Chapter 13

November 18, T.A 2940

Dawn

Anariel held the cup of tea in her hands breathing in its scent deeply, as one of her handmaiden's brushed out her hair.

Anariel found herself contemplating everything that had happened last night, and how she felt about Haldir and Feren. By the gods, she even ran away from Feren by night's end. Anariel sighed running a hand over her face as she thought it over. She felt it in her heart, something more than she ever has for anyone else and it terrified more than anything. So, as the tears began to fall she ran. It felt so unreal and so she pushed it out of her mind and focused on everything else.

She loved the way Haldir made her feel, alive, and free. With him she didn't feel like she had every rule to follow and adhere to, he never seemed to care. He had said it himself, 'she can do want she wants.' Anariel wanted to feel like she always had in Bree when she didn't have all these nagging rules, and guidelines to abide by. Now, every single aspect of her life was strictly managed, and this overwhelming urge to be rebellious overtook.

But, Feren, on the other hand, made her feel safe and comfortable in this vastly new world. Around him, she never questioned if she could rise to the king's expectations, around him she was perfect. Even though he too was faithfully loyal to the king, and had no problem reminding her what was expected of her as a princess he always did it in a way that never left her feeling belittled, or foolish.

Anariel growled out placing her cup back on its saucer roughly, puckering her lips in annoyance she felt so unbelievably conflicted. For completely different reasons she found herself torn between the two ellyn. Anariel was abruptly torn from her thoughts as the door was banged open roughly.

"Everyone out." The king ordered as he stormed into the princess's chamber, eyes flashing in anger as they fell upon his daughter.

Anariel stood, her handmaiden's hands falling away as they hurried out the door, she moved around slowly to come face to face with the king. "Yes?"

"Do not speak to me in that tone!" Thranduil raged. "Just what do you think you were doing?"

"What are we even talking about?" Anariel asked, her eyes rolling dramatically as she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Tell me that you have not heard the rumours," Thranduil demanded furiously.

"Well, yes. But, why any of them think it's any of their business what I do is beyond me." She sighed walking off to grab her robe, her dress rustling behind her.

"It is when you think you can go around acting so... so inappropriately. You are a princess; it is their business. Whatever you do outside these very walls of your chamber becomes their business, you represent all of Mirkwood, by the gods, all elves. The citizens of this Kingdom look up to us, as the Royal family and this is how you act? Do you ever stop and think?" Thranduil raged at his daughter's foolishly, despicable behavior.

"Then they should look up to someone else," Anariel screamed, "I never asked for this, but you did. You wanted me back, well, here I am. So sorry I'm such a disappointment."

Thranduil sighed closing his eyes briefly to collect his thoughts, "You are not a disappointment, your behavior is another story. I expected you to uphold the reputation this Kingdom was risen upon." Thranduil held up his hand as a sign for her to stay silent.

"Daeron will be here shortly," he said changing the subject altogether as he focused on his breathing.

"Yes, an avoidance that solves everything." She snapped, "And I know he will be so that he can escort me to my lessons, right?"

"Wrong," Thranduil corrected bitterly, "You will not be leaving this room at all."

Anariel began to laugh partly out of shock, and a little out of disbelief, "You have got to be kidding? You can't keep me locked in here."

"I believe I told you when you first arrived here, I can do as I please. You were lucky then that I didn't, this time you will not be so lucky. You are confined to your chambers until further notice, unless I, myself comes to escort you elsewhere." Thranduil informed causing a horrified, shocked expression to linger on her face as a knock sounded from the door.

"Enter!" King Thranduil commanded. Daeron and Eruanna stepped through the threshold carrying an armload of books, parchment, a few quills, and ink. "Go ahead and set up what you need to. Anariel, go and sit down and wait for Daeron's instructions. Eruanna, a word."

"Yes, my lord," Eruanna spoke kindly as she passed by Anariel, who stalked by in a huff.

"I am sure you have heard the rumors?" Thranduil began, as he watched his daughter throw herself down dramatically in her seat.

"I have my lord, awful," Eruanna said shaking her head. "Some have said that the princess has given herself to another, out of any formal commitment."

