Dear readers,

First of all I wish you all Happy Easter with a slight delay.

We are almost at the very end of Tauriel's adventures as an elfling.

I don't post more often (despite having a few chapters in stock) because I make very slow progress and not want to make you wait months which would probably happen if I post everything I'd written so far in sequence.

This is a kind of chapter which makes me wonder if I rated the story right, but it's too late to make changes now.

Thank you for your reviews!

Love,

ME

CHAPTER 27

After a long struggle with the united front of her parents and her brother, Gileth's determination did not bend to their wishes. Still to confront all her relatives was a challenge; the first one in her aspirations to join those who she believed were equal to her.

The victory was not guaranteed as long as king of Mirkwood stood on the margin waiting for the development of events which would bend his opinion in one or the other direction. He refused to be a mediator between the elleth and her opposing relatives, but some kind of decision had to be taken soon. His certain regard for the councilor prevented him from acting swift as otherwise he would have done already.

For her part, Gileth was already twenty years of age and there was no other obstacle in her wishes, but those which her loved ones placed before her.

Her renewed regard to the Sylvan elfling, who stood as a role model to her, infuriated her parents even more then her choice of career. Her mother ignored the elleth for the time being like she was invisible, but her father was another story altogether. His once passive stance passed to open hostility as the time passed. Tauriel avoided him with all her resources, but an occasional stumble in the corridors was unavoidable.

Even though, she was barely afraid of anything; her one-sided exchanges with councilor Brien made ice run through her skin. Every time he would leave after a glare and occasional verbal expression of disgust, she felt a little more dread get under her skin.

Naturally, neither the prince nor the king were aware of this situation. Tauriel proceeded to act cordially as the rules said, but this seemed to send her nemesis into a greater state of rage. They crossed each other in the halls rarely, but not rare enough for her. Something about her physical appearance too seemed to disturb him. In the autumn that year; when her 12th year passed rapidly by; her features started to lightly shift.

As lord Glorfindel once put it; her beauty of unusual kind seemed to start showing more and more. Only Tauriel herself was not aware of the changes people saw in her. She was more concerned about her changes of mind then her looks for the time being. Legolas too rarely noticed any change in her apart from her height for the mere reason of constantly being by her side. They were never apart for longer than a month in sequence which did not permit him to really see someone else apart from the elfling he always knew.

As odd as it seems, Tauriel still held the little silver brooch shaped as a leaf under her pillow still pondering on the best way to give it to her friend. Pertinent time just didn't seem to arrive. The odd thing about it was that he did see it last year; short after Ergolan started his training. It was her own carelessness which lead her to catch him playing with it one evening. His hostility toward the ellon was palatable; at least when they were in the same room and when his father was not around to see it.

Flashback:

The library seemed as gloomy as ever. Over time, Legolas gave her more and more assignments to attend to especially since Ergolan came to the palace. Tauriel noticed it, but didn't resent him for it. Her heart could not grow any such feeling toward him even if she wished it to so she simply went along with it.

He started teaching her archery soon after; quietly taking Gileth's advice now that someone else was here to give her what he denied her. His self-control did not go further. Training her in any other art of combat was something he simply could not do. Fortunately, his rival seemed to be busy enough to be around Tauriel more than the prince could bear.

It was easy to catch little Tauriel off guard. On her second archery practice; she arrived very early to throw a few arrows before Legolas would catch up.

Which invisible force made her take the little brooch from her pocket precisely at that moment; she knew not. She turned it toward the sun; it glowed like gold blinding her eyes and not only from the excess of light.

"Another gift from your admirer I presume?" a voice asked making her jerk her hand back in surprise. He gave her no time to answer however.

"If you think you can keep your hands free for long enough; we have a lesson to attend to." he added positioning himself next to her.

Little elleth knew not how to reply to that. It was the first time he openly acknowledged his antipathy toward Ergolan in her presence. She felt hurt more for the leaf brooch than for herself, but did not admit it either in expression or in behavior.

She simply placed it into her pocket and grabbed her bow deciding to ignore the prince's wrong assumption. She avoided both Legolas and Ergolan for the rest of the day, but showed no inclination to reopen the subject so it fell into oblivion.

End flashback.

