She blinked a couple of times, momentarily stunned by the strength of the sudden force that had pushed her away so furiously. Whatever that force was, it had not been Arahaelon. She lowered herself to sit on one of the cushioned seats by the fireplace, vaguely aware of the two identical figures reaching her side, of all the pairs of eyes focused silently on her.
Slowly, her green eyes lifted, glancing at the beautiful ashen-haired lady for a long second. Indilene's eyes dropped to the carpet almost immediately, a quiet sigh leaving her lips, even though her face was unreadable. A soft breeze swept through the long dark blue curtains, making the thick rich fabric caress the marble floor with a lulling sound.
"Rina?" A gentle hand landed on her shoulder, her eyes instantly flying to meet a pair of liquid silver oceans looking at her concerned. She reached her hand to rest over his on her shoulder, her fingers reveling on the warmth of his skin.
"That thing….whoever- whatever- it is, it is not Arahaelon." She finally spoke, her voice merely a whisper as she repeated the information that Indilene had been so desperately trying to make them see.
"You reached him?" Her sister took a couple of rushed steps in her direction, kneeling in front of her chair to be at her eye level. For a second she did not want to meet her sister's eyes, those usually bright and stunning ice green-blue eyes were suddenly clouded with worry, desperate for an answer. The bright sunlight reflected on the Princess' platinum tresses, making her hair look paler than snow, spun starlight that fell in perfect waterfalls over her delicate bony shoulders. "You reached Ar?"
"He is alive." Was all she said, knowing her answer was truthful yet vague enough to leave out any details. Her sister's eyes darkened momentarily, her face falling, and she instantly knew Lossenel had picked exactly on what her words meant.
"Alive…" The snowy Princess sighed as she rose to her feet, her pale arms crossing tightly over her chest, taking a couple of steps away. "Alive….yet not precisely well."
"Then we have come to the wrong place." Elrohir's voice hung in the still air like a death sentence, her heart drumming loudly in her chest as the words downed in her head. The had come to the wrong place. If that thing ruling and controlling the Palace was not her eldest brother….then they had willingly walked right into its grasp.
"Rina." Elladan's hand squeezed her shoulder lightly, and she felt the overwhelming guilty and despair that crossed through him through their bond. "We believe it was Arahaelon…we…we did not know…"
"It is fine." Lossenel was the one to speak, waving her right hand elegantly in the air in a dismissive gesture. "We are already here. The question is what to do now."
"What does it want?" The younger twin turned to look at Indilene, those silver eyes, so like his twin's yet always softer and kinder suddenly sharp, alert, a tight gleam of concern staining their welcoming depths. Suddenly, in the pale daylight that filtered inside Tadion's large chambers, the younger son of Elrond looked like the Lord he was, tall and powerful.
Indilene shook her head slowly, swallowing once, her fingers lacing together in front of her lap, and she could hear the faint twinkling of the many bracelets she wore. "I do not know."
"You know what it wants. And we have handed it to it on a silver tray. If only it knows where to look." She spoke, her eyes meeting Elrohir's for a long second, knowing that he too had understood exactly what she meant. Elladan's hand squeezed her shoulder again, his grip gentle, yet tight, as he did not intent in ever letting go, standing next to her as if ready to jump at whatever threat came close.
A cold shiver ran down her spine, her eyes closing momentarily. She could hear it here too. It was always there, a faint echo in the background never leaving her alone. She could hear it clearly if she focused on it, a whisper, a hazy chorus of unintelligible murmurs floating in the wind, the power they carried so alluring, so terrifying. And she could picture it perfectly in her head, the image so clear, the impression so deeply engraved in her mind, as if it was right there, on the table in front of her: the blue stone with that dull gleam that danced languidly inside it, standing out sharply against the intricate golden band always perfectly safe on Lord Elrond's third finger. Vilya.
Lord Elrond was here, in the Palace, exactly the same as they were. Did the Elf-Lord know that it was not her brother the thing leading and ruling the elves? Or was he still oblivious, same as his sons had been minutes ago, same as everyone else in the Palace still was? And then, another thought crossed her mind, one that for a short second made her feel even the slightest of reliefs. Arahaelon had not known about the ring. At least not that she knew of. So whatever this thing was that was taking her brother's place, that looked and spoke like him, that had gained forced access into Arahaelon's mind and memories, could not possibly know then that the Lord of Imladris was in possession of the ring.
