It seemed as though time was stopped. Everyone froze as the judge reveled Angeli's punishment. Then slowly, Legolas, Thranduil, and Tauriel all turned to each other and held hands. Wether it was reassurance for one another or silent congratulations that they had won, I don't know, but they stayed like that for a long time. When they finally let go, Legolas noticed that Tauriel had tears in her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Legolas asked.
Tauriel sniffed and wiped a tear away.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered. This was supposed to happen, right? She got what she deserved, I shouldn't feel sorry for her.
"You sure?" Legolas pressed.
"Yes." Tauriel mumbled, sneaking a peak at Angeli.
The princess looked paler then she originally was, and that was saying something. She had her hands covering her mouth, and her blue eyes were half closed and watery. Meanwhile, Galadriel just sat where she was, too shocked and angry to do anything but sit there, frozen. Th-this is impossible...I could not have, should not have...sent my own daughter to her death...Galadriel thought, mortified. But she wasn't kidding anyone, not even herself. She knew very well that she was responsible for Angeli loosing the case and getting a death sentence.
"Your honor...y-you cannot sentence Angeli to death, she is the princess of Rivendell," Galadriel spoke up.
"What will become of Rivendell when their princess is killed?"
Judge Iudex considered this for a moment, then shook his head.
"I'm sorry my Lady, but she should have thought of this before she tried to kill prince Legolas."
There was a slight pause in which Tauriel coughed loudly.
"And Tauriel," Iudex finished.
"Oh, my poor baby," Galadriel murmured, going up to Angeli.
"Get away from me!" Angeli spat as her mother approached.
"It's your fault I'm even in this mess! I said I was sorry countless times, but nooo, you and Thranduil had to take it to court, and now look where we are! My own mother was the reason I got sentenced to death, I thought mothers were supposed to support their children!" Angeli broke off, sobbing.
"Honey, I didn't-"
"Save it. Admit it, as soon as I die, you'll just dot on Arwen again. You never loved me, you just needed me so I could marry Legolas because Arwen already had Aragorn and Celebrain had Elrond. That was my purpose in life, I couldn't love other people, dream normal dreams. Everything was about Legolas. Everything," she continued sobbing loudly, and for a split second, Tauriel felt bad for the elleth. Then she remembered all the pain Angeli had put her through, and she hated her all over again. Then a shocking secret was revealed.
"You think I love Legolas? You think I liked your precious prince?" She was now speaking directly to the crowd.
"You were wrong. I never liked Legolas, but I thought that if Galadriel thought I liked Legolas and I got married to him, she would love me. I took my anger out on Legolas and Tauriel and I'm sorry, I really am," Angeli turned to Galadriel.
"I punished everyone but the monster herself."
Gasps of shock and disbelief that Angeli had uttered those words to her own mother erupted from the courtroom.
"Wait a minute!" Legolas shouted, breaking the silence and walking over to Angeli.
"You almost killed Tauriel and I, just to win over your mother?" Legolas demanded.
Angeli nodded, looking at the floor, too miserable to say anything or even defend herself.
"Wait," Arwen stood up, Aragorn next to her.
"My lady, tell me this is not true."
Galadriel looked up at her granddaughter in shock.
"Why Arwen, of course not," Galadriel assured her.
"Did you try to do the same thing to me?" Celebrain, Galadriel's only daughter, asked.
"Why would I? You were destined to marry Elrond, and if you hadn't, I wouldn't have Arwen, Elladan, and Elrohir."
Celebrain still looked dismayed, but she kept quiet, not daring to disagree with her mother.
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"What a day," Tauriel murmured, shutting her bedroom door as Legolas sat down on her bed.
"Indeed," he muttered, staring blankly at a wall.
"What's wrong with you?" Tauriel asked, sitting beside him.
"Nothing," he mumbled, sitting up straight.
Tauriel raised a brow at him.
"Fine. I-I know that I wanted to see Angeli gone, but now that she is going to die...I-I don't know, I feel different...not like I thought I would," Legolas whispered.
Tauriel nodded.
"I feel the same way," she murmured, "should we do something?"
These words seemed to shock Legolas out of his trance.
"No," he responded, more harsh then he intended.
"She needs to learn what happens when you try to kill people."
"But you heard what she said;she doesn't like you, she just wanted attention from Galadriel," Tauriel argued.
"Tauriel, don't forget what she did to us," Legolas argued back in elvish, "We cannot help her now."
"But we can help her!" Tauriel countered.
"I will not risk getting into trouble for her!" Legolas shouted back.
"You are the prince, when do you get in trouble?" Tauriel demanded.
"I always get in trouble!" Legolas roared, making Tauriel flinch.
He wasn't wrong. After that, Tauriel stayed quiet, and Legolas realized how hard he had been on her.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, finally speaking in english.
"I guess with the mixture of Angeli going to court and everything else that's going on, I lost my temper."
Tauriel nodded, staying silent.
"I'd better go," he continued awkwardly, leaving the room.
"Angeli almost destroyed us, so why do I feel bad for her?" Tauriel said aloud to herself.
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"What is wrong with me?" Angeli sighed, pacing back and fourth in her cell.
You went too far and you know it, a voice responded. Her conscience.
"I know," Angeli admitted, "but admitting that isn't going to help my situation."
No, it won't, but try to make the most of it.
"How? I'm going to die in a few hours."
"No you won't."
Angeli spun around, but couldn't see anything. It was the middle of the night, and the dungeons were dark and damp, Angeli couldn't see more then a few feet in front of her. Then a figure stepped out of the shadows. It had red hair and was holding keys in it's delicate hands. The figure raised it's head so that it's face was clearly visible. Green eyes. No...it couldn't be...
"Tauriel?" Angeli's voice was a scratchy croak, "what are you doing here?"
"No time to explain," Tauriel responded softly, unlocking Angeli's cell. "Just follow me."
Angeli glanced behind her, then at Tauriel. She had a choice; stay here and get killed, or follow Tauriel.
"Fine, let's go."
To be continued...