Emerald eyes pierced through hers, like sharp glass of forest green, impenetrable, hard, seeming to paralyze her in place as the silence of the night danced ghostly around. She had seen something she had not been supposed to see, and the blade sharp, sealed gaze of her eldest brother reminded her that she had not been welcome into those memories. It had been out of her control, but she had crossed a line uninvited. She could feel her heart hammering inside her chest, but her body felt like stone, unable to move, her mind swirling with thousands of new unanswered questions, thousands of new thoughts.

He had pulled her away from the attack. He had reached for her, and it had only taken that single second for the connection to happen. A cold wave of fear travelled down her spine like the brush of a cold clawed hand. It had been so easy, too easy. The moment the connection happened she had felt her own powers pulling at him almost instinctually, immediately, as if he could not offer any resistance at all, but she had fought against it with all of her strength. It should not have been this easy to pull at him. It had not been this easy with the King on the night she had reached for him days ago in his bedchambers. She had felt the need to pull then, the instinct telling her that she was the more powerful of the two spirits, that she could pull all of the life energy if she so desired, but even in his weakened state, her father's spirit had offered a greater resistance…but Arahaelon….he had been too easy to pull, so easy that she had not been able to pull away from the connection, and instead had reached his mind...

And then, there were the images, the one that she wished she could forget. She found it so hard to believe that those torturous yells, those screams, had come from the same Crown Prince she knew. Those cries would haunt her dreams in the darkest of nights, the loud words sounding tortured, desperate beyond anything she had heard. He had been completely beyond himself, and she did not need to be told with words to already guess why. Whatever had happened in that memory, it had been her. Arahaelon had shown her what had happened that day, long ago, when an accidental connection had resulted in her nearly killing him when she was nothing but a baby. And now she knew that what he had shown her had only been a fragment of the truth. Anger boiled inside her body to tangle with the puzzlement that now invaded her mind, and she somehow felt betrayed. Had he not trusted her to tell her the entire story of what had happened? Even more so, what exactly had happened that day?

And yet, she could feel some answers clicking inside her head, fragments of the unexplained puzzle falling together. But she did not want to believe what her mind was logically telling her. She could still see the image of a young looking Arahaleon standing with the King at the edge of the forest, could still see as the branches and leaves moved and stretched unnaturally under his concentrated emerald gaze…It had been his doing, not the King's. Images of the first time she had asked him about her powers flashed alongside his borrowed memory. It felt so long ago, when she had inquired about it inside his very own bedchambers, on the night after he had been poisoned. "Me, I can only perceive these forces, I know where they are, what they are and if they change. But you can actually use them, connect to them…" His words from that night still trailed like hollow whispers in the depth of her mind. He had said that he could only perceive the forces….but that had not always been the case, had it? It all made sense. He had known too much about it, could always tell exactly when she was using her powers…

Slowly, the Crown Prince's fingers uncurled from around her thin arm, and only then did she notice that he had been holding her steady in place, no doubt preventing her from falling down the branches the moment the attack had hit her. Then, as silent as the still night air, he stood up heading to where the King sat reclined against the thick tree trunk. The robust hard wood looked a dull bluish grey in the sparse moonlight, the thick dark leaves that poke around seemingly black in the darkness. A single gaze in the direction of her father let her find three pairs of eyes watching her intently, almost expectantly. They could tell something had happened, fi they could not tell exactly what.

"Ada, can you continue?" Arahaleon spoke as he carefully knelt beside the pale looking King, eyes suddenly looking softer now, seeming to be carefully studying his father. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Lossenel scanning around the thick canopy, her thin slender hands laced together in front of her from where she sat. The Princess seemed nervous. For the first time she noticed how shaken and unkempt her older sister looked. Her long platinum hair, the same color of the silver Moon falling chaotically out of what had once been neat braids, her once gorgeous dress now looking muddied and stained by her feet. What exactly had happened to her after her disappearance?

