Disclaimer--of course I own nothing and only write for my own amusement and the hopeful enjoyment of others. 

Chapter One

*****

"My lord," the blonde elfling-messenger bowing before my foster-father muttered. He was young, probably not even thirty years old yet, and he was petrified. His whole body shook, a rare display of emotion that plainly showed his terror at evoking the wrath of King Thranduil of Mirkwood.

Finally everyone was paying attention. Previously the drab court meeting had been nearly unbearable. All the king’s advisors were there with the exceptions of my husband (the king’s son) and our brothers. Though he had somehow evaded his princely duties, he was, of course, there at the meeting because of the strong mental bond between us. Legolas was always there, his consciousness ever present in the back of my mind even when he was not physically near me. Right now I knew he was out on the archery range, as he often was. He was the best archer Mirkwood had ever seen; possibly he was the best archer in all of Middle-Earth, and he was not even three thousand years old yet. At this moment, he was not even bothering himself to care about this boring meeting in which I was stuck.

"Speak up, mellon nîn, " my Adar said gently, placing a hand on the younger elf’s shoulder.

Despite the comforting gesture, the messenger only trembled more. "Your majesty," he began, "it is¼ Gollum. He has¼ escaped."

All those present at court visibly flinched, myself included. In my mind I felt Legolas snap to attention at last. Ada’s fingers tightened knuckle-white on the elf-child’s shoulder as fury swam into his icy-blue eyes. He closed them briefly, trying to gain control of himself, but his posture remained stiff, including his tight grip on the child. Ada’s face was reddening all the way up to the pointed tips of his ears.

He managed to keep his voice even as he said, "Ai, Elbereth, how did this happen?  Who would help him in broad daylight?"

"We-we do not know, sire. S-several guards were k-killed," the elfling said in a strained voice. He was still shaking uncontrollably, tears threatening to overspill down his cheeks.

I had been on the receiving end of Father’s anger enough to understand how frightened he was. I knew they would get nowhere, except perhaps a dislocated shoulder, if the conversation continued in this manner. I decided to intervene.

"Adar," I said softly, emerging from my place amongst the stateselves and advisors gathered in the room. "You are hurting him."

Ada ripped his gaze away from the other elf’s face to stare into mine. For a moment fear flashed into my heart at the sight of the blue flame in his eyes. On the archery range, Legolas started in surprise. Ada’s face softened as he realized who was speaking, and I felt my husband’s relief as strongly as my own.

"Sorayaiel," my father said quietly. He blinked, looking from me to the cowering messenger as if seeing him for the first time. He immediately released the poor elfling, who slumped and grabbed his injured shoulder. "I am sorry," Ada continued. "It is not your fault, you are only the messenger."

The elfling managed a weak smile as he tried to massage away the pain.

"Do you know anything else of this matter?" the king asked.

"Not much, my lord," the messenger said. "The guards believe he was aided in his plans. Captain Nurhoth sent a patrol to search for him, but they have thus far found nothing."

Ada cupped the boy’s chin with a slender hand. "Thank you, pen-neth. Please tell Captain Nurhoth to report back to me in an hour. You may go."

The young elf placed his right hand over his heart as he bowed, and said, "Yes, your majesty." He walked out very quickly.

"Aarandien," Ada said, turning to an older elf nearby. "Take several more edhil with you and join the patrol. I want that miserable creature found! Everyone else is dismissed."

Ada turned to me as Aarandien and the other elves obeyed orders. I knew he was still very angry but now his face showed nothing. "Sorayaiel, sell nîn ," he said. "Will you please fetch your husband and brothers? I think I will need the advice of my sons in this matter."

That stung a little. "My sons," he had said, not "my children." It meant that while I was capable enough of advising him in mundane, day-to-day court matters, I was not good enough to aid him in important matters of state such as this. This had happened before. I was, after all, only a daughter, and not even by blood, at that. It also did not help that I had married my youngest foster-brother; in fact, it probably made my position worse. I had accepted the status of things as they were, but it still hurt to be left out.

So, I said, "Yes, Adar," and with a small nod and the customary closed-hand-over-heart edhellen greeting, set off to find the princes.

*****

My skirts rustled like the leaves of our beloved forests as I walked brusquely down the corridor in search of the princes of Mirkwood. Legolas, I knew, was already on his way back to the palace, as it was getting dark. That left the other two.

I found Arahil in the library reading, as usual. "Ada wishes to see you," I said.

