CHAPTER 24 - Life Goes On
To Legolas, it seemed that one moment he was bursting with pain and sorrow on the forest path that lead westward, and the next moment he was lying in a soft bed, surrounded by soft, melancholy voices. Opening his eyes, the young prince saw a blurry vision of Astaler smiling sadly down at him. The pain in his body was much better than he remembered it, but the pain in his soul was still throbbing. After a second or two, he remembered what had happened on the path and he let out a quiet moan.
"How did I get here?" Legolas whispered. His throat was dry and his voice came out as a croak. Astaler held out a glass of water, and Legolas sipped at it.
"You collapsed a few moments after Silnan arrived and they brought us back all back here. The opened the tomb that night and adar has been heartbroken. He has not left naneths side." The older prince looked down at his feet. A ray of hope flickered in Legolas' heart.
"She is alive?"
Astaler shook his head slowly, his face a mask of sorrow.
"No. She and Calensil . . . and Hollinethir . . . are to be laid to rest in the tomb as soon as the others are awake."
Legolas tried to pull himself up in to a sitting position, but found that he was too weak. Instead, he turned his eyes upwards to the ceiling.
"How are the others?"
"Nuryávië and Nilwethion are up, and so is Elladan. You ought to see him with Elrohir. They will not leave each other's side - it is as though they have been sewn together. Astaler has still not woken up yet and Thellind . . . we are not sure about Thellind. His eyes are open, but he will not react to anything. He still has not spoken a word, but now he will not move either. Nilwethion says he was crying yesterday, and that is the most we can get out of him."
Legolas shut his eyes. The young prince found that the world was somehow easier to understand when he had his eyes shut, as he did not have to think about what he was seeing, only how he felt and what he heard. This time however, the world seemed to become more confusing and his ears began to buzz.
"How long was I asleep?" he asked. Astaler coughed slightly.
"Six days," he replied.
Suddenly there came the sound of the door shutting and Legolas and Astaler jumped, terrified. They whipped their heads towards the door and saw Nilwethion and Nuryávië standing there. Nilwethion bit his lip and winced apologetically. The pair walked quietly over to Legolas and sat down. Nuryávië perched on the edge of a chair next to Astaler, and Nilwethion sat down on the end of the bed.
"We have just seen Thellind," said Nilwethion, after a moment of silence. Legolas looked around the room for the first time since he woke up, avoiding looking at the prince. He realised he was in one of the sterile healing rooms. Candles flickered from where they had been placed on tables and chairs, this being one of the many rooms where there were no windows, and it reminded him suddenly of the dingy cell the orcs had thrown him in to. He shivered involuntarily.
"Astaler told me about him," replied the blonde prince, and then after a small pause he added, "I want to see him. Where is he?"
"Only next door, but the healers are with him. We left when they turned up,"
From where he lay, Legolas noticed his three brothers shifting uneasily when the healers were mentioned. He wondered why, but even as he thought about it a little voice said in the back of his head 'They must judge you, because you killed your naneth and your sisters'.
He tried to ignore the snide little voice, but somehow he found it very hard to ignore.
"I want to see him . . . when they have gone, that is," Legolas said quietly. He tried to swing his legs over the side of his bed, but again he found he hardly had enough energy. After a few moments of mental struggle, sheer obstinate will power prevailed, and Legolas sat up next to Nilwethion. He shifted slightly so their shoulders were almost touching, as he found himself feeling uneasy, as if he was being watched.
"They will be there for a while. We could go and see Oroweth, if you like," said Astaler, looking around at the door, as if he expected it to bang open revealing masses of orcs. Legolas flicked his own eyes up at the door, and even as he looked at it the door became an object of terror, as if hiding unseen foes.
"I think I would like that," he replied. Nuryávië stood up and wrapped his leafy green cloak around Legolas' shoulders, after pulling it away from his own. It revealed a dull tunic, and equally dull leggings in earthy browns. It took a few seconds to realise why he found this strange, before Legolas remembered that Nuryávië always wore much brighter colours and that it was strange to see him now in such a bland outfit.
Legolas, Nilwethion and Astaler stood up and looked around the room before half opening the door and slipping through the small gap.
