Back to Normal?
"What brings you to this neck of the woods?" he jokingly smiled.
"What? Am I not welcomed to venture out anymore?"
"Leave him alone, captain." Legolas stepped out from behind a tree, brushing away its branches with an arrow in his hand. "Here." He threw it to Adanion. "Add this to your collection. I have used it many times and it has never broken."
"What are you trying to say cousin? That I have poor archery skills and I need your magic arrow to assist me?" Adanion raised an eyebrow.
Legolas grinned. "Well, I would not want you to embarrass yourself."
Keldir rolled his eyes. He knew once they started to exchange words, it would end up becoming a long morning. Ever since they were young, Legolas and Adanion always tried to out-match each other in whatever activities they could think of.
"Embarrass myself, you say?" Adanion threw the arrow back to Legolas. "You keep that for you will need your luck more than me by the end of this day."
"Is that a challenge, cousin?"
"No, of course not. It is merely the truth," Adanion smiled.
"We shall see about that!" Legolas motioned for them to follow him farther into the forest.
For the rest of that morning the three of them (mostly the prince and his cousin) competed to see who could find the most difficult targets to shoot; the smaller the target, the better. They even went as far as shooting small birds perched within the thicket of leaves and startling other creatures to move to different locations so they could rest in peace.
"Nice shot!" the prince laughed at the target Keldir chose, which he missed.
"Blasted squirrel! If that little rodent did not jump from that tree, I would have not lost my concentration."
"Of course not, Keldir." Adanion placed an assuring hand on his shoulder and laughed. "Oh, how I miss these moments."
"Speaking of missing, sir," Keldir peeled his fingers off. "Where is your maiden today?"
Adanion's smile turned into a slight frown. "Yes, well…I agreed not to get in the way of her duties."
I I I
Three days before
"I cannot join you today, Adanion. Lady Minar has been watching me like a hawk and the first chance she sees me not doing my chores she will assign more work for me to do. I cannot afford that for I have enough to do that I am behind on."
The chambermaid walked back and forth past Adanion carrying a laundry basket making sure she didn't forget anything that needed to be washed. The laundering section was the nosiest part of the palace (aside from the four kitchens) with people giving orders, signaling and yelling to each other when a new batch of clean material was ready, and where certain sheets were that needed to be pressed.
"In coming!" Someone yelled as a new sack of dirty laundry dropped down from the chute.
Adanion stood in the corner watching everyone move around him like busy little bees as if he wasn't standing there at all. His concentration on them broke when Le'ariel zipped past him again. He quickly followed behind her. "Please, Le'ariel? I promise I will have you back in an hour's time."
"I am sorry, Adanion, I cannot." She handed the sack of dirty laundry to another washer, "Take this to Station Three and make sure the garments are turned inside out before they are washed."
"Yes, Le'ariel," the elf nodded.
"What about for half-an-hour? Surely, no one will miss you? It is such a nice day outside," he pleaded again.
"As it has been for the past week or whenever you want me to do something with you," she gave him a knowing look. Adanion sheepishly smiled. Le'ariel suddenly stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to face him. "I will tell you what...if you can help me finish most of my chores today, then I will sit with you outside or whatever it is you have planned for half-an-hour. That is it, no bargaining. Do we have a deal?"
"Well, what else do you have to do today?"
"I still need to turn down the beds, help Sirawen wash a few sheets outside, help my mother in the kitchens for the midday meal and fold the rest of the laundry when they dry."
Adanion scratched his head. "Well...umm...can you not have Sirawen or Velhar cover your duties again for a little while? Like they usually do? They have done it in the past. I am sure your friends will not mind?"
The chambermaid's hopeful smile turned into an unpleasant frown. "As a matter of fact, they do mind…and so do I! You may not have the responsibilities of attending to other's needs or having other elves counting on you—but I do. I now realize you and I are from different backgrounds with different obligations to fulfill, and I do not think our two worlds will ever understand each other."
"Le'ariel, please, I did not mean to offend you. Please forget I said that. I—"
"Please, Adanion. As I have told you, I am busy today and every day hereafter. Go and spend time with your cousin as you should have been since you arrived. Not spending your days with a servant. You did not come here to see me. You came here to see Prince Legolas. Your cousin. Your family. I remember the elf-prince was so excited to hear about your visit and how much he looked forward to catching up with you. But, because of me, you two have acted as if you are strangers and for that I apologize. Go now, Adanion, please. I have a lot of work to do." She gave him one last good look then walked away in the opposite direction, going about her work as if he never showed himself.
The elf stood speechless, feeling like an idiot. He sighed and finally walked out.
I I I
"I have not seen her in three days. It appears that I was taking too much of Le'ariel's time away from her responsibilities and whatever else servants like her do. I do not understand her. I thought she was taking a liking to me and if everything worked out well, then...well, you know," he grinned mischievously.
Legolas's voice hardened. "She is not like that Adanion. Le'ariel is different from the maidens you normally pursue."
"I am aware of that, cousin." Adanion gave him a strange look. "I have been spending time with her. A servant is a nice change from the dull maidens I see on a daily basis. I find them to be more interesting, do you not agree? Especially when you lay your charms on them," he winked. "Too bad...she was very beautiful. Maybe I will give it a go again in a week's time."
The prince hadn't realized his fist was so tightly clenched around his bow that you could see the whites of his knuckles until Keldir placed a discreet hand on his shoulder. The captain gave him a look that told him to ignore his cousin's remarks. Adanion missed to their silent exchange as he was busy searching for another target.
"Come, let us go to another spot," Keldir finally spoke up.
"Here. This looks like a good location. It is your turn again Keldir since you were 'distracted' as you say," Adanion chuckled.
Legolas stayed quiet.
"Very funny."
Right before the guard released his arrow, they heard horns in the distance that signaled a visitor was arriving.
"Elven horns? Who could be visiting us this time of year?" Legolas was curious to find out. "Did you know anything about this Keldir?"
Keldir shook his head. "No. Your father never mentioned anything to me."
"Strange. Come, let us have a look!"
The three pick up the rest of their belongings and made a dash back to the palace to find out who the mysterious guest was.