A/N: Oh look! Another update! Thank you again for the reviews! I hope you're finding the fic enjoyable, I have some more ideas now and roughly know what direction to take this in. This time we get to explore what Millie is thinking and feeling. Also, I want to know what you think about the pacing - is it too slow, too fast or just enough? Would you guys like longer chapters or is this length fine? Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

Disease

I'd be lying if I said seeing Thranduil in my bedroom was a total shock. He'd done nothing but avoid me since my arrival and now suddenly he was concerned about my wellbeing? Shaping an opinion on the woodland king was proving to be a difficult task because he was difficult to read. Purposely so, no doubt. That said, dreaming about Charlie caught me off guard because it has been a while since I've seen his face in my sleep. I used to be afraid of seeing those dark brown eyes, but now they're just memories. I wasn't going to let this episode affect me though and I certainly didn't want Thranduil to think something was wrong with me or that they had to babysit me. I wasn't quite sure why, but for some reason, I'd decided to not let the king's grumpy demeanour phase me and if I were to stay here long time, I wanted to be useful somehow. I didn't simply want to take advantage of the elves' hospitality, because regardless of the king, everyone else had been very kind to me. Aerin, the young maid, brought me hot meals every day and always stayed for a chat.

My second surprise during those first few weeks in Mirkwood, came when I asked Aerin about her age. Rather foolishly, I'd assumed she was around my age, give or take a few years. I have never been so wrong and I'm sure my chin must have hit the floor when she told me that she was, in fact, two thousand years old. I had a hunch that magic was as real in this world, as science in mine but I could never have fathomed that elves were literally immortal. Back home, scientists have been trying to find proof of immortality for thousands of years without any luck. Somehow, elves were simply born with it.

Nobody back home would ever believe me.

I tried to find some sort of routine to avoid going completely crazy. For a few days after Gwydion's injury, I visited him in the infirmary to re-dress his wound and after I was done, we would talk. He asked me questions about my home and I asked him about Middle-Earth. The things he told me were fascinating. A few years ago, there had been a great war against someone called Sauron who wanted to take over all of Middle-Earth. Elves, men, dwarves and other races allied and fought against him and somehow, they won. From Gwydion's retelling, Sauron sounded like some sort of demon born within the shadows of everything bad in the world. He also told me thatThranduil's son, Prince Legolas, had been part of a fellowship whose quest was to destroy the one weapon Sauron sought more than anything. It all sounded like some sort of fantastical fairytale to me but I knew it was all true.

Wars were terrible things that destroyed the lives of innocent people. It broke up families and tore lovers away from each other. Wars destroyed the innocence of childhood and left behind an emptiness that nothing could fill.

Nothing at all.

I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if we lost the war? What would become of all those soldier boys who thought the cause was worth dying for? I thought of the young boy in the hospital wing on the night of the bombs.

Was there a Middle-Earth waiting for them too?

"Millicent, I'm afraid I must ask a favour from you."

On my third week in Mirkwood, I sat at the desk in my bedroom, writing down journal notes and practicing drawing when I heard Hallath's voice. I immediately knew something was wrong, because his gaze darted across the room almost as if he was afraid to meet mine. The tone in his voice suggested a matter of urgency and I wondered if somebody else had been injured.

"Please call me, Millie." I told him "I'm only Millicent when I'm in trouble."

Hallath responded with a nod and then closed the door behind him so that the conversation was kept private. I was both intrigued and mildly concerned. If he specifically wanted a favour from me, it had to do with medicine somehow and if he didn't want anyone else to hear about it, it must be something serious that they wanted to keep quiet. I assumed that if it had to do with the elves, there would be whispers going around Mirkwood by now and as Aerin had told me, elves were immortal so while they got injured, they never got sick.

"Did something happen in that city….Dale was it?" I asked

"How can you know?" Hallath replied "I have yet to tell you anything?"

"Is it a disease? Who's sick?"

"Lady Signe's youngest daughter, Astrid. She has been suffering with a fever for a few days, and it will not go down. This morning, she was struggling to wake up. They sent someone for our aid, but truthfully, I think this is not something elvish medicine can heal. There was also an elderly woman, a friend who has been showing similar symptoms."

"What other symptoms does she have?"

"Difficulties with breathing and chills. You have seen this before?"

I hadn't specifically seen it before, but I had heard of it. Some twenty-years ago, when I was only a little girl, the Spanish Flu swept across the globe at a terrifying rate, killing millions of people. Of course, there wasn't a reason for concern just yet if young Astrid was the only one sick, but as far as I could tell, Middle-Earth hadn't developed modern medicine and there were no hospitals. If there was a possible outbreak of a pandemic, I wasn't qualified to deal with it alone. I was a nurse, not a doctor, but I couldn't just let people be sick.

