AN: This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I could not make it any longer without making this part of the story drag on. There will finally be action in the next chapter.

Chapter Nine: A Promise Kept

Isáwien, Queen of Once-Great Greenwood, was not skilled with a blade yet wielded it nonetheless.

Thranduil groaned in his sleep, turning over as though to turn away from the scene of his wife's death.

The spider advanced. On all eight legs it was a tall as an elf, the bright green markings on its sides standing out in the twilit darkness. On its four hind legs it was a terrifying height, towering over the she-elf and casting a shadow about the entire clearing.

"I won't let you have him," the queen declared, ignoring the numerous cuts she had already endured.

The spider hissed viciously, retreating back a pace as though to reconsider its attack.

Isáwien stood her ground, blade held at the ready.

"You shall not touch him," she snarled at the spider.

In his sleep, the Elvenking's brow furrowed in confusion. Though still caught in the dream, he was aware enough to recognize that this one was different.

The spider began to change, darkness spreading around it to engulf the forest and the clearing until Isáwien alone was the solitary spot of light in the darkness.

"You shall not touch him!" the queen shouted again.

And a figure stepped out of the shadow, cloaked in darkness.

The clearing was eerily silent. Isáwien's presence seemed to keep the dark being at bay, but Thranduil could tell his wife was fading. As though she were merely a spirit, she was growing less substantial as the darkness grew. And somehow, Thranduil knew that the moment his wife disappeared the darkness would take his son.

Isáwien turned, looking deeply into Thranduil's eyes.

"Thranduil," she said, her voice oddly distant. "Protect our son."

I am! he wanted to shout, but his tongue would not move.

"Remember your promise," Isáwien called as the shadow deepened and the creature of darkness advanced on his helpless son.

"Remember your promise."

Thranduil awoke with a start, astonished to find that he was trembling. He sat up, rubbing a hand over his face. This dream...it was more unsettling than the dream of his wife's death yet he could not guess at its meaning.

Or could he?

Years before, just after Legolas' birth, Isáwien had woken one dark night in the throe of an evil dream or vision. She had begged Thranduil to send Legolas to Rivendell then, and the king had refused. Isáwien had then made him promise to do so should anything happen to her.

Yet he had not upon her death, because he could not bear to be parted from the elfling.

And now...

Thranduil sighed, slipping out of the bed and walking to the wardrobe.

It had been six days since Meluial and Brithdil had found Legolas in the dungeons. Four days ago Thranduil had broken the news to Legolas that his tutor would not be coming back, though he had yet to pass judgement on Thilator (he wanted the elf to worry a bit before facing his sentence).

Since that day, Legolas' condition had steadily declined. He was troubled by nightmares and slept little, ate less, and rarely slept. And while the healers had cured the infection left by the rat's bite, Legolas had not healed in any other way.

Dressed in a simple tunic and legging, Thranduil made his way down the halls to the healers' ward where Legolas had yet to be released. He knew at least his oldest daughter would be there, for it was rare for Luinlothiel to leave the elfling's side. More often than not one of his other children joined her, and once Captain Brithdil had brought Relfían and Ceretín to sit with Legolas.

Luinlothiel looked up as her father entered and spared him the briefest of smiles, holding a finger to her lips and nodding toward the sleeping elfling.

Meluial also glanced up from her seat on the floor at the foot of the bed, relief coloring her features. She straightened up and whispered something to her sister, then gently tugged on Thranduil's arm and motioned toward the door.

Once out in the hallway, Meluial wrapped her arms around her father, stifling a sob into his shoulder.

Thranduil held his daughter for a moment, then gently broke away from the embrace. "How is he?" he asked quietly.

"I-I don't know," Meluial shook her head shakily. "He won't say anything...he's only sleeping now because Celebalqua gave him something to make him sleep. Ada...is he going to die?"

The king's eyes clouded and he turned away. "I cannot say," he finally said, his voice haggard.

Meluial slammed the palm of her hand against the wall, frustration flashing in her eyes. "There has to be something we can do!" she exclaimed.

Thranduil nodded quietly.

"Ada," Meluial suddenly turned back to face her father. "I...I need to speak with you about something."

