"Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a young prince by the name of Legolas Greenleaf. He grew up chasing his brothers around in the woods, hunting animals and learning how to be a good prince from his father, Thranduil, who was the king of all wood elves in Northern Mirkwood.
"One day, Thranduil decided that his son should learn how to dance so he would be ready to court someday. Legolas was only about twelve or thirteen years of age at the time, so his mother thought this was a good idea.
"'Son, you must learn to dance properly with a lady,' Thranduil told his son one day after calling Legolas into the great throne room. Legolas nodded, but didn't say anything. 'And any lady that you dance with must be of royal descent.' He didn't have to explain this because all those who lived in northern Mirkwood knew that it was only proper that a prince marry someone of royal descent.
"And so Thranduil sent out a decree to all the kingdoms in Middle-earth. Word was brought to Rivendell to lord Elrond by me, then Elladan and Elrohir helped distribute the message to Lothlorien, Gondor, Rohan and Ithilien. Time passed, and once the Feast of Yen had come, princesses and royal maidens from all over Middle-earth had arrived." Ashiaro stopped his story briefly to take a sip of water, but before he could continue, Estel had a question. "Yes, Estel?" Ashiaro motioned for the seven-year-old boy to ask his question.
"What happens next?" Estel asked. At only seven, Estel was a curious little boy who had come to live with lord Elrond and the rest of his family in Rivendell. Ashiaro had been trying to persuade Estel to fall asleep by telling him several bed time stories for the past few hours, but the stubbourn little boy still wouldn't sleep. This was Ashiaro's fourth story already.
Ashiaro chuckled to himself. "Patience, tithen Estel. You must wait to find out, little one," he smiled. "Once the Feast of Yen came, all the royal maidens were in northern Mirkwood, and all of them wanted to have the chance to court the prince of Mirkwood. But Thranduil, being ever so picky about who his son spent time with, was clever. He devised a special test to ensure that the girl who was allowed to dance with Legolas was a true princess.
"On the morning of the first day of the Yen celebration, Thranduil called all the maidens together. There were about one hundred, give or take a few, so there would be a few simple tests to determine their eligibility to move onto the next round. The first test was to walk around the palace halls, balancing a book on their head and a glass of water on the book. Anyone who faltered was told to go back home. After this contest, only half the maidens were left, mostly elves with a few humans mixed in.
"The next test was a knowledge-based test. The girls were led into private rooms, one by one, and asked very difficult questions about Middle-earth history, lore, healing, Elvish languages and customs. This test eliminated the competition down to ten maidens. There were a few more tests, and pretty soon, Thranduil had found that none of the maidens who came met his standards, so he sent them all home.
"'But Ada,' Legolas said. 'Why don't I get to dance with any of those girls who came?' Thranduil sighed and proceeded to tell his son that they simply weren't good enough for him. Legolas sighed, hoping that the day would come when Ada approved of at least one maiden for him. He wanted to learn how to dance and please his father, but he wasn't sure how when there was no one to dance with that lived up to his father's expectations.
"Six months passed and Legolas nearly forgot all about dancing. He was much too busy in the fields, playing with the other children and having sword fighting lessons and studying to think about girls. I visited Mirkwood a couple of times and we went out hunting together. Right after we'd arrived back home after a trip, Legolas heard a crash outside the palace.
"We rushed outside to see who or what had made the crash, and I had my bow in my hand and had grabbed a quiver of arrows, thinking it might be dratted orcs again. But it wasn't. Not far from the palace door, a maiden had fallen and was struggling to get up. Her hair was tangled, and her clothes were muddy and torn.
"'Please, kind sirs,' she said, raising an arm for help. Legolas took it and helped pull her onto her feet. 'I am visiting here from southern Ithilien, and my horse spooked. May I stay the night?' Legolas nodded and invited her in, never even questioning who she was. After showing her to a guest room and leaving her to clean up with the help of one of the maids, I spoke to him in the halls.
