Jewel In The Palace(Lord Of The Rings Fanfiction)

Mirialia and the Elk

~~O~~

"This is the royal stable." Tauriel announced when she and Mirialia walked in.

The stable has four huge entrances, there were ponies on the left side and horses on the right. There were more or less than a hundred horses and forty ponies. Tauriel pointed out a white horse. "That is the prince's mount." she said, referring to Legolas.

"They are all beautiful, where is yours?" Mirialia asked.

"Right here." Tauriel walked towards hers. It was a black horse, and it lowered its head to the food trough.

Mirialia held out her hand to touch its head. But then, she noticed something at her back. Turning around, she saw a very large empty loose box. Mirialia headed towards it and saw a lot of hay; the food trough was bigger than the ones the horses have.

"Do you want to see the king's ride?" Tauriel asked.

"Why is it so big? You can fit five horses in here." Mirialia wondered.

"Because he is..well, you will see. Come with me." Tauriel smiled.

Both of them went out of the stable, and headed towards the forest. After a short walk, they stopped at the foot of a mountain. Mirialia saw a waterfall that flowed into a small river. There, she saw the creature. Six and a half feet high at the shoulder, the Elk of Thranduil was drinking at the river. Slowly walking towards the creature, she saw there were guards nearby. One of them was piling some elm branches, others were just resting under the trees.

Mirialia stood a few feet away from the elk and watched in amazement. One of the guards called out to her.

"Careful, young one. He does not know you yet." he said.

She stepped a little bit closer, while the animal continued to drink on the river. Mirialia could almost touch its antlers. When the elk turned to her, she reached out a hand, letting the elk explore the palm of her hand with its large nose. She flashed a sweet smile towards the creature.

"Hi there." she greeted.

"He's magnificent, Tauriel."

The elf saw her smile for the first time. However, she could also not believe that the elk did not react badly on her.

"Mirialia.." Tauriel approached her.

"What is it?" She asked. Seeing the other elves joined her, she became uncomfortable.

The elk leaned forward, its nose now smelling her shoulder. "It seems Arafael is comfortable with you." Tauriel smiled.

"So that's his name."

"Yes. Thranduil gave that name to him. He was about to be killed by orcs when the king rescued him."

Legolas watched them at a short distance, then made his way back to the palace. He found his father at the balcony of his chamber.

"How are the guards doing?" Thranduil asked.

"Satisfactory." Legolas answered.

Thranduil looked at his son, "There is something else you want to tell me?"

"The guest is very fond of your elk." Legolas started.

"Of course, she is." Thranduil laughed with pride. "All our past visitors were very much in awe upon gazing on Arafael."

"And Arafael is not seemed bothered by her presence. It suddenly reminds me when the traders visited us. He reacted differently, it scared them away."

Thranduil was a bit confused. "What are you trying to imply?"

~~O~~

Tauriel allowed Mirialia to roam around the forest, but she reminded her not to go beyond the borders. She found a beautiful spot where she saw an overlooking view of the forest and the rivers. She never thought that these kinds of places even exist.

"I wish Mari could see this," she whispered to herself.

She was in a luxurious forest; centuries old trees with long sinuous roots where hovering above her as if desiring to protect her. Laying down under a big tree, she felt like the roots of it were comforting her. The head of the tree was tossing with the gentle breeze. It was almost midday when Tauriel found her.

"Why are you still here?" Tauriel asked as she approached her.

She smiled at her. "I always wanted to sleep under the trees."

The elf smiled and sat beside her. "I sleep here too sometimes." she confessed. "Feeling the warm breeze of the forest and a cold one at night."

"Me? Well, I only feel the cold breeze of the ocean. Never-ending travels by the sea. Sometimes, I wonder if the seas have an edge, are the ships going to fall off? Where are we heading after we fall off?"

"I do not think that will be your fate." Tauriel said. "Let's go back, our king might be looking for you."

Glancing back at the huge tree and bidding it goodbye, Mirialia turned around to follow Tauriel, when she heard a noise. She stared back to the tree where she had lay, but the sound stopped. When she started to walk, she heard the sound again. She stopped and called Tauriel, this time it's getting closer as if it's nearing her ears.

"Tauriel, do you hear that?" Mirialia asked nervously.

The elf looked at her. "What do you hear?"

"Voices, I think."

Tauriel stood firmly and listened. "I do hear it, but it's very faint."

"I cannot understand it." she said.

"It cannot be. How come you are able to hear them?" The elf now staring curiously at her.

"What is it, Tauriel?" Mirialia asked. But the elf did not answer.

"Tauriel?" She asked again.

"Let us go back to the halls." Tauriel grabbed her hand and both of them hurriedly walked away from the tree.

~~O~~

Thank you for reading!