A/N Well, we've spent part of this writing journey going through excessive snowfall of a once in a generation blizzard, and now this chapter comes to you on the eve of a tropical storm the likes of which my region hasn't seen in like eighty years. What a time to be alive.

So let's go to Middle-Earth!

I'm juggling some massive homesickness for Aragorn at the moment, so enjoy our most recent flashback. Mirkwood/Legolas is fun, but I'm also definitely looking forward to getting back into some action with Laketown and Erebor.

Happy Sunday, y'all!


October 3019

The browning grasses of the field of Pelennor stretched out in front of her as the hooves of her horse beat over the ground. Ahead of her she chased Arod as Legolas' hair blew smoothly behind him, and behind the both of them, Aragorn followed on Roheryn.

Beneath her, the heavy Dunedain horse pushed, understanding the goal of catching up to Legolas. He'd been a gift from the Dunedain after their wedding, brought from the Northern Kingdom and only just arrived a few weeks before. They'd named him Galador, and thought him a fitting gift since he'd come from the same sire as Roheryn.

With the plains still empty but for some autumn crops, there was still plenty of space to let them stretch their legs, and plenty of room for Legolas to set up the targets he'd promised.

The War had meant anything she took the time to learn had to be the absolute most important, whatever she'd need to keep herself alive. That hadn't included much mounted combat on her own recommendation, but for a bit of sword work. Bow work had been completely cast aside, at least until that day.

They came to a stop in a line, parallel to the three targets Legolas had placed at unequal intervals along a straight track of trampled grass. Clearly he'd already tested them out.

Legolas nodded to the targets with an excited glint in his eye. "I will first show you, then we will begin work on your form."

He nudged Arod into a gallop and went down the line, hitting a bullseye on each target. Beside her, Aragorn caught her eye with a smile.

"Show off." She smirked.

"Not nearly as badly as when he took the Mumakil." Aragorn reminded her.

"Still only counts as one."

Legolas trotted back over to them with his bow in hand." Did you notice the shift in my form from standing?"

Josephine, feeling a little bad she hadn't been paying close enough attention, lied. "Yeah, super different."

He didn't notice and went on with his instruction.

The next morning Josephine threw one leg over the side of the bed and groaned into her pillow. "Muscles hurt that I didn't know I had." She would've pulled her leg back under the warmth of the blanket but that hurt too.

Aragorn rolled out of bed and went to the cabinet by her dressing table. "Not so different from our days in Rivendell."

She smiled wryly to herself at the memory. "I think I spent more time there sore, than pain free."

He came back with a lidded earthen jar and sat on the edge of the bed. "When next we stay in Imladris, you will be able to fully enjoy its peace." He motioned for her to turn around and pulled her dressing gown up over her head, setting it aside on the covers.

"Imladris, the Shire, then Lake Evendim." She ticked off wistfully. Their journey north was still years out in preparations, but she was looking forward to seeing more of Middle-Earth under less dire circumstances.

"We will rebuild Annuminas as we do Gondor. I very much look forward to you seeing it for the first time." His hands spread the salve into the muscles around her arms and shoulder, his fingers massaging it into her skin.

Josephine smothered a laugh with her fist. "I very much look forward to seeing you try to fit into Bag-End. Watch out for the chandelier in the entryway, Gandalf learned that the hard way."

"Did he indeed?"

"And then the door frame."

Aragorn sniffed with amusement. "How fortunate he will be joining us so that I may remind him not to be bested by Frodo's home."

Punctually, two knocks came to the door, Ciril's request to enter so she could begin getting Josephine ready for the day.

Aragorn switched to treating her other shoulder and called back to the closed doors. "You may enter, Ciril."

With the unflappable efficiency she displayed every morning, Ciril came inside and barely cast them a glance before heading for Josephine's wardrobe. "I see yesterday has taken its toll, your majesty." She looked back at them while sorting through the stacks of clothes. "Will his majesty be bandaging your shoulders so his salves do not stain your gown?"

Josephine and Aragorn glanced at each other with a grin. "Yes my love, will I have to worry about oils staining my clothes?"

There was hardly anyone in the citadel more adept at etiquette towards them than Ciril. She was also determined enough to uphold her duties to Josephine that even the King could fall under a veiled scrutiny that only Ciril could navigate so tactfully.

"Not this day, you have my word, Ciril." He said with a confident smile. "And I will not hinder your schedule for much longer."

The salve was disappearing into her skin and his gentle massage had lessened some of the sharp ache. By the time Ciril had picked out her clothes for the day's tasks, Josephine was sure he'd be finished.

"Her majesty's well being is of great importance to me, I am always glad to find that you see to it. The Queen's schedule will manage."


Mirkwood

There was no sunlight in her room to wake her at dawn, and if not for the coming and going of the healers, Josephine wouldn't have been able to keep track of time. It was like most elven cities she realized, where time just seemed to work differently. For Mirkwood, it was always twilight, lit by lamps that cast a warm glow over the caverns. The healers would come in the mornings and apply salves to her scars and rewrap her like a mummy in bandages that encircled her entire torso. Then she'd be left alone in her sparse room to eat and have another existential crisis. Later, presumably in the afternoon since it came right after her second meal, two guards would take her for a walk through the cavern. Josephine could see the same softness towards captives that would help Gollum escape when he'd be imprisoned there. If the Dwarves had been a little more pathetic and a little less insulting they might've found their way out in a similar fashion.

From what Josephine could gather was the start of their second week there, came the change in company she'd been worrying most about. The door of her room was locked firmly behind her after her walk and she turned around to find herself face to face with Bilbo.

