Elrond rode silently by Galadriels side as they approached the city of men called Dale. Close by his side was a very nervous Lindir. While his anxiety-ridden assistant almost never left the safety of Rivendel, he could not stay behind while his brother lay gravely injured here. Depending on the injuries Varne, he believed, may have little choice but to sail from the grey havens, and he was unsure if Lindir would follow or stay. The events that had led to this were not ones he cared to think about. He was mourning himself, the fallen escort and the prince he loved as his own child. And yet.. His former mother in law had told him to take heart. She seemed to agree with Thranduils claim that Legolas was at the very least alive. And he had no reason to doubt her. He looked back in the midst of their guards frowning at their other company. Gandalf and Saruman, the two wizards had not as far as he knew been informed of the situation beforehand, but they always had a way of just knowing. Saruman had not said a word to anyone as they rode a deep frown on his face. Gandalf too seemed grave, but Elrond remembered that he liked the mischievous young elf that they had… possibly lost. "We must stop in Dale for my Captain," he announced.
"You may, if you will, Lord Elrond, I wish to continue to Erebor to discover what madness has taken the elvenking." Saruman finally spoke, looking disapproving of the deley.
"With any luck it will not be anything worse than guilt and grief." Galadriel replied. "We should rest in Dale first, I agree. Elrond has traveled far, as has Gandalf." She said turning on her horse to meet Saruman's gaze. "Do you have an objection?"
"Very well, however if this is Saurons doing we must deal with it as swiftly as possible." He paused, frowning. "Grief? And yet you insist that the Prince lives?"
"Because he does, the grief is not for the prince I suspect." Galadriel shook her head indicating she would say no more on the subject at this time. Which made Elrond sigh as they rode into Dale. He was surprised to find a young page waiting for them and stopped his horse by the boy.
"Um you are the elven lord Elrond? King Bard asked me to show you where Captain Varne is staying. That is where the King is as well. One of the guards can show your company to the castle." the boy spoke.
"I am he, and I would be grateful thank you." he nodded politely at the boy who looked so proud of his task and parted with the rest of their company besides Lindir who looked anxious about his brothers condition. "Young man, how is my captain fairing?"
"Oh much better sir! The king has been keeping him company and he has been able to walk farther around as of late." The boy chirped. Lindir relaxed looking relieved and Elrond felt the same way. If Varne was indeed up and walking it was a good sign, he would have to find a way to thank the King of Dale. Lindir relaxed hearing this news and was the first off his horse when they arrived at the healers house. With a nod from Elrond he went on ahead while Elrond tied up the horses and gice the young page some money.
"Oh! Thank you sir but I cant accept.." The boy looked embarrassed and shy.
"I insist, you have done your job well. A reward for such a responsible young man." Elrond replied, it was always nice to find polite men. He had not met the king of Dale long enough to speak for his character however. He finished with the horses and entered the house himself.
"Upstairs my lord, first door on the left." The healer woman said with a small bow as she swept the floor.
"Thank you, my lady." he returned the bow and went upstairs. He was unsurprised to find Lindir having already curled up in his brother's lap. He was weeping but Varne looked well, far better than he had feared. A man, Bard the King of Dale, sat across from them with a small smile on his face. He rose when he noticed Elrond.
"Lord Elrond, Welcome to Dale. I wish the circumstances were better." he said.
"As do I, though the situation may be more complicated than any of us had thought… Captain Varne, I am so glad to see you." Elrond could not help but be relieved. These two were like his own sons. Their mother had died of orc poison, living long enough to bring Lindir into the world. And their father, tortured by greif sailed when Lindir was still small leaving the three boys behind. And later he had to banish their oldest brother when Varne had witnessed him murder a mother dwarf and her child. Varne had barely escaped with his own life, and for his bravery had gained a position as one of his most trusted Captains.
"Thank you my lord… you are too kind after my failure…" Varne replied shifting with his younger brother in his lap.
"You did your job, and you may not have failed. Lady Galadriel seems to agree with Thranduil that Legolas is alive in Mordor." Elrond reported getting confused and dubious looks exchanged between Varne and the King.
"Forgive me Lord Elrond I do not wish to doubt the Lady of light, but…" Varne trailed off.
"I know. It is alright, she has promised to explain everything once we talk to Thranduil." He shook his head and glanced towards Bard whos attention was more on Varne than him. He sighed internally thinking that he would have to talk to Varne about how quickly humans age. "Thank you for your care of my Captain." He said.
"It was the least I could do for him, your Lordship." King Bard replied. "I take it his brother wishes to stay here tonight?"
"Yes." Lindir replied simply. He sounded content and looked calmer than Elrond had seen him in weeks.
"Very well, King Bard? Shall we head to the castle, I am wary from such a long trip." He turned to leave not leaving any room for discussion about it and King Bard followed with only a little hesitation.
"I know the prince, if he is indeed alive I would like to be in the loop of things." The human King said his tone firm. He clearly did not want to be left out of this just because he was a human.
"Of course, I have no doubt any rescue attempt will take support from us all." Elrond nodded in response as they made their way to the horses and Bard led him towards the castle. They were met by an irritated looking Gandalf smoking his pipe.
"Sauruman has gone ahead to Erebor, he insists on talking to Thranduil as soon as possible." The Grey wizard reported as he puffed irritatedly on his pipe.
"Of course he has… I must go on ahead then, I will not have him harassing my cousin with no one there to defend him." Elrond sighed and turned his weary horse around. "I am sorry my friend, just a little farther." he said, stroking its neck.
