Legolas had been enjoying a rare moment of peace, reading in his room, until a messenger knocked on his door to inform him the western border patrol had seen a pack of warg riders heading deeper and deeper into their lands. What was worse was that they had appeared to be chasing a small group of elves, although from reports it was unclear if they were young Mirkwood elves out looking for a battle or elves from one of the other elven kingdoms. This had put Legolas particularly on edge. Despite their current tensions with Lord Elrond, he didn't want any elves left to the mercy of vicious warg riders. So now Legolas was dressed in his armour and running through the woods with his sword hanging from his waist and his bow strung and in his hand.

The sounds of battle reached his ears before anything else. He could hear the guttural voices of orcs, the snarls of wargs and even the hissing noise the giant spiders made. Legolas cursed inwardly. Clearly they would need to devote patrols to finding and clearing the nest they must have built nearby.

The sounds of the battle had begun to quieten when Legolas heard what sounded like an elleth screaming someone's name. Legolas and his soldiers finally reached the battle. The source of the wild screaming was a bruised and bloody elleth on the ground, crawling towards a spider holding the body of another elf. Two other elves fought spiders nearby, looking almost overwhelmed. There were no wargs or orcs present, but the bits of orcish armour and weapons strewn around the tree roots were clear evidence that they had been here.

Legolas's soldiers were so experienced fighting against spiders that he didn't even need to issue orders. He and the two soldiers next to him, who were at the head of the group, lifted their bows and, in unison, shot and killed the spider holding the dead elf. Within moments his soldiers burst through the trees. Legolas drew his sword and leapt into battle next to them, slashing and hacking at any spider unfortunate enough to come into his range.

He had brought so many elves that they overwhelmed the remaining spiders within minutes. The battle seemed to end all at once, leaving the once noisy clearing silent except for a dull sobbing near the centre. Legolas turned to investigate.

There on the ground, gripping the body of the dead elf as if letting go would condemn her to death too, was the bloodied elleth that had been screaming. She had dark brown hair that was matted and full of twigs. Her tunic was missing a sleeve. That arm was covered in dirt and streaked with blood from the middle of her upper arm down to her fingertips. When she turned to look at him, Legolas saw her eyes were a light blue, almost grey, and faint starlight seemed to twinkle dully within her irises. Her face was streaked with dirt, blood and tear tracks. Before he could ask her who she was or why she was in Mirkwood, her eyes rolled back and she slumped, limp, onto the body of the other elf.

He was blonde and was also missing a sleeve. Blood ran from his shoulder down the side of his torso. Blood spotted his chest, looking like fingerprints from the elleth's bloody hand, and yet more blood had trickled out of the corner of his mouth. His face, as dirt streaked as the elleth's, looked pale underneath the grime. A trickle of blood ran slowly from the corner of his mouth down his cheek. His dark blue eyes stared into nothing.

Legolas knelt down and felt the elleth's pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt one. It was faint, but it was still there. Legolas stood and ordered one of his nearby soldiers to bandage her wounds as best they could, then turned to the remaining elves they had saved. They had been stripped of their weapons and were held at arrow point by some of his soldiers. They were both blonde and equally filthy as the elleth although considerably less bloody. Legolas could see a dark stain on one's calf and the other was cradling his forearm that looked bent unnaturally. Internally, Legolas winced with empathy. He knew how painful such wounds could be. Externally though, he made his face a hard mask. They didn't know who these elves were yet, and considering the elleth had dark hair, he suspected they were indeed from Imladris.

"Who are you?" He asked them once he was standing in front of them.

The two of them looked at each other. He let them. They were weaponless and surrounded, and in any case looked to be in no position to run.

"I am Faunor," the one with the broken arm said eventually. "This is Gawion."

"And who are they?" Legolas asked, gesturing to the dead elf and the elleth being bandaged. Intense grief filled both of their faces and Faunor seemed to compose himself before replying.

"Nendir," Faunor said heavily, "and Ithilriel."

Legolas's interest peaked and he felt his eyebrow rise of its own accord. He knew the name Ithilriel, though they had never met before, what with the tensions between Imladris and Mirkwood rising steadily for the last few centuries.

"Elrond's daughter?" He asked, although he knew the answer already.

"Yes."

"And what were you all doing so far from home?"

