The next day, Adonnenniel looked out from the balcony and at the vast, dark forests at least trying to find a glimpse of where the wandering company had left off to. She only hoped that they would return today but knew that would beyond impossible. Or in other words, dangerous to know that the mysterious creatures were that close to Mirkwood. For the sake of his people, Adonnenniel hoped that it would take three to five days before he returned back to his home.
"He will be fine" a small voice said from behind her.
"How are you so sure?" Adonnenniel turned around to face Erulassë. "Nothing like this has ever happened before"
"Because he was one of the few elves to have survived the Battle at Helm's Deep, my lady" Erulassë told her.
"That's not enough, Erulassë. We knew there were Uruk-Hai approaching but we don't even know what is approaching" Adonnenniel worried.
Erulassë only smiled to Adonnenniel but she could already see worry in the small maiden's eyes. Adonnenniel looked back out to the forest before retreating back into her room as Erulassë laid out the dress she was going to wear. Could this be what love feels like? Feeling like walking on air, palpitating heart, and shortness of breath.
"He will return when you least expect it" Erulassë promised.
"Have you ever been in love?" Adonnenniel asked suddenly.
"Not really" Erulassë blinked back in surprise. "It is only just a mere elfling crush"
"On who?" Adonnenniel asked. "You can tell me. I will not tell a soul. Who can I possibly tell? Erulassë, you are the only one who seems to have a kind heart toward me"
"Fine" Erulassë smiled. "I have this ideal crush on Elladan… or is it Elohir?"
"Elrond's twins?" Adonnenniel asked.
Erulassë blushed and just floated back over to the wardrobe. Adonnenniel couldn't help but smile at the little elven maiden. She seemed so happy in confessing about her crush that she didn't even care which one she liked. But Erulassë has never really been in love before and didn't have the answer she needed.
"They visited for nearly a month, my lady. I was assigned to both of their rooms" Erulassë smiled.
"And that is how you confused them?" Adonnenniel asked.
"Oh, no!" Erulassë shook her head. "I knew who exactly I liked"
"But you just said that you didn't know which one you liked? Now you know who you liked?" Adonnenniel asked confused. "Are you sure you can tell them apart?"
"I just liked one on each separate days" Erulassë replied.
"How?" Adonnenniel asked.
"One would give me a nice compliment while the other would choose to ignore" Erulassë said.
"What if it was the same elf?" Adonnenniel asked. "What if Elladan or Elohir likes you the same way you do?"
"Then that would be an odd turn of events, my lady" Erulassë responded.
Legolas jumped down and scanned the ground around him. His keen eyesight noticing a slight change in the way things were moved. The only problem was that these were no footprints, they were just leaves scratched around. Someone has been hiding their tracks, and these individuals were good at it. He looked up and looked over to his left to see his father not that far behind, scanning as well.
"Anything?" Legolas asked. "I cannot seem to read any tracks here. They've been covered so well that it doesn't even look like the ground was bothered here"
"As well as mine" Thranduil said as he straightened up.
"Why would they cover up tracks here when there is nothing to cover up at all?" Legolas pondered.
He felt something crawling around near his fingers and looked down. Bugs seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and tried to climb up Legolas' long fingers. Legolas got up and wiped away his hands free from the mud and dirt just as he heard horses whinny behind him. He looked back to see that two of the council members were not that far behind.
"Because they want to throw us off" Thranduil finally answered.
Legolas had feared his father would say something like that. It only proved that his worries were right, that this was no ordinary raid. Someone was here to challenge the Mirkwood Elves and for something there were not sure what. All the Elves knew at this point was that this was not their opponent's first kill.
"Have you ever seen any tracks like this?" Legolas asked his father.
Thranduil looked to his son and shook his head, "No"
It seemed like this day was not going as planned for Legolas. He sighed and thought back to the other day when he and Adonnenniel were in his mother's sacred tree. The thought of kissing her brought him back to life and he felt a new sense of courage to try to find whoever is doing this. He needed to find this creature before it gets to his Kingdom, his people, and his future bride.
"She will be fine" Thranduil said like as if Legolas had said openly what he was thinking. "Our people will protect her before anything else. They may not like her now but if tragedy reins down then they will know to put their troubles aside"
"How did you know I was thinking of her?" Legolas asked.
"My eyes turned that shade of blue before; it's so dark that one can mistake it for purple. Our eyes only turn that shade of blue for one purpose" Thranduil told his son.
"What purpose is that?" Legolas asked.
"Love" Thranduil smiled.
"You are late" Hûredhiel seemed ready to say.
Adonnenniel nodded as she closed the door behind her. The four elder women were standing there with such stiff positions that they could pass as statues. She tried her best to contain her composure as she walked over to the table and sat down at the head of it. She took one glanced over to Hûredhiel who gave a slight glare to her in return.
"Forgive me, I thought I was on time" Adonnenniel said.
"You were. But the Queen has got to be here before the counsel begins" Adanessa responded.
"I will remember for next time" Adonnenniel nodded.
"There better not be a next time" Hûredhiel suggested. "Adonnenniel, the next time that you are late then we will lock the door"
Adonnenniel wanted to yell at Hûredhiel, throw the goblet of wine into her face but instead, she just nodded. All around her, the other women didn't even seem to object to how rude Hûredhiel was acting. She didn't expect one of them to come to her safety anyways, they all seemed to have made up their minds even before she and Legolas were announced to be betrothed. Adonnenniel made sure she sat up straight and smoothed out her dress as she tried her best to keep her composure, if she doesn't, then who knows what could happen when Hûredhiel decides to report to Thranduil about her reactions as of late.
