Chapter 11 ended with:

What she did not realize was that the travelers were not in danger. No, the danger would come to her at the Eastern border just a week after Haldir's departure for Imladris.

Chapter 12: A possessive son

Lady Idril was standing beside her husband in the council room, impressed by the king that was now sitting on Lord Celeborn's favorite chair as if it was his own. The King of Mirkwood was a tall and solidly built elf, with golden blonde hair and piercing and cold blue eyes. He was still wearing his armor on top of his forest green tunic, the official color of Mirkwood. He had arrived an hour before, and had not even taken time to bathe and change before he commanded Aradan to meet him in the Lorien council room.

The King was scowling at Lord Aradan, while his guards were watching the council room with interest. The walls were richly decorated with grey velvet curtains, and on the walls were the portraits of The Lord and Lady, and paintings of their family members, such as their daughter Celebrian, their granddaughter Arwen and their twin grandsons Elladan and Elrohir. The Mirkwood elves were generally keeping to themselves, never visiting or inviting elves from other realms. They were looking at the likeness of Arwen in awe, understanding her beauty had not been exaggerated.

King Thranduil was not impressed by the portraits, and so wasn't Alassë, who seemed to be part of the king's entourage. Lady Idril remembered that she was from Mirkwood, but why would she attend this meeting?

"Lord Thranduil," Lady Idril's husband told the king, "Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel have left for Imladris just a few days ago. I wished you had advised us of your visit in advance, for we could have arranged for a better welcome party!"

"I do not need a welcome committee. I will not stay here long. I have come to take my father back to Mirkwood."

"Surely you are jesting, my Lord?"

The king's icy gaze turned to Idril who had spoken without being invited to.

"King Oropher is still an infant who needs his mother to take care of him!" she insisted.

"Lady Alassë will be his governess from now on."

Alassë had enough decency not to throw Idril with a triumphant look.

"My Lord," interrupted Aradan, "such an important decision cannot be made without the approval of Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel."

"Are you denying my rights, Councilor? This is my father we are talking about!"

"But should not this decision be discussed with all the rulers of elven realms?" insisted Aradan.

"Lady Idril," the king said, "while your husband needlessly discusses my commands, would you please get my father's belongings ready? I would imagine he does not have much yet. We will depart this afternoon."

"I can help you," offered Alassë.

"No!" interrupted Idril. "Please, my Lord, this will be a difficult moment for Lady Valarie. I would prefer to be alone with her to announce the news to her!" Idril said convincingly. Alassë had to stay in the council room for what Idril was planning to do.

"Fine," the king said, "but the mortal has to give back my father quickly. Tell her I will not be moved from my position," he said disdainfully.

Happy to be dismissed alone, Idril left the council room and ran towards the Marchwarden's talan.

Valerie and Emily were working on their books translation from English to Sindarin for Lord Celeborn and Lord Elrond. Thomas was choosing the concerto he would practice this month amongst all the scores Valerie had brought with them to Middle Earth.

"What do you think, Mommy? Should I start the Vivaldi Four Seasons or Mozart's Violin's concerto?"

"Sweetheart, whichever you choose, you will get to play them all to perfection over the next centuries!" playfully answered Valerie.

The kids had yet to realize what immortality meant. Truth be told, Valerie did not realize it either. It was such an overwhelming concept to grasp.

"Should we flip a coin?" Adam asked with a smile. None of them had seen a coin since their arrival in Middle Earth.

"Someone is coming!" announced Emily, who was now looking out the window. "Lady Idril. She seems... distressed?"

"Valarie!" Lady Idril cried while entering the talan without knocking. "It is King Thranduil! He is here!"

Valerie knew it could not mean anything good.

"What does he want?"

"He wants Oropher!"

"What?" This was worse than anything Valerie could have imagined.

"He wants to take Oropher to Mirkwood."

"He will take our baby?" asked Emily in alarm.

"No one will take our baby!" said Valerie with a forceful tone.

"He planned all this with Alassë. She must have been aware that the Lord and Lady were planning to go to Imladris, and he showed up today, knowing he would find no one to oppose his commands. Let's face it, the only thing my husband can do is delay the outcome for a few hours. The king is determined to leave today."

"He will not take my child!" Valerie said again.