"We cannot stay in the same place for long." The Crown Prince continued in a low whisper, and apologetic sad smile drawing on his face. Her father merely nodded his head as a reply, somehow looking even paler than he had moments ago, his ice blue eyes once more seeming glazed, disoriented. Slowly and unsteadily the Elvenking rose to his feet with the help of his eldest son. Galion was at his King's side in an instant, gently steadying him by the arm. Her heart sank inside her chest. Whatever poison had been used in order to weaken the King was definitely working, and she did not know how long it would last, or if this was the worst it would get.

"We only have a few more hours to go." Arahaelon spoke again gently, offering a hand to Lossenel before pulling her also to her feet. "We will go slow. Ada you go first. We can stop as many times as you need to."

Part of her wished they could stay here for longer, to sleep for a while as they had intended to before Lossenel and Galion had appeared, but she knew Arahaelon was right. It was better if they did not stay in the same place for long…much less after an attacking force had already been able to find her. Could the attacker even track her physical position if it found her mind? The sole though of that made another cold shiver travel down her mind. No, she did not want to think of that.

Instead, she focused her eyes to the front, watching silently as the King slowly started the march along the labyrinth of intertwined branches, the loyal butler still holding to his arm, as if fearing that letting go would cause the King to lose his precarious balance. She only moved when Lossenel extended a hand in her direction, motioning for her to join her in the long silent march, a warm smile adorning her stunning pale face. She did not even turn to see if Arahaelon was following behind, even though she could very well hear his deaf, agile footsteps. She did not want to look back, did not want to look into those piercing emerald eyes that at the moment seemed to do nothing more than to stare at her accusingly, as if she had purposely infiltrated into those memories. He had not said anything to her yet, and part of her boiled in anger at that. Was this how it was going to be? Was he going to pretend that nothing had happened and not even talk to her about what she had seen? But then again Arahaelon had always seemed so unreadable, so kind and welcoming yet so guarded, that she felt that witnessing those memories uninvited had been like spying into something private.

The marched in complete silence, the only sound that reached her ears was the occasional howl of the tranquil wind, playing with the dark leaves and twinkling them like bells. Not even the branches crunched and cracked beneath her footsteps, the wood sometimes feeling rough and old and others completely smooth. Every once in a while, the canopy would open enough to the sky for the silver moonlight to wash sharply over them, the light filtering in perfect angled rays, but those moments seemed to grow fewer and fewer the more they advanced. At least she now knew they were heading somewhere, instead of simply wondering around aimlessly through het maze of branches as she had though they were doing. Arahaelon had said they had a few more hours to go, so that could only mean they were going someplace, but where?

The walk was slow, too slow for her liking, but she did not complain. Her green eyes kept glued to the front, but not really paying too much attention to her surroundings. Only once did her heart skipped a beat in surprise and fear as the King's ever steady steps faltered some space ahead of her, making him slip on a branch and nearly falling had it not been for the butler's hands still holding him steady.

"My Lord? Should we stop for a moment?" She heard the butler's concerned low voice suggesting as his hands carefully helped her father regain his balance, and she did not know if she was relieved or frustrated when the King merely shook his head, continuing the slow and silent march through the canopy.

After that the march only got slower, the King losing his footing a few more times until the occurrence happened more and more often, her heart hammering in near panic as her father now seemed to be stumbling over the intertwined branches with no trace of the graceful agile footing that he had shown the day before. He seemed to trip over every branch, his foot not rising high enough to avoid the protruding twigs or failing to move in time before getting caught in the occasional creases in the wood. It was as if he could barely see where he was stepping, or as if his limbs would not respond and coordinate the way they should.

She was barely aware of Arahaelon moving quickly past her and reaching his father just in time as the latter slipped once more, catching him by the arm before he could tumble down the branches and drag Galion along with him. She was about to move forward too but was stopped by Lossenel's gentle hand curling around her arm, her sister's eyes looking as scared and worried as hers, yet seeming to see reason where she could not. There was no way another elf could fit standing on the particular branch her father, brother and butler stood right now, besides she was not strong enough to help support her father even if she tried.