To her relief, the dreams ceased gradually over the years. They did not dissappear completely, but she dreamt no more then the rest of her kin. It was hard to tell when excatly did they stop for it happened discretely. However, both the prince and the elleth were grateful for it. Their mutual sleepovers did not survive the passing years. Even without their notice; Tauriel was growing into an elleth quickly.

Neither of them ever asked for this privacy, but somehow they made this silent arrangement. Tauriel still admired her protector greatly, but in the back of her mind she started being aware of the changes in her body. Sometimes blood would rush to her cheeks without an apparent reason which made her embarassed. Fortunately, Legolas was in complete oblivion about this occasional event while the elleth used the time to adjust to those constant changes. She would distance herself while doing so if only her friend would allow her to, but he did not because he interpretated it as a sign that she wanted to go back to her old habit of denial.

Tauriel grew up as any other elf to love nature and its creatures above all else. She was often seen wondering around the forest and socializing with its fauna. Her first temporary pet was a white rabbit which she encountered hurt under a bush. His leg hung under a very unnatural angle.

Without thinking it twice, her feet lead her back to the palace. As expected, she brought the unfortunate soul before Ninenath for curing. At first, the motherly healer refused firmly to give it any treatment, but soon changed her mind when she realized how much little elleth cared for the animal. Something in Tauriel's eyes made her suspect that this insistence was more than just about the rabbit itself.

She refused healer's every attempt to part her from the creature and did not seem nearly satisfied until it was safely enveloped in her arms. On her very ill fortune, as soon as she entered the palace, she noticed councilor Brien barely ten feet away walking in the same direction. She tried to compose her feautures and greet him accordingly not missing his eyes narrow upon spotting her new furry friend.

Brien was not known for his discretion. „At last I see you with a company worthy of the ones like yourself. It is a wonder why do you not leave to live with animals since it is a place most fitting for a filthy creature such as you are." He commented apparently pleased with himself for finding a reason to humiliate her. It was obvious he was expecting a response which would proove him right in his belief of the sylvan elfling's value.

Tauriel knew when to keep her temper under control. Usually, she would bow and leave in haste, but instead she stood in defence of the poor animal. „Sometimes I prefer the company of animals. Unlike people, they are not treacherous nor cruel and most importantly, they have manners." She didn't know what gave her the courage to speak in such a way, but she bowed and rushed out of the room not giving time to the fuming elf to detain her.

When she was out of his sight and hearing; she leaned against a column for support trying to collect herself. Her face paled down in anxiety when the awareness of her words kicked in. Her only comfort was her furry friend who she held firmly and stroked gently. Her fear of crossing paths with Gileth's father was never greater then today. I should not have defied him in such a way. He is going to retaliate. She mused unhappy about her outburst, but she could not stand and listen to injustice pointed at an innocent rabbit. She realized she got defensive over her new pet which in certain manner made her feel less guilty.

Many minutes passed while she was lost in thought that sudden sound of footsteps startled her. Her heart stopped racing when she recognized the familiar sound of his footsteps, her relief was evident. While she would never confess councilor Brien's constant humilations to a living soul, she was glad for a familiar presence today.

She composed her features quickly into their usual appearance. Two ellons approached exchanging an occassional word with eachother. Laeorn was the first to spot her red tresses. It was how he distinguished her the quickest even from a distance. He knew no one with an indentical hair color. „Mellon. Are we having a rabbit soup for dinner?" he asked smiling.

Tauriel's eyes flashed in fury while taking her pet in a firmer grip. „No." She replied defensively slightly raising her voice in indignation.

The captain was planning to tease her a little, but Legolas saw genuine fear for the creature in her eyes so he silenced him with a stern look. His facial expression softened when he addressed his very upset friend. "What do we have here mellon? Tolo. Av-'osto. Gwestan, no one will harm your friend." he spoke softly lowering down to her height.

Her reluctant approach made him sigh. "Do you wish to keep him?" he asked curtly stroking its fur gently in order to apease his little friend.

"Only until he is better. When he heals, I will release him." she replied slightly defensive, but her eyes looked for approval hopefully. If he ordered him away, she had no choice, but to obbey even with relucatnce.

Her proctectiveness of the defenceless creature however seemed endearing to the prince. "You may keep him in your bedroom mellon, but make sure he doesn't go stray around the palace. My father would not be pleased." he threw her one of his dashing smiles before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. Her shoulders relaxed and her face glowed. It was surprising how easy Tauriel was to please.

