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A Cage of a different Kind Chapter 21
"What happened?" Eowyn cried as she ran to his side.
"Do you not know him well enough to know that he always hides his injuries?" Thranduil said disapprovingly. "As his 'mate' you should have felt his pain and forced him to get it treated before he came to this! But since you are a human and not an elf, the bond must not be strong, if it is there at all." He stopped, disgust written plainly on his handsome face.
His comment struck her as strongly as if he had physically hit her and she fought the urge to slap him.
"Put him over there and I will see to him immediately." She ordered.
"Is there no one else here that is a real healer? Lennar, get Heron. I would like him to look at my son." Thranduil ordered the elf that had followed him into the shelter. Lennar rushed to do as he was bid as Eowyn glared at Thranduil.
"I am more than capable of looking after my husband." She said as she started to cut his leggings off to see the wound on his thigh.
"Of course, you have done such a stellar job up to now." Thranduil said nastily. "And I would prefer that you refrain from calling him your husband in my presence."
Eowyn's eyes welled with tears both from his hurtful remarks and concern for her mate. She could not hold back the gasp of shock as she pulled back the makeshift bandages that Callas had applied hours ago. The cut was angry red and very deep, infection looked to be setting in but there did not appear to be any poison. She turned to get the warm herb water needed to clean it when another elf rushed into the shelter. He shoved her aside as he checked Legolas.
"Get me some warm water with altheas" He ordered.
"I have it right here." She started to say when he rudely took it from her.
"I will need bandages, needle and thread and more water to make a paste." He continued, not even bothering to look at her in his haste.
Her worry for Legolas made her rush around fulfilling his orders. Again, he just took the requested items and continued fussing over the prince. Eowyn could hardly see what was going on but her heart wrenched when she heard Legolas cry out in pain. He called for her but she was unable to get close enough to comfort him. She called back but Thranduil took that opportunity to physically push her outside.
"It would be better if you waited out here." he said as he turned to go back inside.
"I will not!" She cried and tried to push her way past him.
He held her back and looked at her as if she were no more significant than a bug. "Haven't you done enough already?"
She looked at him questioningly.
"I thought you were probably ignorant of all the grave implications your relationship with Legolas really have. Did you think of my son even once? Do you know what will happen to him when you grow old and die?" Thranduil looked scathingly at her. "Of course not. He will die. He will fade and die, an immortal life cut short because of your selfishness."
Eowyn could only stare at him as the implications of what he was saying started to sink in.
"That is of course if you two are even still together. The years will not be kind to you human. You will wither and go grey and he will remain as he is, not aging or changing at all. He will remain young and beautiful as you become a wrinkled crone. Do you think you will even live to see your children mature? Elven children grow and mature more slowly than humans, even half elven. You will probably be dead before they become adults. How could you be so selfish?" He snarled as he gave her one last shove and disappeared inside once more.
She stumbled back, pain ripping across her heart like nothing she had ever felt before. She had given a passing thought to all of this but had been so happy and busy that she had not really considered all the ramifications of their union. "I am going to cause Legolas' death!" She could not even breathe. "I will not see my children grow to maturity and then if Legolas died with her they would be left all alone. Why have I not realized this before?"
She could hardly swallow through the lump in her throat. Tears coursed down her cheeks and without another thought she turned and ran blindly into the woods. She had to get away from Thranduil and think. She did not care where she was going but she had to get away.
Heron cleaned and stitched Legolas' leg, applying a paste to fight the infection and bandaging it tightly. Legolas remained unconscious probably due to the blood loss and Thranduil sat next to his bed, worrying over his son once again. He did not even give Eowyn another thought.
Eowyn continued to stumble through the forest as best she could in her present condition. The baby stayed quiet during her journey as if it knew she was upset. She was starting to tire but she pushed on, to where she did not even know, her thoughts spinning and her emotions out of control. Finally she stumbled over a root and fell to her knees, the jolt and the pain in her knees finally bringing her out of her mindless flight. Still sobbing, she crawled over to a nearby tree and sat against it, hugging herself in her misery. She could not get Thranduil's cruel words out of her head and she continued to cry until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion.