"What vexes you, sister?" Arahil asked, concern in his brown eyes. Though he was not bonded to me as strongly as Legolas was, Arahil was still very intuitive to my feelings. He was my older brother in blood as well as name; King Thranduil and Queen Aranel adopted both of us when we were very young. Truly, no one had ever mistaken us for their biological children: our hair and eyes were dark as the night whilst that of our adoptive father, mother, and brothers was as light as the sun shining through the trees. We had the same smile, the same countenance. In fact, we looked so much alike that some people thought we were twins, though Arahil was nearly twenty years older than I. The only elves who looked more alike were Lord Elrond’s twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, and their younger sister Arwen. They were all raven-haired as well.

"Gollum has escaped," I replied.

Arahil’s eyes widened and he stood up quickly. "Valar," he said, shaking his head. "I knew we did not have enough guards on that vile thing! I assume Adar is displeased?"

A smile played at the corners of my mouth. "You could say that."

Arahil groaned. "How angry is he?"

I told him what had happened in court, including how Ada had nearly dislocated the youth’s shoulder. He winced. "I guess I had better get down there," he said. He walked toward the door.

"Do you know where is Mellossë?" I asked.

He stopped. "He was with his brother earlier."

"He is not with Legolas now," I replied.

"And where is your husband now?" Arahil asked, raising one eyebrow. It never failed to amaze or amuse him that Legolas and I knew one another’s every thought.

"He is coming back from the archery range. He is nearly in the palace."

Arahil smiled. "I do hope that I shall one day be joined with another as fully as you are with our foster-brother."

I went to him and touched his face. "You will, my brother. One day." And I believed that. Arahil was sensitive, bookish and shy. He had forsaken the warrior training his brothers and myself had received in favor of becoming a scholar to Mirkwood's elflings.  He spoke little, and when he did speak it was usually to say something important. He was painfully shy around females especially, but I had seen one or two ladies giving my handsome brother meaningful looks in court. If he would only get the courage, he could probably pursue anyone he wanted.

He smiled slightly and went out the door, his long dark hair whipping out behind him. I went upstairs to my bedchamber. Legolas was already there, and changed out of his dirty clothes and into more courtly brown robes. He was sitting on the bed putting on his boots when I entered the room. He looked up at me and smirked, causing my heart to flutter, as it usually did when I looked into his sky-blue eyes.

"I chose the perfect meeting to miss, did I not?" he said, chuckling softly. He began to redo the braid on the left side of his head. Almost all of the elven warriors had long hair, and most of us braided it on the sides to keep it out of the way when shooting a bow. It had become the way most of us wore it in court as well.

I sat down on his right side and unraveled the remnants of the other braid. He always managed to mess up his hair when he was shooting. "Yes, you did," I replied, separating his golden tresses into strands so I could redo it for him. I was faster than he and had finished my side before he was even halfway done with his. I shifted to his other side, and he let me finish.

"You take such good care of me, cauneth nîn ," he said, kissing my forehead. He pulled me into his lap and smoothed my long hair to one side, then kissed me softly on the lips.

For a moment I leaned my forehead against his, closing my eyes and wallowing in the love I felt emanating from both of us. Then I cupped his chin in my hand and said, "You would be lost without me, caun nîn, as I would be without you." I kissed him and stood up. "Let us find Mellossë and get back before Ada wonders where you two are." I could not keep some bitterness from creeping into my voice.

Legolas cocked his head to one side, still sitting. "You are thinking that Adar is going to leave you out again," he said.

I had known I would not be able to hide it from him. "Yes," I replied. "He always does. I know he loves me but sometimes I feel that he does not consider me good enough—"

"That is not true," my husband said, standing now. "He is merely a bit overprotective of you. He does not want to involve you in anything that could be dangerous."

"Because I am female?" I asked, becoming angry.

"Well, yes," Legolas replied, placing his slender finger over my lips when I began to protest. "But also because he thinks he failed to protect your parents and my naneth . He blames himself for their deaths."

"But none of them were his fault!" I protested. "Everyone knows that."

"I think, deep down, that Adar knows that too," he said. "But still he feels guilty."

"Well, he need not take it out on me," I said, walking out of the room.

Legolas followed me out of the room, taking my hand in his. "If you wish it of me, I will say something to him."

"No," I said, looking up at him as we walked. My feelings of anger had subsided into sadness. "I do not wish to cause him more anger or stress."

He looked at me as if he wanted to say something else on the subject, but settled for, " Im meleth-le ." He said it so softly that if I had not been an elf I would not have heard him. His thoughts were guarded as well, which I did not like.

I did not want to fight with him, so I merely said, "I love you too, my Greenleaf," and let the entire matter drop as we went to find Mellossë.

*****

______Elvish translation

Mellon nîn--my friend

Adar --Father

Ada --dad, daddy

Pen-neth --young one

Edhil --elf

Sell nîn --my child

Edhellen --elvish, elven

Cauneth nîn --my princess

Caun nîn --my prince

Naneth --mother —I love you

Im meleth-le