Stars

Chapter 19

Hi! Sorry for the lack of updates. I might update slower than usual because my keyboard sometimes doesn't respond and I have to wait a while for it to respond. Also, I will update AT LEAST once a week. -Joann :)

PS 'Quel undome = good evening

lle uma il- sinta = you do not know

Sinta = know

Mani = what

Re = she

N'uma = no

Legolas's POV:

Shhhing.

I slide my daggers back onto my back, having finished sharpening them.

Where is Tauriel? I think worriedly. She should have been back hours ago. Perhaps she couldn't find me and went to eat.

I hurry to the dining room, looking expectantly into the noisy crowd of elves laughing and joking as they ladled his/her meal onto his/her plate.

Oh! There's Colonel Maethel! Colonel Maethel was one of Tauriel's closest friends. In fact, it was she that recommended Tauriel for the position of captain when Captain Hatholian was killed in combat.

I move forward eagerly, sure that Colonel Maethel knew Tauriel's whereabouts. But her expression stops me in my tracks. Her eyes were full of fear and worry and her mouth was a thin line. I hesitated. The Colonel was known for having a short temper. Indeed, guards put under her command were warned not to say anything out of place by former guards who knew of her fiery personality.

Oh, well. Valar help me! I think, dreading her answer.

"'Quel undome, Colonel Maethel," I begin carefully. "Have you seen Tauriel?"

She looks quite taken aback.

"Lle uma il-sinta?" she asks in a hollow voice.

"S-sinta mani?" I ask, dread flowing through me. What had happened to Tauriel?

She hesitates.

"R-re.."

"Mani?" I demand, my eyes searching hers for answers.

"She- she took a Morgul shaft in her arm to defend Elyrianneth!" she blurts. "Elyrianneth, that utinu en lokirim, was spying on her in the forest!". She looked livid.

"Excuse me," she growls, and storms off, slamming her bowl of stew into the face of a nearby guard.

I stand stock-still, unable to move.

A Morgul shaft to the arm? The arm has a dangerously important vein. Is she on death's door? No, she can't. She has to stay! I don't care if she loves that dwarf, I don't care! What if she is in a coma? What if she never wakes up? What if..

A turmoil of thoughts crowd my brain.

Why am I so stupid? I should be with her right now! I think, cursing at myself for not realizing it sooner.

The trip to the Halls of Healing seemed to take days. All I knew was that any second now, she could be gone. She could be already in the Hall of Mandos with her Ada and Naneth. Suddenly, I realize something. Ada knew. It was the law for all battles to be reported immediately and injuries, too. And he didn't tell me. Why? But it didn't matter. Not now, while Tauriel's life hangs by a thread that is all too thin.

I burst through the doors of the Halls of Healing.

"Quietly!" a nearby nurse hisses, tending to a young elf on a bed.

"Tauriel! Where is Tauriel? Is she okay? Is she alive? She's not in a coma, is she? How far has the poison spread? Is-"

"Over here," a nurse named Glaewineth directs me to a pristine white bed with none other than Tauriel on it.

"We got out much of the poison, but she is still in critical condition. Stay with her while she lives," Glaewineth whispers sadly, and walks away, carrying a box of pungent herbs.

Tauriel looks so peaceful as if she was merely taking a nap. The soft glimmer of the evening sun casts a light over her placid face, illuminating it. Her red hair really looks as if it was on fire, for the sun brought it to life. I take her porcelain hand, clutching it as tightly as I could. It was alarmingly icy.

She lets out a little grunt. Her face contorts with pain, and she twists violently in her bed.

"Shh..." I whisper calmingly, stroking her hand. And so, I spent the remainder of the day by her possible deathbed.

Third Person

The next day-

Legolas is crouching by her bed, having stayed with her all night. Behind him, Elyrianneth stares at the duo with tears never ceasing to fall from her eyes.

Elyrianneth glances down at her chest, where a crystal locket with twisted gold lining the circumfeerence lies. She strokes it, tempted. For inside that locket was a pinch of fine silver powder, made in Lothlorien by the Lady Galadriel herself. It was a gift for Elyrianneth. That powder allowed the user to see inside another's mind for a few moments. However, the amount of powder allowed only one use.

"Use it carefully, my dear, for sometimes this powder can cause more damage than good," Lady Galadriel had said.

Elyrianneth squeezed shut her eyes. She needed to know what Legolas thought of her, the dwarf, and Tauriel. So, with trembling fingers, she opened the locket. She took a pinch of the shimming powder. Taking a deep breath, she throws it over herself while chanting.

'Aa' lasser en lle coia orn n' omenta gurtha

Aa' i'sul nora lanne'lle

Amin elea e'a lle handasse

Amin vana e' lle dol

Eller naa n'uma usina'

A whooshing noise, like a gust of wind, whistles in her ears.

She slumps to the floor, her spirit having left her.

Legolas is....sad...angry....and...in love.

Sure, being sad is understandable. In love, yes. But angry? Elyrianneth delves deeper.

Kili. His rage is directed toward Kili. Why? Because he is trying to steal Tauriel. And he is still in love.

Shocked and horrified, her spirit returns.

"N'uma..." she whispers.

'No, no , no...he would love her even if she doesn't return his affections? No, someone tell me this is a nightmare...NO!!' she thinks, tears crashing down her cheeks. More than being heartbroken, she was ashamed. 'She saved my life, and yet I still think for myself? I am not worthy of being an elf...' she thinks sadly.

"Legolas...I love you. I can't see you with another elf. I know you will be better off without me. Goodbye," Elyrainneth whispers, then walks slowly to her room. There was only one place she could find peace now, and she knew it. Death.