In the brightly lit corridor, Legolas blinked owlishly and swayed slightly. He clutched hold of Nilwethion's arm to steady himself, so Nilwethion wrapped an arm around the blonde princes' shoulders. The younger prince smiled gratefully before following Astaler and Nuryávië to the room where the eldest of the princes lay.
Thankfully, they met no elves on the way, but they did hear a minstrel lamenting the three royals who had so recently died. The four looked in the direction of the high, sweet voice with guilt and terror. They moved quickly on down the corridor, trying not to think of the orc caves that had been made in so similar a way, even if it was with much less skill or care.
When the voice of the minstrel had faded in to the background, Astaler, Nuryávië and Nilwethion stopped abruptly at a large, highly ornate, dark door and pushed it open with a creak. There was a gasp from inside, and the first thing Legolas saw of the room was Oroweth lying in a bed similar to the one he had been in not so long ago, the white sheets crumpled and wrinkled. His eyes appeared to be sunken and were surrounded by heavy, dark rings and his skin was pale - so very, very pale. The skin on his cheeks clung to the bone, as did the skin on his hands and arms. His hair had, at some point, been cut to shoulder length, as it had become a mass of tangles and knots worse than the thorn bushes of Mordor, and as filthy as the orcs living there. Legolas wondered how he had not noticed the signs of captivity in the caves, or when they were running for their lives.
As Oroweth realised who it was, the initial fear left him, although there was still terror hidden deep in his eyes. Weeks of being held captive by orcs was not an easy experience to forget in a hurry. The four princes moved gracefully over to the side of his bed.
"Astaler said you were still asleep," said Legolas, as he sat down on the edge of the bed. Astaler looked at him through the dull, hollow eyes.
"Elladan and Elrohir said you were still asleep," came the reply. Oroweth sounded tired and worn out, though he had done nothing for days but lie in bed recovering. Legolas wondered, not for the first time, what had happened to the three elves in the caves. He decided that this was not the best time to ask.
"Elladan and Elrohir are here?" asked Astaler with surprise. He jumped and swung around, as there came a small laugh from behind them. Elladan and Elrohir were standing there, dressed in identical outfits as they had when the two families had first met, their arms linked together as if they never intended to let each other go again. The twins grinned at Legolas.
"We did not know you were up. The last we knew was that the healers said you would not be awake for another week or two at least."
"They said that?" asked the prince, furrowing his brow. Beside him, his brothers had different worries.
"We did not realise you were there," whispered Astaler. He was clearly shocked and distraught. As Legolas thought about it, he could understand why. Being unable to sense the presence of another being in Mirkwood could spell death for all and sundry, and having not long escaped the orcs they were all still on edge.
"We did not want you to realise we were here. We thought you were the healers. Adar came by earlier. That was when Oroweth woke up."
Astaler opened his mouth, but then shut it again and shook his head, biting his lip. He was hiding something, and Legolas could tell. He was about to ask what it was, when Elrohir spoke so quickly he almost tripped over his own words.
"Do not start that again Astaler," he warned. It was obviously enough because Astaler looked away, hiding his face behind a curtain of dark brown hair. Elrohir relaxed again, and they turned back to Oroweth. Looking on the bright side, Legolas considered, at least Oroweth was no longer covered in blood and dirt.
The young prince pulled his legs up on to the bed and rested his back against the foot of the oak bed. He sneaked his feet under the white, silky sheets to warm them up and rested his chin on his knees, hunching his shoulders.
"Oroweth," he began, "What did they do to you in the caves?"
The 'they' was obviously the orcs, and the occupants of the room shivered as one, their skin crawling at the bad memories. Elladan and Elrohir stiffened - their special bond apparently renewed somehow. Oroweth closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then opened them again as flashes of memory became too scary to handle.
"You have already asked, when we were in the caves. They did nothing."
"What did they . . . what did they not tell you?"
The black haired prince looked up at his sibling with fear in his eyes. The fear quickly turned to an angry fire, but all he did was turn his head away. Elladan let out a small choke and lent heavily on his twin.
"Oroweth?" asked Nilwethion, "Please tell us. We are not like adar or the others."
"They starved us, and kept us in complete darkness" whispered Oroweth. His voice was so low Legolas had to strain his ears, "And they told us we were stupid and treacherous. They said we were weak and pathetic, and that we were not good enough to lick their boots clean. They threatened to rip our throats out with our claws if we sang. Urshak said we do not deserve to be elves, let alone the princes of Mirkwood. He said we adar and naneth hated us, and that we are the reason they died. How did he know, Legolas? How did he know it was our fault? They were not even dead yet, but he knew."
