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Chapter 6: A sudden Appearance.

Aranel was lying in bed, it was her second night here now and she was absolutely exhausted but she just couldn't shut off her mind. So she lay there and thought about the day's events. She remembered the scene when she and Legolas had hesitantly entered Thranduil's study after the argument. He had been sitting silently behind his desk, while Illindor had been standing, staring out the window on the opposite side of the room. Legolas and Aranel had come to stand between them, in the centre of the room, the tension so thick Aranel had thought she might have to wade through it. A long silence had followed until it became apparent that neither was going to speak.

"Err…Did you come to a decision?" Aranel had asked awkwardly.

"Yes," her father had answered, turning from where he stood, "Thranduil has kindly offered for us to stay here while you learn all you need to know. Between us we shall provide everything you will need, clothes, equipment, books and the like. If your room was satisfactory last night you are welcome to stay there."

"Yes…It was fine, I was going to thank you both-"Aranel had started to thank the Elves for their hospitality but Illindor cut her off.

"There is no need for that, come now, we shall leave the King in peace."

And with that the three had left, leaving Thranduil to brood over this new situation. After this, Legolas had kept his promise of lunch and a tour of the palace. Both where perhaps overly enthusiastic, Aranel ecstatic and relieved that she wouldn't have to leave sooner than she wanted and Legolas happy that he had more time to get to know her. Their tour had ended up being very long, as if both wished to never return to the trials of their lives, happy to be absorbed in each other, but Legolas had finally had to leave, having other errands to run, leaving Aranel with a seamstress to be measured up. Much to Aranel's disappointment he had not been back for dinner, so she had retired early.

And so there she lay, smiling silently at the ceiling, ecstatic at her new friendship with Legolas, which seemed to be growing stronger with every moment she spent in his company and revelling in the excitement she felt at finally being happy in her life.

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The sun was only just rising when someone knocked at her door, startling Aranel awake, causing her to just about fall out of bed.

"What?...Who...who is it?" She finally managed as she sat up and leaned against a pillow.

"It's me" Aranel heard for a reply, " Can I come in?"

"Umm…I suppose." Aranel called out, pulling the covers up and running her hand through her hair as Legolas came into the room.

He looked at her, slightly confused. "Your not up yet?" he asked as if this was extremely strange.

"Not up! Legolas it's about 5 o'clock in the morning, what is any sane person doing up at this time?"

"Aranel it's almost 6am! And I'm up and sane!" was his retaught, as he smiled and come over to her side.

"Almost 6am! Your joking I slept in that long! Aranel replied sarcastically, flopping back down onto her pillows and looking up at him.

"Yes, you did. The palace has been up and buzzing for hours." Legolas said, giving her an overly bright smile just to prove his point.

Aranel rolled over so her back was to him muttering, "The whole place is insane" into her pillow.

"I heard that you know. And besides, I actually let you sleep in. Your father wants you to be in his chambers by 6.30am to start your training. So really it wasn't my fault."
"Nooo", Aranel moaned as she buried her head into her pillow and pulled the covers over her head. "Don't make me do it Legolas! I want to sleep!" she whined as she heard him move over to the curtains and pull them back, letting the early morning sun in.

Legolas moved back over to her and pulled the covers back from her head, letting the sun light fall onto her face. However his efforts were thwarted and she pulled them quickly up again saying playfully "Ah! I'm blind. I can't possible be taught anything now!"

"Stop being childish Aranel, and get up!" Legolas said, suddenly becoming very stern.

Aranel froze and looked at him towering over her as she lay there. "Fine then, if you're going to be like that." She said sharply.

Legolas smiled happily and started to say "I thought that might get you up" but only got half way through as Aranel suddenly whipped off her bed covers and got up, revealing the light slip she was wearing that was rather short, in Elvin standards anyway, for summer.

She waltzed passed Legolas, running a hand through her blonde locks as she opened the wardrobe to find something to wear, turning to Legolas and asking "Do you think I should wear a dress or do you think that will interfere with whatever it is I'm going to be trained in today?"

Legolas took a moment to answer his mind seemed to have slowed down considerably as he watched her, taking in her delicate form and gentle curves until her voice cut in and he realised he was staring and how entirely inappropriate the situation was.

"Err…umm sorry, I…I don't know, umm… I should probably go, I will see you later than." He said as he looked around the room, trying desperately not to look at her and finally spotting the door and his escape.

And with that he left before Aranel could say another word, leaving her very confused as to what has just happened, while on the other side of the door Legolas lent up against the wall and wondered what on earth had come over him.