"Yes, though they are not true, Anariel, seemed to help in the matter. I know not what your lesson was going to involve today but be sure to include, Discretion in today's lesson."

"Absolutely, my lord." Eruanna bowed deeply.

Thranduil glanced over his shoulder to see his daughter slumped at the table idly scratching some notes. He quirked at brow in her direction, surprised to see that Daeron had managed to get her already working without so much as a complaint from the princess. "I believe you have worked to do," Thranduil sighed, noting her less than poor posture. "we apparently all have a lot of work to do before the ball."

This caught Eruanna's attention as though it had momentarily slipped her mind, nodding her head vigorously she waits for the king to wave her away, taking the king's words to heart she got right to work. Thranduil stalked from the room his robe billowing out behind him, slamming the door in his wake.

Anariel grumbled as she repeated what Daeron had told her only moments ago, "So, Oropher, was from Lindon... which was where again?" Anariel scrunched up her brows trying to remember all of the details, as she followed Eruanna's instructions.

"Lindon was a region of the Westland's, known for its harbors and Elven ships. It lay west of the Blue Mountains, in Eastern Beleriand." Daeron informed calmly as he watched Princess Anariel jot down careful and precise notes, he could see the genuine curiosity glimmering in her eyes. He allowed himself a chuckle at the thought that she had no idea that she was learning about her own grandfather.

"Right, so, Oropher, was a Sinda Prince, removed from Lindon to Greenwood or..." Anariel paused looking over her notes, "Eryn Galen," she pronounced the words slowly looking up to Daeron to correct her instead he nodded letting her know that she had indeed pronounced it correctly. "The Silvan Elves that reside here took him as their lord in the Second Age, 750. It was also around this time that he had built his halls at Amon Lanc when he was accepted as the leader of wood-elves of Greenwood, later the Elves of Mirkwood to form the Woodland Realm." Anariel breathed out as she finished her rambling of information, confirming it to be right and doing a quick double check of her own notes.

"That is correct, my lady." Daeron smiled, she was a quick learning he noted.

"Okay, so what happened then? I mean Oropher is obviously no longer king or lord over these lands..." Anariel pushed on for more information, her quill hovered over the parchment awaiting Daeron's response.

"No, he is not. I believe it would be fair to say you wish to know why that is. How your father, King Thranduil, came to be king? Would that be correct?"

"Yes, I mean I understand the time was so long ago, did Oropher merely sail with other elves or..."

"That can be most easily answered if we move on to the War of the Last Alliance," Daeron explained trying to think of the best way to explain this.

Anariel nodded writing more notes as Daeron explained. "Silvan Elves' were and still are quite hostile towards dwarves and the Nolder, and though Oropher held a deep desire to stay away from the affairs of the rest of the world, as does King Thranduil, Oropher also knew that there was a great danger posed by the dark lord, Sauron. Oropher knew that to defeat Sauron, the dark lord, meant peace across Middle-earth with such knowledge he made the decision to join the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, summoning a large army they joined more elves from Lorien and those that came down from Imraldis. Elves, men, even dwarves joined together to fight Sauron in one last single alliance to see this world ridden of his evil once and for all. The battle raged for days and nights continuously. In the very first assault upon Mordor, Oropher, and other brave and hasty Elves rushed forward before, Gil-galad gave the signal to charge. Oropher, himself had been killed soon afterwards, two-thirds of his army perished throughout the course of the war. Gil-galad, to was killed in the siege. Lord Elrond and Cirdan were the only ones to remain as commanders of the elves. Upon Sauron's defeat Lord Elrond, ruler over Rivendell returned there to continue ruling over the lands he had earlier established. The remnants of Oropher's army returned to Greenwood under the command of his son, Thranduil."

Anariel paused suddenly in her writing, "Wait, what?"

"My Lady, we must-" Eruanna interrupted.

"Don't even think of telling me it's time for my next lesson..." Anariel growled out, she had to try and convince her father to forgo more of this Etiquette lesson to work more on History instead. Anariel mentally sighed, she knew that that was unlikely unless she could prove that she knew it already.

"If we are to stay on schedule my lady, then yes it is."

