The Great Sacrifice

The Severity Of The Situation

Galion was waiting nervously. He had arranged everything for the lunch and had put great effort to make it as appealing as possible. Thranduil had met with Nedwig and had decided to attend the meeting alone. He would not need Galion's advice today. The servants had just left Thranduil's chambers, having thoroughly cleaned up after his destructive outburst. New furniture had been brought and put neatly into place and now nothing in the room told of the day's previous events. Only the door showed deep marks in its timber where the desk had had its strongest impact.

Suddenly the door burst open and two guards stormed into of the room, horror drawn over their pale faces. Galion looked up in surprise. But upon recognizing the guards he felt an urge to disappear. He knew that those were the guards who were ordered to watch on Ari. But now they had come here alone and in great anxiety. Their facial expressions could only mean one thing. Galion's heart grew heavy.

"Where is Ari?" Galion asked and was sure as death that he did not want to hear their answer.

One of the guards attempted to explain the situation. "She rode out on her horse towards Erebor, where she rested under the ancient tree. We followed at a distance, never letting her out of our sight. Then she met a company of dwarves who had left Dale and traveled back to the Mountain. She entered Erebor with them."

Now it was Galion's turn to become pale. This was much more worse than death. He had to stay calm in order to think clearly. They had to fix this. They could fix this, could they? The king should NEVER find out what had happened. Galion took a deep breath. "First, let us st..."

The door opened and Thranduil entered his chambers. He halted abruptly when he noticed the guards and looked around, his narrow eyes searching for the girl. She was not in there. With a questioning look he turned to the guards.

"Where is the human girl?"

The absence of an answer foretold bad news. Thranduil's eyes grew wide with fury and his body stiffened. He was seething with anger.

Galion felt he had no choice but to step in to prevent something disastrous from happening. He stood between his king and the two guards.

"My king, Ari went horse riding in the fields. She is still ...there."

Partially it was the truth, wasn't it? But it was a lie. Galion had never before uttered a lie to his king, nor to anyone else.

Yet, this situation demanded a lie. Telling the king the true facts would be much worse. This situation might provoke a war between elves and dwarves. He knew his king. With the present facts, Thranduil was as possessive over the girl as he was over his white gems. In Galion's mind it was the best solution to let Ari disappear for a few hours, even if she missed the lunch. It would give him precious time to try to get Ari out of that damn mountain. A late lunch would be better than no lunch. That was what Galion thought.

Thranduil gave the guards a deadly glare. "Leave now and... watch over her," he growled dangerously low.

The guards risked a thankful glance towards Galion and hurriedly left the king and his counselor. They would return to the fields, pretending to be searching for her. Thranduil walked over to the desk and sat down.

Galion felt guilty. Guilty, for he had withheld the truth from his king. He was worried about the peace which had finally come to Middle-Earth. The peace might be broken by this incident. He was also worried about the girl and the newly furnished room. His king would explode in another fit of rage. If he found out where she really was, he would destroy the room entirely. Next time there would be no stopping him. It would be far worse than the last time. If the dwarves came into the picture now... Galion swallowed hard and dared not to proceed with this thought.

"My king, if you do not need me anymore I will go to Ari myself and lead her gradually to the forest gate. In this way she will not suspect anything."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. It did not make sense. There was no reason to do so, as she was officially invited by the king. Why would she be suspicious? Why would he have to do that?

Thranduil looked up, his expression cold. "Yes. You may leave now." His voice was unusually toneless.

Galion exited the room slowly just to break into a run and try to get a horse as quickly as possible. In no time he was on his way to Erebor and as soon as he reached the gates, he stated the purpose of his visit to the guards. He had to escort the girl to an important meeting. He waited. Every minute felt like an hour. He was impatient. A quality he thought he had discarded long ago. He sighed. Ari would leave the mountain soon and everything would go as planned. Finally the guard returned.

"My king Dunir, son of Dain, King under the Mountain sends you this reply. Lady Ari, daughter of Rawi from the south has entered the mountain and will not leave it without the king's consent."

Galion's heart skipped a few beats. What was that supposed to mean?

"Did Lady Ari come to Erebor as a free woman?" Galion asked, trying to keep his composure.

"Yes, she did."

"Then why can't she leave Erebor as a free woman?"

The guard smirked. "The king's decision for her is to remain here. You have no right to question it. You can tell your king that her loyalty lies with us and not with him. She will not leave Erebor."

"And if she does not want to offer her loyalty to your king?" asked Galion.

"She has no choice," the guard replied coldly.

Now there was no mistaking. Galion understood that she had been lured into Erebor, where she was now trapped. She was held against her will. Galion walked back to his horse defeated and rode back towards Dale. What was wrong with this day? This was pure madness on the side of the dwarf king. From the guard's words Galion understood that King Dunir must have known of the meeting between the girl and the king. He hoped that there was no other information he had obtained from her. What if the dwarves found out about the connection between his king and Ari? Galion hoped that this nightmare would not bring another war upon them. He had to do all in his power to prevent it.

He stopped under the large tree where Ari had rested only hours ago. He had to think. The severity of the situation demanded cautious steps. This could lead to disaster. He wished he could inform Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel about the situation. But there was no way they could have reached Dale within the next few hours. He contemplated on the decision he had to make and found no other way. He had to keep the damage as minimal as possible. And that meant informing the king about the facts. Galion got up and rode towards Dale. On his way he met the guards who had been in charge for Ari and he told them about the turn of events. He urged them to leave immediately and to request shelter of Lord Elrond. The king would show no mercy in his present mood. The guards rode away and Galion returned to Dale.

Galion braced himself for what was about to come. He reached the king's door and advised the guards to keep their distance from it. He took a deep breath before knocking.

"Come in."

Thranduil was sitting at the desk reading a scroll. He looked up and his expression turned severe.

"Galion, I have known you all my life. Did you seriously think that you could lie to me?"