The room was filled with silence as the words sank in, and Oroweth slid under the covers. The shape that was Oroweth began to shake with silent tears under the silky white sheets. At last Nuryávië spoke. His voice was thick and he kept his eyes on the green matt beneath their feet as he spoke.
"He was right."
Elrohir gaped at the princes, as none of them even thought to argue with Nuryávië. The young elf looked around at the depressive faces that surrounded him.
"You truly believe that?" he gasped, "You believe an orc?"
Legolas looked up at the Imladris elf and began fiddling with his spotless, white sleeve and nodded once.
"Aye."
"But why?"
As Legolas put his hand on the quivering form of Oroweth, who was still under the sheets, Astaler Nilwethion looked sharply at the twins.
"It was our fault naneth and Calensil and Hollinethir are dead. We were too late to save them. We suggested that they should go to Imladris until it was safe. If we had not, they would not be dead now. If adar truly loved us, he would have looked at us at least once since Silnan and your adar brought us back, would he not? Instead he cries and weeps by naneths body and ignores us as though we are not here. Why would he do that if he did not hate us?"
Elrohir opened his mouth to reply, but no answer came. There was no answer that could come. There was just no answer to such a stubborn belief.
That was when the door opened.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
King Thranduil of Mirkwood held the hand of his dead queen as she lay on the specially prepared bed, dressed in a fine black dress, embroidered with beads that had been sewn in by her weeping handmaidens when they had been told everything that had happened. A lacy black veil lay over her cold, pale face and black velvet gloves covered her hands. Not far away lay Calensil in similar attire. Next to Calensil, wrapped in a black shawl, lay the foetus of Hollinethir.
The ancient king was no longer crying. He no longer had any tears left, nor any energy to cry with.
He was sitting on a low stool with three legs and no back. There was no carving on it and no other form of decoration, unlike anything else he owned. The rest of the small room was similar to the stool, being simple and minimalist, with nothing there that was not essential. A small fire flickered in a hearth, and there were seven brackets on the walls torches were burning away, and they had been for the past few days.
The door opened, revealing a healer, accompanied by Silnan. Thranduil did not look up, but carried on staring at his beloved, dead wife. Silnan and the healer were both holding white, flickering candles and the room around them brightened up. The healer cleared her throat. Still, Thranduil did not look up.
"Your majesty?" said Silnan. Thranduil raised his head, but did not turn around.
"My lord Thranduil, Legolas and Oroweth have awoken," said the healer, in a timid voice. She looked at Silnan with a worried glance.
"Your majesty, will you not see your sons?" asked Silnan. His polished mithril armour glinted in the firelight, and shadows danced on his dark green cloak and tunic. At last, Thranduil answered.
"My sons hate me," he said. His voice was full of pain.
Again, the healer looked at the captain of the guard. She had heard about the argument between the princes and the king not long ago, before the first 'death' of the royal couple and their daughter. Who had not? Good news in Mirkwood travelled like a forest fire.
"My king . . ." she began. The king interrupted her.
"Go!"
When neither of them moved, the king turned around and glared at them angrily.
"I said go!"
The unfortunate elves fled from the room as the king turned back to the body of Imlammthien and whispered; "Where did I go wrong, Immy? What did I do to deserve this? Am I such a bad ada?"
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A/N: Not so dramatic as the last chapter. Update days are moving back to Sundays, due to that evil, evil thing they call school and the even more evil thing they call homework. Very bad chapter title, I know, but inspiration left me, as my muses were busy trying to kill each other. Oh yeah, and I have a new vignette up on the Mirkwood family that you might like to read *hint hint*. Why did so many of you not mention Imlammthien at all, even though she had a worse death than Calensil? Did you all hate her that much?
PERSONAL REVIEW THINGY
DRAGONFLY ~ *I* don't believe I killed them either. Makes two of us! (
LITTLE WITCH ~ ah, but wouldn't it be boring if everything happened the way you expected it to?
LEXIE02 ~ sad? Yes, very sad. I love writing tragedy, heh.
