Work Text:
I aur ir i iell en taur non Hest
-
The day when the daughter of the forest was Captain
When Tauriel opened her eyes that morning, she had already been awake for what had felt like hours.
As soon as the sky she could see above her through a small opening in the rock of the King's Halls, had begun to lighten, announcing the imminent dawn, the red-haired elleth (she-elf) had no longer been able to sleep. As a child she would surely have gotten up and started walking up and down the room, read a book, or, if she felt particularly brave that night, she would have ventured to sneak into Legolas' rooms without being seen by the tirith (guards) and would have spent the night telling stories of past heroes with her mellon (friend).
However, she was no longer a little elfling and so she made an effort to stay in bed with her eyes closed at least until dawn. When the sun wished good morning to Ennor (Middle-earth), Tauriel could not resist any longer and threw the blanket to a side.
She got up and dressed in her favorite training uniform, then washed her face with fresh water. Before braiding her hair, Tauriel took a few moments to look in the mirror. Had she changed so much in recent years? Her face had definitely become more angular and her cheekbones more defined. Her formes had obviously rounded off, although she had to admit that she did not have much to present. She was probably pretty, but honestly not an outstanding beauty, she thought. But then she smiled, thinking that the other ellith (she-elves) could keep all their charm, she had other talents she was proud of, for example a good dose of skill with daggers or archery.
She finished her little braids and then took one last big breath. Today was the day. Today she would come of age. It was her first day as an adult.
In reality there was nothing in particular to do unless you were part of the nobility and therefore large feasts were held for the occasion. Usually it was celebrated in the family, but since Tauriel was an orphan there were no particular plans, but that did not make her sad.
She left her rooms and having gotten up early, she had time to enjoy a good breakfast calmly, without fear of arriving late for training. That was another thing that would have changed from that day on, once elves came of age there were no more scheduled trainings. Each gaud (warrior) was simply free to go to the training field and practice and as much as Tauriel had looked up to her instructor, she was happy enough not to have to follow his exhaustive training anymore.
When the red-haired elleth (she-elf) arrived at the field she noticed that she was not the only one to be an early riser. It was not very full, but there was already a good number of goed (warriors) training. Legolas was also among them, obviously as Ernil (Prince) he could very well have practiced in some private space reserved for the royal family, but her mellon (friend) preferred to be with the other elves.
In the training camp there were certain rules to be respected for the discipline even for adults, so Tauriel silently made her way to the armory. She was particularly in a good mood and so she decided that she would also have trained with the sword which was not really her favorite weapon. After that she went to Legolas and greeted him, formally bowing her head, since they were not alone. The Ernil (Prince) gave her a warm smile that expressed all his wishes, but he also remained silent. For joyful congratulations there would have been time later.
Tauriel felt a little insecure among adults, until the day before she had trained with her group and was now a little intimidated. Her mellon (friend) pointed to the sword she held in her hand: "Practice a little?", he proposed in a low voice. The elleth (she-elf) was grateful to distract herself from her doubts and nodded happily.
The sword had never been among her favorite weapons and therefore, although she knew the basic techniques like all warriors, she had never really felt comfortable with it. Legolas preferred the bow, but the fact that his adar (father), the Aran (King), was the best swordsman in the Greenwood, if not one of the best in all of Ennor (Middle-earth), gave him some advantages.
Her mellon (friend) was stronger than her and Tauriel had always been quite small for an Elf, however, due to that, she had learned from an early age that she had to rely on her agility, velocity and precision of her movements.
With the daggers that tactic worked quite well and the elleth (she-elf) was a challenging opponent. Even Legolas could never be sure to win a duel against Tauriel if they used daggers.
In swordsmanship however, strength was a key point and so the red-haired elleth (she-elf) slowly started to lose control of the duel and after a while she was disarmed by Legolas to her distress. She let out a frustrated snort to which the Ernil (Prince) responded with an amused smile: "You are getting better, mellon nin (my friend), just not good enough to beat me.", he said in a low voice, in order not to disturb the other Elves.
Tauriel glared at him and raised an eyebrow: "I have never really appreciated the sword and I fear that I will never be particularly good at it.", she admitted, while picking up the sword from the ground. "You footwork is very good and your movements clean, you just need a bit more endurance.", her friend told to encourage her.
The elleth (she-elf) brought the sword back to the armoury and took some daggers instead with a smile on her lips, now it was time for revenge.
The advantage of having shorter blades was that you could get closer to the opponent and so no overuse of strength was necessary to strike, however a smaller distance also meant less protection against the other.
Legolas was blocking Tauriel's right wrist with his hands and she was furiously trying to break free, unfortunately some moments after he realised that it had all just been a trick to distract him, when he saw his mellon (friend) pointing her daggers at his neck with a triumphant smile, she looked fierce and beautiful.
