A/N: Cameron and the dwarves get captured by a certain white-haired, cold elf. Will they escape in time?

Chapter Text

Speaking of a cold welcome. First those ugly, horrible spiders, and now this?

We'd barely left Beorn's home when Gandalf left us, claiming he had things to take care of. I'd seen him talk worriedly about certain things with both Radagast the Brown and Lord Elrond, so I had a feeling it wasn't just something, but the dwarves weren't happy with him leaving. Mirkwood was absolutely awful.

A strange fog hangs in the air, and it clouds our minds. In no time, I'm pretty sure I don't see the path anymore, and we're terribly lost, despite Thorin claiming otherwise. Everyone mutters the most random things, including Dwalin admitting he has pink hearts on his pyjamas at home and that he misses them terribly. I don't know what's going on, but my magic is on high alert, surrounding my body in a hue of white light without me choosing to. I think it's protecting me from the weird fog that has everyone acting out. Unfortunately, at one point I realize everyone's disappeared, and that I'm all alone, terribly worried. I'm taken by surprise by the giant spider that attacks me, and my heart stops at the sight of it. It bit me before I could do anything, so I ended up wrapped up into a cocoon like the other dwarves. If it weren't for Bilbo, we would've all been eaten. Bad thing was that straight after us escaping the spiders, we were attacked by even more, and the elves saved us, only to capture us. So far for protecting the line of Durin, I guess.

"I thought elves were nice." I mutter underneath my breath, sighing deeply.

"Now ya see why we don't like 'em." Dwalin grunts out, walking in front of me, chained. All of us were in chains, although Thorin had made a big fuss about them how 'chaining up an innocent lady was beyond disrespect and showed a lack of honour', which had earned him a harsh shove from one of them.

"Yeah." I say sadly.

"Silence!" One of the elves snarls, the one holding me tightening his grip on my arm, probably even bruising it. I wince in pain, causing the dwarves to protest loudly.

Soon enough, we're led through giant gates, the doors closing behind us with a heavy sound. Mirkwood was an underground kingdom, small bridges and high ceilings and even more stairs creating an open feeling. It was beautiful, and I'm sure I would've even enjoyed being here if it weren't for these elves. What had happened that made them so different from Lord Elrond and his folk? We're led through a pair of doors, and a grand staircase leads us to a throne. My lungs fail me when my eyes fall upon the King that's sitting on it, casually waiting for us. His hair is longer than my own, straight and silky and white, hair that's brighter than the stars, a berry crown adorning his head. His pale, very defined face holds a pair of blue eyes colder than ice, lips rosy and drawing attention. He's dressed in the most beautiful, dark red gown I've ever seen, everything about his looks to his casual pose screaming 'royalty', and I think I've finally found someone who can match the beauty of Thorin Oakenshield.

"Send those dwarves to the dungeons. Oakenshield stays." He speaks up coldly, not even acknowledging us. The elf who had previously been holding me gives me a shove in the back. I yelp in pain, fire coursing through my injury as I drop to my knees, unable to take the sudden pain.

"CAMERON!" Thorin booms, worry filling his voice.

"Hey! Yer' not hurtin' her, ya' hear me?!" Dwalin yells, equally worried, throwing a fit. There's an outraged roar that escapes his lips as he simply grabs the two elves holding him and swings them away. He makes his way over to me, and the elf holding me lets go in pure fear, begging Dwalin not to hurt him.

"Yer' okay, lass?" Dwalin asks me, completely ignoring the elf.

"I-I'm fine." I whisper, hearing the other dwarves shouting profanities, Thorin being the loudest of them all.

"SILENCE." The King elf raises his voice, and it's enough to make the entire room turn silent. I turn my head towards him, freezing up when I realize his icy blue eyes are focused on me. Slowly, he rises from his throne, descending the steps and walking over to me with elegant, predatory steps.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Thorin shouts, but I'm too scared to look away from the elf that's approaching me, Dwalin being taken again, this time by three elves.

