Legolas cast another glance at Seren, keeping step beside her. She hadn't said anything since they made it over the mossy rocks at the bottom of the ravine. They were treading a steep slope of hard earth, taking care not to trip on the jungle of roots embedded in the ground.
She seemed unlike herself and stared ahead. Her posture was different and she carried herself as if she wore heavier clothes. True to her claims, she led them under a thick canopy of trees and there had been no sign of the agents. She marched ahead of them, a soldier of a fixed mind.
A break in the pines allowed a shaft of sunlight to stream down to the ground and Seren stopped when she felt the warm light. She blinked several times and gazed up as if waking from a dream. A smile graced her features and her eyes fell closed for a moment.
Legolas watched as the animation of her face returned and the Seren he knew looked at him. She glanced around her, confusion pinching her brows.
"Are you alright?" Legolas stepped between her and the others to allow her a moment to collect herself. "You seemed… distant."
She nodded. "I'm fine… Whatever that was… well I can't worry about it now. My brother and your father are waiting."
She closed her eyes against a flood of disjointed images, memories that didn't seem her own but were recorded from her own eyes and breathed deep. She strode a few more paces up the steep ground and looked west and then beckoned for Nuinethir.
The quickstrider loped over to her side and she pointed to a wide area of level ground just before another path up the slope. It would lead back to the stones where she and Tal had first encountered Thranduil.
"We have too many to chance traversing open ground. If we can avoid it, we must. There are caves and ledges along a route that we can take to the Serrano tribe's territory. Just north of the rocks, the trees become dense and the ground levels off. Please go to your king and have him meet us there."
Nuinethir nodded and then turned to the remaining three quickstriders, speaking in Elvish. One of them joined his leader and they took off eastward at a breathtaking sprint while the other two stayed behind.
When she looked at Legolas again, he was trying to hide a smirk.
"What?"
"Not many would command the Quickstriders of my father's personal guard as if they were their own – the king might have something to say about it." Now he did chuckle.
Seren's eye widened a fraction at the words personal guard but she swallowed down her unrest. "He can say what he likes. There's nothing he can actually do about it."
And that was precisely why Legolas couldn't keep from laughing. His father was unintentionally comical when faced with someone who had no reason to recognize his authority.
Seren shook her head at him and resumed their trek, heading west toward easier ground.
The path towards the boulders wasn't terribly steep and it was free of roots so they made better time, even with those who were unwell. Haavelass remained unresponsive and his breathing grew more labored as time went on. No one spoke their thoughts but many exchanged sad glances when the Captain drew in a particularly difficult gasp: if they didn't find a closer doorway, Haavelas wouldn't make it.
Seren also worried over Legolas. He remained a few steps ahead of her and everyone else was many paces behind. She suspected he did this to keep his episodes from the others. Every so often, he'd stop or slow down and lower his head, breathing deep. She chose not to mention that he was looking grayer after each time. If any of the others noticed, they also didn't mention it.
They had just reached the pass between boulders where they began the chase for the truck, when Haavelas exhaled heavily and went limp.
"No!" Caireann cried. She and the other elf carrying him carefully slid him from their shoulders to the ground.
Multiple gasps of shock echoed at the sight of the tall elf. He was nearly as grey as the stone around them and his body was utterly still.
"Haavelass, no! Come back!" Caireann leaned over him, fingers clutching his tunic as she pressed her tears into his chest. "Come back…"
Seren looked to Legolas. His expression was grim when he turned to her. "His fea has gone."
Caireann sobbed weakly.
One of the runners knelt to the fallen elf and said something Seren couldn't understand but she assumed it was a last rite of some sort.
When he stood, he told Legolas, "Haavelas may find his way back to the doorway from here. He left before he became a wraith upon this land. The poison in his body, the injury that was inflicted upon him… and the shadows here… It was more than he could bear. This world is not for elves."
