Thorin was already standing before the Elven King. Solaris was placed next to him with and the bonds around her wrists undone.
"Are you alright?" Thorin whispered.
"Yes, are you?" she asked.
"Solaris" Thranduil, the Elven King and Legolas's father said "Does your father know where you are?"
"He knows that I am with the dwarves My Lord" she replied and he nodded.
"Some may imagine that a noble quest was at hand. A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I myself suspect and more prosaic motive. Attempted burglary or something of that ilk. You have found a way in" he said studying Thorin. "You seek which that would bestow you the right to rule. The King's Jewel. The Arkenstone. It is precious to you beyond measure. I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems of pure starlight. I offer you my help"
Solaris watched Thorin carefully, Thranduil could not be trusted. "I am listening" Thorin said and as much as Solaris wanted to say no she remained silent.
"I will let you go if you but return what is mine"
"A favour for a favour" Thorin said walking a little.
"You have my word, one king to another"
"I would not trust Thranduil, the great king to honour his word should the end of all days be upon us. You, who lack all honour!" Thorin shouted as he turned to face the King.
"I have seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once starving, homeless, seeking your help but you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us!" he then shouted something in Dwarfish that Solaris did not understand. Thranduil swept down.
"Do not talk to me of dragon fire; I know its wrath and ruin. I have faced the great serpents of the north"
Thunder sounded from overhead and Solaris watched as half of Thranduil's face melted away to the muscle underneath, his eye also went creamy white. As soon as his face had distorted he was back to normal again. He pulled back and watched Thorin closely.
"I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon. But he would not listen. You are just like him"
Thranduil was now walking up the stairs to his throne. "Stay here if you will" he said gesturing and guards grabbed Thorin. "And rot, a 100 years is a mere blink in the life of an el. I'm patient, I can wait"
"No!" Solaris exclaimed. She wasn't sure what spell it was but she cast a green orb from her hands and it hit Thranduil in the face. She then did the same to the guards but it sucked the life out of her and she dropped to a knee. Behind her Thranduil laughed.
"Magic, you dare use your magic on me?" he asked coming down from his throne. "Tell me dear, is your Father teaching you. Because he is the only elf other than me who I know can play with magic. He must be very disappointed in you"
"My Father is proud of me" Solaris said trying to stand but her knees gave way.
"You are weak Laris, you always have been. Elrond is weak. I on the other hand am strong, my son is strong and my ward Tauriel is strong. I am glad she did not turn out like you"
His words stung her deeply. "I was going to offer you chambers, a shower, a change of clothes and food but I now see you'd rather go to the cells with your disgusting dwarf friends"
Solaris shouted and sent another green orb at him but he caught it and absorbed the power. The guards rushed forward to grab her but Thranduil waved them away.
"No" he said "If she wants a battle of magic, a battle of magic she shall get"
Solaris deliberately used smaller spells so that she could save energy but Thranduil on the other hand used powerful spells that she had never even seen before. Some of them had been so powerful that she was sure if they'd hit her she'd be dead.
"This is fun is it not?" Thranduil smiled as he sent another spell at her and she dodged out the way.
"Father?" a voice boomed and Thranduil dropped his guard for a second. That second was all she needed to hit him in the back.
"Enough!" Thranduil shouted and Solaris flew backwards and her body cracked against the wall and she cried out.
"Father" Legolas repeated and rushed to Solaris's side. "What are you doing?"
Thranduil adjusted his crown and looked down at Solaris with unmoving eyes. "I was teaching Solaris about magic; it seems that Lord Elrond hasn't been doing a very good job"
"You've broken her" Legolas said.
"She will heal" Thranduil said.
"She needs proper healers" Legolas said.
"Oh please stop caring Legolas, its just pathetic" Thranduil laughed. "Take her to a cell"
"All the cells are full My Lord" a guard said stepping forward.
"Then stick her in with one of the dwarves, but not with the leader" he said. "I'm sure your Father will come to you in a year or two when he realises you're missing"
Solaris's body was limp as the guard and Legolas pulled her from the floor. She then suddenly came back to life and elbowed the guard in the face. His nose cracked and she then kicked Legolas has hard as she could in the groin. He gasped and dropped to his knees. Solaris glanced at Thranduil who watched her wide eyed. She gave him a little salute and jumped from the platform they were standing on.
"After her!" Thranduil shouted.
Solaris had no idea where she was running to. She hadn't been to this part of the Mirkwood palace before and all the pathways and walls looked the same. An arrow came flying and missed her head by a foot.
"Whoa" she said dodging and jumping to another level.
She eventually lost the guards and came to a stop hidden behind some barrels. She crouched for a minute or two to catch her breath; she then looked around and couldn't see any guards so crept out her hiding place. She tip toed around for a bit till she managed to find the cells.
"Laris!" Balin whispered.
"Hey it's Solaris!" Bofur said.
"Shush" she said putting her finger to her lips. She walked over to Thorin's cage and studied the lock.
"Do you have the keys?" he asked and she shook her head. "Do you know who does have the keys?" he asked.
"Nah ah" she said shaking her head and sighing. She straightened up and her back clicked and she winced.
