Jewel In The Palace(Lord Of The Rings Fanfiction)

Upon Arrival

~~O~~

A good week's travel by land and river, the Queen's party were nearing its destination. During those times, she mostly had conversations with Maethron so she would know him better. Mirialia found out that he fought during the War of the Last Alliance, considering him as one of the oldest and strongest elves in their kingdom.

When the moon had reached its pinnacle overhead, the soldiers had settled into camp nestled in a small clearing and surrounded by tents. The queen watched her people; she was accompanied by two hundred and eighteen strong elves, strong enough to defend her but hoped that the visit will not turn into battle.

Mirialia sat by herself in front of a small fire, quiet and withdrawn as she stared into the flames. Thoughts of Carantheas and its people ran in her mind. The land though small, as Lenneth told her, was such a peaceful and law-abiding kingdom. Their king had died fighting during the war, which left its governing to his children. The twins, Gilion and Gilwen. She hoped that by meeting them, she will find a solution to the problem.

"Is this seat taken?" the general's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Mirialia shook her head and Maethron sat down a few feet from her to study her face. In the light of the fire, he was once more reminded of how young this girl beside him was.

She tossed a twig into the fire. "How long have you and Thranduil known each other?"

"I would say about four thousand and five hundred years now, ever since a bratty elf prince took control of the army under orders of King Oropher and demoted me during the war with Sauron." There was a lightness in his voice that made Mirialia smile.

"But, he did win the war for us though." he added.

"Not without your help."

The two sat in silence for a long while. Maethron reflected on his initial reaction when Oropher announced that his son was to be made second-in-command of the Woodland army - the second highest rank there was. His rank.

Words could not describe the fury he had in his first battle under Thranduil. At three thousand years of age, Maethron had worked hard at attaining his position. But soon, his anger turned into curiosity, and his curiosity turned to respect the more he served under him. Despite his young age, Thranduil had an ingenious grasp of war strategy and fought more fiercely than other elves twice his age.

"What are you thinking about?" Mirialia asked quietly.

The general looked up at her and smirked. Who would have thought that this girl captured their king's heart? Their fierce king and his ever so gentle queen.

"I'm thinking that you should be attending balls and flirting with young men or elves, and not being escorted by an army."

"Don't be silly." the queen smiled. Her strength never did make her famous after all. But she decided to earn respect in another way, and at something she was good at.

"Make sure the rest are prepared to leave in the morning."

~~O~~

As they went through their journey, a cry to the west, carried upon the breeze, caught Mirialia's attention. The general and the queen exchanged looks and hurriedly strode towards the direction, while the rest instantly followed behind. There they saw the source of the cry.

Under the blue sky and the heat of the sun, two groups of soldiers, one group with silver helmets, and the other group with black, were battling fiercely against each other. Mirialia didn't have to look closer to know that the soldiers, with the light from the sun glinting against their tarnished silver caps were elves, and losing badly.