Legolas nodded in understanding but Seren wanted to ask for answers. She didn't voice any of her questions however. Another elvish woman took Caireann away, comforting her so she and Legolas stooped to pick up Haavelas's lifeless form, intent on getting him home as they promised.
"You should be with Legolas, protecting him," Thranduil said, striding over the terrain with more haste than was warranted. The deep timbre of his voice carried over the group of elves and Tal heard him from his position at the back.
"He didn't object to the human's directives and it seemed a sensible decision," Nuinethir replied.
He walked next to the king as they headed toward the place Seren said to meet. The ground rose and the trees grew closer together just like she had said. They went in further until the ground leveled off, the trees now so dense they could see only parts of the path from which they'd come and stopped to wait.
Thranduil went over to the human, who had started giving out food from a satchel.
"What could your sister be planning? The way we came from the doorway is to the east. She's leading us in the wrong direction." Thranduil checked his suspicion just enough to keep his features placid, though his eyes were hard with a warning.
Tal felt his stomach quiver from so abruptly being the focus of Thranduil's attention (and having to address someone taller than himself). It was unnerving.
"She knows this land better than me or you. If the agents bring a helicopter up here as Seren says they claim, staying hidden with so many will be impossible. She probably intends to take us on a route the F.B.I. can't follow."
Thranduil regarded the man for a moment and could detect no deception from him but this world played such havoc with his senses, he didn't know if he was simply failing to see clearly.
"She'll be here," Tal added, feeling a sudden need to placate.
"We shall see…"
The king considered having one of his archers put the human under armed guard to ensure that his sister cooperated but he was sure the desire was almost solely to ease his own turmoil than from any real need. The human was one against eighteen. And he had stayed to help with the orcs, taking his share of risk and injuries before the creatures fled. So he decided to wait and see what would happen next.
He didn't have to wait long.
He was watching Tal as he continued with dispensing food and water when one of the guards he placed to watch the path behind them called out, "They're coming!"
A great rustle of movement hissed through the forest as every elf stood and found gaps between trees to watch the path that came up the slope. Moments later, the first of Haavelas's guard appeared, some limping or shuffling but smiling as they saw the other group.
The quickstriders were helping a wounded elf hobble along and their burden was lifted by two of Thranduil's men when they drew near. The king spared only a glance and continued to watch the path. Though he was glad to see so many of his kin returned, he was too agitated to pretend that Legolas wasn't his biggest concern. He stepped forward when no one else appeared and glared through the trees. A tease of something red between trees made him step sideways, trying to get a better angle.
The last of Haavelas's guard appeared, heads down solemnly and the king felt his turmoil pick up speed. He could barely stand still as movement rustled the leaves on the ground once again and Seren came into view. An arm was draped over her shoulders and she held the limp hand, her right arm supporting the weight of her burden around the waist. Thranduil's eyes went round with the worst assumption.
A moment later, he saw that it was Haavelas and then Legolas stepped around the tree, holding the elf from the other side. The world around him seemed to fall away and his insides clenched as his mind absorbed the sight, trying to accept what he saw. He was paler and thinner than he'd last seen him, covered in strange clothes and disheveled but it was his son. He hadn't realized how little he believed he'd see him again until this moment.
Legolas looked up and smiled. Thranduil blinked through a misty smile of his own and inhaled deeply through his nose. My son lives… He and Seren marched close enough for the nearest of the guard to take Haavelas from them and Legolas walked over to the king.
"Father."
The two gripped each other's shoulders and bowed their heads together before Legolas laughed and pulled Thranduil into a fierce hug, leaving him stunned at the display of affection. A moment later, he returned the embrace and it was as if Legolas was a mere child once again. He inhaled deeply and the physical reassurance eased his nerves.
"Forgive me," Legolas said as he stepped back. "I hadn't truly believed I'd see you again. Or home, for that matter."
Thranduil opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Tal. "Did you really have so little faith in us?"
