AN: I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read, follow, favorite and review my story! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter!

/

Mireth felt as if she would pace a trench in the floor of her room. It had been days since she had seen Thorin in Thranduil's' throne room and she was still no closer to freeing herself or the captive dwarves. She stopped pacing, coming to a halt in front of the barred window. Gripping the bars in her hands, she rested her forehead against the cool metal. She'd been a fool when she had first arrived in the Greenwood. Challenging her father had been satisfying yes, but she had only succeeded in imprisoning herself and Thorin.

Thorin, how was he doing in the dungeons she wondered. She remembered the way the dungeons looked and although they were not as terrible as they could be, she knew that with her father's hatred of them, the dwarves would be lucky to have a single blanket. As she looked out on to the river that flowed beneath her, she appreciated the beauty that was her former home as the sun sank beneath the treetops.

The singing took her by surprise. As the moon rose and the stars began to appear she felt a longing deep in her heart. The feast of starlight, Mereth Nuin Giliath, was special to her people and yet with all that had happened she had forgotten the date. Listening to her kin sing, brought a lightness to her that she hadn't felt in a while. Sinking to the floor beneath the window, Mireth sat with her back against the wall, her head angled up so that she could still see the stars.

The knock on her door a few hours later startled her. Before she could answer, Legolas walked in closing the door behind him. He smiled at her, asking, "Does your neck not ache at that angle?"

Mireth began to shake her head, but stopped immediately as a sharp pain ran from her shoulder to her head. With a light laugh she said, "It does brother, but I had not noticed. I was too absorbed in the music and starlight." Legolas reached out his hand to her, helping her up. "You have missed many such feasts," he said as she straightened up before him. Mireth smiled sadly, "I have missed many things in the years I have been banished. It was not my choice to remain estranged from my family Legolas. That was fathers' wish."

Legolas turned his back on her as he began to pace. "I don't understand you, Mireth. I never have. Since you first met that dwarf you were changed and now Tauriel…" he trailed off. Mireth immediately became suspicious, "What do you mean 'now Tauriel'?" He turned to her, his eyes showing his hurt and confusion, "Tauriel, she watches one of the dwarves differently, the younger one with dark coloring and he watches her as well."

"You mean Kili? You think they have formed an attachment?" Mireth asked, her brow furrowed, she had known Tauriel before leaving the Greenwood. Legolas shrugged his shoulders to seem indifferent, but Mireth knew her brother. "I suppose that is his name." She walked up to his side and put her hand on his arm, "Legolas, you have been alive longer than I and while I usually acknowledge your wisdom, in this I cannot. When you find the one you are meant to be with, it does not matter what race they are or where they are from. Your soul recognizes its other half and there is nothing you can do."

Legolas looked down at her upturned face. Her eyes were full of emotion and he recognized the truth there as well. "As I have not had the experience yet, I will have to bow to your advice, though I do not like that dwarves are involved." Mireth shook her head, "I do not ask that you like my decision, only that you accept my feelings are real."

Legolas put his hand behind her head and drew her close to place a kiss on the top of her head, "I love you little sister and for that I will trust you. I do not want to lose you again." Mireth placed her arms around his middle, hugging him close, "I love you as well, Legolas. I have missed you." They spent the rest of the night sharing stories from the years they had been apart. They had been close as siblings and as the night went on they regained some of that bond. It was close to dawn when they heard the shouting from below. Legolas sprung up from where he had been sitting with her on the floor and was gone before she could ask what was happening.

Mireth could hear shouts about the river and so she flew to the window trying to see what was causing so much commotion. It was a few moments later when she saw the first barrels come rushing from beneath her window. When she saw the dwarves inside the barrels she almost shouted with joy! They had found a way to free themselves and with the help of the current they would escape. As Mireth watched the barrels rush down the stream, her eyes met Thorins'. She had no idea how he knew to look up when he did, but she was glad because she was able to shout to him, "Go! Thorin do not look back!"

As the barrels rounded a bend and she lost sight of them, elves came rushing out of the palace, running along the river bank after the dwarves. Mireth prayed harder than she ever had that Thorin and the company would make it out of the the Greenwood safely. She didn't know how long she stood watching the river, minutes, hours or days, but she didn't move until she saw Legolas and Tauriel returning with an orc as prisoner.

Mireths' heart sank in her chest. Orcs? This close to the kingdom? There was no sign of the dwarves with the elves that returned and she knew that meant either they were all dead or they had escaped. She desperately hoped that it was the latter. As Legolas and the elves disappeared into the palace Mireth hurried over to the door to her chamber and pressed her ear against the wood.

She could hear nothing for a while and then she heard her father speak. He asked why the party of orcs were tracking Thorin and the company. She couldn't understand most of what the orc growled, but she heard Tauriel threaten him with death and then she was dismissed. Before she could hear much more of the conversation below, a closer one caught her attention.

"King Thranduil has ordered the release of Princess Mireth. You are to gather her belongings so that she may help track the party of dwarves that escaped," Tauriel informed the guard. Mireth was surprised, she had not heard anything like that come from her father. When the door suddenly swung inwards, she had to leap back to keep from being hit. Tauriel stood in the doorway with Mireths' weapons and pack, "Come. We haven't much time."

Mireth didn't waste a moment. If her father had ordered this she didn't want him to change his mind and if he had not, which was much more likely, then she needed to leave as quickly as she could. Mireth accepted the weapons, strapping them in place as she followed Tauriel down the steps and towards the front entrance. Tauriel told the same story to the guards there as Mireth settled her pack against her back.

