An iceling in mirkwood ~ thranduil love story

Book 2: chapter 3~ the open road

The photo is of helke's new clothes! Merry Christmas and enjoy! :)
The next day helke awoke with a start and looked around. She did not recognise anything in the room she was held in. As she moved she felt a coldness against the skin of her ankles. She looked down to see a bracelet adorned on one ankle and a chain attached to the other. She could not remember anything, who she was, why she she was here, it felt like she had just been born. As she came round she realised that next to her was a young man with shoulder length blonde hair, a dark streak going through part of the left side. He snored gently and she watched him, trying to figure out whether she recognised him or not. She did not. The only thing she knew was that she felt mildly sad (for whatever reason), like something she loved had been taken from her. He stirred and she held her breathe and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. Luca sat up and scratched the back of his scalp and cleared his throat. He grabbed a change of clothes, his boots and a large white sheet and headed down to the deep river nearby, pushing the latch down on the outside of his caravan doors so helke could not get out. The sun was only just beginning to touch the horizon so nobody else was up, which meant he would be able to bath in peace. He had a few girls in his camp after his heart and it was beginning to irritate him, the way they stalked him. He washed quickly in the freezing river, dipping his head under and dried himself off as quickly as he could. Once dry he changed into a dark brown renaissance styled shirt, black trousers and the same boots. He trudged through the camp and unlocked the caravan door to see helke sitting up, looking panicky.
"Ah, you are awake" he chortled as he shut the door behind him.
"W-where am I? What am I doing here?!" She whispered panic stricken.
"I found you on the road whilst I was travelling" he lied but he was a good liar. "You were unconscious so I took you in"
"Why am I chained up then?" She asked and his brain thought fast.
"You don't know what you are do you?" He asked and she shook her head honestly. "An iceling"
"I know that word.....it is...." She trailed off as she thought hard.
"It is...?" He asked, waiting for her answer as he shrugged on his heavy, fur lined coat.
"I remember cold power....ice and snow" she admitted but it was all she could think of.
"Like this?" He asked, pulling off his gloves and pressing he hands to the wall. Instantly tiny ice crystals formed and linked together quickly, covering the wall in frost.
"How-"
"You as capable of such magic as well....but I have prevented it, you are not ready, too young" he explained as he put his glove back on and helke scowled.
"I will show you" he said and knelt down, taking off the anklet carefully. Instantly sharp ice cascaded around the inside of the caravan. He quickly linked the anklet again, smirking.
"You are scared" he said, in a mocking tone.
"Get this off of me!!" She begged, trying to pull the chain anklet off of herself.
"Don't waste your energy, it only responds to my touch" he said carelessly and she looked up afraid. "Come with me" he said and grabbed the chain she was attached to. He stepped down the steps and lead her out to where his horses were grazing.
"You're name is valladea now. All that you were is not important anymore. You are part of my camp and you are under my authority" he commanded and they walked through the camp. By now Men women and children walked around, doing daily tasks like cooking and cleaning but stopped and bowed as 'valladea' and luca walked around. He only nodded gratefully, occasionally smiling. A child suddenly ran out and accidentally bumped into his leg "be careful little on" he warned, kneeling down and getting the child on his feet once more. "Yes your highness" said the child before running off.
"You are royalty?" Valladea questioned. He did not LOOK like royalty. He was not dressed in silk and he did not have a crown.
"To these people" he said quietly as he looked around. "you're to stay in my cart, do you understand?" He questioned and valladea merely nodded. "I want you to be my guest, not prisoner"
"Guests are not forced to stay" valladea countered.
"Do not press my patience" he warned as they drew closer to his horse and caravan. He patted the horses nose before opening his caravan doors and stepping in.
"This is strange royalty" valladea commented.
"I do not sit on a throne and give orders, that kind of royalty is selfish. I live with my people and help them. That is the only way to rule fairly" he commented before locking helke to the wall again.
"What if I need the toilet?" Valladea asked quietly.
"Then you will tell me" he said beginning to pack up the bedding on the floor, folding them and putting them into baskets. He looked round at helke and looked her up and down and laughed. She was still in the elvish style dress but it was covered in dirt.
"If you are to travel with us, you may as well look like us" he chuckled. "Stay here" he commanded and shut the doors behind him.
"I'm not going anywhere" helke huffed, looking at the chain on her ankle. Luca strode over to a smaller caravan where a horse was tied up. "Hey chaff" he chuckled, stroking the horse's long nose. He tapped on the small door to the green caravan
"Adelaide?!" He called loudly. He heard scuffling inside and the door swung open, almost hitting him. He raised an eyebrow and Adelaide gasped. "Your highness! I'm sorry if I hit you-"
"Do not worry about that. I need to ask a favour of you" he requested.
"Yes! Yes of course sir come in!" She said and stepped back to give him room to enter. Her caravan was a lot smaller then her's but then again it was just her that lived in it.
"Do you have any spear clothes?" He asked and she quirked an eyebrow.
"Uh, yes sir" she nodded slowly at the odd request. Adelaide was one of the few women that Luca like, merely because she could do things for herself. She pulled out a long white skirt that she had dyed the hem of purple with berries and a normal white blouse. She handed them to Luca confusedly and he nodded in thanks.
"We have a new young women in the camp, I want you to welcome her kindly do you understand?" He asked.
"Yes sir" she nodded.
"She is....special. She is like me, only she is a full iceling" he explained and her eyes widened. "I think she may get along well with you Adelaide, you would...how do you say? Balance each other out" he chuckled, referring to adelaide's power over fire she had had since she was cursed as a baby. She was deserted as a baby and one of the older women on the camp had BEGGED her to let her keep her. And he had.
