Chapter 55 ended with:
One last glance to her bodyguards, who nodded in acknowledgment of her silent plea to protect her children, and she turned around, almost running away while the group was disappearing in the dark hallway. Valerie could hear her children calling and crying for her, but she did not turn back. She dried her tears and put on a brave face when she reached the gate.
Chapter 56 – The battle of Greenwood
The battle had been ongoing for hours. It had started at dawn, with a massive army of disgusting beasts standing in front of the wall encircling the front of the fortress. Valerie had been standing on the permanent scaffolds on the fortress side of the wall, in a corner that was less exposed, the only place that Thranduil could tolerate for her to be. Any more exposed area had been out of the question. She had been insulted by his protectiveness at first, however once the army of orcs had been standing near the gate and that she had seen these beasts for the first time in her life, she had been secretly relieved not to be exposed like the other warriors. She had sensed Thranduil's amusement from afar.
She had witnessed the preparation of the warriors, the swords and arrows ready, the boiling water in huge cauldrons prepared under the direction of Ninaelil. The housekeeper had stayed near the fortress until the first orcish arrow had been shot. Ninaelil had then been pushed inside the fortress, where she had joined the other ellith who were hidden near the dungeons. Ninaelil had sent one last worried look to her queen, standing on the wall before she had disappeared. She had wondered if she would ever see her queen again.
Valerie had had the same thought. It was one thing to think you would be courageous in front of danger, it was actually quite another to be truly courageous when the danger was right there, in front of you, staring at you with its ugly, orcish face.
When Thranduil had yelled the order to shoot, Valerie had done like every other archer on the wall and had started to shot arrow after arrow, her aim less precise yet still hitting most of her moving targets. At some point, a battering ram had appeared and Thranduil had yelled to the archers to kill the orcs who were using it to try to break the gates. The beasts were not totally stupid and were hiding behind their shields, which made the task of killing them more difficult. Each time one was killed, there was always another to replace it. Valerie had been too far to participate, and she had resumed her task of killing orcs closer to her. Twice they had attempted to put a ladder near her and each time, warriors had pushed them away. Valerie had watched with glee the orcs falling to the ground and on their friends, if orcs had friends. The boiling water had been a little less fun to watch, even if they were horrible beasts, watching them contort with burning pain was a traumatizing sight she would never forget.
As the hours passed, Valerie was getting tired while the warriors around her seemed fresh as daisies. Legolas had truly trained them to be these unbeatable war machines. It was during a moment of inattention that she exposed herself unnecessarily to kill an orc too close to the wall. Suddenly, she felt something hit her in the shoulder and under the impact, her body was projected backwards. She felt herself fall, seeing the scaffolds where she had been standing grow smaller above her, until she hit the ground violently. All became black.
OoOoO
When she opened her eyes, there was a warrior above her. Brethilon, who had stayed close to her during most of the battle. Her head ached, her back ached and most of all, her left shoulder was burning so badly she wanted to cry. She turned her head a little and saw an arrow coming out of her shoulder, on the exact spot not covered by a piece of armor. An inch on the side and she would not have been hit.
"Bret? How long was I passed out?" she asked the warrior kneeling beside her.
He looked at her strangely. "Your Majesty, you just fell, not even a minute ago."
Before Valerie had time to answer, the warrior was pushed aside by a frantic king. "My love, do not move!" he commanded, watching her body wearily.
"Thranduil, it is only an arrow."
"Valerie, I want you to slowly move your feet. Just a little bit. I want to see them move."
She understood that he was afraid she had broken her back during her fall. She moved her feet and he sighed heavily. "It was a mistake to allow you to fight."
"I think I was useful!" she bristled, insulted, the pain making her bold in front of witnesses.
"You were," he confirmed, "however, your mate has not been able to focus on the battle! He kept watching over you the entire time."
"You can tell my mate that I do not need him to watch over me all the time."
"Says his mate as she is lying on the ground with an arrow in her shoulder."
"It is painful," she admitted through gritted teeth. "Will you remove it?"
Thranduil moved her shoulder just a little bit and Valerie cried out in pain. "The arrow went through your shoulder. The point is black with poison. The bastards!"
