I don't own any of Tolkien's characters or places or anything else, so
please don't sue me. I'm really sorry about how the chapters have been all
scrunched together, I know it's really annoying. I've tried everything to
make them stop, and I'm sorry if this chapter is like that too.
Chapter 6: Archery Lessons
The next few days were slow and full of tension in the palace of Mirkwood. Taraancaiel was forced to stay in the healing wing for at least three more days under the supervision of the palace healers. Lord Maikatasaire had been arranging a wedding date for his daughter and Prince Cuephel with King Thranduil, and the two of them were having a hard time agreeing on anything. Also, rumors of war with the dwarves had been floating around the palace, causing an uneasiness in everyone.
A healer came to Taraancaiel's bed one evening, four days after her encounter with the spiders, and released her from his care. She was extremely happy to get out of the small, stuffy room, but she was also still very angry at her father. She greatly wished she still had her bow, for she wanted to practice at the archery ranges to take her mind off of her troubles. She made her way up to her room to change her clothes when much to her dismay, she met up with Cuephel in the hallway.
"Ah, Lady Taraancaiel," he said, kneeling in front of her and kissing her pale hand. "I am greatly relieved to see you are well again. I trust you have heard the good news about us?" He stood up and grinned down at her. Taraancaiel looked up at him and her face twisted in anger.
"If you are referring to the marriage my father is planning for me, then yes, sadly I have heard," she replied, her eyes narrowed and her voice cold. "But do not think I will give in to marrying you so easily, Prince Cuephel. I do not love you, and I refuse to marry someone I do not care for, even in my father demands me to." Cuephel stared at the scowling maiden in disbelief for a moment, then his face too began to fill with anger.
"You will marry me if I desire it," Cuephel spat, grasping her arm tightly. "And you will love me, or you will learn to." Taraancaiel wretched her arm from the Prince with a look of disgust on her face.
"Do not tell me what to do," she said bitterly, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I am sorry that I do not love you, but it can not be helped." She turned and continued to walk to her room, and she heard Cuephel stomp his foot in rage and shout after her.
"It can be helped," he growled. "If you hadn't met Legolas, this would never have happened! Ai, how I despise him!" Taraancaiel turned around and shot Cuephel a look of fury and astonishment.
"Legolas has nothing to do with any of this," she said, staring at him in disbelief. "How dare you try to blame him! He has done nothing wrong yet everyone wants to try to make him seem like he's a bad person!" Cuephel glared at her for a moment, gritting his teeth in anger, then spun quickly on his heel and stormed away. Taraancaiel watched him go, feeling her anger diminish slightly, then too continued on her way to her chambers.
Legolas had spent most of his time since he had talked to Taraancaiel and his father at the archery range. He always could go there to drown his problems in a hard session of shooting targets with his prized bow. He carefully fitted an arrow to his bow, drew back the leathery drawstring, took careful aim, then let the arrow fly at his target, which happened to be a large round slab of wood. The arrow struck the target smack in the middle, as did the previous 24 arrows, but still Legolas was not satisfied. He could remember when Encirthon came to the ranges every night and wouldn't leave until he had shot 100 perfect bullseyes. He fitted another arrow, and was about to release it again, when a sound of rustling leaves came from behind him and he spun around, aiming his bow at the source of the noise.
"Are you going to shoot me, Prince Legolas?" Taraancaiel asked, her green eyes glowing mysteriously in the dim light. Legolas sighed with relief and put down his bow. He turned back around and shot the target again, yet another arrow planted itself square in the middle of one of the targets.
"I see you are up and walking again, Lady," Legolas said as he pulled another arrow from his green leather quiver. "And even after 4 days of being locked in a room, you still know exactly where to find me." Taraancaiel walked up beside him, staring out into the target filled range.
"Yes, well you are not too hard to find, Legolas," she replied, sighing as she thought of her own bow, probably locked somewhere in her father's room. "I just go where I would go and I find you." Legolas looked at the maiden, and noticing how she stared at his bow enviously, he handed her it. She smiled at him, and quickly took the bow into her own hands.
"I am sorry about your father taking your bow," Legolas said sympathetically. "I know how much it meant to you." Taraancaiel sighed and reached over Legolas's shoulder to grab an arrow.
"Well, it can not be helped," she said softly, fitting the arrow to the drawstring. "And I am sorry I blamed you. I should have known you wouldn't have betrayed my trust." Taraancaiel tried to pull back the bowstring and found it was somewhat different than her own bow had been. She examined the bow closely and found that Legolas's bow was much longer than hers, and also the bowstring was much tighter and harder to pull back. Legolas smirked as he watched her try to pull back the drawstring in vain, and he couldn't help snickering when she became so frustrated with it that she stamped her foot impatiently like a small child.
