"If you're hanging on to a rising balloon you are presented with a difficult question – let go before it's too late or hang on and keep getting higher, posing the question … how long can you keep a grip on the rope?"
Withnail and I
Both Lizzy and Tauriel were silent as they slowly made their way from the dungeons, with Tauriel supporting her while they walked up the winding staircases and along corridors of the Woodland Realm. Were she not so preoccupied with her own swirling mind, Lizzy would have noticed and commented on Tauriel's thoughtful silence, but as it was the only words they spoke to each other were simple goodbyes as the bedroom door closed between them. Lizzy hobbled over to her bed and perched on the edge; she was still feeling very weak and shaky though could just about manage to walk unaided now after having stretched her muscles walking with Tauriel.
She gently laid the wooden bird Bifur had given her on the pillow and then raised a trembling hand to touch her lips now that she was back in the privacy of her room, scarcely able to believe what had just happened.
Thorin had kissed her – fictional character, king of the Dwarves, different race, possibly doomed to die Thorin Oakenshield had kissed her and it was fair to say that she was now freaking out.
She had known for a while that she had feelings for him that went beyond the platonic but had fiercely tried to squash them down, knowing that anything between them would be impossible with his position as king and the fact that she was from another world. This was a difficult feat given that they had grown considerably closer over recent weeks, even sleeping next to each other for the past few nights. Knowing that those feelings were returned to some extent was terrifying and she simply didn't know what to do.
She sat on the bed in a daze for a long time, staring at nothing. The hand raised to her lips turned into her anxiously chewing her nails without her noticing until she drew blood. Suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling of being trapped, she stumbled to her feet and made her way back to the door, intending to go for a walk to clear her head. She rationalised that she was not a prisoner since no one had told her she was not allowed to leave this room.
It turned out that her intention to walk was too ambitious after her encounter with the spiders: without the assistance of another person she found herself clutching at the walls with one hand as she slowly and painstakingly made her way down the corridor, this time taking the time to pause and admire the architecture around her whenever she stopped to catch her breath since she had paid no notice to her surroundings on her way down to the dungeons.
After continuing in this fashion for some time and telling several passing Elves that no, she did not require any assistance, she found a small, open room surrounded by pillars of pale stone. It contained a large desk, upon which sat a decanter of wine, and had a small waterfall emerging from the rocks at one end: the water pooled into what was clearly a man-made lagoon and trickled out as a stream that fell away beside the stairs.
Deciding that this was as good a place as any to rest, Lizzy sat down on the floor and removed her borrowed lace-up slippers with difficulty. Once she had done so, she shuffled towards the pool, hitched up the long skirts of the highly impractical Elven gown she was wearing, and dipped her bare feet into the cool water.
"Good afternoon," a low and melodious voice said from behind her after several minutes of sitting and thinking hard.
She turned her head and saw an extremely tall, blond Elf standing regally between two of the pillars with his hands held behind his back, watching her intently. He was wearing robes of deep blue and had a crown of wood and berries on his head, allowing her to instantly recognise who she was speaking to.
Lizzy swallowed hard. "Hello," she replied cautiously, making no move to stand.
Thranduil tilted his head ever so slightly to one side as he scrutinised her, much in the way an avid player would examine a chess-board. "I trust that you are recovering in the care of my healers," he commented; she was unable to tell if this was a hollow precursor to conversation or genuine concern.
"Yes, thank you," she replied hesitantly, unsure of what to say or how to act. She was simply watching him warily in turn, wondering if she was about to be interrogated or imprisoned herself – a likely possibility if he already knew of her excursion down to the dungeons.
Thranduil must have read something of this concern in her face since he gave her a small and knowing smile. "Fear not, I do not begrudge you a visit to your … betrothed," he said, placing peculiar emphasis on the word as he started to walk slowly towards her. His movements were lithe and graceful, whereas his words were clearly calculating. "What intrigues me, however ... is why a human woman from another world, one who quite clearly has a loving family waiting for her back home ... would pledge herself to a Dwarf-king in the first place," he finished, now standing very close to where she sat.
Lizzy's mouth had fallen open in surprise at his highly unexpected words. "How did you -?" she started to ask, and then stopped herself, recognising that it was probably a bad idea to reveal too much about herself or her origins.
Thranduil's smile widened, knowing that he had caught her out from the way she had abruptly cut herself off. He moved his hands from behind his back, revealing that he carried the guidebook to New Zealand that she had given Ori all those weeks ago in Bag End. There was a long silence between them as he held it out to her. Lizzy's breath was coming quickly, but she nevertheless slowly took the book from him and opened it to the first page, already knowing what she would find on the inside cover.
