till forever falls apart

chapter 31: bad news

It was early morning, before the sun had risen, that the rider belted into the halls. He dismounted, tossed the reins to the stable hand, and strode straight towards the King's chambers. Thranduil was alerted to his presence by the commotion outside made by the guards.

Striding across the room, he opened the door and was met by the most dishevelled elf he had seen in a long time. A hastily tied bandage covered his forehead, through which blood had leaked. He was covered in dust, mud, and grime, stirred up by his horse no doubt. "You were one of the guards with the Queen," he said. The guard bowed low; his head hung. "Your Grace," he said. "Where is she?" He searched the guard's eyes as his heart began to thunder. The guard did not raise his head or come out of the bow. "Do not make me ask again. Start talking!"

"Orcs," he said.

"A handful of orcs should be no match for members of my guard!" His heart clenched; panic gripped his stomach. Clenching his fists as his sides, he glared at the elf. "You had better start explaining!"

"There were fifty or so of them. They were waiting on our side of the high pass, whether on purpose or not is unknown." He heaved out a sigh before continuing. "We were outnumbered and no matter how skilled we are, we couldn't kill them all. Many were slain, but not before... They took her your grace." The anguish in his voice was clear at breaking this news. Thranduil forced his hand to relax, forced himself to listen. Panic now would serve no purpose. "I followed them north. She was alive three days ago, but I couldn't fight them alone and to die without informing anyone would have been pointless. I had to come back. Forgive me your Grace, I have failed you."

Thranduil wanted to scream at him, to demand to know why he hadn't done everything in his power to bring her back. He knew this was the wiser course of action, so he nodded, albeit with clenched teeth. "You did the right thing." The guard nodded and finally raised his head. Thranduil had already turned away, "Ready the army, we ride within the hour."

"I will ride with you," said the guard before he had time to storm out, "I will show you where I last saw them."

"You will," Thranduil nodded before quickly sweeping out of the room.

Before he went to the armoury, before surrendering completely to the anger that threatened to overwhelm his better sensibilities, he visited his sleeping son. Creeping in without a sound, he took a moment to just watch him. He looked so peaceful curled up as he was. The blanket had been thrown off, his arms and legs were thrown out at every angle, but nothing disturbed his rest. Leaning down, he pressed a light kiss to his forehead and pulled the blanket back over the tangle of limbs. "I will bring her back for you to see soon, I promise," he said. Legolas didn't stir, and Thranduil withdrew. Canthuiel would care for him for the few days he was away, as she had done so in the past.