Cold travelled through her veins in a chilled rush, the air suddenly thicker to inhale as the elegant bedchamber slowly came back to focus. For a second she did not know what to think, what to feel, and she doubted if she had really wanted to know what she had just seen. Before her, the King sat as straight and royal as ever, a powerful figure in all of his glory, the perfect incarnation of an enchanting serene cold beauty. It was as if he had not seen the memory that he had just shown her, as if nothing had even happened. Blue eyes stared steadily at her as precious and cold as sapphires, vacant, unfeeling, simply stunning beauty to be contemplated only to stare back at her own reflection on those impenetrable orbs. It could not be true. The vision she had just seen simply could not be true. But there was no reassurance in her father's cold and impenetrable gaze.
"No." He lips whispered like a breathless breeze. She suddenly remembered the frantic look the Kings eyes had had that night on the Crown Prince's bedchamber, when poison had just been discovered in Arahaelon's wound. Had he thought then that his firstborn son would die? That his vision would finally come to pass? And then, there was the fiery argument that she had witnessed between the Crown Prince and Tadion only some days ago, words that had just seemed an angry fight between distressed brother's suddenly seeming much more powerful, much deep. "You will never be half the King Adar is" Tadion had said, and even though his voice had dripped the venom from his poisonous rage, she now wondered if his utter despair and regret after saying those words could have something to do with the vision she had just witnessed. Did her brother's know? Did Arahaelon know that his days were probably counted? Did Tadion know that although he was not the Crown Prince of Mirkwood, he was the heir to the Crown?
Suddenly, a rush of irrational fear engulfed her from within, a fear she could not quite understand. Arahaelon could not die. He simply could not. Merely some months ago she had not even known of his existence, and now, suddenly, the thought of the Mirkwood Palace without him seemed awfully frightening. The fragments simply did not seem to fit inside her head. The Crown Prince was always so…so steady, so powerful and calm, seeming so wise and mysterious, emerald eyes that looked at her without giving away the slightest hint of what he was thinking. He had always made her feel so young next to him, like a child next to this noble presence. He could not die….it was simply….wrong.
"The future is not set in stone." Her father's calmed voice spoke, as if he had read the direction on her thoughts, and for a moment she did not know if the reassurance was for her or for himself. She merely nodded her head, willing her strength to remain steady, to not dwell over something that had not yet come to pass.
"Do they know?" She spoke again, surprised at the serene sound of her controlled voice, forest green eyes fixed on her father's ice blue ones, staring at his perfectly calmed marble face.
"I have not told them, is that is what you are asking." A gentle hand brushed a strand of golden hair from hair as the emotionless voice continued to speak. "And yet sometimes I think they somehow know. Arahaelon especially. Tadion…Tadion is an open book." His lips curved up in a faint smile as he spoke, just to face into a thin line only a second after as he continued "But Arahaelon…Sometimes I feel as if I know for sure what exactly is going through his mind, and other times I feel as if I will never know what exactly he is thinking. And yet sometimes I get the impression that he knows about the vision, even if he keeps it quiet."
She nodded her head, not finding anything to say as she saw the King's thoughtful eyes suddenly lighten up with a small smile before he continued speaking.
"You are a lot like him in that sense, did you know? … A lot like me. You look just like your mother, but when you speak it is me I see. Sometimes you are an open book, but deep inside I can never tell what you really are thinking. Except when something displeases you…then you become Alarya once again."
She let out short laugh at his words, her lips mirroring her father's smile, even thought it only lasted a short moment. It felt strange to be told these things, strange to hear that she resembled this royal and powerful elf in any way, but it felt nice to hear.
"Do you miss her?" She kicked herself mentally the second the question left her lips, cursing herself for not thinking it through before asking such a thing, wishing she could take it back. To her slight surprise, the faint smile did not fade from his flawless face, but is suddenly lost all of its warmth, looking empty, an emotionless mask, sapphire eyes looking in another direction.
"Every day." His voice was once again flat, his ice blue eyes seeming to be lost in his thoughts.
"I am sorry." She added almost immediately, as if trying to apologize for her thoughtless question, but to her surprise, the King's priercing eyes turned to look straight into hers, no longer a hard impenetrable mask, but once again soft and unguarded, a faint yet real smile playing on his flawless face.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, my child." His gentle hand carefully cupped her cheek as she smiled in return, and just for a fragment of a second, through calmed soft eyes she could see in their sapphire depths a glint of pain and grief from a wound that had never really healed.
