Just so everyone knows, I went back and fixed all the grammatical stuff in the last three chapters and Alasse is 22 not 19, sometimes I write something then forget about it and write it again but differently, like age and stuff. =]

Chapter Four

I woke up from a (thankfully) dreamless sleep. The sun was spilling in through the enormous windows, and I welcomed it, when a few days ago I would have groaned and rolled over. I'd gotten the best sleep I'd ever gotten, strangely… well, I was well-rested anyway. I lay in bed for a while staring out at the amazing blue sky thinking. I couldn't understand why any pack of evil would want to destroy my town. There had never been any riches buried there, nor had there ever been the threat of an army or anything. Why would anyone want our town razed to the ground? Why would anyone feel any need to kill all those families? My family. I allowed myself to cry for a while. I cried for my father, the kindest man on Middle Earth, I'd bet anyone on that. I cried for my lovely younger sisters and brother, and my entire town. After a while I had to stop. Crying never solves anything, never brings anyone back, I thought resolutely. I dried my eyes and promised not to waste my tears on what I can't fix again.

There was a soft knock on the door and after a moment it opened and Volinde came in. She brought a tray of breakfast food with her.

"Good morning, Alasse. You slept well, I hope?" she said with a big smile on her face.

"Uh, yes, I did sleep well… did you?" I asked, not wanting to seem rude.

She laughed whole-heartedly, a beautiful laugh. "Yes, I slept very well. Now, this morning you need to go see the healers again so they can be sure you're healing properly, and then the King has requested your presence whenever the healers finish with you."

I became nervous again, I wasn't too comfortable speaking with royalty. "Um… you wouldn't happen to know what the King wants, would you?"

"I'm not sure, but it sounded important. So eat up."

The healers were through much sooner than I thought they'd be, and I grew increasingly apprehensive. Volinde rushed me down the stairs again to the beautiful doors. I wished I could have stood in front of them all day, not just because the King sort of scared me. The doors opened again and I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. The thrones were empty. I looked around the room as Volinde helped me through the doorway, a confused look on her face as well.

"May I?" a wonderfully beautiful voice asked. Prince Legolas had entered the room through a door off to the left side of the hall. Volinde curtsied and handed me off to him. "I thought we might go for a walk…" he looked like he was re-thinking this after looking at my hopelessly broken ankle. "Maybe we'll just sit… is it alright if we go outside?"

I nodded, again not trusting myself to speak. We walked (well, he walked, I hobbled) outside and he led me to a stunning garden just outside the throne room. We found a bench and he helped me sit.

"I thought this would be a little easier than if my father were to ask you. He tends to come off harsher than he intends," Legolas said, ever smiling.

"Ask me?" I knew I'd have to do this soon. "You want to know what happened to me, besides the warg."

"Yes, we need to know of any danger that could be near." He looked as if he was only expecting your average 'I was travelling and a pack of wargs spotted me and one just wouldn't give up' story. Alright, it wasn't too average, but he didn't look as if he was expecting the destruction of an entire town and everyone in it. His face confirmed that as I told him what had happened as he looked continually more shocked.

"I am sorry, I never imagined… some have talked of feeling a growing darkness, but I always assumed…." He was shaken, much more than I would have expected. "I must go and talk to my father about this. Elindir will help you to wherever you want to go, he'll even give you a tour if you wish," he smiled briefly.

I looked down at my ankle this time. "I don't think I'll be up for a tour any time soon. I should probably just go back to my room." Legolas laughed and said an even quicker goodbye. He left, but not before leaving a quick kiss on my hand. Needless to say, I was blushing horribly when Elindir showed up a minute later. He stifled a laugh and helped me inside. Volinde cut him off at the stairs though, I was grateful that he wouldn't have to carry me up them. He and Volinde talked for a little while though, that led me to believe they might like one another as a little more than friends. I asked her about it when we got to my room, but she just brushed me off talking about getting me books or something to do. She came back with a giant stack of books and so I read.

Unfortunately, this was how I spent the next two weeks. After I finished the first two books, I was completely restless. Volinde stayed with me a lot though, which I was very thankful for. I asked her all about Mirkwood, excited for when I finally got to go look around. A healer came in every day making sure everything was healing perfectly and by the third day of the second week I could walk around my room without hobbling at all. I remembered when my good friend Airabeth broke her arm and it took weeks for it to heal completely. I couldn't figure out why when I'd broken mine only a year earlier, it only took a week. That was when my father had to explain me being an elf. I knew I was adopted, and that I wasn't exactly the same as everyone else, I had pointy ears after all. But I didn't know that I was an entirely different species. I laughed at this memory as Volinde came in for the third time that day between jobs at the palace to talk with me.

"What are you smiling at?" Volinde asked cheekily. She had become a great friend over these two weeks.

"Just memories. I was a funny child."

"Laughing at yourself, you are strange indeed, Alasse. What are you reading today? Or are you interrogating me about Mirkwood some more?"

"I actually thought that maybe I could go outside today? I've had the bandages off for a whole day now... and the healers said that they've only been on this long as a precaution, so I thought I might go explore a little."

Volinde chuckled and started tidying up my room, I took that as leave to go. Today was just as beautiful as it was the first day I got here, the sky was so blue and it felt like years since I'd been outside instead of days. I travelled down the stairs and through the main palace doors to explore Mirkwood, just as fast as I had a few weeks ago.