Both elves stared at him defiantly, refusing to answer. Legolas stood patiently, his face cold but no longer a mask. His anger at these elves for being in his land was true.

When it became clear The elves would not answer, he turned to one of the guard members watching the exchange.

"Set Faunor's arm and bandage Gawion's calf, then bind them and the elleth. Bring the body with us. My father will be very interested to meet our prisoners."

Legolas pointedly ignored the look of poorly masked panic the two elves gave each other when they realised who they had just spoken to.

Legolas ordered the elves from Imladris to be sent to the infirmary and kept under guard. When they had received treatment and were stable they were to be sent to separate cells. He then went immediately to his father to report what had happened.

His father was very interested, grilling Legolas for every little detail. Legolas answered him without hesitation. The elves of Rivendell had always looked down upon them, the Noldor elves going from one elven stronghold to the next, declaring themselves more wise than the lowly Silvans and thus fit to rule. Now, after Lord Elrond's most recent power move, it appeared they felt they possessed the right to travel through Mirkwood too.

Once satisfied that Legolas had told him as much as possible, Thranduil went to consult with his high ranking officials. He gave Legolas full authority over questioning their new prisoners, so Legolas headed to the infirmary. He was informed by the head healer on duty that Faunor and Gawion had been treated and moved to the cells, but would need regular visits from the healers until they healed more. Ithilriel, he was told, was still unconscious and had sustained a serious concussion. She would need to stay in the infirmary under closer observation than was possible in the cells. Legolas told the head healer to inform him when she was stable and able to be questioned.

Legolas felt a tweak of irritation that he couldn't question Ithilriel, who was surely the leader of the trespassing elves, right then. He left immediately to find the captain of the guard and order him to organise a mission to find and clear out the spiders' nest as well as a mission to check for any more unwanted visitors, whether they be elven or orc. Legolas's irritation increased at the fact that their enemies were coming from inside their borders too.

Legolas was very irritated as he headed down to the cells to interrogate Faunor and Gawion instead. Legolas sighed in frustration. This was supposed to be a relaxing day.

The two elves that Legolas interviewed in their cells told him pretty much the same thing. The remnants of an elven camp had been found on the High Pass. Lord Elrond had investigated and had concluded it was unlikely from elves hailing from Imladris of Lothlorien. Considering Thranduil's most recent parting words to Elrond, he had felt the need to send out a scouting party to find any potential signs that Mirkwood was planning to invade. He had wanted to be sure it was a group of wanderers that had passed through and not a silvan scouting party.

Both of the elves swore up and down they had never intended on actually crossing the border into Mirkwood. They claimed their hand had been forced when they were chased by a huge pack of warg riders. They had picked off some but had ultimately been chased so deeply into the woods that they ran into the spiders. Legolas knew the rest from there.

Legolas wasn't sure whether he believed them. They had both told identical stories while separated from each other, so either they were telling the truth or had concocted a story before being attacked and were both lying. Legolas had seen the wreckage of an orc pack though. He knew from experience that when being chased by orcs, especially warg riders, that you didn't quite have the time to brainstorm some clever story.

Ultimately, the story made sense. Which was actually what made Legolas uneasy. For hundreds of years he had thought of the elves from Imladris as self-important people who went where they wanted and did what they chose. Really, Legolas reflected, it had been his whole life he had thought that. The last several hundred years of tensions and disagreements had just solidified this view.

The idea that they hadn't intended on waltzing into his home, uninvited and unwelcome, was strange, to say the least. Everything he knew about the people of Imladris, everything he'd ever known, told him that there had to be some other, more entitled reason. Just look at the way they had undercut Mirkwood! Surely it couldn't just be caution and an accident?

Legolas sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He would have to wait until he could speak with Ithilriel. If anybody knew a hidden motive Lord Elrond had, surely it would be his daughter. If anybody could coax that secret out of her, surely it would be him.

It was three days before Legolas received word that Elrond's daughter was stable enough to be questioned. Legolas was so eager to question her that he went to see her before she was moved into a cell.

When he entered the healing room she was in Legolas first thought she was asleep. She was lying on her back, bound to her bed as he'd ordered, and staring straight up at the ceiling. She didn't react when Legolas entered the room, so Legolas observed her for a moment.

