Chapter Forty-five: "Are we not of this world?" Or Tauriel's Choice
Tauriel approached the throne room where Legolas and Raniean were holding their orc captive as Thranduil questioned the Moria filth. As she neared, she heard the king speak.
"Such is the nature of evil," Thranduil said calmly, almost dead. "Out there in the vast ignorance of the world it festers and spreads, a shadow that grows in the dark. A sleepless malice as black as the oncoming wall of night. So it ever was; so it will always be. In time, all foul things come forth."
Tauriel mentally shook her head. It sounded as if her king believed Darkness to be inescapable. But she couldn't believe that. There had to be a better way.
"You were tracking a company of thirteen dwarves and a hobbit," Legolas said, holding a knife under the beast's chin. "Why?"
"Not thirteen; not anymore," the orc said.
Tauriel felt her heart stutter. She forced herself to breathe. Kili had finally responded to her worry. He was in pain, feeling weak, but alive.
"The young one," the orc continued, "the black-haired archer, we struck him with a Morgul shaft."
Tauriel wrestled against fear strangling her throat. A Morgul shaft. An arrow from the dreaded Dark Lord Sauron believed defeated for millennia. A dart infused with the dark shadow that would slowly change its victim into a servant of the Dark Lord until there was no more hope.
"The poison's in his blood," the orc said. "He'll be choking on it soon."
Tauriel wrestled her thoughts into focus. The beast was avoiding her prince's question. That should be her focus at this moment. "Answer the question, filth," she warned darkly from the sidelines.
Her brother turned in surprise at her presence. Legolas lifted his eyes briefly to acknowledge her. Thranduil glanced at her from the corner of his eye before dismissing her presence.
The orc half-turned his head to spit her direction. "Sha hakhitz khunai-go, Golgi!"
Tauriel whipped her knife out as Legolas allowed his blade to taste the orc's flesh. She would not tolerate the firstborns being called dogs. And if this scum refused to answer to them, she would see him answer to her blade.
"I would not antagonize her," Raniean warned the orc.
"You like killing things, orc?" Tauriel demanded. "You like death? Then let me give it to you!" She cared not if this beast was the one to poison her Heart or not. Merely the fact that he relished the thought of another dying—
"Enough!" Thranduil demanded in Sindarin.
Tauriel stopped, a single move away from destroying the orc scum. Mere feet from the maliciously gleeful eyes.
"Does your heart bleed for him, she-elf?" it sneered. "Your eyes betray your heart."
"Tauriel, leave," Thranduil commanded. "Go now."
Tauriel wrenched herself away and retreated from the throne room. She had to get to Kili. She had to help him, heal him. She had experienced more loss than most elves. She prayed that she wouldn't lose her Heart.
Legolas caught his friend's concerned gaze. Never had Tauriel allowed emotion to influence her actions around a prisoner. Legolas had doubted that she had told anyone else about finding her Heart. This was just confirmation.
The Elvenking addressed their prisoner as though Tauriel had never been there. "I do not care about one dead dwarf," Thranduil said. "Answer the question. You have nothing to fear. Tell us what you know and I will set you free."
Raniean appeared ready to protest, but held his tongue.
"You had orders to kill them," Legolas pressed, tightening his hold in the orc's coarse hair. "Why? What is Thorin Oakenshield to you?"
"The dwarf runt will never be king," the orc scoffed.
"King?" Raniean asked in disbelief. "There is no King Under the Mountain nor will there ever be. None would dare enter Erebor whilst the dragon lives."
Legolas kept his thoughts on the matter to himself. He wondered if that was indeed true. The company of dwarves and hobbits that had escaped could very well be crazed enough to do just that.
"You know nothing," the orc spat. "Your world will burn!"
"What are you talking about?" Legolas demanded, giving his blade a taste of the orc's black blood. "Speak!"
"Our time has come again," the orc answered. "My master serves the One. Do you understand now, Elfling? Death is upon you. The flames of war are upon you—"
Legolas's hand jerked up as most of the weight disappeared. He drew a deep breath, recognizing how close his father's sword had come in order to behead the beast. "Why did you do that?" he asked, dropping the lifeless head. "You promised to set him free." He may not have ever agreed with that decision, but his adar was always an elf of his word.
"And I did," Thranduil answered. "I freed his wretched head from his miserable shoulders."
"There was more the orc could tell us," Raniean protested.
"There was nothing more he could tell me," Thranduil said, sheathing his sword.
"What did he mean by the 'flames of war'?" Legolas asked. His heart shuddered as he recalled the civil war from his childhood. While there hadn't ever been a true battle, nothing like the battle of the Last Alliance his father and grandfather had fought in, it had been horrific. Especially for Legolas and his two closest friends.