Rest of the evening passed rather slow. To Tauriel's misfortune, the king had invited Gileth to dinner with both of her parents. Legolas was not satisfied either, but he treated them with cold civilitty and no more. Councilor Brien said nothing about today's incident, but that did not give Tauriel peace for some inexplicable reason.

She took his silence as a bad omen. The king reluctantly took the role of a mediator between Gileth and her parents. He was heavily hinting that the elleth in question should have freedom to choose her own profession. In realitty, parents never had a say in the matter, but this was a rather specific circumstance.

Lady Gale and councilor Brien dared not defy the king openly so the only remedy left was to turn the topic from these dangerous tides. Gileth was torn between discomfort for the way her parents acted during the meal and hope that she would begin training in a close future.

Resentment toward her parents mearly grew as they gave vague answers to the king's inquiries and tried to avoid the subject which interested her very much. Tauriel was silent not daring to look at any particular direction. Legolas too spoke only when adressed by his father and Gileth followed Tauriel's example and sat quietly knowing her family's views beforehand.

The meal finished on satisfaction of everyone present. The people Gileth callled mother and father greeted the prince and the king as customs ordered, but spared no glance toward the elleth who by their opinion was the cause of all their misery. Legolas would have made them show proper conduct if he wasn't aware that Tauriel was more comfortable with the present treatment. His wish to place her at ease was more important to him than teaching the two arrogant creatures civil conduct and Tauriel never ceased to be grateful for this.

The rabbit recieved a lot of attention from the elleth during his stay with her. The very next morning, she provided him with an improvised house which was actually a small coffin where she placed grass and soil she brought from the forest. She also provided him with food and water and followed the healer's indications giving him a weak sedative every morning and every evening until Ninenath informed her that it was no longer necessary.

For the last few days, she took extra care when on move around the palace in order to avoid councilor's unpleasant company. After a few days had passed, she started laughing at her irrational behaviour, but still continued her steps on high alert. Her sneaking around seemed successful and she was about to sigh in relief when entering her room.

Something seemed wrong even in the air as she closed the door behind her. At first she thought that Legolas came to visit as per custom, but she just remembered that he was downstairs with his father a few minutes ago. Nevertheless, the presence seemed poisonous making ice flow through her skin.

The night was falling and there half in shadow on her bed sat not Legolas, but Gileth's father. "These are my prvate quaters hir nin. I ask kindly of you to leave." she said with more courage in her voice then she felt inside.

The dark figure stood up, but Tauriel did not move a muscle so far. "No filthy peasant has the right to throw me out of any room in this palace. Nothing here belongs to you." he replied with calmness which frightened Tauriel more than any amount of threat.

"This room was assigned to me by the grace of my king and my prince. Therefore, I will continue disposing of it until I am ordered otherwise. I will ask you humbly one more time to leave." she replied apparently calm, but with a hint of hesitation in her voice.

"The prince, he is young and foolish. I expected the king to put a stop to this madness, but apparently you got under his skin and brought disgrace and misfortune upon us. You are like a desease; unpredictable and dangerous. I know what it is that you desire. Nature was generous to you in that aspect, but I will not let you poision the nobilitty of this land. Let us see if the prince will be as eager to protect you as before after I'm done with you." he spoke deliberately coming closer like a predator pries on its prey.

Every part of the elleth screamed at her to run away, but she was frozen in place. Her mind registered the words which were spoken, but Tauriel did not understand what he was trying to do although her insticts screamed at her that it was nothing good. She was too young to find a meaning to his words.

He was almost in front of her when she unfroze from her sudden shock. Her mind advised her to get out of this room quickly even without realizing why this particular room was more dangerous then any other part of the castle. Two deep breaths and she was ready to try and defend herself. Fortunatly, her vanity table was in her reach. She knew where every object in this chamber was situated. Her hand moved with a speed of light toward her dagger. She knew that her strength wasn't enough to do any serious damage, but this was not the time to consider the aftermath of her choice.

The dagger sliced through the dark making a cut on Brien's left cheekbone. This distracted him for a few precious seconds she needed to open the door which she was leaning upon and run as fast as her feet would carry her.

The wound wasn't deep enough however because her hunter lost his calm posture and ran after her not taking long to catch up on her shorter feet. His initial plan failed, but he was still more dangerous than a wounded had neither time nor breath to scream for help. She was pinned down by the column near the stairs forcefully.

