It's a Hard Knock Life for Us (Thorinduil AU)

XVII • : A Haunting : •

A/N: please don't hate me for the last chapter,, i cried while writing it :( t'was sad for all of us..

ALSO please don't hate me for not writing!! yes, i'm AWARE it's been months,,, but high school started back up so ya dude has had some things to do,,, but i'm backito! idk for how long lmao this motivation comes in spurts,,

also! i apologize for the shift of POV through this chapter,, it's kind of all over the place but idk i like it and i felt like it was necessary.

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"Seize him!" Thror's voice called out to his guards who stood ready behind him. They quickly flew into action, apprehending the King that had once been a very level-headed leader. The Elven party watched with horror as their monarch was snatched from them and dragged unwillingly towards the mountain.

"Fairendel! Assist!" The King roared to the high-ranked elf who stood strong at the front of his soldiers. The party lurched forward, readying their weapons to be used to retrieve their King. Fairendel halted them with a flick of his hand, slowly shaking his head at the immobilized King.

"We do not take orders from him anymore." He told the guards behind him who passed the words down the lines like a game of telephone. "He is not our King."

Oropher cried out in protest, "What? Mutiny! How dare you! After all these years! Playing second to that disgrace of an elf! How dare you, how dare?!" The mouth of the mountain gobbled up his raging bellows, suffocating them into nothing.

The guards on the front line looked to Fairendel for some sort of guidance, confused but not complaining about his decision to disobey his King's orders. They knew. They'd been there to watch it all. They knew. In fact, they knew very well.

The tall, dark-haired commander sighed in discontent, disappointed to have watched his once good-hearted and clever leader unravel into nothing. His eyes met the elves at the front line and he let out a breath before saying, "Thranduil is the next heir. He is old enough to take over now. We await his command."

"But sir, he's not exactly–" Another high-ranking soldier began to protest, but Fairendel cut him off.

"He will be ready." Fairendel's gaze turned to the young elf on the ground, shaking uncontrollably as he watched his beloved be towed off to the mountain... to his death.

"He will be ready."

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Thranduil's POV

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I knew he was a goner.

I knew the second Thorin disappeared into that mountain, I wouldn't see him again, at least not alive.

I knew... but somehow I still had a shred of hope left in me that told my mind 'hey, he's going to make it. You will see him again.' I shouldn't have listened to it, but it took over my entire body like it was the only thing keeping me alive.