Gandalf's Apprentice

Chapter Fourteen: Can't BEAR the thought

***Leandra's POV***

A few months of months passed, the company was feeling nostalgic tonight. Everyone was talking about what they wanted to do after the quest.

I was laying on my side by the fire, using a bit of magic to make shapes in the smoke. "What about you, Kili?" I asked, we were all still chuckling from Bombur's story.

"Me? Are you sure you want to know?" He asked, not sure himself.

"Of course!" I laughed.

He sighed and took a breath. "I'll probably be dealing with royal stuff, but...I think I'd like to be married someday. Find a sweet girl, maybe have a few little dwarves of my own running around someday." He said with a slightly sheepish honesty.

"I actually know of the perfect girl for you...she's a redhead, absolutely beautiful, like she walks in starlight in another world!" I said and he looked intrigued.

"Oh yeah, what's her name?" Kili inquired.

"Her name is Tauriel. She's an archer as well, uses daggers, she's a healer, a badass damsel soldier...hell, she might even be able to kick my ass, I can't be sure." I said with a smirk and Kili looked mystified.

"What're'ya gonna do after all this, Leandra? Move on to the next cause? Settle down?" Fili asked curiously.

I laughed. "Could you actually see me settling down? Like with kids and a house? No!...there's too much to see, too many things to learn. I might stay in Erebor for a bit. That is if Thorin can tolerate an elf going echo! Echo...echo...through the halls all the time...but I do want to see the world, maybe visit Valinor, commune with Gods, Demons...become a legendary dragon hunter?" I smirked.

"I may be a Princess...but I'm no Lady. I'll be out there somewhere, kickin' ass along the way...making my name as a Knight rather than a Damsel. But I may marry...find a good man, a picket fence around the castle...or a moat." I laughed.

"An elf, I assume? A ranger...?" Gandalf smirked at me and I glared at him.

"You shush! Haldir is too spiffy and...well, Strider is sweet, he's great actually, but...I don't know. He gave me flowers...whatever." I shrugged it off.

Most of the company have an "oooohhh!"

I groaned. "Strider?" Thorin questioned. "The ranger from Rivendell?" His eyes widened.

"His name isn't actually Strider, that's his name in the wild...his true name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Isildur's heir to the throne of Gondor." I said and everyone stopped.

"Isildur's heir is trying to court you?!" Kili asked in shock.

"No! No, no! It won't happen! He's meant to be with someone else and I won't get in the way of that...Besides, I wouldn't want to marry a human...remember that I'm an elf? The whole immortality thing is annoying just to think about let alone imagining love only to have it rolled away by the sick coldness of time itself...I can't bear the thought." I said coldly and laid on my back, looking up at the stars.

***

Months passed and I grew to love the Company.

When we eventually reached Beaorn's farm, I ran faster than everyone else to get inside. "Woo!!!" I cheered as I sprinted and bounded yards ahead of them at full speed.

When I reached the doors, I forced them open and everyone hurried inside. We barely closed the door with Beaorn trying to get in. "Yes!!! We're here! Oh my goodness! We're actually here! Everything is so huge! Gandalf, can we play chess-" I froze when I saw Steel in a barn stall, he neighed happily and started kicking and bucking.

"Steel!!! My beautiful baby wall! I missed you sweetheart!!!" I cried and ran over, hugging the huge white horse.

The company each greeted the steed, I just stayed in his pen the whole of the night, when he slept, he bedded down and rest his large head on my lap.

Early the next morning, I got up and made a big plate of a meaty, hearty breakfast with potatoes, sausage, bacon, eggs, sausage gravy and biscuits.

I kept it warm for Beaorn and when he walked in, I bowed and held out the plate to him. "Please accept this beakfast as a token of my esteemed gratitude for allowing us to stay as long as you have...and for taking such good care of Steel for me. It's a great honor to meet someone of your particular talent and I hope that you forgive my companions, they are...rowdy, I am so sorry, Mi'Lord Beaorn." I said humbly and he stared at me, then the platter of food.

"Finally..." He said in his gruff voice. I looked up with wide eyes, he smiled at me. "An elf who knows how to cook a good meal. I am fond of elves, you shall have no quarrels with me...what do I call you?" He said.

I grinned. "I'm Princess Leandra of Lothlorien, Mi'Lord. It's good to know that there's another good man out there worth cooking for." I chuckled.

He chuckled as well then looked at me quizically. "Do you cut firewood...?"