"Okay, okay. Just one moment, what of Lord Elrond I heard Ada mention him, he fought there as well, but what happened after? Are you saying that my father fought against the armies to defeat Sauron, only to see his father killed? To then return, while he managed to gather the remnants of the army and had to re-establish the kingdom, in the midst of doing so lost his wife...me..." Anariel paused shaking her head in disbelief.

"Yes, and with southern Greenwood becoming increasingly more dangerous; with the evil creatures such as great spiders coming to dwell in the forest. King Thranduil was forced to retreated to the north of the forest, where he established the Kingdom near the Forest River, building and fortifying the Elven King's Halls. King Thranduil has been through much over the course of his life, and time as being king."

"So much had happened, so many horrible things to him yet he still searched for me, he was basically searching for another terrible ending and still he did it, for me..." Anariel made the connection understanding.

"Indeed, he did. Your father, though he held little hope for finding you alive refused to give up. He has seen many wars, fought many battles and came back from some barely living yet he always came around and continued to push forward. Always showing such compassion, he is honourable, passionate, courageous, and just in all that he does."

"I see that now," Anariel breathed out in disbelief a light tingling in her chest as she turned away, her hand rising to cover her mouth, "My father, and his father had obviously worked so hard to keep this kingdom safe and secure, to give it a name and a reputation they could stand behind proudly."

"They did, my lady. The king still does, he never stops working to better this kingdom, to protect its people, and the reputation he holds as the greatest Elven King and that of his kingdom." Anariel sat stunned, an overwhelming feeling of guilt settled itself in the pit of her stomach.

"My lady, we must move on." Eruanna pleaded, trying her best to convince the princess so that they might stay on schedule.

Daeron smiled, "I will gather some books and write up some materials on Lord Elrond if you wish as you have expressed a curiousness. And your father, so you might learn more of what he has done himself for tomorrow's lesson. Would this be suitable?"

"You are asking my opinion on my lessons?" Anariel breathed shaking her head lightly.

"Of course, the king said we must learn this all. It matters not in which order or how we go about doing so. If learning it by an individual person makes it both easier and more interesting, we can do that." Daeron explained awaiting his lady's answer.

"Please, that would be lovely. Can we do more on my father, oh and if it's not too much to ask... please bring a map. I'm still trying to figure out where everything is exactly in my head."

Daeron nodded with a smile, pleased to see her interest in History had not diminished but increased.

As Daeron spoke Anariel felt more and more horrible about herself, she found that she understood more than ever why Legolas said he wished he could have been half the elf he was before. Anariel found herself wishing she could be even half the elf he was now.

"Now, we will begin with Discretion-" Eruanna began when Anariel abruptly interrupted, Eruanna suppressed a sigh expecting their lesson to go in a similar fashion as last time.

"Can we skip this, and move on?"

"The king has asked us to go over this, and we will do as he has ordered, my lady."

"I get it, okay." Anariel's voice came quiet and almost meekly, she had never thought that he would have gone through and done so much to better this whole kingdom. Learning of everything he'd done, well some of it, Anariel had a nagging feeling that she had yet to learn everything that her father had faced, it made her feel utterly guilty for her behavior. "I understand why, please?"

Eruanna paused, "I will not go against the king's orders."

"Very well," Anariel nodded taking a deep breath she waited for Eruanna to begin.

Anariel was going to try harder than she had yet, she wanted to prove to her father she could do this. She wanted to uphold the reputation he fought for, that he strived to keep every day.

Eruanna nodded politely to the princess, pleased to see that this lesson was already off to a much more pleasant start than the last.

Feren was furiously taking his anger out on the practice dummy in front of him, he had been so focused and lost in his own thoughts that he never heard Legolas come up behind him.

"Woah," Legolas called as he bent backwards avoiding Feren's swing, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Feren answered as he kept his focus in front of him, trying to keep the anger and pain out of his own voice.

"If you expect me to believe that, then I'm going to believe I may just have to question our friendship." Legolas teased, "Come, tell me."

"You don't really want to hear about it, I'm sure," Feren spoke finally dropping his sword to his side, as he walked over to where his cloak rested with the rest of his belongings.

