A few days past, and Laura and Legolas saw little of one another. She had been offered her room in the palace back, and moved right in. She liked the room, it was large, with a wonderfully soft bed. The walls were a deep rich green color, with ruby colored accenting. She had two large windows that looked out over the garden, and she also had a wonderful view of the archery fields. She took to walking in the gardens daily, and looked over the book Legolas had given her. She greatly wished she could read elvish. She would have to remember to beg Legolas, he would help her with her elvish.
She would sit in the gardens daily, and Legolas would stop if he passed by. They would talk for some time, until a duty or a servant of the kings would call him away. He would apologize, and she would smile, saying it was alright. She wished he could spend more time with her, he was her only friend there. The other elves were wary of her, but were never rude. They would nod their hello's, and some would even speak to her. But she still felt alone, and bored most of the days.
When she had finished studying her book one day, having learned absolutely nothing. Only that elvish handwriting was beautiful, she took her book back to her room, and decided to take a walk, and explore Mirkwood. She stopped and spoke to elflings who played in the streets, they spoke without reservations as they were young, and she enjoyed talking to them. But soon their mothers would come out, smile to her, and usher them off to do something.
Her walk took her to the edge of the forest, where a large stable was set up. She smiled, and walked in, her nose picking up the lovely familiar scent of hay. No one was there at the moment, and she decided it would be okay to talk to the horses a bit. She walked up to each one, and spoke to it, if it seemed friendly enough, she would pet it. But she came upon one horse, down at the end of the stables. It was thin, and weak looking, it's mane tangled, and dirty. It was wary of her, and backed into a corner when she came near. She had to stop herself from crying. She looked around, and found a small stool. She played it next to the horses stable and sat, talking to it.
She came and talked to that horse every day, stealing a bit of extra hay, and putting it in the horses stall. The horse slowly began to trust her, and steadily grew closer to her with each passing day. She was shocked when, unexpectedly one day the horse stuck it's head out of it's stable, and nudged her shoulder with it's muzzle. She smiled, and stroked the horses nose. "Hey, what are you doing in here?" Someone asked. She turned, and found an elf saddling a horse.
She stood, and nodded a hello to the elf. "I'm sorry, I was only talking to this horse. Who takes care of the horses in here? I've been coming for days, and have only seen riders caring for their horses." The elf nodded, and crossed over to where she stood. "Aye, the stable hand is away. Has been for several months, and the horses have been left to their riders care." She looked to the horse she had been caring for, and his gaze followed. "And what about this one? Whose horse is it?" The elf's demeanor visibly changed, and a frown formed on his face. "That horses rider is gone."
She was about to ask gone where, when the elf turned and walked away. She started after him, to ask if it would be okay if she cared for the horse, but though it would be best to ask Legolas. She took some hay from the pile in the corner, and put it in the horses stable, and set off to find Legolas. She found a guard, and asked if he knew where Legolas was. The guard pointed her into the woods, and she slowly made her way in the direction she had been pointed.
The woods were dark, the trees blocked the sun from below where she was walking, making things a bit more difficult. "Legolas?" She whispered, more to herself. She walked for some time, when she heard voices, and they were shouting at each other. She quietly made her way in the direction of the voices, and gasped. Legolas was standing with a girl, a female elf, and they were fighting. Legolas glanced her way, and Laura ducked into some bushes. The fight continued, until the female elf stalked away angrily.
Legolas sighed to himself, and walked over to where he had heard Laura approach. He crouched down in front of the bushes, and pushed them away, to find Laura crouching down as well. She smiled, and her cheeks reddened. "I'm, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were talking to someone." Legolas smiled, and stood, offering her his hand. She took it, and stood next to him, brushing the seat of her pants free of leaves. "No Milady. It's quite fine, we were finished talking anyway." Laura grinned, and nudged him in the side. "I think you were more than talking elfy." Legolas sighed again and nodded. "Aye, we were. Now, what can I do for you Milady?"
Laura explained what the elf in the stables had told her, and explained about the horse she had been spending time with. "So, I came to ask you if I could maybe take the horse on, care for it, you know." Legolas stared for a moment, considering, and nodded his head. "I don't see a problem with that, let us go see the horse."
Legolas and Laura walked through the woods together, arm in arm, and talked. "So you've never ridden a horse before?" Legolas asked. Laura laughed. "Noooo, I've always been scared to. At home I took care of a few of them, but I was never brave enough to actually get on one." Legolas smiled warmly. "Then we shall have to change that, wont we?" Laura looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then smiled.
"We? Meaning you will actually spend some time with me? Help me?" Legolas frowned for a moment. "Aye, I will be able to make some time for you now Milady." Laura sighed. "Good, I'm glad. I've been becoming really bored, and enough. Haven't you figured out a name for me yet?" Legolas shook his head. "I'm afraid not, I have found nothing befitting of you." Laura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, cause you never see me elfy. Maybe if you spent more time with me." She stuck her tongue out at him, and ran towards the stables. Legolas stared after her, confused, but laughed and followed.
Laura stopped at the end of the stables, bent over, panting. The elf gracefully ran in beside her, and stood waiting. "Phew," She panted. "I haven't," She breathed a long heavy sigh, and stood straight to face him. "Gone running in a long time." The elf smiled. "I can see that." She turned, and called the horse to the front of the stall. It stared warily at Legolas, but came anyway. She scratched it's muzzle, and turned to face Legolas. "This is him, I've been calling him Buckley." Legolas turned, and smiled. "Buckley Milady?"
Laura nodded. "Buckley, Jeff Buckley. He was a wonderful singer from where I come from. He died a while ago though. Some people say he killed himself, but others think he only drowned. Very sad, he's absolutely wonderful." Laura sighed. "I very much miss my CD's, er, my music." Legolas smiled. "Buckley." He reached out to touch the horses muzzle, but it backed away from him. "As you can see, the horse trusts elves no longer. His rider was lost in a battle, and no one had been able to get near him for months." He turned back to Laura. "Though he seems to trust you." She smiled, and reached her hand out to the horse, who pushed his muzzle into her outstretched palm, to be scratched. "It took a while, but he seems to now."
Legolas smiled, turned to Laura, and took her hand in his. "Mellcelvalon. That should be your elvish name Milady." Laura tried to pronounce it, and Legolas corrected her until she had said it correctly. "What's it mean Legolas?" He turned to the horse, and whispered. "It's of my own creation really, but it could be translated as friend of the horse." Laura smiled. "So, I can take care of Buckley?" He nodded. "Yes, you may. Buckley is yours as well if you want him." Laura grinned, and launched herself at Legolas for a hug. "I'd looove him. Thank you!" So that is how Laura came to care for the horses in the stables, and how she got her elvish name. Legolas would still call her Mellcelvalon, even after he learned her earth name. She loved it, and Buckley would become her closest, and almost constant companion.