"Could I ask you to do something for me?" The gentle request caught her unexpectedly, and she remained silent for a second, frozen under the soft skylight gaze. She then nodded her head, not even thinking it before saying yes.
"You do not have to comply." Her father added, and it felt overly strange to be given the power to say no to the King's request, and for second she caught a glimpse of hesitation in his eyes as he spoke, a thing that she had never even dreamed of seeing in that impenetrable powerful gaze. "I know it may be too much to ask, so do not feel as if you have to answer me, Almarëa. I was simply…wondering if…you remembered anything of what happened that day, when Alarya…passed?"
The sapphire eyes staring at hers had crystalized in a thousand hard ice fractals, as impenetrable and cold as stunningly beautiful mirrors, the previously gentle face once a gain a heavenly crafted marble statue, flawless, perfect, royal, with no trace of emotion except for the cold steady serenity that seemed to emanate from this powerful figure, suddenly making her feel as if she were staring at him from below his tall throne. Once again the most stunning picture of elegance, power, and cold beauty.
"I do remember some things, although only bits and pieces." Her voice sounded weak as she spoke, but sure, her own eyes trying in vain to see through the thick frozen glaze that covered her father's previously soft eyes, but she could see nothing. For a second, she wondered if this is how the mighty King of Mirkwood looked to all of those who met at the throne for the first time, to all of those who entered his realm only to be questioned, and for a moment she pitied all of those who found themselves in that situation, happy to know that she was his daughter and therefore whatever she could possibly say now would never bring harm to her. And so she spoke. "They are only fragments…incoherent images, but I do remember there to be a fight, and…many screams."
"Did you see her die? DO you have any recollection of that?" The King's voice danced in the air like iced flurries, so cold and calmed and yet so oddly beautiful, making shivers run down her spine at how frightening such a melodic voice could sound, and she wondered if that too was a mask…a very well executed and practiced mask.
"Yes." She could not longer tell form where she was gathering the courage to keep speaking, but she did. "I do not exactly remember seeing her die, but I remember seeing her body."
"Show me, please."
The new request caught her entirely by surprise, and for a second she felt about to say no, determined not to show her father the image that would most certainly only hurt him. It did not hurt her, none of those images did, there simply that, images engraved in her mind from which she did not remember a single feeling, a single emotion. She had been too young to remember feeling anything, and even though it did saddened her to see so many dead elves, and wished more than anything that she could have properly known her mother, that se remembered anything from her, she did not. Of course the image of her mother's body saddened her, but strangely enough it did not hurt her, she did not feel the pain of loss whenever she remembered it, and she knew that that was only because it is hard to miss someone she did not know. But could she really show that image of her mother's lifeless body to the person that it would most certainly haunt the most?
"Please, show me." Her father insisted in that same calmed tone, as he could easily read her hesitation even though she could read nothing in his perfectly composed expression. "I want to finally know what happened to my wife."
She nodded her head, suddenly defeated by those simple words, and without really understanding how she was doing it, she proceeded to share the short recollection of memories with her father. She grasped at his arm, feeling as if she needed some sort of contact for doing it, even though she had seen the King and Arahaelon show her memories from distance, without any direct contact, but this was the first time she tried this. Surprisingly enough it felt natural to her, as if she only had to retrieve those specific images form her mind and play them before her eyes once more, and she was not sure how she knew but she knew that he too was looking at them.
And there it was again, the collection of images that she had thought forgotten, once more flying before her very eyes, like a scene she remembered only from vision, as she had never really lived through it. The images were blurry, some of them nearly unrecognizable as every once in a while part of the scene came into focus. Sounds were the most vivid of the memory, the agonizing cries tearing through the afternoon forest with a terrifying echo, most of them were screams, the scene was chaos. She could distinguish figures among the images, figures dressed in long elegant cloaks, moving too rapidly for her to focus entirely on them, black, monstrous creatures jumping at them from every angle, horses running around crazily, lacking any kind of order. Blood had started to pool at the spinning ground, both black and crimson mixing together in a single bath of death.
More screams tore through the dying air, and her vision shifted, as if suddenly pulled to one side. The elves were starting to disperse, the orcs coming at them far too quickly for their perfectly structured protective circle to remain steady. The images were cut, skipping pieces, focusing and focusing before her eyes, nothing was really clear.
