"King Thranduil," I speak and place a fist on my heart, bowing as Legolas did earlier.

"Come here." He requests softly and I obey hesitantly. I walk over and stop to his right, looking over the dark courtyard before once again looking at the king. His robe seems to be stitched together by starlight and spider's webs the way it gleams and shines. Gone is his crown of branches and fierce demeanor. Now, he simply seems quiet and reflective, but I refuse to underestimate the elven king. I'm wary. "I could hear the festivities from here, Lord Dane." He mocks the title Elundir gave me and looks to me with gleaming eyes, but I bite my tongue so as to not respond. He is the king, after all. His eyes return to looking outside, this time to the stars. "It seems my people have taken an uncommon shining to you, human. It is a rare thing that I do not take lightly. Especially the kinship you have so quickly cultivated with my son." He turns towards me with penetrating eyes and I resist the urge to look down from the challenge.

"Your son has good character, King Thranduil. I consider it an honor to know him." I try to explain the best I can. Thranduil doesn't move for a long while, making my palms sweat and heart palpitate.

"He is indeed a good son. I, however, have never been the greatest father. All the good I see in him is reminiscent of his mother." He informs me, his voice soothing and unemotional. The only thing that gives him away is the extra liquid in his eyes, dangerously close to slipping out. "He is certainly what she always wanted me to be. What she always thought I could be." He laments slightly. I'm at a complete loss at what to say, so we stand in silence for a few moments while I think.

"What was her name?" I ask timidly. I can't remember any mention of her name from the movies. Just barely I see the corner of his mouth turn up.

"Tinuviel. It means, 'daughter of the starry twilight'. Fitting, for dusk was always her favorite time of day." A slight amount of vulnerability slips into his voice, but when he turns to me all traces are gone. "Legolas' lessons start early, so I suggest you do your best to rest. I will be observing all your...attempts. It's rare I find such promising entertainment." He shoots me a condescending smile before swishing away and out the door. I scoff at his majesty's penchant for being a jerk and shake my head. I take off all the foreign clothes and take the time to actually get into the bed this time, groaning when I realize the sheets feel like butter. I'm asleep in an instant.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"You must hold the weapon up, Dane. Up!" Legolas scolds me with a large grin on his face. I look at him with eyes full of irritation and exhaustion. We haven't even been doing this for an hour and my arms feel like jelly. As I was told, I got up early and changed into the short green tunic, pants, vest, and vambraces set out for me. Legolas got there and instantly redid the ties on my vambraces, then led me to the courtyard and put a sword in my hands. I am not skilled with a sword, as we quickly discovered. The first thing Legolas corrected was the way I held it, then my stance, then how I swung, now everything all at once.

I guess I should be glad I've improved at all, but all I feel like is screaming at the top my lungs. Giving up has also crossed my mind, but I can't do that with Legolas Greenleaf trying to teach me. So, I resist. Thranduil is watching from a high balcony, grinning like a fox as he watches me 'train'.  "Stop," Legolas commands firmly and my jelly arms instantly comply, although I manage to slip it into the sheath on my hip instead of just dropping it. Legolas pats my shoulder with an amused smile on his lips. "Would you care for refreshment?" He asks, completely within his strength to keep going.

"Yes." I struggle to say and follow him to a small pool that constantly has water flowing into it. He picks up two glass cups sitting on the side and fills them both with the clear water, then hands one to me. I down it instantly and refill it three times before stopping. Finally, I feel like I can breathe again. Legolas guides me to a small bench and sits gracefully down while I plop on the bench like a raindrop. I feel Legolas's eyes on me as I lean back with my eyes closed. "There's no combat training for me where I live." I try to defend myself a little, glancing over at his little smirk.

"Of course." He allows and continues observing me, amused. "Perhaps we shall move onto daggers for a little while?" Legolas tries to make allowances for me and I grin at his kindness. In my defense, he's had over a hundred years of practice and I've only had a couple of hours.

