Brightest Stars | Love of Royals: Book I

XXX: High Views

It would be a pleasant day if it weren't for the bitter news clouding in the air like an invisible mist. Everything would be running as normal if it weren't for the disappearance that has shaken the realm from top to bottom, and placed the enormous weight of managing the kingdom in Thranduil's absence on the shoulders of Feren and a few other trusted commanders. The Sindar lords have slunk back into their vast halls in the network of caves at the heart of the kingdom, several flights of stairs away from the chambers Thranduil and I call our own. It seems they will have no role in taking care of a kingdom that engaged in such a rash, futile mission.

For rash and futile it is, to some extent; we do not even know where little Eirwen has been taken, let alone what must be done to return her home. There are five of us setting out to rescue her: four esteemed warriors (for Elidir, too, has impressive strength and skill in battle) and a Star with a strange and unpredictable power she has no idea how to control. I had hoped that the power would not return, but I fear that it will have some part to play before the end.

Elidir has promptly forbidden any of his children from coming, no matter how much Laedion and Eranos plead.  Gelya seems to have grudgingly accepted that she would never be allowed to go with the minimal fighting ability that she has, while Nairelin, on the other hand, appears almost relieved that she doesn't have to venture out of her little bubble of comfort in the Woodland Realm. It is clear that Marieth fears for her husband, while he believes that he will return carrying their daughter alive and well in his arms within days. The rest of us have varying levels of confidence all considerably below his.

The mood is dark.  The armoury, complete with no windows and lit only by a few flickering lamps, is far too cheery a place for such an atmosphere as this.  In the hope that somehow I could shrink out of existence, I stay silent unless spoken to.

'They would not have taken her all the way to Mordor.  She is most likely to be in either one of these places...' Tauriel says as she fastens a set of daggers onto her belt, 'Dol Guldur or Gundabad.'

Thranduil, an armoured, brooding presence in the corner of the room, tenses noticeably at the mention of that accursed place. I know Tauriel is aware that Gundabad is where he lost his wife, but her gaze is directed sympathetically towards her friend Legolas, who has proceeded to distract himself by running his fingers along his bow.  Ultimately, I am surprised that Legolas volunteered for this when he knew I would be going, and even more surprised that he has not taken it upon himself to push me away yet.

Although I yearn to be nestled against Thranduil, it's proving increasingly difficult to attach a seemingly excessive amount of weapons to my person, and so I am fully occupied. The three ellons have finished arming themselves, down to the last knife strapped to Elidir's thigh and the last arrow in Legolas's quiver, while Tauriel and I are still attempting to fit the leather cuffs and sheaths onto ourselves. Arming an elleth appears infinitely more complicated than arming an ellon, and I fail to see why Tauriel has urged me to take it as far as her. Could I not have taken Thranduil's approach? He simply clad himself in dark grey armour—a sleek, lightweight set compared to his usual battle attire—and slipped nothing but his two favoured swords into their sheaths.

'Is there any way of knowing?' Elidir raises his eyebrows at me, almost with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, which reflect the fresh greens and earthy browns of a forest—perhaps the Greenwood of old, before it was transformed by dark powers into the Mirkwood we know today.

'I'm afraid not,' I reply sadly, finally winning the battle against the uncooperative leather belt I had been grappling with for five minutes. 'As I said, I have not slept, and therefore have had no indication of what is happening to Eirwen. I don't think I shall sleep again until we have rescued her and returned here.'