An Unexpected Romance

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

They threw me back in the dungeons, ignoring shouts and curses from the others at the way they handled me.

"SHE'S JUST A WEE LASS!" I heard Gloin yell. "LET HER GO."

They did not, in fact, let me go. Instead, they held me even tighter, probably leaving bruises on my wrists and shoulders.

So I sat, once again, alone on the cold, hard floor. I picked at the skin around my nails until they bled and chewed the inside of my cheek until it was raw. It twisted my hair and hummed old lullabies and tapped rhythms of folk songs.

None if it helped to pass the time.

I was bored.

Part of my was just barely dozing off to sleep when the she-elf that had returned Kili to us appeared outside my cell.

Up close, I could see how beautiful she was. She was tall and slender, clad and every brown and green in the forest. Dark red hair spilled down her back and her eyes were set with a fierce determination that I knew far too well. I wore that look everyday.

"You travel with them." She said. It should have been a question, but it sounded like a statement. "The dwarfs. You travel with them."

"Yup." I blinked lazily.

"Why?" She asked.

Why did she care? I bit my tongue to keep from snapping at her. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Tauriel." She said, setting her shoulders back. "I'm the Captain of the Guard."

"Well," I stood up and leaned against the bars. "Nice to meet you, Tauriel. I'm Ariel."

"Why do you travel with them?" Tauriel asked again, seeming rather curious.

I snorted. "I'm a Daughter of Durin. This is what Durin's Folk do. We follow our Prince."

Her neat eyebrows came together in concern. "But.. is it what you would have chosen? No matter what, is this what you would choose to do?"

I took a moment to think, a thousand thoughts racing through my mind. "Thorin gave me everything I have." I said finally. "He is the reason that the dwarfs of the Lonely Mountain survive. If I did not owe him for my personal survival, I would still follow him. To Hell and back."

"His heirs.. they also travel with you?"

Suddenly feeling quite defensive, I gave a stiff nodded. "Yes."

"The archer.. with the dark hair. What is he called?" Tauriel asked.

I felt the fire of jealousy rise up within me. Why should I be telling her anything? About me, us, Kili.. what right did she have to know? None. She was not kin. She was our enemy. She was an Elf.

The anger forced it's way up my throat and out of my mouth. "What business is it of yours?" I snapped at her.

Tauriel drew back, recoiling as if I'd struck her.

Good, I found myself thinking. She has no right to be asking me these questions.

"Goodnight, Lady Dwarf." She said finally, giving a curt nod before she disappeared from my sight.

***

"Ariel!" Came a quiet but urgent whispered, piercing through my dreams. "Ariel, come on!"

I snapped awake, my clouded mind clearing within seconds.

"What?" I asked, my voice ringing out loudly.

"Shh! Hurry, we've got to go." Fili was crouched next to me. The cell door open behind him.