"My Prince?" Galion's eyes looked almost scared as he stared up at the Crown Prince, still helping to support his King upright, throwing nervous glances in her father's direction. "Do we stop?"

A conflicted look crossed her eldest brother's impenetrable emerald eyes, and for a moment it looked as if he was battling between what he wanted to do and what reason told him to do, eyes quickly seeming to scan all the area around them, as if trying to evaluate the safety of the place they were. "Yes, we stop. Let him rest." Her eldest brother's voice sounded almost defeated and in that moment she knew that never mind how apparently unsafe or open the place was, he could no longer force the King to keep going at the moment.

However, before they could start helping her father slowly sit down the King's knees suddenly buckled, Arahaelon and Galion having to quickly readjust their grip on the King to prevent him from falling limp. For a split of a second she thought her father would completely lose consciousness this time, but was again proven wrong when the King seemed to slowly regain his balance one more, after some uncoordinated struggle.

"Ada!" The Crown Prince exclaimed in an alarmed whisper, as if trying desperately to get his father's attention, the butler's eyes suddenly wide in worry, searching Arahaelon for instructions on what to do. In a fragment of a second if seemed as if her brother had changed his mind, instead of lowering her father to sit, as she had expected suddenly wrapping his arm more securely around him, helping more in remaining upright.

"We must keep moving. I fear that if we stop now he will not get back up until the poison has run its course." Came the Crown Prince's new instructions, the butler not questioning him before his own arms were too supporting the King in a steadier manner. "We are almost there, Ada. Almost there." She could hear Arahaelon whispering reassuringly, but she had the feeling the King was not listening.

They were almost where? They were in the middle of this forsaken dark forest. They had been for what felt like days, and she was starting to get frustrated by the fact that it felt as if no matter how long they walked they never reached anywhere. And then there was the blackness, the deep silent darkness of the night around, where the surrounding thick branches turned into mere shadowy silhouettes before fading in complete black all around her, keeping her on her nerves.

The Crown Prince's emerald eyes turned to look in their direction, stopping briefly at Lossenel before turning to meet his, once again the gentle soft green that she had somehow gotten used to, and yet, still guarded underneath that sharp, impenetrable layer of glassy green.

"Are you all right?" His barely audible voice traveled slowing in the hanging wind, and she could not tell if he was speaking to Lossenel or to her, or perhaps both. Her sister nodded her head silently next to her, and she followed the same response.

"Stay close to us." Was all her brother said before he once started the painfully slow march, this time her father almost completely supported by Arahaelon and Galion, who seemed to now be carrying his full weight.

A gentle hand softly squeezed her shoulder as they reassumed their long silent walk, her eyes looking up to find her sister's ice blue-green ones smiling softly at her. She smiled in return, even if she could not tell how believable it looked, not able to express how glad she was for her sister's presence next to her at the moment.

She lost track of time, the second stretching into minutes that stretched into hours in a never-ending fragile dance. The confirmation that told her they were indeed moving and not walking in circles through the tight maze of curling branches was the fact that slowly the branches seemed to become thicker around her, the space constricting. The long intricate swirls of intertwined trees was becoming larger and larger, the branches more robust, stronger.

Her eyes spun from side to side, watchful, alert. There was a change in the atmosphere, she could feel it. At first she had merely thought it was her mid playing her tricks but now she was sure something was different. Suddenly the air was thicker, louder, a distant overwhelming power floating eerily in the gentle breeze, seeing to caress her skin with every blow, invisible smoky claws toying softly with her hair, sending a wave of cold chills down her spine.

The Moon could no longer be seen through the thick canopy that surrounded them, yet a frail silvery light still remained glowing around, except it was no longer coming from the sky above. No. It seemed to come from every direction, almost ghostly, lazily brushing the branches with a soft chilling glow, her eyes flying in every direction to locate the source. The leaves. What had started like a faint glow was now becoming brighter and brighter as they continued their silent march from branch to branch, the leaves that had been previously only dark shades of green now glowing in bright silver, shinning as powerfully as the Moon. They seemed thicker too, larger every single one of its veins gleaming in platinum as if there was life in them. But there was. The forest was alive. And somehow here, wherever they were, it felt more alive than anywhere else, more…powerful. The sight was like no other she had ever seen, so terrifyingly beautiful, making her feel small surrounded by the mighty power that consumed the air around, a power that felt both fascinating, yet dangerous.

