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     Valadhiel stood on the balcony to her room as she brushed out her hair, smiling softly to herself as she watched the dwarves below. They were goofing off, joking around, and just talking to one another as they enjoyed the time they had to relax. She was very glad that they had gotten to come here without objection from Thorin, though she wished that he was willing to stay longer.

     After brushing out her wet hair, she set the brush down on her night table before turning to face the full-length looking glass. She smoothed out the sides of her dress, her long sleeves flowing out with the rest of it. It was another simpler gown, though the chest was covered in a fiery golden design that looked like dragon flames.

     Valadhiel twirled in front of the mirror for a moment before she smiled. She loved how light the dress felt, and though it was not see through in the slightest, she could feel the cool night air pass through the dress as if she were wearing a cloud.

     The skin-changing elf turned to her door after a moment before walking out of her room, barefoot once again. In fact, she hadn't worn shoes at all that day. She rather enjoyed being barefoot when she got the chance.

     Thorin had been walking down the hall that led to Valadhiel's room, and he stopped when he saw the fiery haired elf, blinking when he saw her dress. He had to admit that, though he wasn't always so fond of elves or their customs, they knew how to make beautiful gowns. "I was wondering if you were coming."

     "Well, I did need to take a quick bath after Fili's revenge on me." Valadhiel replied with a chuckle, smiling at Thorin as she walked over to the tall dwarf. "And I was trying to find a dress that wasn't so fancy. I hope I didn't keep you all waiting for too long."

     Thorin shook his head with a kind smile and held his arm out to her. "Not all that long. The others are simply impatient."

     Valadhiel took Thorin's arm with a smile and walked down the hall and stairs with him. "I would say something, though I myself am rather impatient, so I had best not." She paused before continuing. "Is Bilbo out there as well?"

     "If he is, I haven't seen him." Thorin replied, glancing away from Valadhiel when she brought up the halfling. "Why do you seem to care so much?"

     Valadhiel furrowed her brow and looked at Thorin. "For the same reason I ask about you, or Kili, or Fili, or any of the other dwarves. Bilbo is my friend as well as you lot, you know. What do you mean by such a question?"

     "You just seem to spend an awful lot of time with him, is all."

     Valadhiel raised an eyebrow. "I also spend a lot of time with Balin, Bofur, Kili, Fili, Ori, and many of the others. You are aware that I do spend the most time with you, aye?" She looked away from Thorin as she stepped outside with him. Her heart had skipped a beat after she spoke, and she bit her lower lip.

     Thorin glanced over at Valadhiel before he walked down a stone path with her. "That is true." He replied quietly.

     Valadhiel smiled a little. "I can't help it if I am the only woman among you all. I can't just not talk to you all and remain silent the entire time, now, can I?" She then playfully nudged the dwarf with a grin. "Follow me. I convinced Elrond to allow us to set out some snacks and a few different drinks."

     "Did I hear you say drinks, lass?"

     Valadhiel looked up when Bofur, who sat on a log around the campfire spoke, then she rolled her eyes a little, though was smiling in slight amusement. "Yes, though don't you dare drink too much alcohol. I don't deal with drunk people very well." She let go of Thorin's arm after reaching the fire and sat on a log next to Balin.

     "You simply don't deal with them at all." Balin pointed out. "Do you not remember when you came to Thorin's Halls?"

     "You left us all under the table." Gloin added after the others spoke. "You literally left us after you won."

     Valadhiel grinned at them. "I told you that I don't deal with drunk people. I never said, however, that I wouldn't drink them under the table. I'm not affected by alcohol."

     "So, you can drink however much you want without getting drunk?" Ori asked.

     "Well, yes, though I only partake in drinking games every so often. Just because I do not get drunk does not mean that it doesn't affect my body." The elf explained to them.

     "How would it affect you?" Nori asked. "You're an elf, so it isn't like you would damage any organs, right? Considering infections don't even kill your kind."

     Valadhiel tilted her head to the side after Nori spoke. "Well, I'm not sure if my organs would be affected or not. However, it could very well still affect my memory, though if it can, I have yet to find out if it truly does. I really don't want to find out."

