...The image above is what Allyria's hairstyle is whilst she is training...

"Legolas holds much promise to become a strong ruler: you taught your son well, mellon nin." Elrond spoke praisingly to Thranduil.

The two leaders walked together, discussing pleasantries and forming amicable bonds between their two people.

Nodding his head in gratitude to the compliment, the Elvenking replied, "And the same to you my friend, the Lady Arwen holds wisdom beyond her age and a strong spirit, she will become a most courageous Elleth. Your other daughter- the Lady Allyria- however, still confounds me. She holds a wildness in her, a recklessly youthful spirit that cannot be overlooked, something that I do not see in any of her family. Nor does she look like you, Elrond; and her sister, Arwen, looks like a stranger to her. So forgive my intrusion, but how did she come about to be your daughter?"

"You are right in stating that she is not my daughter by birth, but rather fate. She came to us as a babe, cradled by her dying mother. All we knew of them both was what we were presented with; a dying Elleth- a stranger- who only had enough breath left in her lungs to name her child before slipping away. We honoured her memory by honouring her wishes- the girl was named Allyria and I placed her under my direct care. The only other object found with the mother was a ring, but we never discovered any importance to it..."

The soft swoosh of their garbs draping behind them paralleled the gentle breeze as it whipped around them. They continued to weave through the halls.

"A ring?" Thranduil cautiously repeated.

Elrond was confused as to why such a small detail stumped the great King- what importance would he know of such a ring? However, putting aside his confusion, he answered: "Yes, Thranduil, a ring. A simple silver band with an emerald jewel, not unlike the greens of your forest."

"I remember..." Thranduil paused for a moment, letting his statement hang in the air. The whisper was so quiet Elrond doubted a mortal man could have heard it, yet he did.

Wishing to respect his slumber of thought, Elrond decided not to interrupt with his inquiries: what did he remember?
Thranduil's eyes slowly cleared, and a soft tone in his voice was a contrast to the jovially calm one he had previously displayed to Elrond.

"Years ago, when my wife was carrying our son, we had two advisors; they were our wisest counsellors and closest friends, Lord Ellric and Lady Tirana. He was a fierce warrior and cunning strategist, whilst her knowledge of politics and the people was second only to my wife. A well matched marriage many said. Reina and I had to agree- we could see echoes of our relationship in theirs."

Elrond didn't find it difficult to picture the couple, for Thranduil and Reina's marriage surely was a great parallel for what the Elvenking described. Yet he still struggled to see what this story had in common with an orphan's ring.

"A few months after Reina gave birth to Legolas, the news was discovered of Tirana's pregnancy. We were happy for them- in the moment it was a joyous occasion. But when the child was born, even I could see that the birth was more difficult than it should have been- more painful. Reina and I were there for our friends, Reina more so however as she and Tirana were as close as sisters. And after many hours- almost days I believe- of tortuous labour, a baby girl was born..." Thranduil paused as if to say more, yet settling on expanding into more detail first, he continued anew.

"The child, a baby girl, was gifted. My Reina said she'd seen something like this before, a long time ago in her own grandfather- she called it the Gift of The Phoenix. A rare and powerful ability, said to be from the elusive creature itself, allowing the wielder empathies with flame."

That was when it clicked for Elrond. This child he spoke of was Allyria, his own Goddaughter. They had known of her abilities for quite some time but they had gone unsaid, unspoken; fear of the unknown subconsciously clouding Elrond's judgement. Hence, she wasn't directly made aware of it, but Lord Elrond knew Ria was suspicious of her powers and chose to ignore them.

"Tirana named her daughter Allyria, but she had already earned the nickname Valdriel. It hadn't appeared to me until you mentioned the ring, that this Allyira- their Allyria- was also your Allyria. We presumed her to be dead after they were killed on a journey to Rivendell for answers. The people mourned our loss greatly... Reina was almost inconsolable for weeks. Tirana's death hit her especially hard."

The lull in conversation allowed Elrond to respectfully interrupt: "The answers they seeked were answers we could never have offered I'm afraid. We realised Ria was gifted some time ago, and it was something I had never seen before. We haven't confronted this... situation yet. I realise now I was only delaying the inevitable; it's time Allyria was trained to control her power and guided through this."

Thranduil nodded in understanding throughout, listening intently until now. "I do know that my wife would like to speak with your daughter about her abilities. After all, she has had experience in this area, more so than the rest of us. Reina was always excited to meet her best friend's daughter. If it wouldn't be too untoward, I suggest we wait for Reina to talk to Allyria about this before we decide anything. This is a delicate and rare opportunity that must be handled with care."

"I agree. It's settled then: once the Queen has spoken with Allyria we shall discuss further."
Before he forgot to pursue the inquiry, Lord Elrond spoke again, "Oh, my friend?"

Showing he was listening, Thranduil turned to face him with an open look.

"The ring; how does it link in?"

"Ah," smiling softly, he replied, "It was a gift from Reina and I to Tirana and Ellric. We wanted our people to see the trust we placed in them as our advisors... they truly were outstanding Elves. I have the highest of hopes for their daughter."

"As do I."
Bowing in farewell, both men left to attend to business of their respective lands.

~&~

"Rotate the shoulder, then the elbow and then the wrist; bring it over your head in one smooth arc and pivot. Keep your other blade at one side, then after one arc with one, do another arc with the other blade. Keep speeding up until you have them both successively."

Legolas was a brilliant teacher. Allyria was swiftly learning new techniques and exercises that she hadn't ever seen before.
As he spoke to her, he demonstrated the movements, so that the second time around she could follow his lead.

