The Jewel of Mirkwood

(A/N) I'm back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! & As promised a rather large update for you all to drool over.

This update is dedicated to MARIA cause she's really special and sent me a beautiful piccy of our Leggy suffering at the hands of Keeldon. Thanks babe.

Chapter 36

Legolas awoke with a start and sat bolt up right. There was a twinge of pain in his back but he bit back a yelp in case he drew unwanted attention to himself. With wide fearful eyes Legolas searched the room he presently sat in. The last thing he remembered was attacking the guards with the table leg, fighting for his life as they tried to take him from his room to Keeldon. Now however the room wasn’t as he remembered it. A sheer curtain much like his own back in Mirkwood hung around the large soft bed creating a haze over everything he saw. Windows to his right and left allowed streams of sunlight into the room illuminating him and the contents of the room in a warm comforting glow. At the end of the bed was a chest, on top of it was a tray of food and a pitcher of wine. Legolas’ stomach growled as the scent of fresh fruit drifted across to him. He could not remember the last time he ate but the emptiness in his stomach told him it had been a while. Reluctantly he decided he had to have some of the food, before he could fully search the room. He had no idea where he was but it was certainly not the room Keeldon had kept him prisoner in. Pulling the blue silken blanket from the bed Legolas wrapped the material tightly nd hnd his naked body before he crawled cautiously towards the end of the bed, his eyes continually scanning the room for danger. When he reached the end of the bed Legolas quickly pushed a hand out through the curtain and snatched up a hand full of the fruits before quickly backing away up the bed again.

With backback pressed against the ornately carved wooden headboard Legolas began munching on the fruits, his eyes still taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. A fireplace on the far wall was glowing with warm red embers. Several sets of clothing had been draped over the mantle above the fire obviously warming or drying them with the heat of the fire. There was a silver pair of leggings and a soft blue tunic along with a pair of black leather boots and an outer blue robe to match the tunic. Legolas didn’t remember having worn anything like them at Keeldon’s home. The material they were made out of looked to be of fine elvan woven silk, soft in comparison to Keeldon’s hard and rough woollen clothes. With the hand full of fruits gone Legolas crawled again to the end of the bed, this time snatching up a small round loaf of bread and the pitcher of wine. Legolas had not thought to check the food items for signs of poison but in his present state Legolas did not care, all he wanted was to fill his stomach and then find out where he was. Straight from the jug Legolas quickly drained the wine before breaking the bread into easily chewable pieces as he continued his scan of the room. He somehow felt safe behind the vale around the bed and so remained where he was until he felt certain there was no harm in the room. The walls of the room were made of wood as were the floors, something which greatly differed from the cold stone and slate of Keeldon’s house. Over the course of the time he’d been awake Legolas had come to believe himself no longer in Keeldon’s house but where he was exactly was a mystery.

After cleaning the tray of food at the end of the bed, Legolas tentatively slid off the bed to the floor, cautiously pushing his way through the curtain. Everything in the room looked different without the vale haze and Legolas began to notice the distinctively elvan carvings and decorative weaponry hung from the walls. It was all he could hope for to have been rescued and not know it yet but he was still cautious that Keeldon could be tricking him. Taking thenketnket with him Legolas quietly padded over to the fire to inspect the clothes. He only got half way there when he stumbled over a large fur rug on the floor. He had been so preoccupied trying to scan for danger that he’d missed the rug completely. Kicking the stupid thing Legolas noticed another little doorway to the right. Unlike the main doorway he’d spied earlier on, which had a heavy drapery hung across it, this doorway was open. Smells of herbs and fresh elvan perfume filtered through with a draft and Legolas instantly went to investigate. As he’d predicted the room through the doorway was a bathing house. The wooden tub in the middle of the floor was already filled with steaming water and silently beckoned Legolas to take a dip. So far Legolas had heard naught but strange twittering of bird’s he couldn’t identify outside the window and so the young elf deemed it safe to take a quick dip, if only to cleanse away the dirty feeling he had on his skin.

