A/N: Hello, and welcome back to another, and the last, chapter of Reign of the Dark! My vacation's over, so now I have a month left before I leave for school yet again, so I will try prioritizing writing the best I can.
But here you have it; the scene(s) I've had most difficulties with. Nevertheless, I hope you like them and are satisfied by the amount of Legoriel-moments I put into this.
Enjoy!
"Amin hiraetha, ernil, but I must ask you to leave." A fair, ebony-haircolored healer maiden said stressfully as Legolas was forcefully guided out from the room by a second healer and a guard. He protested at this whilst backing, though his concerned eyes never looked away from the unconscious Tauriel, now lying on the bed. Her right arm hung limply down the side and a line of blood rolled down her wrist where the crimson droplets dripped down onto the floor.
Two healers, a male and female, both honey hair-colored dressed in pure white gowns rushed over to the severely hurt elf. The tall male carried a silver bowl of water whilst a third female grazed past him and rushed to a wooden cabinet stocked with potions.
"Puig he (Clean her)." The maiden ordered before she quickly grasped after bandages.
"You can return, my liege, but now the healers must do their work. Please allow them to do so for the sake of our Captain." The guard spoke as Legolas was pushed entirely out from the room. He barely registered what he just said, though, as the last thing he saw was the healers surrounding Tauriel's body.
After exiting the tall wooden doors he stopped abruptly, began thinking and after a brief moment, he strode down the hall and found his way to his father's chambers.
. . .
Thranduil was stood against the railings of his porch, his hands resting casually on top of them while his face was frozen into a thoughtful mine as he gazed out into the deep forest before him.
"Ada!" he heard someone call angrily from inside, his son, more precisely. The king snapped out of his trance and whipped around and walked nonchalantly back inside his grand room. Once he passed the swaying, cream, see-through curtains he spotted Legolas standing in the middle of the room, who had a determined look written upon his handsome face. They met eyes and even though the young Sindarin nearly shook in anger the king looked as peaceful at mind as ever.
However, he was not fooled.
"I know why you have come, my son," the great King began as he walked over to the desk with his handpicked wine, his side facing Legolas.
"Why, yes, why would I not, you just so simply gave one of our own a death sentence, Tauriel, no less. Father, how could you?" Legolas told him fuming, his voice turning low and threatening. He could hear glass rattling in between the heart beating in his ears.
"You know as well as I Legolas the rules and why the deed was necessary," the king said before he walked around the desk and faced him before grabbing the bottle with burgundy liquid, his eyes never looking up as they were settled down on the bottle in concentration whilst he lifted off the cap of glass. It was as if Legolas was a mere presence in the room, not even speaking, though he answered the tall silhouette before him in reflex.
"Moreover, she did survive. If I wanted her dead, I would have made sure of that the moment she came crawling back to me as a fled dog returns to his master in the end of the day when the hunger strikes." He said leisurely whilst pouring himself a glass.
"She survived because of me!" Legolas raised his voice and spoke through gritted teeth whilst striding over to the desk, leaning against it in a strong manner.
The king met his eyes for a second before looking down yet again.
"Do you honestly believe she would have survived had I not interfered? She was bleeding on the floor, wounded, and you did nothing! Watched as the orc was to slaughter her straight before the eyes of our people!" The prince exploded. His eyes shone a dangerous blue as he stared daggers at his father.
Thranduil quickly placed the glass down before he looked up and dug his icy blue eyes into Legolas';
"Those archers you so daringly stepped in front for the sake of protecting our captain were meant for the orc you also perilously attacked! Arrows could have shot you down the moment you interrupted! Did that thought never occur to your mind when you so blithely performed that stunt?!"
"I cannot read minds, father!" Legolas spat back in anger, ignoring the king's sudden blast.
"Nevertheless, you are my son." He said, now calmly. He looked down again as he gracefully reached after his glass once more. "You are the heir of this kingdom, your safety is the absolute first priority-"
A dagger suddenly shot down into the soft, wooden surface of the table inches before his hand, separating the glass and his long, slender fingers. The king looked up, slightly shocked.
