Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise.

A/N: So here's your second chapter in 24 hours. I have the next two chapters finished so if I am able to write as much as I hope I am over the next few days it will likely be a chapter up a day :)

Khuzdul is in italics, Sindarin is in underlined italics :)

Beware this contains a stroppy Elven Prince, Assholes on Antlered Thrones, Spiders and possibly a few verbal bitch slaps... enjoy ;)

Chapter 18

Legolas POV

I frowned as Tauriel and I patrolled the borders of my father's lands, something had clearly entered the wood in the last few weeks from the west. They also hadn't had any sense about them as they had strayed from the path almost immediately. I motioned for us to follow the path they had laid out and realised that it led, in a very round-about way, towards one of the nests of giant spiders that kept spawning in our wood. I sneered and kicked a rock, "Taren-nin, what has got you so upset?" Tauriel's voice sounded out and I looked over at her, "I hate spiders. I hate what the darkness has done to our wood. I hate that we now have to go and find whoever was stupid enough to get lost in the wood." I told her, frowning as we were joined by another contingent of guards.

I studied them while they spoke to Tauriel. "My prince, Captain. The intruders have progressed towards the spiders nest. They shot the white hart and we think one of them at least fell into the water of one of the ponds. There appear to be around 12 in the group." I nodded my head and we headed towards the huge nest of spiders. I was silent as we walked, it was now over 80 years since the dragon had taken the mountain and the dwarves had been forced from the area. I wasn't overly upset that the dwarves had left, but I was upset that I had lost the budding friendship with the little princess under the mountain. She hadn't tried to send any letters after they had relocated to the Blue Mountains and Ered Luin and this had hurt for some reason.

What had hurt more was when I had finally gone behind ada's back and sent a letter to her, only to have it returned with a thick scrawl across it saying that Ariana was gone. From that I had taken that they meant she had died and I had grieved for the little girl I had once known, I had also hated my father slightly, if he had not refused them aid then maybe Ariana would have survived longer. I was shaken out of my thoughts as I heard a cry up ahead, followed by the hiss of the spiders. We darted through the trees and found a group of dwarves surrounded by spiders.

The spiders were dealt with quickly and we moved to disarm the dwarves, the dwarf with the blond hair that looked a lot like the old prince, just seemed to have so many knives on him that I doubted we would find them all. I took a sword off Thorin as he stood defiant at the front and stared at it, this sword was forged by the high elves. "This sword was forged by my kin. Where did you get it?" I asked him and he glared at me, "It was a gift." I scoffed at his words, "Not jut a thief but a liar as well." I snapped out at him, angry that he was here in front of me and not his sister.

It wasn't until I saw Tauriel move back into the clearing with another dwarf that I realised she had gone, I soon noticed when she drew an arrow and sent it flying past my ear. I turned raising the sword in front of me and came face to face with a huge spider, Tauriel's arrow sticking out of its thick hide. We all moved back as the spider advanced, several smaller ones descending out of the trees around it. Arrows were doing no good to us and it looked like we would have to get into a close contact fight when a figure dropped out of the trees, its spear slicing straight through the hide of the large spider, causing it to hiss and drop to the floor, dead.

The figure span, cobwebs caught in its hair and skewered another spider with its spear. The spider rolled off, taking the spear with it and the figure twisted around, diving off the dead spider and rolling to its feet near the pile of dwarvish weapons. The figure span and I caught sight of a female face, before a large axe was brought up in her hands and the remaining spiders were dispatched quickly. She turned to face us, her eyes widening in shock when she caught sight of me, before narrowing into a glare as the axe was taken from her and one of the guards kept her spear.

She moved over to Thorin and the dwarfs. "Are you alright?" The Khuzdul flowed from her mouth and despite not having heard her voice for 80 years, I knew that I was looking at a grown up Ariana. I gestured for them to be chained and brought with us, as we began walking there was a rushed murmur of khuzdul, "Thorin, where's Bilbo?". I recognised there was two names spoken, but little else. Tauriel walking along side me, noticing the change in my face. "What is it Legolas? What about this group has upset you so?" She murmured to me, ever mindful of the hearing of our kin. "That woman, that is Ariana." I whispered out to her and her eyes widened. "As in the little princess under the mountain? The one your father used to dote on when they lived in the mountain?" She whispered and I nodded, I had no idea how ada would react to this and I doubted that Thorin would react in a civil way either.

