The Princess Crowned In Flowers

Chapter I: A Meeting in the Forest

"Come on, keep up!" 

"We're clear!" 

Came unknown voices from the south. Lothel and her royal brother exchanged looks before charging toward the cries, the rest of the elven patrol following closely behind. Her father, King of the Woodland Realm, had commanded both siblings to police the territory, for more and more foes had begun to cross lines that were not to be betrayed. As the company moved forward, it discovered two problems. Dwarves and spiders.

"Rhach i ûn," [(Curse those creatures)] Legolas muttered quietly in his native tongue of Elvish, but his sister knew not if it was regarding the rather large spiders or the Dwarves. "Tauriel, take the guard and circle the Dwarves. Lothel, let's take care of the spiders."

The girl drew her daggers and replied in the same language, "I am with you, hanar," [(brother)] she spoke before running up a tree with him. Oh, how she missed the rush of fighting in the trees with her brother. The deadly duo swung and slid, flipped and spun until the prince's bow was aimed at the head of the group, and the crown princess' daggers almost touched another one's throat. Around the Dwarf travelers, the Woodland Elves sprang up and turned their bows to face the possible enemies. Lothel failed to see the red-headed leader, but she was of the ability that she could handle herself.

The boy drew his bow further back. "Do not think I will not kill you, Dwarf."

"It would be our pleasure," the She-Elf said to her prey in an ice-coated tone. The Dwarf that Legolas aimed his weapon at looked defiant for a blink, but that emotion melted as quickly as snow in spring when more Elves joined the perimeter.

"Help!" Rang out a voice from behind.

"Kíli!" Replied one of the Dwarves, one with a tan beard and braids. Lothel risked glancing at her back to try and find the source of the voice. A spider had another Dwarf in its grasp, this one with only stubble and considerably short hair for his race. As 'Kíli' struggled, more and more spiders began to swarm. But, Tauriel made her appearance by jumping from one spider to the next, slashing as she went. By the time she landed on the ground, two spiders were left, the one she was fighting and the one in front of the Dwarf.

The Dwarf looked to the one who saved him, "Throw me a dagger!" He called to her, "Quick!"

Lothel could sense the bitterness and malcontent in the other She-Elf's voice. "If you think I am giving you a weapon, Dwarf, you are mistaken!" At the last words, the head of the Wood-Elf guard, third in command when with the siblings, she threw her dagger above his head and it stuck in the spider's eye. When Kíli turned to face Tauriel, admiration shone in his dark-colored eyes.

"Search them!" Ordered Lothel, she then turned to her brother and began to speak. "Why do you think the Dwarves have strayed into the Woodlands?"

Her brother shook his head in response. "I don't know why Dwarves do anything"

He reached into the pocket of a Dwarf and pulled out a small picture book.

The red-haired one opposed strongly, "B'ey! Give it back! That's private!"

"Who is this?" Legolas looked despite the protests, "Your brother?"

"That is my wife!" He cried, his voice expressing the indignant feelings he felt.

The royal prince took a glance at the other picture. "And what is this horrid creature? A Goblin-mutant?" His sister glanced at him, for that was harsh, even for a Dwarf.

"That's my wee lad, Gimli." Lothel was certain that had he not been tied up, the Dwarf would have attempted to murder her brother. The elleth holding the pictures raised an eyebrow in a way his sister would have called a 'Classic Legolas countenance'.