CaldeonPOV

This room with four walls hates me as much as I hate it. The more my want to escape from it increases the more attacks on my mind comes from it. It traps me in a sea of my guilt. I ask the servant that brings my meals everyday on Fili's condition, sometimes he says that he can't tell, but recently he has just stayed silent.

But here alone in a room with Thranduil, I wish nothing more than to go away even back to the cell.

The king sat in front of me in a tall wooden chair that matched to one I was seated in. For a while we didn't talk, just glared at each other.

Even long before these last couple of weeks I never liked him. He was greedy and vain. But what I never liked the way he could look beyond the lenses of the eye and into the back of the brain to every thought and care and fear. When I was younger I tried to replicate this ability and failed.

"You are a strong young woman," he said suddenly. "I give the same power as the rest of your friends to tell where you are going, yet you still don't. You could be praised by them, knowing that you were the one grant them their freedom."

I shook my head,"And yet in your age you think that dwarves would praise me for giving away a secret."

He smiled. He looked like he was about to say something when a knock came from the door. "Come in," he said.

Servants came into the room holding silver platters, they placed them on the table between myself and the king then left. The table seemed to be steaming with all the food. Rolls, salads, and many different types of game littered the table. I felt my mouth start to water at all the delicacies

"Enjoy," said Thranduil as he started to consume his dinner. I hesitantly reached for a roll but stopped short from touching it. The king noticed and said,"It isn't poisoned or drugged if that is what you are so afraid about."

"It is not that and I'm not afraid."

"You are a bad liar."

"Not a horrible thing to be called."

"Then tell me the truth on your lack of thanks to my generosity."

I stopped to think for a moment. I didn't want to anger him but I couldn't eat the food of royalty while my friends sat in cells. "Have any of my friends been offered the same?"

"No."

"Then I can not accept as long as there is not just one dwarf eating at the table with us," I said as confidently as possible. I tried to stop the hunger that rolled in my stomach, lunch had been smaller than usual.

Thranduil nodded,"Guards!" he called. They came beside me and I stood. "You will not have your evening meal tonight nor your morning or midday tomorrow," he said as I was led out.

The routine was the same every night for a week. I became so thin I couldn't even feel hunger anymore, it was just a constant sharp pain. My ribs were showing.

I wondered how far I would go before I was stuffing food in my mouth like an animal. I wondered how far Thranduil would let this go before shoving food down my throat.

I spent most of the time sleeping. "Caldeon. Caldeon," I heard a whisper. I opened my eyes and to my shock I saw Bilbo.

"Bilbo?"

BilboPOV

"Shit, I must be seeing things now," Caldeon mumbled. Her eyes started closing again.

"No no no. Stay awake," I said frantically. That kept her from falling asleep again.

"Bilbo? How?"

"I found a magic ring in the goblin tunnels that makes me invisible," I explained. Her eye flickered with curiosity. "I've seen what you've done. You need to eat something."

"Have you told Thorin?"

"No, I can if you want me to."

She shook her head no.

"Ok," I said. I stroked her hair gently.

"Bilbo, I can't do this anymore," she said as tears ran down her face.

"You don't have to."

"It's not the food, Bilbo. It's this room, Thranduil. It's. It's. It's."

"Shhh," I held her hand as she cried.

With my acute hearing I suddenly heard someone coming up the steps. "Caldeon, someone's coming I'm still going to be here just invisible remember." She nodded. I slipped on the ring and my world became a sea of rolling color.

Thranduil came through the door with a pile of cloths in his hands. "Caldeon, how have you been?" he said as if we were in a market square. "Tonight's dinner is going to be special, I think you'll like it. So I brought a new dress for the occasion."

Caldeon stood obediently and stiffly and touched the cloth. "I'll help get into it," said Thranduil. Rage coursed through my veins at his words.

Again as if under a spell Caldeon went to mirror and slowly stripped herself of her clothing, I started to wonder he has asked her to do this before. I wanted to look away but I was caught in the horror of her skinniness. I was able to count every rib and vertebrae she had.

The worse part was that Thranduil looked at her without giving her any modestly. He stood behind her and looked in her eyes through the mirror. He then took his cold hand and placed it on a rib. Caldeon shivered and closed her eyes tightly.