I led the way into our halls, "The king will see you, your highness." Elros drawled out and there was a hushed conversation behind me, I turned when Ariana and Thorin stepped forward. "Lead the way then." Thorin growled out and I followed behind the pair, directing Tauriel to have the others sent to the dungeons. I stood silently behind the two Durin's, my hand on my sword just in case. I watched as ada gracefully descended the steps from his throne, I heard Ariana say something, but knew not what. "My, my what a big throne you have. Feeling the need to over compensate for something?" Thorin chuckled, while glaring at ada. "Thorin Oakenshield, what a pleasant surprise." Ada's tone was clear that this was anything but pleasant.

Thorin just looked at him and didn't answer. "Rumour has it that you are on a quest to reclaim your homeland, many would think that it was a quest doomed to failure. Where does your journey end? A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I suspect something more prosaic. Attempted burglary, or something of that kind. You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule: the Arkenstone. I would like to offer you my help. I will let you go if you but return what is mine." I flinched internally, ada's tone really wasn't going to help anything. "Is your asshole jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth?" Ariana said and Thorin smirked, clearly pleased with what ever she had said, ada continued to ignore her.

"A favour for a favour?" Thorin asked and Ada nodded, "You have my word, one King to another." Ariana snorted. "I would not accept help from the likes of Thranduil, elf king, for all the gold in the mountain. I would not trust Thranduil, the great King, to honour his word should the end of all days be upon us. You lack all honour. I have seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help, but you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people in the inferno that destroyed us." Thorin snapped out and my gaze flew to ada.

Ada was staring down at Thorin and his eyes were icy and cold. I flicked my fingers at the guards, dismissing them all from the room. Ada was getting angry, they didn't need to be caught in the crossfire or see what ever he was about to do. Once the guards were gone ada let his glamour drop and hissed out, "Do not speak to ME of dragon fire. I know its wrath and ruin. I have faced the great serpents of the north. I warned your grandfather what his greed would summon. He would not listen -" Thorin snarled, interrupting ada, causing him to hide his scars away again. "I am not just talking about the dragon." Ada frowned and looked at Thorin, "What my brother is talking about, is that he asked for aid for us, for me, to heal some of the more serious wounds in our party and you refused." Ada's gaze swung quickly to Ariana, who was studying him with a look that made me nervous.

He frowned and she bowed, condescendingly, "Ariana Durin, at your service." She drawled out the typical dwarvish greeting and ada froze, staring down at her. I watched ada's face as he stared at her before walking forward and tilting her chin up with his finger, but before he could move she had bitten down hard on it and was smirking, "Touch me again and I'll remove your hand." She snarled out and Thorin looked ready to hold ada down so she could. "I don't understand. Why?" Ada's voice came out softly, but devoid of any emotion.

Ariana glared at him, "Why? Why what? Why am I behaving like this? Because you once said to me that there would always be a safe place for me within these woods. That was a load of absolute orc shit wasn't it. I could understand why you didn't help us with the dragon, I really could, difficult to kill as they are. I could understand why you couldn't help us and the men in the long term, it's not sustainable. I get it, I do. What I don't get is that you refused us medicines and aid for those of us that were really hurt, that all we needed was something to clean a wound with or reduce a fever."

Ariana had moved closer to Thorin, who was glaring daggers at ada. "Did you know it took over two weeks for me to regain any kind of consciousness, that I wasn't capable of sitting up until we were nearly in Ered Luin? Did you know it took me over a year and half to be able to walk without pain, without falling down? That I spent that year having to be carried again? The last worries of my grandfather were that I would never walk properly again. Do you think he would have had those worries if you deigned it possible for me to have access to any form of medicine for a short while?" She snapped out and I stared at her, as did ada.

He staggered back, "I had no idea your injuries were so grave." His voice was placating and she just stared at him, like he was something foul she had stepped in. "No you didn't because you were so focused on the slight that my grandfather had done weeks previous." Thorin snapped out and ada's attention turned to him, a sneer forming on his face. I sighed silently, ada was going to do something he would regret now. "Fine, rot in the dungeons for all I care. A hundred years is but a blink of an eye in the life of an elf." I watched as ada swirled around and sat gracefully back on his throne.

I moved to lead Ariana down to the cells, "I've met some pricks in my time, but you are a fucking cactus." She spat out, stalking away from the hall and down towards the dungeons. I watched her tense as I led her to one of the cells and suddenly the air was full of Khuzdul, she froze before walking into the cell and allowing the guard to shut the door. I moved away from main walkway and just listened, moving around so I could see Ariana's cell. I froze at what I saw, she was curled up in a ball, her hands clutching her head and I could hear the faint sobbing coming from her, "Namanith, we'll get you out as soon as we can, I promise." Thorins voice echoing through the cave.