ICED1 ~ aye, Calensil is dead. So is the queen, as it happens. You didn't mention her, even though her death was much nastier. Didn't you like her?
ALIVYAN ~ another reviewer who doesn't seem to like Imlammthien, lol. Poor queen. A happy ending isn't really possible, but I won't be making it too tragic. Don't worry, Middle earth won't implode. That only happens with the unchaining of Melkor some time in the very distant future. I won't be killing everyone else either, as many of them are needed for the next fic, which I have planned, as it happens. I probably will post a preview when I finish this fic, but that'll be a while yet. As for how many chapters there I, I'm not quite sure.
ORODRUIN ~ There are still quite a few chapters to come, I think. Yes, all three of them are gone but no, the princes haven't recovered yet. Well, they've got a lot better in body, but their minds have been a wee bit messed up. They should be ok again by the end of the fic. About ending on a happy note, I'll see what I can do. It might end up being bitter sweet.
COOLIO02 ~ I found it hard to believe as well. You have no idea how much I hated myself for killing them off.
NIKKIFER ~ sad is about right.
MOONMIST ~ be careful hugging Lin. He's very fragile. No, that wasn't the last chapter. Nor is this one.
PIRATE-CHICHA ~ *hands tissues*
ELIZABETHBLACK4 ~ lol. Yes, there is more to come. You expect me to update every day? Whoa, I don't think I could keep up with that. School gets in the way. It was Silnan who told the king, although you don't get to see that bit.
JUKIA WOLFCALL ~ I made you cry? *Hands tissues* I hated writing it as well, so I get what you mean.
LADY LARVLE OF MIRKWOOD ~ just because I write fictions well enough to get over 250 reviews doesn't mean I don't desperately need a dictionary 85% of the time. You should see the amount of spelling mistakes on the un-edited versions of the chapters! My spell checker hates me. Imlammthien just *did* die in an orc attack. What did you mean? I would lend you the dictionary, but I always need it. You can borrow the thesaurus if you like though.
RAL ~ nah, she had to die there. Death is better than having a messed up mind, I think. Besides, the orcs are gone, so what would she die of later?
SHANYA ~ Calensil and Imlammthien agree with you. They didn't think it was fair either.
TAMARA ~ I've updated . . .
To Legolas, it seemed that one moment he was bursting with pain and sorrow on the forest path that lead westward, and the next moment he was lying in a soft bed, surrounded by soft, melancholy voices. Opening his eyes, the young prince saw a blurry vision of Astaler smiling sadly down at him. The pain in his body was much better than he remembered it, but the pain in his soul was still throbbing. After a second or two, he remembered what had happened on the path and he let out a quiet moan.
"How did I get here?" Legolas whispered. His throat was dry and his voice came out as a croak. Astaler held out a glass of water, and Legolas sipped at it.
"You collapsed a few moments after Silnan arrived and they brought us back all back here. The opened the tomb that night and adar has been heartbroken. He has not left naneths side." The older prince looked down at his feet. A ray of hope flickered in Legolas' heart.
"She is alive?"
Astaler shook his head slowly, his face a mask of sorrow.
"No. She and Calensil . . . and Hollinethir . . . are to be laid to rest in the tomb as soon as the others are awake."
Legolas tried to pull himself up in to a sitting position, but found that he was too weak. Instead, he turned his eyes upwards to the ceiling.
"How are the others?"
"Nuryávië and Nilwethion are up, and so is Elladan. You ought to see him with Elrohir. They will not leave each other's side - it is as though they have been sewn together. Astaler has still not woken up yet and Thellind . . . we are not sure about Thellind. His eyes are open, but he will not react to anything. He still has not spoken a word, but now he will not move either. Nilwethion says he was crying yesterday, and that is the most we can get out of him."
Legolas shut his eyes. The young prince found that the world was somehow easier to understand when he had his eyes shut, as he did not have to think about what he was seeing, only how he felt and what he heard. This time however, the world seemed to become more confusing and his ears began to buzz.
"How long was I asleep?" he asked. Astaler coughed slightly.
"Six days," he replied.
Suddenly there came the sound of the door shutting and Legolas and Astaler jumped, terrified. They whipped their heads towards the door and saw Nilwethion and Nuryávië standing there. Nilwethion bit his lip and winced apologetically. The pair walked quietly over to Legolas and sat down. Nuryávië perched on the edge of a chair next to Astaler, and Nilwethion sat down on the end of the bed.