The king was taken aback a bit. Since when had any of his children been hesitant to approach him. "What is it?" he asked, concern coloring his voice.

"What do you know of Amarthwen?"

His daughter's question startled him. "She hails from the village," Thranduil said, thinking back to the day the nurse had first appeared, nearly drafted into her position by one of his advisors. "I do not know much about her family, but I believe she had been nursemaid to a few other elflings before she was brought here."

"Have you ever seen her acting strangely toward Legolas?"

Thranduil tilted his head. "In what way?"

"Ada, I do not trust her," Meluial said bluntly. "If it were up to me I would not allow her to remain in the palace."

The king sighed inwardly. He did not know where Meluial's mistrust of Amarthwen had come from, but he knew that it would soon prove unneeded. "Meluial, you need not worry. Unless I am mistaken, Amarthwen will not be returning to her position as Legolas' nurse."

Meluial frowned curiously. "What do you mean?"

Thranduil hesitated. "It is not important right now," he finally said. "Can you stay with Legolas for a while? I need to speak with your sister."

Though still puzzled, Meluial assented and retreated into the ward to fetch Luinlothiel. The older she-elf exited a few moments later, her brown eyes dark with worry.

"Ada?" Luinlothiel asked softly. "What is wrong?"

"Can you wake your husband and send him to my study?" the king asked.

Luinlothiel nodded. "You need to see him immediately?"

"As soon as he can come," Thranduil replied. "It is an urgent matter."

The princess's eyes widened a bit, and Thranduil could read the concern within them.

"Fear not," he said quietly. "All shall soon be well."

"I hope you are right, Ada," Luinlothiel murmured as Thranduil returned down the hall toward his study.

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Gilfaroth peeked around the door to the king's study. "You wanted to see me, Adar?" he asked.

Thranduil glanced up, sparing a smile for his son-in-law. Gilfaroth had been part of the family long before his marriage to Luinlothiel, as he and Aranion had been close friends as elflings. "Come in," he motioned for the younger elf to have a seat. "How soon can your patrol be ready?" he asked.

The captain looked up, startled. "For what?" he asked.

Thranduil hesitated a moment. "For a journey," he finally said.

"We can be ready shortly after dawn," Gilfaroth said slowly. "Where do you wish to send us?"

"To Imladris."

Gilfaroth visibly started. Relations between Imladris and Greenwood had not always been stable, and he could not fathom why the king would be sending him at this time. "My Lord?" he leaned forward, capturing his father-in-law's attention. "Why?"

Thranduil's eyes seemed to tear up, and he pushed a sealed letter over to Gilfaroth. "I want you to take Legolas to Lord Elrond."

The captain stared at the letter for a moment, unsure of what he had heard. "Legolas," he said slowly.

"Yes," Thranduil nodded, his face grave. "It is time I kept my promise."

Gilfaroth looked up curiously. "Your promise?"

"I promised Isáwien," Thranduil explained, "that if something should happen to her I would send Legolas to be raised by Lord Elrond."

The younger elf was taken aback. "But she has been dead these ten years...why now?"

Thranduil stood, passing a hand over his face. "For weeks before the accident I dreamt of her death...each dream the same and ending with her reminding me of my promise to protect our son. And I have tried, I have protected him from every danger outside the palace but not from the dangers within."

Gilfaroth's eyes narrowed. Luni had told him about Meluial's suspicions. "Do you suspect someone is behind what happened to Legolas?"

"I don't know," the king sighed. "I have no proof either way, and Legolas refuses to speak of it. I do know that had I heeded my dreams this would not have happened."

The captain glanced down, his eyes tracing the scrawl on the letter. He understood the king's guilt...but he also understood that it would tear the king apart to send his youngest son to be raised by another. "When do you wish us to leave?" he asked, forcing his own grief back to better serve his father-in-law.

Thranduil turned back around, his own eyes glistening suspiciously. "As soon as possible," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "My son...I would not have him die because I was too selfish to let him go."

Gilfaroth nodded. "I will alert the warriors at once," he said quietly.

He slipped out, pausing with his back to the door and head bowed.

Grieved though he was at the thought of leaving his brother-in-law to be raised by Lord Elrond, he could only hope that they were not too late to save Legolas.

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