Roswehn of Mirkwood

By the waterfall

Legolas and Roswehn set off on their way back to the Palace of Thranduil. They had to go to the high waterfall by which Nim and her mother had prepared the new room for the human.

The sound of the falling and splashing water was strong, continuous. The woman thought: and this would be the place where I should relax?

Climbing up the staircase, her head began to spin. She had to stop for a few minutes and lean on the prince.

"We have almost arrived." he said, holding her by the elbow. "You'd better change your clothes immediately, so that my father won't see that blood."

"Amon hasn't come back yet, I suppose. Can you heal my wound?" she asked.

"I don't have the herbs to do it. Wear something that has a high collar, so the King won't notice the cut." answered the Elf.

"What kind of Elf are you?" protested Roswehn. "Don't you have that power, that healing aura?"

"I'm the useless guy who came to save you while you were struggling like a fly in the middle of a web. Or have you forgotten it?" he answered, as he opened the small wooden door of the temporary lodging. "It would be nice, Roswehn, that every once in a while you deign to thank others for what ..."

He stopped.

His father was in the room.

In silence, his hands folded behind his back, he was watching the waterfall. He was standing next to one of the windows in the bedroom.

"Thranduil ..." Roswehn murmured. Perfect. Excellent conclusion to a horrible day, she thought.

"My wife loved this view. It could always calm her whenever she was nervous. Personally, I find waterfalls sad. They remind me of a cry ... the cry of a giant trapped in the earth." he said, then turned to Roswehn. "I came here to see you. It is superfluous to say that you have recovered ... since you are standing on your legs."

Legolas bowed his head. He was in the presence of his King, not his father in that moment. When Thranduil assumed that stern expression, the family bonds disappeared.

The king approached the two. He took the hand with which Roswehn was covering her wound. He saw the red blood.
"This?" he asked to his son.

"It was my fault. I foolishly passed by a thorny branch and wounded myself." the girl explained.

"So you left the Palace?" asked Thranduil.

Both she and Legolas trembled imperceptibly.
"Yes, I went with her. Just a walk around. Roswehn needed some fresh air." the Prince said.

"Well Legolas, for you it's becoming a habit to save Roswehn, right? Outstanding." said Thranduil. "This time though, you're both trying to lie to me. Have you sided with her?"

"No, father. No, what I just said is the truth." the Prince answered immediately.

"The truth ..." Thranduil repeated. "The truth in this case is nothing but a pile of manure."

Roswehn didn't remember ever hearing him use such vulgar terms.

"Which tree has sharp thorns on the branches, exactly?" asked Thranduil.

The woman was puzzled by the question. She tried to recall Edith's lessons on flowers and plants. Those hours spent listening to her in her rose garden, while burying the pink bulbs, could perhaps be useful.

(...and then there are the Locust Trees. Those are particular trees because they have thorns even on the trunk. I call them "soldier trees", their wood seems to be protected by an armor.)