Thranduil continued his way down tapping every rib as he did until he rested his hands on her protruding hipbone. I was resisting every urge to stab the pervert through with sting.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" he whispered in Caldeon's ear. He finally removed his hand and started to cloth her in an expensive purple dress. The last thing he put on her was a leather waist clincher that was buttoned as far as it would go and was still a centimeter too big for her.

"Come now," the king said as he offered his arm, she looked at it before resting her hand on it. They left and I followed.

TauielPOV

After the night his brother got hurt I came to see Kili less and less. Tonight was one of those rare nights. We didn't talk much of all but it wasn't a nice silence. "How is Caldeon?" Kili asked suddenly.

I saw her once when she was resting, even asleep she looked exhausted. I couldn't see much but I saw that she had less meat on her arms then normal. According to Legolas she has just been getting worse.

I couldn't bring myself to tell Kili that, so I smiled and lied. "As fine as can be expected. She is still shaken up about what happened to your brother." He nodded in understanding which made feel even more guilty.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a few guards heading toward a cell. I tried not respond to it, but I couldn't stop the instinctive twitch of my ears at the sudden sound. "What's going on?" Kili asked.

A cell door was opened. A few moments of struggling and dwarvish curses later, the tattooed and bald-headed dwarf came out. "Mister Dwalin!" said Kili,"Tauirel, what is going on?"

"I don't know."

DwalinPOV

The elves took me out of my cell and dragged me to a room with a high ceiling and a large dinning table. There was already half a dozen covered silver platters on the table.

The elves shoved me into a chair and chained me to it with enough slack for me to reach the plate just in front of me.

The blonde elf prince seated himself at one end of the table. "What kind of game ya king's playin'?" the little twerp just stayed silent.

A few minutes later the doors opened. King Thranduil strode in with Caldeon at his side. I hadn't seen the girl since we arrived and I was shocked by her condition.

She had always been skinny but now she looked like she was made entirely of skin and bone, the dress she wore accented her sickly figure, the waist clincher only added to the horrifying picture. Her eyes were downcast and distant. When she looked at me nothing seemed to change in her emotions.

Thranduil sat her down in the chair directly across from me before seating himself in his own. He picked up a roll in his long fingers before tearing it and eating it.

The food here was different from that of Rivendell. It looked more appetizing, I felt an itch in my muscles to grab something and eat it. But I saw Caldeon's lack of excitement in the feast before her and stopped myself from indulging especially since she looked like she hadn't eaten in days.

"Caldeon, I have done everything you have asked of me for you to eat so it is time for you to hold up your end," the king said.

As much as I hate Thranduil I knew he was right. I leaned forward in my seat and said to her,"Ya need to eat, lass."

Slowly she reached out for a piece of bread and hesitantly placed it in her mouth. She showed remarkable control as she grabbed at the bread and a few strips of some sort of fowl.

I was eating at the same pace of her, the food was good but I still didn't want it. The table was mostly quiet.

Caldeon stopped eating after while and started to look green. "Don't you dare let my father give up," she said. Worry swept through me. She moaned in discomfort. I twisted in my chains trying to get free.

Caldeon pushed herself up but collapsed, that's when I attempted to stand up fully, but was yanked down.

I strained to see her, but when I heard her retch I stopped trying. The food had been to rich for her sensitive stomach. I finally fell over in my struggles as the prince carried her out bridal style.

I writhed on the floor until I saw some shiny fabric in my face. I looked up to see Thranduil staring down at me. I glared back and said,"We are going to kill you for this."

The corner of his mouth twitched up. "She did this to herself, she refused her meals. You are going to remind your king of our deal that still stands. Guards!" They picked me up and lead me to the dungeons.

I yanked my arms in the chains all the way down. The elves pushed me in and locked the door quickly behind me. I charged them and banged my shoulder against the iron. "What happened?" I heard.

"Caldeon's starvin' herself!" I told them. Everyone went silent except for Thorin who cursed loudly before hitting his own cell door. "I guess she refused meals until one of us ate with her, she ate but the food was too rich and she vomited," I explained further.

"This is too much I have to tell him," Thorin said in defeat.

"She told me that you can't give up now," I told him.

LegolasPOV

I carried Caldeon as gently as I could back to her tower. She moaned as I placed back in the bed. "Are you going to vomit again?" I asked.

"Nothing left," she stated flatly

I was about to leave before a thought came to my mind,"If I brought you food tomorrow, would you eat it," I asked.

She nodded weakly with her eyes closed.

The next day I brought her some broth and I feed it to her. I left with an empty bowl and she thanked me.

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