Mae govannen dear readers,

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Chapter 7: The Game

Tauriel found the pools easily enough, thankfully without having to ask one of the other elves. The area seemed calm and deserted but still reasonably protected, with only the sounds of the forest and the rushing water as a constant companion. It almost sounded like home, Tauriel mused. Istaril had been right, there was a shed at the back, though it seemed far sturdier than Tauriel had imagined, almost a little cabin. It wasn't locked and as she pushed the door open, she had to smile to herself - While she as a captain made sure all military equipment was always clean, tidy and at hand, it was sometimes a struggle. Greenwood elves liked to get distracted, sometimes having things lie around to "collect them later". Imladris seemed so utterly tidy, letting things drop or laying around seemed foreign to these elves. The shed looked the same, with long shelves of helmets and neatly folded cloaks, shields and bows popped against the wall, and quivers of arrows hanging from hooks on the wall. Apparently, this served as an outpost, to get weapons quickly in case they were needed.

But where should she leave a little fox in this sort of environment? It was warm and dry here, certainly, but not exactly homey and cosy, and after all, she didn't want the fox to start a chaos around here. After a moment of hesitation, she took one of the cloaks and a shield, blocking off a corner of the room with the shield. This created a proper little nest behind it for both protection and to hide the animal from curious glances. When she was happy with her handiwork, she spent some time petting the cub before leaving it to its own devices and making her way back to the pools.

The water seemed utterly enticing, especially after the hike, and she took off her boots to let her feet dangle into the water. She absolutely should come back to swim here, she mused. Maybe at night, like she had done at Greenwood. It certainly wouldn't bother anyone, and she could spend some time with her fox.
Since she didn't know whether Lord Elrond expected her to dine with them again - she would have been happy to dine alone, truth be told - she made her way back into the centre of Imladris and to her quarters. Tauriel had noticed before that they must have allocated one of the most luxurious guest chambers to her, having its own bath and own small sitting area in front of a window that overlooked the cliffs. After taking a bath, Tauriel detangled her braids, brushing out the curls into sleek waves. She could have let them open to mimic the Rivendell-style but decided against it. She was a Silvan-elleth from Greenwood and there was no reason to hide this. Just as expected, they sent Linwen to invite Tauriel for dinner.

"Linwen, where do you dine usually?" she asked curiously.
Linwen looked at her shyly. "It depends, Captain. Mostly with my brother and Istaril. Unless Lindir -" she caught herself, blushing.

Despite her curiosity what Lindir sometimes did or didn't do, Tauriel didn't press further. She liked the elleth well enough and did not want to cause her any embarrassment, so instead of complaining, she followed Linwen to the leader's private dining area. As the day before, Elrond and herself were joined by the twins, one who smiled at her jovially and the other one who looked more like he would have preferred to skip the meal and her presence altogether. Conversation during the meal was rather stilted but overall not unfriendly, not much different than when she had been asked to dine with Legolas and Thranduil. There was some embarrassment when she had to admit that she was neither skilled at music, nor sewing, nor art or any other ladylike pursuit that could be found in Imladris. It had never bothered her before and she had never had any use for these qualifications, but now she felt rather awkward under Elladan's judging look. Not that he had any right to comment on any part of her life.

"I do play board games, though," she suddenly blurted out, and could have hit herself as soon as she had uttered the words.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Nobody wanted to know that!
To her utter surprise, Elladan, however, seemed intrigued for the first time.
"What do you play Captain?" he wanted to know.
"There is a game that is sometimes played in Greenwood, and I suppose also in the human realms. It is called chess, a sort of simulation of war. Do you know it?"
To her surprise, the prince nodded.
"I do, though I am afraid it is not widely known around here. Could I maybe challenge you to a match sometime?"
"Yes, of course," Tauriel agreed, not wanting to seem impolite.
"Maybe after dinner?"
There was something strange in the question, but she couldn't quite make out what.
"If you like to, I would be happy to join you," she tried to answer as diplomatically as possible, and truly not only a little intrigued.

He made good on his word right after the table was cleared, as if he was afraid she would slip away, and escorted her to something that looked like a sort of terrasse next to a little garden. Nevertheless, it had almost something like a roof, an intricate iron structure that almost seemed natural and organic itself due to the way it had been integrated between the trees. Lamps were hanging down from the structure, almost like chandeliers - not that Tauriel had ever seen a chandelier, but that was what she expected them to look like, at least. A round table with four chairs around was situated in the middle of the room, aside from that, everything seemed rather empty.

"Please, take a seat. I will get the board. Would you like something to drink?"

