An iceling in mirkwood ~ thranduil love story

Chapter 15 ~ the healing tower

The king cried out and clutched his arm as he knelt near the ground, trying to get his breath. Helke just sat wide eyed on the bed, frozen in time. The king looked down to see the blood that had oozed out was frozen onto his tunic. Helke ran out quickly, desperate to find help from anyone. She looked around sprinted down hallways and stairs until she ran face first into the ginger haired elleth from before. The elleth (tauriel) looked down questioningly at the young iceling.

"Please help" helke sobbed and tauriel's expression changed from questioning to deeply concerned.

"What on earth is the matter?" She asked softly.

"T-the K-k-king" helke stuttered through her tears "I have h-hurt him. I d-do not understand! He is in great p-pain" she finished, breathing unevenly.

Tauriel raced to the kings's chambers and burst through the door to see the king gripping the wood of his bed tightly. He had also gone a sickly pale from head to foot.

"My lord!" She exclaimed as she ran in.

"It is a mere scratch" he hissed through clenched teeth. He did not want to frighten helke or alarm anyone else. "Please, my lord. You need urgent assistant" she said. She had read almost every book in the mirkwood library so of course knew of the seriousness of an iceling attack.

"I shall fetch a healer, my lord" she said and rushed out. Helke stood timidly to the side of the doorway, peeping in every now and then I make sure the king had not collapsed or something of that nature. Not 5 minutes later a tall elleth with very long blonde hair and high cheeks bones appeared, giving helke a look that made even the iceling's 'blood' run cold (well, colder). It was a look of loathing and disgust. The healing elleth ran forwards and examined the king's injury to find the icicle had melted, the coldness now traveling through his blood. It would only be 30 minutes now until the coldness would reach his brain, instantly killing him so she had to work quickly. For the first time in a very long time the healing elleth had to refer to a book for her cure and Made a quick note of the herbs and ingredients needed for the cure. She handed the list to tauriel for her to fetch and the guard wasted no time.

The healer muttered words in elvish as she hovered her hand over the wound, hoping to slow down the process, giving her more time as an unconscious thranduil lay on his bed, breathing hard, All the time helke watched nervously from the doorway until the healer and her made eye contact.

"Go ice witch! You are not welcome here" she spat angrily and helke stumbled back quickly and ran. She did not know where she was going, only that she would not stay. She could not risk hurting someone else.

Tauriel returned minuted later with the ingredients mixed and heated, a cloth and bandage in her left hand.

The healer dipped the cloth into the mixture and pulled off the king's tunic to get to the wound. The elleth smirked as she looked at the elvish kings's well toned chest before gently pressing the cloth to the king's wound. The cry of pain that escaped the king's lips was like no other either of the elleth's had heard before, it was sharp and loud. For the king it felt as though he had jumped straight into boiling hot, then freezing cold water. His whole body shook from the pain that flowed through every inch of his body.

"I am sorry you highness" whispered the healer, seeing her king in great pain caused her heart to ache. She too (like many other elvish maidens) found the king extremely attractive and was jealous of helke. The colour began to flush back to his cheeks within a matter of minutes as the healer poured the rest of the mixture onto the king's arm and bandaged it up carefully.

"Where is helke?" Asked tauriel, looking round for the distinctive white hair but found none.

"I have not a clue" lied the elleth as she Marvelled at the kings's greatly sculpted chest. The healer knew that icelings where extremely valuable to many greedy-hearted men and secretly hoped that she would be captured again this time be gone for good.