Five demonstrations in and Allyria was impressing herself; her speed and fluidity had greatly improved in a very short space of time.
Her eyes lit up with delight as she saw her skills visibly improving, and Legolas simply grinned with pride as he stood at the side with his arms crossed.

The training courtyard was empty save for the pair, and this was a great comfort to Allyria. She didn't feel embarrassed or uncomfortable with Legolas, but rather safe to be herself- faults and all.

After twelve swift rotation curves in a row, Legolas shocked Allryia with what he would do next. On her final downstroke, he met her blades with his.
She gasped, and he simply winked at her before twisting her blade away and pivoting to face her, weapons drawn.

"You, my lady, are a quicker learner than I anticipated; so, how about a duel?"

Wickedly grinning, she replied, "You're on."

Legolas thought he saw an amber flicker of something in her eyes, but it was so ephemeral that he brushed it off as a trick of the light.

Planting her weight evenly across her stance, Ria bent her knees before pouncing viciously at Legolas like a tightly wound coil.
She may have had two weapons, but he had more experience and was evidently the stronger fighter. Still, she thrived off of the adrenaline duels brought, and so she fought.

Their blades clashed together but never held contact for more than one second; swift parries and counterstrikes kept both Elves on their toes.
Allyria ducked to escape a near miss at her neck.

Twisting away from her opponent, Allyria decided on one of her lesser used tactics: she spun one of her blades around her left wrist and held it in reverse grip.
Smoothly she fell into her starting stance and smirked at Legolas, placing her shoulder directly towards him and raising her weapons up.

Legolas raised an eyebrow at her before simply nodding, intrigued as to how well she could fight with a blended reverse grip.

Once more, both duellists darted at each other, but this time Allyria felt less clumsy, her movements more graceful and complementary to one another. This felt natural to her.
Powerful downward blows led to swift slashes from surprising angles, and Legolas found himself concentrating excessively more.

They were almost evenly matched when she fought like this, yet Legolas still held the upper hand. Dropping one knee to the floor, he kicked her left foot away, causing her to fall backwards.

Her back crashed against the floor harshly, pushing all air from her lungs as she winced. Deciding to enact revenge on such a dirty move, Allyria kept her eyes closed as she squirmed in fake pain.

Concerned, Legolas felt immediate guilt. He knew he shouldn't have pulled a move so unconventional and unorthodox like that; some may have even called it dishonourable.
"Ria! Are you ok? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

She powerfully kicked his legs out from under him before swinging her hips over his, straddling him, with both blades held to his throat.

Shock crossed his face as she cockily spoke: "Well, blondie, looks like I win."
She mockingly flipped her hair over her shoulder with unwarranted sass as he rolled his eyes, a wide smile on his face.
Looking down at him, Allyria took another moment to appreciate his good looks.

He quickly brushed off his shock as he saw an opening, shifted their weight and rolled over to reverse their positions.

Leaning his face down closer to hers, he whispered, "Now who's won?"
Sweat rolled down his brow at the humid air surrounding them.

Her breath hitched as she realised just how close their faces were. His hot breath across her face sent goosebumps soaring across her skin. He simply stared at her, brilliant teeth shining as he grinned.
Looking down at their entwined bodies, she gestured with her eyebrows at her blades.
His eyes followed hers...
Her swords were gently tucked against his stomach- if she wanted to, she could gut him where he sat.

Impressed, he glanced back up at her before laughing.
"Oh, you're good."

"And you would do well to never underestimate me again, my Prince."

"Oh, I assure you..."he offered a warm hand to her, pulling her off the ground as he spoke slowly, "...I won't, my lady."

They stood holding each others gazes intimately with their hands still clasped securely together, before a regal voice spoke calmly.

"Legolas, I see you've been making sure our guests are welcomed accordingly." Queen Reina softly smiled at her son with a knowing glance to their joined hands.
They quickly pulled apart, embarrassed by being caught in such close proximity.
Allyria bowed as Legolas greeted his mother:
"Yes, mother. I was helping Lady Allyria with her technique. Her usual trainer is currently on a hunt so I thought-"

"You're not in trouble, my son. There is no need to explain yourself." Reina laughed with mirth before turning her eyes to Ria, "And Allyria my dear, there is no need to bow in such privacy. With time, I trust we will become good friends."

A soft smile crossed Allyria's face as she replied, "I would like that very much, Your Grace."

"I trust you will come and find me during the Feast, I have much I wish to discuss with you, child." Reina kindly said.

Overcoming her slight surprise at the open invitation, Allyria spoke, "O-Of course, Your Grace."

Nodding with approval at the two of them, the graceful Queen spoke with a knowing tone, "Well then, I shall leave the both of you to your... training."
Her swooping eyebrows arched and knowing eyes glinted as she made her approval evident.

She turned to leave, her elegant dress moving smoothly with her, before throwing one last wise remark over her shoulder as she walked away: "Oh, and remember to keep your elbows raised, you can gain surprising power from them."

Legolas and Allyria turned to each other, resuming a comfortable conversation as they gathered their weapons, before parting ways for the day.

After arriving back to her chambers and freshening up once more, Allyria decided to seek out her sister. Pulling on slightly more womanly attire so as to appear more formal, she pulled her hair back into a more neat traditional braid of respect.
Yearning to speak with Arwen about all that had happened that day, she stepped out into the hallway and began her search.

A/N
• 'mellon nin' = My friend
• 'Valdriel' = Daughter of the Inferno
Every read, comment and vote is greatly appreciated and I love every interaction with readers!! 🥰
This was my favourite chapter to write so far, and I'm very proud of it, so I hope it stands up well!!
Xx