"Leave your horse here to rest and take mine." Bard said immediately as he dismounted his horse. "Thranduil is a friend. I want him to be alright." He said.
Elrond nodded and quickly switched horses. "Thank you King Bard." he turned the horse and started down the road again leaving the castle behind him.
Tauriel was pulling an all nighter, they had learned a lot since starting on the documents. Much of it made her hate Oropher. But they needed to finish quickly. Word had arrived to them that Sauruman was here. Though Thorin had refused to let him see Thranduil, they only had a night before the rest of the white council arrived. "Right, this looks important." she spoke up catching her friends' attention. "Want me to read it out loud again?"
"Yeah, obviously love. We are invested." Kili joked from across the table as he was going through the Annatard blacksmithing sketchbook. He had become less unnerved as he looked through it and found no mentions of rings of any kind.
"Right then." She said, clearing her throat.
' Annatar is so odd, he brings me gifts all the time that he's made in the forges. Jewelry mostly, but I've never worn much before. Ada says jewelry is gaudy and takes away from our natural beauty. But Annatar doesn't seem to think so. He told me it just compliments it. I can't wear the earrings, Ada would have my head if i pierced my ear. (and if i could get away with it I would get a tattoo, maybe a smith's hammer!) for lunch I took him to that hidden grove again, and he asked me, well begged really for me to make a request of him, he wants to give me a gift better than any he has brought me before. I know what I want but how can he give it to me? Even a maia… It's really not fair… all I want is a baby, I want a beautiful perfect child. And I want him as the father.'
She finished with a deep frown. "Well this one was odd…" She frowned and flipped to the next page. "There's more."
"I visited the forges to see Annatar today to make my request. I thought he would think it was ridiculous or impossible. But he didn't. He smiled so much, he has such a beautiful smile. He said he'd figure something out and we'd have a baby. Ada was mad at me tonight though, for going to the forges, I must have missed some soot, I thought I got it all…'
Tauriel fell silent as remmy made a note to stick in the pages.
"I really hate all of this." Kili said, flipping through his book to find mentions of a baby. "Here we go, he was making… or planning on it… a tiny little statue." Tauriel looked up in time to find her husband tucking a page into his pocket, she would have to ask later.
"I know but, It explains a lot about the king." Thurinor commented, frowning hard. "We are going to present all of this to the white council and king thorin are we not?"
"Unfortunately it seems we must. But being in love is no crime. I do not doubt that our king gave his all holding back the darkness from Greenwood. Do you?" Remiel snapped sharply ready as always to defend Thranduil.
"No, but I do doubt his judgment now." Thurinor said with a scowl. "Oropher should have-"
"If Thranduil is to be believed here, Oropher was awful…. You know he killed my parents." Tauriel snapped. "He sent them to their deaths knowing they had a child at home…" She was beginning to realize that she had no good memories of the fallen king, she vaguely remembered an argument over her when Thranduil had taken her in under his care.
"He was… Awful that is. Behind closed doors he was always… possessive of Thranduil, he had no friends, wasnt allowed to talk to anyone but his guards or the court." Orben finally spoke, he had been silent compiling notes to present to the king and council. "I was a young guard then myself, in training." he explained. Tauriel had forgotten that he was the oldest among them.
"Possesive? This is possessive?" she snapped reading again.
'Ada left my room late last night, everything hurts and I can barely move but to write and hide this again.'
Silence fell over everyone at the table and a general air of despair fell over them.
"Oh… by Eru.." Thrurinor whispered his eyes wide as everyone else. "...I suppose we know why The lord of Mordor was a better option…" He said weakly.
"Yes, and at this point in the writing he doesn't know. We need to find out if he knew…" Tauriel flipped through the pages to find the last few entries. "I found…." she stopped. The last pages were covered in blood droplets and the hand writing was shaky, hard to read. "What…." she swallowed. "Remmy…"
Without a word the half elf took the book and began to read. 'Ada knows, he knows about me and annantar….. and Annatar isn't who he said he was. It happened several weeks ago, I didn't know what to think. I wanted to surprise him so I snuck out at night to visit the forges…. He was alone, there was no one with him and I could hear him talking. I walked in and what greeted me was the form of a Vampire, or that is what they say. His hair is red as blood, his eyes golden and glowing. He looked at me and we both froze. He said my name and I broke. I was so scared but I just felt hurt. I called his name. And he answered me again. He held me and promised he would never hurt me. His arms are so warm and his voice made me feel safe. But I don't know what he wants from me, I am no one, nothing, just the platinum prince… it doesn't matter now, he's long gone Ada found out… yesterday he followed me to the forges…. He dragged me out more angry than I have ever seen him. He had the guards grab Annatar… sauron… he had them seal him up in the forges, Ada told him if he could get out he was banished… obviously he can, hes sauron… sauron… it doesn't matter he won't come for me. Ada beat me… I can feel broken bones. I only have the strength to write this now…. I want…'
Remmy sighed. "This entry stops here." she said, turning the next few pages. "And here's the last one."
'I've waited, I've waited and dreamed of Sauron coming to take me away. To take me to that place he talked about, I guess it was Mordor… but he said it was beautiful and full of elves who wish never to leave Arda… I want to go there. I want to be with him and our child that he never got to finish making me…. He didn't come, I'm all alone here, I want the pain to stop, I want it to stop! I want to go, I can't live like this anymore. I'm going to Erebor, I remember seeing all their cliffs that time Ada took me with him… No one would find me for weeks, I know they say it's unthinkable, but I am not scared of death…. I hope Oropher finds this when they go through my room. I hope he knows this is his fault.'