Chapter 14: Days of Boredom

Legolas's hand does not leave her shoulder, nor do the guards leave until she is brought into what can only be called the Throne Room. Though it is less of a room and more of a platform in the centre of Mirkwood. Legolas and the guards leave her side, striding over to the side, standing at attention.

Slowly her head lifts, her warm brown eyes meeting Thranduil's cold stones. He lies against his throne, the thorned crown neatly resting on his head. He taps his fingers against the throne lazily – a display of dominance, that he is in control.

"I heard you would like to speak with me," Gailien says, her own assertion of confidence. It is a rude gesture to speak first to royalty, nevertheless in their own kingdom. Thranduil's stony eyes narrow but a small tweak of mirth plays on the corner of his lips.

"Little Gailien. My, it has been some time since you've set foot in my Realm," he says, standing slowly from the throne. He purposely ignores her first words, a silent override of her bland greeting. Just like he will try and control the conversation. "Tell me, how did you come into the company of such creatures?"

Gailien tilts her head slightly. Thranduil does not intimidate her but he does hold the power. "Thorin requested for me. I responded." A small lie for she isn't sure if Gandalf will appreciate his name being thrown about.

"They are just using you, you know that?" Thranduil begins to circle her but Gailien keeps her head locked forward, only meeting his eye when he walks in front of her. "For your power. They do not care about you."

"Of course they are using me," she counters. "That is the entire reason I am with them."

'Don't give him anything to use.' If she tries to argue his point, to argue that they care for her it will prove a weak spot. Something that Thranduil knows how to use. She doesn't believe his words – not one bit. The Elves are cunning and calculating whereas the Dwarves will wear their thoughts clearly on their face. If they did not like her, she would know. They do not bother to pretend.

Thranduil stops circling her, stopping back in front of her and they enter a silent staring game. "What have you seen?"

"What?"

"Tell me what you have seen for the future of the Dwarves."

Gailien almost scoffs, opening her mouth in disbelief. "Why would I ever reveal that information to you? I am loyal to them and no threat you make will change that." But even she questions her own words. Not her declaration of loyalty, but keeping her mouth shut. Maybe Thranduil is the perfect person to alert about their common foe.

Thranduil walks forward once again, holding his chin high in the superiority he thinks he holds. His eyes flicker to the back of her head. "Indeed, you are. Thorin may have rejected my offer but you are wiser than him."

"And now you're going to offer me one as well?" she predicts, not needing her foresight to know the motivations of the King with a permanent scowl. Thranduil smirks mirthlessly.

"I will let the Dwarves go, even offer them safe passage to Lake Town on the condition that you renounce your position in their company and spend the rest of your life under my service. You will live here in the palace as you once did, serving as the Royal Prophet."

For a flicker of a moment, her mind begins to truly consider his offer. But her position is with the Dwarves and she has seen them escaping. "I don't think that is in my best interest."

"Is it not your interest to let the Dwarves reclaim that forsaken mountain? To help them defeat the dragon? Are you so selfish as to deny them the one thing they wish for in place of your feelings?"

"It is my interest to make sure they live to tell the tale which is not something I can ensure from a cell."

"You would not be a prisoner."

"Oh, so you would let me leave as I wish to?"

Thranduil's anger grows with her snarky remarks and even Legolas' eyes watch the scene with caution. He knows that there is nothing he can offer her that he has the power to offer that would make her change his mind. Not unless he were to torture one of the Dwarves but that is not in his best interest. No, not at all.

"Legolas. Return her to her cell."

Legolas steps forward silently, the two guards still behind him. Thranduil turns away from Gailien, sauntering back to his Throne. Gailien purses her lips not moving until Legolas' hand once again clasps over the back of her neck.

"You should have taken the deal," he says as they escort the woman through the chasms. Gailien scoffs, rolling her eyes. "The Dwarves will never escape."

"Perhaps not," she muses. "But I'd rather spend an eternity in the cells that on a seat beside your father."

"You have chosen immortality then?" Legolas questions, ignoring the insult to his father – a hard task but one he does not wish to argue about at that moment. Gailien cocks an eyebrow.

"Alright then, for the rest of my days. How many ever I have left."

"You've chosen mortality?"

By now they have reached the cells, the Dwarves relatively quiet and Gailien could guess that at least half are asleep. Legolas frowns as he spins her around, the guard opening the door behind her. "What is the sake of immortality when everything I love is cursed by death?" The prince doesn't have an answer. He has spent his life around people who do not die, even after centuries. The only death he sees is on the battlefield. "You should be wary of Orcs in the forest. They have been chasing us and I doubt that they would stop at the edge of the trees. They'll be waiting and you should be too."

"Why do you tell me this?"

"Because I intend to leave this place and it would do me some good if there aren't Orcs waiting to slaughter me. But don't be a fool – they will slaughter you as well if you stand in their way. Which is what you are doing at this very moment."

Legolas narrows his eyes, but in contemplation rather than accusation. "We will handle them."

He gestures with his head to the cell and Gailien compliantly walks backwards. The door shuts and Legolas marches off without another word. She sighs, letting the tension in her shoulder release and her forehead rests against the bars.

"What happened?" Thorin questions. Gailien tilts her head slightly to look up at him.

"Don't worry your highness, I didn't make any deal with him," she remarks tiredly. "But I have seen us back out there. Somehow we leave." She has no idea how their escape will occur, but she is certain Bilbo Baggins has something to do with it. "I fear there is not much else to tell you."

"You said something about Orcs," Kili states. "To the Elf."

"That I did, dilthen er. I am hoping that the Elves may be of some use to us against the Orc pack that has been on our tails. At least slow them down until reinforcements come."

