Dear readers,

flynalien - the classes are not really central to this story; I think there was a brief mention of her devouring history and astrology; they're more for the purpose of giving her something to do & showing her thirst for knowledge.

I hope you will enjoy this new chapter.

Love,

M.E.

CHAPTER 11

Hot season lured little elleth out of confined space of the king's halls for the majority of day. The only impediments were rains which fell often, but even they couldn't stop her for most of the time. Everything was green, the grass, the leaves and the moss covered floors of the forest. Elves dreamed of Greenwood the Great as was once known this realm, but even with the most beautiful of colors, many creatures still lurked in the dark. The sickness that spread through the lands would not easily be cured. Spider attacks were more frequent now than they were in the winter. Legolas was on duty more often and was often gone for entire day and night.

Tauriel of course missed him greatly, but her free spirit found a lot of amusements in these warm days, most of which entitled not staying inside the palace. Guards were so used to see her walk by them several times a day that they didn't give it much thought. Some greeted her in friendly manner though the ones that guarded the gate seemed to have an obligation to stay silent.

Beleorn was good choice to spend time with when he was available. He was dedicated to training new recruits for the royal guard and seemed to have given up chasing spiders and orcs altogether. She was not permitted entrance to the training grounds while there was training session in progress, but she always found a spot from where she could see some of the fights. Of course, Beleorn took her inside as soon as the opportunity arose. It wasn't as interesting as when they were full of soldiers, but still she admired everything imagining herself training in a few years.

Sometimes, she would venture further out to a nearby village. The nearest one was two hours far from her home. She observed the farmers as they went about their everyday business. It amused her for a time; she sat on their fences and poured everything in. This seemed to shock them at first, but soon they got used to the little red-haired elleth coming to visit. They refused her help when offered, but sometimes they invited her inside for refreshment. There were no elflings nearby which made her heart sink. There were two in her parents' village, but they were murdered with the rest of the villagers. The fact that at least one of their murderers died by her hand made her feel proud.

Legolas had a lot of duties to attend to so he didn't really realize how extended her expeditions seemed to become as the time passed. Even Tauriel herself was oblivious to how far she went until one day the sun started to go down as she approached the river. Dread entered her heart as she realized how late it was. She clearly remembered walking out after the morning meal.

There was no danger of getting lost, but still she felt uncomfortable by herself and unarmed on the road during the night. She kept close to the river knowing that here she was safe; at least regarding to spider attacks. The evening was fresh and she wished for her cloak right about now. The sight of the palace was never more welcoming. It promised warmness, free food and bed.

The guards let her in without a word; not that she expected them to talk at this point. Her feet were satisfied with the excursion so her spirits were up as soon as the feeling of solitude disappeared upon seeing her home. How strange it was to call this place home. If somebody told her that she would end up living here, it would have sounded like a joke. She had successfully missed dinner, oh well she would eat in the morning. The three of them more often did not eat together then they did; each with his or her own duties to attend to so missing the meals wasn't news to anyone and elves didn't really need to eat as often as humans did. Before she could see him or hear him, she sensed someone's eyes and almost felt the thunder strike from the intensity of his glare.

"This is not the hour to arrive home young lady. Do you care to tell me where have you been for the whole day?" Legolas said in hard cold voice staring at her with such intensity that she had to detain herself before flinching from fear. She was conscious that she overstepped it a little today.

Tauriel took a deep breath. "I was in the village downstream, about two hours of walk from here I presume and I lost the track of time." she replied knowing that any other excuse would be fruitless and untrue.

The storm never came. "It's time for sleep forgetful one, off to bed this instant." he replied harsher then he intended, but he was worried for the majority of this afternoon and this seemed to ease his anxiety. Tauriel didn't dare say anything else so she just ran past him and up the stairs in a blink of an eye knowing that this conversation was far from over.

There were no tears to shed, but she felt like someone poured a bucket of cold water over her head and it wasn't precisely because of the fact that she froze outside. She remembered her promise in the healing ward all those months ago; that she wouldn't run again. Did she just break it? She fell asleep shortly afterwards even though her mind was reluctant on the question of resting itself.

