Star-Crossed

Chapter 53

"Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand. A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I myself suspect a more prosaic motive: attempted burglary, or something of that ilk." Thranduil, King of the Greenwood, stared down at Thorin, whose smug grin made him want to vomit. "You have found a way in." Thorin's smirk broadened. "You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule: the King's Jewel, the Arkenstone. It is precious to you beyond measure. I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems of pure starlight. I offer you my help." 

"I am listening."

"I will let you go, if you but return what is mine."

"A favor for a favor." Thorin turned away. Thranduil smiled. 

"You have my word. One king to another." Such lovely words for a snake, Thorin thought to himself. 

"I would not trust Thranduil, the great king, to honor his word should the end of all days be upon us!" Spinning around, he stared down the elf king. "You lack all honor! I've seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help, but you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us!" In one fluid motion, Thranduil leapt from his throne, towering over Thorin. 

"Do not talk to me of dragon fire. I know its wrath and ruin. I have faced the great serpents of the north." Thranduil's face contorted in pain, burns and blindness taking hold of his features. 

Thorin's eyes widened only slightly as he kept his composure. Thranduil recoiled as swiftly as he had sprung off his throne. "I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon, but he would not listen." He looked down at Thorin once more. "You are just like him." Two guards took hold of the Dwarf's shoulders and began dragging to the dungeons. "Stay here if you will, and rot. A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf. I am patient. I can wait."

Arwen struggled to hold onto Beuren as she convulsed. She was forced to abandon her horse in order to not drop Beuren. She was well inside the boarder of Lorien when she eased Beuren into the Mallorn leaves below. There was no way Arwen could carry her all that way in this state. She needed help.

"Haldir!" She shouted into the forest. "Haldir!" 

"My Lady Arwen?" She looked behind her, Asfaloth stood a protective guard over her, all she could see where a pair of long legs clad in tall boots and grey trousers. 

"Haldir, please-" She was interrupted by Beuren's whimpering. He strode around the horse, looking down at the half elf in Arwen's lap. "She's having a fit, I am not strong enough to hold her and ride." He bent down beside them. "She needs to get to Galadriel now." 

"Can you find your way from here?"

"Yes." He rose, Beuren in his arms and climbed into Asfaloth's saddle. A swift kick to his ribs sent the horse jolting forward. In Haldir's firm embrace, Beuren seemed to calm a bit, at least until he entered the throne room. 

She was beautiful, her long red tresses, soft brown eyes, Kili couldn't help but watch her as she strode past, checking all the cells. When she was out of sight, he returned to the stone. It had been a gift from his mother, Dis. She had made him promise to come back. Kili smiled, he knew Fili would never admit it, but he had also accepted a token form his mother, a bead he wore in his hair, tucked away in his thick mane so no one would see it. 

"The stone in your hand, what is it?" He looked up to see his... erm...the elf, standing before his cell door. 

"It is a talisman. A powerful spell lies upon it. If any but a dwarf reads the runes on this stone, they will be forever cursed." Kili held the stone out for her to see. She looked away, unsure if the curse was real or if he was just mental. She began to move to the next cell when Kili spoke again. "Or not, depending on whether you believe that kind of thing. It's just a token." He smiled brightly, that smile Beuren always said would get him a dwarrowdam (it hadn't, but he tried nonetheless). The elf maid smiled in return, stepping closer to his cell door. "A runestone. My mother gave it to me so I'd remember my promise."

"What promise?"

"That I'd come back to her." The elf looked down, suddenly feeling guilty for locking him away. "She worries. She thinks I'm reckless."

"And are you?" 

"Nah." He scoffed, tossing the stone in the air. It slipped from his grip when he tried to catch it, clattering out of his cell and towards the ledge. Her movements swift, the elf caught it with her foot, stooping to pick it up. She turned it over in her hand smiling at the pureness of such a trinket. Kili moved to lean up against the bars of his cell, hearing the sound of music and merriment. "Sounds like quite a party you're having up there."

"It is Mereth-en-Gilith, the Feast of Starlight." She stepped away, looking almost school girlish when she spoke next, as if she had rehearsed her words from a very young age. "All light is sacred to the Eldar, but Wood Elves love best the light of the stars."

"I always thought it is a cold light, remote and far away." It made him think of Beuren. He never told anyone, but often she would wake him in the middle of the night and sneak him out of the mountain, taking him to watch the stars for hours. Telling him all sorts of tales and myths surrounding each constellation, pointing out the brightest stars. She had told him once that if he were to ever lose his way, when all things seemed lost and all hope was abandoned, that he could pray to the stars and she would come. Many times he'd prayed to those stars after she left, and she never came. 

"It is memory, precious and pure." The elf said intently. "Like your promise." She carefully handed him back his stone. "I have walked there sometimes, beyond the forest and up into the night. I have seen the world fall away and the white light forever fill the air."

"I saw a fire moon once." Kili said, hoping to keep their conversation going. The elf took a seat on the stair before his cell, folding her hands neatly in her lap as she listened to him. "It rose over the pass near Dunland, huge; red and gold it was, filled the sky. We were an escort for some merchants from Ered Luin, they were trading in Silverbuck for furs. We took the Greenway south, keeping the mountain to our left, and then, this huge fire moon, right in our path. I wish I could show you..."