Brightest Stars | Love of Royals: Book I

XXIX: Feared

I turn away from Feren and start off down the path, Thranduil releasing my hand.  It's still difficult to move quickly, but the life of whoever was taken is worth far more than a little bit of pain. I have to know who it was—I have to make sure it wasn't one of two people.

'Gelya!  Tauriel!'  My voice reverberates down the winding path and through the swaying trees, and as I move further, the sounds of loudly conversing elves meet my ears.  Thranduil and Feren are hot on my heels, the former unable to slow me down even when he slips his hand back into mine.

'Elena, calm down,' he says firmly, but his words are lost to the forest air as a new voice cries out my name.

'Elena!' it calls above the clamour, 'Elena!  Over here!'

'Tauriel!' I cry, recognising the voice at once.

We find Tauriel stood with a large group of elves on the wide path leading to the outer dwellings. The group mainly consists of Silvan guards in uniform not unlike Feren, and Sindar lords including Tavalon, his sons, and a few of the other elves who were present at the meeting.  Legolas is also here, seemingly giving Tavalon a piece of his mind.  Then the cool sensation of relief floods into my chest, as none other than Gelya emerges from the mass to stand beside Tauriel.  The feeling is short-lived, however, when my eyes rest on Gelya's tear-stained face.

I don't even notice that I've pulled my hand out of Thranduil's to embrace both of my friends, while tears once again spill from Gelya's eyes and onto my shoulder.

'You're alright, you're both alright!' I cry as we break apart, 'but then... who's been taken?'

'Eirwen Elidiriel.  Her sister,' Tauriel answers solemnly.

Eirwen.  Eirwen, who is twenty-five years old.  A child.

'What? How?' I exclaim, turning to the tearful Gelya.

'I don't know... she must have been out there last night,' she sobs, 'the message was found this morning.'

I inspect the strip of inked cloth I still have clutched between my fingers.  'It says that the Star is gone, but I'm still here... why did Sauron take Eirwen and state that he'd taken me?'

'We don't know,' Tauriel says, her eyes darting between myself and Thranduil, who has appeared at my side, 'we've been looking for both of you for a couple of hours. None of us here could translate the message, but we guessed it was something to do with Eirwen's disappearance.'

'Thank the Valar Feren managed to find you!' Gelya breathes, rubbing away the last few tears from her chestnut eyes.

I can suddenly feel someone's hot breath on my right ear—the opposite side to where Thranduil is stood—and realise that Avadhil has slipped around behind me. I don't need to look at the obnoxious ellon to know that his lip is curling and his dark eyes are upon me. The conversation continues without me, between Thranduil, Tauriel, Gelya and now a few others.  'Perhaps if our King had not been hiding away with his mistress, he would have been easier to find,' Avadhil hisses so only I can hear.

Oh, this ellon has got under my skin enough times—yet I still can't help but retaliate, even if it's only a little.  'I am not his mistress.'

Avadhil, evidently pleased that he got a response, decides to drop some more poison into my mind.  'What are you to him, then? His pet? He cannot love you, so why are you always with him?'