"Was she not your daughter also?!" Legolas shouted to him, his body trembling in rage towards Thranduil's ignorance, his blood beginning to boil. "A part of the people?! For 600 years you have treasured her, for what reason did you throw her away like filth and send her into that barbaric punishment of yours?!" he continued, his voice becoming greater by every sentence.
"She put my people in danger! That is the very reason why she had to learn! To learn that no one governs above me! She is the captain, I am the king – so has it always been, and so will it always be.
"There was never a question of reign, ada! While danger and evil lurked outside these walls, you chose to hide, when what we should have done was to stand and fight! That is why I followed her. If not for her, none of us would be standing here at this moment." Legolas said as he straightened up with his eyes still lingering upon his father. The tall blonde male seemed untouched by his fair, not to mention well put, words, though a flicker was seen in his soulful icy-blue eyes as they studied Legolas' determined-looking face.
He ended up saying nothing as he dumbfounded rested his hand upon the desk. Legolas noticed this and decided therefore to finish his speech.
"And if you cannot see this, father, then you will not only loose a kingdom in the bitter end, but also me." He said and with that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving the king standing there looking at the dagger's buried tip in the table.
. . .
A healer maiden came ghosting up to the prince as he stood leaning against a natural arched rail made out a giant root belonging to a nearby tree serving as a lantern, looking down at the great, clear river coursing through the Elvenking's halls.
"Heruamin." She called in her bell-like voice. He turned around quickly before meeting her hazel eyes.
She gave him a nod, followed by a small smile.
. . .
She felt at unease, at first. But then that feeling was quickly replaced by uncertainty. Was she dead? Alive? Where was she?
Her questions were soon answered as her consciousness slowly returned.
A bright light blinded her as she managed to open her eyes bit by bit, but when she grew custom to the brightness she could see the silhouettes around her taking form after some concentration. She tried naming the objects around the room; walls, cabinets, bottles of potions and remedies, bandages lying upon a table, bloody rags and finally, the ruined bodice of her armor.
In the corner of her eyes she could see a blonde elf she knew all too well sitting beside her bed, leant back against the chair whilst calmly working on something.
Her eyes traveled downwards to his hands, and after concentrating, she could see that he was polishing a dagger with a white cloth. Her dagger, more specifically.
She tilted her head back again on the pillow and her head started throbbing in result, making her raise a hand and rest it on her forehead as an attempt to stop it, letting a small moan escape her lips as she did.
Legolas looked briefly her way and when he realized she was to awake he laid the dagger on a table nearby and sat upright whilst leaning his elbows on his knees, watching her intently.
Her auburn hair was loosened from its former style and her creamy skin was now cleaned. Her cuts had been cleansed and her more severe wounds had been bandaged, constituting her left leg and ribcage. Her whole torso had been wrapped in white bandages, from underneath her arms to her abdomen, leaving her dressed in nothing else but the split skirt of her leather armor and boots.
Tauriel looked out through the arched window and noticed it was as bright as the middle of the day, which she also estimated it to be.
She felt the need to sit up and she propped herself up unto her elbows, but her right side protested in pain at the sudden move. She inhaled sharply before she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
"Rhae… (Easy)" he told her gently as he leant forward.
"Mani marte? (What happened?)" She asked him in a hoarse voice.
"Uuma dela… (Don't worry)" he simply answered, knowing her confusion. She looked up at him and blinked expectantly, but knew that when he didn't answer her question, that it could wait. She had just awakened after all.
She reenacted her attempt to sit up, slower this time. A sudden itch in her throat appeared and she cleared it whilst she struggled slight to push her weight upwards from the pillow.
"Lle anta yulna en alu? (Do you need a drink of water?)" Legolas asked her warmly with a look of concern and she looked at him again, thought for a second before giving him a soft nod. He stood up and walked to fetch a goblet.