Safe travels, Bee! she read, her childhood nickname leaping out at her from the sadly battered white page. Have a great time and come back to us safely, love mum and dad.She had forgotten that the book had been a gift from her parents upon leaving for New Zealand and now clutched the pages tightly with white-knuckled hands. The sight of her father's messy cursive, so similar to her own looped scrawl, had sent a rush of homesickness that hit her with all the force of a hammer upon an anvil, flooding her with guilt that she was even considering staying in Middle Earth.
Aware that Thranduil was still watching her, she swallowed passed the lump in her throat. She reigned her breathing back under control and forced herself to hold the book back out to him. "What makes you think that this is mine?" she asked dismissively, betrayed by both her shaking hands and her voice cracking around the question.
The Elf-king seemed amused by this attempt at nonchalance. "It clearly does not belong to any of the Dwarves and fits with the other … odd paraphernalia found in your baggage," he replied, his voice deep and lilting.
"Ever heard that it's rude to go through a woman's bag?" Lizzy muttered under her breath, lowering the book down to her lap and unconsciously stroking its smooth cover protectively.
"However you did not answer my original question regarding why a pledge exists between you and Thorin ..." Thranduil observed, looking down at her from beneath his thick eyebrows. "Which leads me to believe that this … supposed engagement that he speaks of is nothing more than a ill-conceived attempt to make a young human woman travelling alone with thirteen men seem even slightly more decent than it appears."
She snorted slightly at this, resenting his implication of impropriety regarding her place in the company. "You can imply whatever you want, I don't really care what you think," she said in a low voice, her gaze still on the book in her lap.
"Which of course begs the question of why exactly you have attached yourself to this rag-tag group of Dwarves and their misguided venture to the mountain," he continued in a ponderous fashion, as if she had not spoken. "I am well aware that other worlds do indeed exist ... I wish to know both how you got here and what your purpose is on this quest," he stated imperiously, giving her an expectant look – the niceties, if it could be called that, were over and this was clearly the true purpose of him seeking her out.
Lizzy thought for a moment, wondering how much to reveal. She did not wish to make a enemy of Thranduil, but also knew that candidly revealing her foreknowledge would be a very bad idea and so she only told a partial truth. "Gandalf bought me here," she eventually said slowly, still unsure of the wisdom of her actions.
Thranduil nodded. "That does not surprise me, wizards are known for their meddling," he observed, starting to make her uncomfortable with the unwavering intensity of his gaze, which had not deviated from her face once. "But for what purpose did he bring you here?"
"Now that I will not tell you," she said firmly, wondering if she was opening the door to her own prison cell with these words.
"Very well, keep your secrets," he replied smoothly, unphased by her refusal to speak. "I will discover your true purpose for being here just as I discovered the true nature of your kings' quest to reclaim the mountain," he added with the confidence of one accustomed to getting his own way. "Questioning you was not the sole reason that I sought you out anyway."
"Then what was?" she asked curiously, still sitting with her feet in the pool while he towered over her, the bottom of her dress dipping in the water.
"I simply wanted to see you, the woman who made the great Thorin Oakenshield unbend his pride and beg for my assistance," he said plainly.
Disliking the clear note of satisfaction in the Elf-kings voice, Lizzy gave as brusque an answer as she could. "And now you've seen me," she said blandly, not wanting be caught up in any more word games – her mind was already confused enough without adding Thranduil to the mix. From the tone of his voice, she was suddenly concerned that he might use her against Thorin in some way and had no desire to become a pawn in a game.
"Indeed," Thranduil agreed, inclining his head at her, almost in thanks for this meeting.
"Was there anything else that you wanted?" she asked, turning away from him to look at the sodden material of her dress swirling around her legs. Needless to say, she wanted him to leave – she wanted them all to leave the Woodland Realm and continue unhindered on their quest, but didn't know how this could be done with the company imprisoned. She knew that Bilbo would be able to get the Dwarves out, providing everything played out as the book did, but was unsure if she would be able to join them.
"There is a feast tomorrow night, you will join me at my table," he replied, and then he turned and swept imperiously away, the material of his long robe just brushing against the floor as he walked.
Once he had left Lizzy instantly scrambled to her feet and left the room as fast as her shaking muscles would allow, still clinging to the walls as she made her way back to her bedroom and leaving wet trails behind her from her dress. The frazzled expression on her face must have warned any Elves not to approach her since she was not offered assistance once. She eventually reached her room and closed the door behind her, leaning back against it to catch her breath.
Still panting, she slowly opened the book to read the loving message in the front cover once again, her eyes tracing the familiar letters. Then she slammed it closed and tilted her head back to rest against the wood of the door, her gaze falling to where the bird sat benignly on the bed. Tears started welling up in her eyes; she viciously blinked them back, biting down hard on her tongue in a vain attempt to stop herself from crying.