"Here, let me to help you," he finally said, after watching Taraancaiel succeed in drawing the string back only about 3 inches. "I can see you have never shot a long bow before." Taraancaiel usually would have objected to someone helping her, but for some reason she held her tongue. Legolas placed one of his larger hands on Taraancaiel's smaller one that held the bow and helped her grip it tightly. He stood behind her and wrapped his other arm around her and took her hand drawing the string in his hand. "You see," he said softly, talking into her ear. "You were holding it too high. You're hand should rest more in the middle, like this." He moved his hand and hers down the smooth wooden handle of the bow. Taraancaiel stood silently as Legolas continued to give her instructions. "Alright, now you pull back the bowstring, I like it fairly tight so you may not be used to it being this hard to draw." He helped her pull back the string after she fitted an arrow to it and he held it back while she aimed.
Taraancaiel found it hard to concentrate while Legolas was this close to her, and Aralondwen's words filled her head. 'You must really love him, sister.' 'It is obvious you are in love with Prince Legolas.' 'No,' she told the voices. 'I am not, I can not.' She suddenly let go of the arrow and it went flying over all the targets, landing in some distant pool with a splash. Legolas stifled back a laugh.
"I'd say you could do with some practice," he snickered, shaking with suppressed laughter.
"I- I'm just used to my own bow, that's all," Taraancaiel replied, her voice shrill. Her head was still flooded with thoughts but she quickly shoved them aside. "Let me try again."
"As you wish," Legolas replied and handed her another arrow. Legolas helped her adjust her holdings to the correct places and she aimed carefully. She let the arrow go, and much to her surprise it flew straight into the center of the target.
"Legolas, did you see that?!" she exclaimed, smiling widely. "That shot was perfect! It looked just like yours do!" She turned to face him, still grinning insanely and their eyes met. Legolas was smiling too, and laughter was visible in his gentle blue eyes as he looked down at Taraancaiel. Taraancaiel's smile faded as she stared up at Legolas. "Well, what did you think?" she asked, her voice soft and uncertain. Legolas gazed down into Taraancaiel's green eyes, lost in their beauty.
"Perfect," he whispered, his voice sending a chill down Taraancaiel's spine. Without warning, he leaned in and kissed the unsuspecting elf maiden gently on the lips. He jerked back quickly, as if just realizing what he had done, and left Taraancaiel staring at him, stunned. "I."he began, looking down at her with wide eyes, "I'm sorry.I don't know what came over me.I-"But he never got to finish. He was cut off by Taraancaiel throwing her arms around his neck and pulling his face back into hers in another, more passionate kiss. His head swam in emotions but he slipped his arms around her and kissed her back hungrily. Minutes passed until the two elves broke apart, both gasping for breath. The sun had completely set and the grounds were very dark now. Legolas held his embrace on Taraancaiel, not wanting to let go of her. "I'm.I do not know what to say." he said softly, running a hand through her silky brown hair.
"Then do not say anything at all," Taraancaiel whispered. "But I'm afraid we must say good-bye, my father will be wondering where I am and why I missed dinner." Legolas tightened his grip on her and buried his face in her hair.
"I just found you, I do not want to say good-bye now." Legolas replied. "Although, I suppose you are right." He let go of Taraancaiel and looked down at her. "Promise me I can at least see you tomorrow." Taraancaiel grinned.
"Just 5 days ago, you would have done anything to avoid me," she said. "Now you wish to see me? I fear I will never understand you, Prince Legolas." Legolas smiled and kissed her one last time.
"I take that as a yes," he said, still smiling. "Come, allow me to walk you to your room." He offered her his arm, which she accepted, and he lead her back up to the castle and up to her room. He knelt before her when they reached her door and softly took her hand in his. He held it up to his lips and very gently kissed her knuckles. "Pleasant dreams, Lady Taraancaiel," he said quietly, then got to his feet and silently walked away. Taraancaiel watched him disappear down the hallway, then clumsily made her way into her room. She threw herself onto her bed, and much to her surprise, began to weep.
"Why?" she whispered to herself, tears flowing down her cheeks. "How am I going to tell Legolas I'm engaged to his older brother? Oh, I hate Father!!!"
Ok, hope you liked that chapter, now that things are startin to get a lil more interesting! Sorry I haven't updated in forever, I have a ton of stuff going on at school. I'll try to start updating more often, but I'm not promising anything. Once again, pleeeeeease review or email me at demoness33@hotmail.com with suggestions. Bye now!