Xx

Tauriel, it seems, has taken an interest in the youngest Dwarf. Gailien watches them as Tauriel takes an interest in Kili's rune stone. A gift from his mother. In an odd way, she is glad that Kili has also taken a liking to her. She feels sorry for him as it is a pairing that will never be truly accepted on either side, but it makes her appreciate both Tauriel and Kili.

Kili because it is another proof of his open heart and mind – the one that Gailien already adores in him. He was the first Dwarf to truly be content in her company so it shouldn't be a surprise that Tauriel has drawn his attention.

But her appreciation for Tauriel is being built from the ground up. She may not be overly fond of Dwarves, but her mind is also open, listening to every word Kili speaks to her. It is a display of the two races brushing their history apart, even for just a night, to truly hear what the other says.

Gailien only prays that the Elf doesn't break his heart.

Once Tauriel leaves, Gailien finds the silence too overwhelming. "Mereth Nuin Giliath," she says, her side leaning against the bars. "This is the day that I was born on. Not that Elves celebrate the day of their birth. But it gave them my name."

Thorin is the one to respond to her offhanded muses, taking interest in anything she says. "Your name? What does it mean?"

"Light. It is the feast of Starlight after all." She would never say it out loud, but she has come to love her name. Starlight is a guide to those who know how to use it and she likes to think of herself as a guide for the company. Not always needed, nor visible, but she will guide them when she can.

"It is a beautiful name."

It is so soft coming from his lips that Gailien cannot fight the small smile growing on her cheeks. "Thank you. My father wanted something that was more fearsome, but I don't think it would be that fitting."

"That is not a bad thing. Your nature is what makes you so…enthralling." Thorin barely manages to find a word to describe her and he instantly regrets his choice. Not that he doesn't mean the words, but it is an odd way to describe someone to their face. His cheeks redden.

Gailien also blushes. "I have never been called that before," she muses with a kind laugh. Thorin finds her enthralling – that is new information. "I'm not sure how I have earnt that description, but I will take it nonetheless." Oh so daringly, she let's her eyes wander up to Thorin's and to her surprise, he holds her gaze as he also leans against the cell doors. Her fingers twitch, reimagining her fingers running through his hair, brushing over his braids and through his beard. And to have his hands through hers. "Kili!" she calls out, giving Thorin a light smirk in anticipation.

"Yes?"

"As the only Elf in this company, I would like to just give you the confirmation that Tauriel is indeed, an Elf maiden," she states with as much faux gravity as she can manage. The Dwarves who understand her reference snort out in laughter.

"Oh, shut up!" Kili cries, either to her or the chortling company. Thorin must have been let in on the joke because even his shoulders vibrate. "Harthon in enyd chen medithar!"

Gailien drops her mouth, breaking her gaze from Thorin to Kili. "Such hatred," she taunts. If they are to be trapped in here, the least she can do is lighten their moods.

"Chen ú-vilin!"

Gailien begins to cackle, her hands clasping in front of her. She is glad that Kili pestered her for insults until she gave in because hearing them come from his mouth is like listening to a child throw a tantrum. Because of his newness to learning the language, he knows the phrases more so than the individual words and he intones them on the completely wrong parts. But she gives him credit for trying.

"I'll remember that next time I see you trying to take food from my pack, you little thief!"

"We established that was Fili!"

"Fili doesn't leave traces of the evidence on their clothing. Don't think I didn't see you trying to remove that berry stain back at the Carrock."

"You keep giving out my secrets then I'm going to have to let out a few of yours!"

Gailien tilts her head, giving Kili both a teasing but scrutinising expression. What secrets does he know of hers? It isn't like she has many in the first place and the few that she does are not things she has likely spilt to him by accident.

"Oh, I've got you now, don't I?" Kili taunts, beaming now that the tables have turned. "I know your dirty little secret. And so does Fili."

Fili leans forward, holding up a hand to Gailien. "I have no intention of revealing anything, so leave me out of whatever this is."

"Well if I didn't have favourites before, now I sure do," Gailien snorts. "And I don't even know what secret you're even talking about. I haven't told you anything incriminating that the whole company doesn't already know."

She crosses her arms – a display of rigidness and self-preservation. Kili smirks, leaning back from the cell bars a little. He gives an incriminating gesture with his head and Gailien's eyes trace the invisible line. There is only one thing that he can be suggesting. Her eyes snap back to the younger Dwarf. Is she that obvious or is Kili just that observant? Though, Fili knows as well apparently. No – maybe they are suggesting something else, but this is just the conclusion that she is coming to.

Nevertheless, she glares at the young prince. "Take whatever food you want but I will murder you in your sleep if you say anything." Kili smiles in content.

"Oi! I don't know what this secret is!" Bofur cries, still desperate to fill the boredom of the endless days in the cells. "Come on, you can tell me!"

Gailien tilts her head so she can see the end of Bofur's nose and his hands peeking out of the cell next to hers. "Did you not just hear my threat?"

"You can't reach me from over there," he counters. Then he sighs, saying, "lass, is it to do with the fact that you split the last of our milk after Rivendell? Everybody is over that now."

Gailien gasps, her cheeks reddening. "That…No!" She didn't think anybody had seen her embarrassing moment. She'd just wanted a drink but ended up knocking it over with her foot. She secretly placed the empty jar back into the pack and that ended with Bombur being quite upset.

"I'm not over it!" Dwalin growls loudly. This leads to the Dwarves loudly complaining, throwing insults at one another as confessions are given and accusations being thrown around. Gailien huffs with a breath of laughter, letting their voices drown out her worries at least for a short time. Once again, her sights drift up to their leader. He is looking away, down at the company but feeling her eyes, his own drift to meet hers. Her lips pull up in a half-smile, and even Thorin manages to give a brief nod – a thanks for keeping their spirits up.