Once Aridel had changed into appropriate riding clothes, she went to open her door and leave; however she found the door slightly harder to open this time than usual. Once she pushed it open, she stepped out and looked around to the other side, to see Legolas sitting there against the door. She burst into laughter as she realized she had pushed her little brother along with the door.
"Silly elfling! Are you ready to go?"
"Yah!" Legolas stood up quickly, and grabbed his big sister's hand, pulling her to the stables. Aridel just rolled her eyes at her little brother, and jogged along with him.
Once they left the palace and began the short walk to the stables, Aridel received a few odd looks. Most elven girls wouldn't be seen in anything other than a dress, even while riding, but Aridel preferred more practical clothing whenever she needed it. It took some convincing to get her parents to agree to it, and Thranduil still wasn't entirely fond of the idea, but Aridel finally got them to let the seamstresses make her some "boy clothes". However, Aridel didn't think of them that way. They were comparable to the clothing the male elves wore, but they most deffinettly had a very feminine aspect to them. Most of the townsfolk were used to it, but every now and then some would think her daft.
Once they got to the stables, Aridel took Melpomaen out of his stall, and saddled him herself. She liked caring for her own horse whenever she could. Once she was finished, she lifted Legolas onto the horse and then agilely hopped up herself.
"Ari, can we go to Lake Town?" the elfling asked his sister.
"Nay, gwador. Lake Town is just a bit too far to go today. How about we ride to our place?" Aridel replied to her brother, knowing he would know where she meant.
"Yah, our place!" The elfling's large blue eyes lit up at the mention of 'our place'. Back when Adeyla and Thranduil were still newlyweds, before they had children, there was a field they would always have picnics in. There was one particular tree there that the two elves would climb together, as their own romantic getaway. When Aridel was only two (by human reckoning) Adeyla asked Thranduil to rig up a swing for the elfling. Ever since then, and especially since Legolas was born, the family simply referred to it as 'our place'.
Aridel nudged the horse lightly with her feet, and they were off. They started at a trot, but as they edged out of the main village, Melpomaen was flying.
When they were more than halfway there, Legolas started to tug on Aridel's hair.
"Ari, tell Mel to stop!"
"What for, Legolas?" The elfling looked slightly embarrassed when his sister asked him why he wanted to stop.
"'Cause..."
"'Cause isn't an answer, Legolas" Aridel poked the elfling in his side, and he indignantly pushed her hand away.
"I gotta go, Ari!" Aridel realized why her brother wanted to stop, and sighed, wondering why he didn't go before they left.
"Fine, Legolas..." She nudged Melpomaen, and he stopped. Aridel then hopped down from the horse, and picked Legolas up off him, and set him down.
"You go behind that tree over there, and don't wander off! Understand?" Aridel knew Legolas had the tendency to stray from whoever was watching him, and knew it would be a nightmare if he got lost in the forest.
"Okay, Ari" Legolas scuttled behind the tree, as Aridel sat down next to another tree and began to idly unbraid and rebraid her hair. She started to hum a song she heard the elves sing as they lifted the barrels, and after a few minutes, she wondered what could possibly be taking the elfling so long.
"Legolas?" She called out to her brother, and receiving no reply, stood up and looked behind the tree.
"Legolas! I told you not to wander off!" Aridel angrily walked around the woods for awhile before she started to worry.
"Legolas, if you can hear me, come here now! You're gunna be in big trouble when we get home if Ada hears about this!" Just then Aridel stepped on something odd. She removed her foot and picked it up, looking at it intently.
"It's a dagger..." She turned it over in her hands, trying to figure out the make. Just then she noticed a small amount of red on the blade, and gasped.
"Legolas! Legolas, where are-"Having been distracted by her discovery, Aridel failed to noticed the hooded figure step silently behind her until it was too late. She felt something hard and heavy slam into the back of her head, before she knew no more.
I would just like to say thank you soooo much to my four lovely reviewers!!! Here you go, cookies as promised! (hands all of you a bag of nummy chocolate cookies)
Note on Melpomaen: Just to let you all know, this is a different Melpomaen, not the elf Figwit ;) Aridel just named the horse after the elf... unless he ticked off Gandalf and he turned him into a horse... (eyes go wide in shock)
To be continued...