By then, a few healers were around them. Valerie could see two of the lieutenants from afar, still trying to lead the battle while attempting to see what was happening with the king, their commander in the absence of their captain, gone on a suicide mission.
"Thranduil, you must return to the battle," she murmured, breathing through her nose to control her pain.
"You are hurt!"
"Any many more will be hurt, or even killed, if you do not return to lead the battle with your lieutenants. Please, Thranduil! Go!" she cried, knowing he would not go unless she did something drastic. She took her right arm and gave him a shove. "Leave!"
He looked at her, ready to start a fight but then Ellavon, their chief healer, grabbed the king's arm. Under normal circumstances, he would never have dared to do this, but this was a battle and the queen was right, in his opinion. Her injury was an injury that was very common in Greenwood.
"Your Majesty, I will personally take care of the queen. You can trust me."
"I will be back soon," the Elvenking promised his wife before running back to the wall. The gates were very damaged and needed to be reinforced, and Thranduil started to supervise the repair work.
"I thought he would never leave," Valerie said, in so much pain by now. The burning was intensifying, probably the poison starting its work of devastation in her body. "Bret, you must go back too," she said to the warrior who had remained near her since her fall. He refused.
Ellavon gave orders and soon she was transferred on a stretcher and carried inside the fortress, Bret carrying the stretcher at her feet. There were many warriors already lying or sitting on the ground, being cared for by the team of healers. Certain warriors were going back to the battle with bandaged limbs, others were too injured to go back. Valerie was carried in a private corner, and a healer removed the pieces of armor covering her chest. She cried in pain each time they moved her a little too much.
"Your Majesty, we will need you to sit down."
"I do not think I can… My back is painful… and my shoulder!"
Before she could add anything, someone had lifted her back from behind her and Valerie was leaning against Bret's chest while someone was touching the area near the arrow. She half-listened to the healers as they were discussing the treatment plan. Soon, one of them appeared with a cutting tool.
"What are you going to do with that?" she asked worriedly. "Why don't you just pull the arrow out?"
"It went through your shoulder, my Lady. We need to cut the point behind you, and then we will pull out the front. While we are cutting the shaft, it may… hurt a little."
"A little?" Valerie half-cried. "I am in pain! I do not think it can hurt more than this, quite frankly!"
She was proven wrong a few seconds later when a healer struggled to cut the shaft of the arrow behind her. Valerie lost consciousness again.
"It is better that way. This will allow us to clean the wound properly without her feeling anything," Ellavon commented.
"The queen is very resistant to pain. We have seen her give birth to twins three times," another healer added.
"I still prefer her unconscious."
The healer finally cut the shaft and Ellavon quickly pulled out the part sticking out of Valerie's shoulder. He poured a generous amount of alcohol on the wound, cleaned it carefully, and was about to apply the poultice with anti-venom when Valerie opened her eyes.
"I am glad to see the arrow is gone. It would have been difficult to dress in the morning if it had been stuck there permanently."
"You are doing well if you can still jest. Unfortunately, I am not done with the treatment."
"Do what you have to do. Just give me some painkillers."
"We have no time. We need to apply the anti-venom before the poison spreads."
"Great. Just… great."
She grabbed Brethilon's hand and cried loudly as Ellavon applied the poultice inside her wound. If she had thought the burning had been bad, someone putting a finger in her wound was even worse. Why was she not blacking out again? The gods must hate her!
"I am done, your Majesty," he finally said. "We only need to put a bandage on your wound now."
Valerie, sweaty, dirty, with dried tears on her face, just nodded. How she wished she had chosen to stay with her children!
She was given a sleeping draught, understanding that contrary to the other injured warriors, she was not expected to return to the battle. Brethilon waited until she was asleep before going back to the wall. The king inquired about his wife as soon as he saw the former bodyguard, and Brethilon gave him the most recent news. The Elvenking thanked him and returned to his post, deciding that Brethilon had shown his dedication to Valerie that day.
Valerie missed the signal that rang an hour later, the one informing the entire fortress that the battle had been won by Greenwood.