"It means they intend to unleash a weapon so great it will destroy all before it," Thranduil answered. "I want the watch doubled at all our borders. All roads, all rivers. Nothing moves but I hear of it. No one enters this kingdom, and no one leaves it."
Legolas led the way from the throne room to the gates of the kingdom.
"What has Tauriel kept from me?" Raniean asked, hurrying beside him. "What causes her to allow herself to be baited by orc filth?"
Legolas debated momentarily before deciding to give his friend a hint without telling him everything. "She has found her Heart."
Raniean ground to a halt. "'The black-haired archer.' Her Heart is a—"
"Softly, mellon," Legolas said. "Very few know."
"For good reason," Raniean said. "But, why didn't she tell me? I am her brother in all but blood."
"She wished to protect him from the gauntlet the two of us and Trelan would send him through until he could properly defend himself," Legolas said.
Raniean huffed a breath. "Fine. I'll allow her protective tendencies this once."
Legolas nodded as they approached the gate, calling to the guards. "Close the gate! Keep it sealed by order of the King."
"What about Tauriel?" one of the guards asked.
Legolas stopped his turn from the doors, exchanging fearful, worried looks with Raniean. "What of her?"
"She went into the forest armed with her bow and blade," the guard answered. "She has not returned."
He pointed into the forest as Legolas stared out with dread. Thranduil would forgive many things, but he couldn't be certain if the Elvenking would forgive this.
"Mellonnen," Raniean whispered, "we know why she left, but what can we do to protect her?"
"I'll go after her," Legolas said. "I'll see if I can bring her back. I fear however that she will not be satisfied until she has helped her Heart."
"Let me go," Raniean said. "I will not have your father angered with you."
"And I do not wish to lose you and Tauriel to banishment," Legolas said. "If it is me, there is a better chance that we will both return in the end."
"Stay safe, mellonnen," Raniean said.
"Always," Legolas said. He headed out, ordered the guards to seal the gates behind him. Another reason for him to go after Tauriel, there was an enchantment upon the gates to open for any royal of the Greenwood. Whenever he returned with Tauriel, he could open the gates without trouble.
Fear settled over his heart as he considered just how far this quest may take him. It could very well take him beyond the borders of his father's kingdom. It could even take him within the town of Men. He fought the shuddering terror. He hadn't left his father's kingdom nor entered the dwellings of Men since Dorolyn. Could he do it?
He shook himself. Of course he could. He was Prince of Mirkwood, Crown Prince of the Woodland Realm. He wouldn't be cowed by fear. Besides it had been millennia since Dorolyn. He was past it.
Are you? a little voice taunted.
Legolas brushed it aside. First he had to find Tauriel, and then he would continue on from there.
Tauriel raced along the riverside. She had avoided the guard post at the sluice gate. She had no doubt that with orcs being within their borders, the king would double if not triple the guard. She would rather not be questioned on her errand.
She saw signs of orcs and battle. She forced her fear and worry to the side. She could sense no distress from Kili aside from his wound. For now, they were safe.
She paused on the border of the elven kingdom. The trees were whispering. She spun round, arrow on her bowstring. Her heart leapt as she saw Legolas, also with his bow drawn.
"I thought you were an orc," she said.
"If I were an orc, you would be dead," Legolas answered.
Tauriel nodded in acknowledgement. She had lost this round. It wasn't unusual for a fellow warrior to raise their armed bow against another and see just how long it was before they reacted. Most times, it was noticed immediately. But, clearly, Tauriel had been so focused on her Heart that she hadn't paid attention to her surroundings. A dangerous thing.
"Tauriel," Legolas said, approaching as he put his weapons away, "you cannot hunt thirty orcs on your own."
Tauriel subtly shook her head. "But I'm not on my own."
Legolas smiled, the slightest exasperation touching his eyes. "You knew I would come."
"You or my gwador," Tauriel confirmed, smiling. She moved to continue but her friend's next words gave her pause.
"The king is angry, Tauriel," he said. "For six hundred years and more, my father has protected you, favored you. You defied his orders; you betrayed his trust."
Tauriel remained calm. Surely Thranduil did not know how she had aided the escape. If he did, then Legolas also would be in trouble. "Would it not be so for you, Legolas?" she asked. "You kept your own secrets, offered your own aid."
The golden-haired elf lowered his eyes. "He knows not of our consorting with the prisoners." He looked up again. "It is your running away, daring to leave our borders when it has been expressly forbidden."
Tauriel turned away, looking on down the river. Her leg still ached where her Heart had been wounded. The pain increased the farther the distance between them grew. Would Thranduil even understand this pain? For so long he had been cold and distant, even from his son. Even more so than when Tauriel first came to live in the Greenwood.
"Tauriel," Legolas intreated in Sindarin, "come back with me. He will forgive you."
