The Last Queen {Thranduil FanFiction}

3. Reflections

Dawn was approaching when Lairiel carried a sleeping Ellenya into the royal chambers, a small fire had been stoked in their living quarters, giving off a comforting glow. She placed the unconscious elfling on a couch close to the fire, wrapping her in soft woollen blankets. Lairial smoothed away Ellenya's cool, blonde, locks from her peaceful little face. Her daughters blue eyes were misted over and far away from reality, in some secret dream world.

Lairiel sighed absently - oh to be little again, no worries to carry - she leant down and kissed Ellenya's forehead, the elfling mumbled something and fidgeted in her sleep state.

Lairiel straightened up and strode to the fireplace, using the mantle to lean her weight on, she stared into the flames. She felt weary, using her free hand she rubbed her forhead, going over numbers and lists. All civilians had been accounted for and taken care of, yet the knots of worry still tangled in her gut. Legolas had sent Arystor a few minutes before midnight to address the Queen, his update had been positive. The internal perimeters were intact, with only a few disturbances, word had been sent from Thranduil that the movements of orc bands had been cornered and the woodland forces were pushing the Mordor scum back into the forest depths. This was good news, but Lairiel could not rest, she felt jittery and on edge, the only logical explanation was that she just was struggling to cope with both her son and her husband fighting. She would feel better when she could physically see them with her own eyes and know that they were not in any immediate danger.

As if in answer to her unspoken prayers, she heard familiar light footsteps coming along the hall. Spinning to face the sound, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Legolas!" Lairiel exclaimed and embraced her son, who graced her with one of his carefree smiles. But the Queen noted a slight change in her son's countenance, more serious, she felt saddened. The more he would be exposed to inevitable war, the more his youthful innocence would ebb away.

"I just came to let you know Ada is on his way back, there are some causalities, so I am going to go help with that," Legolas paused, "Nana are you ok?"

"No I am just fine love, more than fine seeing you," Lairiel answered rubbing her son's shoulders. "Yes Legolas you'll need to oversee that."

Legolas nodded and turned to leave again, "Nana take some rest soon, everything will be alright, and when Ellenya wakes up, tell her I'm sorry I did not come to see her, but I promise I will make it up to her."

Lairiel laughed, "your sister will be fine, she needs to get used to not having her brother around as much, just like the rest of us...he has many responsibilities now."

Legolas grinned in response and left with promises to meet with her later and tell her of his night of adventures. In her mind, Lairiel knew there was no reason to be so uneasy, seeing her son in good spirits, positive news and the safety of their home, once again secured, yet something niggled at her. She would take a walk in the forest later, maybe the tree's would tell her another story.

xXx

The morning had passed and with it the reality of constant unrest. The injured required attention and the dead needed burying. So it was a sweet relief for Lairiel to steal away to the wood lining the perimeter, though she knew her husband would be less than comfortable with her so causally wondering in the wood alone, so soon after the previous night's events. She smiled to herself, he wasn't always so protective, he wasn't always so careful, sometimes she missed that side of her husband, but mostly she understood,

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown," she mumbled with an air of subtle reverence.

The queen stopped to examine a scorched pine, she rubbed the blackened bark and whispered encouragements to the young tree, but she could sense it dying and she was angered by the loss. Such natural beauty, recklessly abused. She was once again bitterly reminded of the waning powers of her people to defend the natural world against such indiscriminate hate.