     "I would say that is understandable." Balin replied with a nod. "Forgetting what you did the night before certainly isn't something everyone enjoys."

     Valadhiel chuckled before she shook her head. "It certainly is not for me." She replied, then she looked up at the night sky when a breeze drifted by, smiling at the cooling sensation. She rather enjoyed the feeling of the fire warming her skin along with the breeze cooling her at the same time, gently blowing through her hair.

     Thorin watched Valadhiel when the breeze blew threw her hair, and he looked at her wings. It seemed that they glimmered in the moonlight, making her look as angelic as ever. Sure, she had fangs, and the wings were dragon wings, and her eyes were reptilian, but she was the most angelic being he had ever seen.

     Dwalin looked between the two subtly before he smirked, then he looked over when Bilbo walked over to them. "Ah, Master Baggins, there you are. We were wondering if you would join us."

     Bilbo looked over at Dwalin and smiled in greeting to the others before taking a seat next to Bofur. "Yes, I was just talking to Elrond for a short time. Vala's friend, Glandur, too."

     Valadhiel smiled as she looked at Bilbo before she nodded. "They seem to really like you. Then again, you seem to have common interests with them, and they are fun to talk to." She then blinked as if realizing Bilbo had said something else that shocked her. "Glandur? He is here in Rivendell?"

     "Who is Glandur?" Thorin asked, furrowing his brow.

     "An old friend from Mirkwood." Valadhiel replied, then she looked at Bilbo. "What did he say? Why hasn't he come to see me yet?"

     "He recently returned from a hunting trip, but he said he will meet with you soon." Bilbo replied, then he looked at her curiously. "He said something interesting."

     "Oh? What did he say?"

     "He said that in a place outside of Middle-Earth, there was an elvish kingdom, and a dwarvish kingdom. Apparently it was fairly different from Middle-Earth, and the two kingdoms were separated from each other until an elf and dwarf united them."

     "Oh, Nahor and Eleniel." Valadhiel commented with a nod. "Nahor was a dwarf prince, and Eleniel a half-elven princess who was locked away in a tower by her overprotective elven father."

     Ori looked at Valadhiel curiously. "Is this a story about an elf and a dwarf?"

     Valadhiel smiled. "Yes. The two of them fell in love, in fact."

     "That seems unnatural." Dori stated, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

     "As unnatural as a skin-changing elvish dragon traveling with a group of dwarves, a hobbit, and a wizard?" Valadhiel asked, grinning over at Dori, who stuttered a little, obviously having not been expecting that response. "Really, when you think about it, it isn't that unnatural. Why can't all races get along?"

     "Because they just don't." Bofur replied.

     "Because not everyone tries to." Valadhiel looked at Bofur, then she continued. "Outside of Middle-Earth, these dwarves and elves did learn to get along, and they formed an even larger kingdom. However, that was a long time ago."

     "Tell us the story, Vala." Kili said, seeming to be pretty interested. In fact, he perked up at the mention of an elf and dwarf falling in love.

     Valadhiel looked at Kili, then she looked around at the others. "Well, as long as everyone else is all right with it. I know not everyone enjoys love stories, especially between these two particular races."

     Thorin glanced around at the others before he looked at Valadhiel. "Tell the story."

     Valadhiel looked over at Thorin when he spoke, hesitating a moment before she nodded. "All right, I'll tell it. First off, there was a prophecy before the birth of Lord Vehiron's daughter. Lord Vehiron is Eleniel's father.
     "It was said that at some point in Eleniel's life, on her one hundredth birthday, that a dwarf would come and she would die by his hand. To prevent this from ever happening, the elvish lord decided that his daughter would never step foot outside of the kingdom. If he could have gotten away with it, he would have locked her away in the tower and never let her walk around  the castle unsupervised."

     "I understand that fathers are protective, but that is too much." Gloin said with a shake of his head. "Then again, I've just got my wee lad, Gimli, and he's a son."

     "No, it is still far too overprotective." Bofur said.

     "Why was he so protective of her, Vala?" Ori asked.