I turned away from the sight and made my way up to ada's chambers where he was in a meeting with Tauriel. "What is it Legolas?" He snapped out and I froze before growing angry, "Why did you refuse her aid? Why would you deny a child that had clearly suffered so grievously, something so basic? Did you truly not care what happened to her? Was everything you ever said to her a lie?" I snapped back at him and he whirled around on me, "Get out. Both of you." I stared at him, before closing off my face and bowing. "As you wish my king." I turned and walked away, aware that Tauriel was following me. We walked in silence until we entered the area of the caves that used to be my mothers garden. "Legolas? I've never seen you that angry before. Why?" Tauriel asked quietly and I sighed.

I sat down in the grass near a small pond and she followed, waiting. "When I met Ariana she didn't even reach my belt, but she grabbed my hand and looked up at me with such wide eyes. I fell into them, my heart reacting to this hypnotising child. It confused me for many years, until earlier today when I saw her fighting in the woods. I saw a fierce warrior, but my heart reacted in a way that said she is home. I think that, while I will always love my mother for giving me life and the early memories I have of her, Ariana is the mother my heart wants me to have." I told her quietly, turning to look at her. "When I was told that she was gone, I assumed she had died and it broke part of me. When I learnt that ada had refused her aid for her injuries I was mad."

I paused and looked at Tauriel, my closest friend and my sister. She hugged me tightly and I whispered to her about what I had seen down in the cells, "Being down there could break her. I don't want her to break." I told her and she squeezed me tighter, "I will do everything I can to make sure she is alright." I nodded and she stood, leaving me alone with my thoughts and I wondered if my father even cared that she had been so badly affected by his abandonment and stubbornness.

For the next three weeks I waited and watched the dwarves from the shadows, watching as Ariana seemed to lose the life from her the longer she stayed within the cells. Tauriel came to see me towards the end of the first week and said that she was slowly moving Ariana further into the dungeon, but into progressively bigger cells. She was being careful not to attract the attention of my father as she did so. If I wasn't patrolling or down near the cells I spent a lot of time in my mother garden, thinking about what I could do to help Ariana, maybe not the others, but at least her. The other dwarves had been annoying to the point that I wanted to shoot many of them, some of the songs and stories they were reciting were ruder than any I had ever heard before.

Today was one of the days that I was in my mother's garden, I had been here since dawn and I was thinking over the events of the last three weeks. I stared out into the woods for a while longer, before rising and going to find my father, I needed to know his reasoning. I stalked through the halls and knocked on ada's door. "Enter." I opened the door slightly and walked in, closing the door softly. Ada turned to look at me and sighed, "What do you want Legolas?" I frowned at the tone and walked forward to look into his eyes. "I want to know why. You seemed as intrigued by Ariana as a child, as I was. After that first visit you always made a point to write to her, to make her better at speaking our languages, at learning our customs. You sent her an Elvish weapon and then offered to give her lessons in using it. Don't tell me you would have had a guard teach her, adar, I know you would have taught her yourself." I looked over at him and he sighed, standing and turning to pour himself a drink.

I waited for ada to answer, "I truly don't know, I don't know why I refused them. It was only a small part of me that admits it was to do with the slight from Thrór. I just froze and walked away. It wasn't until I was told that the dwarves had cleared the forest that I seemed to realised that I had denied it." I stared at ada, he truly seemed confused as to why he did it. "Ada, please tell me that you never lied to her. I need to know that." Ada stared at me, before turning away and not answering. I sighed, I truly wanted to believe that he had never really lied to Ariana and I hoped that he would tell her that. I frowned at ada's next words. "Is everything in place for the festival?" I nodded, bowing and leaving the room, clearly the matter was no longer open for discussion.

I moved around the halls watching as everything was prepared for the feast tonight. I sighed, I did not truly feel like feasting when Ariana was down in the cells. With that in mind I ran back to my room and picked up the small token I had been preparing for her when the dragon had attacked. I opened up the small wooden box that sat on my desk and pulled out a little velvet bag, inside on a thin silver chain hung the pendant I had made for her. I had spent hours trying to get the design right and then when I had heard about the attack on the mountain, I had spent hours in the forge trying to make it perfect for her. Nana had left me a small chest of jewels and what I had thought silver. It wasn't until I asked one of our smiths that I found out the metal was Mithril.