"'What for the sake of the Valar were you doing, inviting her in like that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice down to a whisper. I spoke in Elvish, of course, not the silvan tongue of Mirkwood, but rather the Sindarin that I'd grown up speaking. 'Your Adar and Naneth are going to find out about this, and I shan't be the one telling them this time!' With that, I took his hand and dragged him to the throne room, where Thranduil was sitting.
"'So, Legolas,' Thranduil stood up, walking over to greet us. 'I hear you invited a little guest to stay for the night, and she told your mother that her name is Aradhel, a princess of Ithilien. Is this true?'
"Legolas and I exchanged uneasy glances. The girl had never told us she was a princess, and Legolas could only manage to stutter before his father. Thranduil eventually dismissed him, telling Legolas to get some sleep. I took leave of Thranduil and went to see what was going on for myself.
"I went down to her guest room, and Laurelin, Legolas's mother, was busy piling mattresses and mattresses on top of each other. There is an old myth that says only a true member of a royal family will be able to detect a mustard seed from underneath fifteen mattresses, so Laurelin decided this was how she was going to test Aradhel.
"'Good night, dear,' Laurelin said once the family had eaten their dinner and everyone else had retired to their chambers. Thranduil was still awake, and it was likely Legolas was, as well. 'I hope you get a good nights' sleep.' With that, Laurelin left, leaving Aradhel alone. Aradhel climbed up the mattresses with little effort on her part, tucked herself in and fell asleep.
"The next morning, all the family went to breakfast. Legolas was talking with one of his brothers about the hunting trip we'd returned from the night before, Laurelin was quietly eating, as always, Thranduil was questioning Legolas about how we'd met the girl, and I was listening to all of this, quite entertained at the fact that Legolas' eyes lit up at mere mention of Aradhel's name." Ashiaro stopped his story again because he heard Estel giggling slightly.
"Did Legolas have a crush on her?" Estel asked, his grey eyes flickering with silver and staring inquisitively into Ashiaro's own green ones.
Ashiaro chuckled, keeping himself from laughing aloud. If Legolas heard about this from the room next door, where he was staying as a guest in Rivendell for the month, he'd never live it down. "Not exactly, tithen Estel," Ashiaro replied, then continued on with his story. "Aradhel came down to breakfast that morning as the family was finishing up, except for Legolas, of course. He hardly touched his food when she entered into the dining room.
"'Good morning, Aradhel,' Laurelin rose to greet her. 'How did you sleep last night?' As if that question wouldn't have an obvious answer. Aradhel's eyes were still half-closed and she almost looked worse than she had the night before, except that now, she was all cleaned, at least.
"'No offense,' she yawned. 'But horrible. Felt as if I was trying to sleep all night with a root digging into my back.' With that comment, Laurelin smiled at her husband, then looked at Legolas. The young prince only looked confused. So, Laurelin explained to Legolas about the princess test and how this meant that Aradhel was a true princess.
"As the weeks went on, Legolas and Aradhel spent time in the company of one another, becoming close friends. He learned to dance, and she learned how to speak in the silvan dialect of Mirkwood proficiently," Ashiaro finished his story there.
Estel sat up in bed. "What about how it ends?" he demanded to know. For a young boy, he was fairly insistent and stubbourn, but this probably came from having two older brothers.
"That is how it ends, tithen Estel," Ashiaro said. "Now go to sleep."
"But-" Estel began to protest, but he was cut off by the door opening. I thought I'd locked it, but…. Ashiaro thought to himself. Three Elves came in: Elladan and Elrohir were first, followed by Legolas. Legolas had a slightly bemused look on his face, and the corners of his lips were turned upwards slightly.
"Nice story, Ashiaro," he commented. "But what about them living happily ever after?" Estel nodded in agreement, bouncing up and down on his bed.
Ashiaro rolled his eyes. "Not quite yet," he replied. "You still have more adventures before you can live happily ever after, right, Legolas?" he grinned, and poked the wood elf in the ribs. This soon turned into a 'tickle Legolas' game, with all four others chasing Legolas around the halls of Rivendell, and all five of them yelling and screaming. Hopefully Lord Elrond will not have the graces to wake up just now, Ashiaro thought to himself as he watched Elladan- or was it Elrohir?- tackle Legolas to the ground…