"Yes, but I was only a child." I explained "It was called the Spanish Flu and it spread very quickly. Although, we shouldn't jump to conclusions, she could just be a sick child."

"Can you help?" Hallath asked "I saw you heal Gwydion, I know you are talented. I mean not to be insulting, but you are also human and they would trust you more than they trust us."

"What does the king say?"

Hallath's gaze shifted again and I raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't know?" I assumed "Hallath, I'm not sure I'm comfortable going behind his back. I don't think he would take it well."

"You would not be going behind back." Hallath assured me "You would be doing me a personal favour. It is in our best interest to keep good relations with Dale because they help us keep good relations with the dwarves of Erebor."

Ah, I thought, the dwarves. I hadn't really touched on that subject over the past few weeks but for some reasons, the Mirkwood elves did not like the dwarves of Erebor. Or rather, King Thranduil did not like them. From what I'd heard, dwarves were greedy, jealous and cared only for those of their own kin. But, apparently King Fili was married to a human, which seemed strange to me but if that was the case, then clearly they also cared for others. But what did I know? I was still getting used to this world and all its strangeness. I grabbed my satchel bag and placed a few things in it. A few days earlier, I had asked if there were poppy flowers in the wood and when I described them to Hallath, he'd sent some of his men out to find them. I knew just about enough of the basics behind morphine to use poppy if I ran out of the actual liquid in my own vial.

I had barely spent any time outside since arriving in Mirkwood. Truthfully, I'd been frightened to venture out alone because if there were giant spiders that could kill an immortal being, then what other evils lurked in the shadows? On rare occasions, when Hallath was doing his evening patrol, I went with him for the sake of getting some fresh air in my lungs. Mirkwood was a strange forest though and the skies were covered by the giant tree canopies.

Seeing something new would be good for me, I decided. And with that, I grabbed my bag and left my bedroom with Hallath.

Dale was unlike anything I had expected. In my mind, I pictured a small medieval village from one of my school history textbooks but the reality was quite different. The City of Dale was a bustling hub. Even in the early hours of morning, men and women were setting up their stalls getting ready for a busy day of trading no doubt. Hallath explained that before the dragon Smaug (I almost choked when he said the word dragon) claimed Erebor as his, Dale was a proud city. The dragon destroyed much of it and its people were forced to flee to a place they called Lake Town. Nearly 70 years ago, a company of dwarves along with Gandalf the Wizard, something called a hobbit and apparently two humans went on a quest to reclaim the mountain. Against all odds they succeeded, but their king died. Hallath explained that Fili, who was now kind of Erebor, was the nephew of the old king. I had so many questions, one of them included more details on what specifically a hobbit was and why humans would help dwarves take back their home but that was for a later time.

Breathing the fresh air of the valley filled my lungs with relief and I was glad to see that there indeed was something else in this world other than Mirkwood. Dale reminded me a little bit of Fleet Street in London with its busy atmosphere. I had been given some clothes by the elves, because they thought it best not to wear my normal clothes. It made sense, I suppose, because I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself. That said, I still saw people looking strangely at me because apparently it was rare to see a human in elven clothing. I ignored their mumblings and eventually, we arrived at a large wooden house with intricate carvings on the door. Some sort of old language I couldn't read but it reminded me a little bit of norse runes. Hallath was about to knock on the door but it already opened. A teenage boy stood in front of us, he was maybe sixteen or seventeen years old, skinny, had short brown hair and wide amber eyes. At first, he looked at me skeptically, but when he saw Hallath, he stepped aside and invited us in.

I had never seen a house quite like this before. It had two floors and the first one consisted of what I assumed was a large lounge of sorts. I could see a kitchen further down the corridor and then there was a staircase leading upstairs, where I assumed the bedrooms were.

"Where is she, Galen?" Hallath asked

"She's upstairs, come quickly." said Galen and ran ahead upstairs.

Galen led us to a large bedroom, where a young girl lay on the bed. A woman in her late 30s sat on the edge of the bed, wiping the girl's forehead with a wet cloth. Given their similar brown hair, square shaped face and dimples, it was obviously her mother - Lady Signe. The moment she saw us, she sized me up and down, her frown showing the same skepticism as her son had shown only moments earlier.

"I thought you were bringing a healer?" Signe said sharply, "Who is she?"

"She is called Millie." I calmly explained "I am a trained nurse and Hallath asked me to help you."

"But you are no elf!"

"You must be an excellent leader with such clear vision."

