THE FIRE IN HER EYES
Aegeria was out of the bed walking around healing rooms trying to find a lavatory.
"Oh come on! There must be a lavatory somewhere in here if the elves have it as such. Maybe they pee in specially designed urns, I am certain that I will if I don't find a lavatory soon. An aspirin would be welcome as well, not one but a handful to rid me of the king's interrogation." She found the lavatory which was in the opposite room.
"There it is!" she did what she had to and felt relieved, only then did she look around.
"Little buggers! They have better lavatories than on the Earth."The whole room was made of wood, the front doors were carved, and right at the entrance were situated three oval-shaped washbasins, above them were large cisterns camouflaged by carvings of different woodland birds while the air smelled of pines. Toilets themselves were similar to the ancient Roman ones. But what was most surprising was the stream continuously flowing on the back wall of the lavatory and going beneath the toilets. Beside the practicability it also gave a more vivid dimension to the room in the means of sight and hearing. Aegeria washed her hands and looked her reflection in the mirror.
"I haven't looked like this in a while no matter the elvish features I still look shittier than ever. The bags under my eyes are just horrific but on the other hand, my large brown eyes seem to shine with a new sparkly energy. My hair is longer and wavier, and unbelievably the streak is of the exact shade I wanted it to be. Ah, the fortunes of being an elleth. Hahahah." With that she went back to bed.
In few minutes Tauriel and the king appeared in Aegeria's room, she sat upright and was looking out of the window. Turning her head slowly she first looked at Tauriel and than the king, taking a deep breath she greeted the king and bowed.
"King Thranduil it is a great honour to meet you. Needless to say, words cannot express how extremely grateful I am for everything that has been done for my well-being." They were eyeing one another and by judging both of them the game was on.
"Lady Aegeria, considering the circumstances under which my captains have found you, the only reasonable thing for you to do would be to thank the Valar for keeping you alive. Undoubtedly it is exceedingly foolish to wander around alone and unarmed, especially for an elleth ignorant of her surroundings."
Aegeria could feel the burning sensation upon her cheeks her heart beating faster. She wanted to look away but knew that she would look like a coward besides there was no way in whole of the universe that she would grant Thranduil such pleasure therefore, she looked at his iron gaze more steadily and cocked her right eyebrow. He noticed it and a small smirk flickered at the corner of his lips.
"Furthermore, I firmly believe that for the time being it would be desirable if you stayed here until your condition improves." Thranduil concluded.
"You speak truth lord, and if it is desired of me to stay then I will." Aegeria told him as calmly as she was able.
"I hope you will find my halls warm and welcoming." He exclaimed in an icy tone not blinking once.
"I am convinced I will! She smiled breaking away from his eerie eyes and turned to Tauriel who smiled back.
"Good bye Lady Aegeria."
"Good bye king Thranduil." They glanced at one another for the last time that day. Both Thranduil and Tauriel left healing rooms.
When they were gone Aegeria abruptly stood up and rushed over to the lavatory.
"He is such a cunt of the king, pretentious bastard, he can go to hell and stuck that trashy crown up his ass!" She washed her face and drank a bit of water then returned to bed.
"So the idiot king thinks that I am careless and stupid, like he would do anything better if he was all of a sudden hurled on the Earth. I am again overreacting but still there was that one moment when he was so calm, unaffected and cold while reproaching that I almost lost it and wanted to slap him. Glad I didn't otherwise he would have me thrown into the dungeons. Then again, I have to admit that there is something alluring in his appearance. Perhaps that is the reason why I reacted the way I did. All in all, I am proud that I managed to behave ladylike."
Aegeria was watching the sunset through the window. It was fairly different from the one she was used to but not less beautiful. This one denoted the same feeling in her being. She could feel the calmness creeping in her mind. It was strange to her how she always felt calm when she watched the horizon especially during sunset. It is so because of all the magnificent colours that can be seen. The highest branches of trees reflected the sunshine materializing the contrast of dark green beneath and coppery above. The forest slowly humming and the sun swiftly running soon the clash of the light and the dark is about to take place. It is a never-ending war with battles twice a day yet both are equal in their victories. Equal in forming something bigger than themselves, two opposites still, they make one. As the sun about to be gone the different shades of blue, orange, pink and purple started to dance around, each trying to claim a part of the sky for itself. Showtime was on till actor and actresses came to present their play which was nothing more than staying still while shining and twinkling. Aegeria was tired and soon the sleep overtook her.
The dinner hall was full of elves, their chatter filled the air. The main table was situated horizontally at the back end of the hall and other tables were at the angle of 90° to the main and divided into columns and rows. Lights were high up, shining brightly; they were encircling the whole hall. A dozen of elves started to bring the necessities; some were holding large bowls while others carried wine and water. The bowls were full of different kinds of fruits and vegetables. As the dinner was served the king wasn't hungry so he moved his food around the plate. Legolas noticed it and started a conversation.
"Ada what is bothering you?"
"Nothing is bothering me!" Thranduil answered his look still on the plate.
