Ariel was naught but a girl by elvin standards. 40 summers old with the appearance of a blossoming young woman but the mind of an adolescent. She sat on a marble bench overlooking the green forest of Mirkwood, tears streamed down her pale cheeks as other elves teased and taunted her for her unusual looks. With yellow green eyes and long dark hair, which shone the colour of blood, these were rare traits amongst the elves. They say her mother, Bellasiel, was one of the most beautiful elves to walk the Earth, the spitting image of Ariel. Still awkward and unsure of herself, she yearned for a Motherly figure she could depend upon and whisper sweet nothings when she was teased. Bellasiel was massacred a year prior by a rogue band of orcs whilst travelling to Lothlorien to visit her brother. Her father, Calanon, hand to the king and general of the Mirkwood guard had turned to drinking to ease his loss of his beloved.

"You know Ariel, if boys tease you it's only because they think you're beautiful." A sweet voice said from above.

Ariel looked up to see her only friend, Helinniel, smiling down on her. With volumes of straw blonde hair and blue eyes, she represented the typical elvish look. 10 summers older and the wisdom Ariel could only dream of, they were a pair made in heaven.

"Forget them, Ariel, what are you going planning on wearing to the festivities tonight? You know your Prince will be there!" she raised her voice and giggled.

"SHH! Someone could have heard you!" Ariel blushed crimson and swatted her friend's arm playfully, only Helinniel knew of her crush on the Prince of Mirkwood, and was determined to keep it perfectly secret. In her daydreams, she remembered when Legolas smiled at her or taught her how to use a bow. She dreamed she would one day become his princess, little did she know of the hand fate would play.

The two girls raced each other up the steps of the castle laughing. Ariel's Father, Calanon, through his friendship with the King, lived within the castle walls and was rarely home. Waving goodbye to her friend, she walked with her head down towards her chambers, thinking of how she could not wait until she was 50 summers old, the day she would officially become an adult and marry her prince.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by muffled laughter, looking up, she saw one of the elf maids discretely exiting a corridor, she was tidying her hair and straightening her crumpled dress when the Prince of Mirkwood exited after her, swatting her bottom and looking around to make sure no one saw. When his eyes met Ariels, he smiled a grin like that of a fox, and walked off.

Being without a mother and unsure of the relationship between male and female, Ariel looked at the pair with a puzzled expression and shrugged her shoulders and continued walking, her heart pounding in her chest from seeing her Prince.

Hours later, Ariel fretted needlessly over her appearance. Her chambermaid had washed and combed Ariels waist length hair into an intricate array of braids. Her lips had been reddened to the colour of a ripe rose, and she wore a long cream coloured dress, a symbol of her purity and innocence. She still held the appearance of a girl yet to hit womanhood, her cheeks were rounded and full, and her chest flat as a board.

"My daughter, you look as lovely as the stars." Her fathers voice boomed from behind her.

"Adar!" she screamed with joy, picking up her dress as she ran towards her father.

"You are ready for this evenings festivities, sweet daughter?" he asked from his towering figure above her.

"Yes, Adar, quite ready." She smiled

"But, are you not too young?" he teased lovingly, knowing her reaction would be one of despair, "My daughter, I joke with you. Would you do me the honour of being my partner?"

She nodded her head in joy, excited to witness the first merrymaking she had even been to.

Row after row of tables held a vast array of food and drink, whilst elegant musicians played sweet music. She felt very grown up, sitting at a table with her Father and the King and drinking watered down wine. She glanced lovingly over at Legolas, who had just downed his umpteenth glass of alcohol. Her eyes wandered over to the woman he was in deep conversation with, she was quite sure it was the same elf maiden from this afternoon. Ariel frowned, her small face contorted into an expression of anger. The elf maiden placed a graceful hand on his shoulder and laughed at his joke, Ariel boiled with jealously.

After the feast, the large party moved into the ballroom. This room's beauty was known throughout the Elvin world, with tall marble pillars and an open front, which lead to a maze, and beyond, the great forest of Mirkwood.

She watched the graceful figures dance around the room as sweet music filled her ears; she sat on a lounge and watched with longing, wishing to know what it felt like to kiss a man other than her father.

"Ariel, dear, you sit by yourself? Come, stand by me, beautiful." A slimy sounding voice cooed from behind her. She turned to see a familiar face, Lietar, cousin to Legolas. Something about the way he moved reminded her of a snake, the way his eyes assessed her body gave her a bad feeling inside her stomach. Too timid to decline his offer, Ariel walked over to where he stood.

"My my, you will grow up to be such a beauty. Just like your mother, may she rest in peace? Why do you sit by yourself, sweetness?" He cooed, his voice sticky with fakeness.

"I know not many a person here, my lord." She replied kindly, her eyes averted his as she stared at her feet.

"Oh no, we cant have that can we, dear? Come outside to get some air." He held out his arm to her, beckoning her to take it. She looked over to her Father, who laughed whole-heartedly with his King. She convinced herself she was merely being paranoid, Lietar would do nothing to hurt her. He led her outside to where a group of male and female elves sat under a tree laughing at some joke.

She recognized all the faces. Legolas sat with the blonde haired maiden on his lap, holding her in an intimate embrace. A dozen other of his friends sprawled around him, looking like God's descended from the heavens.

