Finally to the good stuff! Hope you all like this chapter, I enjoyed writing it far more than the last two. Btw, "'Quel re, melloneamin" means "Good morning, my friends." Enjoy!

Tinwe was starting to get anxious after she failed to hear from Tincore three weeks from when she had petitioned to join the Guard. She knew there was no chance he hadn't heard about her match with Faelon, and remembering what her father said, she felt nervous about how that would play out in his decision.

"Perhaps you should go speak to him again," Icaria suggested, sitting on her couch next to Tinwe. "It's been long enough."

"I don't want to seem pushy," Tinwe said, frowning. "But the stress is getting to me."

"Want me to send Thorontur to ask him?" Icaria asked. She had become very close to the Guardsman in the last few weeks, and it made Tinwe smile seeing the pink on her cheeks every time Icaria spoke about him.

"Thanks, but no. I don't want to seem like a coward sending someone else to ask for me."

"You have all these excuses not to go see him!" Icaria said, exasperated. "Just go find him!"

"I don't know which is worse," Tinwe said after a moment's silence. "Not knowing if he's decided or finding out that he has decided not to let me join."

"Well you are starting to drive me crazy with your constant worrying, so I think you should go find out. Thorontur said he will be out on the practice range early tomorrow morning. Go talk to him. Better yet, get there before he does so you can show him your skills."

"Alright, alright," Tinwe said with a sigh. "I will."

Tinwe was up before dawn the next day, and made her way to the practice fields before first light. The stars were bright enough that she could start shooting, and she relished the fact that she was alone on the fields. Her purpose may have been to find Tincore and win him over, but she was excited to do some advanced shooting practice.

"Alright Alagos. Are you ready?" The horse whinnied and when Tinwe said a soft word in her ear, the mare shot off like a bolt of lightning. Tinwe drew back her bow and with starlight shining down on her, she released arrow after arrow into the targets as she rode past. She felt elation as she heard the reassuring thump as each arrow buried itself into wood. As she reached the end of the line, she slid from the saddle and kept running, releasing her last arrow as she went. It buried itself in the center of the final target. She slowed her feet and came to a stop beside the target, smiling. She wished Tincore had seen that. But as she collected her arrows, he still did not appear.

The glow of the morning sun was just cresting over the treetops when Tinwe finished collected her arrows and Tincore appeared. If he was surprised to see her, he did not show it.

"Good morning Captain," Tinwe said with a polite bow. He nodded his head in acknowledgement. He eyed her carefully for a moment before speaking.

"Is it safe to assume you are here with a purpose?" he asked flatly.

"It is," Tinwe said. She paused, Tincore not taking his eyes from her, before continuing. "I would like to inquire as to whether you have made your decision as to my employment in the Guard."

Tincore was silent, watching her for a while. Tinwe started to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, but held her ground, trying not to show her anxiousness. Finally, he drew his sword, eyes looking at it fondly as it gleamed in the early morning sunlight.

"I heard you sparred with one of my guards a few weeks ago," he said, his eyes still on his sword. "Let's see your skills." His eyes met hers, and she drew her own sword. With a deep breath, she moved towards him.

Circling one another, the two moved slowly. It was a battle of will to see who would strike first. Tinwe could feel sweat beading on her forehead as she watched Tincore. His calm was remarkable. All it took was Tinwe blinking for him to be on her in an instant. She parried rapidly but was forced backwards. He stepped away before she could get a chance to strike back.

They clashed four more times, each time Tinwe was barely able to deflect his powerful strokes and could not get a strike against him. She decided to try the offensive and lunged towards him, landing a series of quick blows, which he easily blocked. He managed to get a stroke towards her as well which clipped a lock of hair from her head as she spun away. Breathing heavy, she held her sword up waiting for another strike. But Tincore was incredibly patient, and took his time before striking another blow. This time, Tinwe was knocked off balance. Tincore spun and hit her shoulder with the hilt of his blade, knocking her on the ground. He pointed the tip of his sword at her heart.

