Hello Everyone! God, I haven't written or updated anything for a long time. This story is my new pet project. Lots of chapters written already! I do like the story (probably a good thing), but I am afraid it's a bit Mary-Sueish. Oh well. We'll see. It gets less Mary-Sueish as time goes on.
Disclaimer: Adlanniel is mine, adn I wish Legolas was, but sadly, he belongs to Tolkien's estate. (I don't think they appreciate him enough there.)
On with the story!
"You beat me! I've been practicing for two hundred years, and you still beat me."
"Ah but sister, I have been practicing for four hundred years. You'll never catch up."
"Legolas, you are far too arrogant."
"But I am good enough to be arrogant, am I not?" Legolas ducked his sister's playful punch, a wide grin on his face.
"But I can beat you at knives, so don't get to big for your boots." Adlanniel drew her dual knives in one fluid movement and brandished one at Legolas. "A bow is not so much better that you can gloat."
"Adlanniel! Are you slandering the bow?" Legolas asked with mock horror.
Adlanniel rolled her light blue eyes. "No Legolas, I am merely promoting knives. There is a difference."
"Prince Legolas, Princess Adlanniel, where have you been? King Thranduil wishes to see you." Galion, the butler, said, approaching the two elves.
"Thank you Galion. We were at the archery range." Legolas said. "Where is he?"
"In his study." Galion replied.
Adlanniel gave him a smile of thanks as she and Legolas walked toward their father's study.
It always surprised Galion, how alike they were. Legolas was the elder, by two hundred years, but they had always been close, far closer than Legolas and his older brother by three hundred years, Aradan. They were both tall and lean, with a cat-like grace. Adlanniel's blonde hair was longer than her brother's, her eyes a lighter shade of blue, and she was shorter in stature, only reaching Legolas' nose, something he teased her endlessly about. But even if she was smaller in stature, she was no smaller in spirit. She always held her head high; she wasn't a demure, docile elleth like some would want. She had a fiery temper and she was proud, but she was a kind to everyone and loyal to her friends to the bitter end. Her prowess in battle had only been proven once, but when she had been wounded Thranduil had forbidden her to fight in the next war. She wasn't as good a shot as Legolas, although she came close, but she could beat him using her dual knives. Galion watched them disappear before hurrying away. He had duties to attend to after all.
"I wonder what Ada needs. What do you think it will be?" Adlanniel asked.
"I do not know. If he wants us both, in his study, it must be serious. Do you suppose he found out about the trip to Laketown?" Legolas answered
"I hope not! You were forbidden to leave the palace that day! I do not know what came over me, helping you sneak out." Adlanniel replied.
"It was worth it, especially since he hasn't found out yet." Legolas smiled.
"Just make sure he doesn't find out. You know how creative he can be with his punishments." Adlanniel advised.
"I know, I know." Legolas said. He opened the door for Adlanniel and followed her into their father's study. Legolas' eyes widened when he saw what had been done to the normally neat and organized library. "Ada, why did you move the war room into your private study?" he asked.
"The war room was being cleaned, I found all this stuff on the ground in the hall, and I needed it." Thranduil answered, gesturing to a seat. "Sit down."
Legolas lifted a pile of maps off a couch and Adlanniel moved a shield from a chair. More maps lined the walls, books were on the floor around the desk, a map of the palace was on the desk and next to it was a map of the whole Mirkwood. Thalion, the captain of the guard, was examining a map of eastern Mirkwood, Saeldur, Thranduil's most trusted advisor, was flipping through a book, and Revion, the elf that was in control of the current border patrol, was sitting on another chair, looking nervous. Soon, a harried looking Imrathon, Thalion's second in command, burst in the door. Thranduil looked up from the map of Mirkwood on his desk at the noise. "Good, everyone is here." He said, standing. Everyone dropped what they were doing to listen to him. "Everyone, I have some bad news. Mirkwood is under attack. Legions of orcs were seen about two miles from our western and eastern borders. There are several thousand, and they are clearly headed this way." Thalion grimaced, Imrathon sighed, and Saeldur nodded gravely. "You are the first I've told, and I would appreciate your advice." Thranduil placed a box of multi-colored stones on the table. "Revion, would you please place these exactly where the orcs are?" He pointed to the stones and backed away from the desk.
Revion walked over and pulled out a dark blue stone. "One squad is here," He placed the stone right on the Old Forest Road. "It is roughly five hundred strong." Everyone gathered around the desk. Revion pulled a dusky red stone. "Another is here." He placed it in the forest, slightly off the Road. "They are maybe three hundred strong, and are about twenty miles from the Road." Revion placed a tan stone on the eastern border, by the River Running. "Three hundred." He pulled a glittering black stone from the box and placed it in the eastern part of the Mountains of Mirkwood. "Two hundred." A deep purple stone came next, placed close to the River Running, but further south than the first. "Five hundred." A bright orange one was set in the western part of the Mountains of Mirkwood. "Four hundred." The elves could hardly believe their eyes. "This is the last one." Revion said, pulling a jet black stone form the box. He placed it across the Anduin, in Gladdon Fields. He closed his eyes. "Six hundred."
