The Princes Shadow

Chapter 8

Emerin POV~

"The King requests your presence, Lady Emerin," A guard had been sent to inform me that the king was asking for his ambassadors to meet him in his throne room,

"Very well, I shall be there within the hour," I sent the guard away, closing my chamber doors behind him. 

Ever since I had become one of the kings personal ambassadors, I had received larger chambers, closer to where the more important figures of the palace lived. Closer to him. Closer to Legolas. A few years ago, Legolas had returned from his journeys. He brought Gandalf and a man named Aragorn with him, dragging along a strange creature they called Gollum. They had asked us to keep the vile thing in our prisons, and we did. 

Legolas and I rarely spoke. The both of us are incredibly busy. Legolas also has become and ambassador of the Woodland Realm recently.

I drew myself a bath, cleaning myself of any dirt or grime that may have snuck in under my nails or hair. I came out smelling like lilies and honey. I left half of my hair down, braiding the rest of my hair into six intricate braids that met at the back of my head. I slipped on a dark green dress, and wore a dark brown cloak on top of it. I strapped my favorite dagger, which I had received from Fili many years ago, to my thigh. I put on my boots and walked out, towards the throne room.

Legolas POV~

My father had called all of his most trusted ambassadors to meet him in the throne room. I was there first. I looked over to see Emerin striding down the stairs. She seemed to be avoiding my gaze as she walked towards my father, stopping in front of his throne, and bowed,

"Hello Emerin. You look well." My father smiled. He seemed to consider Emerin as a daughter. He had always favored her. He had personally trained her in all that he knew,

"Thank you my Lord, as do you," Emerin replied simply, before walking until she was beside me, and gave a small bow, "My Lord,"

"It has been long since we last spoke Emerin. I wish to hear of what you did while I was off journeying," She seemed to flinch at the part where I mentioned that we had barely spoken. It was true. Ever since my return, the both of us had been very busy. Did she still love me? My feelings for her had not wavered in the slightest.

The other ambassadors appeared, one by one, bowing to my father and I,

"I have summoned you here to tell you two things. First, the creature, Gollum, has escaped."

There were hushed murmurs from all but Emerin, who I did not doubt, already knew of this. She seemed to be completely unfazed,

"Second, Lord Elrond of Rivendell has called a counsel meeting. Four of you will go to hear what this counsel is being held for, and to inform Lord Elrond of Gollums escape." 

There were around twelve ambassadors in total. Who did my father intend on sending?

"Legolas. You will go along with Hînder, Selö, and Emerin." He nodded to those three and continued, "You will be leaving within the next few ours. Bring only what you need." And with that, he waved his hand, sending us away. 

Emerin and I lived in the same wing. As we walked side by side, I looked at her, "If you do not wish to speak with me, I will no longer bother you." 

She stopped, and turned to look into my eyes. I missed gazing into her golden eyes, "Why would you think I do not wish to speak with you, Legolas?" She seemed hurt,

"Well... you h-havn't really talked to me since I returned," I started,

"Well I am busy. I wanted to converse with you, but I always have to supervise all the impish guards here. The minute that I turn my head, the vile thing we call Gollum manages to run away." She smiled. 

Now that I looked more closely at her, she seemed drained and tired,

"I'm sorry," I tried to make it up to her,

"It is not your fault. I must gather my things. Come with me if you wish when you are finished gathering yours," She walked into her chambers, leaving the door ajar. 

I quickly ran to my room, throwing on my bow and quiver, sheathing my sword and daggers. I put a few things in my bag, closed my door and nearly ran into Emerin as I tried to reach her chambers,

"Sorry!" She said before I had the chance, "Come, let us be on our way." She also had all of her weapons with her.

At last we reached the stables, where we saddled our horses and stocked our saddlebags with food and water.

I mounted my horse, and Emerin hers. Her horse trotted up beside mine,

"Well you wished for us to converse. Now we have a three days journey to Rivendell." She chuckled. 

The four of us were soon galloping across the woods, making haste to reach our destination on time.

When night came, we made camp so that the horses could rest.

Emerin sat beside me, leaning onto my shoulder for warmth. As we touched, I slightly flinched, causing her to pull away,

"It's fine," I assured her.

She leaned back onto my shoulder again, "I have long wanted to see Rivendell." She looked up at me, gazing into my eyes. I looked at her,

"Emerin..." I said softly,

"Yes?" She whispered. I shivered,

"I thought of you every day, when I was journeying across Middle-Earth. My heart was never content because of your absence in those years of my life..." It was true. And now that I had her back, I never wanted to be apart from her again,

"I thought of you every day as well. Especially when I was feeling overwhelmed I would say to myself, 'If Legolas were here, he would probably insist on helping, and I wouldn't stop him'" She laughed,

"Well you never accept any of the help I offer. I highly doubt you would have let me do any of your work." I looked up at the stars,

"You're probably right..." She sighed and nestled in closer to me.

This was perfect I thought as I close my eyes...

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Thank you for reading this. If you liked this Vote, comment and follow. If you guys also like Pirates of the Caribbean, check out my POTC Will Turner fanfic. It's called The Winds of the Sea.

Thanks,

-Jackie