The king cried out and clutched his arm as he knelt near the ground, trying to get his breath. Helke just sat wide eyed on the bed, frozen in time. The king looked down to see the blood that had oozed out was frozen onto his tunic. Helke ran out quickly, desperate to find help from anyone. She looked around sprinted down hallways and stairs until she ran face first into the ginger haired elleth from before. The elleth (tauriel) looked down questioningly at the young iceling.
"Please help" helke sobbed and tauriel's expression changed from questioning to deeply concerned.
"What on earth is the matter?" She asked softly.
"T-the K-k-king" helke stuttered through her tears "I have h-hurt him. I d-do not understand! He is in great p-pain" she finished, breathing unevenly.
Tauriel raced to the kings's chambers and burst through the door to see the king gripping the wood of his bed tightly. He had also gone a sickly pale from head to foot.
"My lord!" She exclaimed as she ran in.
"It is a mere scratch" he hissed through clenched teeth. He did not want to frighten helke or alarm anyone else. "Please, my lord. You need urgent assistant" she said. She had read almost every book in the mirkwood library so of course knew of the seriousness of an iceling attack.
"I shall fetch a healer, my lord" she said and rushed out. Helke stood timidly to the side of the doorway, peeping in every now and then I make sure the king had not collapsed or something of that nature. Not 5 minutes later a tall elleth with very long blonde hair and high cheeks bones appeared, giving helke a look that made even the iceling's 'blood' run cold (well, colder). It was a look of loathing and disgust. The healing elleth ran forwards and examined the king's injury to find the icicle had melted, the coldness now traveling through his blood. It would only be 30 minutes now until the coldness would reach his brain, instantly killing him so she had to work quickly. For the first time in a very long time the healing elleth had to refer to a book for her cure and Made a quick note of the herbs and ingredients needed for the cure. She handed the list to tauriel for her to fetch and the guard wasted no time.
The healer muttered words in elvish as she hovered her hand over the wound, hoping to slow down the process, giving her more time as an unconscious thranduil lay on his bed, breathing hard, All the time helke watched nervously from the doorway until the healer and her made eye contact.
"Go ice witch! You are not welcome here" she spat angrily and helke stumbled back quickly and ran. She did not know where she was going, only that she would not stay. She could not risk hurting someone else.
Tauriel returned minuted later with the ingredients mixed and heated, a cloth and bandage in her left hand.
The healer dipped the cloth into the mixture and pulled off the king's tunic to get to the wound. The elleth smirked as she looked at the elvish kings's well toned chest before gently pressing the cloth to the king's wound. The cry of pain that escaped the king's lips was like no other either of the elleth's had heard before, it was sharp and loud. For the king it felt as though he had jumped straight into boiling hot, then freezing cold water. His whole body shook from the pain that flowed through every inch of his body.
"I am sorry you highness" whispered the healer, seeing her king in great pain caused her heart to ache. She too (like many other elvish maidens) found the king extremely attractive and was jealous of helke. The colour began to flush back to his cheeks within a matter of minutes as the healer poured the rest of the mixture onto the king's arm and bandaged it up carefully.
"Where is helke?" Asked tauriel, looking round for the distinctive white hair but found none.
"I have not a clue" lied the elleth as she Marvelled at the kings's greatly sculpted chest. The healer knew that icelings where extremely valuable to many greedy-hearted men and secretly hoped that she would be captured again this time be gone for good.
"Oh no" said tauriel quietly as she rushed out, she also knew of the iceling's immense value. She ran out and essembled her men for a search party. "Look everywhere, if you find her approach her with caution. She is very easily frightened" called tauriel and her men split up...
Meanwhile...
Helke lay in a dark, deep pit, pain like she had never felt spread through her leg. She had been running and not seen a trap set up for intruders and had fallen straight into the deep pit, instantly breaking her left leg. She cried quietly as she shook and frost climbed up the sides of the pit.
"HELP!" She cried and her voice cracked as tears slid down her face. It was bad enough that she had broken her leg but there were also large thorns at the bottom of the pit that helke could feel digging into her. She was frightened. Where would she go if the king exiled her? Or would she be sentenced to death? She loved the king dearly but things had not been going her way as of late.