"That might not be the case." Elrohir pointed out in a gentle tone, his face turning to look out of one of the wall long windows lining the enormous bedchamber. She knew he could be right as well, even though she could tell that the possibility of that thing wanting the ring was what scared him the most. "We do not know what it wants. We do not even know if it is acting in partnership with the dark cloaked elves."
"What does it want?" Lossenel asked sharply, her green-blue eyes darting from Elladan, to Elrohir and then to her, clearly understanding that there was something they were not telling her. And it was clear the snowy Princess was not enjoying the enigmatic talk they were having, determined to know what it was that was being discussed. But they could not tell her. They could tell Lossenel of the presence of the ring. Out of the corner of her eyes she say Indilene still looking vaguely out the window, not seeming to care whether or not they told her the whole truth, seeming too preoccupied with something else that was troubling her. "What have we handed it that it's looking for?"
"It wants Rina." Elladan's voice dripped with venom as he spoke, his hand still gripping her shoulder gently, and she could feel the fear that coursing through him through their bond. Her whole body grew cold as the words registered fin her mind, suddenly realizing something else she had missed. She could once again see it, too fresh inside her head, making her blood run cold and her heart to race. The eye of fire, watching her as pained wracked through her body. It had seen her. She could still hear it calling her name in that hissed skin-crawling voice. It believed she had the ring. But of course it did. She had used it, had been able to wield its power even though she was not wearing it.
And then, another thig crossed her mind, her fate seeming doomed the more she thought about it. The cloaked figures, the mad elves that had somehow captured her brother and even tried to murder the king…they had also tried to kill her, the hands choking her neck a memory she did not want to revisit. Suddenly, Doronor's words danced through her mind, feeling as if it had been so long ago. "You should have died with your mother." Whatever it was that thing posing as her brother wanted, chances were it was her.
"Whatever that thing posing as Arahaelon is, it is working together with the cloaked elves." She put some pieces together, even though there still so many things she still did not understand. "The cloaked figures had Ar, and somehow this thing has access to his mind. I do not think that is a coincidence."
"Neither do I." The younger twin added with a nod of his head.
"Where is Ar?" Lossenel asked, turning around to face her once more. "Did you manage to see?"
"I could not see anything but darkness." She admitted in defeat, wishing that she could be more helpful about it. All she had seen had been black…black and stone. "He did not know where he was either."
"Then, what do we do?" The younger twin spoke again, gentle silver eyes darting to each of the figures filling the room before lingering longer on his twins' eyes, and she knew they were sharing thoughts with a mere glance.
"We stay away from that thing pretending to be Arahaelon." Elladan spoke, his voice firm, determined. "But we play his game. Don't let it know that we aware it is not Arahaelon."
"Will that make any difference?" Lossenel's voice was low, her stunning eyes looking almost as defeated as she felt, studying the twin sons of Elrond carefully.
"It might buy us some time if we continue the charade." Elrohir sighed, and she could tell he was not convinced by his words either, but clung to them like the only possibility they had at the moment. It was better than nothing.
"I should leave now." Indilene spoke for the first time in long minutes, a faint smile adorning the soft welcoming features of her beautiful face.
The ashen-haired lady did not wait for an answer, merely nodding her head in silent goodbye before walking through the door, closing it with a faint click behind her. For a second she wished she had stayed, if only to get to speak to her properly, to find more about her, to understand what it was that her eldest brother saw in her.
"I will take a proper bath." Lossenel sighed at the closing door. For a moment she glanced at her sister, at her stunning face that was now frowned with newfound worry, seeming desperate to find anything that would clear her mind. And then, same as Indilene, Lossenel was gone, the majestic wooden door once again closing with a silent click.
She should probably take a bath too. She was all too aware of her torn and muddied dress, and her tangled golden hair which would take hours to properly brush. But she could not get herself to care about that now, not when she was so desperate to find her eldest brother, even though she knew they had no useful clue as to where to start.
"You look beautiful." Elladan's voice whispered softly on her ear, making a smile appear on her face as she rolled her eyes at him. Of course he had read the direction of her thoughts through their bond.
"I am a mess." She pointed out, falling silent as he gently leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips, his hand still resting safely on her shoulder.