     Valadhiel laughed softly. "Listen to the rest of the story, and I will tell you. Well, knowing now wouldn't hurt. He lost his wife; she died by the hand of, well, a Dourhand."

     Nori frowned. "Those Dourhands are going to ruin the reputation and name of the Longbeards."

     Valadhiel sighed softly before she nodded. "They all seem to have been poisoned by some darkness." She murmured, then she raised her voice before she continued. "One day, she managed to slip a sleeping herb into the wine on a holiday night, and she escaped outside and into the forest. She even made it outside of the forest somewhat.
     As she was traveling, a dwarf by the name of Nahor was out hunting. He was completely unaware that she was out there, and she was completely unaware that he was out there. Normally, dwarves would not be allowed so close to the forest, though no elves were patrolling that evening, and food was becoming scarce.
     "Just as he found a deer and released an arrow, Eleniel exited from the forest and was struck on the shoulder. Nahor's eyes widened when he had realized what he had done for many reasons. He disliked Lord Vehiron and the other elves greatly, though he had never wanted to harm one, especially an innocent elleth. Not only that, but trespassing was punishable by death, and unbeknownst to him, being near this particular elf was enough to get him arrested for life."

     "So, what did he do, lassie?" Oin asked, waiting for the elf to continue, even though he hadn't given her much of a chance to.

     "I'm getting there." Valadhiel said, shaking her head in slight amusement. "Nahor, not knowing what else to do, dressed the wound the best he could after he got her back to his campsite, where a few other dwarves awaited him.
     After they got the story from Nahor, they all waited for the elleth to wake from her unconscious state. Soon, she finally did, and she was rather startled, as she didn't even remember leaving her kingdom."

     "Why didn't she remember?" Ori asked. "And was she angry with the dwarves?"

     Valadhiel raised an eyebrow in amusement and chuckled. "I will get there if you all will allow me to."

     "We'll be quiet." Dwalin said, giving the others a look before he looked at the elf again. "What happened next?"

     "Eleniel did remember what had happened moments after she had woken, then she jumped to her feet and backed away from the dwarves, asking what they wanted with her."

     "We brought you here to help you, lass." One of the dwarves replied, furrowing his brow. "Our prince had just released an arrow onto a deer before you came along, and it hit you instead."

     Eleniel's eyes widened, and she looked down at her wounded shoulder before the rest of that memory came to her. "Yes... I remember that now." She then looked at the dwarves skeptically. "But why should I believe you? You were trespassing."

     "Aye, we were." Nahor admitted, then he looked up at the female elf with the glimmering, golden hair that seemed to sparkle in the starlight. "Please, forgive us. We were simply hunting for our next meal."

     "Eleniel talked with them for a long while, discovering that all the stories her father had told her about the dwarves and the outside world was a lie. She found out that they had little food in their kingdom and had come to their father for help, but he had cruelly and coldly turned them away."

     "Sounds familiar." Thorin muttered.

     "Some elves are fairly cold and cruel." Valadhiel responded, then she raised a brow at Thorin. "Some.
     "Anyways, Eleniel decided then that she wasn't going back to her kingdom. She wanted to go see the kingdom of the dwarves, and she thought that perhaps by going with them, she could prove to her father that they were not the cruel race he made them out to be. So, she left with them after persuading them to take her with them, and they arrived a few days later."

     Kili and Fili listened intently, as did Bilbo, who was rather curious about the story. He was wondering why Glandur had told him to have Valadhiel tell him about the story, though, if he was the one that supposedly lived through the story.

     "Eleniel, one day, heard that her father was on his way to the dwarven kingdom. Not wanting to get the dwarf race in trouble, she tried to leave, though Nahor, who had grown rather fond of her, begged her to stay. He was willing to face punishment for something he didn't do, plus Eleniel was almost one hundred years old, in which case, she should be able to choose her own path."

     "Why a hundred, lassie?" Gloin asked.

     Valadhiel looked at Gloin. "Elves do not reach adulthood until one hundred years of age." She explained to him. "I'll never understand why we mature so quickly but develop so slowly."

     "That is odd." Bofur commented, as from what he had heard since they arrived, the elflings could talk, walk, sing, run, and dance by the age of only one.

