Dear Readers,
Thank you for all of your thoughtful feedback. I am very much humbled by your words of encouragement and kindness. When writing this particular chapter, I followed the advice of Mikaela and added some detail about the surroundings. This was just a sampling but in the future, I am going to make a concerted effort to explain the surroundings more often. Mirkwood is a magical and enigmatic place after all. Again, thank you all so much for your continued support and it is because of your kind words that I keep writing.
Now, this particular chapter is a little on the darker side but, going ahead, be aware that this story will become darker. Hope you enjoy. See you all in Emyn-nu-Fuin.
Warmly,
~Anariel RR
One day later…
Dearest Book,
The past three days were hectic at best. On the morning whence Ninimmien and I were to vanish swiftly into the woods, we were found out. Our discoverer is one of the foulest Elven lords amongst those of Taur-e-Ndaedelos, a true snake in every fashion. He is quite tall, almost as lanky as our King but a finger's breadth shorter. With such sharp angular features, his waterfall of night-dark hair, and his clever blue-gray eyes, he would be declared a handsome youth. This male has the heart of an orc, the cleverness and wit of a madman. He goes by the name of Lord Bregoliâr, a mighty Sindarin Lord amongst the retinue of our King and higher in favor than I am with our mighty monarch. When I was inducted into the Guardians of the Forest, this very same individual scoffed and had made the remark, "An Elven maiden? On the Forest Watch? What next? Are we to allow elflings to join?" King Thranduil at the time smiled slightly but his features seemed largely going through a change of emotions. Was he regretting his decision?
Throughout my career as Captain of the Guard, an elevation that occurred two hundred years later, Bregoliâr openly evinced his disapproval. There was a situation when he had slighted me at a great banquet in the Great Hall and Legolas, ever my friend, rallied to my defense. His manners were overly atrocious and largely lacking.
On the morning when Ninimmien and I had donned two cloaks, darting along the passages upon our tiptoes with such great care. Being Captain of the Guard, I was well aware of the guard changes as well as who had what shift. Caranor stalked the halls quite carefully nearest to the tunnel that eventually led to the pantry and wine store. He held within his seasoned and clever hands, an elongated spear that he had taken to calling "Orch-Orthoror", something that he had taken such pride in. Around us, the sandy-hued walls of the waves glistened with the reflection from the river waters the gurgled below. I chanced a quick glance from around the corner, glimpsing the archway into the tunnel, which was crafted of such splendid stone in a knot-work pattern. It was silvery-gray whereas the walls were their sable color. Upon the walls were designs rife with Elves, carved in the stone. Some designs exhibited an Elf bearing a harp, his fingers skilfully strumming as his mouth was open, seemingly singing a song. Around him rested several young Elven maidens who smiled as well as other maidens who looked to be engaged in some sort of quadrille. Their hands were joined carefully. From the strong imagery, it was obvious that this mural celebrated the arrival of spring, but I had very little time to focus upon such things. Gazing up in the sky, I cloud glimpse a small sliver of moon, silvery and providing bounteous light for such a tiny thing. When Caranor had walked carefully down the halls, inspecting well-nigh every corner, every crook, and every cranny, I motioned to Ninimmien. Immediately we made for the tunnel and, with success, we fled as quickly as we could. We had attempted to maintain an air of silence yet a quickened pace which appeared to be nearly impossible. Ninimmien had not my sure-footedness and agility, but, by the stars, she tried. It was when we hastened down the tunnel and into the pantry in the bowels of the city that we encountered a great problem. Peeking my head around, I saw that the pantry was empty, so we snuck cautiously from the chestnut-paneled room and into the wine store. As usual, Galion (the King's Butler), Thangur (the King's Steward), and the rest of their underlings were fast asleep at the table. There had to have been four or five of them. I was frightened so I did not have time to count or recount them.
