You Must Have Faith

Chapter Twenty-Six

Thranduil stared at his own seal staring back at him, the wax it was imprinted in keeping the letter from Legolas closed.  He hesitantly pulled apart the wax, unfolding the letter that was travel-worn and creased.  His son's flowing print covered the paper, the gentle curves of Sindar writing pitch black against the pale paper.

Dear Father,

You will be pleased to find that I am alive, as this letter proves.  I'm not sure when this letter will get to you, or if it will get to you at all, not all human's are as reliable as I would like.  The young man in question whom I've sent to you is from Gondor, by the name of Andor, son of Barian.  He's not as stupid as he looks, but he's painfully young to have seen this war.  But I digress.  At the time that I have sent this, we just won the battle of the Pelannor Field before the White City.  Frodo, the ringbearer, and his companion Sam are crossing into Mordor as I write.  Gandalf is with us, as is Pippin, Gimli, and Aragorn.  I know you don't know who most of these people are, but I shall tell you the full tale when I come home.  I am riding to the Black Gate with Aragorn and Eomer, the new king of Rohan.  Our last chance to help Frodo, by creating a diversion for Sauron to focus on.  I may not come out of it alive, Father.  I shall write again when it is all over, or Aragorn has promised to come to you himself to bear the news of my falling.  I hope this letter finds you as alive as I am, and that the skin-changer has proved herself useful.  

Faithfully your servant and son,

Legolas Greenleaf, Thranduilion

Thranduil couldn't help but laugh through his fear for his son at the last line.  Oh, Legolas, if only you knew just how helpful Vera has been to us.  Thranduil tucked the letter into his breast pocket, to be examined more carefully at a later date.  With a final glance at Vera, he fell into his rest in the chair by her bedside.

***

The bustling of the healer's was what woke Thranduil early the next morning, as they changed Vera's dressings and with Thranduil's permission, changed his as well.  Thranduil staggered to his feet, not quite fully alert as he went back to his own room to change into more formal attire for the day.  His morning was occupied with sending out the border guard to check for stragglers from the orc pack, and gaps in the defenses of the guard posts that lined his borders.  After finished his noon meal, he quickly checked on Vera before heading to his throne room to dictate a message to his secretary regarding Legolas's current condition, to be proclaimed in the main squares of his kingdom.  

Several of his days passed this way, he had lost track of where in the week he was.  The Greenwood kingdom was slowly returning to normal, a sense of peace filling the air.  He was paying his weekly visit to Vera when it happened.  A sudden pulse filled his mind, a vague screaming sound echoing in his ears as the pulse grew stronger.  He faintly noticed Vera jumping to wakefulness, snarling and rubbing her ears with her paws.  He fell to his knees, struggling to keep control of his senses as the horrible pulse continued to ripple through his mind.  His hands clutched his ears, bending over in an effort to shut it out.  With a final crescendo, the pulse filled his being and then, just, vanished.  A feeling of purity, and relief, replaced it with a healing air, though he vaguely felt an echo of weakness from someone else in his mental range.

With a gasp he opened his eyes again, standing with the help of his chair arm.  He turned to Vera, blue eyes meeting luminous green as they both remained frozen from shock.  

"Do you think...?"  He couldn't bear to finish the thought, in case he was wrong.  She slowly nodded, looking in awe as she sank back down onto the bed and closed her eyes to think.  He too sat back down, looking at her in contemplation.  "I heard from Legolas four nights ago."  He broke the silence, feeling a slight puff of pride when she cracked open one eye to regard him with curiosity.  He read the letter aloud to her, chuckling slightly at the last line.  She huffed in a feline chuckle, closing her eye again once he had finished.  He just talked about nothing in particular, telling her of his days back in court, what his various decisions had been, until she had gone back to sleep and he left as quietly as he had entered.  

***

Another week passed, in which the human had left with another letter from Thranduil to Legolas, in response to the letter that his son had sent.  Thranduil hadn't had the time to visit Vera in that week's time, being so busy with preparations for various things that were coming up.  His shock was nearly palpable when she padded into his throne room, still in her mountain lioness form.  She took up watch next to his throne, and stayed there silent for the entire rest of the day, not moving a muscle.  Her bandages had all been removed except for the one on the side of her neck, with the scars being obvious in the still shaved patches of fur.  As soon as the last person had left the room for the evening, Thranduil turned to her.

"Did the healer's give you leave to get out of bed?"  She just tilted her head at him, before shaking it and trotting out of the room.  She took up the same position of silence the next day, refusing to say anything to him when he asked her the same question.  At the end of the third day, Thranduil turned to her.  "Fine.  How are you?  And why won't you shift?"  She huffed, striding down the steps from his throne and rearing up on her hind legs, finally shifting for the first time in weeks.  She staggered and fell to one knee, much like the first time they had met in the forest, so many months ago.  With shaking legs, she stood slowly, meeting his pitying eyes.  She was wearing the same armor and clothes that she had been during the fight, with cuts and bruises that hadn't been visible under her fur.  The bandage on her neck was massive, covering the large gash that could have removed her head.  Thranduil came down the stairs slowly, stopping right in front of her.

It was like his vision had narrowed until all he could see were the green eyes of Vera, the one constant in his life through the past almost-year.  One question filled his mind, the one question that had been filling his mind since the day he had met her.

"Who are you?"

A/N:  Here come the final revelations.  I still have plans for this story that haven't come into motion yet, that will have to wait until Legolas and Gimli make their appearances later on in the story.  Thranduil is not an overly patient person, it was only a matter of time before he started asking the questions that Vera has dreaded hearing about.  What do you think the pulse that they both felt was?  Let me know your theories!  Also, there was some confusion about why this chapter is so disconnected.  It wasn't me being a crappy writer this time, it was purposeful.  Thranduil is a fire-y person, so doing the kinds of monotonous meetings and tasks that come after a battle require a mask-persona from him, his thoughts equally disconnected.  The disconnect in the chapter fits with the disconnect from his thoughts. Comment what you thought, vote if you liked it.  Love you guys!  

EDIT:  I'm reuploading this chapter in order to explain a few things and fix a mistake in the timing that I didn't notice.