It was then that she heard it, her blood turning to ice as another cold chill traveled down her spine, freezing her to the bones. A whisper, almost like a mere whistle of the wind, echoing first in her right ear before traveling to her left until she could not tell where it was coming from. "Thranduil" The word was stretched, each syllable at a time, hanging hollowly around, echoing in every branch and leaf, the silver glow seeming to sparkle in return. "Thranduil…..Welcome, Elvenking….We can feel you…." It was more than one voice, carried in the eerie wind like the whistle of the leaves, words a spine-chilling hiss, an unsettling whisper. Her green eyes immediately turned to look at the King, but her father seemed oblivious to the hair-rising voices still walking from branch to branch with the help of his son and butler. Galion, on the other hand, seemed more frightened than her, his large blue eyes watchful, both fearful yet vigilant, looking carefully from side to side, and it seemed that the only thing keeping the servant going was his knowledge that the King needed his aid to remain upright. And she suddenly had the feeling that wherever they were in the forest it was evident the servant had never been before.

"Thranduil….Come join ussss…Come to usssss" The voices continued to echo, calling, the power in the air only feeling stronger as they marched forward, the silver glow of the leaves somehow brighter. She had seen the leaves glow in silver before, had seen it at her father bedchamber not too long ago, when the trees had stretched unnaturally to surround the King, to claim him back once the connection between them and her father had been reestablished. The trees had felt incredibly powerful then, yet that seemed weak in comparison to how strong they seemed now.

"Thranduil…give usss energy….give uss power…come to ussssss…..You need usss" The voices continued to call, the ghostly sound more unsettling than before. Yet once again the King seemed unperturbed by them, as if he had not even heard them. Next to her, she could see Lossenel's head turning frantically around as they walked, looking from left to right, as if her sister too was trying to escape the whispering voices in the wind.

"Almarëa" Her name. Cold traveled once more down her spine as her heart seemed to freeze. "Almarëa…you have come….We want to meet you…" It felt different, as if the power in the air turned to focus on her while the voices called her own name now, as if they were reaching….tempting her….pulling at her to establish a connection.

"Do not answer." Arahaelon turned to look at her over his shoulder, the silent warning in his impenetrable green eyes stressing his whispered words. She could feel the power swirling through the branches around like a ghostly fog, the feeling only growing more and more unsettling, making her feel small in comparison. However, it seemed as if the Crown Prince's voice had suddenly caught the trees interest for they had now started to whisper his name in that same eerie bone-chilling hiss.

"Arahaelon…It has been too long…..Come greet uss… We miss you…" Her head continued to look from left to right, bouncing from silver leaf to silver leaf, as if still trying to find the source of the voice she knew would not find. And yet, neither her father nor Arahaelon showed any signs of even hearing the voices, as if they could easily ignore their calling. Had it not been for her brother's warning or for the way in which Galion seemed to cringe and jump a little every time the voices whispered in the hollow wind, she would have believed she was imagining them.

"Where are we?" She managed to find her voice to whisper lowly to Lossenel, her sister's ice colored eyes looking as wide as hers as if she too could not believe her surroundings.

"I never thought I would see it with my own eyes…" For the first time she noticed that the look of wonder gleaming in the depths of her sister's aquamarine eyes was not one of surprise or bewilderment, but one of fascination. She had known of this place before, had known it existed. "…the heart of the forest"

She opened her mouth to ask some more, questions already reeling inside her mind, but the deaf crunching of branches behind her made her head snap to glance behind. Quickly, the thick maze of branches was twisting and twirling behind her, lacing and weaving with each other in a tight beautiful pattern. Her heart drummed loudly inside her chest. The branches were closing behind them, every time they moved forward the branches behind them would once again move, sealing the way back completely. And she understood what Arahaelon had meant when he had warned them to stay close.