She dropped the book she was working on and went to pick up items in the other rooms.

"Emily!" she cried from her bedroom. "Pick up everything we need to take care of Orophin for a few days."

Emily immediately stood, grabbed a backpack and ran to Oropher's bedroom.

Understanding that Valerie was trying to escape, Idril grabbed another backpack and gathered some food that she found in the cupboards, and took a few waterskins that the family could fill up at a source nearby the city gates. Thomas was watching her nervously, while Adam was oblivious to what was going on.

Valerie came back to the kitchen, and gave the backpack to Thomas, and asked him to carry it. She went to get Oropher in is crib, and attached him to her abdomen like she usually did while Emily came back with a backpack of her own.

"I took clothes for my brothers too," she told her mother.

"Good. Adam, will you please bring me my bow and quiver? We are going for a picnic."

Thomas looked at her questioningly, but she eyed him to keep his mouth shut. Once Valarie was armed, and her eldest kids carrying the bags, they all left the talan as fast as they could, to ensure no one from the king's entourage would see their escape. A risky task, as the royal talan was located on the same level than the Marchwarden's. Luckily, no one was outside, as Aradan was probably still delaying the departure of the king.

By the time they all made it to the city gates, Valerie and Idril had decided to tell the guards that they were all going for a picnic. They would not be suspicious, as Valerie was taking the kids in the forest frequently. But Idril needed to come back to the royal talan, to report the family was missing.

Valerie pulled Idril away from the kids so they could talk without being heard.

"Goodbye, Idril," Valerie whispered, crying and kissing her friend at the same time. "I will never forget you."

"Why do you say such a thing? Will you not just hide in the forest for a few days?"

"They will track me down and find me easily! No, I cannot stay here. I have to go back to my world! There, no one will try to take my child away from me!"

"What about Haldir?"

"I love him, Idril! I love him more than anything! But I am not sure he loves me all that much anymore. We fight all the time! And what tells me that he will not go back to Alassë if she gets my child? Idril, I cannot sacrifice my child! If I let this happen once, each time I will give birth to a new elfling as per the prophecy, someone from another realm will come to take him away from me!"

"Please Valarie! Do not go!"

"Goodbye, Idril!" Valerie said, wiping her tears from her face before she turned to the kids with a fake smile. "Now, let's go for this picnic!"

Idril only had time to stop by the healing talan to talk to Nellethiel about the situation, and ask her to make sure that her husband Rumil would be immediately called from the borders. She then went back to the royal talan, her hair in disarray and her face red from all the running and emotions.

"It certainly took you a long time!" the king commented with displeasure. "I said I wanted to leave this afternoon, not next week!"

"My Lord, I am so sorry! I could not find the family at their talan, so I made enquiries to locate them. They have been seen leaving the city a few hours ago, going for a picnic near the waterfalls on the Northern side of the gates. Lady Valarie likes to bring her children to bathe there, my Lord."

"When are they expected back?"

"When she leaves like this, she is usually back by nightfall, rarely before."

"I cannot believe that Lord Celeborn allows a mortal to act in such an irresponsible way! She is guarding a king, for Eru's sake! What am I supposed to do until then?"

"We can offer you a few hours of rest in the guest talan, my Lord," Lord Aradan replied. He knew his wife was hiding something, but King Thranduil was not a good reader of characters, Eru be thanked.

"Fine," the king grumbled, discovering he was a little weary from the journey, and that a bath would be much appreciated. "Let me know as soon as this mortal comes back from her excursion!"

Aradan and Idril made sure their guests were all comfortable before Idril went back to speak to Nellethiel.

"Did you send your mate a message?" asked Idril.

"I sent him a pigeon note three hours ago. He is at the Western border right now. They have a few horses there – I told him his presence was immediately required in the city. I just said our family is in danger. That should bring him here within the next couple of hours. Where is Val?"

"She left for the Southern borders."

"Why? She is much more familiar with the Northern side of the forest!"

Idril started to cry and Nellethiel understood immediately what it meant.

"She is going back to the portal?" she asked in dismay.

"Yes. She told me in her world, no one would try to take Oropher away from her. She was wearing her emerald pendant, the one necessary to travel between both worlds."

"Mithrandir took the incantation parchment away from her as soon as she lost consciousness after her arrival."

