Chapter 21

A month had passed and Leanna found herself better adjusted to life in Mirkwood. During the time spent so far, she had already began picking up some words in elvish though her writing skills still required a lot of work.

She had begun sending letters to Dale after the first two weeks and after a time she would receive from letters from everyone, it had become an established communication routine. She missed them dearly, telling them of her life here and all the beautiful things she was discovering here. In his letters, Bard was ever so fussy and worried. He had a right to be, she was in the lion's den afterall.

"You seem more at ease here than everywhere else" Leanna turned around to Tauriel who was leaning on a tree by the enclave.

"Here, there is no need to be on guard, even if the patrol units are blended in the trees it feels…less discomforting" Leanna rose from the floor where she had been examining the shrubs and wild flowers cropping up from the dark earth. "Though the treatment I've received from the people here recently is not as bad as I thought, if anything its better than I expected" Leanna moved in line with Tauriel who was escorting her back to the palace gates.

Tauriel remained silent over her statement. She had heard about the events during dinner time and how Leanna handled herself before Athiniel. Apparently the King had protected Lady Leanna's honor in her absence. She heard no sound from behind her and looked back to find the lady standing still with a pained looked on her face.

"Lady Leanna?" Tauriel asked, moving closer to her in concern. Leanna clutched her head as she breathed harshly, trying to regain her senses.

"Its fine, I'm fine" said Leanna as she raised her hand up to assure Tauriel.

"We should go to the healers if you're in pain"

"No it's nothing, it'll pass" Leanna raised her head up and smiled at the elleth next to her.

Tauriel looked Leanna over, skeptical about her words, she noted her fingers trembling and looked back up to her. Leanna quickly clasped her hands behind her and looked around the forest.

"The forest seems safer now, no more spiders around" Leanna sighed as she looked up at the trees. Tauriel narrowed her eyes slightly at her actions but decided to let it go. It was not her place she decided, to poke into the woman's business. She was about to turn around when an idea came to her.

"Come with me" Tauriel said as she walked passed Leanna to another direction. Leanna looked at the castle gates up ahead and turned to the direction Tauriel had walked off in. Anything was better than the next task she had to deal with.

Tauriel led Leanna up a rocky pathway beside the mountain. They climbed up to a wider path and it was then Leanna could hear it, water rushing. Tauriel crouched down under a large chunk of jutting out of the mountain side with water gushing over it and Leanna followed closely from behind.

They settled in a small damp cave and watched the water flow downwards. It was comfy cave with some greenery growing on the floor. She wondered why Tauriel had brought her here and was about to ask when Tauriel spoke quietly.

"I found this a few years ago while scouting, I use it to get away from everything when I want to be alone" Tauriel said while watching the water.

"Why did you bring me here?" Leanna asked.

"You looked like you needed a quiet place to be yourself, away from prying eyes and all the noise"

Leanna swallowed as she looked at the ground, the silence become the only noticeable thing in the cave. She had been walking on thin ice ever since she realized Thranduil had placed eyes to watch her every move and dig up secrets about her past. Her shoulders slumped and she exhaled, releasing a burden she did not know she was carrying.

"Tauriel…I am sorry" Leanna looked at the confused elleth.

"Why?"

"The battle…I couldn't save him" Leanna whispered.

"Don't be…" Tauriel responded, the tone of her voice becoming smaller.

"But it's-"

"Your fault?" at this Leanna looked away. Tauriel sighed and turned to her.

"Did you drive a blade to his heart?"

"What?" Leanna looked at Tauriel in bewilderment.

"If you had been there, would you stand by as you watched him die?" Tauriel asked further.

"No...I wouldn't" Leanna said with certainty. Had she been present at the time, she would've done all she could to save Killi. Tauriel smiled sadly as though in resigned grief.

"I did" Leanna on hearing those words felt her heart twist. She looked at the elleth and wondered how much pain she had endured watching the one she loved die.

"I watched helpless as an evil borne of darkness took him from me…my Killi" Tauriel whispered as though reliving through that horrifying day. "So you see Lady Leanna, I am just as much to blame in this as you are"

" Amra Lime...those were the last words he said to me" Tauriel took out a small black stone from her pockets. It was the stone Killi had given to her. She had meant to return it in the end but didn't, it would mean giving up the only thing she had of him.

"What do they mean?"