Adlanniel placed her hand over her mouth. "Two thousand, eight hundred orcs." She stated quietly.
"How many warriors do we have here?" Legolas asked.
"Three thousand total, but five hundred are out on border patrol." Thalion answered, leaning over the table.
"We should keep them on the borders, and send reinforcements if possible." Imrathon remarked. "They are our first line of defense."
"True." Thranduil said, examining the stones all over the map. "The north is safe; no one is ever up there, not with Smaug dwelling in Erebor. We will send their hundred to the west, which is where the attack will be the worst. Probably…here." He dropped a bright green on the Old Forest Road. "The patrol of three hundred originally on that road shall join them."
Legolas pulled a dark green stone out of the box. "If we position troops, maybe two hundred, just inside the forest by the River Running and have the fifty patrol soldiers already there, they will be more than a match for the three hundred orcs. The fifty were in my squad, I trained them, they are some of the best."
"I agree." Revion said. "I know the person who is in command there now; he will keep the orcs at bay." Legolas set the stone down and Thranduil nodded his approval.
Adlanniel picked out a golden stone and placed it in the forest so it was head on with the small squad of orcs that had wandered off the road. "A small team of archers here, no more than a hundred and fifty, if stationed in the trees, could easily pick off the three hundred orcs here. They are in our territory; they are loud and clunky, whereas we can move silently and quickly through the trees. Here it is our game and we can play it by our rules." She said.
Thranduil looked at his daughter with pride in his eyes. "True. And by putting them here we can protect the palace, for that group is the greatest threat to those here as of right now."
Imrathon picked a jade-colored stone and placed it north of the Old Forest Road and South of the Mountains. "This group will have to be large, five hundred at least, to take on the groups coming out of the mountains. We would need to spread them out, all along the road until the furthest reaches of the mountains. We can take them by surprise, but we should not enter the mountains. And if we do this, we will protect the back and right flank of the ones along the road here, which otherwise would be vulnerable to the four hundred here."
"It makes sense, though I would add to the number. They will be against six hundred, and any that may get past the group on the forest road." Thalion pointed out.
"Six hundred then." Imrathon said.
"We will need a group here, to counter those coming up from the Southeast nest to the River Running." Revion remarked. "There are five hundred so that will have to be another large group; I would suggest six hundred and fifty to seven hundred." He placed a pinkish stone in front of the deep purple one.
"Five hundred." Adlanniel said firmly. "Maybe six hundred. Are you forgetting that most of our patrol guards are stationed here?" Adlanniel ran her finger along the eastern border beside the River Running. "That is two hundred more elves; seven hundred more is a waste of soldiers. There will be seven hundred that way and we will have a definite edge. The extra two hundred that you wanted to send can be at the palace, or across the river, or even in reserve. Some elves will die, as much as we will try to prevent it. You are not thinking of the full scope of this war." She looked Revion in the eye. "And you want to move them north; it is easier to attack from the side. And that way, they will be able to turn and attack these orcs, if some were to break through." Adlanniel moved the pink stone up.
Thranduil had trouble holding back a smile. He loved how his daughter could be so fiery, how she wasn't afraid to dress down someone who made a mistake, especially one like that. Legolas didn't even bother to hold suppress his grin. "Revion, I think we should give Adlanniel your job." He joked. "She knows more about the strength of our borders than you do!" Thalion and Imrathon snickered and Saeldur smiled.
"Now is not the time for jokes Legolas." Thranduil said sternly. But everyone could see the merriment in his eyes and know he wasn't serious. "That leaves only this group." Thranduil tapped the jet black stone across the river. "We need to set aside warriors to fight them, but you say they aren't moving to cross the river?" He directed his question at Revion, who shook his head.
"No they aren't. I think they may be the reserves, or perhaps one final attack force for when the battle is nearly over." Revion answered.
"It takes several hours to cross the Anduin, and no matter what they do they will flow south with the current." Saeldur pointed out. War wasn't his forte; he was only there for information such as what he had just given. "Unless they move north about fifty miles," he tapped the map just above the small stream that fed the Anduin River, "they will land around Dol Guldur."
"Which means they will have to backtrack, adding nearly a day to their trip." Adlanniel pointed out. "I would send several scouts to watch their position but nothing else. It all depends on what they do, if we put them in the wrong place and make them wait, spiders or another squad of orcs could stumble across them."
"I agree with Adlanniel." Legolas said. "There are too many options, too many things that could go wrong. In this case, we should be safe."
"We need to make sure the scouts are fast riders, so they can report as soon as they know what the orcs are doing." Imrathon remarked.
"I know five that are here right now." Thalion remarked.
"Excellent." Thranduil said. "It is a sad thing that we are being attacked, but I know we shall win, with such excellent tacticians as you. Imrathon, make sure everything is in order at the armory. Thalion, inform the soldiers of our situation. Revion, find the five soldiers Thalion was speaking of, tell them of our situation and send them off immediately. They must stay on this side of the river. Saeldur, find the chief healer and the current expert on this palace's inner workings and send them to me." Thranduil ordered. The elves hurried off, leaving only Legolas and Adlanniel.