"Well no," Legolas said to him. "I had many doubts; but because of you – both of you, I still had hope. Thank you."
Confusion crossed Tal's features and Seren smiled a small smile at them. Then her countenance darkened with the concerns at hand. "Don't thank us just yet. We still have to get you all back to Middle Earth."
She glanced at Thranduil uncertainly. "Many of your kin grow weak and weary with every minute they stay here. Haavelas has already lost that battle."
All eyes fell to the deceased elf where he laid on the ground and the very air seemed to still. Thranduil looked down at him and then knelt at the captain's side.
"I had thought you a fool but the bigger fool was I. You were first to challenge my folly and risked everything to return my son to me. You shall be laid to rest in the gardens of our kingdom, Haavelas. And none shall forget your name or speak ill of it."
When he rose, he looked to Seren and hesitated for a long moment. "Your brother insists that you have a route we might travel. How would you recommend we proceed?"
The bright blue gaze deeply unsettled her but it felt imperative that she not break eye contact with Thranduil if she was to gain his trust. She nodded in agreement. "I do. We can't outrun a helicopter if we're found. It's best that we are never seen at all."
She asked Legolas for his map and spread it out on the ground for everyone to see. She pointed out the crescent shaped gorge and where the door to the mine would be on one side. Tal objected to using the old shafts because of the agents but she pointed out that the excavation leading into Serrano territory was never completed and wasn't on the map. She showed them the paths they would take by placing twigs and pine needles on the paper to mark them. They would head north into the native tribe's land and stay under a ridge of cliff shale that bordered a lake. Then they would take a cave near a waterfall to the service shaft at the edge of the mine and follow it through the mountain ridge and over the river before looping back around to the crescent gorge and coming out of the door. Once everyone understood the planned route and had studied the map, it was time to put away their supplies.
Legolas found his pack lying against a tree and stared at Tal. "You brought this? I had expected you would leave it behind considering the circumstances that arose after I left the mine last night."
"I couldn't let you forget your father's present. And now I understand why it made you think of him," Tal said with a smirk.
"Thank you." Legolas shrugged himself into it and then had to steady himself against a tree as dizziness passed over him.
Two of Thranduil's guards were there immediately, fussing over the prince and Seren had to stop her reflexive attempt to go to him. Tal came over to her and watched her for a moment.
"So much for getting them home by lunch time," she quipped, though she didn't laugh or smile. "But we will get them home. And at least he's with his people now."
"Seren…"
"Taliesin…"
"Are you going to be ok?"
At that she stopped and stared off into nothing for a moment. "I will be. I'll miss him. It was like having a little brother around, you know?"
Tal nodded. "Although, he's how many hundreds of years old?"
That provoked an honest chortle from her and then she immediately sobered. "It just… It feels like he's already gone. I wish it was just the three of us heading back to that portal… but we wouldn't have been able to save Legolas at all if his Royal Elfyness hadn't shown up when he did."
"I beg your pardon?" A deep voice said behind her.
Seren startled and heaved in a great shrill gasp. She turned to see none other than Thranduil standing there, looking confused.
Her brother collapsed against a tree, laughing loud and hard.
"YOU!" Seren pointed at him. "You just let me go on!"
Tal nodded through his tears.
"Ohhh! You give brothers everywhere a bad name, Taliesin!"
Seren looked at the rest of the elves who were all smiling or laughing at her reddened face as she tried to collect herself in front of the king. Finally she managed some semblance of calm, grateful that Thranduil didn't seem to find scaring her senseless amusing.
"Is everyone ready to go?"
A faint smirk dimpled Thranduil's cheeks imperceptibly and he nodded once. "Quite."
She sighed and turned from him before she could find out if he was going to laugh too. "Alright then; follow me."
From the rear of the group she heard her brother speaking to Legolas: "His Royal Elfyness…"
"I know it's a no-fly zone!" Drecker shouted into his headset over the muffled whooping of the helicopter's engines. "Except in cases of special interest or emergency – this is a special interest and it is an emergency! Now get me that permit!"
