Lost and Found [Thranduil love story]

Chapter 1: Escape

The ring slipped onto my finger like it's been made for it. Beautiful white stone turned yellow to fit my mood. Finally, it was over. The quest, the journey, the adventure, all have come to an end. None of my companions had died and the kingdom's been saved. I could rest and get ready for another one. Or so I thought...

At first, I did not understand who they were talking about. Something about the ring, the queen and some sacred, old prophecy. Then it hit me. Five very old and very powerful wizards had just announced me as a future ruler of this land. Oh, joy. Was there a back door I could escape by anywhere? 

A strong arm stopped me, when I tried to back away silently. I was not delusional about my possibilities: a great, almost empty hall was not something you could slip away from unnoticed. Still, it felt sad to be caught almost immediately. I looked up into knight's face. Beautiful green eyes looked back at me with disdain. That darkened my mood even further. Oh yeah, my future captain of the guard did not seem to like me at all. The feeling was mutual. Pompous, overly handsome men have never been my type, and this one has given me more than fair share of his enormous ego. I felt almost regretful about saving his life twice during our journey, and I was quite sure he disliked the fact just as much. After all, a little girl saving your ass sounds quite lame for a powerful knight.

He pushed me towards the wizards, who have just prepared the crown for me, no doubt feeling sick pleasure when he had to almost drag me the last few steps, and hold in place by force.
And then it was over. With few words and one iron circle put on my head, the ceremony and my life have both ended.

But you probably don't know what's happening, do you? I've not been telling this story right. So, let's start from the beginning. Well... almost. I'll skip the part about being born and such.

My name is Anne. Just Anne, nothing fancy.

For the last few months, I've been looking for an old artifact. There was this story about it's great power, and some people trying to steal it for evil purposes. I felt inclined to help, since I had nowhere to go anyway, being homeless after my house burned down with together with everything I possessed. I silently hoped to get some reward for my effort. Like some gold or at least a place to stay.

After many, many adventures and troubles, I finally found it. It was a magical ring, and I've been stupid and reckless enough to put it on. These were the consequences.

It turned out there has been a prophecy about some woman who would recover the ring, put it on and rule the kingdom, making it prosperous and safe again.

And they thought it was me.

I didn't, but no one seemed to care.

I was coronated, sat on the throne, and made to perform all the duties.

And I hated it.

Being a queen was far from what they show in the movies. I had to get up early, learn to walk and speak properly, read and sign the documents, hear pleads of different and usually not very wise people, who expected me to perform miracles and most importantly: find a husband and produce a heir.

No wonder that by the end of the month I was out in the garden, hiding among the bushes from my dutiful and extremely serious advisor, who hunted me down like a high class hound.
I could not escape, since there was no river around, and my small magical ability allowed me to fly with great speed only above the surface of the water. Everywhere else, I was useless and just a human woman. Considering the dress and high heels I was wearing, running or climbing was out of question anyway, even if I happened to excel in them.

I was just sneaking next to the small pond, when I heard my advisor's, Marcus's voice. Startled, I quickened my pace and tripped over my way-too-long-dress, falling into the cold water. I used my magic, expecting to fly above the surface of the pond, however instead I felt a strong pull, and suddenly everything went dark.

I woke up lying on the grass in an unfamiliar surrounding. The sun was shining, but it did not give much warmth. There were no trees around, just some rocks and, most importantly, no people. No one I could ask for directions, no one who could recognize me and escort me back to the palace. Great! I suddenly felt extremely excited. Goodbye duties, welcome adventure! ... Or so I thought, until I heard distant growls, belonging to some very large dogs, and saw what was riding them.

Like I had mentioned before: running was not one of my best skills, and wearing my special, royal gown I was no match for anyone except maybe some half paralysed grandpa. So I just moved quickly towards one of the closest rocks, hoping that the monsters were busy with something else and not interested in killing me, as they have definitely seen me already.

I got to the rock, but when I tried to hide behind it, I found some little and very dirty men pointing their weapons at me.

"Um... Hello?" I tried, as there wasn't really the right thing to say.

"She's not an Ork," Said one of them, lowering the bow.

"Really, woman, we're being attacked!" exclaimed the other, pulling me down, on the ground. "And what are you doing here anyway?" He whispered, which seemed to be pointless right now, for I was sure we have already been heard.

"Shh." The rest of the company silenced him.

I just laid low and waited, thinking that I had definitely more luck than sense. First few minutes of troubles, and I've already found someone to protect me.

After a while of silence, we heard something walking above us, on the rock. I felt my heart race faster and faster, while waiting to be discovered. Before that could happen, however, one of the men used his bow, to hurt the big-wolf-looking beast. When it fell, the rest killed it and its rider, but before dying big dog managed to howl in agony and alert its companions to our presence. I knew we had to run, and it seemed that my protectors knew it too.

I was pulled up and dragged along. Happy that they didn't just leave me behind, I tried to run as fast as I could, considering my outfit. Creatures called Orcs were just behind us, and for a moment I was almost sure I was going to be caught and killed.

Then some old man with pointy hat and strange looking staff popped up in front of us, shouting to follow him. And we did.

There was a hole under one of the rocks. I didn't know where it led and didn't care. I jumped in, tripped and fell. Right after me fell in an ugly dead body with an arrow in its neck. I screamed and backed away, just in case it wasn't completely dead. I saw fourteen small men and one tall looking at me with their eyebrows high, surprise written all over their faces and felt myself blush. I knew that what I did was hysterical and undignified, but I couldn't help myself. There were no such monsters where I came from, and I was quite creeped out by them.

Finally, the tallest of the little men pulled out the arrow and frowned.

"Elves," he said, sounding quite displeased.

"I cannot see where the path leads," Shouted the other, almost equally tall and bald. He moved forward into this strange cross between a cave and a tunnel, checking what was ahead. "Do we follow it or not?"
"Follow it, of course," someone said, and everyone moved forward. I stood up, and started to walk too, but I was stopped by the wizard – at least I suspected he was one.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" He asked, curious but not angry.

"My name is Anne" I introduced myself. "I'm here by accident. It's really complicated, I don't think we have enough time to talk about it now... Later perhaps?" I tried to look nice and innocent, which wasn't hard, since I've always been quite petite and sweet-looking. That was also the reason why I hated being the queen. Everyone thought I was just a cute doll and it was taking a lot of time and energy to convince them otherwise.

"Agreed." Said the man. "I'm Gandalf the Grey, and you are now in the company of Thorin Oakenshield." He moved his head, pointing at the tallest dwarf, who was standing next to us, eyeing me suspiciously. I bowed my head with respect, but got no reaction. The small man just moved after his companions.

"Don't mind him." Said Gandalf, seeing my perplexed expression. "Now, shall we?" He asked, leading me after the rest of the men.

"Where are we going?" I wanted to know. If there were going to be more of those monsters, I wanted to know beforehand.

"To Rivendell," he whispered into my ear. "Home of the elves. A safe place."