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The Enemy Within by daw the minstrel	9 Review(s)
obsidianj	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/13/2016
Something is not quite right. What is all the merchandise doing in Arost's home? From what I remember dealing with the men was pretty limited to items the wood-elves couldn't make themselves. After having a pleasant domestic like first chapter we are suddenly reminded that these are dangerous times. Gelmir missiing, Eilian still suffering from Shadow sickness and now this merchant who seems a bit shady. Can't wait to see how Ithilden's courting tactics will woo Alfirin. I know it ends well, but my feeling is Ithilden succeeds because Alfirin decided long ago she wants him not because of any of his "tactics" ;). Author Reply: my feeling is Ithilden succeeds because Alfirin decided long ago she wants him not because of any of his "tactics" ;). That made me laugh. I suspect you're right. Or maybe Alfirin and Thranduil between them. Thanks for the review!

curiouswombat	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/31/2016
Oh-ho - there is something a bit 'off' with this merchant. And poor Ithilden; Gelmir to worry about, and Eilian should he hear that Gelmir is missing, and the BIG difficulties courting Alfirin afford him! Author Reply: Ithilden has a tough job. Of course, he thinks of himself as a tough guy, but it still wears on him. He needs Alfirin!

Dot	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/31/2016
Yikes, Gelmir is missing. Something tells me Eilian will see this as a sign he should be there and not as a sign that these are the dangers of the Southern Patrol and he should stay away until he's fully ready... What an awful job Ithilden has, knowing something so potentially terrible and having to keep it from the warrior's family. If only he had the luxury of later stories :-) Though then it wouldn't be half as sweet watching him try to win Alfirin over. Giving himself time to scout out the situation before he approached her was a good idea. That made me laugh. Yes, view it as a battle, Ithilden. I loved the scene with Ithilden, Arost and Ilenia. All these little bits of information slowly filtering out. Ithilden is actually quite calm and I get the impression he's trying not to roll his eyes at the carry-on when he has bigger problems but his very presence is so intimidating that Arost just can't help confessing. Ilenia doesn't seem quite as intimidated... Ithilden shoved away the thought of how furious he'd be if Laketown's mayor encouraged one of his people to flout Thranduil's laws. Men's blindness was not Ithilden's problem. Ooh, interesting. And that last thought is very... Thranduil. Camil sent these, wanting to have them already here once he located buyers. Did he now. Something's not right. A wager. Unusual drunkenness. Goods being shown off and being stored in an elf's home. Camil's two kids clearly not happy. And what's up with these ivory carvings? And Ithilden is now wracked with doubts. And in the middle of it all he's supposed to use one of the trinkets to woo Alfirin. Not to even mention a suspicious and annoyed Thranduil, an angry Eilian and a restless Legolas. Oh God, I can hardly bear to watch! Author Reply: Ithilden "scouting out the situation" made me laugh when I wrote it too. The poor guy has trouble adjusting from battle to romance, much as he'd like to. If Amazon ever coughs up Deep as a Tomb for you, you'll see I used the same weak joke there too. I think Ithilden is a lot like Thranduil. In a way, they're each other's best friend. He admires his father and is much less intimidated by him than other people are. He intuitively understands why Thranduil does certain things and imitates him if he can. Thanks as always for the review, Dot.

Maering	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/30/2016
AHH! I'm so unbelievably pumped for this story! Your Thranduilion family has always been my absolute favourite and I frequently do rereads. I have such sympathy for poor responsible Ithilden feeling guilt over his warriors! Although, I cannot help but laugh at his fumbling attempts at love (especially since we know it ends well!) The one thing I always wished for is more Gelmir (my favourite supporting character) and I can't believe my wish is coming true! Eilian is not going to take this news well I am suspecting. Author Reply: Oh geez, I hope I don't disappoint you. Ithilden's POV is fun to use because he's usually so tough. He even knows he's tough and takes pride in it. But once you get into his head, you see these insecurities that are kind of moving because he keeps them so well hidden. I should write more about Gelmir. Maybe he needs a love life. :-) daw

