Silverpath: The Calling

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The loud sounding of hooves against the cave floor jerked Lekrisa away from her sleep. The she-elf quietly glanced out her window, sighting four elven riders riding up the road.
The messengers of the council have returned! She thought, wondering if she should hide or not. She decided to follow, quickly throwing her cloak on and ran outside. She wasn't the only one who was curious; many elves also followed the returning elves to the throneroom. Quickening her speed, she followed the group quietly as they walked past the tall doors into the king's halls. Lekrisa stood on the tips of her toes and saw King Thranduil and Queen Taléra addressing the horsemen.
“We bring word from the council!” The lead elf said, dismounting from his horse. The king simply stared back at him questioningly.
“You return with four, not five,” Taléra started to say, “Where is Legolas?” Lekrisa's heart stopped suddenly. She never realized that one of the horses was riderless. No, she thought, he couldn't be.
“He has went on a quest with eight others.” The leader replied. Legolas' brother was still seated on his black stallion, his head slightly lowered. “They have found the one ring of power,” he suddenly said. “Sauron is reawakening.”
A gasp aroused in the crowd, and many murmured in fear. Lekrisa, who had just recovered from learning that Legolas was not dead, drew in a deep breath.
Thranduil, noticing the small audience's reaction, turned his attention on them. “Please, leave and take your rest. All of you will be hearing of this news tonight, for we will hold a feast for the return of our messengers!” he said, seeming to note that he didn't want his people to hear any of this right now. The group started to fall apart, walking back out the door with fear crackling in the air. The guards took the horses, leading them to their stables.
Lekrisa had instead decided to stay, hiding behind a door. She didn't care if they didn't want her here; she was going to know about what happened at the council now.
“Now we can talk in peace,” Thranduil said, sighing lightly.
The leader started to speak, telling them about the hobbit named Frodo that brought the ring to the council. Lekrisa listened in silence, daring to peek out from behind the door. She heard about Elrond's decision to send someone to Mordor and cast the ring into Mount Doom in order to destroy it. The council had decided to choose Frodo as the ringbearer since he had traveled from the Shire to Rivendell safely. They chose eight members to travel with him: three hobbits, two men, a dwarf, Mithrandir, and Legolas.
As the elf told of him joining the group, Arodras seemed to turn his head away with shame. Unfortunately, he turned to look in Lekrisa's direction. He immediately caught her eyes, and he narrowed his eyes with confusion, Lekrisa stared back, not knowing what to do. She quickly pulled back behind the door. Surely he wouldn't give away her position! She hoped to herself, clutching the chain around her neck. To her dismay, she noticed that she had not kept the necklace hidden. She tucked the charm under her dress, once again listening in on their conversation.
“... What should we do for the time being?” The elf finally finished his speech and now asked the king a question.
“We should keep an eye out for any danger, and be ready if battle approaches.” Thranduil answered.
“What about Legolas?” Taléra asked, her voice filled with worry for her child.
“Perhaps we should ask Lekrisa about that,” her husband said.
Surprise filled Lekrisa when she heard her name. In fact, Thranduil seemed to direct that question to her. “What do you think, Lekrisa?” Thranduil asked again.
Not wishing to get into anymore trouble than she was already in, she quietly stepped out from behind the door. The six elves all gazed at her, and she blushed with embarrassment. How foolish she was to think that no one would notice her.
“I really don't know. He has made a very difficult decision,” she began to say, “But he is strong, and I highly doubt that death would take him this early. If he were to die, he would go down fighting.”
“And do you think that Lord Elrond's decision was right?”
“Yes, I believe that no one could have made a wiser decision.”
“Thank you for answering my questions,” Thranduil said softly. “You are dismissed.” Lekrisa bowed quietly and quickly left, still blushing brightly with embarrassment.

~()~
Once she got home, Lekrisa visited her father in his forge. After nearly two months since King Thranduil had ordered for the armor, Keldar had made one hundred and twenty. He worked all day and night, only taking time off to eat a meal. He now listened as his daughter related to him of what she heard.
“We live in dark times,” he said quietly. He placed a hand in his soot covered, blond hair. Lekrisa watched her father, placing a hand on his shoulder like she always did when she was small.
“Well, perhaps we will prevail this time.” He smiled up at his daughter.
Lekrisa seated next to him on the stone. “I'm going to go hunting today, Ada,” she told him. “I plan to hunt in the southern woods, and come back in time for dinner. I noticed that our food supply is slightly running low.”
“Oh, is it?”
“Yes, Ada.”
“In that case, go ahead. Just make sure you'll be back on time.”
Lekrisa stood up, getting ready to leave. Keldar stopped her by grabbing her arm. “Be careful.” He said, gently squeezing her hand. She nodded and quickly ran back upstairs to her room.
When she reached her room, she changed into her hunting clothes, placing her quiver on her back.
“You're going hunting?” Someone suddenly spoke, making her head jerk up with surprise. She instantly spotted Arodras standing in her doorway.
“What are you doing here?” she asked with suspicion.
“I wanted to talk to you.” Arodras stepped into her room, seeming as if she invited him, of which she did not. “Legolas only went on that quest because of me. I wanted to go instead, but he told me not to.” He walked closer to her. “So I told him that I would only stay if he went in my place. He had no choice, and it wasn't his decision to go on that mission, so you must not be mad at him.”
“Why would I get mad?” Lekrisa asked, slightly uncomfortable.
“Because you wear this,” Arodras pulled out the necklace from its hiding. “Unless you don't know what it means.”
“It's his birthright-”
“If he does return and the ring destroyed, he will ask you to marry him. But according to what I see, he has already asked and you had accepted.”
“What? I had no-”
“I'm slightly surprised that you keep it hidden. Someone else would have wore it proudly, since they were chosen to provide the heirs of the kingdom.”
“What do you mean by 'providing the heirs of the kingdom'?” Lekrisa asked softly.
“Don't you know? Sons, daughters. Bearing his children.”
“Wait, bearing his-”
“You'd be his wife and the future-”
“Wife?!” Lekrisa gasped, her eyes widened with horror. “But he never asked me, and I never knew... Oh no! Are you the only person that knows about this?”
“I think so. I didn't notice anyone else looking at you with surprise. But why would you wear the birthright if he didn't ask you yet?”
“Even if he did ask me, I would have said no.”
“But he chose you of all people,” Arodras paused. “Well really, who wouldn't?”
“Maybe he gave it to me for a different reason,” Lekrisa said, trying to reassure herself. “I need to start hunting.” She grabbed her bow, her hand shaking slightly.
“You know that Legolas would be heartbroken if you said-”
Lekrisa quickly ran out, not wishing to hear anything else Arodras had to say.