"My Love…" Tauriel smiled wistfully at the memory that day on the beach.

"Oh…" Leanna looked down fiddling with a yellow wild flower standing on its own. Her thoughts blank with nothing to fill the silence they had returned to.

"Have you ever been in love before?" She heard Tauriel ask. Leanna blinked at those words and frowned. Love… how was she to answer such question with the life she's lived?

"No I don't think I have" she answered.

"Not even once?" Tauriel asked interested in what she had to say. Leanna stood up and walked around the confines of the cave with Tauriel watching her.

"I'm not even sure I know what that is or what it feels like…" Leanna said softly. One thing Leanna knew was she had been alone most of her life, with Gilford being the only one she felt trusting enough to call a friend and even though she knew he wanted more, in her heart she could not be what he wanted.

"It's getting late, we should return" Leanna said as she stood beside Tauriel. The agile elleth rose fluidly from the floor and smiled at her.

"Lady Leanna?"

"Yes?"

"I know you do not like King Thranduil or trust him but at least try to understand him"

"You sound like he's given me the chance to do so…trust him I mean" said Leanna. She made it no secret that she trusted no one in the palace, least of all him.

"I know but he might not be as bad as you think" Tauriel said as she went ahead of her. Leanna frowned at her words and wondered why Tauriel had spoken as though she needed to hear them. Thranduil did not care for what she thought of him, that much she was certain. The Elven King of the Greenwood had made it clear that she was no more than a game he would toy with until he was done unraveling her.

Leanna huffed as she left the cave and met with Tauriel at the base of the mountain. Trust him? The thought almost made her smirk, she would sooner die.

They reached the gates and Tauriel bowed to her and nodded her goodbye, heading a different direction after they scheduled a time to meet the following day. Leanna turned to head inside when she heard her name.

"My Lady Leanna…" Leanna turned to the voice that called for her, her jaw tensing as she looked at him.

"Haelros" The sound of his name was cold as ever. The last time she had seen him was that night in the hallway after she met with Thranduil.

"How-how are you?" Haelros asked

"As good as I'll ever be" said Leanna as she walked passed him. She had no interest in baseless discussions with the ellon.

"Leanna wait!" Haelros followed her until they entered the hallway leading to the royal wing.

"I didn't tell him anything…" At this Leanna stopped.

"Why should I believe you?" she spoke after a few moments of silence.

"If I had known this was his plan…" what would he have done? Thranduil would've found another means to have his way. It wouldn't have changed anything.

"I thought you were my friend" She whispered. Haelros watched as she walked away into the royal wing, no matter what he told her, she would not trust him and what little part of her he had managed to pry open was shut from him.

!

!

He had to distract himself but it was not effective. No matter what he did, his seemed to watch her far longer than he was comfortable with and even when he didn't wish to see her, she invaded his thoughts at the most inopportuned of moments. Even now, with his head thrown back in pleasure and eyes closed, he saw her.

He shuddered and grabbed the elleth's head, bucking his hips upward as she swallowed him whole. He moaned deeply, feeling his member go limp as he released his seed in her mouth. Feeling even more dissatisfied, he rose up from his seat and reached for the pitcher on the table and poured himself a drink. The elleth rose from her position and turned to him as her eyes roved over him.

"Does my Lord need any more of me?" Athiniel asked huskily before undressing herself.

"No, you may leave now"

"My Lord?" Athiniel called to him in confusion. Usually they never stopped at this point, but in recent days Thranduil had continuously dismissed her without fully indulging in the pleasures they could get from each other.

"I did not stutter Lady Athiniel" Thranduil responded, throwing a glare her way to further emphasize his dismissal. Athiniel not wishing to anger him any further covered herself and bowed before leaving.

The doors closed behind him and Thranduil paid no mind to the elleth he had expelled from his chambers. He could not bring himself to care about the upset elleth knowing she would sate her desires elsewhere.

He cast a glance to the empty chair facing him, the chair she would sit in when he demanded she have dinner with him. Thranduil smirked at the memory of the pale dove with a fiery streak in her, feeling a bit of excitement tingling in his chest. Every evening had proven as interesting as he imagined, and today would be no exception.

Leanna walked the dim hallways of the royal wing, her emotions raw after her encounter with Haelros. As she walked towards Thranduil's chambers, a figure appeared from the shadows, her flawless face marred with a bitter frown. The elleth, that Leanna had had the displeasure of meeting noted her presence and glared at her.