With an ever-watchful gaze Legolas quickly dropped the blanket and stepped into the tub, instantly sinking down into the warm water. The young elf set quickly to work cleaning himself with some of the oils and soaps that had been left beside the tub. Legolas had caughght ght of himself in a mirror when he’d rose from the bed and he’d been appalled at what his reflection spoke of. His hair had been tangled into knots; bruises and scratches had marred his cheeks and upper shoulders while patches of familiar brown crusty substance clung to places on his skin. It looked as if someone had tried to clean him up prior but they had made a lousy job of it. With a comb he’d found along with the oils beside the tub Legolas combed and unknoted his wet hair making sure to thoroughly scrub all the brown patches from his skin. It seemed the bruises and cuts did not stop at his face and shoulders but rather covered his entire body but Legolas did not want to look too hard. He feared the memories evoked by seeing himself in such a state would be too much to handle, and most of them were healing anyway so there was not much point in torturing himself by inspecting them. A particularly large bruise spread from his abdomen all around his waist and up his spine slightly. He knew that was the one that was presently causing him pain but like the others he chose to ignore it. He could not remember what had happened after the guards had overpowered him in the room and quite honestly he did not want to know if these bruises and cuts were anything to go by. Another thing that disturbed him was the thick bandage that was wrapped around his neck and packed with healing herbs. He had remembered Keeldon putting the collar on him but he hadn’t thought the cuts the leather had created were that bad to warrant healing herbs. Still he did not want to disturb the bandage, already feeling the damp patches dotted on the bandage where unseen wounds were weeping.
en hen he was clean Legolas rose from the tub and scuttled quickly into the main room again the blanket clutched about his person. Again he found no danger in the room only a serene peace which the surroundings seem to bring him. The clothes were still where he had found them and so not finding anything amiss with them he hastily pulled them on. They fitted him almost perfect, the robe was a little too big but it would do and served to keep his body warm.

Lowering himself to the rug beside the fire Legolas began drying his hair. For a while he allowed his eyes to close to bask in the radiant warmth of the sun light and fire but he kept listening for anything out of the ordinary, save the birds. The sound of the birds was unfamiliar yet Legolas knew that they sounded different from those he’d listened to at Keeldon’s home through his window. Legolas was now sure he wasn’t in Keeldon’s house, and from the growing sounds outside he definitely wasn’t even in Edoras any more. The sound of soft elvan voices began singing in the distance. It was a beautiful song Legolas had never heard before but it was sung in Quenya and he could not make out the words. Filgree had never had time to teach him the old language and his father had deemed it unnecessary in his tutoring unlike his brothers. The few words Legolas knew in Quenya were only a greeting, thank-you and a short phrase asking for directions. Which really did not help him in deciphering the song the elves now sang.

Curiosity at where he was finally got the better of the young elf as sounds of elves outside moving around got the better of him. He could hardly suppress the joy he felt in his heart that perhaps by some miracle all that had happened had been a dream and that he was back in Mirkwood in strangers home but among friends all the same. Legolas quickly braided his half dried hair and slipped on the leather boots. Standing from the rug Legolas slowly crept over to the doorway and tilted back the tapestry a little so that he could peep through the crack. A balcony sat beyond the door and having thoroughly checked to make sure nothing was lying in wait for him outside Legolas took a brave step onto the wooden balcony. Stepping up to the railing Legolas dared to look beyond and found himself sadly disappointed. The trees which surrounded him were huge their trunks nearly ten times as big as Mirkwood’s biggesees.ees. A calm, peaceful, glow resided around the entire area something, which Mirkwood’s darkness definitely did not possess. The people too which scurried about on the forest floor below were certainly not of Mirkwood’s origin. Their silver hair shone in the sunlight like halos around them nothing compared to the black silken locks of Mirkwood’s inhabitants. Legolas sighed heavily. He was not in Mirkwood and did not recognise any of the features around him. The only conciliation he had was that Keeldon was nowhere in sight and that he seemed to be among some form of his own race.

