PRINCESS OF THE WOODLAND REALM: A BOOK OF MEMORIES

CHAPTER SEVEN

Spider Bites

        Legolas and I decided that today, we wanted to get away from the palace for a while. Both of us, being stubborn, wouldn’t let any guards come with. Stupid idea, really.

 

        We were talking about nonsense when we both heard twigs crack. Within seconds, we pulled out our bows, nocked an arrow, and aimed into the forest. We heard the sound again from my left. We both focus our aim to the source of the sound. An arrow shot by my face from my right. I looked at Legolas out of the corner of my eye to see he had already nocked another arrow.

 

        “What is it?” I asked. “Spiders.” he stated simply. We heard hissing from above us and saw about five Spiders. “There aren’t that any, we can take them.” he said. I nodded and shot two down, fighting a third with my daggers. Suddenly, I heard Legolas cry out in pain. “Leggy!” I shouted and stabbed the spider in the head. I looked to see a spider cocooning Legolas in its webs; I quickly shot it down and looked at him. “Oh no.” I cried. I eyed the spider and saw that it was a Semmon Spider. It’s venom was extremely fatal and Legolas only have a 30% chance of living. I quickly lifted Legolas onto my horse and had his follow me.

 

        “He needs medical aid!” I shouted as soon as I reached the palace doors. He was taken away by many healers. I went to enter the healing room with them, but I was forced to stand outside. Tears streamed down my face as I worried for my brother. Ada came rushing down the hallway and he saw me. “Lerthenil! What happened.” I explained to him the events that took place when we went into the forest. “It was a Semmon Spider.” I sobbed. Ada, then stepped into the healing room, leaving me alone to cry. Soon enough, Sîron walked by and immediately took my into his arms as I cried. “He’ll be okay. He is strong, he can fight it off.” he whispered. I nodded and tried to convince myself that he would be okay. A group of guards walked by and told Sîron he had to attend to his duties, leaving me alone once again.

 

        After an hour, I became very anxious. My sobbing and tears never stopped and my breathing became rigid. No one came out of the room, meaning they haven’t saved him. The door opened and a spark of hope lit up my eyes, but it was just Ada. I saw the sadness in his eyes and the tears threatening to spill. I stood from my spot on the ground and opened my arms. He ran into them and wrapped his own around my small figure. The white shirt I was wearing became wet with his tears. “It’s okay, Ada.” I said. “He’s strong. He’ll be able to fight it.” I said, quoting Sîron. I felt him nod and his sobs slowed, while mine became more rapid. “Calm down, Lerthenil.” I said. I tried to breathe, but it didn’t work. He carefully let go of me and sat down. “Sit down in front of me.” he said, softly. I did as told and sat between his legs, my back facing him. He carefully started to play with my hair, almost instantly calming me down. Ada knew Legolas would play with my hair, a lot, and it amused him at times. How Legolas could put my hair in many different fancy and simple braids, when I could only do a simple three strand braid and french braid. Legolas began to braid my hair almost every morning when we were children. I always attempt to, but I never can. At least not the fancy ones he always does.

 

-

 

        I opened my eyes to be laying on the ground. I looked at my surroundings and saw Ada also on the floor a few feet away from me. I have never seen him in this state. It’s very strange to see him in his crying state and sleeping on the floor waiting for his son, who can die at any moment, to awaken. A healer that I had never seen, walked out of the room. “Excuse me?” I squeaked. She jumped at my voice and looked down at me. She was surprised at mine and my father’s presence. “Yes, My lady.” I choose to ignore her formality and asked, “What is your name?” “Nestor, my lady.” she answered. “What is the news of Prince Legolas?” I asked her, quietly so I would not wake my sleeping father. “He will be okay. The healers were able to eject the venom from his body. However, he has become very weak and needs plenty of rest.” she said. “So, he’s going to live?” I asked, every ounce of hope in my body was showing in my voice. “Yes.” she whispered, smiling. “Ada!” I shouted, shaking him awake. “Whaaaaaat?” he groaned. “Legolas is going to live!” He jolted up and sprinted into the healing room.

 

        I noticed that Nestor was still standing there. “Thank you.” I whispered before going into the room myself. I saw Legolas on a healing bed, asleep. Ada was next to him, holding his hand. “I love you both so much. I know I don’t say it much anymore, but I really do love you.” he said, making eye contact with me. I smiled at him and told him, “I know. We both love you dearly.” He looked like he was going to cry again and I became concerned. “Ada, what’s wrong?” I asked. “I almost lost my son.” he choked, “Yes, and I almost lost my brother. Almost. Meaning you didn’t. He’s alive and is healing as we speak.” I said walking to him. “I know.” he smiled.

 

-

 

        I fell asleep, half on, half off of Legolas’ bed apparently. From the looks of it. I only woke up because someone squeezed my hand. That couldn’t be right though because I was holding Legolas’ hand and he’s asleep. “Lerthenil.” he mumbled. “Oh, hey. You’re awake.” I said calmly. Realization hit me and I jumped from my seat. “You’re awake!” I yelled. He chuckled and nodded. I engulfed him in a hug, careful not to touch his thigh, where he got bit. “Don’t you ever scare me like that ever again!” I yelled, “I love you too much to lose you!” I heard people ‘aweing’ behind me. Not letting go of Legolas, I turned my head to look at a few healers and the guard that stood watch, smiling at my gesture. I narrowed my eyes at them and said, “None of you speak a word of this.” They were still smiling, but they nodded.

 

        Ada came in about an hour later and I still hadn’t let go of my brother. “I see you are awake.” Ada said, smiling. “I am. This booger won’t get off me though.” he said, nudging me. “You should have seen her cry for hours straight.” Ada teased. I rolled my eyes and shifted so only half of my body was practically laying on Legolas. “Crying for hours?” he asked. “In my defence, you had a good chance of dying.” I said. “It shows how much you care, which makes me happy.” he said. I laughed and realized that we were the only ones in the room. “Where is everybody?” I asked. Even the guard was gone. “They left so we could spend ‘quality time’ together.” Ada said, putting air quotes around ‘quality time.’ “I think they mean family time.” I said, laughing. “Well you’re enjoying it.” he said, motioning to my cuddling position. It’s not my fault he’s warm and smells good. Plus he’s my brother. Cuddling siblings is allowed last time I checked.

        “I am.” I said, smelling Legolas. “You smell good.” I said. “Uh… thanks.” he said in more of a question. Ada and Legolas began talking about the tragedy that happened while I slowly fell asleep, knowing my brother was alive.