D: I only own my OC.
From last time…
Legolas and Tauriel stayed with Valaira.
"Legolas, what is this strange shield?"
"I know not." He said, dragging his knife along the edge of the invisible wall.
"Do you think she came willingly with the dwarves?"
"Doubtful. Look at her. She is wounded and filthy."
The elf was released from whatever spell had been cast on her and she fell to the dirt, unconscious.
The Prince and the Captain of the guard shared confused look.
"Well, what do we do?"
"We bring her to the King." Legolas lifted the fallen elf and carried her to their home.
Now…
"Prince Legolas." The guard at the door greeted. His eyes widening slightly as they ran over the unconscious body in his arms.
"Alert the healers. Tell them to go to the guest rooms in the east hall."
"Aye sir." The guard ran off.
"Close the gate," The Prince told the other.
"Aye sir." Tauriel had already left, heading towards the prison cells to make sure the prisoners were safely locked up.
The blond Prince carried the elf in his arms to the east wing. She had not stirred, not even twitched. This worried Legolas.
The dwarves were being placed in the elvish cells. And they weren't very pleased.
"This is not the end of it! You hear me?"
"Let us out of here!"
"Get off me!" Not very pleased at all.
The guard who was leading Fili to his cell found another dagger in his coat.
"Aren't you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers." Kili asked the red-headed elf playfully.
"Or nothing." Tauriel then slammed Kili's cell door shut.
"Why does the Dwarf stare at you, Tauriel?" Legolas questioned.
"Who can say?" She shrugged. "He's quite tall for a Dwarf. Do you not think?"
"Taller than some, but no less ugly." Legolas glanced at the dwarf, eyeing him with disgust.
A few of the prisoners started throwing their weight at the metal doors. But they didn't budge. "Leave it! There's no way out. This is no Orc dungeon; these are the halls of the Woodland Realm. No one leaves here but by the king's consent." Balin shouted at them. They listened and ceased trying to break out, but the complained instead.
Thorin on the other hand, was escorted directly to the King.
"Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand. A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I myself suspect a more prosaic motive: attempted burglary, or something of that ilk. You have found a way in. You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule: the King's Jewel, the Arkenstone. It is precious to you beyond measure. I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems of pure starlight. I offer you my help."
"I am listening." Thorin hesitantly replied.
"I will let you go, if you but return what is mine." The elf king offered.
"A favor for a favor." Thorin reasoned.
"You have my word. One King to another."
"I would not trust Thranduil, the great King, to honor his word should the end of all days be upon us!" The dwarf king was too stubborn to take the offer.
"You lack all honor! I've seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help, but you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us! Imrid amrad ursul!"
Thranduil gracefully glided off his thrown until he was face to face with the dwarf. "Do not talk to me of dragon fire. I know its wrath and ruin. I have faced the great serpents of the north." Thorin witnessed the pale skin of the king's face contort into dark, burn scars and his normally blue-grey eye turned white, with a blink of an eye his face returned to normal.
"I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon, but he would not listen. You are just like him. Stay here if you will, and rot. A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf. I am patient. I can wait."
Thorin was grumbling something unintelligible in dwarvish as he was led to his kin.
Tauriel waited until the dwarf king was out of earshot before she informed him of the other news.
"There was someone else with the dwarves." The Captain mentioned while the king glided back to his throne.
"Who?"
"An elf, I do not know her name. It seemed like she was being possessed when we found her. It was peculiar."
"Her?" He asked curiously. "What is her name?"
"We do not know, My Lord, she fell unconscious before we could speak. She did have dark hair, and silver eyes."
"Where is she? Bring her to me." The King ordered.
"She is wounded and still unconscious. The healers are already tending to her as we speak."
"Where?" Thranduil stood, awaiting the location.
"East hall, blue room." Without another word, Thranduil left for the blue room.
"Did he offer you a deal?" Balin asked Thorin as the guards walked away.
"He did. I told him he could go 'Ish kakhfê ai'd dur rugnu!' him and all his kin!" Balin shook his head at his king.
"Well...that's it, then. A deal was our only hope." The old dwarf sighed.
"Not our only hope." There were two others that could still help them.
"Did you see Valaira?" Kili asked.
"Is she alright?" Fili questioned.
"I did not see her."
"What about Bilbo?"
"I don't know what happened to either of them." Thorin could hear several sighs of disappointment, couldn't tell from who though.
The healers did their best. Their best couldn't heal the wound. The poison in her system, was making it impossible to do anything. But then she woke up.
Valaira had regained consciousness but she felt disoriented. She was in a strange room with two female elves staring at her like she had grown an extra head. She had no idea where she was or how she got there. The elf tried to stand up but the healers pushed her back down.
"You must rest my lady." The one on the right chastised.
Then everything went black. Then white. A blinding white.
And a familiar face.
"Am I dead?" Valaira asked jokingly.
"Hardly." An unamused Manwe appeared, the blinding light dissipating.