"There is no way back?" She asked Lossenel in the same barely audible whisper, almost automatically walking closer to her sister.

"Only when the King wishes there to be one." Her sister's eyes threw a quick glance in her father's direction before focusing once again on hers, the silver glow of the leaves around reflecting vividly in her long platinum hair. "Only the King can find the heart of the forest. And only the King can find the way out."

Her sister's voice seemed as if reciting something that was well known to the Mirkwood elves, the way in which an elfling repeats parts of a bedtime story heard far too many times. And yet she still found it hard to comprehend completely. Yet the words kept ringing inside her head. The heart of the forest. This place was a heart. She could feel it, the power floating softly in the breeze, seeming to pulsate from the very silver leaves, spreading and expanding through the glowing branches like blood through veins. Almost immediately her eyes turned to glance at her father, who was still struggling to place one foot in front of the other with the help of Arahaelon and Galion. And still, even though he clearly relied on the help to stay upright, the King seemed to always know exactly where to step, where to turn, where the branches would open way for them to pass through.

Her heart nearly skipped a beat as the branches in front of them suddenly opened up to their left, twisting and twirling one again in an intricate pattern with one another, the silver glow spreading up and down them in a way that resembled the sparkling reflections of light over water. Some steps ahead of her, the Elvenking had stopped moving, long hair looking paler underneath the gaunt silver glow, patiently looking as the branches morphed and moved to revel a tall narrow opening, the smaller vines spiraling around the edges only to meet together at the top in a delicate point, making it look like a magical replica of the Palace's pointed arches.

She walked closer, barely catching sight of Lossenel following closely behind, her eyes widening instantly at what lay on the other side of the newly opened doorway. Closer to it, she was able to see that the branches had twisted to open a way into what appeared to be the most massive tree trunk she had ever seen. Yet instead of the solid hard wood she had expected to see inside the newly formed doorway, an intricate stairwell spiraled down inside the tree trunk, seeming to go on infinitely, down. She was sure she had never seen anything like that before, not even the grandest of the Palace's staircases could even begin to compare to the enchanting lure that this one carried. Both the risers and the railing were made of wood, yet like the leaves around them, it glowed in silver reflections, casting strange shapes and shadows on the tall, circular, wooden walls around it. The railing itself was made of the most delicate branches her eyes had ever seen, vines twisting in tiny supports for the railing every three risers, sparkling silver leaves sprouting from the every once in a while.

"Lossie, you first." Out of the corner of her eyes she caught of her sister absently nodding at Arahaelon's words, and she silently stepped slightly to the side to let the snowy princess glide gracefully through the opening and starting the slow descent down the spiraling steps.

Her large green eyes turned to look at her eldest brother and a nod from his head was enough for her to closely follow her sister, barely registering the deaf sound of the Crown Prince, King, and servant following behind. One again, it was the cracking sound of twisting branches that her head snap back. The opening was gone, sealed behind them to leave instead the smooth rounding wooden wall that enclosed them completely. There was not even a trace that the opening had ever been there in the first place, the only evidence it must have existed has the abrupt way in which the spiraling staircase ended right against the cylindrical wall.

The way down the spiraling steps seemed to take even longer than their walk through the labyrinth of branches, and yet if felt all too short. One the opening had sealed, the long vertical tunnel had been completely devoid of any natural light, yet the stair itself seemed to glow in silver so bright that they never had any trouble in seeing their surroundings to perfection. The silver gleam was so very different from any light source she had ever seen before. It was never constant, never coming from specific direction. Instead, it oscillated between casting bright light at some moments and then turning into frail beams of dancing light, flickering and swirling in slow constant motions, and had it not been for the fact that she could breathe and completely dry, she would have believed they were underwater.

