Playing with Fire [Legolas/Tauriel]

1: His Haunting Past

Chapter 1

Tauriel walked outside, beyond the gates, to the edge of the forest. He has to be here. And she was right.

Legolas sat at the edge of Greenwood, or Mirkwood, watching the stars. Tauriel smiled inwardly because though her best friend never admitted it much, this was where he felt at peace. But Legolas was not acting like himself. He had snapped at the guards and at his father, and his once bright blue eyes were dull and almost lifeless.

She tried to sneak up on him by padding quietly towards him, but Legolas was an elven archer. He knew better than that.

"I can hear you, Tauriel." His voice was toneless.

She sat next to him and looked at Legolas for the first time since the last patrol. His face was pale, even for an elf, and his eyes were a dark, cold blue. He did not acknowledge her.

"I am enjoying your necklace, mellon [friend]," she said, admiring the gold chain around his neck. A thick green teardrop emerald hung from it.

Legolas fingered the chain. "It is a gift from my mother."

She immediately stiffened. The Queen Anona was never out of her chambers. She was constantly ill, but no elf (at least no lowly Silvan elf) knew why Mirkwood never saw its queen. King Thranduil did not speak of it, and most were too afraid to ask. "I'm sorry, I did not-"

"It's all right. I did not expect you to know that my mother gives me gifts every so often to show her love for me." He smiled at the necklace. "This is particularly special."

They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the nightingales' song and the wind whistling through the branches.

Legolas watched her for a moment before asking, "Did my father give us permission to hunt the spiders to their source?"

"No." Tauriel's gaze hardened. "Doesn't he understand that the only way to get anything done is to leave this forest and track the spiders? That way they'll never come back." She slammed her fist on the cliff side. "His Majesty can be so frustrating."

Legolas was staring past the cliff and into the night. "There was once a time when the king was not so...cold. He was not ill tempered and bitter. It's a secret the royal family has kept for years and years."

Tauriel reached towards him. "Lego-"

"Tauriel." He looked directly at her now. "I trust you. With my life, and with my secrets, I trust you to no end."

"I will not reveal what you tell me." Tauriel understood now. He was giving her a task.

Legolas took a deep breath and began.

"Many, many years ago, when I was just an elfling and my sister was not born yet, my mother and my father were the happiest I had ever seen them. This was when my father was merely a prince and my grandfather was king. My father, yes our king would laugh and smile many times a day. And it was all thanks to Anona. My beautiful mother changed him like no other. It was as if her pure joy radiated and spread to all those around her. I loved spending time with my family. My mother taught me to heal and to find happiness around me, while my father taught me how to defend myself and fulfill my duties as the future prince and king. 500 years later, my parents welcomed my baby sister Kelda Filverel of Greenwood. It was Greenwood at the time. I thought everything was perfect. But-"

"But...?"Tauriel begged him to continue.

Legolas looked pained, but forced himself to keep going. "My father traveled a lot. As prince, he was a messenger and warrior for Greenwood, and he was extraordinary at anything he did. But his work often had him leave my mother with a son and baby daughter to look after. My mother was a common elf, who, for love, had married into royalty. She insisted on watching both of us herself, with no help from the palace elves. My father decided to visit the elves of Rivendell just in time for an Orc pack to come down from the North. They were looking for my father, but instead found his wife and their children. But, Tauriel, you know that Orcs are not sensible or patient creatures. Instead of waiting, they took my mother and sister to their lair and tortured my mother for information regarding my father and his plans once he became king. My father came home, and-"