi, Risen and Ahora. Legolas and Eriaur stopped and stared at Leila in shock/surprise. "What?"
"You look...different" Legolas said, blushing ever so slightly.
"Yeah, I don't usually wear dresses when I'm fighting evil elves" Leila snapped angrily, her fear getting the better of her.
"Leila, you haven't got a belt on" Risen pointed out. All elven ladies had to wear a belt with their dresses, it was the fashion.
"I know, I don't want to" Leila said.
"That dress looks wrong if you don't" Ahora pointed out.
"I don't care" Leila hissed.
"You should wear a belt anyway" Ahora said.
"No" Leila said simply.
"The speech is in an hour" Legolas said, delivering the message they had been ordered to.
"Great, an hour before I die of embarrassment" Leila said sarcastically.
"Leila, do you like my new dress. Legolas gave it to me" Pedi said proudly, stepping forewords.
"It looks lovely Pedi" Leila said, picking her sister up gently. Pedi's old dress had been tattered and dirty by the time she had finished jumping off horses and out of trees. This new one was white but with a green leafy pattern on it. It reached just past her knees and had long sleeves, it had no belt Leila noted. But then again little Pedi had no figure to show off yet with the use of a belt. "Thank you very much my lord" Leila said to Legolas.
"'Twas my pleasure" Legolas said kindly, smiling.
"Leila, can I draw a picture?" Pedi asked suddenly.
"Of course little one, but I don't have anything you can draw with" Leila said.
"Oh" Pedi said sadly.
"I have something she can draw with" Eriaur said quietly. "I could take her if you want?"
"Would you?" Leila asked, gratefully. Leila handed Pedi over when Eriaur nodded and he left, with a quiet Risen following him.
"Leila, that dress looks stupid without a belt so I insist you wear one" Ahora said sharply.
"No, I don't want to wear a belt!" Leila snapped. The argument between the two kept going so Legolas went over to Shí.
"Why won't she wear a belt?" Legolas asked quietly.
"She doesn't like showing off her figure, she never really has although she worse now after all the baggy shirts she's worn" Shí told him.
"So this is pretty normal?" Legolas asked, gesturing to where Ahora was holding the belt and Leila was backing away from her.
"Yep, except in the village she wasn't quite as...disagreeable. She used to give in after 10 minutes, this looks like it'll still be going in an hour" Shí said, motioning to Leila who now had a look of utter disgust on her face. After 20 minutes of this Leila finally gave in and Ahora fixed the belt securely around her shapely waist.
"There, yah happy?" Leila asked angrily.
"Very" Ahora said, walking over to Shí who put her arms protectively around her girlfriends waist. Legolas was openly staring at how the once baggy, now tight dress showed Leila's feminine figure. Leila folded her arms across her cheast and glared at the two of them. The scar on her cheek was the only un-feminine thing about her now, but even that didn't look too bad. Ahora and Shí quietly excused themselves from the room, having caught the look Legolas was giving Leila, who didn't notice.
"So, what are you going to...uh...say in the speech?" Legolas asked, silently cursing himself for choosing such a stupid subject for a conversation.
"Hi, I'm Leila but you knew me as Sérle, I'll be leaving the kingdom now?" Leila said sarcastically, looking up at Legolas.
"They might not want you to leave you know, the men I mean, they might want you to stay" Legolas said quickly.
"It's more likely they'll make me queen" Leila said sarcastically, only Legolas was seriously considering what she'd be like as a queen.
"You've proved to everyone that your as good as any man so they may let you stay" Legolas said quickly.
"May being the important word" Leila muttered. She turned away from Legolas and looked out the window, watching as people gathered for the 'Kings important speech'. "There are going to be so many people there" she whispered. "It would save allot of trouble if just died right now" she said, looking up at the sky.
"No it wouldn't" Legolas said, walking closer to her.
"Oh yes it would" Leila breathed, staring at all the people. "I'm gonna freeze and most likely feint like the girl I really am2 she muttered, turning away from the window as the sight was making her even more nervous than she already was. Legolas gently put his hands on both her shoulders.
"I'll always stand by you no matter what happen" he said sincerely.
"And if I'm chased out by the people?" Leila asked, her eyes challenging him.
"I'll go with you" Legolas said instantly.
"No you will not" Leila snapped. Legolas was about to reply when the door opened and the other three sons of Tharanduil walked in, only slightly surprised to find Legolas so close to Leila. Leila moved away from him and looked at her feet.
"The King awaits you" Tharh(th said quietly.
"Great" Leila muttered, walking towards the door.
"He's in the library" Tharh(th said as she walked past him, slightly unused to the dress.
"It wasn't what it looked like" Legolas said to his brothers.
"Yes it was" the other three said simply. Legolas blushed and looked at his feet.
"It's alright if it was though" Eriaur said. "Her sisters are very sweet indeed" he said, smiling. Legolas now noticed her had paint smudges all over him.
"What happened?" Legolas asked.
"Pedi with paints" Eriaur said simply.
"Right" Legolas muttered.
"We'd better get going, fathers waiting for us too" Harnan said quietly. He had only briefly seen Risen but he thought she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, even though she was a bit younger than him.