Next morning made her anxious; she paced the length of her room while deliberating on whether to join breakfast or not; not that she could eat anything right now. Like brave little elleth, she made her way to the dinning parlor. Why they used this extravagant chamber for intimate family meals was an issue far beyond her comprehension. Sometimes they had guests and Tauriel politely either didn't assist such occasions or excused herself as soon as it was proper to do so; the latter mostly being when such visits caught her by surprise. If she was really hungry, she would make her way to the well stocked kitchens for a quick bite. Cooks didn't seem to find themselves disturbed by her presence either; on the contrary, they were happy to be of service and sometimes Tauriel would find amusing herself with learning to prepare a meal she particularly liked.

Legolas did not speak a word to Tauriel during breakfast. He occasionally exchanged a few words with his father, but completely ignored the elleth's presence. She wished she had skipped the meal right now. His silent treatment was worse than actually giving her a lecture or shouting about what happened yesterday. Thranduil noticed this distance between the pair, but didn't interfere in any way for the resolution of this conflict; for better or for worse. He didn't look even mildly surprised at their lack of communication. Tauriel wished she was invisible or non-existing barely touching her food in the process.

The fresh air didn't seem as inviting today. Tauriel lingered close to the palace, watching the river flow by it peacefully. Serenity was not, however, what she felt. Something inside of her made her jumpy; it wasn't Legolas and neither did she have the will to roam around the forest as usual. Still, it was like a bad predicament, but she chased the thoughts away; after all what could happen while they were all here in or near the palace?

The sun kept moving higher on the horizon and she sat there in the same tense position. Where was all the tension coming from? Her eyes scanned the area in all directions, but the cause of her anxiety didn't appear. Perhaps, she was just paranoid. Before that thought came to an end, she heard a baby crying. How odd, there weren't many babies in the kingdom. She looked perplexed as something made of wood came flowing downstream from the back gate.

She jumped to her feet not believing her own eyes. "There is a baby in the water." she called loudly as she made her way down to retrieve the little form. She barely heard the guard hustling and shouting orders from the gate. She was close to the water, the river wasn't wide in this area and on her fortune the little crying form seemed to flow directly toward her. She had just taken hold of the little ellon when she noticed where the distress was coming from.

Orcs were floating on wooden logs tracking the little one. One was almost upon her and two others weren't far behind. "This can't be good." she muttered to herself quickly getting her boots out of the water and rushing back up the hill. She was fast, but the little package in her arms impeded her to use her arms so by the time she reached the bridge, it seemed to be too late.

Everything happened so quickly that Tauriel barely had time to register it. It took two minutes between her call to the guards and her impromptu rescue. As she turned around, she saw the nearest creature disembarking and getting ready to end her life with a single arrow. She stopped breathing knowing that there was nowhere to hide; the orc had an upper hand from his position. She enwrapped the little crying elfling protectively in her arms as soon as she heard the arrow being released.

She acknowledged something clashing in the air and covered her face with her hand knowing that it served no purpose. Little one stopped crying at least, but the blow never came. She opened her eyes disoriented to find that the orc was dead and so were his two companions, but more came running from the shore, how many orcs did float in the river today? She watched as the guards started cutting them off one by one, most of them ending their lives in the water.

"Tauriel, get inside. Get inside!" a familiar voice yelled in her direction urgently. She wasn't aware of how, but somehow she retrieved her senses enough to do as was asked of her. She tried to even her breaths as her heart restarted and rushed into the entrance hall barely aware of the right direction.

She tried to stay calm for the baby's sake; she knew her anxiety could have effect on baby's emotions so she tried not to panic. She sat on the stairs hugging the little bundle tightly barely acknowledging his face until now. He had brown hair like most of elves and his eyes looked at her curiously. The way he moved his feet made her realize that he was able to walk, but she didn't feel like testing that right about now. She listened as the metal clashed outside, completely frightened for her friends. At least Legolas spoke to her like he cared; or maybe it was just the heat of the moment. She felt useless now that her combat skills could have been put to a good use if she only had any.