"You are a mess, Rina." Elrohir mocked her as they broke apart, the teasing sound in his voice so refreshing to hear, as if nothing was wrong and they were simply enjoying a day in peace at the Palace. "And if the two of you are going to keep kissing and batting your eyelashes at each other like elflings, then I might as well go and see if Ada needs help with anything."
"Then go." Elladan hastened to add, that mischievous grin she so adored present on his face as he mocked his mirror image.
The younger twin scrunched his face ins fake disgust, quickly walking out of the room without as much as a glance back. She knew that he could silently communicate with Elladan should anything happen. Instead she closed her eyes for a second, her stomach bubbling in butterflies and her body swelling with warmth as Elladan placed another kiss on her lips, this time less gently, deeper.
"I really should take a bath." She commented with a light chuckle, rising to her feet from the cushioned chair. She could not stand to sit down and do nothing, not now. A wave of calmness and warmth washed over her, and she knew it was him, reaching her through their bond.
"Would you like me to call a servant and prepare a bath for you in your chambers?" His strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind, and she instinctively leaned against his chest, the top of her head reaching under his chin. Her lips curved up in a smile almost entirely un their own, unable to hold back a smile whenever he was close to her.
"No." She shook her head, not really wanting to move. She felt safe there, when he held her close, feeling his spirit intertwined with hers trough their bond, feeling his scent which smelled like the fresh forest outside. "I will bathe in a while. Not yet."
He did not say anything in return, but she felt him nod his head, his chin only just lightly bumping with the top of her head. For long minutes she simply stood there, in his arms, her eyes lazily scanning around the large unfamiliar bedchamber without really noticing anything in particular.
She missed Tadion. It had only been a couple of days and yet she could not help but wonder and worry where he was. Where her father was, where her mother was, where Legolas was. Were they all safe? Were they still together? Or had they separated? Yet, she could not help but laugh lightly as her eyes landed on a couple of worn tunics lying carelessly on the floor, as if her brother had simply thrown them there after taking them off.
The large bed lay perfectly made in the center of the room, the headboard that same intricate pattern of intertwining branches that she had seen in Arahaelon's bed, and even her own. The deep blue bedcovers matched the same color of the rich curtains, a mountain of soft feathered pillows sitting against the headboard, accompanied by dozens of little decorative pillows. There was a large desk to one corner of the room, close to the balcony, and even through the short distance she could see the mess of papers, ink flasks and quills that were carelessly left on its surface. Almost purely out of curiosity she walked in that direction, Elladan's arms detangling from around her waist as he followed her closely behind.
There were so many pieces of parchments scattered around the surface that she could not understand how did Tadion ever find anything he was looking for here! How did he work here? And still it was clear that he did work on that desk, the official royal seal sitting on the center and top of nearly all the parchments letting her know that they were official documents. Carefully, she picked one of her hands, her eyes sweeping over the surprisingly neat calligraphy of her brother's hand. She did not know what she had been expecting, but she had not expected Tadion's handwriting to be so neat…so elegant. And yet, while Arahaelon's handwriting was a beautiful slanted cursive, Tadion's letters were perfectly straight, all the letters drawn with exact precision.
Her eyes landed on the signature at the end of the report, her insides immediately constricting at the name that was signed there. In Tadion's neat handwriting read 'Anarorion' at the bottom of the page. She did not know what she had been expecting, but the name had caught her by surprise, suddenly making her deposit the paper once more over the desk, not wanting to look at it anymore. But perhaps she should have expected it. Of course he would sign official documents with what was his given name…his real name.
"It is strange to see that name." Elladan soft voice reminded her of his presence next to her, his eyes too inspecting the piece of parchment she had only just dropped. "I have known him all my life and I still do not get used to it."
"You knew Tadion was not his name?" She asked, realizing how dumb her question had been only after she had pronounced it, his silver eyes smiling at her.
"Of course I did." He let out a single chuckle, the musical sound filling the room like a warm summer breeze in a bitter winter storm. "Although it took me and Ro a couple of years to figure out that Tadion was not his given name. Nobody uses it."
She nodded her head in silence, her eyes darting one last glance at that name perfectly signed at the bottom of the page. It sounded like a different elf, and elf other than her ever carefree and smiling older brother…the name of a King. She closed her eyes, forcing her thoughts in a different direction. She did not want to even remember that memory that the Elvenking had shared with her, that vision that she hoped and prayed to the Valar would not come to happen. She looked over the letters once more, her eyes dancing over another report sitting over the desk, her heart sinking deeply on her chest. She could not understand a single word, even the letters were unknown to her, looking instead like elegant markings she could not read. This one was in Sindarin.