"It is, you have not eaten anything and judging by that stare on your face, you are lost somewhere in that mind of yours. Now pray tell me what is on your mind."
Thranduil lifted his head and directed his gaze to Legolas.
"It is about Lady Aegeria. My main concern is how to present her to my people. The majority of them know that she is here; the problem is that we do not know anything about her except her name and that she is of our kin. In my opinion it would be highly inappropriate of me to present her while having insufficient information about her."
"So she managed to remember her name that is a good sign. Nevertheless, your worry is justified but hopefully she will regain her memory and when she does she will explain everything to you. In the mean time you should be honest and if anyone asks you about her tell them the truth." Legolas said in a sympathetic tone trying to ease his father.
"Ah, Legolas there will come time when you will discover for yourself that truth sometimes is not good enough." Thranduil took a sip of wine.
"Than I should spend my days better because I fear that day coming. In what kind of a world are we living in if truth is not enough?" A look of disappointment emerged on Legolas' face.
"In a peculiar world of adults." Thranduil nonchalantly answered.
When the dinner was over Legolas rushed over to talk to Tauriel. He touched her on the left shoulder and she turned recognizing him she smiled.
"Legolas, do you need something?" He moved her to the side.
"There is, I wish to speak with you if you have time?"
"I do have time. Tell me what is it that you wish to speak of?" A slight look of concern crossed her face.
"I will tell you but firstly let's go outside for a walk!"
He demanded and she complied. They passed several corridors and where outside in one of gardens. This one was medium sized and its main attraction was a small pond in the middle of it. Reeds growing on one part of the pond were gently swinging in the light breeze and water lilies floated freely across the surface which glimmered reflecting the light of the distant stars above. The breeze delivered the scent of orange from the garden next to this one. They were in front of the pond and Legolas turned in order to see Tauriel, his eyes searching hers.
"I want to speak about lady Aegeria. I assume you were there when she woke up, weren't you?"
"It is true I was there. What is it that you wish to know about her? "
"First of all, I want to know how is she and how long will take for her to recover?"
"When she woke up she had a headache, she was also disoriented and seems to suffer of partial amnesia. From what I have seen I think that she will recover in a week but I cannot say the same for the amnesia part. It may take several days or weeks however we both know that it may as well never happen but I hardly doubt it will happen as she remembered her name." She was now looking the pond and Legolas looked her fair profile.
"So roughly in a month or even less we will know where we stand with her. The king will not be happy about it. He already worries too much because he does not know how to present her and everyone will soon start asking questions, you know how those things go in court circles. But will you tell me what you think of her?"
"I am not sure how to answer... There is something interesting about her. You have seen the way she killed that orc? I must admit that it left me awestruck. She came out of nowhere and in the blink of an eye killed the orc."
"I agree, she seems strong and agile we only have to find out how good is she with the bow and the sword. We may have a competition and a possible new captain of the guard!" They both laughed at this. Tauriel continued:
"You are laughing now but what if she proves to be better than you in a fight? I would surely like to see that!" She was giggling.
"And I would like to see her winning a fight between you too!"
"I see that she is slowly winning over our hearts; hopefully she will recover soon so that we can appraise her skills." Said Tauriel looking at Legolas' eyes. She noticed that they were glowing and her heart skipped a beat.
"She is and she will. Come now it is time for us to get back inside. This was one really adventurous day and I must confess that I am exhausted."
" I am too, but still I feel excited over tomorrow, who knows what awaits us...and till then, I wish you a good night! She stopped.
"May you as well have a good night, see you tomorrow." Said Legolas they both bowed to each other and each left in a separate direction to their chambers.
The king was in his study sitting at the desk and trying to organize scattered papers on top of the desk. When he was done with it he went over to the window and looked through it to see the bright Moon glooming in the sky. He took a deep breath and recounted to himself what happened earlier that day. In short, everything was connected to lady Aegeria therefore; he took her behaviour during their brief meeting into account.
"Lady Aegeria conducted herself with dignity and in a good manner although that same dignity caused her downfall. It took only two sentences to get her extremely annoyed but she managed to stay composed. She even tried to be rebellious in some strange way. When I finally thought that she would look away she did the opposite and looked even more sharply at me, but when I smirked it put her off and for a split second I thought I saw the fire in her eyes. Her attitude is unlike that of our kin; at first she appears composed but if it does not go as she planned it then she gets almost raging frustrated like some kind of a control freak, therefore, it would be wise to keep her under the watchful eye. The rest of the conversation was purely acted out from her side with the intention of keeping the good reputation but for how long will she endure?"
He paced around the room and soon left to his bed chamber in order to get some sleep, only the Valar knew how badly he needed it.
Thanks for reviews, follows and favs! I wish to all of you a merry X-mas and a happy New Year, may all you wishes come true! I hope you liked this chapter since it is the last one in this year. (Reviews would be nice.) I almost forgot to mention that Aegeria's name is pronounced /Egeriʌ/ and Aethriel /ʌeϴri:el/.
