Eclipse of Hearts ✔

Chapter 58 [Melline]

Sorry, it's been a while since I've updated. Please leave some comments now and then, otherwise I'll forget to translate this story. :')

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Melline had the feeling she couldn't bear much more. Since her sister had disappeared four years ago, she had felt miserable. However, since Alyssae had returned, things had barely improved. 
Alyssae didn't tell her a thing anymore. She was introverted and a few weeks ago she had left all of a sudden, going to the dwarf she still loved. Although Kíli and Dwalin hadn't been unfriendly, she could not imagine Thorin in a positive way. He had abandoned Alyssae when she was pregnant. 
The joy that had flown over her after the birth of her niece, that hopefully brought back some color in Alyssae's life, had passed way when it turned out to be an extraordinary kid, that had murdered two children within a few days. 
Still the girl was her relative by blood and Melline had searched the surroundings thoroughly to find the little girl, but their search had led them nowhere. Niamh was gone. They hadn't found a single trace of her. Even though she hadn't spend enough time with the child to create a bound, Melline did feel the responsibility. She was family. She was a child of her only sister and elf children - whether she could bear that name or not - were extremely rare.
Furthermore her marriage with Raphael wasn't what she had expected. More and more she got the feeling he kept secrets from her, so that she almost doubted every single word he said. He even refused to talk about his brother Eldinòr, no matter how long she insisted. 
He seemed to care more about his sister-in-law then about his own blood and the fact that they had left together, seemed to worry him as well. Although Melline missed her sister, which she had done for a long time, she actually encouraged her to make this journey. Hopefully she would find back herself, so that she could be happy again. Although she sometimes had the feeling Raphael and she were becoming strangers, she was glad he was still with her, while Alyssae longed for a man who lived his life elsewhere and who, as she had understood, was really screwing things up.

Melline was startled when the door opened. She stood up, expecting Raphael had came home, who had a meeting with her father, but to her surprise it turned out to be her mother. Her eyes were swollen and tears dripped from her nose and chin. 
"What's wrong?' Melline asked in fear. 
"You - Your father..."
Her mother could't add any other word. She dropped on her knees and Melline could barely catch her.
"What about father?"
"He - he stopped breathing."
Prompt Melline let go of her mother. She had the feeling she would choke and bend forward as if someone had hit her. For a long time she leaned with her elbows on her knees, crouched as a terrified animal that had been driven in a corner. Her mother sat next to her on the ground, cradling herself. 
With trembling legs she stood up. "Sorry," she whispered and she ran to the door. The room had became depressing and she felt dizzy, as if she had breathed in a toxic gas. She had to check if her mother was right. Her father couldn't just die. He could only die if someone wanted him to do so and what evil could there be found in Chyndall? Or had Niamh returned? 

Gasping she reached the palace where she had lived for years. A large amount of elves had already gathered. One of the guards grabbed her upper arm and led her through the crowd. A few moments later she stood before the room where her father held his meetings. There was a large, round able with carved benches around, on which his advisers usually sat. In the corner of the room he laid on the ground. 
Melline ran to him and fell on her knees.  His black hair contrasted to the white tiles, that had the same color as his  petrified face. "What happened?" she whispered to Raphael, who was sitting on the edge of the table, his face bleak. 
He stared at the floor. "I don't know," he answered, barely audible. "Our conversation had just ended and as soon as he stood up, he dropped down. He - he said or did nothing. All of a sudden he was just... dead silent."
Melline stared at him. His hands were still trembling, evidence of the panic that raged his body, but it felt like an invisible hand pushed her down, so that she couldn't stand up to  assuage him or be assuaged by him. Her father was dead. She could hardly understand, but there was one thing she knew for sure. Somebody had done this on purpose. Despite the peaceful way in which he was laying on the ground, she swore she wouldn't rest before she had found the perpetrator.