Celebriel began to settle into life in the Greenwood. Legolas had ceased his overtures towards her, at least for now, but he seemed to be ever present. If she minded, she did not yet know. She also became aware that she was never alone, that not far off someone was watching her. Did Elrond have her followed? Had someone always been there she was not aware of?

But gradually she became used to it and accepted it. A prisoner she might be, but at the same time, Thranduil treated her as a beloved daughter, perhaps the daughter he wished for but never had. Gifts came her way, clothing, a bow much like that of Legolas and a quiver of arrows to match. If she wondered at Thranduil's generosity she decided not to give it much thought.

She had also acquired a status that was strange to her. She came to realize that she was considered royalty because of her connections to the Noldor. She did not wish for this, she did not ask for it, but if she was treated with deference, it was a different kind than in Imladris.

And as a princess of the Greenwood, Thranduil gifted her with jewelry, jewelry that she could see was old and she wondered where it came from. One day she was wearing a magnificent necklace of emeralds and pearls that Thranduil had given her that morning. She was looking at it, admiring the luster of the pearls when Legolas stopped her.

"That belonged to my mother," he said and reached out to touch it.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Perhaps I should not wear it, I'll give it back to your father.

"No," he replied, "Don't do that, you don't need to do that. The necklace suits you, the color almost matches the color of your eyes. I am sure it made him happy to give it to you." He touched her cheek briefly and smiled.

He started to leave but she said his name. "Legolas, could you do a favor for me?"

"If I can," he said and smiled, "What is it you wish?"

"I'm growing restless, I feel too confined here. Until I came to Imladris I loved open spaces. In Lorinand I spent most of my time in the woods. I would dearly love to see the countryside around here. I see boats coming and going on the river, they must be going somewhere. I'd like to see what's beyond your father's caverns. I heard there's a town that does a lot of trade with the wood elves—can I see it? Winter is breaking up and the weather is warming. Could you show me, please?"

"I will ask, and I think he will say yes. Perhaps if you are away for a while you will not constantly look over your shoulder every time we receive visitors. There has been no one from Imladris asking after you for a while. One thing, we must wait one more month before we go so that we can be sure the weather will be warmer, not so wet and cold as it is now."

The next day came the visit she dreaded, another emissary from Elrond. She received him because she could not bring herself to be discourteous and refuse.

He knelt before her, "Lady, I am sent from the Lord Elrond to inform you that the Lord Celeborn and the Lady Galadriel are coming to stay in Imladris. I have been told to ask if you will not come to Imladris to see them."

Suddenly the desire to see her parents came over her, but she was not yet ready to forgive them. "No, I will not come to Imladris now. I am happy to hear that they have left Lorinand, for they were not welcome there. I am sure that the elves of the Golden Wood will be glad to them and their court gone. Tell Elrond I am happy here and have no wish to leave. I will see my parents again, someday, in the meantime, I have not forgotten that they took me away from my home."

The messenger stood and bowed. "I will relay your words, my lady, but your answer will not be satisfactory."

"It is the only answer I wish to give," she said and Legolas came from behind her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Tell the Lord and Lady we send greeting from Thranduil's realm," he said, "And Celebriel is well and happy." The messenger bowed and left.

"Are you all right?" Legolas asked, "I am sorry you had to deal with this, I know it upsets you."

She turned her head and briefly rested it on his shoulder. "I am all right, for now. Please convince your father to let you take me away. I have a feeling that we must do this soon or it will be too late."

"Ah," he said, "You share suspicions that Father and I do. I want to tell you that you are safer here than you would be in Imladris, at least for now. There are those of us who believe that something will happen that will change the world as we know it. The days of peace are growing few, the enemy may be closer than we think."

As if in answer to her prayers, the weather warmed and the days were warm and dry. Legolas .weather did not permit sleeping in the open. Only a few elves were included in their escort, but among them were two that excelled at cooking out of doors. Three men at arms were included, for reasons that were too obvious, and both Celebriel and Legolas went well armed.

It was her first chance to live outdoors since she fled Imladris. They followed the road that ran along the Forest River, but occasionally the two would take a boat and float along the river. Celebriel had not done much traveling by water, and it amused her to trail her hand in the water or to set out strings with hooks and bait to catch fish.

One day he announced to her, "We are growing close to Esgaroth on Long Lake. It is here that men come to trade with us. The wine you drink comes from here and occasionally we purchase seafood and other goods from them. Are you familiar with men? Have you much experience with them? Do you speak their language?"

She shook her head. "I must speak every language of every elven people that walk in Middle Earth. There were men in Imladris quite frequently, some even dwelt there, but the spoke the elven tongue with us. I had not started to learn it yet, although I should have I suppose. I didn't like it when they stared at me. I know there are not many elven women with red hair, but their stress would make me uncomfortable."