"My Lady!" She could see one of the many guards screaming, sword slashing fiercely through one of the foul creatures as his hands searched desperately to take hold of the reins of a beautiful white horse, pulling almost frantically to the side, trying to get it out of the heart of the battle.
A slim, delicate figure sat on the horse's back, fine strands of golden hair falling loose underneath the hood of a long deep green cloak, the golden and silver embroidery at the hem the most beautiful ones her eyes had ever seen. The Lady looked frantically to her sides, scared emerald eyes wide with the horror that plagued her otherwise flawless alabaster face. She could see her delicate arms pressing a bundle of silk blankets close to her chest, as if guarding her burden with her very life, trying her best to doge the flying arrows and swinging swords. The guard continued to desperately guide the horse, other guards starting a new attempt to form a circle around their Lady but the orcs were too far in. the image blurred, an orc suddenly slammed against the guard holding the reins, the Lady screamed, the horse rose on its rear legs in fright and the figures merged together the Lady falling brutally to the ground, her arms still tightly held around the bundle of blankets, ducking low on the bloodied ground, trying desperately to find an escape.
It was hard to keep track of what was happening, the fight was too chaotic, elves and orcs slamming against each other in a merciless blood bath. She tired to focus on the Lady, her mind remembering things that she herself had not known she remembered. The Lady remained on the ground, trying nearly in vain to dodge the horses that ran almost widely now, the heavy boots that slumped next to her, narrowly missing her. The fine velvet hood had now completely fallen from her head, revealing her long golden hair, stained with mud and blood equally as strands continued to cascade free from her neat braids. She saw the Lady attempt to stand, using one of her delicate pale hands to push herself as quickly as she could, her other arm still pressing the bundle of blankets as close to her chest as possible, the guards trying in vain to go to her aid. And then, too fast for her to even see it, a thick metal boot hit the Lady's face on the way, the orc not even stopping to see what he had hit, sending the Lady rolling to the ground once more, a faint thread of scarlet blood running down the side of her head, just above her pointed ear.
But the Lady did not stop, not seeming to have even noticed the blood dripping down her head, or the new tear in her bottom lip, her hands already pressing on the bloodied mud, trying to crawl away from the battle almost desperately, a new fire and determination sparkling in her terrorized emerald eyes, the baby still held in one of her arms. She could see the many pearl and emerald bracelets on the Lady's thin wrist being brutally broken as another metal boot landed firmly on her hand, no doubt breaking her fragile bones, the previous jewels now stained and forgotten on the mud, underneath a large and brutal orc footprint. The Lady screamed, but the sound went deaf in the cries of the battle. More and more bodies continued to fall, and even now she could see that there would be no escape for the elves, they were largely outnumbered.
And then, almost to her relief, one of guards still standing managed to get to the struggling Lady, the elf moving almost frantically, desperately, blue eyes holding the same determination that she had seen in the Lady's emerald ones. And then, to her wildest shocks and horrors, as soon as he reached his Lady, the guard did last thing she had been expecting him to do. Determined, firm, seeming to be willing to give even the last bit of his strength, the guard took the child from the Lady's wearing arms, the Lady not even protesting , handing her child away as the guard moved as quickly as possible, not even turning back to gaze at his Lady, or helping her stand or get out of the battle. No. It was as if both, the guard and the Lady had only one objective in mind: to get the child to safety. And so, perplexed, she watched as the already injured guard quickly but carefully placed the child….her….in the crease of a thick tree root, hidden underneath thick bushes.
A tortured scream tore through the air, her eyes catching the distorting image of the Lady being held by the wrists by a foul creature, the few guards fighting around her no longer turning to help her, all of them succumbing to their own injuries. And then, too quickly for her to see it, but too clearly for her to forget it, she watched as a blade was struck in the middle of the Lady's delicate figure, the orc letting her drop ungracefully tot eh ground, ripping the blade from her flesh in a single harsh move. And through the edge of her vision she caught the blurry sight of the guard who had managed to hide her being slain by another orc, the battle slowly fading into silence, the few standing elves managing to bring the orcs down with them in their last breath.
