Tauriel returned to the Citadel to check on Rhavaniel. Legolas joined her in the Halls.
"The girl did not set the forge on fire last night." Tauriel told him with urgency. "I must move her out of here, and quickly."
Legolas was confused, "I thought you said she confessed to an accident?"
"Yes, but she was lying when she confessed. Out of fear or to protect someone else, I do not yet know."
They approached the room where she had left Rhavaniel.
"You are not the Guards I left here." Tauriel challenged them. They were young, both Junior Guards.
The Guards looked quizzical at each other, then at Tauriel. "There was a shift change."
Tauriel opened the door to find Rhavaniel gone.
"What happened?" she demanded of the Guards.
"No one came or went."
"Did you at least check that the room was occupied when you started your shift?"
The Guards looked down, "No."
Tauriel was livid "You will go and fetch the two Guards you relieved of duty. NOW!"
They swiftly left her presence.
Tauriel looked at Legolas, "This is wrong."
"What has been right for weeks now?" Legolas asked her. "We are not without good news, though. The dragon Smaug is confirmed dead. The villagers of Lake-Town were able to mount a defense."
Tauriel sighed with relief, "Then we can put troops to searching for the Avari and bringing them to safe keeping."
"No." Legolas told her. "My father has ordered troops to march to Erebor immediately. With Smaug gone, the Dwarf treasure is unprotected. My father would not have it fall into the hands of Azog."
Tauriel was shocked, "We have people, subjects of the King, who are missing, including this girl. Our people should be put above treasure."
"And I agree with you completely." Legolas replied. "But wealth in the hands of Orcs is a dangerous thing. They can grow their armies, buy weapons, and attack us with mercenaries. We need to prevent that, for the security of our people for the next hundred years, not just for today. As for this girl...is it not possible she escaped on her own and ran away?"
Tauriel looked at Legolas with anger. "I have very good reason to believe she was taken away. You echo the words of the administrators who dismissed the notion of missing Avari children. I see you are a champion of the underclass except when it inconveniences you."
Her harsh words tore at him. How he wished he could make it right in her eyes, drop every responsibility and follow her after a wayward child. Tell her what a good mother he knew she would be some day. But he was a Prince, and the awakening of Smaug had proven his Father right. Thranduil bore the weight of the fate of their people on his shoulders, and it was the birthright and duty of Legolas to share it.
"Question the Guards on our way to Erebor. We leave now. That is an order."
(************)
The bag over her head itched. It was coarse, heavy material, and hard to breathe through.
Rhavaniel could tell from the warmth of the sun on her left that they were heading straight south. They rode fast. Whatever the Guards intended to do, they would have to stop midday if they planned to return to the Citadel by dark - earlier if they had to return by a shift change. That was why they were riding their horses hard.
"This is far enough."
"That's not what was agreed."
"Plans have changed. "
She tensed when she felt one of them grab her and pull her off the horse, putting her down on the ground. She did not cry, or beg for mercy. It seemed to her that everything she loved most had been lost - Kili, the forge, Uncle Lithaldoren, the Avari villages. What was left - friends and family - no longer wanted her. She had no place to go. If they ended her life here in the dark woods, it did not matter. Perhaps she belonged on the other side now, because there was no place for her in Middle-Earth. She was so tired.
"I will not hurt her. I never agreed to that."
"Neither did I. But we do not need to risk our lives taking her further than this. Just leave her tied."
Rhavaniel felt both of them pick her up. She no longer felt the sun on her body. They moved her under the shade of a great tree, probably a willow. They untied her hands long enough to tie them around the trunk of the tree.
"Can you hear me?"
She nodded yes.
"When you get loose, you are never coming back to the Realm, are you?"
She shook her head no.
She heard them ride away.
How did they expect her to get loose? The ropes were tight and strong. Stories of her cunning had clearly been exaggerated to these Guards. The situation was hopeless.
She wondered how long it would take her soul to leave her body. She heard that despair alone would make that happen for an Elf. There should be no need for her to wait for insects taking little bites over days or predators tearing big bites over seconds. It should be easy, shouldn't it? This wasn't the sort of thing they explained to children, obviously. She wished they had. She wondered if they covered it on one of the days she skipped class? That would be ironic. She giggled a bit hysterically at the notion.
'Maybe I want to live, or Ilúvatar is not done with me in this world.' she wondered.
Then she heard it, something out of place. Large. ...walking on two feet. Not an Elf, but it knew how to move quietly in the woods. Her senses were dulled by the sack, but she thought she could smell it now. Could it be a giant...bird?
She coo'd like a dove, the call she shared with Kili.
Something coo'd back, then spoke, "Are you alright there?"
Rhavaniel gasped, "No, I am not alright. If you would be so kind as to untie me."
She heard something move closer and she tensed. Whatever it was, she felt it cut her hands loose first, and then the tie around the sack.
Rhavaniel tore the sack off her head and breathed cool, fresh air. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and as her vision cleared, she saw a Man, very tall, dressed all in brown and wearing a funny hat adorned with a bird's nest.
'That explains the scent.' she thought.
"Thank you." she told him. Miracles were no excuse for forgetting basic manners.
"My name is Radagast the Brown. I live south of here. I was on my way to confer with King Thranduil...private business, most urgent. I was just returning a little bird that had fallen from its nest when I heard you laughing."
"I know who you are." Rhavaniel perked up in excitement. "You are a friend of Gandalf the Grey. Is Mister Gandalf nearby?"
Radagast was surprised, "You know Gandalf?"
"No, I...let us say he is a friend of a friend. I know Mister Gandalf was supposed to be with a Company of Dwarves led by Prince Thorin Oakenshield, but did not rejoin them by the time they neared Erebor."
"Ah, well, he was otherwise occupied. Still is. Urgent business."
"Then I shall not keep you." Rhavaniel replied, disappointed. "Thank you again for your help."
"If I may ask, is there someplace safe that I could take you? I am on my way to see King Thranduil and you are an Elf so...".
"NO! I cannot go there."
"Alright, alright. But is there no other place?" Radagast asked gently "My business is urgent, but I would not leave you alone like this."
Rhavaniel thought, 'I have no weapons, no shelter, no fire.'
She hesitated, then asked, "If you could take me close to the Woodland Realm walls, near the Citadel, I could find my own way from there. That would help."
"Perfect!" Radagast agreed.
(******)
Rhavaniel was amazed at the rabbit sled. She had assumed that Radagast would travel with her on foot, finding shelter at sunset, still far from Thranduil's Citadel. But the rabbits were faster even than horses, and they could cover rougher terrain and take shortcuts.
Rhavaniel discovered that she and Radagast were excellent conversationalists, as long as the conversation did not touch on his business at the Citadel or her business alone in the woods. They were at the perimeter of Thranduil's Citadel long before dark.
"That is close enough for me." Rhavaniel said, jumping off.
Radagast pulled up the rabbits. "Wait, can you at least tell me your name?"
"It is best that you do not know. Do not tell anyone you helped an Elf girl in the woods this day. It will go badly for you, I swear. Thank you."