Every time she stepped on a riser it felt as if two more appeared at the bottom of the stair, making her feel as if they would never reach the final landing. Directly behind her, her father was having a harder time stepping down the spiraling steps than he had had when walking through the branches, and she could not have been more relieved when, finally, the last step came into the view, the wooden walls rounding them suddenly opening up vastly in front of them, the intricate staircase landing into what seemed the interior of the most massive cave her eyes had ever seen.

Her mouth opened up in a silent gasp, her eyes taking in the space around her. The gleam of silvery light still danced in fragile swirls around them, but for the first time she was able to see the source. Deep thick roots broke through the tall undulating stone walls every few steps, intertwined with one another in thick patterns, the bright silvery light emanating from them, running up and down the creases in their wood in the manner in which blood runs through veins, casting the heavy stone around in a pale violet tint. And it was once again the overwhelming power that seemed to float around the still air as weightless and vaporous as the silvery gleams of light that filled her both with fascination and unease.

The low murmur and twinkle of running water made her eyes turn to were a small, yet steady stream of the crystal liquid pranced down one side of the blue and violet tinted stone, flowing in a shallow wide path through a long crease over the cave's stone floor, only to disappear around a corner far ahead. And yet, what made this space feel all the more fascinating, all the more intriguing yet haunting to her was not the magical beauty of nature in it. No. There, scribbled all along the infinitely stretching stone walls were elven characters, the letters carved perfectly into the hard surface, line stretching infinitely into long paragraphs. There symbols drawn every so often in the walls as well, the complexity of them letting her know that they were more than merely enlarged elven characters. This was not the work of only one elf. Whatever this place was, it had been occupied in its past.

Behind her, she could hear the shuffling of struggling footsteps as Arahaelon and Galion slowly managed to lead the pale and disoriented looking King down to the final landing, her head turning to watch in silence as her brother and the butler patiently lead her father to sit down against the stone wall, the latter looking beyond drained. Her heat beat loudly inside her chest and fear traveled once again down her spine. Her father had not looked this exhausted some time before. Had it taken his energy and power to lead them here? To find this place through the forest?

Before she realized she had even moved, she found herself kneeling down next to her father, barely even listening as Arahaelon and Galion continued to hover over him, not missing their worried glances. The Elvenking looked even paler than he had moments ago, slumping almost lifelessly against the stone instead of sitting up straight as he usually did, not even appearing to be aware of whoever was around him.

"Lossie, bring some water please?" The Crown Prince called softly, not even turning to look at the princess as his hands quickly yet carefully unwrapped the torn pieces of cloth from his father's injured hand.

She immediately looked away at the sight of the injury, what had previously been a bleeding bright red cut in the palm of her father's hand and through his fingers was now blackened around the edges, the flesh surrounding the cut now a bright angry pink, the cut deep enough to expose bone. It made her stomach turn. It had to be beyond painful. She did not her Lossenel approach, only noticing her sister's presence by their side one Arahaelon was dipping a new piece of clothing into the fresh water that had been gathered in an exquisite looking bowl. She must have missed it standing near the stream somewhere. The second the wet cloth touched his hand, the King's eyes scrunched shut tightly, jaw clenched, but he did not move, did not even flinch as the Crown Prince slowly and overly carefully cleaned the deep cut for the first time, hopefully getting rid of some of the poison left on the surface. And she looked away once more, trying to focus her eyes on the many scribbles on the walls until she was sure Arahaelon had finished binding the now clean injury out of sight.

She let her eyes focus once more on her brother, the late absently placing a loose strand of his long waterfall of light blond hair behind a pointed ear, deep emerald eyes focusing solely on his father, looking pensive. Then, letting out a silent sight, deep green eyes turned to look in her direction, once again their impenetrable sealed form, not a hint of the swirling liquid green she had seem only days before present now. She did not know why but it once again made feel angry, angry that no matter what he remained always so distant from her, letting her in at times yet never completely. Why could he not act around her the same way he acted around Lossenel, or around Tadion or Legolas?

"Would you stay with Ada?" Her eldest brother's voice remained gentle as he spoke, contrary to his now sealed emerald eyes. She nodded her head, not finding her words to speak as she watched him slowly rise to his feet. "I will go look around, you keep Ada's knife, Rëa."

