A Lasting Legacy [ Thranduil X OC ]

Chapter 3

Arden sat down that night and stretched.
She had gotten up early that morning to do some hunting in Mirkwood forest.
Not for food but for any lingering spiders.
She nearly laughed at the thought of what Thranduil must have looked like when Tauriel had notified him of her return.
Little did he know she was just clearing up any lasting evils.
The time when darkness had taken over much of the forest was hard and insufferable for her people.
They lived solely off the land and what it provided but the darkness had killed nearly every living thing.
She had finally cleared their jungles of any remaining evils and was almost through with Mirkwood.
She thought back fondly to the time when she had free reign over Mirkwood and it's beautiful lands, much like Tauriel now.
The forest had always been her biggest comforter.
From when her and her people were banished, to losing Thranduil and then to losing both of her parents to orcs.
Not much made sense anymore or gave her hope but the forest did.
Her only constant.
Pacing the room, she tried to think of what needed to be done next.
The wind was cooler tonight and whipped into the crevices of her tent making her shiver.
She needed a real home and so did her people.
Not a palace or anything fancy, just a home.
It was long overdue and Arden was tired of being passed around by everyone.
Going to aid the race of men and dwarves had been the best thing she had ever done for her people.
Now The Iron Hills, Erebor, Rohan, Gondor and more were ever grateful to her.
All had said at one point or another that she could ask almost anything of them in the future and it would be granted.
She was counting on collecting soon.
Pulling out the flyer once more from her bedside, she read the information of the upcoming Starlight festival.
Lord Elronds' move to invite her and her kin to this celebration was the nicest thing anyone had done for them in centuries.
In fact Arden could not recall the last time someone had invited her to a social gathering.
Slowly the stigma of her people was wearing off.
She already knew what she would wear too. The one gown she owned, her mothers.
It had been handed down from the highborn elves in her kins' lineage since before time itself and she was eager to try it on.
She never got the chance to dress up, so she would make sure to savor this, not knowing when or even if she would be invited to another.
Later after her and Tauriel had met, a second group of guards had stumbled upon her.
The leader of the group and second in command of Tauriel was Aelrindel, a pupil she had taught herself when she was captain.
He had simply put his finger up to his lips and winked, bowing low before retracing his steps.
While she was tired of the constant insults from people, she would always take happiness in the fact that other elves treated them generally well.
This was partially due to the fact that she had trained many of Rivendell and Mirkwood's best warriors, Tauriel included.
Hearing a noise, Arden stopped her pacing a stood still, waiting.
An elf cleared his voice and announced him self out side.
Relaxing, Arden ushered him inside.
"What can I do for you Aego?"
With a low bow, her second in command continued.
"My queen, we have gotten word that orcs have crossed the border and have entered Ardors' realm."
Arden nodded.
"In the morning I will go with a patrol down to rid the land of them, is that all?"
Nodding, her general bowed once more and left the way he came.
Rubbing her temples, Arden sat once more.
There was so much to do.
But she would be damned if she let Thranduil and his patrol squash the orc filth before her. Almost a contest, Arden now raced anytime there was trouble and enjoyed the look of annoyance and sometimes hatred on Thranduils' face as she took care of his problems.
Ironic that her helping him only made him hate her more.
She would also not pass up an opportunity to see his beautiful face even if it was clouded in anger.
She didn't know why but the sight of him still made her heart beat faster.
He might have thought she was once his beloved but for Arden, he sadly never stopped being hers.
Even with all the torture he had put her through the last thousand years, she would still drop everything in a second to go help him if he needed it.
That was her greatest weakness, loving him, and he could never know.
Technically Mirkwood encompassed the lost Realm of Ardor but for centuries after their banishment, nothing had been done with the lands.
It was tough, jungle territory and no animals were able to be grazed nor crops grown.
That meant the land was useless to almost everyone.
Except them.
They had learned how to harvest the forests natural gifts and were living surprisingly well.
While her people were small in size, they were ever growing which is why a permanent kingdom would soon be needed.
And the only place they wanted was where no one else dared settle; Ardor.
Setting up her gear for the next morning, she changed into her nightgown and laid down to rest.
Elves didn't really sleep but she enjoyed resting her mind.
Perhaps a vision would come to her later.

*Fun Fact: Another aspect Tolkien is well known for is his ability to create new and complex languages for his characters.
Khuzdul is the official language his dwarfism characters speak throughout his books, however he states that he came up with the "language" well before the publication of his first book.
Based on Semitic languages, (a Family that includes Hebrew and Arabic) Khuzdul was designed to be specifically rooted in Hebrew. While Tolkien was careful to argue that there were no anti-Semitic implications or physical comparisons, he often noted similarities between the nationless and often undesirably-viewed peoples.