30 Minutes Later,
"Elves of Mirkwood. Today we celebrate the victory that happened two weeks ago. The warriors and archers all fought valiantly, as did those in the palace. You all know that the one to which most credit went to was a Warrior named Sérle, injured in a mission but during the battle managed to save Prince Eriaur's life (a few times) but I'm afraid I have some bad new about 'Sérle'" King Tharanduil said loudly so all the elves in the courtyard could hear.
"He's not dead is he?" Dallas asked quietly.
"No, he is not dead. He has kept a secret from us for the past few years, a grievous and punishable secret. Sérle is not whom he seemed to be, he was...a girl" Tharanduil watched the surprise on everyone's faces, but none more so than the faces of the warriors. He gestured behind him and Leila slowly walked forewords, aware of everyone's gazes resting on her. "This is Leila, also known to all of us as Sérle" Tharanduil said, stepping back so that the people could see Leila better.
"It's true!" Dalamar shouted. Leila flinched and looked at the ground. "What do you have to say for yourself you little snake!?!" Dalamar demanded angrily. Leila faced him, showing no fear and took a deep breath before she began speaking.
"It is true. I am a girl and I pretended to be a boy to join the warriors. I do not regret my actions, my only regret is not telling you sooner. I did it to prove my family wrong, my elder brother was also a warrior but the rest of us were not good enough to be anything other than farmers, especially me and my sisters. I joined the Warriors under my brothers name to prove them wrong and I have, only now they are dead along with all the other people from my village. You can banish me from Mirkwood if you like, you can throw rotten vegetables at me but I will not mind as I have proved, to myself and my sisters that it's not just men that can fight and be heroes, it's women as well" Leila was quite obviously coming up with this on the spot but, even though she had been afraid in her bedroom, now that she was facing the people she wasn't afraid at all. Everyone was speechless until someone moved forewords. It was Dagon and Dallas. Leila was slightly afraid of what they would do so she was extremely surprised to find herself suddenly pulled into two bone crushing hugs.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us" Dallas said at last, a smile plastered on his face. People began shouting different opinions. Not surprisingly the women were extremely pleased by this piece of knew but most of the men were not.
"Quiet!" Dagon shouted, raising his hands to call for peoples attention. "My name is Dagon and I fought alongside Sérle...Leila for the past two years and she has proven herself more than once, in more ways than one" Dallas nodded his head in agreement. "She has saved countless lives, put up with unbearable pain, she's even fought with a broken leg! She caught one of the enemy for interrogation, she's been in more near death situations than should be possible for just 2 years, she even saved Prince Eriaur's life!" Some of the other warriors were nodding their heads in agreement, remembering all the things Leila had done fore them. The people who were still disagreeing were the Lords and high stationed elves.
"Leila has shown to us warriors incredible bravery, which seems to run in the family" Dallas muttered the last comment, looking in Pedi's direction. "In all the battles I've seen her in she has always won against her opponent easily, usually sustaining quite a few nasty injuries" Dallas said, putting his arm around Leila's shoulders. Dagon did the same on the other side. "We stand by Leila" he said finally and Dagon voiced his agreement. The other warriors cheered but the Lords still looked displeased.
"Well we tried" Dagon said sadly, it was really down to the lords whether Leila stayed or went. Leila smiled at both of them until she felt a small tug on her dress. She looked down to see Pedi covered from top to toe in different colours of paint.
"What happened to your new dress?" Leila asked, bending down to pick Pedi up, aware of the fact that everyone was still looking at her.
"It got dirty" Pedi said simply.
"I can see that. Now what do you want?" Leila asked kindly.
"Can I talk to the people?" Pedi asked.
"To say what?" Leila asked. Dallas and Dagon still had an arm around her shoulder each and Pedi nervously fiddled with the cuff of Dagon's shirt.
"That you nice" Pedi said innocently.
"Anything else?" Leila asked.
"Um..."
"There's something else you want to say so what is it?"
"That the Prince likes you" Pedi mumbled quickly. Dagon and Dallas looked at each other in slight surprise. Did the child mean what they thought she meant?
"He's my friend, I know that..." Leila started.
"But he want's to be more than friends. Ahora and Shí told me so" Pedi said, looking her big sister in the eyes.
"Well they were lying because he certainly does not want that, now go and find your sister" Leila said, stiffening a bit. Once she placed Pedi on the groaned Pedi skipped off to where Risen was stood with Ahora and Shí. Leila looked at the crowd and saw that some of the hard faces had softened while Pedi had been there. King Tharanduil stepped forewords and immediately all gazes rested on him.
"You have heard what Leila has to say and what two of her fellow warriors had to say so what do you believe should happen to her?" Tharanduil asked loudly. People started mumbling between themselves.
"I say we let her stay" some one called.
"She's got to go!" another person shouted.
"She shouldn't be forced to do anything!"
"I think she should stay a warrior!"
"Silence! Who says send her away?" Tharanduil asked. A third of the people put there hands up. "Who says let her stay and be a warrior?" All the warriors and people she had fought with put their hands up, including the four Princes. "Who says let her stay but not be a warrior?" The rest of the crowd put their hands up but some just didn't vote. The majority of votes went to remain a warrior amazingly. "So be it. Leila shall remain a warrior. Return to your business" Tharanduil ordered. The lords grumbled but did as he said. Leila was very pale and looked liker she was in shock, she had not expected it to turn out like that! She looked from Dagon to Dallas and promptly feinted, just being caught by the two surprised warriors.
A/N The next chapters called 'Pedi Was Right', wonder what that could mean?