The Princes Shadow

Chapter 12

                               .......

Legolas POV~

As we followed Gandalf throughout the dark mines, a thought kept nagging at me. There were all sorts of dark creatures lurking in the shadows here, Gandalf said it himself, it was dangerous here. I couldn't risk Emerin getting hurt. If something happened to me and I asked her to leave me behind to save herself, she wouldn't. She would get herself killed and it would be my fault. I don't want that. All I want is to keep her safe. I turned to look at her as she walked beside me. I realized that my hand was still gripping her forearm. I quickly let go, not wanting to bother her. As soon as I moved my hand, she turned her head to me and looked deep into my eyes. Her eyes seemed almost obsidian in the dark. My breathing started to get uneven. I felt as if I was falling in love with her all over again. When was the last time I told her that I loved her? The thought upset me. As we slowly walked side by side, looking into each others eyes, I took in all of the details of her face. Her flawless pale skin that seemed to be like marble, her long, thick eyelashes, her light red lips, that looked like she had recently eaten strawberries. The way her eyes held mine,

"Emerin, I-" I was about to tell her how much I loved her when Gandalf began to speak,

"The wealth of Moria is not in gold, or jewels... but mithril." He held his staff above the gaping cavern beneath us. Emerin, along with everyone else, looked down in awe at the mines beneath us, "Bilbo had a shirt of mithril rings that Thorin gave him" 

"Oh that was was a kingly gift" Gimli, the dwarf, exclaimed,

"Yes. I never told him, but its worth was greater than the value of the shire." Gandalf mused. 

We began to climb up steep steps. I heard some crumbling and looked to see that the part of the stair that Emerin was using as a foothold had broken underneath her. My arm shot out to grab hers. She looked up at me and smiled,

"Thank you," She said gratefully.

"Of course," I smiled and pulled her up so that she could get a better footing. As we all reached the top, I noticed three different ways, like a fork in the rode. Gandalf sighed,

"I have no memory of this place..." 

..........

We had all made camp for the night in the caves, unsure of which way to go. I sat beside Emerin and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, trying to shield her from the cold, damp, darkness that surrounded us,

"You know you haven't spoken much with me, Legolas." She looked at me expectantly,

"I'm sorry, it's just I've had so much on my mind-" 

"Don't be sorry. It's alright. We all have a lot on our minds right now. Trying to save Middle-Earth and all." Her sad smile caused my heart to crack, "What had you been doing for the past 70 years anyway? We barely ever had the chance to talk, and I rarely ever saw you."

"Mostly I traveled around Middle-Earth for a few years. I met Aragorn when I was returning. He had the creature Gollum captured, and was on his way to ask the elves to keep him in our prisons. We became good friends while we spent time together. After that, I mostly learned from my father and became an ambassador, so that I could be more involved in the kingdom and..." I paused, "I wanted to see you more." I looked up at her, and noticed how she wore a wide smile,

"Well you certainly were busy." She looked down, "I would've tried to speak with you more, but I was practically covered in work to do. I missed our little talks." now she looked sad. 

I frantically thought of a way to make her smile again, not able to bear another moment of seeing her upset, "Well we get to talk all the time now." I tried.