Angeli was busy doing the dishes when Tilda approached her.
"Angeli," she whispered.
"Yes?"
"Is it true? Are you leaving?" The little girl asked softly.
Angeli was caught off guard.
"Um...yes, I am."
"Did you and Dad have a fight?" Tilda whispered.
"Why would you think we had a fight?" Angeli asked, curious to know where the child was getting her information from.
"I saw you two talking with the weird creatures Sigrid calls 'elves'. Dad was yelling at you," Tilda suddenly burst into tears, "Don't leave!" she sobbed, hugging Angeli tightly.
For a moment Angeli stood there, too shocked to do anything. Then she slowly got on her knees and returned the embrace.
"Now now, Tilda. You know I have to leave eventually," Angeli soothed.
"No you don't. You can stay here forever," Tilda pressed.
"Tilda, I'm not saying I'm leaving today. But I do have to return home, I am being missed." And kicked out of your house, she added silently.
Tilda let go of the elleth and stood in front of her for a few moments. Then she stomped her foot and stormed out of the room.
0o0
"Should we go and tell Angeli?" Tauriel looked up from her book to see Legolas.
"No," the elleth replied, "Now would be too soon. I wouldn't be surprised if Thranduil was still examining our claims."
"And what if he sees your cut?" Legolas countered, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
"He won't."
"I still don't think it was wise of you to cut yourself."
"I already told you; I had to do it. If I hadn't, the King would have known we were lying."
"Whatever," Legolas muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Prince," Florescat called, standing in the doorway. "The King wants to speak with you about borders."
"We shall continue this later," Legolas muttered, uncrossing his arms and leaving the room.
0o0
"Dad?"
"Yes Tilda?"
"Why is Angeli leaving?"
"She...she did something bad," Bard told her.
"So she's getting kicked out of our house as punishment?" Tilda seemed horrified.
"Why do you care?" he asked, sharper then he intended.
"She's my friend!"
"You can make other friends!" Bard snapped, tiered of his daughter's obsession with the elven princess.
"Why does everyone exclude me from decisions just because I'm the youngest?" Tilda whined.
"Believe me, Tilda, it's for the best."
"And I thought you liked having her around!" Tilda spun around and walked outside into the warm after-noon air. She needed a reaction from her dad, something to make him let Angeli stay. She had to prove Angeli was good. The one problem was how she was going to do it.
"Should I go after her?" Sigrid asked Bard.
"No. She needs some space. I'm sure she will be back for dinner," Bard explained.
Sorry this chapter isn't as good as the others, but my teacher is giving me homework that I could work on for a month, and I'm going through a bit of writer's block. I've also decided to give you guys a hint on the third book: TFOTR. If people can guess what this stands for, then that's great. Until next time- Mallobloom