After my confrontation with the great Elven King of Mirkwood, I decided that it was time that I personally inspect the condition of the barrier that protected the kingdom. I spotted Thranduil's captain at the end of the hallway and greeted him.
"Hello, Maenor." I said.
"Hello, my lady." He said and bowed slightly. "What is that you are planning to do? I do so hope that it is not mischief that I detect."
"No, it is not mischief." I said laughing. "I wanted to personally check the strength of the barrier."
Maenor looked at me for a moment before he spoke slowly. "I cannot allow you to do that, my lady."
"Why ever not?" I asked furrowing my brows.
"It is more dangerous the closer you get to the barrier." He said.
"I am more than capable of handling a few spiders." I said.
"As I am sure you are, my lady. However, that is not my decision to make. I am under strict orders to restrict your activities outside the walls of Mirkwood."
"King Thranduil ordered you to not allow me to visit the barrier, did he not?" I asked barely concealing my anger.
"He did, my lady. He suggested that your display earlier in the throne room was enough grounds to have your movement restricted to the palace only." He said.
"You heard what he said to me, Maenor. What was said between Thranduil and I was not grounds enough to put restrictions on me. I am not as cold-hearted as your king. I would never hasten the decline of the power that maintains the barrier. Why would I want the blood of your people on my hands? Are my hands not already stained enough with the blood of my own people?"
"I am sorry, Lady Ileana, but I cannot allow you to go anywhere near the barrier." Maenor said apologetically.
"I'm sure it will be fine if I have someone accompany me." I said. "Someone that would never do harm to those that lived in Mirkwood."
"And who is that?"
"I will ask Lord Elrond to accompany me." I answered. "If that is not enough, you may accompany me to the barrier as well."
"I am sorry, Lady Ileana, but I am under strict orders not to let you off the grounds no matter who accompanies you." Maenor said.
"I suppose if there was even a miniscule chance that I may be able to slow the inevitable decline of the barrier, I would still be confined to these walls."
"I am not to allow you off of the grounds until King Thranduil gives the order." Maenor said.
I nodded and smiled slightly at him. "I can appreciate your undying loyalty to your king. However, I think it is a matter of opinion on which such undying loyalty should be shown. Believe it or not, Captain, I am not in the business of destroying people's lives. If anything, I am in the business of protecting those lives for as long as I can. If you want the barrier to fall within the next month then, by all means, restrict my access to the barrier."
"It is not my decision to make, Lady Ileana. I am under the king's orders."
"It is an order that you should not follow." I said through my teeth.
"Ileana."
I turned to look behind me to find Lord Celeborn looking at us. "What is it?" I asked.
"I do not think that it is necessary to take your anger out on those that have orders from their king, Ileana. He cannot let you leave if he was ordered not to do so. Would you join me, Ileana?"
"Fine. It seems that I am not allowed to do anything else while I am here." I replied.
"Come along, child." Celeborn said.
I reluctantly followed Celeborn out into the gardens where he motioned for me to take a seat on one of the stone benches.
"Ileana, would you care to tell me what the problem is?" He asked.
"The problem is that Thranduil isn't allowing me outside of the grounds." I answered.
"I see. What is it that you hope to find outside of the walls?"
"I hope to find nothing, Celeborn. It merely infuriates me that he has forbidden it."
"I was the one that suggested that you be restricted in your stay here after the commotion that you caused on our arrival." He said looking at me.
"It was you? What right do you have to suggest such a thing? Do you not trust me? Have I not proven to you that I am trustworthy?" I asked as my temper rose.
"It is nothing like that, Ileana. It is merely a precaution. If the barrier falls while you are here and you had the opportunity to visit it, you would be blamed for it."
"If the people of Mirkwood knew how quickly the barrier is weakening, they would force Thranduil to request my assistance in sustaining it for whatever small amount of time that I could manage."
"Perhaps but that is not the case right now, Ileana." Thranduil said. "Situations, such as these, must be handled carefully. Politics are cutthroat, and that is even more so true when dealing with ellyn."
"I know better than anyone how carefully political matters must be handled. Besides Oropher being my father's friend, I was to be a gift to Thranduil. I was to be given as a sign of good grace between the kingdoms. Though I grew to love him, it is still very true that the marriage had been decided long before my birth."
"I am well aware of the arrangement that Oropher and your father made." Celeborn sighed. "But that has nothing to do with this situation."
"Yes. I suppose this could be better equated to the conflict between my father and Rohan all those years ago."
