Burns are Fires that Never Stop Blazing. ~•Merkwood fanfic•~

Chapter 10

Tora and Nelthil excitedly walked to the great hall, eager to get to the bustling feast. Once the doors were open, Tora saw just how many people were there... It was a lot, and she immediately felt claustrophobic. She froze up and Nelthil had to drag her down the stairs. They line up with the other newcomers to greet the king and his son and a few other important people. After waiting an eternity, it was finally their turn, and the two females curtsied. At the bottom of Tora's courtesy, she murmured,

"Thrandy."

Legolas made a funny sound like a cough and a snort at the same time, Thranduil just nodded, and made a mental note to order her to help the servants clean the dishes.

Now Tora stood in the middle of the crowd pretending to listen to a conversation a few elves were having when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she found Lirion, the one who said he would teach her to wild a sword, but never got around to because of the war.

"Lirion! So good to see you ok!"

Tora exclaimed, he smiled at her, and bowed, saying,

"Yes, I am indeed alright. I'm glad I bumped into you though, I do recall promising to teach you to use a sword. I truly am sorry, t'is a shame we couldn't get to get her before the war."

Tora nodded, and they continued chatting about plans and stuff.

It was finally time for dinner, it has been what feels like hours since they arrived and Tora was getting antsy. Lirion and her went their separate ways, for they had different seats (I would hope) and hers was more near the king. She had lost Nelthil a wile back and didn't fell like finding her less she needed to be dragged around from one side of the hall to the other. They all sat in wooden chairs while Thranduil sat in what resembled a smaller version of his throne. The food came out and it looked mouth-wateringly good. It was a rainbow of food, from meats of pig, venison, chicken, turkey, cow, and any other meat you can think of, to salads with freshly cut lettuce, tomato, apple, pepper, dandelion leaves, grapes, and a bunch more. Thranduil sat lazily on his chair throne, swirling his Dorwinion wine in one hand and a grape in the other. Everyone put food on their plate, Tora only put a small bit, she can't eat in overcrowded places so she played with her food, keeping to herself in her mind. Finally, elves were getting up to dance (I don't know how they danced just after eating, it seems pretty... Messy, but hay! Elves will be elves)

Now was her time to sneak out. She excused herself from the table and weaved her way to a door to find it lead to a balcony.

It's better than in there.

Once she was out, she felt like she could breathe.

Finally

Tora leaned on the rail and looked at the unfamiliar stars. She choked on the thought, just now it was hitting her,  she will never be able to see the same stars, she will never be able to see her parents again, no matter how she hated them, she was braced for the blow, but it's still a blow, and it hurt. There was a howl in the air, a wolf's howl, it was separated from its pack, likely to be eaten by the spiders, she heard its sorrow and despair.

"I feel ya sister."

She murmured to the air. The corset was tight on her so she pulled on it so she could breathe, and when she did, it was like going from breathing in smoke to breathing cool, country air. Tora sighed and let the corset choke her again.

"Enjoying the party?"

Came a very deep voice from behind. Tora jumped and turned around to find Thranduil standing behind her. She let out a breath she was holding, and asked in a bored tone, folding her arms,

"What do you want pritzy pants?"

He glared at her, and said rather coldly,

"Am I not allowed to step away from the festivities?"

Tora shrugged and yawned, covering her mouth with her hand, replying,

"To answer your question, I am not a party girl, but this one is surprisingly exceptional given I don't know anyone there, but I can never be crowded for too long else I go insane." He nodded respectfully and they stood in comfortable silence. She had really only said it was exceptional because he was the host, and saying it was bad would be rude. After a moment, Tora asked the Elvenking,

"What constellations do you know?"

He thought for a moment, searching the sky. Finally replying.

"In the number of years I've lived, it's hard to tell the difference between constellations and shapes I have made up. But that star there-"

He pointed to a brightly shining star just at the horizon of the trees.

"- never moves, it's how travalers know where to go."

She smiled, it reminded her of the north star,

"In my old world, we had a star like that as well, we called it the north star because it was exactly north, it was also how sailors got around the sea."

He put a hand on the balcony railing, musing at the stars. Finally, he snapped out of it and declared,

"I must get back to the feast, the other elves will be wondering where I am. I hope to see you soon."

Tora looked at him sideways as he stopped at the door, waiting for her to follow.

"Yeah, I'll come in in a sec."

Thranduil walked inside, she briefly heard the chatter of people before it quieted again. Tora sighed, her limbs felt soar and her brain was fogged by the heat and noise, taking a deep breath, she bounced on her tows a little before heading inside, only to be punched in the face with light and sound.

If the elves have super hearing, then how do they cope with this noise?

Few! Sorry, this isn't a humorous chapter, I just had to get the feast out of the way because Thranduil can't just not have a feast after a war 🙄. The next chapter will be great, seriously, I have it all planned out in my head and I think I'm going to explode. Thanks for reading! Have a nice day/ night where ever u are!