I woke from my dreaming the following morning to sounds of retching. I puzzled over it for a brief moment - did we have men or dwarves in our bedroom? Elves don't get sick, I told myself, opening my eyes to the thin dawn light. My head turned towards the source of the sound, and my heart nearly stopped.
Thranduil was leaning over the chamber pot, heaving dryly. I saw his broad shoulders shuddering, and my panic rose.
"What's going on?" I tumbled out of bed, and with a belly the size of a yearling pig my actions were more sluggish than urgent.
"The forest," Thranduil rasped. "It's sick." He turned to look at me, and for the first time in my many years, I felt as if I could vomit, Eldar or no. Purplish bruises lined his bloodshot eyes, and yellow pus was leaking from one of them. His lips were cracked and leaking a clear fluid. I saw his hands, clenched tightly on the sides of the pot, and they were shaking uncontrollably. I fell to the floor beside him, grasping his clammy hands in my own.
"Why are you like this?" I asked, tears accumulating my eyes despite my best efforts.
He sighed and closed his eyes briefly. "The forest and its king are connected, you know that."
"Break the connection!" I demanded. "You're dying."
A hollow laugh escaped from Thranduil's throat. "Then the forest dies."
"But you would survive," I was insistent.
"Whether I will is still undetermined. We have to leave this area. You must organize an exodus of the city," the king closed his eyes again. "This part of the forest will be overrun by evil shadows. We may find another location to live, but it will have to be far from here."
"We will march out today!" I said.
"Caradel," his hand on mine was like a vice as I tried to break away. "Do not travel south. The poison may be contained in the southern reaches of the forest. I will give as much power to protecting our people as I can."
I turned stern, trying to hide my fear. "You may not play the hero and sacrifice your life," I told him. "We need a king."
He smiled wryly. "We have you. No doubt you often feel you could perform my duties better than I."
"Shush. I will have a meal brought for you."
"No need," he groaned, leaning over the chamber pot once more. "Please...your task is to lead our people to safety."
I decided later that the cooperation of the inhabitants of the city was due to a heavily pregnant queen with eyes that bordered on madness. I was not feeling entirely well as it was, and the worry that burned inside of me for Thranduil manifested itself in the form a constantly tightening womb. I had to calm myself and breathe steadily as I assigned members of the council to animal transportation, food storage, or other duties.
"What of the king?" Malandi inquired as the hurrying rush of panic began in the palace. I could hear frantic whispers and impatient orders echoing across corridors.
I thought for a moment. Thranduil had to come with us, that I was certain of. Would he? "The king is unwell," I replied, holding myself steady. "I will see that he is transported to safety."
Malandi accepted my vague answer and bowed before striding away to his own duties. I hurried to the kitchens, running a list through my mind of what needed to be done for this exodus, and how I needed to care for my husband.
The kitchen was in an uproar - word was travelling fast. "Begging your pardon, my lady," one of the cooks addressed me from behind a stack of linens. "We haven't the extra hands to prepare any meals."
"Do not fuss, I can find what I need," I assured him, picking a handful of napkins from his pile. I was lucky to find that the cabinet holding herbs and roots were only just being emptied. I snitched a handful of mint and a root of ginger without my presence being noticed, and I swiped a teapot from a trunk being carried out by two elves. With my newly acquired supplies, I ran, wobbly on my feet, back to our bedroom.
Thranduil remained in the crouched position on the floor, but now he was unresponsive to the noise I made as I stroked the fire and set the teapot among the flames, after filling it with water from our wash basin. I loosened the king's clenched fists from the side of the chamber pot, and emptied it from the window. The contents landed among the last of the autumn blossoms. It did not matter - even now there were pounding feet and heavy carts being pulled over such beauty.
"Come into bed," I pulled Thranduil to his feet as best I could, and he complied. He was shivering, and the sheen of sweat on his face suggested a severe fever. I pulled the blankets on top of his shuddering form, tucking them under his body to possibly sweat it out. Truthfully, I had never had an interest in healing and had not paid any mind to the lessons, and I certainly had never treated a fever. I tried to not think of this at present.
"Caradel," A murmur escaped his lips and I saw that his eyelids were beginning to flutter.
"Hush," I told him. "I am going to take care of you until we can move you."
"I did it," he whispered. "I let go of part of the forest. I cannot feel it surrounding the city anymore."
"Then I can assume that your body is simply purging the rest of the darkness?"
A nod.
"Excellent. You will live." I pressed a wet cloth to his forehead, and his breathing calmed. Mine did not.
The cramping had me doubled over as I tried to steep the mint and ginger in the boiling water. I could not stop the groan escaping my lips, and inwardly I cursed myself at rousing Thranduil from his stupor.
"What is it?" he asked, trying to sit up.
"Nothing," I said through clenched teeth. "Lie back down."
"Have you been pushing yourself too hard?"
"That would be nonsense," I brought a cup of the tea to his side, sitting myself down gingerly on the edge of the bed.
"Caradel," Thranduil said in warning, peeking at me from one bloodshot eye. "It's not unheard of for a women under pressure to begin birth early."
"This is far too early to worry. They will not arrive until midwinter."
"It frosted last night."
"And you are not to concern yourself with my health," I said, holding the cup to his lips. "You must worry for your own healing."
"I will not place my life above the life of my children," Thranduil glared at me, and the further protests I had died in my throat.
"Then I will relax, as long as you do the same," I whispered. Once the last of the tea had disappeared, I continued to wipe his brow until he drifted into an uneasy trance.
We were the last ones to depart. The final wagon carried the feverish king and my own aching body from the city as the last of the sun's rays dipped below the horizon. I stared back as the distance between us and my home increased. Perhaps it was my imagination, but I fancied that the darkness surrounding the hill of the city was now fathomless as compared to the starlit woods. Eerie cries from birds of prey echoed in the now empty halls and in the silent forest, the noise multiplied. I lay down on my side, hiding my face in the shoulder of my king and rested uneasily.