"Please!? Help me!" She cried again when she heard shuffling nearby. Over the side of the ditch helke saw an unfamiliar elf who was tall with long black hair with Half of it pulled back into a warriors braid,
"Do not worry" said the guard but he sounded more worried himself. "I shall get you out, you need not fear me. I am here to help" he tried relaxing her but ice still crept up the sides.
"It hurts" helke gurgled and the guard looked down to her sadly. He scowled when he saw her leg was twisted at a most peculiar angle then realised it must have been broken. The guard slipped down into the pit gracefully and thought of the best way to Carry the iceling. He tried slipping his hands underneath her back but pulled back quickly when she sobbed in pain. Was her back also broken? He looked down at the floor of the pit and saw it was covered with thorny vines.
"This will only hurt for a second" he promised and he picked her up quickly and turned her so that she was laying sideways in his arms, her back facing outwards. He looked down empathetically as he saw that the young iceling was shaking in his arms.
"Do not worry helke, you are in good hands" the guard promised as he headed back to the kings's hall. steadily, making sure not to knock helke's leg accidentally. He set helke on the edge of the pit before jumping out himself and picking her back up.
"Captain!" Called the elf as he jogged carefully back to the edge of the forest. "Captain she is here, I have her!" He called and tauriel rushed over to her.
"Take her to a healer" said tauriel, looking at the thorns embedded in her back and her broken leg.
"Yes captain" said the elf, bowing then taking off with helke in his arms. The guard, who's name was helwa (which meant light blue which were the colour of his eyes) took helke up to a small tower attatched to the kings halls and knocked with his foot as he held the iceling close. Thankfully the healer from before was still seeing to the king and an elf appeared. The elf was called anwa and had been a healer for 3000 years.
"She needs help" said helwa anxiously.
"Bring her in" said anwa sternly, opening the door and gesturing to a marble table on the centre of the room. Helwa set helke down on the side gently as she whimpered in pain.
"My my, look at you. You must have taken a rough tumble" he said as he looked at the bruises on her body and the thorns on her back.
"Will she be okay?" Asked helwa nervously and anwa looked up.
"Young elf I have been a healer for 2000 years. I have seen things much more gruesome than a broken leg and a few thorns" he said sternly and helwa nodded.
"Now, I am am going to pull the thorns out okay? It will hurt but I do not think you need any pain relief" he said to helke who was already drowsy, tierd from the pain.
Helke squeeled when anwa pulled out a long thorn that had embedded itself deeply into her soft back.
"Ssh" Anwa cooed gently, placing a hand over helke's head softly but not affectionately like thranduil would. It was a fatherly touch. Helke cried quietly as anwa picked the thorns out one by one as fast as he could. Transparent liquid with a slight shimmer to it oozed out of helke's wounds. This was the equivalent to blood to icelings. He dabbed a cloth in a mixture of herbs and hot water to clean the wounds, preventing any infections.
"Now, this broken leg" he said, moving over to helke's left leg. As helke was an iceling, coldness had rushed to the breakage, reducing the swelling but stiffening the joint up.
"I think a bathe may do some good, bring her" said anwa to helwa and the guard picked the iceling up and followed the healer. Outside was a small waterfall and a pool at the bottom of it which had heated from the hot sun.
"Place her on the step and keep her leg in the water. BE CAREFUL!" He called as helwa almost slipped on the slippery rocks, helke still in arms. There were enough trees to provide helke with shade as helwa set the iceling down, dipping her leg into the warm water. Anwa slipped into the pool and gently hovered his hand over helke's leg and muttered elvish. Helke felt a strange warmth in her leg and contemplated if this was what other felt like, warm all the time. She breathed softly as the elf worked his magic on the iceling.
"You will need to rest" he said as clouds began to block out the sun and knew it would not be too long before night fall. "You may rest in the healers tower" he said and helke nodded silently. Helke was taken back up to the healer's wing and fell straight to sleep as anwa watched over her as he read a book. Just then the door opened and the tall, cold elleth from before stepped through.
"Ah, amalda. How is his highness?" He asked, shutting the book softly,
"He is fine. He is resting for now. What is that doing here?" She asked, her voice laced with venom.
"HELKE is to stay with us tonight. It seems she took a tumble somehow. She was in a great amount of pain" anwa said, looking upon the sleeping elleth. He had bound her leg and was not allowing her to leave the healers tower until she could walk safely. That night was the first in a long time which helke and the king had slept by themselves.