"Got into the Dorwinion Wine again." Ninimmien always wont to making a joke whenever she could squeeze one out. I grew quite annoyed of her, giving her a look. She realized that she was the only one laughing then whisper, "Sheesh…sore thumb" then she had finally shut her mouth. We all knew that the Dorwinion Wine was such a heavy vintage wine that was well known for its potency as well as its destiny to rest upon the good King's table. Galion, Thangur, and their team were always quick to sample the best for themselves. If King Thranduil had known, he would have been furious. All of a sudden we had heard footsteps behind us, and Ninimmien, who was half concealed as it was, hastened into a corner. She hid her form behind a large stack of barrels. Unfortunately, I was unable to scatter in time because just as I spun around, I was met with the sight of the wicked Bregoliâr.
"Tauriel Dûthalioniel…the Elven maid who deserves not to be the Captain of the Guard. Why come you here down into the wine store?" He half-sneered, half-smiled – an ugly combination at best.
"My purpose for being here concerns you not, Lord Bregoliâr." I replied a matter-of-factly, attempting to hide the fact that he creeped me out even the slightest bit. Notwithstanding the fact that he was good friend to the King and a high-standing Sindarin Lord, I was not impressed by his reputed beauty or his show of arrogance. He was yet another individual who was always one to flaunt his wealth and his rank before others. It was whispered that the Lord only rose to favor because he had obtained for our King, a chest of splendid gems and treasure. It was all hearsay and no one actually glimpsed the chest, but it was still spoken of or whispered about.
"Oh does it not, now? What are you? A lowly Silvan Elf…but I am a great Lord of the King's Court and Council." He scoffed at me, wagging his finger in my direction. I glanced around swiftly to ensure that Ninimmien was well concealed behind the barrels because at times she was known for her clumsiness. There was an unpleasant cacophony of snores in the background, unwanted and unwelcome music outside of Bregoliâr's authoritative baritone.
"Well, Hîr Bregoliâr…I am sure we are more than well aware of the fact that you are great and mighty in this land. Yet none are as mighty or majestic as our King." I spat at him in response, my own eyes narrowing. "Great is your name and your lineage…yes…yes…I know all of this. But Aran Thranduil is the bright glistening star in the heavens and you are but a snake in a garden." His eyes widened at this pronouncement and he reached out, grasping my arm then squeezed it ever-so violently, "A snake am I? Hideous Silvan half-breed!" He hissed the last words, his judging eyes were more apparent now as they bore into me.
"Unhand me, pe-channas!" I was quick to reply, attempting to wrench my arm free from him but he held me tightly. Quickly, he raised a jewel-bedecked hand and struck me clean across one of my cheeks.
"Never…" He hissed once more, very much the snake that I described him to be. "Why do you not love me? For I desire you so…all I want is your love. Don't you understand that you force my hand? You force me to say such things…for I have ever desired you so. From the moment that I glimpsed you…" At this, my own eyes went wide and it was well-nigh impossible to conceal the astonishment written all over my face like lines in a book.
"Enough! You madman…I would never choose you. Not even if you were the only male in existence." I retorted quickly, sliding Telveg (my dagger) out of its clandestine place within my cloak and slid it carefully up to his neck. We Elves have survival abilities unlike no other species in Middle-Earth but it is well-nigh impossible to walk away with a slit throat.
"Release the arm." I whispered softly, pressing the blade carefully up to his gullet. It was so close that I could hear the subtle sound of the blade upon his smooth skin. It wasn't a pleasant sound by any means. Reluctantly he removed his grip from my arm then I whispered, "Now…back up." He did just that, giving me the most annoyed expression, his bright eyes narrowing as he regarded me with distaste.
"You are making the wrong decision, Tauriel. You do not know of what I am capable." He spoke once more, both hands raised in the air as I kept Telveg aimed directly in his direction. "I have the power to destroy you. One word to Aran Thranduil and you are obliterated. You are back to being a lowly healer in the House of Healing. Remember, girl, that I have his ear." I hesitated for a moment and thought: 'What if he is right?' Gnawing upon my bottom lip, I thought of my friend and my champion, Ernil Legolas who would aid me no matter what. He was my friend through and through. He wouldn't suffer such a thing to occur. While Bregoliâr was close to the King, Legolas was closer.
