Eventually, she gave up knowing. Which was strange for an elf like her. However, she did.

Faeryn decided to keep her promise: she started living for the presence. Although she had not yet forgotten that day in Laebon's study, where she met her father's stern, cold eyes as the subject of her late mother was brought up, the elleth and the healer agreed to not have it mentioned.

Living for the presence was good. Living for the presence for the next two hundred years was good.

Faeryn had become spectacularly skillful in medical and herbalogy, which are what she loved doing the most. She spent every morning going into the woods for work and would wonder how Thranduil's morning was whilst doing so.

Woodland Realm flourished under his rule. After the prediction he made two hundred years ago about the dark creature in the woods, which happened to be true, none doubted his capability anymore, at least not without Thranduil knowing.

It was a delightful day for paying the citizens of Woodland a visit, which was exactly what on the maiden's mind when the first light of the day enlighted her room.

And so she started packing food along with her medical kit and set out for the short trip.

Before leaving, Faeryn had gone to find Thranduil, however she could not see him anywhere. In fact, she had not talked to him for days, only in brief moments when the elleth saw the king, Thranduil seemed to had age a lot.

The servant elves had informed Faeryn that the king had already left for the early conference when she asked the kindly. The elleth sighed at the news.

"Thank you. After Your Majesty came back, please remind him of the meals, will you? He's not much of an early bird, knowing the king, breakfast has never been one in his daily volunteer routine. "

The maid chuckled but gained back to her straight, professional state in seconds as she realized it was Lady Faeryn who she was talking to. "I didn't...-"

"It's alright. What's harm with a little bit of joy? This palace has grown way too serious for my liking."

She smiled genuinely and so did the maid.

"Are you going somewhere, Milady?"

Looking down at the belongings, Faeryn nodded. "Actually, I am. Just a short visit to the Silvan elves'. I should go, the food is getting cold."

They bade each other goodbyes and Faeryn made her way to the gates. It was, indeed a nice day, however, normal it wasn't, and as the elleth followed the stone pavement, she hummed an enchanted elvish folk song with pure delight, little did she know how one thing could change her future for certain.

~●☆●~

"How kind of you for coming again, Lady Faeryn. The children have been pending on you since your last visit!"

A motherly elleth greeted Faeryn with a warm welcome as she knocked on the door.

Elwen was a mother of two whose husband, unfortunately, had passed away in a serious illness. As Faeryn heard of the dreadful news, she did not wait to come at once for the family. The children, an elf and an elleth were still at a fairly young age, thus Elwen's life was not considered comfort.

"How are the children, Elwen? I brought them some treats." Asked Faeryn as she sat down on the family's wooden chair.

"They are still asleep. Shall I wake them up, Milady?" Gently smiled, Elwen also found herself a seat.

"Oh no, please don't. Just let them be. Mourning is weary as much as it sounds." She reached across the table for the widow's hand. "How are you living now? I know it won't be the same for you and the children."

Looking down at her lap, Elwen's eyes were caught with a glimpse of tear. Elves loved deeper than any other race, and that was the truth, Faeryn understood for all instance that Elwen would never fully recover from her spouse's death.

And as she watched the widow, the maiden elf considered her father's case, she considered how the Healer's life had been since the death of her mother and she started to wonder if she would grief anyone or would anyone grief her in the very same way.

However, as it came to the end, Faeryn found herself at a place fulled of disturbance and trauma. She found herself staring at the crystalized tear, as it was tramped in such reluctant restraint of sorrow. And the more she saw, the more her thoughts trembled. Faeryn realized she does not wish to be like Elwen nor would she want someone to be the widow for her.

Love or not. Grief was the last thing she wished to be an unwanted attachment to her remembrance.

"I'm so sorry, Elwen... I shouldn't have..." Ashamed, Faeryn apologized.

The mother shook her head gently as she inhaled deeply, so deep that as thought the plain air could somehow healed her broken heart.

"It's natural, therefore should you not apology, Milady. After all, if it was not love, there wouldn't be pain."

Love and pain were the perfect two, at least that was what Faeryn knew about them. The deeper and sincere love is, the more fear we feel. And the more one afraid one is, the more one suffers.

"You sure do love him, Elwen. I bid my deepest appreciation to such beautiful emotion."

"When it comes, you'll be more blind than ever. Have you ever been in love, Milady?"

The question came unexpectedly and visably innocent, and it was all it needed to put the Lady in daze. Faeryn managed a blink as she felt her words awkwarded.

"No." Faeryn paused as she realized how fast she had spoken. "No, I yet have. I'm afraid I still have a lot to learn." Gentle and elegant, the elleth answered, not noticing an ambigous smile veiled upon Elwen's face.

They chatted for a little while and Faeryn decided it was her time to go. After a short trade of goodbyes, the elleth once again made her way to another house. As each one she stopped by, came a few lovely gift for its owner; there were plenty of it, Faeryn had made an absolute sureness of that part.

And in the end of that day, her basket was emptied, replaced by bunches of well wishes and gratitude which Faeryn had lovingly kept safe in her heart. The maiden elf found her way back to the palace, following the usual path.