"But I will not," Tauriel answered, her very heart already aching for her soulmate and the dear hobbit lady she had befriended. "If I go back, I will not forgive myself." She started pacing as she started to vent her frustrations. "The king has never let orc filth through our lands, yet he would let this orc pack cross our borders and kill our prisoners."
Legolas shook his head. "It is not our fight."
"It is our fight," she retorted. "It will not end here. With every victory, this evil will grow. If your father has his way, we will do nothing. Already our road has fallen into disrepair, the bridge destroyed. Some nameless fear has settled in the ruins of Dol Guldor. Yet your father does nothing. We hide within our walls, live our lives away from the light, . . . and let darkness descend."
She locked her eyes on Legolas, hoping, praying that he would recall everything that she had learned from Bella and Fili. "Are we not part of this world? Tell me, mellon, when did we let evil become stronger than us?"
Legolas breathed deeply, turning away as war raged within his eyes. A moment of quiet then, "Do you know what you ask of me, Tauriel?" He turned back to her. "Defying my father and king. Leaving our homeland. Entering a town of men."
Tauriel made her face soften. Legolas had never told her what had happened when the ambassadorial visit to Dorolyn went wrong. How it came to be that Lord Elrond was the one to bring him home teetering on the brink between life and death. At least, not all of it. Certainly not the reason why a prank gone wrong by Elladan and Elrohir centuries later had affected him so badly. All she knew was that Legolas had never after ventured beyond the borders of the woodland realm, and he was terrified, bordering on hated, the race of men.
"I do not ask you to come with me," she said. "I merely ask for your understanding. This evil will not rest until we destroy it. I also cannot stand by as my Heart suffers, slowly coming upon the brink of death if I can do something about it."
"And you honestly expected our friends to forgive me if I let you wonder off on your own?" Legolas asked.
"They would understand," Tauriel answered. "We all know how Dorolyn affected you. None of us would force you to leave these lands or enter a town of men."
Legolas closed his eyes, breathing deeply and slowly. Then, upon opening his eyes he strode past Tauriel, daring to be the first to step over the border.
Tauriel hurried to him as he stopped. "Mellonnen?"
He nodded. "Let's see if we can save your Heart."
"Thank you, Legolas," Tauriel said. As they continued on together, she said, "If you ever feel the need to turn back, I will not hold it against you."
"I might," Legolas said.
"Then one step at a time," Tauriel said. "You can make it."
Legolas nodded. "Eru willing."
Tauriel returned the nod in agreement. "And may he be willing."
Author's Note: Okay, first off, sorry for posting so late. Combo of crazy life and forgetful mind. I guess a part of me had started wondering if I had managed to successfully post the last chapter since I hadn't heard from anyone. Welp, going to pull away from that. Not going to go into a little pity party of one. To the chapter!
Tauriel's thoughts on Thranduil's opening lines were in part my own. While all very lofty and elven, I couldn't spin it anywhere but some sad, depressing mindset. If you interpreted differently, please share. I would like to hear your opinions and thoughts. I changed that scene with the interrogation just a little because both Legolas and Tauriel are coming from slightly different places now as opposed to the film.
I will admit that this chapter maybe leaned a little more heavily on Mellon Chronicles lore for Legolas's history. Most references are for the first two "books" in the series if you are interested in tapping into the history and mind of my imagining of Legolas. If you are not interested in adding a few thousand more words to your reading life, or if you feel that the stories sound too dark for a detailed perusal, don't hesitate to ask and I will do my best to give you a quick summary.
I think that what caused me to enjoy the Mellon Chronicles so much was seeing Legolas actually overcome his past while Aragorn was patiently there for him and the two of them creating a bond of brotherhood so strong even elvish rites recognized it. And . . . as I may have mentioned before, I am highly susceptible to well-thought-out headcanons early in my first ventures into a fandom. So, more likely than not, even as I read the original source material and potentially watch the films more than is healthy, I will still thoroughly enjoy and accept the headcanons created in this series.
Oh, and a little tidbit about the archery draw. In my mind, the film didn't really give a real reason for why Legolas would have drawn his bow on Tauriel aside from giving the audience a minor heart attack. So, I consciously or subconsciously, drew from an exercise my brother mentioned once in his Air Force career. To keep soldiers sharp, for shooting practice not only do they have targets in front, but they will also have a target come up alongside as well to check peripheral vision (to my basic understanding). That was the idea I semi-borrowed. Though it is more of an unofficial challenge among the elven guard as opposed to something integrated into their training.
I hope that you enjoyed this latest chapter. Please do leave a comment down below. I would love to hear from you. Whether it be something you liked, something you think could be improved, thoughts, or theories about what is coming next. Until next time.