Playing with Fire [Legolas/Tauriel]

6: Eyela

Chapter 6

Thranduil and Legolas sat at the heads of the table, with a she-elf on either side. Legolas kept his eyes trained on his plate, refusing to respond with anything more than a syllable. He could feel his father's disapproving stare and could have cared less. This isn't what I signed up for.

"So...Legolas," Eyela had been trying to get a conversation started for ages. Across the table, Thranduil and Arwen were discussing Lord Elrond.

"Yes?" Legolas mumbled to the table.

"I...er, was wondering what you like to do these days." He flinched as he felt her hand rest on his own. "Do you still love the stars?"

"The stars..." Tauriel loves the stars, he wanted to say. Easily as much as me, maybe more. No. He shook himself out of it. "I do enjoy the stars." I do wish you would retract your hand, he thought.

"That's wonderful!" She moved closer. "I love the stars as well. Why don't we go and watch them, after dinner?"

He opened his mouth and was about to make an excuse, when he heard Thranduil's voice, "He would love to. Wouldn't you, ion nin?"

Legolas took a deep breath and stirred his soup for a moment before whispering, "Of course. I'd love to."

"What else do you like?" Eyela pressed, her hand still delicately placed on top of his.

He could feel all the eyes at the table on him, so he simply said, "I enjoy fighting along side the Guard."

"Surely Legolas," he heard the disguised anger in his father's tone. "You can tell us more about that."

He looked up and tried to imagine the forest. "What else can I say? With my horse, on my stead, we can go anywhere. We could explore the deep forest vines, or pick a fight with a nest of spiders. With the Guard, I feel as though they are my family. We fight and achieve victory as one. We are united, as a kingdom should be. That is what I love about fighting alongside the Guard. It is my greatest pleasure and joy. There is nothing quite like it."

When he was finished, he noticed the room was hushed. His father was watching him with a curious expression; Arwen and Eyela looked delighted.

"That's the Legolas I remember," Arwen gazed at him with pride, and he felt heat rising to his face.

After a fabulous dinner and a scrumptious dessert, Arwen spoke.

"This has been wonderful. I, however, am exhausted, and am going to head straight to bed." She smiled at her cousin. "Eyela, why don't you go with Legolas to see the stars?"

So this is their plan. Both Arwen and Ada know exactly what they're doing. Legolas politely stood up and inclined his head to Arwen and Thrandul as they left. So be it. This isn't her fault. He offered Eyela his hand.

"May I?"

Her face lit up. "Of course, your Highness."

They walked past the bridge, and to the end of the Mirkwood territory, to the waterfalls. He knew, from the past, that if Eyela had a true love in nature, it would be the water. Her eyes seemed to reflect the pure blue as they walked past it.

They talked about all sorts of casual things: royal duties, Rivendell, and of course, the death of Eyela's father.

"I do miss him," Eyela crouched by the water and ran her hand through it. "But I believe that he is happier where he is now. With my mother, and my sisters."

Legolas watched her carefully, without saying a word. What could he say? She had lost her entire family to the sickness. Finally, he said, "I knew that you were strong, but the path that you have to choose is hard. What will you do, without your parents and sisters in Rivendell?"