Chapter 6: Archery Lessons
The next few days were slow and full of tension in the palace of Mirkwood. Taraancaiel was forced to stay in the healing wing for at least three more days under the supervision of the palace healers. Lord Maikatasaire had been arranging a wedding date for his daughter and Prince Cuephel with King Thranduil, and the two of them were having a hard time agreeing on anything. Also, rumors of war with the dwarves had been floating around the palace, causing an uneasiness in everyone.
A healer came to Taraancaiel's bed one evening, four days after her encounter with the spiders, and released her from his care. She was extremely happy to get out of the small, stuffy room, but she was also still very angry at her father. She greatly wished she still had her bow, for she wanted to practice at the archery ranges to take her mind off of her troubles. She made her way up to her room to change her clothes when much to her dismay, she met up with Cuephel in the hallway.
"Ah, Lady Taraancaiel," he said, kneeling in front of her and kissing her pale hand. "I am greatly relieved to see you are well again. I trust you have heard the good news about us?" He stood up and grinned down at her. Taraancaiel looked up at him and her face twisted in anger.
"If you are referring to the marriage my father is planning for me, then yes, sadly I have heard," she replied, her eyes narrowed and her voice cold. "But do not think I will give in to marrying you so easily, Prince Cuephel. I do not love you, and I refuse to marry someone I do not care for, even in my father demands me to." Cuephel stared at the scowling maiden in disbelief for a moment, then his face too began to fill with anger.
"You will marry me if I desire it," Cuephel spat, grasping her arm tightly. "And you will love me, or you will learn to." Taraancaiel wretched her arm from the Prince with a look of disgust on her face.
"Do not tell me what to do," she said bitterly, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I am sorry that I do not love you, but it can not be helped." She turned and continued to walk to her room, and she heard Cuephel stomp his foot in rage and shout after her.
"It can be helped," he growled. "If you hadn't met Legolas, this would never have happened! Ai, how I despise him!" Taraancaiel turned around and shot Cuephel a look of fury and astonishment.
"Legolas has nothing to do with any of this," she said, staring at him in disbelief. "How dare you try to blame him! He has done nothing wrong yet everyone wants to try to make him seem like he's a bad person!" Cuephel glared at her for a moment, gritting his teeth in anger, then spun quickly on his heel and stormed away. Taraancaiel watched him go, feeling her anger diminish slightly, then too continued on her way to her chambers.
Legolas had spent most of his time since he had talked to Taraancaiel and his father at the archery range. He always could go there to drown his problems in a hard session of shooting targets with his prized bow. He carefully fitted an arrow to his bow, drew back the leathery drawstring, took careful aim, then let the arrow fly at his target, which happened to be a large round slab of wood. The arrow struck the target smack in the middle, as did the previous 24 arrows, but still Legolas was not satisfied. He could remember when Encirthon came to the ranges every night and wouldn't leave until he had shot 100 perfect bullseyes. He fitted another arrow, and was about to release it again, when a sound of rustling leaves came from behind him and he spun around, aiming his bow at the source of the noise.
"Are you going to shoot me, Prince Legolas?" Taraancaiel asked, her green eyes glowing mysteriously in the dim light. Legolas sighed with relief and put down his bow. He turned back around and shot the target again, yet another arrow planted itself square in the middle of one of the targets.
"I see you are up and walking again, Lady," Legolas said as he pulled another arrow from his green leather quiver. "And even after 4 days of being locked in a room, you still know exactly where to find me." Taraancaiel walked up beside him, staring out into the target filled range.
"Yes, well you are not too hard to find, Legolas," she replied, sighing as she thought of her own bow, probably locked somewhere in her father's room. "I just go where I would go and I find you." Legolas looked at the maiden, and noticing how she stared at his bow enviously, he handed her it. She smiled at him, and quickly took the bow into her own hands.
"I am sorry about your father taking your bow," Legolas said sympathetically. "I know how much it meant to you." Taraancaiel sighed and reached over Legolas's shoulder to grab an arrow.
"Well, it can not be helped," she said softly, fitting the arrow to the drawstring. "And I am sorry I blamed you. I should have known you wouldn't have betrayed my trust." Taraancaiel tried to pull back the bowstring and found it was somewhat different than her own bow had been. She examined the bow closely and found that Legolas's bow was much longer than hers, and also the bowstring was much tighter and harder to pull back. Legolas smirked as he watched her try to pull back the drawstring in vain, and he couldn't help snickering when she became so frustrated with it that she stamped her foot impatiently like a small child.