"Yield," he said softly, his face emotionless as usual, but his eyes lit up with the thrill of battle.

"I yield," Tinwe said, breathing heavily. Tincore took his sword and spun it in one hand up to rest on his shoulder, offering her his other one. She took it as he easily lifted her up onto her feet.

"You are a talented fighter Tinwe," he said evenly. "And you have a great deal of knowledge about the world. But you still have a lot to learn. If you are willing to accept this and participate in training with the youngest members of the Guard, I will be willing to let you join the Guard. I must let you know, however, that the King has expressed his misgivings and advised against it."

Tinwe wasn't sure what to say to this. She was not surprised King Thranduil had said such things. She wasn't sure how to voice this without sounding rude though. Tincore noticed her expression and saved her from having to say anything.

"I suggest you do everything in your power to convince the king that his misgivings are unfounded. I will see you back here tomorrow morning for training." With this, Tinwe knew she had been dismissed. She gave a quick thank you and went to fetch Alagos, her heart beating so fast she thought it would burst through her chest.

"I believe congratulations are in order," Legolas said, kissing Tinwe's forehead as he joined her out in the gardens. Tinwe beamed at him, her excitement bubbling to the surface again.

"Tincore beat me soundly, but he still said I could join. I can't believe it!"

"Tincore is by far the most talented swordsman I have ever seen," Legolas said, his arm around Tinwe. "The fact that you held your own for any length of time speaks volumes about your own talent. It would have been outrageous for him to say no at that point."

"Your father apparently told him that I should not be allowed in," Tinwe said with a frown. Legolas sighed, leaning his cheek against her head.

"I am not surprised. He takes every opportunity he can to suggest that I should reconsider our relationship."

"Do you think my participation in the Guard is just making matters worse?" she asked, brow furrowed.

"I think that your happiness is more important than my father's in this," Legolas said softly. "He just needs time. He is stubborn but I think he will give in once he realizes how special you truly are."

"I think that's asking a lot," Tinwe said with a sigh. "But for now, I will do the best I can to get in his good graces."

"I know you will," Legolas said, kissing her cheek. "On a happier note, I have something for you." Tinwe looked up at him, puzzled. "In honor of your acceptance into the Guard." He pulled a charm bracelet from his pocket and placed it on her wrist.

"Oh Legolas," she said breathlessly. "I love it." It was adorned with beautiful silver charms, a bow, an arrow, a sword, a leaf, a horse, and a rose.

"I knew better than to get you a necklace," he said with a grin. Tinwe smiled and gave him a kiss.

"You are too good to me," Tinwe said softly.

"You deserve so much more," Legolas replied, kissing her deeply. Tinwe kissed him back, but felt a sigh of relief in the back of her mind. For a fleeting moment, she had feared Legolas was going to ask her to marry him. She felt guilty at the relief she felt now that the moment had passed. She still did not know what she was going to do when the time came, but at that moment she wished she would not have to make that choice. It was tearing her apart inside, knowing that whatever she chose would cause her life to be thrown into disarray. If only she could be certain that Legolas would not ask her that impossible question, she could truly relax. But in her heart, she knew that she would have to choose very soon.

"'Quel re, melloneamin." There was a sharp response of "'Quel re" as about twenty-five Guard recruits lined up to face the Captain. He walked slowly and deliberately down the line, not looking at the recruits. Tinwe stood between two tall elves, glad she herself was not short. As it was, she was still almost a head shorter than most of the others in the group. She got a measure of satisfaction from the fact that the recruits closest to her seemed almost as intimidated by her as they were of the Captain.

"Today we will test your skills. In the Guard, you will be required to think quickly, act decisively, and be courageous in the defense of our homeland. If you are to do these things, you must be conditioned physically, mentally, and emotionally. To start we will test your physical abilities. We will start with archery."

