till forever falls apart

chapter 11: healing

When Thranduil opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a blurry white ceiling. He was lying flat on his back in bed in an unfamiliar room with a pulsing headache. His focus was still blurry but that was to be expected. Disoriented, he blinked and tried to sit up. Someone carefully pushed him back down onto the pillows.

His lopsided vision was fuzzy, but he still managed to recognise the person's face. "Elrond?" he said, or tried to say. His voice came out as a cracked whisper. Thranduil squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, his vision was clear again and Elrond was still there.  He realised dimly that that side of his face was covered with tight bandages, and also that it was stinging so painfully that it made him feel slightly light-headed. "What are you doing here?" he whispered. "Where's— where's Idhrenel?"

Elrond didn't reply right away. "She's alive, luckily with minor injuries. " Elrond said, bowing his head Thranduil returned the bow and he flinched as the left side of his face began to stung again. Elrond sighed and let his hand fall to his side. "Before I go, I must speak to you about the scarring on your face. Dragon fire is highly damaging, and I am afraid-" Thranduil looked up full of desperation at the younger elf, "Just tell me how to conceal it and then you can go." He breathed out slowly. "Very well," Elrond said tonelessly. "You should be able to use a glamour to mask the scarring, should you wish to do so. I will take my leave now." He closed the door behind him gently as he left, letting it click delicately into place. Thranduil then leant backwards on the bed, gently resting his head back onto the silk pillows.

 It was then that he heard a knock on the door. He didn't have time so say anything as hastily the door swung open to reveal a very battered looking Idhrenel. She rushed towards the bed and immediately kissed her husband. Then gingerly she placed her hand onto Thranduil's face, stroking it ever so slowly. Thranduil tried to turn away but Idhrenel's strong grip on his cheek stopped him and made him face her again.

Thranduil dragged himself out of bed and immediately collapsed, grabbing the bedpost for support as his left leg gave out. He hadn't noticed that more white bandages crisscrossed the place where he'd ripped the dagger out of himself. Idhrenel held her hand out to help her husband up. There was a small circular mirror over the dresser. He limped over to it, dragging his left foot across the floor, and stared hard at the white bandages covering the half of his face that prickled with white-hot heat. He ripped them off unceremoniously, feeling he deserved the pain that made his eyes sting with tears. It reminded him of what they had both gone through and how he had only been King for a week and he had already seen loads of his people being killed by Orcs and a dragon. The scar looked as bad as it felt, which was to say, utterly hideous. The entire left side of his face was melted away, exposing gaps of torn sinew, and his left eye was clouded milky-white. So that explained the one-sided vision, then. He was half blind.

"I look terrible." He sighed growing self-conscious. "Your still my handsome warrior." Idhrenel cooed back making him smile, "I'm so lucky to have you.. but you could've died." his wife laughed, "Your so protective; you nearly got scorched by a dragon. I was safe anyway I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Ever!"

Thranduil closed his eyes, concentrated for several seconds, and opened them again. His face in the mirror was perfectly healed, both eyes their normal blue. He touched his cheek with a shaking hand. It felt smooth, but the burn that flashed beneath his fingertips, a million piercing needles dipped in fire, reminded him that it was just an illusion. The scar was still there, underneath, and so was the pain. Idhrenel knelt down beside him and kissed the top of his ear before whispering, "Don't worry about them; they died for a good cause. When we return back to Greenwood we can give them all a proper farewell." Thranduil looked up to her and nodded silently.