Daughter of Starlight

Chapter Seven: Then and Now

60 Years Ago . . .

"How did those gems find their way into Thrór's hands?" That angry demand was the first thing that reached my ears as Thranduil, the king of the Woodland Realm and my father, entered the gates of his kingdom. Clearly negotiations with the dwarves of Erebor hadn't gone well. Word had spread that the heart of the Lonely Mountain, the Arkenstone, had been discovered in the depths of Erebor's mines. We had then received word a moon ago from the greedy dwarf king that Thranduil was to pay homage to him or we would risk war with them.

I felt nervousness begin to pool in my gut at the mention of what I knew to be the White Gems of Lasgalen, diamonds that shone with the light of the stars that one saw glittering in the sky when the sun set. Their unique sparkling quality had made them an emblem of what my people, the Woodland elves, held most dear: the light of the stars. They had remained symbolic of our love of starlight to this day.

At the king's words, though, the Silvan elves who had been awaiting his return with me grew as grim as the members of the guard that had travelled with him. It was obvious now that the jewels we held so dear were gone, and the king wanted to know how they had gotten to Erebor.

It was becoming difficult to pretend that I was just as shocked at the rest of the elves as I realized that my father was very angry, more angry than I had seen him in a long time.

"Someone must have smuggled them out of the treasury, my lord," a servant suggested. "Someone we wouldn't suspect."

I bit my lip in growing anxiety, the only sign that I knew anything about the disappearance of the diamonds, but no one noticed. I merely trailed after him and the group of servants towards the throne room. While Thranduil walked, he spoke with his advisors about finding an explanation as to how the gems had left Mirkwood.

I paused at the foot of the stairs that lead up to the platform beneath the throne, wringing my hands as I debated on whether or not I should tell my father what I had done. I couldn't keep it hidden forever, for he would find out sooner or later. Secrets were not something easily kept under his rule.

"I want a thorough investigation into this," Thranduil said firmly, glaring at each of his advisors as if it was their fault the jewels were missing, when I knew for a fact that they couldn't have prevented this any more than he could. "Have a guard at the treasury's vaults ever hour of day and night. No one enters the vaults unless it is by my personal consent. Alert me immediately if new information is found. Do I make myself clear?"

The generals and advisors all nodded then bowed their heads with their arms to their chests in a show of unbending loyalty to their king. They all promptly left, probably to enact the investigation. They bowed their heads to me as they passed me, and I nodded in acknowledgement to them as politely as I could through my apprehension.

The throne room was silent in the next minute, the only sound that could be heard was my footsteps timidly ascending the stairs to the platform beneath my father's throne, where he sat staring at nothing with his brow furrowed in anger and confusion.

"Ada," I said carefully, my voice softer than I meant it to be. My father, upon hearing my quiet utterance, turned his head to me, and his brow smoothed itself as his gaze fell upon me. His icy blue irises, the ones mine and my brother's were so similar to, seemed to melt a little in comfort at my presence. I was a little shocked at the subconscious display of affection towards me for the first time in moons, no matter how small it was. Simultaneously an ache began to make itself known in my chest, knowing that it would probably be the last time I ever saw such a display.

"Laerornien," he greeted me, standing up and beginning to descend the set of stairs so as to join me on the platform below.

"How did you fare in Erebor?" I asked, feigning a lack of knowledge as to what I had heard.