"Lady Athiniel…good evening" said Leanna. She stopped to bow waiting for the elleth to her pass by. Athiniel ignored her as she upturned her nose in the air, walking off to what Leanna guessed was her chambers. She further into the hall and stopped before the large doors, doors that had begun to hate.

Leanna knocked on the doors and waited for his permission to enter. The doors opened immediately and she walked in, bowing as she did.

"Good evening my Lord" Leanna stood poised as always with her eyes kept down. Not receiving a response from him was a predictable course of action in this setting and given what she were about to do, she surmised that it was not needed. However, what she did expect was his finger under her chin.

Thranduil grew irritated by the minute. If she stood there any longer she could be mistaken for a statue. He had come close and received no reaction from her, even when he touched her she merely looked down still with nothing to show, no sound, not even a twitch.

"Look at me" He said. He watched as her startling blue eyes looked at him. Thranduil stared at her, trying to know what went on in her head but as always, she continued to give nothing away.

"My bath" Was all he said and let her go. Without warning, Thranduil disrobed and looked up when he heard a gasp. Leanna had turned away, her back to him as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

"My bath Lady Leanna, or would you prefer I find another means to clean myself?" Thranduil whispered in her ear. It took Leanna all her strength not to freeze everything around her in shock.

Turning around and looking decisively into his face, she moved into the bath chamber with the oils she used and stood as she waited for him to get in. Hearing the water sloshing as another body had been immersed in it, Leanna turned to look at him and began pouring the oils into the water.

"I was told those ointments would be much useful with direct contact" Thranduil said.

"I beg your pardon?" Leanna asked, still unsettled by his earlier actions.

"I believe you heard well"

"No my Lord, I did not" Leanna replied icily as she glared at the ellon leaning against the edge of the pool. Thranduil found himself enjoying her reactions far too much to behave kindly. He smirked at her and beckoned her to come closer, until he saw that she was insistent on remaining still.

"Either you come to me or I go to you…" He drawled as he looked her over to buttress his threat. Leanna deciding to follow his wishes, moved to his side.

She knelt beside him and barely touched his skin when pain surged in her head and blurred her vision. She gasped loudly at the shock it sent her and stumbled back. She managed to steady herself when another wave of pain hit her. Thranduil had swiveled round in time to catch her before she fell into the water. He looked her over searching for any signs of injury, confused over her loss of consciousness.

Quickly rising from the water, he moved with her in his arms to his bed where he laid her down. An hour later, dressed and by his desk, he waited for a report from his healers. Nothing, they could not find anything wrong. Thranduil drew his gaze to the woman lying still on his bed.

"Perhaps she is stretched too thin and may be overworked" Gwuineth said as she shot an accusing glare at him.

"Or her ailment may be completely unrelated to her tasks at all" Thranduil said, retorting to the elleth who had seemingly grown protective over the young woman of Dale.

"Tauriel reported that she seemed in pain in the forest earlier…today may not be the first time this has occurred" Gwuineth said moving to Leanna's side, the woman had yet to wake and she grew concerned over the failing health of her charge. She turned to Thranduil who looked at her in expectancy.

"If my lord allows it, I will send word to Lord Elrond, perhaps he may find a solution to this problem"

"You will do no such thing, our business is ours alone, we have no need for Elrond's interference" Thranduil's eyes grew into slits. He may let her have her way as always but in this he would stand his ground.

"And leave her to suffer..." Gwuineth looked at Thranduil, her gaze heavy with continuous accusation. "…as she has ever since she set foot here. Thranduil our healers cannot help her and should this continue, who knows what may happen" Thranduil turned around from her and moved to leave the room. He stopped for a brief moment.

"Do as you wish" He said before leaving.

Gwuineth sighed, he had always been a difficult elf to deal with but he was not without kindness or atleast she liked to believe it now. She reached down and gently shifted a loc of hair on Leanna's face. Tried as she had, the young woman had kept her ever sturdy walls up. She frowned at the sight of the pale woman and wondered what she had to hide, to protect that she would lock her heart away from the world.

"Sleep well Lady Leanna, may your rest be full of peace" Gwuineth whispered before placing a soft kiss on Leanna's forehead. She looked back once more at the bed before leaving the room. She would send word to Elrond, she hoped within her heart that he would be able to find a way to help Leanna.