After that they both practiced a bit with the bow and when the sun was already high in the sky they decided to leave the field. That training had ended in a draw, but Tauriel knew that even if she had lost both of the duels, she would not have been upset because on that day she felt a special happiness and nothing could put her in a bad mood.
She was about to go to her rooms to enjoy a nice hot bath, when Legolas stopped her with a questioning look: "Where are you going?". "To my rooms to get some rest and then eat something before this afternoon's training.", she said quite obviously.
The Ernil (Prince) had a special smile painted on his face, he was definitely up to something: "No, you are not. Today you come of age, so we have other plans and...", he paused and Tauriel gave him an amused look: "We? What about training in the afternoon?", she laughed.
Legolas nodded: "Indeed, we have. And you will not be able to have train this afternoon anyways, because you have an appointment with the Aran (King) in the Throne Hall.", he informed her.
The elleth (she-elf) had a confused look on her face and the Prince thought that it looked gorgeous. "With the…? But nobody told me that I am summoned by the Aran (King).", she said and seemed almost concerned. Her mellon (friend) chuckled: "Well, I just did. Now come, I would like to show you something.".
Tauriel followed Legolas outside the King's Halls and into the woods. He seemed to look for a particular tree and finally stopped in front of an old oak. The red-haired elleth (she-elf) gave him a questioning look.
"Do you remember that some weeks ago you got terribly angry at me because I was going on a trip to Esgaroth (Lake-town) and you were not allowed to come? Since...", he explained, but was interrupted by his friend: "I think you are exaggerating a bit, I was not 'terribly angry', I just thought that it was not fair.", she specified.
Legolas laughed heartily: "You were quite intimidating, mellon nin (my friend), however that is not the point. You said that you wanted to see the famous mountain in which Smaug dwells so badly, so I thought of something. ", he said and invited her to climb up the oak with a movement of his hand.
They climbed branch after branch and Tauriel almost felt like laughing because she had just come of age and was climbing a tree with Legolas as they did when she was still an elfling and her mellon (friend) still far away from adulthood.
The oak was old and its bark thick and rough, but most of all the tree was very tall, so that it exceeded the crowns of the other trees in height. The red-haired elleth (she-elf) stopped on a branch that was quite high, but still very large so that one could comfortably sit on it, then she turned her attention to the view.
It was breathtaking and Tauriel immediately knew that it was one of the most beautiful things that she had ever seen. The sun and its rays intensified the colours of the leaves of the entire forest that could be seen and then, a lonely mountain stood out at the blue horizon, some little white clouds where caressing it.
The panorama seemed to have robbed her of her voice, because for some moments she simply sar there, her eyes wide open.
When Legolas reached the same branch and set besides her she just managed to whisper: "It is wonderful.".
The Ernil (Prince) and pointed towards the mountain: "There is the mountain, Erebor.", he said.
Tauriel smiled and her heart warmed at the thought of Legolas wandering through the woods searching for a tree that was tall enough to show her the Lonely Mountain.
"So… Am I forgiven for not taking you with me to Esgaroth (Lake-town)?", he asked jokingly while he watched her. The red-haired elleth (she-elf) had always been a free spirit and he knew of her desire to see the world, but she was still very young, she had just become an adult, that meant that for some things she would have had to wait, still, Legolas was happy to be able to make her dream come true at least a little bit.
She smiled mischievously, but kept her eyes on the view: "Maybe. Let's say almost.", she answered. Then she felt the Prince's hands gently moving her hair to a side and something cold and thin around her neck.
She brought her hands towards herself and her fingers closed around a tiny silver pendant with a small white gemstone.
Legolas had had it done by the best blacksmith a few months earlier, already thinking of Tauriel coming of age. It was precious, but he had been careful not to make it look too luxurious, so that it fitted the beautiful red-haired elleth (she-elf) and did not seem out of place.
"What about now? Am I forgiven now?", he whispered into her ear, almost mockingly.
" Hannon le (thank you), Legolas, it is beautiful, you should not have.", she said while quickly turning around.
Suddenly they were so close. Their faces were just a few inches apart and Legolas could not help but glancing at her full peachy lips. His heart beat furiously, but there was no way he could kiss her. Firstly he was the Ernil (Prince) of the Greenwood and could not just steal kisses from some ellith (she-elves), even though Tauriel was not just some random elleth (she-elf) and secondly, but more importantly, he had no idea how she would have responded.
He had always loved Tauriel almost like a sister. Her parents, two tirith (guards), had been killed near Dol Guldur and so Aran (King) Thranduil had taken her under protection. At that time Legolas had lost his emel (mother) for some years, but the grief was still tangible. The little red-haired elf could not have entered his life at a better time. They had healed each other, creating a friendship stronger than any chain.