Tasting the salty wetness of her tears, she raised a shaking hand to her lips once more, remembering Thorin pressing his mouth to hers. Feeling overwhelmed, Lizzy allowed herself to simply slide down the door, crumpling onto the floor with her back braced against the wood. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she stared at the wall as a now familiar conflict raged within her.
It was late-afternoon and the sun was still shining, slanting its dappled golden light though the trees, yet already Mereth Nuin Giliath was well under-way. Everywhere there was merriment, with the Elves of the Woodland Realm laughing, dancing and feasting. For the first time Tauriel found it strange that a celebration of starlight and moonlight should begin before night had even fallen, to the extent that by the time the stars did make an appearance many of the revellers would be too inebriated to look to the sky and show due reverence and appreciation.
She was also realising anew how few people she was on truly friendly terms with: she had shared a drink with several other guards and spoken of only work and she had danced only one dance with Legolas while his father watched them intently over the rim of his crystal wineglass. Now, with the prince sitting beside his father as they ate, she found her enthusiasm for the celebration rapidly waning.
Deciding to leave the feast, she made her way towards the main doors and in doing so walked past the high table. Her intentions to leave were clearly noticed by the king. "Tauriel," he said as she passed, making her pause. "Go and fetch the Lady Elizabeth from her room," he ordered without looking at her.
"Yes, my lord," she promised, sharing a look with Legolas – there were many messengers, heralds and servers around, her being assigned the role of carrying summons to guests was undoubtedly below her status as captain of the guard. She wondered if this was a petty punishment for allowing Lizzy to visit the Dwarf-king down in the dungeons the previous day.
She made her way straight to the room that the human woman had been sleeping in; reaching the room, she knocked on the door and was bade to enter. She found Lizzy flopped on the bed, lying on her stomach and staring intently at the little wooden bird that one of the Dwarves had given her and a highly strange looking book. From all accounts the woman had refused to leave her room since the previous afternoon; judging by her distinctly red eyes, the disarray of the bedsheets and the items strewn all over the room, her mind had been somewhat disturbed during that time.
"The king has requested your presence at the feast," Tauriel told her simply when the woman turned to face her.
Lizzy huffed and rolled over onto her back, looking up at the vaulted ceiling. "And if I refuse?" she asked with petulant resignation, reminding her of just how young this strange woman was.
"I advise that you do not," she replied neutrally, knowing that the king could sometimes be difficult if he did not get his way.
She sighed and sat up, grumbling incoherently under her breath. She had eschewed the dresses that had been left out for her, donning the clothing that had been washed and returned to her instead. The fraying black trousers, heavy, fur-trimmed boots and Dwarvish coat were hardly suitable attire for a feast, yet Tauriel decided against advising her to change clothing – she was in no mood to pander to the king and ensure that his guests (though prisoner may have been a more fitting word) were appropriately attired.
Even though the woman was walking with greater strength than the previous day, Tauriel still assisted her in walking towards the main hall, casting disapproving looks at the guards who were enjoying a drink even while they were on duty. The king thought that with their gates closed that they were safe, but Tauriel was of the opinion that they should be maintaining constant vigilance.
"Are you alright?" Lizzy asked just before they reached the hall; Tauriel glanced at her and was surprised to find Lizzy looking at her in concern. Even though the woman was no doubt preoccupied with own troubles, her friends, family and betrothed all imprisoned by the very person she now had to dine with, she still demonstrated the sensitivity to notice Tauriel's troubled mind.
"I am simply not in a celebratory mood," she assured her with a wan smile, touched by her friendly concern.
They paused before the doors, listening to the sound of music and revelry with neither of them making any move to enter. Lizzy huffed once more. "You coming too?" she asked, not sounding particularly hopeful.
"No, I must make sure all of the doors are secure," since no one else appears to be working today, she mentally added. She smiled at Lizzy and touched her shoulder, wondering if she was starting to make a friend in this strange girl. "Enjoy your evening," she said, though again there was a distinct lack of hope evident in her voice.
She pursed her lips together in a straight line and nodded slightly. "Somehow I doubt that I will," she said deprecatingly, giving her a half smile.
They shared a consolatory nod and then Lizzy turned to hobble into the hall, supporting herself on the doors.
Grateful that her presence would not be missed for the rest of the evening – there were some benefits to lacking in friends – she turned and headed back down the corridor. She did a circuit of all of the doors, ensuring that they were all still locked. Even the Elves down in the cellars by the water-gate were getting drunk, with several of them passed out on the table. Among them was the keeper of the keys, the jailer with the Dwarves in his charge, seemingly determined to shuck his responsibilities in favour of merriment. When Tauriel reminded him of his duty the guard's slurring response was, "They're locked up, where can they go?"