"Yes sir, thank you" she smiled and he stepped out, clothes in hand. He marched over to his caravan and opened and shut the door with his foot. She looked up at him embarrassedly when he dumped the clothes on her lap.
"Well?" He asked when she did not move.
"I-I....do I have to change in front of you?" She squeaked and Luca rolled his eyes.
"Women!" He muttered as he turned around to face the wall. He heard rustling off clothes as he said "you realise I am your ruler now? You have to do all that I say?" He asked and she stayed silent. "So I could turn around right now and there wouldn't be a thing you could do about it?" He pressed. He rustling stopped and he chuckled softly and kept his back turned. He peeped round when the rustling stopped once more to see her fully dressed. He nodded in approval as he looked her up and down.
"You look....acceptable" he mocked and she looked almost angry. "I'll get someone to do your hair later" he said as he opened half of the door so that he could look out on the camp.
"I do not need my hair-" she started but stopped upon seeing the look he was giving her. Something between a glare and grimace. "I am still confused as to why I am here your highness" she said as she sat on the seat in the small room.
"I could not just leave you on the road, so I picked you up and kept you alive. You should be thanking me really" he lied and she smiled.
"Thank you" she thanked
"So, what do you know of the world?" He questioned, testing fayla's magic.
"Nothing really. One minute I was lying in the forest floor surrounded by ice, the next I'm here" she sighed. He nodded softly then looked out. The sun was high In the sky by now and it was time to have something to eat. He strapped his belt to his hips and grabbed the key hanging on it.
"Are you hungry?" He asked and she nodded, only now realising she felt sick with hunger. "Arla!" He called through the half open window and a small, plump, middle aged women with shaggy ginger hair looked up.
"Yes your highness?" She asked.
"Get breakfast going will you?" He asked throwing her the key to the food cart. "Get Adelaide to help you with the fire!" He added.
"Yes your highness!!" She called scurrying over to the cart like some ginger mouse, making Luca chuckle. He may have been a fair king but he could have a bit of a temper sometime, especially with too much wine in his glass.
"What are these?" She asked, looking at the variety of bottles in a small Crete.
"Probably best you don't know" he smirked when she lifted one that contained a purple liquid. She looked at him bewildered before setting it down quickly.
"Who are you?" Asked helke as she sat down again and Luca pulled out a map of middle earth. It had just occurred to her she did not even know her saviour's name.
"Luca" he mumbled as he studied the map. He wanted to get as far away from the king as possible but keep to safe paths. "I am half iceling, a bit like you" he muttered as he measured the distance between his current location and a small clearing where markets were always close by. He did need to stock up on things like food and materials. He marked the location with a pencil as helke watched from the seat. "How are you half iceling?" She asked as he grabbed some scrap parchment.
"My-" he stopped mid sentence, trying to find a ink pot. He grabbed his last one and his quill and continued. "My mother was a very special iceling and fell in love with my father thousands of years ago. They had me, my father died and my mother was killed by dwarves when I was 100" he told her.
"How old are you now?" She asked.
"You lose count after awhile but I'd say about 1400?" He guessed and she raised her eyebrows. "How old are you?" He asked as he scribbled down things he would need.
"I-I don't know" she admitted, smiling sadly.
"Oh well, age is just a number" he said and left the ink to dry. "Bloody hell, where's that food? I'm starving!" He exclaimed and unlatched the half door again and looked out to see arla cooking something in a big metal cauldron over the fire as Adelaide watched.
"Have you always lived like this?" She asked and he sat on the chair opposite and he laughed.
"No...no when I was about 300 I bought this little thing. Wanted to get away from my village. They never treated me the same after my mother died. Looked at me as if I were some disease." He remembered coldly, staring at the floor.
"That must have been terrible" helke said sympathetically.
"You learn to live with these things. After awhile people began joining me. Other people that felt like outcasts. It's been that way ever since. King of the gypsies people call me" he chuckled and lit his pipe.
"You can do magic" helke stated.
"So can you" he quipped.
"I cannot control mine" she returned.
"No you cannot" he stared cooly into her eyes and she felt small compared to him. "I can teach you to control it but it will be much hard work" he warned and helke nodded.
"I don't want to hurt anybody" she confessed.
"As long as you keep that on, you'll be find" he promised, pointing to the anklet with his pipe.
"Thank you" she said quietly and watched his as he blew out a smokey breathe like some sort of dragon. She watched as he blew rings and they disappeared upwards "is it hard being a leader?" She asked as he rested his head on the wall and closed his eyes.
"Not really. It's a lot of responsibility but you meet interesting people" he sighed and she smiled. As he closed his eyes she admired his features. High striking cheek bones with a well curved jawbone. His nose just the right shape and size for his face and his eye spaced apart evenly. He had medium sized shoulders and was medium size In general with a muscular torso and long legs. He seemed to have a sort of scowl permanently on his face (or at least the outline of one) and the front parts of his hair had been twisted and tied back. Even she could not deny he had good looks. Sudden there was a loud clanging noise, like a stick being hit against a metal pot. Well, that's what it was. It was the closest thing to a dinner bell they had. Luca's bluey-white eyes shot open and he stood quickly
"Finally" he sighed and made his way to the door. "Come on" he said and stepped down the steps of his wooden caravan and helped helke down the steps as well and they headed towards where everyone had gathered for breakfast.
After breakfast Luca got two middle aged women to braid helke's hair and intwined it with daises so it was tied back neatly. Afterwards she climbed into the back if Luca's caravan and he chained her against the wall.
"Knock if you need anything, okay?" He asked and she nodded tiredly. The spell of fayla's had taken quite a knock on her energy. Luca climbed onto the front seat and whistled a high note. Kealoma and seabous trotted on obediently and Luca was in his favourite place, on the open road...