     "What happened next, Vala?" Kili asked.

     "Lord Vehiron came to the dwarven kingdom, and he threatened Nahor's life." Valadhiel replied, looking over at Kili. "Eleniel begged her father to spare him, and she would return to her tower to never leave in exchange. Her father agreed to this, left the dwarven kingdom behind with his daughter, took her home, and locked her away in the tower. She was to stay there forever and ever to keep her from harm.
     "However, what her father had not mentioned was that he had some guards keep back. They brought Nahor to their realm to be imprisoned, and Glandur happened to be one of the guards. He would bring messages from Eleniel to Nahor, and he would bring messages from Nahor to Eleniel."

     "How did he know Eleniel?" Fili asked.

     "Eleniel was his little sister." Valadhiel replied with a sad smile, then she continued once more. "Eventually, at some point, Glandur realized that his father couldn't keep up his tyranny. He released Nahor from the dungeon and told him where Eleniel was being held, then he went to go and distract his father. However, Lord Vehiron was already a step ahead of Glandur. He locked his son away in the dungeon before he made his way after the dwarf."

     The dwarves all kept their eyes locked on Valadhiel as they listened to the story. Even the dwarves who hadn't seemed  to take any interest in the story before were now shushing some of the others who would occasionally make a comment or interrupt the story.

     "Ah, I forgot a part of the story. It was a year later when Lord Vehiron came for Eleniel. The sleeping herb she had used was on the night of an eclipse, so she had used the powers of the stars to cast a spell on the kingdom, causing them to be frozen in time until a full year had passed."

     "Spell?" Bofur asked.

     "Having to do with the powers of the stars?" Bifur added in question.

     "Certain ancient elves have quite amazing powers sometimes." Valadhiel replied nonchalantly before she continued the tale. "By that time, Eleniel had married, and she was pregnant. This was part of the reason that Lord Vehiron locked her away in the tower; he did not wish for anyone else to know, and he planned to kill the child once it was born."

     "Kill an innocent baby?" Dwalin asked with a growl. "Who did this guy think he was?"

     Valadhiel shrugged her arms and wings. "Anyways, back to Vehiron knowing about Nahor's plan to go rescue Eleniel from the tower. He hadn't known that she was pregnant until a message from Eleniel, given to him by Glandur, had come shortly after he was imprisoned.
     Nahor found a way into the tower, but when he reached the top, he was stabbed by Lord Vehiron."

     "What?" Gloin nearly cried out, then he cleared his throat. "I saw that coming."

     "Clearly." Valadhiel replied with a smirk. "Eleniel, in her distress, finally gave up the submissive princess act. Enraged by her father's actions, she broke free of her chains by using the power of the stars, then she used her power to drain her father's life force to save Nahor."

     Bofur blinked. "That sounds rather violent."

     "Though it was the best thing that happened to that kingdom. A darkness was lifted from the land, and the guards' eyes were finally opened to the truth of dwarves. The Longbeards had never wronged them, and they had been the evil wrongdoers.
     However, that didn't change the fact that Nahor was dying. Eleniel was drained of star power, so there was only one other option to save him. She drained herself of immortality and restored his life to him."

     "Does that mean he became immortal?" Ori questioned.

     "No, his life was simply restored. However, Eleniel was no longer immortal." Valadhiel explained, then she smiled, though it was an almost sad sort of smile. "The two kingdoms united, and dwarves and elves of that realm lived in peaceful harmony. Nahor and Eleniel ruled side by side, adored by both the elves and the dwarves. They lived out their mortal lives together, and it is said that after the two of them died, which happened to be the same day and hour, a new constellation was added in the sky. It is called the "Forbidden Love" constellation.
     "They say that somehow her powers placed her and her love among the stars so that they could forever watch over their twins, as well as over all other dwarves and elves, waiting and hoping that peace will one day reign."

     "The ending sounds... bittersweet." Bofur commented after the elleth finished speaking.

     "It is." Valadhiel agreed with a nod, then she glanced over at Thorin before turning her attention to the stars above. "But it is a beautiful love story."

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