"Is that how you spell it in elvish? Anarorion?" She pointed at the beautiful script at the bottom of the new document, feeling Elladan lean a little closer to peek over her shoulder.
"Elvish." He chuckled, shaking his head at her choice of words but not correcting her again as he usually did. "Yes, that is how you spell it."
"How do you spell your name?" She asked, suddenly once again too aware that she did not know the language that was supposed to be her mother tongue. Elladan let out another musical laugh, his hand reaching past her to grab at the carelessly thrown quills over the desk, gracefully dipping it in one of the many ink flasks. He sat down on the ornate high-backed chair, and she lowered herself on his lap. It took him a couple of seconds to find a piece of parchment that was not already used, and then his hand easily danced over the paper, scribbling beautiful signs that she could not read in a single neat line.
"There." He said, showing her the short name, even though it looked like mere lines and dots to her. Still it was beautiful, enchanting, and she tried to memorize the pattern, wanting to be able to always read his name no matter the language.
"How do you spell mine?" She asked again, watching curiously as his hand danced over the paper again, producing another set of different lines and dots. It looked so incredibly different from his.
"That is Almarëa." He explained before his hand moved down to write another name underneath the first. "And that is Elerrina."
"Can I try?" she took the quill form his hand without waiting for an answer, but he did no fight her for it, merely laughing again at her enthusiasm. She tried to copy the patterns he had written, trying to get them as close as she could to his. "How does it look?"
He gently took the quill from her hand, easily correcting the mistakes she had unknowingly made, like forgetting ad of here, of curving a line too much there. "Not too bad for a first try, but you are too god at drawing so copying my writing is partially cheating for your talented hand."
"Will you teach me?" She lifted her eyes to look at his endless liquid silver ones, feeling his free hand lace loosely around her waist. "To read and speak it?" She was tired of not knowing, tired of nobody teaching her the language that she had once been able to understand, so, so long ago.
"Grab a book." He grinned at her, nodding his head in the direction of the tall bookcase to one corner of Tadion's bedchamber. She did not even wait to be told twice, already standing up and making her way towards the wide collection books, admiring their various sizes and colors. Had her bother read all of these books?
"Preferably one with pictures." Elladan called from the desk, just as she reached a hand up and picked out one of the smaller books in the closest shelf.
She quickly flipped through it, discarding it once she saw the tiny letters that filled every corner of the page. It seemed too dense for their purpose. The next booked she picked was tall and thin, with a dark red cover, and she had to place it back in the shelf once she realized it was written in the common tongue. Another book was in a language that was neither the common tongue nor Sindarin, and another was mostly numbers and complicated calculations she did not wish to figure out. At last she picked a book that seemed as though it could work. It was slightly tall and somewhat on the thicker side, but as she flipped through it she noticed that it was mostly elaborate drawings of forests and maps, with short, easy looking, descriptive sentences below each image.
She made her way back towards the desk, not asking for permission as she lowered herself on Elladan's lap once more, both of his arms wrapping around her instantly in return.
"Will this one do?" She offered the book to him, watching him flip it over in his hands, his fingers tracing over the golden scribbling of the title at the front cover.
"Eryn Lasaglen." He read out loud to himself, making sense of the beautiful patterns her eyes could not read, his lisp curving up into one of his carefree grins. "This one will do."
"What does that mean?" She asked, too curious to even wait and open the book. "Eryn Lasgalen?"
He let out a silent laugh, placing a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. "You are the Princess of Eryn Lasgalen. And we are at the Royal Palace in Eryn Lasgalen."
A name. She understood. It was the Greenwood, Mirkwood. Eryn Lasgalen. "Is that how you call this place in Sindarin? Just like you refer to Rivendell as Imladris?"
"Yes." He laughed again, handing the book to her while he peeked from over shoulder, his chin resting on the crook of her neck. "And one refers to Imladris as Rivendell, not the other way around."
"It is the same thing." She rolled her eyes flipping through the pages in order to find an interesting enough image to read the description.
"It is most definitely not the same thing." He muttered in a low voice, and she could almost feel him shaking his head at her, even though he did not press the argument.