I hadn't meant to be sassy, it was a bad force of habit but I loathed people who assumed things about me. From the corner of my eye and to my surprise, I saw Hallath trying to hold back laughter. Lady Signe remained silent while she tried to make up her mind about me, but finally she stood up and gestured for me to have a look at her daughter. Even under the light cotton sheet, young Astrid was radiating heat like a brick right out of the oven. I listened to her chest, which sounded a little tight but the main problem was the fever.

"How long has she been like this?" I asked

"Since yesterday," Signe replied "The fever has steadily been getting worse, I cannot break it."

"No, because you're only keeping her forehead cold. I need more towels and cloth. We need to keep her armpits cool and her groin. She also needs fluid intake, water or tea of some kind. Galen, can you get those things for me?"

Galen nodded and then hurried downstairs, leaving me only with Signe, Astrid and Hallath.

When Galen returned with the towels and water, I asked him to take Hallath to the other sick woman. I explained exactly what they had to do and that I would come and see her myself after I was done caring for Astrid. I must have spent hours changing towels to make sure the temperature wasn't rising, while her mother made sure she kept drinking so she didn't suffer from dehydration. Signe and I said nothing to each other for those first couple of hours. She let me do my work and she helped when I asked her. I could tell she was an authoritative woman who wasn't used to having her voice challenged. It was easy to see why Thranduil didn't much care for her and I wondered what the king would say if he was here now.

Wait…

Why did I care about Thranduil's opinions? I wasn't doing this for him, I was doing this as a favour to Hallath who had become a good friend in the short while I'd been in Mirkwood. Which is less than what you could say for the woodland king who stayed hiding behind clothes doors. I was certainly grateful for Thranduil's hospitality, but I didn't need to prove anything to him. His lack of trust towards me or anyone else, was his problem to deal with.

Yet, in my mind I wondered if it wasn't lonely to be so reclusive.

In the late afternoon, we finally made some progress and when I placed my hand on Astrid's forehead, I could feel a drop in temperature. When I showed Signe, she exhaled a relieved sigh which she must have been holding in for the past twenty-four hours. If we were lucky, the fever would keep dropping and by morning, Astrid should feel much better.

"I must ask, are you truly a friend of the elves?" Signe asked as she passed me a tankard with warm herbal tea, while we sat on the steps outside. "Of King Thranduil?"

"I'm not sure anyone is really a friend of Thranduil." I replied "Certainly not if the king can help it."

To my surprise, Signe burst out laughing and even more surprisingly, I found myself joining her. Perhaps my first impression of Lady Signe was wrong and she seemed to have come to the same conclusion about me. f It was so good to just let out of all the pressure and stress of the past few weeks and talk to another woman. Another human.

"You are different from other women I have met." Signe noted "You speak and carry yourself differently. No doubt his Majesty finds that intimidating. Why do you stay there?"

"My home is very far away." I said "Worlds away some might say. I don't have anywhere else to go. Hallath and his guards saved me and the king told me I could stay until I find a way home."

"And how will you do that?"

"There's apparently a wizard who can help, but nobody knows his whereabouts."

The thought of Gandalf made me a little sad, because that last time I brought up the subject with Hallath, he told me that there was still no progress tracking him down. However, now that I knew there were other people and places nearby that wasn't just the Mirkwood palace, things felt a little better and I was doing some good by helping out.

"You mean Gandalf?!" Signe exclaimed "We haven't seen him in these parts for years, but I hear he is a personal friend to King Fili and Queen Maggie, perhaps you could speak with them?"

"Something tells me that maybe Gandalf doesn't want to be found." I replied "But the elves have been very gracious with their hospitality and I've made some friends. It's not all bad."

"And now you have some more friends. You are always welcome here, Millie."

Signe squeezed my hand and I felt a little flustered by the kindness. I then noticed Hallath and Galen returning, with what I hoped was good news regarding the old woman. I'd been so busy focusing on Astrid that I assumed Hallath and Galen were doing well by themselves with my instructions. Their faces however, told me a completely different story altogether and my heart sank. Hallath saw the sadness in my eyes and he nodded, as if to confirm my suspicions.

"We could not save her." Hallath explained "She was already old and the fever was strong. I am truly sorry."

It was my fault.

I was so busy making friends that I let my guard down and somebody else died because of it.

"Millicent? Are you alright?" Hallath asked "You look very pale."

Elves had a knack for pointing out the obvious.

"Yes, I'm fine." I lied

I wasn't fine though. Not at all.

And I knew for a fact that Thranduil would not be happy about this.

To be continued….

That was a slightly longer chapter than usual. I think I'm finding their voices. What did you think? Were Millie's interactions natural? Has she made a friend in Lady Signe? What will happen next?