The wound on her arm had scabbed over, showing that it was actually quite thin. Legolas's eyes moved to her face, which had been cleaned so it was no longer streaked with dirt and blood. Legolas was struck by the difference that made. He could make out her high cheekbones which gave her face the same, angular appearance most elves had. Her cheeks were almost too pale. Legolas wouldn't have been surprised if that was because she still hadn't fully recovered. Her long brown hair was mostly hidden underneath her body, but some of it bulged around her face as if she'd been twisting and turning before laying still. She was beautiful.

Legolas felt drawn to move closer towards her. As he did so he could make out her eyes more clearly. They looked more blue than they had in the darker light of the clearing. He could still see a dull twinkle in her irises. So unaware that he had moved closer to her and so sure she was asleep, Legolas almost jumped when her eyes flicked to him.

Before Legolas could speak, the elleth's eyes widened in recognition, before narrowing. Legolas had the distinct impression he was being studied. He didn't like it. He felt as if she were staring into his very soul.

"Hello Ithilriel," he said. "Do you know who I am?"

Her eyes flicked back up to his and she turned her head towards him, wincing slightly as she did so. Legolas remembered that she had had a concussion.

"No," she said eventually.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked her.

"I can guess," she replied, scowling at him.

Legolas felt the edges of his mouth quirk up in amusement. Clearly, she knew what he was doing.

"Very well. You are in the infirmary of Elven Kings halls in Mirkwood. I am Legolas, prince of Mirkwood."

Ithilriel's scowl deepened and she surprised him by saying;

"Very well. Let's get on with it then. What do you want to know?"

Legolas was so taken aback by her complete willingness to talk to him that he was silent for a few moments. She took advantage of this and ploughed ahead before he could even ask her anything.

"No, we aren't planning to invade. No, we aren't here to agree to your father's ridiculously one sided trade deal. No, there are no other patrols. We're here to look for any potential signs you plan to invade after your father's very rational and level-headed threat. Anything else you want to know, Prince Legolas?"

Legolas was not smiling now. He had never had someone speak to him so derisively and sarcastically before. She had even insulted his father, after everything her father had done! Legolas returned her blazing glare with a smouldering one of his own.

"Yes, Ithilriel, there is." Legolas tried to put as much disdain in his voice as he could. "What made you think you could cross into our territory without permission?"

He knew the answer from interrogating Faunor and Gawion, but any discrepancy, even the tiniest difference in her story, would tell him they had all been lying.

Ithilriel looked at him as if he were stupid. Legolas felt his cheeks warm with anger.

"You mean your soldiers didn't see the wreckage of the warg rider pack?" She asked.

Legolas felt his cheeks flush further.

"Of course we did," he snapped. "What I want to know is why you decided to not only cross our borders but lead warg riders into Mirkwood too."

Ithilriel made an awkward movement. It looked like she was trying to shrug but her hands were bound too tightly to the bed to allow her to complete the movement.

"They greatly outnumbered us. They would have eventually run us down and overwhelmed us. The trees were the only possible hope we had. You can follow our path back to the border. There'll be warg and orc bodies to guide your way."

Legolas had already ordered a patrol to do so, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

"And the patrol was on your father's orders?" He asked instead.

Ithilriel rolled her eyes. Legolas felt his anger surge again.

"Of course they were. Wouldn't your father order you to do the same thing if it were my father that had threatened violence?"

Legolas had to admit he would have, which only made him angrier. Generations of his family had disliked the Noldor elves. That dislike was so ingrained in Legolas that the way Elrond had undercut them had turned his sentiments from mere dislike into full-fledged anger that had been left simmering away for the last few hundred years. He had never even thought to compare his father to Elrond. Having the comparison laid out so clearly and condescendingly by Elrond's daughter of all people, made something in Legolas snap.

"Who's Nendir?" He asked.

Ithilriel, who's blue eyes had blazed, who's mouth had smirked mockingly at him, changed in an instant. Her whole body deflated, leaving her looking small and vulnerable. Her face seemed to sag, losing any hint of the challenge she had been sending him. Her eyes lost their blaze of life, turning dull and unseeing.

Legolas felt appalled at himself, wishing instantly he could take back his words. From what he had seen of her, he knew she would be grieving him deeply. Legolas was not a cruel person. He wasn't usually quick to anger either, but this elleth seemed to be turning his head just with this single conversation.