"We have just seen Thellind," said Nilwethion, after a moment of silence. Legolas looked around the room for the first time since he woke up, avoiding looking at the prince. He realised he was in one of the sterile healing rooms. Candles flickered from where they had been placed on tables and chairs, this being one of the many rooms where there were no windows, and it reminded him suddenly of the dingy cell the orcs had thrown him in to. He shivered involuntarily.
"Astaler told me about him," replied the blonde prince, and then after a small pause he added, "I want to see him. Where is he?"
"Only next door, but the healers are with him. We left when they turned up,"
From where he lay, Legolas noticed his three brothers shifting uneasily when the healers were mentioned. He wondered why, but even as he thought about it a little voice said in the back of his head 'They must judge you, because you killed your naneth and your sisters'.
He tried to ignore the snide little voice, but somehow he found it very hard to ignore.
"I want to see him . . . when they have gone, that is," Legolas said quietly. He tried to swing his legs over the side of his bed, but again he found he hardly had enough energy. After a few moments of mental struggle, sheer obstinate will power prevailed, and Legolas sat up next to Nilwethion. He shifted slightly so their shoulders were almost touching, as he found himself feeling uneasy, as if he was being watched.
"They will be there for a while. We could go and see Oroweth, if you like," said Astaler, looking around at the door, as if he expected it to bang open revealing masses of orcs. Legolas flicked his own eyes up at the door, and even as he looked at it the door became an object of terror, as if hiding unseen foes.
"I think I would like that," he replied. Nuryávië stood up and wrapped his leafy green cloak around Legolas' shoulders, after pulling it away from his own. It revealed a dull tunic, and equally dull leggings in earthy browns. It took a few seconds to realise why he found this strange, before Legolas remembered that Nuryávië always wore much brighter colours and that it was strange to see him now in such a bland outfit.
Legolas, Nilwethion and Astaler stood up and looked around the room before half opening the door and slipping through the small gap.
In the brightly lit corridor, Legolas blinked owlishly and swayed slightly. He clutched hold of Nilwethion's arm to steady himself, so Nilwethion wrapped an arm around the blonde princes' shoulders. The younger prince smiled gratefully before following Astaler and Nuryávië to the room where the eldest of the princes lay.
Thankfully, they met no elves on the way, but they did hear a minstrel lamenting the three royals who had so recently died. The four looked in the direction of the high, sweet voice with guilt and terror. They moved quickly on down the corridor, trying not to think of the orc caves that had been made in so similar a way, even if it was with much less skill or care.
When the voice of the minstrel had faded in to the background, Astaler, Nuryávië and Nilwethion stopped abruptly at a large, highly ornate, dark door and pushed it open with a creak. There was a gasp from inside, and the first thing Legolas saw of the room was Oroweth lying in a bed similar to the one he had been in not so long ago, the white sheets crumpled and wrinkled. His eyes appeared to be sunken and were surrounded by heavy, dark rings and his skin was pale - so very, very pale. The skin on his cheeks clung to the bone, as did the skin on his hands and arms. His hair had, at some point, been cut to shoulder length, as it had become a mass of tangles and knots worse than the thorn bushes of Mordor, and as filthy as the orcs living there. Legolas wondered how he had not noticed the signs of captivity in the caves, or when they were running for their lives.
As Oroweth realised who it was, the initial fear left him, although there was still terror hidden deep in his eyes. Weeks of being held captive by orcs was not an easy experience to forget in a hurry. The four princes moved gracefully over to the side of his bed.
"Astaler said you were still asleep," said Legolas, as he sat down on the edge of the bed. Astaler looked at him through the dull, hollow eyes.
"Elladan and Elrohir said you were still asleep," came the reply. Oroweth sounded tired and worn out, though he had done nothing for days but lie in bed recovering. Legolas wondered, not for the first time, what had happened to the three elves in the caves. He decided that this was not the best time to ask.
"Elladan and Elrohir are here?" asked Astaler with surprise. He jumped and swung around, as there came a small laugh from behind them. Elladan and Elrohir were standing there, dressed in identical outfits as they had when the two families had first met, their arms linked together as if they never intended to let each other go again. The twins grinned at Legolas.