"I will go with you, Ar." Lossenel had also stood up, the silvery light around making her long platinum hair shine even paler than it was. For a second she thought the Crown Prince would object, just like he had when they were leaving the Palace many nights ago. And yet, this time Arahaelon simply nodded, taking his own bow from around his shoulders and carefully handing it to the snowy Princess, who took it in her delicate hands with expertise.

She absently watched their backs as her brother and sister slowly disappeared around the corner far ahead, rounding the shallow stream. She did not even notice that Galion had now stood up to take the basin back to the water, throwing the now pink water back into the stream before slowly proceeding to clean the bowl. She simply sat there, letting her eyes wonder around the scribblings once more, wondering what they read, what they talked about.

"What happened?" The low whispered voice made her nearly jump in surprise, her head immediately turning to find the King's deep ice blue eyes focused on her.

"Ada!" She nearly exclaimed in that same barely audible whisper. "You are awake." She had believe him to be asleep by now, for he had not opened his eyes since Arahaelon had cleaned the cut in his hand. And yet, as she looked into his piercing ice blue eyes, she noticed that they did not hold a single hint of the weariness and tiredness that seemed to be consuming his body. His gaze looked slightly foggy, yet it was clear that whatever poison had been used to weaken the King had not managed to cloud his mind.

"What happened?" He repeated, attempting to sit up straighter but failing and slumping back against the cold hard stone, eyes still questioning her. "Between you and Arahaelon back in the forest. What exactly happened?"

She did not miss the hint of worry, no, nearly fear, that stained his calmed weary voice as his eyes continued to pierce through her, demanding yet still gentle. And she did not know how to answer that question. Of course her father had noticed that something had happened when Arahaelon pulled her from the mind attack. Yet she had not expected him to be this worried about it. But of course her father would worry. She had not thought about it before. There had been a connection between her and Arahaelon, although brief, and the last time that had happened it had resulted in his eldest son nearly dead.

"I…" She started, trying to keep her words straight. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed that Galion had already finished washing the bowl, yet remained sitting by the stream, allowing them distance.

"There was an attack…he…pulled me away from it….but it was hard to pull away from him…" She narrated, meeting her father's soft yet intense icy blue gaze, and she was once again surprised at how safe she felt talking to him. It had definitely gotten easier over time. Perhaps it was the fact that he was her father she was talking to, who, even in his weakened state made her feel so protected that she found the courage to narrate what had been plaguing her mind for a while. "I saw things….inside his mind…..memories."

Her father's worried eyes continued to look at her for a long second, the expression on his face unreadable as a deaf silence settled around them for a short second.

"And he did not like that." Her father spoke, as if he had already known that, but then again he knew Arahaelon way better than she did.

"No, he did not….I saw…" She started, her mind with too many questions left that needed answering but was stopped abruptly by a gentle, weak, motion of her father's hand.

"Do not share what you saw with me." Her father's voice continued to be as gentle as before, yet she did not miss the silent warning in them. "Whatever it was you witness was not shown willingly, and those memories still belong to him. They are not yours to share."

She fell silent for a moment, her mind torn between the thousands of questions she wanted to ask and what she had just heard. And yet, she knew her father was right. No matter just how much she wanted to talk about what she had seen, the memories were still Arahaelon's. But still she wanted answers, even if it meant asking directly instead of recounting her brother's memories.

"He was like you, was he not? Like me." She broke the silence, her eyes staring deeply into her father's silent ones, and she could tell he immediately knew exactly what she was talking about. And there was no point in denying her words either, she had already seen they were true in Arahaelon's memories. Yet it took some time for the King to answer, as if admitting to her words was hurting him.

"He was." Her father finally spoke, heavy ice blue eyes piercing her once more, cautious yet gentle.

"But not anymore." She did not bother to phrase it as a question this time, they both already knew she knew that was the case, and yet her father once again stayed silent, just looking deeply at her. And still his silence was all the confirmation she needed. She did not miss the hint of deep sorrow that swirling concealed in the depths of the Kings ice blue eyes, the hint of pain.

