till forever falls apart

chapter 33: healing

When they returned to Greenwood, a crowd quickly formed around the soldiers. There were gasps and shrieks of terror when guards and people noticed the King holding Idhrenel's tortured body close to his. Amrithion took of his cloak and brought it to Thranduil so he could cover Idhrenel from view, he knew his wife wouldn't want anyone to see her in her current state. The King hastily got off his horse, carrying a sleeping Idhrenel in his arms, as he made his way into the castle quickly followed by his remaining guards.

A healer, Meldirher, had heard the commotion outside of the castle. He had heard the whispers and rumours from inside the castle. "The Queen is dead!" He heard a fellow healer say. "No she's been tortured." Another healer corrected. The doors to King Thranduil and Queen Idhrenel's private chambers were already open when the healer approached them, skidding slightly on his feet. Slightly panting Meldirher ran in and caught the sight of four other healers carrying supplies and applying pressure to the deep wounds. 'This is not going to be easy,' he said to himself as he looked at the circle of guards around the bed.

It was true, Queen Idhrenel was extremely injured. By his centuries of healing and by just looking at her Meldirher could tell that she had been tortured. Idhrenel's body was covered in cut marks, reaching from her feet to her left breast. Some cuts were deeper than overs, with blood still pouring out despite it happening days before. She had deep chain marks around both wrists and even some around her stomach, though they weren't as tight. It was such a pity, a healer named Caranith thought to herself as she looked at the dark coloured blood that stained her baby blue dress. Her dress which was once decorated with one white lace was now shredded and torn the colour now brown and back. She had been such a beautiful queen.

This was going to be a race against time to stop the Queens pain and prevent the loss of blood. Grabbing a bowl of clean water and a cloth, Meldirher kneeled down beside the Queen, who was still unconscious, her long blonde (covered in blood) hair framing the lush pillows around her. The blood covering her chest and arms had been wiped away, and the other healers were stopping the rest of the wounds. Adding some Athelas to the water from the medicinal chest by her, Meldirher begin to finish cleansing the wounds. One by one he did the job, and one by one the healers were excused as they were not needed by him.

Caranith took one look at the Queen's tortured body, a single tear escaping her eye, before she carefully and quietly made her way towards the bedroom door making sure that her long ginger wouldn't be trapped between the door and the wall. As she went to close the door, the King appeared from the corner of her eye. "My King..." Caranith bowed before she held the door open. Thranduil nodded before walking through the door into the bedroom with his head hung low. She then made her way back towards her home were her husband and young daughter, Tauriel would be waiting for her.

After all the wounds were clean Meldirher placed his hands gently on top of them and lifting his heavy fingers, the elven healer moved his hand, running it down Idhrenel's left shoulder and arm. The flesh beneath his fingers still felt icy and he began to worry that the damage done was irreversible. But no . . . the merest hint of warmth was spreading down the limb and the healer sighed.

Reaching across, he lifted Thranduil's hand from the coverlet and laid it upon his wife's forearm. "There, my King. Can you feel it? She will recover." Thranduil's fingers, sensitive enough to handle the most delicate of elflings, wrapped themselves about his wife's arm as his other hand reached out to take hold of Idhrenel's hand. For a moment his eyes were fixed upon the still pale cheeks of his wife, his chin quivering as he fought to control the tears of relief and joy that threatened to overwhelm him. "She was alive.. though barely alive-" The healer paused before continuing, " She will survive, though I do not know for how long. Her wounds were very severe and damaging.. my King I believe she will not last much longer or certainly not forever."Thranduil looked down at his feet and then at his wife, noticing he was still holding her hand. He dropped her hand when he heard a groan beside him.

Idhrenel gritted her teeth and took a breath as she started to open her crystal blue eyes. She tried to clench her fists, but the disconnected feeling prevented her from doing anything. She couldn't even say where her hands were. "You are safe," said a voice but the Queen didn't recognise it. She then opened her eyes. She was able to scan around where she was. She was lying in a double bed, the room was painted completely white with gold around the top perimeter of the room. If she was being kept hostage, she would have expected to be in a bunker of some description, not a place with bookshelves, a large vanity and a silk dresses still hung from the outside of the wardrobe, from two weeks prior.

Idhrenel could only half-see the speaker as her vision wasn't great. It was moderately tall, thin, long brownish hair. Or was it black? She couldn't tell. All she knew was that she was not alone in a room... she wasn't in Gundabad anymore, she knew that. The room was clean and bright, not dark and full of blood and dead carcasses. Idhrenel tried to sit up, she wanted a proper view, but a wash of nausea prevented her. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and she screamed, flinching. Panic rushed in. Her breathing increased rapidly as she felt completely out of control. Where was she? She could just see the outline of someone with long blonde hair. A man? A woman? Idhrenel had no clue. The brown haired figure tried to calm her down but it wasn't working, she started to scream uncontrollably but stopped when she felt something dig into her left arm. Then everything started to spin and go fuzzy. She tried to scream but no sound came out. Then her eyes shut and once again there was silence.

Idhrenel woke again a couple of hours later, this time more slowly. She couldn't see much as she couldn't move her head more than a slight nod. She could see a tall ceiling, expertly carved. Gold interiors and there were windows, a fire altar to one side, loads of books and the silk dresses still hung from the outside of the wardrobe, from what she remembered from earlier. She stretched, this time able to move her fingers, she noticed the cuts and the deep chain marks that were now engraved onto her skin for the whole of Middle Earth to see for as long as she lived.

Her head was still muddled, but she surprisingly didn't feel any pain. Just a kind of a drunken haze that made her want to stay where she was. It was then that she realised that she must've been drugged. That made her want to leave this unknown place. The sweltering heat blurred Idhrenel's vision and her corseted dress bent painfully against her chest, close to combusting. Sweat and dirt mingled on her forehead and dripped down her chin as she frantically looked around.