Legolas and Tauriel: What I Did For Love

20: A Discovery

[Tauriel POV]

The hunting trip was a flop from the beginning. First of all, I was too distracted to catch anything. Second, Sarnlen wouldn't stop staring at me. Thankfully, Halmad was completely unaware that anything was wrong. It helped that we hardly knew each other. Sarnlen, however, was a different matter.

The second day, we left with only five rabbits and two doe, all of which Halmad caught. If we were lucky, that would last about a day in the camp. As the winter progressed, our numbers had swelled, making it harder and harder to feed everyone and people were still trickling in. The captain had spoken of splitting into two groups for the remainder of the winter.

About an hour after leaving our campsite, the trail we were following suddenly widened. We all halted. Just in front of us, a wide swath was trampled and cut across the trail. I dismounted and knelt to study the ground.

Every plant in an eight-foot-wide strip had been trampled and ground underneath at least a hundred of iron-shod feet. Many of the bushes and trees to either side were slashed with axes and swords. The trial crossed our path and wound its way farther into the trees.

"Orcs," I said, recognizing the trail immediately. "But what are they doing here? They haven't ventured this low in the mountains in years. Not at this time of year at least."

Sarnlen shook his head. "I don't know. Halmad, you've been here longer than us, what do you think?"

Halmad frowned thoughtfully. "Like you said, Tauriel, they don't normally come this low. I don't know. We ought to investigate it, though."

I nodded. "Right, Sarnlen and I can follow the trail, you can watch the horses. We can't leave them alone."

He frowned again. "I don't know. I think I should go. You'll need my tracking skills. Sarnlen and I will go."

I bristled. "I have more tracking experience than both of you combined."

"I seriously doubt that. I'm nearly fifty and have been tracking things since I could walk."

"Really? How old do you think I am?"

Halmad shrugged. "Twenty?"

I rolled my eyes. "I am an elf! I'm over 2000!"

Sarnlen's jaw dropped and Halmad didn't look much better. I smiled.

"Point made," said Sarnlen. "You two can go."

Halmad shook his head. "No, I think the two of you should go."

"Guys," I said, "we're wasting daylight. Make up your mind."

Halmad hesitated. "You should go Sarnlen. I'll stay."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

Reluctantly, Sarnlen dismounted and handed Halmad his reigns.

Silently, we made our way down the trail. It didn't take much effort, though. A child would have no difficulty tracking orcs. After about fifteen minutes, I stopped.

"What?" asked Sarnlen.

"Look." I pointed off to our right. There, a second trail, this one less visible and wide, joined the first. "They stopped here. To talk to whoever they met up with, I'm assuming. The trails are the same age."

"But who would they meet with besides other orcs?" asked Sarnlen. "That isn't an orc trail."

I shook my head. There was only one way to find out. We pressed on.

After a few hours, long after dark, we saw the distant glow of a campfire. Drawing closer, it was apparent that there was more than one. A few hundred yards from them, I called a halt.

"I'm going to sneak around to the right. You take the left. See if you can find anything that might give us a clue as to why they are here."

He nodded and we parted.

Slowly, I glided through the trees towards the camp. I could hear the harsh, grating voices of the orcs and the lusty, sharp voices of Men. I frowned. Men and orcs in the same camp? Something was wrong.

Luckily, there were only a few, inattentive sentries that were easily avoided.

The camp was small, made up of about fifteen orcs and the same amount of men. From their clothes, I could see they were from the regions south of Gondor. The Haradrim. But what were they doing here?

I could hear some sort of conversation going on in the center of camp. It being a man and an orc talking, they spoke the Common Tongue, but I was too far away to make out the words. I needed to get closer. Looking around, there was little I could use for cover. There were a few tents for the southerners staked to my right, the largest being roughly twenty feet away from the conversation I wanted to hear. I slid towards these.

Each tent was built to hold two men except the biggest. That one, evidently belonging to the man talking, the leader, was meant for one, very esteemed, man. I made my way towards it. Fortunately, it appeared that all the Southerners were gathered around their leader and this area of the camp was deserted.

I reached the rear of the tent pressed my ear against the side. I heard nothing. I still couldn't make out the discussion. Searching, I found a slit in the canvas near the right pole and peaked inside. It was empty. With a quick scan about me, I slipped one of my knives into the slash and slit it al the way to the ground. I ducked inside.

The inside was barely furnished. There were only a cot and a folding table and chair. The ground was covered in skins. On the bed was a bulging pack and I rummaged through it. There was nothing helpful inside, unfortunately, but on the table was a rather lumpy package wrapped in oilskin and bound with a wide band of leather. Hurriedly, I fumbled the package open.

I gasped as the wrapping fell away. Inside were around twenty Mirkwood knives and swords. Most were the standard issue given to soldiers but one knife I grasped with trembling hands. There was no other like it. In my hands I held the dagger of the most powerful man in Mirkwood.

King Thranduil.

A/N: Hey guys! Yes, I know it's been a while since I've updated, but Christmas! It's kept me super busy. This, I've worked on for about a month now, slowly adding to it. I meant to make it progress further into the story but it took more words to tell it than I expected. She was gonna give Legolas her answer and everything! But I'll save that for the next one.

Anyway, enjoy!

And Merry Christmas, everyone!!!!