The First Time Since ...

Chapter 13

Lilisa wasted no time getting ready to head out to Mirkwood. She got up early and put on a comfortable dress for her long day of riding to Mirkwood. She hurried down to the stables, where she met the guards that would be coming with her. Then she hopped on her horse, and rode out of the stables with the three guards. They galloped across the lands to get to Mirkwood. She was so excited that she didn't want to slow her speed down.

When she got into the forest of Mirkwood, Lilisa and her guards slowed their horses down to a walk so they could catch their breath. Lilisa knew that they were only minutes away from Mirkwood, and the thought of it only made her more excited.

She crossed the bridge the led from the forest to the palace. They stopped in front of the Mirkwood gates, waiting for someone to open them and greet her. Legolas ordered that the gates be opened for Lilisa and her guards. They rode their horses inside and then dismounted. Lilisa walked with Legolas through Mirkwood to her guest room for the week. Lilisa was so happy that she was going to see her friend walk down the aisle with the love of his life.

Lilisa got settled in her new bedroom. She put her belongings in drawer and some things on top of the drawers. When she was done, she went out of her room to look around Mirkwood some more. While she was walking, Lilisa thought about how happy she was to be walking these halls again. There was something about this place that made her love it so much.

Just then, while she was walking, she accidentally ran into Thranduil. She took a step back while Thranduil turned around to see what had bumped him.

"Forgive me hir vuin (my lord)." apologized Lilisa.

"Forgive me, Lilisa," replied Thranduil. "I should not have been standing in the middle of the hallway."

Lilisa gave him a little smile. He was kind to have taken the blame, even though it was really her fault for bumping into him.

"Would you care to join me on a walk through the palace?" asked Thranduil.

"I would love too." answered Lilisa.

Thranduil stuck out his arm, so that Lilisa could put her arm around him while they went for a walk. They walked together throughout many places of the palace. And in some areas, he even told her stories about how Mirkwood came to be. She loved how Thranduil told her the stories and how he showed her everything in Mirkwood. Sure at first he might of been this stern elf, but Lilisa was starting to see another side to him.

"So, what is your favorite part of Mirkwood?" asked Lilisa.

"Come on, I'll show you." replied Thranduil.

Lilisa and Thranduil took a hallway that eventually would lead outside. Once they were outside, Thranduil took her into a garden and stopped at the entrance. The garden was beautiful. It had so many plants and flowers, it even had some nice decorations.

"This is beautiful, Thranduil." complimented Lilisa.

"Le fael (thank you) Lilisa." said Thranduil.

Thranduil paused. Lilisa looked up at him and saw that he was looking out at the garden. He looked like he had something else to say, but could say it because it was stuck in his throat. So Lilisa waited for him to say what he wanted to say.

"This was my wife's garden," said Thranduil. "She loved this place, it was her favorite place to go out of all of Mirkwood."

"I can see why she liked it." added Lilisa.

Thranduil and Lilisa smiled at each other before they continued on with their walk through the garden.