"I would like to fight ada." Legolas stated quietly.
"And you shall Legolas. Not only because your elder brother is the crown prince but because he can't hit a target from fifty yards away. He inherited his mother's battle skills: words." Thranduil saddened when he thought of Falanthia, who had died shortly after Adlanniel was born. "Do you want to be here, inside the border south of the River Running? It's not with your old squad, but…"
"I would like that ada. Thank you." Legolas answered.
"May I go as well?" Adlanniel asked. "I would enjoy fighting with Legolas, and you need every elf you can get."
Thranduil glanced at his daughter with a pained look on his face. "I'm afraid not Adlanniel, I am sorry."
"Why not?" Adlanniel asked. "I can fight just as well as Legolas!"
"I do not doubt your fighting skills." Thranduil assured her. "It's just…" he trailed off, trying to find the right words.
"It's just what?" Adlanniel demanded.
"Oh Adlanniel. When you were wounded in the last battle…you almost died! You were so close…if Lord Elrond hadn't been here we would have lost you." Thranduil looked down at the desk. "I couldn't lose you. I love you too much to let anything happen to you. I lost your mother, isn't that enough?" Adlanniel could tell her father was near tears. She had never seen him so upset before. Silently, she walked over to him and gave him a hug. He placed his hand under her chin and made her look up at him. "I know you want to fight Adlanniel, and I am sorry. And it is a selfish reason to stop you, I admit. But I will not risk losing you again."
"I understand ada." She said softly, pulling away from her father and leaving the study, Legolas following.
"He is right you know." Legolas commented suddenly once they left the room.
"What do you mean?" Adlanniel asked.
"Adlanniel, when you fell off your horse…I was the only one who saw it, I fought my way to you, you were fighting still, but your blood was gushing out. Right under your left ribcage, your tunic was drenched in your own blood. I shot the orc you were fighting and you turned to look at me. I called your name and you didn't even recognize me Adlanniel!" Legolas stopped walking and stopped Adlanniel too. "I was terrified, then you fell, your sword fell out of your hands…it was in slow motion for me. If Elladan and Elrohir hadn't come to see why I stopped fighting, you wouldn't have made it back to the palace. Elrohir used his cloak to bind your ribs and Elladan put you on my horse. All that time, I was just standing, staring at your red blood staining the green grass. Elladan made me come to my senses and I rode you back as fast as I could. I was so afraid Adlanniel. I thought I had lost you. You were so cold…" Legolas stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "When I got back to the palace, ada happened to be in the front hall. He saw you in my arms and he cried. He cried Adlanniel! Lord Elrond was the one who actually got you to the healing wing. He didn't leave your side for two days! He was utterly drained when you were finally starting to get better. I couldn't return to the battle, all my thoughts were on you and I would have made stupid decisions. Adlanniel I had never been so afraid in my life. I was so sure I would lose you…" Legolas put his hand on her shoulder. "I probably would have died if I lost you." He finished softly.
"Legolas…" Adlanniel threw herself into her brother's arms. She hugged him, pressing her cheek against his own. She felt herself crying, and knew Legolas was too. She wondered what it would feel like to live without her older brother, but the thought was too terrifying and she pushed it away.
Legolas ran his hand over Adlanniel's soft hair. "Adlanniel, promise me you won't come to fight."
"Legolas, have you thought about how I would feel if something happened to you?" Adlanniel asked. She didn't wait for an answer. "You know how you felt when something happened to me; I would feel the same if something happened to you. So I stay here and you don't have to worry about me being hurt. But here I am, worrying that something has happened to you." Legolas realized that she was right. "It would be better if we went together and protected each other. But you heard ada; I'm under orders to stay here." Adlanniel sounded bitter.
"Adlanniel, you know just as well as I do that ada's orders will do nothing to stop you if you don't want to follow them." Legolas said, holding his sister at arm's length. "I want you to promise me." She was silent. "Promise me." He looked into her ocean blue eyes as if searching for something, some truth that would make her stay.
Adlanniel closed her eyes and looked down at the ground. She couldn't break a promise she made to Legolas, just like couldn't break one he made to her. The trust they had flowed deep, it meant the whole world to her. "I promise." She said softly.
Legolas tilted her head up so she was looking into his eyes. "Thank you Adlanniel." A tear fell from her eye right onto his hand. "I love you now and forever theldithen (tr: little sister)." He whispered in her ear. "Now, I have to get ready to go. Do not forget your promise Adlanniel." Legolas walked off down the hall toward his rooms, but Adlanniel stayed standing where she was for a very long time. Legolas' words to her echoed in her head. I love you now and forever theldithen. She knew she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if something happened to him. With a heavy sigh, she trudged off to her rooms.
Remember: Reviews make me happy!
Namarie,
Lady Altaria