"Indeed. That would make a better comparison." Celeborn said with a small smile. "If you want my advice, I suggest that you give Thranduil some time to become adjusted to you being alive."
"But do his people have the luxury of time? When we entered the borders, I could feel how weak the barrier is. I can still feel it."
"You are not meant to save everyone, Ileana." Celeborn said. "Though you make it your own personal mission to try to do so."
"A ruler is supposed to do what is best for his people. What he is doing is merely for his own personal crusade. The years have changed him."
"What happened during your private audience with Thranduil?" Celeborn suddenly asked.
It was the question that I had been waiting for ever since he asked me to join him in the gardens.
"It was not so private." I replied. "His captain was present as well."
"And what happened?"
"What happened? I am sure that you know all too well what transpired behind those doors. If you do not know then I am sure that Galadriel is aware of the things that were said."
"You know very well that Galadriel is blind where you are concerned. She cannot see anything about you nor anything that you are involved in which is the reason for my concern about the events that transpired behind those doors."
"My side of the story will probably be contested by the king. However, if you would like my perspective on it then I will tell you what happened." I replied. "Thranduil requested my presence and the guard that he sent informed me that it was mandatory so I went. Captain Maenor accompanied me into the throne room where Thranduil was sitting arrogantly on his throne."
"Please go on." Celeborn said.
"Thranduil first began by questioning my loyalty, and then that progressed into him asking what horrors that I endured. Not only did he laugh about it but he also praised the orcs. Clearly, it irritated me, and I may have said some things that may have not have gone over well with him."
"Surely, Thranduil did not say something so ghastly." Celeborn said. "What did you say that might not have gone over too well?"
"Before I left the throne room, I told him that he would die alone and that I hoped that he would regret all of his terrible decisions when drew his last breath." I answered sheepishly. "There is one thing that I don't entirely understand. When I was talking to him, it seemed as if there were two different personalities battling for supremacy. It was strange, and something is telling me that I am overlooking something. That I am missing something very important that could change the events that may happen down the road."
"Thranduil has indeed changed since you were last in contact with him." He said. "Like many others, he has his bad days."
"No. It seems to go far beyond a simple mood swing. It sounds ridiculous, but it is as if there are two completely different people within the same body."
Celeborn scoffed at the idea. "I have seen many things, but that would be something entirely new to me. You are right. It is an outrageous idea. You have not been around him long enough to be able to determine if it is just his ire or if there is something more to it."
"It may be as you say, but there is something much more different about him than there were all those years ago. Before you tell me that time changes everything, you did not witness what I did. It wasn't merely a mood swing. It happened too fast for it to be that."
"Ileana, I don't think you realize just how long it has been since you have been in Thranduil's company. Though you may not like how he commands his kingdom, Thranduil has done well for his people over the years."
"And I suppose his thirst for his precious starlight was worth the lives that were wasted in that quest. Thranduil was and is the most self-serving ellon that I have ever had the displeasure of meeting." I replied. "Because each of us are entitled to our own opinions, I will not tell you that you are completely wrong but I will tell you that I don't agree with you nor do I think that many would agree with you."
"You state that we are all entitled to our opinions, but yet, you successfully claimed fault in all of the opinions and ideas that I hold." Celeborn scoffed.
"Is it abnormal to find fault in that which one is not involved in?" I asked. "Having nothing to do with it allows one to have a subjective view."
"Your father raised you well, Ileana." Celeborn chuckled. "Diplomacy while still expressing your opinion in a very straightforward manner."
"And we are somehow managing to stray from the original topic. My past and my background hold no ground in this discussion."
"How can it not? Your past involvement with Thranduil is why you are under such heavy restrictions. Whether you like it or not, it does and has already affected this situation, and more negatively so than anything else. You must tread lightly, Lea."
"I am aware of that, Celeborn. I will be honest with you. This conversation has led absolutely nowhere." I sighed.
"Ah, but it has led somewhere. Surely, you would not discount the wisdom of my words, Lea." He said in mock shock.
"Indeed I do not. You are wise, but you still have much to learn." I replied with a smirk.
"As do you. Our need to learn does not disappear merely with age. Even the wisest ellon still has the capacity to build upon his knowledge and perhaps replace misguided ideas with those more suitable to being true to his person."
"Which is precisely why I think that Thranduil is more than capable of changing his views before he is responsible for the deaths of his people. A ruler has to consist of more than just mere pride in his position and status in order to be a capable ruler. If the only criteria for a good king was possessing a narcissistic personality, I dare say that there would be no one alive today in the entirety of Middle Earth. Either that or Middle Earth would be in complete and utter chaos. Though from what I have seen, I am not sure that the latter can be completely ruled out."
