Home (Thranduil fanfic)

Chapter 16

Asachiel's body was shaking with rage. They hadn't listened, hadn't even given her the chance. Why hadn't they given her the benefit of the doubt? Embarrassment washed over her. She'd already seen enough to realize that this was not going to stop, but get worse. Fear now overtook her, and she concluded there was but one thing for it: she had to leave.

Her usefulness had obviously played itself out here, and Thranduil would be safer without her around. Oh, Thranduil. She buried her face in her hands as she shook her head, embarrassed. What must he think of her now? She fought back her tears as she realized how horribly wrong this had all gone, and she felt she was to blame! She followed the walkway up to her room to snatch her things and go.

When she got to her room she saw Esenor. He was sitting with his head in his hands on the marble step in front of her door, holding a half finished drink and blocking her way. He didn't look good. 'Asa' he slurred weakly, 'where have you been?' She stared at him, not knowing how to handle this conversation. He straightened up and sat back against her door, crossing his slender arms. 'I'm sorry... I really don't care about you that way' Asachiel said with a trembling voice, backing away. Even drunk, she knew his strength wasn't diminished and his temper was unpredictable. 'Well, if that were true, we wouldn't be having this conversation now, would we?' he taunted her. Asachiel was speechless. This was worse than ever before. It was as if she didn't recognize her friend.

In that instance, firm footsteps resounded on the walkway, heading in their direction. Asachiel's head snapped towards the approaching figure, and to her consternation she recognised Thranduil.

Neither of them saw it coming. Not right away, anyhow. Esenor shot up and got a hand on Thranduil's throat. He dug his nails in and pushed a blade into the king's side as hard as he could. Too fast, Asachiel thought in a flash, as she lunged herself forward onto Esenor. The sudden shift of weight sent him lurching sideways and he lost his grip on Thranduil, who seemed temporarily stunned and grabbed the knife in his side with a grunt.

Esenor staggered away, visibly trembling, out of control. 'Gi fuilon – you disgust me!' he spat. 'I'll kill you! This is where it ends!' He charged forward again. Thranduil was ready for him this time and launched a powerful punch that sent him spinning back, kicking and screaming. Asachiel managed a ground tackle and Esenor went down, landing hard on his back and kicking her in the head. Then nothing. Silence.

Shaking, Asachiel lifted her head and noticed a long, forked crack down the middle of the marble step. She opened her mouth to speak, but knew it was probably too late. Shock setting in now, she whipped her head around to Thranduil, who was leaning at an angle, clutching the blade that was protruding from his side. He was losing blood fast and a large crimson circle had formed around the wound.

It took the rest of her strength to pull herself up and support him. Then they started to stagger towards the halls. Asachiel was yelling for help at the top of her voice, and as relief rounded the corner the wounded king was carried away to receive urgent medical care. She felt utterly depleted.