They were soon beyond the gates and running into the forest. Mireth was grateful to be back outside in the open. She had grown used to the openness of Rivendell and the freedom to move when and where she pleased. As they ran, she asked Tauriel "My father never ordered my release did he?" Tauriel never broke stride as she answered, "No, he did not."

Mireth thought about this for a moment and about what Legolas had said about Tauriel and Kili. "Why have you decided to track the dwarves on your own?" Mireth asked, hoping that Tauriel did not want to bring them back. Tauriel answered quickly, "Some of the orcs survived and followed the dwarves farther down the river. I wish to destroy the orcs." The answer was simple and yet Mireth felt there was more. "I was unable to hear most of what was being said during your interrogation of the orc you brought back, but I did hear you threaten him with death. What did he say?"

This time Tauriel did not answer right away. In fact she took so long that Mireth didn't think that she was going to answer at all until she finally spoke, "The filth said that they struck the young archer with a poisoned arrow. I asked if he liked death." Mireth almost lost her footing when she heard that Kili had been poisoned. She knew Oin was a skilled healer, but if the arrow that had struck Kili was a black arrow he would need elvish medicine.

Mireth picked up her pace and Tauriel stayed right with her. They didn't stop for hours, not until they reached the end of the river where it emptied into the lake. There they stopped to asses which way the orcs had taken. They separated as they searched the bank. Mireth was just about to turn around when she heard elven footsteps. Knowing she was wanted she slowly crept up the bank back towards Tauriel and then she heard her brothers voice.

Tauriels' speech about being apart of this world moved Mireth and she knew from the way her brother was looking at her, he agreed.

Feeling it was safe to approach, Mireth rose from her crouched position and walked to her brother. She knew he heard her, but he did not turn towards her. "Father is beyond furious, Mireth. This will sound harsh sister, but for your safety, you should never see him again. If he did not let his anger go in the past sixty years then he will not let it go now that you have fled for a second time." Mireth took a deep breath. She had loved her father once and somewhere deep down she had loved him still, but the love she had for Thorin was beyond words.

Her father couldn't accept that and as much as it a pained her once to choose one love over another she would make that choice again in a heartbeat. "I wish there was another way Legolas. I truly do, but I will never give Thorin up, no matter the cost," Mireth said with a strength that allowed no argument. Before Legolas could answer, Tauriel spoke, "How can you love a dwarf?" The question was not full of scorn as it had been from her father, but truly curious.

Mireth thought about her answer before speaking, "I love Thorin not because he is a dwarf or despite him being a dwarf. I love him because of who he is. Strong, confident, kind, wise, stubborn. All of these things make up the male that he is and for that I love him. That I can see these qualities despite the bias of my kin only tells me that what I feel is true." Tauriel did not say anything, only stood thinking about what had been said.

Legolas cleared his throat. Although he loved his sister, it was still difficult for him to hear. His loyalties were divided and that made the situation troubling. "If we are to continue tracking the orcs we must get moving again," he said to change the subject. Both elf maids nodded and the three of them began running along the bank again, following the tracks to Laketown.

/

They did not reach the town until the next night and when they arrived they heard the shrieks of orcs and the terrified cries of children. The elves didn't waste a moment. Quickly finding the location of the screams, they engaged the orcs that were pouring over the roof and down the walkways. Tauriel made it into the house first with Mireth close behind. Legolas dropped in through a hole that had been made in the roof and they soon had the house clear.

Legolas quickly followed the orcs that fled, but both Mireth and Tauriel paused. Tauriel looked at Kili who was on the floor in immense pain, his lips turning black from the poison coursing through his veins. Mireth quickly asked Oin about Thorin and the rest of the company. "They left this morning for the mountain. Kili was too ill to make the journey and we were to catch up to them when he was better…" Oin trailed off as Kili let out another pained moan.

Just then Bofur returned to the house and Mireth heard Tauriel whisper, "Athelas." Mireth felt her breath release. She knew that Tauriel had the skill to heal the wound and draw the poison from Kili and so she left to follow her brother. When she caught up to him, he was fighting off orcs as he tried to get to their leader whom she recognized as Bolg. When Legolas realized she was there he quickly turned his attention to Bolg and left the remaining orcs to her.

Before either of them could kill Bolg he fled on a warg with the few remaining orcs. Legolas gave her a look and she knew he would follow them. "I will stay here with Tauriel. Be careful Legolas." He nodded to her and she watched as he followed the orcs on a horse across the bridge. She made her way back to the house quickly, surprised that with all of the screams and shouting that not one other inhabitant of the town had so much as poked their heads out to see what was happening.

When she made it back to the house she saw that Kili was already improving, the black tinge under his skin fading away. Tauriel stood watching over him as he slept and Mireth smiled slightly. She could see the attachment the elf had for Thorins' nephew and she wondered if Kili felt the same. The children all seemed to be unhurt and the dwarves that had remained with Kili were tossing the dead bodies of the orcs out the window into the water below.

Mireth walked to Tauriel and stood looking down at Kili. "How does he fare?" she asked in elvish. "Well. He should heal with time and rest," Tauriel replied. As if in defiance of her answer, the ground shook and a distant roar could be heard by the elves. Mireths' blood went cold. She knew only one source could be responsible.

She and Tauriel looked at each other as the dwarves asked, "What was that?" Not knowing where Thorin and the company was exactly terrified Mireth. Something or someone had to have woken the beast, she just hoped that the company was safe. Mireth turned to look down at the faces of the remaining dwarves. "That was Smaug," she said simply, trying to keep the fear from her voice. The group turned towards the open window that looked towards the mountain, wondering what would happen next.