"What happened after I left?" Thorin asked.
"Thranduil threw me against a wall" she said stretching and her back clicked again.
"Are you okay?" Thorin asked, his eyes wide.
"Remember how I said that if I broke anything I needed you to put it back in the right place?" she said and he nodded "Well my back is messed up"
Shouting then came from down the hall. "Laris, what are you going to do?" he asked.
"I have no idea" she said hoisting herself up onto the top of his cell. She waited there until two guards were directly below her.
"Where is the She-Elf?" one of the guards asked Thorin.
"Last time I saw her she was being interrogated by Thranduil" he said.
As he spoke Solaris dropped from the top of the cell and hit the two elves just on the right spot on the back of their heads to knock them out but not kill them.
"I'm going for the key, it must be somewhere" she said.
"Laris" Thorin said grabbing her shoulder through the bars. "Be careful"
She looked at his blue eyes and nodded. She then turned and ran down the steps and stopped suddenly. Standing there was three guards and one of them had a large ring full of keys dangling from his belt. Solaris eyed the belt and smiled at them.
"Hey" she said.
"Make this easy" one of the guards said.
Solaris jumped up, grabbed a branch sticking out from the ceiling and swung over to the other side of them. As she did so one of them grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. She tumbled and then twisted and kicked the guard in the face. He fell back and Solaris stood to see two arrows pointing at her.
"Stop or we will fire!" the guard with the keys said.
Flickering her eyes down Solaris leapt to the platform below them and ran and hid.
She spent ages hiding and just by chance the guard with the keys ran past and as he did she lurched for the keys and tumbled to a lower platform with him. She managed to twist so that she landed on her side but there was still a crack that came from her ribs. The guard on the other hand had landed on his back and what not moving.
"Oh no" Solaris said crawling over to him. "Please don't be dead" she put her finger underneath his nose and felt air passing. She breathed a sigh of relieve and took the keys. She then ran as fast as she could and got to the cells.
"Your back" Thorin exclaimed.
She'd managed to come round full circle and his cell was the closest to her. "With gold" she said holding the keys up. She got to work on the lock but a green orb suddenly appeared and hit her in the back. She cried out and fell against the bars.
"Laris!" Thorin exclaimed.
She shook her head and went back to trying to open the door but her hands were shaking. Another orb hit her and she crumpled to the floor and dropped the keys over the edge of the platform.
"Valid attempt" Thranduil said appearing, he sent another orb and Solaris cried out and turned to face him. "You got further than I thought" Thranduil said walking forwards. Solaris raised her hand and summoned a purple orb but Thranduil had absorbed the power and hit her again before she'd had time to blink. Thorin reached through the bars and wrapped his arms around her chest.
"Stop" he said.
Thranduil smiled "What is this?" he asked walking forward. "It cannot be love?"
"Leave her alone!" Kili shouted from his cell.
"Leave her be, your quarrel is with me not her" Thorin said.
All the other dwarves were shouting and kicking at the cell doors making a right noise.
Thranduil smirked "My quarrel is with anyone who disobeys me" he said and reached forward and grabbed a handful of Solaris's hair. She cried out and her hands gripped around his to try and get him to release his grip. "Tell me Thorin Oakenshield, do you love this elf?" he asked. Thorin blinked wide eyed at Thranduil, then at Solaris and then back to Thranduil. "DO YOU LOVE HER!?" Thranduil yelled.
"YES, yes I love her!" Thorin exclaimed.
Everyone went silent and Thranduil chuckled darkly.
"Shame" he said studying her face with a smirk "To think that you were once intended for Legolas" not saying anymore he threw her from the platform and Solaris went tumbling down to the bottom of the tower.
Solaris's eyes darted open and she coughed. A metallic taste filled her mouth and she coughed, blood poured out the side of her mouth and she cried out. She could feel her body healing as she lay there but she was no where near ready when two guards came out the darkness and heaved her from the floor.
"Get off!" she cried but they started to drag her back up the stairs.
Every step was agony as they ascended the stairs. She was thrown into the nearest cell and that was with Fili. She let loose a small whimper as she hit the floor.
"Laris!" Fili exclaimed and dropped to her side. "What happened?"
Solaris didn't reply but choked out more blood onto the floor.
"Shush, it's alright" he said pulling her into his lap and sitting against the wall.
"Is she alright?" Thorin called from his cell.
"She's fine" Fili answered but he wasn't totally convinced. "Sleep Solaris and heal" he whispered.
He gently started to rock her backwards and forwards and after a few minutes her breath went heavy and her body relaxed. He gently hummed 'Misty Mountains' to her in the hope that she would not be plagued by bad dreams.
Anything 'The Hobbit' or 'The Lord of the Rings' related belongs to J.R.R Tolkien and Tauriel belongs to Peter Jackson.
How's about that then? This chapter was really fun to write and what about Thorin! Does he really love Laris or was he just saying that to stop Thranduil? Duh duh duh! And Fili at the end, I love Fili so much, he's so sweet and kind. Anyway I'll quit fan-girling and say farewell.
Love Mayday xxx