"It has already been three days, my friend" Adonnenniel spoke as she and Erulassë took the afternoon off to stroll around the gardens. "And still no word"
"I would not worry so much as the way you do" Erulassë responded.
"They could be hurt" Adonnenniel retorted back.
"The King and Prince once went on a quest like this and were gone for nearly three months"
"And you never worried?"
"Lady Adonnenniel. The skills of the Sindar Elves are remarkable" Erulassë told her princess.
"Erulassë. There were numerous killings reported while they were gone" Adonnenniel said.
"And now they are back, my lady. Have you heard of any mysterious killings ever since they arrived?" Erulassë asked.
"There has been dozens in the short period of time they had been gone. How are you so sure that Legolas and Thranduil are not injured?" Adonnenniel questioned. "That is what has been making me worried all this time"
"You will know if Legolas Prince is hurt"
"How?"
"The bond that you two have"
"I do not believe we do not have that type of bond yet, Erulassë" Adonnenniel shook her head. "I have only seen that bond with Elves who have been with their loved ones for centuries. With people that were not betrothed together. We just met each other not that long ago. How do you possibly believe that we have a bond as great as you speak?"
"I can tell you have that bond"
"How?"
"You constantly worry about him. You said so yourself" Erulassë gave Adonnenniel an impish grin.
"It's better than just sitting here and cry over how cruel Hûredhiel is. Which I do have to admit that I am entitled to that way of thinking too" Adonnenniel pointed out, it was then that the Sea Princess choked up on her words. "I have never felt his way before"
"See? You are falling in love"
"I would not say that just yet. We have not even been living together for a year" Adonnenniel objected.
"And that is the secret to how love blossoms?" Erulassë questioned. "In that case, I should have moved in to the twin's bed chambers a long time ago"
"It took him one day to pack up his bags and leave"
"To do what was right for his Kingdom. To protect you" Erulassë countered.
"And why do you think he is thinking about me just as much as I am thinking about him?"
"He showed you where he goes whenever he wants to just sit and think! No one in this Kingdom knows where he runs off to and he sometimes spends nearly a week wherever he goes"
"He has never shown that place? But guards were patrolling around near the sight. Surely they know where it is" Adonnenniel remarked.
"Doesn't mean that they find him. These trees all look alike" Erulassë pointed out.
"I have noticed" Adonnenniel smiled an irritated smile.
"Have you tried to go back there, my lady? You shouldn't wander that forest alone" Erulassë gave a slight glare under the sunlight. "If you are not born here than you won't know a thing about surviving if you get lost"
"I wouldn't have been able to escape to the forest as it is"
"My Lady, you have to stand up to her" Erulassë whispered. "She is not the Queen, you are"
"Not yet. I have no control as of now" Adonnenniel told her.
"That doesn't mean she can treat you like dirt" Erulassë responded.
"Unfortunately, not a lot of people think that way. Some people just think I should be torn down to pieces like a warg was after me" Adonnenniel rolled her eyes. "Erulassë, there is nothing I can do"
"Then we have to hope for the best" Erulassë shrugged.
"What does that mean?" Adonnenniel looked over to her friend.
"We have to hope that Legolas Prince and Thranduil King come home sooner than we think"
"So that they could fight my battles?"
"So that Hûredhiel has no place in the public to humiliate you" Erulassë told her.
"That didn't stop her before. She went to my chambers the first night" Adonnenniel reminded her. "Is that woman married?"
"She keeps her life very private outside of the court"
"That is very wonderful"
"There was a rumor that she did fall in love" Erulassë spoke up.
"Then what happened?" Adonnenniel asked.
"No one knows, people say that he died in war or that he moved off over the sea just to get away from her" Erulassë responded.
"Over the sea?"
"The song of the sea calls to us too. We just want to cross it to get to the other side"
"So is that why she is so bitter about the sea?"
"She has always been bitter in general. No one really remembers her being in love so that's why it's just a tale that we tell around to each other"
"Most people usually welcome the sea. If she could, she probably would just destroy my home" Adonnenniel said as she imagined Hûredhiel coming into her homeland borders.
Adonnenniel and Erulassë stopped walking and sat down in front of a statue of Raina Queen. She looked up to the queen and could easily see a few features that had been passed down to Legolas. The statue was positioned so that one hand was placed over her heart and the other was reaching down to her side. Adonnenniel could imagine the statue coming to life and Legolas as a little elfling trailing behind her with his hand in hers.
"You will know if he needs your help" Erulassë suddenly said. "Even if you don't believe it"
"Why do you have so much faith in the bond that I have with Legolas?" Adonnenniel asked.
"Because Thranduil King and Raina Queen were betrothed too" Erulassë responded.
Adonnenniel turned and looked over to Erulassë in shock. That was two for two. She had never even suspected Thranduil to have been betrothed to Raina. By the looks of it, she thought that they had fallen in love.
"Legolas never told me that" Adonnenniel finally said.
Erulassë nodded, "They also had a bond so strong that people believed that those two could sense wherever the other was"
Adonnenniel smiled and looked back up to the beautiful statue, "As did my parents"
Legolas crouched down on the tree branches and crawled behind his father. Everyone was so silent that Legolas was sure that if he even breathed the creatures below would hear him. His heart pounded in his heart and sent a flow of blood over his body that he was sure he was going to pass out from the adrenaline. Below them were the mysterious creatures that have been terrorizing their home and sent everyone in panic.
"This cannot be" Thranduil whispered under his breath.
"You have seen these before?" Legolas asked.
"Not seen. Heard" Thranduil said.
"What do you mean?" Legolas asked.
"These are Ra'zacs, monsters of the dark and the dripping nightmares that haunt our race" Thranduil informed his son.
"How do we defeat them?" Legolas asked. "There has to be a way"
Below them, the Ra'zacs seemed mummified in crawling leaves and bugs as they stayed close to a campfire. They seemed to be eating something and Legolas was afraid to wonder if that being was an elf. He looked back over to his father as he noticed that fear clouded this elf's judgment. Legolas only knew one thing that his father was thinking, they had to hurry back to their Kingdom or else everyone would be facing a horrible death.