Leaving the cellars and the drunken Elves behind her, she found her feet leading her down towards the dungeons to check the cells herself.
Kili was sitting with his back braced against the wall of his cell, the most comfortable position he had managed to find in the cramped dungeon, and was listening to the sounds of music and revelry drifting down from high above them. His thoughts were dwelling on a certain red-haired Elf, imagining her smiling and dancing along to the lively music. Though he was a Dwarf and she was an Elf, he a prisoner and her a guard, he could not help but feel a cautious optimism – Lizzy, with all her eerily accurate foreknowledge, had mentioned Tauriel to him in a conversation about romance, and that alone was enough to put a small smile on his face, even within his dark cell.
Almost as if his thoughts had conjured her, she rounded the corner high above the cells and started to gracefully descend the stairs, carefully checking all of the cells as she went. Her eyes slid to his and their gazes locked through the bars. She inclined her head politely at him, but nevertheless made to walk on passed his cell.
"Sounds like quite the party you're having up there," he said in an attempt to make her stay even slightly longer, to hear her speak once more.
He was successful: Tauriel paused with her back to him, and then turned around to face him. "It is Mereth Nuin Giliath, the feast of starlight and moonlight," she explained, her voice clear and lilting. "All light is sacred to the Eldar, but woodelves love best the light of the stars."
"I have always thought it was a cold light, remote and far away," he said softly, his head tilted to look at her. The stars cared not for the petty troubles of mortals as they wheeled high above them. They were undoubtedly beautiful, he could not deny that, but it was a distant and ethereal beauty – his own perception of the beautiful was that which was tangible.
Tauriel look a step closer to his cell, looking down to where he sat sprawled on the floor. "When the world was young the Elves awoke in darkness. The light of the stars was the first thing they saw," she said with quiet reverence. "It is not remote, it is life. It is beauty, memory and the grace of the Valar."
There was passion and conviction in her soft voice, but Kili found that he could not agree with her. He smiled crookedly at her. "Give me a camp fire any day," he countered.
She blinked down at him in confusion. "A camp fire?"
"Aye," he said with a nod. "Freshly caught meat cooking on a spit, sitting down to drink ale and sing with your company as the food cooks." He sat up straighter and leant towards her. "Have you ever purposefully stirred the embers of a fire?" he asked intently, his head tilted to look up at her.
She gave him a blank, though intrigued look.
"Sparks fly up into the night," he told her, keeping his gaze fixed on her face. "They burn a hot and brilliant gold, even brighter than the stars."
"Though fleeting," Tauriel pointed out, her finely arched brows lowered into a frown.
"Perhaps," Kili said, dropping his gaze. He had suddenly remembered that this beauty before him was immortal: though Dwarves were long lived, to her he must be as fleeting as the sparks that rose from a fire, where as she was as unreachable to him as the stars.
There was a brief silence between them. Tauriel made as if to turn away and leave, but Kili stopped her once more. "Why are you not at the party?" Kili asked, determined to continue the conversation that had come to an abrupt halt.
She hesitated, and then responded in a neutral tone with, "I find that I am in no mood for company this evening."
Kili clambered to his feet and stepped over to the cell door in order to look at her properly. "Yet here you are speaking to me," he pointed out wryly, wrapping his hands around the bars. "Perhaps what you mean to say is that you are in no mood for the company of Elves."
She looked mildly affronted.
"It was a joke ..." he clarified for her with a small smile of his own, amused by her expression. "Though it is an accurate observation," he added under his breath. He then raised his voice once more to ask, "Why are you in no mood for company?"
Tauriel pursed her lips, thinking before replying to his question. "They are feasting and making merry, though few of them will actually turn their gaze to the sky when night falls," she explained in a sombre tone, clearly saddened by their lack of appreciation. "They do not respect that which they are meant to revere."
"And you do," Kili said quietly – it was a statement, not a question.
She nodded and lowered her voice, as if she was telling him a secret. "In past years I have sometimes walked to the edge of the forest, where the wood meets the plains before the mountain and the world seems to fall away before your eyes. With no branches above you, the stars fill the entire sky with the white light of forever ..." she breathed, awe clear in her voice once more. She then looked down to the floor with a small, almost guilty smile. "It is the only time I have ever ventured beyond the borders of the forest."
"Ever?" Kili asked, finding this unusual considering that this Elf must be several centuries old: he had travelled numerous times to other Dwarf colonies and even acted as an escort for merchants, going as far as Dunland, though this adventure was the first time he had ever crossed the Misty Mountains eastwards.
