"Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure." The blonde elf says to Thorin and I narrow my eyes at him. The dwarves look around and see that we are completely surrounded and outnumbered by Mirkwood Elves, all with drawn bows aimed at us. "Help!" I hear Kili call out and start to run toward him only to be pushed back by a nearby Elf as Fili calls out for his brother. I watch as a spider is pulling Kili away by the foot.

Suddenly a female Elf, with auburn hair like mine runs through the forest. She kills three spiders with her bow and knife, then kills the spider pulling Kili with an arrow. She turns to attack another spider behind her, and yet another spider rushes toward Kili. "Throw me your dagger! Quick!" He calls out to her but she refuses, "If you think I'm giving you a weapon, dwarf, you're mistaken!" She kills her spider with her knife, then spins and throws the knife, killing the spider that was attacking Kili. Kili looks on in amazement.

I smile inwardly as I recognize his look, it was the same one his brother had given me. "Search them." The blonde elf says and I instantly grip tightly to Ithildin's hilt. The elves approach the dwarves and start searching them first. I watch as an elf confiscates two of Fili's knives; before the leader pulls a picture frame with two pictures out of Gloin's pocket, "Hey! Give it back! That's private!"

The blonde Elf looks at a picture of a dwarf and says, "Who is this? Your brother?"

"That is my wife!"

The Elf looks at the other picture, which is of a dwarf child, "And what is this horrid creature? A goblin mutant?"

"That's my wee lad, Gimli." The Elf raises his eyebrow at Gloin in contempt. My gaze turns toward Fili once again as the elf searching him finds even more knives all around his person. Fili sighs when the elf finds even some in a secret hidden pocket. I feel someone grab Ithildin and I tense. "Adleg-ten." (Release it) I say with as much anger as I can muster. The elf stares at me in shock before turning to the blonde Elf. He walks up to me and as one of the other Elves holds me he pulls Ithildin from my grasp making me have a sudden panic attack.

My breathing starts to race as my body is instantly covered in a cold sweat. I move forward to lunge at him but feel a hand holding me back. I turn toward it to see Dwalin shaking his head silently telling me it's not worth it. "Gyrth in yngyl bain?" I hear the Blonde elf say to the Auburn haired female and I listen silently as they talk back and forth.

"Ennorner gwanod in yngyl na nyryn. Engain nar." (Yes, but more will come. They're growing bolder.)

I look over to right as Fili opens his jacket to show the elf searching him that he has no knives left; however, the elf finds another one hidden in Fili's hood. An elf hands the blonde Elf Thorin's sword, Orcrist, and he inspects it. "Echannen i vegil hen vin Gondolin. Magannen nan Gelydh." (This is an ancient Elvish blade. Forged by my kin.) "Where did you get this?" He says as he turns toward Thorin.

"It was given to me." The lead Elf points the sword at Thorin and says, "Not just a thief, but a liar as well."

I tense against the Elf still gripping tightly to my arm when the blonde Elf yells, "Enwenno hain!" (Take them!)

The elves begin to lead us away. As they begin to walk, Bofur turns and whispers to Thorin, "Thorin, where's Bilbo?" Thorin looks around, but sees no sign of Bilbo. We are led through the wood and over a bridge into the Woodland Realm. As we pass through the gates I feel myself pulling my arm out of the Elf's grasp and when he makes a move to recollect his grasp Dwalin places himself between the elf and me.

I let out a sigh of relief that they had yet to realize that I was in fact an elf. After pass through the gate, the blonde elf addresses the guards of the gate. "Holo in ennyn." (Close the gate.) As it starts to close I feel Bofur reach over and gently take my hand. My grip tightens on his as we are led through the raised wooden walkways of the Woodland Realm. The entire place is built out of tree roots in a subterranean cavern. Upon reaching the dungeons we are pushed, protesting, into several cells. "This is not the end of it! You hear me?" Dwalin yells out as he is tossed into a cell. The elf in charge of Fili finds another large dagger hidden in his coat, and Fili sighs in frustration. I am lucky enough to be placed in the same cell as Fili.

As the cell door slams shuts I find myself falling to the floor of the cell my legs finally giving way. Kili addresses the auburn haired elf as she locks him in his cell. "Aren't you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers." I hear him say and I suddenly feel a smile fill my lips. "Or nothing." She replies and I stifle a laugh.

As she haughtily slams the cell door shut and walks away, the blonde elf says, "I Nogoth amman e tîr gin? Tauriel?" (Why does the Dwarf stare at you, Tauriel?)

'Oh so that is her name' I think to myself as she replies, "Ú-dangada?" (Who can say?) Tauriel looks away from the blonde Elf as she says smiling a little and looking dreamy. "E orchal be Nogoth." (He's quite tall for a Dwarf.) She suddenly realizes what she's doing and quickly looks at the Blonde Elf and continues, "Pedithig?" (Do you not think?)

As Tauriel walks away, he addresses her; "Orchal eb vui, mal uvanui en." (Taller than some; but no less ugly.)

