"Life or Something Like it"

by: Comet Wong

Dedicated to:

"Mellon nin"

Thank you all for staying with me through all times I have been writing! Stay with me always!

"Hiril nin and Hir nin"

"My parents, thank you for all you have done for me!"

"Nithiel and Curu-edhel"

"I have done as you asked, may you finally stop bugging me!"

Author's note: This is a sequel to The Untold Tale, which tells of Juliana and Legolas' adventures after the Quest. Like the Untold Tale, most of the characters in this book is not mine and are merely borrowed from J.R.R. Tolkien, the brilliant author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Nevertheless, I do hope you still come to love this story…Enjoy!!

Prologue

The King is Troubled

King Thranduil of Mirkwood was troubled. Times like that were rare, the King was often the epitome of calmness and serenity despite an impending disaster. It was that kind of attitude that was expected out of a King of a heavily dangerous kingdom where attacks, not from outside but from within would often besiege his people. It was a trait that his people looked up to for strength. It was often this mask of calmness that made King Thranduil accept and make decisions emotionlessly. However, today was not one of those cases.

There were times when King Thranduil was troubled and it never meant any good. Not for the king and certainly not for his advisors. At the moment, the King of the Woodland Realm, though impressively dressed in dark green robes that resembled the shadows of leaves and a crown of silver etched with leaves and dotted with red jewels as berries was resting above his golden head, he was standing stiff-straight, before his throne of carven wood. A little behind him stood another golden-haired elf, but she was dressed less grandly and looked calmer than the king at the moment. She was also the only one who could address the king without his title in some occasions, and the elf thought one of them was now.

"Thranduil," she spoke, barely containing the amused grin she had. "It would do you well to relax. There will be a chance that you might turn into stone with that stiffness of yours."

King Thranduil merely glanced over his shoulder to look at this elf. "Relax?' the king spoke the word as if he had not heard it before. ' How could I possibly relax in a time such as this, Raie?" The King of Mirkwood gave the double doors that led to his throne room another glance. "No reply has been sent to us from Legolas. I know that he is well, but why does he not say so himself? And perhaps while he doing so explain the rumours that reached us of this new woman he is with. A woman whom I fear is mortal and definitely not suited for him."

Queen Raie, for indeed, she was his queen and Legolas' mother moved towards her husband, intending to comfort him. "I know that he is well, Thranduil, and you know this too. I also know how you feel about these rumours, but since ours son has neither confirmed nor deny her presence, then we should be contented to know it from his own lips. And if indeed it is true, that he is in love with a mortal, then we shall see if she is not suited for him. But until then, I want you to relax and calm down. A message from Legolas will soon come and I'm sure it will be filled with all the answers you would ever need.

"But Raie," Thranduil attempted to argue with his wife some more, but Raie hushed him. 'Relax.'

King Thranduil sighed but nonetheless sat down, albeit stiffly on his throne. Queen Raie regarded him exasperatedly before reaching out and taking his hand into her own and squeezing slightly. "All be well, my king. You will see."

Here it is!!! I hope that you are still with me after all these years? Hehehehe...I hope you guys enjoy this...(",)