"We did not know you were up. The last we knew was that the healers said you would not be awake for another week or two at least."
"They said that?" asked the prince, furrowing his brow. Beside him, his brothers had different worries.
"We did not realise you were there," whispered Astaler. He was clearly shocked and distraught. As Legolas thought about it, he could understand why. Being unable to sense the presence of another being in Mirkwood could spell death for all and sundry, and having not long escaped the orcs they were all still on edge.
"We did not want you to realise we were here. We thought you were the healers. Adar came by earlier. That was when Oroweth woke up."
Astaler opened his mouth, but then shut it again and shook his head, biting his lip. He was hiding something, and Legolas could tell. He was about to ask what it was, when Elrohir spoke so quickly he almost tripped over his own words.
"Do not start that again Astaler," he warned. It was obviously enough because Astaler looked away, hiding his face behind a curtain of dark brown hair. Elrohir relaxed again, and they turned back to Oroweth. Looking on the bright side, Legolas considered, at least Oroweth was no longer covered in blood and dirt.
The young prince pulled his legs up on to the bed and rested his back against the foot of the oak bed. He sneaked his feet under the white, silky sheets to warm them up and rested his chin on his knees, hunching his shoulders.
"Oroweth," he began, "What did they do to you in the caves?"
The 'they' was obviously the orcs, and the occupants of the room shivered as one, their skin crawling at the bad memories. Elladan and Elrohir stiffened - their special bond apparently renewed somehow. Oroweth closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then opened them again as flashes of memory became too scary to handle.
"You have already asked, when we were in the caves. They did nothing."
"What did they . . . what did they not tell you?"
The black haired prince looked up at his sibling with fear in his eyes. The fear quickly turned to an angry fire, but all he did was turn his head away. Elladan let out a small choke and lent heavily on his twin.
"Oroweth?" asked Nilwethion, "Please tell us. We are not like adar or the others."
"They starved us, and kept us in complete darkness" whispered Oroweth. His voice was so low Legolas had to strain his ears, "And they told us we were stupid and treacherous. They said we were weak and pathetic, and that we were not good enough to lick their boots clean. They threatened to rip our throats out with our claws if we sang. Urshak said we do not deserve to be elves, let alone the princes of Mirkwood. He said we adar and naneth hated us, and that we are the reason they died. How did he know, Legolas? How did he know it was our fault? They were not even dead yet, but he knew."
The room was filled with silence as the words sank in, and Oroweth slid under the covers. The shape that was Oroweth began to shake with silent tears under the silky white sheets. At last Nuryávië spoke. His voice was thick and he kept his eyes on the green matt beneath their feet as he spoke.
"He was right."
Elrohir gaped at the princes, as none of them even thought to argue with Nuryávië. The young elf looked around at the depressive faces that surrounded him.
"You truly believe that?" he gasped, "You believe an orc?"
Legolas looked up at the Imladris elf and began fiddling with his spotless, white sleeve and nodded once.
"Aye."
"But why?"
As Legolas put his hand on the quivering form of Oroweth, who was still under the sheets, Astaler Nilwethion looked sharply at the twins.
"It was our fault naneth and Calensil and Hollinethir are dead. We were too late to save them. We suggested that they should go to Imladris until it was safe. If we had not, they would not be dead now. If adar truly loved us, he would have looked at us at least once since Silnan and your adar brought us back, would he not? Instead he cries and weeps by naneths body and ignores us as though we are not here. Why would he do that if he did not hate us?"
Elrohir opened his mouth to reply, but no answer came. There was no answer that could come. There was just no answer to such a stubborn belief.
That was when the door opened.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
King Thranduil of Mirkwood held the hand of his dead queen as she lay on the specially prepared bed, dressed in a fine black dress, embroidered with beads that had been sewn in by her weeping handmaidens when they had been told everything that had happened. A lacy black veil lay over her cold, pale face and black velvet gloves covered her hands. Not far away lay Calensil in similar attire. Next to Calensil, wrapped in a black shawl, lay the foetus of Hollinethir.
The ancient king was no longer crying. He no longer had any tears left, nor any energy to cry with.
He was sitting on a low stool with three legs and no back. There was no carving on it and no other form of decoration, unlike anything else he owned. The rest of the small room was similar to the stool, being simple and minimalist, with nothing there that was not essential. A small fire flickered in a hearth, and there were seven brackets on the walls torches were burning away, and they had been for the past few days.