"Well, I cannot say you will not stand out, but these are friendly people, often simple people with simple lives. We take in an exceptional son or daughter to educate them and return them to be leaders of their city. There is no one high born here, just honest men and women making their living. We exchange news and knowledge and the relationship is beneficial. Someday, when you have gained more knowledge about the world around you, you may go out more and come here and learn their ways."

They chose to drift along the river so that they would approach Esgaroth from the water. There was not much to see, but the country had a rough beauty that Celebriel could appreciate.

Then she saw something, something she did not expect. Amongst the mountains stood a tall peak, so tall in fact that it almost seemed to not belong.

"What is that?" she asked and pointed at the mountain that still had snow on its peak. "Why did I not see it before?"

"We are higher now than we were. That is Erebor, it belongs to the dwarves but they do not live there, I am told. Occasionally they come and mine there, for it is said to be rich in ores and minerals. Whatever they find they bring back to Moria, I am told. We get no benefit from it, but they are said to do some trading with the Lake Men. Men call it "the Lonely Mountain".

"I can see why the range is low and then it stands up tall and stark. My mother and my uncle Finrod had dealings with the dwarves. My uncle used to have a necklace of dwarf-make, but it was lost long ago. My mother had a sword that she commissioned the dwarves to make for my uncle that she was never able to give to him. She showed it to me once, has even promised it to me if I can show her that I've earned it."

"Hmmm." Legolas was thoughtful. Perhaps Celebriel was more of a serious warrior than he had supposed. He had thought that her parents had merely amused her by letting her participate with the army of Lorien, maybe he had been wrong. She was young yet, and though it was not unusual that they had wanted her to plight her troth with Glorfindel, perhaps they had held off, or maybe she had flat out refused. He now had the feeling that there was more to this elven maid than he or his father had seen.

No maid of the Noldor, as far as he knew, had set out on a journey into the wildlands alone as she had. It was a long journey for anyone to attempt alone, but she had not hesitated. She had an uncanny skill with bow and arrow although he had not yet seen her skills with a sword. If, as his father wished, he were to succeed in wooing her it would take longer than either had expected. And then there was her commitment to Lorinand, and she might not easily be swayed from it.

"Can we go as far as the mountain, may I see it?" she broke into his thought train.

"There's nothing to see," he answered, "And if there are dwarves, I would just as soon avoid them."

They were feted in Esgaroth, and Celebriel was proudly shown around the town. Many of the lake folk could speak Elvish, so she did not find it hard to communicate with them. They proudly showed her the smiths, the weavers, the town halls. She was gifted with an excellent length of silk fabric and thanked them graciously.

They seemed a little in awe of her, but she behaved at her gracious best. At the banquet they held that night she was grateful that they did not ask her for a speech, supposing, she guessed, that elven women did not do such things. Instead, she ate their food and drank their wine and answered questions as politely as she knew how.

She and Legolas rode back to Thranduil's halls for the current of the river was now against them. She kept staring back at the mountain as if she expected it to tell her something, but it was silent.

Legolas did not notice as she kept staring northwards, but suddenly she halted her horse and put her hands over her ears.

"Stop, stop!" she cried out, "I will not heed you. You only have power over me if I permit it and I do not."

Legolas turned his horse around and rode to her side. "What is wrong, Celebriel, who are you speaking to?"

"What?" she asked, confused, "I do not know what you are talking about! Why have I stopped my horse?"

"Do you not know what happened?" he asked her gently.

"No, and I do not wish to know. I want only to return home, to your home. And if something happened to me I do not wish to know what it was." For a moment, she grew quiet, "All the same, I think your father had best summon Mithrandir."

He pressed her to say more but she would not. They rode back to his father's halls in silence, whatever had happened it boded no good. He was beginning to wonder if there was more than one reason she had been sent to Imladris against her will."

To the readers:

(Possible spoiler maybe)

I've never established much of a timeline here, but it must be getting close to the year 1000 TA because that is when Dol Guldor will be built (and Sauron will occupy it) and then to 1100 TA when the chief of the Nazgul will establish his kingdom in Angmar and be known as the "Witch King".

I know that Galadriel and Celeborn probably didn't go to live in Imladris, but I'm using that as a literary device. For my story, they will have to. Just like Celebriel will have to be living in Lorien when the Fellowship makes their journey—no she doesn't become a member but that doesn't mean that eventually, she won't be fighting in the War of the Ring.

And in terms of my story, there is a reason why Celeborn didn't depart over the sea when Galadriel did, but I was not aware that the sons of Elrond did not follow him to the Blessed Realm.

God, I love those Tolkien reference books! I am using "The Complete Tolkien Companion" and "The Atlas of Middle Earth." I purchased both used on Amazon.