Chapter 38

The little girl crawled closer to the man on the ground. She stretched out her hand very slowly and placed it lightly on his forehead.
"Sir?" she said, her voice trembling a little.
"Sir? You must get up."
The man on the ground kept staring into the distance, mumbling something about "strength."
"You can't lie down here," she tried once more. "You have to help." She tried tugging at his sleeve.
"For my people," the man whispered to someone who wasn't there.

It was almost like the time Legolas and Limloeth didn't wake when they were in the swamps.

Lainfea took the man's hand off the floor. She had only one solution for people that didn't wake up. If shaking and tugging didn't help anymore, biting still would.

The royal guards exchanged worried glances. Their lord had run off without weapons or any form of protection into the dangerous forest, and they were unable to find him.
"My lord? My Lord Thranduil?" one of the guards called out.
He was knocked in the head by an other one immediately.
"Are you insane? Do you want to draw all the spiders in this forest toward you? SHUT UP!"

They moved along. The only time they broke the silence was to give their horses whispered instructions on the paths to take.
All of their senses were fixed on the world outside. Their eyes searched every leaf, their ears picked up every sound while searching for their king.

Then, they heard the elvenking yell.

Without even looking at each other, they turned their horses, riding in full speed toward their king.

Thranduil stared in surprise at the teethmarks on his hand.
"What...? Why?" he asked unable to understand the little girl's actions.
This entire situation was very odd, as no orcs had come to claim him, though he had been lying on the ground, unarmed and drained, ready to be killed.
"You had to wake up," she, Melian, said.
"And so you bit me? Is that your method of waking people? Did you parents forget to raise you, Melian?" Thranduil said sternly, while rubbing his hand.
She shot him a glare. "I tried shaking first."

The king looked at the child once more. Where had the Dark Lord found an elfling that looked to incredibly like one of Thranduil's own to serve his evil purposes?
"Melian?" he asked softly. "Who are your parents? Who is your Nana?"

She shrugged.
"I don't think I have a Nana," she said sadly.
Thranduil stretched out one of his hands and brushed a few hairs out of her face.
"And what about your ada, small one? Who is your Ada?"

The little girl looked even more miserable. She suddenly looked smaller than she had before.
"I don't think I have an Ada either. Legolas said we would get an ada if we reached the woods, and all would be better. But we have reached the woods, and he didn't come."

Thranduil would have given her a hug, if he had not been so scared to scare her away. Then he suddenly realized what she had said.

From inside out, a chill spread through his body.
"Legolas?" he asked. " Did you say Legolas?"
Her eyes went wide and she took a step back, clapping a hand to her mouth. The girl was suddenly terrified.

Thranduil could hit himself in the head. How stupid of him to think he had walked into a trap when, of course, he hadn't. Of course the little one was no evil servant.

She had just lied about her name.

"There he is!" one of the elvenguards said, pointing. The guards told to their horses to move even faster.
"Shield him!" one of the guards shouted.
"Get the girl!" An other one replied.

Lainfea felt horrible. She had told Legolas' name to the tall man.
Legolas hated it when she told names.
He would yell at her again, and cry, and leave her behind, just like he had done at Biddy and Artamir's house.

The tall man didn't look so sad anymore. He had wanted her to tell him their real names.

She had been so stupid.

Then her ears suddenly picked up a sound. She heard shouting and the pounding of hooves.
There were more tall men coming, and they all looked very, very angry at her.

She turned and ran, as fast as she could.

Thranduil saw his daugther turn and run away, a look of terror on her face, but he was not fast enough to prevent it.

A few seconds later his guards thundered past him, riding as fast as they could.

"STOP!" Thranduil called. "STOP AT ONCE! LET HER GO! YOU ARE SCARING HER!
COME BACK HERE. THIS INSTANCE!"

They didn't hear him.

Thranduil waited until the next horse passed him. With one of his hands, he grasped the horse's mane, and used all his strength to swing himself onto the horse.

"I'm sorry," he said to the stunned guard, now behind him on the horse,

"But this animal is now being borrowed."

TBC.

To all you nice people who reviewed.. Thanks a lot.. I really loved reading them..

I will answer them tomorrow when I post the last chapter.. (keep those kleenexes ready)