The door opened, revealing a healer, accompanied by Silnan. Thranduil did not look up, but carried on staring at his beloved, dead wife. Silnan and the healer were both holding white, flickering candles and the room around them brightened up. The healer cleared her throat. Still, Thranduil did not look up.
"Your majesty?" said Silnan. Thranduil raised his head, but did not turn around.
"My lord Thranduil, Legolas and Oroweth have awoken," said the healer, in a timid voice. She looked at Silnan with a worried glance.
"Your majesty, will you not see your sons?" asked Silnan. His polished mithril armour glinted in the firelight, and shadows danced on his dark green cloak and tunic. At last, Thranduil answered.
"My sons hate me," he said. His voice was full of pain.
Again, the healer looked at the captain of the guard. She had heard about the argument between the princes and the king not long ago, before the first 'death' of the royal couple and their daughter. Who had not? Good news in Mirkwood travelled like a forest fire.
"My king . . ." she began. The king interrupted her.
"Go!"
When neither of them moved, the king turned around and glared at them angrily.
"I said go!"
The unfortunate elves fled from the room as the king turned back to the body of Imlammthien and whispered; "Where did I go wrong, Immy? What did I do to deserve this? Am I such a bad ada?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Not so dramatic as the last chapter. Update days are moving back to Sundays, due to that evil, evil thing they call school and the even more evil thing they call homework. Very bad chapter title, I know, but inspiration left me, as my muses were busy trying to kill each other. Oh yeah, and I have a new vignette up on the Mirkwood family that you might like to read *hint hint*. Why did so many of you not mention Imlammthien at all, even though she had a worse death than Calensil? Did you all hate her that much?
PERSONAL REVIEW THINGY
DRAGONFLY ~ *I* don't believe I killed them either. Makes two of us! (
LITTLE WITCH ~ ah, but wouldn't it be boring if everything happened the way you expected it to?
LEXIE02 ~ sad? Yes, very sad. I love writing tragedy, heh.
ICED1 ~ aye, Calensil is dead. So is the queen, as it happens. You didn't mention her, even though her death was much nastier. Didn't you like her?
ALIVYAN ~ another reviewer who doesn't seem to like Imlammthien, lol. Poor queen. A happy ending isn't really possible, but I won't be making it too tragic. Don't worry, Middle earth won't implode. That only happens with the unchaining of Melkor some time in the very distant future. I won't be killing everyone else either, as many of them are needed for the next fic, which I have planned, as it happens. I probably will post a preview when I finish this fic, but that'll be a while yet. As for how many chapters there I, I'm not quite sure.
ORODRUIN ~ There are still quite a few chapters to come, I think. Yes, all three of them are gone but no, the princes haven't recovered yet. Well, they've got a lot better in body, but their minds have been a wee bit messed up. They should be ok again by the end of the fic. About ending on a happy note, I'll see what I can do. It might end up being bitter sweet.
COOLIO02 ~ I found it hard to believe as well. You have no idea how much I hated myself for killing them off.
NIKKIFER ~ sad is about right.
MOONMIST ~ be careful hugging Lin. He's very fragile. No, that wasn't the last chapter. Nor is this one.
PIRATE-CHICHA ~ *hands tissues*
ELIZABETHBLACK4 ~ lol. Yes, there is more to come. You expect me to update every day? Whoa, I don't think I could keep up with that. School gets in the way. It was Silnan who told the king, although you don't get to see that bit.
JUKIA WOLFCALL ~ I made you cry? *Hands tissues* I hated writing it as well, so I get what you mean.
LADY LARVLE OF MIRKWOOD ~ just because I write fictions well enough to get over 250 reviews doesn't mean I don't desperately need a dictionary 85% of the time. You should see the amount of spelling mistakes on the un-edited versions of the chapters! My spell checker hates me. Imlammthien just *did* die in an orc attack. What did you mean? I would lend you the dictionary, but I always need it. You can borrow the thesaurus if you like though.
RAL ~ nah, she had to die there. Death is better than having a messed up mind, I think. Besides, the orcs are gone, so what would she die of later?
SHANYA ~ Calensil and Imlammthien agree with you. They didn't think it was fair either.
TAMARA ~ I've updated . . .