He ended the call and met the disapproving stare of the F.B.I. agent's leader. They'd been swirling back and forth over the ridge but the Serrano tribe's federal protections forbid them from flying into the air over their land. So Drecker had been tasked with convincing a judge to grant them a temporary permit so they could search the area.
The agents had the mine guarded – Seren knew this – so the only option she had for moving unseen was the territory that local authorities and federal personnel weren't allowed to trespass without approval. It usually took days to secure such a thing after a lengthy review by the Serrano council – if it could be done at all – and Drecker was trying to accomplish this in five minutes.
When he shook his head for the agent's benefit, the suit sat forward and said something to the pilot. The helicopter abruptly turned north and crossed the Serrano's boundaries.
"What are you doing?!" Drecker looked back as if fighter jets or something would suddenly swoop in and take them out. "We can be ruined for this!"
The agent smiled. "We may not be here long enough for anyone to notice or care."
Drecker spluttered. "The Serrano territory is massive and we have no idea where the elves are!"
"We just need to follow them." The agent pointed at movement in the trees and Drecker saw dozens of dark figures running through the forest.
"Orcs."
"Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe being in the mine?" Taliesin grumbled as they trod along a wide corridor.
"Many times," Legolas replied dryly. "Though, it's difficult to believe your claim when you sleep so easily in it."
Some of the elves listening in smiled at the banter and Seren looked back when she heard the laughter. For a moment, envy crept into her thoughts. They were carefree. They had only to follow her lead and it suddenly seemed less than fair that she wasn't a part of their brevity. She shook the thought away, however and focused on their current task. The corridor they were in led directly outside and into the crescent gorge. If a portal was there, the journey to return Legolas home was near an end, an end she wasn't ready for.
Thranduil stepped up next to her and stared at the door ahead of them as she studied it with a flashlight.
"Before we part ways, I wish to thank you... and to offer an apology."
When she looked at him, her green eyes were wide with disbelief. She said nothing to this, so he continued, "When we met, I treated you and Taliesin with suspicion you did not deserve."
Seren continued to gawk at him, even as he turned his attention forward. "I, uh…" she gave her head a shake, "somehow I didn't think of you as the type to apologize."
Then she inwardly cursed her bumbling tongue. She looked ahead then studying their path, anything to busy herself. Talking about injured feelings wasn't something she was good at. From her periphery she saw Thranduil tilt his head thoughtfully.
"I do not often have need to apologize as I'm not often wrong."
Seren blinked, not sure how to respond.
"Do not mistake me; it is not arrogance or pride but merely a truth. The gifts of elves are many. Some grow things their kin cannot. Some understand the land and some see more than others do. However, I failed to see that you were not the threat to Legolas that I feared."
Strangely, a feeling of mischief settled over Seren and she smirked. "Well, you are a parent, worried for your son like any parent should be. It doesn't excuse you, but I think you can be forgiven for your understandable lapse of courtesy."
Somewhere deep inside, a part of Seren was gasping scandalously at having addressed the elvenking in such a way. Thranduil himself seemed confused, eyes wide as he turned her words over in his head.
"I accept your apology, king Thranduil," she said, taking pity on him.
That seemed to be what he was looking for as a faint smile played about his mouth and he nodded placidly in return.
She looked back to the others, spotting Nuinethir as he now shouldered Haavelas's body. The dedication they had in bringing every one of their kin home was inspiring. The weight of what that meant to them made her glad to have been the one to lead them. "Well, it's time for the moment of truth."
Seren closed the remaining distance to the door and slid the bolt locks out of place. The door needed two more people pushing on it before it swung wide. Fresh air blew into the tunnel and the portal back to Middle Earth shimmered a dozen yards ahead of them.
