Impurities

Chapter Eight: Unheard Of

Annawrete stared bewildered at the Elvin king. She had been certain that his eyes had begun to fall on her longer than they had ever before, but now that she stood exposed, he did not want to look at her. When Thranduil turned his body away, she finally felt the shame of her nudity. As she was given his stiff back, she reached for her clothes and hurried to dress. Saying nothing until she was ready to leave, she whispered loud enough for Thranduil to hear, "If I were an elf, you would have had your way with me". His expression became unnerved, but he did not reveal it to her. Had he been facing her, she would've seen the distressed rise and fall of his bare chest. With his back remaining turned, his decision to release her was executed, "You are dismissed from your duties as my help".

Annawrete's fingers remained on the door handle while she froze tensed at his words. Her termination came as surprise to her, even though it was not entirely unexpected. When she found her breath again, she looked over her shoulder and focused on the spine of his bare back, trying to provoke him to turn around---but he would not. Thranduil spun himself when the door had opened and shut, indicating her departure, and he stared at the heavy wood in the doorway that now separated her from him. He hated that she could be right. Though Annawrete's body was marked with a few imperfections---as all humans were, collectively she formed a beautiful whole. 

Few elves ever remarry and affairs were unheard off. According to the customs of his people, Thranduil and his late wife were bound together still. Should he divorce his wife and claim another, Thranduil would be counted among the rarities for doing so. At only twenty-one years of age, Annawrete was arguably among the most insightful humans that Thranduil has ever encountered and he had grown to be clearly intrigued by her over the years. Now that she had awaken lust in him, he would have to spend the next fifteen years or so that remained of her youthful beauty denying himself. Annawrete was simply the wrong race, wrong age, and the wrong status. 

Thranduil took to his tunic again and proceeded back down to the harvest feast to find his son. Legolas was found showing off with archery skills in a duel with another elf when Thranduil came to interrupt him, "Legolas". The elf prince shot his arrow astray at the unexpected call of his name and, having missed his target, he turned around with a bit of frustration. "Annawrete will be with you at training tomorrow. I have granted her permission", Thranduil said, "She will no longer be assisting me". A smile appeared on  Legolas's face, he had been awaiting the day to begin training Annawrete up again. She had done such an excellent job picking up archery from him and he now looked forward to showing her other skills as well as combat. "I will pass the good news on to Tauriel, I know she has been wondering when she and Annawrete would begin working side by side", Legolas said as he returned to his duel, removing from his quiver another arrow and taking aim.

When Annawrete woke the next morning, it was not on her own. "You are late," Legolas said with her bed sheets in hand. With the covers pulled from her, she was swallowed by the cold of the air that filled the room. Sitting up partially, she acknowledged that it was still dark. She never woke up this early, "The sun has not risen. Your father will not request breakfast for several more hours". Immediately after she had said that, she remembered that she had gotten fired. Legolas's face contorted as he grew confused, "You are not assisting my father, your first day of guard training is today. Have you forgotten?"

"Just---just give me a few minutes to get ready," Annawrete said when it came to her that Thranduil had probably granted her permission to join the guards as a way to avoid seeing her within the palace often. Legolas returned to her the bed covers and proceeded to the door, "Tauriel said I need to punish you for being late. Don't take it personal, it's only discipline. You are part of the guards now". Annawrete felt like she should be taking it personal because of the tension that grew between her and the Captain, "What is it that I have to do?" she groaned. "One lap around the entire kingdom," Legolas said in the doorway, "You need to become conditioned as well as familiar with our borders".

When Annawrete arrived at training, she found that she wasn't the only one given a lap to run. Others were in trouble too for one thing or another. They were told to stick together as they ran, because being on their own out in the forests was dangerous. Unfortunately, Annawrete was having a hard time keeping up with the elves that were with her and she found herself falling more and more behind. Her human legs began to fail her as she watched the others disappear. With exhaustion consuming her, she slowed to a still against the bark of a tree. It was then between her heavy breathing that she heard another noise. Afraid that she was not alone where she was, she left the tree and took to her bow. The noise only became louder further from the tree and soon she was able to distinct that they were groans. She turned and rounded a large tree and came face to face with a man who was severely wounded. "Help me.." he struggled. Annawrete fell on her knees at his side. She did not know what he had said because she was not fluent in Mannish, but she understood that he was dying.