Chapter 1

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Legolas hasn't woken yet. Ever since the attack at Mirkwood, he's been unconscious and king Thranduil has grown weak with depression. The former king lay against a tree, asleep and snoring loudly. I just sat beside the sleeping prince, terrified to leave his side for even a second.

I dab a white cloth in a water pale, setting it on Legolas' forehead to help regulate his increasing fever. I could have lost him. I still might. He isn't showing any signs of progression yet. It's been 4 days since we lost our home to the ruthless orc kin, and all out people were dead or being held captive and brutally tortured.

Resting the dripping cloth on his forehead, my fingers trail down to his cheek. I run my finger over his lips, barley noticing his eyes peek open. I jerk my hand back in an urge to hide my affections. "Legolas! Thank the heavens you're alive!"

I wrap my arms around his neck and feel him hold me tight. "I've missed you." He smiles, turning to glance at his sleeping father.

"Where are we? Why aren't we in Mirkwood?" Legolas questions. He had a stern expression and he was sweating. His fever was raging.

"Legolas... The orcs overran our kingdom. It was taken from us." I whisper, dreading his reaction. "What?" He shoots up in shock. "Legolas, you need rest." Pushing him back, I pull away in fear of his fathers disapproval. "Tauriel." He grabbed my forearm as he gently laid down on the bed of leaves. I shot a glance at his father, but he just stared emotionless. He must have woken up, but feared intruding on our conversation.

"I suppose I'll search for a river near by for a supply of water." Thranduil blankly said.

He was leaving us alone? I thought he despised me? Yes, I know I saved his life and he was forever grateful, but that doesn't excuse that fact that his only son has fallen for a silvan elf. Especially one lacking elegance and a low title.

"Legolas, please get some sleep," I obviously didn't want to comment on the kiss we shared only a few nights before. My eyes darted around the forest floor, then up at the night sky, but Legolas' followed them. He cupped my face in his hand, "I want to give you something.

He slowly pulls out an item from his tunic, opening his hand so I can see. "My- my pendant." I whisper. Lifting it from his hand, I smile thankfully at the small gift I once held close to me. "Legolas, thank you. I thought I had lost it." He just smiled, leaning in, but then stopping. A look of worry crossed his face.

"What is it?"

"Tauriel. Y-Your eyes." What is he talking about? Curiously, I wipe the red liquid spilling over. Blood. "Oh..."

"The poison." He muttered, sitting up but holding back the expressions of pain. Everything around me spun. Legolas sounded distant even though he was beside me and my body felt strange. "Legolas..." My body collapses against the forest floor and my eyes shut, but my ears remain conscious.

He screamed my name and told me I was going to be okay, but I doubted it. We didn't have healers, and neither of us were familiar on what I had been poisoned with. My body fell numb and I descended into an empty, endless, cold sleep.

Adventure with me ~ Sequel to Brighter Than the Stars {Lauriel}Where stories live. Discover now