Dwalin and several other dwarves including Fili throw themselves against their cell doors, grunting in their effort until Balin finally yells at them. "Leave it! There's no way out. This is no Orc dungeon; these are the halls of the Woodland Realm. No one leaves here but by the king's consent." I grip tightly to my shoulders as I try to think of anything else other than being as close as I now am to Thranduil.

"It'll be alright," Fili says as he kneels down beside me. I say nothing but nod in agreement. I open my eyes and suddenly realize that with no doubt in my mind when they brought Thorin back I would be the next one to go. I gulp down a breath of air as I try to think of what I was going to tell him. Letting out a sigh I walk over to the single solitary bed and set beside Fili.

I turn to see him staring at the wall and I find that I am no longer worried about myself but am worried for him and his kin. Leaning over I gently nudge his shoulder with mine as I say, "When all this is over, what do you plan on doing?"

He smirks as he says, "You mean if we survive the dragon?"

I nod as i force a smile. "I don't think I have thought that far ahead, I do know that I'll one day have to take the throne from uncle but until then I'm not sure."

I smile softly as I say, "I believe it's something you might wanna give a thought."

He chuckles as he says, "And what do you plan to do?"

I open my mouth to answer but find that I also haven't thought that far ahead. "I guess I also haven't thought about it. I've been on my own for so long that I haven't given any thought to the future."

"You could always stay in Erebor with us, I'm sure uncle will allow it." Fili says and I smile as I say, "I may take you up on that." I pull my legs up to my chest and suddenly realize that the elves hadn't taken my dagger. Pulling it out I stare at it for a moment before sighing. "I guess I was meant to come here anyway." I quickly place it back in the confines of my boot as the elves bring Thorin down into the dungeon. Thorin is thrown into a cell beside the other dwarves, and his jailer walks over to my cell with a ring of jangling keys.

"My king wants to speak with you." He says as he opens the door.

I grit my teeth as I say, "You may tell your king I have nothing to speak to him about." Suddenly I am pulled from the cell and before Fili can react the door is slammed behind me. "Randir!" Fili cries out and instantly the cells erupt with angry protests. "Leave her alone!" Thorin yells as he reaches out of his cell to grab my outstretched hand but his fingers only graze mine. I thrash around as I try to get free from them until I am no longer within earshot of the dwarves. I look at my captors and let out a sigh as I finally give in and let them take me away.

The elves lead me to the throne room where Thranduil is sat upon his throne. I keep my eyes down so that my face and ears are also shielded from him. As he stands he says, "Tell me why is a maiden of man traveling with thirteen dwarves?" I remain silent. "Don't feel like answering then I will ask you another question." He stands and I glance out of the corner of my eye see him take Ithildin from one of his guards and tense. "How came you by this blade? My guards say you were very reluctant to surrender it to them."

"That is because it belongs to me." I say as I feel anger fill my body.

"So it does speak," He says as a chuckle escapes his lips, before he continues, "Then you will answer the question, How came you by this blade?" I ignore his question and find that he suddenly becomes very angry, "Answer me!"

I feel my anger get the better of me as I jerk my head up and as my eyes find his I yell, "I don't answer to you! Nor do I ever intend to! That blade is mine, he belongs to me; you will return him to me."

Thranduil stares at me for a moment before he says, "It seems the stubbornness of dwarves has rubbed off on you mortal. That is a shame, too bad you are wrong. This blade belonged to a very old friend of mine, I shall be keeping it."

My heart drops but I keep the emotion hidden from my face as I say, "If you will not return my blade than perhaps you will accept a trade?"

He raises a perfect eyebrow as he says, "And what would a mortal have that I would ever want?"

I roll my eyes as I lean down and produce his father's dagger. At the sight of me having a blade his guards start to run toward me but he stops them. I flip the dagger in my hand and hold it up so he can see it. I watch as his eyes widen slightly at the sight as he says, "How came you by this?"

I gulp down a breath of air before I say, "I found it on the battlefield after the battle of Dagorlad, centuries ago. I meant to return it to you as it was your fathers but I couldn't find the courage to."

His eyes slowly turn from the blade to my own. He stares at me for a moment before he says, "Iston i nîf gîn," (I know your face.) I quickly look away as I bring the dagger down to my side. "Melethril," He says and I instantly feel like running. I manage a glance back up at him right as he moves closer to me but I quickly back away. He slowly walks toward me his eyes full of worry and curiosity. "I thought you dead." He says as he finally stops moving toward me.

"Melethril did die Thranduil Oropherion, she died the day her father did. My name is Randír."

He stares at me for a moment before saying, "What happened to you?"

"I have no intention of telling you," I hand him his father's dagger as I continue; "This is rightfully yours." As he takes it from my hand he quickly moves forward and grabbing my wrist pulls me into his arms where he holds tightly to me.

I fight against him at first until the familiar smell leaves and flowers fills my senses. My body shakes uncontrollably as I stand there unsure of what to do with my hands. I hadn't let a man hug me or even touch me without my permission not since I was raped. The sudden memory floods my mind sending me into a panic. I quickly push him away as I say, "D-don't t-t-t-touch me!" I can feel my heart racing inside my chest and fall to the floor grasping my sides. I suddenly longed to be back in my cell with my friends. "I need to go back, let me go back. Thorin needs me, Fili needs me." I say the sentence over and over again not noticing the looks of pure shock on Thranduil and the surrounding guard's faces.

