Deep within the borders of the Mirkwood Realm sat a rather odd being; her long hair matted with blood, dirt and mud. Rags hung for her grimy skin as she sat shivering behind the bars that kept her locked in her sell. The stone walls and floor offered her no comfort as her body convulsed; attempting to throw up food that she had not eaten. Her once beautiful body was now frail and thin, every bone visible through her flesh. The once tight restraints that hung from her wrists and ankles had left vicious scars to haunt her.
No one in Middle Earth would ever believe that the great Lord Thranduil would keep such a vulnerable young lady locked up like this. Many would ask what her crime was, but she committed no crime. She was born into the wrong blood line, one rarer than most. Everyone knew what a skin changer was, but it was her changed form which made her so desirable to the Elven forest king. Many, many years ago she had been wandering the forest, cold, disoriented and alone. The Elves had found her and offered her kindness, which she gladly accepted. Unbeknown to her this kindness and hospitality would come at a price. The King knew who and what she was as soon as he laid eyes on her, and his cold heart, tainted by his own grief, felt no sympathy for her. He offered her an olive branch and offered her his help; a home in which to live, food in which to eat, clothes in which to wear. She had foolishly listened, only to be scandalised by his request and deny him. She refused to be used as a weapon, a threat, an icon of fear. A warning to those outside Mirkwood that if they dared to trespass with malicious intentions they would feel the wrath of their very own dragon.
The pale girl stifled a sob behind her bars, completely ignoring the minor chaos of the guards outside her cell, shouting things in a language she didn't understand.
"Don't cry." Came a small voice to Aditi's right, looking up she caught sight of a bright honey coloured eye peaking at her through a crack in the stone wall. The eye blinked at her once before disappearing and instead being place by a wiggling finger, "It'll be okay."
Aditi smiled sadly at her friend and fellow inmate, reaching forward and gently taking hold of the finger for comfort. "Will it though?" She whispered, afraid to be heard.
"Of course!" Came the hearty reply and Aditi almost laughed at the girls hopeful ignorance. Suddenly the finger disappeared and Aditi heard some shuffling from the other cell before a small, squished piece of stale bread was poked through the hole. "Here, have some bread."
Aditi gratefully took it and nibbled at it. It was slightly gritty and had a bitter taste to it, but it was food. Aditi looked up and saw the eye was back, almost comically.
"Thank you, Honora."
She watched as the eye rolled before crinkling into a smile, "Nora." She corrected briskly, "And you're welcome, Ads."
Aditi forced another sad smile at her companion. Like herself Nora was an Elven prisoner, but unlike herself Nora had in fact committed a crime, albeit a lame one. She was from the race of men, and had told Aditi many stories of her homeland in the far south, high within the Mountains. But she had bigger dreams outside her Mountain kin and had travelled North at the tender age of thirteen. Aditi loved hearing Nora's stories of adventure, she had many and was always willing to share.
Unfortunately the young girl had trespassed over the Mirkwood King's borders. She was ambushed by Elves and in defence wounded one of Thranduil's men, earning her life imprisonment. The Elf survived of course, but whenever he came near Nora's cell he would give her a wide birth. But all that was nearly eight years ago, and in that time Nora had wormed her way into Aditi's heart and they had become close friends. Nora was like an annoying bug Aditi didn't have the heart to squash. She was the only person she'd never truly let in, having no trust or faith in anyone else, and she had good reasons too bearing in mind her past. But, she would trust the Mountain Dweller with her life.
"What d'you think's goin' on out there?" Nora's commoner accent whispered through the crack.
"I'm not sure." Aditi's voice was much smoother than Nora's, much more delicate and proper.
"Maybe Thrandy tripped up on his own robe!" Nora hooted, earning her a sour glance from a passing Elf.
Aditi frowned nervously, her attention now focused on the Elves as they raced back and forth, gathering their weapons and provisions. "Whatever it is," She spoke quietly, "It can't be good." Slowly and carefully she shifted herself closer to the corner, out of sight of the bared cell door. Nora poked her finger through the crack reassuringly, sensing Aditi's unease. Aditi gratefully took hold of it and pressed herself further into the corner. This sort of commotion was never a good sign.
