Well, here it is! The last chapter!
I'm also considering making two sequels to this fic, so if y'all are interested let me know!
Enjoy!
Tauriel took one look at Thranduil, and wavered.
The Elvenking was not pleased.
"Legolas greeted you before he saw me," he said calmly. There was an undercurrent of anger in his tone.
Tauriel knew better than to deny it. Still, she had an urge to do so.
"Yes, my lord," she responded. Her pulse was rapid, and she knew that Thranduil was likely picking up on these small signals of her uncomforte-and using them to his advantage.
"I had thought it was made clear that you were not to associate with my son."
Tauriel took a quivering breath, a sudden rush of emotions suddenly filling her.
"You did, my lord. I did not seek him out. Indeed, he came to me."
Thranduil's expression was slowly fading from calm to highly annoyed.
"I gave you an order, Tauriel. You defied it."
A repeat of what happened many years ago, Tauriel thought sadly. Will he ever learn to let go?
Brushing the thoughts aside, she drew on her final scraps of defiance towards Thranduil.
"You banished me, my lord. I am no longer your subject. Therefore, I have no reason to obey your every request."
Thranduil's hands shook with repressed anger. "You will obey me," he said, his voice dangerously low.
Tauriel bowed her head, wanting desperately to fight back. She could not find the will to do so.
"You must remember," she finally replied wearily, "that this was not of my doing. I did my best to follow your orders, my lord. Legolas went directly against them."
"I do not believe you," Thranduil declared harshly.
Something poisonus rose up inside her at his words, and in her anger Tauriel could no longer hold her mask. It disappeared, and once again she saw Thranduil's shocked expression before he locked away all emotions.
She laughed bitterly. "You think you are the only one with hidded scars, my lord?" There was a thinly disguised taunt in her words.
Thranduil growled something unintelgible, then finally did away with his calm facade.
"Liar!" he hissed venomously.
Tauriel drew back, shaking with fear.
"I am sorry, my lord," she wimpered. Tears made tracks down her dirt-covered cheeks, and blood covered one side of her face. Vague memories of blood, black and thick, filled her head.
"You let them enter our borders," Thranduil growled, ignoring the fact that she was but a child and had narrowly escape death herself.
"I am sorry," she wept. "I tried."
Tauriel blinked, trying to rid herself of past experiences.
"Do away with your mask," she said. "Do away with all these lies that always have lain between us. I know what you hide, my lord."
Thranduil drew back, shocked. Finally, he found his voice.
"I will not." The finality in his voice was like a blow to her.
Surprised at herself, Tauriel felt the sting of tears in her eyes. It was as if she was an elfling once more, desperately trying to gain Thranduil's approval and trust. Slowly, they slid down her scarred cheeks, leaving a cool trail behind.
Thranduil looked at her again, and for some reason he flinched.
"You are crying," he said flatly.
Tauriel drew in a shaky breath, head bowed, and nodded once.
The Elvenking looked at her oddly. Finally, he spoke. "Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I should do away with all the lies. They have always come between us, Tauriel."
Tauriel looked up quickly, in time to see smooth skin become raw, burned and marred by the dragon's fire. Thranduil's left eye went a milky white, and his exposed cheek-bone was a stark white surrounded as it was by red.
More tears fell as Tauriel looked at him, wanting to tear her eyes away but not quite able too.
"I am sorry," she finally whispered, wrenching her eyes of his half-melted face.
Thranduil smiled wryly. "There is nothing to apologize for. Indeed, I do not expect you to do so. There is nothing that can be changed now."
Tauriel felt new tears form. Irritated at herself, she flung them away.
"I am sorry," she repeated. "I was not in the right, then. But I was not all in the wrong, either."
Thranduil's face hardened. "I know. I admit that I was in the wrong, then. But you had no right to turn away from your duty and run." He paused, searching for words. "I ask of you that you do not encourage Legolas. That is all. I will not ask more of you, for as you said, I no longer am your ruler."
"Of course, my lord," Tauriel whispered. "Of course."
Tauriel stared into the eyes of her horse, soft amber meeting clear green.
"You have carried me for many years now, mellon nin." Her words were soft. "I ask it of you that you carry me just a bit further. There is nothing for me here."