She nodded and met his gaze once more, her hazel eyes alight with curiosity. "I envy you that you have travelled," she admitted, and then hesitated before asking, "Will you tell me of some of the things you have seen?"
Kili smiled, pleased by her request. "If you wish it," he said, leaning further forward to speak to her through the bars, wondering what she would like best to hear. She settled gracefully on the step outside his cell to listen to him speak, her gaze fixed on him. "Since it is a feast of moonlight I will tell you about the time I saw a firemoon …"
Lizzy paused once she was inside the doors of the main hall, taking in her surroundings. Everywhere there were lights twinkling and Elves were floating around in fine, gauzy dresses or pale silk tunics, the light shining from their joyful faces and catching in their hair. Beside them, in her dark and heavy leather Dwarvish coat and boots, she felt frumpy in the extreme, but then quickly shrugged off the feeling: she did not care what the Elves thought of her, they were technically their jailers after all.
She had spent the past day shut up in her room, alternating between simply lying on her bed and hobbling around the room in an attempt to pace fretfully. Sleep had eluded her during the night simply because she had missed Thorin's strong presence beside her, leaving her cranky after a long night of tossing and turning. The following day Elves had entered several times to bring food, entreating her to take a turn around the gardens for some fresh air, but she had pointedly refused, preferring solitude.
Her frustrations had only heightened since there had been no word in all that time from their invisible burglar and so Lizzy had no idea if or when they would be making their escape.
Using the tables as support, she slowly made her way through the ethereal fray of people towards where Thranduil sat. He looked very fine and regal seated on his large, ornate chair and wearing a robe of pale gold, haughtily surveying the celebration over the rim of his wineglass. Lizzy suppressed a smile: Thorin could look regal on the back of a shaggy pony, wearing a mud-splattered coat and not having seen bath water in weeks. She doubted Thranduil would be able to look so kingly after weeks of travelling.
Seemingly sensing her presence, Thranduil's gaze moved to her, watching her slow and hobbling approach. "You're late," he said when she reached his chair, his voice deep and musical. He gestured to a seat beside him, where a full plate of food sat. "Sit, eat," he commanded lazily.
Lizzy lowered herself into the seat, grateful to no longer be standing, but made no move to touch the food. "I'm not really hungry," she said, trying to make herself sound assertive as opposed to petulant.
"You have been on the road for some time, I doubt you have eaten as well as this in weeks," he said coaxingly. This wasn't true, the fare before her certainly looked fine and her stomach was grumbling at the smell, but it was all roasted vegetables, breads and salads; the meat laden feast and ale she had enjoyed in Ered Mithrin had been far more appealing.
When she still made no move to eat Thranduil reached forward to pick up a flagon of wine and poured a measure into the crystal glass beside her plate. "You do not trust me," he commented, pointedly holding the glass out for her to take.
Lizzy took the glass from his hand and placed it firmly back down on the table. "No, I do not."
Thranduil returned to his own plate. "Might I ask why, after I have opened my home to you and provided medicine for your recovery?" he asked, elegantly cutting his food – Lizzy would say this much for the Elf-king, his table manners were certainly better than the Dwarves.
"And imprisoned my company," she pointed out with raised eyebrows.
"They are free to leave at any time they wish," he said mildly, lifting his fork to his mouth.
She narrowed her eyes at him, not believing this for a second. "And what's the catch there?" she asked cynically.
There was a pause as Thranduil chewed and swallowed his food, then he lifted his wine glass to his lips once more before speaking slowly. "There is a certain necklace in the hoards of Erebor -"
"Oh for the love of god, tell me you didn't," Lizzy said with a groan, seeing with perfect clarity why Thorin had lost his temper with the king.
Thranduil looked at her, still holding his glass aloft. "I am not accustomed to being interrupted," he said, a dangerous note in his voice.
She was uncaring of his tone, feeling her own anger welling up inside her. "After everything you did to them, everything you didn't do when the dragon attacked, you're now demanding part of their treasure?" she questioned incredulously, unable to believe his audacity.
"You speak of that which you do not understand," he said, lowering his glass back to the table and clenching his hand into a fist atop of the white table-cloth.
"I understand enough, Thorin told me how you left them to burn when the dragon attacked," she retorted acidly.
He turned to face her. "You think I should have led my people into that inferno?" he asked, his tone deceptively mild while the knuckles of his clenched fist were white.