It wasn't until late into the night that the pair finally got an answer for all the commotion from earlier, and the new round of chaos woke Aditi with an alarming start. There was yelling and cursing in all sorts of languages and the banging of metal on metal and multiple cell doors were closed.
"Nora!" Aditi hissed through the crack, she peaked through to see her friend sprawled out on the ground, mouth hanging slightly and appearing to be in a deep sleep.
"Nora!" She hissed again, eyes wide with fright. The minor uproar that was unravelling outside her cell was terrifying her, "Wake up!"
Finally the chestnut haired girl stirred and rolled over, blinking up at the gap. Aditi didn't need to say anymore for the human girl seemed to hear it too, and with a start she sat up. The paid exchanged a look before Nora crawled over to her cell door.
"Oi! Shush your mush! Some of us are trying to sleep!"
Aditi whimpered at her friend's boldness and slid further down the oozy wall of her cell, her head in her hands.
This did not seem to help the matter however and the pandemonium continued as deafening as ever. Through the crack Aditi could just about see Nora's worn boots.
"What is it Nora?" She whispered, shooting a worried glance in the direction of her own cell door.
Nora scooted back towards her, not tearing her eyes away from the scene that was unravelling before them.
"Dwarves." Nora almost snickered and Aditi raised her eyebrows.
"Honestly?"
"Truly."
"How many?"
"I'm not sure exactly, I think about ten—" She flinched at something that happened outside the cell, "Ouch, that must have hurt."
"What's going on?" Aditi didn't want to make herself known, she didn't want to give the Elven King another reason to mistreat her.
"They're putting up one hell of a fight. For some reason they don't want to be held prisoner… How strange, I can't imagine why. We have a whale of a time." The human winked at the skin changer and Aditi sighed, ringing her hands together. It only felt like yesterday that the Elven guards had brought Nora in, barely out of childhood, dragging her by her hair as she kicked and screamed. Aditi had never seen someone put up so much fight.
She couldn't remember how she'd ended up in here, it was so many years ago, she can barely even remember the outside world. This is one of the reasons why she relied on Nora's stories so much, the words kept her sane.
She recoiled into herself, the cries of the Dwarves ringing violently in her ears and she began to pick at the mud on the hem of her blouse as a distraction, but nothing could drown out the wails as the men shouted for one another. It tore Aditi up inside, never had she heard such pain as they called out for their kin, shouting for their loved ones and companions. Nora continued to describe the scene, seemingly unaffected by their torment. This continued into the early hours of the morning, until most of the voices became hoarse and their words began to fall flat as they tired. Aditi was almost drifting back off to sleep herself, until her cell door came crashing violently open.
Aditi jerked up and pressed herself up against her cell wall. She didn't put up much of a fight when the tall Elven guards stooped down and roughly grabbed each arm. She didn't cry out when they half carried her, half dragged out of the slimy cell. She didn't have the energy to try and protect herself, she knew her efforts would be futile just as they had been time and time before. She had quickly learned that the more she struggled then the harsher the penalty would be.
She caught sight of Nora viciously shaking the bars of her own cell and screaming for her, but her efforts were wasted and her cries lost within the stone walls of the dungeon.
Aditi was pulled up the stone steps, dripping and scrapping her bare feet as she went. She hung her head low, ashamed of what she'd become, caged and bound within an inch of her life. Like an animal.
"Don't touch me." She heard a deep, rumbling voice hiss to her left. Glancing up over to the adjacent stair of cells she caught sight of one of her fellow prisoners, he was a Dwarf and stood with a menacing, disgusted look on his face as one of the Elves unlocked his cell. His hair was raven black, and a few white streaks laced it. His clothes were slightly torn and dishevelled, clearly having recently been stripped of his weaponry. He was also patched with silver silk.
Aditi frowned, recognising it as the same substance Nora had arrived to the cells covered in. Giant spiders cobweb.
"Thorin!"
She heard a voice yell out from further down into the dungeons. Glancing briefly down she caught sight of a young looking brunette. Shear horror graced his features as he shouted out desperately for his kin.
Aditi blinked at him. It wasn't until she was pulled up the final step and towards the dungeon door that his deep muddy eyes glanced in her direction.