For some time now he had begun to realize that he felt more than just admiration for Tauriel, there was something more, something intense that was beginning to bloom in his heart. Up to the present day the elleth (she-elf) had not yet come of age and so it would have been inappropriate to do something like courting her. And even now he cared too much about their friendship to say anything about it.
So he forced himself to look up and slowly kissed her on the cheek: "I wish you the most happy Begetting, Tauriel.", he told her quietly.
She simply wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, kissing him slightly on the cheek: "Thank you Legolas, I will treasure this necklace and our gwend (friendship) forever.", she whispered.
After they had broken the embrace they stayed there for another while, Tauriel leaning her head on her mellon 's (friend) shoulder and the Ernil (Prince) leaning his head onto hers.
Legolas had brought lembas and light sparkling wine in a skin bottle, so that the two friends had lunch enjoying the view and telling of ancient adventures lived together.
"So neth (little girl) Tauriel is a grown elleth (she-elf) now. Finally!", the blond elf laughed. His mellon (friend) raised an eyebrow: “ Neth (little girl)? You are not all that much older!”, she said feignedly offended. “True”, Legolas nodded: “but I already had some years to get a taste of adulthood.”.
For elves time had a much less important value than for men. The passing of many seasons gave wisdom and experience and there were some of Eru Iluvatar's First Born who had such a gift. The Lady of Light, Galadriel, the fairest of all the Eldar of Ennor (Middle-earth) was the most striking example. Then there was the Lord of Imladris (Rivendell), Elrond the half-elven and even Aran (King) Thranduil himself carried the gift of the great wisdom of history, even if his memories were mostly painful.
The Ernil (Prince) and Tauriel were not too close in age, but it still was nothing compared to the thousands of years that some Eldar had lived.
“If I remember correctly, you were quite nervous when you came of age.”, the red-haired elleth (she-elf) mocked. Legolas smiled at the memory and instinctively touched the brooch that he wore on his belt, the present Tauriel had given him when he had become an adult. “And you are not nervous at all?”, he asked and turned to her. Her eyes twinkled: “I think I am more excited. I have so many possibilities now. I thought that maybe I could join the Guard one day and defend the borders.”.
Legolas’ lips suddenly curved upwards, but he did not say anything, yet Tauriel could clearly see that he was up to something. “ Man (what)?”, she inquired: “You do not think that I could become a Tirith (Guard)?”. The Ernil (Prince) quickly raised his hands: “On the contrary! I think that it is a wonderful idea.”, he said, but his mellon (friend) was sure that he was hiding something.
She would soon have found out.
After some time they descended the tree and walked back to the Halls, however Legolas suddenly declared that he had some urgent tasks to fulfil, so he left Tauriel near the entrance and reminded her to come to the throne hall half an hour later. The elleth (she-elf) thanked him again for his present again and then went on to her rooms with the feeling of something special in the air, her mellon (friend) had acted rather strangely and she could not think of why the Aran (King) wished to see her.
Once back in her quarters she untied her boots and refreshed. Taking a look at her image in the mirror, she decided that it would have been appropriate to remake her braids in order to look more presentable in front of the Aran (King). She was already wearing her best uniform and so little after she found herself sitting on the bed thinking about all the possible reasons why King Thranduil could have summoned her.
The Aran (King) had taken her under protection after her parents had died and Tauriel knew how lucky she had been. He had never offered her a new family and she had not searched for it, but the King had nevertheless made an effort to provide her an education and opportunities equal to that of a member of the nobility and she was well aware of what privilege that was.
The red-haired elleth (she-elf) had grown up alongside Legolas, despite the age difference, since when she was still an elfling the Ernil (Prince) was already in the midst of adolescence, but among them they had always been equal states. Growing up alongside Legolas, although always reminded of her place, also had meant living in close contact with the Aran (King), even if Tauriel could not say that she was truly close him. Nobody really was, not his advisers and not even Galion, his private servant. The Ernil (Prince) was obviously very close to his adar (father) and Tauriel knew of the deep love that Thranduil felt for his ion (son), but even Legolas could be intimidated by his father, especially during a discussion or a quarrel.
Lost in thought, she put her hand on the silver pendant around her neck and suddenly found herself blushing. The Ernil (Prince) of Greenwood had given her a necklace, it was probably the dream of every young elleth (she-elf) of the kingdom and beyond. Although for the moment there was no arrangement for the Prince to marry and Aran (King) Thranduil had not yet mentioned it, Tauriel knew that eventually it would have happened sooner or later and she almost laughed at the thought of her mellon (friend) in wedding robes. For the first time she found herself thinking that Legolas really was handsome and felt enormously happy and lucky to be his best friend.
