The guards took Cheyenne away, down winding halls and to a room that in any other circumstance would have captivated her. After she passed through the doors, the guards immediately closed them. She wasn't sure if they were locked or not but it didn't matter, where would she go anyway. She sat down on a chair in the corner and felt the lump in her throat finally break, she let all the emotion she had been holding in out. She hadn't wanted the guards to see her cry, to show weakness but now she was alone she succumbed to it. She sobbed harder than she thought she ever had in her entire life. She weeped for what felt like an eternity until there were no tears left to shed.

There was a small creaking sound that made her look up, standing in the doorway was Legolas. He didn't look concerned per say, she knew he wasn't as emotional now as he would be during the Lord of the Rings era, but he did look unsettled. "I heard a noise" he said flatly looking at her, she didn't answer but he still came inside and shut the door.

There was just silence as no one spoke, after what felt like forever, Cheyenne was finally fed up "what do you want?"

Legolas scowled, clearly not used to having someone speak to him in such a manner, he was the son of the king after all."I figured I should get to know the woman I am supposed to marry" he said plainly.

Cheyenne didn't speak for a moment, "no offense Legolas but I am not excited thrilled to be marrying you. No offense, it's nothing against you, it's just-"

"You are fond of the blonde dwarf"

She signed, wiping her eyes, "I am, it's not just that but yeah I am fond of him. If I'm not mistaken you are fond of a certain red haired elf."

Legolas narrowed his eyes a bit "I suppose we are both marrying someone we don't love."

"I suppose we are" there was a long silence before anyone spoke, Cheyenne felt bad for both of them in this situation. "You know Legolas, you don't have to be so serious all the time. You might be a prince but at least in private you can try and let yourself relax a bit. It's okay to be sad about this situation, you don't have to hide it from everyone"

Legolas turned to her his expression still hard, he walked over to where she was sitting and took a seat in the chair next to her. He didn't speak for a while, just gazed out the window, his expression softening slightly. "You mentioned that you were not from this world, where is it that you come from?"

Cheyenne wasn't quite expecting that question, at least not in that moment, but she had expected that eventually he would ask her. She took a deep breath and ran the helm of her shirt through her fingers, trying to decide how much she should tell him. "I come from a place called Earth, not Middle Earth, just Earth. We only have one race, humans, and we don't have any magic or anything like it is here. People do still hate each other though based on how someone looks, their religion, how much money they have, that sort of thing. The country I live in-" she hesitated, "lets just say its not safe, if your a girl it's dangerous to go places by yourself, if you aren't rich you have to worry about if getting sick with make you homeless or starve, kids get killed in school, it's a bit of shit show."

Legolas looked over at her, his eyebrows furrowed "that does not sound like a very good place, do you want to go back?"

The question was not something she had thought about much, maybe in the beginning she thought about if she would get to go home eventually but that wasn't even an afterthought anymore. She thought about it, do I want to go back? She thought about her life before, sure she missed her friends and family but was that enough. "No" the words left her before she realized it, "I don't want to go back."

The answer seemed to satisfy him, he studied her face for a moment, "why do you think the Valar brought you here?"

She knew she shouldn't trust him, this wasn't the same Legolas he would be decades from now in the Lord of The Rings. He was the prince of Mirkwood, anything she said he would probably tell his father. She couldn't help but feel that the Legolas she knew was somewhere underneath it all. She was reminded that before The Hobbit movies, years before she ever read the book and fell in love with Fili, she liked Legolas. "They brought me here to help the dwarves reclaim their birthright."

"But why you? A regular human from another world? Why do you think they thought you could help?"

She gritted her teeth, everyone always had this question, "if I tell you, you have to promise me that you will not tell your father."

He looked at her, "I don't keep secrets from the king."

"It doesn't affect him and it doesn't involve him, I don't want to be exploited for someone else's gain. You might have loyalty to your father, the king, but if we are going to be married, I need to be able to trust you otherwise-" you glanced at the window briefly "I might as well jump out that window now and have my secrets die with me."

