The King's Heart (Thranduil Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

(Rhovanel)

I grip my blades tightly. The orcs are staring at Thranduil's back, watching him bend down to me. I smile. They are the dumbest creatures on Middle Earth to let two elves go back to the tree they had been at for 'two weeks.' That was particularly clever of Thranduil to put us here for a duration that expansive. If we had wanted to attack, we would have done it sooner than yesterday.

My head is spinning and I can barely feel my leg, but I can feel my extra adrenaline pumping through me, and all I want to do with it is fight. Thranduil will never know that I took a blade for him. It was pure luck that the blade hadn't been dipped in the typical toxin.

Thranduil whispers, "let's kill some orc," and that's all I need to hear. I spring into the tree and sprint along the lowest branch. When I have two orcs below me, I jump down, kicking their heads as I land. My blades slice their throats before they have a chance to get up.

Another barrels toward me, and I only have time to raise my knives in a cross-block before he is on me. I can hear the blade as it rushed toward my face. But my block holds, and I sweep the orc's jagged blade away from me with my left blade and cut up with my right. The orc's blood splatters my face as he falls.

I breathe for a moment, watching Thranduil and the orcs that are by him. The orcs are moving quickly, but they are on defense. Thranduil is practically a blur. I can see the shimmering of his short swords. Within a minute if me watching, Thranduil is standing among seven orc corpses. He is not even breathing hard.

"This feels too easy," we whisper at the same time. Instantly, we hear more feet coming this way, from the north. Thranduil grabs our equipment and leaps into the tree. I follow him and we start running to the west, only stopping when the sound of marching is far behind us.

We finally stop to rest when I almost fall. The little strength in my leg had given out and I stumbled on a thin branch. Thranduil had been right in front of me to stop my fall, but it still scared me. My fall could have been loud enough for all of Greenwood to hear, including the legion of orcs marching toward us.

I saw several spears in the air and could hear the crunching of dry leaves and twigs. Thranduil sees them too.

"We must keep moving," he says. I know he's right, so I clench my teeth and keep running. Thranduil is darting along the lower branches because they are the only ones that can hold his weight. I am following him because I'm afraid to fall again.

We sprint for another twenty minutes, but it feels like hours. My leg feels like it's going to fall off and my head is spinning. Finally, we are far enough from the legion of orcs that Thranduil feels safe to rest for the night. We climb higher into an old oak tree, one larger than most in the forest. It's branches are thick enough to support Thranduil even fifty meters up.

When we are around seventy-five meters up, Thranduil stops.
"I do not believe the orcs will find us up here. They wouldn't even dare to climb this high. Now, let me look at your leg," he says, taking out a small vial of clear liquid.

I slide my boot off and give him a nod. "Will it hurt?" I ask. I'm not afraid of the pain, I only want to be prepared.

"Yes. This will hurt a great deal. But it will expedite the healing. You will not have any weakness or falter, only pain. Tarawen uses it often. Do you still want it?" His tone is gentle, as if he has been a healer all his life. I grimace.

"Yes, I'm sure. Do it." He pours the medicine on the cut. It burns like nothing I've ever felt before. I bite my lips to silence a scream. I blink tears away and look at the wound. It has faded to a faint pink scar, and even that is disappearing before my eyes. I stare at Thranduil.

"What?" he asks, confused.

"It's gone. How is it already gone?" I say. I'm in shock at how fast the medicine worked. Then I try to stand. I almost fall out of the tree, but Thranduil had already wrapped his arms around my waist, keeping me in the tree.

"Ow." It's merely a simple statement, but Thranduil chuckles.

"I told you it was going to hurt. I would just stay where you are for a while. We are safe up here for the night." I look for the sun; it is on the western horizon already. This day has raced by, it felt like only an hour ago we were talking about Legolas's knife lessons.

"What is the name of your Captain of the Guard?" She had been the one I had spoken with during training I assumed.

"Annoneth, she has been a faithful captain for near four hundred years now," he sighs.

"She is a devoted captain, why is she not with us?" I am merely curious. It seems to me that Thranduil did not want her here, but if she is a good warrior, why not?

"I asked Annoneth to lead the army on the last day. She is almost as good a warrior as I. I even trained her," Thranduil says, pride painting his voice.

"How did that come to pass?"

"Her village near Rivendell was destroyed when she was young. Her family barely escaped the carnage. They sought refuge in my father's kingdom. I became close with Annoneth, we were very close in age, only a couple hundred years younger than I. I started sparring with her, and she was eager to learn. I asked her to be the captain when our fathers died and I was coronated." His face darkened at the word 'coronated.' I had heard of the Elven King's death, but stayed deep in the forest because I knew the elves of Lothlórien would go to the new king's coronation. "She is my friend, one of the few I have."

We continued talking for hours, well after the moon had risen. Thranduil was a good listener and story-teller. Eventually I could not keep my eyes open, and drifted into a pleasant sleep, dreaming of the woods and hearing Thranduil's stories.