The Dwarf Prince

Chapter 2: The Silent Farewell

Alithia paced her room, her long hair flowing behind her. The princess had her bags all packed for her upcoming journey. She had agreed to join the Company of Thorin Oakenshield because she wanted the adventure and, when she thought about it more, she wanted to help the dwarves reclaim their home. She felt a surge of pity for the dwarves. She could not imagine what it would be like to lose her home. With that reasoning in mind, she finally decided to readily commit herself to the Company. Gandalf had told her to go to Bag End where she would find a hobbit hole with a special mark on its door. The only problem was that she had yet to ask her father if she could go, thus, the cause of her current panic. He would surely say no, especially since she would be helping dwarves!

"What am I going to do?! He'll kill me!" She said to herself, throwing her hands up in the air. "Maybe I can reason with him...just get him to understand why I should go," she muttered, her fingers running through her hair. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that maybe, just maybe, this was all a bad idea. Maybe she should just stay home in Mirkwood and apologise to Gandalf for backing out. Like a coward. She let out a frustrated groan.

"You can do this," she told herself, fully knowing that should an elf pass by, they would think she was a lunatic for talking to herself. It was nearly time for supper, nearly time to face her father. She wanted to do this. No, she needed to do this. Gathering up her courage, Alithia walked out of her room and made her way to the Dining Hall.

When she entered, she saw her father and brother already seated at the long table. "There you are, my daughter. I was starting to wonder if you had lost track of time," Thranduil said. "My apologies, Father, I was too engrossed in my book and nearly forgot about the time," she lied as she sat down, feeling very uneasy. Soon the servant elves started to lay down the dishes for the royal family. Thranduil and Legolas started to converse about the growing number of spiders in the forest. Thranduil listened as Legolas gave his suggestions regarding the matter. While they went over several points, Alithia stared at her plate with a frown, pushing around the peas on her plate.

"Lith"

Alithia's head snapped up towards the direction of the voice. Thranduil gave his daughter a knowing look, gesturing towards her plate of food.

"Don't play with your food," he admonished lightly before turning back to face his son as they continued their previous conversation.

Alithia let out a small sigh and pierced a piece of food on her fork before taking a bite, just to humour her father. The food tasted dry in her mouth and she chewed it slowly, thinking about how to get her father's approval of the quest. It seemed almost impossible. The situation could go two ways : it's either he allows her to go (a highly unlikely response in her opinion) or he completely refuses and starts to lecture her on why she should remain loyal to her kin.

"How has your day been, Thia?"

Alithia looked at her brother who was looking at her for an answer.

"Today was good. I managed to finish my book and get some...work done," she replied.

Her father eyed her suspiciously, a sharp eyebrow raised at her reply. For his part, he didn't comment about her answer. Instead, he just took a sip of his red wine, watching his daughter's every move over the rim of the goblet. Alithia shifted uncomfortably. She could sense her father's suspicion from a mile away. It took her a great deal of effort not to break into tears and beg her father for mercy for what she was about to do.

To her relief, Legolas started to talk about archery practice and to avoid any more suspicion, Alithia listened in and spoke when a reply was expected. Her father remained quiet for the rest of the meal, save for a few comments every now and then. Alithia kept hesitating every time she thought about asking for her father's permission. She would build up her courage and just when she was going to open her mouth to speak, her resolve would falter and she would remain silent.