When she after much effort had succeeded in sitting up, Legolas returned with a silver goblet of water in hand. She lifted her legs over the edge and sat there as she took long, steady breaths with her eyes closed.
When she opened them yet again, Legolas was standing before her and he held the goblet out to her. She forced a grateful smile as she met his eyes briefly before she took it gingerly from him and lifted it to her lips. The first zip hurt her throat, but after a good two swallows it wasn't as bad.
"How do you feel?" he asked her as he sat down on the bed beside her, his eyes never leaving her face.
"As if a mûmaki has trampled me down." She answered after another gulp of water. Legolas chuckled at this but the laugher was soon repressed by the thought of what she had experienced not too many hours ago.
"Tell me, Legolas… What happened after you killed that monstrous orc?" she asked him and turned her look towards him at her side.
"You remember." He stated expressionlessly. She paused for a moment before continuing.
"Yes. I remember the fight, that it was three against one for ten rounds, and that I only killed my way to round nine. The rest is a mere flicker of my memory. So what happened after you saved me?" she asked and studied his face as he looked down and away from her.
"You bled an ocean around you so I carried you here. The king ordered his archers to kill that orc before I did, obliviously to me, but everything was over after that." He told her. She looked down at her feet in thought, trying to remember that exact moment. He looked at her again and lifted a hand.
"Though you did fight until the very end, that one was the last…" he added as he curled a lock of her long, red hair behind her pointy ear.
"You were healed and here you are, now recovering and walking a lighter path." He finished and she kept her eyes locked before her.
"Just as well…" she said blankly, which had a frown appear on his face.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked her puzzled. She hesitated for a moment and looked down at the ground before she stirred slowly in her seat and halfway faced him.
"I cannot stay, Legolas. You know this as well as I. Your father does not want me in these grounds anymore, and for my own security, as for yours, the best would be if I left. Only the divines know what he will do to me next…" she began, and even though every word hurt her to the core, more than her physical wounds, she knew it was the right thing to do. To leave, pack up and leave everything behind, so she could live her life without fearing whatever destiny would meet her there in Mirkwood.
Legolas, however, disapproved of this.
"You cannot simply leave." He replied, distressed at the idea. He rose from his seat beside her and began pacing uneasily. Tauriel watched his every move as he paced before her restlessly. It vexed her greatly, to watch him like this. Walk like an animal in cage…
"I cannot live in fear, knowing the king will be breathing the same air as I, walk the same grounds as me, and with every moment passing by, knowing he will be planning a way to kill me." She continued with her eyes still upon him like a hawk.
"He does not want you killed, Tauriel. He will leave you be from now on, and even if he stands back from his word, I shall make sure he does." Legolas told her before he rested his lips on the knuckles of his right hand.
"How can you possibly know this?" she asked frustrated. She rose as well and stumbled in the process, but once up she faced him with a desperate look in her eyes.
"Had he wanted you killed, you would not be here with me! You are a daughter to him, Tauriel, leaving would only do things worse!" he told her as he looked her in the eyes.
"Oh, so we are all returning to the way things once were, I assume?" she asked sarcastically with a flick of her arms. The abrupt movement made her flinch in pain and he grabbed her forearms as to steady her.
"Don't inflict any more damage to yourself than necessary, is that too much demanded?" he asked with the same sarcasm dripping, yet the corners of his mouth quirked up into a chaste smile.
"We can certainly try, melanin. I'm not saying we will live like we did, but we will live. Life goes on, whether we like it or not…" he said wisely as he released her arms slowly.
"You have to understand, Legolas-" she began in a mere whisper. He shook his head and looked at her with his shiny blue eyes.
"I do. I see why you are afraid. But you don't have to be anymore, it is done, all of this you have gone through. The real danger is not within these walls. It is out there, and if you leave, you will be the first to have a taste." He told her with his calm, gentle voice. She absorbed his every word like the dry dirt drinks the water droplets falling from the sky above, digested them, and after a lot of thought, sighed. She shifted her eyes from here to there, and when they once more landed upon the prince's face, she shook her head in denial and took a step back.
