The Ranger And The Prince.

Leaving the Nest.

Both me and Legolas were extremely relieved when Gemstone, Amethyst and Jewel were alive and their battalions had been victorious against the enemy.

Gemstone, of course, was boasting to Amethyst about her kills which caused both me and Legolas to chuckle, remembering back to the Fellowship where we would exchange kill counts with Gimli.

Jewel was a little worse for wear as her and Eldarion's battalion had encountered Cave Trolls just as we had.

She had been caught in the crossfire of Orc arrows and one had nicked her arm. Eldarion had bandaged her up as best as he could but the arrow tip was poisoned. The poison itself wasn't that ready to elves who had quite a unique immune system, not to mention these Orcs were disorganised so probably weren't that particular about the poison.

Jewel was just a bit pale but all the healers said it wouldn't take long before she would be as good as new.

Of course, Legolas being the overprotective parent he was, he practically ordered her to rest, eat and gather her strength even though she insisted she was able to help with the wounded.

As much as we both wanted to stay by her side while she was sick, being the Prince and Princess of Mirkwood, me and Legolas were stationed elsewhere. We had to fortify the gates and send word to Thranduil and the King of Erebor to tell them of our victory.

Unbeknownst to Legolas but known by me, Eldarion visited Jewel often when he wasn't helping to tend to the wounded. He made a point of avoiding Legolas when he went to visit my daughter.

I wasn't going to stop him, after all, I thought it was sweet, but Legolas was ever such a dear father to Jewel, he would probably spontaneously combust if he realised the nature of Eldarion's affection to Jewel.

Perhaps overprotectiveness runs on the family. Thranduil was the same when I first began to court Legolas. But then again, he adjusted and now I was married to Legolas. I hoped the same for Eldarion and Jewel.

It didn't take Jewel long to recovered from the poison and soon she was up and about, helping her brother and sister remove rubble from the great halls. We sent Amethyst and some soldiers into the heart of the city to where the markets, streets and shops were carved into the rocks. He was to begin sorting through them and repair them if possible.

If we could fortify the inner city, we could begin to rebuild Moria. The Dwarves form the Blue Mountain were already journeying towards Moria. Not just more soldiers, but women and children too. If they were to solidify Moria as a functional city once again, there needed to be a population.

Once things in our encampment was secure, both me and Legolas set out with a single company to Lothlorien. A small community of Elves still stayed within the city and had chosen not to leave for Valinor.

Many of the Lorien Elves knew me as most of them were alive when Lady Galadriel still called this forest home. They knew I was her somewhat daughter.

And then of course they recognised me and Legolas as the Prince and Princess of Mirkwood so it wasn't that hard to be granted an audience with the eldest of the Elves that lived there, the group which had been given charge of the city since Galadriel's parting.

We were setting up the first trade routes to Moria, in order to supply the first settlers with everything they needed to start functioning independently.

We had sent Eldarion to Rivendell to ask the same of the Elves there. Like the Lorien Elves, many had left for Valinor but those that chose to stay were still the same generous elves the world knew.

As the son of their late Lady Arwen, we knew that Eldarion would be welcomed with open arms.

I had sent Jewel with him, all for various reasons.