Given the expression on Legolas' face he had not expected her words or her threat, he stiffened slightly. "I won't tell my father unless it is something that would hurt him or our people."

Cheyenne reached out a hand and placed it against his, his skin is much warmer than I thought it would be, her gaze locked on his. "Swear it, swear it on your mother's grave" she knew his mother was dead and this was a cruel thing to say but it was the only way she would believe him.

"I swear" he said his voice low, with a bite to it, he moved his thumb slightly to trace over her hand.

She inhaled deeply "in my world, this whole place is a story, it's a fictional world. There are books about it, one of those books has to do with this quest of the dwarves. I have read everything about this place, all the books and stories, and I am probably more attached than any sane person would be to a fictional world. Long story short something happens at the end of this quest, something tragic. I was upset some night, crying and wishing that this world was real and that I was in the story so I could change the ending. When I woke up I was here, it was real, the Valar put me here because I know what's going to happen and they want to give me a chance to change it or die trying. The problem is the story is starting to differ from the books now, I guess my presence is already changing things."

Legolas looked at her with a mixture of doubt and sympathy, that was something she was definitely not expecting to see from him. "I take it this situation we are in now is one of those changes?"

Cheyenne bit her lip, why am I so nervous right now, "correct, now I am not sure what to do. I thought I was supposed to be with the dwarves till the end but now it looks like I am stuck here forever. It makes me angry, what was the point of the Valar bringing me to Middle Earth only to have my journey end here."

He was still tracing his finger of her hand absentmindedly "I'm sorry that this happened" the warmness in his voice startled her a bit. "This isn't the situation either of us wanted, but I promise that I will try and make you happy here."

She gripped his hand slightly "I promise to try and not be the worst wife, you can always still pursue Tauriel. I won't mind, I can be your cover, your father probably won't suspect anything between you two once you have a wife."

He smiled a little "I'm not sure how things are where you are from but when elves commit their lives to each other in a marriage ceremony, it's a forever deal. We live forever and we stay with our partners forever. It is kind of you to offer to let me pursue someone else once we are wed but I cannot. Once we are bonded, I'll be committed to you, even if neither of us want it. Forever is a long time, maybe one day we'll even grow to care about each other."

Meanwhile in the dwarven cells…

"I can't believe she would do this," Bofur said, taking his hat off, "the lass seemed to really care about helping us."

"She only used us to get here" Thorin spat, "she turned into an elf as soon as she was in front of the king. She was the one that suggested they throw us into these cells to rot." He was angry, more angry than he had been in a long time.

Fili was sitting on the floor of his cell, staring at the ground quietly, he hadn't spoken since Cheyenne walked away with the guards. He didn't know how to feel or what to believe, he didn't want to believe that everything they had been through together was a lie. She had risked her own life to save theirs, to save his, that didn't seem like something someone who didn't care would do. On the other hand she herself admitted she was marrying the prince, he wasn't sure why but that made his heartache.

Balin spoke finally "you're wrong Thorin" everyone was silent and even Fili got up to look out of the bars, Balin rarely spoke against the king. "She isn't doing this because she wants to, she is doing this to save us." Balin sighed "I speak a little of their language, when we were captured they were going to kill us, she told them to take her to see the Woodland king and to take us as prisoners. The only way they wouldn't have killed us is if she gave them something they wanted in exchange. I don't know what was said when you met with the king Thorin but if I had to guess, he wants her because of her connection to the Valar. She is marrying the prince to save our lives."

No one spoke, even Thorin hesitated, "I've been a fool" he said sitting down, the anger starting to leave him. If anyone else suggested it he wouldn't have believed them but after everything that had happened what Balin said made sense.

Fili gripped the bars hard, his heart racing, "we need to get out of here, we have to stop her!"

Balin sighed, sitting down, "this is the prison of the woodland realm, no one gets out unless the king commands it."