2nd chapter for today. Yay! Go me! This chapter is dedicated to all the women I have known for most of my life. Several of them seem to be going through bad patches. I would like them all to know that I'm thinking of them and am praying that things get better for them all. Not that they'll ever read this mind, but what the heck?! It ain't mine. No sue.

Knives Out.

The party was finally over. Which was a good thing, because if one more elf had come to 'congratulate' me on my impending marriage things would have been thrown. I informed my bodyguard elf that I wished to speak to my future father-in-law and was shown into his private study.

***

I sat and waited in his chair behind his desk. I picked up a letter knife and waited. And waited and awaited and waited. Finally after what seemed like aeons Thrandy walked into the room.

"Ahhhh, fangirl. Many apologies for keeping you waiting." He said as he closed the door behind him.

"No problem." I answered smoothly, remaining in his seat and rhythmically tapping the letter knife onto the palm of one hand.

"You wished to see me?" He enquired as he sat down opposite me.

The firelight played across my features as I pondered how to answer him; still tapping the knife across my hand. "How can I say this?" I asked aloud. "Let me see, ahh yes my 'betrothal' to the delightful Thingaladion." I drawled.

"My most hearty and sincere congratulations…" Thranduil began.

"I do have one problem with my engagement." I continued interrupting him.

"Y..y..yes?" Thranduil slightly stuttered at my statement.

"I don't actually recall agreeing to marry Thingaladion." I stated, gazing calmly across the desk to Thranduil, still playing with the knife I held.

There was a pause before Thranduil finally answered. "You agreed to marry the Prince of Mirkwood."

"I recall no such agreement."

"You wear the ring."

"Ring?" I queried. "What ring?"

"You wear," He pointed to my hand "The betrothal ring of my heir."

"Thranduil dear," I murmured quietly as I gazed down at the ring that Vebby had indeed given me. "It may have escaped your notice but Thingaladion is not Veborion."

"The ring is the betrothal ring of the Prince of Mirkwood. It matters not who the actual prince is. You have agreed to marry the prince, therefore it is the prince you must marry."

I refused to speak. If you looked at me from a distance at that point you might have thought that I was shivering from the cold. I wasn't. I was shaking in anger.

***

I managed to restrain myself from leaping across the desk and carving out Thranduil's heart with his own letter knife. Just. To say that I was rather annoyed at that point would be an understatement. I was livid.

"Another thing that puzzles me, Thrandy dearest." I said through clenched teeth, gripping the letter knife with both hands in an effort not to accidentally on purpose throw it at his head. "Just how did the darling known as Thingaladion end up being your heir? That never got explained to me."

"Oh, simple enough." Thranduil said waving his hand in a throwaway gesture. "You left him."

I shook my head as though I wasn't sure of what I was hearing. "Pardon?"

"You more than adequately proved to be an excellent queen after I went over the sea, certainly capable of governing the elves here and Veborion made you leave."

"The fact that Thingaladion tried to assassinate Veborion didn't bother you at all?" I queried, looking at Thranduil as one would a rather interesting if somewhat odd scientific specimen.

"Not at all, it showed me he had ambition and a willingness to sacrifice those that needed to be sacrificed."

"Yeah. Right. Ok."

"Besides when you left Veborion it showed me what I had to do."

My hands closed even more tightly around the letter knife. Suddenly I got very very afraid. After all I hadn't actually seen Vebby yet. Not even at the party. And this elf before me had given to the man who attempted to kill his son everything that his son had once possessed. Things were looking rather bad indeed. Just how do you disinherit your only son from his birthright? My brain screamed at me.

"Just. What. Did. You. Realise. You. Had. To. Do?" I questioned pausing between each word, my heart beginning to pound and my brain throwing up all manner of horrible possibilities.

"Oh nothing much." He stated calmly as though talking about a minor inconvenience that he had dealt with. "I merely disinherited, exiled and outlawed him."

"Oh. That's all?" I said for a moment relieved that at least he wasn't dead. Then what he said sunk in. "YOU DID WHAT?!"

***

After being forcibly ejected from his study, I screamed and raved as I was dragged into my suite of rooms. Where much to my utter disbelief there was Thingaladion lying on my bed wearing nothing but a sultry smile, a 'come hither' look and the sheets that lay on top of him.

I said two words. "Get out."

He smirked. I really wasn't in the mood so I marched over to the bed, grabbed Thingy by the ear, twisted it rather painfully if his cry was anything to go by and dragged him to the door and then threw him out of the room. "And stay out." I said.

I heard the key in the lock being turned behind me and Thingy saying to one of my new guards, "… not to worry, the wedding will be soon enough. I'm sure she won't be able to get enough of me then." And then I heard laughter.

I sank down behind the door. Planning. Vebby was gone and I had to find him, but first I had to get away from the Palace of Mirkwood. I knew I was in for a long night. I sighed and got up, walking towards the windows. "I knew it was too good to be true. Nothing ever works out right for me here." I paused and picked up my sword, which I had so trustingly brought with me and then threw it across the room in disgust. That wouldn't be much help against an entire forest of elves.

I sighed again and leant against my windowsill. "There must be a way out of this." I said aloud. "Dammit! I will not be beaten!"

I sat down on the bed. Then I smelt Thingaladion's scent on the sheets and got up hurriedly. "Ick." I commented. "I am soooo not marrying anyone who smells of whatever the heck that is. No matter what ring I'm wearing." I paused and started pacing.

"Come to think of it, Vebby didn't actually ask me to marry him. Hmmm." An idea occurred to me. "If Vebby didn't ask, then I didn't say yes, so really I don't need to marry anyone cos I haven't been asked yet. And of course it's not as if I'm going to say yes to Thingy now is it?!" I asked the empty room. "Then all I need to do is find Vebby and live happily ever after. I soooo rule when it comes to planning!"

Unfortunately of course even the best-laid plans sometimes have flaws.

Idiot.

*********************

Oooooh almost went angsty on me for a minute! Don't know what happened there! Enjoy and R&R please!