More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter Fifty-Two

Tiriana dozed on Arielle's shoulder, exhausted from trying to nurse, and Arielle tried to ignore the worry eating away at her as she said to Narnerra, "Should she still be this tired all the time?"

"Unfortunately, yes. She has quite a road ahead of her, Your Highness. She's made progress, but her muscles are still weak from the botulism."

"Tell me this isn't permanent."

"I wish I could, but the truth is, it could very well be."

Arielle pressed her lips together as she glanced down at Tiriana, whose dark curls grew thicker by the day, and glinted almost blue in the light. She was still so terribly pale as well. Each time she gazed upon her daughter, Arielle wanted Belle Caisys' blood with greater fervor. Thorin had been gone four days and she didn't know if he'd even reached the Iron Hills yet. Everything was one giant uncertainty and she realized just how much she hated uncertainty.

"Ari?" Elen poked his head into the infirmary. "Is it a bad time? I can come back."

"No, come on in, El," Arielle told him, sinking into what she'd come to think of as her chair. "What's on your mind?"

Elen eased around the door and moved over to bend and press a kiss into the side of Tiriana's head. "How is she doing?"

"She's still so very weak and Narnerra isn't certain if she will ever recover fully, and I'm trying to keep from worrying myself sick, but at the same time how can I not worry when this is my daughter? And Thorin is gone and I have no idea whether or not he's in any danger, nor do I know if he's even close to the Iron Hills because I have no way of getting a hold of him and what happens if Tiri gets sicker and he's not here and I—"

"Ari," Elen's hands came to rest on her shoulders, "stop and breathe before you faint."

She pressed her lips together and drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she said, "I've never been so scared, El. Not even when Smaug bore down on us, was I this scared. I wish I could see into the future, to see whether or not Tiri recovered fully from this, but all I can do is sit and wait and hope that she does and I hate that."

"She will." Elen sank into the chair next to hers and draped his arm about her shoulders. "She's tough, Ari. She's part-Elf, and her father is one of Durin's sons. She has no choice but to recover fully. She's got some of the strongest blood in Middle Earth running through her veins. Tough is her baseline."

Arielle tried to smile, but tears stung her eyes. She was so tired, so drained, and she'd never been so worried before in all her life. "I want to kill both of them for doing this to her, and I think I could do it, as well. I've never hated anyone the way I hate Belle and Brena. And I'm so stupid, how could I allow that woman to watch my child, El? How could I trust her when I didn't even know her?"

"How did you find her?"

"Dis helped me go through applications, she sat in while Thorin and I interviewed women. Why would we think to ask if she was related to that... that bitch?"

Tiriana gurgled softly and reached out to grab a handful of Arielle's hair. She pulled, but was still weak enough that it didn't hurt, and she almost wished it did, for that would mean Tiri's strength was coming back.

"Have you heard from Thorin yet?"

She shook her head. "No. And I don't even know how far away the Iron Hills are from here."

"About five days or so," Narnerra said as she came into the room. "Why don't you take the princess up to the courtyard? It's still warm out and the fresh air will do her some good."

Arielle smoothed a hand over Tiriana's hair. "Do you want to go outside, raklûn? Get some fresh air, love?"

Tiriana's eyes opened and when they met her mother's, she smiled, which melted Arielle's heart into a puddle. Thorin's eyes. Thorin's smile. His daughter was his spitting image and she wondered if he saw it when he looked down at Tiriana.