A/N: Next chapter is up – wrote it whilst watching concert for Diana. Thanx so much for the comments, am so glad you liked it!! ) I feel this chapter is kinda slow, but it's important because the last bit sets up quite a bit of the story. So, enjoy...
Thranduil stood unmoving at the window in his bedchamber. He watched as the fair head of his son passed through the inner gates that led to the palace. He sighed and turned to his wife, Anolinde, who was sat in a chair stitching a tapestry. Thranduil watched her for a moment, then began to pace the room, as he had been for hours, re-reading a piece of parchment, although he'd read it enough to know by heart. Anolinde spoke to her husband without looking up.
"Do not let that note worry you, meleth nîn. Our son is more than a match for this Thengoldrim. He knows how to protect himself."
"Thengoldrim is dangerous. And he is an Elf. My son has never had to seriously fight an Elf before. I fear that to defeat Thengoldrim, he will have to be slain, and I do not think my son could do it." Anolinde stopped her stitching, and watched Thranduil running his hands through his hair. She couldn't remember seeing Thranduil so agitated in all the long millennia she had known him.
"Perhaps you underestimate our son – and the situation. Maybe he could defeat Thengoldrim without shedding his blood."
"NO!" Thranduil bellowed, but upon seeing his wife flinch he lowered his voice, "You have not – can not read what that traitor has said. Unless he is killed, we may find ourselves loosing our son." With that, Thranduil turned and swept out of the room, leaving Anolinde shedding a tear as she realised just how bad the situation was.
Beriadan issued a copy of Thengoldrim's letter to every Elf assigned to protect the Prince. He thought that if they all knew exactly what the note said they would manage to completely protect the Prince. He glanced down at the parchment, and re-read it:
Hannon – le my 'good' King,
By now your scouts will have reported my intentions.
It's so adorable how they follow my plan exactly, making
things so easy for me! Don't try to protect you son. The
tighter you grip on to him, the easier I will find it to take
him from you. The inevitable shall happen. You and your
little Queen should face the fact that you will soon be
lacking a son.
Mára mesta...for now,
Thengoldrim
Beriadan felt anger pulse through him, hatred against this traitor who sought to cause so much pain and anguish to a King and Queen who has never harmed any elves, always protected them. Beriadan shook his head as if to clear it, and then took up his position in the shadows outside the Prince's room for his turn on the night watch.
A shadowy figure slipped out of the bedchamber down to the palace stables, where a messenger and his horse stood waiting. The figure handed over a letter, sealed with the royal crest, and stepped back allowing the messenger to gallop off through the gates and into the night-time forest. Anolinde sighed as she slowly headed back to her room. She hated doing things behind Thranduil's back, but she had to do this. Thranduil thought all the help they needed would come from Minas Tirith and the Glittering Caves. Anolinde, however, knew that if she was to save her son, help would need to come from the realm of Ithilien...
A/N: Ok, so a bit of a jumpy chapter. But it's necessary to set up the arrival of other characters into the story. It could get a little crowded, but not as much as it was originally going to be )
Reviews and comments please!!!! Next chapter should be up in the next week or so