Seren looked at Tal and then to Legolas with worry. The doorway was larger than the one Legolas had come through. The shimmering oval hovered, just barely off the ground but it stood four meters tall and three meters wide. They struck out across the distance, keeping a wary eye out for orcs and the helicopter as they strode deep into the open space.
"No wonder so many orcs have managed to cross into this world," Legolas said, gazing up at the portal. "It's massive."
Thranduil turned to his son. "This isn't the passage you came through?"
Seren inwardly cursed herself. They hadn't had time to discuss anything about the portals, so focused had they been on finding and reaching the crescent gorge.
Legolas shook his head. "I arrived through a hole barely large enough for one man and it closed immediately behind me."
"I see…" Thranduil absorbed this information with a wide eyed expression. "Then you did not cause this rift."
When he was met with confused stares, he elaborated. "According to what little record we have, they occur when the balance of our world is greatly disturbed."
"You know about these?" Tal, Seren and Legolas all said together.
Thranduil nodded. "They are a myth to most who know of them and there are few who do. Until I had seen one for myself, I had never thought they truly existed."
Tal took a step past them and stared at the portal. "So how do we close it?"
"They will seal themselves when whatever was lost is returned. If Legolas did not cause this, however orcs will still be able to pass into your world."
"Understood," Seren said, trying not to stare too hard at the hole between worlds. An odd feeling of suspense began to tickle her senses but she couldn't put her finger on what caused it.
The others seemed to pick up on it too as they stopped halfway to the portal and gazed around, drawing their weapons. All at once, sound erupted around them as orcs jumped up from the water behind the portal and began dropping down into the gorge from both sides.
Seren's stomach felt like a brick of ice dropped into it and she stumbled back from the front of their group. Tal pulled her behind him and took his sword from its sheath just in time to meet an orc head on. Their party was surrounded and orcs crashed into them with frantic delight.
Nuinethir and the runners managed to leap up onto the throng and they vaulted outside of the cluster, drawing them away and thinning the herd of monsters with arrows. Seren wiggled through an opening in the chaos, hoping she wouldn't be stabbed unexpectedly. She pulled her blade free and ducked under an orc that was aiming for Tal. He never saw her as she passed under his arm. He staggered when he felt her blade however, and looked to see a wound bleeding profusely in his armpit. A few moments later, he lay dead in the dirt.
Once free of the swarm of bodies, she looked for her brother just in time to see an orc aiming a sword at his back. Before she could even think what she could do, a pale knife appeared in the monstrosity's neck and Legolas came running over to the thing, pulling his dagger free as he continued on to the next orc.
She watched the elf for a moment, awed as he dove and slipped around his enemies with inhuman grace. Then a whirlwind of sliver/black metal crossed her view and she saw Thranduil, surrounded by orcs. His two swords glittered in the sun and he never seemed to waste a single movement, guarded more by his reflexes than his armor. He was a blur as he spun through the battle field, black bodies falling at his feet, only to have others take their place.
A sharp cry drew her attention and she spotted Caireann, trying to remain standing as she fended off an orc. Without thinking, Seren ran back into the melee, keeping to the edge of it. When she reached Caireann; the elf had just fallen, clutching her leg and the orc brought his weapon up for a final blow. Seren ran at him, her blade clutched too tight in her hands and drove the weapon clean through the stinking torso. Caireann gasped as orc blood sprayed her and Seren appeared from over the dying creature's shoulder.
"Sorry!"
The elf smiled as the orc fell sideways to the ground and she hobbled up onto her good leg to help Seren pull her weapon free. They turned their attention to the others, dismayed to find a couple of their own lying in pools of blood.
Thranduil commanded a pair of elves to drag the bodies back to the portal while he and the others guarded their exit. "We must leave!"
He looked at the others and found Legolas bearing fresh cuts but nothing fatal as he took down orc after orc. Seren was staying close to Caireann and they were sneaking around the battle, stabbing orcs in strategic places. He smirked at Seren's look of horror and disgust when orc blood splashed her face.