"Sounds good." I approve and groan when Legolas stands up. Laughing, he offers me his hand and I take it. He helps me up and we walk over to the weapons crate. He hands me two beautiful silver daggers that are exceedingly light, as all elven blades are but weigh a little heavier in my hands from exhaustion. Legolas grabs his own and skillfully moves them around in his hands, then stops and repositions how I hold mine.

"The key to wielding dueling daggers such as these is to think of them as a part of you. You hold the blades tight to your vambraces and move like the wind when you strike or your opponent will catch you." He explains quickly as he demonstrates how I should hold them. I grasp onto the handles tightly and nod at his instructions. A wooden manakin stands in the middle of the small courtyard and he approaches it smoothly, crouching only slightly in readiness. When he strikes it is quick and lithe, so quick I could have missed it if I had blinked. Legolas continues to move around the dummy making quick and deep slices and jabs into the wood. Once he's made a full revolution he stops and faces me, gesturing to the dummy with a blade. After taking a breath, I move in front of it and crouch as Legolas did. I do my best to emulate the way he moved, but I'm severely lacking in the elvish grace department. My fingers ache slightly from how tightly I'm holding the daggers, but I'm determined to get this right. I slice where he did and jab where he did, only stumbling once on the final turn. My eyes meet his as I straighten out of my crouching position. That smirk seems like a permanent fixture on his face, but he nods once.

"Not the worst?" I ask teasingly and get a chuckle out of him.

"Not the worst." He confirms and takes my daggers from me. "You need to work on your footwork more. Think of how the wind blows the leaves across the dirt." Legolas tells me and moves closer, grabbing both of my hands and raising them up like we're about to wrestle. "Watch my feet and mirror my movements." He instructs. After a moment's glance at our clasped hands, I shake my head and look down at his feet. Slowly, he starts to turn us in a circle. He walks to the left, his feet crisscrossing as he does. My hips instantly turn to let my feet walk right, but Legolas stops us and squeezes my hands firmly.

"No! Keep your torso straight and turned towards me." He scolds harshly, but his eyes are patient. I huff and correct myself when we start moving again. We move extremely slowly because of me but pick up the pace when I get the hang of it. At least, until Legolas changes direction. We let go of each other at the same time as I stumble to the right. I chuckle with self-deprecation, but both of us look up when a sharp bark of a laugh falls from the king's lips. He looks just as surprised as us at the outburst, but Legolas is grinning like the sun. "Adar, uma lle rina sina?" (Father, do you remember this?) Legolas speaks sudden elvish to his father and Thranduil reveals a rare smile.

"En' rant, utinu. Lle caela natula y' tereva Ohtar. Quel marth yassen sina er." (Of course, I do. You've become a fine warrior. Good luck with this one.) Thranduil responds and disappears inside with a flick of his robe. Legolas sighs nostalgically and turns back to me.

"Again." We run the drill over and over until I get it right, switching back and forth between directions when Legolas bids. He had plenty of laughs during the exercise, especially when my frustrations got the best of me. It's late now and he has left me in my room to bathe and change because I apparently smell 'worse than a boar after rooting around in the mud'. Rude, but he got his point across. When I'm finished I walk back into my bedroom. It seems I've earned the honor of dressing myself tonight. My choice is simplicity and comfort which isn't hard since all of their clothing is surprisingly comfortable.

I grab a simple white shirt and tan pants, then put a long navy robe on with a shiny gold cape. Personally, I think I look great. Although, instead of boots I wear slippers, letting the long robe cover my feet. I walk out the door by myself and turn left as Legolas and I have before, hoping this leads to food. Surprisingly, I actually get to the doors Legolas and I reached just a little while ago. I walk out and take a deep breath in when my feet hit the grass. These woods smell like no other and the breeze that makes the leaves applaud carries a sharper bite than earth. It's wilder and refreshing, maybe even reminiscent of what our world once was, but also frightening in it's untamedness.