But she was no longer paying attention, her eyes suddenly entranced by the collection of intricately detailed images on the book's pages. There were long perspectives of different areas of the forest, the trees and branches and even grass and stones were drawn with such detail that they almost appeared real, as if she could touch them and feel the rough bark of the trunks, or hear the ruffling of the leaves as they swayed with the wind. There were short descriptions accompanying the drawings, and at the bottom what she guessed was the name of the elf who had drawn these.
But there were not only images of the forest. Flipping a couple of pages, she found maps, just as detailed as the perspectives were. And then, there were houses, drawings of balconies and even maps of what appeared to be Mirkwood's main town, outside the Palace's gates. She turned a couple of more pages, the book falling open on a particular page that had been marked with a folded corner.
"What is this building?" She heard her voice before she realized she had spoken, her eyes dancing over the lines that delineated what seemed to be a plan drawing of some grand building. She could see all the walls demarcating small and grand rooms from above, and massive circular shapes that she guessed had to be columns. She was absently aware of Elladan's eyes landing on the plan drawing from over her shoulder.
"That is a portion of the Palace." His warm breath brushed her cheek as he spoke, her eyes still fixed on the image. One of his slender fingers pointed at what looked to be the largest room in the drawing. "See, this? This is the Council Room."
"Have you been inside it?" She lifted her eyes to meet his, not really believing that he or his twin brother would have been allowed inside the Council Room when they were only guests in the Palace. In fact, she knew that only a very select handful of elves were allowed in that room, and she was not even sure if it included her. Arahaelon for sure, and perhaps Tadion and Legolas, maybe and only maybe she and Lossenel.
"No." He shook his head, a faint smile adorning his lips as he easily read her thoughts. "But that is a Council Room. You see how the room is circular? How the chairs are aligned around it? And here," His finger pointed a one end of the circle. "This must be the King's place, see? It is where every other seat is directed to look at, and this lines must be the steps leading to it."
She looked to where he was pointing, following his finger across the yellowing page, dancing around the circular walls of the room, the large openings that she guessed were windows, the circumference of columns that lined the inner circle of the room. And then, her eyes caught something else, a faint line that had been draw in graphite over a square column close to one corner or the room. Why was this column not round like the res tint he Council Room? Why was it square? It could not have been un purpose, having such an inconsistency in an otherwise perfectly designed and drawn room.
Her eyes continued to scrutinize the drawing more carefully, following every single line. And then she found it, another tiny nearly unnoticeable inconsistency. She circular shape of the Council Chamber was not entirely perfect, the circular walls straightening to one former only for a short time in order to accommodate a neighboring room before reassuming their perfectly round shape.
"These were here before." She realized, pointing at the square column and the wall interrupting the circle with her finger. The drawing did not lie. Whoever had been the Royal Architect in charge of these designing and building these rooms, they had been forced to work around existing structure. Otherwise the Council Room would be a perfect harmonious circle, and the column would not have been square. She found it fascinating, how mere lines carried with them concealed the stories of the long years the structure had silently witnessed, only visible to those who knew how to look. "The Council Room was built over something else."
"Many parts of the Palace have been torn down and rebuilt through time." Elladan shrugged, his eyes following hers through the page. "This building is very old."
She flipped through more pages, her eyes sweeping through more plan drawings of other portions of the Palace. She saw what appeared to be the kitchens, then a detailed version of the throne room, then the Kings Halls, where the Winter's Solstice Celebration had taken place, then the main courtyard, the gardens, and finally the Royal Family Wing. But her eyes returned to the only page Tadion had marked, her eyes landing on the faint graphite circle traced around the unusual column. What had he found so unusual about it? Or had her brother simply been curious because he found it different than the others?
And yet, her mind could not help but revisit distant images she thought she had almost forgotten. She could almost hear the echo of her rushed footsteps on the cold stone floor, could almost see, all too fresh, the images of the decaying Council Room forgotten somewhere deeply down in the Palace's underground. They had been there, on their escape from the Palace so many days ago. She remembered the tall elegant statues, the way the humidity and cold air had allowed for nature to start claiming them back, forgotten, abandoned, covered in a thick layer of accumulated dust that nobody would come to clean. The chamber had been enormous, grand, even in its crumbling form. There had been other rooms too, rooms her eyes had not been able to properly see because of the darkness, but they had been there. Locked wooden doors, others that were rooting and others that looked as they had been brutally torn open, even the tall majestic stone walls had seemed to have crumbled in places, with holes every now and then, as if a massive force had broken through them. What had happened to those halls? Why had they been replaced in completely different areas of the Palace and left to be forgotten there? It was as if half of the Palace had been completely rebuilt.