Pain shot through her back although she knew it wasn't serious yet. Both of her arms were in his steel grip while her ankles throbbed like someone was crushing every bone in her hand. Her torture was far from over. She struggled in vain to free herself, but once again cursed her inferior strength.

He slapped her hard across the face catching her by her neck to hit her throbbing head into the column. He left bruise marks all over her arms before he tried to strangle her. His hands enclosed around her neck while she struggled in vain. "It is unfortunate isn't it. After all this time, you will go to join your parents. This is for turning my daughter against me little sylvan filth." he spoke his last words.

As her sight started to go fuzzy and her mind to protest against the lack of air somehow she managed one last kick using her knee. Blood streamed down her face already as everything started to go black, but her last struggle made Brien release his hold of her neck.

However, her feet did not sustain barely remembered the imapct of her fall down the stairs. Her head hit against something hard and cold before all sense left her body not hearing or seeing anything. Perhaps, she would really see her parents now.

Time passed, Tauriel felt completely numb during her short periods of lucidity. Obscurity pressed her mind every time more forcefully. Some would say she was only dreaming. Her body was frozen, not able to make any movement. She wanted to get on her feet, but couldn't even open her eyes. It was agony, but she couldn't even breath let alone call for aid. It was hard to tell how many hours passed in that dreamlike state before she stopped fighting her physical incapabilitty to move. Perhaps it was better for it to end. She just wanted the pain to stop.

Her wish was granted soon. Darkness enveloped her sending her into a trance where she could no longer feel or see or hear anything. How long would it be before someone realized she was gone? Would anyone grieve for it?

The corridor was desserted. These stairs were rarely in use by the guards and no one else passed by this late in the evening. Legolas and his father ate their dinner not surprised by the elleth's lack of company. She was often gone for one or two meals a day. The prince noticed her absence, but worry was far from his mind. His little friend was restless and he would find her later with her own entertainment that did not include eating.

The first sign of anything unusual going on in the palace was the hustle up and down the stairs. It was the sound of many elven feet going up and down the staircase. Legolas looked at his father waiting to see what he made of the entire business. His unreadable face mearly signaled him to stay in his seat. Eventually, the comotion moved away from the dinning room.

Legolas waited concetrating on any tone which would announce someone coming to inform them if there was trouble. His father observed his own hands appearing calm and calculative as usual. He didn't need to wait long in order to satisfy his curiousity. The corridors were completely quiet not boding to anything good. Hearing someone approach in a fast pace was easy even from a distance.

The prince stood up when he saw the captain's pale face appear at the door frame. "Laeorn what is it?" he couldn't stop himself from asking. Never before had he seen his friend so far from calm.

"It's Tauriel ernil nin. She is in the healing wing. I don't know what happened." he replied speaking incomprehnsibly, but not another word was necessary because Legolas was already out the door before he had time to finish his statement.

His head filled with confusion as soon as his feet lead him to his friend. No one seemed to expect otherwise from him when he stormed into the healing wing. Gileth caught his gaze from the other side of the white corridor. Nothing in her posture seemed encouraging while he walked in fast pace to her side. Ergolan stood by her side anxiously though it was hard to say who was he worried for at this point.

As soon as he made an urgent inquiry; he saw her discomposed face. He couldn't recognize the exact emotion on her face. Was it fright or shock or both? Her whole body shook violently. "Ernil nin I... Tauriel." she was barely able to speak those four words before covering her face. Both her hands were stained with blood and the prince was aware of the fact that she wasn't in the state to give him any kind of report.

His bewildered face turned to Ergolan momentarily forgetting his animosity toward him. The ellon was more collected though he too needed a few seconds to take a deep breath before being able to speak. "No one knows what happened. We found her on the eastern stairs at the landing unconcious. She was covered in blood." he spoke taking a hold of Gileth who swayed on her feet before his brief report came to an end.

"Take her out to take some air and come to her senses." a calm voice ordered looking at Ergolan when he finished his sentence. Legolas didn't even notice his father's arrival. He was too speechless to move or say anything apart from staring at the wall.

Fortunately, his father knew better then to try to persuade him to leave. A couple of hours later Ninenath arrived composed and the king, Legolas, Laeorn, Gileth and Ergolan were granted entrance. "What is her status?" the king spoke seeing their frightened expressions. Apparently, they needed time still to recover from the shock so he took it upon himself to ask the pertinent questions.