He looked at her, seemingly hurt, yet he understood her distressed mind.
"My father is not cruel, Tauriel. Something dark has awakened in him, but in the end, loneliness will consume us all, some more than others." He began. She looked at him with green eyes tainted with sadness. The loose hair draping down the sides of her beautiful face made her look a lot like a puppy to him somehow, and he continued;
"And if you leave us… Mirkwood will never be the same - not to me. If you leave me… Solitude and the deepest pits of sorrow will be my undoing…" he said to her with the most beautiful voice she had ever heard. Her mouth dropped slightly open in shock as she couldn't find the words to reply.
"Legolas…" she whispered. He closed his eyes and shook his head at her. When he reopened his crystal-blue eyes he closed the space between them and held her against him.
She didn't withdraw from him, on the contrary. She melded against his torso and rested her head on his shoulder as she felt his arms snake around her arms and across her bandaged back whilst he rested his head against hers. He felt the soft textures of her hair as he wove his fingers through her it with his left hand at her back. He hugged her close, gently as not to hurt her further.
He wasn't too surprised when he felt her reciprocate the loving gesture, her arms traveling around his waist and upwards his back. She closed her eyes and just… cherished the moment between them.
He felt her sigh against him and he stroked the back of her head with the hand he recently drove through the long tresses of her auburn hair.
"I cannot lose you…" he whispered past her ear, followed by a sigh. He held her even closer as he let the feeling of her warm, smaller body in his arms sink in.
"Then you won't…" was her tender reply against his shoulder and he answered to this by resting his lips on top of her naked shoulder, her skin soft and warm like the first sunbeams of the spring.
For how long they stood there, they did not know, for all that mattered to them now was this moment.
. . .
That evening, a tall and majestic figure ghosted through the grey halls of the Elven people's honored dead; those who had fallen in battle, those who were to be remembered forever.
Solemn and gloomy was the tomb at night, only lit up by candles and torches.
As Thranduil passed the different coffins in the walls, placed there to forever stay, a certain wave of peace washed over him. He knew exactly where to go, where his feet would take him, even in his sleep if it had to be.
It was placed furthest inside the tomb, though displayed unlike everybody else's final resting place.
The elven coffins were made of stone, with elvish carvings of gold on the side so all could read. The living relatives of the dead decorated their resting spot with either flowers, their weapons or other gifts.
The tomb now smelled of blooms since spring had arrived once more.
Thranduil found himself not too soon after standing before the great coffin of his mate.
The mother of Legolas.
Mirkwood's deceased Queen.
Half a century had she been gone, though her coffin of grey stone stood neatly as the day she was laid in it. Decorated with lavender and ivy at the feet and head of the coffin, a slender, silver sword was laid along the body of it.
The king found himself staring at it, reminiscing the times they had fought with swords when they were elflings.
He remembered the way she had stolen his heart with a single glance, how she had replaced it with her own.
Their family.
He remembered her singing to him as they sat in the fields watching the sunset together, and how she later sang to Legolas when he was just a babe.
How her slim hand grew limper and limper in his hand as he desperately clung to it whilst calling out her name in the void.
She was taken from him, and tore her heart out from his chest in the process, leaving him behind in this world, alone and cold. There was no sun for him without her, but the only light left for him was to be found in Legolas, their son.
Oh, he could see so much of her in him… Why couldn't she be with him at his side and see for herself?
Thranduil sank to the ground whilst his arms rested on the coffin of the love of his immortal life.
He touched the edge of the sword, ran his fingers along the carvings on the side of her shell. He grew weary.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, the king wept.
A/N: There you have it! If you'd like a song to listen to whilst reading the last part, try "Magban Alvò" from Moon & the Night Spirit. It's… a beautiful piece…
So, hope you enjoyed Reign of the Dark! Maybe I'll return with another story? Who knows?
Well, until then, stay put and vanya sulie!
~Dragon