Legolas awoke a few hours later and Heron immediately gave him some herbed water to drink to help with the blood loss he had incurred. Legolas drank greedily and then looked around in confusion as his eyes came to rest upon his father.
"Ada, why are you here? Where is Eowyn?" He asked softly as he continued to scan the room looking for his mate.
Thranduil looked down almost guiltily and finally replied. "I have been quite busy with you. Do you really think that I had time to worry about her when you collapsed at my feet?"
Legolas sat up quickly and winced at the sharp pain that accompanied the movement, worry for his wife making him forget any caution. "What do you mean? She would never leave me. What have you done now?"
"Nothing." the king replied too quickly. He looked at the doubt on his son's face and started to reconsider his answer. "I did get a little stern with her." He admitted hesitantly, knowing full well he had been extremely cruel.
"A little stern?" Legolas struggled to stop himself from attacking his own father. "You have been nothing short of an orc to her since you arrived. What did you say to her?" He said menacingly as he rose from the bed and started to limp around the room looking for clothes.
Knowing it would come to light soon enough, Thranduil tried to soften it a bit. "You have to understand ion nin, I was worried about you. You were wounded yet again and your own mate knew nothing about it. This could not possibly be a true joining if she could not even sense your pain!"
"She is pregnant! You know a bond lessens to protect the baby. She is also human and has not had any experience with elven bonds. There were many other more critically wounded elves and that was taking her attention. I told her I was fine and that I had other things that had to done. You know I ignore my injuries."
"Exactly! I know you hide your injuries, anyone who knows you knows that and yet she seemed oblivious."
"You said that to her?" Legolas stopped dressing and stared at his father. "What else did you say?"
Thranduil started to feel just a little remorse and Legolas noticed this. He now knew there was much more to this story and he dreaded his father's next words.
"I might have said something about her short life in comparison to yours." He said dismissively.
"What!" Legolas yelled as he limped towards his father menacingly.
"You know you will probably fade upon her death. You cannot deny that your children and your father will feel the loss of you deeply."
"So that is it! You have thought of yourself and your needs only since the beginning and you cannot even put your own interests aside where my pregnant wife is concerned? By the Valar Thranduil, where is she?"
Thranduil looked a little pale and Legolas could stand it no longer. He limped to the door, throwing it open and stalking outside heading to their fete. Even before he got there, he could tell she was not there. In fact, she was nowhere nearby. Thranduil had followed him and Legolas turned to him angrily.
"At least tell me where you saw her last."
Thranduil looked uncomfortable and finally looked at his son. "I think she ran off that way." He finally said, indicating the woods.
"Ran? She is nine months pregnant! How could she have run anywhere?" He almost screamed in his frustration. He realized that this behavior was not going to help him find Eowyn so he made himself be quiet and still. He then reached out with his senses. At first he felt nothing and he bit back the sob of worry that tried to escape his lips.
Thranduil watched him warily. Legolas was far too pale and his jerky ungraceful movements were all the proof he needed that his son should not be out of bed.
"Come Legolas, you need to rest. I will send out someone to find her."
"Do you really think that I would trust you to do that? After all you have done you are lucky that my knives were not the greeting you received and even though I tried to show you every curtsey you still hurt her…. hurt me."
Before his father could reply he shushed him with his hand. Surprisingly his father acquiesced and remained still. Legolas continued to scan with his senses, becoming more and more worried. Finally a hint of something nudged the fringes of his consciousness. He followed that thread with the veracity of a blood hound. He could only tell she was alive, nothing more.
"I shall have to track her on foot. If anything happens to her or our child, I will never forgive you." Legolas said as he stormed off in the direction his father had indicated. Thranduil started to follow him but Legolas turned and told him to stop. "I do not need or wish for your help. You have done enough." And with that he took off as quickly as his injured leg would allow.