"Here, let me to help you," he finally said, after watching Taraancaiel succeed in drawing the string back only about 3 inches. "I can see you have never shot a long bow before." Taraancaiel usually would have objected to someone helping her, but for some reason she held her tongue. Legolas placed one of his larger hands on Taraancaiel's smaller one that held the bow and helped her grip it tightly. He stood behind her and wrapped his other arm around her and took her hand drawing the string in his hand. "You see," he said softly, talking into her ear. "You were holding it too high. You're hand should rest more in the middle, like this." He moved his hand and hers down the smooth wooden handle of the bow. Taraancaiel stood silently as Legolas continued to give her instructions. "Alright, now you pull back the bowstring, I like it fairly tight so you may not be used to it being this hard to draw." He helped her pull back the string after she fitted an arrow to it and he held it back while she aimed.
Taraancaiel found it hard to concentrate while Legolas was this close to her, and Aralondwen's words filled her head. 'You must really love him, sister.' 'It is obvious you are in love with Prince Legolas.' 'No,' she told the voices. 'I am not, I can not.' She suddenly let go of the arrow and it went flying over all the targets, landing in some distant pool with a splash. Legolas stifled back a laugh.
"I'd say you could do with some practice," he snickered, shaking with suppressed laughter.
"I- I'm just used to my own bow, that's all," Taraancaiel replied, her voice shrill. Her head was still flooded with thoughts but she quickly shoved them aside. "Let me try again."
"As you wish," Legolas replied and handed her another arrow. Legolas helped her adjust her holdings to the correct places and she aimed carefully. She let the arrow go, and much to her surprise it flew straight into the center of the target.
"Legolas, did you see that?!" she exclaimed, smiling widely. "That shot was perfect! It looked just like yours do!" She turned to face him, still grinning insanely and their eyes met. Legolas was smiling too, and laughter was visible in his gentle blue eyes as he looked down at Taraancaiel. Taraancaiel's smile faded as she stared up at Legolas. "Well, what did you think?" she asked, her voice soft and uncertain. Legolas gazed down into Taraancaiel's green eyes, lost in their beauty.
"Perfect," he whispered, his voice sending a chill down Taraancaiel's spine. Without warning, he leaned in and kissed the unsuspecting elf maiden gently on the lips. He jerked back quickly, as if just realizing what he had done, and left Taraancaiel staring at him, stunned. "I."he began, looking down at her with wide eyes, "I'm sorry.I don't know what came over me.I-"But he never got to finish. He was cut off by Taraancaiel throwing her arms around his neck and pulling his face back into hers in another, more passionate kiss. His head swam in emotions but he slipped his arms around her and kissed her back hungrily. Minutes passed until the two elves broke apart, both gasping for breath. The sun had completely set and the grounds were very dark now. Legolas held his embrace on Taraancaiel, not wanting to let go of her. "I'm.I do not know what to say." he said softly, running a hand through her silky brown hair.
"Then do not say anything at all," Taraancaiel whispered. "But I'm afraid we must say good-bye, my father will be wondering where I am and why I missed dinner." Legolas tightened his grip on her and buried his face in her hair.
"I just found you, I do not want to say good-bye now." Legolas replied. "Although, I suppose you are right." He let go of Taraancaiel and looked down at her. "Promise me I can at least see you tomorrow." Taraancaiel grinned.
"Just 5 days ago, you would have done anything to avoid me," she said. "Now you wish to see me? I fear I will never understand you, Prince Legolas." Legolas smiled and kissed her one last time.
"I take that as a yes," he said, still smiling. "Come, allow me to walk you to your room." He offered her his arm, which she accepted, and he lead her back up to the castle and up to her room. He knelt before her when they reached her door and softly took her hand in his. He held it up to his lips and very gently kissed her knuckles. "Pleasant dreams, Lady Taraancaiel," he said quietly, then got to his feet and silently walked away. Taraancaiel watched him disappear down the hallway, then clumsily made her way into her room. She threw herself onto her bed, and much to her surprise, began to weep.
"Why?" she whispered to herself, tears flowing down her cheeks. "How am I going to tell Legolas I'm engaged to his older brother? Oh, I hate Father!!!"
Ok, hope you liked that chapter, now that things are startin to get a lil more interesting! Sorry I haven't updated in forever, I have a ton of stuff going on at school. I'll try to start updating more often, but I'm not promising anything. Once again, pleeeeeease review or email me at demoness33@hotmail.com with suggestions. Bye now!