Alyssae freshened herself up in front of a mirror in one of the rooms of Thranduil's palace. She had received a soft green dress with silver edges that showed parts of her back. She did not know to whom this cloth belonged, but didn't feel the urge to ask for it. With a salve she hid the bruises and welts.
A moment she stared at herself in the mirror, but she didn't even recognize the woman who stared back. She shoved the tiara that was put ready for her in her brown hair and put it up. If it was up to her, she would have dropped this fuss, but she wanted to let everyone think she was glad with the party Thranduin had organized and in the end it was also Thranduil who owed her gratitude.
She thought about last night. She had cried for almost an hour, which must have made her fiancé desperate. He however had stayed with her, full of patience, not knowing what really hurt her so much.
After the tears had stopped, he had asked if she wanted him to leave, but she had shaken her head. In the end she was awakened in his arms and had felt remarkably calm, as if all tension was gone now and her vision of what she had to do was clear again. She loved Thranduin's solid personality, since that couldn't be said of Fili, Kili and Thorin. He had known very well how to treat her grief and she was really thankful for that. Last night had forged a bound that hadn't been there before and she thought it would be less hard to reveal the full truth now: that she would travel along with the dwarves and that she had fallen in love with someone else.
She took the necklace with the key from her neck, for she didn't want to cause indignation among the dwarves, and kept it in her cleavage since she didn't know a better place. She didn't want to leave it in her room.
It was still light outside, which meant she was finished earlier than she had thought. She left Thranduil's palace and went looking for the dwarves. The first she saw, were Kili and Tauriel, but given the fact that he was playing with her hair, she decided not to disturb them.
Dusk already fell when she discovered Bofur, Dwalin and Bombur at the abandoned marketplace. The three greeted her elated and Alyssae realized she hadn't seen them much the last days.
Bofur whistled when she sat down next to them. "It was our own fault we haven't seen a princess in you."
"When the goblins would have had bathtubs, things surely would have been different," she answered with a blank face.
The men laughed, but became serious soon.
"Is this really the last night you're with us, Alyssae?" Bombur asked sadly.
Although she had decided not to tell the dwarves about her plan in the first place, she could not hold on to that after seeing Bombur's face.
"Of course not," she whispered. "But that isn't something the elves need to know, right? I will just be waiting for you."
His eyes started to sparkle and a watery smile appeared on his face.
"Just be careful. I just heard two other elves say the area outside the walls is swarmed by orcs."
Alyssae looked in shock at Dwalin. Not for a moment she had thought about the orcs that had been chasing them.
"I have no choice," she mumbled.
"You do. You have to go home as soon as your life is in danger." Bofur laid his hand upon hers. "We will visit you."
A smile adorned her face, but she knew she could never do that. Not with the key of Erebor in her possession. Not with the knowledge her only chance of real, mutual love would slip through her fingers.