Behind us, we heard someone approaching us. A blonde elleth, who appeared to have just barely reached adulthood, stopped before us and curtsied. "My lord, My lady, I am to inform you that dinner will be served in half an hour. It is courtesy of King Thranduil that I inform you of such so that you may dress for dinner accordingly."
I couldn't help but notice that her eyes lingered on my more masculine attire. Rather than be offended by her blatant disgust, I smiled up at her sweetly. "Thank you for informing us, darling. Please continue on with your tasks."
The girl looked to Celeborn, who nodded his assent, and she left after curtsying. "I suppose I should change my attire. I would hate to ruin the appetite of Thranduil's dinner guests with my riding clothes."
"May I make a suggestion, Lea?" Celeborn asked quietly.
"Of course." I replied.
"Perhaps replace your amulet with some other necklace?"
I looked at him with a frown. "Have you been talking to Elrond behind my back? It was he who suggested that I forgo wearing my amulet while here."
"At some point, you are going to have to come to terms with your scars."
"I have come to terms with them. It is only a matter of wanting to forgo the inevitable pity that will result from people seeing them."
"We all still care for you despite your scars. Even with the scars, it does not detract from your beauty."
"As I have told Elrond multiple times, I do not care about how they affect my appearance. The only thing that I don't like is that people view me as a victim. I am not a victim. I am much more than that."
"Perhaps I should have held my tongue on the matter." Celeborn said with a sigh.
"I will see you at dinner." I replied and left the garden.
I headed towards my set of rooms and nearly ran into Elrond as he came out of his adjoining room. "I had the maids draw you a bath, Lea."
"Very well. I suppose I should get cleaned up. I was already spurned by a servant for my appearance. I wouldn't want to affect the appetite of Thranduil's dinner guests." I snapped.
"What has happened, Lea?" Elrond questioned. "Why are you so angry?"
"There are a number of reasons, but I, frankly, do not wish to explain them all to you." I replied and entered my room, locking the door behind me.
"Lea, open the door for the Valar's sake!" Elrond yelled from the hallway.
"I'm taking a bath, Elrond. Leave." I replied as I walked into the bathing room.
I removed my amulet and the entirety of my clothes and slipped into the tub. Draping my hair over the side of the tub, I closed my eyes and relaxed. I heard the distinct click of the door opening, and I sighed.
"Can I not have a moment's peace?" I asked with my eyes still closed.
I felt something entangle in my hair, and only too late, do I feel a harsh jerk forcing my neck to bend back at a painful angle across the edge of the tub.
"What is your purpose here?" A familiar voice hissed in my ear. "What do you expect to find? What do you hope to accomplish?"
My eyes traveled up the ghostly apparition to find the face of the voice. I struggled as I realized why the hissing voice was so familiar. Viistan. The adopted son of my father's parents. The suspected traitor of my people to Sauron and his orcs. The monster that forced himself upon me during my father's absence with the help of his sons.
"My, how you have grown! You were barely older than an elfling the last time I laid eyes…or hands on you." Viistan laughed in his psychotic way.
"You were responsible for the deaths of our people. You were always a traitor. A traitorous snake to both your family and your kingdom." I said through clenched teeth.
"You have grown more defiant. I remember the last time that I laid hands on you that it was followed by your screams and your begging for me to stop." He said with an evil grin as his eyes followed the trails of scars on my body. "The orcs seemed to have inflicted a great deal of pain upon you during the battle. I am sure that the emotional pain was nothing compared to being betrayed and used by your own beloved uncle."
"I never held even a shred of love for you. I always hated you as did my father and my brother."
"Oh, but I loved you, Ileana. Else why would I have wasted the effort to send your father away so that I could be alone with you to do whatever I wanted?"
"You never loved me, you bastard!"
"You should be grateful that I wasted any effort on you at all." He said as he splayed his fingers across my throat and squeezed.
"I demand to know what you are doing here." I said as he threatened to cut off my air supply.
"You shouldn't worry about that. Just know that I will always be watching and playing." He breathed in my ear.
At that moment, Elrond burst through the door of the bathing room. In that same instant, my amulet crashed to the ground into a million pieces. As the amulet hit the floor, the room was enveloped in a blue light. After the light had faded, Viistan was gone. "Have you gone mad, Ileana?" He asked.
I immediately gasped for air and pulled my head back into a much more comfortable position. "Viistan…"