~()~
A few branches snapped as she walked through the trees. Even though she was an elf, she was extremely noisy when she was angry. All the prey that she could have easily hunted, fled from her path. Lekrisa trampled along, an arrow notched in her lowered bow.
She stopped by a small river and splashed the cool water on her face. It was near lunchtime, and her stomach growled with hunger. She glanced down at her reflection, only to splash the water angrily. Get a hold of yourself, she thought. How are you going to catch some prey when you're angry?
Lekrisa took the silver chain off. This is what causes me anger. This and that stupid person who gave it to me. She tossed it in the stream, wishing that the waters would take it away. But to her disappointment, the necklace sunk to the bottom, unaffected by the current. She looked away, turning her gaze on the trees.
Why did I even wear that stupid thing? She asked herself. Wife, princess of Mirkwood. I'd be nothing but a slave to him. In fact, she did have feelings towards him, but she just didn't want to admit it. When I became friends with him, I never expected to marry him. I always thought I would just spend time with him and help him with advise, nothing more than that.
She would be giving him her freedom, her body, her life, everything. She'd be expected to bear him children, live with him, and sleep with him by her side. She didn't expect any of this to happen in their friendship, and she would make sure that it wouldn't happen at all.
Lekrisa again splashed some water on her face, washing her anger away. She decided to put the necklace back on, saying that she would give it back to Legolas when he returned. She continued to walk south, her steps now soft and silent.
After several hours of walking, Lekrisa had shot six rabbits. She was about to head back home when she spotted a medium-sized brown bird not standing but a few feet away from her. Grabbing another arrow, she notched it on her bow. The stupid thing saw her and instead of running, it just stared back at her. As far as she could see, the bird didn't have a tail and it seemed to be flightless with its small wings. Lekrisa quickly shot the bird, placing it in her pack along with the rabbits. That was the strangest bird I've ever seen, she said to herself, I wonder if there are anymore.
She headed south for a little bit, knowing that if she just took a quick look she could be back home on time. To her dismay, there were no more of the strange birds, and she stopped by a stream nearby to take a drink.
As she bent down to scoop some water in her hands, she heard a loud crack nearby. She slowly turned her eyes towards the sound and saw an elk also drinking near her. The bull was huge, and Lekrisa quickly noticed his antlers. There were only three, confirming her thought that the elk was Paun.
Paun was the oldest elk in the forest, known as the Lord of the Wildlands. It was said that if anyone was able to kill the elk, great wealth and luck would come to them. Lekrisa watched the bull quietly. Paun was rarely seen by others, always hiding in his woods at day.
She slowly grabbed an arrow and quietly notched it. I could take him down easily. She thought, pulling the bowstring back. I could kill him.
She loosened the string and her arrow dug into the elk's shoulder. The animal bellowed in pain, then turned towards her. To her surprise, it let out a roar and ran towards her. She shot another arrow into its shoulder, but it didn't even stop. Lekrisa started to run, quickly heading back to the trees. Oh help me Valar, she prayed silently, scrambling through the trees.
But to her dismay, she could not outrun it. Should I climb a tree? She wondered. But it was too late to do that, for at that very moment, her foot caught on a tree root, causing her to trip. The elk caught her in its antlers before she even reached the ground and swung its head, tossing her against a rock. Her body slammed against the stone like a ragdoll, and she felt her arm break underneath her. Sudden pain rushed through her body and she saw blood drip down into her eyes. Behind the blood, she saw the elk rearing up, ready to kill her. Why did I have to be so foolish?
The last thing she felt was the cold chain fall against her breast.

~()~
At that same time, but many miles away, Legolas flinched suddenly. Aragorn noticed it and gazed at him with worry.
“Are you alright?”his friend asked. The elf nodded, not so sure why he had suddenly felt cold for a moment.
“I'm fine. I just got, uneasy for a while,” he said.
Aragorn placed his hand on the elf's shoulder. “It will wear away,” the man said.
Legolas nodded and slowed down to the end of the group. He pulled the moonstone amulet out and stared at the stone. For some strange reason, the stone's light was starting to fade slightly. Worry filled him and he gazed northwards.
Lekrisa.