Chapter 36

Thranduil sat in his study, trying to bury himself in his work. If he tried hard and concentrated on the numbers and figures, he could almost forget the horrible loss he felt, the pain that crushed his chest during every ungarded moment.

He never delegated anything anymore. Every letter written to the king was answered by the king himself. Every dispute was settled by the king. Every piece of tax money was counted by the king. If there was no work left on the king's desk, he would go over the laws again and again, trying to see if
he could improve them in any way. There were 100 lawbooks in Greenwood, and in the last 20 years, Thranduil had learned them all by heart.

It was all he could do not to fade.
He hardly ever slept, because to sleep would mean to wake up in an empty bed, and realize his loss all over again.
If, for a moment, he lost his concentration, his thoughts would stray to places he could not go, to moments that had long faded into the shadowy mists of time.

Sometimes his ears and eyes created beautiful illusions that brought his past life back for a few seconds. The sound of little elf feet on the stones.
Children laughing, a woman singing. But those illusions never lasted, and Thranduil would always remain behind, and quite alone.

No one laughed in Thranduil's palace anymore. No songs were sung. The elves moved around as silent as they could, glancing at their king, as if he would shatter into a million pieces if they made a sound. He could see the silent questions in their eyes. They asked themselves why their king tortured
himself so. Why he just didn't allow himself to fade.

Yet Thranduil held on, without sleep, without laughter, without hope. He hold on because he had to. He opposed his despair with all the willpower he possessed. He transformed his weakness into strength, and he used that strength to fight the evil in Dol Guldur.

It was that evil that had taken away his family. It wanted him to fade.
It was waiting gor that moment.
And so Thranduil held on.

He fought against his sorrow day after day, night after night.
A battle more desperate than the battle of Dagorlad, in which his father had
died. A battle with even less hope.

Suddenly the trail of his thoughts was broken by a scream, followed by curses...

Thranduil looked at the racket in his courtyard. Three of his guards were crowding aroud a small figure that was screaming like it was being tortured.
"WHAT is going on here?" Thranduil thundered.
Each of the guards jumped, startled.

"My Lord!" stuttered one of them, trying to make a prober gesture of respect without loosing his grip on his captive.
"Sire," another one said. "We have caught an intruder, sir. "
"She was sneaking in, my lord," the third one added.

Thranduil stared at the little elfling restrained by the royal guards.
He took in a sharp breath. For two seconds, in spite of everything, he believed it was Legolas he was looking at. But then the elfling turned her head, and Thranduil saw it was a girl. He could feel himself fall deeper into despair than he ever had before, and the pain was almost strong enough to bring him down forever.

Yet he remained standing.
"Who are you?" Thranduil asked with a voice still hoarse of the pain he felt. The girl didn't answer. She was not even looking at the elvenking, but tried to bite the hand of one of the guards, while kicking the shins of the others.

"Release her!" Thranduil ordered his guards.
He knelt in front of the girl, so that he was eye level with her.
"Who are you?" he asked again, steadier this time.
The girl remained silent.

"If you don't tell me who you are, I will have to lock you up, child," Thranduil said sadly. Caution was necessary in his forest at all times. Seemingly innocent children could be working for the enemy, trying to save their loved ones who were held hostage. It had happened before.

Tears formed into the girl's eyes. "They said you would help us," she said, crying. "They promised."
"Who said I would help you?" Thranduil asked with a look of confusion on his face.
"The trees! They said you would help us. They said you would save my brothers and sister from the monsters."
"She is lying, sir," one of the guards said. "Trees don't speak to elflings that age. That is ridiculous."
Thranduil agreed on that, but somehow he did not think this child was lying.

For some strange reason he felt extremely protective over this elfling, almost like she was a treasure that was entrusted to him for safekeeping.
He was certain he had never seen her before, yet she seemed very familiar in a way.

"Who are you?" he asked once more, but the girl was not listening. She glared back over her shoulder, staring beyond the closed gates behind her.
"They said you would help," she said desperately, as if she was trying to defend her actions to an unknown person.

"Where are your Nana and Ada, little one? Are they captive somewhere?"
The girl ignored the question.
"It is a trap, my lord," one of the guards said.
Thranduil nodded sadly. He was very worried what the Necromancer had done to he child, or her parents, to make her so determened to pull him into danger.

"I'm sorry, child. I'm afraid I will have to keep you here. I'm sorry."

"NO!" The girl said angrily. She stamped on the feet on one of the guards,
and ran towards the gates at full speed. "Open!" she shouted. "Open!"

Thranduil wactched her go. He did not try to pursue her, for the gates would not open to anyone, except those with royal bl...

His jaw dropped as the little girl slipped through the opened doors.
His heart filled itself with a feeling he had not had in twenty years.
Hope.

"A HORSE!" he shouted to the stunned guards. "I NEED A HORSE NOW!
AND MY WEAPONS!
AND AS MANY WARRIORS AS YOU CAN FIND!
NOW!
NOW!"

TBC..

Randa-Chan: Hey! glad to see you are still reading.. I hope the ending lives up to your expectation as well... Only 3 chapters!

Moriarwen: Ah! "when they foind out who she is" Good Point!

Karone Evertree: She WAS home yes.. (evil grin)

Aly K: They are comming, don't worry..

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: Good you will need kleenexes.. I think.. Later on.

Rutu: you are quivering with impatience? wow! My story did that? WOW!

Isiliel: I didn't say you were a daugther of Feanor, now did I?

And about Thingol.. well he should have listened to what his daugther wanted of course.. i agree with you on that. But...I still think the not-speaking- Quenya law was a very good one. No futher bloodsheds (and one elvish language is really enough, isn't it?)

And I'm enjoying this discussion al well as you do.. Too bad your parents don't led you register.. That means you can't have a yahoo id, eigther, doesn't it... You'll need an ID like that to join RPG.. And that is a shame really, Cause you would be a great addition I think..

(but we are playing in Mirkwood now.. sooooo...)

Anyway, about the story.. You will need those boxes of kleenex.. don't you worry.

Nessa Ar-Feiniel: (grin)