The throne was located right in the center of the Halls, like a beating heart from which the vital energy of that place came and in a certain sense it was so. Each ruling Elf protected his kingdom with his own magic, one of the most admirable examples was the Lady of Light in Lothlórien, and so the entire King's Halls emanated an essence and the protection of their King.
When Tauriel crossed the bridge that led to the Throne hall, she stopped for a moment to explain to the tirith why she was there, but there was no need, since they moved as soon as they saw her.
She went up the last steps and when she found herself in front of the Aran (King) she formally bowed her head towards him and towards Legolas who was standing to the left of his adar (father) on the steps of the throne.
" Mae govannen (well met) Tauriel.", King Thranduil greeted her, while the Ernil (Prince) just smiled at her. " Mae govannen, Aran nin (Well met, my King).", she replied: "Was my presence requested here?", she asked then. "Indeed," said Thranduil, "it has come to my ears that today is your Begetting."
Tauriel feared for a moment that her ear tips were noticeably red, it was a great honor to be congratulated by the Aran (King). She composed himself: "Yes, Hîr nin (my Lord), it is true", she replied.
King Thranduil slowly got up from the throne and went down the steps, followed by his ion (son), to then stop in front of the red-haired elleth (she-elf): "It is a special day then, since you come of age.".
"Yes, and from now on I would like to make myself useful for this kingdom, since I can now.", she said and hoped to sound convincing. "Is that so?", Thranduil spoke: "Well for that you will need some appropriate tools, I imagine.". Tauriel could not really understand what he meant and so said nothing.
With a slight movement of the hand, the Aran (King) had something wrapped in a purple-colored silk cloth brought, which the tirith (guard) left in the hands of the Prince. Thranduil motioned to his ion (son) to pass it on to Tauriel. Two beautifully carved daggers with long and slightly curved blades emerged from the fabric.
"Legolas told me that you have quite some talent with daggers, so please accept this gift and my wishes to you.", continued the King. Tauriel did not know what to say. Receiving a custom weapon from the Aran (King) was an honor that usually belonged to the most important members of the army.
" Aran nin Thranduil (my King Thranduil), I… I… I do not know how to thank you.", she stuttered, but was interrupted by him: "I have not finished yet.". The elleth (she-elf) immediately went silent.
"My Hest en Tirith (Captain of the Guard) Valdaglerion has served with honor for many years now and it would be more appropriate for him to join the Council so that he can make his precious experience available. Unfortunately I find myself facing an annoying problem, it is difficult to find someone with enough skill and on whom I can place my complete trust. You said you would like to make yourself useful to the kingdom, so I wonder, Tauriel, if you can help me solve my problem.", Thranduil said and when Tauriel realised the direction that that talk was taking, her heart began to beat faster and faster. She briefly looked at Legolas, but he was still smiling at her and seemed perfectly at ease. "I will serve The Greenwood in any way I can, Aran nin (my King).", she barely found the courage to say.
"This would be quite convenient." Thranduil continued: "Know though that if you accept my proposal I will expect utmost commitment, discipline and responsibility from you. You have shown great fighting skills, however you are still very young and you have need to gain experience. I therefore propose to accompany Valdaglerion for the period that will be necessary for you to learn everything that is required from a Hest (Captain), after which the role will go to you.".
The elleth (she-elf) had lost all ability to speak, a stone was more likely to give some sign of life. She had often dreamed of working herself up from rank to rank until she reached the position of Captain and suddenly that dream was coming true. She swallowed a couple of times to find her voice again: "I would be extremely honored to accept your proposal.", she said then.
The King pursed his lips slightly: "Very well, so be it. Legolas will accompany you on patrols so that, if you have any doubts, he will be at your disposal for clarification. You are free to go now.", the Aran (King) concluded and Tauriel felt like rising in the air. " Hannon le (thank you).", she said with a bow and turned on her heels to return to her rooms.
Suddenly the mysterious behaviour of her mellon (friend) made sense, he obviously had already known about the Elvenking's plans. Tauriel still could not believe it.
When she arrived at her quarters she sat on her bed in disbelief, absently playing with her necklace. She would have been the next Hest en Tirith (Captain of the Guard) and she could not wait to go on patrol with Valdaglerion, he was well known for his valiant acts both in war and as Captain.
Shortly after she was torn from her thoughts by a knock on her door, she got up to open it. In front of her stood a smiling Legolas and Tauriel did not know what to do besides throwing herself into his open arms: "I cannot believe it, I cannot believe it!", she kept saying. The Ernil (Prince) laughed: "Are you happy?". "You have no idea how much!"