"Friends! Do you see whom I have brought! Miss Ariel shall join us, what was it you were telling us about her, Helinniel?" Lietar asked, his voice full of amusement. Ariel's gaze flitted over to a very drunk looking Helinniel, who straddled one of Legolas most trusted friends, Tarambar.

"Good gosh, Lietar, she is a child. Put her to bed. She is much too young, even for you." The blonde woman sitting on top of Legolas stated, her voice full of malice and disgust. The rest of the women in the group laughed, staring at her with pretention. Ariels heart broke when she saw Legolas and Helinniel laugh along with her. Lietar rolled his eyes in amusement whilst Ariel shifted uncomfortably.

"Young Helinniel here was just telling us the most interesting thing, weren't you dear?" Lietar looked over at her, who looked at Ariel the way a pickpocket might look if he had been caught.

"All she ever talks about is her prince." Helinniel said quietly, not daring to look in Ariels tear filled eyes.

The rest of the girls in the group mimicked things Ariel had said in confidence to Helinniel, mimicking a high-pitched voice.

"Oh my Prince!"

"We shall marry one day!"

"Isn't he just beautiful!"

The group broke out into a fit of laughter, Legolas looked at Ariel with a flash of guilt in his eyes.

"Tell her dear, she has not a hope." The blonde woman said, stroking his face lovingly. The few moments that Legolas hesitated, the group ooed and aahed, peer pressure overcoming him, he mustered up in his coldest voice,

"You're a child, you have no chance. It's past your bedtime, its best you leave. Now." He said, refusing to look in her eyes.

For a moment, Ariel stood there in complete and utter humiliation, the feeling of a knife digging into her heart gripped her body, she felt her vision blur and her stomach sicken. Then, she burst into a fit of heart wrenching sobs and ran as fast as she could through the crowded ball room, glancing a look at her Adar who was still deep conversation with the king, she fled to her chambers. She collapsed on her bed, her heart beating like a drum in her chest. All the pain she had tried to hard to suppress exploded, eventually, blackness consumed her vision and she found peace in her dreamless sleep.

She awoke the next morning with a stream of sunlight wafting through the windows; she shifted uncomfortably in her formal dress. Feeling a sick and disgusting feeling in her stomach, she recalled the previous nights' events and wished it all to be a horrid nightmare. Helinniel had betrayed her, her only friend. And Legolas, the man who she would do anything for, had cruelly rejected her. Stripping off her silk gown and changing into inconspicuous riding clothes, she knotted her hair into a long braid and ventured out of the house. She made her way down to the stables, where she found her black horse Tinu.

"Milady, pray tell where are you headed?" the stable hand asked as she lead her horse towards to large gates which opened up into the Mirkwood forest.

Since her mothers murder, her father had forbidden her to ride any further than the forest.

"Good day, I am merely taking Tinu here for a long needed walk." She lied, battering her eyelashes at the naive stable hand.

"Has your Father permitted this, Lady Ariel?" he asked, sounding unsure.

"Of course he has!" she lied again, sounding offended that he thought she might disobey him.

"Very well. Do not stray far, my lady. Your father would have my head on a platter if anything were to happen to you." He joked nervously, knowing it was probably true.

Ariel smiled at him, tears threatening to erupt from her beautiful eyes. She kicked Tinu into a canter and fled from the safety of Mirkwood as fast her her horse would carry her. For Ariel, riding felt like freedom, no matter how horrible or unhappy she felt, going for a good horse ride always felt like a temporary cure. As she rode, tears burst from her eyes and her body was racked with sobs, slowing Tinu to a slow walk, she cried and cried for the betrayal she felt. So occupied she was with her emotions, she barely noticed the slowly setting sun, or the feeling she was being followed. Snapping her head up, she looked around to familiarize herself with her surroundings, but was completely lost.

"Atar must be so worried!" she said aloud.

She turned Tinu around, when suddenly; she heard the sound of an arrow being released. Tinu died before he even hit the ground, completely stunned. Ariel fell off her dead horse, landing awkwardly and hitting her head against a rock. Her vision blurred and her heart pulsed rapidly. Confusion and panic raced through her.

"A varat na khel hram deru yjahd.'' A foreign tongue said, grabbing Ariel by her braid. She instantly recognised the man as one of the Haradrim. His face was covered by a dark cloth, revealing only his eyes, which were black and cruel. He had bronze plated weapons and smelt of body odour, suggesting he had travelled a long way. Why would the Haradrim travel so far from home? They wouldn't hurt me, she thought, don't they know who I am?

He pulled her closer to him, his breath hot on her lips,

"You are just perfect," he said in broken elvish, "Master is going to love you." He finally took off his headgear, revealing tanned skin and a large amount of stubble. For a second, he gently caressed his soft hair, and in an instant, slammed her skull down onto the rock, engulfing her vision in complete blackness.

Hey goizzzzz! This fanfic is pre Fellowship of the ring, its basically going to be about a elf girl who falls inlove with Legolas when she's younger, and then gets abducted and becomes a slave for the next couple of years of her life, she'll meet Legolas again when she escape and their relation ect. I painted Legolas as a bit of a dickhead in this chapter because I don't believe he's always been worldy and fair. Im sure just like humans, elves go through their asshole stages of life ect. Let me know what you think! xx