Chapter 3 everyone!

Yes, it is a week later than I had planned, but I did warn you that the updates would be irregular. Hopefully, this will be worth the wait.

Thanks to all readers, followers, favourites and reviewers! :)

I do not own any characters - except for some OCs - or places; J.R.R Tolkien or Peter Jackson and Co do.

The italics in the beginning and the end of a chapter comes from either one of the Lord of the Rings-books/movies or from any of The Hobbit-movies/book. All of them will have some sort of connection to Elves. So I do not own them as well.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Unbelievable

And lost he wandered under leaves,

For a moment, all Legolas could do was staring. Disbelief and no small amount of anger, even outrage, kept him from doing anything else than stare up at the Elf, who had positioned herself in a way that made it most difficult for him to move, should he not have been petrified by shock and humiliation. She had put all her weight on his midriff while her legs were at his sides, keeping him firmly in one place.

The Elf had a pretty face and those eyes that seemed to look straight through him. Her hair was red and hung freely around her face. She watched him intently and he thought he could see specks of gold near her pupils. It was as if she didn't know what to make of him.

Legolas was aware of her every movement, every part of her as she held him pinned down. He tried not to think of how good it felt, of that strange fuzzy feeling in his chest and tried instead to reach for his fallen weapons. The woman removed her hand from his mouth and reached for his arm, but Legolas was quicker and he grabbed his fallen arrow. The red-haired Elf recoiled, wary that he would wound her. It was not what Legolas had in mind; the blond Prince had not been raised to act rashly, especially when it came to other Elves, his people. Though he couldn't deny that it was something suspicious about a strange Elf lurking around near the crime scene.

He was up on his feet in an instance and the other Elf swiftly took a step back, her movements graceful. He supposed that with some training she could be perfect; she had the beginning of a great warrior in her movements.

"Why did you do that for?" Legolas asked her, not breaking eye contact as he picked up his bow. He noticed how she had her eyes trained on the bow. She snapped her gaze to his when she answered and he was struck once again by her eyes, their depths and the color.

"You were going to shoot me", she said and her voice was rich with emotions, soft, though her tone was sharp.

Legolas didn't deny it and took a step forward. The woman mirrored him, though in the opposite direction. She seemed to be ready to run at any moment, calculating her escape. Legolas wondered if he made her nervous, if he looked as imitating as his father could be.

"I wonder", he continued, tilting his head to the side. "Why you were up there in the first place?"

She smiled at him and he lost track of his thoughts for a while. Her smile was wide, not only a mere stretch of the lips, but it wasn't all friendly either. It was a secretive smile, devoid of any teeth. It was strange how quickly she went from worried and alert to charming and alluring. Legolas formed his lips into a thin line, waiting for an answer. He wondered if she knew who he was and if she had been sitting in the tree long enough to hear the whole conversation.

"I was admiring the view", answered the red-haired Elf, still smiling.

"Somehow, I doubt it", Legolas told her and that was the truth. "Do you work here?"

She was dressed in dark trousers and a dark tunic, only a few shades lighter than the trousers. It didn't look like a uniform and Legolas recalled the Groundkeeper wearing far more exquisite clothes, which made him even more suspicious of the elleth. He also thought he could detect the handle of a knife sticking up from one of her boots. He took another step forward and the woman one step backwards.

"In a way I do", she replied to his question and her smile had decreased, though it was still there.

"You are aware of how suspicious that sounds, are you not?"

The woman just continued smiling.

"Ask me no questions and I shall tell no lies", she said and turned to walk away from him.

Legolas was not going to let this stranger just walk away, so he hurried after her and with a couple of long strides, he had caught up with her. He was dimly aware that they were not following a special path, but ventured out of the small settlement and into the dark woods.

"This is a serious matter", he said. "The harvest of ivor galas has gone missing…."

"Yes, I did hear something about that", the other Elf mused out loud and Legolas repressed the annoyed sigh of being interrupted by asking her how she had come across that knowledge. "Oh, you know, the trees talk, the birds gossip and our race is not as silent and secretive as we want others to believe. If you want to hear something, all you have to do is listen."

They had strayed from the original path and approached a stream that ran below them, a ribbon of swirls in deep, murky colors. Legolas didn't want to go any farther. He wasn't afraid of getting lost, but he was apprehensive of continuing with this woman he knew nothing about.

"Be that as it is, but I find everything about you right now to be very – how should I put it? – fishy."

The woman stopped and whipped her head around with such force that Legolas was afraid that her neck would break. It looked to be very fragile. He stopped next to her and tried not to show his unease about the way her eyes were blazing. They sparkled with green fire.

"Fishy?" she repeated, sounded torn between laughter and annoyance. "Do you accuse me of thievery?"

Legolas held up his hands in an attempt of peace, though it did not work as well as he still had his bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. He quickly lowered his hands.

"I am just trying to make you see the slight worrisome of your behavior…."

"I didn't steal anything, if that's what you're hinting."

She sounded offended, angry that he even would assume such a thing. He watched her with a thoughtful expression on his face, but he couldn't push away the gnawing feeling that there was something going on that he did not know what yet.

"Tell me the truth", he begged of her, his blue eyes chilly. "Why are you here?"

Any sign of anger that previously had been in her eyes, written across her fair features, vanished and left that smile upon her lips. Legolas bit the inside of his cheek to keep his face emotionless and not to let her know how infuriating the curve of her lips was.

"That's a conversation for another time", said the red-haired woman and started walking again.

"What makes you think that it will be another time?" Legolas couldn't help but ask.

The woman gave him another secretive smile and her eyes sparkled.

"Exactly."

Then she leapt across the stream, graceful and looking as if she was born doing it. She landed on the other side and ran, soon disappearing amongst the trees. It had all happened so fast that Legolas had barely had time to blink, to register it all. He drew his bow, but didn't shoot, since the elleth was out of sight. He was unsure if he even wanted to shoot her should she still have been within sight.

Legolas stood at the edge of the stream and looked ahead. He tried to catch a glimpse of red, but was unsuccessful. He despised when things didn't go his way, something he had with no doubt inherited from his father.

"Oh, bother it all", Legolas muttered and after another dark look around him, he headed back to the settlement.

And where the Elven-river rolled.

That was that. What do you think?

I will not promise when the next chapter will be up, but hopefully, hopefully, it will be sometime next week.

Thanks for reading!