She sighed in relief, finally some confirmation that he'd made it away from the spiders and into the caves. He pressed his finger to his lips and pointed towards the locked door, reminding her that the elves were most definitely listening.

As a work around, she pretended to talk to herself, ranting about the situation. Honestly, it wasn't going to be the first time she'd done it so there was no doubt in her mind the guards wouldn't find it suspicious.

"They're going to have to let me see the dwarves one of these days so I can make sure everyone's okay." She grumbled.

Bilbo nodded and gave her a thumbs up that they were all fine.

"Then again they'll probably just chuck me down into the dungeon once they're content that my back's healed up enough. Still, I guess it's nice that they're so attentive to my well-being even if I am a prisoner. But still! And then their festival is coming up in a few weeks and I'll be stuck in here or down there and not get to see any of it! They'll all get to party and drink and I'll be here. Bored out of my skull."

Bilbo's eyes lit up and he nodded emphatically, picking up what she was laying down.

The scrape of a key in the door lock interrupted them and Josephine's head snapped around. When she looked back down at Bilbo he'd disappeared, probably slipped the Ring back on and retreated into the corner.

The door opened and Legolas stepped through, still with the same cold blue eyes and slightly constipated expression. It was the first she'd seen from him since her first day there. She couldn't help but notice Orcrist on his belt and the handle of Aragorn's knife peeked out from behind him.

She wanted to make a snide comment about his sticky fingers in terms of their weapons but she held back, too interested in why he'd come to risk chasing him off. Josephine still couldn't help the feeling of comfort that came from seeing a familiar face, even if it wasn't so friendly anymore.

"How are you feeling?" He asked awkwardly.

"Better than before. I appreciate your healer's for that."

"I did say you would not suffer an injury in our halls." He stepped aside and held his hand out towards the corridor. "Come."

"Where are we going?" She asked, following his direction.

He stared ahead and kept moving. "Your kind suffers without the light of the sun."

"Ah, so a field trip then?"

"...Field trip? No, we have no such places in the forest. However, there are places from which you can feel the sun's warmth."

"So why didn't you have one of the guards take me, why are you my escort?" Josephine had her suspicions after his questioning when they first met.

"This gives you a greater chance of escape, if you do I would not have such a failure on anyone's shoulders but my own."

"Well I'm not going to try and escape so you can relax."

"Do you lie as any prisoner would? Or do you tell the truth because you have different plans that you have seen with your Sight?"

Josephine shook her head and chuckled. "Either way I wouldn't tell you."

They came to the main doors and slipped out onto the bridge. It was bathed in warm sunlight and Josephine took a deep, longing breath as it washed over her. She hadn't realized how much she missed the sun, but given how long they'd spent in the dark of Mirkwood and then imprisoned in the caverns, she really hadn't seen much of it in over a month.

Looking back at him, she let herself imagine she was out there with her Legolas, if only for just a moment. "Thank you for this."

He just nodded, watching her carefully.

"Okay, what?"

"I find your familiarity with me…unnerving." He finally admitted after a long pause. "I am not blind to the fact that you seem comforted when I am near. And I am concerned by your knowledge of my life."

"It comes with the territory of seeing parts of Eru's song. You should take it as a compliment, since you'd been nothing but insulting towards me since you found us in the forest."

"I do not dare presume your knowledge of me is merely that." He stepped up to her out of earshot of the guards at the gate. "So tell me now, truthfully, how do you know me?"

If telling him everything would've changed his tone she might've tried it, but then again she could risk an earlier escape than the festival of Starlight. So Josephine compromised. Not a lie, but not the full damning truth either.

"You'll teach me how to use a bow someday, in my past and your future. You're the whole reason I'm any good at it."

He almost seemed insulted by her comment. "And why would I teach a prisoner such a thing?"

"I'm sure it'll make sense to you at the time." She replied with a little more sarcasm than was probably necessary. She turned away from him and looked down at the river.

After a few moments he thrust his bow in front of her face. "Draw it."

Josephine took it and gave him a very confused look. "You're handing me a weapon?"

"I'm not giving you an arrow." He glared. "If I am the reason for your teachings then I would see their results."

"I don't think I'm gonna do it justice anymore." The tightest of the skin on her back had clearly impeded her range of motion.

"Try." He demanded.

Josephine huffed and glared back at him for a moment, before positioning her hands and lifting her arms into place. The bow extended out in front of her, her left arm gripping the carved wood with hardly a struggle. But her right shoulder strained to lift and pull the string at the same time. Her shoulder blade shifted under the puckered skin on her back and the scars pulled strangely, itching and burning. With a grimace she dropped the stance and handed him the bow back. "Sorry to disappoint. I think my days of using a bow might be over."

He placed it back into his quiver and reached for her arm. "May I?"

Confused, she nodded, interested to see what he was going to do. He lifted her elbow back into position, reminiscent of the many times he'd correct the position of that same elbow during her training. "Hold it there."

He let go and crossed his arms, watching her stance as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. Seconds later her arm started to shake and the burn started to spread. Mostly out of spite, she was determined not to let it drop until she absolutely had to, which very quickly grew to be extremely difficult.

Finally he reached back out and grasped her arm, lowering it gently back to her side. "There may still be hope for your bow arm, but it will need more time to heal. If you or the dwarves ever come to an agreement with my father and leave our halls, that is."

"Maybe one day if I'm lucky, you'll find it in that cold heart of yours to help me." It wasn't lost on her that she was taking a bit of her frustrations out on him, but the snarky quips seemed to slip out before she could stop them.

"Right now you should count yourself lucky if I ever bother to teach you in the first place." He nodded sharply towards the doors. "It's time to return to your cell."

With one last look up at the bright sky, she turned back to the gate and walked back inside, Legolas right on her heels.