"You will be relieved to hear that Tauriel did not sustain any serious injuries." the healer said watching as her words reflected differently on each of their faces.

"There was so much blood. Are you certain?" Gileth managed to squeak out.

Ninenath looked at her with compassion. "Most of her injuries are superficial." she spoke in a soft voice before turning to the prince's disbelieveing face.

She allowed Legolas to take a closer look. There were two cuts on Tauriel's lower lip, a nasty cut on her forehead and a few smaller injuries on her cheeks. "I do not understand. If it isn't serious then why is she unconcious?" he asked caressing her facial injuries.

"Not all of her injuries are visible hir nin. She has a concussion and both her wrists and one of her ankles are sprained, but this was not what I wanted to show you." she replied coming closer and lifting both of her sleeves.

Bruises covered the grand part of her arms. They looked simmilar on both of her sides. King observed from across his son's shoulder. "These bruises are fresh and intentionally inflicted. There are more of them on her neck. Her sprained wrists also contain traces of contusion." she spoke unnecessarily pointing at the indigo splotches. Her wrists were bandaged so no one was able to see their appearance.

Those words seemed to enter the prince's mind slower then usual. For the present, he was focusing more on the fact that they were there then on the matter of how they were inflicted. The king's composture did not waver however.

"Only one of our kin could have left those marks. Hest have you seen or heard anything unusual lurking from the woods today?" he asked seeing that at least his captain seemed calm enough.

"No aran nin. Everything is quiet today. No stranger can enter the palace without your explicit permission." the captain shook his head as to emphasize his conviction.

Legolas finally broke from his trance. "Do you mean to tell me that someone known to us did this?" he asked turning to look at his friend.

"I cannot affirm it ernil nin, but I am almost certain that no one else could have done it. I too shudder to think that one of our own kind was capable of such monstruosity."

No one seemed to have a likely explanation. The king was deeply troubled by this event even if he did not show it. He too was certain that one of their own was behind this, but finding a culprit would be difficult. "Investigate this matter with as much discretion as could reasonably be expected. Everything you find you will report directly to me. You will not discuss this event with anyone outside of this room. Ninenath, your collegues will keep this information to themselves. This will not become a public knowledge until the one responsible is caught. Place two of your most trusted people outside. If I am right, the only one who can give us the name of her attacker is Tauriel." he spoke mostly looking in Laeorn's direction and on ocassion throwing a glance at the rest of the present party.

Laeorn made his way to the door before his king's voice detained him. "One more thing. Bring your recruit with you." he added with a less stern voice though it still sounded as a command. The captain turned remembering Ergolan still stood by Gileth's side gesturing him to obbey. He followed him more because he was acustomed to instantly do as was asked of him then because he wanted to leave.

"When will she wake up?" Legolas demanded as soon as the door was closed.

"It is hard to say ernil nin. It depends on how severely she hit her head, but from the amount of blood I would say it was a heavy blow. It could be hours or days or even weeks." she replied unhappy by her lack of infornation though the only thing left to do was wait.

Thranduil observed his son's pale yet more composed face. "Hiril Gileth. It is best that you return to your parents. There is nothing else that can be done here." he spoke not giving any loophole for her to do anything different. She exsused herself rather quietly still suffering from the lack of speech.

Ninenath followed her example sensing what was the king's intention. "Ionneg. Does it serve any purpose if I ask you to go to sleep too? You heard the healers; she may sleep for a while." he spoke placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"None at all ada. I will stay with her tonight." his son replied barely speaking above a whisper though with a steel resolve, His father sighed and made for the door as well.

"Ada." Legolas detained him when his hand was already at the doorknob.

The king stood without turning though it wasn't trully necessary. "I want the head of whoever stands behind this act." he used a tone which his father never heard come out of his mouth. It was the sound of a ruler issuing his first order. He had used his authority before, but Legolas looked nevermore like him then today.

Thranduil almost told him how proud he was. "As you wish ionneg." he said instead before walking out.

Translations:

Mellon – Friend

Tolo. Av-'Osto. Gwestan. – Come. Don't be afraid. I promise...

Hir nin – My lord

Ernil nin – My prince

Aran nin – My king

Hiril – Lady

Ionneg – Son

Ada – Father

Hest - Captain