More orcs dropped over the ledge and the elvenking became convinced this was the legion they'd been tracking in Gundabad.
Tal pulled his sword out of an orc and moved wearily as he took a moment to scan the clearing for Seren and called her name. Instead he saw something worse.
Seren moved from behind the press of orcs when she heard her brother and found him staring at something near the north end of the gorge. She followed his gaze and gasped at what she saw. Agents stood there and a helicopter came into view behind them.
The one leading them held a long rifle of some sort and raised it.
Tal eyes widened in alarm and he launched himself toward Thranduil.
Seren looked back toward her brother.
A loud crack filled the air and Taliesin's mid-air flight abruptly ended as he was violently shoved back into the elvenking by the impact of the bullet.
The orcs, sensing a new threat, lunged toward the agents and several elvish arrows embedded deep into the suits as they tried to run.
Red bloomed over Tal's coat in a large circle before the surrounding elves could even reach for him. They helped him to the ground at a stunned Thranduil's feet.
The helicopter rose higher then and started firing at the orcs, taking them down in swaths.
For Seren, silence fell over the world and only the scream of her brother's name, torn from her throat, seemed to echo in her ears. She ran to him. It took forever and it took no time at all. His coat had been opened and blood flowed freely from a hole over the right side of his heart.
Already his color was too pale. He would never make it to a hospital.
"No Taliesin! Don't you do this!"
He tried to smile at her. Something angry and hot spread through her veins and the world seemed to pale.
Legolas gripped her shoulder. "Quickly! If we get him to Middle Earth, we may be able to heal him."
Elves were scooping him up before she could nod. She looked through blurred vision toward the black bird, feeling a stranger rise within her.
"We must go while the orcs have them distracted," Thranduil said.
A hand was placed on her shoulder and she blindly ran with the rest, stumbling into Middle Earth none too gracefully.
The elves fanned out, securing their location while the healers that had been left behind frantically worked over Tal. Thranduil looked at the scene and had to look away. Blood still seeped into the ground.
The portal still shimmered in place as he knew it would. The orcs on the other side and the humans in Middle Earth would keep it from closing. The black flying machine came into view and the gun attached to it swiveled toward them.
"CLEAR THE DOORWAY!"
Seren felt more than heard the helicopter. Everything seemed to dim to the color of polished steel and the ground vibrated through her feet.
When Thranduil shouted, she stood suddenly. The air around her kicked up into a desperate wind and color fled from everything. Thranduil stared at his surroundings and then at Seren, blinking in surprise when harsh white light erupted from nowhere and everywhere.
The swirling wind and press of the light's glare forced the helicopter back, as if it had been physically pushed from the portal. It careened around the clearing and disappeared from view.
Seren stood there motionless for a moment before inhaling sharply and stumbling to her knees. The color and warmth in the air rushed back into the world as quickly they had fled.
Horror painted her features when she sat back and stared at her own limbs as if they were someone else's.
Finally Legolas spoke, "How did you -?"
Her breath came in short pants. "I-I-I don't know!" She turned a baleful expression toward him.
"It's not working!" A healer said.
"Tal…" Seren scrambled over the ground to her brother. He was white as snow and blood flowed from his lips. He took hitching, gurgled breaths and fought to keep his eyes focused on her.
"Ser…"
"Shhh! They're going to fix you."
"I can't! It's not working!"
Seren looked at the healer. Another elf, presumably also a healer came forward and tried the same mantra her kin had been doing and looked up at them sadly.
"I thought you had magic!"
"I'm trying but nothing is happening!"
"Ser…"
"He has no magic," Thranduil said quietly. The horrible realization dawned in his eyes. "There is no magic in your world. It is unknown to him, so his body cannot respond."
"I'm sorry," said a healer.
"Ser…en…"
She looked at Tal then. He gasped, coughing a large blot of blood out. "…promise… y-…y-our… promise… r-r-remem…ber…"
She took his hand, the cold of it stark in her hot palms. "I haven't forgotten."
