Red Snow (The Shadows bk.3)

Chapter 15: Questions

Not having received the usual quick reply from his niece, Thranduil began to worry a little. While he was certain that she had a lot to attend to and had quite possibly forgotten to write back, he still felt a certain sense of unease.

Not wanting to sound or appear impatient, the Elvenking swiftly penned a brief invitation to his niece. It was for no specific reason; he believed that if she were to come in person then he might be able to put to rest this feeling of unease. Having signed the letter, he summoned a messenger to deliver it that same day.

Remembering that Êlon had recently returned from a visit to Sairene's kingdom, Thranduil believed that the former tutor would perhaps have some answers. Quickly exiting his chambers, Thranduil made his way to Êlon's study.

Êlon was startled out of his reading by a sharp series of knocks. Quickly marking the page, he stood and went to the door. Upon opening it, he was only mildly surprised to find the King on the other side. "Hîr Nin," bowing, he stepped aside and let the King enter.

"As I recall, you recently visited the human kingdom Irrelia."

"Yes My lord, I did," Êlon nodded and began to wander where this was headed.

"I remember you saying that the Queen was very gracious towards you."

Êlon smiled in fond memory of the young Queen, "indeed she was Hîr Nin, very much so."

Thranduil nodded and wandered over to one of the windows, "hmmm, yes. Did you, by chance, notice anything out of the ordinary with regards to her? Did she seem absentminded or forgetful?"

Shaking his head, Êlon tried to remember, "not that I recall Your Majesty. If anything happened, I do not remember. If I may be so bold, why does her state of mind concern you?"

"I have my reasons. Our kingdoms are allies now, it is only right that I should know where her head is at because, for all I know, it could effect us."

The answer seemed reasonable enough to Êlon. "Of course Ara Nin. It is only right."

Leaving Êlon with that answer, Thranduil left the room and hoped that his messenger would soon deliver the message to his niece. The sooner she received it the better. Making his way upward, the Elvenking headed towards the Royal Gardens; he always went there to think and to be away from hustle of the kingdom.

Once the big wooden doors closed behind him, Thranduil let out a deep sigh. Something seemed off but he didn't know what! He hated not knowing, he felt helpless and he detested feeling like that. Try as he might, he could not shake off that feeling of unease. Knowing that there was only one person who knew Sairene better than anyone, Thranduil called on his sister, not knowing if she could hear him or not. "I am not certain if you can hear me muinthel but, if you can, then there is something that I must tell you. I cannot speak of it to anyone else. You are her mother and I know that you watch over her, even from the grave. I say this because, because I feel as though something has happened to her and I do not know what. You know how much I hate not knowing! I asked the only person who might have known anything but even he said that everything was perfectly fine. I want to believe him muinthel, really I do, but what if he's hiding something? What if she asked him not to say anything and he's protecting her? What if she is unwell and didn't want me to know?!"

"He is not hiding anything."

Thranduil at first believed that he had imagined the voice; it was as soft as wind gently rustling the leaves.

"She is unwell, but not in the way you imagine."

There it was again! "Is that you?" Thranduil hardly dared to believe his ears.

"Yes muindor, it is I," one could almost see the smile in the voice.

Relief flooded his system. Trying to remain calm, Thranduil took a deep breath, "she's unwell?!"

"Yes, I'm afraid she is. Very much so," the sadness was evident in Eliean's voice.

"Why has she not informed me?!" Thranduil was surprised and shocked by this news. "I would have sent Arvellon to her, he healed her once, he can do it again!"

"It would have been a waste of time dear brother."

His sister's words confused him, "why do you say that?"

"Because her illness is not physical."

"Then what is it?" Thranduil feared the worst and dreaded his sister's answer.

"The illness has taken root in her mind. She is changed Thranduil, and not for the better."

Thranduil did not know what to make of Eliean's words. "Are you saying that she is mentally unwell? As in, she is going mad?" He didn't want to believe it, not in the very least! "Why didn't Êlon tell me? Surely he must know of this!"

"He did not tell you because he does not remember."

"Does not remember?!" Thranduil could believe what he was hearing! "How does one not remember being in the presence of someone who is, potentially, mentally unstable?! I should think that it would be very hard to forget!"

"She made certain he would not remember."

"What?!" This was becoming more complicated by the second. "What exactly do you mean by that?" Thranduil could not understand how one would achieve something like that.

"She wiped his memory. That is what I mean. She wiped his memory and planted new ones, ones that never even happened."

Of all the explanations Thranduil had conjured up in his mind, that one was not among them. "She can do that?!" He knew Sairene had big potential and skill, but he had not been expecting that! "But why would she want to do that? I mean, apart from wanting to hide the fact that she is potentially going mad, what cause could she possibly have?"

"There is no potentially about it Thranduil. She is not going mad, she is mad. She has been for the past few months. So much so that, she imprisoned the one person in the entire kingdom that she trusts. He has been down there for almost two months now."

"Down there?"

"Aye. My darling daughter had the dungeons built underground."

"But if she trusts him, what could he possibly have done to deserve such a punishment?" Two months! That seemed excessive even to him!

"Punishment? No dear brother, this is her being lenient. Others have done less and have ended up dead. She saw it as a betrayal on his part. As for what landed him there, he tried to go against her but she stopped him."

Thranduil simply shook his head in disbelief. What had happened to make her like this? Now more than ever he was glad that Sairene was coming, if she was as bad as his sister described then he had to find a way to cure her, the sooner the better.

Elven to English Translations:

Hîr Nin - My Lord

Muinthel - Sister

Muindor - Brother

Ara Nin - My King