To Live Again {Lord of the Rings/ThranduilXOC Fanfiction}

5. Welcomes, Introductions, & Regina George

"Lady Clara?"

A lean and straight elf of an indiscernible age - with stern navy eyes and straight light brown hair - stares at me with confusion. I guess I was not what he was expecting.

"Hi, you must be Raffyn?" I chirp and step forward offering my hand, which he looks at it and pulls a face...does no one shake hands around here?

"Yes, well shall we?" He barely looks at me as he swivels on his polished boots and strides to the door, pausing only to glance back at me with an impatient expression.

I nod once and lift my basket of meager belongings, which are not even my belongings but things I have been given...basically charity. A few plain dresses, undergarments, and a thick bundle of plain paper and some charcoal pencils. A gift from my healer friend Calanon, who wishes me to continue drawing. Calanon is with me now and I look at him warily for direction. He smiles encouragingly and helps fasten a dull grey coloured cloak around my shoulders.

"Tis alright dear Clara you will be fine, just do as you are told, stay out of mischief and the King will reward you well."

"Thank you Calanon for everything, I will miss not seeing you every day," I reply and attempt another hand shake but instead he hugs me and I practically choke him in return.

I am so nervous, I have no idea what to expect and not the foggiest notion how someone is supposed to behave as a member of the royal court, but I guess I am about to get a very intense tutorial. Raffyn clears his throat and Calanon gives me an amused look as I scurry to the elf's side and allow him to lead me out and away from the only place I have known in this strange new world. It is like parting with a safety blanket, from this point on I will be expected to cope without the aid of elvish medicine and mundane routine...I am terrified!

We walk for an age or at least it feels like it, through twists and turns, deeper and deeper into this incredible cavern structure. The King's halls could not be called a cave because that would give you the wrong impression. They are like something that magically appeared from the rock, like an entire city built into the protection of the natural cave formations of the woods. They are beautiful and more than once I just stop and stare open mouthed and completely captivated by the craftsmanship. The ceilings are glittering with ethereal lights that could have been mistaken as actual stars, flowers, trees, and plants grow all around this place - flourishing even in the darkest of spaces. Natural waterfalls and streams wind and snake through the city bringing life to the secret world beneath the forest. I can hear birds singing an evening chorus overhead, and the fading daylight bathing certain parts of the city in its calming glow. It is light and airy but I cannot tell where the breaks in the rock are, everything is just so natural and so perfectly placed to look like it always existed.

There is a mixture of grand stairwells and marble bridges that connect the levels of this fortress together, but in some parts there are scarier, steeper stairs or narrow long footpaths with sheer drops on either side. Elves seem to pass them oblivious to the dangers but I, at every singly obstacle, have a minor stroke and it usually takes several moments of coaxing on Raffyn's part to encourage me to keep going. I know I now have the ability to overcome these difficult obstacles with ease but there is still a part of my brain that thinks it is clumsy Josie who trips over her own shadow. I must try and overcome this if I am going to survive this place. But that tiny annoying voice in the back of my mind reminds me there is a lot more than a fear of falling that I have to try and get over - I ignore it, as I have done so for the past several weeks.

Eventually we reach a well-lit pavilion with the most beautiful fountain I have seen, it spouts crystal clear water from waterfalls cascading from the prominent statue. An elven couple or maybe a godlike couple engaged in an enchanting dance, so beautiful and mesmerizing I just stand and gawp. I immediately want to rip out my paper and start sketching this, but Raffyn clears his throat and I return to reality with a bump.