And then, there was also that portion of the caves, where she and Elladan had found out that her mother, the Queen, was in fact alive. Those had not been mere caves, not like the ones where her father and other siblings still were, with the walls left to the purity of the stone, although they were marked whit inscriptions. No. They had been halls. The stone there had been carved and shaped in the form of columns and arches and passageways, the same inscriptions in that old unintelligible script symbols adorning the walls. Had those caves ever been a part of the Palace? Had they also been abandoned, just as the decaying rooms she and her siblings had gone through in their escape form the Palace? Then why? For what reason? And most importantly, who still knew how to navigate through them? They had travelled through the old abandoned halls completely unseen….could somebody else do it as well?
"Do you remember when we were down in the caves? By the underground river?" She voiced her though out loud, falling into his endless silver eyes that were looking at her attentively, listening carefully to every single word. He nodded his head as a reply, and she continued. "There were writings on the walls. And symbolds. What are they? Can you read them?" And drawings, but she left those out.
"No, it is an ancient types of runes." He explained, just as she had partially expected. Legolas had not been able to read them either. "Very few elves alive would be able to read them."
It was the same answer Legolas had given her. And still she could still hear his voice almost as if he were repeating the words again. Not even their father, the King, could read them all. So the scrips were older than the Elvenking, had been there before. She remembered the image that had been painting on one of the caves by the underground river, the colors fading away through time. It had been a portrait of a King, Queen and her father as an elfling, still only a young Prince.
She suddenly closed the book, placing it carelessly over the already too crowded desk surface and rising to her feet.
"Where are you going?" Elladan's voice called behind her when she was already half-way to the door, his tall elegant figure following her in quick strides. His pale blue tunic made his silver eyes look paler, contrasting sharply against his long dark curtain of silken hair.
"Ar's chambers." She spoke, her hand turning over the golden doorknob and exiting the room, the elder twin following her behind. She was tired of doing nothing, and if this thing, that was posing as her brother, had been living in his bedchambers, then, there must be something unusual there, right? She did not know, but she would look anyway.
She crossed the wide elegant corridor in long strides, reaching the familiar elegantly carved door that led to her eldest brother's bedchambers. She could not believe what she was doing, a light laugh escaping her lips at the irony. Of all her siblings bed chambers, Arahaelon's would be the last she would ever dare to snoop around in. She wondered what would the real Crown Prince do if he could find her here about to sneak into his rooms and through his stuff. No, she was not here to look through Arahaelon's stuff, she was here to look for anything this creature might have left behind, no matter how little she knew the odds were of finding anything.
Taking in a deep breath, and after scanning the corridor to confirm that it was indeed empty, she pushed the majestic door open, silently stepping inside the familiar grand rooms. She had been here only a couple of times before, and was once again surprised that everything looked exactly the same. The room was no larger than Tadion's had been, having the same dark blue curtains and bed covers, and yet unlike Tadion's chambers, everything here was spotless, every item exactly where it belonged.
"What are we looking for?" Elladan questioned lightly as she made her way inside the room, already walking towards the desk.
"Anything that might seem odd." Truth was she did not know what they were looking for either, did not even know where to start. She could not hold back a frustrated sigh as she found Arahaelon's desk empty of any paper, the surface completely clean with only a set of perfectly aligned crystal ink flaks. She hesitated a little when she went to pen the desks drawers. She should not do so. This was Arahaelon's room! His things! But then again, she was desperate to find anything, anything that might give her even the slightest clue as to where her brother was? Or who or what was this thing posing as him? Shaking away her doubts, she yanked the first drawer open, finding nothing else than a neat pile of reports, all in that beautiful scribbling she could not understand. Sighing in frustration she went for the second drawer, only to perfectly kept quills there, along with a wide collection of graphite and colors. The third drawer contained only one single book, the cover worn by time and tearing a little at the corners. She picked it up carefully, flipping open the first page only to find out that it was not a book, but a sketchbook, her eyes momentarily landing of the perfectly drawn lines traced by her eldest brother's hand. She closed the sketchbook swiftly, carefully placing back on the drawer where it belonged. She did not know why but no matter how curious she was about looking through Arahaelon's perfect drawings, looking through them without his consent felt like crossing a line.
Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Elladan having as little luck as her at finding anything that might seem odd or unusual in this room, even though his eyes looked around him with curiosity and amusement.
"This is the first time I sneak inside this room to snoop." He commented while his eyes danced through the wide collection books at one of the highest shelves.
"I do not believe that." She chuckled, moving over to the small round table by the corner of the room. She could not prevent her heart from sinking a little as she found the Winter's Solstice presents still wrapped at the table. He had not even had the chance to open them, same as many of hers in her own chambers. "You and Elrohir must have snooped around through chamber you could get into."
"Never Ar's." Elladan shook his head, his eyes widening slightly at her suggestion. "These chambers were always off limits to us. These and the King's chambers."
She opened her mouth to add something, but only managed to jump in surprise as the door was suddenly opened from behind her.
"What is going on here?"
If she hadn't knowing it was not really her brother she would have been fooled once again. That sound. It was her brother's voice, perfectly calmed and soft, yet hold a silent power that no elf would dare to contest. Her eyes widened almost involuntarily, turning her head around to gaze at the exact replica of the Crown Prince, standing right in front of her at the opened door. He was still wearing the elegant robes she had seen him in only a couple of hours ago. The resemblance was unnatural. No, it was not even a resemblance, it was a physical perfect copy. It was Arahaelon. He was standing there, as tall and regal as ever, his marbled perfectly composed face not letting anything through, those impenetrable emerald eyes that seemed to pierce through her and rad every single one of her thoughts, always so wise, so unreadable and mysterious, alternating from Elladan to her.
"We were looking for a book with images." Elladan somehow manages to sound perfectly causal as he spoke, holding up the book he had taken out from the shelf on his hand, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Had she not been here with him inspecting the room, she would never have guessed the elder son of Elrond was lying.
"For what?" That thing that looked like her brother spoke again, his voice once more Arahaelon's perfectly calmed voice, his expression still relaxed, stepping slowly inside the room in graceful strides.
"For your curious sister." Elladan's voice was once again so light and casual tat for a second she even believed it to be the truth. The elder twin gracefully walked in her direction, ready to leave the room with the book still in his hand.
"Do not lose it as Tadion does every time he burrows anything." The fake Crown Prince added, shaking his head as if dealing with the twins as friends was something he was used to doing, as if he was really her eldest brother. And there it was again, those few hints he kept dropping that told everyone he knew things, fragments of Arahaelon's regular daily life.
She turned around in order to follow Elladan, desperate to leave this bedchamber as quickly as she possibly could. Yet, just as she stepped past the figure of her eldest brother, still standing at the doorframe, her arm brushed against his skin. It happened in less that a fragment of a second, a sudden brutal shock coursing through her body like electricity, the power so overwhelming, so terrifying that it made her hear momentarily stop, a blood curling hiss whispering in a dark unintelligent tongue in her mind during that split second, and an eye…and eye made of red burning fire, with a split long pupil as black as an endless cold abyss..and then, in a split second it was gone, only replaced by the perfect copy of her brother standing there in front of them, his face still that perfectly composed serene expression.
"My Lord Arahaelon." A couple of guards had suddenly appeared in the hallway, rushing in their direction. For a moment, she felt venom coursing through her veins as the unsuspecting elves used her brother's name to address this thing…this thing which she now knew was possessed by a sort of dark power she only ever encountered once before…when she had stepped forward to reach for her mother at the caves…when she had been seen.
The guards stopped right in front of them, not even seeming to notice her or Elladan as they looked at the figure identical to her brother as if he was their real Crown Prince, standing up respectfully in his presence. And then, the shorter of the guards spoke, her blood running cold momentarily, her heart drumming loudly in her chest.
"The King is here."
I know it has been a very long wait, but finally here is chapter 54! I don't know if anyone still follows this story since it's been a long time that it has slow updates, but anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think!
Again, thank you immensely to all of you who reviewed the previous chapter, it means a lot to hear that you are still enjoying the story even though it's been slow lately! Artvandelay5001, Amsim, Ari-Skywalker, AndurilofTolkien, Saum the Smol Teddy, brandibuckeye, and Flower-Uchiha
Artvandelay: I'm not currently planning any Lossie stories in the near future haha I want to concentrate on finishing this one and juggling through the other side stories I have. Maybe a one shot sometime, or perhaps even a real Lossie story someday, we'll see.
Love,
Elena