Tinwe was pleased as they broke apart and began shooting. Archery was a strong point for her. She strung her bow and took a deep breath to relax, she shot slower and more deliberately than she usually did, determined to have perfection as she shot at her forty yard target. She released her fifth arrow as Tincore walked up behind her, watching as she released and went for another arrow.

"Faster," he said, stopping behind her with his usual emotionless mask on his face.

Tinwe obliged, shooting another four arrows in rapid succession. Her perfect cluster was no longer perfect, with two of her arrows drifting out towards the edge of the center circle. Tincore did not say another word before walking away. Frowning, Tinwe shot off the rest of her arrows in rapid succession. Her cluster got further apart as she kept shooting. This wasn't going the way she had hoped.

"Enough," Tincore said after a few rounds. Tinwe had not gotten worse, but her cluster was still not tight as she focused on speed. If that's what Tincore wanted from her, she would do it, though she thought it misrepresented her skill. She wished again that he had seen her performance from horseback the previous day.

"Next we shall have the sword. You will have to fight in close combat during your time with the Guard, and it is essential that you are able to determine friend from foe in the midst of battle. So, I shall split your group in half, with half of you wearing these blue belts and the other half red. Your job will be to successfully defeat the opposing side, working in a group together to fight using these wooden practice swords. You will walk away bruised. If dealt a fatal blow, fall where you stand. It will increase the difficultly for those who remain and be more realistic. I will be watching closely, so you must fall if you are killed. I do not take kindly to cheaters in my Guard, and your honesty is important. Whether you think I'm looking or not, I will see you."

Tinwe thought this was an ambitious practice drill for the first day. Some of these recruits were no more than a few centuries old, and would likely be too eager to engage the enemy. She could see major injuries in some of their futures. But she felt confident so she grabbed a red belt and a practice sword. It was lighter than she was used to, so she gave it a couple test swings.

"Don't worry, my Lady," said a recruit next to her with a blue belt. "We'll go easy on you."

"I'm more worried about your wellbeing than mine," Tinwe countered, looking into his dark eyes defiantly. "I was fighting Orcs before you were even thought of." The elf smirked and walked away to join his group for the fight. Tinwe rolled her eyes. Male elves could be so chauvinistic sometimes. Well, Tinwe thought, males of any species were like that.

"Everyone stay within the circle," Tincore was saying loudly. "I have not allowed you to strategize for a reason. Now fight!"

As he finished, there was a load clash as wood hit wood. Tinwe was quickly attacked by two opposing Guards, who likely thought she was a weak link in the opposition. She deftly fought off the first strike and spun around, dodging a swing from her teammate that went wide of its mark, and drove her sword under the reach of the nearest enemy. Too eager to jump into the fight, he found Tinwe's sword jabbed into his chest and reluctantly lay on the ground in defeat. Tinwe parried several new strikes from the second enemy. He was too distracted to notice one of Tinwe's teammates come up behind him and run the side of his blade against the back of his throat. Tinwe nodded her acknowledgement to her teammate and turned to engage another.

She continued fighting around the bodies on the ground until less than half of the group was still standing. Her side was down by a couple people and the remaining members were surrounded.

"Together," she whispered to the recruit on her left, the one who had helped her earlier. He nodded quickly and they both lunged for the nearest enemy, who they quickly overpowered. They had just started on another when she felt a sharp jab in the middle of her back. Angrily, she fell where she was, looking up in time to see a smirk on the face of the elf who had told her he would go easy on her. She felt a great deal of satisfaction when he had a sword slice across his stomach as her teammate avenged her 'death'. She must thank him for that later.

She lay in the dirt for only a few more minutes as the last members of the opposing team were eliminated. She was happy to see that the elf who she had teamed up with was one of the last two standing.