Faeryn let her heart wandered around while having her feet sticked to the way, everything around the elleth began to fade into the background.

She thought about Thranduil and his recent lack of presence. Faeryn missed him. She missed their randomly late meals; missed their long, heart to heart talks; the light squeezes on the hand he would always give when she was at places. Brief meetings were not sufficient as the days seemed to be longer and Faeryn's thoughts of Thranduil increased in a rate that she didn't even bother counting.

Never in the last two hundred years had Faeryn seen the king that busy. The news had not yet been spread, however the elleth sensed great matters; but again, she could not be in absolute without a reliable source, and Faeryn's source had already denied to tell.

Like a runaway train, his image consumed her and Faeryn was desperate for a reason why it was that lately.

Unfornatually, before the train got to consume the currently absent minded one, another thing had. That was what she realized as Faeryn found herself fell flatly on the grass with an unpleasant ache beating up on her ribs.

It was a white horse the last thing Faeryn saw before the fall. She could sure it was one although her sense had failed to alert her the obstacle. Faeryn felt extremely fortunate it was not yet a fully grown horse, she would not dare to consider the consequence.

"Ouch... ouch..." Faeryn tried to hold back the agony groan as she stood up with help of a tree. Her small hand clutched to her side whilst another digged deep into the bark.

Resulting the few rolls on the ground, Faeryn was a complete mess: her hair was wildly decorated with leaves and sand, the mud had left a bunch dirty speckle marks on her dress. The elleth was utterly aware how terrific she had appeared to be.

Abruptly, a hand grabbed Faeryn by her arm, making the slightly bruised maiden become highly cautious. She jerked up and quickly yanked away from the grasp; Faeryn backed down frantically as she realized she was unarmed, without a solid protection, she felt stripped.

The figure moved closer and as the gap between them narrowed, Faeryn's respiration grew anxious. It was true that she had been in battles, she had killed before, she had seen death, however all of those seemed to be poles apart without a knife in your hand.

"Do not come nearer!" Faeryn ordered, her voice was as stiff as a piece of log.

The person took off their hood, a set of golden hair fell out of the shadows and wavingly reflecting the bright stream of sunlight. The person's skin was creamy white, the shade of colour had successfully brought their pale baby blue eyes into the spotlight. It was the most beautiful elleth Faeryn had ever seen in her life, even her approacher's pointy ears looked oddly perfect. She was lean and rather tall, but still much shorter than Thranduil, as Faeryn had noticed.

"Are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you." In Durin's name! Even her voice was enchanted!

"I... er... I'm good." Admittedly, Faeryn thought she sounded dumb.

"Oh my, look how terrible you are. I'm sorry my horse knocked you down. He's still strange with the way here."

"Here you meant Woodland Realm? So you're a visitor! No wonder why you seemed of an unknown to me."

Exclaimed Faeryn. It had been a while since they last had a visitor. Lord Celeborn came once, Elrond did too, but since there was something called telepathy in Elves Magic, long distance had never been a problem.

Faeryn found herself at the pinnacle of excitement. The maiden elf had never been anywhere far from home except from that time following Thranduil to the Battle of Degalos. Even to Rivendell had she not visited! Faeryn wanted to see the world, she wanted that heart throbbing feeling looking at Middle Earth's wonders, she wanted the flow of adrenaline pumping in her veins.

"In what land were you from? Is it far from the Realm? What is the landscape like?" Faeryn bombarded the stranger with questions.

The other elleth giggled melodically as her pale baby blue eyes watched the native elleth talked with enthusiasm.

"My home is in a ratherly small kingdom very far from here. We don't have much of the mountainous landscape like yours, but we do have the sea."

Faeryn pictured the kingdom with colour. She thought of asking for directions; perhaps she could even go there for a trip.

"Your eyes..." Faeryn was awaken from her daydream by the mention of her eyes. "They are quite strange... I didn't know elves have green eyes..."

"Oh, mine are one of a kind, you can say that. It has something to do with my heritage. It's a long story."

Nodded the elleth understandingly. "Oh, alright." Faeryn could not estimate the real age of her encounter. Elves were immortal, therefore even when they are somewhere about six thousand years old, none would ever know.

"I'm sorry, I did not catch your name... I'm Aerondess. And you are...?"

"Faeryn. I was born in the end of the First Age."

"Were you? That makes the two of us!" Yayed Aerondess, it was hard to to like this elleth. Beauty and grace were what she was born with. Who would not love beauty and grace? Faeryn enjoyed talking with Aerondess, she felt comfortable with the blonde elleth's company. Regretfully, it did not last long when a certain white horse jogged out from a nearby bush. "I have to go now. They must be finding me. We will definitely meet again."

"Guess that I will see you around!" As Aerondess rode on her horse back to wherever she was before they met, Faeryn bade from behind.

The Silvan elleth of Woodland Realm went home, despite the ridiculous state she was in, Faeryn felt good.

For two hundred years, life was good enough.

Until one day, it wasn't.

And only if she knew that.