"Leave us!" Thranduil yells to his guards causing them to scatter as they leave us alone. "Melethril," He says as he leans down and reaches out to me causing me to flinch from his touch. "Have I ever given you reason to believe I would ever hurt you?" I slowly look over at him to see concern filling his tiffany blue eyes and I shake my head. "I do not know what has happened to you, but I do know that you are safe now." I feel his hand gently touch my cheek and I feel my arms move on their own as they reach out and wrap around him.

"It was so horrible!" I cry out as I clutch tightly to his robes tears falling from my eyes. I feel one of his hands gently rub my back as the other strokes my hair.

"You're safe now."

"I missed you so much!"

"And I missed you, let's get you cleaned up and you can tell me what happened and why you are traveling with dwarves." He says and I instantly think about the dwarves in the cells below and release my grip on him.

I pull away and say, "I should be with my friends."

"You are with your friend." He says as he tries to pull me back into his arms.

"You are not whom I am speaking of."

"The dwarves?" He says with a sudden realization, "You think you are safer with the dwarves? Have you gone mad?"

I jump to my feet my fear now gone and replaced with anger. "Why; because I would rather have the company of dwarves to that of an Elf? I would never abandon those who have protected me and taken me in as one of their own. I'm not like you!" I didn't mean the last part but in the spur of my anger it had come out.

He stares at me eyes wide as he says, "What do you mean?"

"The dwarves, I may not have been there but after the dragon took their home you just left them there and for what a bunch of measly gems? They had just lost their homes and although I do not blame you for not wanting to risk the lives of your kin against the dragon you could have helped them get somewhere safe but no you just left them there!"

"You know nothing of what you speak! I did what was best for my kin, even if you do not agree."

"Take me back to my friends Thranduil."

"I will not."

"Why not?"

"Because I do not wish too,"

"Then I will return to them on my own!"

"Melethril, they are not your kind. They cannot help you like we can, like I can."

"They may not be Elves but they are my family, they accept me for me. They know all the bad things that have happened and they still claim me."

"But they do not love you like I-" He stops mid sentence but I know what he means to say.

"You what? You can't. What would your wife say?"

Sadness fills his eyes as he says, "She died, in battle. Not too long after my son was born."

I feel a wave of sadness and regret fill my heart making me say, "I am sorry, I didn't know." I fight the urge to hug him by saying, "I need to go back, they will worry about me."

He starts to argue but instead shakes his head says, "Go, If you need anything just tell the guards. They will let me know."

I manage one last look back at him to see him staring off after me with longing in his eyes. I didn't know he had actually loved me when we were younger. I guess that was another reason why our fathers arranged our marriage. I sigh as I wrap my arms around myself and walk back across the bridge that let away from his throne. Guards quickly surround me and lead me back to my cell where Fili is waiting with worry in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Thorin asks from his cell as mine is slammed closed.

"I'm alright," I say as I sit down on the solitary bed and let out a heavy sigh. I look up to see Fili standing next to the door staring daggers at the guards who were now leaving and I softly smile. I felt safe with the dwarves, why was that? They were men and yet my memories and fears weren't triggered by them. My head starts to throb at the thought.

"What did he want?" Fili asks as he walks over and kneels down in front of me.

"First he wanted to know why a mortal was traveling with dwarves and then-" I pause for a moment before I sigh and say, "Look I have to tell you all something, I should have told you when I told you all my past but I was afraid if you knew, if Thorin knew, I would lose the only people who care about me and I them."

Fili reaches over and takes one of my hands in his as he says, "You have nothing to fear, tell us."

"The reason I didn't want to come here is because when I was younger my father had an arrangement for me to marry a fellow Elf, a prince."

"Why would we-" Fili starts but I instantly silence him as I say, "It was Thranduil. The prince I was arranged to marry was Thranduil." I look up into his eyes to see them staring at me with an unknown look in his eyes.

"Were you going to marry him?" I hear Dwalin ask from a neighboring cell and I chuckle as I say, "Of course not. I grew up with him, he was a good friend but I didn't think of him in that way."

"Then there is nothing to worry about, you're still on our good side."

I chuckle as I say, "Thank you Dwalin."

I feel Fili's fingers gently rub mine and I smile as I say, "I'm glad I have friends like you all. It almost makes me forget the pain in my heart." Fili smiles softly as he pulls my hands up to his lips where he gently places a soft kiss upon my knuckles making me smile brighter.

"That's what friends do," He says as he sits down next to me and allows me to rest my head in his lap. Closing my eyes I try to let the sound of Elves singing far off relax me. I feel Fili's hand gently brush my hair back out of my face making butterflies fill my stomach.

A few minutes later I hear Kili talking with the auburn haired female Elf from before and I smile. "I see your brother has a crush," I say to Fili and he chuckles. "I think she might like him back."

He looks down into my eyes as he says, "I think you may be right."

I smile as I think to myself,