I Ernil a i Hest - The Prince and the Captain

Glaer en i gwend en a Ernil ad a taur gwen

Stories of the friendship of a Prince and a wood maiden

A dark shadow had begun to grow and was slowly laying on the Greenwood. It was almost imperceptible and to some it could have seemed nothing more than a cloud temporarily buying the sun, but the elves, as all know, have sharp senses and thus saw the darkness that grew.

There in the surroundings of the King's Halls it was possible to almost forget the Evil that had started to infest the forest, but some had suffered from it.

A small group of tirith (guards) had been attacked by a large number of giant spiders towards Dol Guldur. There had been only two seriously injured survivors who had come to the Halls exhausted to report what had happened. Aran (King) Thranduil had been deeply troubled. The slain elves were not inexperienced with weapons and spiders had never gone too far from Dol Guldur.

Among the dead were also Tauressar and Calmiriel, both tirith (guards). They had a daughter with red hair like the most intense of sunsets, her name was Tauriel, wood maiden.

When Tauriel was taken into protection by the Aran (King), she was a girl who had not yet reached adolescence, while Ernil (Prince) Legolas was just halfway between childhood and adulthood. They had become mellyn (friends) very quickly.

All this had happened a few years ago.

That morning Legolas was sitting on a high branch of a tree on the edge of the training ground and was watching the young elves practice archery.

Their mentor had just introduced them to new targets in motion and far more distant than those to which young recruits were accustomed. It was clear that it had been a mentor's way to test his pupils and teach them patience in learning new things, but the red-haired elleth (she-elf) fired arrow after arrow and hit with a victorious smile on her lips. A little surprised, but proud, the mentor congratulated her. Legolas smiled to himself, of course, Tauriel undoubtedly had talent with weapons, but surely she would not have made such a good impression if it hadn't been for him.

She had come late after his training and had pulled him by the arm and begged him to teach her "advanced things" with the bow. So, as the sun set fire to her hair, the elleth (she-elf) had positioned herself straight in the middle of the training field and had stretched her bow. The view had been breathtaking, illuminated by the last rays of the sun, the arch tense and the determined gaze, his mellon (friend) seemed a valiant hero of ancient myths.

Legolas had hurried to position himself behind her and straightened her back, then supported her hand that held the bow and guided her to the right position, while explaining to her what to watch out for when releasing the arrow.

Tauriel was no longer a child, for the first time the Ernil (Prince) realized how much she looked like a grown elleth (she-elf) now. She was still much shorter than he was, but on the other hand she had always been quite small and thin. It was her forms that were more pronounced and curved, the lips more full and the cheekbones more visible.

For the first time that evening, Legolas wondered what someone would think if he saw them like that. Her back resting on his chest, his hand on hers supporting the arch and his lips close to her ear, intent on explaining the correct technique.

In reality there was nothing strange, even his adar (father) had taught him to use the bow in this way the first few times. Still, for some reason he hoped that no one would come to the training camp at that moment.