"Care to explain why I could not communicate with you for the past few days?" He sounded displeased.
"Days? Where am I?"
"Safe. The Mirkwood Prince brought you to safety."
"Legolas? I have yet to meet him." Valaira shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "The forest, the greenwood is infected with black magic." She tried remembering what had happened but her mind was foggy.
"It was strange, the last thing I remember was entering the forest. Nothing more."
Manwe nodded, "That was when I lost sight of you." He looked her over, his pale blue eyes zeroing in on her angry wound.
"Your wound, you have been poisoned."
"Really? I had not realized-"she tried to be sarcastic.
"Hush." He knelt before her. "You could not heal this on your own?"
"Obviously not." Manwe let his hand hover over the torn flesh as he examined it.
"This poison is like nothing I have seen before." After a few moments of investigating, "You do not possess the ability to heal this." He began extracting the poison with magic. Then her muscle and flesh began stitching itself together. He let the black liquid float before his eyes before banishing it from the world.
"King Thranduil." The two healers bowed before their king. The king ignored them and walked over to the side of the bed. It was her.
"Why have you not healed her?"
"We have tried, but-" "there is a poison" "Or dark magic that is not" "allowing us to heal her." Both healers, twins, answered.
"We thought it was the poison of a morgul blade but-" "athalas does not help" "we do not know what it is." They concluded.
"Has she awoken?"
"Momentarily." "She tried to sit up, but fell back and was unconscious."
"We have not been able to do anything since then." "There is a strange barrier preventing us from even touching her." The king slowly reached out his hand towards the elf but his hand was stopped by an invisible barrier.
"Strange." He said thoughtfully. "Is there nothing you can do for her?"
"No sir. We have done everything in our power."
At that, a strange shimmering, blinding light was emitted from every inch of the unconscious elf's body. Moments later, the light dimmed and the wound healed itself.
The healers were stunned.
With the poison out of her blood, and her injury fully healed, Valaira felt like her old self again.
"What would I do without you?" She tested her leg out by walking on it, feeling no pain at all.
"Surely be dead by now," Valaira almost choked on her own saliva when the King of the Valar actually said that sarcastically. He chuckled at her shocked facial expression.
"I thank you." She said honestly. Then got down to business. "Gandalf, where is he?"
"Traveling to the High Fells of Rhudaur. Radagast will be meeting him there."
"Do you have any idea what they will find there?"
"…Yes, but I hope it will not be true."
"What of the dwarves, are they alright?"
"See for yourself, I must depart."
Valaira's shot open, she was back in the real world. The two healers were still in the room, but this time they were accompanied but the King, Thranduil. Err, bye?
She tried to sit up, again, but was pushed back down, again which agitated her.
"I highly advise you take your hands off me." The healers began to sputter and looked over to their king who nodded for them to heed her advice. They looked at each other than shook their heads in disbelief and left the room.
"Traveling with the dwarves now, are we?" The king asked disapprovingly.
"Hello to you too." Valaira stood, and stretched. Her stomach growling with hunger. Who knows how long ago it was since she last ate.
The king closed the distance between them and stroked her cheek gently with the tips of his fingers. "Apologies. You know I have no liking of the dwarves." Color rose to her pale face.
"Not many elves do." There was a pause. Thranduil seemed to be deliberating over something in his mind. Valaira eyed him curiously. But he pulled away instead.
"Come, let us eat." Thranduil led her to his own chambers where he asked one of the servants to bring some food.
"I suspect that you know why we are here?" She asked once they were eating. Well…she was eating, he was watching her eat.
"I know why the dwarves are here, however I do not know why you were with them."
"I am helping them reclaim their homeland. That is what I do, I help people. Remember?"
"Indeed I do. I suspect, that Thorin was not the one who asked for your help though, was he?"
"No, that would have been Gandalf." Thranduil shook his head, meddlesome fool.
"I know what you think of Mithrandir," That he was a crazy old man, "But something is happening out there. Something bad. Most are just too blind to see it." She aimed that last part at Thranduil but he chose to ignore it.
"Where are the dwarves?" Valaira asked the King, who did not respond.
"Do not tell me you put them in your dungeons." Thranduil still remained quiet. Valaira sighed dramatically, stood and made her way to the doorway, "Where are you going?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"Come. It is the feast of starlight tonight, leave the dwarves alone for the night. They are not going anywhere."
"I must speak with them. I shall join you shortly." And she left to find the dwarves without another word. Valaira passed Bilbo on her way out. He had that same shimmering light around him.
Bilbo caught her eye and seemed shocked that she could see him.
"What are you doing?" She whispered to him. The Halfling didn't answer, just lifted his finger to his lips. Valaira was about to say something else but someone was coming, so she continued up the steps and ran into a red-headed elf. Said red-headed elf looked more than surprised to see her up and about already.
"May I ask what you were doing over here?" She asked suspiciously.
"..No." And Valaira continued up the stairs.
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