Kelwtim2spar – I know right. That's why it took so long for me to update because I needed to decide on our bad guy.
x3sunnydaay – thank you for your review.
ButlerGirlAnime – Thranduil's POV awaits you! haha
Here you go lovelies xx
Chapter 42
Thranduil POV
The Elvenking was the picture of calm on the outside with his face schooled into a look of indifference, but the bright blue eyes of the warrior elf were blazing and the pace he set to the stables was determined and efficient.
His mind, however, was a flood of thoughts and feelings centred entirely on the wellbeing of his red headed wife.
He led the way without a word, with Feren, Galion and a few other guards trailing behind. He turned the last corner, his elegant robe flicking out at the movement and started down the gravel path to the stables, his strides lengthening as he drew closer.
Entering the now torch lit structure, his eyes immediately adjusted to the lighting and scoured over everything in sight as he stopped in the main foyer. When he spoke, his voice was cold and hard, calling for his Master of Horses.
"Fenris!"
They heard a loud thump and something fell to ground and then shuffling as a young brown haired elf emerged from one of the pens, looking extremely nervous with his brown eyes looking anywhere but the King. It was the Captain of the Guard who addressed him.
"You will bow to your King, lad."
The male elf did just that, though they could see his hand shaking, but said nothing.
"Who are you? Where's Fenris?"
"H…H...Hastos, M…My Lo…Lo…Lord. Lord Fen…Fenris has re…retired for s…su…supper in the great h…hall."
Thranduil normally delighted in the intimidation that arose from subjects that did not have contact with him often, but on this occasion, the inconvenience of the stuttering elf was not appreciated, for time was of the essence to find Evie.
He turned to one of the guards behind him. "Find Lord Fenris and have him report to my study immediately."
"Yes, My Lord."
He was quite glad when Feren stepped forward to speak to the elf to gain some more details, and he took the opportunity to search the stable and see if anything was out of place.
Mostly the stable was immaculately kept, as he expected of Fenris, who had been managing the royal stable for hundreds of years. He knew that Fenris was tough but fair, to make sure everything ran smoothly on his behalf. An incident of this magnitude had not occurred in a very long time.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something flash on the ground near a bale of hay. He moved to picked up a torch from the wall and walked closer to it, crouching down to get a closer look.
He slowly reached out a hand to pick up the diamond comb in the shape of a leaf that he had given his wife the year before. It was one of a pair and he was glad that there was something to prove that she had indeed been here.
Seeing the small and fragile piece that had been designed by himself laying in the palm of his large hand, made his heart wrench, for he had no idea of Evie's whereabouts or state of health.
And the baby
He sucked in a deep breath and closed his hand around the precious jewel, placing it safely in his pocket as he turned to stand and face Feren when he called out to him.
"My King, I think we've learned everything we can here."
Thranduil waved his hand toward the door.
"Debrief me as we walk back."
They fell into step together as they made their way to the stable entrance.
"It appears that the abduction took place between 1 and 2pm, for before this our Queen was at the healing rooms and then had picnic lunch with the Prince, the stables were empty reportedly, Hastos disclosed that they all received an invitation to a special luncheon between that time. There is a back door from the stable that leads out into the forest, usually locked with a key kept by Fenris himself, so that it the most likely escape route…"
Their pace was still brisk and Thranduil had to resist the urge to race off into the forest after her by himself, but he understood that details and an organised plan mattered. After their meeting with Fenris, he needed to call a council meeting.
Evie POV
The next morning Evie awoke tied to the same tree as before, starving hungry. She had devised that Luke was completely delusional about the world around him and she need to play his game to get what she wanted.
First priority was getting fed, so she had to put on her best fake smile and be nice to him, though it was the last thing she wanted to do.
When he walked towards her half an hour later with his signature smirk, she planted a smile on her face, but inside she was screaming.
"Good Morning my sweet."
"Good Morning Luke."
"Your manners seem to be better today. Would you like some breakfast?"
She gritted her teeth and shoved down the urge to say something really nasty.
"Yes please."
She watched in silence as he bent over to cut the rope holding her to the truck of the tree and helped her stand, so she could stretch her muscles, but retied her hand together in front of her this time with an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry about this, but precautions. Can't have you running off now."
She said nothing, just nodded her head and allowed him to lead her over to the firepit and sit on one of the empty logs.
She took a crude bowl filled with some sort of oat sludge and let the warmth seep through to her hands, fighting off the chill of the morning, before lifting it to her mouth.
She tried not to make a face, for the sludge had no flavour, but it was hot and would fill her belly so she forced it down. She looked at the mortal man sitting next to her when he spoke.
"Not the greatest, I'm afraid."
"Definitely not.
They ate in silence for a bit after that, Evie watching carefully as orcs came and went around them, but largely ignoring their presence. That was until a particular large and grotesque orcs sat on the log opposite them and addressed Luke. She sat there, pretending to eat and listened in, wrinkling her nose at the smell of it.
"We leave soon. We don't want those elves on our tail."
"Very well. You know the course?"
"Yes. I have the map. If we set a hard pace, we should be out in 3 days."
"Excellent. The sooner we leave this forest the better. Gives me the creeps."
The orc said nothing to this, just up and left through the trees where all the other orcs had disappeared.
"We're leaving?"
"Yes. Are you finished?"
"Yes."
"Good. We have something to take care of before we go."
"What's that?"
"You can't expect to traipse through the wilderness in a dress."
"Oh. I suppose not."
"Come. I have a pair of pants and shirt for you. Boots too, since I don't think you want to go barefoot."
Evie looked down at her grubby toes and internally agreed that walking barefoot would not be ideal. Boots would be good. She could run in boots.
Planting another fake smile on her face, she stood and walked with Luke to a large pack and waited while he picked out the items of clothing, though a bit big by the looks of it, would suffice for this journey.
She watched as he handed her a small pile and then lead her to a nearby tree, holding on to the rope around her hands, but turning with his back to face her, giving her a small bit of privacy to change and shielding her from the others.
As she removed her outer gown, she briefly thought about using her magic when he left himself exposed to an attacked, but thought better of it.
Luke was no warrior and would certainly leave himself open again soon. She still didn't have enough information to just take off. She sighed and finished changing, pulling on the boots last, though of decent quality, they were definitely not of elvish make.
She made sure to leave her dismal yellow dress in a heap behind the tree to help Thranduil find her.
"All done."
She saw Luke turn and smile at her before moving to pick up his pack, heave it over his shoulders and then lead her towards the trees where the orcs waited them.
A/N: I much prefer being able to show what Evie and Thranduil are doing concurrently, so i think future chapters will be like this. Do you like it?