He smiled a small smile at her, his eyes unfocused, his breath coming in weak tugs. "Take… ev…ev.." he heaved another rattling cough, "ev-ry chance…"
Seren smiled through unshed tears and lowered herself so he could see her and hear her and helped him finish, "…to laugh… to love…"
"to… l-l-l-live…" Tal pulled in one more breath and gave his sister's hand a feeble squeeze before going still.
For a long moment Seren stared. Her eyes sparkled with tears and focused on nothing. After that long moment, she crumbled.
"Nooooo…. Tal…" She buried her face in his blood soaked chest, crying and murmuring quietly over and over, "No… Taliesin…"
Thranduil watched the woman grieve, feeling unaccountably solemn that she suffered so. The plaintive cries were heart-wrenching and it didn't help to know that Taliesin's sacrifice was for him. He inhaled deeply and looked to his kin. The elves stood over the prone form of the human and none dared to speak. What could be said in a moment like this?
Legolas wiped his own eyes and knelt next to Seren. He spoke the last rites for Tal, pressing his eyelids down, his movements strained and shaky as he struggled with his composure.
A faint whispering sound came from behind them and when Thranduil turned around, he saw the doorway had shrunk. It was shimmering with golden light and the image beyond was nearly lost. He hurriedly looked at Seren and then back to the portal, bewildered.
"Seren."
When she looked, and saw the diminishing oval, she stood and stared. Then she rushed forward, not having any idea what she could do but the quivering disc abruptly condensed to a little ball of gold light. She reached for it and when her fingers touched it, the orb dissipated into nothing.
She pulled her hand back as if stung and stared at the landscape where the portal had been. She parted her lips but they merely quivered as she couldn't decide which words to speak first.
"I'm… I, uh…" She dragged in a breath and turned from Thranduil and found the rest all similarly watching her. Her breaths started coming faster as she grappled with accepting her situation.
"Is there another one? Another doorway?"
"Not as far as I'm aware," Thranduil said levelly.
"Could we look? If there was one, there may be others."
"Seren," Legolas said, watching her sadly. "We have dead to bury."
That struck a chord with her. "Bury Tal? Here, in Middle Earth?"
"He will not wait for you to find a way back, Seren," Thranduil said when he detected a way to get through to her. "His body will return to the earth, whether you lay him to rest or not."
Seren swallowed the hysteria that threatened to overwhelm her and hastily wiped at the blood on her face - Tal's blood. Thranduil's words were uncomfortably true. Taliesin, Haavelas and two others lay dead. It was only right to bid them a proper farewell. She would prefer to bury Tal back home, next to their parents but that wasn't possible.
"I can't bury him here and then leave. It's not home. Home is where my brother is. I can't –"
"Then stay," Thranduil said it as if it was the obvious answer.
"What?" She hadn't expected that.
"Legolas told me that your own house had been destroyed by orcs. Those men, clad in black, were trying to kill you and your brother deserves to be laid to rest. You may leave if you wish or, if you desire, you may live in my kingdom for the rest of your days. True it's not much, given all that you've lost but it's the least I can offer."
Seren's head spun as she considered the idea. In her mind, she was still set in thinking that she and Tal would get the elves home and retire for the evening with Chinese take-out. Switching gears to such a major decision was jarring in the extreme, not to mention so wholly fantastic as to strain her grip on reality – magic, elves, portals, orcs and Taliesin dead, it was more than she could bear. Now she was being offered a home in a kingdom. She wanted to ask what living in Thranduil's kingdom would mean for her. She wanted to know the rules and expectations before she agreed. She looked at Tal, lying peacefully on the ground. He would never again enjoy Chinese take-out. Suddenly where she wound up seemed unimportant.
Finally she raised her emerald gaze to Thranduil's pale sapphire stare. "Thank you for the offer; I accept."