"Next we will test your tracking skills. I have a series of tests for you, and you will each be sent out individually to find your quarry…"

Tinwe felt happily exhausted after training that day. It was a challenging day but she felt reasonably confident about how she performed. Her archery and swordplay had not been exceptional, but she had done well and had done significantly better on the later tests of tracking, riding, and endurance. She had particularly enjoyed the endurance test, which had involved a vigorous course of running through dense parts of the forest with many challenges along the way, such as swimming across a fast moving stream and scaling a rock face.

She pat Alagos's neck and prepared to mount, but she stopped as she heard her name called across the field. She looked around and saw the elf she had worked with during swordfighting walking towards her with his bow and sword strapped across his back, leading his sandy colored stallion towards her.

"Tinwe! I am sorry to keep you, but I wanted to introduce myself. I am Erynion. My elder brother Faelon told me you would be joining us today. He did not lie about your skills either. You are indeed a talented warrior."

"Thank you Erynion. And thank you for accepting me enough to work with me earlier. I am glad that not everyone here thinks I should be healing or cooking instead." At that moment, the elf who had killed her during the battle walked by leading his roan stallion. He completely ignored Tinwe and Erynion as he headed towards the stables.

"Do not worry about Arthonnen. He is just intimidated by the fact that you are an elleth and you can beat him in a fair fight. His skill lies in secrecy and deceit, which can be useful in their own right, but should be watched closely."

"Indeed," Tinwe said, turning back to Erynion. "I must say I was not displeased to see you kill him earlier."

"My pleasure," Erynion said with a smile. He leaned forward so only Tinwe could hear. "To be honest, I've wanted to do that for a long time." This made Tinwe smile broadly.

"I can understand why," she said. She began walking towards the stables, Erynion beside her. "It is going to be an interesting training period with him around."

"Will you be required to participate in the full course?" Erynion asked. "You are obviously more than qualified to simply start serving right away."

"I have been on my own for so long I believe the Captain wants me to learn to work well with others first," she said with a half smile. "And I can't really blame him. I may have experience but I am relatively untested in this particular area."

"I suppose the fact that you are an elleth makes him wary as well," Erynion said thoughtfully. Tinwe nodded, knowing full well she was walking a razors edge and her gender could be the factor that upsets the delicate balance.

"Erynion, Tinwe! How was your first day of training?"

They turned to see Faelon walking towards them with a few other Guardsmen.

"Rough but manageable," Erynion said in response. "Does it get better?"

"Tincore believes in the hands-on approach. You will be doing most of your training in the field. What did he make you do today?"

"Target shooting, a team swordfight, endurance training, horsemanship, and tracking," Tinwe said. "It was a nice sampling of what will come I am sure."

"Absolutely," Faelon said with a smile. "How did you both do?"

"My tracking was pretty lousy," Erynion said with a frown. "And my archery needs work."

"So could mine," Tinwe said. "As could my swordplay. I am still angry about that."

"I'm surprised," Faelon said. "You seemed very good at both the other day."

"Well Tincore told me to speed up my shooting so I sacrificed accuracy. And I just got cocky at swordfighting."

"Arthonnen killed her," Erynion said as if this explained everything. Apparently, it did.

"Ahhh," Faelon said softly. "He's a gem isn't he?"

"Not quite the word I would use," Tinwe mumbled. Erynion, Faelon, and the other Guardsmen laughed.

"He's my cousin," said one of the Guards with Faelon. "He has always been a bit abrasive and hard to get along with. I'm Daeron by the way."

"And I'm Beinion."

"And I'm Lancaeron."

"Pleasure to meet you all," Tinwe said, nodding at each of them.

"I suppose you are too tired to go out for a ride?" Beinion asked. "I have wanted to hear your story about going out east and meeting the Nomads."

"Well," Tinwe said, debating if it was worth it. She still had several hours before dinner and did not have plans currently. On the other hand, rumors would certainly spread if she spent time with Faelon again. But, she reasoned, it was bound to happen anyway. She was in the guard now. "I suppose I could go for a short ride."