Sitting completely still was a challenge, but she was successful. Perhaps, this little one held her body parts together. The realization that she just saved his life came rather abruptly. Okay so maybe I was not completely useless today, she thought rocking the little one trying to muffle the sounds of battle which were coming from outside.

The sounds of battle became more distant until they finally died out completely. It must have been at least a couple of hours; hours of complete agony and terror for the little elleth. Her little friend didn't seem at all concerned by what was going on outside. Tauriel wished she was carefree like him and not able to comprehend what were happening. Suddenly, the fighting stopped and Tauriel's breathing with it. She tried to compose her features and hide her fear which was a true maneuver considering that only now it hit her how close she was to her demise. The little one nestled on her chest; she was surprised by how calm he was considering that she was a complete stranger to him and that they almost died together.

Why was it taking so long? Did someone get hurt? Tauriel felt like she could faint, but somehow kept herself together. She stroked the little one's hair absently trying to calm her nerves. The footsteps finally approached and she exhaled. Three elves came in hurried pace through the doors first. Legolas was there with a scratch or two, but other than that seemed undamaged.

Tauriel rose to her feet quickly with more confidence then she thought she had. She observed the couple briefly before they saw her, noticing their brown hair, much like the elfling's. They all looked equally distressed; of course they were beautiful and wise like all elves. The elleth spread a motherly aura around her. They were probably the parents of her new little friend.

"Elethan." exclaimed the elleth as she came rushing forth with her husband only a step behind. The little one shifted in Tauriel's embrace at the familiar sound of his mother's voice. Tauriel handed him over almost without realizing it still partly in shock. Elethan was crushed to his mother's chest while she sobbed into her husband's shoulder who; in return held them both protectively. This moment appeared too intimate for anyone's eyes, but Tauriel had not enough use of her senses to move her feet. She just stood completely motionless leaning onto the wall.

Legolas was there as well looking at her with concerned eyes. How did she manage to move her own feet, was a true mystery, but at the sight of him, something clicked inside her mind. She rushed to him trying to suppress her fear. His awaiting arms were comforting; they embraced her tightly and she rested her head on his left shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked stroking her hair while her little arms wrapped around his neck.

"I'm fine. And you and the guards? Did somebody get hurt?" she asked the most important question keeping her tone low so she would sound remotely calm.

Legolas hushed her. "Nothing can touch me and I assure you the injuries were minor." he replied while she observed his face as he placed her back on the ground. She wasn't entirely sure on whether she was ready to part from him, but he looked at the pair.

"Tauriel, I would like you to meet Lord Elgrion and his wife Ilithiel." he said when she paid attention to the two strangers who finished their very emotional reunion with their son.

Prince held his hands on Tauriel's shoulders for comfort. She looked up into his face and he signed to her to approach them. She reluctantly came closer to the pair contemplating on how to greet them, but before she took her last hesitant step, Ilithiel embraced her in a hug. Little elleth was far beyond surprised at such spontaneous demonstration of affection from an elleth she never saw before in her short life, but she hugged her back in response. She didn't remember a woman embracing her like this since her mother died. She suppressed the urge to cry.

"Hannon le Tauriel. We are in your eternal debt. I shudder at the thought of how this would have ended if it wasn't for you." Ilithiel said after a couple of minutes. Tauriel blushed pink in response to such words.

"Hiril nin, there is no need to thank me. I just did my duty. You owe your gratitude to another though I can't say to whom for I did not see who intercepted that arrow." she replied trying to formulate the right response feeling increasingly uncomfortable by such treatment.

"You are too modest little one. If you hadn't spotted something unusual on time, both my son and the orcs would have been long gone before anyone realized what was happening. Hir nin Legolas, to you as well we owe our gratitude for if you were not such a fine archer, we would be singing a lament for two dead elflings rather than rejoicing in victory." lord Elgrion replied making her realize that yet again, her prince saved her life. Legolas chased the unwanted image of two elflings laying dead on the ground, cold and pale. This would not be the fate of his little restless friend.

Translations:

Hannon le - Thank you

Hiril nin - My lady

Hir nin - My lord