A/N: Hello again! Sorry the update took a little while, this week has been crazy busy! But, I've had some time to write this weekend and I'm back with a new chapter! It's hard to keep away from writing when you have so many ideas to write about! First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the reviews! It seems FFN fixed the glitch so I can finally respond to them!

Earth-dragon: I did wonder if Poppy seeds might be a thing that exists in Middle-Earth or something to that extent. Elrond would definitely be curious about iodine and he will make an appearance because he has personal relationships with other characters in my fic "Castaways" who will also be important to Millie's story.

Mustard Lady: Thank you once again for your kind words! This takes place about 5-6 years after War of the Ring and is set in the same AU as my "Castaways" fic. Thranduil may eventually begin to see that the world isn't as dark, cruel and unfair as he believes.

Guest: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it as the story continues!

Meanwhile, let's see what's happening in the mind of the woodland king. I still haven't really worked out where I'm going with this, so I'm kinda just going with the literal flow right now. I'm also realising this is vaguely "Beauty and the Beast"-esque, which is entirely unintentional xD. Anyway, enough rambling from me. Enjoy the chapter!

*CONTENT WARNING* this chapter contains graphic depiction of self-harm and suicide. If this is not your cup of tea, you might want to skip this one. You have been warned.

Chapter Six

Sleepless

Contrary to popular beliefs amongst those of non-elven kin - elves do sleep. Not necessarily because we need it to recharge our physical bodies, but rather as a way to recharge our minds. We also dream deeply and vividly. I must confess that lately, I have found it difficult to relax. Though people dare not say it to myself, I know many believe that because we were not directly involved in the War against Sauron, we were unaffected by it. This is not true, because the war also came to us and my people lost brothers and sisters. I too lost dear friends. Nevertheless, life must go on, even though elves struggle to accept heartache in a way that is altogether different from humans. On such nights when I am unable to sleep and when the stars are not visible outside, I wander the corridors of my palace.

Tonight was such a night.

Change has always been a slow process for us and usually does not happen without purpose. Having a human from another world seemingly dropped on our doorstep was unforeseen change and would take time to process. Others would surely disagree, certainly King Fili's human queen of Erebor, but I am not heartless, nor have I ever been. I certainly would never cast a lonely human girl to the wilderness of Mirkwood and expect her to somehow find her way back to her own world.

For the moment, it seemed as though I had no choice but to let Millicent stay with us until Gandalf the Wizard was found. A part of me couldn't help but wonder, that if this was indeed a purposeful trick crafted by the Valar, if Gandalf himself was a part of it.

To my own surprise, it seemed as though our new guest might prove herself useful to us. A few days ago, when young Gwydion was injured by the spiders, I watched as Millie healed him, seemingly without any trouble at all. Quite remarkable, really. I have never before seen a human being able to heal an elf and certainly not with such talent as she possessed. I wondered if perhaps medicine was more advanced in her world and that it was common practice amongst women.

Occasionally, the people of Dale sought our help with healing, and now perhaps Millicent could aid us. If anything, she could become a useful connection with the humans and I wouldn't have to be the one to deal with Lady Signe.

And I would not need Elrond's help.

Yes, a human healer and diplomatic emissary to act on our behalf. I rather like the sound of that, but we would simply have to see how things progressed.

Elves often sought comfort in starlight but sometimes, I also found the darkness comforting its own right. Silence was an underrated companion, particular in a place where there was always noise. Usually, my nightly strolls were uninterrupted and I enjoyed the tranquility of my home. On that particular night, however, my peace was interrupted.

As always, I began my stroll from my chambers, down towards the lower levels of the palace. Sometimes, I liked to visit the guards, just to make sure they were on active duty, instead of falling asleep under the influence of too much wine. There was no point in walking past the dungeons as they were currently uninhabited and Gwydion had already been seen to in the infirmary. So, after my visit to the basement, I simply decided to return to my chambers via the throne room.

Halfway up the stairs, I halted as a strange sound reached my ears. Upon listening closer, I realised it was the sound of crying coming from one of the rooms on the second floor. I immediately recognized the voice.

Millicent was crying.

At first, I hesitated whether or not to investigate further, but her sobs sounded hopeless and I felt compelled to make sure everything was alright. I approached her chambers and carefully opened the door to her bedrooms. To my surprise, I quickly realized that the young woman was still asleep and seemed to be having some sort of nightmare.

"No, no, no, Charles! Please don't leave me," Milicent sobbed hysterically "You promised you would never leave me!"

Charles, I thought and wondered who he was. I sat down on the edge of the bed and saw her eyes were closed, which confirmed my suspicion of nightmares. Sweat ran down her forehead and she had thrown off her sheet, as if she had been fighting monsters. Gently, I placed my hand on her forehead with my only intention of seeing whether she was suffering with fever. Instead, I was pulled inside her mind and found myself standing in a strange house, unlike anything I had seen in this world. It was dark and raining outside and I wondered if this was her world. Then, I saw Millicent a few meters in front of me in a small room with a kind of metal bathtub. She was leaning over the body of a young man, similar in age to Millicent. Thick, crimson blood dripped from his wrists into a puddle on the floor and Millicent was crying hysterically, desperately trying to revive him.

Shortly after, I was pulled out of the vision and decided to nudge Millicent, to bring her out of that nightmare. Her eyes opened and her pupils were dilated, clearly still in panic after suffering such a vivid fright. Then, and much to my surprise, her first reaction upon noticing my presence was to use her arm as a weapon aimed right at me but I grabbed it mid-air and mumbled an elvish incantation my father taught me. Finally, Millicent calmed down and came out of her sleep-state. When she saw me this time, her eyes flickered in surprised but she did not try to hit me. Instead, she looked around her, as if to make sure she was in the right place.

"What happened?" she asked cautiously

"I heard you screaming from nightmares." I replied "I came to see that you were alright."

Millicent exhaled an exasperated sigh and buried her face in her hands. She was clearly frustrated and I was not entirely certain if it was because of my presence or the dreams themselves.

"Who is Charles?" I asked "You spoke his name in your sleep."

Even though she was not aware, I heard her heart beating fast at the mention of Charles' name and it made me more curious. Millicent looked away and I knew then that this was clearly a sensitive subject.

"Nobody." she lied, but I decided to keep my questions to myself. I also decided it was probably wise to not let her know that I had seen her dreams. "Thank you, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. I think I'm just going to try and go back to sleep."

I nodded and got up from the bed, filled with more questions that I had before. Everyone had their secrets and it seemed as though whoever Charles was, caused Millicent a great deal of pain. I was surprised, because humans were usually bad at hiding their feelings, but from our first meeting, Millicent struck me as a woman of strong mind and someone who was able to hold herself together. I stood at the threshold of the bedroom and turned around to her, thinking a few words of comfort might make her feel better.

"You are safe in these halls," I assured her "Nothing here can harm you."

Then, she asked a question that surprised even me.

"What about, Lord Thranduil?" Millicent wondered "Are you safe?"

Was I safe? A question I had never been asked by others before and in my mind, I knew that there were no answers I could give that would satisfy her. Not even the truth.

"I shall leave that to you to decide." I simply told her before leaving the bedroom, wondering what to do with this new information.

To be continued…..

There we are! A short-ish chapter, but I wanted to explore the side of Thranduil that does have magic and can probably see into other's minds, just like Elrond and Galadriel. Who is Charles? Is Thranduil going to tell Millie that he saw her dream? What will happen when she does? Let me know what you think and if you have ideas of what you want to happen, do let me know!