his exception

chapter thirty-three: is that you?

Maethel raced towards the north whilst shooting down any Orcs that she came into contact with. She suddenly halted noticing her father was drawing back his army.

"You will go no further! You will not turn away... not this time." Maethel stood in front of her father and blocked his path. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Thranduil shouted and Maethel stood her ground. "The Dwarves will be slaughtered.." tears flowed out of her eyes as she wiped them away. "Yes, they will die, today, tomorrow, one year hence, a hundred years from now.. why does it matter? They are mortal." Her father spat.

Angered, Maethel immediately drew her bow and aimed the arrow head at her father. The guards behind her father looked at her shocked and also partly terrified. She glared straight into his eyes. "You think your life is worth more than there's when there is no love in it. There. Is. No. Love. In. You." Maethel shouted, still holding her bow at her father. Thranduil turned and for a split second it looked like he was going to walk away, but at the last moment he drew out his sword and sliced his daughter's bow into many pieces. Those pieces dropped from Maethel's hand and she looked at her right hand which now had a deep cut which had blood gushing out of it.

"What do you know of love?" Thranduil shouted as he held his sword deep into his daughter's neck. A single tear escaped from the corner of her eye. "NOTHING. What you feel for that dwarf is not real. You think it is love? Are you ready to die for it?" Maethel looked deep into her father's eyes which were still full of anger. Just like that her father broke her heart before any boy could. Suddenly another sword was drawn and Thranduil's sword was pushed away from her neck. "Cí hen naethathog, oru degithon." Legolas said standing in front of his sister who was still holding onto her hand, where her father's sword had cut. ( "If you harm her, you will have to kill me.") Thranduil looked at his son and then looked at the ground. Maethel took her eyes off her father and brother. Legolas walked closer, "I will go with you."

Maethel fixed her eyes on her father before speaking ever so quietly, "And after everything you did, I never saw bad in you. After you hurt me so much, I forgave you. Knowing the whole palace hated you. I hope you can be happy..." There was silence. "I wanted to be just like you.. how could you have fallen so far?" She cried before she stormed away, weaponless. Her father was left standing there, not knowing that that would be the last time he would see his daughter alive.

Maethel raced ahead and lost sight of her brother.

"Thorin..? Is that really you..?" Maethel questioned as she ran towards him. "My love.." The dwarf replied. "I thought you'd left me for good.. I thought I lost you forever.. when I heard.." Thorin wiped a tear from Maethel's cheek as he held her closer. "We will never be apart.. I promise." He then noticed a cut down her left arm and her face. "W-who did this to you?" He grasped his hand around her arm as he stared deep at her wound. "Shush, it's alright.." Maethel smiled. "I'm here." She interlocked their fingers and smiled up at him. "I never meant to start a war.." Thorin looked deep into his lover's eyes and the elven princess was sure that if not in the middle of a battle, he would've broken down in tears. Maethel then gently cupped his cheek. "That's in the past.. let's end this war. The light in you is not fading, but the dark won't go away. People will leave you in the dark but the light will always stay. We're going to win in the end... I can feel it."

"And if we don't?"

"Let's end beautifully tragic, then," Maethel replied. "There's another force coming here," she paused, "they will overrun all of us soon if we do not move." She pleaded. "We are so close," Dwalin argued from behind them, "That orc scum is in there," he pointed at the ruins behind him, "I say we push on."

"No," Thorin stopped him, "That's what he wants. He wants to draw us in. This is a trap... Find Fili and Kili! Call them back!" He held Maethel close behind him, in a way of protecting her. "Thorin, are you sure about this?" Dwalin asked. "Do it. We'll live to see another day."

"I like you a lot more when you're reasonable," the elven princess told him. They turned to leave but were stopped when they heard loud drums coming from high up in ruins in front of them.