"I think I will take my chances. Keep backing up." I whispered, motioning him away towards the barrels. "Go on." As if out of nowhere, Ninimmien's bubbly rosy face appeared and within her hands was a large bottle with the white Dorwinion label. Seemingly without a second thought, Ninimmien grinned as she lifted the bottle and brought it low upon Bregoliâr's head, and he in turn collapsed immediately to the floor. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was never one to want to harm others but I was willing to do whatever it took to repel the advances of that hideous Bregoliâr. Ninimmien had given me a sorrowing look as I assumed that she had overheard every detail of our conversation. With that being said, I instructed her to wait there. I made my way over to the trapdoor by which we empty barrels into the river for the Elven raft to collect, quickly locating the lever. Without a word being said but a little creaking of the wooden lever being pulled back, the gaping maw in the floor finally opened up to reveal the gentle river below. It was a river that started out as gentle but eventually became quite ferocious before emptying out into the Long Lake, where Men made their home. I glanced around one more time, gnawing gently on my lip as I pondered over my actions and what evil would come of it. Most certainly I would antagonize the King and possibly Prince Legolas but I had to try to salvage the life of such a great warrior as Galhanar.
"ESCAPE! ESCAPE! ESCAPE!" Bregoliâr awoke suddenly and started to shriek loudly, his voice booming throughout the wooden wine room. It was stock-piled full of barrels of wine as well as other wine casks which did little to conceal my friend or myself.
"They are getting away…eruio, you fools! The women are getting away…Tauriel the Captain of the Guard is wilfully disobeying the orders of her King. Stop her!" He continued with a shrill screech now causing all of the snoring wine-imbibers to wake up in a flash. Golian's face registered confusion as well as a great deal of shock because he and I only had positive interactions before this one.
"Asca, Nini." I called and before anyone could bat an eyelash, she had jumped through maw into the watery depths below.
"Lhûg!" I declared as I regarded Bregoliâr one more time. "Never touch me again or so help me, I will strike you down where you stand!" He was scrambling to his feet or at least attempting to while the four or five other males swarmed over to us. With that, I jumped through the hole and we were gone.
Ninimmien and I travelled for a little while on the Forest River to ensure that no one was following us. We knew full-well that Prince Legolas and his men would be dispatched to follow us, which left us with very little time to get gone. Legolas knows me the best of most people and he knows how I think, which left the two of us at a grave disadvantage. We were able to scramble onto the southern shore of Forest River, populated by its twisted ancient beech trees gnarled with age. The trees of Mirkwood are ancient in nature, having existed far before the Elvenfolk took up residence here. Due to the fact that it is currently Iavas, the trees are a flurry of different colors, a collage of nature – scarlet, red-gold, orange, bronze, burnished gold, and the ever-present emerald green. It was so lovely but unfortunately we had no time to tarry or to wander. By the path we were going, we knew that we would have to wander off to the west of the King's Hall which will eventually lead us to Emyn-nu-Fuin or what "the Mountains of Mirkwood" in Man-speech. Unfortunately this would lead us well into spider territory but the two of us are able-bodied warriors who can take up battle easily.
Ever since that unpleasant interaction with Bregoliâr, Ninimmien has attempted to talk about it but I won't speak a word of it. How can I? Bregoliâr has harassed me for a long time and won't leave me alone. It is dreadful and I have no one to tell. I never told Prince Legolas for I never thought it would end well if he knew and if I told anyone else, they would let him know. It is better that I bear this brunt myself.
"How many centuries has Lord Bregoliâr been bothering you? Why have you told no one of this?" She pestered, eager to know everything as she always was. She had quite a searching nature to her.
"Please let it alone, Ninimien. I would appreciate if you honored my wishes." I replied quietly, speaking no more of the matter. The expression must have warned her of my emotions, for she made no other peep.
Now we are three days from the King's Hall and not far at all from Emyn-nu-Fuin. We remain in the treetops and avoid the ground floor, because that would make us easily to track. One day until we reach Emyn-nu-Fuin.
I will write again when I can.
Tauriel
Sindarin Translations:
Aran – King
Asca – Quick
Emyn-nu-Fuin – Mountains of Mirkwood
Ernil – Prince
Hîr – Lord
Lhûg – Snake / Serpent
Orch-Orthoror – Orc Conqueror / Orc Master
Pe-channas – Idiot/ Lackwit
Taur-e-Ndaedelos – Greenwood the Great
Telveg – Silver Thorn (name of a weapon)