And then, it was silent. The afternoon sky tainted in red as if to mourn the brutal massacre, the still, lifeless bodies dropped emptily on the bloodied ground. Not the slightest of breezes blew, even the trees refused to sway. And there it was, the image that she remembered the most vividly, the one that showed the most clearly. Many elves and orcs lay dead on the ground, and there thrown among the departed souls lay a beautiful Lady, the folds of her fine green cloak having fallen open to reveal her stunning white dress, only a few of the sapphires that had embellished the intricate embroidery still handing from loose threads. Inert golden hair lay splattered underneath a gorgeous face, like dull halo that had lost all of its lush and brightness, stained with dirt and blood. She did not look at the blood that still flowed from the Lady's middle, did not look at the gash on her pale high cheekbone. All she could see was her hollow emerald eyes, glazed in a never ending sleep, open and staring sightlessly at the red darkening sky, empty, all life already gone from them.
And then it was over, the image fading from her eyes as the elegant bedchamber began to focus once more, her hand let go of her father's arm. For a second she did not dare raise her eyes, scared of what she would find in the King's face, suddenly hopping that it would still be as calmed, cold, and composed as before, preferring to see his expression emotionless and his eyes impenetrable than displaying whatever it was he had felt at the images she had just shown him.
And yet, as she raised her eyes, the look in her father's ice blue eyes had not been anything she had been expecting. Sapphire eyes looked at her almost perplexed, not a hint of the pain or grief she had been expecting to see in them apparent in those crystal iced depths. He was looking at her curiously, strangely, and still there was an odd combination of puzzlement, shock and hopelessness in his eyes that she could not really place. And then, he spoke, the words the ones she had least been expecting to hear.
"That was not Alarya."
What? She was sure she failed to hide her bewilderment from her face, and she was about to protest, to say something, but her voice and words failed her. It had to be. It did not make sense. She had seen it. She had just seen her mother's flawless face, her long golden hair, her emerald eyes, the same color as her own. She opened her mouth, but no sound came, her eyes fixed on her father's silent ones.
"But that…" She started, shocked only to be cut by her father's perfectly serene voice.
"That was not your mother." He said again, his voice now sounding strangely defeated, as if his hopes of finally seeing what had become of his wife had been crushed. "I can tell you the name of that Lady, and she was not Alarya. She was holding you, but she was not your mother….she was not my wife."
But that could not be…the Lady had looked the same as the images of the Queen had she had seen in a few of her siblings memories…or did she simply look similar? It was hard to tell, the lifeless face form her memory was too stained in blood and dirt for her to make out the details of her features. But the King seemed sure. And then, she remembered the determined look in the Lady's eyes, the same look that had been on the guard's eyes, as if their utmost priority was to save the child…her…the guard not turning to help the Lady. Had the guard known then, that the Lady was not his Queen? Had the Lady simply been a distraction? But then where had the Queen really been? What had really happened to her mother?
"But then, why was she carrying me?" She spoke almost instantly, her words coming out as soon as she though of them. "She had to b-
"That was not Alarya!" The King snapped, his perfectly composed mask failing for a split second, pure torturing pain glazing in his eyes before they grew cold and steady once more, once again a perfect serene mask. And she understood that if there was someone who would be able to recognize the Queen anywhere, it would be him, just as she would be able to recognize Elladan no matter where he was or how he looked.
"I am sorry." He added in a softer tone, as if angry with himself from snapping at her shaking his head lightly.
"Then how do you know if she was there at all?" Her voice was barely audible as she spoke, not even bothering to think through her questions anymore, her need to have them answered too great for her to stop herself.
The faintest of smiles appeared on her father's marble face, the pain that she saw in it able to shred a thousand hearts. "Because she died that day."
He sounded so sure, giving her the answer so steadily that she did not doubt for a second his words, even if the Lady in her memories had not been her mother. But then again, she thought of the way she felt Elladan constantly with here, even at that moment, she could feel him through their bond, always there, always a part of her. Would she not know it instantly if something happened to him? Would she not know it instantly if she could suddenly no longer feel him? A shiver travelled down her spine at the thought, and she forced her mind into a different direction.
In front of her the King had leaned over the elegant bedside table, gracefully pulling open the top drawer, one of his hands retrieving something small from it before closing it again. And then, he extended his hand, dropping two tiny objects into her opened palm for her to see.
"This is all that was found." He said, his voice once again a peaceful quiet tone. "The bodies were nearly unrecognizable by the time the patrols reached them two days later. One of them was wearing those, but the face was no longer recognizable."
