when the door opened into the silent bedroom with a tired squeak. Uncharacteristically nothing moved in reaction to the sound, and so the intruder took exactly three steps into the room.

Strategically and knowingly out of arm's reach and gently called, "Thranduil?"

"If you even so much as whisper one more syllable to me," Began a very muffled, dull, yet threatening voice from the bed, "I will shove this pillow so far down your throat I won't need to reach anywhere to get it back from the other end."

Galion stood silently in the dark for several moments, using his free hand to try and waft the smell of Thranduil's favorite tea towards the bed.

The threatening voice mumbled again, "You're not leaving."

"Unfortunately not," Galion agreed and took this as an invitation to cross the room without grievous bodily harm coming to him, "You have to get up."

"Says who?" Thranduil accused from beneath a pillow, knowing that Galion was bound to light a candle sooner or later.

Galion set the huge mug of tea onto the king's nightstand, "The war."

A long and dramatic sigh was heaved, "For something that does not speak, it is always interrupting with things none of us want to hear."

Going to the dresser Galion lit one of the candles atop it before rummaging through to find something for Thranduil to wear. When he returned to the bed Thranduil was sitting upright with his eyes closed.

He set the tunic and robe on the bed, and then grabbed one of Thranduil's hands and put the fresh pair of pants into them, "Here, put these on."

"These?" Thranduil asked, lazily feeling the garment with one hand, "What are these?"

"Pants."

"Ah yes, pants. I remember those." Thranduil mumbled but otherwise did not react to the item in his hand, not even opening his eyes. "What do I do with these again?"

"Put them on your legs. Those are the things you use to walk with."

Thranduil groaned but began putting his legs through the holes, "Don't talk about walking, that's an unpleasant reality I still havn't faced yet."

"It might be easier to do that with your eyes open," Galion commented, putting the clean shirt over Thranduil's head and guiding his arms through each sleeve.

"It's easier to stay asleep with them closed, though."

Galion did a similar process with the cloak, pinning it in such a way that none would be able to see how casually their king dressed, "Fair enough."

Thranduil stood from the bed unsteadily,"Can you push me down the hallway so I can keep sleeping until I get there?"

"Legolas," A voice whispered, interrupting a seamlessly black sleep. A pleasant void, "Legolas, I'm so sorry, but I have to wake you."

"Hmmm?" He didn't have the strength to open his eyes nor was he awake enough yet to identify the voice,"What?"

"We have to go."

"Now?" Legolas asked, forcing his tired body to get up off of the forest floor and onto his feet, "Go where?"

Every part of him was in agony to not be resting, and his feet seemed nearly numb beneath him.

"Farlen's team needs reinforcements."

Legolas slung his weapons over his shoulder as the rest of his patrol began the unbearable task of dragging themselves to their feet as well, "Alright, let's go."

Ferdan sighed and resisted the urge to break something as he continued to stare at the war map in front of him. As if magically some solution would appear that hadn't occurred to anybody within the last two hours.

"There is no other way," One of the voices around the table said hesitantly, knowing that Ferdan was not a fan of the 'only way.'

Ferdan cut his gaze upward with all the frustration he was holding inside and locked eyes with the advisor, "I would suggest you refrain from speaking to me again until you have something helpful and constructive to say, the sound of your voice tires me, and I already have no energy to spare."

"Ava!"

She heard the voice, but did not recognize their meaning at first.

"Ava!"

Her eyes were open but her brain couldn't make sense of the shapes.

"Oh, sweet child." One of the voices said.

She was so tired it was hard to breathe. It hurt to breathe.

"What did she do?" Another voice asked, more frantic.

The shapes moved in incoherent patterns that her mind could not track or reason with. The voices seemed to be altering from outside and inside of her mind.

"She gave too much of herself at once."

It felt like she was falling into the earth, being cradled soft and warmly into it.

The calmer voice appeared in the center of her vision and her heart, but she could get her soul to twitch in response to it.

"There's no response."

A set of arms warm, warmer than the ones that already held her arms reached to pluck her off the forest floor.

There was a strong melding sensation, as the ache began to creep back into her body and soul reminding her that she had not rested or eaten for days. Reminding her this was not the first time she had felt this kind of tiredness being chased from her body just before it could consume her.

There was a sensation of loving pity, and the ache began to be drawn from her body and into another miles away. All the way to their mountain home where their King watched over vigilantly no matter the day or the hour.

The space that the exhaustion had taken up was filled with life and energy that was not her own, and she gasped for air.

"I know you're tired," The calm voice said within her mind, the one she could finally identify as Thranduil, "But I'm glad you're back."

Galion kept a careful watch over his King until he could tell that he had fully returned to his mind, automatically extending a hand out to gently grab his elbow in case he swayed. Which he did, quietly noticeably in fact.

He led Thranduil over to an armchair and placed a cup of water in his hand before he chastised half-heartedly,"I thought you were tired."

"With Legolas' distraction, Farlen was able to get to Avaleina just in time," Thranduil said, ignoring Galions pointed look he added, "Besides who isn't tired in this forest?"