Lizzy shook her head, sensing that she should tread carefully here: she knew that Thranduil could have lost many of his people if they had tried to engage the dragon, but that was not why she was angry. "You could have at least helped. Their home was destroyed, they had nothing – no food, weapons or medicine," she said firmly, remembering the pain in Thorin's voice when he had told her of his hatred for the Elves. "Turning your back on them was nothing short of cowardly -"
"Do not … call me a coward," Thranduil interrupted, his voice ringing with power and anger, making her flinch back slightly. "I have faced the great serpents of the north, I know the wrath and ruin of dragon fire," he hissed, his eyes wide and furious as he leant towards her - and for the first time Lizzy was afraid of him. "Whereas you … you know nothing, Lady Elizabeth."
There was a long pause as Lizzy recollected herself, having been shaken by the pain and anger that was evident in the kings' voice. "... Do you regret it?" she asked eventually after taking several deep breaths, her voice low and quiet among the din of the celebration. "Walking away from the suffering of the Dwarves as Erebor burned," she clarified when he turned to look questioningly at her.
Having seemingly recovered from his anger, Thranduil picked up his glass once more and swirled the liquid contemplatively, though did not take a sip. "It was a tragedy to be sure," he said ponderously in his normal tone, not looking at her. "The loss of life and livelihood that day was certainly regrettable. The Dwarves were once a mighty and proud race, but the events of that day were a stroke of misfortune that I doubt even they will recover from."
Lizzy shook her head slowly. "You just gave a very long answer while at the same time not saying a single thing," she pointed out. "You're avoiding the question. If you could do it all again, right now, knowing the consequences, would you still do the same?"
"I would," Thranduil said simply, giving her a nod.
"And that is why I do not trust you," she said softly.
Thranduil glanced over at her. "You will not even try to see it from my perspective?" he asked, raising his thick brows ever so slightly at her in a challenge,
She leant back in her chair to listen. "Enlighten me," she said, gesturing with her hands for him to continue.
"A dragon has a long memory," he said quietly. "Had we assisted them the beast would have known it and the next time it left the mountain to feast … well, these woods would have been nothing but kindling to him. As I said, I am well aware of the destructive nature of dragon fire and I would not bring that down upon my people for anything. In ignoring the suffering of one race, I prevented the decimation of mine also," he said. He then sighed and shook his head sombrely. "I warned Thorin's grandfather of the evil his greed would summon … he is just like him."
"He is nothing like him," Lizzy retorted firmly, as if saying it would somehow make it true.
"He is," Thranduil said, facing her once more, his eyes reading far too much of her thoughts in her face. "You know he is … and you fear it," he added softly.
Lizzy parted her lips, but found that she could not deny this.
Thorin sat on the cramped cot in his cell with one leg drawn up, staring out to the small patch of stone he could see through the bars. He was vaguely aware of Kili talking to the female Elf further down the corridor, but could not make out the words; his ears were not as good as they had been in his youth. As it was, he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to consider the implications of Kili talking to an Elf, busy remembering the events of yesterday. He kept touching his mouth in the darkness of his cell, recalling how Elizabeth had responded with equal enthusiasm when he had kissed her. It had been a desperate and impulsive move on his part: she had been saying goodbye and, worried that he might not see her for some time, he had acted on instinct, wanting her to know his feelings before they were separated.
He felt a surge of masculine satisfaction remembering the way her small fingers had wound into his hair, brushing along his scalp in an attempt to pull him closer, but it was followed by a feeling of trepidation.
She may have returned his kiss, but he did not know whether or not she returned his feelings – by Dwarvern standards they would be considered practically engaged after he had taken such a liberty, but she was from another culture, one where it was perfectly acceptable for her to take a lover. He felt a rush of jealous anger, remembering that she had known other men, and then fiercely wrestled his mind back to rationality, reminding himself that where she came from her actions were not considered impure or indecent.
It was her future he concerned himself with, not her past.
"Well you seem to have made a friend," Bofur called to Kili, his voice sullen – the Elf must have left, Thorin realised.
"It's better than making enemies, is it not?" he heard Kili retort, the petulant note of one who knows they have done wrong evident in his voice.
"She was the one who imprisoned us," Dwalin angrily reminded him, followed by the sound of him testing the bars of his cell for what was probably the hundredth time.
"Thranduil was the one who imprisoned us, not her," Fili said, coming to the defence of Kili and, surprisingly, the red-haired Elf. Thorin kept silent, in no mood to be drawn into the burgeoning argument: he could not say he approved of Kili speaking to the Elves, but knew that fighting among themselves would hardly be productive in trying to escape the Woodland Realm.
"It makes no difference," Ori said forlornly, voicing the doubts and fears of many of the company. "We're still never going to reach the mountain now."
