"Please, my lord, my family is starving. We need food." You say wistfully to king Thranduil. He looks down at you from his throne and you can literally feel the power coming off of him. "Why should I help you?" He asks. You stare at him in disbelief. "Because you are our king. You are our leader." You state. Your eyes glance over to Legolas and your face heats up despite the glare he's giving you. You look back to Thranduil. "You should be grateful I even allow you to live in Mirkwood with your family. When you came begging me for help, I could've just cast you aside. But no, I allowed you to have some land in my kingdom." He says, his arms crossed, his eyes dropping into slits. A few years ago your home in the Gladden Fields was destroyed by Orcs. Your family, having nowhere to go, pleaded with king Thranduil to allow you some land on the border on Mirkwood, despite your family being human. Thranduil, hating outsiders, immediately took a dislike upon your family and you; but still allowed you some land to make himself look good. "We will die, my lord, if we do not get food." You state tightly, your anger skyrocketing. "Can't you go out and hunt some food?" Legolas asks, looking at you like you're stupid. You glance at the handsome Elf prince and your heart beats a little faster. While Legolas harbors hateful feelings towards you, you feel the exact opposite with him. It pains you to know that he will never come to love you. "We-we can't. The spiders are growing bold and we're afraid to go outside in fear of being injured or killed by them." You say, your hand moving to the hilts of your daggers on your hips. "That's your fault then, Y/N." Thranduil states. You gasp and look at him. "My-my fault?!" You sputter angrily. "You need to clear your forests of those beasts before they start killing your Elves or us!" You yell furiously. Thranduil waves a hand in the air and immediately two guards hold your arms and start pulling you out of the throne room. "Does this mean you won't help us?! You'll let us starve to death?!" You shout, struggling to break free from the guards. Thranduil and Legolas peer at you in disgust as the guards take you out of the throne room, kicking and screaming.~
You stomp Mirkwood, your fury rising with each step. "Who is he to tell me we can't have food?" You ask yourself. You pull up straight and stop walking. You sigh and your shoulders slump in defeat. "Well he's the king. So of course he has the authority to tell us we can't have food." You grumble, trudging forward. You hear a snap and a shiver of fear runs the length of your spine. Your hands immediately go to your daggers and your breathing slows. You crouch low, your eyes watching every movement. You hear the cracking of branches from behind you and you still. In one quick fluid motion, you rip your dagger out of its sheath and whirl around, the dagger flying out of your hand. You watch in shock as it pierces a tree, less than a foot from Legolas's head. Your hands clasp over your mouth, your eyes widening in horror. "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry. I thought you were a spider." You state. The Elves next to Legolas, their weapons poised at you. Swallowing, you watch as Legolas moves his eyes to the dagger and then slowly to you. He glares at you and that's when you realize you're in deep trouble.~
You sit in your cell, your hands bound, your knees pulled to your chest, your anger simmering. "How dare they. How dare they." You whisper harshly, rocking back and forth. A guard comes up to your cell. "Legolas and the captain of the guard want to see you now." He informs, opening up the door. He grabs your arm and wrenches you to your feet, leaving you gasping from the pain. He hauls you to a room and throws you to your knees. You stop yourself from face planting in the ground and look up at Legolas, breathlessly, wisps of your hair hanging down around your forehead. His arms are crossed and he stares at you. The captain of the guard crouches in front of you. "What were you doing in the forest?" He asks. "I was on my way home." You answer. "Were you planning to assassinate prince Legolas?" He asks. "What!" You exclaim, your eyes widening. "I-I wouldn't assassinate him!" You say. "You threw a dagger at my head, Y/N. I jumped out of the way just in time." Legolas says, his eyes narrowing at you. You gape. "I thought you were a spider! It's an honest mistake!" You shout at him. The captain of the guard slaps you in the face and you gasp, your cheek stinking. "Don't you dare raise your voice to the prince!" He exclaims. "Admit it, you planned to kill the prince because you were upset that king Thranduil wouldn't allow you to have food." He states. "No! No!" You exclaim. The guard grabs your jaw and squeezes it. "Don't lie to me!" He shouts in your face. You look away, tears in your eyes. "I'm not lying." You gasp. "You can't even look at me when you say it." He hisses. You look at him and stare defiantly into his eyes. "I'm not lying." You grit out. The guard shoves you away and you land awkwardly on your arm. Pain shoots up into your shoulder and you let out a cry. You glance at Legolas pleadingly. Something changes in his gaze and he looks to the guard. "That's enough. We'll question her later tonight." He says. You breathe a sigh of relief. The guard roughly pulls you to your feet and takes you back to your cell.~
For the next few hours, you pour your heart and soul into the little diary you carry around with you. You write about the abuse you're putting up with from the guards to your feelings for Legolas. "What is that?" A voice asks. You hide your diary behind your back and stare at Legolas from behind the bars. "What's what?" You ask innocently. "That book you were writing in." He states. "A book?" You ask, your eyebrows raised. He sighs and steps aside as a guard comes. "Time to confess." He says, opening up the door. Before you can put your diary into your pocket, he grabs you and pulls you out of the cell. For the next hour, you're abused by the guard when you still refuse to admit you were not planning to kill Legolas. Your body aching, you're thrown back into your cell, the guard promising to come back in the morning to get you to confess. Crying, you pull yourself to the corner of the cell and that's when you realize your diary is missing. "No." You gasp, looking around the cell for it. "No. No. No." You breathe in horror. "No." You cry, putting your face in your hands. ~
You wake up to the sense of someone in your cell. You open your eyes and immediately scramble to the corner of the cell. "What are you doing here?" You ask Legolas who sits in the cell, watching you. He holds out your diary and puts it on the floor. You blush with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry." He says quietly. "What?" You ask incredulously, staring at him. "I was wrong. We were wrong. Forgive me, Y/N." He apologizes genuinely. Something has changed in his eyes and he looks at you differently. "Did you read the whole thing?" You ask. Legolas hesitates and then nods slowly. "I did." He whispers. You sigh. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to know if you truly did intend to kill me... but now... now that I know how you feel about me..." He trails off, a pink hue tinting his cheeks. He scoots closer to you and picks up your hands. "My father taught me to hate you and your family. He never gave a reason but he just instilled it in me to hate you." He says softly. "And I'm sorry for that. I never got a chance to know you; but now I want to. I want to know you for you. Not someone my father taught me to hate." He adds. His thumbs draw tiny circles on your knuckles and you shudder. "Please forgive me, Y/N. Let us start over." Legolas begs. "I forgive you, Legolas." You say, giving him a weak smile. He smiles and gently pulls you to your feet. "Then let's get you out of here." He says. "Really?" You ask hopefully. "You've done nothing wrong, Y/N. You were just defending yourself." He says. "Thank you." You breathe. You follow Legolas as he helps you exit the Woodland Realm. He helps you get to your house. You stand outside your home. "I promise I will bring you food tomorrow morning." He adds, putting his hands on your shoulders. You nod. Legolas suddenly leans down and kisses you. You suck in a breath of shock and then sink against him. A moment later he pulls away, blushing. "I'm sorry, I don't know what come over me." He says. You smile. "Goodnight, Legolas." You say quietly. "Goodnight, Y/N." He says softly, his eyes gleaming. You place a kiss on his cheek and then disappear into your house, grinning.
[THE END] I hope you liked it!