Tauriel nodded a bit dumbly, confused by the sudden courtesy. Then Elladan was gone, leaving her standing alone on the terrasse while he disappeared up a well-hidden flight of stairs. She really didn't want to snoop around, but just sitting there, idly, felt utterly wrong as well, so she kept wandering around, looking at the trees and the plants all around her. As a Silvan elleth, she had a particular appreciation for nature and she didn't miss how despite the obvious domestication of nature around here, it was peeking through everywhere in its natural beauty, untamed. While she traced the bark of one of the trees with her fingers, she idly wondered what Imaldris would look like once these elves were gone. It would decay, most likely, which very much seemed like a pity - even though Tauriel felt strange amongst these houses, she had least vaguely understood their beauty, and she felt it would be a shame to have part of elvish culture simply fall into the dark, into forgetting. Would nature slowly take back the vale? Would orks conquer it and burn the buildings to the ground? She dearly hoped for the first - after all, this vale, these trees, they had been taken from the world, so it was only right they were given back some day.

A noise behind her ripped her out of her musings and she turned around to see Elladan come towards her. She had to say - she was impressed: He had squeezed a box under his arm, likely the board and the chess pieces, and was at the same time carrying two goblets and a jug of something in his hands. While she would have loved to see the oh-so-dignified elven lordling struggle and stumble down the stairs, just like she had loved to tease Legolas, this somehow felt inappropriate. So, she jogged over, meeting him on the middle of the stairs. He seemed utterly confused as she approached, a surprisingly adorable expression on his face - as much as Elladan could be called adorable, Tauriel supposed.

"Let me help you," she told him.

He acknowledged it with a nod, keeping still as she pried the box from under his arm. It brought the two of them weirdly close together and she had the intent to bring distance between the two of them as quickly as possible, when she turned around and stopped in her tracks. From the slightly elevated location, she could see more of the valley and the houses than ever before, the last of the sun gleaming on wooden roofs and wind playing in the leaves. Her thoughts from before pushed back into her mind with a vengeance as she simply took in the picture, Elladan behind her forgotten for a moment.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked her, lowly. It sounded just a little bit smug, maybe, but also somehow dreamy.
"Yes," she simply answered, because it was, and there was no need to antagonize anyone about it.

For a moment, she had the feeling he might add something, but then he didn't, simply remaining next to her as they took in the vision in front of them. It occurred to her that she should probably move, so she almost jumped down the stairs again, only stopping when she reached the table. Tauriel chose a seat at random while Elladan followed her and then sat down across from her, placing one goblet in front of each of the two. At the same time, Tauriel carefully put the box on the table and started to set up the game. The elleth had the feeling the game was somehow precious to him and she better take care not to damage it - not that she was a careless character to begin with.

"You are my guest, Captain, you shall begin," the ellon told her.

For the first time, the elf seemed almost excited, probably because he thought he could win easily against her.

"If you insist."

She only gave him a very bright smile in return. Now, he openly frowned, as if she had insulted him. Tauriel wondered whether people didn't smile often in his presence, or whether he felt bothered by her smile. Then she wondered why she cared at all.
They started the game, and quite soon the elleth found herself confronted with a formidable opponent. Elladan obviously smart, and very very quiet while playing. His movement were careful, almost tender. It seemed very much at odds with the hunter she had seen before and the rather rude behaviour he had displayed towards her so far, but Tauriel supposed that was what arrogance did to a person.
Night was falling, and soon the only light that was gleaming onto the chess pieces was coming from the lamps and the stars above them. In another life, the two of them could have been friends, she supposed, two companions simply enjoying a game of chess in their favourite light. But they weren't friends, they were almost strangers, and this game still felt somehow like a test to her. If Tauriel was honest, Elladan was probably the better player, the better strategist - and yet. Suddenly the queen was unprotected, a mistake, a small sloppiness he hadn't seen, and Tauriel pounced on it. Once she had her foot in, there was no turning back.

"Check mate."

It rang through the night air with a scary finality - scary, because she didn't know what the other man would do now, how he would react. But damn her, she had been on the receiving end of entitled men's tantrums all her life, one more or less didn't matter.
Elladan lifted his goblet to his lips, taking a deep sip from the wine. When he put it back down, a small smile was playing around his lips.

"Indeed, Captain. You best me."

They wordlessly put away the chess pieces, a weird mixture of feelings hanging in between the two of them.

"Do you want me to help you carry things up or inside?" Tauriel wanted to know.

He shook his head.

"No, Captain. You won, taking care of that is the least I can do."

She had the feeling he wanted her to leave, so Tauriel gave him a last, fleeting smile, before disappearing into the trees and towards the outskirts of Imladris to check on her little fox. It was still sleeping, but tomorrow she would have to sort out something regarding the food - milk, most likely, hopefully mixed with some milk of the poppy. And said fox needed a name - that was the last thought she had once she had found her way back into her chambers and fallen onto her bed, ready for some rest.