Mirkwood (Thranduil and Tauriel post-BOTFA)

The King's brooch

Chapter description: Tauriel falls into a routine again even though she still feels a lot of sadness and confusion underneath. She tries to numb it out through fighting and duties and to carry on by herself. She ends up fighting alongside Thranduil. Something unexpected makes her see the King again in private.

Disclaimer: I don't own this lovely video or any of the videos and music used in this story.

She thought over the next few days and weeks at the possibilities of leaving Mirkwood but she found herself staying and resuming her duties as a mere soldier, under the command of the new captain, Feren.

Days and weeks passed. Everyone in the realm seemed to be more alert than before, like every day there was a new threat coming. The orc attacks were getting more frequent and so much closer to their realm.

One spring morning, a pack of orcs passed the borders of the realm. They were too close to the kingdom so Thranduil himself went in with his captains to annihilate the threat. Tauriel was there too. The times when the King had to go and fight alongside the woodland scouts and soldiers were much more frequent than before. So many things had changed in the Woodland realm since the army's return from Dale.

Tauriel went in the forest armed with daggers and a new bow and arrows, as her old bow had been cut by Thranduil. It was strange to fight alongside the King, as she had not done so in centuries. The soldiers and woodland scouts under Feren's command were all equipped. As she was no longer the Captain, she had to obey Feren's orders which meant she could not do anything foolish or against the King's will, as she doubted that he would be so merciful a second time. But it was OK. All she wanted was to kill orcs. All her sadness, anger, frustrations were being used for her assassin mode. She did not mind just doing that as it took her mind off other things. Other things that seemed much more complicated and confusing than killing orcs. 

The King was close by, with his fighting tunic on and less heavy armor than he had worn during the battle in Dale. He was leading Feren's company and the others were following him.  He was very much standing out from the crowd being very tall, with his long pearly hair, his silver armor on his broad shoulders, the leather cape with metallic insertions and the thin silver crown around his head. It was easy to spot him which was convenient in case any of them had to take orders from him or save his life. Tauriel was in his company, keeping close to him, along with a few other woodland warriors. She had not thought she would ever get to fight side by side with him again after what happened during the battle in Dale and Ravenhill. She knew the King was the best swordsman in the realm and some would say even in Middle-Earth however she had not seen him fight together with her in ages. She had always been fighting with Legolas or under his command. The thought of fighting alongside Thranduil suddenly felt exciting for Tauriel although she could not tell why. 

The fight started quickly as the orcs attacked first. It was fierce and bloody. More and more orcs were coming from behind the trees and some even lurking in the trees or hiding behind the giant spiders' webs. All was going well for Tauriel. she was handling the fight really well, as she was one of the most skilled warriors. However, she was not invincible and Bolg had been the one to remind her that in their fight on Ravenhill. As a large number of orcs were surrounding her, she could see a few woodland elves around her in a fierce fight trying to hold them back but the orcs were too many. She had been fighting for some time now though she could not tell for how long, everything seemed chaotic and was moving so fast. She had just saved one of the elves nearby from an orc that was most probably going to kill him when she looked to see how the rest of the company was doing.