"Not stuck in here, you're not," a familiar voice said from outside the bars of the cell. Looking up, Thorin saw Bilbo peering through the bars, holding up a large set of keys. Relief flooded though him and a smile broke out over his face, hope surging within him once more. The Dwarves all laughed and cheered, but were then prudently shushed by Bilbo.
The Hobbit quickly unlocked all of the cells and several of the company went straight to the stairs leading up from the dungeons."Not that way!" Bilbo said, redirecting them back towards a set of stairs leading downwards. The Dwarves hesitated, and then started to follow him.
Thorin remained where he was, looking up the stairs. Two halves of his mind were at war – potential escape lay below, but Elizabeth was somewhere above them.
He clenched his fists, his mind working furiously. They had come to Thranduil's kingdom because they feared Elizabeth was dying, but now she was safe and well. They could not endanger their quest any more than they already had, and besides, he had promised her that he would not jeopardise their escape for her sake. His jaw tight, he reluctantly turned and followed the company further down into the tunnels of the Woodland Realm, wondering if he was making the right decision.
They walked swiftly and silently for several long, tense minutes but fortunately encountered no Elves. Ahead of them, he heard Kili's voice, "I don't believe it, we're in the cellars," he hissed, sounding stressed.
"You're supposed to be leading us out, not further in," Bofur whispered furiously to Bilbo, and sure enough they were surrounded by huge barrels of food and wine with no sign of an exit. Slumped over a table in the corner were several Elves who had clearly been imbibing from the flagons and jugs of wine that were littered around them.
"I know what I'm doing, now into the barrels – quickly," the Hobbit said in a hushed tone, flapping his hands towards a stack of barrels resting on a flat surface.
"Are you mad? They'll find us," Dwalin said furiously and Thorin could not help but agree: as far as hiding places went, it wasn't the cleverest plan.
Then he saw the lever and noticed that the barrels Bilbo was pointing to were resting on what was quite clearly a hatch.
"No, they won't! Please, please, you must trust me," Bilbo hissed, his voice both plaintive and impatient.
None of the Dwarves moved and Bilbo turned beseechingly to Thorin.
"Do as he says," Thorin snapped at them. He could hear the sound of the river rushing beneath their feet and thought that he had gleaned the Hobbit's plan – just as Elizabeth had promised, it was brilliant.
Grumbling, the company all started to follow Bilbo's orders and climbed into the barrels. As they did so, Thorin pulled Bilbo to one side. "Our weapons and gear?" he asked swiftly.
Bilbo shook his head. "No time for that," he said firmly. Leaving behind their belongings, especially his sword, was a wrench, but at least they still had the map, which Thranduil had given back to them during their conversation before he had been imprisoned. Besides, his sword was nothing compared to what else he would be leaving behind in Mirkwood.
Thorin looked back up the stairs, hoping that she would miraculously appear.
Bilbo rocked nervously on the balls of his feet, looking mildly fearful as he followed his gaze. "I went up to her room before coming here but the king has made her join him at the feast," he said. "She … she made me promise that we would leave without her if she could not make it down," he added reluctantly, clearly thinking that Thorin would be angry about this.
"Aye, I made a similar promise," Thorin said quietly, still looking towards the empty stairs. He was unsurprised that Elizabeth had also roped Bilbo into doing her bidding, she was cunning like that.
"She'll be fine," Bilbo said softly, sounding confident about this. "The Elves are treating her well."
"... Aye," he agreed eventually, tearing his gaze away from the stairs and looking towards where the company were all settled in the barrels. He had made his decision to leave her behind, trusting that the Elves would not do anything to harm her, and now he had to stick to it. He consoled himself with the thought that she would probably be safer in Mirkwood than she would have been joining them on their venture to the mountain.
Bofur stuck his head out of his barrel. "What do we do now?" he asked, clearly not having figured out the Hobbit's plan yet.
Thorin and Bilbo shared a swift look, then Thorin nodded and went to climb into his own barrel, hoping that it was water-tight. Bilbo took his place beside the lever. "Hold your breath," the Hobbit said dryly, wrapping his hands around the wood.
"Hold me' breath?" Bofur repeated, stupefied, but Bilbo had already pulled the lever, sending the barrels rolling.
The floor opened beneath them, turning into a shallow ramp. One by one the barrels containing the Dwarves rolled down the slope and plunged into the river below with an icy splash.
After a brief silence at the high table Lizzy recovered herself enough to speak, returning to their original argument since she could not refute Thranduil's last statement about Thorin. "But … but you just said that you offered Thorin a deal," she said shakily. "You said that you would let them go in exchange for a necklace, or something. Surely that counts as allying with the Dwarves. You're willing to risk drawing the wrath of the dragon for a few bits of jewellery, but not to help a suffering race."