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Aranel thought she was running early when she left her chambers, however, this quickly changed as she realised that she didn't have the faintest clue where her fathers chambers were. This resulted in a lot of wondering around, completely lost in the halls of the elvish stronghold. After a few failed attempts to get an answer out of the servants, most seemed to scurry off whenever she approached, she finally got a general idea of the direction she should have been heading in and headed off. It wasn't long, however, before Illindor found her, instead of her finding him.

"Where have you been? Did Legolas not wake you this morning like I asked?' Illindor asked suspiciously.

"No, he did, I just got lost, and it took me ages to get an answer out of anyone when I asked where to go."

"Well that doesn't surprise me, they all fear us, think we might curse them or something equally ridiculous." Illindor replied, starting off down the hall to one of the main staircases of the palace, expecting her to follow

"But why? What have I done for them to be afraid of me?" Aranel asked incredulously.

At this Illindor stopped and turned to her, giving her an almost regretful look. "You did nothing, it is just how the Elves are. We two races have never seen eye to eye and these Elves would have been brought up to fear, even hate us."

Aranel hung her head, she had gathered as much but realising that, at least here, she still would not be accepted was a hard thing to deal with.

"Come, you need not concern your self with that, all you need to concentrate on is your studies. The sooner you feel comfortable with everything the sooner we can leave this place." Illindor said, starting to stride down the hall again, Aranel having to jog to catch up with him.

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Empty your mind….don't think about anything….wait…does thinking that count as a thought…damn thinking that definitely does…Ah! Shut up mind!…Aranel was staring at a feather on the table in front of her. Illindor had lead her to one of the highest points of the palace, and after having an in depth discussion about what she had achieved by herself and how she had achieved it when it came to her powers, he had set her to focusing her mind on an object and trying to make it move. However, she was having a considerable amount of difficulty with the first part of his instructions, which had been 'try to clear your mind'.

"I can't do it!" she said in exacerbation, flopping back in the chair and rubbing her eyes.

"Aranel don't be ridiculous! Once you focus look how simple it is." And with that the feather went shooting round the room to stop, balanced on its tip in front of her. "See, there's nothing to it!" Illindor replied, a little frustrated that his daughter was having so much trouble with a task that the youngest of Fay would have been able to do in their play.

"I just can't, I can't focus on the damn thing!"

"Of course you can you're my daughter!" Illindor shot back, frustration clear in his voice now.

"I might be your daughter, but I am certainly not you when it comes to these stupid powers and you're no father to me!." Aranel said heatedly, suddenly getting to her feet to punctuate her words.

And it was that that seemed to do the trick. Aranel was to busy glaring daggers at her father to notice the feather whiz across the table and dart towards Illindor's face. His hand shot out suddenly and the feather seemed to hit an invisible barrier, hitting it and falling to the ground between them. Both stood there staring at it for a moment.

"I…umm…" was all Aranel managed to get out.

"Interesting." Illindor said looking at her with a crooked smile. "I didn't realise you felt so strongly about the subject."

Aranel slumped back into her chair, resting her head in her hands and staring out the window.

"I'm sorry." She murmured, and she really was. She didn't think he deserved to be told so bluntly that she didn't consider him her father.

Illindor didn't reply. He picked up the feather and placed it between them on the table. "I need to think this through a bit. Your emotions are clearly very tied up with your powers, I think I need to consider that a little more during your training." He got up then a retrieved a book form the shelves on the far wall. " I think you should read this, it should help you understand our ways of life a little better." He placed the book in front of her and walked to the door. "That's enough for today I think." And with that he left, leaving Aranel sitting, staring out the window and wondering how badly she had managed to offend him.

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After leaving a while after Illindor had, Aranel had let her feet guide her to where ever they wished to walk. She had wondered around the gardens, but finding to many elves were out enjoying the summer sun for her liking she had taken to the palace, not really paying much attention to where she was going, she didn't really care, she had other things on her mind. Eventually she had come across a very old door, it looked like it hadn't been used for centuries, though when she pushed it, it opened with ease, as if someone had taken the time to oil and maintain the hinges. Behind it was a gloomy set of stairs, which in her current frame of mind, appealed to Aranel very much, she doubted anyone would come up here and the place seemed to offer the solitude she sort. So she climbed up the stairs, the only light coming from the small slits of windows that were scattered along her path. She guessed she must be climbing one of the many towers of the palace and she was proved right when she came to the door at the top, opening it to find herself in a circular room, windows showing the scenes below in all directions except for one, which had another door in it. Aranel went to it and discovered a small balcony looking out onto the forest and the land beyond. There was a stone bench set on the balcony so Aranel sat, staring out at the breath taking scene below her and for a while forgetting about everything else.