"Knowing Valarie, do you not think she would have learnt it by heart?"

"Yes, she would. Oh Elbereth, I wish the Lady was here! Or at least, Haldir! He would stop her!"

"We can only count on Rumil. He is the only one who could stop King Thranduil at this point."

Rumil had received the short note from his mate, and just from the handwriting, he knew his wife was panicking. Something had happened in Caras Galadhon. Nellethiel had never called him from his duty in their 300 years of marriage. He was imposing a terrible effort to his steed, and directing the beast through the darkening woods was becoming difficult. He finally made it to the city a little after sun down. He noticed an unusual number of horses in the stables, and when he heard a delegation from Mirkwood had arrived during the day, he immediately understood what was going on. Mirkwood was coming to get their baby king back.

"Sweet Elbereth, please give me the strength and wisdom to act like my Lord and Lady would under the same circumstances," he silently prayed.

He climbed towards the main talan, gathering all the wardens he could find on his way, asking them to meet him at the door of the royal talan with their weapons. He knew King Thranduil would not have come without a fully armed guard around him, to make his commands even more threatening to the councilors of Lorien.

At the door, he finally met his wife, who threw herself in his arms.

"Rumil! Finally! You have to help us!"

"Let me guess. The king wants to bring back Oropher to Mirkwood?"

"Yes! He does! And Val escaped!"

"She did? Where did she go?"

"Idril believes she will attempt to go back to her world."

"What?"

"Yes! We need to go find her!"

"Why did you not send for wardens to go get her near the Southern border? It is dark now, the kids will be afraid and cold!"

"Maybe... it is too late, maybe she is already gone?"

"Maybe she did not even reach the portal yet. It is a day of travel to get there. They are walking, with a baby and young children. They will not make it before tomorrow morning."

"Then we might still have time. But the minute you find her, King Thranduil will try to steal Oropher."

"And we will not let him do that!" he said much louder, ensuring the thirty fully-armed wardens that were gathered around them heard him clearly. "Mirkwood is trying to steal baby Oropher, to take possession of the first elfling of the prophecy without the consent of the other elven rulers! Lady Valarie had to leave Caras Galadhon to protect her child! King Thranduil did this at a time where he knew our Lord and Lady would be absent, thinking we would let him proceed. My friends, will we let them do that?" he asked them.

They all disagreed with frowns. Their Mirkwood kin was not welcomed in Lorien, after centuries of unfriendly relations between both realms. The latest events were not going to make things any better.

"King Thranduil brought a guard of twenty warriors with him," said a warden who had seen the delegation arrive.

"And we need to get rid of most of them before we find Lady Valarie and her children," answered Rumil. "We know Lady Valarie is at the Southern border. But we will organize a search party, as if we did not know where she is. We will send four teams going to each border to locate them," continued Rumil, in charge while his brother Haldir was away. As second-in-command and uncle of the child, he was in the best of positions to lead this mission. "King Thranduil will want five of his warriors on each team to ensure Lady Valarie does not escape."

He quickly formed three teams of six wardens, who would each guide five Mirkwood warriors to the North, East and West borders.

"When you reach the borders, you put them in our custody. I do not want them back in Caras Galadhon until I give the command to do so. Leave them in the hands of our fellow wardens currently at the borders, and come back as quickly as you can to the Southern border. I would rather have an impressive force on our side when King Thranduil sees Lady Valarie and Oropher."

The three teams nodded their understanding.

"The rest of you will come with me to the Southern border. We need to make it at night and find the family before sunrise. Please do not show yourselves before the first three teams are gone. I would not want the king to realize in advance that our team is much bigger than his..."

Valerie and the children had walked all afternoon. Adam and Thomas were very tired, and they had to stop frequently so they could rest. The sun was coming down, and Valerie knew they still had a few hours ahead of them before they reached the site of the portal. Fortunately for her, the moonlight was enough to let them see the path to the Southern border, and they kept walking during a portion of the night.