"It logically follows that the only way they can succeed in reclaiming the treasure is if the dragon is dead," Thranduil said simply. "The deal I offered holds no loss for me: either they will fail and I will be none the worse off, or they will succeed and what is rightfully mine will be restored."
There was a pause.
"What do you mean, rightfully yours?" Lizzy asked suspiciously after a long moment.
He gave her a wan smile that did not reach his eyes. "The necklace I spoke of is one that I commissioned to be crafted from our finest un-wrought gems for my wife. It was a gift for her to take across the sea, one that she never received," he said, his voice full of old pain. "The Dwarves used the purest mithril that could be found, but when the necklace was finished they demanded more than our agreed price, saying that the quality of the work deserved better payment ..." he said slowly, and then turned to face her, his gaze hard. "Those gems belong to me, Lady Elizabeth. Tell me, were you in Thorin's position, would you begrudge me this small token, this remembrance of my departed wife, in exchange for your companions freedom?"
Lizzy pursed her lips and chewed the inside of her cheek. "The Dwarves probably tell a different story about that necklace," she said eventually.
"I'm sure they do," Thranduil agreed, picking up his glass and taking another sip. "You must listen to both tales and decide what you believe to be the truth."
She drummed her fingers on the table, thinking hard. "So … so it's just the necklace that you want?" she asked slowly to clarify, wondering why Thorin had refused him something that was rightfully his anyway, one single, small item from the entire vast hoard of Erebor. "Not … not the arkenstone or anything?"
Thranduil smiled softly. "There are many items of great beauty ensconced within that mountain, jewellery of the purest emerald and brightest silver that I would dearly love to possess … but alas, they are treasures that I have no claim to," he said, his eyes glittering at his description of the treasure. "Yet as for the arkenstone ..." He shook his head and lowered his eyes. "Thorin can keep his kings-jewel if he ever reclaims the mountain. The necklace is all I truly desire and our two races can cease to be at odds."
She blinked at this. "So you want peace between the Elves and the Dwarves?" she asked sceptically.
"Darkness is falling over the world, Lady Elizabeth," he said, his voice sombre and his brow creased in a concerned frown. "The shadows are lengthening and beasts prowl our borders. We may keep them at bay, but we cannot overcome them." He looked at her intently. "But with Erebor back under the dominion of the Dwarves the defences of the north will be strengthened."
"Then let them go," Lizzy entreated earnestly, leaning towards him. "Why even bother trying to make a deal if you want them to reclaim the mountain anyway?"
Thranduil suddenly laughed at her, the sound echoing like a clear bell throughout the hall. "You are not a very good strategist, my lady," he said with an amused smile, his eyes very bright. "At the moment I hold all of the cards: with the Dwarves in my power I am free to dictate the terms of my bargain."
"But they need to be at the mountain before Durin's Day," she said plaintively, wondering if she could talk him into letting them go, that way they would not have to break out in the barrels and might actually gain an ally.
"Then your king had best change his mind quickly," he said, leaning back to sprawl in his chair and waving a hand lazily around the room, where the Elves were busy celebrating, dancing and drinking, oblivious to their conversation. "No one leaves these halls without my consent, Lady Elizabeth, and they are not going to reclaim the mountain from within my dungeons."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she muttered, knowing that Bilbo would be able to get them out. A sudden thought struck her, filling her with hope - if he was using the feast as a distraction as she had suggested, an escape attempt may already be underway ...
There was a loud commotion at the doors. An Elf ran in, his clothing dishevelled and stained with wine. Thranduil stood at his sudden entrance and the entire hall swiftly fell silent. The Elf swallowed hard, looking panicked. "My lord," he stammered nervously. "The Dwarves … they've escaped."
At these words Thranduil turned to look at her, his heavy brows low over narrowed eyes.
Lizzy simply smiled up at him.
I'm back!
Had an AMAZING time travelling up the East Coast – swam with turtles and tropical fish, slept under thousands of stars, climbed a bloody mountain, bushwalked, enjoyed deserted island paradises, saw turtles laying their eggs under a full moon ... and got completely drenched in a tropical thunderstorm!
It was brilliant :)
Here is your update, as promised ... now for the next 2 weeks I am on a whistle-stop tour of Australia, doing the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback and Uluru, then Sydney, and then – AND THEN – I am off to New Zealand.
That's right, MIDDLE EARTH, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
So that means that I think we are looking at 2-3 weeks for the next update, though I will obviously post is sooner if I finish early.
You can follow any updates, sneak peeks and Richard Armitage spam on my tumblr ~kindle-the-stars
And remember, if you have any burning questions or comments you would like me to reply to then send me a PM or message me on Tumblr :D
Thanks for all of your AWESOME reviews, you guys rock!