She lowered her emerald gaze to look at the objects in her opened palm, her heart freezing in sorrow as she clearly distinguished two gorgeous rings. One was bigger than the other, a precious diamond sparkling like startling over a crown of smaller ones, the delicate white gold band curling around it like the thinnest of branches. It was an engagement ring. The second one was a thin wedding band, as delicate and beautiful as the engagement ring itself. She could eve catch the thin glimpse of an inscription inside the smaller band, but could not read the neatly engraved elven characters.
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to look into the composed cold mask of her father, not finding anything to say as she placed the rings back into his waiting hand, the King immediately returning them to a small silver box inside the drawer.
Suddenly, before she even had time to think of anything to say, she was interrupted by the door being brutally thrown open, her eyes following the King's gaze that had already flown to the open door. Tadion stood there, rushing inside the room with wide alarmed eyes, not even bothering to look at the abused door that had hit the other side of the wall. She could hear a commotion outside in the hallway, but her eyes were too occupied looking at the worried Tadion to pay attention to the outside. The King seemed to have quickly picked up on his son's distressed state, already sitting straighter on the bed, underneath the fine feathered covers, ice blue eyes suddenly looking more powerful than ever, as if ready to jump at the slightest of indications.
"Ada!" Tadion's voice was rushed, as if trying to speak everything in the same breath, his eyes frightened, worried. "Lossenel is gone. Her entire room has been trashed, it is a mess, everything is broken. No one has seen her. No one can find her."
So Here is the next chapter! I hope this wait was not too long! Please let me know what you think! I adore reading your comments! I know I left a little suspense here haha I will try my best to make the wait short!
Again, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to those of you who reviewed my latest chapter! Really I can't never tell you how much I love you comments, and how much they really help when thinking of the story because you always point out things that make me think of another plot twist. So this story is as much part of your own imagination than mine!
Ithiliel Galieth, Peanut, Tintcalad, Martine9295, moonlightkiss1515, DeLacus, AmazingWriter123, Mary Elrondile, The Lead Mare, Jibril-Kadamon, LadyThunderstorm, mMy, Elves are awesome and my guest reviewer.
Ithiliel Galieth: haha don't kill me! As I wrote in this chapter nothing is set on stone. But I will not reveal whether or not Arahaelon will die as Thranduil saw in his vision. :P So happy to see that you like him so much!
Peanut: Really You have no IDEA how happy it makes me to hear that his is your favorite ff. It really has been very fun to write and I hope you continue to enjoy it! :D I hope the wait was not too long this time!
Tintcalad: I know! haha I suffered too as I wrote that part about baby Tadion. But he survived! And he will (hopefully) continue to live through many more chapters! ;)
Moonlightkiss: yes! The truth hurts…but it was time somebody told it…and there are still many truths to be uncovered yet. :)
DeLacus: :D I' sooooo happy that you find that the chapters always bring something interesting! I try to keep the story unpredictable and fun so that it is always interesting to read, but so that the events would make sense put together…if that makes any sense. :D Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
AmazingWriter123: Don't kill me! I know that Arahaelon is your favorite character! But I will repeat here what I wrote to Ithiliel Galieth, nothing is set in stone…maybe he will live…or maybe not…..I won't tell! Haha
Mary Elrondile: haha once again…maybe Rëa can change Ar's fate…and then again meybae she can't. I won't give any spoilers!
The Lead Mare: Oh my! Haha I'm a little scared to illing Ar now! :P As I said before I won't tell you whether he will die or not….haha I know, I know its like torture. You will just have to wait and see! ;)
Jibril-Kadamon: So happy to hear from you again! :D :D And sorry for the long wait!
What Thranduil showed her was a vision he had on the day of Tadion's birth. And there will be a love story with Arahaelon…I'm still debating whether to simply add it in this story or even making an entire new story with that for him…either way the stories will be tangled together and have events and things in common.
Lady Thunderstorm: I'm happy to know you liked that chapter! :D Yes, I know it was kind a shock to find out that Tadion had barely lived and that Ar would not survive to be King. But you will have to read and see what comes to happen of that vision!
mMy: I know the vision was sad…but I'm still overly happy to find out that you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless! :D
Elves are awesome: I'm sorry if its all getting confusing…hopefully this chapter or the coming ones will make things clearer…I know that there is a lot going on but I will try my best to keep things clear!
Martine9295: Well….I have nothing more to say to you that…this chapter is dedicated especially for you! :D :D :D :D Thank you for your wonderful reviews! You are such a WONDERFUL friend! :D :D
Love,
Elena