I had spent days making the chain and pendant, intending to send it too her with a letter once I knew she was safe and well. The pendant started from a small point and dripped down into a thick tear drop shape with more Mithril winding around the base shape like vines to finish in a small infinite knot at the base of the drop. In the centre of the knot was a bright shining gem of my nana's that she had once said was a gem of pure starlight, much like the ones ada wanted from within the mountain. I slid the pendant back into the pouch and made my way down to the cells, the festival in full swing in the halls I passed.

I made my way down into the dungeons and found Tauriel talking to the dark haired dwarf she had rescued in the forest. "It's a promise, a silly little thing really. My mother gave it to me, so that I would promise to come back to her. She thinks I'm reckless." I smiled fondly as Tauriel spoke softly with him, he would be a good match for my fiery sister. I moved silently along the walkway, looking for Ariana's cell. I found the cell Tauriel had moved her to, away from the others, but it was a large cell that over looked the deep caverns of my home. I moved in front of the door and sat down on the steps near it.

Ariana watched me from the back of the cell before moving forwards and sitting down near me, I studied her and found her eyes to be the most captivating part of her face. "Hello Legolas. To what do I owe this visit?" She asked and I sighed, trying to think of the words to say. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what my father did to you, I am sorry for what happened to you both before and after you left our wood for the first time. I am sorry that you had to suffer because my father was being petty and I am sorry that I can't help you now." She reached a hand out through the bars and clasped my hand gently.

I looked over at her and she smiled, softly. "None of that is yours to apologise for, but I accept any way. I have to admit I have been in worse dungeons, but it is the thought of being caged, of never seeing the sky again. That I do not like. I have been caged enough in one lifetime to ever be happy about it. How have you been?" She asked at the end and I found myself pouring out everything that had happened since she had left the mountain. All my fears, my anger and my sadness I shared with her and when I had finished, I could see the tears shining in her eyes. "I am sorry mizimith that you have had to suffer so, the she-elf that moved me, has she made it bearable?" She asked and I nodded, "Tauriel is my sister in all but blood. Having her here has helped me greatly to remember that there is something good in this world, especially now after the woods began to turn dark." I said softly and she squeezed my hand.

I turned her hand over and placed the pouch in her palm. "I had been intending to send you this once you were settled, but the only time I managed to send you a letter, I was told you were gone. I thought you had died and I kept it hidden away. When I saw you in the woods and you were alive my heart lifted, it made everything seem so much better. I made it for you." I told her, watching nervously as she opened it. I looked away as she looked at me having read the inscription that was engraved into the back. Nana gi melin. "Legolas?" She asked and I sighed, "You are the one my heart recognises as my mother, I will always love my birth mother, but my heart says that you are also my mother. I understand if you don't want to accept that but that is who you are to me." I said turning away.

I flinched slightly as Ariana moved quickly and grasped both my hands with hers, "Don't ever think that I won't accept you. If this is who you need me to be then that is who I will be to you. Does Thranduil know this is how you think of me?" She asked and I shook my head, "I don't think even ada knows how he thinks of you, let alone how I do." Ariana nodded and then I registered that her arm was glowing red where it was touching the bars of the cell, "Nana? Are you alright?" I asked her and she pulled her arm back, letting me see the deep burn in her skin. She smiled dryly at me, "Iron and I do not always agree with each other, I am far too tired to fight it today. Legolas, do not worry for me. Go and enjoy the festival. I will still be here tomorrow." She said and I frowned but stood, watching as she placed the necklace around her neck, the chain hanging next to the other necklace's that adorned her throat.

I turned and moved away, up into the halls and sat petulantly by myself in the feasting halls until Tauriel joined me. I took a long drink of the Dorwinnion wine she handed me and sighed. "I hate this. I hate that we are up here celebrating with prisoners in our dungeons who probably haven't seen a descent meal in weeks." I muttered out and Tauriel nodded, drinking heavily from her wine glass. "I think that dwarf is my one." She muttered and I stared at her. I had nothing against the dwarf, not really but it was unusual to find our one within their kind. "Well he better treat you well or I'll gut him for you." I muttered back, smiling slightly and Tauriel relaxed, glad that she had got at least my support. I stared across the room, watching my kin as they feasted and prayed that tomorrow I would be able to get the dwarves some better food.

A/N: So the next chapter is Tauriel, it involves an escape, a little bit (read a lot!) of Ariana being a BAMF, a dragon and the realisation that Thorin is so predictable! :)

Also I apologise for the spelling mistakes I think I got them all :)