"Seems I am not the only one who wished to take in the evening air." My eyes shut and I flinch a little when I hear the king's voice as if caught doing something I shouldn't. I turn towards the doors and find him standing to the side, just out of my peripheral vision. After a moment, I bow stiffly, still unsure where the king and I stand when it comes to one another. His eyes shine in the fading light as he walks towards me, circling like a cat playing with a mouse. He stops at my side while facing the doors while I face the courtyard. "Come with me, Lord Dane, we shall dine together." He mocks me slightly and has an amused smile on his face. Dread fills me, but I nod. You don't turn down the king.

His lips purse to stop a smile and he floats to the door. I follow a little behind, feeling my nerves rising in my stomach. This may be a good thing though. If anyone here can get me home, it's Thranduil. He leads me down halls and passages I'd never been through before until it seems we've come near the center of the kingdom. We walk down steep stairs and emerge in a surprisingly peaceful place. The sound of gently falling water disturbs the silence and my eyes are instantly drawn to the sound. We're on a precipice of sorts, although I'm grateful the edge leads to water instead of just darkness. The floor is pure stone and intricately carved columns frame a path to somewhere else unknown, but the bridge does pass over the water. To the left is a small cove carved out from the stone and a bed rests underneath, adorned with red and gold blankets and pillows.

"Is this your room?" I ask without thinking, making sure to stand away from the edge. I wouldn't put it past the king to suddenly shove me if I got too annoying. His amused eyes land on me as he reveals a small table behind him.

"This is my kingdom. All the rooms are mine." Thranduil answers evasively and I press my lips together to keep in my many snarky comments. He sits and waves to the chair across from him. Hesitantly, I sit. The table is empty excepting a silver bell. "I have sent soldiers to the place where you appeared." My ears instantly perk up at the news. Thranduil's eyes watch me carefully as he reaches over and rings the bell. Almost immediately, two plates are brought forth and set in front of us by a young elf, as well as two very full glasses of wine.

"I sent five elves. Only four returned." He continues, happily taking his time as I steadily move towards the edge of my seat. "The one missing returned the day after the rest, speaking of a world much different than ours. I believe, Dane, that if you return to this place you may return to your world once again." He informs me and I practically jump out of my seat with joy but don't. The king is acting suspicious, so I set my happiness aside for a moment.

"Thank you, King Thranduil," I tell him and can't resist letting loose a smile, but something is definitely up. His blue eyes consider me as he picks up his silverware and takes a bite. Only after he starts eating do I start, that's polite, right? "If I may say so, I don't think that's the only thing you wanted to say to me." I risk the offense and brace myself for either a scathing retort or a threat. Instead, the king's lips twitch in amusement.

"I was merely wondering if you truly wished to return?" He questions in his lilting voice. Shock rolls through me. That is definitely not what I expected him to say.

"Of course, I do," I reply instantly, confused as to why he'd think otherwise. "My family is there." The king hums in thought after taking a languorous sip from his wine glass.

"Ah, yes. Family." Thranduil sighs as if bored with the concept, but his eyes are steady on mine. "I've watched you in this world. While yes, you flounder like a carp out of the river, I see the way you look around. You adore the air, the trees, the people. Perhaps that's what Legolas senses in you, although he still doesn't have the skill to see such things." I grind my teeth together when he digs at Legolas, but halt my reprimands. "I thought perhaps you'd choose to stay." He ends and for the first time, I think I see a glimmer of uncertainty in his eyes. I'm sure in his many years he's never had someone fall out of the sky and into his land before. A little pride enters my chest at throwing the famed, proud king off-kilter.

"No. I'd never leave my family," I answer firmly while doing my best to not sound pissed, which I'm sure I failed at. Our eyes burn into one another's before his lips twitch and he gestures to my untouched plate. Hesitantly, I eat while he begins speaking again.

"Sobe it. My soldiers will escort you tomorrow morning." Suddenly he stands andI'm quick to follow, but he waves an irritated hand at me. "Finish your meal inpeace and be ready in the morning." Thranduil snaps and leaves with only thewhisper of his robes on the stone to bid me goodnight. I plop back into mychair with an annoyed sigh. Somehow, I still feel like this isn't over.