"So, this is about Anariel then?" Legolas inquired.

Feren sighed, "I..." he paused unsure of how to continue.

"Even if it is about my sister, I will listen, mellon nin." Legolas looked to him waiting for Feren to speak on the matter.

"Look, your father asked me to go find her last night." Feren began, getting a nod from Legolas in encouragement and confirmation to continue, Thing is when I found her, Haldir, he was kissing her and I might have punched him." Feren grimaced at the thought, a part of him regretted acting so in front of Anariel.

Legolas looked stunned for a moment, opening his mouth to speak but Feren continued.

"Anariel took off, I went after her and things were fine. Dismissed her guards we spent some time together in the kitchens, long story," Feren added hastily as he caught Legolas' confused look. "It took her mind off of everything, I had just told her Haldir was being too bold, and she shouldn't be doing such thing with him. I may have said she need to be protected, wrong thing to say. Anyway, by night's end, I kissed her myself and.." Feren trailed off running a hand through his hair. "She will choose him."

"You do not know that," Legolas spoke, watching his friend closely.

"I do. I kissed her, and for a moment she kissed me back, but then I could feel her tears as she pushed me away and left without a word stormed off and locked herself in her room. I tried to speak to her, to apologize but she just ignored me."

"That bad of a kisser, huh?" Legolas and Feren turned to see Elros and Meludir coming to practice, the four friends greeted one another. "Really, Feren, you should work on that." Elros teased endlessly.

Feren punched him roughly on the shoulder, though a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Give her some time, she's been through a lot." Meludir offered some honest advice.

"Meludir is right. She's hasn't really been here long, it's been a lot to take in, to learn, a serious adjustment for her, not to mention the news Alfred brought." Legolas nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, what about the mortal?" Meludir wondered curiously having been on guard when he was found. "He was telling the truth, a mortal from Bree by the name of, Alfred, he came bearing the news of a death."

"Mortals die all the time," Elros said, shaking his head wondering what the big deal was.

"True, and Anariel understands that but the one who passed was a child no more than five," Legolas informed, getting a few shocked looks from the others Legolas continued changing the subject. "Look, Feren, if you like her, love her, I don't care you are a good, trustworthy ellon but know that she's a pretty broken elleth right now and because of that don't give up on her and let Haldir win. Haldir has never done the whole caring endlessly and loving thing, I think we all know that no matter how much of a friend he may be.

Anariel will find herself too easily falling for his charm because she wants that distraction and 'positive' attention."

"That is why we always ask you everything," Meludir laughed as Legolas elaborated smiled warmly in thanks.

"Perhaps, you are right." Feren nodded though there was still a part of him that didn't fully believe it.

"You love her?" Elros asked all teasing gone from his voice.

"I look at her, and I know I just love her, and it terrifies me, it terrifies me what I would do for her," Feren answered honestly. "It terrifies me that she may not choose me in the end."

"Come on," Legolas called off to the side grasping his bow firmly, "I think you need a distraction of your own."

The three other ellyn looked to Legolas, wondering what he was on about.

"Let's go chase down some spiders," Legolas waved them along as he headed towards the forest's edge.

Meludir and Elros grasped their own bows and were quick to follow after, Feren, however, stood looking at them. "That would be reckless, to just run out there unprepared."

The three groaned lightly, "Feren, we have our weapons and are all in armor. We're prepared enough."

Elros strode over, clapping a hand down on his shoulder. "Stop being so rigid, this is part of the reason she is so drawn to Haldir. She loves the freeness that Haldir has."

"Recklessness..." Feren corrected.

"Well then opt to be a little reckless at times," Meludir encouraged, "Besides, our prince is standing right here telling you to, how reckless can it really be." Meludir managed to say, hiding his own smile knowing just how reckless they were all being.

"This is Legolas we are talking about; it'll be extremely reckless." Feren sighed looking from his own bow to the forest, before glancing among his closest friends. Sighing heavily, Feren nodded. "Let's go," Feren grasped his bow a little harder, as he followed them into the forest. "I'm going to regret this later," Feren mumbled underneath his breath as the four friends headed out.