They stopped to rest once more, the kids eating some fruits and bread while Valerie fed Oropher. She could not eat anything, being too distressed about the recent events. She had decided to leave Middle Earth on an impulse, and was now questioning her decision. She did not really want to leave Lorien and Middle Earth. Her family was happy here. Haldir and her had been happy here, except in the last few months. She had hoped that things would get back to what they were before. But because of the King of Mirkwood and Haldir's former lover, she had lost control of her life. No one could protect Oropher if she went back to Caras Galadhon. The king would take Oropher, and then, who knew when Valerie would see him again? Would he even remember her? That was highly doubtful since he was still an infant. She held the baby closer to her breast, heartbroken at the thought of losing him. She had to go. She could not live without him anymore.

She took her pendant in her hand, reciting the incantation she had learned by heart before crossing the portal to Middle Earth. She still remembered it like yesterday. All will be well, she told herself.

She gave a few more minutes to the kids, and then they resumed walking to the South. At that pace, they would reach the portal in the middle of the night.

King Thranduil had not been happy to find that Rumil was with a group of 12 wardens while he only had five Mirkwood warriors with him. But he was determined to get his father back, and they all left the city right before sundown.

Rumil was calling Valerie's name once in a while, acting like he did not know where she was. She never answered, and they kept walking. After four hours a diligent walking, they still had not found her, and this time, Rumil started being concerned that she had not stopped for the night like he had expected her to. He should have known better. Valerie was a strong-willed elleth. She had taken all necessary measures to protect her children, and had pushed the kids to their limit. By then, he still had two hours of walking to reach the portal, only one if they all ran. He started running in a flash, and the wardens followed him, understanding their commander thought something bad had happened to Lady Valarie and her children.

King Thranduil was just deeply frustrated to see this pitiful mortal woman was leading them on such a chase.

After one week, the Lothlorien delegation was halfway to Imladris. They had met Mithrandir on their way, and Lord Elrond's sons had come from Imladris to escort their grandparents for the rest of the journey.

An important council was to be held in Imladris to discuss the increased activities of Sauron's armies near Gondor and near the Misty Mountains. Even Lord Cirdan, from the Grey Havens, had accepted Elrond's invitation. Only King Thranduil of Mirkwood had declined. Haldir and Glorfindel, as commanders of the elven armies, were also to attending the meeting.

"Saruman does not believe the one ring will ever be found," concluded Mithrandir, who had been speaking while riding beside Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. Haldir, Elladan and Elrohir were following.

"But I can see in your heart that you are worried it is not the case," said Lady Galadriel.

Mithrandir put a hand to his forehead, as if suffering from a headache.

"I want to investigate something..." He stopped dead in his sentence, looking at Haldir in consternation. "The portal... Someone is trying to open it."

"Mithrandir?" asked Haldir in confusion.

"She had learned the words by heart," he mumbled to himself.

"Mithrandir!" cried Celeborn. "Is Lady Valarie trying to use the portal as we speak?"

"Yes, she is."

Haldir was appalled. Frozen on the spot. He knew things had not been well between them in the past months, and he was as much to blame as she was. He had thought they could work things out. But he never took the time, between his border duty, the training of new wardens, and this trip to Imladris. And now... she was leaving Middle Earth to go back to her world.

"She is leaving me!" he mumbled to himself.

"Tell us you did not leave the portal open, my friend?" enquired Celeborn.

"No, of course not! She is trying to open the portal, but she will not succeed. I need to say my own spell for the portal to open!"

"Why would she do that?" asked Celeborn in dismay.

Galadriel, who had had her eyes closed all this time, finally opened them and said angrily: "King Thranduil is visiting our realm, my love!"

"He is in Lothlorien?"

"Yes. He wants to take King Oropher back to Mirkwood."

All the elves that were within earshot cried their disbelief and indignation. Except Haldir. He was asking Elladan and Elrohir to take the lead of the delegation, as he was planning to leave it immediately to go stop this madness.

"Haldir!" Celeborn called. "I will go with you. I will show Thranduil who is the ruler of Lorien and all his citizens, including his baby father, until he reaches his majority!" he exclaimed.

"I am coming too!" said Mithrandir. "I will keep you two safe during the journey."

"My love, please make sure Oropher stays in Lorien," asked Galadriel to Celeborn. "Letting him go would create a dangerous precedent for all the following elflings!"

"He will not have my son!" interrupted Haldir abruptly. "He will have to kill me first!"

"You might not make it on time!" Elrohir said. "Going back is a three-days journey by horse if you do not stop at all!"