Legolas stared at her, guilt rolling thickly through his stomach. Ithilriel didn't move. It was like she was a statue that had been laid down on the bed. Legolas looked at the ropes binding her there, feeling another stab of guilt. She looked so vulnerable. Were the ropes really necessary? It wasn't like she could escape.

It occurred to him that Nendir may have been her husband. Legolas felt a surge of emotions at this thought. If he was her husband, she could be fading. Elrond's daughter dying in their custody would be beyond disastrous. Beyond the implications that had for their two kingdoms though, Legolas didn't want her to die. He didn't know why. She had come into his home after her father had undercut them a few centuries ago and caused nothing but trouble, but he didn't want anything else happening to her.

Legolas looked into Ithilriel's glassy, unseeing eyes. His heart twisted painfully, but an idea came to him.

"Ithilriel," he murmured gently. She didn't look at him. She didn't even move. "I can take you to him, if you want."

Ithilriel's eyes flicked up to him. They were hollow, empty.

"We brought his body back and buried him," Legolas continued softly. "The spiders didn't get him."

Ithilriel squeezed her eyes tightly shut, sucking in a deep breath. A tear escaped. Legolas watched as it rolled down her face and onto the bed.

It was the smallest of movements, but Ithilriel nodded. Legolas immediately began untying the ropes binding her to the bed. He helped her sit up, unsure of how strong she would be. Legolas tried to be as gentle as possible but he was close enough to hear her sharp intake of breath as she began moving. Clearly, she was still sore, but she said nothing.

"Can you stand?" He asked her.

Ithilriel brought her eyes up to meet his. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Legolas felt again like he was being studied. Her blue eyes seemed to tear apart his own eyes, trying to pick out a hidden motive or lie. For the second time, Legolas felt like she was staring into his soul.

It was then Legolas realised just how close they were sitting. He still had his hand supporting her back. Before he could think, he jerked away from her. He moved to stand in front of her, allowing a blank mask to settle across his features. He cocked an eyebrow at her. She still hadn't answered him.

Ithilriel scowled at him.

"I can try," she said, gritting her teeth. Legolas wasn't sure whether that was because she was in pain or upset with him.

Legolas hovered close to her in case she needed support, but she managed to stand on her own. She was able to walk on her own too. Legolas waved the guards away when they left the infirmary. He led Ithilriel through the palace and out into the courtyard. They continued walking until they were beyond the courtyard's boundary, then they turned and continued down a rarely used path. They came out in a tiny, dark clearing. Legolas guided Ithilriel to the pile of recently dug soil. It was the only indication there was a grave there.

Legolas stood back a respectful distance as Ithilriel slowly lowered herself to her knees. She picked up a handful of the loose dirt and let it slip between her fingers, landing back over the top of the grave.

"I'm sorry," she whispered so softly Legolas barely heard it. She began to sob, apologising over and over again.

Legolas felt his heart twist painfully at her grief. He may not know exactly who Nendir had been to Ithilriel, but she obviously cared for him very deeply. Her grief reminded Legolas of when his mother had passed. He had been so devastated. His father, when Legolas had needed him the most, became reclusive in his grief. Legolas sometimes felt that he had lost both of his parents. He had been alone, so painfully, horribly alone.

It was because of this that Legolas knelt down beside Ithilriel and gently touched her shoulder. She immediately leant into him, crying into his chest. Legolas wrapped his arms around her body and held her. He didn't like this elleth, and it was clear that she didn't like him either, but Legolas knew how it felt to grieve alone. He wouldn't wish that upon anyone. So he held her as she wept. He didn't begrudge the tears dampening his shirt. He didn't mind that she clung to him so tightly that her grip felt like iron.

Ithilriel eventually fell still in Legolas's arms. He was just thinking she had fallen asleep when she stirred, pulling herself away from him. Legolas dropped his arms as she wiped her eyes, which were now red and puffy. She cleared her throat and looked Legolas directly in his eyes. Legolas had been expecting the same dull, glassy look as before but was surprised to find that they glinted hard with determination.

"I want to see your father."

Thank you for all the follows and favourites! Please review and tell me what you think :)

Earthdragon - Thank you for your review! The source of the tensions will be explained a bit later in the story. For now I've hinted at it a little bit.