"Fë?" He knelt beside her, relieved to see her eyes open, despite her dazed expression. "What's happened? Where's Min?" The latter promptly toddled out of a tunnel and grinned at his father. "But?" The young child enquired. Kel visibly relaxed before turning back to Fë. "Fë, what happened? Are you OK?" To his great surprise, the girl seemed to shake herself mentally before replying. "Of course… I'm… fine. I… fell off the playground." "What were you doing up there?" Fë paused, searching for an excuse. "Trying to get Min down… the little scamp…" Kel searched her eyes, knowing she was lying. He saw a sadness and fear that could never come from a mere fall. Then, as his gaze left her face for the first time since he had arrived, he noted the torn silk of her dress. "What happened to your dress?" Again, Fë struggled to think of an answer. "It caught… on that." She pointed to a piece of metal jutting out from the frame as Legolas appeared behind his brother, keeping his distance to give the two a moment to reassure each other they were all right. In fact, this was the last thing Fë was doing. Kellrion tried once more, noting with horror the gashes leading down from her shoulder. "What are these scratches?" He reached to touch her face, to comfort her, but she jerked away, pulling at the fabric of her dress to hide her wounds. "I scraped it on the metal… when I fell… don't you have a meeting you're meant to be in?" She hastily leapt to her feet. "It can wait." Kel rose too, and reached for her hand, wondering at the way she flinched and wrenched ither hand from his gripown. "No! I mean, no. No, you should go back. Assure your father that his borders – or at least the palace walls – are safe, and that Min and I are fine." Kel met her eye. "But are you?" For answer, she turned away. "Of course. I just need to change out of this," she held up the ripped cloth, "and into something not torn." With this, she gathered her son into her arms and began the long walk back to the palace. Legolas and Kel watched her go, before meeting each other's gaze to silently ask each other what was happening. I don't know, brother, each told the other, I just don't know. Kellrion son of Thranduil, however, was not one to let things lie. But I intend to find out.
TBC…