The horse whickered throatily, tossing his head slightly.
Sighing, Tauriel swung up into the saddle.
"Tauriel!" someone called out. The voice was achingly familiar.
Tauriel dropped her head, praying that she would be able to hold on. She could not let him see. Not now.
"Legolas," she said wearily. She did not turn.
"Why are you leaving?" Coming too stand by her horse's head, Legolas prevented her from moving forward.
"I do not know," Tauriel answered truthfully. "I have nowhere. I suppose I will wander again."
Blood. Pouring down her face, into her mouth. Hot, warm, salty. Blood.
Pain, and she screamed. Screamed so loud, the still-tender skin on her face split open. Now, everything was black.
Black as the night itself.
Shuddering involuntarily, Tauriel lifted her eyes and met Legolas's gaze warily.
"What do you want?" she asked harshly.
Pain flitted across his features, and then Legolas composed himself.
"Tauriel," he said carefully, dropping his eyes nervously, "I talked to my father."
Tauriel froze in the saddle, eyes going wide with fear.
"And?" she asked, a faint tremor in her voice.
Legolas narrowed his eyes for a second, scrutinizing her. Finally, he answered.
"He said that you were to stay."
Tauriel reeled backward in shock, rage hot in her veins.
"He what?" she said dangerously.
Legolas shifted again.
"He wants you to stay," he amended quickly. "At least, that is what he told me. And, Tauriel, I believe he plans for you to come to Ithillium with me."
Tauriel bit her tongue as a flood of questions-and quite a few protests-threatened to spill out.
"What?!" she finally exploded, hand going unconsciously to the set of daggers strapped to her waist.
Legolas stepped backward, an emotion she could not place flitting over his face, but then quickly replaced with a cool, calm mask.
With horror, Tauriel realized that he was scared.
Of her.
Shocked, she let her hand drop limply to her side. All thoughts of protesting vanished.
"I am sorry," she whispered.
Legolas tilted his head to the side, frowning slightly. "For what?"
Tauriel winced, not seeing any easy way to reveal her hideously scarred body to him.
Swallowing hard, she tore the illusion away. Better to let him see it now than to surprise him with it later.
If there was a later.
Legolas glanced up, and quickly took three steps back. The stallion snorted, and Tauriel shifted miserably in the saddle.
"No!" she screamed, throwing her body down in front of him.
The sword came down, the air around them humming dangerously as rain washed over the two bodies.
And then, the impact. Screams. Lightning. Blood. So much blood. All fading as her life slowly slipped away.
Darkness.
"What happened to you?" Legolas demanded, still shaken.
Tauriel lifted both hands off the reins, examining the scars as she had done many times before.
"I don't remember that much," she said, fighting to keep her hands steady. Nervously, she licked her lips. "I... I think I blocked a sword. And it did this to me."
The scar that ran down one side of her face was pulled slightly, tightening the skin around it, but she did not notice.
"You cast an illusion," Legolas said. "Like my father. Why, Tauriel?" he asked miserably.
Tauriel choked down a sob.
"I'm a memory, Legolas. Everyone either hates me or has forgotten me. What was I to do? I had to stop people from fleeing from me. This was the only way." Biting her lip, Tauriel stared at her horse's mane.
A hand came down on top of her own, warm and comorting.
"I did not forget," Legolas told her gently.
Tears threatened, and she wrenched her hand from his grasp. Emotions warred inside her, and eventually she chose the one she knew she could rely on. Anger.
"Tell your father no," she spat. "I am done with following his orders."
"No, Tauriel," Legolas cried as she nudged the horse with her heels. "It was not his orders! It was mine!"
The stallion was spun around hard enough to create a cloud of dust, and then Tauriel was staring at him incredulously.
"What?" she gasped.
"I told him I wanted you to come," Legolas admitted miserably. "I want you to come to Ithillium with me, Tauriel."
She continued to stare at him, the glamour flickering.
"Please?" he whispered.
Still, the silence continued.
Legolas waited, watching the scars disapear and reappear again.
Finally, Tauriel opened her mouth, and he was surprised to see tears glittering in her eyes.
"Yes," she croaked. "I will come to Ithillium."