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Darkness had fallen by the time Aranel decided to make her way down for dinner. She hesitated momentarily at the top of the stairs, they were a lot darker now that the sun had sunk below the horizon and she started to get a little nervous of the situation as her imagination began running wild. However, a dark staircase was the least of her problems she soon found out when she reached the bottom. As Aranel finally made it to the door and nothing had jumped out and eaten her so far, she reached out to push it open. The door wouldn't budge. She worked the handle again but all she got in return was resistance. Someone had locked her in. This seemed to do nothing but fuel her imagination as she suddenly wondered if someone had locked her in, or if they had locked it after themselves, which meant she wasn't alone. Panic started to consumer her, she banged on the door with her fists, hoping that there might be someone on the other side to hear her and let her out. She was just about to call out when she thought she heard something behind her. She turned quickly and fell very still and silent, straining to see into the darkness.

"H-hello?" She whispered very quietly, not wanting to draw to much attention to herself. Shouldn't have banged on the door then should you muttered the logical side of her mind though she payed little attention to it now.

Silence was all she got for an answer and she stood, her back pressed to the door as she debated whether to turn around and resume trying to get out or make a run for it back up stairs. It's lighter up there. She thought, It's also further away from anyone, and at least here they can only came at you from one angle. Reasoned her logical side, which she had to agree with, it did have a very good point. But it's very dark down here, how am I suppose to see anything before it's too late. She suddenly thought, and her imagination took this image and turned it into a murderous face looming out of the darkness. Help me! Help me! HELP ME! She pleaded in her head, shutting her eyes tightly, much like a child does, and imagining that she was anywhere but here as panic completely took hold and she felt tears prick at her eyes. She tried imagining that she was at dinner, with all the lights and people and laughter and she wasn't trapped in a dark room. She imagined her farther, heaping her plate with food and Legolas smiling happily at her as he made her laugh and Thranduil, watching everything, sending the occasional glare at Illindor. She saw the servants gossiping as they passed one another or gathered in the door, just out of sight, she heard the sudden burst of laughter from somewhere in the room and the sudden silence that followed.

Wait…why is there a sudden silence? She wondered as she opened her eyes, wondering where on earth she had got that from. She found the answer looking at her though, through a hundred different eyes. Aranel blinked at the sudden light and looked around herself. She was standing in the middle of the dinning hall and everyone was silent, staring at her as if she where a ghost. Whispers suddenly broke out amongst the crowd as Legolas, Thranduil and Illindor got to their feet. Aranel stood, in complete shock as to how she had managed to get there.

"Good of you to join us Aranel, no matter how abrupt your appearance may be." Illindor said nodding to her. "Though I think you should probably take this opportunity to retire early, don't you." He continued, it was not a question, he nodded slightly to the door behind her before giving her a very stern look.

Aranel didn't move. Not much of what Illindor was saying was actually registering, all she could do was open and close her mouth like a fish out of water.

"Goodnight than, Aranel." Her father prompted.

Aranel still stood dumbly staring around her. Legolas moved from his place then and walked toward her, grabbing her by the elbow and escorting her out.

Once they were out of the hall he marched her down the corridor for a bit, his grip a lot rougher than she could remember it every being. He stopped her suddenly and spun her around to face him.

"What in the name of the Valar do you think you are doing?" he demanded glaring at her.

"Legolas, I, I was stuck and I…what, why are you angry? Did something happen?" she asked, finally registering his tone of voice and genuinely wondering why he was upset.

"Did something… Aranel! You just appeared in the middle of a room! Do you know what that's done? You've just announced to everyone that we have Fay staying here!"

"What, I just appeared?" Aranel asked, taken aback and completely missing the point of what she had just caused by doing so.

"Yes you appeared!" Legolas said his voice rising slightly in volume.

"Really! Wow! Though I do feel a little dizzy, do you think that has anything to do with it?" Aranel exclaimed, suddenly aware of the dizziness that had come over her and she swayed slightly on her feet.

Legolas appeared not to notice though as her stared at her incredulously. "What! How can you not take this seriously! Are you really so ignorant to what you have just caused! My father and I will have every Elf in the Kingdom hounding us because of it. There will be out cries against it! Our rule here will be questioned! We may even be overthrown!" Legolas said, pacing back and forwards now, giving her a horrible look as he run his hand through his hair in frustration.

"What? But I thought they knew we were here, they all avoid me-"

"The servants know because they have close contact with you. That was all, everyone else was told you were from Lothlorien, until you went and appeared out of thin air." Legolas cut across her.

He looked at her, waiting for a reply, however, Aranel hadn't heard much of what Legolas had just said. In fact she was having a hard enough time even standing up, let alone listening to him. She looked down at her hands, they felt all sticky with sweat and they were shaking badly. She wondered why they were blurry and thought she might appear somewhere else when everything went black and she fell into a much more welcome darkness.

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So there you go, another chapter, let me know what you think!