"I am sure my brother will be able to keep him in Lorien until our arrival. He must have sent a messenger by now, and expect us within a week. We will arrive earlier than he thought!"

Haldir was unhappy with himself. If he had stayed with Valerie like she had asked, he would have been in Lorien to protect her.

"Elladan and Elrohir, will you lead the guard that will bring your grandmother back to Lorien?"

"Of course, Celeborn, do not be worried," replied the Elladan.

Galadriel touched Haldir's hand to get his attention.

"Haldir? You go fix this misunderstanding between you and her. You have been fighting for months now. I am sorry to ever have shown her how to block your link so you would not hear her thoughts."

At this, Celeborn looked at her in disbelief.

"I thought she would only block random thoughts. I never imagined she would completely block the link like she does. It needs to stop," she continued, "this is not normal for fëa-mates, and you will keep going from a misunderstanding to another until she stops blocking you."

"I know, my Lady."

"You have no idea what has been going on in her mind, what she has been keeping away from you in the past months. Force her if you need to, Haldir. Your love will not survive if you do not reestablish your mental link."

"I will, my Lady. I am not ready to let her go. You know what is in my heart," he said hesitantly, not wanting to express his love in front of the other ellyn.

Celeborn kissed his wife, and the three left Imladris in a hurry.

Valerie had said the incantation at least three times, and it was not working. Her emerald pendant was illuminating like the last time, but the fuzzy portal was not appearing at all. Emily was looking at her questioningly, Oropher in her arms, while Thomas looked hopeful.

"We will not be leaving, Mommy?" he said.

"What am I doing wrong?" she mumbled to herself, ignoring his question.

"I am tired. This picnic is not as funny as usual," commented Adam, oblivious to the events of the day. "Can I go play in the trees?" he asked.

"Yes, but stay close," Valerie replied distractedly.

She decided to try one more time, chanting the incantation while holding her pendant.

King Thranduil was aggravated. Not only did the mortal woman escape with his baby father, but Rumil, the so-called uncle, had made sure that his guard would be outnumbered in the search party. He was no idiot – he knew Rumil had sent most of his guards to the other borders for the sole purpose of having him with little protection. He would have to deceit them all in order to get his father back.

While he was ruminating these dark thoughts, he saw a flash of red in the trees above. He looked at the front of the group, where Rumil and most of his wardens were so concerned about the fact that they had not found the family yet, that they had been oblivious to the fact that Thranduil was now at the end of the group with his own guards. They had been walking for hours, and the wardens' discipline was weakening. Thranduil had a feral smile. He signalled to his guards to keep walking with the wardens, and not to signal his disappearance. They nodded, and he jumped in the tree above him. It took him only a minute to locate the little boy that was playing in the trees.

"Mae govannen, my child!" King Thranduil told him with his most charming smile.

"Who are you?" asked the boy, wondering who was this elf he had never seen in Caras Galadhon.

"My name is Thranduil. You must be Adam?"

Seeing that elf knew him, Adam became more affable.

"Yes! What are you doing here? For my part, I am with my Mommy, sister and brothers. We had a picnic this afternoon, but it's been a while now, and I was tired of staying in the clearing."

"I am so glad I found you! I am part of the search party that is looking for you and your family! Your uncle Rumil will be so glad to know you are safe. Now bring me to your mother, and I will guide you back to the city."

"Of course! I cannot wait to go back home."

Adam led the king through the trees, and when they drop to the ground in front of his family, he felt his little body being jerked back against a hard chest.

"I have your son," his new friend told his mother in a harsh tone. "You will not see him again if you do not hand me my father."

Adam saw his mother turn around slowly and grab something on the floor. But instead of having picked up his brother Oropher, she was now aiming her bow at Thranduil.

"And how about you give me back my son to have your life spared, Lord Thranduil?" she asked in a icy tone.

Adam felt Thranduil's arm crush his chest, and he started having a hard time breathing.

"You would never kill me, woman!"

"Keep talking like this, and I will!" a voice said on the other side of the clearing.

From the corner of his eyes, Adam saw his uncle Rumil, also aiming his bow at Thranduil, a terrifying expression on his face.

A/N: The Prophecy has now reached 900 visitors! Thank you for following my story! Your reviews are always appreciated...