"-foolish, reckless behavior! And where did that get you?"
"My Lord, it is barely a scratch," Tauriel said through gritted teeth, one hand clenched into a fist at her side and the other cradled in a sling across her front. The once white cloth was stained pink at her shoulder, the color growing darker lower down as the blood leeched through the weave. Her upper arm had been bound tightly, but even that could not fully stop the bleeding.
Her wound was not, in fact, a scratch, and had nearly taken off her arm.
And they were both well aware of that.
Lord Thranduil turned a chilling glare on her, looking pointedly at her arm, and Tauriel could not hold his gaze.
"Did you give even a moment's thought to what would happen if you were attacked?" he started once again, pacing before his throne like a caged animal.
"My Lord, I-"
"Who was it that gave you permission to leave? Alone and unguarded, and after dark at that!?"
"I am perfectly capable of-"
"Clearly, you are not. You will be banned from guard duty for a month, and forbidden from carrying arms for a week. You are not to leave your room-"
"That is not fair!"
"Do not speak to me of fairness!"
Tauriel recoiled sharply as the King whirled on her, his robes flying out behind him as he closed the distance in two long steps.
"You ran out on your own, almost got yourself killed, and risked the lives of my guards in doing so. What right have you to lecture me about fairness, when I have to put others at risk because you decided to play the hero and slay spiders on your own?"
"One of us has to do something about them," she spat.
The silence that followed was palpable, and Tauriel became increasingly aware of the pounding of her heart in the stillness. She found that she could not hold his burning glare for more than a few seconds, and dropped her gaze to the stones beneath her feet.
After what seemed like forever, Thranduil raised an arm and Tauriel flinched away on instinct, but he was merely summoning the guards that had escorted her here to his side.
"Have her brought to the dungeon. She will spend the duration of her house arrest in a cell. The healers may go down to see her but she is not to be released until I command it," he growled. Tauriel did not meet his eyes as she was led away.