"He was angry about it…" She continued, her voice transforming into a barely audible sound, failing her at the end, yet this time the King spoke immediately in return.

"He does not hate you." Those words. The exact same words that she had heard Arahalon yelling in boiling ire in the memory. So her father knew exactly what memory she was referring to, knew exactly what she was talking about. "He does not blame you."

"I know." She replied to both statements, never before feeling more honest and sure of her words. She knew her brother did not hate her, did not blame her. She had no doubt about it. Valar he himself had been so angry when she had suggested that Doronor had accused her of nearly killing him. Yet now she was finding out that there had been more to what Doronor had said, more to what Arahaelon had briefly shown her as an explanation.

"What happened that day, Ada?" She asked, once again finally finding the courage to simply voice her questions, not knowing yet if they would be answered. "What really happened the day of the…accident?" She said, not really knowing how to name it.

Her father stayed silent for another long moment, piercing eyes never leaving hers, as if debating for a moment whether or not to answer, as if answering her in some way brought memories he did not want to recall. But why would he not answer her? Nobody ever answered her!

"Accident or not, it was still me." She pressed, losing her patience as she was starting to understand that once again she was going to be left in the dark. "I was involved in it, yet I am the only one who does not know what happened exactly! I am your daughter yet you will not answer my questions."

"This is not about you" She nearly cringed at her father's hissed words, even though his eyes never lost their gentle gaze, never once appearing hostile.

"It is you who needs to understand that you are my daughter, but he is also my son." He whispered calmly now, a gentle pale hand slowly reaching to cup her cheek in a fatherly manner, and she immediately felt guilty for her previous words. "Yes, you were involved in what happened, even though it was an accident. But this time, this occasion, is not about you. You were not affected by what happened, not in the slightest. You did not even notice. But he was. I am sure that whatever it is he has shown you as an explanation before has been a very calculated fragment of it. But because you do not know, you cannot imagine what it was like, what it is still like for your brother."

Her eyes dropped down to look at her lap, suddenly feeling selfish, even though her father's words were not chastising at all. And yet, now more than ever she wished she could undo whatever it was that she had done as a baby.

"I will show you what happened. I will show you my memories." Her father spoke again, the hand on her cheek moving to place a strand of her long golden hair behind her pointed ear before falling tiredly to the ground next to him. "I will show you to the last detail, everything, because in some parts you are right that it involves you and because in others I believe you deserve to know and understand. You need to promise to me that you will not ever, not even for a second, blame yourself on what happened." Her father's eyes pierced through her intently as he spoke, as if trying to stress his words.

"It was an accident, a thing neither you nor him could control. It was never your fault. And the second thing I want to ask you, Almarëa, is to not push him to talk about it." Something in her father's eyes had changed as he spoke, ice blue orbs now seeming to be pleading her, coated with a layer of pain that made her now doubt if she indeed wanted to know what happened. "Do not go asking him about it. Not about this."

"Was it that bad?" She heard herself whispering, her eyes widening slightly, watching as a somber look crossed her father's soft eyes, his expression darkening.

"I thought he was dead." Her father admitted, the words haunting her as they hung in the air. And then, before she could add anything else she suddenly felt her father's weary hand fall over hers, the silver lighted disappearing around her as she was transported into a series of flowing images, a very familiar Sitting Room materializing in front of her….

Here is Chapter 46! It's a little longer than usual, but I could not cut into two chapters! Anyway I hope you enjoy reading it! I'm trying my best for updates to be closer together.

And happy new year to everyone!

As always, thank you so much to those of you who reviewed my latest chapter, I can't tell you how much your comments mean to me, I'm a little behind on them but I'm working on your replies : Josie, Amsim, The Lead Mare, Tintcalad, NeraBella, brandybuckeye, WCW, Teddy2104, Yaulewen, Mary Elrondile, and my guest reviewers!

Josie: Your story is up! :D I will go check it out immediately! :D :D

Love,

Elena