"Stand up, little one." He orders when he reaches my side, voice surprisingly gentle. I try to get up on my own, but he places a hand underneath my elbow when I don't move fast enough, helping me up with ease. Once I'm standing, I nearly shake at the sight of him looking down at me like that.

"You're injured. Did one of my soldiers cause this?" he then asks, voice soft and deep.

"No. I was already wounded when we were taken here." I admit, shaking my head. He hums at it.

"What happened, then?" He asks after a moment, giving me a curious look. I glance over to the others, who were looking at me with worry. I couldn't tell him about our journey, otherwise we had no chance of ever getting out.

"We were surprised by orcs on the road." I say instead, trying to be as vague as possible.

"Really? And what were you doing on the road?" He persists, raising one thick eyebrow at me.

"We're merchants, My Lord." I lie smoothly, the words rolling off my lips before I can think them through.

"Oh, is that so? Then where is your merch?" He asks subtly. He knew I was lying.

"As I told you before, we were surprised by orcs. They took or destroyed everything we had on us, including my spine." I state, pulling off my most convincing look. I even whimper at the pain that flies up my spine when I move my shoulders slightly. His eyes narrow at it.

"I do recognize a liar when I see one, human. Do you think me a fool?" I freeze up at the words, seeing the iciness in his blue eyes. They were so much colder than Thorin's.

"Do you know who I am?" the Elf asks after a moment, looking down on me.

"It doesn't matter who you are." I bring out, trying to be strong, for the company, for Thorin. If he knew who I was, if I didn't have to save my strength instead of using my magic, things would've been very different.

"But it does. You see, I'm the one who decides over the lives of you and your friends." He says, an smile curling around his lips. I simply stare at him, refusing to look away from his intimidating stare.

"I'm King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm. From now on, all of you are my prisoners." My heart freezes at his words, panic filling me. Oh no.

"Take them all to the dungeons. Except for the so-called King, we still need to have a little chat. Oh, and the girl is to be taken to the infirmary, Tauriel." He then orders, walking away from me. I flash Thorin a helpless look, as I want nothing more than to stay with them, but the others are dragged away nonetheless. I'm surprised when the captain of the guard, Tauriel, as King Thranduil called her, gently places a hand on my arm, leading me out of the room. Tauriel is downright beautiful, with long auburn hair and a gorgeous face. I'd caught Kili staring at her too, which I would've enjoyed terribly if it weren't the fact that we'd just been captured by her and her elven guard.

"Are you okay?" She asks after a moment of us walking. I'm surprised by that, and by how kind she sounds. I would've thought she wouldn't say a word, like the others.

"I'm fine. That guard just pushed me, otherwise you wouldn't have noticed a thing." I mutter, rather annoyed that I was being separated from the others.

"You were walking slower than the others on your way here already, I noticed you were injured. But he shouldn't have pushed you. I'll have to have a word with him." She admits, a stern look on her face. I'm surprised by it.

"So, merchants, huh?" She then asks, and I glance up at her to find a tiny smile playing across her lips.

"What about it?" I ask innocently.

"Merchants know how to pass through Mirkwood. They even carry official documents with them to show King Thranduil, which they always do." She says, smug. I sigh at it. So far for being a good liar.

"We're here." Tauriel explains as she opens a door for me, making me walk inside. She leads me through a large hall, several beds placed on either side of the room. There's no one there, but she still continues to lead me through the room, to where there's a door leading to a hallway with doors on either side. She opens the last one on the left, and leads me inside. It was a rather decent room, with a bed that was probably way too big for me opposite the door, a bedside table, a closet against the left wall and a door on the right, leading to a tiny bathroom.

"You should get some rest. I'll send a healer to check up on you soon." Tauriel says kindly, then leaves the room. I hear the door lock. Still a prison after all, then. Suddenly feeling exhausted indeed, I walk over to the bed and let myself drop onto it. I immediately fall asleep.