Daring to venture to the forest floor below Legolas found a wobbly rope ladder at the end of the balcony and slowly descended it. Hissing with pain at each step he took. The pain around his waist was returning after the soothing bath and trying to prevent himself falling off a rope ladder was certainly not helping. Any elf who chose a rope ladder over firm stone steps was a fool. Unharmed however, he made it to the floor and turned around to inspect the surroundings. Ever since he was an elfling he’d always wanted to explore new realms and discover what lay beyond Mirkwood’s boarders and despite him being totally lost and confused the inner explorer inside the elf took over.

In wonderment the young elf began to walk his face turned skyward as he stared in ore at the size of the trees, which towered above him. Staircases wound their way up each tree, and elves were scurrying up and down them to the platforms that were sat on the branches high up the trunks. Tents lined the forest floor and elves carried baskets backwards and forwards between the tents trading and carrying food, pottery and perfumes. While most did not pay him any heed some stopped in their activities and stared at him but he was too lost in wonderment of his surroundings to notice their stares. Everything about the place seemed magical and peaceful, the song he’d heard earlier growing louder even as the sun began to rise further into the sky.

So lost was Legolas in the sights and sounds around him that he hardly noticed the figure stepping out in front of him before he walked straight into them. Spinning his attention quickly back to who he’d just walked into Legolas could hardly contain the gasp at the elf who stood before him. Legolas stared blatantly at the elf who was considerably taller and older than Legolas was. The elf had long blonde almost silver hair, tied nearly in a single braid down his back, he had green eyes and wore a silver tunic and leggings. A sword sat comfortably in its scabbard at the elf’s hip and a long beautifully carved bow along with a quiver of arrows was slung over his left shoulder. The pair stared at one another for a long moment before Legolas realized what he was doing and quickly everted his gaze suddenly unsure of himself and fearful for what he had just done.

“I am sorry, I did not look where I was going. Please forgive me.” Legolas hastily went to turn around and go the other way. If he had indeed been brought here by Keeldon then he had certainly just blown his chances of escaping again by running into the armed elf.

“Calm yourself prince. There is no harm done.” Legolas stiffened and paused mid turn as the older elf stepped back from him and promptly bowed at the waist before righting himself to smile softly at the fearful young prince’s expression. “I am Haldir of Lothlorien, Guardian of the Lord and Lady’s golden wood and captain of the Galadhrim.” The older elf paused sensing Legolas’ confusion as the young prince glanced cautiously around him before looking back at the elf in front of him. “I welcome you to Lothlorien and pray that you have rested well.” Legolas could only nod in silence his gaze never leaving the guardian’s for a moment.

“Why…….” Legolas paused unable to think of the first question he wanted to ask among all of the ones in his mind. He was so confused and his waist was throbbing mercilessly. Sensing the prince’s distress Haldir put out an arm and allowed Legolas to steady himself upon the strong grip of the guard.

“You have many questions that will be answered in time by my lord. For now however I haven sen sent to insure you find your way to the council chambers for your formal audience and that you take your time whilst doing so.” Legolas did not understand anything Haldir had just spoken of but a sense of belonging seemed to envelope around him when Haldir wrapped a supporting hand about his waist. The touch was tender carecarefully placed to avoid the injured area. Legolas had never expected such a soft touch from one he did not know more so one of his enemy, even his brothers and father had never treated him so kindly before. Allowing himself to be led through the forest, Legolas rested against Haldir’s side. He knew he was meant to be morry, ry, or even concerned that Haldir was leading him blindly but Legolas was too tired and sore to care. If he was indeed within Lothlorien as Haldir had said then he was among his fathers enemy and would surely not be treated well by the lord and lady of the wood. How he came to be in Lothlorien was still a mystery but he supposed it all had to be better than being in the clutches of Keeldon and considering the situation he was far better of g hig his own race than surrounded by mortal men. At least now there was hope of returning to Mirkwood and his father where there had been no hope before.

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

(A/N) Now we're getting to the GOOD stuff.