Dear readers

thank you to all who have stayed with me the last 3 chapters.
Reviews are very much appreciated, please let me know what you think.
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Chapter 4: The Invitation

Tauriel was aware of the younger two elves watching her closely, somehow it made her skin tingle. Did they regard her inferior now? But when she dared to looked away from Elrond and into Elladan's eyes, she could only see curiosity and maybe, just maybe, even pity. Anger welled up in her, she felt as if she nearly had to choke. How could he dare? Judging her by her nature! She would show him that she was by no means inferior to him.
"My Lords, is there anything else I can help you with at the current time?", she asked, politely nevertheless.
"Not at the moment, but I might have further questions for you lateron", Elrond answered, "my sons, do you have any enquiries?"
"I do", Elrohir said straight away. Despite his smile, Tauriel wasn't sure if she would like his question or request. "My brother and I are going to go hunting this afternoon, would you like to join us?"
The elleth didn't miss Elladan's irritated glance at his brother. She wasn't exactly sure what the younger one really had in mind, he probably wanted to test her. So she agreed with a nod. "When are you going to start, my Lord?", she asked.
"At two, sharp", Elladan answered curtly, "so don't be late! We won't take horses but just hunt on foot. We will have lembas prepared for you as well."
Tauriel gave him a tiny smile: "That is very considering and friendly of you, I thank you a lot."
As a response, Elrohir laughed: "Actually we are very selfish. We know these woods and new company always makes hunting so much more fun! We used to have big hunting parties from time to time, but now so few elves are left and most of those who are still here aren't particularly interested, Erestor and Glorfindel being an exception of course. And as long as I can remember, we have never had an elleth riding with us, so these last years in Ennorath [Middleearth] even bring something new." Tauriel had to try very hard to not bluntly ask him if he didn't consider female eleves good enough for hunting with them, but after all, his father, a Lord, was standing next to her and she had to maintain his good opinion of her.

"So I take that your sister, Lady Arwen, was not very interested in hunting at all?", she inquired politely. Bringing up the other elleth was a risk as everyone knew how much Elrond doted on her and Arwen becoming mortal was something of a sore spot for a lot of elves from Rivendell. The ones from Greenwood did not care so much, for most of them she was just a story, even a myth: The most beautiful elf since Lúthien Tinúviel, the one who won the heart of the King of Gondor and Arnor, the one who gave up her immortal life for one mortal life span. Tauriel would have loved to meet her, after all, she might have been the only elf in Middle earth who understood what it was like to love a man from another race. A man that didn't share immortality with her. A love against all odds. Kili had devided her life into "before him" and "after him". So far, "after him" had sucked.

"No, she didn't care for hunting, couldn't see an animal die I guess. But we need the leather and our dogs enjoy fresh meat. But who am I telling that, my lady, I am sure a woman like you knows such things", Elrohir answered. It was hard to tell if he was mocking her or if he really thought her capable of hunting properly. It didn't really matter though, she would show him what she got, so she told herself. Elladan had said nothing so far, he was just looking at her with those deep brown eyes, making her uneasy but also nearly blush at the same time. Tauriel decided she didn't really like him.

"If you excuse me, I will see you later", Tauriel smiled politely and left towards her quarters, eager to get away from more questions and longing for a bit of solitude to gather herself before the hunt. Back in her room, she changed into her more sturdy clothing, made for the outdoors, for running free, for being free. She would never be a lady such as Arwen, but she never wanted to be either. Her life was good the way it was, without ties, only caught in duty. At least that was what she liked to think. She constantly pushed away the fact that she was also lonely, ever since Kili had died and she had parted ways with Legolas. Should she change it? Yes? No? Maybe? Opening up to people meant she could get hurt. Not opening up meant she would become colder and colder. Tauriel had seen this before, by an elvenking who had hidden away his sorrow for eternities and made a lot of people unhappy with it, first in line himself. At least that was the elleth's guess. It wasn't as if Thranduil had ever openly talked about things like this with her. He had just implied. Why did elves so often imply? They tended to make everything more complicated, at least those high-elves such as Elrond. Silvans such as her were a lot more practical. Maybe that was why she had clicked with Kili. Elrohir seemed to be a bit blunt as well, but nothing she couldn't handle. Elladan however, he seemed to be more like his father and that made her uneasy. It made her consider every word twice before speaking, changing conversation into a stiff affair. But for an afternoon, for a hunt, it would have to do, she told herself before flopping backwards onto her bed.

Here we are! This was shorter than I had planned but t least I managed to upload a new chapter. The next one will follow, I promise.