someone	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/29/2016
It is really interesting to try to guess from the title where this story is going. I'm still wondering if the "enemy within" is the merchant, one of his assistants, a stray group of orcs within the forest or even the raft Elf! Ithilden is a very entertaining elf from a reader's perspective, and he even acknowledges to himself that he is much better at scaring people than at courting. Perhaps he will get the chance to do both in this story. "Dare a Wood-elf, but pay a Man"? That does sound very accurate! Author Reply: I'm glad the saying sounds right! I made it up. I love that kind of thing. It took me quite a while to get a good understanding of Ithilden. Eilian was easy, but I had to write from Ithilden's POV to understand his vulnerabilities. I remember doing that on purpose. I wrote the story about him taking Legolas camping so I could see things from his angle. POV is such a powerful tool. Thank you for taking the time to tell me you're enjoying the story.

Noor	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/29/2016
Thank you thank you Daw for another story. really enjoying it. I was in the middle of my annual reread of your stories ( I have got to "The Warrior" ) when I got the alert for a new story. Just a query because you have set this after " A matter of heart" but Ithilden had already asked Alfirin to bond at the end of that story and she had agreed.... Why is he being so uncertain again? Obviously these lovely characters are yours and you have literary right to do anything with them but just wondered. Being an obsessive fan of your great stories I only noticed as I reread them frequently. SO glad you didn't kill off Eilian! Thanks once again and well done. Best wishes Noor Author Reply: Thank you, Noor. It makes me feel really good to know you still read these. Do I have it wrong in the list on my author page? I have to go look. I belongs after "My Brother's Keeper," where Legolas sneaks out at night to "help" Eilian. I'll go fix it. I must have been out of my mind to consider killing Eilian. Author Reply: Yup. I had it wrong. Thanks for telling me!

asms2	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/28/2016
Ooh the mysteries are picking up! Camil is seeming pretty sketchy at this point - assuming he's going to find buyers, and it seems like he may have been involved in the Arost incident somehow. I wonder what he is up to! The Glimir situation is sad. It would be difficult to be Ithilden and carry around knowledge that would devastate a family, and Eilian. Hard to be dancing and having fun when someone is likely dead. Ithilden and Thranduil really do have a lot of burden on their shoulders in handling sad information, and making decisions that effect their people's lives. But they handle it well all things considered- which is impressive mental toughness! I suspect Glimir may be alive simply because I don't remember him being dead later - but then again he wasn't in a ton of story lines so I don't know. Guess I'll have see how it plays out :) I can't wait to read more!! Author Reply: Ithilden does carry a lot of responsibility, and Thranduil is lucky to have him. I also picture Thranduil as linked to his forest strongly enough that he feels the damage being done to it. The more I write about him, the more I admire him.

meckinock	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/27/2016
Oh, not Gelmir! I can't remember if I knew something happened to him. Anyway, poor Eilian. I don't imagine they'll be able to keep this from him for long. It is so good to see Ithilden again, though. I had to re-set my memories of your stories back to when he and Alfirin were just at the flirting stage. It made me smile to think of him worrying about impressing her. But his warrior's confidence and his dry humor are always the same. "Is the king angry?" she asked. "Yes, but he has yet to decide how angry and with whom." Hehe. Can't wait to see what's up with Camil, he certainly seems dodgy. Author Reply: I like being able to jump around in time with these characters. I box myself in sometimes, but it's still worth it. It's always fun to show Ithilden deliberately intimidating people and being secretly amused by his ability to do it. I wish I shared his talent!

PSW	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 10/27/2016
Oh no! :-( I like Gelmir! (At least, I'm pretty sure I do, it's been a while... :-P) I hope that situation is soon under control, both for his sake and Eilian's .... but Eilian down w shadow sickness and his best friend missing sounds like a recipe for disaster... So, more wonky vibes from the merchant's direction, and he was not really even in the chapter. This whole bit about the drinking seems odd to me...and the little ivory charm. I don't know. I may be reading too much into this, but the mean little voice in Ithilden's heads didn't really start until that thing made its appearance. Maybe I'm going all conspiracy theorist here :-P...but I'm not ready to call it that quite yet... I'm really enjoying, thanks for writing! (And you'll notice I got Ithilden's name right this time... :-) Author Reply: Sometimes I think I should write more about Gelmir. Maybe he needs a serious romance. Mostly he's been just a sidekick. I have too many characters to deal with them all well. You read like a writer. :-)

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